| Logs |
2004 April 03
| These Shattered Stars |
| Realms |
Retired
| Reality Fault |
General Info
 |
| Realms: These Shattered Stars Logs |
Chapter Nine, Part Nine
In the deep forest of Garqi, on what appears to be the main road out of the southern town of Thorsu, the four travelers continue their quest for the missing ex-Senator Kalatis. At the moment they're following a lead, which suggests a "Digger Dale" might know of an emplacement which would be otherwise invisible. That lead has led them to be in a hovertruck, way out along a road which has been hacked out of the forest and which is surrounded by huge trees, waist-to-shoulder high brush, and many dangerous animals. The truck is being driven by one of Dale's employees, a Kel Dor. He's now staring nervously at a scanner on which several dots have appeared, and which seem to be headed towards the road.
Freyja tilts her head thoughtfully, regarding the scanner, then looks forward towards where the dots appear to be coming from. She's 'feeling' for the creatures, to see if she can perhaps communicate with them and convince them the truck should be left alone. The Kel Dor mutters quietly, then says, "Shh. Maybe they'll leave us alone. If not... we'll have to run or fight them." He lands the truck, and it settles quietly to the ground. He watches the scanners carefully.
Freyja smiles faintly, her eyes distant as she lets her senses drift towards the creatures. They don't really want to come search the road... there's nothing of interest there anyway...
Something sounded more appetizing, or Freyja's subtle suggestion worked, or maybe whatever it was just got distracted by something else. Regardless of why, the blips move back away from the road again. A couple of quiet minutes of the scanner being clear, and the Kel Dor says, "Whew." He starts the hover-engines again, pushing the truck onwards down the roadway. Freyja leans back in the seat silently, still smiling faintly. Perhaps they'll find this mysterious person with little to neh problems.
The trip is reasonably uneventful from that point, the very quiet truck skimming along with a whistling of air and little else. It is about another half an hour along the gently twisting road at a reasonable pace before the Kel Dor slows. Outside, a stony ridge rises into the air, a jagged rent caused by some long-ago tremor. The top of this ridge is filled with lush forest. The bottom, being somewhat shaded, is less densely grown, and it is this edge the road follows.
The Kel Dor brings the truck to a halt on the road, and presses a button on the console. Comm lights come on and flick over to green. He says, "Hey, Boss? There's some folks here who needed to see you, and we thought you should see them." Freyja sits forward, listening intently and letting her senses lightly drift across the shaded gully. Is there anyone alive down there?
Long moments pass with no reply. The Kel Dor presses the signal button again as he says, "Sometimes he doesn't answer comms right away." He calls again, "C'mon, Boss, open up. We're here. I'm right outside and calling from the truck."
Freyja frowns thoughtfully. She's not getting any life sparks at all in the area. Fhazil asks quietly, "Do you know if Dale had planned to go off to do any work recently? Perhaps he's not home right now."
The Kel Dor shakes his head slowly, "No, that's not like the Boss. Now I'm starting to worry."
Freyja quietly passes this information to the others. Since the Force permeates everything, he'd have to be either burrowed into a disguising crowd, or not there at all, to be invisible currently. That, or incredibly deep... really deeply burrowed in. She quietly murmurs, "How deeply is he dug in?"
The Kel Dor says, "I don't know. Deeply enough that neither the burrowing creatures nor the winter storms bother him. The lift takes a while, but it might just be slow." He turns to address Freyja, "You're sure he's in danger?"
Freyja frowns again as she regards the bottom of the ridge, now worried at the Kel Dor's words. Her voice is quietly abstracted as she murmurs, "That... shouldn't be too deep..." She sighs at the question and nods, looking at the Kel Dor, "Hai, now I am. If you feel he should be there, and he's not answering... then we should find him."
The Kel Dor pauses for a long time, his mask hiding much of what he might be feeling. He finally says, "Okay. The Boss gave us an access code to get in without him because some of the really sensitive items are stored here, not at the spaceport's facility. If he's really in danger I don't think it will be a problem to go in." He looks at the four travelers and adds, "If you're making this up... no one will be very happy with you."
Freyja turns to look at the Kel Dor and says quietly, "We are not making this up. Believe me, I wish it wasn't true."
Fhazil says, "You're doing the right thing. If everything is fine, you can blame us. If Dale needs help... you may be the one who made it possible to find him." Freyja nods quietly, turning again to regard the little ridge before them. She's worried about what they're going to find.
