Chapter 14

The Art of the Deal

Common Grounds Coffee Shop

Moon City

11:00 AM

Galen sat at a booth in the busy coffee shop next to a window overlooking the bay, sipping on a cheap yet healthy latte. Galen was dressed in a pair of sandals, along some long, loose, and breathable pants. They were color a bright green, with a yellow stripe going down both sides. He also wore a red bandanna around his forehead, with pair of dark aviator sunglasses over his eyes. Combined with his buff and chiseled physique, the whole outfit, despite the colors screaming for attention gave the lion an obvious mystique to his presence as he sat in the coffee shop.

Galen kept an eye out for Mick, glancing around for the fox occasionally since he arrived here fifteen minutes ago. During that time, Galen had attracted the attention, and hungry sexual appetites of both men and women as he sat at the booth. The more respectful, or scared patrons in the coffee shop would stare at the lion, looking him over, unable to suppress looks of desire and hunger. When Galen would look in their direction, they would quickly turn away with bashful red coloring their faces, sometimes hiding them behind a newspaper, book, or magazine.

The more daring patrons of the coffee shop, most of them being women, would walk up to the booth and try to initiate conversation with Galen, starting to flirt, and sometimes even going so far as to ask to sit with him. Galen ended up shooting every one of them down on these offers, politely telling then with a hint of intimidation, that he was waiting for a certain someone, and wished to be left alone. Most walked off quietly, while a select few would give Galen an irritable look and walk off in a huff afterwards. Galen didn't pay them any heed, however and kept focused on the task at hand.

Finally, at 11:00 sharp, Galen saw a fancy, black 4-door car park on the side of the street next to a meter. Galen recognized the car as Mick's Audi SVX-4000. He had seen some pictures of the vehicle in Mick's file thanks to Codec. He watched as Mick stepped out of the car, dressed in dark-grey leggings, along with a mesh shirt covered by a brown leather jacket. The fox closed and locked the car's doors with a key fob, as well as arming the double car alarm.

Mick then walked into the coffee shop, looking around for his client. Galen smiled inwardly. Zarch's phone call to arrange this meeting had gone by without a hitch, and here he was: Their best hope of rescuing master and getting away unscathed.

Mick then noticed Galen and walked over to him without hesitation. Mick slid into the booth, sitting down across from Galen.

"I'm the transporter you requested." Mick said, keeping his voice low enough to make sure no one else listened in, yet loud enough for Galen to hear him. "You are my client, I assume?"

Galen raised an eyebrow. "Are you sure about that?"

Mick joined his hands together on the table. "I was told that my client will be a muscle-bound lion with tan and cream fur all over his body, with a brown mane. So far, from all the patrons I see, you are the only one who fits that description. Besides, your clothing is a dead giveaway, the only thing missing is a billboard."

Galen grinned, impressed with Mick. "Very observant. Well, let's get down to business. I am-"

"No names." Mick said flatly, cutting of Galen as he held up a hand.

Galen played along, acting surprised. "Wha?"

"Rule # 2: No names." Mick explained. "Without names, we have plausible deniability in the eyes of the law. Better for me, better for you."

"Ah, I see." Galen lowered his sunglasses slightly in a friendly manner, leaning back in the booth. "Any other rules I should know about?"

Mick then went over his rules: "Rule # 1: The deal never changes. Once a deal is made, the deal cannot be changed or renegotiated. Try to change the deal, and I will walk away. Rule # 2, you are already familiar with. As for Rule # 3, I don't want to know the specifics of what I am transporting for you, with the exception of it being alive or dead, along with the total number of packages and weight. Now, we can get down to business..." Mick retrieved a cell phone from within his jacket pocket, popping out a stylus as he brought up an ecrypted virtual notepad. "...Total number of packages, including total weight, as well as pickup point?"

Galen took a quick glance around the room, making sure no one was listening in. He then turned back to Mick.

"There will be three packages total, all live with a combined weight of 859 kilograms. Pickup is at Runefield Asylum at 3:00 This afternoon. Since it is currently 11:00 in the morning, that gives you a generous time to prepare if needed."

"Mmm-hmm." Mick nodded his head as he jotted down the info. "...And drop-off point?"

"Drop off will be at 258 Cour Le Sene drive, outside of town on the northwestern coastline." Galen said, referring to Master Egad's villa.

Mick quickly finished jotting the info into his phone. "All right. Got it: Three live packages, with a total of 859 kilograms. Pickup is at Runefield Asylum, drop off is at 258 Cour Le Sene. Pickup time is at 3:00 PM today. The total price of this job: 40,000 credits. Half now, half on delivery. If no one is on site to present me with the packages or pick up the packages when I drop them off, they are not my responsibility: I will leave the packages. Once a deal is made, it cannot be changed or renegotiated, try any attempt to do so and the deal is void on the spot. So, do we have a deal?"

Galen nodded, then reached into a backpack he had with him, getting out a very thick envelope and handed it to Mick. He watched as the fox took the envelope, and peeked inside, making sure the credits slips were there.

"20,000 credits. I counted them myself. As you can see, I have no problem following the rules." Galen said, grateful that Codec pointed out that Egad had left the Gallery access to a bank account with a very large sum of money in case something happened. 20,000 credits had not even made a dent in their savings.

