Chapter 1
Myanna ducked instinctively as a laser bolt burned over the cockpit of her Corellian YT-1210 light freighter. She glanced wildly at her sensors. Nothing was showing up.
"Who's shooting at us?" she screamed at her co-pilot, who was frantically looking over instruments on several different panels.
"How am I supposed to know?" Zek yelled back at her. "If you can't see 'em on the sensors, don't expect me to be able to!"
Myanna stopped and turned to glare at him. "Well go and look out the hold viewport."
"Why don't you?" Zek mimicked Myanna's action. "I don't want to go back to the hold!"
"I'm the pilot of this ship, you're the co-pilot. You're supposed to do what I tell you!" Myanna was getting angry.
"I'm not your slave!" Zek enjoyed the chance to make Myanna angry. "You..."
Zek was interrupted when the ship was shaken by a laser bolt that didn't miss. Without another word, Zek turned and ran down the corridor that connected the cockpit to the hold. The hold, while having the customary flat roof and floor, had slick walls that curved instead of having sharp corners. On the wall farthest from the entrance was a small viewport of about three feet tall and four long.
Zek dodged several stacks of crates and ran over to the viewport and looked for any signs of a ship nearby. What he saw filled him with dread. At first glance, there was nothing out of the ordinary. But as he looked harder, he saw a quickly moving patch of black shoot across the section of space he could see.
"Oh no," he breathed. "We are in trouble now."
Zek took off at a dead sprint for the cockpit. "Myanna!" he yelled while still in the corridor. "We�re in trouble!"
"What?" she yelled back. "What is it?"
"A sensor cloaked ship." Zek skidded into the cockpit, falling into the co-pilot's seat as the ship was again shaken by a hit.
"We can't fight off someone we can't see." Myanna's fingers were flying over instruments as she plugged in a course for a hyperspace jump. "We are going to jump to hyperspace in four minutes. That's how long we have to try to avoid the worst they can throw at us."
Zek gripped the turbolaser controls and sighed. He really needed to find a less hectic job. "What are you waiting for? Get this crate moving."
Myanna grinned. "You got it." She threw the sleek freighter into a quick roll, changing its profile constantly so it was hard to target. She pulled out of the roll and into a sharp dive. Zek stared intently out the viewport, trying to spot the black patch that signified the cloaked ship. Soon, though, he got frustrated and began spraying laser bolts in any and every direction. Myanna changed the direction of her dive and pulled the ship ninety degrees into a flat roll.
"Quit that! Your just draining the laser's energy cells," Myanna admonished. "Shoot if you see anything or when I tell you to."
"Yeah," Zek said. "Sorry."
Myanna threw the ship into another crazy series of twists, rolls, dives, and more. Another near miss by whoever was chasing them caused the ship to shudder and the lights to dim for a moment.
"That was an ion bolt!" Myanna said incredulously. "They want us, or at least the ship, intact."
There was a grimness to Myanna's voice that Zek didn't like. "Who do you think they are?" He saw a patch of black zip in front of him. He quickly fired off a burst and saw astonished when it disappeared into nothingness.
"What the..." Myanna stared for a moment, then said, "Oh, I get it." She rolled and shot off on a new course. The expert pilot rolled the ship on its axis then dove sharply.
"Get what?"
"The laser bolt disappeared because you hit the cloaked ship." Myanna took the ship out of its roll and into a quick reverse, flipping fore for aft in a matter of seconds.
"If I hit the ship, wouldn't there have been an explosion?" Zek was clearly confused.
"There probably was, but the ship was cloaked so you couldn't see it. The laser bolt disappeared into the cloaking field." Myanna laughed with the pure joy of flying her ship. She barrel rolled again and sent the ship into an irregular weave while rolling that would make it impossible to hit the speedy ship.
An alarm beeped twice then silenced. Zek glanced down at the console and said, "Time to get out of here, Mya."
Myanna turned her ship around and ceased all evasive action except for the standard juking and put all power, except for shields and life support, into speed. They raced to the hyperspace jump point and Myanna pulled the lever that sent them hurtling to light speed.
Zek leaned back into his seat as soon as the star lines had lengthened into a tunnel of white. "I'm glad that's over."
"What are you talking about? That was great!" Myanna was still leaning forward, her hands still on the controls as if she was still in battle. "I haven't flown like that in months." She finally leaned back and sighed happily. "Besides, we didn't get hurt so what's the problem."
"Well," Zek said, exasperated, "We could have been. Who was that anyways?"
Myanna shrugged, suddenly turning serious. When it came to business, Myanna was always serious. "I don't know, but I'd bet my skin that it had something to do with whatever is in our hold."
Myanna was referring to the fifteen crates stacked in the hold that the pair had 'confiscated' earlier that week. One of her people on Milshyr, a small planet on the outskirts of the core, had contacted her and told her about a cargo hauler scheduled to be on the way to a certain palace the next day. Myanna had been on one of Milshyr's moons when she had received the message, along with the route the cargo hauler would be taking. She had decided that cargo en route to a palace would probably be rather valuable. So, the next day she had shown up with her ship, blasted the cargo hauler's engines, and boarded with two others, besides Zek. They had unloaded the hauler and escaped with planetary law enforcement chasing her tail. The other two of her people who had boarded with her were currently in their cabins in the aft of the ship, still sleeping. One was a Togorian, the other was a Wookie. They were both heavy sleepers apparently.
Or not.
A roar echoed from the back of the ship. It was followed by a loud, screeching yowl. Claws clicked on the deck and soon a sliver streaked chocolate head poked through the doorway. The big Wookie snarled at Myanna, who just laughed at his threat.
"Oh, come on. Don't tell me you got scared." Myanna stood and posted her hands on her hips and cocked an eyebrow at Tanursabanta. The Wookie glared back at her, then growled something else.
"Yeah, if I woke up while falling off my bunk, I might be a little startled too. But not flat out scared!" Myanna laughed again. "Why didn't you come see what was going on?"
The Wookie growled something about her flying.
"Hey, if I didn't fly so...erratically...then we probably wouldn't be having this conversation right now," Myanna said indignantly. "You should be thanking me for saving your skin."
Tanur harrumphed, and grudgingly agreed with the pilot.
"That's what I thought." Myanna sat back down and put her feet up on the control panel. She smiled at Zek's apprehensive look. "Besides, I thought I did pretty good."
She pushed off the console and started her seat spinning. She whooped at the room whirling around her. Tanur, Zek, space. Tanur, Zek, space. Tanur, Zek, space. Suddenly she saw a black blur and her chair was abruptly halted. Myanna's momentum sent her flying out of her seat and sprawling on the floor.
"Hey, Kiliar." Myanna waved up at the white splashed, black Togorian. "Whad'dya do that for?"
"Myanna should have awaken Kiliar," the Togorian growled in his not so perfect Basic. "Kiliar could have helped."
Myanna gingerly picked herself up. "Myanna didn't have time to wake anyone up, Kiliar. Don't feel special. Besides, what could you have done to help?"
Kiliar glanced at the filled co-pilot seat, then growled. "Guns."
"We were trying to get out of there, not start a full fledged fire fight." Myanna brushed off her dusky brown jacket. "You were better off in your bunk."
Kiliar growled again. "On the floor."
Zek let out a little laugh, only to strangle it as Kiliar shot him a death look. He covered his heart with his hands in a gesture of mock death and turned back to the panel in front of him.
"Uh, Myanna?" he said after a moment. "We sorta' have a problem."
"I'm not surprised. The way you keep this crate up, I'm surprised it hasn't fallen apart yet." Myanna sighed. "Well, what is it?"
Zek threw her a twisted smile. He usually did most of the repair work on the ship, even though Myanna could have easily done all of it if her schedule permitted it. Unfortunately, she usually was too busy with contacts or customers to help fix her own ship.
"Our sensors aren't checking out. They must have been fried when that ion bolt clipped us."