The Kel Dor enters a long, complex access code on the comm panel. With a flicker and hum, a holoprojector in the ridge wall stops, revealing a large set of steel doors. The doors slide open slowly with a long hiss of hydraulics, revealing a big, square lift. The Kel Dor drives the truck into the lift and settles it to the ground. He gets out and works a comm panel on the wall, closing the outside doors. In the dim lights from the truck, he calls down again, "Hey, Boss, you there?" Getting no reply, he works a control and the lift begins to slowly descend.
Freyja steps out of the truck next to the Kel Dor, feeling vaguely paranoid. If something's really wrong, she wants to be sure the poor alien isn't the first to take a hit.
The lift takes several minutes to descend, and can barely be felt moving. It must be slow. At the bottom, the wall opposite where the truck entered slides open, revealing a large and reasonably well-lit cavern. The cavern is all artificially dug, and has smooth, featureless walls. It's round and about fifteen meters across, with the walls being about four meters high. The walls and floor are smooth and dry. Opposite the lift is another set of steel doors.
Freyja looks around, murmuring, "Through there next?"
The Kel Dor says, "Yes. C'mon," and gets in the truck again. He pulls it out of the lift and across to the other doors, parking neatly by them. Turning it around will be no problem. He finally powers it all the way down, gets out, and stands in front of the second set of doors. After trying the comm one last time, he keys in another code and those doors slide open. Automatic lights inside come on, revealing a quiet, apparently unmolested entryway.
Freyja peeks in cautiously, wondering if there will be any signs of conflict, or if Kalatis had the digger quietly off'ed elsewhere.
The entry way has another large set of steel doors off to one side. A hallway leads away from them, curving off into darkness. There is a wall immediately opposite the big entry door, with some abstract art hanging on it. It's done in earth tones, calming and simple. A narrow table stands against the wall below the art, and has some large, dark metal bowls on it, each about eighteen inches across and sixteen inches deep. They appear to be filled with rocks, about four inches across, each an interesting shape or color. A bit down the wall and towards the tunnel is a closed door.
Freyja looks curiously at the Kel Dor, "What next? You know this place, not us, and we don't want to be rude. We just want to check and see if Digger's here, or if there are signs of struggle."
The Kel Dor nods, "The door leads to his personal quarters. The big doors lead to the storage I mentioned. The tunnel leads to the hangar for the Excavator. I'd rather not pry in to the Boss' house if we don't have to." He moves to open the big storage doors. Vakkal nods and sniffs quietly, trying not to be too obvious. Freyja checks to be sure her blaster is set on stun, then goes to help with the doors.
It only takes a few minutes for the Kel Dor to check out the storage space; it's mostly empty. He says, "This is just as I expected. We don't have much in here; it's mostly very long-term items, or very sensitive items." Fhazil's concerned question of, "What does that leave us with?" gets a reply of, "Well, let's see if the Excavator is here."
Down the long, dark tunnel, which lights itself as people walk that way, is an oddly shaped cavern. There is a large, battered piece of equipment parked in it. It actually appears to be parked about halfway out of one of the walls. It has many digging blades, some long treads and belts, and a cabin -- which is almost completely surrounded by the mechanism. The Kel Dor says unnecessarily, "The Excavator," then adds, "I've never seen it not parked properly before, though."
Freyja walks around it curiously, then glances at the Kel Dor, "So he just dug his way to wherever he needed to go? This would seem to indicate he should still be here, then, hai?"
The Kel Dor says, "Well, he can dig his way there, or he can drag them there in a huge truck, which is expensive and difficult. He's said he prefers to just put them on autopilot and go there." Then he asks, "Should we look in the cab?"
Freyja nods, then bounces lightly up the side of the vehicle to do so. When she puts her hands on the vehicle, she can feel it is still active. It sits at idle, barely operating, yet still vibrates with some impressive feeling of power and capability. This is not a machine to be trifled with. She calls down curiously, "I think it's still on. Moment, I'll try opening the cab door." She opens cautiously, using the door as an impromptu shield between her and whatever is in the cabin. It's a trick she learned on Balmorra, when searching for interesting bugs and snakes under forest debris.
The cab door opens easily. Inside is a very small space which reminds the travelers more of spaceships than earthmoving equipment. This is a snug little place where one large person, or two normal sized ones, could live for as long as they needed to. Rather than being surrounded by interstellar vacuum, this machine would be surrounded by solid ground. Nothing seems out of the ordinary.
