Justice Read Online Free Page A

over the room. She was just taking in the fake
wooden bar-top and surrounding tables when a large hand slapped
down on her back.
    She turned,
her hand already reaching for her gun belt.
    “ Whoa, Nova; chill out.” A young man stood smiling at her and
Nova’s guard dropped.
    “ Jack.”
    “ I didn’t think this would be your sort of gig, running
security for a tycoon?”
    Nova shrugged
as she looked at the patrons scattered throughout the room. “Just a
bit of a change.”
    “ A big change, not many of your er- calibre here. I guess that
puts you in charge of the Hunters.” Jack winked.
    Nova groaned
and rolled her eyes. She and Jack had run missions together when
they were younger, before she joined The Jagged Maw and he moved to
the Inner Galaxies to do personal security. He’d been a good friend
and mentor when she was first finding her feet and there weren’t
many people she’d rather work with, especially after her recent
experience with the super-soldier.
    “ I heard about your recent run-in,” Jack’s voice dropped.
“Poor Dent and Harvey.”
    Nova nodded
but refused to say more about the failed mission.
    “ Oh, heads up for the newbie,” Jack said, jutting his chin
towards the figure just entering the bar.
    The thin boy
had a round, young face. Nova frowned at him, her eyes opening wide
when she saw his name tag: Security.
    “ He’s a Hunter?” she asked. She watched the boy walk through
the room with stiff steps and sit down in a rigid-backed
chair.
    “ Just off the runaway train,” Jack said, referencing the many
children who entered bounty hunting after running away from
home.
    “ Look at him,” Nova said. The boy sat with hunched shoulders
and wide eyes as he looked around. Many eyes looked back at him;
mostly other Hunters.
    “ Obviously hasn’t made it into The Jagged Maw yet,” Jack
said.
    Nova nodded,
and with the inexperienced way he looked around the room it would
be some time before he was accepted into that particular club. It
wasn’t the richest or the most glamourous of the bounty hunter
guilds, but there was a tough entry bar. The Jagged Maw Hunters
were known for their metal, their rock-hard spines and daring.
    A part of Nova
wanted to go over and point out the gaping blindside to his back
right. Or how the way he sat impeded access to his gun. But of
course, she wouldn’t say a thing; it was up to him to either make
it as a Hunter or not.
    “ There are a few of us here,” Jack said.
    Nova nodded.
It was good pay for what would no doubt be a routine mission. She
had already nodded her head to other Hunters she recognised from
The Jagged Maw.
    “ Want a drink?” Jack said.
    Nova nodded
again. There was nothing better to do now that she’d scoped out the
rest of the dome. They shuffled through the crowded bar to the main
bench where bright red stools were scattered around, some of them
occupied. Nova headed straight for the empty end of the bar and
slumped down into a red stool, gesturing to the barman.
    Jack took a
seat next to Nova and nodded at the bartender for a drink.
    The bartender
placed two cold glasses on the bar and nodded as Nova slid her
credstick towards him.
    “ To rich guys who need protecting,” Nova said, clinking her
glass against his.
    “ I’ve been listening to the radios. There’s a real blow up
over that mission you were just on. I knew we lost a few but what’s this I’m
hearing about monsters?” Jack asked. His brows drew together and he
looked at Nova with a frown.
    Nova sighed
and scraped her fingernail along the wooden bar. The new bench had
a smooth polish that reflected the lights overhead. The bar smelled
like almost any other; alcohol, sweat, perfume, and a faint tinge
of smoke. A mellow noise pervaded the air; this was a bar made more
for conversation than raucous fights.
    “ I don’t know what it was,” Nova said, still not lifting her
eyes from the spotless bar.
    “ What did it look like?” Jack asked. His tone was hushed