Val paled at the mention of Ulareg.
She held up her hands, palms outward towards Terry, "Whoa, I'm not sure that's the best place to go right now."
Terry lifted and eyebrow in surprise, seemingly giving Val the once-over following her sudden reaction.
"This," he started. "This is a once in a lifetime opportunity. Given our current circumstances, and somewhat limited time frame, I'm not sure we can pass this up unless you can give me a real damn good reason."
"That's... a bit of a story," said Val.
"Well then..." Terry paused. "Go on."
"Do you want the short version, or the long version?"
"Give me the short version first. I'll ask for more if need be."
Val settled into her chair and took a large gulp of tea. She sighed.
"Alright, here we go."
Terry made a "go on" motion with his hands.
"Before I start, keep in mind that this is only my side of things. You'd have to talk to Mand to get the other half of the story."
Terry nodded, seemingly growing impatient at her dawdling in actually starting the story.
"Ok, so the short version. Mand and I are from Ulareg... sort of."
"Sort of?"
"Well, our father is from there. He moved back following the death of our mother, taking us with him."
"Where were you before?"
"Some island somewhere. Val was 4 at the time and I was only 2. I have no memories of it whatsoever, and Val only has a few fuzzy recollections. Dad never talked of it, I think it hurt him too much to think about Mom."
"How did she die?" Terry asked. "Your mother I mean?"
"From what I got from Val, there was some sort of fire. Dad managed to get us out in time, but Mom never made it."
"Sorry to hear that."
"Well, I can't remember her, so I can't really say I miss her. I know that it affected my dad and my sister in a big way though. From all accounts, she was kind and loving..." Val trailed off.
"Alright, so you and your sister grew up in Ulareg for the most part?"
"Yeah, for the most part." Val leaned forward. "Do you know much about Ulareg?"
Terry thought for a moment. "It's some distance away. It's outside of my normal stomping grounds, which is why it took me some time to set things up with my contact. It's a fairly large city from what I can recall, larger than Cain's Point by a wide margin. Considering that it was referred to as a town in the Lieutenant's letter, it has definitely grown since the end of the war."
"And?"
Terry shrugged. "And what?"
"Well, it's got a bit of reputation. I thought that you might have heard that in your travels."
Terry shook his head.
"Privilege," Val thought. "He probably runs in such high social circles that he probably isn't even aware."
"Ulareg isn't known to be the safest place on the planet. Large sections of the city are under the control of various gangs."
"I had no idea."
"Tell me, your contact, is he a little more expensive normal?"
Terry paused a moment, seeming to scan his mind for the information. "Yes, I recall that I pay him a little bit more. Not by too much, not enough to be a deal breaker, but it's noticeable."
"Bribes," said Val. "No doubt your contact had to pay off one, if not more, of the gangs. No matter how careful someone is, any "new" money that comes into the city is quickly noticed. Making money is fine, as long as the appropriate gangs get their cut."
"Well," Terry said. "You learn something new every day. I don't mind paying bribes, so you still haven't given me a reason why we should stay away."
"Well it's not necessarily YOU that should stay away. It's me, and my sister."
"You ran afoul of one of these gangs?"
"Yeah..." Val drifted off again. She seemed to be lost in the memory.
"I'm sorry," Terry said. "But this is much too important. So. I need you to be a little bit more specific."
Val nodded. She took another large gulp of tea, seeming to steel herself.
"The gangs have a policy of leaving kids out of their affairs, that is until they hit 13."
"What happens then?"
"You're up for recruitment at that point. It's not a guarantee, but if a gang believes they can use you, they WILL come for you. Mand was lucky, we lived in a somewhat "well-to-do" neighborhood that didn't carry much gang influence, so when she hit 13, she was left to her devices."
"And when you hit 13?"
"The gang dynamics had changed by that point. A group called "Doyle's Devils" had moved into the neighborhood. Dad was actually in the process of trying to move us out of the area when I hit 13."
"And they wanted to recruit you."
"Yeah, someone let it slip to them that I was a metalmancer."
"So what happened?"
"They tried to come for me. My dad fought them off as long as he could, but..."
"I understand." Terry said, not wanting her to dwell in the memory. "What happened then?"
"Mand and I had slipped out of the house and tried to escape the city. We had almost made it to the docks when we got cornered by Doyle himself. It was at that point that Mand found out she was a metalmancer."
"She killed him?" Doyle questioned.
"No, but she did break his legs. It bought us enough time to stowaway aboard a ship."
"And you've been on the run ever since?"
Val shook her head. "No, we actually tried to settle down and rebuild our lives. The thing is, the gangs have a surprisingly far reach and LONG memories. They sent people after us, again and again. The only solution we found was to keep moving."
"Which was why there was reluctance to tie yourselves down under my employ. I see now."
"So," Val said. "That's why I can't go back there."
Terry seemed to consider her story for a moment.
"The thing is my dear, for this operation to work, I need you, as well as the other metalmancers we gather to help with the salvage."
"Didn't you hear me? My sister and I have literal hit squads on the lookout for us."
Terry leaned in, smirking. "That's something I can do something about."