Chapter 34: Shidar Zhol'skar
Coruscant
THE BOTHAN QUARTER on Coruscant was located on prime real estate in the Central District, less than a twenty-minute maglev ride from the spaceport. This area hosted the Bothan Embassy, a few Bothan grocery chains like Primosh, and about half of Coruscant's western hemisphere Bothan population.
It was also the location of the Fey House. Much to Shidar's surprise, it turned out that Fyar Fey'lya had relatives on Coruscant. Fyar's older brother, Winton Fey'lya owned a three-story unit with his wife Gnor, across the street from the embassy.
Soon, the Bothan found that learning the ins and outs of the Fey family was just a necessary part of living on this part of Coruscant. While Fyar's behaviour was strange and concerning enough for Shidar to suspect something alarming, perhaps criminal, her brother sometimes made the naïve Senator's fur swirl nervously.
Winton Fey'lya had cream coloured fur and a jet-black mane which always reeked of fur product. He wore a black synth-leather flight jacket. Like some of Shidar's customers back on Thellus, Winton also used glitterstim fairly regularly. He would sometimes stand in front of the turbolift, orange powder visible on his shiny black nose, pulling a knuckler out of his coat, then pocketing it again.
More strangely, he and his wife would often talk about "protection." At first, Shidar had assumed they meant contraceptives, but one day, a Devaronian showed up, grovelling at Winton's feet for protection.
On the one hand, Shidar would have preferred to live in her own accommodation. On other hand, she had free room and board, and could not complain.
Another matter on her mind was Winton and Gnor's youngest son—Fyar's nephew—Borsk. He was distractingly cute.
A professional hover-skier and law school student, who often growled about "wanting to help the family business," Borsk Fey'lya had earned his -y suffix at just 18 years of age. While much shorter than Shidar at just 1.4 meters tall, under his cream-coloured fur, the Bothan was fairly well-built. The few shirtless glimpses of him Shidar had caught, had made her drool.
o.o.o.o.o
"There's uh… Something I want you to look at," Winton muttered, pulling out a red envelope from the bag under his chair.
The Fey family, along with Shidar, were sitting around a rectangular dining room table. On one end, the end that didn't have a mirror behind it, Winton sat with Fyar and Gnor sitting adjacent.
With the mirrors, everything going on under the wooden table on three sides was visible—For instance, if pulled a blaster out from a coat pocket, Winton would be able to see it.
"Honey, you said no business at the table," Gnor growled cautiously, taking cutting a piece of Salar fish.
Shidar's ears perked up as Fyar took the envelope. She surreptitiously took a bite of fish, chewing very slowly. Huh. Business.
"That Trajan is a rat," Winton snarled back, turning to Fyar. "You just started making it big out here on Coruscant. I wouldn't want nothing happening to my little sor."
A rat? Shidar wondered to herself, imagining little rodents running around the sewer. That bit of human slang referring to a police informant had never reached as far the Dressel Asteroid Belt. Who in the hell would name a rat 'Trajan'?
"Huh," Fyar hmm'd to herself, flipping through pages. She carelessly dropped one under Shidar's snout.
Shidar looked down. A colour image was printed on a sheet of flimsiplast. It showed a human in black formal wear standing inside the fence of the Republic military base, Federal District. The Bothan's ears perked higher, violet eyes scanning the photo furiously for any sign of a rodent. No rats. Weird.
"If Trajan Kran is a rat," Fyar growled, then her fur fell flat. "HOLY SHTAK!"
"I know I know. Trajan Kran, he knows everything," Winton growled consolingly, then grabbed the flimsiplast image from Shidar. "Keep your nose away from this, Senator," he grunted. "Maybe we'll continue this conversation in the hall."
Borsk leaned in close, whispering in Shidar's ear. "It's best to stay out of their business. The less we know, the safer we are."
"All right," Shidar sighed reluctantly.
Winton and Fyar stood up from their seats, walking past the mirrored walls out into the dining room corridor. Shidar's fur swirled with nervousness and suspicion as she thought of the picture. What could Winton and Fyar want with the Republic military?