Trychon and Raezyr casually finished their meals and, after handing their dishes over to the poor saps on kitchen patrol, made their way to Dianna's office. She was sitting at her desk, looking over files on her computer terminal, and she looked up when they came in.
"Zanz views himself as a father figure around her, doesn't he?" Raezyr asked as he took a seat across from Dianna. Trychon sat down in the seat next to him and began twirling the silver tube of his lightsaber hilt in his fingers.
"Why? What happened?" Dianna queried, looking up from her terminal and leaning back in her high backed, nerf-hide chair.
"Oh, nothing much. He just threatened to hunt us down and kill us if we ever betrayed you or your crew," Trychon chuckled as he continued to fiddle with the cylinder in his hand.
"I'll have a talk with him about that," Dianna said, rolling her eyes a bit.
"Don't worry about it, Di. I think we've got an understanding," Raezyr commented. "What did you want to see us about? More questions about the holocrons?"
"No, not that. If you guys say you're alright, and that it won't affect the base adversely, then I'm good with that. What I wanted to talk to you about was your fighter." Dianna leaned forward in her chair. She had found a buyer for the fighter.
Trychon and Raezyr were excited by the news, but a little surprised at how quickly one was found. Something in her demeanor, though, made them feel as if there were more to it then that. After the initial excitement, Raezyr spoke again. "There's a catch, though, isn't there?"
"Frankly, yes. The buyer is on Talus in the Corellia system. There's a Zabrak colony located there, and that's where you're to deliver the ship. Your contact with be a Zabrak named Dagus Kolant," she said. "I also have some other items that he's buying, so those will need to be taken there as well. He'll have your payment for you when you get there."
"You're talking as if you aren't coming with us," Raezyr said, fishing for more information.
"I'm not. I have... something else to attend to at the moment, but seeing as you'll be making my delivery for me, you'll get a percentage of the profits from that cargo as well as everything from the ship. I'm even going to forgo the finder's fee that I would normally ask for hooking you up with the buyer," she said.
"You're holding out on us Di. What's going on?" Raezyr inquired.
"It's just another job, and I have to go on this one. It's not just a pick up and retrieval job, either," she informed them.
"What's with the secrets? Haven't we proved ourselves to you?" Trychon asked.
"Look, it's not that I don't trust you, I do, and I think you both know that by now. My problem is that I think I've got a information leak somewhere in my organization," she sighed. "I didn't want to worry you guys with this. It's not your problem."
"I'll find your leak, Di. Just say the word," Raezyr offered.
"No, I don't want it known. Look, when Fillis Rivars attacked us at Shogun, it wasn't the first time. He'd done it once before. I thought it was just a coincidence, until this last time. That's why I don't want this job talked about until the last minute." Dianna stood up and came around her desk, sitting on the edge in front of Trychon and Raezyr as she continued.
"Things have been getting kind of tough since Commenor. I used to have a pretty good reputation in the galaxy for being pretty neutral and straightforward. It allowed me to take on legitimate shipping jobs without too much harassment by official channels, but now things have tightened up. Legit businessmen don't want anything to do with me, and the Republic has decided I'm a threat that deserves their attention, making even the illegitimate jobs harder to come by.
"That's why I need to keep things tight on this. It's a big job that's going to pay well, and I need to be there, because if something goes wrong, I'm going to lose a lot more business," she finished, hanging her head a bit.
The room was silent for a few minutes, the stress Dianna was feeling filling the room. "When do we need to be on Talus?" Raezyr asked.
"I suggest you leave first thing in the morning," she told him.
Trychon stood up and hung his lightsaber back on his belt. "I'm going to start getting ready, I have a lot to do if we're leaving that quickly," he said as he left the room.
Raezyr stood up and put his hands on Dianna's shoulders. "Use this hardship, Di. Embrace it, and let it make you stronger than you already are. And if you need something from me, just tell me."
She stood up and wrapped her arms around his neck and looked into his eyes. "There's only one thing I need from you right now," she said softly, then leaned in, pressing her lips to his.
No comments:
Post a Comment