Page 114 of Exit Strategy

“My conscience is clear. If there were people inside those caravans that didn’t deserve what happened, well, the bastards can get in line and give me the finger when it’s my time. But I don’t think there were any. I got all the chippies in the clear, and the rest that went in the pond, they were the sort that justice never gets.”

“Fuck all, mate,” the captain said and leaned back in his chair.

“What did the news say, seventy-seven people missing, associated with New Eden, lots of wealthy people, power brokers, Hollywood types?” He nodded. “That sort, even when they’re caught, if there is any legal action, it’s a slap on the wrist. Give ‘em a few years and they’re back at the awards’ shows, pressing lips against the pretty girls and not long after that, you know they’re back to the old dirty business.”

“You think it was a community service?”

“Aye, I think it was as near to Godly work as I’ll ever do. I feel like when they make the posthumous biopic for Arik Rex, I should get a cut of the box office and a shiny gold naked bloke for it.”

“I assume you’re talking about an Oscar?”

“The one with wings,” I said. “I had to get stitches because Rex hit me with one.”

“That’s an Emmy, and it’s not a bloke,” he said. “The Emmy is a woman holding an atom, with lightning bolts for wings.”

“Bitch will cut.” I laughed.

“You have to give up the high ground,” Kyle said. He offered me a glass, and I accepted. “Besides, it doesn’t matter how much you enjoyed Rex’s remake ofThe Valley of the Spiders, they were all scum.”

“But…” the captain protested.

“Mate, the only reason we could honestly have to be pissed is that he got to rack up those kills instead of us,” Kyle said, saluting me with his glass. “Besides, he did it for the greatest thing in the world.”

“Love.” The captain gave a chuckle.

“I was going to say pussy, but that works too.”

“Lach, that’s crude, even for you.”

“Don’t act like it isn’t true. Sure, you might have started with noble purposes, but the moment you fuck, everything changes,” Kyle said.

“Don’t let Sadie hear you say that,” the captain warned.

“I’ll tell her to her face.” He gave another toast.

“I guess that means we aren’t the good guys,” I said, giving the gin a swirl before draining the glass.

“No, we aren’t. But we are the sort of people the world needs. We kill the people who need to be killed, and along the way, we enjoy the good things in life. It’s the payoff for the fact that the world would punish us for what we do, and there is always the chance we don’t come home, because the bad guys will sometimes win.”

“That’s damn near a monologue from you, mate,” I said.

“It is, now tell him the interesting part,” Kyle said. “And stop trying to lecture him.”

“What’s the interesting part?” I asked.

“There were a few interesting things that have been going down in the cryptocurrency world, some stuff in the news about a few crazy billionaires shooting themselves into space, and a few major crypto investors vanishing into the Atlantic,” the captain said. “And thanks to a few discussions we had, we all made a nice bit of money.”

“What’s a nice bit?” I asked.

“You made back everything you spent getting Calanthe here, and then some.”

“He’s being modest,” Kyle said. “Fuck all, I just threw a little cash at that TwitCoin mess and it made me enough that if I really wanted, I could get that Bugatti now.”

“Oh, that’s smashing,” I said.

“What you do with your shares are your own business but I have a new potential business venture,” the captain said.

“Better than New Eden?” I asked.

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