Mike flumped down on the couch, the levity of the evening's events fading. He rubbed gently at his chin, grimacing. He held the stereo remote in his other hand, and was idly flicking through radio stations, trying to pick up an English one.
The cycle was being repeated for a third time, when a shadow fell over him.
He looked up at Vickie, standing sternly in front of him. Stray strands of hair formed curtains in front of his eyes, but not enough to prevent him seeing his friend glaring at him.
"What's up?" she asked.
Mike tried to yawn, and let out a muffled yelp as his jaw complained. Feeling around his jaw gingerly, he came up against a fresh mass of bruising that marked his adventures from a few hours before.
"Do you want to tell me what you were up to?" Vickie asked, a trace of sympathy in her voice, "or shall I go get PSB."
"There was a very good reason," Mike managed to say, wincing with every word.
"Let me guess, she was cute," Vickie said, rolling her eyes.
Mike opened his mouth to protest, then thought better of it for a number of reasons. Eventually, he nodded, although even that wasn't very comfortable.
"Spill," Vickie said, sitting down on Mike's legs to prevent him running off.
"Mail," Vickie said, walking into the kitchen. Josh Cochran caught the camera as it was tossed to him, and plugged it into the computer. Swiftly, he downloaded the images stored in it. Ignoring the pictures from Vickie's birthday party -although some of them took a lot of effort to ignore- he homed in on the two pictures of the woman Mike had met the night before. Whoever she was, she could really do high kicks.
"Who is she?" Becki asked, from beside the stove. She had insisted on helping Josh clear away, even though he had protested, half heartedly.
"Mike fought with her this afternoon, apparently," Vickie said.
"Mike fighting? Doesn't sound right," Josh Nolan commented, walking in to the kitchen. He opened the refrigerator and pulled a pint of orange juice from the shelf. Popping the cap, he downed half of the juice in one long swallow, before turning back to his squadmates. "Why was he fighting this woman?"
"With her, not against her," Cochran said, absently. He poked at the buttons on the computer, zooming in on the woman's face.
"Not the best quality," he added, trying to clean up the staticky image.
"Let me have a look," Brad said, walking in and towelling his hair dry. "I picked up a few things when I was running the droid factory."
"Covert pictures of rival's new advances?" Nolan asked. Brad's ears went pink, but he declined to comment. He fiddled with the computer for several minutes, before turning it back to face the group.
"Best I can do," he said. The image was clearer, but still not of great quality. The Group members stared at it, searching the face to see if there was anything there they recognised.
"It's not Erisi again, is it?" Becki asked. Vickie looked closer at the image, before shaking her head.
"Not this time. Much as I'd love another chance to beat up on the bitch, this woman has a completely different build."
"She looks dangerous, whoever she is," Josh said, looking appreciatively at the picture of the woman nearly decapitating her opponent with her heel.
"She was dangerous," Mike commented, indistinctly, as he walked in from the bathroom. A towel hang around his neck, and he dripped water on the floor as he walked. A bathrobe protected his modesty, but the open collar further exposed the ugly bruise on his neck. He leant against the counter and sighed.
"She took out half a dozen guys in only a few seconds. They may have been drunk, but I think even Shalla would have struggled to take them all that quickly. There's only one person I've ever seen move like that -well, one species, anyway. The Noghri."
His five squadmates looked at him.
"You think she's a Noghri?" Brad asked, skeptically.
"No, I don't," Mike said. "Even if she were to wear a holoshroud, she was much too tall to be a Noghri. There's not much I can tell you that isn't in the picture. Her eyes were covered at all times. She had long hair, almost as long as PK's." He sighed again.
"She stumbled over saying 'English' when I asked her what language she spoke. She started saying 'B-' something. Basic? I don't know. But she fought with a style I've never seen on this planet. She was out of place in that bar. She just felt wrong."
"Would you recognise her if you saw her again?" Cochran asked, quietly.
"I won't see her again," Mike replied. He tried to crack a smile, but winced instead. "She was good, you guys. Much, much better than we are. I don't know who she was, or what she was doing there, but I think she's a lead. Y'all are gonna have to keep your eyes open, because I don't doubt she'll see me before I ever see her."
"Is she dangerous?" Becki asked.
"Lethal," Mike replied. He took the orange juice from Josh N. and sipped it. "I sparred with Shalla, and so did several of you guys. I doubt, I truly doubt, Shalla would stand the slightest chance against this woman. And that scares me. Whether she's involved in our mission or not, if you see her, steer clear."
Josh nodded soberly. He looked around at his team-mates.
"Anything else?"