October 6th, 2173
02:21
Terkon-5, Ikirium-System
Warehouse District of Laudurum
Levin Banks
It took a moment for Levin to comprehend Oscar Denebren's words. Not because they were complicated or spoken quietly but because the situation was so out of Levin's comfort zone that his mind needed a few seconds to reboot.
Yet, when his mind finally processed the words, Levin's arms wanted to shoot up, and he could only thank his subconscious that it managed to stop his knee-jerk reaction.
A sudden and fast movement of his arms would have definitely earned him a bullet or two in the head.
The people surrounding Denebren protectively had rifles pointed at Luk and him and didn't look like the kind of guys who appreciated anything that could become threatening to their charge.
Slowly, ever so slowly, Levin raised his arms over his head, with his palms pointing forwards, to show that his hands were empty.
Glancing to the side, he saw Luk still staring at the newcomers and that he hadn't moved an inch. It was like time did stop moving for him.
Levin winced.
It wasn't like he couldn't understand why Luk reacted that way. The situation was quite unbelievable, but not following the suggestions of the man in charge of the people with guns was unmistakably the worse decision.
Thankfully, Levin stood close enough to his partner to kick his leg.
Slowly, of course. It wouldn't do if Levin got shot for his efforts to prevent his partner from making the acquaintance with a bullet.
"Oh, yes, yes. Hands in the air. A wonderful idea," Luk stammered after Levin's kick got him out of his trance, and he proceeded to do just that.
It felt like half an eternity, but less than a minute passed until Denebren broke the silence that had settled between the two groups.
"Well, now that we have worked out our respective positions, may I ask what you're doing here? I mean, it's always great to see two members of different species working together, but this isn't exactly the place I would have thought to wander upon it."
Levin could feel the lump in his throat when he tried to answer Denebren's command.
And it was a command, no matter how politely he asked.
It was like he said, they knew their respective positions, and Denebren's position was the one that held all the power, most importantly, the one over Luk's and Levin's lives. So, not doing as Denebren asked was the same as playing with volatile fire.
After understanding that, was it surprising that Levin found it difficult to speak?
Luk hadn't the same reservations as Levin.
"Well, you see, sir," began Luk, and while his previous stammer had disappeared, Levin could still notice the nervousness clinging to his voice.
"I heard from a guy who has a friend who's acquainted with this guy who heard from a stripper who got this customer..."
It took less than a minute of Luk's talking for Levin to wish he hadn't kicked Luk out of his state of shock. There was nothing more Levin wanted to do than slap himself in the face.
Luk's talking would throw them only deeper into trouble. It always had.
Why did he expect that it would be different this time?
Thankfully, the light smile on Denebren's face hadn't turned annoyed. Instead, Levin could see an ounce of amusement that grew more prominent the longer Luk talked.
Was it possible? Would Luk's long-ass explanation help them this time? Contrary to everything Levin had experienced until now?
Denebren held up his left hand to politely interrupt Luk and said:" I think I get it now. You got information about this place, and, thanks to it going through multiple sources, you didn't know from who you were going to steal. Am I correct?"
"Yes, sir. That's correct," squeaked Luk, looking at the guy who stepped closer to him with a rifle still trained on his head.
Another nonchalant gesture from Denebren, and the guy took a step back.
If Levin had to take a guess, the soldiers around Denebren weren't as amused as the man himself and probably thought Luk was disrespecting their boss with his non-stop talking.
There were rumors galore about what employees of Ad Astra did when people disrespected or talked disdainfully about Oscar Denebren in their presence.
Truthfully, most just got into an argument with the offending person, but there were also some that took things too far, most notably those in the Ad Astra Security Division.
And Levin wasn't talking about black eyes or broken noses but extended stays in the hospital.
Yet, those instances never made it to the public.
The victim got compensated, the hospital bills paid, and the person responsible got relocated.
If there were a department that dealt solely with such situations, it wouldn't surprise Levin. The stellar reputation Ad Astra sported didn't leave room to expect otherwise.
All in all, Levin didn't want to learn if those rumors about the Ad Astra SD were truthful. The guys around Denebren were definitely part of the SD, and if they put civilians into the hospital for badmouthing their boss in public, what would they do to the two guys trying to steal from him?
Suddenly, being killed wasn't the worst option anymore. Other options were far more terrifying.
At least, it seemed like Denebren had tight control over them and didn't want unnecessary violence.
"So," continued Denebren, "if you had known who owned these crates, you would have skipped this opportunity?"
"Yes!" said Levin before Luk had the chance to answer. If Levin knew him well enough, and he did, then the answer to that question would put them deeper into the hot water than they were already in.
Denebren looked at him and raised an eyebrow in question at the speed Levin had answered with. Slowly, Denebren turned to look at Luk, who fidgeted under the questioning stare.
