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Brimstone
Searching for Crispy
By Sylvana Lorrdain and Josh Nolan
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"Man, being a Jedi would really be useful right now," Sylvana muttered to 
herself as she carefully limped along the halls in search for Crispy.

As she paused in the middle of an intersection, trying to get her bearings, 
a furry humanoid, in an orderly's uniform rounded the corner, idly twirling 
a data wand in his fingers.

She didn't see the alien at first, walking a bit backward at the moment, 
trying to decide which corridor was her best bet before she accidentally 
knocked into the being.  "Sorry!" she apologised quickly.

The alien, shown to be bothan, stepped back from the collision, arms and 
hands spread wide to indicate apology, a grin on his face.  "No problem.  
It's not every day I bump into someone new."

"Yeah well.." she shrugged.  "You wouldn't have happened to see a human, 
about this tall," she indicated, "speaks like this," she put on an 
australian accent, "Uhm.... in an identity crisis...."

He looked at her uncertainly.  "...More information?" he prompted. "Humans 
look pretty much like one another, I find."

"Uhm... darkish hair, can't read aurebesh..." she was getting frustrated 
and rubbed at the back of her neck a bit.

The alien snapped its fingers at that.  "I think I've heard of him... he's 
one of those people from that classified planet, isn't he?  One of Dr. 
Nax's?"

"Classified planet," She nodded. "Yeah. I think so.  You've seen him?"

An odd expression flickered across the alien's face, finally resolving into 
an uncomfortable, or embarassed, grin.  "I've seen footage, yeah, but as to 
where he is right now, well, I'd need to do some asking around.  Who should 
I say is looking for him?"

"Sylvana," she smiled.  "Thanks for your help, I'll keep wandering, maybe 
I'll find him."

"Okay," replied the orderly, giving the data wand another twirl.  "I'm 
Relt, by the way - in case you decide you want some help after all.  You 
can ask for me by name or as 'that damn bothan' - they'll recognise either 
one."  Relt grinned, bowed slightly, and turned to continue on his errand.

"Hn..." she frowned slightly, still a bit wary of the bothan species, but 
shrugged - he seemed nice enough.  Putting aside the information, should 
she need his help, she continued looking - poking down another hallway.

Syl stopped when she thought she heard a voice.  A familiar voice.  A 
familiar, female voice that had haunted her dreams for so long now. 
Curious, she followed, finding a guard and doorway in her path.  "Damn."

The soldier standing guard shot her a curious glance.  "Is there anything I 
can help you with, missy, or are you happy to stand there cussing?"

She looked up at him, "Who's in there?" she asked, pointing at the door

He shrugged.  "Patient on special watch.  Might not do your safety much 
good if she finds you hanging around outside.  Though she ain't likely to 
be coming out for a while."

"How come?" Sylvana asked, leaning against the door, crossing her arms.

"Might be more advised to be asking her doctor as to the whys and 
wherefores," said the soldier with a grin.  "They don't pay me about the 
whys, they just tell me the whats and the don'ts.  Speaking of don'ts," he 
continued, nodding at where Sylvana was leaning, "one of the don'ts is 
leaning on the doors like that - they can open kinda sudden."

Sylvana only smirked, "That so?" she pressed slightly against the door.

The soldier shook his head.  "Have it your way, missy, but don't come 
blaming me if the door opens and drops you on your ass."  He blinked. 
"Pardon my Rodian."

"Rodian?" Sylvana shook her head, "Well, I'll have to remember that one," 
she sighed, stepping back.  "You wouldn't have happened to see a man, about 
this tall," she held up a hand, "Human, from a classified planet?"

"Classified planet, you say?  Now I was talking to a patient just last 
night who might fit that precise description, though we never did get to 
talking about his planet of origin.  But if you're referring to a more 
recent time, then I ain't seen him - I've been stuck babysitting this here 
piece of work for way longer than my shift."

Sylvana sighed, "Well... I guess I'll see you around - I really need to 
find him.  If you run into him, tell him Sylvana's looking for him, will 
you?"

"If I see him, consider him told."  The soldier inclined his head politely.

Sylvana echoed his motion and continued limping along in search of Crispy.  
She hoped to find him before she ran into any less accomodating people.

She took a few more meandering turns, when suddenly she heard the sounds of 
footsteps approaching.

Syl turned, seeing a duros orderly, "Hello."

"Good day, Agent Doctor Lorrdain.  I understand you're looking for 
someone."

She nodded, "Yes, I'm looking for Agent Nolan - have you seen him?"

"Seen, no - but I do know where he is.  Do you know the way to his 
quarters?"

She shook her head, "No - I.. haven't really left my room much."

The duros nodded his understanding, then asked, "Would you like me to take 
you there?  Or are you enjoying exploring the facility?"  There was a 
quiet, gentle mockery in the second question, but no malice.

Her eyes flashed, "No, I don't enjoy exploring, please take me - I... don't 
want to run into anyone."

Anyone, of course, meaning a certain Firrerreo.

"Of course.  It may be of some reassurance to you that Herthrir is still in 
bacta at the moment.  But I will endeavour to keep chance meetings to a 
minimum."

She sighed in relief at the revelation, then nodded, "Thank you."

As they walked, Sylvana had a flash from her earlier dreams - dreams that 
caused her to feel she needed to warn Josh.  She cried out in shock, 
stumbling back, one hand to the wall, the other to her head as she saw this 
very same, helpful duros's head ripped clean off, his body literally torn 
apart by some monsterous creature, blue limbs twitching in death.

The duros was quick to go to her side, helping to support her.  "Ma'am, 
maybe we should get you back to your room...."

She pushed him away, "No, I HAVE to talk to him as soon as possible," her 
eyes held a pain she would rather not divulge.

Fegrin sighed, "I will take you to his room, then help you back to your 
own, then," he offered, holding out a steadying hand as Sylvana was still 
shaking.

"Thank you."

They didn't speak as he led her down the halls, and when she knocked on the 
door, it whooshed open, revealing Josh to be sitting on the end of his bed 
- Dis having opened the door.  He looked up, frowning as she stepped in, 
then closed the door before the duros could enter as well.

"Josh... something is going to go very wrong here... and I think it's going 
to be soon."