Only the Good

[Ledo G. Prent]

He wasn't a man of many words. The few he cared to ply in were often coarse and vulgar, and of little greater consequence. So the task before him was deceptively daunting. Three letters. Three different things to say. Not many words to each, and the few he'd scratched were sloppily handwritten and no-doubt had spelling mistakes. But there was a certain romance to that, or at least he hoped. While HoloNet made it trivial to send a message from Coruscant to Munto Codru in the blink of an eye, it was cavalier and effortless. And maybe face to face, these important words would come out wrong when he needed them to be said just right.

"Bring me anudder bottle."

Ledo growled, glassy-eyed from his barstool. His trusty knife, the only thing he owned that he assigned any real value to, stood perpendicular to the ragged wood grain bar, it's well-honed blade an eighth deep into the surface. The thin light inside the bar caught glistening on the blade and the stacked leather ring grip, both lovingly maintained yet weathered almost as much as it's owner.

thunk

Another bottle of Bilbringi rum. Ledo sloshed the bottle, pulling the cork free with his teeth, and poured a measure into his dirty glass. It had taken him a bottle to get this far. Another word. A final period. Done. Crag-skinned hands worked the thick stock of paper, creasing each with loving precision into thirds, and pressed each into a pre-marked envelope.

The Rodian adjacent to him reached for the bottle, and the old pirate clapped a hand over the alien's own, holding the bottle firmly in place.

"Yer drivin' mate."

The Rodian blinked, shrugging.

"If the money's good, old man. Three letters halfway across the galaxy. That's time, old man. That's effort. That's money."

Ledo downed his rum, turning the glass upside down on the bar as he slapped it back down. He reached into his pocket, and pulled out a pre-authorized chit. The Rodian glanced at it, his antennae perking to signal he was suitably impressed by the payment as he pocketed it.

"I'll do it. You're crazy though. Who sends letters these days."

The pirate glanced at his courier, then looked away.

"People who got summin t' say."

[Byl Laprovik]

Dac

It was a rare day on the ocean planet without a torrential downpour, and the sun was out in spirit with unthreatening clouds hung against blue like great, lazy whales. The moment everything turned pleasant, Byl Laprovik was off, running the length of the outer concourse of their small city suspended over the waves. Groups of Humans and Mon Cals gave the runner wide berth as he held to a firm pace. The circuit was 15.4 kilometers, a proper endurance cycle but also short enough to push your limits. As the Alliance agent was closing the final kilometer, he took pains to keep pace and form. The unusual heat of the day had brought out his perspiration, which darkened his shirt down lines both front and back.

The last 200 meters, Byl abandoned discipline. This was the point to use everything in the tank. To push beyond tired. His vision narrowed to the objective, the sound of footfall and breath and blood all in time with urgent rhythm. At last he reached the point where he began, at the apartment that he shared with James Prent. Not sacrificing an ounce of his stride until he passed the mark, he allowed another fifty meters to bleed his inertia and eventually close to a stop.

Flush-faced, glistening with sweat, and still breathing heavily, Byl doubled back those last few meters to the front door, his expression changing from dull and grim-faced to suddenly focused. He hadn't imagined it. Walking, but quickening his step, Byl reached the apartment door, but stooped down rather than hitting the control switch. There was something wedged in the threshold. He pulled it away.

An envelope.

It was seam side up. Turning it over in his hand, he read the scratchy handwriting on the front.

James Prent

Byl frowned, turning the letter over in his hand as he considered the usual paranoid due diligence he was accustomed to. Eventually, however, he simply pressed the button in front of him to open the door.

"James?"

[Cirrsseeto Quez]

Somewhere along the Tionese frontier

The war was over. It was the lie they'd all learned to live with. Mortal combat with the Galactic Empire paused for indefinite hiatus while each side stared across a wide gulf, sharpening their apocalyptic knives. The eternal shadow of dread hanging over the known universe. And yet, underneath that shadow, fighting never really ended. There were no shortage of weekend villains. Tinpot one planet warlords cast like poisonous seeds across the fallow fields of the outer rim. Neat and tidy wars settled in days or weeks, that maybe made the second feed cycle on the HoloNet.

The weekend villains were as real as the Empire. The fighting was real. The blood was still real. Real enough when you could still see and smell it.

"Is there anything else for your report, Captain Quez?"

The holographic admirals in his office flickered and shimmered. While they were conveniently desk-sized recreations, he was the one in the room left feeling small. Clearing his throat, Cirrsseeto arranged his notes in front of him.

"jIt's my assessment that the Vantjiil Rrajiderrs have been effectjiveljy neutrraljized as a pjirracy thrreat on thjis corrrjidorr. Wjith the confjirrmed kjills frrom the local squadrron and ourr own engagements, jI don't beljieve they can effectjively mount rresjistance herre."

In short, good enough. No closure. It felt so familiar. The holographic admirals seemed pleased by this somehow. Maybe the raiders were snuffed out. Maybe they simply scrambled for relative safe haven in the Tion Cluster. Or maybe they'd be some other Alliance star system's problem next week. Good enough.

"Thank you, Captain. We are coordinating with ORCOM commands to evaluate our efforts. In the meantime, your orders are to make course for Lantillies and effect repairs and rearmament. Two week furlough for command and crew."

"Aye, ma'am."

"Command out."

And in unison, the holographic admirals conveniently made their exit, leaving Cirrsseeto alone in the void. He turned in his chair, staring out into the empty perpetual night of deep space. Beyond a star to call home. Wearily shuffling his meeting notes aside, he found a datapad beneath it that was next in the queue of matters to attend. Standard formatting. Alliance Navy letterhead.

From the AFP Novgorod, Cirrsseeto Quez, Captain. Dear [MR/MRS/MS] [NAME], it is with profound regret that I write to you to inform you that [RANK] [NAME] has been killed in the line of duty.

All neat and tidy. The condolences, extolling of service virtues, and every nuance of verbage already fussed over and settled by lawyers and chaplains. All you really had to do was fill in the blanks. Cirrsseeto's hand started to tremble, and he turned back to his desk to rest the pad on it's cluttered surface.

Next to the paper letter.

His hand hovered over each, balling into a fist briefly to steady it as he reached for the paper instead. It's ugly handwriting and unapologetic syntax. The smudge of ink. A stain the Captain couldn't identify. Everything the condolence letter he had to write was not. He wondered how long the damned thing had to plod along on Alliance supply ships to piggyback to his squadron, bouncing from hot spot to hot spot. A ridiculous, inefficient way to reach out to your fellow man, and yet...something in that meant more. More than a form letter. More than a thing he could just stick a name onto, press a button, and send halfway across the galaxy. All the way to Sullust, where a mother might even read it a few seconds later, and have her heart torn out with grief.

Cirrsseeto knew who sent this letter. And he knew why he did.

[Sanis Prent]

Bespin

The Theelin girl kept her face on the pillow and the business end up. Maybe she could tell I wasn't in the mood to get creative. I wasn't even looking at her, just straight ahead at that stupid painting over my headboard, watching the slight movements it made on the wall, marking time of each thrust. It cost two thousand seven hundred credits. A triangle, three squares, and a confetti of paint daubs. I bought it precisely because it cost two thousand seven hundred credits, had a name attached to it, and the colors matched the room.

These were the kinds of things that concerned me now.

I released, only now breaking contact with the painting and remembering I wasn't actually alone tonight. The Theelin girl - the only name she'd ever given me was Angel - rolled over on the bed, breathily reciprocating arousal. Faker. I didn't care. I got off the bed, padding naked to the refresher to clean up. I hadn't yet installed a water system. A guy was coming to give an estimate for that next week. Five minutes later, I was done, but didn't quite make it out of the bathroom. The mirror distracted me. Maybe it was the angle I glanced at in passing, but I paused. Not out of vanity this time. I wasn't sure quite what I was looking at. A line on my face that hadn't been there five years ago? Something behind the eyes?

"Are you coming back?" Angel called from the bedroom. She was used to a three part act. We'd done this little dance before.

"Yeah."

I'd broken my attention from the reflection a moment out of reflex to turn to the door. I glanced back, and it was just that. A reflection.

"I need a drink."

The bathrobe was cinched around my middle two strides out of the bedroom. It was velvet and tailored. Who was I even trying to impress with a bathrobe in a bathroom with no actual water? I walked past the bedroom, heading to my office.

"Do you have any champagne?"

"I'll bring it."

Angel was two hundred credits an hour. Champagne was just gratuity. One crytal flute. One bottle from the cubby fridge. I set those aside. I wasn't in the champagne mood tonight. A level of scotch from the decanter into a waiting tumbler, sitting next to that damned letter. Distracted again. I set aside the champagne, and fell into my chair. Scotch in one hand, letter in the other.

"Hey."

She'd come into the office. I hadn't noticed. Folding the letter up, I killed my scotch, and rose from my seat.

"Sorry."

Angel was giving me a look I didn't like. I held the champagne and the glass up.

"You alright?"

I stopped dead in my tracks. That wasn't the sort of question I was expecting. Not the kind of question I paid for. I filled her glass.

"You care?"

Angel must have realized she'd stepped across a threshold. She wore uncertainty on her face.

