Nar Shaddaa

[Sapphire]

They ended up heading to Sapphire's favorite cantina, the Eclipse. She had discovered it during her first few days on the Smugglers' Moon. It was run by a heavily scarred Munto Codru named Jip'war'alea, though everyone just called him Jip. The decor was dark and moody, with the ceiling speckled with tiny lights to imitate a starfield. But the drinks were the best in this part of town, and Sapphire knew the brawny white-haired man who was the lead singer of the band personally.

 

As the two Gems slipped inside, they took a seat at a booth towards the back of the room. The band was on a break, and as Sapphire headed to the bar to get their drinks, she grinned at them. "Hello, Nikolai," she greeted the singer softly.

 

"Sapphire, my dear, you look more radiant every time I see you," he returned her greeting.

 

"Been a while," Jip added, wiping down two glasses. She didn't even need to order; he was already mixing her drink and pouring another for Emerald.

 

"You boys been staying out of trouble?" she winked.

 

"You know us," Nikolai replied.

 

She nudged his side with her elbow playfully. "Hey, play me a song."

 

"As my lady commands," he replied. "As Time Goes By?"

 

She paused, the nodded. "Yeah."

 

Grabbing their drinks, she tossed Jip a cred-coin and headed back to the table. Handing Emerald her drink, Sapphire raised hers. "To freedom and no looking back," she toasted.

[Emerald]

"I'll drink to that. But speaking of looking back," Emerald said after downing the shot of spice-bark liquor before her, "I've been thinking."

 

Sapphire had learned to be wary of this statement when it came from her blonde counterpart, and with good reason. Emerald's harebrained ideas, had, admittedly, gone wrong a time or two. Or twelve, she thought to herself mischievously. But if she had learned anything from the claustrophobia that had flooded them both when looking over the Blood Gem Pirates financial reports, she had learned that it was time to get offplanet.

 

"It's about time we go visit some... historical sites. I've heard some people would pay a crisp credit for a pair of Ewok slippers these days," she grinned. "Nuclear holocausts are good for business."

 

She knew definitively that her closest friend and ally would pick up on the suggestion.

[Sapphire]

"Another harebrained scheme?" Sapphire groaned. But it was mostly out of habit and the ongoing inside joke between them; both pirates knew they counted on each other to keep things from getting boring.

 

The red-head swallowed a large sip of her Iridonian flaming brandy, then considered Emerald's proposal. "You could be right; there's a market right now for collectors of rare goods, no matter how morally vague the item. And Endor is out of the eye of these galactic governments, which will make the pickings even easier."

 

An idea lighted in her mind, and she pulled out her datapad, connecting to the holonet and doing a quick scan. "Ah ha--there was recently a big to-do on Dathomir too. Someone's got to go in and...rescue those poor rancors." There was always a small but steady market for the beasts; alive, they were useful in arenas, and dead, their leather was used for a wide variety of goods throughout the galaxy. "Might be a good opportunity to test out those fancy new droids, too," she mused.

 

Sapphire did plan on pouring through the droid's operating systems and programming, tweaking it to her satisfaction, as well as spending more time playing around with the program the Sith had left her. She had an idea that there would be a way to combine the two pieces of tech and perhaps create a semi-autonomous droid that could handle most of the Gems' administrative tasks. But that was something to play around with in her free time. Both pirates were itching to get off the moon, and this seemed like as good a suggestion as any.

 

"Well, now that the Glory is back in my hands, we can go wherever we wish," she said, tossing back another gulp.

 

Just then the band struck up the song Sapphire had requested. She grinned and kicked Emerald under the table. "Get up there and dance."

[Emerald]

"You dance," the blonde shot back, "I'll drink."

 

Waving her hand at Jip, she called over another pair of shots. Tonight her inhibitions would go down in flames.

 

-----

 

"See ya later, kid," Emerald said the next morning, slinging a bag over her back and punching Ruby lightly in the shoulder, "and try not to blow anything up this time."

 

"No promises," Ruby grinned devilishly. The Chiss' penchant for pyrotechnics was legendary, but even so, the Gems had decided one from their triumvirate ought to stay behind to run the ins and outs of the organization in case one of the local crime lords got a little cocky in their absence. They had stashed most of the Hapan pulse mass mines in their armory, but left a complement of them on board in case they ran into opportunities for field testing.

 

Before long, they were restocked, refueled, and reenergized on their way to the nuclear wasteland of Endor.

