Has it really been this long since I last posted here? Yikes. To be fair, though, Emimar has had a horrible time since the summer of 2012 and is now only just beginning to get back into the swing of things. It's real shame that no one seems to blog anymore and shessh, that side bar is AWFUL. She's also taken up with a group of dwarves from this planet called Arda and seems to have forgotten all about me. I mean, to leave me hanging like she has is utterly ridiculous. So, I may have to go to Arda in search of her. Writers!

Ok

I think that this theme (however boring it is) will have to do for now. Emimar was going to delete the blog because she couldn't get into the themes section, but I had no problem. (Force-less humans...)

The sidebar is really in need of updating. And yep, Emimar reads way too much. I blame the University course she did. I wish she would get back to writing instead, but then again, that would probably mean some wildlife conservation report.

New Theme needed??

Yep, I think so. Imagecave has gone bust, which is why the images have dissapeared. Annoying or what?

I'm Back...

Was just looking at the date since I last logged in/posted something and was shocked to see that it was such a long while back...as in, December 2008...

Emimar's not as busy as she was, so she'll be able to update more often (hopefully...) It's been so long I was beginning to think that she'd forgotten.

Blog Update...

No, not a chapter update, sadly. Emimar has started a new blog for a new character she's created. The details are here: http://drudistalkingwolf.blogspot.com/

Bye for now!

Update Coming Soon!

I'm about half way through Chapter 9. I know, it's been ages. Aggh! Things have just been a little hectic over the past couple of months. I had the OU End of Course Assignment to complete in May, plus there was some sad news about my dog. In June, I was busy updating some sites that needed work on, so I'd not had time to do much writing. The last couple of weeks I was on a course. (which is not really a course, and I didn't want to go on it, but I had no choice.) I should have Chapter 9 ready to be posted Friday next week. Thanks for your patience.

Back Soon!

The hiatus will soon be over! I've almost finished the OU course that's been keeping me busy, so expect an update at the end of the month/begining of June time.

I've finally found a decent layout that I think compliments the theme of the blog. I didn't like the last one much, and I was bored of the previous one.

I hope everyone's ok, and hopefully, if nothing else gets in the way, this blog will get some life put back into it.

The Bounty Hunter Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Flik and Shiba hardly said a word to each other while they relocated Rhinda, which was fine by Flik. He hoped that once the mission was over, that Shiba, having had a taste of the brutality surrounding a Bounty Hunter’s life, would decide to quit. They had found a small cantina, this time run by a Qurren, which seemed to be more tolerant of non-native species which the wolfman put down to it being owned by an off-worlder. Flik figured that they would be less noticeable as there were even humans, though not many, among the mix of patrons. What none of them knew was that the cantina was a front to disguise a Rebel Alliance cell which was there to monitor the situation between the alien and human prisoners.

At that particular time, the only concern of Flik and the two women was that they remained hidden from their enemies and that the other patrons reminded their own business, which they seemed to be intent on doing. However, in spite of this, Flik kept his suspicions up, as there was always a possibility of a spy, among them, especially because of the presence of humans.

To combat this, after stowing their belongings in the two rooms they’d rented, Flik did a sweep of the building to determine possible routes of escape in the event of a raid, either by Imperial forces, or the Purists. It had been a habit he’d gotten into during the latter days of the Clone Wars after he and his family had been forced to flee Coruscant. Then, once he was on his own after Auoura and Tek’s deaths, he’d no longer cared if Imperials busted their way into anywhere he was staying, and he’d dropped it off. Now, with a client in tow, he could no longer take such risks.

He met up with Shiba and Rhinda in the bar area. The two women had wisely chosen a booth, rather than a table, which gave them some degree of privacy. He noticed a glass of Lomin ale waiting for him.

“Hope you don’t mind,” Shiba said. “I thought it would make us blend in better.”

Flik didn’t reply as he sat down, taking note of the drinks that Shiba and Rhinda had in front of them. He glanced at Shiba suspiciously, but he picked up no indication of deception from her.

“Everything secure?” Shiba asked.

“There should be no problem,” the wolfman replied.

Rhinda sipped her drink. Looking the wolfman in the eye, she opened her mouth to speak.