Zero frowns a little. "I wonder... none of Kalatis' employees when I was nearby were bombers... but that's not to say the new guard doesn't dabble." Freyja nods warily to Zero from where she peeks around the little door... then stares carefully inside to see if she can see anything noticeably strange or out of place. Vakkal has followed closely, sniffing around, "Nobody here."
Freyja murmurs puzzledly, "Why leave it on, though... unless... maybe there's a return location programmed in...?"
Fhazil asks the Kel Dor, "So, which way does this thing usually go? Is it coming or going?" The Kel Dor says, "It can move either direction. From where it sits, I'd say it has arrived." Fhazil says, "From where?" The Kel Dor says, "I don't know." Fhazil says, "Hey, Zero, can you check the console and see how it's programmed?"
Freyja bites her lip at a sudden flash of amusement, and the others hear her droll mental murmur, I'm worried about Digger... the Excavator returned home without him! Then she coughs, trying to be more serious. Zero replies to Fhazil, "Sure... let me have a look around, first. I really don't like this."
Freyja says thoughtfully, "Guys... there are neh personal effects here that I can see." She looks around a bit more, not getting in Zero's way, then adds puzzledly, "Neh food or water either, but the sewage tanks are somewhat full. Whomever used it last would seem to be on their metaphoric last legs...?"
Zero sits up in the front seat. "Well... the last system plot was 'retrace path to base.' The device records this, but it is pure navigational data. There's nothing really recognizable without a map or a nav-comp. I could use the Eclipse's computer to plot the location, I think."
Freyja nods to Zero, "Good. Need a datapad, or you have one already?"
Zero says, "I've got it. I think I can convince them to speak." Freyja nods and stays out of Zero's way as he does so. Zero trails out a thin lead from his datapad and taps a few times at the interface, then at the Excavator's console. He glances between the two displays, tucking a stray bit of hair behind his ear. "Aiyah, got it now... the Eclipse's computer will understand this."
Freyja hears the beginnings of a sound, just as Vakkal barks, "Get down!" and steps between her and the tunnel entrance. Vakkal's alert gets everyone looking up at him, then back to the tunnel he's glaring at. His hand has gone to his blaster, but he has not drawn it.
Freyja trusts Manishsha and Fhazil, still outside the machine, will keep the Kel Dor safe. She crouches behind cover, peering out cautiously. Over their link Vakkal hears a sharp, somewhat worriedly amused whisper, 'Get down' does not mean 'I'll try to get shot first,' Vakkal!
At the entrance to the tunnel, leaning on the wall and looking very tired and not entirely healthy, is a Hutt. The Hutt is also holding a very large weapon, probably intended to be used with a tripod by a normal-sized person. He snaps out, "All of you, get away from there! Slowly!" He looks angry, and the huge gun makes that easier.
Freyja straightens, calling out quietly, "Digger Dale, we hope?" Zero drops down in the console seat, so as not to be seen from the windows. He grips Kuwatuara gently. Repeating blaster, perhaps. No power feed cable that I can see...
Freyja steps forward, climbing slowly down out of the vehicle to hopefully give Zero a bit more time. She adds, "We were worried about you... are you all right?" She nods mentally to Zero, continuing to look friendly, innocuous, hopefully harmless and (to a Hutt) small.
The Hutt says, "Get off of my machine!" The Kel Dor, who has raised his hands, steps into better view and says, "Boss, it's me. I brought them. They said you might be in trouble, and you wouldn't answer the comm."
Zero exhales quietly. "Why is nobody ever happy to see us?" He pulls the lead out of the console and tucks his datapad back in his belt. Freyja gets a wryly amused grin at that. Unfortunately she can't really deny it.
Manishsha comes into sight, and Vakkal climbs down from the big Excavator. The Hutt watches the strangers carefully, then says, "Well, let's say I had a bad day. I could ignore the beeper, but not the alarms when people started messing around with the Excavator." He glares and adds, "What do you want?"
Freyja's voice is calming, reassuring, and quiet as she replies, "We're trying to track someone down, who has a pattern of cleaning up his tracks behind him by... disposing of those who aid him. We were worried you'd be next. We're glad to see you're in one piece."
The Hutt says, "Yeah? You here to finish the job?" He sounds dubious and suspicious.
Freyja rolls her eyes in mildly amused exasperation, "Neh, of course not. Now, I don't know about you, but I intend to be civilized about this." She puts her hands together in a Huttee businessfolk-greeting nod, and continues in Huttese, "Makkaisdottir am I. My friends are Mek, Drachir, Chiun, and Vakkal." She waves to indicate the appropriate people as she names them by their aliases. Then she watches in thoughtful interest to see how the Hutt responds to his native tongue. An odd Hutt indeed to be so far from home and family.
