Chapter 288: Bar in a Mountain
Salem could see her own breath as she breathed. After taking a moment to breathe she walked forward. Marching through the piles of snow as neared the entrance of a place only known as ’The Bar in the Mountain’. It was the second stop on their search for this Xenoarcheologist.
The first had been his fake research post. It clearly lacked anything resembling Xeno research. So they had dug deeper when they realized he had not been there for over a month. Eventually they uncovered the fact that he had gone off mission with his bodyguard and delved into the criminal world in order to get some information.
This place was literally circled in a notebook they found in a secret compartment at the fake research post. So after fishing around for information they learned about this place from Ajax. Unfortunately it appeared that Shepard was too busy to do his task of handling them, so Ajax was taking over for the moment.
Eventually they had someone scout the place out and now they were going in. Of course, the only person that was actually going in was her. Not that she minded but she was starting to get what Jace meant when he said being in command was exhausting.
"Having second thoughts?" He could hear a voice mumble in her ear where her hidden communication device was located. The voice was one of the members of her team, of which there were six people.
"No, just thinking that this place is freezing." Salem answered as she moved toward the entrance of the bar. Whispering under her breath so only her comm device would pick up her voice. There were a pair of burly guards at the door. One was an Uris with white fur and only leather straps covering his fur covered body. The other was less discernable. They were covered completely in heavy jackets and clothes, so much so that they just looked like a giant ball.
"State your name and purpose." The uris growled out as she approached.
"Salem and none of your god damn business." Salem answered as she pushed opened the door, deciding to ignore guards. They just chuckled as she walked past. They were more there for the bar owner’s enemies.
She pushed past the swinging wooden door and into the fireplace heated bar. It was based on an ancient design. So it was built almost entirely out of wood. The only things that were not a rustic design were behind the bar and kitchen. Both of which she could not see at the moment.
She stood at the entrance for a moment looking for her target. Then she spotted him. The owner of the bar.
He was an overweight man with a short body. As a normal human it made sense, especially with the exotic foods he enjoyed. Even from this distance she could see the oil on his skin while his fingers were covered in various rings. He wore a fur coat to keep himself warm while having a silver goblet that held whatever booze he was currently downing.
He was at a square table with three people on the other sides of the table. They appeared to be playing a game of cards. But curiously enough they had revolvers next to them. She watched as the skinny one across from the bar owner mumbled and the rest of them broke out in laughter.
He picked up the revolver and raised it to his head. It was nervously shaking as he pressed it up against the side of his own head. He pulled the hammer of the gun back with his thumb and then pulled the trigger.
Bang!
An explosion of blood followed by the laughter of the bar residents. While the skinny man’s head slammed onto the table leaking blood and the gun in his arm hung loosely at his side. A robot was the one that came up and began cleaning up the blood and gunk with some wet clothes. While a pair of children walked over and began dragging the corpse away but not before pulling the revolver out of his hand and putting it on the table.
"Make sure you put everything worthwhile in the bucket before you break him down!" The bar owner reminded the kids. Then he looked over at Salem who at this point was staring. "Can I help you?"
Salem took a moment and then stepped forward, staying clear of the blood until it was cleaned. "Information." Salem informed the bar owner.
The bar owner raised an eyebrow, "about what?"
Salem reached under her jacket and the guards standing around the bar owner pulled out their weapons. But Salem ignored them as she pulled out a data pad and tossed it across the room so it bounced on the table. "Everything you know."
The bar owner frowned and picked up the pad. Looking at the image she had displayed. "I may know a few things." He then racked his eyes along her body and she frowned as she could already tell what he would ask. "But I do not like to just give out this information. I need something in exchange. Normally, I would ask a beauty like you to just spend the night with me..." He trailed off as he did not attempt to hide his lust.
"I got information and black market credits. Those are the only two things I have that are worth anything to you." Salem informed the man as the seat and table were completely clean now. So she stepped forward and looked down at it before sitting down. It still smelled like piss and iron. Like the seat had been pissed in before several times. The iron smell was definitely the blood, with so much of it, it probably soaked into the wood.
"Yeah, trying to sleep with you will definitely get me killed. But I doubt a no-name like you has any information I need. So how about a game. I do not mind playing with a corpse afterwards." The insinuation almost made her shiver in disgust but she just growled under her breath.
"What game?" Salem asked as she glanced at the table. There was food in the corners and drinks on the table. But it was clear that the focus of the table was the cards and revolvers.