Date: Tue, 15 Nov 1994 15:24:58 -0800 (PST) From: "C.T." Well, no feedback on my story yet, but here's chapter 2...it's as far as I've gotten as of right now. I'd appreciate your comments and critcisms. C.T. (clifg@u.washington.edu) --------------------------------------------------------------------- "What!?!?" exclaimed Both as he sat bolt upright in his "Captain's Chair" and looked out to his left to see two large ships moving in to flank him on either side. "Punch those Vega coordinates into the nav computer, Ricctus--I think we're going to need them pretty quick here." The comm interrupted, "Repeat, Crash and Burn, this is the Ratok Bor. You are hereby ordered to halt immediately and prepare to be boarded. Any attempt to flee will result in your swift destruction." "Under whose authority am I ordered to stop?" Both asked. "L'ud Ch'ud," was the solemn response. Agdar had been sitting directly behind Both, and Ricctus noticed him flinch upon hearing the response from the comm. Ricctus turned with a loud growl and grabbed Agdar at the lapels, lifting him slightly against his restraining belt. "What do you know?" demanded Both, without turning his head from the looming harbingers of doom lurking outside. The Calamari gulped and then morioned for Ricctus to release his grip. The Wookiee assented, and Agdar spoke, "L'ud Ch'ud is a local crime boss..." "Oh, just great..." interrupted Both. "Actually, he's not really a crime boss, but more of an `information handler.' I believe that he was the one who sent the little band of well-wishers whom you so expertly disposed of back at the spaceport." "I see...well, as much as I'd like to know exactly what I've gotten myself into here, we've got more pressing problems now. Borus! Chod! Man the turrets! Ricctus, get those shields up and the coordinates plugged in!" With that, Both reached over to the flight controls and increased power to the engines, speeding the Crash and Burn out from between the two ships, which Ricctus now recognized as scout ships, muttering "Nothing much to worry about..." No sooner had those words passed from the Wookiee's lips than the ship was suddenly rocked by blaster fire. "I think you may have misjudged our friends there, furry..." Both said. Both angled the ship up and away from the scout ships, twisting so that each turret had a clear shot. The scout ships were a good three times the size of the Crash & Burn, and Both knew the shots were only to keep them on their toes, and that a real all-out fight here wouldn't last more than thirty seconds. Borus took a few pot shots at one of the ships, shots that just harmlessly dissipated against the shields. Chod, of course, had little better luck. Ricctus had just started to growl something and pound on a computer panel angrily when the ship was rocked by another barrage of laser fire. Both momentarily lost control, then aimed the Crash and Burn away from the attackers, giving the engines all that he could. The scout ship were following closely, but Both was losing them little by little--not enough to be out of range in time to avoid the next barrage of laser fire, but enough to maybe buy some precious time. Agdar glanced at the status screen and hollered out, "Our shields are almost gone! Their firepower is too great--we cannot survive another hit like that last one." "Tell me somethin' I didn't know already, fish-face," Both yelled back. "Ricctus, are those coordinates in yet!?" The Wookiee beside him barked an unsure reply. "Well, I don't care--we need to get out of here! Now!" Both watched as he caught a glimpse of laser fire from the scout ships. He knew that a mislaid hyperspace course could send them straight into an asteroid, a planet, or even a star. He also knew that another hit from the laser cannons on those scout ships and they were all going to be a floating hulk in space. Both reached up and hit the hyperspace lever just as the bright green light of the scout ships' laser beams lit up the cockpit. No one could see a thing through the bright glare surrounding them for a second that seemed like a milennium, then... They were in hyperspace. Once they got the Crash and Burn into hyperspace, Both decided that now might be a good time to find out exactly what he had gotten himself (and his ship, for that matter) into. Unstrapping himself from the pilot's seat, he grabbed Agdar and pulled him back out of the cockpit. "All right, fish-face...I want--no, I demand to know exactly what's going on here. What is this `information' that everyone else in the galaxy seems so bent on getting ahold of? Why are we going