The Hutt stares. He replies, "Long time since I have heard this language. Maybe not long enough, though." He adds in Aurabesh to the Kel Dor, "What did you bring them here for?" The Kel Dor says, "They seemed worried about you, and they got Reelto and I worried. Kal vouched for them." As it did for the Kel Dor and the Rodian, that seems to impress the Hutt. He sets his big gun down and says in Aurabesh, "Huh." Then he says, less angrily, "Get off my machine."
Zero shrugs and hops down from the cab. Well, could have been worse, I suppose. Freyja smiles, pacing slowly and quietly towards the Hutt, and shifts back to Aurabesh, "We aren't interested in your machine. We want to be sure you're all right, then ask you if you'll help us find this killer." She's quietly gauging the Hutt's current status, trying to figure out why he looks somewhat unhealthy. Maybe she can help?
The Hutt says, "Come with me. I'll talk to you, but I want to rest." He turns and leads the way through the smaller door by the entrance, into his private quarters. They're spacious, sparse, and subtly and quietly decorated -- where a Hutt got this much taste is not obvious. He sets the big repeating blaster rifle into a charger by the door as he passes, and grunts a, "C'mon." Then he leads the way through to a room where he can rest on a long, low stone reclining platform. A small droid is seen scuttling around in the darkness, cleaning.
Zero follows, hands clasped lightly behind his back. Well, now we know why he is on Garqi... a Hutt with subdued tastes must surely have been exiled by his fellows.
Freyja follows, looking around with great interest. A Hutt with neh attending court of fawning sycophants, and who avoids using his native tongue? Fascinating! He must truly wish to be lost to the other Hutts, hai.
Once he has found a place to rest, the Hutt sighs a long, ragged sigh and says, "Sit, if you like. I haven't got furniture for bipeds, but you're welcome to the floor. Unlike many Hutt residences, it is clean. Give me a moment to catch my breath and I'll see what I can tell you."
Freyja murmurs quietly, "Digger Dale, I'd like to check you with my medkit, please. You don't seem... quite up to the normal Hutt levels of energy?"
The Hutt says, "You've got a medkit with Hutt settings? And you're willing to use it?" He gives Freyja a long, appraising look, then says, "How did you know I might be in trouble?"
Freyja pulls out the medkit and pragmatically starts checking, "Hai, hai, and I already told you, honored Digger."
Zero says, "We suspect you may have had dealings with someone who is not in the habit of leaving breathing witnesses walking about in his wake."
Dale says, "You did, didn't you." He closes his eyes and adds, "I'd appreciate it if you would use your medkit. I think I'll be fine, but it would be nice to know that." Freyja grins at the tired Hutt's words, realizing he's not even noticed she's already checking him. The Kel Dor says, "Boss, what happened?"
Freyja looks a bit relieved a few seconds later, "Ah, excellent. It looks like you've healed up one wound already, and your system is successfully fighting through some high toxin levels. It's just a matter of time until you clean them all out." She finishes, adding as she cleans the bottom of the medkit with a surgical wipe, "I'd suggest rest, and re-hydrating yourself with drinks and a nice, long, hot soak."
Dale says, "I got a job. I went out to go dig an emplacement for someone. When I got there they asked if they could pay me a lot of extra money not to tell anyone where it is. I agreed. They gave me half the money, and I did the work. Big, deep emplacement. Took a lot of time and work. Had a lot of very specific, difficult requests. Did it all. No problem."
Freyja looks around at the little droid, wondering if it's smart enough to send for drinks for its owner. She snaps her fingers quietly to get the droid's attention, then crouches to be at eye level with it. Softly, so as to not interrupt the Hutt, she murmurs, "Please go quickly fetch a big mug of hot water, and bring it to me."
The Kel Dor says, "That doesn't usually wrack you out like this, Boss." Digger says, "No. That would be the nerve gas."
Zero says, "Well, that clears things up."
The Hutt says, "Last day I was there they asked me to spend the night so I could talk to their boss the next morning, who'd pay me. Okay, I could do that. I wake up hearing a strange thing and smelling something awful. I had a horrible headache. I knew something was wrong, and bolted."
