Conflicts of Interest

by depizan

Jezari and Kyrian once again find themselves after the same thing, this time a kidnapped Republic engineer. Complicating matters further is the bounty hunter hired by a certain Sith Lord they've both made very angry. Figuring out their confused loyalties may be the least of their problems.

A/N: This takes place circa Chapter One of the game stories and contains minor spoilers thereof, but it doesn't really involve the game stories and the series will depart from the game storylines. Fair warning.

Content Note: swearing, canon-typical violence

Star Wars and SW:TOR belong to Disney, Bioware, Lucasarts, George Lucas, etc... I'm merely playing in their very wonderful sandbox.

Conflicts of Interest

Lord Dralick's receptionist watched with a mixture of curiosity and concern as the bounty hunter shoved her bound prizes into the room. She should have used the delivery entrance, but the receptionist hesitated at the thought of correcting her. Although the bounty hunter was human, her scarred face and well used armor suggested she took on Trandoshans and won.

Her captives were an odd pair, and clearly hadn't stood a chance against her. They were bruised and disheveled and moved like they were in pain. The woman was some human looking alien with weird yellow-tan skin and small facial tattoos. She looked furious. The man was human, dusky skinned and good looking despite his current condition and the small scar on his left cheek. It was too bad he'd somehow gotten on Lord Dralick's bad side.

He smiled at her. "I see Dralick's taste in employees has improved."

The bounty hunter thumped him between the shoulder blades with her blaster, hard enough that he stumbled. "Take these fools off my hands, and I'll take my credits," she growled.

"You'll have to wait for..." The receptionist changed her mind at the bounty hunter's glare. She hated to disturb the Sith, but she also hated to anger an armed bounty hunter. And this was important. "I'll call Lord Dralick right away."

"I don't care who you call as long as they've got my credits."

The receptionist fumbled with the holocomm. "I'm so sorry to disturb you, my Lord, but your bounty hunter has arrived. With the bounties."

"Excellent." Even in a tiny holo, he looked pleased. "They're just in time to test my latest creation. I love fresh subjects."

The prisoners exchanged glances. They clearly knew Lord Dralick's specialties.

The bounty hunter tapped a heavy booted foot. "My credits?"

"Yes, yes, pay the hunter." The holo blipped off.

The receptionist transferred the credits swiftly, too aware of the bounty hunter's impatient stare. "If you could just wait for the guards to-"

"Your problem now, sweetie," the hunter said. "I got what I came for."

The outer door hissed shut behind her as the inner door let in four of the installation's guards. The receptionist quietly pressed the button on her desk that locked the front door. The prisoners were Lord Dralick's now.

.

.

Twenty-four hours earlier...

"You lost an engineer?" Jezari stared across the table at the pair of SIS agents. The yellow green light of the bar made them all look Mirialan, though her prospective employers were human. And quite possibly younger than her. "How do you lose an engineer?"

"He was kidnapped," the woman explained. "By a Hutt. Until we track down the leak that made that possible, we can't trust any of our own people to get him back."

"And we can't afford Imperial attention." The man lowered his voice to near inaudibility. "It's bad enough that the Hutts have him. If the Empire were to get their hands on what he was working on, it would be a disaster."

"We're pretty sure we know where he is," the woman continued. "We just need you to get him back for us."

"Why me?" Jezari asked, afraid she already knew the answer. "I'm just a freighter captain."

The man shook his head. "You're a lot more than that. You've got quite an interesting record, Captain. Rescues, sabotage, blockade running, I think you've even saved a planet or two. We know you're the right person for the job."

"Right..." Saved a planet? Her reputation was getting out of hand. She wondered if Risha knew any slicers who could edit the SIS database. Not that it would make much difference; the SIS needed all the help they could get.

"We pulled all the info on Zarva we could get from a public terminal," the woman said, sliding a datacard across the table. "You'll also find a holo of Adson on there, and the address of Zarva's only factory. We're pretty sure that's where he'd keep him. He'll want a working prototype before he does anything else."

Jezari massaged her forehead. "Prototype of... No, don't tell me. I don't want to know." Whatever it was, she didn't want the Hutts or the Empire to have it. She sighed. "I'll get your engineer back for you."

"Zarva has most of his notes and plans, too. He can't be allowed to keep them. We can't risk anyone else completing the project."

"Of course," Jezari muttered. The Republic was chronically unable to hang onto anything. "Anything else?"

The two agents considered, then shook their heads.

"No, everything else is on the card," the woman said.

"Your service to the Republic is greatly appreciated," the man said as they stood up to leave. "Without your efforts-"

"Nothing would get done," Jezari finished. "I know. I'm on it." As soon as my crew gets back from shopping. The SIS job would nicely cover the upgrades Risha was going to make to the Wayfarer's Luck.

She watched as the two agents made their way through the seedy bar and disappeared into the relative safety of the Promenade. She had to give them that much. They might have picked a dive, but at least they'd picked one that didn't sideline in organ trafficking or slavery. The drinks were even halfway decent.

She ordered another and pulled out her datapad. She still had the better part of an hour before she was supposed to meet her crew across from the giant gold Hutt. That would give her plenty of time to look over the info the they'd given her. And figure out what they'd actually need to know to retrieve the engineer.

Mostly, the datacard left her with uncomfortable questions. If the agents were right, Zarva had—somehow—snagged their engineer, Adson Riada, from a safehouse, along with all of his notes and designs. The fact that Zarva seemed to be pretty much a nobody who dealt mainly in overpriced personal tech and knockoffs of Balmorran Arms blasters from his personal factory did absolutely nothing to explain why he'd kidnapped Riada, much less how.

Jezari assumed the engineer had come up with some new weapon. That would certainly give Zarva a spectacular foot up on his rivals, and explain why the SIS wanted Riada and his plans back so badly. It didn't explain what Riada was doing on Nar Shaddaa in the first place. Unless the SIS had decided to do a little weapon-selling on the side.

The whole thing gave her a headache.

Why didn't I stick to smuggling? Jezari wondered as she headed to the upper Promenade to meet her crew. Simple, straightforward... Everybody wants to kill you or rip you off, she added, abandoning the nostalgia filters. And, oh yeah, the galaxy's going to be at war any day now. Little things like that.

"Captain!" Corso called, ending her gloomy line of thought. Risha had loaded him down with a surprisingly large collection of bags and boxes: parts for the upgrades, no doubt. And, knowing them, new clothes and weapons as well.

Bowdaar waved and hooted a cheerful greeting. Either the Wookiee hadn't bought anything, or Corso had ended up carrying his bags as well.

They'd chosen her more than she'd chosen them, but she had to admit they made a good crew. Sometimes she missed the peace and quiet of working by herself, but she didn't miss having to find outlaw techs anytime she needed the Luck upgraded and she definitely didn't miss working without backup.

"Do we have any credits left?" she asked, eyeing Corso's load.

"Enough for lunch, if you're not too hungry," Risha said. "Don't worry, Captain, we're not going to get impounded for docking fees or have to starve. I know how to drive a hard bargain."

"I know," Jezari said. "And it'd be worth it even if we did have to beg for lunch."

"You bet it will. How'd the meeting go?"

Jezari shook her head. "Typical. But we can pull it off, unless you turn up something really wrong. They didn't give us a lot of information."

Risha took the datacard. "I'll check it out back on the ship."

"Hey," Corso said, scowling over the railing. "What's he doing here?"

Jezari followed his gaze. On the other side of the Promenade, she spotted a familiar pair: a dark skinned human man and a petite Rattataki woman. Both were armed, like everyone on Nar Shaddaa, and the woman wore heavy armor. She squelched a foolish urge to wave.

"Well, he hasn't gotten himself killed yet," Risha said.

Corso frowned. "I still don't trust him. And he pops up everywhere."

"It's Nar Shaddaa," Jezari pointed out. "Practically the crossroads of the galaxy. I'm not gonna go say 'hi,' if that makes you feel any better." She could just see that exchange: "What're you doing here?" "Oh, job for Imperial Intelligence, can't talk about it. You?" "Job for the SIS, can't talk about it." The sad thing was, Kyrian probably would let it go at that. He was the damned strangest Imperial she'd ever met.

"You're not?" Risha looked at her.

Bowdaar expressed his surprise as well. They'd helped each other out in the past.

"Our employers are around somewhere," Jezari indicated the datacard. "That'd look great."

"You've gotta tell them," Corso said. "What if he's here for them? He's a-"

Jezari cut him off. "Not likely. Let's just get that stuff back to the ship and check out the Hutt factory."

.

.

Kyrian hoped the side trip to Nar Shaddaa would be a short one. The gaudy, overcrowded city-moon was neutral space, but it was also built on the Hutts' horrific business practices and only slightly less dangerous than taking an unarmed stroll through the forests of Dromund Kaas. Naturally, it was one of Kaliyo's favorite places.

She called out rude suggestions and leered at passersby as they made their way through the Promenade. He kept a casual eye out for any sign of danger, but, as usual, people contented themselves with glowering or shouting rude suggestions back.

They weren't there to indulge in her passion for blood sports and whatever else she'd amused herself with in her downtime on their previous visits; they were there to make themselves useful while they waited for further information and instructions from Watcher Two. They couldn't will the location of the Eagle and his remaining terror cells into their ship's navcomputer, and there was no point in pacing the ship, waiting. The Intelligence offices on Nar Shaddaa always needed help.

Privately, he thought that both the Empire's and the Republic's attempts to win over the Hutt Cartel were lost causes. Individual Hutts might make promises and offer "exclusive" contracts, but they were still Hutts, and Hutts cared first and foremost for the bottom line; limiting their clients to merely the Empire or the Republic was bad business.

On the other hand, if the Empire and the Republic were busy wooing Hutts, they weren't finding new and different ways to—unofficially—break the Treaty of Coruscant. If only the galaxy had a few more distractions. He was more than content to spend his career chasing terrorists, interfering with Sith plans, and trying to convince immovable neutral parties to side with the Empire. If enough time passed, the galaxy might even have real peace.

