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The last thing Tara Valentine expected to see when she awoke was the greasy face of the innkeeper hovering over her. That he was shouting at her came as no surprise.
"Three days! Three days you've put me off. No longer! Pay for your lodgings now, or get out!"
Fuzzily, Tara reflected that fulfilling that demand would be rather difficult. Rather than tell him that, though, she spit in the man's face. It had the desired result- he backed off. She gazed at him coldly as she slipped out of her infested bed, ignoring her lack of clothing and the leer it brought to his face. For a moment the ex-officer pondered offering him a trade... No. While stooping that low might be feasible, he was simply too disgusting to consider it. That she'd even entertained the notion bothered her immensely. "Alright," she said calmly.
He held out his hand for her money, and she shook her head. "I'll get out."
The man blinked, then turned red with anger. A string of vituperative curses streamed from his mouth as Tara coolly gathered her clothes from the floor and dressed. But when she turned to pack her belongings, he stopped and grabbed her arm, growling, "I'll take those in lieu of payment."
Of course, she began to protest. That's when the hired thug walked in- apparently he'd been listening from outside the open door. Being a good foot taller and weighing twice as much as her, with arms as big around as her thighs, he had little difficulty in dragging her downstairs through the tavern and literally tossing her out the door.
Tara got to her feet painfully, dusting off her faded pants. If she remembered correctly, they used to be blue. Now they were merely a washed out grey. "So that's why they're called bouncers," she muttered to herself, eyeing the man dubiously. There was no way, she decided reluctantly, that she was going to get back in there and repossess her property. And the local police would be no help, Tara thought derisively. As skilled as they were at breaking up miners' brawls, they were rather corrupt in this part of town, and she had no giros left with which to bribe them.
Dismissing the problem from her mind, she set off down the dirt-covered street at an amble. Not really paying attention to where she was going, she reflected that the past year or so had not quite gone as planned. Then again, who was she trying to fool- she'd never had a plan in mind. This time, the luck she trusted so had failed her. Tossed out by the AF- that incident still stirred up anger every time she thought about it- disowned by her family when they found out, she'd blithely spent her money without a thought as to where she'd get more. And now she was stuck on a backwater mining planet with zero resources. A tiny thought niggled at the back of her mind, that perhaps she should have been more circumspect, but she shoved it down ruthlessly. It wasn't her fault, Tara told herself firmly.
Coming out of her reverie, she glanced around and realized she'd wandered into the spacers' section of town. This caused her to pause- this section generally brought up memories she'd rather ignore. It did the same now, but perhaps she could put her wanderings to good use. Spacers had money to spare- why not relieve them of some? Outright theft was out of the question- Tara Valentine had no death wish. She would (and she couldn't suppress a shudder at the thought) have to get a job. Alright then. Tara drew herself up resolutely, and headed into the nearest bar.