Freyja straightens, listening a bit worriedly as she types in a command on her medkit for appropriate medicinal/relaxation herbs for a Hutt, to mix into the water. Zero folds his arms. Poison now? Interesting. Maybe the loss of his better assassins soured the Senator on blasters. He never favored poison before.
Freyja murmurs to Zero, That, or they don't have enough people to blaster down a Hutt -- even a sleeping one? She asks quietly, "What was the strange thing you heard? Hissing, perhaps?"
Dale adds, "They weren't expecting a Hutt. They'd have killed a human or anything that size. If I were human and I'd have survived, I'd be better now for having stopped breathing the gas, but I absorbed a lot of it and it's left me very, very unwell for a couple of weeks. I'm getting better now." At Freyja's question he nods, "Yeah, hissing, a gas canister. Maybe even its timers going off. I think it was planted long in advance so they didn't have to get their hands dirty."
Freyja blinks, "Whoa... weeks?" She looks down at her medkit, and types in for a light system purgative as well, to add to the water, making sure everything will mix well together. Then she looks puzzled again, "Long in advance? You mean like hours, or days?"
The Hutt adds, "I hardly remember getting back here. I headed straight to the Excavator and found they were trying to break in. I guess they thought they'd kill me and steal my machine. That's when I really got mad." To Freyja he says, "Dunno. At least hours."
Zero hmms. This is not the sort of subtlety we knew the Senator for at all. Perhaps his Darksider friends have been teaching him a few things about the vicious arts.
Freyja nods thoughtfully, adding, It would seem a really mad Digger is capable of doing quite some damage, too. Note he's still here and alive -- Kalatis' people haven't been able to come finish off the job.
Fhazil comments, Poison from remote, and the goal of not paying someone and getting their equipment, does has a Sith ring to it. Very efficient.
Freyja adds quietly, "What happened next?" She gives Fhazil a wryly amused glance.
Dale says, "I got shot getting into the Excavator -- some thrice-damned slugthrower. Hurt for days. Once I had the door sealed behind me and had set the environment to self-contained, they didn't seem to have anything big enough to hurt me. I chased down any I could see. They didn't seem to have thought about what an Excavator would do to their internal walls... hiding wasn't much use. Eventually I couldn't see any more, and had lost some blood and was feeling pretty terrible. I had the Excavator return here, and slept the whole way. It was several days getting back."
Freyja shakes her head slowly, unsurprised but not thrilled at the news -- she suspects what they find when they finally locate Kalatis' new hiding place won't be pretty. She hopes the large native creatures haven't yet been able to get in, or it may be well nigh on to impossible to identify the bodies. Vakkal whistles between his teeth, impressed.
Freyja glances a bit puzzledly at Zero, A slugthrower? Bit anachronistic for Kalatis, wouldn't you say? She pauses, considering, then slowly adds, Are we sure this is indeed Kalatis' folks? Could it be some Oather hideout instead? She thoughtfully asks Dale, "What species were the people you saw, please?
Zero thinks about it. It's possible he's hiring in-system help. Bounty hunters, other scum. It's also possible blasters weren't available around this backwater.
Manishsha says, "It sounds like you gave as good as you got -- maybe better." The Hutt says, "They were fools to try it."
The diminutive Jedi says, "True. Do you think you got them all, or should we go looking for the one we're after?"
Freyja looks at the Kushiban and says gravely, "We have to go. We have to see for ourselves... unfortunately."
Digger says, "Saw humans. A tall, dark guy I didn't recognize. A Wookiee doing the heavy lifting. Don't know what happened to him." He also tells Freyja, "If they're right and their boss hadn't come in yet, they may still be there. Even with the mess, the tunnels will be secure and difficult to find from above. It's still a good location... just not quite as prepared as they expected."
Freyja looks pleased as the droid returns with a (to her) huge ceramic mug. She takes it, shakes the medicinal powder into it, and sloshes it gently around to mix it. To Digger she says, "I've added some medicines to help you get the rest of the toxins out of your system, and to help you heal better. Here -- drink it all down, please?"
Fhazil adds, Or they thought they were good enough not to have to resort to the lowbrow of blasters. Vakkal suggests, Or maybe they hadn't arrived yet. If they were just digging the tunnels, perhaps supplies weren't all in.
Freyja waits until the Hutt takes the mug, then brings up a holovid of a Sith standardbred. She holds it up so the Hutt can see it, "Did the tall, dark guy look like this species?" To Zero she murmurs, Considering the number of carnivorous monsters on this planet, I'd never believe they couldn't find blasters. Arrogant idiots I'd believe, though. She grins wryly.