They skirted the immense golden Hutt statue and its surrounding fountains. Across the Promenade, on the upper level, he noticed a very familiar group. Jezari alone would probably have blended into the crowd, as would Risha and Corso, but Bowdaar was not someone you overlooked. Wookiees were more common on Nar Shaddaa than most places, but not free Wookiees carrying gigantic vibroswords.

Kyrian smiled, and wondered what they'd do if he waved. Then he considered that he was on his way to an Imperial Intelligence listening post.

"Not going to hook up with your Republic girlfriend?" Kaliyo asked.

He shook his head. "I don't think that would be wise. I'd rather not explain her to Imperial Intelligence."

Kaliyo grinned. "I'd love to watch you try."

"Perhaps another time." Never would be best.

"I can't wait."

It wasn't a kind joke. As a cipher agent, he had fairly broad leeway in his activities and associations, but they both knew his friendship with Jezari was just one of a long list of things that needed to stay very much off the record. Keeper seemed willing to overlook quite a lot, but helping out the Republic, even indirectly, was almost certainly going too far. The Sith Empire did very unpleasant things to traitors.

She smirked at his mildly discomforted look. "Just keep me entertained, Agent, and you won't have to worry."

"With you, Kaliyo, everyone should worry."

"Mm." She slipped her arm through his. "You always know how to make a girl feel appreciated."

"And you're most frightening when you're in a good mood."

"Keep flattering me and we'll be late for your meeting."

He smiled. "We wouldn't want that. Especially as we're already there."

Kaliyo eyed the small shop that fronted for the listening post with displeasure.

"There will be other times," Kyrian noted, leading the way past displays of over-priced knickknacks. The shop's handful of customers didn't notice them walk behind a large display and fail to reappear on the other side.

The listening post was dark in comparison to the shop, and Kyrian took a moment to let his eyes adjust before heading to the office at the end of the short hall. He hadn't been to that particular post before, but they all used the same floor plan, which was probably more efficient than wise.

The man at the desk looked up as they entered his office. His expression soured. "You were the only available agent?"

Kaliyo chuckled.

Kyrian had last seen the man on Balmorra, fuming about his lack of authority to have cipher agents flogged. He smiled pleasantly. "Watcher Two said you might need some help?"

"Yes." The man glowered at him. "I trust you've learned to follow orders."

"The wisdom of that has been made clear." More than once. Before the man could realize that wasn't an answer, he continued: "I should congratulate you on your promotion. Your own listening post and personnel. You must be pleased." I'm baffled. He had met a few others in Intelligence with the Fixer's—former Fixer's bloodthirsty leanings, but he hadn't expected to meet him again, much less find him promoted to...whatever his current designation was.

"My... Yes." The man smiled thinly. "I intend to make the most of this operation. Nar Shaddaa will ally itself to the Empire, and we will extract all its secrets."

"I'm sure your usual subtle methods will make an impression."

The man gave him a sharp look. "Indeed. I do have one mission even you should be able to manage." He switched on the desk's display, casting a faint blue glow over the room. "A Hutt has recently acquired the plans for a new type of ion weapon the Republic is working on and the man who developed it. Acquire those plans from the Hutt, and make it appear that the Republic was responsible. This Zarva," his voice dripped distaste, "is unimportant, but I want nothing to interfere with our plans for Nar Shaddaa."

"We can't bargain for them?"

"And trust the Hutt not to keep a copy for himself?" The man snorted. "No, you will take the plans and anything else related to the project." A squat building rotated on the holo. "This factory is the Hutt's only property of size and the most likely place for him to hold the engineer." The building was replaced with the image of a pointy faced man in coveralls. "Adson Riada. Eliminate him."

"Perhaps he'll be willing to change sides," Kyrian suggested. "I would be rescuing him from a Hutt."

"You will kill him," the man repeated. "I don't believe in taking unnecessary risks. Take the plans, kill him, and frame the Republic. You can choose from a selection of captured gear on your way out. Leaving a few items should convince the Hutt that they were responsible."

"I doubt the Republic would kill one of their own," Kyrian pointed out. "Though they will try to rescue him."

"I expect you to beat them to it."

"If I kill him, your Hutt will know that the Republic wasn't responsible. He's also likely to be suspicious if there's a Republic strike force there as well."

"Don't presume to tell me my job!"

Kyrian spread his hands. "I'm sure you know best. But I would think our superiors would be happy to get their hands on a live engineer, and not just his notes."

"An engineer is far too dangerous to hold as a prisoner. Kill him. Dispose of the body." The man fixed Kyrian with a grim scowl. "If you lose him or the weapon to the Republic or deviate from my orders in any way, I will see you punished, cipher agent or not. Do not get 'creative'. Is that clear?"

"Quite clear, sir."

"Good." He dismissed them with a wave of his hand.

Kyrian took a quick look at the captured gear, mostly for the benefit of the nervous man in charge of the supply room. He couldn't help feeling sorry for the post's staff. Whatever had prompted the man's relocation to Nar Shaddaa didn't seem to have improved his disposition or his tactics. Though it did suggest he had connections.

Once they were safely away from the post, he glanced at Kaliyo. "You may not want to report back with me."

"Why report back at all?" She grinned. "The Hutt has the right idea. People pay a lot for weapons."

"I'm not taking up arms dealing, and neither are you," Kyrian said. "At least not with our mission objective."

"Just make it worth my while, Agent."

"I will," he promised. "But first, we should see if our friend from Balmorra is right about the factory."

.

.

Savler had no trouble following her target and his Rattataki partner through the crowded passageways of Nar Shaddaa. The moon was one of the easiest places in the galaxy to capture bounties. It bustled with all manner of life and much of it had been built and rebuilt so many times that the tangled corridors hid pursuit almost without any effort on her part. That a few credits would take care of any witnesses was just a bonus.

Though this bounty was a little different.

She hoped he was heading for somewhere out of the way. If she was going to take down an Imperial Intelligence agent, she didn't want witnesses. She didn't need the torture of some poor slob who just happened to be in wrong corridor on her conscience.

Like working for a Sith Lord isn't bad enough, she thought. The agent was one thing, but she wasn't thrilled with the idea of handing over some harmless freighter pilot. Of course, the odds of her—or anybody else—finding that half of the bounty were slightly lower than the odds of teaching a bantha to ride a swoop. The galaxy was full of XS freighters and the only description of the pilot was "maybe Mirialan."

The best bounty hunters in history couldn't do anything with that. Good thing the Sith cared more about getting his hands on the agent. She was practically just plausible deniability there—she'd gotten everything but a name, not that agents had those, including a flat that had to have been straight out of his employee file.

Still, she had Mako run a comparison while she trailed him down into an industrial area. She liked to take all proper steps, especially when working for a Sith. Her quarry was darker than most of the Imperials she'd met, but that was about his only distinctive feature. Even the scar on his left cheek was too small to be seen from any distance.

His partner was a lot more memorable looking. She'd hidden her prettiness under tattoos and piercings that screamed "I am tough! I will eat your liver!" Savler had already decided to let her go. She wasn't the bounty, and Savler knew something about hiding good looks under fierceness. Her own scars were half of why anybody took her seriously.

Probably why her quarry had kept his scar, too. Like a scratch would impress anybody. But that was just like Imperial Intelligence. They were a bunch of swaggering buffoons.

"It's him." Mako's voice came over her helmet-com as clearly as if the pretty slicer were standing next to her. "But... I don't like this. He's a cipher agent."

"We figured Dralick left off his designation for a reason," Savler reminded her. "It just means he might actually know how to use that rifle. Look, don't worry. Hired by a Sith, remember. If they want to turn the head of Intelligence into a coffee table, they can. Nobody's going to complain about an agent."

"Then why did he hire us?"

That was a good question. "Maybe he doesn't like getting his hands dirty. Maybe he's a lousy Sith." She figured anybody who didn't play up being a Sith was either super powerful or just barely able to notice the Force. Dralick's hulking bodyguards leaned toward the latter.

"Just be careful."

Her voice softened. "I will." She had no intention of adding to Mako's bad memories of Nar Shaddaa. Adding to her good memories, once the job was done, was another thing.

They'd have more than enough money to celebrate, and finish the Great Hunt, just as soon as she handed the agent over to Dralick. What happened after that wasn't her business.

Bunch of cowardly, backstabbing weasels, anyway, she thought. He and the Sith probably deserved each other. Still, she was looking forward to claiming the title of Grand Champion. Then they'd be able to pick and choose their bounties. No more working for Sith just because they pay.

She couldn't wait.

.

.

As Kyrian had expected from the holo, Zarva's factory was infill, the building stuffed awkwardly into what had once been a small cul-de-sac. There was just enough space behind the factory for a small loading dock and landing area open to the urban canyon beyond. There was no safety railing.

To the left of the factory, a sheer face of durasteel rose a good thirty stories upward toward the brownish sky. To the right of the factory, and several meters above it, was an old overlook which afforded them a good view of the factory and its surroundings. Directly below them, a narrow alley ran between the original side of the cul-de-sac and the wall of the factory. Heavy wires and pipes of various sizes and dubious strength crisscrossed the space above the factory, linking its neighbors and keeping out all but the most reckless of repulsorcraft drivers.

A row of cameras dotted the front of the building, apparently aimed at the street beyond, and a matching row watched the landing area behind. The alley bellow had neither cameras, nor any other type of security that Kyrian could see. There was also a puzzling lack of guards. If not for the grayish smoke rising from the exhaust stack, the factory might have been abandoned.

"Waste of time," Kaliyo grumbled. "That guy's just looking to get even with you."

"Possibly." Kyrian shrugged. "We may as well be thorough." He clipped the end of a descent line to the railing.

"If the mission's for real, somebody down there might know where he is." Kaliyo's grin wasn't pleasant.

"Not that kind of thorough."

"You're too squeamish."

"By some standards." Kyrian climbed easily over the rail. "But there are more effective ways of gathering information. We'll see if Zarva's made any recent changes to security and then we'll find out where his guards spend their off duty hours."

"They might all be Gamorreans."

"There's still pleasant conversation and strategically losing at dice." He let himself down the line and dropped lightly to the alley below.

.

.

