Chapter 14.

Cheers and enjoy! Last edited on January 26th, 2014.

While Torian caught some shut eye, Raidre piloted the ship and dissected. Her mind needed the distance afforded to her with logic and rational, but for the life of her she could not recall who she might have pissed off enough to warrant this much heat.

Sector 4 was rich, devoid of conscience and decadent. The lights were garish and forced Raidre to tint the windows, any noise was muffled by the Mantis' blast proof doors and vacuum seals. She thanked her blessings since everywhere they went adds kept popping up around them. Raidre envied Torian's nap. She set them down in the sector's hangar bay and began switching through channels and digging up Intel on Jezzik. Mako was far better at this than she could ever be, but she wasn't about to interrupt the girl's R&R over something as trivial as a bounty on her head. She checked her time. She didn't think they would make it to their appointment with their original contractor. She groaned. She never missed an appointment but they barely had 5 hours to get this whole poodoo-show wrapped up before cleaning up for the meeting.

Torian began to stir after five minutes of inactivity, making her wonder if he was so in-tune with his body that he could feel the motion of their ship regardless of the movement dampeners, or was it that he could feel the hum of the engine or rather the lack thereof and that tipped him off? She kept her eye on the prize and kept looking.

"Anything?"

Raidre shrugged. "Regular business with ' pubs, he seems to specialize in desertion, but that's not useful."

Torian shrugged and took over and began sifting through the junk data, pulling out items for her to look through on her data pad.

"Ok, so everyone's better at this than me."

That earned her a smile. "You're good at the synthesis, but need help with funnelling."

Raidre laughed. "Yep, that sounds like me."

Torian continued to work and smile in silence. It was not like him to speak too much or to share really, and in their recent excursion, he had shared a fair bit more than she could have reasonably hoped for. But who was gunning for her? And why be so round-about it? It bothered her because ever since joining up with Braiden's crew, ever since she took in Mako after the crew was murdered by Taro Blood and his flunkies, she had played it pretty close to her chest, pretty safe. She had to! She owed it to Braiden and Jory to take care of Mako, and she had been doing just that! Making sure the dosage of danger never got out of hand.

When Gault had joined them, it had allowed things to go up a notch, but the Devaronian was far too crafty left to his own devices. He needed a leash and sometimes even a muzzle so Raidre had had to be on her best behaviour with him too. Allowing for just enough mischief to keep Gault happy without ever letting him get too much so he was kept in line. Truth was, Gault was a magnet for trouble, and he loved it that way. So was this someone she had picked up before the Great Hunt or since winning it? Torian put a hand on her shoulder pulling her out of her thoughts, he frowned at her as she met his gaze.

"Grinding your teeth?"

Raidre blushed and was thankful that she wore her hair messy and long enough that it obstructed her face for the most part. Part of her hoped in vain that Torian would mistake the flush of her cheeks for just a colourful illusion due to the lights outside, all the while knowing he was too perceptive to make that mistake.

"Was I?"

"Hard thoughts?"

Raidre sighed and nodded. "I try so hard to keep out of trouble for Mako's sake, and look where I just got us? Mind you, I am grateful this happened with you and not Mako or Gault."

Torian took his turn to frown. "Why?"

Raidre shrugged. "Because I know I can count on you to handle this much heat."

Torian just looked at her, for a long time, it made Raidre feel like he was looking through her rather than seeing her. His intensity was something she would have to get used to. She tried to soften the moment with a smile.

"Come on, vod(1), we got work to do!"

What happened next was unexpected, Torian's face split into a grin, a grin that looked so silly and ridiculous that it made Raidre laugh out loud. She made a mental holo of that grin, because she knew that it was a rare sight to see on his features, it was written all over the disuse in the rictus muscles. The moment vanished as it had appeared; quietly.

"Looks like our smuggler has Mando roots."

Torian tossed her a file on Raidre's data pad, she looked through the messages, recognizing some of the Mando'a words used within them, even understanding most of it.

"Well, I guess that narrows down why he's after me."

"Why?"

Raidre pulled out algorithms to set up direct control of the Mantis from her suit.

"I only know of one Mandalorian I really pissed off."

Torian frowned. "Who?"

Raidre snorted, Taro did not figure as a warm memory in her mind. "He was a fellow contestant in the Great Hunt, Taro Blood. He also gave a bad name to us, and I dealt with his lack of honour accordingly."

Torian frowned. "The dead don't put up bounties."

Raidre nodded. "Fair point, which means he has friends who wants revenge. "

Raidre put her holo in front of Torian and pulled out three messages Jezzik had received with Mando'a in it.

"Signed by Karik. Could be a friend or family of Taro's."

Torian shrugged. "So what's the plan?"

Raidre chewed her lower lip. "My quandary was with Taro, not Karik. If we could just level with whoever this person is, that would be best."

"And if we can't?"

Raidre sighed. "Then we eliminate the problem and hope we don't create more in the process."