"Tidy little ship isn't she. Bard'ika's favourite ride. Although I think he has a thing about 'lost women'. Do you?"

Maze face twitched before he crossed his arms and replied, "I don't know what you mean."

"Zey must be talking in riddles then. Not for the first time."

Maze glared at him.

"So a one sided conversation. I'm used to that."

Kom'rk moved closer to the ship.

"If…..if….I was going to steal a ship, to complete a rescue mission, to an industrialised planet with a small Imperial garrison. This is the one I would choose." He patted the hull of the ship.

Maze stood still, with his arms crossed with a look that could freeze the lava on Mustafar.

"It's juiced up, needs supplies but just had a service. So it's purring like a Tooka in front of the fire. Do you like Tookas?"

"Crazy Null boy." Maze muttered, They shouldn't have left him looking for Grievous for so long.

"Unless you're not hunting the lady."

Maze cheeks twitched.

"Do Kal and Ordo know you're here?"

"Yes. Ordo does. I'm keeping an eye on you. His idea or rather Besany's I think. He's not always clued up about relationships. You surprised him and Mereel. His holovid was very interesting."

Maze caught Kom'rk with his speed but there was no real malice in the forearm across his throat or he would be finding it difficult to breathe by now.

"That should have been destroyed!"

"It is now, Ordo made sure."

The pressure lessened.

"So what do you want?" Maze finally asked.

"I want to play "Hunt the Lady." He pressed the ramp switch.

"What the fuck…."

"Language!"

Kom'rk headed up into the ship, Maze followed.

"If he's messing with me I'll fucking kill him." He growled.

.

Fradian

"So, why are you being so gentle with this one." Asked Dreya, leaning back against the bar watching the latest server, she worked well enough, not like some of the younger ones.

"She's bait for two bigger fish. But like I said before if someone takes an interest, a real interest. She's the same as the rest."

"Not seen anyone but we've only had the ore workers in tonight."

"Keep an eye on her!" Ka instructed.

"Don't I always."

Dreya watched her closely, when she turned around she was scowling. Dreya pointed to her own lips pulling them up into a smile, with her fingers. This new one smiled, reluctantly.

She'd learn.

Essie made her way through the crowd, delivering drinks. Table after table. She couldn't see any windows and all the entrances had at least one bouncer on it. Essie was unsure if that was for the customers or the staff.

It was after two in the morning, when she finished and all she had done was serve drinks, unlike some of the women who took customers upstairs. She knew exactly what she had been trafficked into now. They had one man on the shift, apart from the Bouncers, and he hadn't been that busy. He stood around looking handsome, in a perfect holovid sort of way.

The customers seemed to like her, especially when she smiled and called them sir or Madam. But it was late and she didn't know what she was doing now or where she was going afterwards. The one thing she knew was she couldn't leave Del. She tidied up the last few glasses, there were still a few customers; the bar closed, as the ore workers worked shifts. She heard them discussing work and a stolen speeder.

Essie picked up the last of the glasses and loaded the washer, just as the lights switched off. She headed back to the room where she left Del, panicking as she hadn't seen him since she started.

The door was open, as the other girls collected their children.

Del lay fast asleep in a nest in the corner; the woman nodded her through. She picked him up gently trying not to wake him and wrapped the surprisingly clean blanket around him. His arms crawled around her neck.

"Why do you do this?" She asked the woman.

She looked astonished.

"You can't leave children on their own while you work. We're not savages." She tutted and muttered to herself as she tidied up the room.

Essie stood with the others in the corridor; there was no way they could get out.

"Right ladies, all ready." One of the bouncers asked.

Essie held Del tight, as the women followed each other out into the night. The man wasn't with them. Bouncers lined the small area ensuring there were no gaps and no one attempted to escape. Bundled into a large speeder they sped off into the night. She couldn't see where they were going, the windows were blacked out and she didn't have her Chrono or com to check how long they were travelling— she estimated fifteen minutes by the time they came to a halt.