The maintenance hatch let Jezari and Corso out right next to Zarva's factory. It took both of them to shove it open, but the gronk of the hinges was lost in the hum of the factory and the creaking of the overhead wires. She guessed the hatch hadn't been used since the factory was built. The gap between the building and the factory was less than a meter, not quite enough space for it to open all the way.

They pushed the hatch closed and took a look around.

The building they'd come out of towered above them, its surface pitted and stained with corrosion, clearly older than the flat duracrete wall of the factory. Garbage littered the ground and there were a few ominous dark patches, but there was no sign the alley was patrolled. Jezari led the way to the front of the building and peered around the corner.

There were no guards, even at the doors, just some stationary security cameras aimed at the strip of ground between the building and the street. She frowned. Hutts were sloppy, but usually not this sloppy.

"Captain?" Corso leaned around her to get a better look. "Why don't we go back to the ship, get Bowdaar, and just break in?"

Jezari pushed him back into the alley. "Cameras."

"But we've got into places way better guarded than this."

"We don't even know if Riada's here," she said. "And ten to one he's not. The only way a Hutt would have security this bad is if there's nothing worth stealing. Or it's a trap." She put a few more meters between them and the front of the building. Risha would never let her hear the end of it if she and Bowdaar had to rescue them from Hutt security.

"Where else would he keep him?"

She shook her head. "I don't know. Look, we'll check out the back, but I think this one's up to Risha."

Corso turned sideways so she could squeeze past him and lead the way again. She was glad Bowdaar hadn't come along. The alley would've been enough to give somebody his size claustrophobia.

.

.

Kaliyo hung back as Kyrian checked around the corner with a small hand mirror. The building's plain facade was only broken by the recessed entrance and the line of security cameras. There were no guards and they were out of range of the cameras, so they both risked looking around the corner.

"Still no guards?" Kaliyo frowned.

Kyrian shook his head. There should have been guards on the factory doors, if for no other reason than to keep the workers in. Zarva's lack of proper security was reaching disturbing levels.

"Think it's a trap?"

"That's certainly possible." Though Kyrian couldn't see the former Fixer turning traitor to get revenge. He could see Zarva agreeing to lend his factory to the Republic for a ruse to catch an intelligence agent, especially if they offered the right amount of credits. "I'm going to take a quick look at the doors. Stay here."

"And risk missing the fun? Oh, Agent, you know me better than that."

"Ideally, we avoid your kind of fun."

She grinned. "We never do."

I try, Kyrian thought as they walked casually along the front of the building, careful to stay under camera range. It was a calculated risk; on Nar Shaddaa, it was highly unlikely that any of the factory's neighbors would choose to notice them, much less report their presence.

The door security proved slightly better. The metal doors were inset, their little alcove clearly rigged to trap anyone who triggered security. A pair of cameras adequately covered the entrance, but he and Kaliyo could study it unobserved from just outside.

The lock was a standard keycard design and clearly not new. From what they could see, the projectors for the force field trap had also been there for some time. The floor was dirty and marked with numerous boot prints. It was clearly a working factory, even if it was missing its guards.

They exchanged puzzled glances and retreated to the alley.

"Bet we could get somebody to play with that lock for a hit of glitterstim," Kaliyo said. "Wouldn't even have to pay them."

"You know I don't do things that way."

She shook her head. "You've gotta get rid of those morals, Agent. They just hold you back."

"I thought you approved of my insubordination." Before she could work out an answer to that, he gestured toward the back of the building. "We should still take a look at the loading dock security."

.

.

What is with this place? Jezari wondered. The loading area was just as peaceful as the front had been. No guards, no workers who'd snuck out back for a smoke or a hit of something more potent, not so much as a rat or a scavenger bird.

A small freight hauler was parked on the other side of the dock, near an uneven pile of old crates. She frowned at it, half tempted to see if it even had an engine. Then she looked up at the long balcony that ran along the building opposite, not far above the factory roof. If she and Corso could get up there, that hauler might just answer whether there was anybody in the factory.

"I've got an idea," she said. "Follow me." She pulled herself easily onto the loading dock and kept close to the wall, glancing back periodically to make sure Corso was doing the same. They were beneath the cameras, invisible to security—if there was any.

And if there was, they would definitely come out if something happened to the freight hauler.

.

.

Savler watched from the shadows as her quarry and his partner scouted the factory. She could've taken them out while they studied it from the overlook, but she'd had to make sure they weren't meeting someone. She'd been mildly irritated when he'd produced a descent line and vanished over the edge.

Yeah, get captured by security, she thought as they approached the front door. That won't save you. She was more than a match for Hutt security and confident she could strike a bargain for him if retrieving him looked to be more trouble than it was worth.

But they only studied the door for a few moments and returned to the alley below her. She wasn't surprised that security had been too tough for them. Imperial Intelligence was barely competent at best, and she wasn't convinced that her target was among the best, whatever his designation.

"What's he doing?" Mako asked over the com. A small helmet camera let her watch from the ship.

"Damned if I know," Savler said. "Recon of some sort." She was half tempted to let him do whatever he planned to the factory and then snag him. Nobody would miss a Hutt factory. But there were probably workers inside.

They passed beneath her, and she silently paced them. She wasn't about to let them out of her sight, especially not when they were headed for the loading dock. It was the one area of the little compound where she could actually lose them. There was a small freight hauler parked back there and a good chance that at least one maintenance ladder led down from the edge of the platform.

They slowed as they approached the end of the alley. A stack of crates partially blocked it, providing her with a nice bottleneck for an adhesive grenade. She grinned as she unhooked the grenade from her belt. Whatever her target planned, he was flat out of luck.

Movement on the loading dock caught her eye and she paused, shifting slightly for a better view. A second pair of people was picking their way carefully along the dock towards her and her quarry, keeping close to the building and under the security cameras. One was a young man in heavy armor, the kind of guy you found by the dozens on Nar Shaddaa and places like it—kid who thought the army was cool, joined it, found out it was work, and ran off to join the underworld because that was all that was left. But the other she knew.

Jezari? How long had it been since she'd seen her? A year? More? She'd gotten herself a bodyguard somewhere, unless the guy came with her current job. What she was doing sneaking around some factory was another question. She was a freighter captain and smuggler, not a thief.

The two of them, whatever they were doing, reached the end of the dock and dropped down, edging carefully toward the corner of the building and the pile of crates.

Shit. Savler had almost forgotten her quarry. She clipped the grenade back on her belt. It was too late for that, now; they were nearly on opposite sides of the crates. Gluing everybody down sounded good in theory, but if the wrong person still had an arm free...

She leaned over the railing and took aim with her dart launcher.

.

.

Kyrian didn't have time to react to the soft sound of footsteps on the other side of the crates. A dart caught him in the back, wreathing him in electricity. The world vanished for a moment in white pain, and he dropped to one knee, gasping. He reached for his rifle and got a second dart in the arm.

He hit the ground hard. Electro darts weren't meant to knock people out, but two in such short succession came damn close. Sparks danced in his vision and Kaliyo's swearing and blaster fire seemed to come from a long way off.

He awkwardly pulled the darts out and rolled under the shadow of the overlook. His right arm was half-numb and tingling and he ached, but his vision had cleared. Not that that would do him much good until his arm recovered. He'd never thought he'd be thankful for Kaliyo's insistence on wearing heavy armor regardless of the mission; it was the only reason their ambusher hadn't darted them both.

Kaliyo fired straight up, blasting notches in the edge of the overlook and preventing whoever it was from coming down to finish the job. Kyrian rubbed his arm, trying to restore proper feeling. He doubted the SIS would use electro darts, but bounty hunters were fond of them. The long list of people who might have put a bounty on him were not, on the whole, an improvement.

They both ducked as blaster fire cut through the stack of crates, burning molten holes in the wall behind them. The shots zigzagged up the wall.

Hutt security, the SIS, or a bounty hunter less concerned with bringing them in alive, it was past time to retreat and figure out what had gone wrong from a safe distance. He gestured toward the front of the building. Their attackers could fight over them while they slipped away.

"Jez! It's me!" The muffled shout came from the overlook.

"Corso! She's a friend!" That voice was unmistakable.

Redirected blaster fire set one of the crates on fire and burned the wall where they'd crouched moments before. Kaliyo swore and returned fire.

"Wait!" Kyrian shoved her arm aside, sending her shots harmlessly into the pavement and wall.

She elbowed him in the ribs. "Don't ever do that."

There wasn't time to argue. "Truce!" He called, hoping the woman above them could hear him. "We surrender!"

The alleyway fell silent, except for a faint sizzling from the crates.

"They're our friends," he reminded Kaliyo.

"You're such a fool," she muttered, but she lowered her blaster.

Above them, a figure in power armor vaulted the rail. She fired her jetpack like a retrorocket and landed in front of them, a blaster pointed at Kaliyo, a wrist-mounted dart launcher pointed at him.

"Don't move," she ordered.

.

.

Jezari watched Savler vault the balcony rail and descend into the alley on a jet of flame. The power armor was new, but in Savler's usual blue and gold color scheme. Guess she's doing well, she thought dazedly.

"Bwuh?" Corso said.

"You've got me," she said. She holstered her blasters, her hands shaking. That's it. He's defecting if I have to have Bowdaar sit on him. "Come on."

Corso followed her, his blaster still hanging limply from his hand. She wondered if he'd forgotten it. Not that she'd blame him under the circumstances. You weren't supposed to end up in firefights with your friends. She ignored the little voice that pointed out that that was what you got for being friends with people who were supposed to be your enemies.

She stepped around the gently smoldering crates and found Savler holding Kyrian and Kaliyo at gun point. Savler's power armor didn't look so new up close, but none of the singes and scuff marks looked recent. Kyrian's dark clothes were smudged with dirt, but he didn't appear to be bleeding anywhere. Kaliyo just looked annoyed.

"Are you all right?" Kyrian asked, sounding more concerned about them than the dart launcher pointed at his chest.

"Fine," Jezari said. "What-"

"You shot at us!" Corso stomped into Savler's line of fire, puffing up to loom at Kyrian. "You're here for him too! You can't have him!"

