Without a word, he tossed the container in his hand at the man. It landed at his feet, on its side.

“What’s this?”

Hauk slid his gaze to each target in turn, noting where the men stood in relation to one another, and how best to take them down. “A gift.”

Curious, he knelt and opened the bag, then cursed as he saw the assassin’s head it contained. He scrambled for his blaster.

Hauk shot his three companions before closing the distance between them. He snatched the blaster from the man’s hand and pulled it back as if he was going to hit him with the stock. “Who sent you,” he ground out between clenched teeth.

“W-w-what?”

Dropping the blaster, Hauk grabbed his shirt and shook him hard. “Who. Sent. You?”

Bastien came in, weapon drawn to make sure there was no one else in hiding. “Damn, Hauk. You’re a selfish bastard. I thought you were going to leave some for me.”

Hauk ignored Bastien as he lowered the scarf to expose his face. With one hand, he dragged the assassin, who was now kicking and screaming, toward the skimmer.

“I’m a Boldorian! My guild brothers will swarm all over you for this!”

Hauk snorted in contempt of the threat. “Let ’em take a fucking number. Now answer my question or I’m going to start eating pieces off your body, human.” He pulled the knife from his belt and isolated the assassin’s thumb, but not before his gaze fell to the man’s forearm and a series of self-imposed marks that nauseated him even more than the man’s stench. “We’ll start with this, I think.”

He screamed like a girl.

Grimacing, Bastien sucked his breath in audibly. “You know, friend, I’d tell the Andarion what he wants to know. They’re not a patient race… and they’re always, always hungry.”

Sweat poured down the assassin’s face as he gulped. “I-I-I don’t know. I just have the ID code. That’s all. I swear. You can see for yourself.”

While Bastien kept the man covered, Hauk yanked the assassin’s PD off his belt and turned it on. He cursed as he realized he didn’t know the language it was written in.

“Cabarro? Can you read this?” He tossed it over.

Bastien took a second to look at it. “Yeah. It’s the contract for your ass. Spill-kill. Bonus for your head. Damn, Hauk. If I could spend money, I’d be tempted to end you for this amount. Fain or no Fain.”

Hauk shook his head, knowing Bastien wouldn’t dare. “Does it say who wants me dead?”

“Nah. He’s right. Just lists an anonymous ID for payment. If this armpit of the Nine Worlds had any reception, you might be able to backtrace it. But as it is…”

“See! I —” His words ended with a sharp blast to his chest.