Across the Stars V: The Temple Job

Suffering a bit of turbulence on re-entry, Nathan stumbled against one of the Lucky Star’s bulkheads. As soon as he made impact, an overhead storage bin flapped open, spilling junk onto the floor.

                “Hey, watch that spot, would you?” Ozz complained. “It’s loose!”

                “No kidding? That nearly hit me in the head!”

                “Well then, watch that spot!”

                “I’m going to make some…adjustments to your ship when we land, I swear. This thing is a death trap.”

                “Stow it and grab a seat, we’re comin’ in on Yavin IV.”

                The Lucky Star hurried down out of orbit, over the vast green jungles covering the fourth moon of Yavin. Nathan reached across the dashboard to point at a temple that breached the trees.

                "Massassi 12, that's got to be it. See the landing beacons?"

                "Yeah, yeah. I can land the ship myself! You must think I need help, but I don’t. Perfectly capable on my own…"

                “Someone seems hangry.”

                “Shut it.”

                Their craft sunk below the dense, green foliage to join a few other starships at a makeshift landing platform. The buzz of activity reached them from the temple grounds.

                Nathan and Ozz made for the market to get the lay of the land. Massassi 12 was originally just a private dig site, but then merchants arrived to service the guards and archeologists. Colonists and refugees followed the merchants, and they were followed by more merchants, and before long Massassi 12 had become a colony all of its own.
                The dig site itself had only become more exclusive and well-guarded in response to the surge in population. Armed guards stood watch at the crumbling old entrances, keeping things quiet for the researchers inside. There was a thin film between the bustling markets in the stone courtyards and the secretive work happening meters away.
                The ruins were pretty impressive. The ground was mostly broken cobblestones, and tarps and trees overhead created shade. Merchants had built their stalls on the bedrock of the ruined temple grounds, a strange kind of contrast to Nathan’s fresh perspective.

                Ozz gave one of the guards a wary eye. "There's no way we're getting in there. Oh well! Guess we’ll give up. I wasn’t too excited about all this anyway."

                Nathan looked at him incredulously. “I thought you wanted a payday?”

                “Yeah, well, I also want to live. That guard looks like he wants his payday too.”

                Nathan shook his head. “I'm not giving up just like that. There's an Imperial spy on this planet, Mayla’s Manifest listed this settlement as one of the hotspots. I bet you they're not far."

                Ozz smelled the money in that. "I'm still not convinced you can bring home the bacon. Flying isn't free! You go do what you're gonna do, I can make busy for a few hours..."

                "Yeah, you can. I’ll need your help, Ozz."

                Ozz was pleased to hear it, but hid any sign of being so behind a veneer of suspicion. He raised a wispy white eyebrow. "You want help, you gotta have a plan. Let me hear your plan."

                Nathan laid out what he had so far. The Iakaru wasn't impressed.

                "Nope, no sir! I'm not playing your muscle. Nobody would believe it anyway, I'm obviously the brains of the operation."

                Nathan frowned. "It's the best I've got. Do you want to get this bounty? You know it means money, right? You like money, don't you?"

                "You do what you want to do, nerd," Ozz said, shrugging. "I'm gonna sample the local wares, breath some fresh air, and come up with a better plan."

                He turned to leave, nearly walking into someone in the process. A man in a black tunic, wearing a brown cloak, had approached them from a nearby alley.

                "Excuse me, sorry to eavesdrop,” the man said calmly. “But...I'm on your side. The Archeologists have things pretty tight, don't they?"

                Nathan and Oz exchanged looks. The 'are we in trouble' kind. They turned towards the man, prepared to disavow anything they'd said.

                Nathan peered at the man's face. He didn't look dangerous. He had wide blue eyes, sandy hair...he looked trustworthy. Of course, that really meant nothing. Danger came in all forms. Mayla came to Nathan's mind (not an uncommon occurance): she was cute, and he’d trusted her, but she was also an Imperial spy. He probably needed to be a little more on guard.

                "You've got a good plan, and I can help," the stranger continued. "You should see some of the places I've just...walked inside."

                Ozz crossed his arms. "Oh yeah? Like what?" He challenged.

                The stranger shrugged. "A dangerous tribal village...a Hutt's palace...an Imperial base..."