"Corso..." It didn't matter that he was probably right, there were at least a dozen better ways of finding out if Kyrian was there for Riada. Or if Savler was, for that matter.

Kaliyo snickered.

"Him?" Kyrian asked.

"The-" Corso froze mid gesture at the factory. "Oh, no, you don't. I'm onto you!"

Savler holstered her blaster and retracted the dart launcher. "Jez, what the hell's going on?"

"Long story," Jezari said. "Corso, back off. Savler, meet Corso. He's...part of my crew. The Imp's a friend, too. Kyrian, Savler. And that's Kaliyo." Who wasn't anybody's friend, as far as she could tell.

"What? Hang on." Savler pulled her helmet off. She still wore her dark hair just long enough to tie back, and Jezari was amused to see she was wearing sparkly eye makeup. "Must have been the helmet. I just heard you say an Imp was a friend."

Kyrian smiled and held out his hand. "It's a pleasure to meet you."

Savler blinked at him and turned back to Jezari. "Explanation. Now."

"I saved him from a Sith." Jezari filled her in on how they'd met, and ended up working together, as she led the way around the front of the building to the maintenance hatch.

Savler gaped. "Wow, Jez, that... I..." She shook her head. "That was some risk you took."

"I didn't know the guy was a Sith!" Jezari protested while Corso pulled the hatch open. "Nobody told me. They always leave out important stuff like that." Not that it stopped her from taking more SIS jobs, or bailing out people in trouble. "Okay, it probably wouldn't have made a difference. And we've helped each other out a couple times since. He's all right."

"Sure he is." Savler eyed him with obvious doubt.

"I realize my profession is against me," Kyrian said. "Would it help if I pointed out that I tend to be creative with my orders?"

"That just tells me you're suicidal."

"It's not quite that dangerous," he said. "Most of the time." He glanced at Jezari. "It can be a little tricky."

That was another good reason for him to defect. "Yeah," she said. "We need to talk."

"About 'him'?" Kyrian smiled wryly. "I'm afraid Corso is right. Unless Zarva makes a habit of collecting people both the Empire and the Republic have an interest in?"

"That'd be just great," Jezari muttered. "Let's sort this out back on the ship. We've got a big enough mess already."

"Uh huh," Kaliyo said. "Let's try neutral territory."

"That you pick? I don't think so."

"The Luck is probably the safest place on Nar Shaddaa," Kyrian pointed out. "It's certainly the most private."

Kaliyo shrugged. "Your funeral, Agent."

.

.

Savler swore under her breath. She'd had time to warn Mako that they were in a holding pattern when she'd joined them at the Luck, but they needed a chance to figure out what the hell they were going to do. It was a basic rule of bounty hunting that targets—acquisitions—weren't people. They especially weren't people you'd known since you were six.

No, I can fix that, she thought. He didn't really expect me to find her, anyway. No freighter pilot, no problem. Her "friend" was another story. The greenest rookie bounty hunter in the galaxy could've found him. Hell, with the information she'd been given, a child could've found him. Not failing Sith was a basic rule of life.

She and Mako sat on a box Bowdaar had carried in to the Luck's main room to make up for the lack of sufficient chairs. They were part of the conference because she was Jezari's friend, but she'd insisted on taking a back seat, even though both Kyrian and Corso had offered them theirs.

The chairs weren't much softer, anyway. They'd been old and in need of better padding for as long as she could remember. Jezari's dad had never bothered, and neither had Jezari. Freight hauling—even the extralegal sort—was no way to get rich. No wonder Jez's picking up government work.

That she thought she could trust an Imperial Intelligence agent was harder to understand. Trust a guy who lies for a living? What the frak are you thinking? She didn't care what Jezari thought she'd saved him from. People working for Intelligence came in three flavors: incompetent, scum, and incompetent scum. If Jez's pet Imp is any different, I'll kiss a Hutt.

She didn't know what con he was running, but she was damned sure he was running one. Imps didn't go making friends with Republic sympathizing freighter captains, especially non-human ones, unless they wanted something: a line on what the SIS was up to, a free pass to the core worlds... a way to weasel in and screw up her mission.

If she was right, Jezari would be thanking her for hauling his ass off to Dralick before the day was up. If she wasn't, well, that wasn't likely. He had to be using her, it was the only way it made sense. Except for the part about Jezari trusting him. If he'd really conned her that well...

Giving him to a Sith might be too good for him.

.

.

Kyrian doubted it was mere chance that he ended up sitting between Bowdaar and Corso. Under the circumstances, he wouldn't have blamed them if they'd insisted he and Kaliyo leave their weapons at the door. That they hadn't spoke louder than the seating arrangement.

Kaliyo slouched in a chair, apparently bored with the whole thing, but he noticed she hadn't taken her eyes off the bounty hunters. Who, in turn, hadn't taken their eyes off him.

That could be a problem. Savler had already proven herself quite capable, and, more importantly, she was Jezari's friend. He couldn't very well risk her life or livelihood to save himself; even if it proved safe for her to simply walk away, she would almost certainly be out a significant amount of credits. He wondered what Keeper would say if he made it up out of petty cash.

But first there was the question of a certain Republic engineer.

"Would it be too much to hope for a copy of the plans and the opportunity to try and recruit Riada?" He asked. "I realize he's not likely to say yes, even if he may be a little unhappy with your security at present."

"The SIS aren't mine," Jezari said. "And, no, you can't have the plans. Or Riada."

"I'd rather the balance of power stayed the same, or close to it," he said. "I don't think you want war, either. Besides, he may be safer with the Empire."

Her eyes narrowed. "What do you mean?"

"Technically, my orders were to kill-"

"What!?" Corso howled. "Captain!"

Kyrian held up his hands. "I never had any intention of carrying out that order. But I'm hardly the only agent on Nar Shaddaa. Either the SIS needs to move him somewhere Intelligence can't find him...or at least can't reach him, or he needs to be on the Imperial payroll."

Corso subsided, still glowering at him.

Savler snorted. "That's convenient."

Jezari massaged her forehead. "That's gonna be fun to explain to the SIS. You're gonna be fun to explain to the SIS."

"Ah, yes." Kyrian could well imagine the awkward questions. "On the other hand, it might be better for both of us if I were merely a member of your crew." Healthier, certainly. Neither of them needed personal experience with SIS interrogation procedures. "You could pass my information off as underworld rumor, or mention that you encountered Imperials." Which was true enough.

"Better than trying to explain you," she agreed. "Hell, they lost him once already. They'd better ship him back to Coruscant or Rendili or someplace else sensible. I'm not sticking around to keep stealing him back from Hutts." She turned to Savler. "Tell me you're not working for another one."

The bounty hunter laughed. "Nope, this Riada guy is all yours. But if you want a hand, Mako's one hell of a slicer, and you know me; I eat Hutt guards for breakfast."

"We'd have to find some, first. There's something seriously wrong with that place."

"According to my contacts, Zarva pulled all the factory guards inside last night," Risha said, rejoining them. "Right about the time Riada vanished. I can't prove he's there, but there's nothing else suspicious. Except for rumors Zarva's gotten his hands on something big."

"Great, more competition. Just what we need." Jezari threw up her hands. "We could put up a sign."

"It's not that bad," Risha said. "Nobody knows what he has, and they're not going to rush into the factory looking for it. Right now, people are mostly eyeing his home or trying to get a lead on what he's got. They might keep him distracted."

"I could put out some fake rumors, add to the confusion," Mako offered. "And get you the layout of the building, how many guards he has, get into his security system..."

"Give her half an hour and she'll have everything there is to get." Savler grinned. "Even the color of his underwear."

"Ew." Mako's nose wrinkled. "I did not need to think about that."

"Go for it." Jezari indicated the computer terminal. "We need all the help we can get. And I need to talk to you." She looked at Kyrian. "Alone."

"Of course."

"Captain, you can't trust him," Corso objected. "Not this time. You heard his orders!"

Bowdaar's growl might have been in agreement, or in disagreement. Kyrian preferred to err on the side of caution.

"If it would make you feel better, you're welcome to take my weapons," he said. "You could have asked for them at any time."

"Hand 'em over," Corso said.

Bowdaar gave a dismissive wave and another growl, apparently the Wookiee equivalent of: "That's not necessary."

Corso didn't look pleased.

Jezari frowned. "Do you want us to take you prisoner?"

"Not particularly." Kyrian couldn't imagine that explanation helping matters if he returned empty handed. "All I really want is a copy of the plans. I'm quite happy to help you rescue Riada."

Kaliyo chuckled. "I can't wait to see how you explain this."

"It's simple: Riada escaped, but we were able to retrieve a copy of the plans. He should be too angry to ask difficult questions." He paused. "Unless he suspects I let him go." In which case, I am very unpleasantly dead. An investigation into his career would only leave them sorry they couldn't execute him several times. Assuming they couldn't. "I don't suppose you could return Riada to a different SIS office and convince them to report him dead or missing?"

Jezari stared at him. "What were you going to do if I hadn't shown up?"

"Charm him into defecting?"

"Kyrian..." She covered her face with her hand. "We need to have that talk."

.

.

Jezari was tempted to just shove him into the spare crew cabin and lock the door, solving all of her problems in one easy step. All of her problems except Kaliyo. And her own conscience. And the fact that the room would hold him for about five seconds, since she hadn't let Corso take his weapons.

She let the door shut behind them. "You can't keep doing this. We can't keep doing this." She waved in the general direction of Zarva's factory. "I almost shot you!"

"I know." Kyrian looked uncomfortable. "I'm sorry. That shouldn't have happened."

"That's my point! Quit. Defect. Run away!" She took a deep breath and reined in her temper. Yelling at him wouldn't help. "The SIS could use you. I could use you. You could open a bar on some nowhere planet, take up gambling, breed rontos. It's a big galaxy."

"Imperial Intelligence would object to that."

"And they're gonna like it when you turn up and go 'oops, I forgot to shoot him and take his plans'?"

"No, they won't be pleased."

A number of nasty images popped into her head. She'd never asked what happened when he reported back after playing fast and loose with his orders, but everything she knew about the Empire suggested it wasn't good. Which was why she'd never asked. "Tell me again why I shouldn't throw your partner out and lock you in here for your own good."

