Raezyr punched back into real space, the starlines collapsing into pinpoints again. The Sith banked the ship toward the bright-white pearl hanging in the blackness of space just as the Twilight Stalker emerged from hyperspace as well.
Delki and Bleetz hadn't been overly excited about making a victory pit-stop for Rylothian whisky and cigarras, but had agreed once they found out that the Sith were paying for it.
Trychon and Raezyr should have known better than to take a Chadra Fan and a Squib to a trade planet like Den Var. They had planned to stop only long enough for a decent meal, a few drinks and to pick up supplies. They ended up spending two days there, most of it looking for the two furry little aliens. They finally found them in a large junk-dealer bazaar and were able to herd them back to the ship.
The large, ice-covered hangar doors parted for the two ships and they settled to the deck, the landing gear hissing as it released it's compressed gases.
Raezyr strode down the off ramp and waited for the crew of the Corellian corvette to disembark as well. There was an eerie feeling in the compound, but it was hard to pinpoint exactly, as it permeated the entire area.
The feeling of unease was only increased with a call on his personal comm to bring Trychon and meet Dianna in her office. This was the sort of thing that would normally elicit at least a shrug or snide comment from one of them, but their expressions remained level as they headed down the hall as they were requested.
When they entered and found Dianna meeting with Anya and Tyr. Instead of a standard greeting they were given a morose look from Dianna. "No word from Zanz and Taggart. We have absolutely no indication of what may have gone wrong."
"They could be in hiding somewhere?" Trychon offered with a concerned look.
She shook her head. "They would have sent me at least something. Hearing nothing at all by now is tantamount to something gone horribly wrong. I don't know what to do."
"And that's why we may as well get out ahead of this thing and go find another job like it." Tyr insisted.
Dianna sighed, as though she didn't even have the energy to roll her eyes. "There are no jobs like that one. We put too much into that job, because it was a once a lifetime opportunity."
Anya shoved her way in front of Tyr. "So we do a bunch of little jobs. Hit banks in random systems. Branch out and try something new and fun."
Dianna's voice began to rise at that. "The last thing I'm worried about right now is what you consider to be 'fun!' I'm not a two-bit robber!" She paused for a moment and looked at the new arrivals. "Where's Dengar?"
Raezyr looked at her with a puzzled look on his face. "He had to seal the breach from the shuttle side. He went with Taggart and Zanz."
"Why didn't you tell me! I was supposed to be notified of any change in the plans," she said exasperated.
"Zanz said he had already told you about it. I took his word for it since I wasn't able to monitor all radio channels," Raezyr said. His lover looked almost on the verge of tears. The obvious explanation was beginning to dawn on her. The big Sith reached out and put on Dianna's shoulder. "I'm sorry Di. We'll get to the bottom of this. It can't be what it looks like."
"It's impossible," she said. "Zanz wouldn't just run off with the money."
"This is why we should go hit lots of smaller targets!" Anya said again. "Please, Di, we can do this, and maybe we'll run into those backstabbing Hutt-spawn and we can cut them open."
Dianna looked at the blond Sith incredulously. "You really do take this whole 'pirate' thing too literally, don't you? This isn't some holo-drama, girly. This is real life. We run cargo for people who don't want questions asked! This was a once in a life-time mission to get back on our feet."
"Just drop it for now, Anya," Raezyr said, speaking up.
"No," she said defiantly. "This is the only way to save this place. Don't you see that?"
"Anya, we'll discuss this later. Now is not the time," Trychon said calmly.
"No, we'll discuss this now," Tyr said, speaking up.
Raezyr took a step toward him. "Now is not the time. Both of you return to your quarters and we can discuss it later," he said coldly, emphasizing the last word.
They stood toe to toe for a breath, and for just an instant, Raezyr thought it might come to blows, that he might have to kill Tyr. Tyr broke their eye contact and looked down at the floor. Raezyr looked over at Anya and her face was a mask of ice as cold as the frozen planet on which they stood. It was a look he had seen before, and he decided to keep a close eye on his back. It wouldn't be the first time she had tried to stick a vibro blade into it.
Wordlessly, Anya and Tyr turned and headed down the hall toward their quarters. Something was going on with those two, but whatever it was would have to wait. The brothers turned back to Dianna.
"Can I speak with you alone, Raez?" she asked them.
The Sith exchanged a wordless glance, and Trychon excused himself, saying he'd get to work trying to track them down over the holonet.
Raezyr took Dianna gently by the arm and escorted her back to her quarters. Once they were inside, she threw her arms around his neck and began sobbing. "I'm so sorry Raez. It was nothing against Trych, but I just couldn't keep the facade up any longer."
