HAWK

CHAPTER THREE: HAWKED (4/6)

After an hour of back-to-back auctions, Kas was beginning to get bored. She'd seen plenty of weapons, most of which were demoed by destroying unrepairable shipwrecks. The crowd cheered the loudest when a tanker was obliterated by a plasma grenade-chain, or when a former Chantosian police vehicle was reduced to a single metallic bulb by way of protoplasmic blaster. That was what they came for: the simple desire to witness something - anything - being completely annihilated.

Kas used to enjoy that kind of thing too, though over the years her line of work had made these types of event rather... lacklustre.

A few ship auctions had come and gone, including the Chains booter pried from Kas's Calista. It was badly damaged in all the wrong places and Kas had half expected it to be one of the ships used as cannon fodder, so she was pleased when it was listed as a saleable item. The auction didn't last long and it sold for ten thousand credits - not a fortune for a working ship but also nothing to be sniffed at. She suspected the buyer had bought it in hope of finding a hidden cache of stolen loot, but Kas knew the hounds would have uncovered anything worth knowing about.

Kas perked up in her seat when the godly voice announced the next article for sale.

'Now for one of tonight's more exciting auctions. Please welcome to the Artisseum three of the Primi system's most wanted fugitives, known by some as the Ropdahn Gang, Wei-bo San, and the Basco Trio, but to most as The Black Chains!'

A huge cheer erupted, the loudest one of the evening. Kas slid to the front of her seat and expanded the view in her goggles. It took her all of two seconds to spot the Chains. They were trapped inside separate paracages - miniature pyramid prisons reinforced with diamond glass, perfectly transparent yet impossible to break. The cages glided into the centre of the stadium unaided.

Remi led the way, crouched within his cage in his trademark squat, eyeing the crowd with lizard-like cool. Otto, on the other hand, was freaking out. The claustrophobia he'd displayed on Kas's ship had multiplied tenfold. He was slamming his body against all sides of the paracage like a wasp trying to escape a closed bottle. The delighted crowd cheered louder.

Vima was last, standing defiant, not a trace of fear or anger in her expression. She couldn't control her situation so she opted for dignity. Kas respected that - it was probably what she'd do in that situation.

Once all three reached the centre of the stadium, the auction began.

Remi was the first to be sold with bidding starting at ten-thousand and ending at sixty-two. If he was the cheapest one to be sold then Kas was in for a highly profitable evening.

Otto went next. His lot started a little higher than Remi at fifteen thousand, quickly surpassing fifty, then sixty, then seventy... ultimately settling at seventy-eight thousand. He was hauled out kicking and screaming worse than when he'd come in.

When Vima's turn came around, Kas got to her feet. The beauty was also the brains behind the trio and taking her down had always been the real challenge. Kas maximised her goggles and studied the captive's face. For a second she thought Vima was looking back at her, but the mistress quickly looked back at the crowd to relish in their hatred.

The auctioneer's voice boomed across the stadium and began.

'For this prized animal, we'll start the auction at... one hundred thousand credits!'

Another cheer consumed the stadium. Kas considered then that much of the audience might actually be personally invested in Vima's auction. The villain had stolen money and lives from a great many people over the past decade and word of her capture would've been a big draw to the friends and families of her victims. Kas looked out across the crowd and felt the change in her bones. Before long, the cheer had died down and left the air thick with bloodthirst and revenge. A silence as loud as a nuclear explosion punctuated the moment and Kas felt a shiver break out across her skin.

The auctioneer broke the spell.

'Bidding is now open.'