She gripped her blaster, to make sure it was still there, and slipped into the scum ridden streets of Argon VI. Walking normally along, she slipped into a bar, and glanced around casually, looking for her contact. There he was, at a corner table. She walked up to the bar, paid for a drink, and walked casually towards the other end of the room, glancing every so often for a table, and finally sat down at the corner booth.
"How much you got?" asked the Twi'lek in a low voice.
"I'm giving you a hundred credits for this information.
He frowned for a minute, and then continued. "Garjlah has been said to be seen on Tatooine. That's the most recent news anyone's got of him."
"Who else is looking for him?"
"How much you gonna pay me for that?"
"I'll throw in an extra hundred," she said, pushing over some more credits.
"No one. You're the only one. So far. Don't worry about this or anything. But, I do have to keep records, just to be on the safe side with authorities. What name can I put?"
"Maya Russeau." Then she stood up and left the bar.
As soon as Anya Dariss exited the doors to the cantina, a hooded figure walked silently over and sat in her place.
"Payment first," hissed the Twi'lek.
"No," came the quiet response. "You will tell me the information, and I will determine what its worth."
The Twi'lek frowned, and made to protest, but something warned him not to. "Very well," he sighed. "Her name is Maya Russeau. That's all I know, and all you're gonna get out of me. How much are you paying me?"
The hooded figure made no reply, but left a coin on the table and headed out. Going quickly to his ship, he took off and headed out of the systerm. Maya Russeau. He hadn't heard that name before. As he flew off, he did a search for it.
Meanwhile Anya walked back down the street towards her ship. As she turned the corner she heard someone running up behind her. Pulling out her blaster she turned quickly around. It was one of the scum from the cantina.
"What do you want?" she asked gruffly.
"I have some information that may interest you," the creature whined.
"Well? What is it? I don't have all day for the likes of you."
The creature shook it's head. "No money, no information."
Anya sighed. Was that all that these things cared about? Money? Well, if that's the only way she was going to get it . . . She handed him a small pile of credits.
"I'm waiting."
"You're being followed," it said, and then paused for effect.
"Followed?" She frowned as her mind ran over the possibilities. "By whom?"
The creature looked around, and lowered its voice, as if it was afraid to speak the name that was on it's lips. "Zorkos." And then, after another quick glance around, it hurriedly ran back the way it came from.
Anya Dariss stared after the alien for a few minutes, and then hurried back to her ship. After she set the coordinates in for Tatooine, she thought over what the alien had said. Zorkos. She had heard of him in the Empire. A notorious bounty hunter that the Empire had been wanting to capture for quite some time. And he was following her? Why? Did he know of her mission to find Garjlah? She made a mental note to ask about him when she arrived at Tatooine.
Finally the twin suns of Tatooine shone bright against the planet. Skilfully lowering the ship down, she checked for any signs of followers, and headed towards the repair shop she'd been directed to. Before entering she made a thorough sweep of the area, and then went inside.
"How may I be off assistance?" asked a tall droid.
"I need some parts for a T 16," she replied.
"Certainly. Master Genneth can help you. He is in the back room."
Nodding her thanks, Anya went in the direction the droid sent her in, and found what must be Genneth. He looked up from some piles of parts.
"Can I help you?" the man asked.
"Yeah, I need some parts for a T-16."
"You Russeau?" he asked.
"Yes."
"How much you got? That's what determines what you get to know."
"How much is it worth?"
The man paused for a minute and thought. "I'll give it to you for two hundred."
"How much extra is it to throw in some information about someone called Zorkos?"
He looked at her and paled. "Okay. You better get out of this. No one crosses Zorkos and lives to tell about it. You want information about him, I'll give you this for free. Stay far away from him, and anything involving him."
"How much extra?"
"You're really set on this are you?" Genneth shook his head. "Don't say I didn't warn you when you get fried by someone you've never seen. For five hundred credits I'll tell you what I know."
"Five hundred extra? I'm not going to play games with you Genneth. You'll give me the information I want, and you'll give it to me for less than six hundred. Or you'll be the one frying." With that she drew her blaster and levelled it at him.
"Five hundred for all," he murmured. "Garjlah has heard there's bounty hunters after him, and he's gone into hiding on Nal Hutta, where he's under the protection of one Darula the Hutt. Nothing more is known. Zorkos on the other hand . . . Zorkos is one of the most lethal bounty hunters in this part of the galaxy, since the death of Boba Fett. As I said, no one who gets him mad lives to tell about it. I'm warning you. If he's following you, you may want to back off now."
Throwing another five hundred credits on the table, Anya moved closer with her blaster. "What are you hiding from me?"
Genneth looked more than a little nervous now. "He, he, he was in here earlier. Asking about a Maya Russeau. That . . . that's all I know."
"It better be. And you'd better be silent about this, or," here she waved her blaster, "I'll find out. And it won't be a pretty sight."
