End of the Assignment
Chapter 4
Walking into Krayn's office for the first time, Siri felt her heart skip a beat. Here was her target. He was human, around thirty years old, with a large, intimidating build and a shaved head.
"My name is Zora. I'm interested in learning the slave trade," she said, almost certain that her voice and posture made her appear to be deadly serious. The work she had to do to get an underworld reputation and arrange this meeting had better pay off.
Krayn looked her over and seemed to consider this for a moment. "I could use someone to help me collect inventory. But I'd like you to bring me a slave first, to demonstrate that you know what you're doing."
"Fine," answered Siri.
"I'm on the move most of the time, but as it happens, I'll be here for a few days before I leave for Kessel. I'll make you a deal: Bring me somebody before I leave and you're on."
"That's it?"
"Yeah, I just need to know you've got what it takes."
"I won't let you down," said Siri. And with that, she left Krayn's office.
What have I gotten myself into?
Thanks to Zora, somebody would end up in the spice mines. The fact that Siri was ultimately trying to stop this didn't help much at the moment.
Going down the street, she realized she needed to find another neighborhood. The buildings in this one looked well protected and seemed to belong to wealthy people who could follow Krayn's ship. So she got into her new speeder and headed towards the more isolated, poorer continent.
When Siri arrived there, she sighed as she had never been anywhere so seedy, even on Tatooine. The ramshackle houses were clustered together to create so-called villages, although there were long distances between them. They were in such poor condition she could hardly believe anyone lived in them.
As Siri got her blaster out and scanned the village, she could almost feel herself slipping into Zora mode. But nobody was in sight for a minute, so she started pacing the alleyways.
Before long, she could see a small, unarmed Rodian in the distance. Sauntering towards him, she called out "hands behind your back" while pointing her blaster at his chest.
When he noticed her blaster and did, she put binders on him, feeling sick to her stomach. She then got him in her speeder and went to the large building near Krayn's ship where most of his slaves lived. She took out her commlink to contact Krayn.
He seemed to be impressed, particularly when he saw the Rodian. "Back so soon? And with a young, healthy one?" he asked.
"I only take ones that can make a decent profit."
And slowly, but starting from that moment, Krayn gave Siri more and more responsibilities.