CHAPTER 126 - A BROKER AND JOB HAZARD

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The next day, Thor came to notify us that our guide was ready for whenever we wanted to start investigating the rumors of the Time Stone.

He and the others hurriedly left through the Bifrost after Heimdall informed them of another flame demon invasion.

As Wanda was still in the middle of her magic practices and Pietro was gaining some training done without his speed, I had told him to tell the guide to meet us in the training grounds tomorrow so the others could get a good night's sleep before playing Sherlock across the galaxy.

Both of them were fast asleep as soon as they claimed their beds while I busied myself inside my thoughts while Wanda laid on top of my body, which quickly became her favorite way to sleep.

I heard no other word from Odin after that day and I wondered if he'd give me the Space Stone if I asked but I refrained from doing that, at least maybe after this mission.

Night passed in the blink of an eye and we found ourselves in the training ground where we met our guide who surprisingly turned out to be Lady Sif.

"No offense, Lady Sif but I thought you'd rather have fun fighting off the flame demons alongside your friends rather than playing guide for us." My curiosity peaked out as we made our way to the Bifrost at a leisurely walk along the rainbow bridge.

"Well you're not exactly wrong and it wasn't just me, Thor and the others wanted to come along but they couldn't because of the threat of flames demons across the realms." She said nonchalantly.

"And you became our guide because?"

"Because among all the people he knows and can reach out to, he trusts me more and I know my way across all the quadrants and star sectors we will be visiting. And Thor seems to think this will be more fun than fighting flame demons and so he managed to convince me to be your guide."

Denying a warrior a thrilling battle and instead making him a chaperone? I can't imagine how annoyed she must have felt.

I can feel that she's not angry, a little off put at not fighting along with her friends, but other than that she doesn't care much.

Her mental defenses are quite high so maybe it's because of the control she has over her emotions.

"Thank you." The least I could do is being sincere in my thanks which she goodheartedly accepted with a smile as we stepped into the dome.

"Good day, Heimdall. We are leaving for Xandar's outskirts." Sif said after greeting the gatekeeper with respect.

Heimdall nodded and the mechanism of the Bifrost started spinning and the place started to brighten. "Good luck." Was the last thing we heard before shooting off to the stars.

°°°°°°

"Any particular reason why we are wherever the hell here is?" Pietro asked mild disgust as we weaved our way through a never ending crowd of aliens. The natives of this planet were some type of octopus race as they had tentacles for some parts of their bodies.

Either their hair, fingers, arms or feet; a part of them, sometimes multiple parts, are made up of tentacles, hence Pietro's disgust and aversion to bumping into any of them.

"I want to get the general state of affairs of the places we'll be going to from an information broker I know of." Said Sif in a half mask disguise and a white wig.

"And would you mind telling us how you know a broker in whatever galaxy is this that is probably 100 lightyears away from Asgard?" Wanda asked, having an easier time weaving through as she followed behind Pietro and let him clear the way.

Sif chuckled as she walked casually without having the slight difficulty in moving through the crowds, benefits of her training. "Sometimes I feel a little adventurous and spend a decade or two traveling around, sometimes even longer until Fandral and the others come get me."

"I see. It's sometimes easy to forget that you guys live on for thousands of years."

"Believe it or not, Asgardians hardly ever live out their whole life and die naturally of old age. Even the old ones feel adventurous every now and then, seeking a spark of youthful thrill and sometimes end up dying to it."

Wow. That's a warrior race for you. They are all adrenaline junkies and going decades to centuries without it might even drive some crazy that they'd go on a harebrained thrill chase without thinking calmly about it.

At least that's my stereotype of them and Sif's words does nothing to change it.

"You've been quiet for a while now, Simons, got something on your mind?" Our warrior compass called out to me who stood at the end of our line.

"Nothing. Just picking up on what I can from this planet and reviewing it." I said and she didn't say anything again.

"We're here." The place she led us to looked like a fortune teller's rundown shop with few people coming out of it at intervals.

"Ah! Is that Zena I see? Finally visiting an old friend, huh." A mole-like guy called out to her as soon as we entered the establishment that looked even worse on the inside.

Fun fact: English is a universal language in the Marvel-verse and it was taught to the humans by the Eternals.

"By the gods no. Strictly business." Sif coldly said and the mole laughed weirdly and a scan of his outside thoughts showed his fanciful thoughts of longing for the cold badass beauty, Zena, who only came around strictly for business.

"Of course, of course. It's you after all. How about trying to loosen up for once and have fun, eh? I know the best places. Hmm, up for it?" He said with open arms but his only response was silence from Zena.

"Well, I tried. Seriously, try to please women these days and they look at you like trash. Where did chivalry go?" He whimpered with fake tears.

"State of affairs around central Nova, sector GN-6308 and GN-7015, Appolion quadrant." Sif said and immediately the guy's demeanor changed.

"Don't tell me you're one of those idiots pursuing a stupid rumor?" I can see now why Sif would come to this guy despite his blatant efforts in trying to get into her pants. Just like Sif's Zena persona, this guy was strict with his business and didn't let any of his tomfoolery get into it.

"Bounty and rescue." Sif said and he believed her and then looked at the three of us standing behind her. "Gotta be a big bounty or a high profile rescue target for you to bring extra workforce instead of going solo like you mostly do. How about giving me some crumbs about what game you're hunting, good enough and I'll give you an extra discount for your information."

Another bout of silence and he finally gave up and went into the back room and came out soon after with a drive which he inserted into a monitor and copied a few things into it before handing it to Sif who then threw it at me while she transferred him a few points, the predominant currency of this part of the universe, after I went through it.

"Last updated two days ago as nothing major or minor of any kind or scale has happened. Always a pleasure doing business with you, Zena. How about a raincheck for that relaxation trip we were talking about?"

Sif said nothing else and walked out of the establishment still in her cold persona, only dropping it after we got to the outskirts of town.

"Got anything?" I shook my head and she nodded as if she already expected an answer like that. "Thought so."

"Those encryptions were so scarily advanced that even Friday's security protocols don't even compare. If I had tried forcing my way into it then it would have sent a ping across the next ten star sector that carried my digital stamp. I guess technopaths are a thing around these parts."

She nodded. "And an annoying bunch too."

"Even his mind was highly protected that I could only get a read on things he didn't bother keeping behind mental blocks. I doubt it's magic or skill, tech probably." Wanda's complaint came, facing the same issues I did.

"Makes sense that an information broker's top enemies would be technopaths/hackers and telepaths. Wouldn't want them running away with their whole business, now would they?" Pietro said and then raised up an observation he noted during our time with the broker.

"You never mentioned his name, not even once."

"That's because no one knows his name. Some broker's are like that, overly paranoid for the right reasons. Some even take it even farther by never setting shop down as they move from star to star and have their clients find them." Sif said and led us towards an interstellar airport where we boarded a plane to our next destination.