[Ajani Lainthok]

Ajani eyed the male, eyes narrowing at the specific mention of a creature but she dismissed it as quickly as he dismissed her. She shook her head once, allowing the disappointment to sink in - she’d been looking forward to the possible meeting and working with those that could wrest an entire planet for themselves - but straightened and slid the datapad and chit over towards him as she stood.

 

“Very well, Mr. Tarvil. Your money returned I shall return myself to my ship. My regrets to your employers at not being able to complete this exchange, have a good day.”

 

She straightened her jacket and calmly stalked toward the door, only letting her anger sink in when she’d made it outside and out of sight. ‘Self-important’ indeed. She’d requested one simple meeting with those that she was actually doing business with - even Dorjoola had met with her and Hutts were as self-important and vain as they came. She simmered as she opened her wrist-comm and listened to the message there one last time before punching a reply.

 

 

Interested. Send details of qualification. Will then contact with meeting information on Nar Shaddaa.

 

[The Archivist]

Details were sent and the Black Sun agent extraordinaire, Nath Corun stepped off the gangplank of the Little Toaster, unfortunately named by his daughter as such and which caused laughs all across galactic spaceports.

 

He checked his comm and sent a message back to Ajani before heading to the all hours nightclub The Bounce House where he was hoping to meet her. He carried a briefcase filled with enhanced glitterstim as was his custom.

 

 

Hey meet me at the Bounce House. We have business to do. I am qualified with years of technical and violent experience. Trust. Me.

 

[Ajani Lainthok]

She glanced at her comm as a reply made its way to her and she made only to note the meeting place before the last few words gave her pause. She read them again. “Trust. Me” seperated and emphasized. Her alarms raised but sent an affirmative message in reply anyway, making sure she was properly and completely armed before she left her ship.

 

She made her way to The Bounce House, a name she found ridiculous for the type of individuals it catered to, and slipped inside. With that many patrons it was foolish to believe she arrived unnoticed, but she moved as discreetly as possible to wait inside.

[The Archivist]

Nath Corun was a God among men. Or at least in the Black Sun underworld, not like that mattered when trying to find dates. His well chiseled body gyrated to the beat of the trap music in the nightclub. Girls fawned over him as he passed out copious amounts of glitterstim, Pyrepenol, and giggledust. Chicks digged drugs. Or at least these glitbiters did. He continued to dance and drink until he saw his contact walk through the nightclub door, he grinned widely and pushed his way to her. He tossed a leaking bag of glitterstim behind him in the gyrating mass of bodies where it exploded in a puff of glittering dust, now activated by the humid air of the nightclub, it gave an instant high to everyone it touched. Beside the fact that it overdosed most people in the bar, it gave them a hell of a ride to heavens gates. The death toll from this day would fill up at least 4 morgues with a mix of underage partiers. In the words of a not so wise old man from naboo - ‘the death toll was catastrophic’

 

Speaking of cats, as the mass of gyrating humanoid bodies overdosed behind him, he grinned at the Gorvan Horansi. Not every day they got a furry in this side of Nar Shaddah. Especially not one interested in pursuing bounties.

 

“So how can I help you miss Lainthok?”

[Dordjooba the Hutt]

They never saw him.

 

Kaniika retreated to her post deeper in the compound. And, the other mercenaries, fresh from their exploitative shenanigans, rounded the corridor and headed straight into the break room. The first, a shorter Duros, tripped over something draped across the doorway. The second, a cocky Weequay with a little experience as a Hutt mercenary, stepped over his friend and laughed at his prone form. But, as the laughter cleared his throat, the Weequay caught the blunt force of a meaty fist slamming into his face. Before his fellows could find the attacker, whoever it was, another of their number went down; this time, from a claw to the hamstring.

 

The room’s light flickered before it clicked out. Two more remained. One of them was a heavy Houk and the other was a wiry Human. Two small red lights peered at them from the black; their location was difficult to make out in the thick darkness. The Houk could vaguely make out where the kitchen was, but the Human ambled around with no clue at all. The Houk’s name was Quaggan Volesh… He was the one that hurt Kaldesh’s friend.

 

“Alright… Alright. I get it. No more. It’s really cute what you got here you overgrown lizard.” Quaggan said. Faint notes of anxiety gripping the lilt of his tone.

 

The Human stumbled over to him, almost tripping over his own foot. “How do you know it's him?”

 

Quaggan shook his head. “I don’t. But, if it is, I figure I’ll draw him into admitting it, then we got ‘em by the minerals. Ain’t no way the Gems’ll forgive him for this.”