"I don't know. Maybe? I'm here every week, Mr. Prent. You're a little more than another john, y'know."

A hooker for a confidant. Who else did I have?

"You got a family?"

She tensed. Now it was my turn to cross the threshold. We were stuck in this social construct of sympathy, so out of place it almost physically hurt. I cursed under my breath, shaking my head.

"Fuck it, nevermind. Don't answer that."

I turned to my floor to ceiling windows. Beyond, the city in the clouds glowed brilliantly in the night sky.

"You want me to stay?"

Nothing I could do here was going to fix any of this. Nothing.

"No."

[James Prent]

Dac


James was sitting on the sofa when Byl came into their apartment. The vidscreen on the wall had some show or another on - she'd turned it on for background noise while she folded laundry, but had tuned out long ago. It was a beautiful day outside and she had the curtains drawn against the view.

It wasn't that she was agoraphobic, exactly, but she still had a hard time looking out on the endless expanse of blue ocean that made up the planet Dac. Okay, maybe she was agoraphobic. And traumatized. And hiding from ... She took a deep breath, pushing her thoughts away and resisting the urge for a smoke.

"Have a good run?" James smiled up at Byl, her lap covered in folded shirts. Piles of haphazardly folded clothes rose around her on the couch and coffee table like a synthetic fabric mountain range. "I finally got the laundry done." She grimaced a bit, and tossed a pair of socks onto the growing mound on the floor.

[Byl Laprovik]

"Huh?"

The sound of rushing blood was still in his ears. Byl parsed her question together a second later, distracted by the letter in his hand.

"Yeah."

As an afterthought, he checked his pacekeeper on his wrist, looking at time of completion. He frowned.

"About a minute slow."

Again, he turned the letter over in his hand.

"Must've been distracted by the view. The clouds are..."

Byl looked at James. She'd kept herself busy around the apartment. Parables about idle hands. Until two minutes ago, he'd planned on running through the refresher and pulling her out into the daylight to act like regular people. A little slip of paper had a profound effect on his frame of mind.

"I found this wedged in the door."

[James Prent]

"Advertisement?" she asked, looking up from a flimsy undergarment that she was deciding to just wad up and shove in a drawer. Byl's face made her pause, however, and she held out her hand for the paper, her heart skipping a beat. What was it?

James turned it over in her hands, a slightly grubby envelope with her name scrawled on the front. The address was out of date by a few months, and it had apparently been hand delivered because door to door mail service was a thing that... well, she couldn't even remember it being a thing, ever. Not on civilized worlds, anyway.

"Should I open it?" She looked up at Byl with a grimace. "This is kinda weird."

[Byl Laprovik]

The slippery slope would take him to a dark place, starting with burning the letter and picking up in the middle of the night to move halfway across the galaxy. Severing ties, changing names. Running. She could see the question behind his eyes, and the tensing of his body. But in that moment, he relented.

"It's just a letter."

Not exactly a downplay. Who sent letters?

"Do you want me to open it?"

[James Prent]

Yes, she thought, but she shrugged, acting more flippant than she felt. "Nah, it's just a letter. I guess." James turned it over a few more times, and then found a weak spot in the seal where she could tear the envelope apart.

After another hesitation she got the letter open, discarding the torn envelope and unfolding the contents.

[Byl Laprovik]

No microfilament bombs. No suspicious powders. No glowing sith runes. No clandestine pitfalls from imagined bogeymen. Just a letter. Would he impose if he sat adjacent and read over her shoulder? Yes. Byl fidgeted where he stood, resolving to trust James to the contents of what she was reading.

"What is it?"

[James Prent]

Her mouth had slowly fallen open as she read, and then she turned it around and handed it to Byl.

James,
It's been a long wile since I seen your lovly face. I
know I wasn't what you wished fore, and I wishd I
was a better dad. I give yer dearst mum a
necklace once, and I hope she up and give it to
you when she rest her sole. I wanna see you ware
it, and see my pritty girl again. Come and see me
on Tatooween.

A hug and a kiss,
Yer ol' man

She opened and closed her mouth a few times, then managed, "Um. So, that's a thing that jus' happened."

[Byl Laprovik]

He took the letter, eyes still meeting her incredulous expression. As they drifted to the letter's contents, his brows raised at the nuna-scratch handwriting. Papa Prent wasn't exactly a Chandrila Scholar.

"The last time you met your dad was bloody awkward, wasn't it?"

James wasn't the first person in the galaxy to have a dysfunctional family life, but Ledo Prent wasn't just a deadbeat. He was a pirate.

He wasn't sure what else to do with the letter, other than fold it up and hold it in front of him like it was radioactive. He didn't need to ask what she was going to do. She was still processing it.

[James Prent]

"That's puttin' it mildly," she said. After a moment James surged off the couch, displacing and knocking over a pile of folded pants and leaving a trail of mismatched socks in her wake as she made her way into the bedroom. Byl heard her rummaging around, and then she reemerged, a thin silver chain in her hand.

She kicked a sock out of the way and walked over, holding it up. "Didn't know this was from him. Got it from social services - it's about the only thing of m'mom's I got. I have," she corrected herself. She'd been working on her accent, determined to stop sounding like some inbred Nar Shadaaian bumpkin. Or like him, she thought, glancing at the letter Byl was still holding. Talking to Ledo had been the catalyst, now that she thought about it.

A small blue stone in a simple silver setting dangled from the chain. "It's just glass, or near enough it don't - doesn't matter."

[Byl Laprovik]

Byl looked at the keepsake. The silver had been lovingly maintained to ward off tarnish, but the stone was fairly dull. Not even paste, it wasn't so ambitious. A barely glossed patina, cloudy and uneven translucence. At least it was perfectly round, couched in a silver cage at the center. He looked from the jewelry to the girl who'd inherited it. The girl whose patois was regressing. Mussing up clean clothes. Mussing up syntax. A glimpse back a few chapters toward the front of the book. What did Ledo want? Money? They had almost none of that.

"This is the part where I'd be telling you no, isn't it?"

[James Prent]

Her mouth twisted, her eyes fixed on the bit of blue dangling from her hand. "You could say it." James looked up at him, her face a mix of emotions. "I'd say you can come with?"

[Byl Laprovik]

He was on a fulcrum. A tipping point between caution and living. Something terrible could happen to James either way, and that was becoming clearer to him. Was he more worried about her dying, or more worried about her not living?

Byl took the necklace from her hands, working the clasp apart. He wasn't the surest of hands, but a moment of effort had the necklace around her neck. His fingers traced the chain to the front, resting over the blue stone.

"Okay."

[James Prent]

She placed her hand over his, her heart thumping against his touch. "It'll be okay," she said. "If he tries anything stupid I'll just kick him in the shins. Could be he's just gettin' nostalgic in his advanced years. Plus, I've always wanted to visit Tatooine."

"Really?" He kissed her forehead.

"No," she sighed.

[Cirrsseeto Quez]

Tatooine

flick

The fly was back. Cirrsseeto had gotten five good minutes to himself. This cantina was a shithole.

bzzzzz

He heard it coming a foot before it landed, again tickling the hairs at the tuft of his right ear. Again, catapulted. He'd be back. The asshole was relentless. Bored blue eyes traced his imagined flight path to puckered divots in the mud wall. He'd seen enough blaster shots to know the end result. Maybe some drunkard had been bored to sand madness and tried to wing the very same fly.

The barkeep eyed Cirrsseeto like a carrion bird. He'd been drying the same glass for two minutes, waiting for him to order a drink. Twenty credits for a glass of water, Nomaani's barbed cock. Like hell! The beer was cheaper by five fold. Eventually he was going to have to capitulate, and the barkeep was just waiting for it. Cirrsseeto was sweating through his cheap shirt. Everything he wore outside of a uniform or a set of filthy coveralls these days made him feel like a tourist. Didn't help that it was a floral print. Maybe the array of deep green leaves and pink flowers would break up the outline of pit stains?

"Still waiting for your friend?" the barkeep purred, his greasy head glinting sunlight from the open hole in the wall that counted as a window.

"Yeah."

Cirr's tail snapped in annoyance. Where was that pirate? You didn't show up late to your own party.

zzzzz

Angry blue eyes turned upwards, moving left and right.

"jI thjink jI'm rready forr that beerr."

[James Prent]

"Better add a shot of whiskey to that order," James said, hopping up onto the stool next to Cirr. "Oh, an' two more beers."

The bartender grunted and set to pouring. She looked up at the huge Cizerack and smiled. "Been a while, Cirr." Behind her Byl was lurking somewhere, checking out the place before committing to sitting next to her. If he took too long, she'd already decided she was going to drink his beer.

[Cirrsseeto Quez]

He didn't initially place the voice, and his attention was too busy fussing over his fingernails to get a look as she sat beside him. She sure was talking to him in the familiar though. Pretty fresh, lady - he thought. Five people in a bar at the middle of day in Anchorhead, and she's the only one of 'em trying to have a good time. He was about to politely excuse himself when he heard the voice say his name. Say what?

Cirr's head turned a quarter turn right, his eyes went big as saucers, and he promptly fell off his barstool in shock, rattling the floorboards, causing the barkeep to drop a glass, and causing the drunk old prospector in the back booth to wake up with a "Wossat?!"