Myanna raised an eyebrow. "Long range or short?"
Zek glanced down at the console. "Long range. I think the short range scanners are okay."
"Well, we should be okay as long as we don't run into anymore attacks." Myanna sat back down in her seat.
"Computer," she said, "Show me my schedule for the next week."
The schedule appeared on the holoprojector she had recently installed into her modified freighter. She scanned through it quickly.
"I think we have time for a quick stop on Ryloth for repairs." Myanna considered for a moment and confirmed her spoken musing. "We need to upgrade our power generator soon too."
"Ryloth?" Zek shook his head. If there was a hot spot in the galaxy, Ryloth was it. And it just happened to be convenient. "Will the Twi'leks permit us to land on their world?"
Myanna shrugged. "One of my contacts is there at the moment. She should be able to get us passage into one of the Twi'lek cities."
"Which of your contacts is this person?" Kiliar asked in his heavily accented voice.
"Karaa."
Kiliar hissed, accompanied by a growl from Tanur. The Togorian looked distinctly unhappy, his fangs bared and ear laid back against his skull.
"Karaa might not be the most savory sentient in the galaxy, but she has never tried to skip out on paying me my share of a bounty when I get her one." Myanna admonished them.
Karaa was a not too well known bounty hunter, but she was one of the best. She was no match for Boba Fett and such, but she held her own. With the help of Myanna and her operation. Myanna often hunted down the offers worth noticing and passed them on to Karaa. She often provided Karaa with information about the being the bounty was posted on also. For her service, Myanna often got a cut of the bounty, or else Karaa was recruited to do little, or big, favors for Myanna.
"I do not like Karaa," Kiliar said. "She smells wrong." Tanur rumbled an agreement.
Myanna laughed. "She doesn't smell right? And what exactly is right?"
Kiliar glowered at the Corellian pilot. "You do not understand." The Togorian looked meaningfully at Tanur then soundlessly exited the cockpit, followed closely by Tanur.
"Well." Myanna said, an eyebrow raised in puzzlement. She looked down at the hyperspace timer. "We have six hours until Ryloth, so get some sleep. Once we get there we won't have time to sleep. We'll be too busy fixing this hunk of metal." She gave the console an affectionate pat.
"Yeah," Zek agreed. "Sleep sounds good right now."
Zek watched Myanna lean back in her seat. Her eyes fluttered shut and her breathing slowed. That was Myanna for you, he reflected. She was most at home when she as flying her ship.
He shook his head and left the cockpit. He made his way back to his cabin. It was normally Myanna's, but with Kiliar and Tanur along, Zek had to take it over while they shared one room. Myanna got the cockpit. Zek slowly lowered himself onto his bed and kicked his boots off. He rubbed a hand over his face. He hadn't realized how tired he was. The fight had really drained him. Zek laid back and let his eyes close. He really didn't want to go to Ryloth.
Six hours later, Myanna's ship emerged from hyperspace. Its pilot and co-pilot were buckled in their seats, hands flying over instruments and carefully keeping an eye on all readouts. Its two passengers were seated in the lounge, weapons ready, in case anything went wrong.
"Everything looks okay here," Zek said from the co-pilot's seat. "We can't pick up the homing beacon yet, but as soon as it is in range of our short range sensors, we should be able to."
"Good," Myanna answered shortly. She had awoken an hour ago with a feeling of dread. Something was going to go wrong here, Myanna just didn't know what. "What's that?"
Myanna pointed out the front viewport. A swiftly moving spacecraft was vectoring towards them from the planet. It had just come into the range of her vision, but was still a tiny dot against the black surroundings.
"Short range sensors just picked it up." Zek was tensely studying the readouts. "It's one of the Twi'lek fighters."
"Why are we being greeted by a fighter?" Myanna pondered for a moment, but her question was answered when the comm light flashed. She flipped it on.
"Greetings. A scan of your ship has shown damage to your sensor suit and your communications array. It has also made a positive identification of your ship. Power down all weapons systems, Specter, and follow me in. Do not deviate from my course, or you will surely be shot down."
Myanna winced and acknowledged. "Specter greets you and acknowledges your directions."
The fighter turned around and sped off, but stayed within the ship's limited sensing range. Myanna sped her own ship up until she was in easy visual range. She could now make out the details of the strange little ship in front of her.
Myanna expertly followed the little ship's maneuvers, diving when it dived and rising when it rose. Several times, the fighter executed more precise and difficult maneuvers, but the professional smuggler behind followed easily.
They finally entered the atmosphere, and Zek brought their shields up to full to shed the heat of entry. In moments, the duo was through and Myanna could see the dull red-brown landscape slipping away beneath her.
Soon they came to a string of mountainous land. The fighter led them through a series of smaller mountains. They emerged over a brief flat, zipped over that, and seemed to be speeding towards their death. A huge but natural stone wall, rising almost straight up, appeared before them.
Myanna, having done this run numerous times before, didn't flinch. She flipped her ship sideways on reflex, not waiting for the fighter. And just in time. The only blemish in the wall, a small crack, was suddenly in front of them. It grew as they neared it, and then they were through. Myanna immediately slowed her freighter to a near halt and righted it. She followed the fighter to a landing area, even though she knew its location. She gently set her ship down, then carefully powered down all of its systems but life support and cooling.
The world of Ryloth was a scalding heat ball, with temperatures most beings found hard to endure for long, if at all. They had just set down in one of the more temperate sectors of the planet, even those weren't much better than the regular.
Myanna looked around. She was inside of a gigantic cavern. The walls of the cavern were riddled with tunnels, and the cavern itself housed a landing pad and a small city.
A group of Twi'leks was advancing towards her ship, each yielding a holstered blaster and several had more primal weapons. In the midst of the group was a rather sleazy looking being. She was a cross between a Twi'lek and a human. Her skin was a pale blue and her nails were long and thick, but dull. Her scalp was covered with a short fuzz, like baby hair that had never grown into an adult human's full head of hair. She had two stubby head tails, lekku, but they were not as developed as a regular Twi'lek's, and they were unable to twitch and move as a Twi'lek's. As a result, neither race held her in much esteem. The general opinion of Karaa was one of distaste and wariness. An opinion well deserved.
Myanna pulled her blaster out of her holster and checked the charge. It was fully charged, so she put it back into her holster. She reached under the instrument panels and pulled out a vibroblade and a dagger from a holder. She slipped her dagger into her boot sheath and clipped her vibroblade onto her belt hook.
Fully prepared, Myanna stood and braced herself to receive her welcoming party. Zek finished concealing his smaller weapons and gave Myanna a curt nod.
"Let's go see what your contact can do for us."
Myanna smiled. "Probably what we want done. It'll just cost us."
Zek rolled his eyes. "Yeah, if it's Karaa making the arrangements."
The two went down to the lounge, collected the Wookie and Togorian, and waited at the hatch. Soon three sharp knocks were heard. Zek looked downcast.
"What'sa'matta', Zek?" Myanna asked. "She gave the correct acknowledgement."
"That's what's wrong. I was hoping she wouldn't so we could get off this hellish planet." Zek shook his head and braced himself for the opening of the hatch, as did the others.
Myanna keyed the hatch open. A rush of sweltering air greeted them. "All right, everybody out." Myanna commanded. "The sooner we shut this hulk up, the cooler it will be when we come back."
Myanna locked the ship after exiting, it would only open to one of her party now, and greeted Karaa. "Hello." She gave a slight nod. Zek looked rather repulsed. "I'm not going to bother with any formalities. We need repairs, and we need them now. I happen to have a rather persistent security force on my trail and I can't stay here too long."
"I'm haappy to seee youu too, Myaannaaa." Karaa's long drawl was as annoying as it was hard to understand. "I will seee whaat I caan doo foor youu."
