797. The Rough Exchange

The rundown luxury airspeeder settled down to the ground near the abandoned power converter factory and the co-pilot ensured her helmet was securely fastened before opening the door to the passenger compartment. The two red robed elderly gentlemen looked up at her from their seats. "Brother Beeble? Brother Zaphod? We've arrived at your specified location, sirs. If you'll allow me, I'll step outside and make sure the area is secure."

"Oh, I'm sure that won't really be necessary, Miss Brox," Brother Zaphod said with a warm smile. "S'spannish Expeditionary Monks often travel to seedy places, but we're rarely treated poorly," he reassured her.

"Let the young lady do her job, Zaphod," the other old man said, rolling his eyes. "It's what we pay her for."

"I don't know why you have to be so cranky all the time, Beeble. I was just trying to be nice to the young lass," the monk said, patting his elderly friend on the arm.

Dianna Kingsdoom smiled at the antics of the two old monks and activated the door controls, it opened with a hiss. Holding her carbine at the ready, she walked down the steps, keeping her head on a swivel. Despite the fact the landing yard at the factory was empty, she was wary for hidden threats. For a moment she was worried they might be in the wrong location, or that the other party hadn't kept their appointment. She was about to call back into the speeder that she'd go investigate when a walk through door on the side of the huge factory building opened up and two armed beings stepped out. Both were reptilian species; the first, a Gektl, the other, a Trandoshan who was gigantic even for one of his species and was wearing a large cape made of some sort of fur. It suddenly dawned on her that the fur was a Wookie pelt, and the realization made her shudder.

The Trandoshan called out to verify that she was with the monks, and she nodded in the affirmative, then turned her head just slightly and called into the open door of the speeder to let her employers know that this was indeed the place. She strode across the open space toward the building and the two reptilian humanoids, her mind imagining energy bolts striking her body from hidden snipers all around, but nothing of the sort happened. "Is this the lamest meeting every or what?" she said to the Trandoshan, then nodded conspiratorially to the Gektl. "I'm stuck protecting two ancient scholars from your boss, and you're stuck protecting your boss from two old humans," she chuckled.

She watched as the two criminals visibly relaxed just a bit, which was exactly what she had intended. No need for one of them to get jumpy.

She turned to watch as the two old men helped each other clamber out of the speeder and begin making their way toward the building. They each leaned heavily on a specialized staff that was taller than the stooped over man who used it. The bottom meter and a half was made out of a polished wood of some origin she didn't recognized, but it was beautifully marbled. The staves were topped by half a meter of electronics which housed their recording and communication devices for which S'spannish Monks were known for, along with their red robes.

When the monks got close, the two guards turned back inside and indicated the newly arrived party should follow them. Dianna made a mental note of the turns they made down various hallways inside the old factory in case they needed a hasty retreat, and after several minutes of walking they arrived outside of a doorway. Dianna turned to the old men to see how they were doing. They seemed to be wheezing a bit and leaning even more on their staffs, but she didn't say anything.

"Well, what are we waiting for, Master Trandoshan? I'm sorry, I don't know your name," Brother Zaphod asked. The Trandoshan mercenary didn't bother to answer, instead, he knocked on the door once, then opened the door upon hearing a voice from the other side say, "Enter."

The room was as non-descript as the rest of the building they had seen so far, with tan walls and tan floor tiles with a white ceiling. The recessed florescent glow rods provided harsh light above the beat up plasteel table. There were three chairs; Two obviously meant for the monks and the third was occupied by a Chiss male with blue skin and scarlet red eyes with black hair.

"Ah, Master Faren'or'gamulak. I'm glad you saw fit to meet with us," said Brother Beeble as he and his counterpart both settled down into their chairs.

"Your Cheunh isn't completely horrible, Brother...?"

"Beeble."

"... Brother Beeble. Still, please call me Norg," the Chiss said.

"Thank you, Norg. This is Brother Zaphod," Beeble said, indicating the other monk who was squirming in his seat.

"Not very comfortable chairs, Norg," said Zaphod, grumpily.

Beeble pinched his the bridge of his nose and shook his head incredulously, but Norg answered. "Yes, and I apologize. It was the best I could do on such short notice. Now, what can I do for such an esteemed organization as the Ss'Panish Expedition?"