[James Prent]

"Ohmigod," James exclaimed, half reaching for him as he toppled, but pulling back before she got caught up and yanked down as well. She put her hands to her face. "I'm so sorry! I didn't mean t' scare you!"

[Cirrsseeto Quez]

He was reminded of a time when Sanis made some offhand mention about cats always landing on their feet. Something along the lines of if that's true, I think you're at least half shaak, buddy. Wincing on the floor, he wasn't sure whether his head hurt worse or his bottom, but pain and embarrassment took back seat to seeing a long lost friend. Cirr scrambled to his feet and swept her off hers.

"Ja irra! James!"

He wrapped her up in both tawny arms, kissing each cheek like a giddy child.

"Sa'aite tee'aallo na tu eina arre you rreal?! Arre you rreally herre?!"

[James Prent]

"Aauggh! Yes, yes, I'm here." James flailed a bit and then hugged him, mostly in self defense. "And you are here! I thought you were like an admiral or somethin' by now. Novgorod, right?" She looked up at the ceiling. "We didn't see any Alliance ships in orbit. What are the odds, huh?"

He placed her back on her stool and she ran her hands through her short hair, smoothing it back.

[Cirrsseeto Quez]

"Well, jit's Captajin..."

Her attempt to flatter him with a hyperbolic promotion caused his tail tuft to poof in embarassment. The rest of him couldn't sit still, even as he gingerly regained his seat, remembering his smarting bum. Cirr couldn't quite figure out what to do with his excited hands, so he forced them together unnaturally in his lap, looking like he was going to burst. A million questions raced in his eyes as he looked at her. Where did you go? What have you been doing?. The giddiness in his expression subsided somewhat. I'm sorry.

"jI'm on leave actually."

Captain Quez glanced around at the locale, a reminder of how dumpy a vacation spot this was.

"Prrobably should have pjicked a betterr vacatjion spot."

But something she'd said hadn't fully processed in his brain yet. A second later it did, and his ears flicked askew.

"How do you know about Novgorrod?"

[James Prent]

"Uhhhh, I'd tell ya but I'd have t' kill ya?" James snagged the first beer the bartender set down. "I live on Dac now. Have for a while actually." She sipped her drink and wrinkled her nose at the taste. "Between you an' me I could do with a little less wide open spaces. Guess the desert isn't so good for that, either."

[Cirrsseeto Quez]

Cirr's expression went dumbfounded. On Dac this whole time? They'd spent no-telling how many days on the same planet with no one the wiser. His mouth gawked, big eyes blinking in disbelief. The beer he'd palmed rested mere inches from his mouth, untouched.

"You jojined the Rrebellji- er, the Alljiance?"

She didn't seem the type. That didn't mean much though. Neither did he.

[James Prent]

James laughed a bit. "Not exactly. My partner works for them. He's," she looked around the bar, "around here somewhere."

She stared as obviously as she could at the ring on his hand. "And you got married? I can't believe it." Cirr was a far cry from the haphazard mechanic of the Layla that she'd known. He'd matured in obvious ways, and yet somehow hadn't changed at all.

[Cirrsseeto Quez]

Cirr smiled when he heard partner. James was one of the sweetest, nicest people he'd ever met. He hadn't made good on his kitten crush he'd had for her in those early days, so he hoped she was as happy as she deserved to be. Either way, a lot better than potentially having an accidental hook-up with your brother!

She'd mentioned his ring, and his hand moved to rest on the counter. Now he couldn't help but smile, bashful feelings keeping his tail frizz high.

"jI took herr name, actually. jI'm a Quez now. They sajid jI couldn't be a mechanjic any morre so jI marrrjied one jinstead!"

Still, something was unsaid. This was all too neat and tidy for how the galaxy ought to work.

"What brrought jyou all the way out herre to Tatoojine?"

[James Prent]

"Got a letter from m'dear ol' dad," she said, the sarcasm heavy. James smiled tightly and raised her eyebrows expressively. "I actually met him, randomly, a while back. It was..." Her voice trailed off. "Bizarre, I guess."

She leaned back, looking at Cirr appraisingly. "He mentioned he was with th' Novgorod, now that I recall. You wouldn't have - are you - did you...?"

[Cirrsseeto Quez]

Cirr fell off his barstool once more, this time causing the stool to break.

CRASH

"Wossat?"

No more surprises! Cirr gingerly rubbed his head as he lay on the floor.

"Aaaai...ei'ssa ne ja'naathee keikakaalo sa'he he's yourr fatherr?!?"

[James Prent]

She hopped off her barstool and grabbed his hand, even if any help she could offer was purely symbolic. "Sanis told you, didn't he? Prent isn't that common of a last name...."

[Cirrsseeto Quez]

He waved her off, knowing full well that if he took that hand she'd be coming down with him.

"Arre you kjiddjing? He'd soonerr shoot you than talk about Narr Shaddaa. No! jI mean jI knew Ledo's last name, but...but..."

Cirr gesticulated wildly with his hands in exasperation.

"Look at hjim! He looks ljike a dewback trrjied to kjiss a buzz saw. jI djidn't connect the dots."

Bewildered blue eyes looked at James and tried to imagine how Ledo made that. He grimaced. Grunting as he got to his feet, he continued to rub the goose-egg on the back of his head. The barkeep gave him a weird look as he simply opted to stand this time. He pulled a slightly-crumpled envelope from a pocket.

"Yourr letterr, jit wouldn't happen to look somethjing ljike thjis, would it?"

[James Prent]

She looked at the envelope, a frown creasing her brow. "Yeah... Told me he wanted to see me on Tatooine. Followed the return address to here. What did yours say?"

[Cirrsseeto Quez]

His face plainly befuddled, Cirr passed the note over to James.

Deer Cap'n Rowrsha Rahsoot Surseeta,

It having been an honur and privlej to serve abourd the good ship Novgrod, I'm writin this letter to ya in hopes it finds you well. Hoping respectabul command ain't got you preoccupide, I gots a mission of me own that I humbly seek your hand in helpin. Come and meet me on Tatooween if it ain't incanvenient of ya.

Sinceerly,
Ledo G. Prent
Rancor of Malastare

[Byl Laprovik]

Byl ducked in from outside, looking cagy. Or more to the point, business as usual. He checked the position of all five people in the bar, eventually heading to James who was chatting up a fairly awkward-looking Cizerack.

"Everything's pretty quiet." He sidled up to his girl, locking his hand in hers as she looked over a letter. A different letter. Blue eyes ran Cirrsseeto up and down suspiciously.

"Friend of yours?"

[James Prent]

She leaned back into Byl, and nodded, handing Cirr's letter over to him. "This is Cirrsseeto Raur-ah, Quez. Captain Quez, actually. He was Sanis' first mate, back...in the day." James pursed her lips, looking at Cirr.

"Your letter mentions a mission, but mine didn't. But this can't be a coincidence, right?" She took her beer with her free hand, to try and stop the itching for a stim that always got worse when she got anxious.

[Cirrsseeto Quez]

"Ja irra." Cirr extended a hand in greeting, getting a firm shake from James' hard-faced companion. He looked like a pretty tough operator, and Cirr had traveled rough enough times to judge the sort. "Frrjiend of James jis a frrjjiend of mjine."

Parting hands, I looked back to James, and we both compared each letter. Same goddess-awful handwriting. Same mistakes. Both cut to the heart of each recipient, and asked for a rendezvous at Tatooine. Cirr scratched his chin in thought.

"Sounds ljike yourr old man has somethjing bjig jin mjind."

Or he just wanted everyone he knew to join him to get mind-meltingly drunk. Cirr thought flippantly. Ledo was a solid sort when the chips were down, but he definitely saw where Sanis got the gene. Every day an adventure or a misadventure.

[Sanis Prent]

From the outside, it took a while before the blinding daylight ebbed away. Everyone was shadow and fog. Still, I had ears enough to hear familiar voices.

"That'll be a first."

I was already drunk. Probably not the best course of operation, but if I was sober I wouldn't have had the silly notion to actually follow through with any of this. I walked to the family reunion in progress, clapping Cirr on the shoulder as I passed. I didn't know why he was here. Maybe my luck still existed and he was my guardian angel. I stood in front of James, ignoring the man she was with, and swayed slightly on my feet.

"So he got you too, then."

[James Prent]

After seeing Cirr she really shouldn't have been surprised, but James was still a bit taken aback when Sanis walked up to them. "Been a while," she said, not sure whether to laugh or cry at the sight of her half brother. He smelled like he'd crawled out of a whiskey bottle.

She opened her mouth again, but couldn't find the words to express what she was feeling, so she just drained her beer instead. "I think I'm going t' need another."

[Sanis Prent]

I hated that she was here. It was a reflection of the awful human being I already knew I'd become. I'd cut her loose with half-assurances she'd be in good hands, and then scattered to the four winds. Confirmation that I was more like my old man than I wanted to confront right now.

"You look good, James." I nodded, hoping I could take the edge off my shame by talking. And she did, though you could naturally see the mileage here and there. It just ended up feeling awkward. Another nip from my flask provided a dose of social anesthetic.

"Guess you finally get to meet dad. Hope your expectations aren't too high. Wonder how many more of us bastards he invited."

