Mercenary GuildJohn and Niki arrived at the guild around noon. They had hung around the Phoenix Hawk for a bit, but when Ash didn't appear to be waking up any time soon, they left her a note and got on with their day. John had messaged Chris, asking her and Tanya to join them there once Tanya got out of bed. She replied that they would be over in a bit; she just had to finish up a job first.

  Jahred was behind the desk in the otherwise empty hall, working on something on a tablet in front of him. John walked up to the desk and greeted him. After a quick discussion and exchange of credits, he led them downstairs to the simutor rooms. He got Niki set up with a training program, then brought John into the simutor control room. From here, he could send her scenarios and monitor her progress as she worked through the problems that could occur during operations on board a spaceship.

  Once she had started, he turned to John. "So what did you need to talk about?"

  "Well, I am looking at hiring Ash and Tanya as full-time fighter pilots, along with Tanya's sister, Chris, as an engineer. We are friends, but because of that, I want to know what a fair price to offer them is." He asked. He was being paid 500000 a month from the INP plus salvage rights, but he was flying a much different ship than the two of them. Offering them something like 25000 GSC seemed reasonable to him.

  "Well, they are both Silver-ranked, though Ash could hit Gold pretty much anytime, mainly if she had your carrier to ferry her around. They both have their own ships already, so you don't need to worry about that. As long as you are paying for ammo, fuel, and repair bills, 6000 GSC a month with a 100000 GSC sign-on bonus would be a very respectable amount to offer. Add on salvage profit sharing of 1.5% for Tanya and 2% for Ash after expenses, and it would be an excellent offer. " Jahred said, punching in some numbers on his tablet.

  "That little? That seems cheap for risking your life." John said, confused. He knew he had a lucrative contract, but if that was a higher-ranked mercenary's regur rate, he would need to raise his rank before he struck out on his own.

  "It is actually a lot. Capital ships like yours can salvage wrecks for more than just navigational data cores. When the INP took out that pirate base, how much money did you make on salvage alone?"

  "Nearly two million GSC."

  "Holy crap, that is a lot. Well, that would be 30000 for Tanya and 40000 credits for Ash. Even if you only fought like that a couple of times a year, they would bring in a considerable amount of income from the profit sharing alone. If you didn't offer free repairs, fuel, and ammunition, then of course you would need to pay them more. If you are handling all the expenses, they don't need to be concerned about one bad job ruining them. That is one of the main advantages of being part of a mercenary company instead of being an independent contractor: the safety net the company provides."

  John mulled it over for a few moments, then nodded. The average pay for a normal citizen was only around 3000 a month, and they had to pay taxes on that amount. Mercenaries and other people whose jobs are in space didn't pay taxes, but they didn't get any of the benefits those taxes would have provided either. If they were clearing 6000 a month, they were making a significant amount of money.

  "And Chris?" He asked.

  "Well, she is in a different situation. First off, she isn't just a regur engineer. She was in school from sixteen until she was thirty-six, studying all aspects of starship engineering and design. Yes, she is currently working as a mechanic, but before she left home, she was employed as a starship designer for fourteen years with Mithril Industries, the rgest starship manufacturer in the empire. She has actually designed several of the st generation of fighters the INP uses, along with advances in light drive manufacturing.

  For a dwarf who is still under a hundred years old, she has already made a name for herself in certain circles and is hailed as a prodigy. Hiring her as your engineer… Well, it would be like hiring a doctor to change out the algae cartridges in a restaurant food synthesizer. If she wasn't a friend, I can't see someone like her working for less than 50000 GSC a month, if not more." He said at length.

  John was a bit floored at that. He had no idea about her past, nor that she was so overqualified to do what she was doing. What in the world was she doing acting as a mechanic?

  Supporting her family and friends, apparently.

  This also brought to light how little he actually knew about his friends. They kept mentioning that they would need to head home eventually, and Greg is expected to take over the cn, but that meant little to him without any context of what that actually meant.

  Of course, I am hiding stuff from them as well.

  They chatted for a few more minutes about hiring other mercenaries, which ended with Jahred sending him a spreadsheet with average wages different ranks of mercenaries and technical trades would expect to be paid if he hired them. Afterwards, he turned back to his monitors to switch up Niki's scenarios. John had paid him to run her through the guild's training program for a few hours, so he excused himself and went back upstairs.

  There were more people there now, and a different receptionist he didn't recognize behind the counter. He didn't see Chris or Tanya, so he stepped outside to see if Tim was around.