The driver opened the doors, Essie shivered as the cold air hit her and they were herded towards the tall house. Once inside the others peeled off, she heard doors opening and closing until Essie stood there —alone.

Pria appeared at one of the doors.

"Ah, there you are. Follow me. You'll have your own room and there's a kitchen you can use. Food is supplied but you can't leave the house."

Essie meekly and against her better judgement followed the woman. She could not believe how she had thought she was a good person, when she was in the shop. It had all been a con and she fell for it.

Up two flights of stairs, they climbed; it was an old building. Pria directed her to a room at the end of a corridor. The woman opened the door; it had its own fresher and two beds. She laid Del on one and covered him gently.

"Everything you need is in here. Kitchen facilities are open at Eight."

Pria stopped talking and looked at her.

Essie returned the stare— silent.

"Don't try. It's not worth it. Ka will find you and bring you both back."

Essie still stared.

Finally she took the hint and left closing the door behind her; Essie heard the lock click. She threw back the curtains. It was a window but with obscured glass and a metal grill on it.

"No way to get out of here."

She dropped to the bed, drained and unable to think anymore. She tried to imagine what Maze would say.

Get some rest and some food. Look at it fresh.

She moved over to Del's bed and slipped in next to him. She was exhausted but as she slowly relaxed, tears of despair wet her face. She could see no way out of this.

.

Kyrimorut

Maze examined the ship, impressed with it. It was as Kom'rk insisted on saying—tidy.

"Thought you might be interested in this!" He suddenly piped up, from where he was swinging on the com pilot seat; he lobbed Maze's comlink at him.

"What the….." Maze caught it left handed, immediately seeing the tiny blinking light.

"I am not going to ask why you felt the need to put a tracker in your girlfriend's com." Kom'rk added, before closely examining the finger nails on his right hand.

Maze glared, this one was almost as bad as Mereel.

"The signal is still coming from Fradian. I checked." Kom'rk added.

"How long have you had this?"

"Since last night."

Maze muttered to himself before heading to the cockpit.

"Slow down, ner vod. We need a plan."

"We?"

"I'm coming with you. You can't take Zey, he'd slow you down."

Maze scowled.

"The only plan I need, is get to Fradian, find the woman there who lied to me; she knows more. Then find Essie and Del and then come back here."

"Only?"

"Yes!"

"It's pretty sketchy. You're not going to help her by getting caught."

Maze crossed his arms.

"Okay! Ideas?"

"First, why come back here?"

"To return the ship. I don't need you lot and the Empire after me."

"Not so dim after all." Kom'rk observed.

Maze ignored the jibe.

"And you're cleverer than Ordo, I take it?"

"Yes! Of course. I always check for a pulse. Plan?"

Maze nodded, he had to admit it made sense using two of then but he didnt want any of the others involved.

.

Fradian

Essie woke early, hearing sounds from the street below. She rushed to the window to check if she could see something in the daylight—nothing. The obscured glass was still too thick to see more than basic fuzzy shapes. There was nothing she hear out of the ordinary either.

She checked on Del, he was fast asleep; she grabbed a quick shower finding clothes in one of the cabinets. Even in her size. This was all planned. There had to be more than what she had seen so far.

"Mammy!"

She rushed to Del.

"Has Maze come for us?"

"Not yet." She tried to sound hopeful. "Did they hurt you last night?"

"No."

"Time for a shower then."

He screwed up his face and muttered.

"Come on. Then breakfast."

He moved so slowly he was practically stationary, until she picked him up and took him to the fresher, checking him while he was standing there. She could see no injuries.

.

She was surprised to find the door to her room unlocked and they headed to the kitchen.

"'Morning." A light haired woman greeted her as they entered, "Ah you're the new one. I heard all about your son from my daughter."

Essie looked around her, there was a little girl with even lighter hair sitting at the table eating cereal and milk.

"What's his name and what does he want for breakfast? We have most things."

"He's Del. I'm Essie."

"Nice looking lad."

"Blue milk pops, please." Del piped up.

"And polite. He'll be a catch."