"I'd rather you didn't," he said. "Besides, you may need my help to rescue Riada."

"Damn it, Kyrian, would you just quit!" What do I need? A full-color holopresentation? "I like my friends alive, not carved up by Sith as some kind of example."

"I'm sorry. You're right." He rubbed the back of his neck. "Even Kaliyo has advised me to quit while I'm ahead. It's probably not a good sign when she's the voice of wisdom." He shook his head. "I... I can't. I'm in the perfect position make a difference: minimize some of the harm the Empire does, maybe influence Intelligence a little, help people. Even if they aren't always people I'm meant to be helping. I intend to make the most of that for as long as I possibly can."

That was hard to argue with.

She sighed. "Fine. Help people, do what you can. Just promise me when the time comes, you'll run." She held up a hand. "I mean it. The moment you think you're found out, you run. Don't stick around and try to talk your way out. Run."

"All right," he said after a moment. "I promise." A hint of a smile touched his face. "I'm not loyal enough to report for my own execution."

"That'd be real reassuring if I thought they'd actually tell you that."

He sobered. "It's possible, though likely not for treason. The Empire isn't terribly forgiving."

Frak. The plans had to go back to the SIS. Uncopied. She knew that. Nothing else was even an option. The Empire can't have them. Not even part of them. Not even on a badly damaged disk that won't do them much good. There was no point in even thinking about it. None.

She reached for the door and stopped. Damn it. "Do you need the plans?"

"What? No," he shook his head. "That isn't what I meant. They wouldn't kill me for one failure. I can't make a habit of it, but I generally manage some measure of success." He spoke lightly, clearly intending to be reassuring. "I'll be fine."

She sighed. "You can have part of the plans. And I'll see what I can do about disappearing Riada. Okay?"

"That's more than fair." He smiled. "Thank you."

"Just don't say anything to my crew." She was pretty sure they'd all favor forcibly defecting him over giving anything to the Empire. They've all got sense.

He nodded. "There is one other thing." He reached carefully into a coat pocket and pulled out two spent electro darts.

She winced. "Savler?" It wasn't really a question; the nasty things were a staple of bounty hunting.

"She may have simply been protecting you," he said. "But I have made a few enemies who might not want to take their grievances through official channels."

"You want me to point out everything that's wrong with that?" She stopped him before he could answer. "Never mind. I'll talk to her. There's no way she knew we were friends when she took the job."

He shook his head. "No, you've agreed to too much already. Don't worry, I don't expect her to walk away empty handed. I doubt I'm worth more than I can afford, or rather than Intelligence can afford." His smile was wry. "It would be a legitimate expense. More or less."

"Are you sure you're not a legitimate bounty?"

"Sanctioned by Intelligence, you mean?" He laughed. "Quite sure."

Somehow that wasn't reassuring.

.

.

The roof of Zarva's factory was too exposed for Savler's liking. The vents, cooling units, and unidentifiable pipes were too scattered to provide real cover, making their position uncomfortably obvious to anyone in the neighboring taller buildings or on the balcony across the narrow alley. Mako could hide them from Zarva's security, but she couldn't make them invisible. Leaving the factory would be orders of magnitude harder than getting in.

And that was assuming that Jezari's pet Imp didn't turn on them as soon as they found Riada.

Savler turned to the side of the building he was supposed to be watching, scanning for approaching Imperials or anything else off. He'd agreed to her coming far too readily.

Nothing. Not even a hint of trouble. The sliver of loading area visible below the roof was empty and the traffic beyond was the usual mix of taxis, cargo skiffs, and older model airspeeders. Exactly what she'd expect to see in this part of Nar Shaddaa.

She turned back. What the hell is he up to? Her shoulder blades itched. She wasn't going to feel safe until she'd weighed him down with every set of binders she owned and dumped him in the holding cell on her ship. After shooting him full of something to keep him unconscious. And if he pukes on Dralick when he wakes up, that'll just be a bonus.

She hadn't had a chance to talk to Jezari. No, she'd had the chance, but the words hadn't sounded convincing in her head. He's Imp scum! He's my bounty. You know better! You think I work for Sith for fun? He's using you! I can't go back on this contract. I don't care what he's said, it's all lies. You, of all people, trusting an Imp!? No matter how she tried to put it, it sounded self-serving. It was self-serving. Too much so for her to say any of it.

Which left her standing guard with her target while Jezari cut a hole in the factory roof.

Might as well bathe with rabid dinkos. The job was tricky enough without bringing the biggest threat with them. Waiting for the Imp to show his true colors felt every kind of wrong, but as long as he had Jezari fooled, her hands were tied. Do something, asshole. You can't pretend forever.

She took another look over her shoulder, and hated herself for hoping to see Imperial troops.

Still nothing.

He stood with his back to her, watching the passing traffic, his rifle slung over his shoulder as if he didn't expect to need it. And he wouldn't, not if the only people coming were no threat to him. Typical Imperial arrogance. He wasn't even pretending there was danger. We'll see how smug you are when this game's over. Dralick wanted him alive. He hadn't specified unharmed.

"Hey." Jezari had fastened handles to her makeshift trapdoor. "You guys wanna give me a hand with this?"

Savler bent to help, her gaze still on the Imp. He took the third handle without hesitation, as if the three of them really were a team. She frowned, her expression hidden by her helmet. Used to taking orders, nothing more than that. And Jezari could almost pass for human. His helpfulness would end the moment they'd helped him get to Riada.

Or the moment we get Riada out of here. They only had his word what his orders were, and it wouldn't be the first time the Empire had kidnapped or conned a Republic scientist or tech into working for them. An ambush once they were safely away from the factory. Of course. It was all clear now. Snatching Riada from the Hutt would mess things up with the Cartel, but taking him after somebody else had was a different story. He wasn't gonna break in, he was looking for a good place for an ambush.

Not on my watch. One twitch she didn't like and he'd find out just how fast her dart launcher worked.

They shifted the chunk of duracrete aside and peered into the gap. The storage room below was dark and unoccupied, just as Mako had promised. The security cameras ignored both the sudden ray of dirty light and their descent. Breaking and entering was almost too easy when your partner was an expert slicer.

"One guard in the hall," Mako said in her ear. "Gamorrean."

The feed appeared on her helmet's HUD: a heavyset porcine humanoid pacing in front of a door. Savler wasn't an expert on Gamorrean body language, but his slumped shoulders and the set of his jaw suggested he was sulking. Must have got the short straw.

"Gamorrean guard," she told Jezari. "Favorite of Hutts everywhere. I just gotta get close enough." She thumped her fist into her palm.

Jezari looked doubtful. "How far is it?"

"I'll show you. Mako?"

"You got it, boss."

The door gave a soft whiff and opened a few centimeters, just enough of a gap for Jezari and her Imp to look through. There was little chance of the guard spotting it in the shadowed hallway. They hadn't turned on any lights in the storage room; the hazy light from the hole was just enough.

They could hear the hum of idle machinery from the far end of the hall. The corridor was open to the factory floor below, which would have given them plenty of concealing noise if the production lines were going. They weren't.

According to Mako, the workers were crammed in the lunch room at the other side of the building and most of Zarva's guards were clustered near the building's doors. The buzz was, several other Hutts and a Nikto gang had all offered extra protection for a cut off the action—action he wasn't sharing. Nobody knew what he had, but that didn't keep them from wanting it. Mako and Risha were feeding that fire with every rumor they could think up.

He'll be one unhappy Hutt when we're done, Savler thought. And too busy trying to remake his reputation to worry about exactly how things had gone so wrong. As far as she could tell, he'd been out of his depth before they got involved.

"This is gonna be tricky," Jezari said at last. "I know you can take him, but if he sounds the alarm or somebody hears..."

"I could distract him," the Imp offered.

"You saw the big axe, right?"

"Zarva will want any intruders alive for questioning, and a Gamorrean wouldn't need weapons to subdue an unarmed man." He slipped his rifle off his shoulder and handed it to her. "As long as I look harmless, I should be fine. While he's confused, Savler can do the honors."

"I don't know about this."

"He's right," Savler said. "Guard sees me, he'll attack or call for help. Guard sees him, that's a different story." And if the Imp got his ass kicked in the process, well, that was no skin off her nose.

Jezari sighed. "Be careful. Both of you."

.

.

Kyrian waited for the guard to complete another circuit of the hall. The Gamorrean looked to be about average height, his breastplate custom-fit to his ponch, his bare arms thick with muscle; a physical confrontation would be neither quiet nor pleasant. He forced a confident smile and nodded to Savler. With luck, trusting her would encourage her to trust him. Or at least to distrust him less.

Or I'll find myself explaining to Zarva why an unarmed Imperial tried to kidnap his kidnapped engineer. He couldn't see that going well.

The door slid silently open. Kyrian took a deep breath and ran softly up behind the guard, nearly quiet enough to catch him by surprise. Nearly.

The guard turned, one hand on his axe.

"Hello." Kyrian stepped sideways, hands open and empty.

The guard turned with him, brows furrowed. Another step and the guard's back was to the storage room door.

"I'm afraid there's a small hole in your security," Kyrian continued cheerfully. "Also your roof."

The guard grabbed him by the front of his shirt. "How did you get here?" The guard demanded in Gamorrese.

"Wait!" Kyrian held up his hands. "Don't hit me!" It wasn't entirely an act; even deflected, a punch from a Gamorrean would do damage. And the guard wasn't likely to stop at one punch.

"Talk!" The guard's Basic was barely intelligible. "Now!" He shook Kyrian for emphasis.

"Easy." Kyrian tried to collect his scattered thoughts. "I haven't done any harm." Any story would do as long as it kept the guard's attention. "I merely dropped in to see Riada. Old friends, you know."

"Ha." The guard drew his fist back.

Kyrian twisted away, one arm up to block the blow.

The guard never finished his swing. Savler's punch caught him solidly just below the ear and he dropped like a stone.

Kyrian stumbled back a pace and caught himself. "Thank you."

The blank face of her helmet regarded him for a moment, then she bent to grab the Gamorrean's arm. "He's not gonna be out for long."