I know… I quit…

 

The words were small and didn’t have direction.

 

The Human shivered violently and was just about to run toward the light of the doorway before Quaggan decked him, sending his flailing body to the ground. Coward.

 

“I see you, you flaming disgrace, and I’m going to beat you just like I did Kaniika.” He primed his fists with the practiced motion of one who enjoys bullying others. There was a reason he was called ‘Red Fist’ Volesh.

 

wrong choice of words...

 

The Burly Houk marched roughly toward the red lights at the corner of the room, confidence in his swagger. But, when his feet hit the tile floor, a gout of flame erupted from his right side and ignited his clothing, scalding his skin. The Houk let out a mighty roar just as a vicious uppercut slammed his jaw back and knocked him to the ground.

 

It was a simple motion that rocked the whole room when the meaty thug hit the floor.

 

A few moments later, the lights flickered on revealing a Trandoshan standing over the Houk’s prone form. He kneeled close to the bully’s face and rasped in his ear. “If you ever touch her again, I will kill you. I don’t care how safe you are. I don’t care how safe you think you are. I will find you. And I will kill you.”

 

Then, when the lights flickered once more, the Trandoshan was gone. He filed his resignation with the Gems and ran into the night.

 

____

 

 

A few hours later, Kaldesh found himself outside an abandoned shack on a shady corner of town. Time or two ago, this bunker belonged to a good friend. It hadn’t been touched in over five years.

 

Kaldesh flicked out the small comm device he found in his bag and responded, checking in with a boss he hadn’t seen in quite some time.

[Emerald]

The Nebula's Glory rocketed out of hyperspace and fell into orbit around Nar Shaddaa, completing a victory lap in their return from the graveyard that was the forest moon of Endor. To their utter dislike, however, the airspace above the nearby sludge puddle of Nal Hutta was flanked by Imperial warships. While there was no immediate repercussion for their industry, such things never boded well for pirates.

 

Transmitting to the surface of the Smuggler's Moon, she announced to Ruby and Tarvil that they were inbound, their venture successful. Over the next several days, they would have the chance to meet with several black market dealers and sell the hides once they had been treated and prepared.

 

"What do you think, Sapph?" she gestured to the Imperial ships just as they entered Nar Shaddaa's atmosphere. "Think our friends might stop over to make a social call?"

 

Nar Shaddaa had been historically uncontrollable by any great entity. Crime was the economy of the system, and shutting it down would be tantamount to mass murder when all told. Not to mention, Nar Shaddaa boasted the toughest and grittiest collection of smugglers, pirates, privateers, mercenaries, and criminal minds. If the Empire interfered on the Smuggler's Moon, they would certainly have their work cut out for them.

 

For the time being, however, Emerald resolved to put it out of her mind. The Imperial bucketheads probably had bigger things to worry about anyways, and war was good for business.

[Sapphire]

Sapphire wrinkled her nose at the Imperial fleet. "Hopefully they mind their own business," she replied. "But I'll bet Ruby knows why they're here." The Gems had a decent network of informers already, and that would be information Ruby would already have paid to obtain, just in case.

 

She brought the ship down for a smooth landing at their tower's private hanger. Ruby and Tarvil were already waiting for them. Once the ramp lowered, the two pirates strode out. "One hold full of the finest Ewok furs, ready to go," Sapphire said with a grin by way of greeting. "Those little fuzzballs are a blight on the galaxy."

 

She hadn't forgotten about Alira's comm. She intended to check in on Amethyst as soon as all the rest of this was settled. For now, though, she linked arms with Ruby. "I have to admit, we could have used your explosive expertise. But you'd be proud of me--it ended with a bang anyway, since I triggered the ship's self-destruct."

[Ruby]

"Child's play," the Chiss quipped sullenly. There was little doubt in the minds of anyone present that she was sulking as a result of being relegated to administrative duty while the other two had been gallivanting about the galaxy. But in the meantime, the Gems' accounts had flourished, and the presence of the heavy-handed Imperials had driven much of the black market trade in the sector further underground, which meant that business was booming on Nar Shaddaa.

 

"We also made sure your pulse mass mines worked," chimed in Emerald from behind the red-head. "And oh, they did."

 

Ruby nodded, but made no other comment. Gesturing ahead of them all to where Tarvil was waiting to greet them, she suggested, "Let's go get drinks. I have a lot to fill you in on."

