-Strange Bedfellows-

It took some doing, the damned Cathar was a lot heavier than even I suspected, but Tongo and I finally managed to wrestle his body into the limo. Nadel, Minx and Linny sat in the front seat and Tongo and I stayed in the back with Arrtis. I had to keep his head elevated so he didn't choke to death on his own fluids. Blood was everywhere, including the nice gold carpet lining the penthouse hallway and the back seat of the limo.

In his few moments of lucidity he muttered about the sith, Cori and Del'Moor, his last words were 'save her' before he passed out again.

"He needs a hospital," said Minx.

"And we do what? Dump him at the emergency room door? I'm not in the mood for fifty questions and I don't have time to take him inside, I have a sith to meet, soon."

"We will talk about this when we are home," said Linny.

"There's nothing to talk about, you don't get to win all the time, Linny, and trust me, you won't win."

The rest of the ride continued in uncomfortable silence. At Linny's, Tongo and I helped Nadel get Fenel out of the tank, then got Arrtis ready. There was no time to load fresh fluid and we all held our breath until we saw the bubbles start to rise from the breathing mask. We would know by morning if the Cathar was going to make it. Tongo carried Fenel to his room and laid him in his bed to let the sedative wear off, he would be fine.

Nadel led Minx and Tongo to the kitchen for some caf and I threw my datapad to Minx asking her to download the coordinates of the asteroid field, I knew she had them and she didn't deny it. I then made my way to the bedroom to clean up and put clean clothes on, Linny followed close behind.

Linny put her hand on my arm and I whirled around, "Leave it be, Linny."

"You stubborn, ass!" she spat as her other hand came up to slap me.

I caught her arm mid air and pushed her back against the wall, holding her there with my body, my nose just inches from hers. "I told you to leave it be."

Her breath came hot across my face. "So you can meet this sith? So you can go to Del'Moor's private lab and get yourself killed? You have the amulet, Markus, give the damned thing to the sith and let him do whatever he must, why do you have to go along?"

My confession tore from my throat. "I go for you, Linny, for you! If there is a cure to this illness of yours it has to be in that lab. You're a smart woman, tell me you never suspected that Del'Moor had something to do with it. You had treatments for your infertility, yes? Experimental treatments? Ones administered by your loving husband at Del'Moor's behest?"

I watched a single tear trickle down her cheek and kissed it away, it was salty and sweet on my lips. I stepped back and released her, going to sit on the edge of the bed. My elbows rested on my knees as I gazed down at my fingers locked together while Linny sat beside me and laid her cheek against my shoulder.

"Don't do this, Markus, please. I have found peace with my inevitable death, I could never find peace with yours."

"I have to try and I won't be going alone, this time I will have a sith on my side, or should, if I can talk him into it. He loves, Cori, he will go after her."

"You are the most exasperating man I have ever met but I see there is no talking you out of this, so Nadel and I are going too, Fenel can stay here and look after the Cathar. I have the best pilots around and Captain Tarn will get us there and back if anyone can. Go meet your sith, Markus, I will be waiting."

I got cleaned up and changed clothes then left for the Old Galactic Market. I would take lifts down from there to level 3878, and follow the map on my datapad to find the street I needed. The sith said it was an old warehouse, likely way below his standards of living, but the things people do for love always amaze me. My mind stumbled on that thought but only for a second, it made me question why I was here but I didn't like the answer. I forced my mind to move on.

I had the feeling of being watched and followed as I exited the lift but looking around, I didn't see anyone. The sun does not reach this level and the lighting is poor at best. Trash littered the streets and I couldn't tell who or what made the occasional noise. About two blocks from my destination, I stopped and removed my blaster from my holster, I was sure I was being followed.

"Well, well, little mouse, come slumming have you?" a voice came out of the darkness.

"Look, little mouse has a little blaster, it won't be enough. I want the hat when we're done," said another voice from in back of me.

