Monday, January 9, 2012

The Tower of Trials Chapter 1 Page 4

"Oh, she was overqualified," the brown-haired Vixen said lightly.

George stared at her. "I don't get it."

"It means that we'll have to pay her more," the taller Vixen clarified.

"Wait, then how much do I get paid?" George asked.

"Okay, here's the deal," the tall Vixen began, "You help us on one raid and we'll give you a quarter share of the loot."

"I get a quarter of all the loot?"

"No, you get a quarter share," the other woman told him, "all of us get one share, you get a quarter."

"Huh?"

The dark-skinned woman tried a different explanation, "Okay, look at it this way. You get one share, the rest of us gets four shares each."

George did some maths - he was pretty good since it was a requirement in his line of work as a gadget repairman. As he knew, there were four Vixens. One was away. Each of the remaining three would receive four shares and he would get one. That was a total of thirteen shares. So he would get one thirteenth of all the loot.

Not a bad deal for a highly-inexperienced young man, if the stories of all the riches and wealth the Vixens looted were true. That was assuming there were only three Vixens left.

"Weren't there four of you?" George asked, "One you called Laura is away so where's the fourth?"

"Io?" the shorter Vixen uttered, "Oh, she's at the site."

"Okay, Squirt, I'm Tricia Rosentine," the taller Vixen introduced herself.

The other woman put on a bright smile. "And I'm Mabel Hiddenhill."

"Oh, erm, I'm..."

"Well, it's nice to meet you, Squirt," Mabel interrupted him.

Was that it? Were they going to call him Squirt all the time? It was irritating to be called something that reminded him of his small stature. It was already enough that Mabel was a little taller than he was. But he did not want to offend his employers, not with the wealth and the adventure that awaited him. Maybe a nickname was their way of showing endearment.

"Okay, Squirt," Tricia interrupted his thought, "We're going to raid Madboy Keith's so-called Tower of Trials. Io's there at the moment so we're going to meet up with her. It should be pretty straightforward. There shouldn't be any complicated traps or such."

"Who's this Madboy Keith anyway?" George asked.

"He's some eccentric old man," Tricia explained, "Built that tower up in the wasteland. Stuffed some treasure up at the top, then challenged people to come get it. We haven't had the time to raid the place. But with Laura away, we thought we'd do something easier than our usual gig and finally check it out."

That was the offer. An adventure with experienced treasure hunters and a small share of the loot. It was what George had always dreamed of becoming reality.

George looked up to the tall woman. "So, what do I do?"

"First, you need to grab your gear," Tricia said, "You need a breathing mask, some rations and a water canteen. Also tough clothing for the wasteland, an acidproof overcoat if you've got one. Don't forget your tools."

"And don't bring your parent's permission," Mabel added wisely.

George drew himself up to his full height. Nope, he was still shorter than Mabel. "I'm old enough to go without permission," he declared. He was still going to tell his Papa anyway. The old man was going to be excited.

"Meet us in garage 263-D, level B-29 within the hour," Tricia told him, "We're in a hurry. Squirt, what's your comm ID?"

George gave the tall Vixen the ID number to his account with the city's communications network. That would allow her to contact him anywhere in Covenant. When he was done, he hurried off in the direction of home.

He was actually going on an adventure!

***


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