Jaspen stood on the bridge of the Zenith and sighed. The war between the families was getting worse and mercenaries like him were in high demand. He’d already been propositioned by two different factions. He’d turned the Tershanes down flat. He knew what those gene splicing bastards were up to and he wasn’t going to work for them.

His own family, the Telphyses, were hiring but he wouldn’t work for them on principle after what they’d done to him. That left the Pylons, who never hired mercenaries, or the Madricals. The Madricals were the least prepared for war, specializing in medical supplies over weapons, and they were buying up contracts with mercenary companies like crazy. That was why he was in Nexus. A representative from the Madricals was supposed to be meeting him there the next day.

“You okay, Captain?” Luz, his first officer, asked.

“I hate war,” Jaspen said. Luz looked at him strangely. “Yeah, yeah, I know. I’m a merc captain with a dozen ships in my fleet and I hate war. I know that’s how we make money, Luz. But this war between the families is slagging pointless, Luz. It’s always some stupid insult that someone’s been given that sparks the war and no one wants to deal with it diplomatically. They automatically go to extreme violence.”

“No offense, Captain, but I’ll take their violence any day. I like eating,” Luz pointed out.

Jaspen snorted. “So do I. Which is why I don’t mind working security for the Jumpers. At least they pay for honest work. The families? You never know who’s in the right.”

“Fair point,” Luz conceded. “So why are we meeting with the Madrical rep?”

“Because I know the Madricals. They are the least warlike of the families and if they’re getting dragged in, it’s not because they want to be involved. It’s because someone on their side tried diplomacy and was probably assassinated for it,” Jaspen sighed. “So I’ll help them out over any of the other families.”

“Captain, we’ve got a mayday. It’s the Madrical rep. She’s being fired on by Tershane fighters. She’s so much slag if they hit her. She’s got minimal armaments on her ship,” Vex, his comm officer, reported.

“Luz, get the fleet moving. Let’s go save our contact’s ass,” Jaspen ordered.

The Zenith and the rest of the Black Fleet was in motion within seconds. They located the Madrical ship and immediately moved to protect it. The Tershane fighters veered off when the massive battleships appeared on their scanners. The Madrical ship dove into the middle of the fleet and docked with the Zenith after getting clearance from Luz.

The representative from the Madricals was a slim woman in her mid twenties who looked more than a little ill after what had just happened to her. “Captain, I take it now you see why we need your help,” she said quietly when she was shown into Jaspen’s private office. “We are the least warlike of the families. Not to put too fine a point on it, we are easy targets and we are going to get obliterated by the Tershanes and the Pylons.”

“Is that who started the mess this time?” Jaspen asked with a sigh. The woman nodded. “Cyphis’ balls, can’t those two ever quit? All right. What are you offering?”

“One hundred thousand credits and a full medical rekit for your entire fleet,” the woman said.

Jaspen raised an eyebrow. The Madricals were one of the least warlike, but they were also one of the wealthiest, so the one hundred thousand credits wasn’t much in the grand scheme of things when it came to their wealth. The full medical rekit for his entire fleet was a big deal though because he’d been operating on substandard gear for a while.

Luz glanced at him with pleading eyes, though her expression remained neutral. She knew how badly they needed the rekit as much as he did. “Deal,” Jaspen said. “I’ll have Luz draw up the contract. We expect half the payment and the rekit up front. If we’re going to be drawing fire from both families I want my medlabs fully operational.”

“Done,” the woman agreed. Luz headed out and Jaspen sent the poor Madrical representative to get some rest. He sighed. He didn’t want to get involved this time, but it was too good a deal to pass up. He leaned back in his chair. Maybe one day his kind wouldn’t be needed anymore. But for now, he’d reap the benefit of his profession and maybe save a few lives in the process.