A pungent smell filled Ellen's nostrils whilst wrapping both of her hands around a cotton bag filled with fine, shiny crystals. Her fingertips were digging in the frail fabric as she dragged the 10 pound heavy bag across the dusty ground towards a spaceship. It's hatch stood wide open and several other bags were scattered around the loading area. A tall blonde guy with a piece of cloth bound in front of his mouth and nose was busy closing the bags up and was carefully stacking them inside the ship. Both his hands were covered in white powdery dust and now and then he had to take a few steps back to take a deep breath. His name was Aiden, a co-worker. Ellen had a thing for him, but she would never tell him. That was just a mission impossible to her. No, it would not happen, ever. The thought of telling him how she felt would basically feel like turning her stomach inside out whilst being stabbed. Or something like that..

"You nearly done there? I have somewhere to be later." Aiden had taken off the cloth patch in front of his mouth and ran the back of his hand against his forehead, clearly wiping off some sweat. Ellen took a quick peek at the mine she had been working on and nodded whilst running both of her hands through her long, blonde hair. It was all tangled up and slightly sticky, probably not a pleasant sight. They had been working on this mine for about 12 hours straight and he probably wanted to get some rest. And so did she. Probably a nice shower as well. "Yes yes, I will just finish this last bag and then we're done." It wasn't until Ellen had filled up the that last bag she noticed her sore muscles and dry hands. She knew this job was not something she'd be doing permanent, as an evaluation interview has been scheduled next week. Being Rank 3 or rather 'the collectors' was one of the worst jobs she had ever encountered. If everything went well, this could be the last week of collecting ever. The thought made Ellen smile. It gave her just that little more energy to seal up the bag and stack it with the rest. "Done, let's go home?"

Home was a very small two room apartment in the center of Lilith. It had white, sleek walls with soft LED's hidden under a small panel hovering above the floor. The first room had a small kitchen which consisted of a few shelves filled with dry, instant astronaut food, a microwave and a few pots and pans hanging from the ceiling. It looked like a sad excuse of a kitchen to be honest. But at least everything was nice and clean and for Ellen it was enough to kept her fed. In the same room there was a reasonable sized sofa in front of a flatscreen attached to the wall. The entire room was decorated with small paintings and relics Ellen had collected throughout her journeys in Lilith and Phoenix. They were small objects that, if she ought to believe the salesperson, once came from the original Earth. And to have these rare items into her possession made Ellen feel whole. It was her dream to once visit the planet where her parents had lived. Though when Ellen was born her mother had died giving birth and her father disappeared after dropping Ellen off at the local orphanage. Still she did not hate her father for doing so. His actions brought her to Lilith and gave her the freedom she would have never had on Earth.

"What are they offering?"
"Four million- All on Lilith."
"Four million?"
"Hard to believe, I know. I know its a little out of the way, far into the Outer Rim-"
"I don't take plastic. All in paper, all accounted for, nothing stolen." His voice rung out like cold steel, still, emotionless and totally calm. Harry kept his gaze focused on the suited man before him who had been so calm shortly before, only now to stand shivering and skittish. Had he not expected him to take the job? Lilith was a good distance from the inner planets, but not far enough to be devoid of civilization or any signs of life. Sure the deserts were barren and the weather there was beyond the comfort of most of the inner planets, but the further from the centre, the higher the scum seemed to concentrate. Lilith was one of them, filled to the brim with crooks; there was no denying the paychecks though.

Harry often kept the conversations short, collecting the skins of cooks and dealers through the systems wasn't worth the formalities of real business. A long chat could let the illusive disappear from sight once again. He took only the details and left, the rest he had friends for. Names were a start, and location just made things easier. Should the contractor provide an image? Well that made things shiny. Harry, like most of his kind, stocked his ship with everything he needed: guns, poison, anything that could tranquilize; it was the arsenal of a man who ended life for money. It may have been a solitary life in appearance but what use were his skills, his talents if he couldn't so much as use them. Harry Leeson, originally born on Illyum, now stood on an empire piled high on the addictions and desperate needs of others.