[Sapphire]

They didn't go anywhere special. There were several bars right in the neighborhood that they frequented, and without much discussion, the three pirates headed to the Rusty Spoon, Tarvil trailing them. Ruby and Emerald grabbed a table while Sapphire ordered for them at the counter.

 

Once their drinks were made, she wove her way back through the other patrons, and handed each of them their orders, and two rounds of shots. "To a successful day," she said, grabbing a shot and tilting it in their direction. Then she downed in, savoring the exotic flavor. It was a new alcohol, bright orange, hailing from Felucia and apparently distilled from some kind of mushroom. Whatever. It was delicious.

[Emerald]

Sipping on her standard, the sickly neon-green Death Star, Emerald glanced at her compatriots. "So, what's with the welcoming party?"

 

Ruby shook her head. "Some kind of anti-slaver raid on Nal Hutta, from the best my informants can give me. They're digging into Kalimore the Hutt's holdings. More likely than not bit off more than they can chew."

 

Emerald scoffed. "Imperials have never been known for being incredibly smart, you know."

 

"This new brand claims to be different," the Chiss waved a blue hand in dismissal. "Overzealous crusaders are going to wake up some sleeping beasts if they keep going like this."

 

The blonde sighed and looked meaningfully at Sapphire. "Maybe time to start activating some of our assets on Carida. I want to know when we're going to start getting gifts from our...sponsors."

[Sapphire]

Sapphire shrugged. "Never hurts to be prepared for the worst. I don't think they'd be as foolish to get their clean white uniforms dirty here on Nar Shaddaa, but then, as you said, the stuffed shirts never have been on the bright side."

 

She took a sip of her Kashyyykian rum. "No sign of gifts, yet, huh Rube?"

 

Ruby shook her head.

 

"Well, the new droids worked out well at least," the red-head continued. "It was good to get to see them in action. As far as Carida is concerned..." she trailed off as she suddenly realized something. "Wait, what's the date? Isn't Amethyst on Carida right now?"

[Emerald]

Emerald shrugged and cocked her head at the trio that faced her. "I feel all out of whack. Did you talk to Alira or Kalen?"

 

Tarvil, who had been uncharacteristically quiet, smirked and looked askance. Narrowing her eyes, Emerald leaned toward him. "What?"

 

He spread his hands defensively, chuckling. "Hey, don't look at me. Alira's just been moody as a Kowakian monkey-lizard in heat."

 

"What's that supposed to mean?" Emerald challenged.

 

"C'mon, Em, lighten up," he rolled his eyes. "What's it to you if Kalen gets a little something on the side?"

[Sapphire]

Tarvil's hint rubbed Sapphire the wrong way for some reason. She took another sip of her drink, a larger one this time. "Alira commed me while we were in the middle of dealing with the Ewoks. I think we should probably check on them. Or him. She seemed to imply that there was some doubt as to Kalen's...motivations."

 

They had hired Kalen in good faith. His misadventures on Ord Mantell hadn't worked out for him that much in the long run, and Sapphire didn't think he was stupid enough to try something like that again. And yet, doubt still niggled at her. She didn't fully trust anyone but Emerald and Ruby, even if she wanted to.

[Emerald]

Emerald slouched in a dramatic pout. "Ugh, Carida? Are you serious? That is the last place I want to be right now. Let Kalen play at being the good boy. I don't have it in me anymore," she grumbled.

 

Glancing sidelong at Sapphire, she frowned. "How come you didn't mention this earlier?"

 

Kalen's history with Sapphire had always been fairly veiled to Emerald--in fact, his history in general was played ultimately close to the chest. She knew him better than anyone, and even she did not know half of the past he kept tucked away. In truth, perhaps it had been a mistake to entrust him with an asset as important as Amethyst. But time would tell.

[Sapphire]

"Uh, we were kind of in the middle of getting skewered by teddy bears and flirted with by an overdramatic stereotype," Sapphire returned, a bit sharply. "Fine, you stay here and do the books. Ruby and I will go, or I'll go by myself. I just think it wouldn't hurt to make sure Kalen remembers who he's working for, that's all."

 

Tarvil chuckled. "If he ever forgets, he's a fool. I for one like keeping my pretty head on my shoulders."

 

Sapphire rolled her eyes and munched on some pretzels that had come with the drinks. She didn't really think Kalen was going off the rails. He was too intelligent for that. But she also knew he was a little desperate, and desperation caused people to do crazy things. It was, she suspected, partially why he had agreed to work for them in the first place. She had avoided meeting with him one-on-one, but perhaps that luck was about to run out.

