Rebellion, I guess this will be the sort of place I’ll be spending my time in, too .
“The place isn’t much, I know. Neither am I.” Moranda emerged from the closet wearing a vibrant blue tunic and a dark brown coat over it. She eased her right shoulder around in a tiny circle and almost totally suppressed the grimace that resulted. “There, good as new.”
“A bacta bath would make you good as new.”
“True, but the shot mostly just roasted meat—lots of aches but no breaks. Besides those Emdee droids have a nasty habit of reporting blaster burns to the authorities.” Moranda eyed him closely. “Seeing as how you’re a Rebel, I don’t think you’d want that sort of scrutiny.”
Bel Iblis stiffened, quite involuntarily, then narrowed his eyes. “How did you guess?”
“No guess about it.” She tapped a finger against her temple. “First, you cared to come find me, and it wasn’t to pick over my bones. Compassion is rare these days and the Rebels seem to have a lock on it. Second, you came even though you were smart enough to know the folks who shot me were probably Imperial Intelligence.”
Bel Iblis nodded. “The woman was Ysanne Isard, Armand Isard’s daughter.”
Moranda’s eyes grew wide at that, then she shivered. “I knew this was tricky business, but just how tricky…”
“What else made you think I’m a Rebel?”
“Arky has a rep. You’re clearly a Corellian and all Corellians hate taking orders. The patch job you did on me suggests you’ve done your time in the military, which helps breed loyalty to the way it was before Palpatine got greedy. Finally, if the Imps are sniffing around for something, the folks opposing them are likely to be Rebels.”
“Really?” Bel Iblis let the question linger for a moment. “Perhaps I’m Black Sun.”
“Ha! There’s that compassion thing, remember?”
“Hmmm, good point.” Bel Iblis thought for a moment. “What makes you think the Imps are sniffing around for some thing and not some one ?”
“Well, I could tell you I deduced that from the fact that Iceheart’s daughter is here. For wet work they’d just send out a bunch of her drivers. She’s presumably got brains, so they must want to ask questions before they shoot.”
“Save in your case.”
“Hey, that’s a better shot than he got in.” Moranda gave Bel Iblis a lopsided smile. “Fact is, I lifted something from a nervous young man here and it has Imperial property— important Imperial property—coded all over it. That was what you were sent to pick up, wasn’t it?”
Bel Iblis shrugged as casually as he could manage. “Can you prove you were the thief?”
She nodded and pulled a black scarf from the pocket of her jacket. “The packet I exchanged for the one I stole had the mate of this tying it up all nice and pretty. Recognize it?”
He reached out and ran a thumb over the material. “Where’s the package now?”
She laughed. “Not so fast, Reb. I’m grateful for the patch on my arm, but I’d like the resources to leave this mudball and get far away from Hal Horn. What’s it worth to you?”
“Twenty-five thousand credits.”
“How about fifty?”
“Sold.”
Moranda’s eyes widened again. “That valuable, eh? Can we work some bonus pay in here, too?”
“Where is it?”
She hissed and Bel Iblis felt his heart tighten. “In a very safe place.”
“And that would be?”
“The reason I want to know about bonus pay.” She shook her head. “I slipped the datacards into the door of Isard’s rental speeder. I can see that surprises you, but don’t worry. Challenges like that, they always bring out the best in me.”
Hal sat alone in the back of the speeder as Glasc drove them to her operational center. Back at the Continuum Void she’d pulled Trabler aside and given him orders that sent him off on his own. She told Hal that Trabler was going to head to the spaceport to check on how things were running there, but he doubted she was
“The place isn’t much, I know. Neither am I.” Moranda emerged from the closet wearing a vibrant blue tunic and a dark brown coat over it. She eased her right shoulder around in a tiny circle and almost totally suppressed the grimace that resulted. “There, good as new.”
“A bacta bath would make you good as new.”
“True, but the shot mostly just roasted meat—lots of aches but no breaks. Besides those Emdee droids have a nasty habit of reporting blaster burns to the authorities.” Moranda eyed him closely. “Seeing as how you’re a Rebel, I don’t think you’d want that sort of scrutiny.”
Bel Iblis stiffened, quite involuntarily, then narrowed his eyes. “How did you guess?”
“No guess about it.” She tapped a finger against her temple. “First, you cared to come find me, and it wasn’t to pick over my bones. Compassion is rare these days and the Rebels seem to have a lock on it. Second, you came even though you were smart enough to know the folks who shot me were probably Imperial Intelligence.”
Bel Iblis nodded. “The woman was Ysanne Isard, Armand Isard’s daughter.”
Moranda’s eyes grew wide at that, then she shivered. “I knew this was tricky business, but just how tricky…”
“What else made you think I’m a Rebel?”
“Arky has a rep. You’re clearly a Corellian and all Corellians hate taking orders. The patch job you did on me suggests you’ve done your time in the military, which helps breed loyalty to the way it was before Palpatine got greedy. Finally, if the Imps are sniffing around for something, the folks opposing them are likely to be Rebels.”
“Really?” Bel Iblis let the question linger for a moment. “Perhaps I’m Black Sun.”
“Ha! There’s that compassion thing, remember?”
“Hmmm, good point.” Bel Iblis thought for a moment. “What makes you think the Imps are sniffing around for some thing and not some one ?”
“Well, I could tell you I deduced that from the fact that Iceheart’s daughter is here. For wet work they’d just send out a bunch of her drivers. She’s presumably got brains, so they must want to ask questions before they shoot.”
“Save in your case.”
“Hey, that’s a better shot than he got in.” Moranda gave Bel Iblis a lopsided smile. “Fact is, I lifted something from a nervous young man here and it has Imperial property— important Imperial property—coded all over it. That was what you were sent to pick up, wasn’t it?”
Bel Iblis shrugged as casually as he could manage. “Can you prove you were the thief?”
She nodded and pulled a black scarf from the pocket of her jacket. “The packet I exchanged for the one I stole had the mate of this tying it up all nice and pretty. Recognize it?”
He reached out and ran a thumb over the material. “Where’s the package now?”
She laughed. “Not so fast, Reb. I’m grateful for the patch on my arm, but I’d like the resources to leave this mudball and get far away from Hal Horn. What’s it worth to you?”
“Twenty-five thousand credits.”
“How about fifty?”
“Sold.”
Moranda’s eyes widened again. “That valuable, eh? Can we work some bonus pay in here, too?”
“Where is it?”
She hissed and Bel Iblis felt his heart tighten. “In a very safe place.”
“And that would be?”
“The reason I want to know about bonus pay.” She shook her head. “I slipped the datacards into the door of Isard’s rental speeder. I can see that surprises you, but don’t worry. Challenges like that, they always bring out the best in me.”
Hal sat alone in the back of the speeder as Glasc drove them to her operational center. Back at the Continuum Void she’d pulled Trabler aside and given him orders that sent him off on his own. She told Hal that Trabler was going to head to the spaceport to check on how things were running there, but he doubted she was
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