"Why are we coming this far into the Unknown Regions?" Baka whined, taking care to remain just outside of the cockpit.
Jess Jess rolled her large eyes, which perched on short, this eyestalks on the top of her head. "For the last time, a Skylkosian probe sent out this way picked up a weak signal from a nearby system."
He shrugged. "So they ask us to risk our necks out here in the unknown?"
"No, they paid us," she answered, briefly glancing to the Mon Calamari on her left for support.
"They've got their own navy; why send us?"
"I asked," the Gungan replied simply, finally spinning her seat around to face the back of the flight deck. "In case you haven't noticed, business has been slow lately. If we didn't take this job--mission--I'd more than likely have to lay off at least one of you."
The Bothan's eyes widened, the brown fur on his neck rippling. "Oh. What about that offer last week?"
"Imperial," she explained. "You could tell by his voice."
"So?"
"So," the Mon Calamari replied, breaking her concentration-filled silence, "unless you want to risk another Kitzlym, we don't take Imperial cargo. Besides, with their well-known hatred of non-humans, how do you think they'd react to us? Only Prat and Dan are actually human." She flipped a switch on her side then looked over to the Gungan. "Jess, we're about to come out of hyperspace."
The Gungan's large, pink-striped head bobbed once. "Baka, any excitement's going to come real soon; you'd better get to your station."
"But I'll have plenty--" he began, but off by a closing flight deck door.
The fish-headed Mon Calamari in the pilot's seat turned one of her large eyes to the closed door. "Did we have to bring Pink on this one? I don't know that I can take a whole week more with him."
The Gungan pointed to a flashing light for her employee to tend to then began her own checklists. "Unfortunately, we probably need Baka on this mission more than any other. What if the Imperials have already found this place? What if they're just hostile? We may need a gunner."
"But why--"
Jess Jess shook her head, watching the countdown monitor. "Three, two, one!" She pulled back on the hyperdrive lever, cutting off power to the faster-than-light engines. The mottled starlight outside the forward viewports splintered into individual stars of various intensities.
"Quite different from Coruscant," Elibex commented, noting the lack of constant space traffic through the system. "Are you sure this one's inhabited?"
"No. I said they picked up a signal from here. That could mean anything." She shrugged, the motion greatly exaggerated by her natural Gungan tendencies. Pointing to a nearby gas giant, she set her mind back to the task at hand rather than focusing on possible implications. "Someone could probably make a few credits mining on that planet," she commented, knowing full well that there was no shortage of gas giants in better known areas of the galaxy.
"Jess, look at this." The younger pilot pointed to a small display on the ship's inexpensive sensors. "We're picking up a couple weak signals coming from the third planet. Looks like there's probably life of some sort."
"Let's check it out."
A few minutes later, the hybrid ship entered the atmosphere of the world. Jess Jess activated the comm to the gunner's station. "Baka, keep your eyes open; with all those satellites in orbit, it's doubtful that they didn't detect us."
"Rog--" the Bothan began to reply, his voice cut off when the Gungan closed the channel.
She then check several of the gauges and readouts. Suddenly, her pink-striped arm shot forward to turn one of the knobs on the dashboard to a higher position. "Bex, remember: during reentry, the Vornskr needs shields. It's not streamlined enough to glide effortlessly through the atmosphere."
The Mon Calamari nodded. "I'll remember," she promised.
Jess Jess sighed. "You're so close to getting it," she commented, staring out the forward viewport. A small, reflective dot gliding above the clouds below them caught her eye. From what she could see, it wasn't very high above the surface, and it flew slowly, steadily away from the eastern coast of a continent.
Elibex again directed a single eye in her employer's direction. "What do you want me to do?"
"It's descending; keep your distance, but if it lead us to a good landing location, set us down."
"Yes, ma'am." As ordered, she paced the aircraft slightly above and behind it.
"Odd," Jess Jess commented, glancing at another display. "Nothing on the comm."
The fish-like alien shrugged as the Gungan Vornskr slipped through a last layer of clouds. "Looks like a spaceport," she remarked upon coming into view of an area filled with many of the odd aircraft. A large portion of the ground in that vicinity appeared to be covered with duracrete, from what she could make out in the pre-dawn darkness. Nearby, the lights of the surrounding city twinkled, the technology giving testament to some sort of sentient life. With a little less difficulty, Elibex settled the ship into an empty spot next to a lifeless aircraft about in the middle of one of the four wings of what she described as a spaceport.
"Bex, check all frequencies our comm can pick up," Jess Jess requested. "I'll take care of some of the post-flight checks."
The Mon Calamari nodded, and after a couple minutes, looked up from the comm to her employer. "We're picking up a comparatively strong signal on a lower frequency."
"Put it on," the Gungan replied, stopping her checklists.
"--doing? Who parks an experimental plane at an airport? Whoever's there, answer!" screamed an exasperated male voice from the comm. It continued a bit quieter. "Reroute flight 64 to A9. Tell the terminal. And, Jenn, could you bring me a cup of coffee when you come back up? Thanks."
"Put me on," the Gungan demanded. When Elibex nodded, indicating that she had done so, Jess Jess replied to the anonymous voice. "This is Captain Cadyue on the Gungan Vornskr. I apologize for the inconvenience, but we didn't see a better place to land."
"Forget it," he replied, sighing heavily. "Just open up. Control tower out." The comm clicked off, leaving the two pilots to stare at each other in silence.
"Guess I'd better get going, see what I can do to start interplanetary relations on the right foot. Go ahead and finish the post-flight checks." With that, the Gungan left the flight deck.
Chapter 2 may or may not be up tomorrow, depending on how busy I am. If you enjoyed this, review. Say something. Make my day. It's really depressing when you have no reviews at all. Tell me what you don't like about it. (Be polite, please.) Tell me what you'd like to see. I have nowhere I absolutely want to take this.