[Emerald]

"I mean, we could just comm him," Ruby offered non-confrontationally, but her quick attempt at smoothing over Sapphire's veiled dig did nothing to assuage the blonde Hapan, who was rapidly turning the same color as the explosive Chiss's eyes.

 

"Stay here and MIND THE BOOKS?!" Emerald shrieked. "You're the one who wanted to file an address for permanent residence!"

 

There had been too little action for too long, and even their caper above Endor did little to satisfy the boredom that was settling in. Maybe with half the Imperial fleet knocking on their back door, it would go unnoticed if they did the same. But the slight delivered by her best friend would not go unanswered, especially as Kalen's suspicious activity hung over her head. Knowing that it was mostly undeserved, Emerald still could not restrain herself as she pushed her chair back from the table in the dimly-lit and dingy Rusty Spoon.

 

"All right, you tight-lipped mynock, you think I'm getting slow?" She launched herself across the table, spilling drinks as she knocked them to the floor with the telltale tinkle of shattering glass, a full-body tackle designed to put Sapphire on the ground.

[Sapphire]

Sapphire's eyes lit up as Emerald shrieked at her and rose from the table. Before she knew it, Emerald had dived over the table and tackled her to the ground. Sapphire fell with a thud onto her back, and didn't waste time. She immediately grabbed Emerald's long blonde hair and pulled, using it as an anchor to toss the other pirate off her. "And you're the one who threw us under the thumb of our patrons without so much as a blink!" she hissed back.

 

Tarvil's quick reflexes had rescued his drink, and he grinned, sitting back with the air of enjoying himself greatly as he watched the two women fighting. "Don't hesitate to, you know, really get into it," he called.

 

Emerald now had Sapphire in a headlock, but Sapphire kicked and stomped, jabbing a knee into Emerald's solar plexus. Ruby was on her feet now, trying to break them up, and two seconds later, the bar security, a large Gamorrean, a Weequay, and a Wookiee, had arrived. "Break it up, break it up," the Gamorrean squealed.

 

After a moment, the women released each other. Sapphire rose off the ground, dusted herself off, and headed directly out of the bar without another word.

[Emerald]

Gasping for breath after Sapphire's jab, Emerald reeled for just a moment before elbowing other patrons out of the way to follow the other woman out of the bar. The neon glow of the seedy Promenade surrounded them, and as she spotted Sapphire on the duracrete walkway, she made to break into pursuit, but a hand on her arm from a breathless Tarvil halted her.

 

"Hey, hey, wait up, turbo," he crooned. "Let her cool off. It's been just as tough on her as it has on you."

 

Shrugging off his touch, Emerald yanked on her collar, straightening out her jacket and wiping a smear of dust off of her face with the back of her hand. "But of the two of us, I'm not the one keeping secrets," she muttered.

 

Putting his hands up to abdicate responsibility, Tarvil reached for Emerald once more, and this time, she did not brush off the gentle weight of his arm across her shoulders. "Come on, I'll buy you another drink."

 

The glower on Emerald's face did not evaporate as she followed him back inside, trying to keep the shrinking figure of Sapphire in her sights until the last second that she disappeared from view.

[Sapphire]

Sapphire walked a long time without any direction. Rain began to fall, and the multicolored neon lights of the Vertical City reflected dizzily in the puddles that rapidly formed. Sapphire didn't stop, though.

 

Eventually, she found herself leaning against a metal guardrail overlooking one of the moon's steep drops. It wasn't like the Gems never fought, but they did so rarely enough that it was jarring. And Sapphire had needed the time to cool off. Now that her head was clear again, however, she knew Emerald had reason to be mad at her. The truth was, everything with Kalen was still complicated, as much as she hated to admit it. She wasn't sure why, but the thought of him cozying up to Ammi had been enough to piss her off royally, and she had taken her temper out on Emerald.

 

Why is it complicated? she dared to ask herself. That was a long time ago. You went your separate ways. And it was fine. She hadn't thought much of it when Kalen's name had come up as a manager for Ammi. She certainly hadn't expected these strange emotions to rise up in her heart.

 

She sighed. There was nothing for it but to go talk to Kalen in person. Maybe he could shed some light on why she was feeling this way. He had always been easy to talk to; he had known more about her than anyone else in the galaxy, and even though over nine years had passed and she considered the other Gems to be her family, he still likely knew more about her than the other ladies did. That was a strange realization. It wasn't as if she had anything to hide. She trusted Emerald and Ruby. So why had she never told them her history? And why, when they had hired Kalen, had she not come clean with the whole story?