"You do that." Myanna held out a datapad. "This has the damage content and the parts needed to fix it. No cut corners. If I don't have speed and maneuvering, you might never get any help with a bounty again."
Karaa gave a slight bow. "Aas youu saayy." She left unhurriedly and set to work with her gang of thugs.
"As for us," Myanna said to her companions, "I think we need to see if we can scare up a real meal."
She got two rumbles of agreement and one groan. Zek had never been big on Twi'lek food. The group wandered into the city, stopping often to glance into store windows and sample from street vendors. Myanna had never had time or the urge to see what the respectable side of Ryloth was like.
When Tanur found a smell he liked, he led the group to a small cantina. It advertised an array of foods and drinks in the window, so they agreed to stop there to eat. They were seated around a square table and looked at the holographic menu. As usual, Zek didn't find anything he liked, so Myanna ordered for him. Tanur and Kiliar had no trouble, the cantina served some meats raw or rare.
As soon as the group got their meals, three of them dug into their food. Even if it was strangely spiced, it was a wonderful change from ship's rations. Zek just picked at his food.
Suddenly, a blaster bolt whizzed overhead. The four instinctively ducked as more bolts were fired. The fire was aimed in their direction. Tanur heaved the table over and shoved Myanna and Zek behind it. Then he bolted across the crowded space to a table across the cantina. He pulled this one over too, and ducked behind it. Kiliar had disappeared.
Myanna and Zek stood, spraying fire across the room in the general direction of the attackers. Blaster fire came back in red sheets of fire. Myanna ducked behind the table and pulled Zek down with her.
"Stay down," Myanna yelled over the blaster fire lighting the cantina, "but give me covering fire."
Zek nodded, ducking again as splinters of plasteel from a near miss sprayed across the area. He glanced over the table and laid down a pattern of fire that sent a group of black clad humans scrambling for cover.
Myanna kept low as she slid around the table and made her way quickly to the table Tanur had overturned when the shoot out had started. Her gave her a low growl of greeting but kept firing on the humans.
Myanna vaulted over the table and immediately began firing again. One of the humans, this one had a series of white dots on her collar, poured fire into Zek's table, intent on blasting a hole through it. Another laid down fire to keep Zek boxed in behind the table.
Myanna decided it was time to get with it. She steadied her hand, stood, and started to pick off the offenders. She had targeted the human nearest Zek when she was finally hit from behind. She fell forward and her shot went wild. She heard a pained cry, but didn't have time to see who she had hit.
Out of the corner of her eye, Myanna caught sight of another group of the black clad humans. These had red armbands and a badge on the left breast. She rolled over onto her back and stifled a cry of pain. Her shoulder burned with pain where she had been hit, but she forced herself to focus on her blaster sights. Her first shot took out a young male. Her next burned a hole through the abdomen of another. The other three dove for cover. A skilled shot from Tanur diminished their number by one more.
A blood curdling scream halted nearly all fire in the cantina for a split second. And a split second was all Kiliar needed. He nimbly hopped the bar and dealt a death blow to the human crouched there.
A second victim behind a nearby table was the next to go. Kiliar had to stay crouched behind the table when the blaster fire started up again. Kiliar pulled his blaster and snapped a shot off in Myanna�s general direction. Myanna flinched, then rolled over in time to see a middle aged man go down several feet from her. He had a vibroblade clutched in his hand, and had apparently crept up behind her when Kiliar had screamed.
Myanna looked away from the grisly sight and again began picking off their mysterious attackers. Two more went down before Myanna realized that there were only three of her party returning fire. Zek was slumped down behind his table, a black scorch mark marred his side. The young man was desperately hanging onto consciousness, but Myanna could tell that he was slipping.
�No,� Myanna moaned softly. Tanur heard her moan and looked questioningly at her. Myanna gestured to Zek, then began firing with renewed vigor. She started when a soft thud sounded beside her. She quickly glanced to the side and saw Kiliar crouched down beside Tanursabanta.
�What should we do?� Kiliar�s grim tone told Myanna that he had also seen Zek.
Tanur growled.
�No,� Myanna said vehemently. �We don�t know who these people are! For all we know, as soon as we give up they�ll just cut us down.�
Tanur growled sadly and tossed his weapon over the table. Kiliar hissed tortured and did the same. Myanna shut her eyes, inhaling deeply. �You two are crazy. You�ll be the death of us yet.� She stood and fired three shots into the roof.
�Hey,� she yelled. �Stop! We give up!�
Several of the shooters broke off, but not all of them. Several more bolts were fired before the order was given to cease fire. Two of the bolts struck home. Myanna was knocked off her feet by a shot in the shoulder and her thigh was grazed on the way down. As she hit the floor, pain lanced through her wounds and her vision blacked out.
When she came to, her head was being lifted gently from the floor and a water cask was pressed to her lips. She took a small sip, then shoved the cask away. She propped herself up on her elbows and surveyed the unpleasant scene before her. She glared at the young man who had given her the water. He wore the same black body suit, but he had three white bars on his collar that signified rank.
All around her were prone bodies. One she recognized with a start. �Zek!� Myanna lurched to her feet and stumbled over to the brown haired young man. He was still slumped behind his table, but he was now unconscious. She dropped to her knees beside her co-pilot and lifted his head. She looked around wildly until she spotted the young officer who had given her water.
He noticed her gaze and ambled over to her. Myanna gaze him another glare, then snatched the water cask from his hand and pressed it to his lips. She tilted his head back and poured some water into his mouth. He came to sputtering weakly, then grabbed the cask from Myanna and drank deeply. When he was done, he dropped the cask and looked around in surprise.
�Myanna,� he said softly. �Your shoulder!�
She shook her head. �It�s nothing.�
Zek gave a small laugh when Myanna winced in pain. �Oh really?�
Myanna grinned. �Yeah, can�t you tell?�
Then the man was again beside her. �All right, time to go.� He gave Myanna a hand up and called for a stretcher for Zek. He gave Myanna a sad little smile then pulled a pair of stun cuffs from a pouch on his gun belt. Myanna�s grin never left her face, but became something more like a snarl. She put her hands in front of her and didn�t protest as the man clipped the stun cuffs on her wrists.
She turned quickly as she heard a roar from across the room. Tanur was arguing with three humans and a sleazy Twi�lek. No, Myanna thought. Not a Twi�lek. She�s a half-breed. Human and Twi�lek. Karaa.
The Wookie growled fiercely at Karaa, silencing her immediately, then sent an expressionless glance over at Myanna. She had to fight back a sudden sense of betrayal building up inside of her. Tanursabanta had never been attached to Myanna�s party for anything other than money. And now it looked like he had gotten as much money out of the other three as possible. Myanna lunged at the traitor, only to be sent sprawling by the officer. He crouched down beside her.
�Don�t do anything stupid and you might get out of this alive,� he whispered softly. Then out loud he said, �Get up!� He stood and put a well placed foot in her side. Myanna yelped, then struggled up to her feet.
Curiosity had overcome the better part of her anger. She made a show of struggling against her bonds, but after one too many shocks from the cuffs, she ceased altogether. Myanna watched silently as Zek was lifted onto the stretcher and followed closely behind him.
Kiliar had been cuffed without trouble. He had been keeping an anxious eye on Zek, and a wary one on Tanursabanta. He rumbled low in his throat as he joined Myanna. Several blasters were trained on the trio from around the room. Six black clad men were attached to the smugglers as guards.
Myanna and Kiliar were marched out of the cantina and to a military speeder. They were transported to the landing pad, which now contained two shuttles. One was colored a deep red, the hue of dried blood, with the Milshyr security force logo painted in white on the side. Myanna and Kiliar were roughly escorted onto Milshyr�s shuttle.
The other was a small Lambda-class shuttle, unmarked. Zek was loaded into it.
As the red shuttle�s hatch closed, Myanna caught a glimpse of her ship and Tanur. She snarled several colorful curses, then settled back as the shuttle took off.