  The Not-God was there, setting up his burger stand. John made his way over and stood in front of him. Tim kept working, seemingly ignoring him, but John didn't buy it for a moment. When he finished firing up his grill, he sighed and looked up at John. "I see you are back, Not-Nick. What can I do for you today? A bag of burgers? Maybe a job? Do you think the DEN audience would get a kick out of one of their contestants dropping a story completely and becoming a worker at a fast food pce?"

  "Hmm, not a bad idea. I bet Alec would be annoyed with that turn of events. How much are you paying?" John asked, a smile forming on his lips.

  "Not enough for what you will be needing soon. Well, as long as the timeline doesn't change too much anyway." Tim replied, teasing John with his foreknowledge.

  "A shame. So, is your offer for some information still good?" He asked.

  "Well, you did humour me with my dumb joke. I suppose I can answer a few things. The question is, do you want your adventure spoiled?" Tim replied, leaning on his cart.

  "My adventure? I died rather painfully in one of these worlds before, and I would rather avoid that fate again." John said, ughing a bit. Of course, he would rather know about the future if he could.

  "Well, John, ask me your questions. I am an open book. Mind you, I won't tell you everything, DEN might prevent me from saying too much."

  "Fair enough. First, what is this rot Mags mentions in her note? And why can't she, or you for that matter, deal with it yourselves?"

  "Ahh, that. Well, she is actually in conflict with another god, over multiple universes. They both use proxies to wage battles in these universes, trying to get the upper hand on the other. Your predecessor was to be one of her proxies in this universe."

  "Well, I suppose that makes a weird sort of sense," John said. He didn't know the things the gods actually did on a day-to-day basis, other than watch him make a fool of himself in these worlds. "What about you? Are you her proxy as well?"

  "Not quite. I just help her monitor situations and provide some direction to her proxies. If I start acting directly, my counterpart on the other side will act directly too. Things start to get messy when beings like us fight. Stars will start exploding, and reality gets torn to shreds, so we refrain from doing that unless necessary."

  "I see. So is being a burger flipper your cover?"

  "Nothing so grand. I just like burgers, and the weird food synthesizers in this universe make crappy-tasting beef products. So I make food and share it with others so they can have a little taste of heaven. There is no one else in this universe who can make a better burger than me." He said proudly.

  "Ha! Nothing quite like making things with your own hands, eh?"

  "Exactly! Just snapping my fingers takes the enjoyment out of it." Tim replied, happy that John understood him. "Now, you have time for one st question before we get interrupted, so make it good."

  "Huh? Ahhh..." John said, scrambling. He didn't realize he was on a timer and didn't have another ready. Did he ask about the gangs? About Greg's bet? No, those were minor things. Should he ask him about what Mags meant about getting stronger and having more influence? No, that is self-expnatory. "How long do we have before Parrax gets attacked by the Javarians?"

  "Hmm... well, providing everything is on course like it was in the other timelines, the system will be attacked within the next five days. If it is, the system will fall within ten days. You cannot prevent it, you do not have the power to yet. You can only help mitigate the damage, John." Tim said, then pced a hand on his shoulder. "Now that I have told you, what will you do? Warn the people? They may believe you, they may call you a loon. Are you gd you asked me to spoil your adventure now, John?"

  Well, shit.

  "Why wouldn't I? It gives me a chance to prepare at least. Ha, I guess the pod races will be canceled."

  "Yeah, I think the nation will be a little too busy for their bread and circuses for the next little while," Tim said, then returned to his grill. "One st bit of advice for you. Keep an eye on your friends, or else you may risk losing them. Good luck, John."

  "Wait? Losing my friends? What do you know?" He asked.

  "Too te, John. Our time is up. I'll see you in ten days."

  "John!" Someone called out to him from behind. He turned around, and across the corridor, Tanya and Chris were getting off the conveyor belt. He waved to them, then turned back to Tim, pnning to ask him again to expin what he meant. However, Tim was nowhere to be seen, his burger cart closed up like he hadn't even been there.

  "Curious. Well, thank you for the information, Tim, wherever you are." He said, then went and met the two dwarf women.

  He couldn't change the fact that the system would soon be attacked. Honestly, after everything he learned about the Javarians already, it was a given that they would eventually attack. What he could do was keep his friends close and do his best to keep them safe.

  I'll do my best.

  He couldn't do anything less.