 

She pushed back her wet hair, then hailed a cab and headed home.

[Emerald]

Ruby made her way back to the Gems' penthouse, claiming irritated exhaustion at the administrative role that her compatriots had wrangled her into, but Emerald did not. Throwing back her third cocktail and eagerly gesturing for the fourth, she grumbled incessantly to Tarvil.

 

"It's like she's running some side job she won't tell me about. LIke, what the kriff does she think, I'm not going to find out about it? Did you hear how she suggested I should just say here? She doesn't want me to find out about whatever she's going to do on Carida. It's all going to her head. She's going to force me out after all I did to get us here," she raved virulently.

 

"Do you think you should just ask her about it?" Tarvil suggested, running a finger along the salted rim of his glass and touching it to the tip of his tongue. "It's not like her to withhold this kind of information, is it?"

 

Emerald let loose a guttural sigh that conveyed wordlessly the extent of her frustration. "Shassa, Tarvil, you heard her. She's just frizzed at me for signing the deal with Kain, but I think she's steamed enough about it to do something stupid."

 

Tarvil nodded, but did not respond immediately, opting to swallow the dregs of his heady drink before leaning on his elbows on the tabletop. "You just need a distraction. I don't think she's as upset as you think she is."

 

"Dammit, Tarvil, quit being so level-headed about this," she growled, sucking down half of her next drink and slamming the glass on the table.

 

"I'm not," he said, the flash of his white teeth at odds with his creamy chocolate skin. Reaching out gently, he dragged a finger up the length of her arm.

 

When Emerald woke up the next morning, tangled in the sheets of the bed in Tarvil's loft apartment, the only memory she had of the previous night was the hazy press of his lips to her throat.

[Sapphire]

Emerald didn't come home that night. The next morning, Sapphire had gone looking for her, intending to clear the air, but had found no trace of the blonde. Instead, she found herself knocking on Ruby's door.

 

"Come in," Ruby answered.

 

"Hey Ruby," Sapphire said. "Have you seen Em?"

 

Ruby eyed her. "No, she was still at the bar with Tarvil last I saw her. You looking to get something off your chest?"

 

Sapphire shrugged uncomfortably. "It's just...Kalen and I go way back, as you guys know. But it was a little more complicated than that. And I need to talk to him. And I don't know why I never told you both all about this, but if you'd just bear with me a bit longer, I'd like to talk to him first."

 

"Why don't you start by just comming him?" Ruby suggested again, hoping that this time her advice would be listened to. "And hey, we all have pasts. But we trust each other, right?"

 

Sapphire nodded. "I hope so."

 

She turned and left the room, then headed to their suite's communications station and patched in Kalen's number.

[Kalen Lorell]

"This is Lorell," Kalen's bright and smooth voice came over the comm, containing an unidentified note of dread.

[Sapphire]

"Hello there," Sapphire replied, equally smoothly. There was no doubt that he'd recognize her voice, so she didn't bother with formalities. "Just checking in. How's our Amethyst? How did things go on Coruscant?"

[Kalen Lorell]

"Oh, Amethyst," he replied easily. "She's fine, she's fine. Coruscant was great, Alira or one of the Rodians should have sent you the preview by now."

 

In the background, a brief scuffle of movement could be heard, followed by a muffled "You're with me!"

 

He coughed. "What can I do for you, doll?"

[Sapphire]

"Really? Everything is fine? Alira seemed to think otherwise," Sapphire replied. "Look Kalen, we need to talk. Emerald is starting to doubt even hiring you in the first place, and I don't want that to happen. Can I come to Carida?"

[Kalen Lorell]

"Uh, no, you really don't need to do that," Kalen said nonchalantly, the background noise of his comlink suddenly dulled as though he had pressed its receiver into his jacket. Which, incidentally, was exactly what he had done. "Listen, you bucket of bolts, we need to triangulate the signal."

 

A cough punctuated his statement. "I'm sorry, what were you saying? Oh, that's right, uh, Carida. No, if you're looking for a holiday, there are a lot of better places to go than this depressing hive of rusty bucketheads. Tell Emerald to go kriff herself. Talk to you later, doll, I gotta run, lots of... business... to attend to."

 

The connection ended with a fragmentary click.