Last Chance: Myn and Lara - pt. 20


They're either fearless, Myn thought darkly, Or they have nothing to fear. Myn was pretty sure he knew exactly who the shooters in the speeder had been.

The two CorSec officers couldn't keep pace against the speeder, and Myn's eagle eyes watched as they came back. Thera walked with a slight limp, likely from Myn's yanking her down and out of the line of fire when he'd dived. Rithkin's breath was coming hard, and anger was writ large on his face. "Four of 'em." he gasped when he was close enough. "Couldn't see any faces.They had masks on." He holstered his pistol, and rested his back against the wall, trying to catch his breath. "I'm getting too old for this kriff," Rithkin muttered once he could stand up straight.

Myn checked his charge and reluctantly tucked his weapon into its case, as Thera gathered contact information and eye-witness reports from the few bystanders. As his daughter performed this task with the care and determination of a career cop, Rithkin eyed Myn speculatively. "Any clue why they were gunnin' for you, son?" he asked.

"I'm not your son," Myn retorted sharply, and the older man drew back in some surprise. There was no doubt in the pilot's mind that it was those same corrupt cops who had initiated this attack. It seemed they knew who he was, and were not afraid to take direct action against him. From this, Myn could infer that the Internal Investigator he had spoken to the day before was as dirty as the rest. "Why do you think they we gunning for me?" he asked pointedly, before Rithkin could respond to the antagonism in Myn's first response.

"I can't rightly say," Rithkin replied, after a pause for thought. "I guess you are the outsider here, so... I just assumed, maybe you had stepped on one of the local gang's toes...?" he offered by way of explanation.

Myn glared coldly at the other man, his voice frozen in his chest. Was it at all possible Rithkin had nothing to do with this attack? Indeed, would he have condoned such reckless shooting at his own daughter? The more he thought about it, the more Myn realised there was no way the older officer could have known anything about it.

He met Rithkin's concerned gaze, keeping his emotions buried tightly behind his habitual expressionless mask. "Maybe I have," was all he would say.

Thera commed in the incident, but her expression betrayed her puzzlement. They were, after all, just across the street from the local precinct of the Corellian Security Agency. Whoever they were, the assassins were brazen. She spared an admiring glance for Myn as he cased his rifle. "You were so fast!" she remarked.

"I wish I'd been as accurate as I was quick off the mark," Myn replied.

"I think you winged one of 'em, though, Ardmin," Rithkin said as they made their way across the street to the precinct office to sign off on the report, "I saw one of 'em fall back holding his arm after your second blast."

"That's good news," Thera interjected, "We can put in an alert on the local med facilities, keeping an eye out for suspicious burns on the arm."

As Rithkin read over the report, Myn spoke quietly to Thera, "When you put out that alert, don't forget our own. And not just this precinct's med facility, Capital's as well."

Her green eyes locked on his, a question forming in their depths, but Myn shook his head, as her father returned. "That's that all taken care of," Rithkin said, sliding his identcard back into his pocket. He gave his daughter a pat on ths shoulder. "But I have to say, that whole thing kinda took away my appetite... Maybe you two would prefer to go on to breakfast without me."

Thera shook her head. "I'm due on shift in just over an hour, Dad, so I was going to take a raincheck anyway." Her father accepted her excuse, and then was beckoned back over to the counter by the officer who had taken the report.

Thera turned to face Myn and slipped her card into his palm. "Maybe you could give me a call," was all she said, but Myn could read those unanswered questions clearly in her face. He nodded non-commitally, and seeing Rithkin was still occupied, he slipped from the office and made his way up to his quarters, the back of his neck prickling with the adrenaline let-down.

He hadn't noticed until in the privacy of his small quarters, but his dive across the duracrete had left its mark on his clothes. The finely made trousers had torn across the knee, and the creamy fabric of the shirt was soiled. As he changed, Myn determined that he should make a stop at Lasca's shop, to see about repairs, and to warn her to be very circumspect in her dealings with the corrupt officers. I should warn the rest, as well, he thought. If Eryll is corrupt, they'll know who I talked to... The corrupted officers' attempt to silence him had been thwarted, it made sense they'd take their message to those who'd had the temerity to report the coercion.

The ruined clothes in a carrisak, Myn darted out the door and headed for Lasca's shop, his heart beating faster for the sudden urgency, as he realised his actions may have put every one of his informants at serious risk.

~*~


part 21

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