Gregory said nothing as he looked at me over the rim of his cup. Slurping loudly he placed the cup back on the saucer and his nose wrinkled in disgust as he leaned back. “I see you’re keeping well.”

  I looked down at myself and realised for the first time how I looked.

  Dirt covered the bottom of my trousers and was splattered across most of my body, a large rip along my shirt showed parts of my stomach and my tie had darkened spots on it I could only assume were blood.

  I looked like I had lived on the streets all my life and I was sure I didn’t smell too pretty either.

  “I could be better,” I said, straightening my tie.

  He nodded and slid the menu my way.

  I picked it up and could already feel my mouth water as I scanned through what it offered. Getting the attention of the waitress, who took a step back when she saw my appearance, I placed an order for a large beef and bacon burger with all the trimmings along with a milkshake.

  Gregory continued to sip at his tea while he stared at me. Neither of us said anything while we watched the foot traffic pass us, and waited for my meal to arrive.

  After some time had passed the waitress delivered my meal to me at arm’s length as if I were a rabid dog, then quickly scuttled away.

  I dove into my meal without shame and savoured every bite I took. Juices ran down my chin and into my beard but I cared little. I bit off chunk after chunk and kept on going till there was nothing left of the burger. Sitting back with a sigh I burped loudly and closed my eyes as my body filled with warmth.

  “Better?” Gregory asked.

  I nodded.

  “So what happened out there? One minute I get a message saying you’ve boarded the ship and everything is running smoothly, the next thing I know I’m getting messages from the space station saying you never arrived.

  “If it weren’t for the simple fact we picked up a distress signal from your ship, then we would have never known you were taken.“

  I picked a fry from my plate and dunked it in my shake and bit into it, not quite looking at him. Where to begin? So much had happened in such a short time that I didn’t think I could compress it into words.

  “I... things have been kind of fucked since I got onto the ship you booked for me, really fucked up. A female who belonged to a crew called the Junk Yard Dogs infiltrated the ship. She poisoned the guards and mercenaries you hired with some sort of sleeping agent. It didn’t quite take as she expected and they woke up earlier than she wanted them to.

  “A fight ensued, I was captured, I was brought to this planet, another fight ensued, I was taken to a safe house then in transportation leaving the safe house the crew and I were attacked. Which brings us to here.”

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  Gregory leaned back in his chair and took another sip of his tea while he allowed what I told him to sink in.

  “There appear to be a lot of missing parts to your story.”

  “I gave you the Cliff Notes version.”

  “How did you get a message out?”

  An image of a bloodied face jumped out at me from my subconscious, which made me shiver. “I... borrowed someone’s device.”

  Gregory looked around in confusion as he took in our surroundings. “Someone from this area allowed you to borrow their computer without asking anything for doing so?”

  “Don’t judge a book by its cover; there are some good people who call this place home.”

  “If you say so. Anyway, I am pleased you’re safe and sound, the board is pleased you’re safe and sound. We are lucky this whole mess hasn’t reached the press. They would have a field day and our shareholders would have a heart attack before they began pulling their funds from our company.

  “Hopefully this whole thing can get resolved with little to no fuss.”

  “With little or no fuss,” I said, voice rising with each word. “People died—”

  “Keep your voice down,” Gregory hissed my way, looking around us.

  “People died. Lots of people. That ship was left in a wreck. People have died on this planet. We can’t just brush that under the carpet and act like nothing happened.”

  “Why not? We paid the mercenaries killed on the ship to do a job, and they knew the risk that job entailed. So did the other members of the crew. In regards to the people killed on this planet, it is none of our concern. The company is only worried about the well-being of its property.”

  Only worried about the well-being of its property.

  Those words rebounded in my head as I took another fry and tried to force it down past the bile that was rising in my throat.

  “Now, on to more important business, are you still in possession of the item I gave you?”

  “I—it’s hidden.”

  “Hidden? What do you mean it’s hidden? Is it safe?” Gregory said, leaning forward.

  “Why is it so important? What does it contain that makes everyone I encounter want it? People are killing for it.”

  “What’s on the data-stick is of no importance to you. You were only tasked with delivering the item, something that you have failed to do, so you are in no position to ask questions that are, frankly, above your pay grade.

  “The only thing you should be concerned about is whether or not the data-stick is safe, because if it is not, then your career within this company is finished.”

  “Career! You think I care about some dogshit career? Didn’t you hear what I said? People have died trying to get this thing and you’re not going to tell me what this is all about?”

  “Like I said,” Gregory said, spreading his hands wide, “the information is above—”

  “You knew they took me before I told you—how?”

  “We didn’t find your body on the ship with the rest of the corpses.”

  “How did you get here so quick?”

  Gregory scratched his neck before he took another sip of his tea. “Your wife Claire notified us as soon as she received the message. We had to inform her of what took place, naturally, once we suspected they kidnapped you. There are company protocols in place for this sort of thing, in case your kidnappers sent a ransom to your loved ones.”

  “That still doesn’t explain how you got here so fast—”

  “Do you have the stick on you?” Gregory said, cutting me off.

  “You didn’t answer my question.”

  He said nothing as his eyes darted behind me; I turned around and saw to my horror a face I thought I had escaped. Combat fatigues hugged his muscular frame, as he passed a hand through his salt and pepper buzz-cut hair. Coming to a stop in front of me, he clamped his hands down upon my shoulders and greeted me with a smile.

  It was the same man who had attacked The Office, the same military-dressed prick who had nearly killed me while he was shooting up the bar.

  I looked to my right and left and saw that my exits were blocked.

  “Hello, my friend, long time no see.”