Discovery part 5 by Ronald Faltus

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Looking past Gareth, he paned around the tavern, his eyes eventually stopping at a back corner table. Subtly he began to wipe out the inside of a glass with a dirty rag, using the motion to indicate the direction he wanted Gareth too look.

"Over there, in the back. The big guy with the patch, that's Sands."

Slowly Gareth turned, sipping his drink in an attempt to look inconspicuous. Were the bartender pointed stood a man, possibly the tallest in the entire bar. He leaned over his table, a large mug in one hand, the other on his holster. Threateningly, he was bellowing something at seated mean on the other side of the table. The recipient warily looked back, and put up his hands, ceding his point in what ever disagreement they were having.

"No good talking too him though, he only deals with people that he knows. I'll make sure to talk to him before he leaves, to tell him how interested you are."

Still watching the scene, Gareth acknowledged the bartender. He never had any intention of confronting Sands. The man looked far too dangerous for him to mess with. All he wanted to do was find out as much as possible about his activities and then make an anonymous tip to the authorities. Gareth knew that there was company in particular that would be very interested in how Sands came to acquire the bracelets.

The now seated Sands boastfully continue his story, as Gareth tired to size the man up. The menacing scar that extended from below the patch gave testament to his true nature. This was the type of man that would and could do anything he pleased, especially if there was a profit involved. Precisely the kind of person that would not have any qualms with the vile means that were necessary to procure the bracelets.

Gareth turned back to the bar, and took one look at the two and a half full drinks sitting in font of him. Physically he cringed at the though of having another injection form the pungent alcohol. But he wondered how inconspicuous he could remain in this den of thieves and smuggles with the untouched booze. Thankfully his coordination was so damaged that he managed to spill most of the contents of one across the bar as he tired to pick it up. He sat there for almost another hour, quietly thinking to himself and battling through his intoxicated mind.

The images of the suffering on Vergos were gone now, replaced with another collage of repelling thoughts. In a way though, he was relieved to have something else to occupy himself. Instead of a disaster of his own creation and was powerless to do anything about, he now could focus on a situation not of his making, but able to correct. The bracelets were much more than exquisite pieces of jewelry, they represented real individuals, an identification that went back to the infancy of man's travels into space. By the end of the twenty first century, humans were still predominantly a one planet species. Sure there were small colonies on the moon and Mars along with a few outposts on Titan and Europa, but they were so dependent on Earth for supplies, that they could hardly be considered true settlements.