[Byl Laprovik]

Byl slowly unwound his hand from James' embrace, leveling his severe expression on her brother.

"You're drunk, Sanis."

A statement of the obvious, but he wasn't about to let the man trample unchecked around James' heart. It was a warning that the next cross words out of the former smuggler's amount wouldn't be chalked up to a mistake.

[Cirrsseeto Quez]

He hadn't been Sanis' babysitter in so long, he forgot how much of a full time job that it was. A big hand clamped warmly around Sanis's shoulder, unmistakeably friendly but certainly capable of wrangling his friend if he said or did anything he shouldn't.

"Come on, arr'uhai, we'rre all a bag of nerrves. Yourr dad's apparrently got that effect on people."

[James Prent]

"Mmhm." James eyed Byl's untouched beer and she put down her empty glass. "Nice suit. Shiny." She leaned over the bat and flagged down the bartender. "Do y' serve caf?" Sanis could use a cup or ten.

"Wossat?"

"Never mind." She grabbed Byl's hand again, willing his tense body to relax. Things were stressful enough without considering that he might disappear Sanis for being too rude. "I met Ledo on Dac, actually. It was...strange."

[Sanis Prent]

You're goddamned right I'm drunk. Who's that, anyway? I saw the hand-holding. Must be the beau. Before I could cook off, Cirr had his hand at my shoulder, saying the right thing when I needed it. Wait.

Why did he know my old man? And James had apparently had a family reunion on the side? I let her comment about the suit slide, she wasn't as eager to shake the scum of Nar Shaddaa off her feet as I was.

"Would someone mind telling me exactly what the hell is going on? First off, big guy, how the hell do you even know the ol' sperm donor. Two, sis, what do you mean you met him? Did he pull that little bit together or did you?"

I ran a hand through my hair out of habit, disturbing the calm of it all. From there, I pulled an envelope from inside my jacket.

"I guess I'm not the only one of us that got one of these, then?"

[Cirrsseeto Quez]

"Yourr fatherr serrved on my shjip."

Cirr kept it abridged, pulling out his crumpled letter to confirm Sanis' suspicions. He left the details of Ledo's service unsaid. That he'd effectively been impressed into service in a time of crisis because being thrown in jail seemed too inconvenient seemed an unnecessary segue.

"jI...owe hjim one."

The look Sanis shot back could've chilled solar plasma.

"jI djidn't know he was yourr dad!"

[James Prent]

James tapped their envelopes with hers. "Cheers." She appropriated the untouched pint on the bar, taking a sip. "I ran inna him, that's all. I have his face printed on m'brain thanks to the holo I have."

She snatched Sanis' letter and peeled it open before he could protest. "What dren is this?! He's gonna give you money?!" She flicked the paper into the air, her eyes rolling. "Guess he knows what buttons to push."

[Sanis Prent]

I snatched the letter mid-tumble indignantly.

"Do I look like I need the money?"

Which, holy shit yes I did. I was indebted so far into Sasseerri Reeouurra that barring money or a suitably-happy spiritual afterlife, the only way out was through a really talented gynecologist.

"It's all a game, don't you get it? He's screwing with us the same that he screwed us over when he left."

If I felt like I had his number so well, how come I felt so hurt? A sneer rolled over my expression as I balled the letter up into a crumple.

"I just came back to..."

Someone once said the best revenge was living life well, and making sure your enemies lived even longer to see it. I wasn't that clever.

"...hear what he's got to say and throw it in his face."

[James Prent]

"Good luck with that," she muttered, leaving her letter on the bar. "Any idea when the ol' man is gonna show? Wasn't exactly a timetable in my message."

[Byl Laprovik]

"Didn't pick up a lookout on my canvas."

Byl finally stole back a sip from his own commandeered brew to keep things sporting between him and James. He knew that he was playing designated paranoiac so he wouldn't be drinking much at all.

"I doubt the old man's that clever, so I'd wager safe it's being fashionably late to his own party."

[Cirrsseeto Quez]

This sure was awkward, and his head sure did hurt. Cirr grimaced a little, his hand on Sanis's shoulder becoming more an embrace.

"Well, guess we get to pass the tjime catchjing up on thjings."

A nervous laugh as he chugged his beer. Oh Saanjarra, if he'd ever thought this would've got him in the middle of the Prent family reunion...oh who was he kidding, he'd have to be here anyway. Sanis wasn't blood, but he was the next closest sort of thing.

[James Prent]

James looked sideways at Byl, but didn't take the drink back. "Yeah, what have you been doin' since I saw you on Cloud City? More gambling? Drag any other half-siblings out of a bonfire and abandon them at a hospital?" She leaned back against the bar on her elbows, and tilted her head to look at Sanis with a bland look on her face.

[Sanis Prent]

My expression was dark and sullen. She didn't know how close to the mark she'd hit. I'd gone full circle and the only thing different was the decor.

"I'm a shitty brother, I get that. I'm kind of out of practice. All I knew was that I couldn't stay and wait for you to figure yourself out while I was in a ship I could barely keep fueled, trying to keep me and this big lunchbox fed. I met you and you were bussing tables, yeah? The fucking tragedy. I rescue you from that shit and what happens? A bunch of yokels damn near burn you to death because they're scared as hell of what you are. That happened because of me. It's my fault!"

I averted my eyes.

"You were being taken care of by someone a whole lot better at it than me."

[James Prent]

"You actually think that, don't you." James shook her head, eyes closed for a moment. "You've got no idea what I've been thr-" She abruptly closed her mouth on the words, looking up at Byl. She turned back to the bar. "I'm going to need something stronger than beer."

There was a moment of silence, and then she rounded on Sanis, sticking her finger in his chest. "You think that shit was your fault? You've got t'be the most stuck up, self centered, narcissistic ... Gah!" She gave him a good poke with her finger to punctuate her frustration.

[Cirrsseeto Quez]

What had happened to her? Cirr's ears fell as he looked at the anguish on her face. It was more than the abandonment. She wasn't some wide-eyed space cherry anymore. You could just read the mileage on someone, and if Captain Quez was any good at estimating, she'd logged as much as they had.

"What happened, James?"

[James Prent]

Just as quickly as her frustration had bubbled up, James retreated. "Nothing." Her hand unconsciously sought out Byl's as she took a step back. "It's jus' ...complicated. But you," she jerked her chin at Sanis, "what happened to me on that planet wasn't on you. Leavin' me with th' Rebellion - I get that, I do. But you never came back.

"Just don't pull that self-righteous martyr shit with me. Not with me."

[Sanis Prent]

"I should've."

Staring down at my shoes, I had to look at her again. Had to look at that expression that cut me to the quick.

"Sorry's are cheap, but you get the best one I've got to give. I am sorry."

My shoulders sagged a little and I felt tired. Probably at least halfway induced by a fifth of whiskey working myself up to leaving the landing pad.

"I had an idea that I'd get things sorted. Get up on my feet. Be somebody that could be somebody for the handful of good people I know. It's been what, ten years now? If I wait another ten that doesn't guarantee shit."

Cirr seemed to sense this wasn't easy to get out, and he squeezed me on the shoulder like I was his marionette, and my head swayed a little.

"It doesn't atone for anything James, but I'd like to be your brother. Now, before I never get the chance just waiting for the timing to be right."

[James Prent]

"Yeah, well. Fine." James took a long swig of her new pint. "You can be my brother, I guess. Can you spot me fifty credits, bro?" She turned her head and smiled sweetly at him,

[Ledo G. Prent]

At that moment, Ledo stepped in from the daylight, his shadow casting long in the doorway.

[Byl Laprovik]

Byl noticed the entrance at once, a hand on James' arm.

"James."

He turned to face the man's silhouette. The further into darkness he stepped, the more features became visible. It was him.

[James Prent]

She looked up at Byl's touch, and swallowed a little too hard, beer sliding down her throat painfully. James coughed, eyes watering. "Speak of th' devil."

[Sanis Prent]

I followed her eyes, seeing a face I'd only had passing childhood memories of. Shit, he'd put a lot of miles on. I shifted my shoulder to face him, Cirr releasing his hold on me as I did.

"Well. We're here."

I was more than ready to make amends with James. My old man was another case. He didn't deserve any better than what he'd made for himself. Maybe Cirr felt some stupid obligation, but James and I didn't owe him shit.

[Ledo G. Prent]

Gone was the pirate's swagger. No boastful words. He walked in quietly, saying nothing for a moment as he looked to each of his kids. A nod to Cirrsseeto was the only thing to break his attention.

"Ah'm glad y' could all make it. Could fink a few reasons why y' wouldn't. Ah know Ah'm no' y' fav'rite sorra space dog, an Ah got a lotta accountin' fer tha'."

[James Prent]

James scrubbed a hand through her short hair, mussing it up. "So why are we here, Ledo?"

[Ledo G. Prent]

Couldn't say dad just once? It hurt. His pained expression didn't last long, and the old pirate pulled a holocube from his jacket.

"When yer as late in life as me, s'pose yeh start gettin' sen-tee-mental-like. Finkin' bou' whatcha really done wif yer years. Ah've been a royal arse t' too many folks, an' Ah've treated me sprogs all wrong. No takey-backseys, Ah ain't gon' insult yeh wif askin' t' forget abou' de school of hard knocks yeh was raised in. But Ah's hopin' yeh'd be a-meen-able to helpin yeh ol' dad do one ting ovah. Sometin' 'e propa cocked up in 'is wild and reckless youf."