"Probably not, would still do it," escaped Luk quietly, but the silence and openness of the warehouse allowed his voice to echo loudly.
Fuck!
That was the word that sped through Levin's head. Constantly. Repeatedly. Nothing, but this word filled his mind.
You don't tell the most powerful human alive that you would steal from him to his face. You don't do it to anyone. That was probably the first lesson in thieving 1-0-1.
Sometimes, Levin wondered if Luk was suicidal. Salarians had a much shorter lifespan than humans, and Luk may have left a decade to live, at best. Yet, that was no excuse to drag Levin into a surefire execution for a last blaze of glory.
That was it.
If they somehow survived, Levin would ditch Luk and do his own thing.
-Deep down, he knew he wouldn't do it. Levin had thought about it a few times. Whenever they got into such a situation, in fact, but hadn't gone through. So why should this time be any different?-
The guys around them were more like statues than people, disciplined as they were, but Levin could see how they all tensed after they heard Luk's admission.
Yet, the person their fate hinged on just looked silently at Luk and blinked. He blinked and then blinked once more before he started to laugh.
At first, it wasn't more than a chuckle before it got progressively louder until Denebren laughed loud enough that Levin was sure that people passing the warehouse outside could hear him.
While their heads didn't move an inch, the security guys were probably looking at Denebren with the same incomprehension as Luk and Levin.
Levin didn't understand the world anymore. He was sure he would be dead in the next few minutes, but here he was, looking at loudly laughing Oscar Denebren.
"Damn," chuckled Denbren after he calmed down from his laughing fit, "it wasn't even that funny, but I couldn't help it. It was probably the most unexpected answer I ever heard, directly to my face, too."
He took a step closer to Luk and slowly clapped. "You are probably one of the most fearless people I've met."
Was that good? Or was it not? Levin couldn't decide. His whole body felt as if gravity had increased tenfold.
Denebren took one look at him and said:" Oh, relax. I'm not going to kill you. Perhaps dump you at the local police station for breaking and entering. After all, I'm a law-abiding citizen."
Levin called bull on that but could still feel his body relaxing slightly. Denbren's first two assertions may be veritable, but the last one, that he was a law-abiding citizen?
Never in his life had Levin heard a more bald-faced lie.
If Oscar Denebren was a law-abiding citizen, then Levin was a Prothean. In his opinion, the only reason Denebren wasn't facing a jail sentence was that he was too powerful, too important, knew the right people, and could probably bury every shred of evidence of his wrongdoings so deep that not even archeologists could find them.
The man had probably broken more laws than Luk and Levin combined.
The difference was that nobody dared to call him out on it.
Besides, if Levin broke the law, it was a crime. If Denebren did it, it was a necessity.
It was the simple beauty of the double standard between the average and the upper crust.
"Besides," continued Denebren, unknowing of Levin's thoughts, "my name wouldn't have shown up in connection to those warehouses. I'm just the guy responsible for the transportation of those goods."
And suddenly, it felt like a burden just fell off Levin's shoulders. They hadn't tried to rob Oscar Denebren personally.
Well, he was still the guy responsible for transportation, in his own words, but the goods didn't belong to him.
To Levin, it felt like their life expectancy rose by a large margin.
"They belong to my business partner, Qintinius Cicerio."
And as suddenly as his spirits had lifted, they plummeted once again.
Quintinius Cicerio was a name Levin knew well.
The Turian may not have the same amount of financial, political, or even social power as Denebren, but he had by far more connections in the underbelly of galactic society.
It may very well be even worse.
Instead of being on Denbren's shit list, they would become the two newest additions to Cicerio's.
With Denebren, the only thing they would have to do if they got out of this situation alive would be to avoid the Alliance territory. He may be a giant in comparison to Luk and Levin, but his influence mostly restricted itself to where humans were the majority. If they lay low somewhere else in the galaxy, they could avoid Denebren's retaliation and continue their work unhindered.
That wasn't the case with Cicierio, though.
The Turian would put their names out there, and it wouldn't take two weeks before there was at least one person in every corner of the galaxy who hadn't heard their name and was on the lookout for them.
Nobody would hire them anymore or buy the goods they acquired out of fear of pissing off Cicerio's associates for colluding with them.
And nothing was more effective than the possibility of lowering one's position that would stop people from working with them.
Levin's concern must have shown on his face because Denebren turned to him, and while his face retained a passive smile, there was a knowing glint in his eyes.
"Don't worry," Denebren said, his voice adopting a soothing tone, "as long as we come to an understanding, there will be no need to inform Quintinius of this little incident."
The casual use of Cicerio's first name spoke of a familiarity between the two that Levin hadn't known. There weren't even rumors about any sign of cooperation between the two.