                "Pretty good resume...if it's TRUE. What do you want out of it?"

                "Same thing as you: a look at what they've dug up, and to expose any spies. And like you, I'd rather get it over with quickly. Let's just say I'd like to avoid any entanglements."

                Ozz stared up into the hood suspiciously, jabbing a finger at the man's chest. "You some kind of bounty hunter? We've got claim, pal."

                "No, no! I'm just a do-gooder,” said the man, smiling and holding his hands up peacefully. “I promise, I don't mean you any harm."

                Nathan was feeling a bit more cheered about his plan, and the idea of having another co-conspirator that wasn’t Ozz didn’t hurt. "It's not our place to judge," Nathan said. "And I guess we could use some actual muscle."

                Ozz looked alarmed, and pulled Nathan by the lapels of his jacket into a private conversation.

                "Are you kidding me? You let the first guy we see join our secret mission?"

                "I trust him. I mean, come on, it's not crazy that someone might want to help uncover an Imperial spy."

                “I thought this was just you and me, kid!”

                “I thought you didn’t want to do my plan? This guy does,” Nathan said smugly.

                Ozz, who felt somewhat betrayed and cast aside (though it was up for discussion whether he had any right to complain), tried to manage his grumbling expression. He threw up his hands.

                "...Geez, fine, he seems alright. But you gotta get out more." The Iakaru sighed. "I guess we can make him the fall guy, instead of you."

                Nathan gave him an admonishing look. Ozz brushed it off.

                “I’m jokin’, obviously.”

                They turned back to the hooded stranger, who had been waiting patiently while they talked. Nathan extended his hand, which the stranger shook.

                "You're in. What should we call you?"

                "I'm Luke," said the stranger. "Ozz, Nathan, right?"

                Ozz glowered. He still didn’t trust this newcomer. He seemed a little too knowledgeable. "You catch on fast, clean-cut."

                "Yeah, nice to meet you, Luke." Nathan glanced at his short, grumpy companion with a wry smile. "Hey Ozz, you don’t have to play muscle anymore, you’re off the hook.”

                Ozz crossed his arms and grumbled, “Oh boy. You got anything for me to do? You gonna include me in this little plan? Or is this guy your new partner?” he jabbed a thumb at Luke.

                "He’ll warm up to you,” Nathan said, grinning. He tried to come up with someone useful for the Iakaru to do. “You can be on lookout, Ozz. Let me go change clothes, and then we'll do this thing."

                "That's right, Inspector Strader, from the Free Systems Research Grant Foundation,” Nathan said in his firmest, most confident voice. “As I told you before, the FS is interested in contributing funding to your research, but they'll require an audit of your operation's safety standards before they even consider sending a credit."

                "All our credentials check out," Luke added gently.

                The guard left to bring someone in charge. A researcher, fresh from the dig site, approached with a suspicious look already on her face. But as Nathan explained his purpose, her manner became much more open and welcoming. Something about "tens of thousands of credits in grant funding" seemed to help her relax. Luke wasn't a problem: he apparently came off as trustworthy to everyone else, too.

                "I see! Well, we'll need to have you carefully watched, but allow me to show you around the site."

                "I'll need full access. And I'll need my assistant, of course."

                The researcher frowned and met eyes with the guard. Nathan looked aside to Luke, who smiled reassuringly.

                "I'm not going to be a problem," he told the suspicious scientist. She stared, her face contorting as though she was struggling to make a decision, but finally she turned to the guard. "He's not going to be a problem. Let them in."

                Once inside, they had to move quickly. Nathan played the role of overbearing, severe safety inspector, checking over everything and making all the researchers very nervous. It was the sort of long plan that would fall apart in the hands of a conman, but Nathan came with the experience, appearance, and know-how needed. He just walked around and inspected their safety standards for real, occasionally mentioning some jargon to communicate his authenticity.

                Seemingly unnoticed, Luke ducked away to peek into the project records and the personnel communications.

                Meanwhile, Ozz had nothing to do. He stood on an outer corner of the dig site and watched pedestrians amble by.

                “Keep walkin’,” he barked at a leering thug, a gran who kept watching him even as he walked on. Guys with that look were trouble.

