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Celeste stirred and sat up, feeling a soft rumble go through the ship. They were probably nearing their destination at long last. Not that the air that the ship recycled was stale, or that the ship creaked and groaned at every slight movement, but real air and solid ground were things she preferred over artificial gravity and metal decks hidden beneath carpets and wooden floors. Next to her Marten was vast asleep, exhausted from his long days of checking and double-checking the files left by their erstwhile master gone missing. He had gone a long way since that fateful night, taking his promotion with grace and vigour. She smiled at the thought that he grew up so fast, becoming a full-ranked inquisitor overnight with already a heavy burden on his shoulders. Her thoughts drifted on to her humble beginnings, how she started out. Luckily, marten was there at the beginning, looking vigilantly over her as she now did look over him in his sleep.
+ + + Six years ago + + +
There was something about Marten. For starters he was nicer than the old man and the snooty aristocratic girl. He also had a certain charm to him, something that lingered around him like an aura and made him the centre of attention. The aristo immediately lightened up when he was around and even the old man seemed to thaw a little when he entered the room. He had effect on people, he was charismatic to say at the very least. She heard the aristo girl sigh about his field record, about his outstanding performance in the field. According to her Marten would be an inquisitor in no time at all. There was something of jealousy in her voice, not as severe as she’d show in the later years, but it was there. The rest was nothing but loving admiration for her fellow acolyte. Probably had a major crush on him as well.
Celeste could understand that, finding Marten a handsome blighter as well. She took an instant liking to him, mostly because he was the only nice guy in the bunch. She tried to spend as much time as possible with him, trying her hardest to get a grip on the new world she was recruited into. Thankfully he was around to help her with the basics, explaining to her the new duties, what was expected of her and what was on the line. It all sounded quite frightening and somewhat surreal.
She was quite happy when Marten took her along on an investigation, offering her an insight into how things were supposed to be done as an agent of the Throne. It was an easy enough job: search some designated places for information on a gang of smugglers who deal in getting people somewhere. At first excitement hit Celeste, she was finally allowed to go along with Marten and help him in doing something important. But the excitement was soon replaced by a dreadful nausea in the pits of her stomach, something she hadn’t experienced since her first performance in front of an audience.
'Relax, take it easy. Nervous people are easy targets.'
He was walking ahead of her, hands stuffed in the pockets of his coat and an easy swagger to his walk. Celeste followed him, trying to look as confident as possible. She wasn't, nor did she feel like it. She shuffled after him, warily looking at every shadow and into every alley. She was jittery and on her toes. Marten however was as cool as a cucumber, he owned the place. Somehow she felt like a juve again, a little kid following her big brother to the candy store because she was afraid of asking for the sweets herself.
He craned his neck around and looked over his shoulder, giving her an easy smile.
'You okay?'
She nodded and tried to look okay, but wasn't feeling the part one bit. Ahead she could see the place Marten described to her, a dingy bar with a small neon-lit sign over the door: "The Hole". A rather obscene drawing was on the wall next to the door, of a man sticking his arm into the rear or a pig. Already she didn't like where this was going, her nursemaid had warned her about places like these. Marten didn’t seem to give any notice, his pace or stature unchanged.
'Stick close and let me do the talking. Be on your toes, these dives are always bad news.'
Marten stepped into bar and Celeste followed after a moment of hesitation. She smell of stale beer and other smells hit her before she got into the taproom, a combination of smells that someone was bound to describe as a rich aroma of filth. The room itself was dimly lit, several lone patrons sitting at the tables or at the bar and a surly barkeep stood behind the bar, acknowledging the new arrivals with a nod. One of the patrons turned on his stool and checked Marten out, downed his drink and got towards him. He made an elaborate bow to Marten, sparing Celeste only the merest of glances.
'Been talk around town that you were looking for things sire.' There was a mocking tone to the last word, something that only put Celeste more at unease.
'So they say, I'm looking for something. A way off this dump. The sooner the better, just tell me where to go for the deal and I'll be on my way.'
The man shook his head and wagged his finger at Marten. 'No sire,' again with a mocking tone. 'That is not how we do things around here. You offer, we consider, you wait, we decide. We work things out, you pay us, you leave this "dump".'
Marten sighed and showed the man a roll of paper money, dropping it back into his coat. Some of the patrons caught sight of this but did not rise or react. Celeste clamped her jaws together, fearing the worst. Showing off a large wad of cash was a sure-shot way into getting mugged and killed. The man however gave Marten a large-eyed look, blinking several times. He then shook his head, as if awakening from a dream.