The man left his seat in the bar and disappeared through the door with the strange confidence of a man who knew how to blend, to stalk and disappear among the crowds. Blonde, curly hair blew back in the chill of the evening wind revealing his two grey eyes, both seemingly clouded over, calculating and concentrated. The journey from the crowded downtown bar to the air strip wasn't long but with an entire few weeks planned, Harry felt the trip was all too quick. It would take a few days to get from Pentos to Lilith and there was no doubt his journey would be full of the strangest dreams; hyper-sleep had that effect. There were times he'd woken in cold sweats, his skin red as if burning, his fingers tingling and raw yet as soon as he removed himself from the system, the feelings vanished; the downsides to travel occasionally outweighed the benefits of the job.

After a good hour, Harry pulled his ship straight up, disappearing into the sky, heading directly for Lilith. A few days of travel would give him the uncomfortable unshaven look of a man who didn't care, and as much as he hated it, the man knew too well it would give him way to blend on the shit hole they called Lilith. Flipping switches and replying coldly to the towel control, Harry sped his ship straight off Pentos and into the black beyond. As soon as the course was set, Harry felt the tingling anxiety of the slightly outdated hyper-sleep function. A slight grimace shivered from the man as he slowly slid the needle into the centre of his arm, already scared from the regularity of using the drug- was it a drug? Sure it shut his body down until the ship came into short distance from his destination... It wasn't a drug though.

He pulled the tourniquet from around his upper arm and slid back into his chair. He flipped a switch, checked over the dials again and waited.

One... Two... Three... Four... Fi-

When Harry opened his eyes, the planet of Lilith sat below him, unattractive against the black beyond, yet scattered with the gleaming lights of thousands of cities. Harry eased the needle from his arm, covering the hole with a scrap of cloth. He would have another hour before he arrived in the capital, enough time to prepare himself for a hunt. Locate, follow, take, deliver. It's how his world worked. Too much trouble, knock them out. Not worth anything? Cast aside.

Her short night rest was brutally interrupted when suddenly her phone rang. Ellen had always been a fan of adjusting your ringtones to the person who's calling, and this time it was her in command boss: Alexai. With a grunt and a deep sigh she cast aside her thin fleece blanket and took a quick glance into her bedroom. It was still dark out and her clothes she had been wearing a few hours back were scattered across the floor. Pushing herself up onto her bed, Ellen grabbed her phone and pressed the device against her ear. It automatically opened up the line. "Ellen?" "Speaking." Her voice sounded a little hoarse which probably told Alexai she had just woken up. She softly coughed whilst pulling her blanket back over her legs to get slightly comfy again. "A new ship has arrived in the harbour. I need you and Aiden to go check it out so the shipment doesn't get discovered." Aiden had left the ship at the docking station as they always did after a long collecting day. So, when they got to work the day after, they just had to unload, clean out the ship from any residues they might have missed and prepare for the next collecting journey. It saved some time and energy in the long run if you had a mine to clear our. "On it." Ellen mumbled and as soon as she heard the disconnecting tone, her phone dropped to the floor. As quickly as she got up, she dropped herself onto her pillow again and pulled her blanket closer. "Just give me 5 more minutes.." She thought to herself.

It seemed like Aiden really did have somewhere to go when she arrived at the harbour: he was still wearing his original working clothing and had some serious dark circles underneath his eyes. He didn't say much when he spotted her and neither did she. It seemed like Alexai had phoned both of them. When Ellen found a pair of clean jeans and a sloppy pullover the old kitchen timer displayed it was about 5 in the morning. This meant she has had about 4 solid hours of sleep. Aiden had no sleep at all, so whoever thought of docking in Lilith at this time of the day, Ellen hoped it was someone who wouldn't cause any trouble.