                “Blondie sure takes over everything, doesn’t he? Hah, ‘partners’ my arp. Doesn’t need Ozzie anymore, does he? Not now that he’s got the majestic hooded child-man. Pah! Nerd’s gonna get killed one day, trusting every loser he sees.”

                The thought surfaced that Nathan had also, in fact, trusted Ozz himself on many occasions when others had not, and had stood up for him the first several times he was in-line to be fired from the plant on Targonn. He pushed this thought down somewhere deep and dark and summarily ignored it. After all, he’d let him get fired in the end anyway, so what difference did it make? And he knew he hadn’t done anything to deserve that.

                “Pah! ‘Lookout duty’. What a load of plog. Might as well have gone back to the ship,” he mumbled bitterly to himself.
                The more he thought about it, the more that sounded like a great idea. He was doing absolutely nothing here, except wearing out his legs and offering all the local pickpockets an enticing challenge. Cursing humans (Nathan in particular), Ozz stomped off through the crowds, heading back for the landing pad.

                Ozz was napping soundly in the Lucky Star’s cockpit when he was suddenly awoken by the beeping of his comlink.
                “Ozz, are you there? OZZ!”
                Ozz lurched up in his chair and smacked the transmit button. “What?” he said groggily.
                “Are we clear? Is the coast clear?”
                “Oh yeah, yeah. Super clear,” the Iakaru replied, still half-asleep. The comlink went silent, and Ozz once again began to snore.
 

                Ozz’s dreams were tumultuous.

                “Get out of here! I don’t want to see your face again!”
                “But, pop! I swear I got it this next time, no more problems!”
                “Get out!” the father howled. “You’ve been nothing but trouble since the day we first had the misfortune to call you our son! You will always be a problem, and we cannot have more problems! Leave my house, or I’ll call security!”
                “You know what, that’s fine!” the son shouted back. “You stupid old fool! You think you’re always right? I don’t gotta be what you think is right. I’ll be what I think is right, and do what I wanna do, and I’ll be just dandy, watch!”
                “You idiot, you’re making your mother weep!”
                “Oh sure, I’m—that was YOU!” the son yelled, shaking with rage. His father looked ready to kill. “Whatever, I’m outta here…See ya never, pops!”
                He heard his father launch into another tirade over the sound of his mother crying, but he didn’t look back. He never did.

               
                Ozz was rudely awoken again, this time by Nathan and Luke as they came hurtling into the parked ship.

                “Ozz! Get out the medkit!” Nathan shouted.

                Ozz flew out of his seat, blinking sleep from his eyes. “Wha-what?”

                “A medkit, Ozz! Luke’s hit!”

                Ozz flailed into action, popping the latch on a storage container and rummaging inside for the medkit. “Medkit! Right! It’s here somewhere, I know it…”

                Nathan was supporting Luke up the ramp, and helped heave him into a chair. Smoke rose from a blaster burn on Luke’s leg.

                Ozz’s eyes widened. “Geez, kid! What in the world happened?”
               
                “Bounty hunters,” Luke groaned. “Looking for me. Sorry to make things more complicated.”

                Nathan turned to Ozz, glaring. “Wouldn’t have been a problem if someone was where they were supposed to be! ‘Super clear’? You’ve got to be kidding me…where’s that Medkit?”

                Ozz blinked again, staring dumbly at the two humans. “…Bounty hunters? But…”

                When it was clear the medkit was somewhere deep in the recesses of the ship, Nathan threw up his hands.

                “I’ve got to go find a doctor. Wrap something around that wound!” he called back, and he ran down the ramp and back towards the ruins.

                Ozz finally came to his senses, and found some loose old clothes to use as wrappings. He knelt by Luke, wincing. “Geez, doesn’t look too good, pal…”

                Luke, to his credit, smiled. “I’ve had worse,” he said through his teeth.

                “Hey, look, I’m—I feel terrible—“ Ozz managed.

                “I appreciate it, but…things happen as they’re meant to. No hard feelings.”

                “Well, that’s bunk. But…Aw, geez. Let me keep lookin’ for that medkit. You keep that pressure on good and tight, you got it?”

                “Sure, sure,” Luke replied, grimacing.

                Soon, Nathan had returned with someone in tow. He came up the ramp followed by two males: a polished man in a coat, along with his Gran assistant…

                The Gran from before, the one that was trouble.

