"How did we end up here?" Videsse complained rhetorically.
The hound slammed again against the door, as Videsse and Terrah sat in the opaque blackness.
"That chatty pirate on Indoumodo was Sleenwai's plant," Terrah deduced. "We picked up a trail meant for Cotrel. And here we are."
"Yeah, here we are," Videsse echoed with a beaten humor.
Claws scraped on the outside of the door. Videsse winced at the screeching noise of them. The two bounty hunters remained silent for a few minutes, hoping that the sounds of the beast outside would cease. The slamming and scraping became less frequent, but the creature could still be heard pacing outside the door, sniffing and huffing.
Videsse started the conversation up again. "That Rodian. You know him?"
"Cheedo," Terrah answered. "He used to be a bounty hunter; a pathetic one."
"And now he works for The Third?" Videsse inquired, referring to the Third Republic.
"Yeah, and he's bad at that, too, if you hadn't noticed. When you're a snitch, it's best if no one knows," Terrah stated. "He failed at that, like everything else."
"So, what's he doin' here?" Videsse asked.
"Pirates, secret deals, bounties—looks like he's got plenty to talk to the the Third Republic about. You wanted to make a name for Ohara Fett: if he gets back to the galaxy, you can be sure you'll make the Republic's list. That ought to make you happy."
Videsse did not comment, to Terrah's surprise. Terrah decided to change the subject to smaller talk. "I noticed you like the DX-2."
"Yeah, that pistol is light, and its trigger response is nice. Not much punch, though. And its long range accuracy could be better. But it just feels right. You use the same one, I saw," Videsse replied.
"You said it well. It just feels right," Terrah agreed.
"What else you got on that belt?" Videsse continued, obviously interested in weapon-talk.
"Sonic and ion pulse charges, a cloak generator—that you shorted out. Thank you," Terrah replied. Those charges were only useful at incapacitating biologicals and droids; but did not cause damage.
Videsse ignored the accusation, but continued with a commentary. "What! No physical charges? What about your wrist darts? What are those?"
"Tranquilizers," Terrah replied.
"Tranq-darts!" Videsse exclaimed with astonishment. "You don't like killin', do ya?"
"Killing is a good way to have a trail of revenge-seekers hunting you. I avoid it if I can," Terrah defended.
"What do you do if you have to kill?"
"That's what the DX-2's are for," Terrah stated.
Videsse huffed in disbelief. "I'm amazed you're still livin'," she blurted out in a laugh.
Terrah smiled inwardly at the deeper significance of that statement. "You have no idea, how true that is," she stated.
For a moment their attention was directed back to the creature outside the door. Its pacing could still be heard through the thick blackness.
"Persistent, ain't it?" Videsse said.
More silent time passed. Their adrenaline rush subsided as they began to feel the effects of their stress and exertion. The two of them listened, waited, and counted the minutes. Every shake of the shifting grates outside dashed their hope, starting their countdown again. The jet black room, the rhythmic pacing of the beast, the dull hum of the ship, and the counting of the minutes—it all seemed to steep them in drowsiness. Their shoulders dropped as they began to slouch against the walls. The time passed slowly. Terrah shook her head, fighting off hazardous sleep.
"Ohara?" Terrah spoke up. Videsse did not answer. Terrah kicked Videsse's leg. "Hey!"
Videsse jolted up. "What ya do that for?"
Terrah was going to inform Videsse that she had fallen asleep, but reconsidered. "Sorry, I kick when I start to doze off," Terrah lied.
"Well, knock it off!" Videsse ordered. "Seriously, I don't know how ya made it this long."
Terrah smiled behind her helmet again.
"You know, I used to have a daughter . . . a lot like you," Terrah said, trying to feel out how Videsse would respond.
Videsse did not say anything immediately. Then asked in a low and unarrogant spirit, "She dead?" There was real concern behind her question.
"No," Terrah replied, but she was reluctant to add more details.
"So, why aren't you with her?" Videsse pressed further.
Terrah took a deep breath before answering. "What I do—it's dangerous. People hunt you. They try to get to you. If men like Sleenwai, or Cotrel, or . . . The Keeper," she dropped his name on purpose. "If they knew I had a daughter, they'd go after her."
"You left her, then." Videsse's voice became stiff. Her skills of deduction were not mature enough to catch Terrah's hint.
"Yeah," Terrah replied in a small voice. "I did."
Videsse thought about Terrah's answer. Finally, she commented. "That droid by the Kom'rk. That's all I got of my mother. She was a bounty hunter, too." Her voice was shaky and vulnerable. "She died seven years ago."
There was another pause. In the dark, Terrah could not read Videsse's body language, but the slow, rigid tone of Videsse's voice conveyed enough.