Zek gasped in pain as his stretcher was set down on one of the two opposing benches in the white shuttle�s hold. The man who settled down on the other side of the hold was young. He was wearing a black body suit like the rest of their attackers, but his face was too gentle, and his expression too offended to be one of them. As he sat, he pulled on a light jacket from a pile of items on the seat beside him and buckled second gun belt around his waist. He secured the tie down strap around his thigh and tucked a dagger into his boot. Then he shucked one sleeve of his jacket and strapped a hold-out blaster to his lower arm.
Pulling his jacket back on, he strapped himself in. Moments later, the shuttle shuddered as its thrusters kicked in. For a moment, g-forces pulled at the two in the hold until the anti-grav field kicked in.
�Where are you taking me?� Zek�s voice was flat, disinterested. �Where are Myanna and Kiliar?�
The man studied Zek curiously for a moment. �Aren�t you going to ask about the Wookie?�
�No,� Zek said, shaking his head slightly. �I heard him arguing with Karaa about the price.�
�I see.� The man nodded. �Yes, he betrayed you to Karaa, and to Milshyr planetary security. Your friends are with Milshyr security.�
�Why am I here, and not with them?�
The man held up a credit. �Your freedom cost me enough, but hopefully it was worth it. You might be useful to me, as your friends might be if you can convince me.�
Zek coughed lightly. �Looks like I�m gonna� cost you more than that.�
The man waved away Zek�s comment. �Bacta can be filtered and reused. I just hope a two day dunk will be adequate for your injury.�
Zek raised an eyebrow. �Why do you say that?�
The man smiled ominously. �Because in three days, your friends will be executed for stealing from the Grand Duke of Milshyr.�
Myanna�s mind raced furiously as the shuttle hold�s ramp slowly lowered. Kiliar�s head was bowed as if in defeat, but defiance flashed in his eyes when he glanced up at Myanna. They both knew what was going to happen to them if they didn�t find some way to escape. Myanna wasn�t sure where they had landed, besides the fact that it was on a planet or moon, and not a ship. She had felt the shuttle bucking as they descended through the atmosphere.
Myanna was unarmed, except for her boot dagger. Its sheath was built in to the boot, so it was difficult to find. The search they had endured on the journey from Ryloth to wherever they were now had been thorough, but not detailed. But Myanna didn�t really see her dagger as much of a help right now. She was sure she could take out a guard or two, but not before others moved in to subdue her.
So, clamping down on her anger and fear, she cleared her expression and waited for an escort from the shuttle.
She didn�t have long two wait. Almost instantly, six men in deep crimson livery and armed to the teeth marched up to the shuttle. The two prisoners were brusquely taken from the ship and led across a small landing field to a prison speeder.
The interior was unfurnished except for two built in benches, like the shuttle they had just come from. The difference was that these had a single bar running the length of the bench. It was secured to the wall in several places. Myanna and Kiliar were led into the speeder, shoved onto the benches, and were shackled to the bars. There would be no escaping from the speeder.
After a few experimental tugs at her bonds, Myanna relented, shaking her head. She looked sadly at Kiliar.
�I don�t think we�re gonna� get out of this one, friend.�
Kiliar growled fiercely, but his growl quickly scaled down into a groan. �I believe Myanna is correct, but I must fight. I will not be taken without a fight.�
�Me neither, Kiliar. I guess we�ll just have to go out in a blaze of glory.� Myanna couldn�t stop a smile from creeping onto her face as Kiliar growled enthusiastically. But it quickly faded as the speeder slowed to a halt. A grim expression replaced the smile, and Myanna kicked her leg back onto the bench and twisted her wrists painfully in her cuffs to pull her dagger from her boot. She laboriously slid the blade up her sleeve, nicking her skin several times in the process. Her work paid off though. The knife was positioned so the hilt was barely secured from sight by her sleeve cuff. A slight twist of her arm and it would drop into her hand. Hopefully.
Minutes later, the hatch opened and the same guards appeared. One went to each of the prisoners and released them from the bars, but kept their hands bound. �All right, scum. Get up and move it out.� A large man waved a blaster at them.
Myanna groaned inwardly. She couldn�t use her knife effectively against blaster-armed guards with her hands bound. So, she walked in front of the guards without protest. After all, it would do no good to get herself killed right now.
The two prisoners were led into a large, dark building that had a rather sinister look about it. The inside was dim and humid. The walls were reinforced, and for good reason. Prison cells lined the outside walls, and the walls of the square room in the center of the otherwise open space inside. The cells were made of transparisteel so their occupants could be observed from the outside, but were undoubtedly opaque from the prisoner�s point of view.
Dread coiled in Myanna�s belly as she looked at the captives. Nearly half of the cells were filled with miserable, wretched looking prisoners of many species. Myanna identified Bothans, Gamorreans, a single Wookie, humans, and many others, some she could not name. The humans and Bothans looked the worst. Many had festering wounds that looked as if they were self inflicted. Claw and fingernail scratches covered faces and arms. The Wookie had chunks of fur missing from his black and silver coat.
Myanna and Kiliar were led past the cells near the entrance and towards the center room. As they neared the door, a low growl started deep in Kiliar�s throat. It rose in volume and pitch, marking the Togorian�s nervousness and fear. When they stopped at the door, Kiliar panicked. He snaked out of his guard�s grip and tensed his great muscled arms. Straining mightily, he finally broke his bonds. With his hands free, he lunged at the guards. Myanna cursed and twitched her arm. Her dagger dropped into her hand and she fell back hard against her guard. He was caught off guard and toppled to the floor. Myanna fell with him, her dagger plunged into his belly. As she struggled to pick herself up without losing her knife, she saw that his wound was not life threatening, but would probably keep him out of the rest of the fight.
By the time Myanna had made her way to her knees, the scuffle had ended. A stun shot to the belly had taken Kiliar down, but the big feline-like creature was still conscious. The guard that had shot Kiliar now held a blaster trained on Myanna. His gaze was steely and his aim steady. Myanna was shocked by his appearance. The guard was very young, maybe eighteen, but had the look of a professional killer. His slate gray eyes were cold and emotionless. His sandy blonde hair was parted in the middle and sort of spiky. His body was stilly rangy and not filled out, but he was lean and muscled. He was not dressed in the brilliant livery of the other guards either. Brown, soft-leather boots covered up the lower half of his darker brown pants from the knees down. He wore a loose fitting, off-white shirt. A snow white cape flowed down his straight back and stopped barely and inch above the durasteel floor. His blaster was held in a brown gloved hand. A gun belt laying from waist to hip and covered in rich designs completed his costume.
�Drop the knife,� he said, voice low and threatening.
His voice was as striking as his appearance. It was soft, not made for threats, but had been shaped to intimidate with its silent calm. Myanna could easily imagine the young man laughing and smiling.
But there was no doubt to his seriousness, so Myanna grudgingly let her dagger drop to the floor. In two strides, the young man was behind her. He scooped up her dagger, then grabber an arm and pulled Myanna to her feet. He quickly took several steps back, staying out of her range.
The guard Myanna had taken down stirred, covering the bloody stain on his shirt with a hand. He propped himself up on an elbow, groaning softly, and looked at his wound. When he saw the blood seeping from beneath his hand, his face paled slightly. He looked up at the young man covering Myanna.
�I�m afraid you�ll have to take them from here, Kyle ,� he said with effort.
The young man, Kyle, shook his head. �I don�t think so. I�ve been in that room once, I�m not going in it again.�
�You have to. If you don�t, you�ll be disobeying a direct order from your superior.� The wounded guard narrowed his eyes in an effort to seem threatening. An effort that failed utterly. �And if you disobey me I�ll make sure you get kicked out of the Security Force and exiled from this planet.�
Kyle canted his head to the side slightly, then shrugged. He turned to Myanna. �You heard the man, move it.�
One of the two guards left standing shackled Kiliar again and helped him to his feet. The Togorian was too dazed to resist this time. The other preceded Kiliar, Myanna, and Kyle to the door of the room. He opened it and Myanna and her captors entered. Kiliar, however, did not. His guard led him towards one of the cells on the outside wall.