Ledo slid the holocube on the bar, tapping it on. A beautiful sight shimmered into view. An alien life form of radiance and elegant grace, swirling in a maelstrom. It looked like some great fish or cetacean, though strangely translucent and shimmering, as if made out of energy.

"Ah'm askin' yeh to set out on a quest wif me, an' 'elp an old man do sometin' good ferra change."

[Sanis Prent]

I had piss off on my lips and ready to go, until I saw the image on the hologram. It was serene and absolutely beautiful.

It was also worth a staggering fortune.

"That's a Drongarian Siren."

Eyes wide, I looked up at the old man, and back down at the hologram. He'd told me I was rich. With a Siren, I most certainly could be.

[James Prent]

"You have got to be kidding me." James looked from Sanis' enraptured expression to Ledo's rocky crag of a face. "No. Nope. Have fun, we're leaving."

She fished in her pocket for a credit chit only to have Byl set one on the bar for her.

[Cirrsseeto Quez]

Cirr leaned forward, examining the hologram of the graceful creature, ears up high in surprise and rapt attention as he gawked.

"No one's seen one of these jin at least ten yearrs. They'rre supposed to have all been kjilled."

His hand went out longingly, almost as if to pet the hologram.

"She must be the last..."

How many Sirens had he drawn on the walls of his room as a cub? They were creatures of impossible beauty if you could get close enough to see one. Spacers said they drew entire starship crews to their doom, but that was just superstition that fueled an irrational desire to hunt them in the nebulae where they fed on cosmic radiation. It was the saddest thing. He'd watched a holo about a Cizerack girl who'd freed one from captivity and cried for a whole day.

[Byl Laprovik]

Byl paid the tab even as his eyes kept transfixed on the holo. Something about it struck a chord. There was beauty, certainly, but it somehow seemed sad. As if he could somehow divine it's loneliness just from movement. He swallowed down that feeling, averting his eyes as he looked back to James who had certainly had enough.

[Ledo G. Prent]

"Jamesy, please."

Ledo moved to stand between her and the door.

"Ah'm shite at askin', an Ah know Ah ain't much deservin' it. Tha' Bessie's in cap'tivity on accoun'na sometin' stupid Ah did when Ah wassa young pup. Ah spent ev'ry las' cred Ah got trackin' 'er down t' put tings rightways."

Ledo looked like a completely different man than the one she'd seen on Dac. There wasn't the cocksure grin, the braggadocio, or any boasting. His face was longer, jawline less resolute. He didn't know how to be like this.

"Maybe Ah'm shite a' it, but Ah'm hopin' tha' maybe if Ah don't know 'ow t' be good, maybe Ah know a few people who do."

[Sanis Prent]

I watched the old man's demeanor shift, and heard his words. My wondrous expression waned.

"Wait, so not only are you broke, but we're not trying to sell that thing for a king's fortune?"

With that, I killed the last of my flask, stuffing it into my pocket indignantly as I stood, moving to pass James.

"No, I'm out."

[James Prent]

"Typical," she shot at Sanis, elbowing him before he could scoot by. She stuck her hand in her hip and looked at Ledo. "So, what, you want us to team up and steal a Siren from whatever private collector you sold it to in the first place? How do you even - the logistics..." Her voice trailed off and she looked up at Byl for confirmation or advice, or ​something.

[Byl Laprovik]

"We'd need a fairly big ship, for starters."

The Alliance agent wet his parched lips, glancing furtively back to the hologram.

"Sirens aren't exactly small."

[Ledo G. Prent]

"Ah've gorrit already." Ledo gruffed. "An ol' neutro'ium fuel carriah. Slowa den kak but wide in de hips as dey say."

He made a motion of turning out his pockets.

"Why y' tink Ah'm broke now."

[Cirrsseeto Quez]

Cirr hunched over a little, cracking his big knuckles. He wore a serious, contemplative expression, and could see the storm forming in the distance.

"Don't suppose the people keepjing herr wjill just gjive herr up. We'll need to be perrsuasjive."

He looked back to Ledo, and nodded. They both knew.

[Sanis Prent]

I stopped in my tracks at the door's threshold, looking back at Cirr with disbelief. Even James' beau who seemed to be a pretty level head was turning wheels over this.

"You're all serious about this hippy dippy crusade, aren't you? What good's a warm fuzzy when you're not around to feel it because some tin pot warlord kills you over his space whale?"

[James Prent]

James looked at the beautiful holo of the Siren out of the corner of her eye. "If I went along with this - if!" she emphasized to stall Ledo's thanks, "What good am I? You don't need me unless there's a tight space none of you guys can squeeze into."

[Ledo G. Prent]

Ledo looked at his daughter, his eyes traveling down to the old familiar necklace she wore around her neck.

"Because wifou' de Siren's coopa'ration, she won't be willin' t' go anywheres. An' wif yer mum's stone, you can talk to 'er."

[James Prent]

James put her hand to her neck unconsciously, looking up at Ledo's mismatched blue eyes. "I - this is so unbelievable. This is just a bit of blue glass...?"

[Ledo G. Prent]

"Tha's no bitta blue glass, Jamesy."

She looked at him with disbelief.

"It's an egg."

[James Prent]

"No it isn't."

Ledo nodded again, and she shook her head. "Yeah it is."

"No, it's not." James unhooked the necklace and took it off, fastening it so the pendant wouldn't fall off, and held it up. "This is an egg?! Of what?!" Even as she asked it, she knew what the answer would be. She jabbed her finger at the holo. "Of a ​siren?"

[Ledo G. Prent]

"Ev'ry millennia, dey 'ave one. Watch ova it ferra cent'ry."

A deep sense of shame came over Ledo's features.

"Ah figga'd Delia'd 'ave sold 't. She an' you'd been set fer life."

[James Prent]

"Hard to sell anything when you're dead," she said flatly, wrapping the chain around her hand and holding the stone/egg? in the center of her fist.

[Ledo G. Prent]

"Forgettabou' me, Jamesy."

Ledo closed his hands over her own fist, looking back.

"She needs yeh. All Ah'm doin' is stumb'lin ovah me own feet tryin' to put tings right."

[Sanis Prent]

"She gets a priceless Siren egg. I get frozen dewback mutton for Life Day."

I was talking to myself out of self defense against the ridiculous. Stealing a glance at the stone before James palmed it, it didn't look like much. Hell, I'd watched her wear it up until this moment and never looked twice.

"Old man, are you dying? Is that it? Are you hacking a lung? Space parasites? Some cosmic-sized shoe ready to drop and you're trying to make amends for being a jackass?"

He didn't rile. He didn't snark back.

"You know what? Fuck it. I'm in. I've traveled this far already. Might as well hear the punchline."

And the part I wasn't willing to admit. I missed this sort of thing. Didn't want to admit how close me and the old man came on that sort of thing I guess.

[James Prent]

James was ready to open her mouth and say how this was all bullshit, but then Ledo put his hands around hers. Sanis was talking, but she didn't hear him. The stone in her hand seemed to get warm, and the Force sparkled around it. She stared, enraptured, and felt drawn in toward it...

Vertigo overtook her, and she tipped sideways, Ledo's hands suddenly holding her up until Byl grabbed her shoulders. "I felt her," she gasped, eyes flying open as she pulled her hand away from her father. "The siren. I..." James dashed away a tear from her face, emotion overwhelming her. "I have to help her. You're right," she said to Ledo. "She's so lonely..."

[Byl Laprovik]

Byl held her steady, knowing from her sudden change that she'd pierced that mysterious veil of which he knew so little. Whatever she'd seen had thrown aside her skepticism so completely. He didn't even have to ask are you sure. It was there plain on her face.

The Rebel agent held his girl close. She'd been there for him so many times. He'd follow her into hell if need be.

"Whatever you've got on the people holding her, I'd like to see it."

[Cirrsseeto Quez]

Cirr stepped away from the bar. He may have been the one that needed the least convincing of answering Ledo's call, but he was no less resolute now.

"Old man, you'd best show me to yourr shjip. Thjis mjight be yourr mjissjion, but jyou'rre gonna need an engjineerr."

The Cizerack crossed his thick arms around his broad chest with authority.

"And jI'm the best cat forr the job."

[Ledo G. Prent]

Ledo nodded to both Byl and Cirr in understanding. Even to Sanis, who had seemingly thrown in despite every misgiving. His eyes moved back to James, still coming to grips with the discovery she'd made.

"Thank ya', Jamesy."

It was a small thing to say, but it was all he could give in repayment to her words.

[James Prent]

She pressed her lips together and wrinkled her nose. "Let's just get it done. Like Byl said - Oh," she rubbed her face a bit, her cheeks getting pink. "This is Byl. Uh, we're... he's my... anyway, jus' tell us whatcha know. I'm not flyin' blind into the dark o' space wi' you not knowin' where we're goin'."

James flagged down the bartender. "Gimme an Atomized Eopie." He nodded, and a bright blue shot appeared, with a layer of dark red on top. She picked it up and slammed it back.