"Top shelf and conservator."

Essie poured them out for him and a glass of blue milk. He didn't have them very often, a little too sugary normally.

"I'm Rae. Nice to meet you. Caf?"

Essie nodded, she didn't think she could stomach anything else. Rae poured some caf into a mug and handed it to her.

"It gets easier. Once you accept it and spend as much time with them as you can." She looked at her daughter with sadness and stroked her hair. She was a beautiful child with the biggest bluest eyes you had ever seen. The sort of child you saw on the holovids.

"How long have you been here?"

"Just a year. My partner was killed in the war and then it just got worse. Debts, no work, no money. We were starving. Pria…."

Essie nodded and sipped her caf.

"You?" Rae asked.

"Similar story."

She didn't know who she could trust,

They stood drinking and watching their children; Essie's mind racing as to how they could get out of here.

Rae showed her around the ground floor; she soon found most of the rooms were bedrooms and the doors were all closed.

"A word." Ka's voice disturbed them.

Rae looked at him, took the hint and left the room taking both children with her.

Sitting down opposite, he pushed the datapad in front of Essie. "Who are they?"

She stared back, she was not going to give him the satisfaction of her capitulation and she decided he probably already knew.

"It doesn't matter. I know who they are. This one is or was a Jedi General, a Master it says here and this one— he swiped across the datapad, this one is a clone of all things. An Alpha ARC Trooper no less. I had to read up on them. Very nasty if you get on the wrong side of them. Brainwashed by a very nasty bounty hunter. One man army my informants tell me. Even the Republic were scared of them. Now the Emperor is really pissed off with Clones who don't do their job."

Essie tried to keep a straight face.

"But you, what did you do?"

She just stared at him.

"I'll find out."

Both their heads whipped around to the door as they heard the blaster shot.

"Stay here!"

You must be joking she thought, as she followed him out of the room. She went to check on Del. He was still with Rae.

"I'll find out what happened." she said, Rae nodded, looking scared.

She followed the women going upstairs and pushed through to the front of them, some were already crying. She could see Ka standing with a blaster in his hand. But she had heard only one shot before he left her.

Pria came out, face ashen and shaking her head, blood covering the front of her shirt.

"Kriffing hell!" Swore Ka, "How did she get the blaster?"

"She was friendly with Tal." One of the women muttered.

"If that's true and he's been tampering with the merchandise, I'll kriffing kill him." He pushed his way through looking for Tal.

The women slowly walked down the stairs, most going to their rooms. Pria followed them down crying now, the other women were equally upset; they all knew the woman. Essie had never met her. She heard Ka setting about the bouncer, Tal, who had let the woman get hold of his blaster. Essie would be surprised if he survived from the sounds she heard.

Rae was waiting.

"Is it Ash?"

"I think that's the name they said."

Rae shook her head sadly.

"Why?" Asked Essie, "Why did she do it!" she knew it was bad here but surely there was some way out and she was beginning to think there were worst places you could end up.

Imperial prison for one.

"She knew it was coming we all do. It's inevitable once you're here."

"What is?"

"The children." The look on Rae's face showed, she realised Essie did not know, "I'm sorry but if you can't pay off your debt by the time your child's five. They get adopted. That's why they're looked after so well."

Essie's insides lurched.

"They sent her son away four weeks ago, when he was five. She knew it was going to happen. We thought she was getting over it, especially when she hooked up with Tal, he's one of the better ones and even though it was a good family that bought her son. She never got over it."

Bought him!

Essie slumped on a chair.

Now she knew what Rae had meant about spending time with your child but she also knew whatever she did here alone, it was not going to end well.

.

Kyrimorut.

The two clones carried the supplies into the ship, it was already dark outside.

"I take it Kal doesn't know about this?" asked Maze.

Kom'rk shrugged, "I don't think I would be here if he did."

Maze didn't ask more; he didn't want to get into a family argument.

"So these are the up to date versions." Maze picked up a piece of the armour Kom'rk had placed on the floor.

"Can't you tell?"

