Urrmkz drummed his massive Trandoshan fingers on the handle of his blaster, which lay on the cantina table in front of him. He gazed speculatively at the rotating hologram that was floating over the table, mentally adorning it in reflective goggles and black swoop-leathers. Without a doubt, it was her - the Devaronian who'd shafted him in the desert.
He looked up at a brief commotion. Two small shadowy figures - some scavenger race, no doubt - were squabbling over the corpse of the drunk that had tried to stop Urrmkz from claiming his table. The watchful eyes of the rest of the cantina were the main reason his blaster was on the table.
Komar's Respite was not a particularly reputable spot. The asteroid base's legal system was simple enough - "Don't annoy anyone tougher than you" - and transgressions were usually capital offences. Most of the occupants were members of various pirate gangs - individuals were either given a wide berth, like Urrmkz, or preyed upon, like the scavenger's prize.
The Respite was also a hub for less-than-legal cargo. Urrmkz lacked the temperament to run a tramp freighter, so he specialised in running cargoes to places those cargoes weren't supposed to go. He also had a lucrative side-business in intercepting such cargo.
This was the reason he had been scouring the asteroid's infonets, trying to find some way of making some quick cash. Several of his ship's systems had gone on the fritz since its interment, and repairs had been expensive. While Urrmkz was not the most ethical of people, he'd heard too many stories of pirates who had coerced techs into refitting their ships without adequate payment - stories that often ended in the ship having a catastrophic 'accident'.
The latest bounty to appear on the nets had caught his eye for two reasons - first, the amount, which was large enough to draw attention evn if he hadn't been on his last few credits; and second, the 'last known location' listing, which was close to where he'd spent four years lurking in a sewer. Interested, he'd flipped through the information, bringing up the profiles of each of the bounties.
And there she was.
He'd promised himself, out in the desert, that he'd exact his revenge on this female if he ever found her. And now it looked like he was going to make some money out of it as well.
Urrmkz began to laugh, a harsh croaking sound that sent the scavengers scuttling for cover. Life was starting to look up.
"My life sucks," moaned Firth as he tossed his datapad over to his desk. Collapsing onto his bunk, he continued, "I'll never be able to pay back Zena's dad at this rate!"
"Shafted with the pay again, huh?" asked Firth's roommate, Relt La'Sei, from where he sat at the quarters' HoloNet terminal.
"Would you believe those Bothan sons-of-bitches upped the interest rates again?" Firth moaned. He paused, flashing a glance at his furry roommmate. "Present company excepted, of course."
"Not my clan. No fur off my nose." Relt turned away from the terminal briefly. "We just got that new shipment, by the way."
"New shipment?" asked Firth, frowning as he tried to shift mental gears.
Relt gestured at the terminal. "You know - the one from that classified planet?"
"They're here?" Firth scrambled to his feet and over to Relt. "D'you know if they're natives?"
"Apparently - well, the couple going to the hospital are."
"So what kind'f species comes from a planet whose existence is classified?" Firth asked. He thought for a second, then said, "Ten to one they're humans."
Relt harrumphed. "Why should I not be surprised that you're going humans again? You're on. Twenty says they're not humans."
"Deal."
As soon as Firth had said the word, Relt keyed in the security footage of the landing bay. "I haven't seen this yet, but the first on the schedule's a Captain Nolan."
"Captain? I thought he was NRI. What's with the rank?"
"Hey, I don't make this stuff up..."
In the holo, the freighter's gangramp touched down, opening completely. "You sure this guy's a native?" whispered Firth.
"Positive. Maybe that's why he's got the rank -"
"Shh! Here he comes now."
"Wonder what colour fur he's got?"
"Hu-man! Hu-man!"
"Build yourself up, buddy - it'll be longer to fall..."
"Hey! He's bipedal..."
"So are Bothans, but we don't go around assuming we'll be everywhere - ACKSS!"