[Ledo G. Prent]

"Cor..."

Ledo didn't miss a beat, pressing the flesh with Byl as he clapped a hand on the man's shoulder.

"S'yer den Jamesy's squeeze ain'tcha? Arrite den Sonny Jim, wirra gettalong famous-like. Good man, good man."

The group navigated to a table and away from the bar. It was time to lay down the basics.

"De Siren, she's 'ow'dya say de crown jewels offa right od-ee-ous cunt by de name 'f Siro Kerkalos. Zygarrian bloke. Gorra twiggish look t' him but dem Zygarrian's dey 'arder den beskar an' rut'less t' boot!"

The old pirate lay down a flimsi with Siro Kerkalos' picture. Zygarrian aristocracy, he appeared somewhat as a dandy in a high collar and coiffed hair and sideburns set against felinoid ears and pronounced bony-ridged features.

"Dis Siro geeza, 'e gorrimself dis 'ere 'ow dey say...dacha. Big fuckoff mansion a toppa mesa out in de Zygarrian steppes where 'e can do wha'eva rich an' rut'less fucks do."

[Byl Laprovik]

Not knowing how to take the sudden heavy-handed hospitality other than with a firm handshake, Byl tried to be as affable as possible. He caught an incredulous look from James and as the old man turned his attention, he shrugged as if to say what?

That all evaporated when down to brass tacks. Immediately a look of dawning crossed Byl's face when introduced to the caper's antagonist.

"I know this man."

A face from dark days. Byl chewed on whatever words to say next regarding Siro Kerkalos.

"He's a slaver, and a powerful one."

[Sanis Prent]

"That's like saying Miranda Tarkin is into politics."

My old man was up one raging shit creek on this one.

"If it's human trafficking on the Hydian side of the rim, it's probably not going anywhere without this guy. He made a fortune off the Empire. Giving back a bit of it now that the galaxy is coming to its senses, but he's still a fucking menace."

[Cirrsseeto Quez]

Captain Quez remained darkly silent on the matter, tapping his broad chin with a claw tip as he looked at the photo alongside other photos presented of Kerkalos' dacha and finer bits of reconnaissance. Zygerria lay just beyond the Alliance's zone of influence at the far reaches of the Rim. The entire planet's deep history of warmongering and slaving was a perpetual back-biting threat. This wasn't going to be easy, no matter what.

[James Prent]

She was starting to feel pleasantly buzzed, and didn't protest when Byl steered her into a chair. "Trafficking in sentient life, Sanis, humans are a vast minority in the galaxy. Or do you actually mean humans?"

[Ledo G. Prent]

"Humans is mos'ly 'is forte."

Ledo grimly addressed James' confusion.

"Th' Empire 'ad a lotta enemies, po-litical-like. Course th' aliens they jus' sent 'em to be cheap labor theyselves, bu' the humans could jus' be sol' off to others who di'n't mind puttin' em to work. Enter Siro Kerkalos. He bought 'em up on th' cheap, an sol' em to jus' about anyone on th' outer rim who had a taste. The Skakoans, the Hutts, anyone. No tellin' 'ow many folks jus' disappeared."

[James Prent]

"Well, that's nice and creepy," she said. "So, bad guy who needs stopping an' a space whale. I still don't hear anythin' that sounds like a plan."

[Byl Laprovik]

"I know people in his organization, or at least people in his orbit. Could get us in close. If we pose as buyers, that might do it."

Byl spoke low, avoiding James' eye contact as he offered the revelation. It beat the idea of kicking the door down. And there was a possible upside.

"May be even that when we do end up pulling the wool over, we get a few people out of there to boot."

[Sanis Prent]

"I can handle that. We'll need skin in the game to make this look serious, and I can pull together enough spice to make Kerkalos take notice."

I could feel a pointed glance from Cirr to my side, and continued onward, addressing Byl.

"We get a meet set, make sure we have merchandise to look at, and arrange for face time."

Only now did I glance back to my former first mate.

"While we do that, you think you can get the wheels moving on our caper? You remember how to be a scoundrel still?"

[Cirrsseeto Quez]

Cirrsseeto begrudgingly offered a toothed smile, his ears raising a little.

"jI haven't forrgotten my rroots. jI'll get jin wjith the old man and James to fjind ourr mjissjing whale and sorrt out how to move herr. Just need to make surre tjimjing jis rrjight - and prreparre forr a fjight jif jit's not."

[James Prent]

"Now this sounds like a plan." James sat back, the warm glow from the alcohol spreading into her arms and legs. She crossed her arms in front of her chest. "Do we just attach a tow cable to th' Dragon Siren an' pull it along, or is just releasing it into space good enough? Can she...find her way back home or somethin'?"

She sat up a little, scanning their table for any drinks the others might have forgotten about that she could swoop in and take care of for them.

[Ledo G. Prent]

Ledo, buoyed by everyone's commitment to the early plan, stepped to the bar to retrieve a bottle of Florum Rum, which he uncorked with his teeth, before pouring out a few sloppy shots, one of which he claimed for himself.

"Tha' bessie 'll light up th' moment she getsa peek a' tha' egg a' hers. We do tha', an she'll go pret'y as ye please."

The old pirate downed his shot in a sloppy slurp, a drip running down his chin as he upended his glass on the counter.

"Course she's slow on 'er lonesome, now inn't she? If she's jus' turn'd loose in space afor' reachin' 'ome, she an' the lil' sprog'll be right easy pickins fer tha' cunt Kerkalos t' snatch right back."

Hands in his lap, he looked at each member of his team. His only family. Only friends.

"We get 'er 'ome, all th' way. One way ticket."

[Cirrsseeto Quez]

Three days later...


"What a pjiece of junk!"

Cirr wiped the sweat from his eyes, heaving the broken manifold with a grunt into the sands of the Dune Sea. He'd imagined converting a neutronium ore hauler would be a lot of work, but he didn't figure it would be this much. Entire sections of hull plate missing, no hyperdrive, and a radiation shield that would cook them alive if they managed to get the former to even work. Ledo had spent the past three days going back and forth from Mos Espa to ferry parts, leaving Cirr to tend to a fix-it list that added on a problem for every one he fixed. Sanis was off to Goddess-knows-were to pick up spice they'd be using to get an in with this Kerkalos maniac.

Byl was helpful, that much was a relief. Cirr didn't know much about the guy. He seemed guarded; tight lipped. He hovered close to James, who was also pitching in her fair share of the work. It didn't take much observing to tell that he cared a lot for her. It made him feel relieved that James had someone like that looking over her.

"jI have to stop." Cirr panted, daubing his face with his shirt that he'd taken to wearing as a head cover in the murderous Tatooine heat. He headed back to one of the hull openings in the carrier where James and her beau were sitting in the shade.

"Waterr..." He motioned to the cooler tucked an arm's length away from James as he sat next to Byl.

[James Prent]

James flipped open the cooler and pulled out a water bottle, quickly closing the chest and reaching across Byl to hand the precious resource to Cirr. "Be careful, I hear if you spill even a drop of it on the sand the Bomarr monks come and scoop your brain outta your head."

She grinned at Cirr's expression, and added, "Then y'have t' spend the rest of your life runnin' one of those vaporator farms as penance." She stood up and peeked out of the ship. "Never thought I'd be missing the wide open ocean vistas of Dac, but here we are. Deserts are worse."

[Cirrsseeto Quez]

Cirr gulped down big greedy mouthfuls of water, leaning back where he sat as he tilted the bottle up until finished. Just to make sure, he hung his open mouth under the opening, until the last trailing ribbon of liquid collected on the rim for a drop, which fell in his mouth.

"As scarry as bejing a brrajin spjiderr mjight be, jI thjink therre's a morre ljikely fate forr anyone carreless wjith waterr herre."

Returning the cap to the now-empty bottle, Cirr gave it a little flick over his shoulder as he gave James a friendly grin.

"jI haven't worrked thjis harrd jin a whjile. jIt's good to fjill the mechanjic's boots agajin."

[James Prent]

She turned around, silhouetted in the opening against the bright sands as she looked back at Cirr. "Been a long time since I've been on a ship with you and Sanis. Nar Shaddaa seems ages ago." A question was brewing inside of her, and had been for quite a while, and as she looked at Byl and Cirr it almost made her stomach hurt. "Have you seen her? Since... Ossus?"

Her. Loklorien. The question mark splashed across her past and future...James had to figure out how to deal with her feelings about the former Jedi before the rest of the puzzle that she'd been wrestling with could fall into place.

[Cirrsseeto Quez]

A conflicted expression crossed Cirr's face, and he only shook his head.

"Maybe jit's easy to say the warr has kept me away. Maybe jit has. Maybe jI'm afrrajid to fjind out the rrumorrs arre trrue."

Cirr glanced down to both James and Byl, and it was plain to see that the weight of Loklorien s'Ilancy's name weighed on both of them. Everything that happened leading up to and during the battle of Ossus had been hard to bear.

"Most of all, jI'm scarred to admjit that wjithout herr, jI could have easjily been just another hand on the trrjiggerr agajinst the Jedji."

[Byl Laprovik]

Byl nodded succintly at that thought.

