Alston sat himself down in the corner table of a coffee house not to far from the Government Tower. One of the security officers had recommended it as having one of the better cups of coffee around. So far based off the smell alone, he couldn’t disagree. In front of him sat a cup of coffee with a bit of half & half and sugar in it, the lid off so it could cool. For a minute he just watched as the steam came up in curls off of the hot coffee.

Picking up the cup, he lightly blew across it before taking a sip, as he did he looked out at the other patrons in the coffee shop. Despite everything going on, it seemed almost like a normal day to the ordinary citizen. And for the moment it was nice to forget about the Vren, the murder of Federation Ambassador’s Aide, or taking on the burgeoning intelligence department of the colony. He wondered if this was what it felt like to be ‘normal.’

He wondered if these people had friends they were going to meet up with later, or maybe family. For someone who had spent the life in the shadows, it was not something he had ever really considered. Sure he had his teammates, there were even a couple he still touched base with every now and then, and if they asked for his help he would be there in a heartbeat. But that was a family that expected there to be secrets, and lived always expecting to have to pack up and leave at a moments notice.

But now, if he wasn’t already out of the shadows, it was only a matter of time before he would be a known entity here on the colony. And once it was known here, it would surely spread across the rest of the Federation. There was already no going back to his old life, but that would be the final nail in the coffin. So maybe it was time to settle down, or at least try it out.

What did normal people do when they got a new job? Right, first thing would be to find a more permanent place to live. Alston had been making the hike back to his ship in the space port, or bunking down on a cot at the CIA HQ. That was fine while he was still feeling out Oed, but now it was time to find something a bit more, permanent. So first thing, find an apartment, second would probably find a long term docking pad for his ship. The port officials would probably also appreciate that.

Setting down his coffee cup, Alston reached into his coat and pulled out his data pad. Setting it down on the table in front of him, he started flipping through ads for different apartments in the area.

• Mace