A Transporter's Guide to the Galaxy: Family Drama

Chapter Two

Chapter 2

            Dressing “nice” for Maze was a black cotton t-shirt and dark blue jeans. It was midway into fall so there was a slight chill in the air. He pulled on a simple black coat to help fight the cold and found his well-worn music player in the pocket. He walked out of his apartment building listening to the sweet sound of Muse, not bothering to even lock his door. He didn’t have anything worth stealing, just the basics.

            It was still dark out, but the sun was making an appearance off in the distance when he hit the sidewalk. His breath was visible and he hunkered into himself to keep warm. His hair, which was a little shaggy, fell into his eyes and he could see the still clinging shower water starting to freeze. “Fuck it’s cold” he whispered to no one. The street was empty, not many were milling around at this time of the morning. Most were just getting themselves out of bed. This section of the city was normally quiet during the day anyway, but especially at six o’clock in the morning. Maze looked around at some of the buildings and saw a handful of lights starting to come on.

            He passed by a window not yet lit and caught a glimpse of himself. Tall and lean, he stood at six foot zero inches. He looked like he could hold his own in a fight, he had a solid build and muscular features. His hair was an annoying brown mess, which he promptly shoved out of his face. It fell back as usual, so he sighed and just let it do it’s own thing. He had a strong jaw and a young face, but his deep blue eyes were old. He had seen some things in his short twenty three years and came out stronger for it, albeit a little bitter at the world.

            Fifteen minutes, three shortcuts, and about two more bouts of cussing the cold out, Maze found himself in front of the office. It was a small shack of a building tucked in between a pawn shop and a small hotel. One big window in the front boasted a dilapidated shade and peeling letters that once proudly proclaimed the offices of John Fickery, a small time lawyer who sold the place to Jett about ten years earlier. Underneath the fading letters was a small hand written sign that read ‘Jett’s Trading and Transporting” in black elegant script. Maze grimaced at the sign and walked in.

            There was murmuring in the back where Jett’s office was situated. Maze shook off the last bits of cold and welcomed the heat. He walked to the back office and opened the door without bothering to knock. Looking in he saw Jett’s tired face smirking at him from behind his worn desk and a well dressed woman sitting primly on the opposite side.

            Jett had the looks that ladies fell over themselves for. Broad shoulders, lean waist, and dark features, Jett was a shocking six feet three inches of pure sarcastic asshole. He had taken care of Maze since he was a little kid and those years had given Maze enough time to get used to Jett’s particular brand of humor, which was a brand that ended up keeping all those fawning girls from sticking around. The woman on the other side of the desk was wearing a light pink suit and seemed a bit too done up considering the hour. She was older, time had weathered her face, but Maze could see that back in the day she would have been quite the looker. She was definitely high class; she sat with a regal heir about her and her jewelry spoke of old money.

            Maze looked back at Jett. His perusal had not taken long, but it was long enough for the woman to realize he was sizing her up and she looked none too pleased about it. “Alright, what the hell am I here for?” Maze said as he flopped into the chair next to the woman. She stiffened at Maze’s rude manners, but said nothing.

            “Our lovely guest has a job for us, but she wanted to meet the infamous transporter before working out the details. I was just telling her about the Killion job.” Jett said as he started pulling out paper work. Jett’s main job for the business was the paperwork and financials, things that Maze never really cared for. He still did jobs with Maze from time to time, but his main focus was the booking and general up keep of the business.

            “I find it hard to believe that one as young as you could take on the entirety of the Killion mafia singlehandedly, but as I hear they are no longer in operations, I have to assume that Mr. Vallen is telling the truth.” Maze cast a flickering glance toward the woman, her accent and manner of speaking made his skin crawl. He never liked the rich, they always conducted shady business and you could practically smell the lies on them.

            Maze leaned his head back and closed his eyes, “I wouldn’t say it was the entire Killion mafia, just the head boss and a couple of his generals. The rest of the group fell apart while arguing over who would lead next. I would’ve left the bastards alone if they hadn’t tried to take my client’s merchandise.” Maze smiled to himself, remembering the incident.

            “Well, I should take heart in the fact that you take your job so seriously. Now, I would like to get down to business. I need your services in order to transport something very precious off this world and to my home planet of Izael. I will of course pay very handsomely for the protection of this merchandise and for your secrecy in this matter.” The woman said, while reaching into her bag. She pulled out an even smaller bag and placed it on the table in front of Jett. It was almost overflowing and when she set it down it let loose it’s contents. Maze and Jett looked from the objects on the desk to each other. They knew what each other were thinking, but did not let their amazement show. Spilled out on the desk in front of them were precious blue Izael stones. The stones were very rare, Maze had seen only one in his lifetime before this. This bag full would amount to over a million metrics, the intergalactic form of currency. “The very precious merchandise I need transported off this planet is my granddaughter and her safety is of utmost importance.” Both Maze and Jett silently stared at the older woman, intent on finding some sort of sign that she was holding back valuable information. A woman who would pay that much for the simple transport of her granddaughter was definitely hiding something. They did not have long to wait before the woman took their stares as a hint to keep talking. “I need my granddaughter to make it to my home in Izael safely. Once there she will be under the protection of the best security money can buy. You see gentlemen, someone is trying to kill my granddaughter, and I need your assistance to keep that from happening.”