The room that they had entered was very bright, and it took Myanna�s eyes several moments to adjust. When she could finally see normally again, she found that part of the brightness was due to sterile white walls. Three reinforced bar cells, two occupied, lined one wall. The rest of the room was filled with what Myanna identified as interrogation instruments, the painful kinds. She glanced over at Kyle. He had stayed at the door with a distasteful look pasted on his face.
The guard that had led them to the room escorted Myanna to one of the cells and roughly pushed her inside after releasing her hands from her bonds. He slammed the cell door shut, a cruel grin on his face, then turned back to Kyle.
�You had better get back to headquarters,� he said with a certain amount of loathing. Apparently Kyle was not one of the better liked characters around the place. �The boss is not gonna� be happy with you.�
That comment finally cracked his impassive mask. Anger washed over his features, and his hand wavered. �I don�t care what the �boss� thinks. If he kicks me out of the Force he�ll be doing me a big favor.�
Disbelief widened the other guard�s eyes, then they glittered menacingly. �Ooh, what a report I�m gonna� file tonight! You�re finally gonna� get what you�ve had coming for so long.�
�File all the reports you want to. It won�t matter to me.� Myanna watched in disbelief as sudden relief washed over Kyle�s face. �I�m sick of this place. I�m sick of having to do your dirty work for you. I�m sick of watching you torture these people. I�m sick of the �boss�. I�m sick of it all!�
�What exactly are you trying to say?� the guard said, shaking his head.
Kyle delicately unpinned a rank cylinder from his collar and dropped it. �I quit.�
Myanna couldn�t suppress a small laugh. The guard whirled and pulled his blaster. �Keep your mouth shut.�
Myanna cocked an eyebrow. �Go ahead and shoot me. From what I hear it�ll be better than the hospitality I�m to be given before too long.�
A sinister smile curled a corner of the guard�s lip. �Fine, I will.�
His finger tightened on the trigger, sending a scarlet bolt into Myanna�s shoulder. She cried out in surprise. She hadn�t really expected him to shoot her. The shot caught her unawares and knocked her to the ground. Myanna winced as a second bolt was fired, but never felt an impact. Her incredulity was confounded when the guard dropped to the floor. A smoldering blaster-charred hole covered the lower half of his back.
Kyle holstered his blaster with pained aversion. Myanna knew instantly that he hated killing and that it ate at him. She struggled to regain her feet and leaned on the cell bars for support. Kyle took a step forward, then caught himself and stopped. He struggled wipe all expression from his handsome face, but failed utterly.
Myanna didn�t see much after that. Her vision started to blur and a wave of pain originating in her shoulder washed over her. Her legs gave out on her, and she slid down the cell bars. The last thing she saw was two booted feet hurrying towards her.
Kyle stared at the woman leaned up against the bars. He had never seen anyone quite like her before. Her white hair spilled down her shoulders to her lower back. When she had been conscious, he had noted with a limited amount of interest that her eyes were a yellow-gray. He had never seen eyes like that before. And he had seen her interest in him during the brief fight. But then again, that was the reaction most people had when they saw him.
Kyle shook his thoughts away and knelt by the guard he had killed. He had to stop and squeeze his eyes shut to avoid images of the bolt burning into the man�s back, and the man falling to the floor. He hated killing, but he somehow was always forced into it.
Kyle rolled the man over and searched his pockets until he found a set of identicards. He took one and used it to unlock the cell the woman had been put in. Not hesitating, he hoisted her up over his shoulder and quickly made his way out of the room. When he had gotten to the outer doorway, the woman made a small sound of protest.
Kyle quickly knelt and set her softly on the cold floor. �What is it?�
Her eyes opened, but took a moment to focus. When they finally did, she said in confusion, �What are you doing?�
�I�m getting you out of here.�
�Why,� she asked. �You don�t know who I am.�
�I don�t know who you are, and I don�t really care.� Anger again creased his brow. �I�m sick of this place and all the pain here. I�m getting out of here and I�m taking an ally with me. I hope.�
The woman laughed softly. �I�ll go, no argument there. As long as we can bring along a friend.�
�Ah, the Togorian.� Kyle shook his head. �How in the world does one hook up with a creature like that?�
Again, she laughed. �Let�s talk about that later. Right now I just want to get out of here.�
Kyle nodded and stood. �Wait here.�
�Don�t worry,� the woman said, looking pointedly at her shoulder. �I don�t think I�ll be going far like this.�
Kyle nodded, grinning, and jogged around the center room and across to the other side of the building where the Togorian was being held. The guard that had taken him to his cell was still there. Not hesitating, Kyle pulled his blaster and flipped the setting to stun. The guard must have heard Kyle�s approach, because he glanced over his shoulder. He saw Kyle and turned, hand falling to his blaster. When he saw Kyle�s drawn blaster, he threw himself to the side. But not quick enough. Kyle�s bolt grazed the guard�s right thigh, and he fell to the floor.
The guard�s half-drawn blaster clattered across the floor and out of his reach. Kyle dropped to a knee and pressed the blaster to the man�s temple. �Give me the key.�
The guard laughed. �I always knew you wouldn�t amount to anything. You never had the stomach for this kind of work.�
�Just shut up and give me the key, and maybe I won�t kill you.� Kyle�s face twisted into an angry scowl.
The guard pushed himself up on his elbows. �No. I�m not giving you anything. Kill me if you like, but I really don�t think you will. You�re just a spoiled little rich kid who�s always had everything. You�ve never had to work for anything in your life. Well now you have to do your own dirty work.�
Kyle�s scowl contorted into a cruel smile. �Alright.� His smile broadened as a look of horror washed over the other�s face. He pulled the trigger, and a blue stun bolt engulfed the guard�s body and he went limp.
Kyle sat back in sudden weariness. Tensed muscles relaxed, and he started shaking. When he saw his blaster wavering, he quickly holstered it. Whenever he got like this, he had a tendency to become very jumpy, and a blaster was not the best thing to be holding when one was jumpy.
After several moments, Kyle had gotten himself under control. A noise from nearby startled him. He looked up quickly, fighting the urge to go for his blaster again. He was grateful he hadn�t. The woman was watching him from the corner. Kyle looked down quickly, then gathered himself and got to his knees. He searched the guards pockets until he found the key card for the Togorian�s cell. He unlocked the cell and braced himself. As expected, the Togorian saw Kyle and growled throatily.
�No Kiliar,� the woman called. �It�s okay. He busted me out.�
The Togorian looked inquisitively between the two, then shrugged his great shoulders in a human gesture and loped off to join the woman. Kyle shook his head wonderingly as the felinoid worriedly inspected the woman�s wound. No one had ever bothered to worry about him.
Shrugging the thought away, he joined the pair and they set off towards the building�s only exit. The woman�s wound slowed her down some, but adrenaline made up for that when alarms suddenly blared out. Kyle shuddered, knowing what would happen to them if they were caught.
�Come on,� he shouted over the alarms. �We have to get out of here fast!�
Kyle led the two to the entrance and keyed in his clearance code. As he expected, the door did not open. He cursed silently, then looked at the woman. Her face was pale from blood loss, but her eyes sparkled with excitement. �I can�t open the door.�
�Maybe I can do something.�
�I don�t think so, but you�re welcome to try.� Kyle moved aside and let the woman by.
She studied the panel for a moment, then turned to Kyle and held out her hand. �My dagger, if you don�t mind.�
Kyle pulled it from his belt and slapped it in her palm. She took it and turned back to the panel. She wedged the tip under the edge of the panel and used it to pry the panel from the wall. The Togorian saw what she was trying and helped her pull the rest of the panel off of the wall. The woman cut the wires from the panel and began playing with them. After only a few moments, the door slid noiselessly open. The woman gave Kyle a smug grin, then she and her partner were out of the prison and running towards the nearest speeder.
