Bayban the Butcher
From theatrical_muse: Describe a chance encounter that changed your life.
I was sitting at a table making a drink last and he was just one of the guys at the bar. He knocked his whisky back and said, "Another one, and give it wings."
This punter came up behind him and I was immediately on the alert: guns in crowded pubs aren't usually good news. "There you are, Babe, " he said, tipping me off nicely. "No one robs Grunters Grunthal and gets away with it. You're dead meat."
Bayban the Butcher (than whom, I wondered) reached for his gun, but I was faster. "Someone you know?" I kept my Federation-issue blaster in my hand.
"Not any more. What's it to you?"
"Nothing. Just don't like seeing anyone shot in the back."
"Deserter?"
"Mind your own business."
Bayban grinned. "'Cause I could do with a good gunhand. What's your name?"
"Kerril. And I know who you are." I went over, giving Grunthal's corpse a kick on the way. "Stupid, saying what he was going to do. He deserved to die."
"So tell me. Kerril. Why should I hire you?"
"Because I'm a damned good sniper."
"All right, you're on. So long as it's not the verbal sort. Here." He held out a hundred-credit note. "That's payment for that--" he jerked his head at Grunthal"--and a bath. You need one."
I matched his sneer. "I know. It keeps the leches away and saves on ammo. Live with it."
I thought he was going to hit me (which would have been his last mistake), then he threw back his head and laughed. "I plan to--and keeping me doing just that is your job."
He weasn't the best employer I'd ever had, but I'd never have met Vila but for him.