"You know how often I have wondered what it would be like to run bounties with her? How often I wished to be stuck in a fix with her, a fix just like this?"
Terrah felt something tighten in her throat but coughed it off.
"But I didn't have a choice," Videsse continued. "My mom's dead, and that's that." Her voice stiffened even more. "But you had a choice. You didn't know what would have happened if you stayed. Maybe things would have been fine. The All-Knowing Red Sun. Whatever."
Terrah did not defend herself. She let Videsse throw the accusations that Terrah had fought with over and over again the last seven years. For some reason, it was easy to vindicate herself against her own accusations; however, when the indictment came from her daughter, the judgement was final.
"You may be right," Terrah conceded.
"Of course I'm right," Videsse replied ungraciously. The awkward silence that followed seemed to last for hours, until Videsse complained, "Why is it so hot in here, anyway? I'm roasting."
Terrah figured that it was just the intensity of the conversation that made them feel hot, but she soon realized the room was actually warm.
She lit her head lamp. It flashed onto Videsse, who was reclined on the floor opposite her.
"What ya doin' that for!" Videsse snapped and covered her eyes.
Terrah directed the light above them. "The heat from the hyperdrive's warming the ship."
Videsse caught on quickly. "The climate system's down."
"Yup," Terrah agreed. "And where there's a climate system-"
"There's ducts," Videsse finished. "Should have thought of that earlier."
Terrah stepped up onto the lower bunks and gripped the duct register on the ceiling. She shifted it open and dropped it on the floor. Its clatter resounded through the small room.
"Here, help me take a look," Terrah said. "Maybe we could get out of here."
Videsse stepped underneath and offered her shoulder for Terrah to step on. Terrah used it, and rose up into the duct, balancing one foot on Videsse and the other on a top bunk.
Her head and shoulders rose into the horizontal ducts that traversed the length of the ship. The ductwork space was tight but sufficient for her body to slip through. She looked toward the bow of the ship first. The head lamp lit the sterile duct for dozens of meters before disappearing geometrically in the distance. The warm, stale air stifled her. Videsse stumbled a bit under her weight, causing Terrah to drop a little before she pinned her arms in the duct to catch herself. Terrah fumbled her foot, trying to steady herself on Videsse's shoulder as she turned her head to look down the aft duct.
Four black eyes stared back at her. Thin flesh-colored lids snapped over the soulless eyes in response to the flood light. Its long tooth-lined snout ended in two massive nostrils that huffed out steam. It shifted trying to extend one of its scaled brown arms forward and edged a few centimeters ahead in the cramped space. The creature's membranous lips receded from its sharp saliva-covered teeth. Four prominent sickle-like canine fangs emerged amidst the rows of uncountable teeth. From one meter away, mist from the creature's exhale sprayed onto Terrah's eye shields. Terrah gasped and dropped her foot from Videsse's shoulder, letting her body fall from the duct. Videsse stepped aside to avoid collapsing under Terrah's weight.
"The climate system's not down," Terrah said quickly and ran to the door crank. She hurriedly spun the crank. "It's blocked."
"With what?" Videsse asked. "And why are you opening that door? The hound's out there!"
"No, it's not. It's smarter than I thought," Terrah replied. "Get your pack off. We need to slide under this door."
Videsse understood and unbuckled her V-6, letting it drop on the floor. Terrah whipped the crank as quickly as she could. The hound shifted above them and the duct metal popped under its weight. Its familiar huff seemed to be at the duct joint.
Terrah had the door open fifteen centimeters. "Try to get under!"
Videsse slipped her Z-6 through easily, then tried to get under herself, but her helmet was just shy of fitting.
"A few more centimeters," Videsse called. One of the creature's claws emerged and gripped the edge of the ceiling duct.
Terrah cranked once more and Videsse slipped through. Terrah dropped instantly to the ground and slid her lower half under the door, just as the creature crashed down from the duct above them. For a second, the creature flailed trying to right itself, giving Terrah enough time to squeeze the rest of her body under the door. She pushed with her forearms away as quickly as she could. The creature thrust its arm through, narrowly missing hooking her again.
Videsse dropped to her side, her pistol in hand and fired over two dozen rapid shots under the door.
Terrah adjusted herself and stood up, catching her breath. "What are you doing? You know that doesn't do anything?" Terrah challenged.
"Yeah, but it's gotta hurt," Videsse said with smug satisfaction.
Terrah smiled, took off one of her sonic charges, and tossed it under the door.
"Like that's gonna do any better," Videsse commented.
"Yeah, but the headache is exquisite," Terrah replied.
The charge erupted in a flash from under the door, followed by a roar.
Videsse laughed and nodded her head. "Now we're cookin'!"
"Come on, now," Terrah said. "We've got work to do."