Kyle sprinted to catch up with the two, but before he had taken two steps from the building, a flash of hot pain burned up his calf. He tried to keep running, but his right leg gave out when he put weight on it. He tumbled to the ground, rolling several feet before finally coming to a stop. He laid still for a half-second to catch his breath, then rolled over onto his back. A guard was approaching from the corner of the building. His blaster was leveled at Kyle, finger on the trigger.
Kyle noticed that the guard�s blaster was wavering. Violently. Kyle propped himself up on his elbows and tried to focus his thoughts on the guard in front of him. There was something vaguely familiar about him. The guard was staring at Kyle with wide eyes. His expression was a mix of confusion and shock.
The roar of a speeder�s engine stole the two�s attention from each other. A security speeder thundered up to the two and the woman hopped from it. She held a blaster in her good hand. Kyle didn�t have the slightest clue where she could have gotten a blaster from, but he was glad she had it.
�Drop your blaster and put your hands up,� she commanded calmly. The guard�s eyebrows arrowed together as he debated whether or not to obey her. Finally he let the blaster fall from his hand. The he looked back at Kyle. Recognition struggled onto his face, then he dropped to his knees beside him.
�Don�t move.� The woman�s voice turned icy. �Now get up and disarm yourself.�
The guard again took a moment to decide. Finally, he got to his feet and pulled another blaster from his belt, along with two vibroblade. He was reaching for an ornamental sword, but the woman stopped him.
�You can keep that.� Her Togorian partner gathered the weapons and tossed them in the back of the speeder.
The woman cocked an eyebrow and looked at Kyle. �Your brother?�
Kyle looked at the other in surprise. That was what had disturbed Kyle about him. This guard looked almost exactly like Kyle�s own reflection. He looked a little older and his hair was short and spiked. It was also dark brown. After that, the differences were minimal. He even had the same stature as Kyle.
�I�I don�t know,� Kyle stuttered.
The woman glanced at the guard then back at Kyle. �You don�t know if he�s your brother?�
Kyle shook his head. �I didn�t think I had a brother.� He stared hard at the guard, who shuffled uncomfortably under his gaze.
�So should I shoot him, or what?�
Kyle heard the impatience in the woman�s voice and knew it was time for them to be going. �No.� He looked at the guard. �You can come with us if you want. If not, she�ll stun you and we�ll get out of here.�
The guard looked at his feet, then questioningly back up at Kyle. �Why are you leaving?�
�Why am I leaving?� Kyle smiled coldly. �Because I�ve seen what they do to people here. And I don�t like it. And I don�t like what I�ve become.�
�So you�re just throwing your past away and starting over?� The guard was incredulous. �It doesn�t work that way.�
�I�ll make it work. I don�t expect to change the past, but I�m going to do what I can to right it.� Kyle was surprised at his own conviction.
But the guard didn�t seem to be. He just nodded and sighed. �Then I guess I�m going with you.�
�Okay,� the woman exclaimed. �Let�s go!�
The guard nodded curtly and held out a hand to Kyle. Kyle looked at the hand, then grabbed it and let the guard help him up. With an arm over the guard�s shoulder, Kyle hobbled to the speeder and was helped in by the Togorian.
Once Kyle, the guard, and the Togorian were inside, the woman, who had been standing guard, jumped into the driver�s seat and gunned the accelerator. The woman had to dodge several security speeders that were responding to the break out. Three speeders quickly fell in on their tail.
The woman cursed as she saw them. �Where are we headed?�
�North side of the compound,� Kyle said tensely.
The woman responded with a sharp turn. She flipped the speeder up on its side to slip through a narrow opening between the prison and another building. She came out the other side without a single scratch.
Kyle leaned forward and pointed. �See that gate? There�s a landing pad beyond that. My ship is there.�
�But the gate is closed,� the guard needlessly pointed out.
The woman pointed the speeder�s nose at the gate and pushed the speeder to its top speed. �Hold on!�
Then the speeder slammed into the gate. Metal screamed in protest as the speeder tore through. Then they were past and speeding towards the few ships on the field.
�Mine�s the one on the end.�
The woman sent the speeder into a severe turn, and in moments, they set down at the base of the hunk of metal the was Kyle�s ship. The four quickly climbed from the speeder and the Togorian helped Kyle to his ship while the guard re-holstered his confiscated weaponry. Kyle keyed his password into the access panel, and the cargo bay ramp slid down. The Togorian helped Kyle to the cockpit and he quickly began the startup sequence.
Two minutes later, Kyle�s ship blasted off towards space, and the freedom it promised.
Myanna shut the cargo bay boarding ramp and ran to the cockpit, accompanied by the dark-haired guard. Myanna slid into the co-pilot�s seat and strapped in, then they were off.
As the crate took off, a muffled thud and a string of loud expletives marked the guard�s place on the corridor floor. He hadn�t reached a seat before they took off. Myanna glanced back to in time to see him climb into a seat and strap himself in.
Then her attention was called to the instrument board in front of her as it began beeping insistently. �We have five in pursuit.�
The blonde glanced over at her, his expression terse. �Five?�
Myanna glanced at the sensors again. �Yeah, five. No, wait. There are five more approaching from the north.�
The pilot nodded. �Five from the south, five from the north. Look again. There should be five more from the west in just a minute.�
Myanna watched the sensors, and sure enough, they appeared just as he had said. �There they are.�
The pilot smiled grimly. �Hold on.� He sent his ship into a sharp dive, then leveled out into a roll, dodging most of the laser bolts that were suddenly incoming. Another dive put them just over the top foliage of the forest they were now over. Myanna watched the trees flash past dizzyingly for nearly a minute, then they were past the forest and entering a mountainous zone.
The pilot sent his ship even lower, skimming just over the low brush that occupied the mountains� craggy faces. As a sharp face rose in front of them, the pilot sent his ship into a tight turn and skimmed along the length of the mountain. He followed its curve until he reached the opposite side, then pulled up abruptly and shot straight up. And straight into the midst of the enemies that had been approaching from the west.
Myanna flinched involuntarily as they shot through the middle of screen of enemies. The ship took several hits as surprised gunners snapped off shots at them, but none of the hits were serious. Then they were through and shooting for open sky.
�There�s five on our tail.� Myanna tensely watched the sensors. �Six.�
The pilot nodded. �From here on out all we have to do is stay ahead of them and out of their sights.�
�Oh,� Myanna said sarcastically. �Is that all?�
The blonde grinned. �Don�t worry, I�m a great pilot.�
Myanna gave him a sparing glance. �I�m sure. Just get us out of here.�
�You�ve got it.�
The blonde pilot sent his ship into a roll as shots started pouring in. He pulled out of the roll and dove for a half-second, then swapped end for end in the space of a second. The intense maneuver pushed the two escapees and the two deserters into their seats and sent blood rushing to their heads, and it threw their pursuit off for several precious seconds.
The blonde sent his ship hurtling toward the stars. And after several long minutes of laser bolt dodging, they were free of the atmosphere. Several minutes after that, hyperspace opened her doors and the ship was suddenly protected from peril.
Hours later, the ship emerged from hyperspace in the middle of nowhere. After a series of smaller jumps to throw of pursuit, they had made one final long jump and were now thousands of parsecs from any planetary system.
Adrenaline had finally released its grip on the four inhabitants of the ship. Myanna sat slumped in the co-pilot�s seat, wishing more than anything that she was in her own ship, in her Specter.
Kiliar had gone back to the hold to get some sleep. The bench in the hold was the only piece of furniture on the ship large enough to accommodate him.
The dark-headed guard was sleeping in on of the two rooms.