As expected, the harbour was completely silent and there was not a soul to be spotted. Aiden had taken the west wing of the building and so Ellen took the east side. It was dark and quite cold. There was this soft scattering sound from the wind playing with the loose antennas of several space ships. Whilst walking past the docking stations, Ellen every time time took a step inside to check if someone was unloading or securing their ship. Secretly she hoped Aiden would've already found the traveler, helped them on their way to the exit, and they could leave peacefully. But something was off: it has been 20 minutes since Alexai called her and there was no way in hell the traveler had already safely secured their ship. There were so many cables to hook up onto to keep the generator running. "Except if they have their OWN fully functioning generator, but they'd have to be loaded.." Ellen thought to herself.

Another docking station, empty.

Another.

Another.

It started to seem like a futile job and Ellen started to relax a little bit more. If there was anyone here she would've heard Aiden by now. The last two stations were nearing. "Aiden, I don't think we-" Her eyes suddenly picked up a shadow in the previous docking station. Ellen slowly reached for her lazergun tucked in the back of her jeans and took a few steps forward. "Registration please!" She said loudly and clear. There was no response and to Ellen, there clearly was another human in her presence. "Hello?" She tried again, this time whilst charging her gun.

The journey over had left Harry feeling cranky and uncomfortable, with a dull headache from too much sleep. His attention, however, was soley fixed on the planet below. Bright lights visible from beneath the clouds. Lilth was a hunter's playground. No sense of moral structure, no real law enforcement. It was a shit stain on the side of the galaxy. After a small role of his shoulder's, Harry pulled his chair upright and prepared his ship for descent. It was a blast forward before his ship locked onto the Lilth's capital, tracking the docking bay as the craft thundered into the atmosphere and down into the dark yet brightly illuminated city below. As much as he hated the core planets, Harry couldn't deny he hated the outer rim even more. They were dark, dirty and less sanitary than the other planets. He often called them slums, at least in the back of his mind. Yet it may have been the pristine white of the Pentos and its neighbors that forced that impression.

The ship rattled as the atmosphere ripped around it, the heat of his travels undulating around the hull. As he neared the surface, his ship slowed down, following the signaled tracker into an empty docking bay. He could see very little from his spot in the cabin of his craft. Only the distant city lights and the blinking red lights of the docking station not five minutes away. He couldn't see any life either, not that he expected to. It was five Lilth-time, too late for anyone to be around and too early for the world to start waking up. The hum of his engine bounced off the walls as his ship finally pulled into the city's docking station. A moment more and the hum disappeared, covering him in silence once again. He stood from his chair, tapping a small button on his console as he stood. The shutters pulled down over his cabin windows, giving the privacy he needed. The lights inside the ship dropped from the usual white to red, giving the further impression that no one was home.

His ship wasn't large, nor was it the small single flyer craft so many others chose to drive. Harry's vessel was large enough for five, with nine at a push. He made his way down from the cabin, feet echoing on steel stairs. After short walk down the catwalk, Harry stopped before a cupboard, locked with the usual retinal scanner. He stood motionless until the faint click of the door opened, revealing a small room filled with assorted weapons, concealable and otherwise. He reached forwards and pulled two handguns off the shelves. One for his thigh, the other to rest underneath a coat. He took only a moment to pull on the jacket and soon as he was ready, Harry made his way down the cargo bay and towards the large door.

A blast of air and wind rushed into the ship, rattling the cables that lingered in the ship behind him. Harry walked off the platform and into the city ahead. Harry remained stationary as a figure skulked off to the right, unaware of his presence. He watched her return shortly and quietly began to shout. Perhaps arriving in the day would have been easier... He stayed static for a moment longer, watching the women raise her gun and shout again. Harry weighed up his options and lifted his hands, stepping slowly into sight. She didn't look like the type to fire that trigger without provocation. He rose his hands in level with his eyes and ducked under the edge of his ship, and into full view.

"Harry." He spoke firmly. He stood still, with hands still raised. "My name's Harry."