“Once our business here is finished, I want passage off this world,” the Bothan said. “There is little keeping me here now. Kothlis or Bothawui -”

“I can take you to Kothlis,” Flik said. “It’ll cost you extra. From there, it’s up to you to find your own way to Bothawui, if that is where you want to go from there.”

Rhinda’s eyes narrowed. “How much more?” she asked.

“One hundred percent of the price we’ve already discussed,” the wolfman replied.

“That’s steep,” Rhinda started to protest.

“Yeah, well, look at it this way. After we’ve done this job, we’ll already be going out hot. Taking you with us will increase the risk. I need to be able to cover the cost of any damages done to my ship, if we run into further trouble. I think the price I am asking is fair. Of course, if you think it’s too much, you can always stay where you are.”

“Very well, wolfman,” Rhinda replied, but it was clear from the tone in her voice and the rippling of her fur that she was far from pleased with the deal.

With that, Rhinda rose to her feet and left them. After she was gone, Shiba looked at Flik.

“You drive a hard bargain,” she said.

Flik shrugged his shoulders. “Most people only put value on credits, doctor, and as such, are easily manipulated.”

Shiba frowned at him. “She came to you for help. They killed her husband,” Shiba reminded him. “You’re using her -”

Flik cut her off. “Don’t use that argument with me, doctor. If family meant something to you, you would be with your children right now.”

***

Ever since the time of the Clone Wars, Flik had taken to sleeping lightly, so the soft tapping on the door didn’t escape his notice. He slipped on his trousers and glanced at his chrono. Less than half an hour had passed since he and Shiba had left the bar, and it didn’t take much guessing that it was the human woman before he even opened the door, and he’d guessed correctly.

“Look, I know you don’t really want me here, but you’re wrong if you think that I don’t care about my children,” Shiba began.

“You woke me to tell me that?” Flik asked, not even attempting to keep the sarcasm out of his voice.

“Yes,” Shiba replied, deciding to ignore the sarcasm. “And the fact that Rhinda wouldn’t let me in our room after what you did earlier.”

“The fees? She’s still sore about them?”

“Apparently,” Shiba said.

“I’m not going to drop them. They stay has they are.”

“You’re stubborn, you know that?” Shiba crossed her arms over her chest.

“Look, doctor, if I went around giving into my clients, I would never get paid, I’d never be able to cover my expenses, and now that you’re with me, you expect to get the pay you deserve, on top of which if you’re ever going to earn enough to restart your medical practice, not to mention those brats of - ”

“Yes, I get the picture,” Shiba cut him off, a frown creasing her forehead. “And my kids aren’t brats.” After a moment, she said, “You really don’t want me here, do you?”

Seeing that they were in danger of gathering an audience, Flik grabbed her arm and pulled her inside before closing the door.

“I don’t think this is the right place for you. We’ve been lucky so far in that neither of us hasn’t been killed.”

“You would have,” Shiba tried to remind him, referring to the time she’d had to rescue him.

“Perhaps. You tell me that I’m stubborn, but no matter what I do to try convince you otherwise, it just makes you more determined to stay on.” His lupine eyes fell on her and he wanted to tell her the real reason why he didn’t want her to stay. I don’t want you here because I’m falling in love with you and that’s far more risky than all the dangers we’ve faced together so far combined.

There must have been a hint of his true feelings in his eyes at that moment because Shiba kissed him. As her lips met his, the tension that had been steadily building up between them snapped. Before he had time to stop and think about what he was doing, because if he’d paused he would have finished it before he started, he’d pulled Shiba’s tunic up over her head and dropped it to the floor. He could have stopped there, they both could have, but instead Flik guided her, with her full cooperation, towards the bed.

***

Shiba woke to find Flik’s arm wrapped around her, pressing her back into his chest. She shifted on to her back and saw that he was awake, his lupine eyes staring back at her.

“I was wondering if you were ever going to wake up,” he said. He wanted to kiss her, but time was pressing and he knew that if he did so that neither of them would want to get up soon...

“You could have woken me,” Shiba replied.

Flik said, “I didn’t want to disturb you.” He’d not had this much fun since before Auoura died. Though he knew he shouldn’t, he kissed her, but only for a minute, after which he pulled back and got to his feet. He caught Shiba’s disappointed expression as he dressed.

