The next eight hours passed uneventfully. Shortly after takeoff, Kenobi excused himself, saying he needed to meditate before they reached the planet. Ventress was glad; she was over the awkward conversations for the moment. Although, if it continued, the information she could gain from this knowledge would give her power over him, a power she didn't know if she wanted. Attachment is a weakness and needed to be eliminated, quickly. She couldn't afford to become attached to Kenobi, because it would not end well for either of them.
Mother was right. She believed Kenobi would do everything in his power to secure her immunity, but the Republic would never let it happen. Kenobi would not disobey his precious Republic, and once they condemned her to death, he would not save her. Why should she save him, if he ultimately wouldn't do the same for her? Maybe she should find Maul and see how things would play out. If Kenobi died, she could still use his death to her advantage. She would mourn over him, but she would still be able to resurrect her sisters and find a home. If Maul died at the hands of Kenobi, she would have to have to find another way to save her sisters. Maybe Kenobi would even help her.
But why was his death so central to save her sisters, according to Mother? Why was he the key?
Ventress was getting a headache, so to keep her mind off of it she used the time to exercise her healed shoulder. When she got bored of that she started looking through the supplies Kenobi had purchased. It appeared that he expected this to be an extended journey: she was pleased to find actual food instead of the ration bars that she had been eating.
Kenobi entered the cockpit as Ventress had started the landing sequence. She glanced at him out of the corner of her eye as he took the seat next to her.
"Well, I see that you were busy," he laughed.
Ventress rolled her eyes, looking over at the piles of supplies that she had sorted. They had arrived at Corkus before she was able to put them somewhere besides the middle of the floor.
"Since you're not doing anything helpful at the moment, why don't you finish putting things away? Or shall I just let the ship crash into the planet?" Ventress snapped. The ship had entered the soup-like atmosphere and had shuddered, sending the supplies across the floor.
"I was admiring your landing skills," Kenobi chuckled. They hit an air pocket in the atmosphere and the ship jolted; they both had to grab on to something to keep themselves still. He got up and tried to contain some supplies that were now all over the ship.
"It's almost like you have a death wish," Ventress retorted while the ship hit another air pocket. She heard something hit the wall of the cockpit, and the following "Umph".
"Well, with your flying…" he started. Ventress ignored him after that. It was taking most of her concentration to pilot the ship. She assumed he was still talking. After they were out of the worst of the turbulence, she could hear him comparing her flying to Skywalker's.
"So Skywalker wants to kill you too?" Ventress mused as she put the ship down halfway between two villages.
She walked over to Kenobi who was rubbing a red spot on head. He had hit the wall, but, it was the flying cargo that struck him in the head. It appeared to be superficial; there was no blood and his skin was only slightly red.
"Next time, Kenobi, maybe you should stay in your seat until we are landed." Ventress smiled. "It really is a wonder that you're still alive."
"Well, darling, it would take a bit more than flying cargo to end me, but you gave it your best try," Kenobi added and walked over to the landing platform. "What is the plan?"
"If I am going to have to spend more time with you, I am going to need a drink," she replied, walking past him. She didn't know where the bar was on the planet, but after Kenobi caught up with her, she was able to locate one fairly easily. Outside were several humans in various states of drunkenness. She looked over at Kenobi, who had a mixture of sadness and amusement on his face. She actually enjoyed going to the local tavern. You could learn a lot about the residents on the planet; news of the outside world, information about anything, and there usually was a black market. Normally, Ventress found her bounty wasn't too far off from the bar.
Kenobi offered his arm to her, and she took it. He led her to a table in the back and ordered two glasses of wine. Ventress started scanning the room. She was looking for another Toydarian, as well as anyone tipsy enough that she could coax information out of.
The glasses of wine arrived, and Ventress took a sip when she watched a Toydarian enter the bar. She lightly kicked Kenobi under the table, who returned with a dirty look. She tilted her head towards the bar. Kenobi looked over and took a sip.
"Just because he is Toydarian, doesn't mean that he was friends with Jenteo," Kenobi sighed.
"Do you have a better plan? Because I am listening," Ventress retorted.
Kenobi took another sip of his drink and didn't reply. She was going to wait until the Toydarian had a few drinks before asking him questions. She returned her gaze to Kenobi, and used the Force to monitor the Toydarian. It would look suspicious if she kept looking over at him. Kenobi, however, was looking somewhere behind her with a slight smile on his face. She turned around to see that there was an attractive blonde human female sitting two tables away from them.