                “How did this happen?” asked the doctor, hurrying over to the wounded young man.

                “Uh, a…weapons malfunction,” Nathan lied, badly.

                Ozz immediately knew, with the kind of instinct honed over many years, that these guys were here for Luke. And not here for Luke in a nice, supportive way. Here for Luke in a bounty hunting way.
                He kept himself from shouting. They weren’t tipping their hand. He couldn’t either.
                The doctor took something out of his coat. “Just a bacta stim, do not worry.”
                That was no bacta stim. Wrong fluid color, wrong consistency. Ozz didn’t know what he was about to inject into Luke, but it wasn’t gonna heal him.
                The Gran shot him a look. Its hand inched towards its jacket, where a concealed blaster sat holstered. The look said, “Don’t interfere.”
                To hell with that, Ozz thought. He made a fist, and bashed the wall with his hand. In a very specific spot.
                The overhead storage unit flopped open, spilling debris and a large white case—the Medkit. The deluge of junk hit the Gran in the head, and he fell to the floor with a ‘thwump!’
                The doctor spun to look, then, realizing he’d lost his backup, tried to jab the dubious stim into Luke’s leg. Before he could, a “SCHWISH” sound filled the ship, and he found himself stopped by the glow of a blade of green light. Ozz and Nathan leapt back with shouts of alarm. The doctor, only inches from the humming weapon, blinked and gasped in terror, his hand frozen in the air.
               
                Luke, sweaty and injured, stared the man in the eye.
                “I’ll let you choose what you do next.”

                Nathan and Ozz dropped both of the Bounty Hunters off with a local constable, but the dangerous looks they got made them beat a path back to the Lucky Star as quickly as they could.
                “Where did you go, Ozz?” Nathan said angrily.

                “What?” Ozz grunted.

                “You were supposed to be on lookout, where did you go?” Nathan demanded.

                “Back to my ship, of course. Where else would I go?”

                “You weren’t supposed to go anywhere in the first place. If you hadn’t, he might not have gotten shot!”

                Ozz spun toward him, jabbing a finger at his chest. “Whatcha gonna do about it, you gonna fire me? Huh? Well you can’t, because without my ship, you’re nowhere. And what about you, huh? Your bright-eyed view of the galaxy just almost got us all killed! You wanna check somebody out with me next time you bring ‘em on board my ship? Oh, and that’s right, you’d be on Targonn in cuffs if not for me, and MY SHIP!”

                Nathan backed down, speechless. Breathing hard, Ozz slowly cooled off too. They both stood awkwardly outside the Lucky Star, avoiding having to look at each other.

                “You’re right,” Nathan admitted.

                Ozz let out a heavy sigh. “Yeah, yeah…well, maybe you are too, about part of this,” he mumbled.

                Nathan looked sheepishly at his companion. “Ozz, I’m sorry.”

                The Iakaru turned and glowered at him. “Look here, you don’t you cut me out of plans, and you don’t bring just anyone you see onto our operation! We’re partners, ain’t that what you said back on Garel? We’re doing this bounty hunting gig together, until you pay me what you owe me! You don’t just charge ahead without the both of us bein’ okay with it. That goes for everything we do, you got it?”

                Nathan nodded seriously. “…That’s…yeah. Agreed.”

                “…Well…good. Glad that’s settled, then,” Ozz muttered. He hadn’t expected so little resistance, but Nathan was obviously sincere. “Let’s…get back onboard, huh?”

                They turned to ascend the ramp.

                “Hey nerd,” Oz said. “Still worried about the overhead bins?”

                “Are you kidding me? Way more than before. Now the Star is a proven deathtrap.”

                “But a useful deathtrap!”

               
                Onboard, Nathan and Luke briefed Ozz on what they’d gotten from the dig site, before the Bounty Hunters had jumped them. Luke managed to extract not only the identity of the Imperial Spy, based on info Nathan gave him, but he had found communication records locked up with old Imperial codes; nearly verifiable proof of Imperial activity.

                “But that’s not all,” Nathan said with a sigh. “It also looks like the dig site is partly funded by some sketchy, Imperial-linked sources. That means they probably won’t turn over one of their own researchers just because we say he’s an Imperial.”

                “Hmm, makes things tough,” Ozz agreed. “Maybe we can make this guy disappear some other way. Grab him when he makes a borka run, or somethin’?”