“We have a job to do,” he reminded her. Shiba sensed the reluctance in his voice. “But,” he said with a grin, “We could continue this later.”

He felt Shiba’s eyes on him as he finished pulling on his shirt and it took all of his will power not to return to her. He thought that after they’d made love, that it would lessen the distraction, but it only increased it.

Flik headed towards the door. “I’ll meet you and Rhinda in her room in about an hour. There’s still some details we need to go over.”

“Ok,” Shiba replied as he disappeared through the now open doorway. Since when had the room she and Rhinda were supposed to be staying in just became Rhinda’s? Shiba laughed once the door had closed behind the wolfman, feeling like a college girl again, and tried not to berate herself for it.

***

Shiba could hardly bring herself to look at Flik during the meeting with Rhinda. The Bothan had calmed down some what but Shiba could hardly concentrate on taking in any of Flik’s words while he outlined his advice to the Bothan to keep a low profile while they were gone. The meeting was over before Shiba realised the time had gone. Flik indicated that she should accompany him. Once they were alone again, the tension that had been building up between them returned, this time even more strongly than before. It was Flik that spoke first.

“Shiba,” he began, surprising her by using her name. That surprise quickly vanished to be replaced by dread, as it meant he had something serious to impart indeed. Shiba knew that dread was well founded as she listened to his next words. “We can’t let what occurred between us last night interfere with our work. We can’t let it happen again.” His tone was cold, but not unkind.

That college girl feeling vanished in an instant. “And if things were different?” She had to know, even while attempting to make it appear that it didn’t affect her.

Flik knew what she was really asking him was if there was a chance that he would change his mind. If he wasn’t a Bounty Hunter, he’d still be a Jedi, and the impossibility of it would still stand. Flik didn’t have the heart to give her false hope. That would be far more cruel than rejection.

“It wouldn’t happen, even then,” he replied quietly. “You of all people should know of the prejudices that would drive us apart.”

He was referring to the fact that they were different species, hoping that would give her an understanding of the unfeasibility of a relationship. Shiba nodded, understanding and trying to put up a front that everything was fine, even though inside her emotions were tearing her asunder. She couldn’t help but feel that he was brushing her off, tossing her aside like she was nothing.

“I suggest that you focus your energy on our upcoming mission, doctor, and forget about last night.”

Shiba had to wonder just how he could shake everything off so quickly, like it hadn’t happened, or meant nothing to him at all. Pulling herself together, like the way she done after losing a patient and gathering the resolve she needed to carry on with the job, Shiba left the room.

Once he was alone, Flik punched a nearby wall with his fist in frustration. He hated upsetting her like that, he hated having to lie to her. Why couldn’t he just be allowed to tell her the truth? In reality, he felt the wound of having to stay apart from her cut just as deeply. The only difference was, he’d had more practice at hiding it.

***

Time to enter the Rancor’s den, Flik thought. He glanced across at Shiba, who now sported copper-red hair that she wore in a style similar to that of a Naboo’s lady’s. She’d dyed it as part of her disguise, as there’d not been an extra holographic belt for her use, so she’d had to rely on the more traditional ways of hiding her identity. To complete her disguise, she wore the clothing he had found for her while they’d resided in the Gungan’s cantina. He just hoped that it was enough to fool them.

He thought that she looked small, vulnerable and he wished one more time that he only had himself to look out for. Shiba caught him looking at her with the expression on her face that told him that she could handle it. He only hoped that was the case. The blaster displayed at her waist helped to reinforce that impression.

Flik’s features were obscured by the holographic belt Rhinda had provided and he appeared as a tall, brown haired, bearded human male. His clothing, at least, that on his torso was real. The disadvantage using the holographic belt was that he had to avoid any physical contact with Teff’s men; otherwise, the disguise would fall apart.

It had taken Flik a few days of manoeuvring to actually get this audience with Teff, and even now he and Shiba were forced to wait in the lobby. The two guards flanking the entrance to the corridor that led the way to Teff’s office eyed him and Shiba suspiciously and as the waiting time dragged on, Flik became increasingly convinced that their cover had been blown.

At last, a human, athletic enough to have been a stormtrooper, and given Teff’s connection to the Imperial overseer, Flik wouldn’t have been surprised to discover that he was, or had been. Flik studied the man carefully as he and Shiba were escorted to Teff’s office and marked him as an adversary to watch out for over the coming days. He made a mental note to alert Shiba to do the same the first time he got the chance.

