o:o:o
The cantina Zak had picked was dark, noisy, smelled worse than rancor poodoo and was filled with the worst scum and villainy in the galaxy. The Force rippled with so many thoughts of murder, mayhem, and treachery, the atmosphere made Mos Eisley seem pleasant.
Phaelon wrinkled her nose and took the tiniest of sips from her drink. She shuddered; supposedly the local whiskey, it tasted more like millennia-old bantha sweat. "And you think we're going to find them here?" she asked, as Zak slid into the seat beside her.
"No idea." – She glared at him in disbelief, so he continued. – "But I figure if they're not here, it can only get better."
She sighed. This was true, and they had to start somewhere.
Several hours past and still there was no sign of their quarry.
The door opened, throwing a bright light across the cantina wall and making several beings shade their eyes. Two humans entered, and Phaelon eyed them under the pretense of taking another sip from her filthy glass. Shrouded in billowing sand-colored cloaks, she couldn't get a good look at their features, but she was nearly certain they were the ones she and Zak had been sent for, especially after the Trandoshan bartender escorted them into a private backroom.
Tossing a few credits on the table, Phaelon excused herself and sauntered nonchalantly out of the cantina. As she walked, she was more than a little aware of the many pairs of eyes watching her, but it didn't surprise her – a female of any species wouldn't go unnoticed in that crowd.
Once outside, she walked down a block to make sure no one was following – they weren't – and doubled back down a side street. Five minutes later, she was crouched on a low roof watching the back door of the cantina. With any luck, Zak was still inside trying to keep watch and perhaps listening in.
Nothing happened for nearly an hour, and Phaelon was beginning to worry that something may have went wrong and they had discovered Zak or that they had went out a different way. Finally, the back door creaked open and a Bothan peeked his fur-covered head out. After checking the alley for beings, he pushed the door open all the way and entered the sunlight followed quickly by the two humans and a female Twi'lek.
"Remember," said the Twi'lek to someone still inside and out of sight. "It's either them or you. We're taking a cargo out of here tonight regardless."
"No more second chances," threatened one of the humans, "and no more excuses. We'll be waiting for you."
The Bothan let the door slam shut, silencing the being's muffled reply.
Smirking to herself, Phaelon carefully made her way back to the front of the cantina to find Zak.
o:o:o
The Jedi Knight was waiting for her, leaning casually along the outside wall of the cantina. He fell into step beside her, neither talking for fear of being overheard as they wended their way back to the starport.
"Anything?" Zak asked, slumping into the pilot's couch after sweeping the ship for listening devices.
Phaelon nodded, leaning on the bulkhead and sliding to the floor. "They've got a cargo going out tonight from some deal with that Trandoshan. Something's got them riled up and they're hot to get out of here."
He smiled. "Good. Then the only question is, where's their ship? I checked with the port authority – without mentioning specifics – and they've got no ships that match the description."
"They've probably got it stashed somewhere on the outskirts."
"If you were a smuggler," asked Zak thoughtfully, "where would you hide your ship?"
As he spoke, she was already flicking through the terrain maps they had uploaded into their ship's database. "This whole sithspawned planet is a good place for smugglers to hide. It's honeycombed all the way through – there isn't even a solid core."
"If I had to choose though, I'd put it in the side of one of those cliffs," he ventured, gazing out the viewport to the soaring cliffs that framed the spaceport, "Easy in, easy out – especially if they've got an entrance up above, like in those hills for instance."
Looking at the cliffs, it was obvious they were pocked with thousands of caverns that led to who-knew-where. Phaelon checked the chrono and sighed. "Well we don't have very long to find out. It'll be getting dark in another two hours."
Zak leaned over her shoulder and began looking at the surveys of the cliffs. "Take a look at this one," he muttered after a few minutes. "It looks big enough for a good-sized freighter, and seems to go straight into the bluff."
She studied the information. "Alright, but if they are there, it won't do for the two of us to be sneaking around."
"I'll head over there," he offered. "Take the ship and put it down nearby, but don't let anyone see you."
It sounded too easy, but Phaelon nodded anyway. "And you'll be careful, right?"
He smirked. "Of course."
o:o:o