Mick nodded, closing the screen on his phone, then tucked the envelope into his jacket. "Very well. The deal has been made. I will meet you at 3:00 PM sharp, at Runefield." The fox then stood up from the booth, walking out of the coffee shop.

Galen got to work on finishing his latte, watching as Mick drove off. Soon, it would be time to put the next phase of the plan into motion.

# # # # #

Streets of Moon City

1:00 PM

Symon Daniels whistled to himself as he walked down the sidewalk from the inner-city markets on his way back home, his mood chipper as he carried a bag of items: Two bottles of different wines. One being fine tawny port, and the other being vin santo rosso. Along with the bottles of wine, there was also a jar of honey, some fine cheese, lean salami, fancy saltine crackers, and a loaf of freshly baked sourdough bread.

Symon looked down at the cloth grocery bag, smelling the still-warm scent of the bread. He always enjoyed moments like this, along with what he planned to do once he got back to the house. Seeing that he would have the dwelling all to himself for what he assumed would be most of the night, he decided to indulge himself a bit.

He continued walking through the streets, going through a small neighborhood that was a bit poorer than the rest of the city, but still looked decent and was kept up thanks to volunteers and city charities. Symon wasn't scared, however. He had done this before, and even when someone had tried to jump him once, he was more than able to fend off the attacker thanks to his military training. Thankfully, that had only happened once, and everyone in that neighborhood now knew better than to try and take him on since that day.

As Symon walked through to the outskirts of the neighborhood, he noticed someone sitting on the sidewalk near an alley: A large, tall lion, dressed in dirty rags with a can at his side. Symon knew it was a beggar, as not everyone in Moon City was able to have good fortune. It was typical of all the cities Symon had lived in, so it didn't surprise him that much. He would willingly toss the beggars he encountered some credits and be on his way, in most circumstances.

This specific beggar caught Symon's eye, however. He was coughing profusely, and looked very weak despite his figure, leaning against the wall of a building with wheezy, short breaths. The sight tugged as Symon's heartstrings, the fox stopping and bending down to look at the sickly and distraught lion, who covered his face at once with a cloth.

"Are you alright, boy?" Symon asked, great concern in his eyes. "You sound very ill..."

The lion coughed again before speaking, his voice soft, weak, and frail. "I-I'm... sorry, sir... I just... I just have not had a decent meal in a while... P-please, keep on walking... I will be fi-"

Symon immediately cut of the lion before he could finish. "Now, now... Everyone deserves a nice meal... Please, take this." Symon pulled out a generous amount of credits from his pocket, totaling up to 50, placing it in the can next to the lion.

The Lion looked up slowly, at the fox, his eyes on the verge of tears from Symon's merciful act. "T-thank you, sir... You're too kind..."

"It's the least I could do, son... Please... Let me help you up." Symon reached down, helping to lift the lion up onto his feet while he picked the can and handed it to him.

As he stood up, Symon heard the distinct sound of multiple and various guns being cocked from behind him! Symon spun around, without missing a beat. There was a large group surrounding him with very powerful firearms aimed at his head! The group consisted of a tall unicorn, a tiger, three wolves, a fennec, and a rat!

Symon was unafraid, not even deterred slightly by the guns. "I wish you would have told me it was going to be this kind of party... I would have brought the popcorn." He said jokingly, lifting his hands with a slight grin on his face, surrounded by the group.

"I'm sorry..." The lion spoke removing his face covering, as well as drawing his own firearm, plating it against the back of Symom's head. Symon could feel the gun quiver just slightly in the lion's hand. "I hope you can forgive us... we didn't want to have to do it this way... You are the father of Mick Daniels, right...?"

Symon let out soft gasp, taken aback by hearing his son's name. "... What? Yes... How did you know... What have you done to my-"

"We have not done anything to Mick." The lion reassured, starting to explain with a bit of nervousness. "You see... That call he got about needing a transporter... That was us. The job we have for him... We fear that he might not help us out... But we NEED him! He's basically our only hope in this... His name... Came recommended, though. We've never heard of him before... Our master has, though."

Symon turned his head slightly to face the lion, seeing him lower his gun as his ears drooped down a bit. "You see... Our master was taken from us. We are trying to rescue him... We have a plan set to get him out, but we need someone we can trust to get him back to us safely... And that happens to be your son."

Symon was moved, giving the lion a soft and friendly smirk as he closed his eyes, thinking to himself.

(The poor boy... He has no idea what he is doing, but I feel his heart is in the right place. All of these men, putting themselves in danger to save someone... they must be very important. I think I would like to meet this man...)

"Hmmm... I know what you want. You do not have to threaten me any longer, lads." Symon relaxed his posture, holding out his arms in a welcoming way as everyone lowered their weapons. "I will go with you. I can tell you all care greatly about this person. If I am needed as leverage to get my son to agree, I shall help you... But knowing my son, we need to make it convincing." Symon raised an eyebrow mischievously. "I know he usually does not take jobs like this. Therefore, there is only one way to make sure he will go through with it... I have a plan."