SSDD

“What the hell were you thinkin'?”

“I was improvising!”

“Well, you improvised yerself right out o' keepin' yer head down.”

“I know.”

“This ain't what we agreed on.”

“I know.”

“Ya said two weeks so ya could make some contacts, send a message or two, an' that'd be it. If anyone connects you to me, an' if they think yer some kinda spy or somethin', I could lose the cantina.”

“I know!”

Aittera rubbed her forehead with two fingers as she continued to pace the tiny area behind the captain's chair where the blue-haired spacer's hands flew across control panels, holo-displays, and computer screens. They had never really gotten along to begin with. Aittera had seen the younger woman as a flibbertigibbet while Kelri had pegged Aittera as a mean-spirited bitch that couldn't be trusted.

In the eight or so years since they'd first encountered each other, a lot had changed. Kelri “Blue” Irris had gone from frivolous party girl to business owner and engineering graduate while Aittera had mellowed somewhat from the bitter, sarcastic woman who had lost everything after the death of her fiancee. To Blue's mind, the redhead's love affair with a Sith had gone a long way toward removing the stick from her ass.

“Anyway, finished workin' on the Hope. Upgraded that stealth tech Selus had installed, but I wouldn't push it when it comes to Zakuul sensors. Ya need to get the Hope some'ere safe. That alias won't hold under scrutiny.”

“Yeah,” Aittera nodded in agreement. “I just need a few more days.”

“Yer jokin',” Blue groaned.

“I got a message that I need to respond to, a couple more friends to look up.”

“Mm-hmm.” The diminutive spacer finished what she was doing with the Hope's systems and hopped out of the captain's chair. “No more hookin' up with Zakuul soldiers at my place. Hard 'nough to find safe places for resistance people to find each other on this moon.”

“Hey, I should get points for getting him to leave.”

Once Kelri was gone, Aittera sunk into the captain's chair and pulled up a holo-image taken from a message she'd recently been passed. It was Kol Arren, his face a bit more worn, a few scars long healed now visible on his face.  A hint of gray colored his sideburns, but he was every bit as handsome as he'd once been, and he was smiling in that way he would only have smiled for her.

In the years since the Zakuul invasion had separated them, there had been just four dreams shared between them. In two, by the time she'd realized what they were, they'd barely had time to exchange greetings before the dreams had evaporated for whatever reason. She hadn't expected him to find a way to send a more tangible message or that he'd know she was on Nar Shaddaa, so it had been a surprise to be approached.

She deactivated the holo-image and got up to stalk through the silent ship. Blue was right. She needed to leave as soon as she could. She had come to put out feelers to a few old contacts only to find most of those contacts dead. By the time she had gotten an opportunity to ask Major Eiss about Jean, she was sure the answer would be that he was dead too. She had never gotten a chance to ask where he could be found though.

And then, there was this Zakuul guy...Patrek Waterfield...rubbing elbows with the  rabble.

What to do about him...