"Bing, bing, confirmed! We have a human! Oh, those twenty credits... I can smell them right now, mmm-mmm..."
"Yeah, it was a lucky guess. Go chew a bantha."
Firth, his black mood of a few minutes ago forgotten, happily rubbed in his victory for the next ten minutes, while Relt gloomily surfed the infonets while keeping half an eye on the security footage. Firth went through, in meticulous detail, the kinds of things that twenty credits could buy, and bemoaned the fate of anyone unlucky enough to lose such a princely sum.
Finally, he realised Relt was no longer paying attention, and wandered over to the terminal to see what had him captivated. "What's up?"
"What would you say if I told you I think I can help you pay off Zena's father and have some bonus cash to spare...?" asked Relt distantly, spooling through some information while rewinding the security footage.
Firth gazed at Relt for a moment, agape, and then managed to speak. "I'd say 'gimme' - what's the scam?"
"Okay. Check this out." Relt minimised the security display, leaving the other display the sole holo in the terminal. "This is a bounty out on some people - nasty people, by the looks of things. They're the crew of a ship - check out the bounty on the captain."
Firth did. He blinked, and checked it again. "That's the right number of zeroes, right?"
Relt looked up at Firth and nodded. "Yup. Twenty-five grand to bring him in alive. Fifteen just to bring him in. Five grand or two for each of his crew."
"So to bring 'em all in... that's... fifty-five?"
"Yup. Spot-on."
"Okay, that's a lot. So what's the angle? It's not like we're free to go haring off after bounties, you know..."
Relt grinned in response, and brought up the security footage. "While you were celebrating your lucky guess, I watched them unload the rest of the cargo." He ran the holo at high speed until a column of manacled figures came out of the hold, escorted by some of Perdition's own guards. Relt froze the image there, and zoomed in on one of the figures. "Does this guy look familiar?"
"That's... that's the guy! The captain guy! How'd we end up with him?"
"That's not important. What is important, is we can get a cut of the bounty."
"A... a cut. Why can't we just..." Firth made a grabbing-and-leaving gesture.
Relt zoomed the image out, and pointed at the Barabel grunt frozen behind the bounty, or more specifically, at his blaster. "Any more questions?"
Firth frowned. "A couple, yeah. First, how big a cut? Second, what's the plan? And third, why are you cutting me in on this?"
Relt ticked answers off on his fingers. "First - I figure ten per cent each. It looks like a couple of the crew are missing, so it might only be four-and-a-half each, but that's still plenty to get Zena's dad off your back. Second - I have some connections that may pull in some people - but that's need-to-know only. Third - I feel sorry for you and Zena and want you guys to be happy."
Firth crossed his arms. "Cute. What's the real reason, Relt? I know you."
Relt spread his arms, his eyes wide. "Hey, it's the truth!" He wilted slightly under Firth's skeptical gaze. "Well, that, and I can't cut security very well on my own. I need someone to help out with that. That way no-one gets hurt. Besides, you're better at getting out of trouble than I am. No-one trusts a Bothan."
Firth stared at the holo for a few seconds, a look of contemplation on his face. Finally he nodded. "Except me."
Relt grinned. "Why, that's gotta be the nicest -"
"This once."
Relt met Firth's gaze, then shrugged. "Suits me. You won't regret it. Now, I don't suppose you've got some laundry to do, or something?" Relt hooked a thumb at the terminal. "Secret Bothan business."
Firth hefted a cloth bag out from under his bed. "Yeah, I guess I've got some socks that could use a wash. How long do you need?"
"A couple of hours, probably. I doubt brass'd like to know what we're trying to do." Relt turned back to the terminal. "Oh, before you go," he called out.
Firth stopped short of the door. "Yeah?"
"My laundry bag's under my bunk. Be a pal?"
Firth scowled, then knelt down and reached under Relt's bunk. "I'd better be getting at least three grand out of this."
Relt said nothing, and just grinned at the terminal.