Ventress almost kicked him underneath the table again in irritation; they were supposed to be working, not ogling. She watched him for a few moments, then motioned for the waiter to come back to the table. It was only when the waiter asked for his order did he look away from the woman.
"So, did you see anything interesting?" Ventress asked, irritated.
"Yes," he replied. "Do you see that woman over there?"
"Oh, the one that you were staring at? Are you planning on buying her a drink?" she snapped.
"Actually, that's exactly what I plan on doing. If you will excuse me," Kenobi said as he stood up. Ventress watched him walk over to the woman and give her a huge smile and offered his hand. They chatted for a few moments, in which both laughed several times before he offered his arm and they went to the bar.
Ventress was in shock. She couldn't believe that Kenobi was over there flirting with some girl while they were on a mission. It felt like a slap in the face, especially after he admitted he was attached to her. She had the sudden urge to go up to him and stab him as she watched him smile at the girl. Anger rushed through her. She was about to get up and do something to either Kenobi or the girl when the waiter came back to the table with the drinks they had ordered a few minutes ago. Hurriedly, she slammed the two drinks back and walked towards Kenobi when the Toydarian she had been watching earlier crossed her path. Ventress groaned, then gave a death look to Kenobi's back and followed the Toydarian out of the bar onto the patio.
"Hey," she purred as she walked up next to him. She found it was much easier to flirt to gain information instead of torture, especially in a public setting. She spun around to see if she could see Kenobi in the bar, but he was out of her view. She would have to deal with the Toydarian first, and then Kenobi.
The Toydarian looked around and made eye contact with her. She gave him a sultry smile and raised her eyebrows. "Is this spot taken?"
The Toydarian looked her up and down and smiled, then motioned for her to take the spot next to her. "My name is Jormum."
"Nice to meet you. I'm Alruia. So, what is a Toydarian doing in a place like this?
Jormum chuckled. "A little of this, a little of that. I am afraid I am not familiar with your species, and that is a shame. Are all the women on your planet as attractive as you?"
Ventress, while imagining choking him, gave him her best smile. "I am Rattataki. Most of my people are warriors, however I was raised on Coruscant. So if you like females who will kill you in your sleep, my home planet is full of them."
The Toydarian chuckled and asked, "Are you going to kill me in my sleep?"
"Well, that would take all the fun out of it, wouldn't it?" she flirted back.
"So what is a beauty such as yourself doing in a place like this?"
"Well, I am here on business. I run a store on Coruscant and I am looking to procure some new items. My customers are a very eclectic bunch and are always in search of rare and interesting items."
"What kind of items are you looking for? I may be able to help. I have connections on this planet."
"Well, I was supposed to meet another Toydarian, by the name of Jenteo. However, we were supposed to meet an hour ago. I hoped that you were him. Do you perhaps know him?"
"Jenteo…Jenteo Gundo? I know him, but you wouldn't want to do business with him. Unless you want to get involved with pirates." Jormum chuckled.
"Pirates? I thought they only existed in children's stories," Ventress lied.
"Sadly, my dear, they are too real and roaming the Galaxy, preying on unsuspecting individuals like yourself. Jenteo was a friend of mine. We came to the planet together with the plans to open a restaurant. However, shortly after we got here, he became friends with the wrong type of people and joined a pirate gang."
"That's horrible. Did you manage to open your own restaurant?" Ventress asked.
"I did. You are actually standing in it now."
"Impressive," she said, looking around. "What was the name of the pirate gang your friend joined?"
Jormum gave her a strange look. "Why do you want to know? I am telling you, you should do business with an honorable man, like me."
"Oh, just so I can keep an eye out. I don't want to do business with the wrong crowd. I would rather do it with someone as attractive as you." Ventress purred while caressing his cheek with her hand.
"Oh, um," Jormum stuttered. "They're called Red Nova. But you shouldn't have to worry about them. Like I said, I have connections."
"Oh, I am most certain you have. Why don't I freshen up and meet you here in about an hour?" she said. She wanted to return to the ship and look up what the computer knew about Red Nova. She hoped they were somewhere on the planet. Now that she knew the name of the band of pirates that were working with the Brothers, she could track them down. Ventress also wanted to find Kenobi, to tell him what she had found out, and then hit him with something. She flashed the Toydarian another smile.
"Oh, of course. Maybe we could eat dinner while we are talking business, do a little mixing of business with pleasure?" Jormum said.
