The Wheel Space Station

After getting everything they owned from the public storage lockers, Price and Red followed the Terrans and Tenellian Groggs towards one of the hangers. They moved quietly and quickly through the corridors, anxiously looking down each corridor as they passed and watching every shadow. It was clear that the words of the two fringers and the run-in with Cad Bane had rattled all of them and the only thing they thought about seriously was space and increasing it between them and the notorious bounty hunter. It took less than an hour to get to the Loronar E-9 Explorer of the pirate captain. Even the normally jovial and outspoken Groggs silently hurried to the cockpit, received clearance to depart and took off without even a grin or a boisterous laugh. She carefully watched the scanners just before jumping to hyperspace before breathing a sigh of relief. Immediately, she was back to normal as she spun around in the pilot seat and swaggered back to the main crew area. "Well there you have it, mates;" she said exuberantly, "off we go on our little treasure hunt. This first jump will be one of several short and random jumps to ensure they can't track us easily and then, we head to my contact. Now, I don't have much in the way of luxuries on this ship but what I have, I offer to you all as my partners."

Tanna looked at the unusually large selection of intoxicant beverages along one wall and then the equally large selection of weapons, legal and otherwise on the other. "You're too kind;" she muttered, trying to keep the sarcasm out of her mind.

Groggs, whether she recognized it or not, laughed and slapped the noble merchant woman on the back and said, "I know it ain't what you're used to and all but cheer up, lady. The sooner that brother of yours gets us the treasure, the sooner you can buy a whole fleet of ships and start up a whole rebel or merchant or pleasure fleet of your own - whatever it is you're looking to do."

Tanna's whole demeanor suddenly darkened and she said icily, "Yes indeed - whatever I'm looking for, and you can go back to marauding the star lanes, I'm sure, captain."

She stalked over to a seat next to a small game table and sat down, her eyes cold and distant. Groggs cocked an eyebrow and looked over at Shen who, to her surprise, also had a distant and resolute look in his eyes. Immediately, the perceptive pirate recognized that there was more to these two well-to-do refugees than simply wanting to live an easy life after they had lost their home. With a mental shrug, she filed the thought away and plopped down in an unoccupied chair. The hunter and herder Price was leaning against the entrance to the lounge area and the old soldier Red Sixer was stowing his two bags in one of the larger unoccupied storage lockers. It was some time before anyone said anything but it was no surprise when Shen snapped out of his deep thoughts and cleared his throat. "Well once we're done with the necessary jumps to evade pursuit, where are we headed, Captain Groggs?"

The pirate captain smiled and spread her arms, "We're headed to Abregado-rae; the last hold-out against civilization. An old associate and hopefully his crew are there fairly often. They often have a slicer with them who could chew up an advanced Imperial system and spit it out like bad jerky. He's an odd type, though - very distrustful so let me do the talking."

Price nodded slowly. There were a number of good slicers in the fringe, many of whom could easily have their way with Imperial computer systems. He was far more concerned with the group that they were associated with. He had acquired exotic creatures, both living and dead, for hundreds of folks. Numerous Hutts wanted creatures for feasts or as living instruments of execution. The Black Sun likes smaller, venomous creatures to intimidate or assassinate. The Zann Consortium was always on the lookout for new tools and weapons and that occasionally meant a strange creature for them. He had even acquired a clutch of Dantooine horned kathhound pups for a local sector Moff and been paid well for it. Because of this, he had a good amount of knowledge about the workings of most organizations in the galaxy. If this group was tied to a bigger fringe group, they would likely be safe enough so long as what they were looking for didn't sound all too interesting. If it was a smaller group, it could likely be more dangerous. Leaders of smaller groups tended to be bored and interested in any little thing that came across their desk. That kind of interest could be more trouble than it was worth getting a slicer. Even so, he kept his mouth shut and decided to wait and advise as they went. It's what he was there for after all.

Red Sixer crossed his arms over his chest. "We need to be more careful as we go. When we get there, let me go in with Groggs and Price first. We can scope the joint and then signal you when it's safe."

"That's a good plan, Red;" said the pirate. "We can feel out the mood of the room and I can talk to my old slicer friend and you two might not even need to enter the place. If he insists in seeing you and hearing you out in person, we can signal you."

Red nodded. "Exactly; Price, you should enter before everyone else. You can be our skifter if things go south. Are you alright with that?"

The long, lean hunter nodded. "Makes sense to me. If I think it's too dicey, I'll click my comlink twice."

Red nodded. "You should also look out for multiple avenues of escape in case things go south."

They all nodded and, clearly having addressed his part in the mission, Red sat down and pulled a datapad out of one of his cargo pockets. No one else really seemed to have much to say until Shen, suddenly as exuberant as a youth, commented, "Well this is all rather exciting, isn't it? On our way to find the treasure, about to find shadowy contacts in shady places and having the galaxies most dangerous bounty hunter possibly after us; this is going to be one for the history records."

Groggs chuckled and shook her head at his naivete. "Shen, my wonderful noble refugee, you are so far in over your head and you don't even realize it. It's rather charming, really."

Tanna rolled her eyes. "He's always been this way. Nothing can keep his spirits down, no matter the risks or danger."

"Not a bad thing, really;" said Price. "Just don't let it get out of hand or get yourself or your partners killed. Too many times, I've seen a young kid on a dangerous hunt get killed because his eagerness outweighed his ability and caution would have saved him."

They were all quiet for a bit before Shen suddenly asked, "What is the most dangerous creature you've ever hunted, Price? I've heard you mention rancors and such before but are they the most dangerous?"