to Vega of all places? Who in the Hell are you two, anyway?" Both's face flushed red in anger, frustration, and a little embarassment at his outburst. Agdar's face remained as stolid and stoic as ever, a trait held in common among most Mon Calamari. "I suppose that you do have a right to know the answers to the questions you have asked, but I have no way of being sure that what I say will be kept in the strict confidence I deem necessary. What you ask me to tell you is information that could endanger not only your life and mine, but the lives of hundreds more. I know of no way that I can assure your silence?" The sides of Both's mouth curled upwards slightly, allowing the smallest glimpse of his pearly whites. "Sure you do..." he intoned in a manner that Agdar took correctly as a display of pure, unadulterated greed. "Oh, yes. That's right, you are a...freelance pilot, are you not? Well, let me hear it, then--how much for your solemn oath of silence?" He paused for a moment, then an idea popped into his head and he cut Both off before he could come up with a suitably large amount of money--he did have a debt to repay, after all. "Wait. I would like your Wookiee friend to be here before we make any sort of deal. I have worked with many Wookiees before, and I know much about them, especially concerning their belief in honor above all. If he is here, I know that I can be assured of your keeping to your part of the bargain, and you can be assured of him making sure I keep mine." Both grumbled something about "honor among thieves," then hollered for Ricctus, who had no doubt relegated himself to the rear of the ship, making the constant repairs and adjustments that kept the Crash and Burn from falling apart like the junk heap it appeared to be. Ricctus wandered out of the back of the ship, grumbling about something or other, and it occurred to Both that anything coming out of the Wookiee's mouth seemed nothing more than a grumble or a growl to most people, but Both knew better. He knew what happened when someone mistook a Wookiee for nothing more than a walking pile of fur and fluff, all bark and no bite...granted, a seven foot walking pile of fur, but a pile of fur nonetheless Most of them got off lucky and only lost an arm or two...the others, well, they're no longer of any concern to anyone, anywhere--unless you believe in an afterlife. Yes, Both had learned a lot about Wookiees, and life in general, in the short amount of time he and Ricctus had been together. With Ricctus present, Agdar felt obliged to continue, "Well, now that your friend's here, what is your price?" "Hmmm...well, you want total silence, is that right?" Agdar responded in a slightly perturbed tone, "Of course..." "Well, my total silence doesn't come cheap...so I figure I can sell it for...oh, 3000 credits, deposited to an account on Dantooine." "Yet again your bargaining talent shines through...I'm sorry, but for any more than 500 credits, you can stay in the dark." "Okay, okay, okay...Make it 1500 and not only will I maintain complete silence about your mission, but I'll forget I ever saw the three of you...permanently." "Hmmm...I believe you are gaining more skill. I suppose we can come up with 1500 credits." "Then it's agreed--1500?" "Yes, agreed. I believe a handshake should seal this bargain, correct?" Ricctus answered with a slight growl of annoyance, while Both and Agdar shook hands. After this was through, the Wookiee wandered back into the dark recesses of the ship. "So, now that we have a deal, what's the story?" "Yes, yes, yes, I do suppose I shall have to tell you everything now. Well, I suppose I should start at the beginning. Chod and I are part of the Rebellion." Both gulped, "The Rebellion!? The Rebellion!? The Rebellion!?" "Yes, Mr. Toka, the Rebel Alliance. We are currently delivering a certain holodisk containing certain Imperial documents to the Rebel base in the Vega sector. Sadly, we already know that these are encoded, making them all but useless to us at this point in time. But that is of no concern to you. There, I have told you what you wanted to know, and I can only hope that I haven't doomed us all," Agdar finished with no lack of uncertainty. "Well, well, well," Both thought out loud, "I always figured I'd run into trouble somewhere along the line...but the Rebellion? Sure, I'd heard of them...mostly from pilots who were on the run from the Empire for helping them out..." Both let his voice trail off at this, muttering slightly under his breath as he turned back toward the cockpit, obviously preparing for a serious sulk-session.