He eased her over and sat with her on the edge of the bed. "I think he knew that, love."
"I just can't believe that Zanz would do something like this. He's always been like a second father to me, and Taggs... I gave him a shot when no one else would touch him. He owed me everything, and Dengar, I treated him like a brother... everyone here is like a family," she said, sobbing.
"There has to be some other explanation... there just has to be...," she cried into the big man's embrace.
"I think we have to face facts, Di. Money can do crazyr things to people," Raezyr began. It was killing him to see her like this, and the sooner she accepted the truth, the sooner she'd be able to move on. "Remember how Zanz insisted he lead the shuttle insertion team?"
"Yes."
"And Taggart may not have been involved, but may be a victim as well. Dengar and Zanz were going over plans all by themselves until pretty late the night before we left for the mission, then there was the deviation from protocol when Zanz claimed to have informed you about Dengar leaving with them instead of on the Jet Razor with me," the Sith paused for a moment to let all those facts sink in. "I'm sorry, Di. I mean, maybe something happened and they crash-landed somewhere without sending a message, and they just forgot to tell you that Dengar was with them, but the much more likely option is that the son of a bantha is planning on retiring and living the good life.
"Either way," he continued, "that money is gone."
Dianna nodded her head in agreement and cried for some time. "What's worse, is that the King's Lair is done for. I took out loans against the base and every ship we owned to upgrade, hire, and make repairs to prep for this mission," she said feebly, emotionally drained. "Everything my father built is gone."
Raezyr was silent for a few moments, the slid down onto his knees in front of her so he could look into her eyes. "Maybe not," he said excitedly. "Trych and I, we made some investments a while back with what money we had. We can sell them off!"
"Are you kidding me?" she said, disbelieving. "Do you know me? I can't take that kind of charity, no matter how close we are, Raez."
"Well then... consider it a loan... or an investment!" Raezyr said. "We'll pay your debts now, in exchange, you can make payments to us over time until the debt is gone. How does that sound?" he asked with a grin.
"What if Trych says no?" Dianna asked, wiping the last of her tears away.
"Well, let me talk to him first. I can't just take the money without discussing it with him, but I don't really care what he says, I'm going to get you that money," he said determinedly.
"I can't let you do that, not if it means a rift between you two," she replied.
"He won't say no, but that's not the point, my love. The point is that I'm here for you, I got you into this mess, and I'm going to get you out."
Without a word, she pulled the big man into her arms and kissed him deeply.
Delki and Bleetz hadn't been overly excited about making a victory pit-stop for Rylothian whisky and cigarras, but had agreed once they found out that the Sith were paying for it.
Trychon and Raezyr should have known better than to take a Chadra Fan and a Squib to a trade planet like Den Var. They had planned to stop only long enough for a decent meal, a few drinks and to pick up supplies. They ended up spending two days there, most of it looking for the two furry little aliens. They finally found them in a large junk-dealer bazaar and were able to herd them back to the ship.
The large, ice-covered hangar doors parted for the two ships and they settled to the deck, the landing gear hissing as it released it's compressed gases.
Raezyr strode down the off ramp and waited for the crew of the Corellian corvette to disembark as well. There was an eerie feeling in the compound, but it was hard to pinpoint exactly, as it permeated the entire area.
The feeling of unease was only increased with a call on his personal comm to bring Trychon and meet Dianna in her office. This was the sort of thing that would normally elicit at least a shrug or snide comment from one of them, but their expressions remained level as they headed down the hall as they were requested.
When they entered and found Dianna meeting with Anya and Tyr. Instead of a standard greeting they were given a morose look from Dianna. "No word from Zanz and Taggart. We have absolutely no indication of what may have gone wrong."
"They could be in hiding somewhere?" Trychon offered with a concerned look.
She shook her head. "They would have sent me at least something. Hearing nothing at all by now is tantamount to something gone horribly wrong. I don't know what to do."
"And that's why we may as well get out ahead of this thing and go find another job like it." Tyr insisted.
Dianna sighed, as though she didn't even have the energy to roll her eyes. "There are no jobs like that one. We put too much into that job, because it was a once a lifetime opportunity."
Anya shoved her way in front of Tyr. "So we do a bunch of little jobs. Hit banks in random systems. Branch out and try something new and fun."
Dianna's voice began to rise at that. "The last thing I'm worried about right now is what you consider to be 'fun!' I'm not a two-bit robber!" She paused for a moment and looked at the new arrivals. "Where's Dengar?"
Raezyr looked at her with a puzzled look on his face. "He had to seal the breach from the shuttle side. He went with Taggart and Zanz."
"Why didn't you tell me! I was supposed to be notified of any change in the plans," she said exasperated.
