Skate strode along the
command walkway above and between the crew pits on the bridge of Lord Baron
Reno's SSD. She had been left in command as the rest of the squadron was
either asleep, too hung over or down on the blue pristine planet below. The
first officer Lieutenant Trebaum, a handsome young man not too much older than
Skate, was sick with Mapatsan fever and had been quarantined in sickbay.
Captain Vanicus had stayed on duty for several hours after his shift, and had
retreated to his cabin an hour ago.
The blue pristine planet
. . .
Skate had been born and raised on the planet Toprawa. When she was 18
years old, the planet was brutally assaulted by the Empire in retaliation for
the actions of a few of the natives. Those Toprawans had quartered Rebel spies
who were smuggling plans of the Empire's secret project, the Death Star, to the
Rebel Alliance High Command. The assault was so thorough that Toprawa became a
cultural and economical nightmare. Being reduced to a pre-industrial state, the
natives were forced to live off the land or beg for food from the Imperial
agents left to oversee the planet. Being a descendant of Antarian Rangers,
Skate had been trained to survive in almost any environment. She stayed in the
wilderness and built a small shack for lodging.
Sooner than later, she
had stowed away on an Imperial freighter that had set down on Toprawa. That
ship took her to Laruasha, an agricultural world near Toprawa. She had to fight
an Imperial crewman when sneaking from the freighter, but escaped without
further incident. With the help of her "special talents", she eked
out a living, eventually becoming quite comfortable. But it wasn't enough for
her, and one night in a bar she found a way to change, if not improve, her
lifestyle. She bought a pilot several drinks and put on her charms. It wasn't
long before she had him in an inn suite with a bottle of Corellian whiskey.
Before anything too personal had happened, she had found out all she needed and
broke the bottle over his head. Within two hours she was making orbit in the
Rebel pilot's X-wing. Coupled with her stolen credits, she had the means to go
wherever she wanted in the galaxy. But she would have traded that in a second
to go back to her childhood on Toprawa. When it was a beautiful world untainted
by laserfire and projectile. When it was a blue and green globe much like the
one she stared out at now.
The blue was so
beautiful that it reminded Skate of Lieutenant Trebaum's eyes. Ever since she
had lived on Laruasha, she had been plagued (or was it blessed?) with
periodical dreams of a tall, dark-haired, blue-eyed man. The dreams were
varied, intense and almost tangible. More often than not, they were romantic.
Many men she had come across over the years had fit the description, but none
like Trebaum. He was friendly and always had a smile for her, but she didn't
know if that was simply out of respect or something more. She didn’t want to
risk her reputation by approaching him and being rejected. So she waited for
Lieutenant Trebaum to approach her. She knew that it might not ever happen,
that it most likely might not ever happen, but she still had the dreams.
"Lady Skate, I have
a transmission coming in," called the communications officer from the
starboard crew pit.
Skate snapped into the
present and turned that way. "And? Is that so abnormal?"
"Coded, ma'am. For
high-level security authorization only."
"Patch it into the
captain's ready room," Skate ordered, heading for the ready room.
In the luxurious office
that Vanicus called his ready room, Skate stood over the comm panel and punched
in her authorization code. It gave her access and gave her the statistics of
the transmission. Audio only. Skate frowned. While she didn't feel that she was
the most camera friendly person in the galaxy, she did like to have the
intimidation factor on her side in a holocommunication. With her dark apparel
and weapons at her belt, lightsaber in particular, she made quite an imposing
image.
She hunkered into
Vanicus' high-backed chair and opened the channel. "This is Skate of Lord
Baron Reno's SSD."
"Wrenn Valto here.
Reno around?" The voice came through deep and crisp.
"The Baron is
preoccupied. May I help you?"
"I came across some
information that I thought he might find interesting, if not useful."
"Well, what is
it?" Skate asked, while examining a piece of clear stone that decorated
Vanicus' desk.
Wrenn chuckled.
"Let's talk credits first, Skate."