Yet, wasn't that an indication that Luk and Levin stumbled upon something that could very well kill them?
If they went to such lengths to keep their relationship hidden, Luk's and Levin's deaths would be a small price to pay to keep it so.
Of course, it had been Denebren who dropped Cicerio's name and told them they were cooperating, but if they had looked a bit deeper into the job after they had left, they would have found out that Cicerio owned the items in the warehouse. With Denebren appearing and telling them he was shipping the crates to only god knows where the logical conclusion they would arrive at would be that the two people were cooperating.
Instead, Denebren told them flat out so that he could control their reaction to this revelation. He took away a valuable piece of information from them before they even knew it existed.
If Levin weren't so terrified of him at the moment, he would look at Denebren with stars in his eyes for pulling off such a move.
Yet, there was a flicker of hope, and Levin was willing to grasp it and never let go.
He swallowed his anxiety and asked: "You mentioned an understanding, sir? What kind of understanding?"
Denebren's smile grew marginally brighter.
"If I followed your partner's," he nodded at Luk," explanation correctly, then it seems like you know a lot of people in very different positions. Am I correct?"
"You are, sir," agreed Levin as politely as he could. It didn't hurt to be polite, and it definitely didn't hurt his chances of staying alive.
"Different positions is an understatement," threw Luk in, and Levin had to suppress the urge to throttle him. "I know a Batarian stripper, a Hanar crime boss, an Elcor fitness trainer..."
The kick Levin aimed at Luk thankfully shut him up. He ignored his partner's hurt look aimed at him and added:" As you heard, we really do know some interesting people."
"A Hanar crime boss?" Denbren whispered to himself before he shook his head almost unnoticeably.
"No matter. It's nice to hear that you got around so much to meet such different people. It seems like you would be perfect for the job I have in mind."
"A job?" repeated Levin and Luk, and while Levin's voice spoke of curiosity, Luk's was, in comparison, dripping with anticipation.
"I take it that you're interested?"
That was probably the most rhetorical question Levin had heard this month. The only question more rhetorical would have been: "Do you want to live?"
And those two question were one and the same at the moment.
"Of course!" declared Luk enthusiastically. "This job is a bust, so we need a new one to pay the bills. And a job from the most powerful human alive is sure to be interesting. And challenging. And I like challenges." There was a slight pause in Luk's torrent of words before he turned a bit sheepish. "And a job from you will mean that we get out of here alive."
The exact same thought had gone through Levin's head. If Denebren had a job for them, then they would have to be alive to do it. It was probably their best chance.
And who knows? Perhaps it would even be lucrative for them.
Still, there was one thing nagging on his mind, and, deciding to be brave, Levin asked:" What about Mr. Cicerio?"
"What about Quintinius?" said Denebren dismissively. "As far as I am concerned, nothing has happened that requires his attention. I am sure there are more important uses of his time than him listening to my recounting of a routine inspection."
There weren't enough words of gratitude in the galaxy to express Levin's relief. Nonetheless, he directed as many as he knew toward the different deities he knew.
That was one less problem he and Luk would have to deal with.
"So, about the job," said Luk before the silence between them could get awkward.
Denebren took a look around, held up his right hand, and spun his index finger in a circle.
At once, more than three-quarters of the soldiers surrounding them lowered their weapons and disappeared into the darkness.
Probably to check if there were more unwelcome guests around.
The ease with which the soldiers disappeared got Levin to think. If the ones he knew were there could disappear so well that there were no signs of their presence anymore, how many of Denebren's escort had stayed in the shadows? The total number could be double the amount of those he had seen.
And wasn't that a chilling thought?
There could still be muzzles pointed at them, even if the remaining soldiers put their guns down at Denebren's sign.
The fact that they lowered their weapons at all pointed to the accuracy of Levin's guess. Neither Luk nor he were known quantities, and if those guys from the Ad Astra Security Division were as protective of their boss as those rumors said, then they would have never done so, not even at their boss' request.
"You can put your hands down now, you know. There's no reason to keep them up anymore," said Denebren.
"Thank the Dalatrasses," sighed Luk, relieved, and let his arms fall down.
Levin, however, took them down slowly, watching the reactions of the remaining soldiers. They didn't do so much as twitch, lending further credit to his theory that there was someone in the shadows with a gun pointed at them.
Yet, he put the thoughts about that to the back of his mind. They were of no importance right now. It didn't change the outcome of what was going to happen.
They would accept the job anyway.
For what else could they do?
They could deny it, of course, but that would put them into a situation they didn't want to be in. Either Denebren killed them now if they refused, or Cicerio would sometime in the future.
"What are the details of the job?" asked Levin, trying to get the conversation back on track.
The faster they got to the point where they could agree to do it, the faster their survival was guaranteed.