She was right. The guard was already beginning to stir by the time they'd dragged him into the storage room. With Jezari's help, they wrestled him into a corner, out of sight of the door, and secured him to a shelving unit.

"Nap time," Savler said. She popped a small dart launcher out of her left gauntlet and fired it against the Gamorrean's bare arm.

Kyrian winced. And wished, not for the first time, that Gamorreans were less dedicated employees. Pity we couldn't have dropped into Riada's room. But with no way to warn the engineer, and no working security cameras in the room, that hadn't been a viable option.

"Should hold him for a bit." Savler patted the guard on the head. He snorted drowsily. "Let's get that engineer."

The hallway was empty and there was no sign that anyone had noticed the guard's disappearance. Savler stepped back to cover them, her blaster and electro dart launcher at the ready.

Kyrian kept his hands in the open. The dart launcher wasn't quite pointed at him, but it was clear one wrong move on his part would change that. So much for gaining the benefit of the doubt.

Jezari frowned. "Savler."

"Just making sure all the threats are covered. I don't want him getting any funny ideas about shooting Riada now that we're here."

"He's my friend."

"It's all right," Kyrian said. "You didn't trust me at first, either." Knowing he was Imperial Intelligence had that effect on people.

Jezari sighed. "Fine. Can you pretend to trust him until we get out of here?"

"Somebody's got to watch your back." Savler said flatly.

"I should've left you both on the ship," Jezari muttered. She took position on the far side of the door, one blaster drawn. "Whenever you're ready."

Kyrian, still conspicuously empty-handed, took the near side.

At a word from Savler, the door whisked aside.

Riada had no guards. Nor was he wearing a shock collar or any other obvious restraint. The engineer looked as much like a guest as a prisoner. He was hunched over a work table, tools, a tangle of wires, and half-finished circuit boards to his left, flimsies spread in a semi-circle in front of him. He made a notation on one before looking up.

"Mercenaries?" He frowned. "Another Hutt, I suppose."

"No," Jezari said quickly. "The SIS hired me. Us."

"Hm." Riada studied them without enthusiasm. "Well, you got in here quietly enough," he said at last. "Whoever you are. I suppose you can get me out."

"We really are here to rescue you," Kyrian assured him in a soft Republic accent.

"Why hire you? No offense, but I would feel more comfortable with actual SIS agents."

"That'd get the Empire's attention," Jezari said. "They still don't know how Zarva got you."

Riada gathered the flimsies, tapping them into a neat stack. "Bribes."

The room went black.

Kyrian spun toward the door, taking a silent step back, away from it. Only near certainty that Savler's armor let her see in the dark kept him from reaching for his rifle. Taking another electro dart would do nothing for their escape plans, nor would it help them against whoever had hit the lights.

For a long moment, there was nothing but tense darkness and a silence so absolute an attacker could have found them by their heartbeats. Then the lights flickered back to a dim life. The door to the hall whirred open on nothing.

"What the hell was that?" Savler demanded, her blaster pointed at the empty doorway.

Riada frowned at the light fixture. "It must do more damage to the wiring than I thought."

Kyrian opened his mouth to ask what the engineer meant, but Jezari shoved him toward the door.

"Save it for later, we're getting out of here." She turned back to Riada. "Let's go."

The engineer crammed the flimsies into a pocket of his coveralls. "Do you have a plan?" He asked, scooping bits of circuitry into another pocket.

"Storeroom across the way." Jezari waved a hand in that general direction. "You got everything?"

"Mercenaries," Riada grumbled. He picked up a squat cylinder, little bigger than his hand. "I have what matters."

"They're coming." Savler unhooked a grenade from her belt and stepped into the hall. "I'll cover you."

They were already too late. As they rushed out, half a dozen guards, led by a leathery faced Weequay, appeared at the end of the hallway, weapons drawn.

"Run!" Savler flung the grenade at the guards.

A blaster bolt hissed past, close enough that Kyrian felt its heat.

"Stupid mercs." Riada activated the cylinder in his hand and everything electronic in the hallway—lights, doors, weapons, Savler's armor—sparked and went dead. The grenade landed with a clink and rolled harmlessly away.

Then Riada ran.

Kyrian and Jezari had just enough time to grab Savler, frozen in her armor, before the guards were on them.

The ensuing fight was short, painful, and decidedly not in their favor.

.

.

The guards pried Savler out of her armor, slapped binders on the three of them, retrieved Riada from the storeroom, and dragged them all downstairs.

Jezari had no time to study the factory proper for an escape route as they were shoved past it and into an office. Flickering monitors filled one wall, and another gave a clear view of the factory floor. A blue Twi'lek stood behind the desk, her scarred lekku curled around her shoulders.

The guards dropped Riada onto a chair and forced Jezari, Kyrian, and Savler to kneel in front of the desk.

"He did it again," the Weequay muttered, tossing Riada's cylinder onto the desk. It rolled to a stop against the desk lamp. "Getting tired of this shit."

The Twi'lek frowned at him.

"Sorry, Vrei." He stepped back. "The corridor's fried again, and now we've got mercenaries dropping in." He waved a hand at the three of them. "There's a meter-wide hole in storeroom twelve's roof. Is Zarva's 'guest' really worth this?"

Jezari looked up at the exasperated guard. That was the best opening she'd ever heard. "We'd trade for him," she offered. There had to be something Zarva wanted more than a troublesome prisoner. A little specialized shipping. A contract with the Republic. Nar Shaddaa was all about deals.

Vrei's lekku twitched. She pressed a button on her desk. "Send a repair detail to the upper corridor and storeroom twelve. And post a guard on the roof." She turned to Riada. "Zarva would pay you well, if you would just cooperate."

"I've made my device for you."

"And used it to try to escape." She stood over him. "Stop wrecking my factory and give us what we want. You might get out of this alive and wealthy."

"There are other considerations," Kyrian said, still affecting a Republic accent. "We may all be able to work something out."

"You can't kill me," Riada said. "And if you hurt me, I might take out your whole factory."

Vrei's expression darkened. "We could just sell your grenades."

"Wait, wait!" Jezari exclaimed. They needed Riada alive. More importantly, Riada needed Riada alive. "Nobody do anything rash!"

The engineer scowled back at Vrei for a moment longer, then his shoulders slumped and he stared sullenly at the floor.

Vrei smiled. "Smart man."

The Weequay shook his head. "He'll just do it again."

She sighed.

"You didn't shoot us, so you must want something," Jezari said. "We want Riada. Let's make a deal."

Vrei turned back to the desk and picked up the cylinder. "Maybe this is it. Might not work large scale." She turned it in her hand, looking first at one end, then the other. "He'd have fried the whole factory if he could."

Riada glared at her.

"Could be," the Weequay agreed. He rested a hip on the desk and began taking apart his damaged blaster.

"Hello?" Jezari was beginning to think their guards were the only ones who still remembered they existed.

Vrei set the cylinder back on the desk. She stared down at it, clearly lost in thought.

"Please listen to us." Kyrian had dropped the fake accent.

Vrei spun. "Imp scum." She kicked him in the gut and he crumpled, gagging.

The hands on Jezari's shoulders tightened, keeping her firmly pinned to the floor. Damn it! They had everyone's attention now. The Weequay had jumped to his feet. Even Riada was staring at them.

Vrei grabbed a handful of Kyrian's hair and pulled him up. "Why should I listen to you?"

"Empire... will keep trying," he wheezed. "...you have Riada."

"So I should just give him to you?" She tightened her fist, pulling his head back.

"Stop it!" Jezari tried to twist out of her guard's grip. "You know he's right. You can't fight off the Empire. You don't even want Riada. We're giving you a way out."

"Sell out to the Empire, like you did?"

"I'm working for the SIS," Jezari snapped. "You know, the people you kidnapped Riada from."

That seemed to give her pause. "The SIS?"

"Yes!"

"You and an Imp?" Vrei gave Kyrian's hair another yank and he hissed in pain.

"Yes! No! Let me explain, damn it. He's... We..." Jezari scrambled for a good explanation. He's my friend was not gonna fly. "He has reasons. Revenge." That was always a good reason. "Look, we're just trying to get Riada back. The Empire will level this place to get to him."

"Is that right, Imp?" Vrei punctuated her question with a sharp tug.

"Yes." Kyrian's voice was strained. "The Empire wants Riada's designs. The man in charge likes collateral damage."

"So you decided to help the SIS?"

"Yes."

Vrei stared at him. "Just like that?"

"I don't like collateral damage. I wanted to recruit Riada, but she provided another option."

Riada snorted. "Like hell I'd work for the Empire."

"A better option. He'll be safer with the Republic than here."

Vrei let go of Kyrian's hair. "Maybe I believe you, maybe I don't." She eyed Jezari. "You really want Riada, I might ransom him. If you can prove you're SIS."

"Let us all go, and you've got a deal."

"Let's see this proof you've got first."

"Agree to let us all go, or no deal."

Vrei looked down at Kyrian.

"All of us," Jezari repeated. "I made a deal with him. Just like I'm making a deal with you."

"Don't count on him keeping that deal." Vrei gave Kyrian another bitter look. "But I won't make you break it. If you've got proof and credits, you're all free to go. It's time I salvaged something from this mess."

"We don't carry business cards. I have to call in." Jezari crossed her fingers that her clients would go along with her ruse, and the ransom idea.

Vrei activated the holo terminal on her desk. "If the person who answers has an Imperial accent, you're done."

Jezari ignored the threat. If that happened, they had much bigger problems.

The upper half of the woman who'd hired her shimmered into focus, the holoprojection tinting the room blue. She looked at Vrei with mild confusion. "Can I help you?"

"That depends on who you are and who this is." Vrei shifted the holocam.

"Hi." Jezari grinned nervously. "The rescue didn't go as planned. But they'll deal for Riada. We just have to work out the details and we can escort him out of here." Come on, go for it. The SIS didn't have a reason to care about the rest of them. She hoped they wouldn't think of that.

"Ransom?" The woman's face was unreadable. "For Adson and the plans?"