                “Maybe.”

                Ozz stood up and rummaged in the storage unit. “Well, you think about it, I’m gonna rustle us up some grub. Who likes Tortaul?”

                “Only in stew,” Luke said. “My aunt used to make great Tortaul stew.”

                “Well, I ain’t your aunt. No promises.”

                Smiling, Nathan went to step outside. “I’m gonna get some air. Be back in a few.”

                They had what they needed: the identity of the spy, and proof of his wrongdoing. But learning about the Imperial funding complicated things; there was no guarantee that trying to turn the spy over wouldn’t land them in even deeper trouble. Nathan stood outside the Lucky Star, looking into the night-dark tree line and listening to the sounds of the forest, conflict roiling in his head. He must’ve been too deep in thought to notice Luke approach him.
                “Nice work today,” he said.
                “Thanks, you too.”
                Luke looked at him closely. “Everything alright?”
                “Sure, sure…” Nathan replied, but it was hollow and untrue. Luke knew it. His incredulous look made Nathan scoff at himself, and he relaxed his defenses.
                “Well, no.”
                “I thought so,” Luke said kindly. “What’s on your mind?”
                Nathan took a deep breath. “Right now, the Empire isn’t causing any trouble,” he said. “This place is…peaceful. I’m not sure how we’re going to stop the spy. If we can’t trust the law here, then we might have to take things into our own hands. It feels…I don’t know. It almost feels wrong to bring violence somewhere where things are peaceful.”
                Luke thought for a moment before responding. “Things aren’t peaceful, just quiet. I know what you mean, Nathan, but you have to look past the way that things appear and see what they really are.”
                “…What do you mean?”
                “The Empire isn’t oppressing this place, you’re right. But their research here could lead to the deaths of people elsewhere. It wouldn’t be the first time.” He turned to the younger man, his expression serious. “Just because evil is speaking in a whisper doesn’t mean we should stop up our ears and ignore it.”
                That made sense to Nathan, and he saw a clear path through part of his confusion. “Okay, you’re right. Being afraid to start trouble now could mean much worse for someone later. So, what do we do?” he asked helplessly. “Murder the spy? How can that be right?”
                Luke raised an eyebrow. “Is that your only possible option?”
                Nathan thought for a moment. He was being dumb. “No,” he admitted.
                “What else is there?”
                Nathan hesitated before answering. He wanted to be confident of his reply. “…We confront him. We let him make the choice. If we have to, we use our weapons in defense. Otherwise, we take him to somewhere he’ll never hurt someone again.”
                Luke nodded. “I think that’s wise. See? There’s always a right way. Sometimes you have to look hard to see it, but it’s always there.”
                “Thanks for helping me look.”
                Luke smiled and clapped him on the back. “Anytime! I think Ozz has something resembling food ready.”

                        Dinner was surprisingly edible. Ozz had spiced the stew with a variety of flavoring cocktails he’d picked up on his travels. It turns out he perceived himself as something of a gourmet.

                “My specialty is taking trash, and turning it into a bee-ute-a-ful artful masterpiece,” he had said, grinning toothily in a way that did not inspire confidence.

                “We need a plan. What have we got to work with? Tell me about everything you have on the ship, Ozz. Anything that could be useful.”

                “Useful for…”

                “Specifically, for hunting bounties. But I don’t want you to leave anything out, so think useful for anything at all.”

                They talked over their bowls about how to trap the Imperial spy and eventually decided on a final plan, one that mitigated the risk of their untimely deaths. It was nevertheless a bold plan, once that was to be executed that very night. They busied themselves with finding the various pieces of equipment they would need, and stumbled on a few along the way that Ozz had either neglected to mention, or had never seen in his life, so deep had they delved into the Lucky Star’s storage bins.

                “Luke, you should stay here.” Nathan said.

                “No, no, I’m coming along, you guys will want the help—“

                Nathan shook his head sternly, glancing at Ozz. They had obviously talked it over in private. “I appreciate that, but this is something we’ve got to do on our own.”

                “Not like we’ll have ya next time, clean-cut,” Ozz added.

                “Besides, you should rest that leg.”

                Luke was surprised, but he complied with their wishes. He borrowed a bunk on the Lucky Star for the night, and saw them off with a wish of good luck.