The pilot sat silently in his seat, keeping a watchful eye on the instruments. After the first jump into hyperspace, he and Myanna had tended to their wounds. There was a small stash of bacta patches on board the ship for just such an emergency. The pilot had used a mild anesthetic on his leg to dull the pain of his blaster bolt wound. Myanna had refused the anesthetic. She preferred to tough injuries out.
The pilot hadn�t said a word since they arrived at their current location. Myanna got the impression that he had been a loner most of his life, and that he was uncomfortable around others.
Finally, Myanna decided to break the silence. �Who are you?�
The sound of her voice startled the pilot. Then he remembered he was not alone and turned to her. �Someone who�s not quite sure what to do now.�
Myanna gave him a sympathetic smile. �I�m Myanna Retan.�
The pilot stood and bowed formally. He held out his hand. �Kyle Olan.�
Myanna shook his hand. �Glad to know you.�
�I bet you are.� He looked at her hard. �If not for me, you wouldn�t be out of prison. I figure you owe me. Big.�
Myanna sat back and looked Kyle over. She could tell he was serious. �What do you have in mind?�
Kyle shook his head. �I�m still working that out. I know what I want, but I don�t know if that�s what�s best for me.�
Myanna regarded him steadily. �Well, when you decide, tell me and I�ll see what I can do.�
Kyle nodded and sat back down in his pilot�s seat. He lapsed into a long, brooding silence. After a while, he looked over at Myanna. He studied her long and hard, and Myanna chaffed under his thorough gaze.
�I�ve never seen anyone quite like you,� Kyle finally said. �In fact, I don�t think I�ve ever seen anyone even remotely like you.�
Myanna smiled. �Well, I can probably explain why.� She pulled her legs up into her chair and settled in.
�My great-grandfather was an Alderaanian. He was white-haired, like they tend to be sometimes. The white hair skipped a few generations, but showed back up in me. I get my yellow eyes from my mother. She was from a world called Dathomir. Several of the families there have yellow eyes, and my mother came from one of them.� Myanna paused when she noticed the odd look on Kyle�s face.
�What�s the matter?� she asked.
Kyle looked at her for a moment, then shook his head. �Your mother came from Dathomir?�
Myanna nodded guardedly. �Yeah, so what?�
Kyle shrugged. �Nothing. It�s just�nothing.�
�Yeah, yeah, I know. The Dathomiri are all a bunch of Force-witches.� She rolled her eyes. �Well I�m not, so don�t expect anything funny from me.�
Kyle held up his hands defensively. �Don�t get mad. I was just wondering.�
Myanna shook her head. �I know. I�m sorry. I just get that a lot.�
�I bet.� Kyle turned back to his console.
Myanna did likewise, but not to study it. Instead, she kicked her boots off and plopped her feet up on it, being careful to avoid any controls. Kyle gave her a reproving glance, but said nothing. Myanna ignored the meaning of his look and leaned back in the co-pilot�s seat. She crossed her arms behind her head and closed her eyes.
Myanna woke as she was roughly thrown from her seat. She landed on her stomach and her face slammed into the seat brace. Besides the iron scent of blood trickling down into her nose and mouth, she smelled a sharp, bitter odor. The diffuse smoke that filled the cockpit was the source of the smell. It was issuing from underneath one of the control consoles. Myanna climbed to her feet, and was thrown again to the floor. This time she went down hard. Her injured shoulder slammed into the floor with enough force to make her cry out.
�Myanna?�
Myanna recognized Kyle�s voice, but her voice caught in her throat when she tried to respond. The fit of coughing that ensued led Kyle to her as easily as a reply would have. He gave her a hand up and then turned to the sensor panels.
�We have a modified Corellian Corvette sitting on our tails. She�s got a tractor on us.� Kyle�s voice was as serious as Myanna had heard it. �And she shot out our engines when she came out of hyperspace so there�s no trying to escape.�
Myanna�s hand dropped to her thigh and she cursed. �They took my blasters.�
Kyle�s grin cracked his serious expression. �You don�t have to worry about that. I�ve got quite a stash of confiscated weaponry.�
Myanna raised an eyebrow. �How about any more bandages? You got any of those?� The bandage Myanna had wrapped around her shoulder was again soaked with blood. The drop to the floor had reopened her wound.
Kyle nodded. �Yeah, this way.�
Myanna followed quickly, her shoulder was killing her. But before they reached the med room, a shudder worked its way through the old ship�s hull. Myanna stopped in the hall and braced herself as another shudder ran through the ship.
�I don�t think we have time to worry about my shoulder now. Now where are those weapons you were telling me about?�
Kyle led Myanna to the small ship�s hold and went to the far wall. He ran his fingers along the top seam of the wall. They paused for a half second over one spot, then continued on. As soon as his hand left the wall, a panel slid down. A previously concealed panel held several unmarked crates. Kyle pulled one out and opened it.
�Wow,� Myanna breathed. �How did you get these?� She hefted a blaster rifle as Kyle smiled proudly. The crate was filled with numerous weapons, most being some model of blaster. The rifle she held was a brand new fresh-off-the-line BlasTech 66 blaster rifle. Myanna had smuggled a cargo of them and had made a fortune doing it. All of that had gone to soup up her ship though.
�These things are expensive, and you get them for free!� Myanna shook her head ruefully. �Maybe I should join some planet�s security force for a while and get some!�
Kyle�s laugh was cut off as a thump echoed through the ship. His expression turned solemn. �That was a docking ring.�
Myanna nodded and pulled two blaster pistols and their holsters out of the crate. She buckled them on and looked at Kyle. �Do you have any vibroblades or daggers?�
�I thought you�d never ask.� He pulled out another of the scan resistant boxes and opened it. �Pick one. Or two. Or three.�
Myanna�s jaw dropped. She snapped it shut and dug through the weapons. There had to be fifty in the crate. She finally settled on a small ornamental dagger that still looked quite lethal despite the delicate tracings down the blade and handle. She tucked it into her boot and pulled a two vibroblades out of the crate. One had an arm sheath, which she quickly secured to her upper arm. The other sheath she buckled to one of the blaster holster belts.
�I�m all set.� Myanna took one last look at the crate and shook her head. �I think if we get out of this I�m going to try to buy all these weapons off of you.�
Kyle grinned. �Don�t you mean �When we get out of this�?�
�Yeah, that�s it.�
Just then the other guard skidded around the corner and stopped in front of the two. �It�s time to fight, people. They�ve just burned through the hull.�
Myanna and Kyle jumped to their feet and followed the dark headed man down the corridor and towards one of the two rooms on the ship. They were joined quickly by Kiliar. When they arrived, Myanna could see a slightly reddened outline where the cutting laser had burned through the hull. Kyle locked the door open, and they took up positions outside the doorway.
She cast a quick glance at the guard. �By the way, I never found out your name.�
The man smiled tightly. �Reis. Reis Olan.�
Myanna held out her hand. �Myanna Retan.�
Reis shook her hand quickly, then both drew their weapons and aimed them at the chunk of durasteel. It fell into the room with a loud thump, leaving two men silhouetted in the hole.
As they stepped through the opening with blasters drawn, Kyle called out, �Stop and drop your weapons. If you don�t, we�ll be forced to shoot!�
One of the two dropped his weapon, but the other did not. �I wouldn�t do that if I were you. You might accidentally hit Zek here.�
Myanna started. She quickly looked around the corner of the door frame, then pulled her head back. A smile quickly blossomed on her face and she gave Kyle a reassuring nod.
�Cover me,� she said softly to her companions. �Just in case.�
Then she stepped out into the doorway and pointed her blaster at the man who was with Zek. �Drop your blaster and I won�t shoot you.�
The man smiled and holstered his blaster. Zek laughed. �That�s as good as you�ll get from him.�
Myanna�s eyes narrowed. �It�s not good enough. Drop the blaster now.�
�Myanna,� Zek said softly. �Don�t make this difficult like you have the tendency to do sometimes. Let him keep his blaster. We need to talk.�
Myanna�s eyes narrowed. �Pick up your blaster, Zek.�
He did as she said, then moved towards her.