"And the name of the person they bribed to get him," Jezari added. She was willing to bet Vrei knew, or could find out, and it was something only the SIS would care about. "Can't trust anybody from that safe house otherwise."

The woman nodded slowly. "We should have considered that option. But I hate to reward criminals."

"I've got news for you, lady," Vrei said. "There's nobody else on Nar Shaddaa."

"We seem to have no choice." The woman frowned at Jezari, then turned back to Vrei. "What are your terms?"

.

.

Savler watched the negotiations—and Riada—thoughtfully. Zarva had definitely bitten off more than he could chew if his employees were willing to ditch the plan and bargain for a little ransom money instead. She wondered how the Hutt had expected his plan to go. Kidnap a guy for his impossibly effective ion grenade. There's a plan that can't go wrong.

Her carefully neutral expression hardened. The Hutt wasn't the only one who's plans had gone to hell. Riada owed her for repairs, and whether the negotiations worked or Mako and the others rescued them, it did nothing for the day's larger problem.

She glanced over at the Imp. His head was bowed in defeat, or, more likely, to try and keep his face off the holocam. Like that would help him. The SIS couldn't have him; the only place he was going was straight to Dralick.

She wasn't throwing her career away for some damned Imperial Intelligence agent.

But he hadn't gone after Riada when the engineer pulled his stunt; he'd grabbed her. He hadn't tried to offer the Empire as any kind of alternative. He was letting Jezari win. Letting Riada go back to the Republic. If he'd followed the engineer, abandoned her and Jezari, he'd have had everything.

She shoved the thoughts away. What had happened in the corridor was a fluke, a mistake, nothing more.

"Half now, the other half when Adson arrives safely," the SIS woman said.

"That's your agent's problem, not mine," the Twi'lek responded. "Pay us and we let them go."

"We've got a ride coming," Jezari said. "Half now, half when they pick us up."

"How do..." The Twi'lek looked up at the security camera above her desk. Her lips curved in a humorless smile. "Clever." She turned back to the holocomm. "Okay. We'll take your agent's deal."

The woman on the holo frowned slightly. Savler was willing to bet she'd been hoping to get out of paying Jezari altogether. Riada was one damned expensive engineer. The Republic wasn't likely to pay for her armor, and Jezari would be lucky to get maybe half what they'd promised her. All because the man had tried to ditch them.

Looking out for himself. Like she was. Like anyone would.

.

.

The trip from the factory to the SIS safehouse passed in awkward silence. Jezari had half expected Riada to balk at getting into the borrowed speeder van, but he merely scowled at her crew and stuffed himself in a corner, as far from everyone else as possible. Asking him for even a smudged page of his plans was clearly out of the question.

So was every other solution she could think of. Even faking his death would require his help, and she had the bad feeling that the Empire had all the SIS buildings – no matter how secret they were supposed to be – thoroughly bugged.

By the time she pulled the speeder into the alley next to the safehouse, she was ready to bite the control yoke in frustration.

"Damn it." She turned to look at Kyrian. "I don't care what we decided. Come with us. I can vouch for you to the SIS. Riada can vouch for you." She ignored the engineer's snort. "You can't go back to the Empire with nothing!"

"Nothing?" Kaliyo laughed. "Seriously, Agent? That guy's gonna have your hide."

Kyrian hesitated. "Ah, yes, he'll definitely be angry." His casual tone was almost believable. "It's nothing to worry about. Returning with even a fragment of Riada's plans would be suspicious, now."

"You don't have to return at all." Jezari's fingers sank into the soft foam back of the pilot's seat. Why won't you just defect!? Kyrian was unarmed; Kaliyo might not care. She could order Bowdaar to bodily deliver him to the SIS, or sit on Kaliyo while she did. Even if he never forgave her, at least he'd be safe. Probably. All she had to do was give the word.

"Jezari, it's all right," Kyrian said. "I'll holo you after I report in. I promise."

Kaliyo grinned. "Oh, this is gonna be rich."

They won't kill him, Jezari told herself. He thinks they won't kill him, a nasty little voice at the back of her mind pointed out. No. He was confident he could holo her. Kaliyo thought it was funny. They wouldn't kill him. She wouldn't think about what they would do. "I'm holding you to that. The rest of you stay here. I mean it. I'll be right back, and you'd all better be here."

.

.

Kyrian waited until she and Riada were out of sight around the corner before leaning forward. "Savler, can I have a word with you? Privately?"

She looked up from the gauntlet she was working on, a miniature screwdriver gripped in her teeth. She spat it out. "You think I'd go anywhere with you?"

"Not out of sight of the speeder," he assured her. "And Mako should accompany us. I have a business proposition. Nothing to do with Jezari's mission, or Riada," he added hastily.

Corso frowned. "The Captain said to wait right here."

"A business proposition?" Savler fitted the gauntlet onto her arm and made a fist. The electro dart launcher snapped into active mode. "Want to see if it works?"

Kyrian sat back slowly, his hands raised. "I only want to talk to you." He met her gaze, fighting the urge to glance at the dart launcher. "Kaliyo will stay here. You're armed. I"m not. You have nothing to fear."

For a long moment, she stared at him, eyes cold. Then the dart launcher retracted. "Fine. Let's hear it."

"I…" Kyrian sighed. Convincing her to get out of the speeder – and away from Kaliyo, and Jezari's crew – seemed out of the question. "All right. I believe you've been hired to capture me."

"And you wanna be alone with her?" Kaliyo eyed him. "That's stupid, even for you."

"I have a discretionary fund. I can meet your client's price. That would solve our problem, wouldn't it?" He smiled tentatively.

"What?" Corso said.

Risha hushed him. "It's their problem, not ours."

"You want to buy me off?" Savler's voice was so flat, it almost wasn't a question. "You've got ten thousand credits, just lying around?"

"Yes." It was very nearly the truth; he could request the amount from any Imperial Intelligence office. Perhaps not any. The former Fixer was already going to be livid. He pushed the thought away. One problem at a time.

"Huh." Savler rubbed her chin. "Okay, you got a deal. Let's go get that money." She hooked the mesh bag of armor over her shoulder and popped open the door.

Mako blinked.

Bowdaar made an unhappy sounding noise.

"Hey, wait, no," Corso objected. "The Captain said-"

"We'll meet Jez back at the Luck," Savler said. "She'll understand."

Kyrian slid out after her before she could change her mind. "Stay with them," he told Kaliyo. "We won't be long."

"Bad idea, Agent. You need me."

"I know what I'm doing." And if I don't, everyone's safer with you here. He managed a smile. "I'll see you soon."

"Ha," she said. But she stayed in the speeder.

Kyrian tried not to notice that Savler and Mako flanked him as they walked back toward a taxi pad they'd passed in the speeder. Clearly, agreeing to the deal wasn't a matter of trust.

The droid taxi driver took a few credits and the spaceport and docking bay number where he'd parked the ship. A holocall from the hangar would be reasonably secure, and a lot safer than bringing the two bounty hunters to an Intelligence office. Or on board the ship.

"New plan," Savler said, her dart launcher centimeters from his upper arm. "Twitch and I fire. Hands where I can see them."

He obeyed. "You know I'm not armed. Riada's device ensured that."

"I don't take chances." She took his non-functioning rifle and handed it to Mako, her gaze never leaving his face. "Get on the floor." She gestured with a tilt of her head. "Face down. And keep your hands where I can see them."

"I don't think-"

She grabbed a handful of his coat and shoved him to the floor, her knee in his back. "Don't tempt me, Imp." She twisted his arms behind him and snapped binders on his wrists.

"Are you sure about this, boss?" Mako asked.

The taxi carpet smelled of a number of things, none of them pleasant. He turned his face away as best he could. "I really can pay you," he insisted.

"That's not how it works." Savler shifted, her knee grinding into his spine. "A bounty hunter who goes back on their contracts doesn't get work. And this isn't a client we can afford to ignore. You go to him. I get paid. We keep hunting. Jezari never knows. You went to report in and, whoops, nobody ever sees you again."

She gave the taxi driver new directions. Another docking bay; hers, Kyrian assumed. Her ship likely had a holding cell, working armor, and powerful sedatives. If he was going to escape, it would have to be while her equipment was down to one possibly working electro dart launcher.

She would have to get off him to get out of the taxi. Mako had a blaster on her hip, but she wouldn't shoot a bounty – not when he seemed to be very much wanted alive – and she wouldn't risk shooting her partner. That would be the moment to…

I can't. Escaping wouldn't solve anything. If he could escape. Savler moved like a skilled fighter; any hesitation on his part, and he'd lose.

He could escape from whoever had offered her ten thousand credits to deliver him.

They hired bounty hunters. They have money but not people of their own, at least not that they thought could capture me. That seemed promising. Unless they had some other reason for hiring a bounty hunter. He wouldn't consider that.

There was another problem.

"Savler, Jezari will try to rescue me."

She snorted. "How? She won't…" Her voice changed. "From Imperial Intelligence? I won't let her."

"And Kaliyo will know I didn't report in."

"I'll pay her off."

"There has to be a better solution. Your client-"

"Shut up." Her fist pressed against his back. "One more word and I fire."

"Maybe we should…" Mako began.

"No. This is the only way. I'll make it work."

"Aori…"

"I'll make it work."

.

The taxi landed smoothly, the droid driver announcing the docking bay number as the vehicle pulled to a halt. Kyrian tensed. If he was going to try anything, now was the time. Savler's weight shifted and vanished. Before he could decide, there was the soft vwip of her dart launcher and the world exploded in pain.

He didn't hear her fire a second time. There was only more pain, and blackness.

And then a distant buzzing.

Kaliyo's voice came from somewhere in the buzzing: "... sell your pelt to Trandoshans!"

Kyrian lay on his side on a hard, flat surface, his arms awkwardly behind him. It felt as if someone had tried to yank them out of their sockets backward, and his right hip hurt. So did most of the rest of him.

He opened his eyes and saw assorted booted feet, and, a few meters away, Kaliyo, who appeared to be trying to bite the top of Bowdaar's head. The Wookiee howled at her and held her out at arms length.

"He's Imperial Intelligence." Savler, angry. She was somewhere to his left, behind him.