"The Sith Lord stole your agency. Stole my memory. I don't know what he did to the Commodore, but I doubt any of it was good. I still lose sleep. Angry. Angry at myself. Maybe it's not justified, but a man should be able to keep his wits, right?"

[James Prent]

James pursed her lips. "So y'think that she's not responsible for any of what she did? That it was jus' Dan doin' it? Because... I can't accept that. Instead of resisting him, or turning him in, she mind-raped you," she looked at Byl, "and used you to hide a part of her 'soul' or whatever so she could do awful things without consequences."

She shuddered. "I just can't see how she can come back from that. She isn't the person we thought we knew, and prolly won't be again. And if she's what the Jedi are, I don't want a part of it. At least they won't let her rejoin them on Ossus, from what I've heard. The Alliance is letting her command a ship! Like...what?! How can they trust her at all!"

She slumped in the doorway, leaning against the frame. "The fact that she came back and 'saved' us all from a situation mostly of her own making... it just makes everything too complicated I guess. And then I dunno if there's anything that could make me feel better about it."

[Cirrsseeto Quez]

"jI can't beljieve that. jI won't."

Cirr muttered sullenly, looking down at his feet as James laid bare her case against Loklorien. The anguish on his face was plain to see.

"jI don't know anythjing about the forrce. Hjigh chance jI neverr wjill. But jI know what jit means to be a frrjiend, and she's always been a frrjiend to me."

[Byl Laprovik]

"People can change, big guy."

Byl glanced back at the Cizerack, and returned his eyes to James.

"Sometimes it's because they want to. Sometimes it just happens. Life's long and hard, and there aren't a lot of innocents left over at the end of it."

[James Prent]

"You said yourself you haven't seen her since it happened," James pointed out to Cirr, not unkindly. She smiled sadly. "I was there...and I still couldn't tell you what happened exactly, or if she's changed...back?"*

She sighed. "She wanted to train me, y'know. As a Jedi. Kind of glad I didn't take her up on it."



*mostly because it hasn't been written yet!

[Cirrsseeto Quez]

"Maybe when all thjis jis sajid and done, we can all ask her. Get some closurre on jit."

Cirr opened his mouth to say more, but paused, squinting his eyes against the sun in the distance, and a tell-tale plume of dust.

"Someone's comjing."

[Byl Laprovik]

Byl ducked back into the freighter interior, returning with a pair of macrobinoculars. He sighted in the plume, and adjusted the focus.

"Looks like the delivery boy is back."

[James Prent]

And, as always, Sanis had perfect timing. James turned around and joined the boys staring out into the sand, a hand shading her eyes. She hadn't really gotten to what she'd wanted to talk about. It was sort of a conversation for her and Byl, and of course she'd only just built up her nerve for diving into her real question when a distraction arrived.

She hesitated, tempted to just let it lie. Then she looked sideways at Byl, who was still tracking Sanis' progress with the macrobinoculars. "Do y'think I should, though?"

"Hmm, what?" He lowered the macros slightly, still looking out toward the plume of dust.

"Join th' Jedi."

[Byl Laprovik]

The big guy had bounded off to the approaching speeder, catching up with Prent. The other Prent, Byl reminded himself. He'd gotten the notion that the two of them had been thick as thieves at some point. They carried on like a pair of siblings, which was a strange irony. Sanis was still tip-toeing around James, and the two of them still seemed to put that off.

Byl squinted into the sun, turning a flow regulator over in his hands as he watched James' brother and his Cizerack buddy shoot the breeze.

"You've got the qualifications."

It was a cryptic non-answer back to James, and only then did he turn his head to look at her. It was a look he was familiar with. The slow-burn anguish of tiptoeing across a knife edge and trying not to get cut while figuring out how to step off.

"You know I can't answer that for you. I don't have the right equipment."

He tapped his head for emphasis. Her connection to the Force was likely something he'd go his entire life and never comprehend.

"But we've spent this long running together. If I thought you were headed to heat around the corner, you know I'd steer you out of that."

The former agent set the regulator aside on the gangplank.

"Sometimes it's worth the risk to get a little closer and see what's in front of you. The Jedi are putting down stakes. They aren't running."

[James Prent]

"So, you want me to go?" She looked up at him, gauging his reactions.

[Byl Laprovik]

It took a long time for Byl to answer. His eyes stayed fixed on hers, almost stalling for time to find anything else behind them that might give him a better response to the question.

"I want you to be happy. I can get you part of the way, but you need to ask yourself if that's enough. Will it be enough? Being with me, but not having that answer?"

[James Prent]

"I don't know," she said. "I want it to be." James stood on tiptoe and planted a kiss on his cheek. "Come on, let's see what Sanis has been up to."

She walked out into the sand, shading her eyes with her hand as she approached the speeder.

[Sanis Prent]

"Got the converters you wanted, just make sure when you mount them to..."

"...rrun a bleed ljine thrrough to the auxjilliarry batterry to capturre any spjike burrsts. jI know."

I paused in the middle of my spiel, looking up at my best friend as if I'd forgotten how we so often shared the same mind. He'd learned the mechanics ropes from me, then took off and surpassed me in every way.

"Yeah, Cirr. I know you do."

It felt good to be working together like this. This rust bucket fixer upper reminded me a lot of the early days, scratching to get Layla off the ground. It helped me to forget for a moment just how big the galaxy was, and how we'd all found our distant points to drift to.

"You're my arr'uhai, right? I taught you everything you know."

Before the brotherly love could get suffocating, I saw James and Byl heading toward the skiff.

"I pulled some favors. Got a case of spice in tow. It's not enough to seal a deal, but it's probably enough to show on good faith to get this little honeypot heist going."

Shifting my feet, I glanced to Byl.

"Mind helping the big guy get some of the parts on the hoversled?"

Byl glanced to James, having a notion that the busy work was partly to cover for some alone time between the Prents.

"Yeah, sure."

[James Prent]

She stood with her hands on her hips, surveying the skiff. "What do you have for me to do, boss?" James looked up at Sanis, squinting in the bright sunlight, grinning at her own sarcasm. She felt on more comfortable ground than just a minute ago talking with Byl. With Sanis she knew what to expect...where as talking about herself was an uncomfortable subject.

[Sanis Prent]

Speaking of time machines.

James had been there at nearly the beginning, and I tried not to flush every time I thought about how awkward that could have become. Still, there was a heap of unfinished business in front of us.

"I seem to recall you doing the navigating and the galley work last time we were in this position."

A half grin as I looked from James to the ship.

"Seeing as we're pretty stationary right now, how bout we step aboard and get something to drink."

The galley was one of the few things on the rust bucket that didn't need a litany of repair work. Maybe that's because it only consisted of a few cubby storage units, a chiller, and a heating element. I led James in through the cavernous cargo door, taking the ladder up through the next two levels to get to the crew compartment. The interior was still a bit dim and dingy, but once we reached the galley I could see it had a fresh coat of shine on it. And food. Apparently Cirrsseeto was still Cirrsseeto, because if the big cat didn't eat, then nobody was happy.

Obviously this was just a pretext to get at the heart of the matter. I took a seat at the four-top table.

"For what it's worth, I'm sorry I turned out to be a shitty brother."

[James Prent]

She found herself standing beside the table as he sat, a weird deja vu sensation settling down around her ears. It sort of prickled under her skin. James scratched behind her ear, mussing her short hair, and sat down awkwardly. "Yeah, well, th' only thing we learned from our dad is how t' walk away, right?"

Was that what she'd be doing to Byl if she went to the Jedi? Just walking away? James slumped into her seat, leaning her face on her hand and her elbow on the table. "Speaking of dear ol' pops, where exactly is he?"

[Sanis Prent]

Yeah, a pretext. I wasn't particularly hungry or thirsty at the moment. Just a sense of things that needed to be said.

"Last I heard he was lighting out for Mos Eisley to pull in they hyperdrive motivator. I give him a day before figuring he's pissed away his wad in a saloon or worse."

Which was the rational expectation, after all. The absurd option was that this was all going to come together. Even if Ledo drank himself dead or played the deadbeat game to another system, James was here.

"I'm not gonna give any excuses for what I did or didn't do back then, James. I just want you to know that I've landed on my feet. If you're still in a bad way..."

I shifted in my seat, not exactly how to serve this olive branch.

"...what I'm trying to say is that I'd like to help. If you need it."

[James Prent]

"I don' need it," she said. At his expression she relented, smiling a little. "You're not th'only one who can land onner feet." Inna fire. She left off the biting comment, getting up and pouring herself a glass of water.

She fiddled with the galley cabinets for a bit, before pulling herself onto the counter top, to sit and swing her legs a little while she looked at Sanis. "So when y' gettin' this meet with our slaver?"

[Sanis Prent]

"Assuming the old man isn't bullshitting us and comes through on his share?"

Which was still an unknown, after all. I traced fingertips along the table's surface, looking up at her again.

"Cirr and I can put this bird in the air within four days, give or take a day. I put out feelers through the company to open a line to the piece of shit. He knows we've got a deal for him. All we have to do now is name the date."

[James Prent]

"Who are ya gonna use as merchandise?" she asked. "You're offerin' him a deal, he's bitin' at it. So if you arrive wi' nothin' everythin's gonna go tits up inna hurry." Her accent was thick, and she was avoiding what Sanis wanted to talk about by asking about the job. "If you were thinkin' o' gettin' me inta some teeny slave girl outfit you gotta 'nother thin' comin'."