"I didn't know we
were on a first name basis."
"Now you do. You
have the honor of addressing me by my first name," Wrenn said proudly.
Skate bit her lip.
"You are a bold man, Wrenn."
"You have to be in
a galaxy like this."
"Very true. Or bold
woman."
"Sounds like you
have an inside perspective," Wrenn suggested suspiciously.
"You could say
that. You could say that," Skate said, nodding despite the fact that Wrenn
couldn't see her.
"Maybe you could
tell me about it."
Skate laughed aloud.
"Why? So some strange information pirate can go sell it to the highest
bidder? I don't think so."
"You're smart. But
. . . strange as in unfamiliar or strange as in weird?"
"Take your
pick," Skate said, setting down the stone and picking up a different one.
"Nice. I'd have to
go for the former. But why keep it that way?"
"You're really
trying to get me to open up, aren't you? So you can file all the info away in
case it would ever become useful at a later date."
"Probably. But
maybe I want to file it away for myself. You never know." Wrenn paused. "It's
something of a gamble on your part."
"Now that's a field
that I am an expert in, so I can't go too wrong."
"Gambler, eh? I
engage in a game of chance here and there, but I am just too afraid of losing
money to do it all the time."
"And that goes back to the boldness factor. So I guess I'm one up
on you," Skate said, smiling. There wasn't a man in recent history that
was as easy to talk to as this Wrenn Valto was.
"I'll give you
that, but I am no chump when it comes to sabaac."
Skate laughed again. "When I was on
Laruasha, I was once in a little cantina and there was a guy with the same
attitude. So I came over to the table where he sat with three other beings
and…"
"…so the entire
place is in a brawl and I sneak behind the counter and relieve them of their
credits and a bottle of Cassandran Brandy. They made deposits from the credit
box to a safe in the back every hour or so, hence the brandy was the real prize
there."
"Masterful,"
Skate said, sitting in Vanicus' chair with her knees hugged to her chest.
"Yeah. The problem
most thieves have is that they try to go for the big money. But more often than
not, big money equals definite failure. I go for easier jobs like the one I
just described and it all adds up. My mother has a saying: ‘one hundred
centicreds make a credit.’"
"Very wise. I went
by a similar scheme that-" Skate stopped. Her eyes had gazed at the chrono
on the Captain's desk. Oh three forty-four! She had been talking to Wrenn for
more than five hours.
"Skate?"
"Do you know that
it's almost oh four hundred Standard?"
"Now I do. I
haven't checked the time in a while."
"Apparently, I
haven't checked it at all. Look, I'd love to stay and chat, but this
transmission has to end now," Skate said, putting a bit of a serious tone
in her voice.
"I understand.
That's a long time to talk to a stranger," Wrenn said, chuckling.
"You're not so
strange anymore. But I must ask . . . what was that information you had for
Reno?"
"Ah. I forgot all
about that. There is a freighter with a sizeable load of Whyren's Reserve set
to head for the planet Tivel, its first stop. Sending transponder data
now."
"Wrenn, we never
negotiated a price. How much did that cost us?"
"No cost. This one
is on me. Just tell Reno that he has you to thank," Wrenn said. "And
Skate, it was nice talking to you. You know how to contact me."
"Likewise."
"Goodbye."
The transmission ended
and Skate leaned back in the chair. How had she had a five- hour conversation
with somebody she didn't know? And why had time gone by so fast? Maybe it was
the fact that her and Wrenn had that one unique thing in common. They were both
thieves and con artists by nature, by practice. She felt that she could really
tell her stories to him and that he could understand and relate to them. She
even looked forward to talking to Wrenn again.
Skate stretched, got up,
and made her way to the bridge.
During Mark of a Traitor…
Skate leaned back in her
chair and smiled, despite the current situation. Reno had come up missing.
