Terra Firma - London

September 1, 2550 C.E.

Ylena stood in front of the leaders of the black-market with the most intimidating frame they had ever seen. They were sitting behind a large bench on an elevated stage built on top of a set of train tracks, yet she was eye level with them. The construction all looked temporary. There was a curved wall behind them that arched above them and came down behind her. Her long flowing black hair billowed around her. She was six feet and two inches tall; she also hid five-inch spiked heels under her custom-designed maxi skirt. Broad-shouldered and extremely threatening, she knew she had just stolen two items that had been of the highest price in the universe and Ylena was demanding top dollar.

The air was stagnant, interrupted only by tense breathing. Then an ultimatum crossed the table. She said it as clear as day, although day never shined down here in the abandoned London Underground. “You promised 50 billion credits each. I have acquired both, I demand payment.” She produced two data disks from her jacket pocket. One disk held the label “Timothy” the other was “Samantha”

A thick Russian accent shook up the air from the far left side of the table. “We never expected even one would be found and acquired. We just sent people on the hunt trying to figure out where they were before they died. We cannot pay such an unreasonable figure. Ylena you have to be kidding us.”

“Well, isn’t that your fault? At least now you know where there are. I should demand payment just for that fact alone, but I won’t. Because I’m nice.” She winked, placed the data disks casually back in her pocket, and turned to leave.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the black-market representatives were extremely uncomfortable. Particularly one member on the right side who squirmed slightly. As she took her first step back towards the entrance of the Caledonian Road tube station, a man yelled out to her in a French accent. “We’ll put you in touch with the person who commissioned us to find them.”

Pure chaos erupted at the table. There were screams of “How could you?!” “Why would you?!” and “Where’s our profit in that?!” in many different accents from around the world.

She turned back and with a steely gaze and said, “I will pay you all one-third of what they pay me.” There were murmurings at the table. She paused, feeling excited they were even considering it. This could still be the biggest score of her career.

After what seemed like forever, but only because she was so excited, the one in the middle said, “okay, it’s a deal. This was a commission by the Venusian government to find these objects. It sounded they excepted anyone who tried to fail as we did. We were expecting compensation of 2 billion credits for the information offered to them. We still expect at least that much compensation. The contact holder is Xavix. You can find him in a safe house at 42 Trinity Square near the old site of the Tower of London. We will let him know you are coming.” He threw a small metal ball at her, which she caught one-handed. “If you can get in this object it has the password he uses; we couldn’t get in. He somehow knew we were coming anyway, so it did not matter, it seems he uses this as a test. We all failed.”

She looked at the metal ball then put it in her pocket. “Thank you. I will keep you posted as to my progress.”

As she turned to leave the group said all in unison, “we are counting on you.”

It made her pause, but she continued. She went up through a forgotten tunnel of stairs that opened to a trap door in a decrepit warehouse. The guards were heavily armed, but the warehouse was empty. She knew this place would not be here soon. The police will notice and Terra Firma’s military will be here shortly thereafter. Black market locations never last.