The Hutt sniffs at the mug and says, "Your medkit checked this out?" At Freyja's nod, he starts to drink. He looks at her holo, "Yeah, kind of. I didn't see him much. They had a couple of big human goons doing most of the strong-arming, but he seemed to be overseeing."
Zero hmms. "But no Rodians."
Freyja nods, "Excellent. Thank you for this information, honored Digger." She looks at the others, "We really should go. We have to see what happened to the tall, dark one, and we have to find the Rodian."
Zero says, "We'd best not waste time, then." He tchs. Damn. Perhaps my slicing attempt was caught. Damn.
The Hutt sighs heavily and says, "I owe that sentient a bad turn or two. If you get the chance, hurt him a little for me." He grins a tired and evil looking grin.
Freyja smiles quietly at the Hutt, "Believe me, we'll do our best. However, we'd really appreciate the location of the excavation you dug. I don't think we should try re-tracing your route, so we'll have to try another way to get there... so positioning information will be critical."
The Hutt looks pained. He says, "I'm sorry... I can't tell you that."
Freyja says gently, "Why? Is it because you promised you would not reveal that information?" Without even realizing it, she slips into Hutt business mode, "If so, I am devastated to inform you of breach of contract on their part, as they paid you only half. Therefore it would seem you could tell only a select few, as opposed to telling none whatsoever."
Dale shakes his head, "If that were only true, I would be happy to tell you. However, I discovered a message waiting for me, apparently from my employer. He told me how excellent the work I had done was, and that he was sure I would forgive the misunderstanding at the end. They had credited the full amount to my accounts, and even a bonus." He looks at the much smaller golden human and says, "My word is all I have left out here. I told them I wouldn't tell anyone. I'm sorry."
Freyja considers, then nods slowly, "This I deeply understand. Would you be amenable to returning those monies?"
Zero tchs. Freyja, I have his coordinates. We can plot a different route once we know where it is on-planet.
Dale says flatly, "No. I could. I could return everything but the initially-agreed-upon fee and tell them that no, I was not about to forgive that misunderstanding. But that's a clear indication I am about to, or could, tell someone their location which they worked so hard to protect. I'm happy enough to let things sit as they are. They come after me again, they're in deep trouble -- but if they leave well enough alone, so will I."
Freyja murmurs to Zero, All right, sweetheart, if you're sure we have enough information. She frowns in a bit of worry, adding, You know what this must mean? A whole bunch of things... first, the Sith standardbred may be the connection to Ghang's aide, which implies Ghang may still have unknown Oathers under him. Second, Kalatis was right on top of this -- he smoothed things out immediately with creds, which is very him, from what I've seen of the ex-Senator. Thirdly... there are parts of the location the Hutt doesn't know about. That worries me -- how big and extensive is this place?
Zero nods softly. This is troubling. It suggests this wasn't a mere bolt-hole... what in the thousand hells was Kalatis planning here?
Freyja nods slowly, still considering, then asks, "Was there anything in the agreement you made concerning notifying your former employee about anyone asking about him?" To Zero she murmurs quietly, Hiding successfully for a very long time, would be my thought.
The Hutt smiles a thin smile, "Now... that doesn't mean you can't find him. For the right price you might be able to get there."
Freyja smiles also, although it doesn't reach her half-closed eyes, "I am exhilarated at your thought, honorable one. How might an esteemed Hutt as yourself define 'right price'?"
Zero folds his arms. This Hutt's actually trying to extort us. Fhazil replies dryly, Well, duh!
Freyja grins mentally, Hai... but don't you wonder a bit what a hiding Hutt might want? To be conveniently forgotten, perhaps? A particular monster killed? He certainly doesn't seem to want for creds, after all.
Zero hmphs. I wouldn't put it past him. Impressive stones on this Hutt. Freyja covers a grin with a small golden hand.
Digger says, "I'm not sure it's even really fair to discuss price yet. The only way you could get there would be long, difficult, and dangerous. And I don't think all of you could go."
Freyja says, "Why do you think that, honored Digger? And when might be a better time, after all, than the present, when we are all here and... relatively undamaged?"
The Hutt says, "Well, let's say you wanted to have me do some work for you. I'm not fit enough to do that right now. If you could convince me -- and it would take some convincing indeed -- to let you use the Excavator yourselves, and I just happened not to clear the autopilot, you could simply press 'repeat last trip' and wait five days. You would emerge in the midst of the encampment. The problem would be that you'd have to live for several days together. The Excavator could handle two, maybe three of you little folks, but there's no way all of you could go."
