Charlie left the guild twelve thousand shen lighter.  He had brought twenty in the thought that he'd have to pay seventeen, but the discount and one less year of apprenticeship for Ash was a deal he couldn't pass up, even if it meant less money for the crew once the bounty was complete.  He waited at the trolley stop patiently, reading more of the dossier while he had a chance.

There's got to be a pattern with these abductions.

The trolley approached and he folded the dossier before returning it to his breast pocket.  He boarded the trolley and paid another three shen.  This time, he wouldn't have to wait long on the trolley, so he stood near the door.  Four stops later, the trolley arrived at the service elevator that would take him to the bottom nine levels.  He walked over to a bank of elevators and waited for one to arrive.  A family joined him while he waited for the elevator, and he noticed the young boy with the couple eyeing his hand cannon.

The boy was clearly Terra Isla because he was neither afraid nor apprehensive of Charlie's weapons poking out from his coat.  The Terra Isla often wore their weapons openly on their hips or back, so the young boy was no stranger to guns.  The boy tugged on his dad's coat to get his attention and to show his father the interesting gun he saw on Charlie's hip.  The first officer remained still and paid no mind to the boy, though the wide-eyed child made him smile slightly.

I wonder how Trey is doing...

The elevator finally dinged and the four of them walked inside.  Elevators on Rock Island were much larger than other places to help give space to people who had to deal with thieves on a daily basis.  The Terra Isla, because of the abundance of firearms throughout the station, normally stood across from each other in elevators instead of standing in a queue waiting to walk out and leaving their backs exposed.

Charlie allowed the family to walk inside first, then silently followed.  The father of the family touched the button for the third level, the Bazaar, and Charlie pressed the button for the eighth.  The father glanced at Charlie's selection and looked at him with apprehension, but Charlie only returned a blank stare.  The man shuffled slightly to show his partially concealed sidearm to Charlie, warning him.  In response, Charlie subtly opened his coat to reveal his shotgun.

The man and woman shifted uneasily as Charlie pushed his lapels together, showing that he didn't want any trouble either.  The family quickly got out of the elevator, the father watching Charlie intently.  Staring like that would be considered rude in many other places in the Frontier and practically everywhere in the Federation, but it was simply part of Terra Isla culture.

Two men replaced the family to go down to the bottom nine levels, one of which had a large rifle on his back.  The other had a small machine pistol slung around his front.  They pressed the button for level nine, and they both slowly examined the vigilant first officer.  The left one's eyes raked Charlie from feet to forehead, his eyes pausing slightly at the barely visible shotgun.  The right one saw the hand cannon, but the other sidearm was not visible to him.  Charlie remained calm and simply glanced at them, signaling to them that he was unafraid of them and their weapons.

The elevator hummed quietly as they descended deeper into the station.  It was around ten thirty in the evening.  Charlie had only slept for about three hours for the past thirty some odd hours, and his fatigue was beginning to affect him.  He just hoped that he could do what he needed to do on eight and then leave.

He noticed one of the men scratching their neck, and it revealed a scorpion tattoo with a sun above it.  He belonged to the Sun Scorpions from Corinth.  Charlie couldn't help but smirk slightly.  When the elevator stopped and the doors opened, Charlie stepped out of the elevator and turned around.  He used his hand to hold the door open for a moment and looked at the two.