Ventress smiled again and nodded, then walked back into the bar. Fairly quickly, she located Kenobi, who was sitting alone with a datapad at the table. He was completely engrossed in what he was doing, and it appeared that he didn't even notice that she was missing. She shook her head and gritted her teeth. With her anger barely controlled, she walked out of the bar. It would be better for her to go to the ship than engage Kenobi at the moment. The last thing she needed to do was attract attention to herself by fighting with him when Maul may be on the planet.
Distracted, she accidentally walked into someone entering the bar, knocking her over. It was the blonde female that Kenobi was talking to earlier. The woman had got up and grabbed a disk she was carrying that fell on to the ground. She looked around suspiciously, clutching the disk to her chest, and turned her eyes to Ventress.
"Sorry," Ventress said curtly. She actually didn't mean for it to come out sounding so angry, but she also didn't really care.
"No worries," the blonde said politely and walked off. Ventress turned to watch her as she joined Kenobi at the table. She handed him the disk and watched as he patted her hand, and that was when she felt it. She was jealous of this woman, who Kenobi apparently was attracted to, with her stupid blond hair, her stupid good looks. She stared at the pair until Kenobi looked up and saw her watching them. He smiled and waved for her to come over.
Against her better judgement, she complied and walked back over to the table. Kenobi had gotten up and placed a chair for her between him and the vile woman and stood to wait for her to come over. She sat down and tried to make her anger known in the Force surrounding Kenobi while eyeing the girl with him. She gave a slight smirk when she felt his uncomfortableness through the Force. She sat down, not saying anything, and turned her focus to the HoloNet program playing on the TV behind the bar.
"Ventress?" Kenobi said softly.
"Hmm," she replied, trying to appear disinterested.
"I would like to introduce you to my friend, Siala," he said, looking over at Ventress. She looked over at the woman, and nodded her head in acknowledgement, then back at the HoloNet.
"Siala is one of the main transporters of agricultural goods off this planet to Tatooine. She once helped me out of a tight spot and provided me with transportation to the nearest Republic planet."
"You would think someone whose business was transporting passengers would know better than to drive on a broken hyperdrive," Siala chuckled. Ventress gave a confused look to Kenobi and looked over at Siala.
"Anyway, Ben, I really need to get going. The crops aren't going to deliver themselves, and my crew is waiting for me to return. It was nice to see you again, maybe we can meet up again soon." Siala smiled as she got up to give Kenobi a hug. Ventress watched as she exited the bar and turned and looked at Kenobi.
"Ben? Really?" she sneered. "Is that what you tell all the girls or is she just special?"
That earned her an eye roll. "No. Before you even ask, she only gave me a ride. I was undercover investigating the source of some contaminated crops. I was on her ship and she caught me. It was really foolish on my part. I was so focused on my task, she didn't even register. Ben was the only name I could come up with. I told her I had landed nearby, but my ship's hyperdrive was acting funny and I crashed, and I was hopeful someone was on this ship to help."
"And then what? Did you decide you had an attachment to her, too?" Ventress said icily.
"No," Kenobi replied just as icily. "Actually, she was a wealth of information and helped my investigations. I told her that several of my passengers had got sick from the crops from a nearby planet. Since she had relationships with most of the farmers in the surrounding systems, she was able to pinpoint it to a certain planet."
"So, how did she help you out of a tight spot?"
"Well, the hyperdrive ended up breaking. I think some farmers involved in contaminating the crops sabotaged it. She was on one of her regular routes and found me. Luckily, she offered to take me to Tatooine."
"And you two were just reminiscing about those days?"
"No, I had her get the recent records of all the ships departing and arriving on the planet. I thought we could cross-reference them with the ship we know Opress is on, as well as seeing if there was large-scale activity recently. I was just about to look at the data now."
"Well, while you were flirting with your girlfriend, I found out more about our little friend on Yellowblade's Landing. He was part of the Red Nova pirates, a local pirate gang. His friend Jormum, owns this bar. Jormum claims he has connections, and I believe he has also joined with the Red Nova or some other gang for protection of his bar."
"How did you get this information?"
"Oh, I have my ways," Ventress retorted mysteriously.
"We should go back to the ship and look at the data on this chip. It may help us find the location of Red Nova's base."
Ventress looked around and suddenly smiled. "I got a better idea. Do you have your blaster?"
"Why?" Kenobi said apprehensively.
"I am going to rob a bar," she replied. She stood up, pulled her blaster out of its holder and shot the ceiling twice.