Making Waves & Checking Mail

Posted on Mon Jan 3rd, 2022 @ 9:21am by Cooper O'Reilly & Jonas Bailey & Whit
Edited on on Mon Jan 3rd, 2022 @ 10:27am

Mission: Li Shen's Bazaar
Location: Li Shen's Bazaar
Timeline: November 3 - Mid Morning

"Fine-ly," noted the big, balded headed Shepherd.

Cooper's serious expression wavered into half-smile as he approached the Allied Postal Services sign. There'd been a queue, in which he, Jonas and Whit had malingered impatiently for their turn and now, here they were right at the counter getting their own turn to collect.

"Y'all together?" Asked the thirty-something Chinese lady behind that customer-facing point, intelligent dark eyes scanning the three men. "Names, please."

"Myra," Whit said with a twinkle in his eye. "Any parcels for Nicholas Myra?"

It took her a moment, rustling the myriad shelves behind her under the big friendly 'M' marker, then the post-mistress returned with a short stack of items. "Here you go," she said, lightly patting the top of said collection with her left hand as her right offered Whit a cortex terminal to sign. "Signature here, please."

A mix of sizes, Whit's mail drop consisted of two short, flat parcels, one medium-sized square box and a handful of hand-addressed letters.

"Anything for Cooper O'Reilly, Mya?" asked Cooper, with a soft warmth in his tone.

"I know who you are," returned Mya, reaching under her counter to present Cooper with a large, lumpy envelope and a brown paper packet the size of a hardback novel.

Whit shook his head at Cooper. "Best to keep correspondence under an alias," he said lowly. "Amen and amen."

"Y'reckon?" Cooper raised an eyebrow at his partner in holy retribution and gave the uneven envelope a hearty shake. Something shifted position from end to end but made no unnatural noises. He opened it to find a woollen shirt wrapped about a tin mug with a child's drawing painted on it. "Don't figure ma sister would 'pprove," he mumbled.

"Not too sure you'll find anything," Jonas said, "but the name's Jonas Bailey." He waited as the lady shuffled around in the back for a minute. She returned with an envelope and put it down on the counter. Without a word. The envelope was dusty and had some greasy looking spots on it...almost as it'd been there for a while. Jonas opened it and read it. A slight gloom fell over the man's face before he pursed his lips. It was a not so friendly letter from an angry little weasel of a man who said he'd never quit looking for Jonas and the money he took for a job he didn't finish. "Wilson Pickett. Damn."

"Pickett?" Cooper's head canted to the side. "Bounty hunting Pickett? I thought he died?" There was a low snicker. "Though ain't that the best way to make a come-back..."

"Bounty hunting ain't for the faint of heart," Whit agreed. He nodded up at Jonas. "What you got there?"

Jonas nodded. "Yeah, weasels always seem to crop up when you don't expect 'em." Jonas chuckled at Cooper's comment before turning to Whit. "Nope, pickin' up bounties ain't for the weak, that's for sure. Been doing it for a long time before I met up with this crew. Anyway, it's a nasty little letter from Pickett sayin' that he won't stop looking for me or the down payment he gave me for a hit. Guessin' from the dust and grease on this envelope though, he didn't have a clue as to where start lookin' so he just left it here. Bet there's more of 'em sittin' around at other places."

Cooper ran his fingers over his book-shaped parcel as if he were a blind man seeking information via touch alone, but he shifted his interest to Jonas the other man spoke. An eyebrow raised, head tilted back some and Cooper smiled a lopsided smile. "Sounds like a seriously pissed off fella y'all got on yer pen-pal list there, friend," he noted. "He be wanting anyone particularly infamous el-im-inated?"

While he stayed silent, Whit shifted his weight forward and pointedly tried to get a glimpse of the letter. Elimination was necessary at times.

Jonas put the letter on the counter. "Well now there's where the rub is. I don't ask questions when it comes to bounties. And all he gave me was the landing coordinates on a planet and the captain of a Firefly class transport. When I saw the man I'd known and flown and fought with since I was eighteen come out of the cargo bay, I put my sniper rifle away. That's when I gave Alden the bounty down-payment as passage on his ship and a warning that Wilson was lookin' for him. Guess now he's lookin' for both of us."

A grave expression came over Whit's face, but his eyes still twinkled with the confidence of a cardsharp. "But he ain't got any notion where to rightfully look, you said?"

Shifting from having been ready to assist Jonas in his quest had the need arisen to realising it was a bounty that wasn't about to get filled, Cooper quietly opened his parcel and found a bible. His gaze met Whit's briefly before he opened the cover to see an inscription, then returned that look as he passed the book to the brighter half of their partnership.

"Y'all got hired to shoot your buddy," Cooper half-asked Jonas a question that didn't need asking. "Well, shit..." A grin slowly took up residence on that ugly face. "Mebbe we should find him first? Pickett's no god-fearing or righteous soul..."

Any response from the others was interrupted by the sounds of both Cooper and Whit's cortex terminals receiving the solid buzz of contact texts. The two men locked eyes briefly on reading them, checked weapons and gave each other a curt nod.

Then an alarm sounded that seemed to be coming from the direction of the med center.

"Come with," grunted Cooper to Jonas with a rough sense of fraternal inclusion offering up a friendly, no pressure kinda choice. "Or don't. Your call."

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