Freyja points out, "This is true... as is the maxim of mining the tunnel by which the svart-folk invade your home, so if they try it again they regret it greatly. I do not think-" She pauses, considering a sudden thought, then says with a quiet smile, "How much convincing, please?" To the others she adds, We don't have to ride in it to verify the information Zero got, hai?
Vakkal instantly sends, No! Not letting you go without me, Freyja. Nor would I want you to go without Zero or Fhazil. Bad idea!
Freyja grins mentally, although her almost serene smile at the Hutt doesn't waver at all, Silly wolf, not go in it -- just read the data! We'd only need it for maybe an hour or so, so Zero could be sure the Eclipse could pinpoint the location we need, hai? Or wait... Zero, did you get everything we need already from the Excavator's databanks?
Zero thinks quickly. What I have is the exact route the Excavator took from here to there, in terms of turns and distances. Since we can find this place on the globe already, it would be possible for me to plot the information -- or for Fhazil to do it -- in a few hours. If we had to split the party, at least those not on the Excavator could fly in later... a little bit of air cavalry never hurt.
The Hutt says, "A few paltry credits, and a small favor. I would very much like a token delivered to someone in Hutt space, to let them know I have not forgotten them and never will. A trivial thing." He adds as an afterthought, "You'd have to offer your ship as collateral in case the Excavator was not returned, but I'm sure that's not a concern, is it?"
Freyja laughs -- she can't help it. This is so Hutt, and sounds so much like Ameil! Zero smirks to himself, adding, Besides, when's the last time you heard Fhazil complain about being locked in a dark room... with either of us?
Fhazil doesn't deny this. Instead he adds, Or Vakkal, for that matter. Freyja giggles internally, then grins at the Hutt, "How paltry would the credits you are thinking of be?"
The Hutt says, "Oh, a mere forty or sixty thousand."
Zero says something completely unintelligible in Sedraki. His thoughts, however, are pretty easy to read. Freyja makes a show of considering, then cheerfully says to the Hutt, "I have a counter-offer, esteemed Digger. How about we make a promise to you to not mention to the Hutts we know that we've met a Hutt on Garqi? We'd be happy to only ask for forty or sixty thousand creds for this assurance, of course -- we are all reasonable sapients, after all, are we not?"
Manishsha, looking as if he were about to say something, winces and stops. The Hutt smiles and says perfectly reasonably, "It is always good to do business with an astute negotiator."
Freyja smiles and nods politely, hands palm to palm again, then says, "Might I ask how far into Hutt space we would be looking at, regarding travel, please?" She adds over the link, Someone discreetly check with Manishsha as to whether we have time to head over to Hutt space or neh, please?
The Hutt hesitates, then says, "Quite a good distance. One of the reasons I have not simply shipped it is that getting reliable shipping this far is difficult."
"Mmm." Freyja's tone is a bit dubious as she adds, "You do realize you're asking for quite a bit here? How large is this token, please?" She falls silent, apparently thinking as she waits for a response from the others.
Fhazil goes over and murmurs to Manishsha. The small Jedi murmurs back, and Fhazil replies, We have the time, but Manishsha is very concerned with this plan. He doesn't like the idea of splitting up the party any more than Vakkal does.
Zero sighs a bit. Nor do I. And we're expected elsewhere... Hutt Space is quite a detour.
Freyja smiles mentally, Who says we have to split it up? All we have to do is tell the Excavator to return to its last position, then wait five days... and expect the fireworks in the right location. It can be our distraction as we enter the compound elsewhere.
The Hutt says, "I do understand the time involved is great, and the risk of travel in some areas is high. I'm sure you understand how important the Excavator is to me, and the risk I take by allowing others to use it. As far as the token, it is quite small and easily carried."
Fhazil replies, Before we agree to that, we should try and find out how deep this thing is. The calculation of that would be important. It could be the Excavator's arrival is unnoticeable from above. That would be a big reason to do things underground.
Freyja studies the Hutt, then holds her hands up before her as if she were measuring something. She gives the Hutt an inquiring look, spreading her hands as far apart as she can, then slowly bringing them closer together, to see when he says stop, to indicate the approximate size of the token. The Hutt stops Freyja when her hands are about eight inches apart.
