text: “You think you can catch this bastard”? The older man asked. &#x200B; The older man smelled of tobacco and body odor. And if you didn’t know him you would think he was an imbecile with bad hygiene. You would be half right. &#x200B; “I’m sure I can Cap”. The younger man said. &#x200B; The younger man was tall and seemed easy going. Easy going was a hard sell for most people in this line of work but somehow the younger man managed it. He was also what some might have called “easy on the eyes”. &#x200B; “Alight Skip you better get this son of a bitch and soon. The higher ups are all over me to get this one gone and yesterday about it”. &#x200B; The Captain paused for a moment looking at the younger man. &#x200B; Can I trust him with something this important? He’s so young yet still one of the best despite this. Hmm. I’ll have another hysterical mother and another funeral to go to if this young buck doesn’t do this right. &#x200B; To hell with it he decided. &#x200B; Neither of them could afford to wait any longer and there was no one available right now that he might feel more comfortable with going. &#x200B; “I’ll be here as always. I’m only a transmission away, but you already know that. So lets cut the crying short and have done with it. Get him and bring him here and we will both be financially set for awhile.” &#x200B; The Captain wanted more time to make up his mind but knew there was none. This was it. &#x200B; Skip winked at his Captain and headed for his ship he fondly referred to as Neil. Without turning around he said “Let’s roll Cap.” &#x200B; This was Skip’s original ship. Some thought him crazy for keeping it and wondered why he didn’t just get a better one. He’d done enough missions to afford one that was for sure. But this was nonsense to Skip. Skip was practical and a penny pincher. He had always been good with money. As he walked onto the ship he remembered a night from his college days (not that long ago he thought) He was out drinking with his friends and when they ran out of money they used S-Credits and charged them to their Social Credits balance. They would rather owe more money than they borrowed than ask Skip for money. Skip was a good friend to them but he wasn’t buying anyones meal or drinks. A soft smile came to his face as he started Neil up and flew out of the space hanger. &#x200B; He liked his job. Maybe he didn’t love it and so what. But it was something to do and he could have some pretty amazing adventures that were legal. He thought, not for the first time, that he might very well be in Cryo Freeze or worse if this job didn’t exist. He was a little too adventurous for his own good sometimes. He didn’t do it for the money. When Skip’s parents died they had left him with a considerable amount of money but not a soul in the universe knew this. So it wasn’t for the money that he took this job, or any job for that matter. It was the thrill or excitement or adventure or whatever you wanted to call it. &#x200B; He put Neil on auto pilot and relaxed. &#x200B; The last couple weeks had been hard, and sleep hadn’t come easy. He had been having the old dreams again. He had hoped that they would go away but he had been having the same dreams, albeit infrequently for almost 7 years now. &#x200B; The dream came just as it always did. He was right in the middle of action. But not in a ship, no he was on the ground fighting in the trenches. &#x200B; Skip also had recurring dreams of being one of The Prime. The Prime were an elite and all around group of bad asses who only went after the most dangerous of criminals. &#x200B; Skip knew immediately that something was off. He was an Original. An Original is someone who’s family never had DNA alterations. So he was 100% human. No implants, no nothing. But The Prime were augmented with all the latest technology and god knew what else. He could feel The Face looking on him. And The Face would hardly look at him in his normal waking life, but in his dreams as one of The Prime of course The Face would look in on him. &#x200B; The Face is an “all seeing and all knowing” machine that does many things but one of it’s essential functions is data collection. The Face is kind of like what people once called the Internet but The Face was as Big Brother as you could get. The Face knew everything about everything. This is what Perfectus wanted you to believe anyway. &#x200B; The Perfectus was the lone ruler of the known universe and the only one who was immune to the The Face’s influence. &#x200B; But all of this is common knowledge to... Well everyone. &#x200B; Humans have advanced considerably ever since 2203 when Elix was invented. A small does of Elix can bring you back even from the brink of death and is also an anti aging agent. So humans basically found the fountain of youth for real in 2203. Although somewhat common now, in the early days only the super elite could afford, or gain access to Elix. &#x200B; But all of this is common knowledge to... Well everyone. &#x200B; In his dream a huge explosion knocked him back and seeing stars he fell to the ground. &#x200B; “... Skip... you have to... with us... meet us at location...” He finally came to but his comms were all jacked up and he could barely hear anything. &#x200B; Shit. He thought to himself. What now? And not only that what in the holy fuck can just knock around one of The Prime?? &#x200B; A Triker that’s what. &#x200B; Trikers are a very powerful alien race from... somewhere he couldn’t remember exactly where at the moment his head was still spinning. &#x200B; “Hello human”. &#x200B; An interesting thing about Trikers is that they have no mouths. So the damn thing was sending messages directly TO his brain, no help from his ears thank you very much. &#x200B; “I come to you in peace... For now, anyway, human. We must talk, for both our lives depend on it”. &#x200B; “Yeah yeah. Like that’s going to happen. Our kind catch or kill one another as often as we can.” Skip said aloud. “So you can go suck on a Cryo Chamber floor.” &#x200B; He then willed himself to wake up. He didn’t like this dream. Something about it was too real. &#x200B; Slowly he came back to waking life. &#x200B; “Fucking Trikers I hate all of them”. Skip said. &#x200B; Skip had a habit of talking to his ship. Space travel can get pretty boring and lonely and Neil was an old friend he trusted. His ship knew more about him than anyone. &#x200B; “I could have done without having that dream. This is a pretty important mission, not as bad as Cap would lead me to believe, but I need to stay focused either way... What do you think about it Neil”? He asked. &#x200B; But only silence answered. &#x200B; To be continued.