"He won't be needing it anymore," said a third from my left.

I heard the sound of metal smacking against fleshy palms, common thugs, but I was unsure of the exact number. I heard the sound of footsteps sprinting toward me from the back, dropped to one knee, crossed my arm over my chest, brought the blaster up under my armpit and fired. It was a blind shot, but I hit someone, they squealed and thudded to the ground. I got to my feet and began firing in all directions as I inched forward toward my destination.

I dodged one piece of thrown metal but got unlucky with the next one, it hit me in the side of my head hard enough to daze me, and knock my hat off. I stumbled and almost went down as several ragged figures advanced. Why can't it ever be a stand up fight?

I fired twice more but before they could reach me a red glow ignited from the shadows and came flying in my direction spinning as it closed the distance. I dropped but still smelled the odor of burned hair as the blade slid through the space the top of my head had previously occupied.

At least three of the raggedy men fell to the ground and the rest turned to run. I looked up to see a black leather glove extended down to me which I gripped as the hooded figure helped drag me to my feet.

"That was an expensive haircut, you're gonna owe me big time if you messed it up," I said as I dusted myself off.

"It was just a trim," the sith laughed.

"Good thing I didn't have my hat on, that would have really pissed me off," I retorted as I bent over to retrieve the fedora.

"Humph, the republic and their hats."

"Same could be said of the sith and their masks, potato, potahto."

"Fair enough, please follow me, Mr. Deklinn, I believe we have business to discuss."

"Lead on," I said as I followed him to the warehouse door and entered into the absolute blackness that lay beyond.

To my surprise, the sith possessed a glowrod that he used to light our way toward the back of the building and up two flights of metal stairs to the room he was currently occupying. A lantern sat by a bedroll and two metal chairs sat against a makeshift table constructed out of a thin sheet of metal laid across two sawhorses.

"Please excuse the amenities, I don't get much company," he said as he turned off the glowrod and pulled one of the chairs away from the table, motioning for me to take a seat.

"You seem to have me at a disadvantage, Mr. Deklinn. Tell me what you know and be quick about it, I am not known for my patience."

"Look, Tantalus or Tyrus or whatever your name is, I'm not going to get into a dick measuring contest with you. My life has been hell since Cori hired me and I am in no mood for threats. We work together or not at all, capiche?"

"Cori is my only concern, Mr. Deklinn, so, all posturing aside, please tell me what you know."

"I was to meet with Cori today at 2 at her Sunrise Boulevard apartment to hand over her diary. When I got there the door was open, the place was smashed to hell and Arrtis, her bodyguard, was near death in the hallway."

The sith had been pacing this whole time but stopped and focused his yellow eyes on me. "Did Arrtis have his wits to say what happened?"

"Yeah, he said that hunters had come for her and taken her. We both know that Del'Moor has her and he has plans for her in whatever sick scheme is fomenting in his demented skull."

"She is powerless without the amulet, do you happen to know where he has taken her?"

"He has a lab in an asteroid belt just outside of Hutt space and it is heavily defended, or….he could just have her on one of his frigates jumping constantly from place to place."

"And you know the location of this secret lab?"

"I do. But I need to come along for personal reasons and you are in no position to bargain. It would take you too long to get the coordinates on your own and time is of the essence. You know what he is prepping her for, Tyrus, so what's it going to be?"

"It seems we have an accord, Mr. Deklinn. But if she is not on that asteroid, what then? Have you thought that far ahead?"

"You don't know me well enough to assume that I haven't. If, we can somehow get control of that lab, we can hold it hostage to get Cori back. I have the feeling that the weapon that has everyone so spooked is still there and that it is more important to Conrad than 10 of his bastard offspring."

"Perhaps, but one more thing you need to know, the Conrad Del'Moor you met is a doppleganger."

"Great, another twin."

"Hardly, he is something much more sinister, now tell me your plan to get to this asteroid."