Orion had several 'haunts' throughout the world, and it was bad luck that he was currently on an Aleutian island, sandwiched between Alaska and Russia. What good is being the first to know the Chinese have started a war when your first hint is a shoddy missile crashing onto your beach? Orion wasn't too upset about the three techs that were killed -- but the wreakage had also wounded a prized Percheron stallion he had bought in France. Everyone said he was crazy to bring the horse to the island, but no one wanted to say to his face. Orion loved powerful animals, and loved them more when they were taken in the prime of their life.
"What sort of damage are we talking about?" asked Orion to the vet -- a nervous, figity man who was purchased at the same time as the horse.
The horse was on the ground, screaming in pain. Pieces of the missile were embedded in the muscular haunch. Splinters of the thin bones in the legs were sticking out of the delicare skin between the knee and the fetlock. It tried to get up once, but fell onto one of the dead technicians. Orion wiped the splattered blood with a hankerchief.
"Both front legs are broken. Three ribs on the left side are crushed, possibly more." He gulped, fearful to give any more bad news. "I have pentobarbital in my kit. I can make it quite painless."
Orion didn't say anything for several minutes. The horse grew quiet, but its breathing was loud and flies were beginning to gather around its mouth. A tide was coming in, and the salt water soaked the horse's back legs. It burned. The horse began screaming again.
"We could repair it," said Orion absent-mindedly. "We have a new collapsable lung that mimics the real thing--"
"Are you listening to me?" hissed the vet. "Listen to him-- he's suffering. Just let me end the poor thing's life!"
Orion looked the vet up and down as if he had never seen the man before. "This horse is mine. It isn't mine anymore if it's dead."
The vet made a sudden move. He grabbed Orion's gun from his hip and fired at the horse's head. He had never used a gun before, so he emptied the entire cartridge. Partially so that he drown out the stallion's screamings. Partially because he wasn't stupid enough to hand Orion a loaded weapon after he had just blown up a million dollar horse's head.
Orion just stood there, looking at the headless remains of his prized stallion. He looked back at the vet, and then shrugged. "Well, we'll just have to charge the Chinese compensation for the horse."
The vet cocked an eyebrow. "What? The Chinese?"
Orion pulled out a cigarette. "Yes -- didn't you hear? They've hired our services." He flicked his lighter a few times, until a puff of smoke appeared. "Clean up out here. I need to find out where the hell my little star is."