                Ked Ereda said goodnight to his fellow researchers and stole away to the communications relay. Tense, he watched the stone entrance for any interruptions while he uploaded the most recent batch of encoded data, but once again, he was undiscovered and successful.
                He slept in a habitat just outside the ruin complex, a Spartan, bare space that befitted a servant. This suited him. His life for the cause. His comfort, as well. His comfort was the dream of a new Sith Empire, the kind of the former order could only have dreamed of. But he had done the research, seen things in his studies. These temples were their monuments. He would bleed for the honor to scrape the stones they’d walked on.
                His nature had him keep away from the main paths, preferring to go unnoticed by the rabble who leeched off the dig site. He crossed into the shadows of a narrow passage, stone on both sides and tangled vines overhead.
                Someone stepped into his path ahead. Instinctively, he turned to go back, but another had blocked him there. One tall, one stocky, both wearing helmets that hid their faces. He ground his teeth. Muggers, no doubt. He carried nothing valuable, the fools could do what they liked.

                “You’re Dr. Ereda, aren’t you?” said the taller one.

                Ereda raised his hands. “I have nothing of value, please, leave me be,” he said carefully.

                “Ha! Nothing of value?” scoffed the shorter. “Why? Didja already send it off to your Imperial pals?”

                The researcher paled in the darkness. They knew. How could they know? His mind flew to the capsule embedded his wisdom teeth. He knew what he was supposed to do, but Dr. Ereda did not welcome death.

                “Hit it, Nate.”

                A flash of blue came from the taller thug, and Dr. Ereda felt a strange, painless shock course through his body. An ion blast. Startled, he realized this would disable the disintegration capsule. How could they have known? These were no simple thugs, these creatures were a threat to the dream.
                He grabbed for the knife at his belt.

                “Feisty, eh? Wait…Nate! Stop him before he--!”

                Nathan rushed forward and grabbed the man’s wrist, just as he had been pushing the knife towards his own throat.

                “Woah, not today, pal!” he said as they struggled, and the knife was knocked safely away. “You’re coming with us, doctor!”
               
                Dr. Ereda felt something hot press into his back. His body jolted, and he slumped to the ground, stunned and unconscious.

                Ozz pocketed the stunner and depolarized the visor of the old EVA harness he was wearing, revealing the wide grin on his face. Nathan followed suit with his old mining helmet.

                “Not bad, nerd! Not bad at all!” Ozz said. “You’re scrappier than I thought. Gotta admit, Ozzie’s a little bit—a tiny bit—impressed. Where the hell’d you learn to hit like that?”

                “Grew up in an orphanage,” Nathan said, his breath short. “Comes with the territory, I guess.”

                “Huh! We might just be able to do this bounty hunting thing!”

                Nathan gave him a wry smile. “What, you had doubts?”

                “Only ‘bout you,” Ozz grunted, as he tried to lift the limp, flailing form of the unconscious spy. “But hey, gotta admit, that helmet helps you look the part. Covers up the serious, snot-nosed brat face of yours. Help me out here, would ya?”

                Nathan positioned himself at the man’s torso while Ozz had the legs. “I can’t believe that didn’t go wrong. I was sure it was going to wrong.”

                “Hey, bring back the optimism, would ya? You know, you’re not bad for muscle. Wanna be my official employee?”

                “Shut up.”

                They were lucky the streets were quiet, they only had to spin a “he had a little too much to drink” explanation a few times, and nobody seemed interested in questioning them any further. Apparently, Massassi 12 was a terrible place to get kidnapped if you’re relying on community spirit to come to your aid.
                When they reached the ship, they found Luke sitting just outside. He smiled and clapped as they set the man down.

                “Hey! You guys did it, you apprehended an Imperial spy.”

                “Well, kid, we are professionals,” Ozz boasted.

                Luke’s smile took on a wry quality. “Sure, sure, and these spies aren’t what they were a few years ago, but…”

                Nathan gave Luke a pained look. He grinned.

                “…But still, you should be proud,” he said earnestly, and then he stood in preparation to leave. “Thank you both, you helped me find what I was looking for.”

                “Hey, likewise, clean-cut!”

                Nathan stepped forward, worry creasing his face. “Luke, did you find anything about Mayla?”