Myanna�s aim shifted to her partner, and he stopped in surprise. �Don�t take another step, Zek.�
�What are you doing?� Zek�s eyes were wide. Fear edged into his voice. �I�m your partner.�
�Were my partner. For all I know, you were in with Tanur on this whole mess and are here to pick me up to take me in.� Myanna�s aim wavered slightly as despair crept onto Zek�s face.
He looked back at the man. �I told you she would be like this.�
The man nodded and spoke for the first time. �I can understand. She has several warrants out for her arrest and she has a bounty on her head. She has to be like this to survive.�
Myanna�s eyes narrowed. �And how do you know so much about me?�
He laughed. �I have my sources.�
Myanna rolled her eyes and holstered her blaster. �I know who you are now, Talon Karrde.�
Karrde clapped his hands together once, then took a step forward. �Alright then, let us get down to business.�
Myanna nodded. �The first order of which is telling us why you cut a hole in the ship instead of contacting us by comm.�
Karrde brows arrowed together in regret. �I�m afraid that question will have to go to your friend.� He gesture to Reis.
Reis stepped out from behind the door frame. His blaster was still drawn. He tightened up on the trigger, but his shot went wild when Kyle tackled him from behind. The bolt that had been meant to kill Karrde burned through his thigh instead. He had to drop to one knee to avoid collapsing.
Myanna kicked the blaster from Reis�s hand and flipped her blaster setting to stun. She dispassionately fired a blast into his back, then reholstered her weapon. She gave a hand to Kyle and helped him up, then turned to Karrde.
�Now that he�s out, you had better answer the question.�
Karrde�s eyes narrowed angrily. He did a very good job of hiding his pain, but he couldn�t stop his face from paling. He even kept all discomfiture from his voice. �Very well. Reis Olan has a bounty on his head. It was placed there by myself. I knew he would be happy to put you two out of commission and hijack your ship to get away from me, so I took precautions to preserve yours and Kiliar�s and Kyle Olan�s lives. Please tell me if I�ve made a mistake and I will gladly remedy it.�
Myanna glanced down at Reis. �Zek, is he telling the truth?�
All emotion drained form Zek�s face. �Yes, he is. But why should you trust what I say? For all you know I�m a traitor and am here to turn you in.�
Myanna closed her eyes and pressed her hand to her temple. �Look, Zek, I�m sorry. I know you wouldn�t turn me in.�
He just turned away from her.
�Zek, I�m sorry, really.�
Myanna�s head jerked up when she heard him snickering softly. �Why you little scumbag!� She shook her head. �I can�t believe you.�
�I really had you going didn�t I?� Zek smiled loftily. �Of course I know you know I wouldn�t turn you in. We�re partners, after all!�
Myanna grinned happily and held out a hand. �I�m glad to see you safe and sound, Zek.�
He took her hand and pulled her into a hug. �And I�m glad you got yourself out of another mess in one piece.�
Kyle touched Myanna�s shoulder and said quietly, �I�m sorry to break up the reunion, but I think Karrde needs help.�
Zek released Myanna and she glanced at dark haired smuggled/information broker. The pain he had to be in was finally showing. A sweat had broken out on his forehead and his eyes had drifted shut.
�Karrde,� Myanna said loudly. �Come on, get up. Explanations can wait �till later. Right now your leg needs to be taken care of.�
Karrde�s eyes snapped open and she studied Myanna for a moment. His voice emerged still strong from his throat. He waved at her shoulder and said, �I can see I�m not the only one who needs cleaned up.�
Myanna glanced down at her wrapped shoulder. It still hurt quite a bit, but she had not had time to think about it in the past minutes. �I guess you�re right, Karrde. You have medical facilities on your ship, I presume.�
Karrde smiled. �Of course. I never leave home without my bacta tank and med droids.�
Zek laughed. �Well call up D�ukal and tell her we�re coming.�
Karrde pulled a comlink from his pocket and put in a call to his ship. After a moment, he put his comm away and looked up. �I�m afraid you all will be asked to surrender your weapons, but you will get them back before you disembark.�
Myanna nodded. �I know. Let�s get going.�
Zek held out a hand to help Karrde to his feet, but he ignored it. Instead, Karrde gritted his teeth and stood up slowly without any help. He smiled tightly and spared a glance at the downed Reis.
�I would help bring him over, but under the circumstances I think Kiliar and Zek had better take him.�
Myanna wasn�t sure whether Karrde was referring to his injured leg as the reason for Kiliar and Zek carrying Reis, or to the fact that Karrde had a bounty posted on Reis�s head and might be tempted to take it out of Reis�s hide. Myanna suspected it was probably a little of both.
Kiliar and Zek each grabbed one of Reis�s arms and hefted him through the hold and out across the access tube to Karrde�s ship. They were followed closely by Karrde, with Myanna bring up the rear. He stumbled once, but refused help.
A tall, slender woman greeted them inside the hold. Her eyes narrowed slightly when Karrde and Myanna entered the hold. Kyle preceded Kiliar and Zek, who roughly dumped Reis onto the deck. Myanna winced as his head slammed into the durasteel floor.
Karrde stepped forward and spoke softly with the woman. Then he turned to Myanna and Kyle. �Retan, Olan, Kiliar, this is Shada D�ukal. Shada, this is Myanna Retan, Kiliar, and Kyle Olan.�
Shada nodded at Myanna. �Yes, the smuggler.�
Myanna smiled blithely. �That would be me. And you are the dreaded Mistryl shadow guard.�
Shada�s eyes clouded over for a moment, then cleared. �Please hand over your weapons and we will be able to do something about your shoulder and Karrde�s leg.� Concern for her boss colored her words.
Myanna unbuckled her two blaster belts and her vibroblade sheath from her arm and handed them over. Kyle and Kiliar did the same. When he saw the weapons Myanna had handed over, he gave her a knowing glance. Myanna knew Karrde would not have brought them on his ship if he did not have a reason to want them alive, but she did not trust him. The dagger she kept in her boot was only there as a last resort if things went sour.
Kyle tossed a look over his shoulder at the unconscious Reis. �What are you gonna� do about him?�
Karrde�s eyes narrowed angrily. �It all depends on how much he is worth to the operation.�
Myanna raised an eyebrow. �What operation?�
Karrde schooled his features into impassiveness. �I believe we had better discuss that after we have our injuries tended to. Perhaps you�ll sell me some information you recently obtained on security at a certain facility you visited a short time ago.�
Myanna grinned. �At the right price, I might be persuaded to part with some information.�
Kyle grinned and stepped between the two smugglers. �I think before any more discussion of profit takes place, you two need to get taken care of.� He cocked his head and a grin snaked onto his face. �And I am starving! Is there somewhere I can get some food around here?� Kiliar growled an agreement.
Karrde nodded. �Shada, show this young man and his friend to their quarters and have the chef bring them something to eat. Call Ristav and have him meet me at the med bay.� He turned to Myanna. �Now, let�s not put off the necessary any longer.�
Myanna nodded and followed him out of the hold. Zek followed close on her heels, and he looked like he was about to bust with curiosity. Myanna decided to repay him for his charade on Kyle�s ship, so she just ignored his meaningful looks. Finally, he tapped her on the shoulder and frowned.
�Myanna, how�d you get away from Milshyr security?�
Myanna just shrugged. The motion of her shoulder made her wince. Zek noticed and said, �Forget it. You can tell me all about it when you�re better.�
Myanna smiled and gave him a gentle punch in the arm. �And then you can tell me all about how you ended up with Karrde, here.�
Zek grinned and threw an arm around Myanna�s shoulder, being careful to avoid her injury. �It�s a deal, partner.�
Chapter 2