Maze turned it over in his hand. "Yeah. Wouldn't take much to get through this, its like flimzi." He pulled up a chest plate. "Will they fit?"

"They fit me and the other Nulls. So unless you've let yourself go. They should."

Maze resisted the temptation to retort. They didn't have time for this. He peeled off his civvy clothes to his under-suit beneath.

"They still attach to the old under-suits. Palps doesn't waste everything."

Maze clipped on the armour parts and finally pulled on the helmet.

"Kriff can they even shoot in this?" He swore, as he adjusted it.

"It's difficult. But we've had the HUD upgraded."

"Good." Maze blinked scrolling through the different icons, impressed with the range they had. Although he wouldn't readily admit that to the Null.

"We can tap into her tracker."

Maze blinked again several times and found it.

Maze's Squeeze.

He might have to thump this Null at some point after this and he thought Mereel was bad.

"But I can tell you now the Empire hasn't got her. The warrant's still live, not very flattering images, none of them are. I tapped into their Security system before I left the Karyai."

Maze nodded.

"You're very quiet, vod. You okay with this?"

"I have to be. It's either both of us go or one of us gets killed and I don't have time for that."

"Agree with you there, vod. Time is of the essence. Last checks."

Maze pulled off the helmet.

They went through the pre flight checks, they were both competent pilots.

"One thing Maze. I never took you to be one who would fall for a damsel in distress."

Maze gave his trademark scowl at the continued intrusion into his private life by a Null.

"I thought she could take care of herself." Kom'rk continued, "Mereel said she had been some kind of fighter, when she was younger."

"She can but she has Del to think of."

"Del?"

"Her son, he's a little over three. He's with her."

"Shab!" He'd missed that, he checked his datapad again, finding the warrant for him, as well. "Children again." He muttered before declaring. "We'd better get going then."

Maze pulled the covers off and raced up the ramp, as Kom'rk fired up the engines. Maze jumped into the co pilot position, strapping himself in, as the ramp slammed shut and Kom'rk pushed on the sublight engines. They'd taken off and were just exiting the atmosphere when the com pinged.

Kom'rk answered.

"Kom'ika!"

"Buir."

"What's happening?"

"Rescue mission."

"Is that Maze with you?"

"Yes."

"Come back we can plan this properly."

"It's planned properly…."

"I don't know what Maze has told you but…"

"He's told me all I need to know and I've checked it and we need to do this now."

"Son…"

"Sorry Buir. I need to do this."

"Come back lad. We can talk."

"Just trust me." He closed the com.

Maze watched his copilot carefully.

"Finished with Papa Kal?" asked Maze.

He watched Kom'rk's face, his eyes, this was the crazy null boy he knew. He actually felt more confident. There would be no stopping them.

.

Fradian

Essie spent the day with Del, some of the time with Rae and Lina, her daughter. She was roughly the same age as Del and they played well together.

Rae went with the customers upstairs in the bar, she was desperate to escape this, thinking if she did that, she would finally pay off her debt, as were most of the women here but it looked as if that was never going to happen, once you were in Ka's grasp.

All the females here were humanoid and the children were all healthy and good looking.

People paid good money for healthy, good looking, human children

.

The shower still felt good after those days on the run; it was actual hot water and not the sonic on the ship. She spent the last hour with Del trying to get him to say nothing to anyone. She thought she had succeeded.

She washed her hair and whilst doing that decided she needed to be more amenable to Ka, to be become more trusted. She had seen some women go out. Rae told her they were trusted to go out, plus their children were still here but that was no guarantee some women would come back. Ka sent some of his people after them and then they definitely did not return.

Essie had asked what happened to the children.

It appeared Pria did have some kind of heart and they were adopted immediately. She could only hope the new parents were good people.

.

She dressed Del.

"I need you to be good for them, okay. We'll be leaving soon."

He looked at her, a frown on his face.

"With Maze?"

"I don't know."

"Do they hurt you?"

"No."

"Good."

She dressed in another dress they provided for her and walked downstairs with Del ready for pick up.