If there are two things in this Universe Hunter Corbin hates, it's waiting and space ships. Oh, there are many other things that she hates, but those two were current so they topped her list.

One would think that she, queen of technology, would revel in the fact that she was aboard a craft that Earth physics deemed (at least in 2013) to be impossible. She should relish in the fact that here was technology sitting beneath the impatient drumming of her fingers that was literal lightyears ahead of known science. A few touches to the dark interface and she would be inside a slipstream—tangible proof of quantum theory.

In the realm of reality, Hunter actually found that being in a metal bubble smaller than your average studio apartment, floating in the vast black nothingness....unnerving. She could all but feel the unforgiving crush that the internal dampeners constantly forced back. That was one of her unfortunate gifts, to be that in tune with the gadgetry around here.

She surged to her feet and began to pace back and forth across the length of the cabin. Her companion, the only other being inside the ship at current, turned to watch her with an eyebrow raised.

They alone made for an odd pair. Hunter, of medium height; pale-skinned with midnight black hair neatly coiled into dreadlocks that fell to her waist (currently held back by a length of electrical cord) with the ends decorated by wicked spikes that clattered as she moved; slight of build; and who could forget those eyes" A sickly, poisonous green that no human eye should be.

S'hael on the other hand was everything Hunter was not: Tall, dark of complexion (a deep, slate gray), built like a brick house, his lighter gray hair cropped short and his eyes black pits. There was no way he was human, not with those sharply pointed ears or the large incisors that extended just past his upper lip.

"It will be soon," he said, his voice a harsh rasp. He spoke the Common tongue, similar enough to English that most from Earth could make it out after a time, but strange enough that most would take his words for a threatening growl at first.

Hunter's eyes narrowed to slits and her pacing slowed. "I know that," she snapped back in the same rough language. "This whole thing..." She waved towards the screen which displayed the planet they were orbiting around. "I should have been there. This would be done." There was a sneer twisting her lips. Some would call her beautiful, even at that moment. The arrogance in her tone was what was truly ugly.

"You know you cannot enter Ha'eth. It would be your death," S'hael replied with an impatient tone. This was not a new conversation. His reply earned a tightening of Hunter's jaw—and her fists as she regarded the junk planet again.

Ha'eth is not a pretty world. It's barely a world at all, a one time moon that was knocked out of orbit of it's planet that found it's way into an erratic orbit around a large, dying star. It would be another thousand years before that star burned out, but in the meantime it barely gave enough enough energy to heat all but the closest planets. Ha'eth was not that close.

It survived due to the rag-tag population that had invaded it. It survived because of the technology that also was destroying it. It would be a couple hundred years before the world spiraled into its own sun, but Ha'eth would be dead long before that. So would most of the beings who called it "home" at one time or another. The radiation is so powerful it killed many who stepped on its surface within years. Many sooner. For this reason it was a popular destination for the darkest of criminal organizations. The most hunted, most hated in the Universe collected here to deal in their dark trades.

Hunter had been lucky she had access to Rhy'Din and its resources, but there was little more they could do for her. S'hael was right; anymore exposure to the radiation and it'd probably kill her, too. But still, she wanted to be down there. That's where it was going down.

She had only just returned to her seat at the console when the ship came alive. Every system flared with power and an alert in alien writing obscured the screen. Hunter could read it, but even if she couldn't she'd understand its meaning: They were in trouble.

"We're being targeted," S'hael said needlessly as his great big hands flew over the display in front of him. "They mean to blow us out of the atmosphere." His tone was mild despite the threat. Hunter was calm, her arms crossed loosely over her black jump suit.

"The team?" She could see the read outs as well as he. There was a count down on one, presumably showing how long they had to move before they'd be blown to smithereens.

"On their way."

"They need to hurry the fuck up," she said, annoyed.

Behind them lit up like the Fourth of July and Hunter swiveled around in time to catch two people materializing out of thin air, a crate held between them. Hunter didn't even greet them; she spun and hit a key in front of her just as the count down was reaching zero.

Ahead of their ship a 'window' appeared, a space where the world and stars blurred. Just before a flash of lights (big F*cking Scary Weapons) could reach them....the whole ship seemed to blur as well. The occupants seemed unaffected as they were hurled through space. That is until they came to a stand still and they all jolted forward like a car that had slammed on its brakes.

The display showed them drifting lazily past what could only be Saturn, though in all reality they were going....well....far faster than any human ship could go. At that speed they'd make Earth in a few days.

Hunter got up from her chair and headed to the rear of the cabin where the two were recovering from nearly being thrown off their feet. S'hael watched impassively from his chair, his lips pressed into a thin line.

"It's intact?" Hunter asked, her concern for the crate and not her two companions who looked well worse for the wear—clearly they had not taken the easy road out of Ha'eth.

"It is," said the male. "Of course it is," chirped his female counterpart. Arrogance didn't suit her. Hunter just smiled at her, showing far too many teeth. She turned to return to her place at the helm.

"What about our payment?" Demanded the male while Hunter made herself comfortable again. "You promised us payment on delivery!" Wasn't it Hunter who hated waiting"

She gave the pair a long look and her smile slipped away.

"Of course," she said evenly, "Your payment." They saw her reach to touch another key on the console. They didn't have time react before the transport algorithm kicked in. Usually the transporter couldn't transmit organic (living) mass to where the was no atmosphere. It hadn't been hard for someone like Hunter to develop a simple code to override the fail safe.

The bodies were left to drift into the black of space. Hunter clapped her hands together and broke into a big grin.

"Let's take a look at my new generator, shall we?"