Price chuckled as he strolled over to the liquor selection. "Not even close, actually; I've hunted rancors on Felucia and a tiny, little-known planet called Dathomir. Usually in these cases, my clients want them alive for one reason or another, though once I had to hunt one on Nal Hutta because it had escaped, eaten some folks and even killed one of the Hutts. They wanted it put down so I did. The most dangerous though..." and he paused for a moment as he poured himself a drink. "I hunted a great krayt dragon on Tatooine - myself and about thirty other professional hunters. Problem was that most of them hadn't hunted krayt dragons before."

He paused for a moment, sipped his drink and continued, his eyes seeming to look at nothing. "You can't hunt krayt dragons like you can other creatures. They're too big, too clever and too tough. Only two old timers understood this. I, knowing I was inexperienced, listened to everything they had to say. Most of the others, not so much. By the time we were done, only seven of us were left but we got the krayt dragon. "

After a short pause, Red asked, "Why would anyone hunt a krayt dragon, then? Is it all just sport, glory and reputation?"

"Our client wanted it for the meat, blood, ivory and of, course, the pearls that form in their guts to help digest their food."

"Those things, of any size really, are worth hundreds of thousands or even millions of credits if they're the right quality;" said Groggs as she poured herself some drink from the bottle that Price had. "When I was just a kid and had just joined the gang I was with, we caught a smuggler ship. Most of its cargo was perfectly legitimate food stuffs for a Caamasi colony on Alderaan but in the hidden holds, they had three crates of the pearls including one the size of a shock ball. Let me tell you, that celebration was something else."

"Part of my pay was one pearl no larger than the ends of my thumb. I sold it and bought my ship and outfitted myself. The ship I just sold was it."

They were all silent again before Red shook his head. "Doesn't make sense to me; I've risked my life before but I can't imagine just doing it for wealth and treasure."

"Man has to make a living somehow, Red;" said Price dryly. "We aren't all cut out to be soldiers. Hunting and herding is all I've known. I was born a raised for part of my life on Onderon. My parents were beast riders, flying on drexls and living the nomadic life. During the Clone Wars, the Separatists came and killed many of us because we refused to bow. After the war was over, I hired my skills of hunting and herding throughout the galaxy and here I am now. How did you choose to be a soldier?"

Red didn't answer for a moment and when he did, he seemed hesitant to do so. "My family has always served. My father and uncles did. My brothers did. When the time came, I did too."

"So it almost wasn't a choice?" asked Price with a raised eyebrow.

Red gave a wry smile. "I guess not. Let me have some of that."

Groggs poured him a glass and handed it to him. "What about you, Captain?"

"I was orphaned on Agumar and some pirates picked me up. The captain and commander of the gang's fighter pilots had a special relationship. They were, for all intents and purposes, my parents. The Empire destroyed the gang not long ago. In fact, that's why I'm on my own."

"Sorry to hear that;" said Shen sympathetically, "sometimes it's hard to forget that we aren't the only ones who have lost a lot to war or oppression."

"Oppression?" said Price, "I thought Alderaan was lost in a freak core destabilization.

The two Terrans looked at each other darkly. "That was the report given to us by the Empire;" said Tanna. "Some rebel broadcasts suggested that it was a battle station called a Death Star that destroyed it."

"Is it trustworthy?" asked Groggs. "The rebels have an agenda too, don't they?"

"I don't know about that;" said Red; "I've worked with Imperial military officials before. They have no problem twisting or absolutely lying about events to either blame rebels or hide some of the actions of their military commanders. Truth be told, I don't see how either of them are totally reliable."

After another long silence, Groggs tossed back her drink and stood. "Well maybe after we collect our slicer and get to Coruscant, we can get some answers."

"Wait, wait, wait;" said Price as he stood so fast that he spilled the remainder of his drink. "I thought we were looking for information on the Starlaners? That information we should be able to get without undue notice. Hacking into higher than top secret Imperial information is DEFINITELY going to earn us notice."

"Not with this slicer;" said Groggs cheerfully. "Anyhow, I'm going to the cockpit and taking a nap. The hyperspace alarm is set. I suggest we all get some rest. If things go sideways in a hurry, it would be better that we're fresh, mates."

She sauntered out, leaving Price and Red open-mouthed in astonishment. "Has she lost her mind?" asked Red.

"If her slicer is that good, there is a lot of information we could get;" said Shen quietly, "and I think a lot of Alderaanians would like answers. We DESERVE answers."

"Of- of course you do, as do the Caamasi and many others but is now the time to seek it out? We need to keep our goals focused."

"Easily said by one who never lost his home;" said Tanna heatedly. "If we can get that information, then we get it."

With that, she stood and strode towards the cabins. Her back, rigid. Shen stood as well. "Yes, the treasure is our current goal. However, if this slicer truly is that good, then there should be no risk. If it turns out to be too dangerous, I'm sure that whoever they are, they will refuse or at least try to warn us;" and he headed after his sister.

Price rubbed his temples and sat heavily into a chair. "I have a real bad feeling about this."

"Me too;" said Red, shaking his head, "but I'm just an employee. If the Terrans want to risk this, all I can do is mitigate the risk and get them out of Imperial Center safely. I agree with Captain Groggs. I need some shut-eye and so do you."

Price nodded. He laid back on a bench and used his hat to cover his eyes, using his duster as a pillow. With one deep breath, he dispelled his anxiety and discomfort and allowed his body into a relaxation that led to sleep.