"It's more a series of jobs, not a single task," explained Denebren. "It will take a bit longer than just a few weeks."
"Alright," nodded Levin. Of course, it would take longer. Otherwise, why would he have asked if they were well-connected? Else, he would have sent one of his employees to get it done.
"But don't worry, it won't take that much effort from your side. It's something you can do along the way. So you can still run jobs for other people. And depending on how good you are, I'm willing to pay appropriately. I'm not someone who isn't willing to reward a job well done."
Getting paid?!
Levin would have been content with the assurance that they would keep their lives. Was this Denebren's way to keep them from running after they agreed to do the job? It was a hell of an incentive as well. Everybody knew that Oscar Denebren was a man that paid well. Probably better than any other client Luk and Levin had.
"So, what do you want us to do?" asked Luk, and Levin could hear a tinge of impatience. He was fired up by the prospective reward.
"I'm looking for a slew of items, weapons, armor, etc. Everything you can get your hands on. A single crate of any item should be enough."
"That sounds a little too easy for me," said Levin, "There has to be more, or am I wrong? With your resources, you could easily buy them."
"You would be right," hummed Denebren," if I wanted the run-of-the-mill items. Furthermore, I don't know anyone who could get me the good stuff from the black market, at least without information spreading around about it."
Levin was just about to ask why he thought he could trust them not to spread the information when he saw that Denebren's smile had gotten an icy edge.
He didn't trust them at all. Denebren just saw an opportunity and took it, trusting his instincts. Besides, if his instincts were wrong, he wouldn't have to lift a finger to deal with them, a single word to Cicerio, and they would be in hell's kitchen.
"We can get you that," agreed Luk, oblivious to Levin's thoughts. "What were you thinking about? Turian, Asari, Krogan, or Elcor?"
"How about all of them? And I don't want just the newest things. If you can get your hands on antiques or older models, it would be great. The gradual improvements will be a great help to my scientists," responded Denebren.
"Ah, a man with taste. We will send everything we find your way," nodded Luk. "By the way, how are we going to do that?"
Denebren put a hand in his pocket and pulled out a chip that he threw toward Levin.
The tiny chip was barely visible in the darkness, and Levin had to use both hands to catch it securely to avoid letting it fall to the ground.
"Put that one in any extra-net terminal," explained Denebren. "On it is a small program that will allow one of my employees to contact you over a secure channel. Then you will agree on a drop-off point. My employee will get the items you acquired, and you will get an appropriate monetary reward."
Levin looked down at the chip in his hand. This small thing would be their only point of contact, and he couldn't help but think that it would probably send their location to their contact person, too.
It's what he would do.
And if there was more on it, he would probably never know. The chance that the data on it was heavily encrypted was very high, and any tampering with it would surely lead to it deleting itself.
Thankfully, with everything clear now, Luk and Levin could bow out of this conversation and leave. And the sooner they left, the earlier Levin could breathe again without feeling like the next one could be his last.
"Just one more thing," said Luk, dashing Levin's hope that it would be over now.
"And that would be?" asked Denebren, and Levin could hear the curiosity in his voice. Apparently, he had also expected them to leave now.
"If we wanted our reward in something different than money, would that be possible, too?"
"What kind of different? Precious metals? I guess they could be more useful in the Terminus systems."
"No, I thought about a new spaceship," corrected Luk. "The one we currently have is breaking apart more than holding together. Besides, the cargo bay is comparatively undersized. The engines could be faster, too. Anyway, I thought it would be good to acquire a new one in the near future, and since we're going to work for you, a well-known producer of first-class ships, I thought it wouldn't hurt to ask."
"It wouldn't be out of the realm of possibilities," hummed Denebren. "Let's say we revisit the topic when you prove yourself good at your job, ok?"
"Understood, sir," said Luk enthusiastically and saluted him.
Denebren gave them a last smile and nod before he turned around and disappeared into the shadows like the soldiers earlier. The remaining soldiers followed shortly after, and only Luk and Levin remained in the warehouse.
"Well," said Luk, "that was that. Quite a ride, don't you think?"
This time, Levin didn't hold back and kicked Luk in the ass as hard as he could.
"Hey, why did you do that?" he complained and rubbed his behind.
"Because you're an idiot," said Levin as if that explained everything, and for him, it did.
"At least we got a job out of it," said Luk, steering the conversation in another direction. The discussion that he wasn't an idiot and didn't deserve this treatment would only go in circles. They had this particular conversation often enough. Their record was 113 minutes!
"Yeah, we got one," agreed Levin. "There's just one thing. I somehow got a feeling that we just sold our souls to the devil."
"That's because we did," said Luk, "but it's probably the best-paying devil out there. So, it could be worse."
And that was something Levin could agree to. Better working for the devil that pays you for your so than the one who takes it and leaves you an empty husk.