Captain Vanicus, Gimmer and Nuprin had set out to rescue him, but never
returned. Now Jace Sidrona was off to search for them. A droid of the enigmatic
Darth Ane had infiltrated the SSD. The new recruit Rick was wreaking a
havoc of his own throughout the ship.
But underneath all that
strife, Skate saved a spot for some joy. She had just ended a communication
with Wrenn Valto. She had explained to him the situation--being careful not to
reveal too much, of course. Wrenn's words had been truthful, yet soothing.
Even with that
considered, Skate couldn't stop thinking of Reno’s disappearance. Only a few
days after she had received the first call from Wrenn Valto, Reno had received
another tip from a different information broker. That tip was on a Whyren's
shipment that was in greater quantity, had less escort and was not as close to
an area of space that Reno wanted to avoid. Skate wasn't certain, but perhaps
that area had meaning to Reno's past. Reno and Thunder had set out for the
freighter based on the newer information. Upon arrival, they were ambushed and
Reno had been captured, with Thunder narrowly escaping. Skate couldn't help but
feel a tinge of guilt over the whole situation. Why couldn't the information
she passed on to Reno have been as--or more--lucrative than the newer
information?
She made her way over to
the small bar in the corner and pulled out a small flask of Whyren's Reserve
and a small goblet. After dropping three ice cubes into the goblet, she opened
the Whyren's. The crisp, woody aroma pleased her nose as she poured the liquor.
As she was about to take a sip, her door chime sounded. Ignoring it, she drank
from the goblet and let the alcohol make her body tingle. The door chime
sounded again.
"Enter!" The
door slid open and Sith Rick stepped inside the cabin. Skate set down her drink
and frowned. "What do you want now?"
"I was
thinking-"
"Were you
now?"
"Yeah, and I am
trying to figure out why someone would want to distract us from joining Jace,
unless they wanted to capture him, as well," the young man rambled off.
"Likely conclusion.
Or perhaps they figured that they couldn't handle all of us and were afraid
that we would all come in force. Who knows?" Skate raised her drink to her
mouth.
"Hey, can I have
some Whyren's?" Sith Rick asked hopefully.
"I don't know. Can
you?"
Rick rolled his eyes.
"May I have some Whyren's?"
"No." The boy
frowned and hung his head low. "Is there anything else?"
"Ah, not
really," Rick said in a pitiful tone.
"Then get out.
Can't you see I am trying to enjoy my Whyren's?"
"But I-"
"Out!" Skate
shouted, putting her hand on Rick's forehead, pushing him through the doorframe,
and hitting the close switch.
Skate returned to her
drink, and considered what Rick had asked. Why would Tomy Gi want to
distract the rest of Sith Squadron from joining Jace? Because whoever was
paying Gi wanted to take Jace captive as well? Or was it that they didn't want
to face the entire Sith Squadron all at the same time?
But that didn't make any
sense. From what Thunder had described, the ship that had taken Reno was
sizeable, and should have well enough soldiers to subdue a small unit. Even a
Sith unit. There was something missing. But Skate didn't know where to start
looking for clues.
In
the meantime, thoughts of Wrenn filled her mind.
As Skate strode down the
hall to the turbolift, she was joined by Jen Violet.
"Hey," Skate
said, smiling.
"Hi."
"You happy?"
"About what?"
Jen furrowed her brow suspiciously.
"About what,"
Skate repeated. "You know what I mean."
"Oh, about Jace
being back? Yeah, I think it's great. But not for the reasons your mind has
made up."
"If you say so. But
. . . what do you think this meeting is about?" Skate asked, changing the
subject.
"A more detailed
debriefing of his venture, no doubt. I wouldn't rule out making an outline for
another rescue attempt."
"But we don't even
know where Reno is."
"No shit, Olie. But
Jace did tell me that he has one lead. So that's something."
"Does he talk in
his sleep?" Skate asked as they entered the turbocar.
"Yeah, him and
Tyros rambled all night and I couldn’t get any sleep," Jen answered
sardonically.
“Very funny.”
Jen shrugged and put on
an evil smile. “The latter part is true.”
