I woke up in my cabin, terribly disoriented. Reaching under my pillow, I felt for the holdout blaster I usually kept there but found nothing. I wasn't in my apartment. The floor was vibrating, and I began to panic.

You're on your way to Pantalomin, I reminded myself. You're not at home.

I got shakily to my feet and went into the 'fresher. Water was a premium on starships, but I splashed several handfuls on my face before towelling it dry. I was hungry again, so I stepped into the corridor and started for the lounge, but turned and headed for the cockpit instead. As I walked up the corridor, I could hear Teryn arguing with someone – most likely the iotran, Eeisie. I had spent enough time among iotrans to know that Eeisie was royally pissed off.

"We don't have the time to drop out at the standard civilian beacons!" Teryn was saying. "We use the inner system markers, and that's final."

"We are a civilian ship," Eeisie snapped back. "If we use the inner markers we could be blown to pieces by a patrol ship."

"You know we won't," Teryn said.

We won't? I thought suddenly. Why not?

"Greetings, sir," came Aveear's voice from behind me. "Are you lost?"

The 'droid had been in one of the small work rooms just aft of the cockpit, and had stepped out behind me as I crept past. "Oh, hey Aveear, I was just looking for everyone. I must have fallen asleep again," I said, head still a little swimmy from waking up. "What's our ETA?"

"We are making good time, sir," Aveear replied. "We are approximately twelve hours out from Pantalomin."

"Twelve…?" I repeated, stunned. I had to have been asleep for another eight hours or so. "Gods… I must have really passed out."

Teryn stepped up next to me from the cockpit. Her face was flushed and her brow was knitted, thought she tried desperately to hide her anger. "Hello, Mister Power, how was your nap?"

"Nap? I was asleep for another eight hours or more… that's no nap."

"You must have been tired," she replied. In her state of tension, I could see that Teryn was having difficulties remaining calm. It made her a bad liar.

"Call me Darien. And yes, I supposed I was tired," I said, calling up the best sabacc face I had. "But not anymore! Do you have a terminal I can use to catch up on Galactic Newsnet?"

"Sure, use one of the workstations off the lounge," Teryn suggested. "Aveear, why not show him where they are?"

"Of course, mistress," the 'droid said, and proceeded to lead me back to the lounge. I glanced over my shoulder at Teryn as I walked down the corridor. She was watching me, but as I turned she slipped back into the cockpit, and the doorway closed behind her.

The workstation terminal was state of the art, with access to the ship's hyperspace transciever. Aveear stood nearby as I pulled up GNN and began browsing the latest newsbriefs. Imperial in flavour, most of it was propoganda and fluff, but if you could read through the lines, sometimes some real information got through.

Apparently the Imperial navy had routed a rebel conclave, chased them across the Outer Rim and eventually captured some of the rebellion leaders at a tibanna gas mining operation in the Bespin system. This, of course, had dealt a serious blow to the rebel cause, and GNN was convinced it was only a matter of weeks before the whole Alliance crumbled under the justice of the Empire.

More like the iron fist of the Empire, I considered. I had no love for the Empire, in fact I pretty much despised their way of doing things. I was no rebel either, although I couldn't imagine anything too terrible happening if the Alliance was successful and Senator Mon Mothma managed to gain the seat of power on Coruscant. I could still remember the silent cheer I allowed myself when I heard that the rebels had destroyed Tarkin's Death Star. GNN had reported it as a rebel attack on a civilian space station, but Corsec knew different.

From the corner of my eye I regarded Aveear, who stood nearby but did not seem to be watching the terminal screen. I flipped the GNN interface to a smaller size on the screen and brought up another interface screen – this one connected to the Coruscant Botanical Research Foundation. I made random noises about the news on GNN as I punched in some search codes on the CBRF interface.

Treaucau molingita: the flower of the treaucau molingata of Orissh Prime is primarily used in medical faculties. A natural anesthetic, it can be safely injected into most species to induce deep sleep. In large quantities, the nectar of this flower can cause coma in many species. The pollen of this flower creates similar results. The flower of this tree has a distinct aroma comparable to the geliandra tree of Corellia.

I read this information quickly and closed the interface down. As a boy, there were three geliandra trees on my parents' property in the Lakes district. I would pick the fruit off of them in the harvest season and my mother would make sweet juice from them. That's why I recognized the scent in my cabin. I took another quick look up at Aveear to see him staring down at me.

"Have you found what you were looking for?" he asked.

"Yeah," I replied, shutting the terminal down. "Looks like the Imperials have got the rebels on the run… that's good news."

"Indeed," Aveear replied. "Would you like to return to your cabin?"

"No, I don't think so, Aveear," I said. "Is there somewhere I can sit and look outside the ship?"

The 'droid stood silent for a moment. "Yes. Mistress Teryn's quarters has a pleasant view from it's viewport. I am sure she would not mind if you borrowed her cabin for a time."

Aveear led me out of the lounge, away from the corridor leading to my cabin and the ship's cockpit. We came to a large compartment hatchway which hissed open quietly when the 'droid punched a code into the keypad next to the door. I caught it, and stored it away in case it would come in handy, later.

"Here you are, sir," Aveear said, gesturing to the space beyond. I nodded in thanks and stepped into the cabin. The door slid shut behind me and I was alone.