"Zanz said he had already told you about it. I took his word for it since I wasn't able to monitor all radio channels," Raezyr said. His lover looked almost on the verge of tears. The obvious explanation was beginning to dawn on her. The big Sith reached out and put on Dianna's shoulder. "I'm sorry Di. We'll get to the bottom of this. It can't be what it looks like."
"It's impossible," she said. "Zanz wouldn't just run off with the money."
"This is why we should go hit lots of smaller targets!" Anya said again. "Please, Di, we can do this, and maybe we'll run into those backstabbing Hutt-spawn and we can cut them open."
Dianna looked at the blond Sith incredulously. "You really do take this whole 'pirate' thing too literally, don't you? This isn't some holo-drama, girly. This is real life. We run cargo for people who don't want questions asked! This was a once in a life-time mission to get back on our feet."
"Just drop it for now, Anya," Raezyr said, speaking up.
"No," she said defiantly. "This is the only way to save this place. Don't you see that?"
"Anya, we'll discuss this later. Now is not the time," Trychon said calmly.
"No, we'll discuss this now," Tyr said, speaking up.
Raezyr took a step toward him. "Now is not the time. Both of you return to your quarters and we can discuss it later," he said coldly, emphasizing the last word.
They stood toe to toe for a breath, and for just an instant, Raezyr thought it might come to blows, that he might have to kill Tyr. Tyr broke their eye contact and looked down at the floor. Raezyr looked over at Anya and her face was a mask of ice as cold as the frozen planet on which they stood. It was a look he had seen before, and he decided to keep a close eye on his back. It wouldn't be the first time she had tried to stick a vibro blade into it.
Wordlessly, Anya and Tyr turned and headed down the hall toward their quarters. Something was going on with those two, but whatever it was would have to wait. The brothers turned back to Dianna.
"Can I speak with you alone, Raez?" she asked them.
The Sith exchanged a wordless glance, and Trychon excused himself, saying he'd get to work trying to track them down over the holonet.
Raezyr took Dianna gently by the arm and escorted her back to her quarters. Once they were inside, she threw her arms around his neck and began sobbing. "I'm so sorry Raez. It was nothing against Trych, but I just couldn't keep the facade up any longer."
He eased her over and sat with her on the edge of the bed. "I think he knew that, love."
"I just can't believe that Zanz would do something like this. He's always been like a second father to me, and Taggs... I gave him a shot when no one else would touch him. He owed me everything, and Dengar, I treated him like a brother... everyone here is like a family," she said, sobbing.
"There has to be some other explanation... there just has to be...," she cried into the big man's embrace.
"I think we have to face facts, Di. Money can do crazyr things to people," Raezyr began. It was killing him to see her like this, and the sooner she accepted the truth, the sooner she'd be able to move on. "Remember how Zanz insisted he lead the shuttle insertion team?"
"Yes."
"And Taggart may not have been involved, but may be a victim as well. Dengar and Zanz were going over plans all by themselves until pretty late the night before we left for the mission, then there was the deviation from protocol when Zanz claimed to have informed you about Dengar leaving with them instead of on the Jet Razor with me," the Sith paused for a moment to let all those facts sink in. "I'm sorry, Di. I mean, maybe something happened and they crash-landed somewhere without sending a message, and they just forgot to tell you that Dengar was with them, but the much more likely option is that the son of a bantha is planning on retiring and living the good life.
"Either way," he continued, "that money is gone."
Dianna nodded her head in agreement and cried for some time. "What's worse, is that the King's Lair is done for. I took out loans against the base and every ship we owned to upgrade, hire, and make repairs to prep for this mission," she said feebly, emotionally drained. "Everything my father built is gone."
Raezyr was silent for a few moments, the slid down onto his knees in front of her so he could look into her eyes. "Maybe not," he said excitedly. "Trych and I, we made some investments a while back with what money we had. We can sell them off!"
"Are you kidding me?" she said, disbelieving. "Do you know me? I can't take that kind of charity, no matter how close we are, Raez."
"Well then... consider it a loan... or an investment!" Raezyr said. "We'll pay your debts now, in exchange, you can make payments to us over time until the debt is gone. How does that sound?" he asked with a grin.
"What if Trych says no?" Dianna asked, wiping the last of her tears away.
"Well, let me talk to him first. I can't just take the money without discussing it with him, but I don't really care what he says, I'm going to get you that money," he said determinedly.
"I can't let you do that, not if it means a rift between you two," she replied.
"He won't say no, but that's not the point, my love. The point is that I'm here for you, I got you into this mess, and I'm going to get you out."
Without a word, she pulled the big man into her arms and kissed him deeply.
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