'Ah, one moment sire while me and my ah, associate discuss the situation.' The man bowed to Marten several times before skulking off into the back of the bar behind a curtain. Marten looked back at Celeste and gave her a wink. So far, so good. Right?
Wrong.
With a scream the thought was destroyed and Marten reacted to it without missing a beat. Celeste flinched at the scream, seeing a man run from out the back towards Marten with a whirring chain blade over his head. Time seemed to slow down as she took in the details of the charging man. He was a brute, sweaty and greasy, his bare chest a mess of scars. His eyes had a certain insanity to them and spittle flecked from his mouth filled with rotten teeth. She tried to shout a warning to Marten, but felt like she was paralyzed, unable to respond in time. A dull bang resounded through the bar as the attacker fell backwards, a fist sized hole in his chest. The whirring blade fell to the ground, chewed into the floor before it ground to a shuddering halt, blue smoke coming from the exhaust.
'Fine.'
It was Marten who broke the silence, a large revolver in his hands, he held the weapon at the ready, flicking his aim to and from several patrons before settling on the man to whom he talked moments before.
'I tried to play nice. I respected your personal space. I did things by the rules. And you pull this trick on me? Bad move, you ought to have thought things out a little more careful.'
The man a move for a hidden weapon but Marten didn't give him a chance, banging off two quick shots and painting the walls with blood and brains. The other patrons stuck up their hands, the smell of someone wetting himself filled the room. Marten sighed and twirled the heavy revolver once and dropped it into his holster, turning to Celeste.
'Let's go, these jokers got nothing.' He nodded to the barkeep, apologizing for the mess on the way out.
'You okay?'
She shook her head and sagged down to her knees, shuddering. Celeste could feel tears welling up.
'Okay, glad you’re honest with me on this one.' Marten knelt down besides her and put his arms around her. 'It's okay now. You're safe. Nothing to fear. Come on, let's go some place else. This is no place for you to cry.' He pulled her to her feet and guided her along, through several streets and alleyways until they reached a small diner of sorts. He ushered her in and sat her down in one of the booths, asking the tired waitress to bring them both coffees. Celeste wanted to decline, but decided against it. She needed something to drink. The coffees were brought and an uneasy silence settled for several long minutes, Marten sipping his hot coffee carefully.
'Completely different game isn’t it?'
She nodded, staring at Marten for a moment. He was looking sincere and sounded sorry.
'Not saying that you’re unqualified for this Celeste, but you’ve got a long way to go before entering active service with us.'
She gave him a worried look. He chuckled and shook his head. 'It's okay, I've had a long road ahead of me, still have. We learn something new every day. I'll help you get there, no worries about that.' He motioned to her coffee. 'Best drink it while you still can, this stuff is best when hot. When cold it’s worse than tar.'
She relented and drank it, it was disgusting but she didn’t want to offend him.
'Ready? We'll try one more place before turning in again. Same setup as before.'
She nodded meekly, feeling somewhat reluctant to do it all over again. Marten noticed, patting her hand.
'You can do it, I know you can. The old man has an eye for talent, otherwise he wouldn't have picked you.'
She had heard it hundreds of times before, shouted from the side by her trainers, by the crowds, by her friends. But when Marten said it, it felt different. She could do this. She would do this. She squared her shoulders and straightened her back. She didn’t want to let him down, not after he openly showed faith in her abilities. She got up and gave him a nod.
'Let's do this.'
He smiled at her reply and change of posture, beckoning her to come along, an easy confidence settling into her movement as she fell in with him. As Marten filled her in on the next place they were going to visit she couldn’t help but wonder that this humble beginning would be the start of a great working relationship.
+ + +
Thinking back, she started off shoddy. Athletic champion status didn't count for anything in this line of work. It took many lessons and hours of training to get to her current point. But six years later she was one of the best in the bunch, she did him proud. She glanced at the sleeping form of Marten with a smile. At least she had a great tutor who helped her getting there. She settled in next to him again, carefully putting her arm around him. Sometime tomorrow they'd reach their destination, so she would need to get all the rest she could get, she had a feeling it was going to be one of those cases again.
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Authors comments.
Something I came up with today that is supposed to tie in with my much larger, as of yet in the works Inquisitor story about an inquisitorial warband in search of their lost master. Celeste being one of the three main characters, who is more of an stealthy infiltrator sort of person, a former athlete and pet of the inquisitor, Marten.
This will be used as an interval piece to give the characters more background flavour and as extra interlude filler in between the main "event" chapters.
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