"Oh bloody hell..."Taryn murmured. They'd already been
on this rock two hours and she starving (mild concussions
always did that to her) and for the last hour, she'd been
trying to program the galley com to make her favorite dish
(barbecued mynock) but the only thing it would produce was
a burnt mess. After giving up and tossing the ruined dinner
into the trash disposal, Taryn sighed and finally pulled
out a small of tube of green paste, opened it and took a
small bite. A soft whuffle from behind her made her snort
in amusement.
"I never said I liked this stuff... but it's edible and
nutritious. Besides, this is dinner until I get that replaced."
She gestured rudely at the broken galley com.
Loki let out a series of low growls and questioning whines.
"No, it was working just fine till you touched it, Loki."
A low roar and a raised fist made Taryn laugh.
"No, of course not. I wouldn't dream of making you pay to
replace this stupid thing. I mean, especially considering
that you've saved my life yet again." Taryn scowled. "You
know, that doesn't mean you owe me a life debt either." At
these words, Lokida just chuckled, which Taryn ignored and
kept talking. "So. Reason I've come is I'm looking for a
Bounty, someone who did a very bad thing awhile ago. He'd
been spotted at Nordani's recently and I was just wondering
if you'd seen him hanging round your place?"
Loki just stared at her.
"He's Linorian. Name of Joran D'Jarra. He... What? What
is it?" Something in the old Wookiee's eyes made the skin
prickle on the back Taryn's neck. "You know him, don't you?
Where is he?!"
Loki looked away.
"Lokida, he's worth a lot to me... Where is he?!"
Again, no answer. They sat there, Lokida glaring at the
wall and Taryn glaring at Lokida.
Just then, Tira interrupted. "There's something out there,
Taryn. A humanoid, rather large and it appears to be heading
this way, slowly... limping, I'd say."
Taryn was about to get up to look for herself when she saw it.
The subtle, almost imperceptible shift of body weight. Anyone
else would never have noticed it but Taryn had grown up with
Loki and knew when the Wookiee was nervous. Even Wookiees get
scared.... sometimes.
"Tira! Scan it, quickly!"
"Scanning." There was a small pause then, "It's Linorian!"
Shooting a triumphant glance at Loki, Taryn jumped up and ran
for the airlock. At least, she'd tried to run there. With an
outraged roar, after Tira's annoucement, Lokida had reached
over and grabbed Taryn's arm. Taryn froze, remembering what
Loki had done to those Rodians earlier.
"Lokida. Let me go. Now." To the Human's surprise, she did
and sat down heavily into her chair, refusing to look at Taryn.
Cautiously, Taryn backed towards the door and into the corridor,
where she turned and broke into a run, pulling out her blaster
on the way. She didn't know why Loki was acting like this and,
at this moment, she didn't much care. D'Jarra was here and now,
after all these damned months of playing Cat and Mouse, he was
finally going to pay for what he'd done to Myn... oh yes. She
could already taste the sweetness of revenge...