"You keep saying that like it means something!" Jezari, equally angry, right in front of him.

He tried looking up and the world spun oddly. He swallowed, fighting back bile.

"He isn't your friend," Savler insisted. "They don't have friends. They use people. You're smarter than this!"

"He is my friend!" Jezari yelled. "He's helped me. Multiple times! He saved me from the Empire! He trusted you! I trusted you!"

"You can't trust him!"

"It's...it's all right." Kyrian tried to sit up. "We can work this out."

Jezari dropped to one knee and steadied him. "Are you okay?"

Savler made an inarticulate noise of frustration.

"I'm fine." The dizziness had passed. His arms seemed to still work, and he was pretty sure he wasn't going to throw up on her.

"You sure?"

"Yes." His injuries were minor; nothing a medpac, or a little time, wouldn't cure. He accepted her hand up, straightening carefully. "Thank you." He took a deep breath. "Kaliyo," he called. "It's all right. None of this is Bowdaar's fault."

Kaliyo pulled away with a growl as the Wookiee set her down. She stomped over to her dropped blaster and slammed it into its holster. "I told you you needed me."

"I'm all right. This is just...a misunderstanding."

She snorted.

.

.

Jezari scrubbed a hand over her face and looked at Savler. It felt like there was an invisible wall between them, right along the line where Kyrian had sprawled. Damn it, why didn't you listen to me? I told everybody to stay put. Friends were always off limits! Why didn't you talk to me? Were you gonna lie to me?

"Why?" She waved a hand at where the taxi had been. "What were you thinking?"

"I'm not throwing everything away for some damned Imp!" Savler took a step forward, fists clenched. "He's using you. Jez, I know these people. They're worse than Hutts! This was the only way."

"You want my crew, too? They've got prices on their heads. How about me? I've got a whole bunch of bounties. You can take your..." She trailed off. "Savler?"

"Look, I didn't know it was you. Just some Mirialan with an XS. And it wasn't important. More like a...a bonus. He just wants the Imp." She shook her head. "You know I'd never."

He? No… There weren't that many people she and Kyrian had tangled with. Not together. Not that would offer a bounty hunter ten thousand credits. A certain Sith Lord, though…

Kyrian had come to the same conclusion. "Lord Dralick?"

"He wants you nice and alive," Savler said. "Something about unfinished business."

"Do you know what he'll do to him?!" Jezari demanded. "Do you know what he specializes in?"

"Do you know what's in every crate you haul? It's not our business to ask."

"I don't hand people over to Sith Lords for a living!"

"Most people with bounties on their heads aren't nice people, Jez." Her face was hard. "Imperial Intelligence doesn't raise gizkas and win flower shows. Maybe you should ask him how many people he's handed over to Sith Lords."

"None, directly," Kyrian said. "Indirectly, I don't know. And Imperial Intelligence is hardly better."

Jezari stared at him. Of course he had. It was his did hearing it from him feel…wrong.

"I'm sorry." He looked down at his bruised wrists. "She's right. There's only one solution." He turned to Savler. "If I surrender, would it be possible to hire you to rescue me afterward? Or create a diversion? Perhaps cut the power to the building?"

"What."

"Huh," Kaliyo said. "That's almost smart, Agent, but you've got it backwards. You're doing her a favor. How 'bout, you surrender if she helps save your ass and gives us a cut of the bounty."

"I won't stop you from rescuing him," Savler said after a moment. "But I'm going to be counting my credits over a nice dinner with Mako when it happens. Somewhere real public."

"I could still cut power to the building," Mako offered. "Or mess up his security."

"When we tangled with him, he was using an internal security system," Risha said. "No access from the holonet."

"The building doesn't have a powerplant," Mako said. "Just a back up generator. He's using city power. I wonder-"

"Wait. Hold up." Jezari cut her off. "Nobody's going to Dralick. That's a horrible plan!"

"I don't see an alternative," Kyrian said. "Savler has to complete her contract."

"But..." She groaned. "Hell."

"I still think we should get a cut," Kaliyo said.

.

.

It was late afternoon on Dirha when a taxi dropped Savler and her bounties in front of the squat duracrete building that housed Lord Dralick's business. The trip from Nar Shaddaa hadn't been quite long enough to repair and properly test the armor that Riada had damaged, but her older back up armor was better than nothing..

The plan wasn't horrible. It just wasn't good. Savler had liked it a whole lot better before Jezari had gotten involved in it. Stubborn and reckless as always. I should've put my foot down. The extra thousand just wasn't worth it. But Jezari had insisted.

None of the passersby so much as glanced at them as she shoved Jezari and Kyrian through the building's double doors and into Dralick's reception area.

A pretty young woman with fashionable hair sat behind the large reception desk, but the small waiting area was empty. If Dralick had clients or other business that afternoon, he'd either finished, or they were currently with him.

The receptionist looked up in alarm.

"I see Dralick's taste in employees has improved," Kyrian said cheerfully.

Idiot. Savler thumped him between the shoulder blades with her blaster, hard enough that he stumbled. And stayed silent. "Take these fools off my hands, and I'll take my credits," she growled.

"You'll have to wait for..." The receptionist began.

Savler fixed her with a glare.

"I'll call Lord Dralick right away!"

"I don't care who you call as long as they've got my credits."

The receptionist fumbled with the holocom on her desk, and a small, blue-tinged image of a man in a tailored suit bloomed above it. "I'm so sorry to disturb you, my Lord," she said. "But your bounty hunter has arrived. With the bounties."

"Excellent." Even in the tiny holo, Dralick looked pleased. "They're just in time to test my latest creation. I love fresh subjects."

Jezari and Kyrian exchanged glances.

Savler forced an impatient frown. "My credits?"

"Yes, yes, pay the hunter." The holo blipped off.

The receptionist's fingers flew across her keypad as she transferred the credits. "If you could just wait for the guards to-"

"Your problem now, sweetie." Savler spun on her heel. "I got what I came for."

She walked out of the building, every instinct in her screaming at her to turn around and save Jezari. The rest of the plan was out of her hands and out of her control. Eleven thousand credits isn't remotely enough for this.

.

.

Jezari stared at the four guards who'd emerged from the lift. Humans didn't generally get much over 2 meters tall, but somehow Dralick had found four that had, all built like Houks. They hadn't drawn their blasters, but that hardly mattered. One of them could carry her and Kyrian, and still have a hand free to juggle speeders.

When Savler said she only saw human guards, I thought she meant normal humans.

She'd heard the unmistakable click of the outer door locking behind Savler, but she backed away anyway. "Hey, I'm just a pilot. I don't even know what this is about. I swear."

Two of the guards grabbed her.

"Ow! Hey. I'm not struggling."

They searched her, checked that the cuffs on her wrists were locked, and dragged her to the lift. The other two did the same with Kyrian.

"Look, if I hauled something that was stolen, I didn't know," Jezari insisted. "Honest!" Come on, Risha, where are you?

The guards ignored her. One pressed the lift button. Nothing happened. He frowned, and pressed it again. Still nothing happened.

"Something's wrong," he said.

A speeder smashed through the front doors, spraying the room with shards of transparasteel. It stopped just short of the receptionist's desk. Jezari and Kyrian hit the floor as Corso and Kaliyo fired on their guards.

One of the guards went down. The other three dove for cover, two vanishing behind the desk, the other upending the waiting area table. They returned fire.

Jezari rolled over, hands flailing for Kyrian's wrists. They had to get the binders off, and fast. "Damn it, I can't..." Her thumb found the release; a second later, she was free, too.

She sat up in time to see Bowdaar leap onto the table the guard crouched behind, flattening it. And the guard.

The Wookiee howled at them to run. The table wobbled under him, trying to rise. He stomped it down with a warning roar.

Jezari scrambled to her feet and ran for the speeder, staying low. Corso and Kaliyo blasted away at the desk, pinning the guards behind it. Unaimed return fire burned holes in the ceiling and the speeder's cracked windscreen.

A blaster bolt hissed past, nearly scorching Jezari's ear. Another struck the speeder as she vaulted into it, spattering molten specks of metal across her hand and arm. She landed awkwardly on the speeder floor, swearing.

Kyrian landed on top of her. "Sorry!" He rolled off, clutching his side.

"You okay?"

"Fine." He winced. "A little singed. My coat dispersed it. Are you all right?"

"Yeah." Her hand throbbed. She needed armorweave gloves. "Nothing serious."

The speeder lurched as Bowdaar joined them. A shattered chunk of table bounced off the windscreen.

"Get down!" Risha barely gave Corso and Kaliyo time to drop before throwing the speeder into reverse. It shot out of the building as fast as it had entered it.

Risha slewed it around and launched it into the sky. Blaster bolts peppered the rear fairing and caromed off the repulsorfield. And then they were out of range, sailing through the slightly polluted city air.

Jezari pulled herself onto the backseat proper as Risha headed for the spaceport. Back to Savler's ship and a medkit. Mako would keep the docking bay cameras from picking up their arrival. And in an hour or two, they'd be off Dirha. Hopefully forever.

Kaliyo flopped next to her, grinning. "I love this planet!"

.

.

Lord Dralick surveyed the wrecked reception area. Chips of transparasteel crunched under his boots. Eleven thousand credits wasted, and thousands more racked up in damages. One scrawny Intelligence agent shouldn't have been even half so much trouble.

In a proper world, he could simply have demanded Intelligence hand him over. In a proper world, Intelligence would never have dared interfere in the first place. Who were they to decide who a Sith could do business with?

"My Lord?" His assistant spoke up timidly. "The speeder seems to have vanished. But the bounty hunter and her partner are at a restaurant. She must have gone straight there. Should I summon them?"

"No." He poked the broken table with his foot. "This was all a little too convenient."

"You think they..."

"I suspect. Nothing more." He turned back to the security footage she'd brought up on her damaged desk. It played on a loop, repeating the escape in slow motion. He paused it, studying the tiny figures. "I've been short sighted," he said. "Revenge is good, but not as good as revenge that is also an opportunity." His smile was cold. "I want to know more about the little cipher agent's career. His interesting friends raise so many questions."