Gambit Inc. Part IV

….Kr-Ant and Orrell returned to the bar about fifteen minutes early, the two off-worlders ordered some food and non-alcoholic drinks, and retired to a booth on the far side of the bar, with a vantage point of the door and most of the room. Orrell literally sagged in his chair, happy to be off his aching legs and feet.

…They conversed in hushed tones. Not that such behavior was out of place here in The Shaft, but strangers were. Not many came to SomaIII for any other reason than mining, racing, or smuggling. Ragün ran a tight ship and, though there were stares and sideways glances in abundance, no one made any trouble or challenged them. Not yet, but perhaps later. Paydays were always fight days since that was when the miners and local ‘croppers were able to get drunk enough to forget about Ragün’s Rules.

Kr-Ant and Orrell were barely half-way through their spicy meal when they were suddenly joined by two strangers, who brought their own chairs with them. “I understand you’re in need of a hyperdrive. And with some unusual specs, too. Where’d you get your last one? Is it still in one piece?” A moment’s pause and then, “Oh, right, sorry. I’m Orlan, and this is Dale.”

Not sensing anything malevolent through the Force, Kr-Ant extended his right hand to the two new arrivals, “I’m Kr-Ant, and this is Orrell. Any technical stuff can be directed to him, I’m just the pilot,” he said grinning slightly.

This got a snicker and a knowing wink from Dale. After several minutes of polite conversation, each side feeling the other out, it became quite evident to all four that they were definitely going to get along. Kr-Ant and Dale discussed some of the finer points of asteroid field navigation while Orrell and Orlan ascended into computational wave functions and interstitial hyperspace geometry.

After a while, Orlan commented cheerily, “I’m pretty sure that we can help ya out, Orrell. Though, it may take a couple weeks, if you want a suitable replacement, and not just some retro-fitted off-the-shelf piece of junk.”

The engineer glanced over at his Jedi partner, who shrugged, “It’s your ship, and your call. I have the time.”

Orrell smiled, “Actually, she’s your ship, or will be once everything is fully operational, again.”

Kr-Ant’s jaw dropped slightly, “Uhhhhh…….are you sure? She’s a pretty amazing fighter, to say nothing of the fact that she’s a one-of-a-kind prototype!”

That last bit clearly grabbed the attention of Orlan. Trying hard, but unsuccessfully to hide his excitement, he blurted out, “A prototype? You never said you flew here in a prototype, and a fighter on top of that, Orrell! Can I see her?” The other three around the table chuckled at the engineer’s enthusiasm.

The noise died down a bit as Ragün approached the stage. Holding the microphone in one of his meaty hands and smiling, he announced proudly. “The Shaft is once again proud to welcome our very own local sensation The Town Criers!”

As the bar erupted into a cacophony of applause and cheers the group moved from their table in the corner to the small stage. They were a popular local fusion band consisting of a Toydarian, Human, Rodian, and a droid that had been specially modified with holo-projectors and synth nodes. Along with their lead singer, an Ithorian, they made for a highly unusual, but talented, quintet. They had even been asked to Nal-Hutta to give selected performances. If they had had the good fortune to live anywhere near the Core they would undoubtedly have been given a lucrative recording deal, but this was SomaIII and such things were far away.

Amidst the sudden burst of light and sound that heralded The Criers’ opening number Tenric slipped in the open doorway and stepped into the shadows off to one side. All eyes were on the group as they went through their, signature, musical introduction. All eyes except those of the taller of the two people sharing a table with his friends. Just as the shadows claimed Tenric the taller one’s head snapped toward the door and his eyes narrowed. His companion, somewhat shorter and thicker, noticed the movement and tipped his head slightly in a questioning gesture.