Teryn's cabin was a little nice than mine. A large squarish space, it was crowned by a plasteel dome which looked out into the tunnel of hyperspace. Several sweeping viewports along the starboard side of the ship spilled more mottled blue light into the cabin. As the rest of the ship, it was decorated in dark blues and gold. A large opulent bed with seemingly endless amounts of pillows was against the wall to my left, and a small seating area with two chairs and a small overstuffed sofa had been set up under the viewports. It was dimly lit by small wall-mounted lamps which gave the cabin a warm, inviting feel.

I whistled. "Nice," I said to myself. Next to the seating area was a small refrigeration unit which I peered into, finding individually-sized bottles labelled with the familiar icon of Mon Cal Springs water. I shook my head. This dame had some damned expensive tastes. I grabbed a bottle and settled into one of the chairs, staring out into space. It was the best way I could think to clear my mind and work out the things that were bothering me. The cushions padded me from the vibration of the ship, though I could still feel it through my booted feet.

It was obvious that I had been made to sleep twice now, with a gas produced by the flower of the molingita tree. There was a reason that Teryn wanted me out of her hair for those sixteen or more hours that I had been sleeping. I had only been awake for only a short while, and the Iris was underway, I knew that from the feel of the deckplates.

The deckplates. The vibration in the deckplates was different now. I could feel it. Earlier, the ship had been travelling at what I guessed to be faster than a times-one multiplier, but now we were moving slower. There weren't too many ships out there that moved faster than times-one – the Empire didn't allow it. Only their own naval destroyers could legally move that fast, and they even did in-system.

That was the other thing. Teryn and Eeisi were arguing about using civilian or military hyperspace beacons upon arrival at Pantalomin. Eeisi was right about being blasted into vapour if we used an in-system military beacon, but Teryn was insistant that it would be okay. How could it be, unless…

The door slid open and I turned to see Teryn shillouetted against the light of the corridor. She had a hand on either side of the hatchway, and I could tell by her body language that she was a lot more relaxed than she was when I last saw her outside the cockpit.

"Well, a trespasser!" she said sharply, stepping through the doorway which slid shut behind her.

I stood, hiding the bottle of water behind me. "Aveear said it wouldn't be a problem if I came in here to look out the viewports. I hope that was okay."

Teryn stood where she was and crossed her arms over her chest. "This isn't Aveear's cabin, it's mine," she scowled. With the door closed, I could see her sour expression. "You should have asked me, not him."

"I'm sorry," I flustered. "I assumed that because he said…"

"Because he said," she mocked. "Do you listen to everything a 'droid tells you and take it for fact? No wonder you're doing so poorly on Iotra. If you take the advice of a machine, you're not going to get very far in life. Why don't you start thinking for yourself, for a change? Gods, you sicken me!"

"Wh-what?" I asked, incredulous. She looked like she was enjoying this tyrade.

Teryn strode across the carpeted floor toward me and noticed what I was hiding behind me. "And drinking my expensive water, as well? You've got a lot of guts, Darien Power."

I set the bottle down on the small table next to the sofa, and ran a hand through my hair nervously. "Yeah… about that, I'm sorry…"

"Sorry doesn't cut it. That stuff costs five hundred creds a crate, and you're drinking it like it's Corellian ale!"

That cut it. I was trying to be apologetic, but now she was just getting downright nasty. "Yeah, you spoiled little brat? Then how the hell am I supposed to be drinking it? With a platinum straw?"

With a sneer Teryn grabbed the bottle from me. "Like this," she snapped, and raised it to her lips. She tilted her head back, extending her slender neck, and placed one hand on her hip. Drinking it back quickly, her adam's apple bobbed up and down slightly. A small trickle of water leaked from the corner of her mouth and travelled down her chin.

With a gasp, she finished the water. Handing the bottle back to me, her tongue flicked out and slowly licked the moisture from her lips. Her eyes closed as she tilted her head to one side and indicated the trickle of water now running slowly down her neck.

"Could you get that for me?" she asked, her voice smooth again.

My head swam, and for a moment I thought I could smell the floral scent of molingita again. It was Teryn who I could smell, though. Her light scent that had always clung to her like a fine mist was now feeling overpowering. My own body responded to her request before I could stop it by concentrating on investigative techniques or by recalling the numerous autopsies I had participated in. My heart thudded in my chest so loud that it seemed to drown out the hum of the ship around us.

"Teryn, I have a strict rule about my clientele," I forced myself to say. "Especially the ones that are engaged."

"If you don't get that little drop of water, it's going to soak into my shirt collar, and then I'm going to get all wet and have to take my shirt off," she said quietly, her head still tilted to one side, her eyes still shut. She placed both her hands on both of my forearms. "Please, Darien?"

I pulled my left hand back into the sleeve of my shirt and used the cuff to mop the droplet of water off of her neck. "There you go," I said quietly.

Teryn straightened up and opened her eyes, obviously disappointed but then intensely sad. "Oh, Darien, I'm sorry," she said, her voice choking off as she held back tears. "I'm so confused. I love Trey, I really do… but… you…"

The tears came, and they were genuine from what I could tell. She fell into me and I wrapped my arms around her shuddering frame. "It's okay, Teryn," I said. "I'm flattered, I really am. If you weren't engaged to this guy, I'd love to spend some time with you and see where things went."

"If I weren't engaged to Trey, we probably never would have met," she responded.

"True… well, I guess you came here to get some rest. I'll leave you to that."

I turned to leave, but Teryn caught my arm. "Darien… thanks. You're a good man."

I nodded, and left the cabin.