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She couldn't sleep. It was getting harder and harder each night to close those blue eyes and drift away into another world. Could it be the food she had been eating? She had after all begun to eat a much more spicy diet. But that didn't seem to the answer to her problem. She looked over to the small cot next to the window. There in the moon's glow was her partner, Sunfire, sleeping soundly. A soft snore could be heard escaping his small mouth. She exhaled quietly and whispered, “How is that you can fall asleep so easily little friend?”
Sunfire wasn't your normal partner though. Sunfire was a ferret. Many years ago it was assumed that the Reclamation Facility had sprung a leak and some of the waste had filtered into the forest nearby. Some of the animals had become exposed to the waste and began to exhibit strange new abilities. Most of them had become abnormally large with very bad tempers but a few of them gained certain human abilities. Sunfire could do anything a human could do, most times better. He had learned to use a variety of weapons and could even speak. His speech resembled that of a child though. Amber had found him wandering the wastes half dead. She just happened to have a strong affinity for ferrets and took him in. Apparently, Sunfire had been captured and put in a circus freak show. He eventually escaped but was stuck in the desert that Amber found him in. She nursed him back to health and he pledged to be her side kick for her kindness. Amber was reluctant at first but soon reconsidered after seeing his abilities. They had been together ever since, that was 5 years ago.
She moved the covers off of her body and walked over to her computer, all the while making sure her footsteps were quiet as to not wake her sleeping partner. She clicked the monitor on and began to look through the web to see the latest happenings in the world. Nothing really ever changed. Violence broke out in the poor quarters. Peace reigned in the more stable areas. With things staying the same it left little work for her to do. This was the life she had chosen after all. The life of a bounty hunter was never easy. Living from job to job hoping for one big score to settle down for a bit and relax. Putting her life on the line was bad enough but now she had Sunfire to look after. He was still new to the game. He showed a lot of promise but he tended to be a hot head. A clear sign of being new to the game. An experienced hunter knew that a level head was always the way to go. A hot head caused trouble and lots of gunfire.
Suddenly a loud bell sounded from her computer. She jumped to mute the sound hoping to catch it before Sunfire's sensitive ears caught it. Her finger was still on the mute button as she turned her head to look at her partner. His ears were twitching but he merely turned over to his other side and continued to snore. She breathed a sigh of relief as she turned her head back to the screen. An instant message window had popped up. She used several programs to keep in touch with various people but this program was special. When a message popped up through this program it meant that she had a job offer. Only one person had this name. She had never actually met them face to face but they went by the name Two-K and she had absolutely no problem never seeing them as long as the money was deposited directly into her account. Two-K had always been good for that.
The message read: “I see that you're awake....which is good. I have a job for you. Something right up your alley I believe.”
Her eyes lit up slightly. Her hands began to race over the keyboard. “What kind of job and what does it pay?”
“Always short and to the point. We're going to work on those people skills Ambie.”
“I told you to never call me that. I'm not really into people skills anyway. Now answer my questions.” She hit enter to send the message but quickly typed another one. “Please.”
A few seconds rolled by before the reply came. “I knew I could break you down. Even if it was just a little. But the job is for half a million.” Another message quickly followed. “Gold of course.”
“I see you're half assed as ever today. What's the job?”
“They called it a client wipe. I call it a hit.”
She shook her head slowly. “You know I'm not really big on that kind of work,” she quickly typed.
“Oh I know. But you might like to know that these people work the Emerald Mask. Apparently the client wasn't happy with their final product. Upon asking for a better rate Emerald decided it was time to teach him a lesson and his wife's car suddenly died on a bullet train track. Sadly the doors were jammed into the locked position and she was unceremoniously flattened.”
Emerald Mask. He was something of a mythical figure to the normal people of the world. He had been known to traffic in a number of illegal goods, including people. She quickly typed back to Two-K, “This wouldn't happen to put me in front of him would it?”
Minutes passed by before the response came, “I surely wouldn't know. It will get you noticed. That's all I can promise you.”
Her eyes rolled as she read the message. She wanted Emerald Mask last year. She didn't want to be noticed. She wanted to rip out his spleen. She responded with, “He knows enough about me. I want to be put in front of him not noticed by him.”
“You know I can't deliver that kind job unless someone asks for it. No one is dumb enough to put a hit on Emerald. The last person to do that ended up in the Reclamation Plant. Last I heard they were still finding pieces of him in the filter grates. So this is all I can offer you. Half a Mill and the chance to put a few of Emeralds guys in the ground.”
She wanted to think it over but she knew she didn't have time for that. Two-K was only going to offer this once before he would hand it off to one of the other hunters. Sunfire should have some input in this job but time was to much of a factor for her to wake him. She exhaled heavily and began to punch the keys. “Send the file over with pictures and places. I also would like a small down payment for supplies of course.”
The response was very quick, “That shouldn't be and issue. You should have the file by early morning and the money will be in your normal account around midday. I'll get back with you in the evening around 8 to see if you have any other questions or concerns about you new job.”
There was never any closing to their conversations. They always just signed off. She spun her chair away from the monitor and looked out the window and into the sky. It seemed the reason she couldn't sleep was for this. Somehow she knew that this was coming. Perhaps now she would be able to sleep knowing that she was going to have a chance to put a hurt on Emerald Mask. Her mind began to drift slowly to the past She saw herself as a small girl crying into a mirror. She quickly shook the memory away. She didn't want to relive any of those moments ever again.
She walked towards the window still trying to shake the past from her mind. She still gazed at the stars trying to wonder what it would be like to live there. Far away from all this violence. All the corruption and pain. Just to live amongst the stars in peace. That was a pipe dream though. No one could go to the stars. Not since the invasion. The stars became off limits after that. She kneeled next to Sunfire and began to pet his head. A smile formed on his mouth. “Time to get up,” she whispered.
Slowly an eye opened. His large black pupil was struggling to adjust to be woken up. “Amber...its still dark....outside,” he struggled to say. “You know I don't wake up until the sun is high.”
“I know Sunfire,” she replied. “I got a message from Two-K though. We have a job to do. I didn't want to wait to tell you about it. You should know now.”
“Important it must be to wake Sunfire at this hour,” he replied.
“When it involves Emerald Mask you know it's important,” she said. Sunfire knew all about the history between the two of them. “We're going to introduce a few of his people to the ground.”
“Happy you should be....but you aren't.”
He was so perceptive. “It isn't him though. Just more of his underlings. I'm getting tired of it. I want his head on a stick.”
“What you want will come in time. Once enough men we have killed he will emerge from his hiding hole. Then Amber will take his mask and head too,” he replied.
“You're right of course,” she sighed. “You should go back to sleep. I've told you what you need to know. Sorry to wake you.”
“Meh. Important news that is. No grudge this time. You sleep too though.”
“I will, Sunfire. I will.”
Sunfire looked at her with a disapproving eye but rolled over and began to breath steadily. He knew there was no winning that fight. She stood up and her eyes again turned to the stars. “It would be nice to be up there,” she whispered to herself.