...In Twelve Systems

(previous)

Fourth Directorate Bounty Office
Imperial Services center
Athra (Ringstars)

“This gets you 2,730 esteyn.”

“Th’ell it does! Th’reward’s ten thousand!”

“The reward for bringing in the outlaw is ten thousand. The reward for proof-of-kill alone without an intact mind-state is three-quarters, 7,500 esteyn. And –”

“Then give’s –”

“– that depends on us being able to tell that this actually was the outlaw. You put a thermal sword through his brain.” The ciseflish behind the desk poked the greasy box sitting in front of him with an expression of distaste. “And this is not a refrigerated container. Our scanner says this has a point three six four correlation with the target, so you get point three six four of the bounty.”

“Y’re cheatin’ us, y’coggie bastard. We killed ‘im square, and y’ –”

“Sha! Check the terms, unbound. The offer was for proof of kill, not meat burnt, hashed, and rotted. Count yourself lucky to be paid at all, and that you came here first. For goodwill’s sake, I’ll give you a copy of our scan report, which may help you extract some funds from those less likely to be generous where guess of kill is concerned.”