Jace Sidrona leaned on
the table and looked at Sith Squadron. Skate noticed that he had an intensity
in his eyes that she had never seen before. Numerous scars marked his face and
arms, which were incurred in the fight with Darth Zarin and Xanthis he had just
described.
"Ryvo Lorell?"
Jen asked.
"That's what he said,"
Jace confirmed. "I ran a check on Ryvo Lorell, but the information is
sketchy. He is from Kiffu. Heir to a prefect-commissioner office in one of the
cities. It didn't say if he lived on or offworld. But, regardless, what we want
is in that system."
"How do you figure?" Seven asked quizzically.
"Simple. If Lorell
does indeed reside on Kiffu, then we have him. If he doesn't live there, we
have his family. Either way, we win by going to Kiffu," Jace said
confidently, opening his hands.
"And can you be
sure he has family there?" Rick queried.
"Well, there's the
heir thing," Skate suggested.
"I ran a check on
his last name. There are Lorell's there," Jace nodded.
"But can we be
certain that this Lorell cares enough about his family to come for them? I
mean, he is a heartless information broker," Jen said.
"I know. I have
considered that, but this is our only shot," Jace argued.
"Maybe we can go
through some other channels to learn more about him," Jen suggested
hopefully.
"I have already
sent out requests for information on Ryvo Lorell through a few different
outlets. But we don't have time to wait for responses. We must act now, before
the cards change face. We are en route to the Kiffex colony. I will go down to
the planet with Skate and Jen. We will try to find any information we can on
Ryvo Lorell. If none can be found, we will go after his family." Jace
looked down. "Hopefully for them, Ryvo
Lorell won't be as heartless a being as we would make him out to
be." He looked back up. "Thunder, the technicians have pieced
together and analyzed the telemetry from your sensors. Pretty much everything
was lost save for the first few moments, but there was something interesting
there. Your long range sensors didn't pick up anything that indicated the
system was inhabited by anything more than cave dwellers."
"Cave dwellers . .
." Jen echoed.
"What?"
Thunder looked up. "That system was supposed to have had a planet with a
population of over four hundred million and several mining bases on moons
around the sixth planet. It was supposed to have been ruled by an Imperial
governor, Jace."
"Either you jumped
into the wrong system or your information was amiss. Considering that you two
were ambushed, I'd opt to believe the latter. We'll confirm it when we arrive
at Kiffu by linking with the information net there. If the information on the
system conflicts, then it means somebody altered the data files on the SSD's
computer. We will have to find out who did it."
"Or what,"
Thunder offered. "Ane's droid could have done it."
"Good point. Get
some sleep. Reversion in fourteen hours."
The Sith quietly filed
out of the conference room. Jace stood and began closing up his datapad. Jen
and Skate approached him.
"What are we going to do if we find Ryvo Lorell's
family?" Jen asked
"You mean when we
find them," Jace corrected. "Hold them for ransom. Use them as bait
for Ryvo."
"You gonna kill
them?" Jen asked.
Jace put his hands on
the table and looked up. "I'll try to keep my anger in check."
"What does that
mean?"
"Let's just say
we'll see what happens."
Jen reached back and
squeezed Skate's wrist, signaling her to leave. Without hesitating, Skate
turned on her heel and strode from the room. As the door was closing, Skate
looked back to see Jen pulling a seat out and patting it's back for Jace to
sit. Skate could tell that Jace was genuinely stressed by the whole situation.
He had known Reno longer than anybody in Sith Squadron and had an unwaveringly
loyalty to the Baron for some reason. He was steadfast in his quest to rescue
Reno. She could see why this debacle was frustrating him so much. And that lead
Skate to feel guilty again.
She felt that the whole
situation was mostly her fault. She had been the one to give Reno the message
from Wrenn Valto. She knew it was preposterous, shooting herself as the
messenger, but she still felt guilty. And until Reno returned safely, she would
continue to harbor that guilt.