The scientist was a man named Mary. He was small and thin, with a compass strapped to his wrist and a dirty backpack on his back. More importantly he wanted me to take him into a no-no zone.

First things first. “Payment?”

It wasn’t polite but I had a reputation to maintain. I’d found out over the years that I couldn’t be nice and dangerous.

The scrawny man dug around in his bag before pulling out a kiwi and waving it around in front of me. “And there’s more where that came from.”

I hadn’t had a piece of fresh fruit in a long time. There was no place to get it. I hungered for a bit of that sweet tartness. My teeth ached. I tried to keep the desire out of my voice. “Deal.”

“Good. To inoculate you against the malariyals, I’m afraid you’re going to need an injection.” Mary found the needle much faster than he had the kiwi.

“What’s in it?”

Mary just smiled with blank eyes. That face made me question his sanity but he had fresh fruit.

Sighing, I hoped I wasn’t going to pay for this and held out my arm.