                “No, I didn’t,” replied the young man, shaking his head. “I’m sorry, Nathan.”
               
                Nathan’s face fell, and the hope left him in a sigh. Before he could get too despondent, Luke continued.

                “But I have something else. A lead on what Moff Pyerce is looking for. If you’re able to find it first, maybe you’ll find her too.”

                “Yes! I’ll take anything you’ve got.”

                “Pyerce is searching for old artifacts, holocrons, objects used to store knowledge by both the Jedi and the Sith in ages past.”

                “He must be getting desperate, I thought all that stuff was just fairy tales.”

                “Maybe less than you think,” Luke said with a coy smile. “Nathan, can I trust you to help me with something?”

                Nathan nodded seriously. Ozz rolled his eyes at the two humans, who were painfully sincere from his point of view.

                Luke produced a small, weathered book, which he held out to Nathan. “These are just a few notes I’ve written down while searching for similar objects. You can take them, they might help on your search.”

                “Wow, thanks—“

                “If you could, I’d like you to add to them as you go. One day, when we meet again, I want to hear about what you learned.”

                Nathan looked at the book, skimmed its contents, and looked up at Luke with wide eyes. “You want…my help? Are you sure you wouldn’t rather have your book?”

                “I trust you, Nathan. I sense a good heart in you. Besides, I remember everything in the book.”

                Ozz looked on, speechless, as Nathan eagerly stepped forward and shook the man’s hand. “I’d be glad to.”

                “Great,” Luke smiled. “As for your next steps, I recommend the planet Ossus. There’s a Duros there, studying the ancient Jedi ruins. His name is Abay. He should be able to help you out.” Luke lifted his hood over his head, and turned back before leaving. “I hope you find what you’re looking for, Nathan. Take care of each other! May the Force be with both of you.”

                Nathan looked at him quizzically. “Uh, sure. You too, with the force thing.”

                “Huh,” Ozz grunted. “It’s been real, clean-cut. Take care of yourself, alright?"

                Luke grinned and nodded. “I will.”

                Then he turned, and disappeared into the darkness of Yavin’s jungle.

                Ozz and Nathan stood there for a moment, watching where he had been, before they finally returned to the present.

                “Weird guy,” said Nathan, staring at the book he’d been given.

                “Sure is,” Ozz agreed. “No wonder you two get along.” He turned and gave the unconscious spy a gentle kick.
               
                “Alright, Payday. Let’s get you to a guild broker, eh? I got fuel to put in my tank.” He leaned down to drag the man up the ramp. “You get to share a closet with the droid.”

                Once everything was settled, they raised the ramp and took their spots in the cockpit.
                “We’ve got a heading. We’re looking for these ‘holocron’ things. If we can beat Pyerce’s agents to them, that’s our best bet of stopping whatever he’s got planned.”

                “And findin’ yer girl.”

                “And finding Mayla.”

                “This better not be a wild bantha chase,” Ozz said, shaking his head. “We’re still gonna make money, right?”

                Nathan nodded. “If we don’t, we won’t be at this long…imagine if we brought in Pyerce himself. You can’t even imagine the credits that’d get us.”

                “Oh yeah? Betcha I can.” He eased up the throttle, lifting the Lucky Star slowly into the air. “I’m going to fly to one of the bigger settlements, bet we’ll find a broker in one of those. Strap yourself in, nerd. I don’t need anyone else getting a head injury on my ship. It’s bad luck.”  

                Nathan tapped the navicomputer’s controls, zeroing in a course for Ossus. “Once we’ve offloaded the guy, and we’re out of orbit, we’re jumping to Maridun, then Phindar. From there, we’ll take the Salin Corridor. I’ve never heard of Ossus,” he mused. “What do you think it’s like?”

                “I bet it’s terrible,” Ozz said grimly. “This whole ‘holocron hunt’ thing is going to bankrupt me, just you watch.”

                Nathan watched the tops of the trees fly by underneath them. He looked down, to the weathered book sitting in his lap. It was nice to be entrusted with something again. He had always taken to tasks quickly, he liked to do things well. This would be no different.

 One step closer to Mayla, he thought to himself. That also meant another step closer to danger, danger that, at the moment, he couldn't even imagine.

[/spoiler]

Next: Submission and Death