[D1, LA, open] Blondie's a good listener

[Dorgan Bruun]

"Bahh," he grunts, waving away the word "sir."

"I'm just Bruun, thank you very much. And I been a lot of places over the years. Recently, Solaris, some odd jobs, and before that was with the Tooth on Xanthe III," he says, acting like none of that is terribly interesting.

"That's not nowhere that you came from," Bruun observes, though not showing too much interest. "How'd you end up working for Creed?"

[Theodore Beker]

"Balmung fell apart and after I blew through my cut of what we could get for what was left over," he shrugged, "I sort of needed work. It was a nice vacation though. I came this close to winning a big pot on Canopus." He laughed.

"So you tried your hand at gladiator fights then, Bruun?" he asked.

[Dorgan Bruun]

"I reckon I've done a bit of almost everything in my time." He scratches his beard thoughtfully. "Although I ain't never been to Canopus. They say some crazy things about that place. Is the crazy true, or just trying to lure in tourists?"

[Theodore Beker]

"The casinos are nice and for a Periphery world Canopus IV is definitely much nicer than most," he stroked his chin in thought, "And there are plenty of distractions. Hmmmm... it *is* an expensive sort of fun. Someone more careful with money could have retired on the money I spent... but, ya know... blackjack and upscale hookers."

"And some baccarat. The only way you seem to get there is if you are spending money and they are already giving you free drinks so I think I remember more about the server's tattoo than the game. Long story short, don't play baccarat, it is a very fancy scam."

[Dorgan Bruun]

Bruun chuckles like a man who's heard 1,000 versions of the same basic story: When you have a lot of money to spend, it goes fast and you often don't remember where it all went.

"I reckon that all sounds right," he says. "Cheaper and closer places to do a similar thing, but Canopus is Canopus. Eh, 'next level' I think I've heard it called." He chuckles again then shakes his head.

"Basically the opposite of this backwater."

[Theodore Beker]

"Yeah, this rock seems pretty rough even by Periphery standards," he laughed, "Last time I was on a planet this unpopulated we were basically clearing house of some bandits, who so far as I know, just happened to be locals that shot at the regional mining consortium."

[Dorgan Bruun]

"Hrmm," Bruun grunts. "Yeah, plenty of 'bandits' are better people than the folks with power."

Bruun is quiet for a while, then seems to snap out of it.

"Well, when this is over, maybe it'll be time for a trip to Canopus for me. 'Well-earned vacation,' as they say, huh?" he jokes.

[Theodore Beker]

"Just pay for a way back before you hit the pleasure districts," he laughed, "I never did find Fred once he wondered off there."

[Dorgan Bruun]

Bruun looks very serious. "And Fred is...?"

[Theodore Beker]

"Oh!" he laughed, "Fred was the other tech from the company that suggested going to Canopus. He probably shacked up with someone. Anyways I never saw him again."