[Sanis Prent]

I could tell she was stalling me, and honestly, that was fine. Even if we were talking about nothing, we were still talking.

"Well, fortunately for us, we're posing as buyers, not sellers. So any slave outfits we end up seeing will probably be worn by actual slaves."

Which was as so many things are, a galactic tragedy. I only had so many buckets of water to put out so many fires. Still, it made me queasy. I slumped in my seat a bit.

"For a minute, I had this idea one time that I might actually make a difference. That came too late for you. It might have come too soon for them."

[James Prent]

She sighed, hopping down from the counter and joining him at the table. "You can still make a dif'rence. Who says the siren's gotta be th' only one we rescue?" James quirked an eyebrow. "Why not organize a slave breakout at th' same time? At th' very least it'll throw a buncha chaos in our wake an' cover our escape."

She grimaced. "Maybe that's a lil' too callous. But together we can come up wi'something, I'm sure of it. Hell, Byl's spent his whole life doing stuff like this." And other things, less altruistic and more shooty killy. Not that shooting and killing slavers would be a bad thing, exactly.

[Sanis Prent]

The matter-of-fact way she'd mentioned it belied it's brilliance. Simple, effective, and crazy enough to work. A slow little smile formed on my face. The more I thought about her off-hand suggestion, the more I knew it was the way to go.

"Give that Zygerrian more trouble than he can sort. Smash and grab on our way out. Whoever we can cram onto this old scow, huh?"

My smile in full form then, I nodded.

"That's crazy enough to work."

[James Prent]

James raised her eyebrows. "Really? I mean, uh, okay. Yeah." She grinned, happy that she'd been able to contribute something. "Crazy plans seem to be what the Prents are good at, huh?

"So, you're going to go in with Byl, and I'm paired off with Cirr and our dear ol' da'" she laid the sarcasm on thick. "Do we tell Ledo about our other plan, or just... do it while he's busy with the siren?"

[Sanis Prent]

A damned good question.

"This is the first time the old man's ever done anything for anyone other than himself. I don't plan on waiting for lightning to strike twice."

Which was to say, this was all going to be our own little secret arranged happy accident.

"We don't even know if we'll be able to get anyone out of there, but I like the idea of trying rather than the alternative."

I may have done a lot of dirty deeds in my past. Lied. Stole. Shot a few folks. Some things I wasn't proud of, and some that I hadn't repented. One thing I'd never done though.

"This guy's got it coming to him, either way. Slaver scum."

[James Prent]

"Agreed," nodded James. She raised an imaginary glass in a toast. "To overcoming whatever curveballs dear ol' dad decides to throw at us, and to throwin' one o' our own. This is going to be great."


***


"There's no way this is gonna work," she said, four days later in the same seat in the galley. "Tell them, Byl. We're all gonna die."

"Maybe jI sshould take thjiss," said Cirr, easing her drink out of her hand and giving it a sniff. "How manjy of thesse djid jyou have?"

"Enough tha' I'm seein' clear," James said with intensity, giving a half hearted swipe at the glass which Cirr kept easily out of her reach. "Byl - where is Byl?" she said, confused.

"He's sstjill talkjing wjith Ssanjiss about the plan. The other plan," said Cirr, pouring her drink down the sink.

James pouted. "I can't take bein' in this ship wi' him anymore."

"Who, Byl!?"

"Ledo," she hissed, lurching out of her seat and aiming for the liquor cabinet.

[Cirrsseeto Quez]

Cirr eased a hand over the cabinet face, denying James her easy way out. He stood beside her, companion and witness to emotions that were already frayed and raw, just a little more lubricated at this point.

"And you thjink that's gojing to help?" Cirr asked, angling his head toward the cabinet. He placed a big hand on her shoulder, giving a little squeeze. The hand then reached up to tend to an out of place strand of hair that had fallen over James' face.

The friction hadn't gotten past the Cizerack's notice. Ever since they'd started this fixer-upper prelude to Old Ledo's caper, James had tried her damnedest to be in whatever room that the old pirate wasn't. She didn't have two words for the man. Byl had been a good handler, and she leaned on him plenty. But she wasn't going to get any resolution sticking to that formula.

"Let's talk. You and me."

Cirr's blue eyes smiled in sync with his lips. He carried a warm, affable demeanor that had always made him approachable. That helped more than a few times in a house full of several dozen family members. Blessed be the peacemakers.

[James Prent]

She pulled ineffectually at his arm, until she was hanging her whole body weight off of it and giggling despite herself. "Okay, okay, you win, big guy." James got her feet underneath herself, and flopped back into her seat.

"So yeah, he's tryin' t' be nice, I guess, or prob'ly jus' usin' us for stealin' a priceless space whale. I jus'... I've been dreamin' about my mom lately. An' I jus' can't keep that ol' bitterness down when I see 'im. He's a piece of shit, and he admits it, an' somehow I got tricked intagreein' wi' this plan."

She wrapped her hand around the small blue stone on the necklace around her neck. "Can't get nothin' offa this thing anymore. Maybe he tricked me, somehow. I dunno."

[Cirrsseeto Quez]

He eased down to sit by her. For a while, he stayed silent.

"jI neverr told you, when we werre traveljing togetherr. jI was marrrjied once."

Cirr course-corrected slightly.

"Well, twjice, but the fjirrst one was when jI was verry young. jIt djidn't go well. jI...jI jinterrnaljized a lot of angerr about how she trreated me, the abuse, humjiljiatjion, everrythjing. jIt would have been verry easy forr me to carry that bjitterrness, and forr a whjile, jI stayed jin denjial about how jI felt."

He wet his lips in a pause, then looked sidelong at James.

"jIn the end? jI used herr as an example how not to be. The best way to get back at herr was to be betterr than herr, so jI made surre that jI could always at least look myself jin the mjirrrorr everry day and be that honest wjith myself. jI took all the negatjive enerrgy she put jinto me, and gave posjitjive jin equal sharre. And jit's funny, because jI have to jin some way thank herr forr that. jI may not have ended up who jI am now jif jI djidn't go thrrough that."

Cirr shook his head.

"What jI'm trryjing to say, and maybe not verry well, jis that maybe therre's somethjing of yourr motherr's legacy, rrestjing jin yourr fatherr. Maybe now jit's fjinally wakjing up. jIf we help hjim do at least one trruly good deed, jisn't that her vjindjicatjion?"

[James Prent]

"Maybe." James side-eyed Cirr, thinking about his story. "I guess. Yeah?"

She scrubbed her hand over her face. "Operation Siren Call is still a go. I'm not gonna mess it up." James considered how much she'd drunk in the last thirty minutes, and her face flushed.

"I'm sorry y'had to go through that stuff. Ya turned out okay, I guess," she teased, "so I s'pose I should take your advice."

[Cirrsseeto Quez]

Cirr listened to James talk, glad to share this moment. A smile formed, carried as much in his eyes and ears as on his face.

"Yeah. You should. jI gjive prretty good advjice."

He rose to his feet with that.

"Well, enough layjing about forr me. jI've got a lot of worrk to go."

[Ledo G. Prent]

* * *

Pulse sealer.

Thermal driver.

Torque spanner.

A litany of demands was all he'd gotten out of Sanis over the past hour. They were in the small hours of the morning, and the heat of the desert had long given way to a chill. Cirrsseeto, James, and her beau had all gone to bed. That left the Prent boys to continue the final stretches of work. It was some much-needed alone time...if only Sanis would say something that wasn't an order.

[Sanis Prent]

All I wanted to do was sleep. At least Cirr had gotten all the finesse stuff done. I was a good enough mechanic, so the boilerplate fixes and builds were things I could deal with. Besides, it felt good to get my hands dirty again. Almost like I used to on Layla. It all felt like a lifetime ago, but if I pretended, it passed muster.

That was, until I peeked out from under the manifold to see my old man passing me tools.

"Flexor."

He passed me what I wanted. I slid back underneath to get back to work.

[Ledo G. Prent]

He was gone again.

Ledo frowned, shifting on his feet as he watched Sanis's legs shift while he worked underneath the manifold.

"Ya know, Ah nevva 'ad th' chance t' teach ya, bout ships and wotnot. Course tha' didn't stop yeh now di'it?"

A few more uncomfortable pauses passed.

"'Ow'd ya get inna dis sorra thing?"

[Sanis Prent]

I don't know if it was lack of sleep or irritation that did it. Maybe both. Maybe I just needed the adrenaline shot to finish my portions. It didn't matter. With a kick of my heel, I scooted out from under the manifold.

"How'd I get into this sorta thing? How'd I get into this, lemme think about that."

I didn't exactly spend much time on it. I'd had some form of this clapback in my back pocket since I was a child.

"I learned how to do this when I learned how to boost speeders. You couldn't get very far with what you stole if you didn't understand how it worked. It's either that or starve, or do a lot worse things than steal speeders to be able to eat."

I didn't feel like I was paving any new roads with my old man. I could see the mileage on the old pirate's face. Why the fuck was he asking me this? Maybe that's what made me angry.

"What, you think I learned this in a school?"