She walked quickly down the deserted alley toward the street. First thing, she had to find out exactly where she was. Second, she needed to get in contact with her old friend, Marla Greywick. If anyone could help her out, it was her old friend with whom she had escaped their old gang life. Besides, someone may be coming after her next.
They had decided it would be best to go their separate ways in order to be less conspicuous when starting their new lives, but they had agreed upon a way to get each other a message in the case an emergency should arise. Sorah decided this would probably qualify.
She made it out to the street, and within a few blocks, was able to hail a taxi to take her back to her apartment.
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Marla Greywick sat at the computer terminal of her security station checking the daily reports. She had been able to turn her acquired skills from her former gang life into a job working for a small security firm. Luckily enough, she had been low key enough in the gang that she had never accrued any wants or warrants for her arrest and thus had a clean enough back ground check to be hired in this line of work.
She enjoyed it, and it payed fairly well. Many of her skills were in the area of computer slicing, but in her security training she had proved more than competent in hand-to-hand fighting and small weapons combat. She let the instructors "teach" her and by the end they thought she was their prize pupil. She never let on that she probably could have kicked their tails on the first day of class.
After graduation, she quickly became one of the top security agents in the company. At the moment she was between assignments and in the office catching up on the paperwork end of her job. But the first thing Marla did each day was to check for messages from Sorah. It had been a habit she had gotten into early on. Even though there was never any communique, she checked it anyway. She didn't want to miss something if there was.
As she checked the secure message box, she sat bolt upright in her chair. She couldn't believe her eyes. One new message in the inbox. She opened it. It was short and sweet. "MG- Need advice - SK."
The slim security agent deleted all traces of the message, then calmly erased any trace of having accessed the message box as she did every day, just to be on the safe side. She calmly stood up, straightened her short waisted black jacket and walked toward the door. She made her way to the back corner of the parking garage where various speeders, swoop bikes and shuttles were parked before she pulled out her comm.
She punched in a number and waited. She didn't have to wait long. A familiar female voice came over the ear piece in Marla's ear. "Go ahead."
"Are you okay?" Marla asked.
Silence for a moment, then, "How did you get my comm frequency so fast?"
Marla bit her lip, now it was time to fess up. "I hope you're not mad, but... I've been keeping tabs on you."
First a sigh, then a chuckle. "I don't know why I was surprised. I should have known... it's so good to hear your voice... I've missed you."
"I've missed you too... You know I... well, I missed you... very much," Marla stammered. Emotions came flooding back as she listened to her friend's voice. Quickly she pulled herself together. "But what's going on? You didn't contact me to tell me that."
Sorah Kavel filled her friend in on what had been happening. She spared no details and told her of her suspicions and even what had happened last night, and Marla let her explain without interrupting. Finally she finished by asking, "What do you think I should do now?"
"First, get out of your apartment. Don't let anyone see you. Meet me at the place we spent our first night... away," she told her friend, referring to the first night after they had fled from the gang. "The Security Police could be looking for you if they're investigating that speeder crash, and if they find you that could spell a lot of trouble, not just for you, but for your daughter as well. I'll meet you there as soon as possible."
"Thanks," came Sorah's voice on the other end.
"You know it's nothing," Marla responded, and cut the connection.
Quickly she went back into the offices. She hadn't taken any personal time since she was hired, and she had some leisure time coming to her. Since she was between assignments, now would be a logical time to take it.
First she sat down at the computer and made her way through the electronic world to the Security Police computer systems. Any slicer worth their pay could get in if they really wanted to, and Marla was better than most. It didn't take her long to find and scan the reports from the crash investigation. At the moment it appeared their preliminary ruling was that the crash was an accident due to mechanical failure of the speeder, but until they had completed a detailed diagnostic and analysis of the speeder, they wanted to determine the identity of a female eye-witness who reportedly fled the scene in case she had any other information to add.
She made not of the information, then closed it out, erasing all traces of her indescretion. On her way toward the door, she popped her head into her bosses office on the way toward the door. "Taking some leisure days, chief."
"Um, okay..." the Bothan male who was her boss said, looking up from his computer. He just had time to catch sight of the slim, dark-haired woman exiting his office. "... but ah, when will you be back?"
The only answer was the whoosh of the doors closing as Marla left the building.
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