Jack looked around the cafeteria that Obi and Ben Shray had brought the crew of the Banner to. It was large and open, the walls and floor painfully white—except for an entire, gently curving wall made entirely of transparisteel, apparently part of the outside of the dome—along with the long tables and benches. A long counter stretched across the back wall, blocking the cafeteria off from a large kitchen, where they had been served heaping portions of hot food. Jack couldn't the remember the last time he'd had an actual meal; most of the food on Proserpina was grown off-planet and preserved for transportation, or force-grown in a handful of on-planet agricultural labs, and the majority of what he'd eaten aboard the Banner had been replicated food, packed with artificial nutrients and severely lacking in taste. Obi informed them that most of the food in Haven was grown either in hydroponics labs within the city or in a converted freighter in geosynchronous orbit above the city itself, which sounded basically like a single giant hydroponics center. It was certainly an effective solution to growing crops to feed a floating city on an ocean-covered planet.

The food was good too. Between them, Obi and Ben explained some of how the city worked. Everyone who lived there pitched in to help—whether it was with hydroponics, mechanics and engineering, childcare, cooking, or half a dozen other fields. As far as Jack was concerned, whoever was on cooking duty today was the best chef he could imagine. Race, Elmer, and the rest of the crew seemed to agree, if the speed at which they were eating and the amount of food they were consuming was any indication. Even Davey had relaxed and was smiling as he chatted with Obi.

They were halfway through the meal when Spot joined them, accompanied by a young woman with chestnut-colored hair who was definitely related to Obi and Ben. She introduced herself as Aleesha Shray—and as Ben's twin sister.

"I have a few contacts around the Outer Rim who might have information on your pirate," she explained, taking a seat at the end of the table next to Elmer. "I've reached out to them. Hopefully it won't take too long to hear back from someone."

"How long is 'too long' to you?" Davey asked.

"Ideally, by the end of the day today, but tomorrow at the latest. I understand that time is a factor right now. If I haven't heard back from anyone by then, you'll do best to head back out on your own. I can always get in touch with Spot if I do hear anything after that." She shrugged and stirred her food around on her plate before taking a bite. "But my contacts are solid," she finished. "I'm sure I'll hear back from someone by the end of the night."

Davey nodded reluctantly and turned back to his own food. Jack kept watch on Aleesha out of the corner of his eye. She seemed confident in her claims, but something about that set him on edge. If she could live up to Spot's expectations for her, the confidence would certainly be warranted, but Jack wondered if she really could live up to all that. I guess we'll find out…

.*.*.*.*.*.

Obi and Aleesha—and a cobalt-skinned Twi'lek who introduced himself as Skanton Ru—found quarters in the city for the crew of the Banner that night. There was a bunk room, not too far from the cafeteria, with bunks stacked half a dozen high from the floor to the ceiling, and row after row of the beds stretching from edge to edge of the huge room.

"This used to be a facility to raise and train clones grown in other facilities across the planet," Obi explained. "Now we use the bunk room to house new arrivals until we can assign them permanent quarters—and guests just spending the night." He pointed to an intercom on the wall. "If you need anything in the night, feel free to use that to call whoever's on duty in the administrative center. The doors lock after midnight—part of the security system—but they can use the override code to get in if they need to."

"What, don't trust us?" Finch joked.

"No," Obi said blankly.

"We can't afford to, at least not just yet," said Aleesha. "There are a lot of people around here who need protection. Everyone who comes into the city is carefully vetted. The only reason you haven't been subjected to harsher security procedures is because of Spot. He put in a good word for you, and we trust him."

"That's fair," Davey said quickly, before anyone could protest. "We understand. Thank you for trusting us as far as you have."

Aleesha nodded, and she and Obi headed out of the bunk room. "Feel free to explore the city, but make sure you follow the instructions of security personnel, and be back in this room by midnight. We would want to have to track you down and bring you back here." Skanton bared his sharp teeth in an eerie grin to punctuate his statement, then turned and left, lekku swaying as he walked away.

"Is it just me, or is he a little creepy?" Elmer whispered to Jack once the Twi'lek was out of sight.

"It's the teeth. They set people on edge." Spot grinned. "Believe it or not, he used to be a lawyer. He defended Gambit Initiative personnel in hearings, both in military and civilian courts. And he's a hell of a pilot."

"Did he win a lot of cases?" Elmer asked.

"Some," Spot shrugged. "He had a good record, from what I understand. A lot of civilian judges didn't like him. I think it was the teeth."

"That seems rude," Race said.

"Yeah, well. Some people don't care about unchangeable parts of another person's appearance. They'll dislike them for things they can't help or change, that have nothing to do with the person inside. It's wrong to do, but it happens, and the closer you get to the Core worlds, the more it happens. Imperial sympathizers are the worst for it, but there were plenty of people like that across the rest of the galaxy too. They'll direct their hate at anyone remotely different from them; I'm sure you'll get it too someday, if you haven't already."

Race reached up and scratched his ear self-consciously. "Yeah. I know what you're talking about."