Freyja raises an eyebrow -- that's not too bad. She looks inquiringly at the others, knowing full well they're not terribly interested in this plan, and the Hutt will have to convince them to get them to agree -- which means perhaps an even simpler agreement between them and the Hutt, "Well, what do you guys think? Only a few of us could go, and we'd have to use a machine we're utterly unfamiliar with, then fight all the people in the compound, then get the Excavator back safely or forfeit the Eclipse... and then we'd have to travel all the way to Hutt space. Hai or neh?"
Zero's expression says it all, as far as his opinion of this plan. Manishsha says carefully, "Perhaps we should consider this a little more. I would be quite concerned about some of the possible risks for both parties in this contract."
Vakkal says quietly, "I'm not comfortable with it. It is not that I do not trust the honorable Digger, but the plan simply has too many risks for us. I would rather try something else first." Freyja looks inquiringly around the faces of the entire group, including Digger Dale. She's interested in seeing how eager he is to get this token back to Hutt space.
The Hutt says, "Were you to merely want a distraction, and if you could wait for me to recuperate just a little more, I might be persuaded to run the Excavator myself. That would give us better timing, and not have you effectively stranded in a strange machine you couldn't operate. I would understand if the delivery of this token of mine were to take a long time, but I would still trust you to deliver it."
Freyja inquires thoughtfully, "I take it there is neh pressing timeframe for it to arrive, then?"
The Hutt says, "Pressing? No. I have plenty of life left, as does she."
Freyja blinks at an odd, sudden thought, then grins, "May I ask her name, please?" To the others she says, Wouldn't it be funny if the only rational, thoughtful Hutt we'd ever met was really liked by the only other non-rabid Hutt we'd met? That'd work really nicely, too, if it were Ameil -- because she's not as far away as most Hutt. We know someone in the Republic who works for her, after all!
Dale says, "I would rather not discuss that at this time. If it were critical I might, but I don't understand how it would be relevant."
Freyja nods, "I ask because you remind me of another Hutt I know, and if life were so coincidental -- which the Jedi claim it is -- then it'd be easy to deliver the token." She smiles curiously, "Do you not wonder if it is one and the same?"
Dale considers, then says, "Her name is Ameil, and she was someone I knew a very long time ago, before I ever considered coming here."
Freyja laughs again, although this time it's a more delighted sound, "Oh, that is wonderful! Is she fond of you also?"
This gets an odd look from the tired Hutt, who says, "I do not know. She could not have heard good things about me, if she has heard anything at all."
Freyja smiles, stepping over to rest a small golden hand lightly on the Hutt's shoulder, "Give me the token. I will make sure she receives it some day. She is a good person." She grins, adding, "This does not mean we agree to the terms we've discussed. I will take care of the token on my own recognizance."
The Hutt looks at Freyja... then says, "Why should I be surprised you know her? I will give you this token. I will also drive the Excavator for you, if you wish. It takes five days for it to get where you want it to go, and I will need several before I can consider doing this."
Freyja smiles with genuine warmth, "Thank you. She also took good care of her people. Rest and heal, and we will wait until you are ready."
The Kel Dor says, "Boss, are you sure? I mean, they tried to poison you..." The Hutt smiles a nasty smile, "I can do things with the Excavator they will not know how to counter. If it's a distraction they want, it will be a distraction they get."
Freyja adds cheerfully to her friends, How's that? Better deal, guys? I figure we can give the token to her 'hands' on that planet where we got the welsher to pay up, hai? That's only a month or two away, after all, if we fly it there ourselves... and worst comes to worst, we can send it other ways.
Fhazil replies, I don't think I've ever seen anyone get a good deal from a Hutt before.
Zero nods. It's the best we're likely to get. I'll accept this.
Freyja grins at Fhazil, Oh, foo, we got a fine deal from Ameil when she agreed to give us the lovely new addition to the Eclipse in exchange for getting the welsher to pay up, remember? You just have to be nice to them! She giggles mentally.
Fhazil sends back, You're right. I guess I couldn't imagine doing it twice. And wow, small galaxy.
Freyja beams at the Hutt, adding to Fhazil, Silly, it's the Force showing us we're on the right track! As I said, there really isn't any coincidence. She says firmly to the Kel Dor, "We should leave now -- your boss needs to sleep and heal. We'll make sure you know where to find us, all right, so he can reach us when he's ready?"
The Hutt says, "Yes, I'll have the office in town let you know. It shouldn't be too long." He grins and adds, "I'm feeling better about this already." The Kel Dor says, "Right. Can do. C'mon, we'll go back into town."
[Previous Log] [Index] [Next Log]