"Well, I don't know about you boys, but Mr. Ru said we were welcome to explore, and I intend to take advantage of that permission," JoJo said, her feathers ruffling slightly. "Anyone want to join me taking a look at some of those freighters back on the flight deck?"

Skittery chittered excitedly, and Finch nodded. "Sounds like we'll tag along," the Rito grinned.

"Make sure you're back before midnight!" Davey called after them.

"Yes, sir!" JoJo called back.

.*.*.*.*.*.

Late that night, the crew was sound asleep in their bunks. The hydraulic door to the bunk room—which was supposed to be locked—hissed open. Jack, who was sleeping closest to the door, woke with a start when it opened. He stayed as still as possible as a dark figure, silhouetted by the light streaming through the door behind it, slipped into the room and walked along the rows of bunks, peering at the sleeping occupants. Finally, it stopped and crouched down by the head of the bunk.

"Spot." Jack could hardly hear the whisper from the distance. "Spot, wake up."

He saw the captain's sleeping form jerk awake and sit halfway up. "Leesh?"

"Come on," came another whisper.

Spot got up and pulled his shoes on before following Aleesha—recognizable once she was lit from the front instead of the back as she headed back towards the door—out of the room. Jack had half a mind to follow them, but the door hissed closed behind them, and he heard the lock thunk into place.

Hope that isn't trouble, he thought to himself. We certainly don't need any more of that.

.*.*.*.*.*.

Aleesha led Spot back to the cluttered office from earlier. "You ever been to the Anatoran system?" she asked.

"My unit did some training there after I joined Gambit, but that's about it," said Spot. "Haven't been back since I was fifteen or sixteen. JoJo's from Onotori, though."

"Yeah, I figured," Aleesha retorted. "The fact that she's Onotoran kind of gave it away. They haven't exactly spread out into the galaxy much."

"Fair enough," Spot grinned. "What about the Anatoran system, though?"

"The Hub is a station in orbit over Anatori," Aleesha explained. "It was probably still under construction last you were there. It's grown into a pretty busy place since then. A lot of pirates go through there, since it's outside of the Outer Rim and there was never much of a New Republic presence there, so once that fell, it became pretty much free turf for space pirates. No-one controls the system, as far as I'm aware, but they do a lot of passing through and trading. One of my contacts has set up shop there for a while now. I had a feeling she'd have something for you."

Spot nodded eagerly. "Sounds like. What did she say?"

"Hear for yourself," Aleesha said. "You're not going to like it." She flicked a switch on a long-distance subspace communication device. "Still there?"

"About time you got back," the voice on the other side of the line grumbled. "I was starting to think you'd forgotten about me."

"You knew I didn't," Aleesha retorted. "I brought back the person who's looking for Metalbeard. Tell him what you told me."

"I didn't think I told you anything."

"You didn't. Tell him anyways."

"I have information on your pirate. Come meet me on the Hub and I'll tell you."

"On the Hub?" Spot repeated. "Why can't you tell me now?"

"Never give out sensitive information over the wire, dumbass. Aleesha said you were in Gambit; didn't they teach you anything there?"

"I figured this was a secure connection," Spot said.

"It is," Aleesha rolled her eyes. "She has trust issues."

"No connection is ever completely secure. It's not trust issues, it's a sense of self-preservation."

"It's paranoia," said Aleesha.

"How long will it take you to get here?"

"We can probably make the system in three or four days," said Spot.

"Fine. Three days from now. I'll meet you in the Meadowlark Lounge on the Hub. 0900 hours."

"How can I contact you?" Spot asked.

"You can't. You won't hear from me again until three days from now. And if you're not there at 0900 hours, you won't get another chance, you hear? Be there, or I'm in the wind."

"Understood."

"Good. Finally, someone who knows how to do business! Aleesha, take notes."

Aleesha rolled her eyes. "Yeah, whatever you say. Haven out."

"Neros out."

"Neros?" Spot repeated, once Aleesha had ended the connection. "Is that her name."

"No, her name is Jocasta. Jocasta Mar'Soren. Neros is her… callsign, for lack of a better word. She doesn't like to use her name over subspace, but doesn't have an alias, so we just reversed her last name."

Spot arched an eyebrow. "Who is she?"

"A pirate," Aleesha shrugged. "She used to be a mage… somewhere. I'm not sure where. She's been around since long before the Empire, and managed to avoid their culling—don't ask me how, I've never been able to get a straight answer out of her. She joined a pirate crew in the Outer Rim and has been sailing the stars ever since. I met her while I was doing intelligence for Gambit. She's been a good contact. Her specialty was divination, so, you know. Good for information."

Spot laughed. "I guess so."

"She's a little shifty, but I guess spending a few decades being hunted by the Empire will do that to you. Once you get to know her, though, she's a good person to have at your back."

"I'll take your word for it."

Aleesha laughed. "Come on. Let's restock your ship so you can head out first thing. You'll need to leave early if you're going to make the Anatoran system in three days."