They entered the office. Their escort, whose name Flik was later to learn was Delmon Roscoe, moved to stand behind Teff, at his right hand side. The office consisted of a desk that had seen better days and adorning the opposite wall was a holographic projection that displayed various scenes from around Theed. Along the left wall was a closed door way.

“You want to join my organisation, is that correct?” Teff asked, looking at him with scrutiny. He directed his question at Flik, ignoring Shiba standing beside him completely.

“It’s what we’re here for,” Flik replied, putting as much emphasis on the word we’re, as he could. Fortunately, the voice modulator filtered out the growl that Flik was sure was in his voice.

“I need men who are dedicated to our cause, Mr Naja,” Teff said. “You are familiar with it, I presume?”

“Very,” Flik replied. “The cleansing of Naboo by eliminating the primitive aliens that mar the perfection of our homeworld.”

Flik resisted the impulse to look across at Shiba. They had practiced this part of the speech. If they could not do it convincingly, then their efforts were for nought. The irony of Flik’s words was not lost on him.

Teff nodded his approval. “You must first prove your loyalty to our cause,” Teff said, reaching for the comm system and activating it. Speaking into the comm, Teff said, “Bring the creature in.”

After hearing those words, Flik had no doubt what kind of “loyalty test” Teff was talking about. Two of Teff’s guards entered through the left side door, dragging a heavily beaten Gungan between them. Flik’s keen sense of smell recognised the Gungan’s scent immediately. It was the proprietor of the cantina that Flik and Shiba had stayed at, prior to their moving to the one run by the Qurren.

Panic surged through Flik momentarily, not because of what Teff as about to ask him to do, but for the fact that the Gungan might recognise Shiba and spoil the mission.

“Not only is this creature one of the primitives that infest this planet, but the Gungan you see before you has been harbouring enemies of our movement, an off-world alien, a wolfman, I believe, and a human woman, whom it has been consorting with. I am sure you know what is required.”

For once, Flik was glad that Shiba couldn’t see his features, and before she could react, Flik drew his blaster, aimed it at the Gungan, and fired.

Happy New Year!

Chapter 8 should be finished soon. Because of time constraints, Emimar has decided to cut this story short, so Chapter 9 will be the last chapter. All the entries that aren't related to the story have been deleted to save space. A new story, Starchaser will be starting soon in the Smuggler's Moon blog once The Bounty Hunter is finished, so if you've not already done so, update your links!

May the Force be With You

The Bounty Hunter Chapter 7

Chapter 7

“This was all I could find,” Flik said, handing Shiba the Naboo peasant clothing he had found. “I guessed your size.”

“Thanks,” Shiba said, taking the clothes from him. Out of courtesy, Flik turned his back on her as she changed, though the skimpy clothes she’d been forced to wear did little to hide her modesty, anyway. Although they weren’t what Shiba would have chosen for herself, the light brown trousers and tunic were practical, she decided.

“You can look now,” Shiba said, after she’d finished dressing. Flik turned around.

“So, what’s this plan of yours?” Shiba asked, sitting down at the bottom of the bed.

“We’ll need to infiltrate the purists,” Flik replied. “If we are to find Sarnad’s killer.”

“A bit obvious,” Shiba mumbled. “Though it’s going to be difficult considering what you look like and all.”

Flik exposed his fangs to indicate amusement. “There’s no need to worry about that,” he explained. He picked up the belt from the equipment they had arranged on the floor. “This device is known as a holographic belt. It will enclose me in a hologram which will make me look human, and the voice modulator will make me sound more human.”

“So, what’s my part in all of this? It looks like you’ve got everything at your end covered.”

Flik hesitated. She probably wasn’t going to like the next part of the plan. “To get you in there, you’re going to have to play the part of my squeeze.”

Shiba raised her eye brows. She didn’t know whether to laugh at him or slap him. “Your what?” she asked in disbelief.

“The purists treat your gender as subservient, as well as treating those not of their species as inferior. It’s the only way I could get you in there and give you some protection. The only honourable trait they possess is that they wouldn’t touch what he sees to be the property of someone else,” Flik explained. “If you can come up with a better plan, then let me know.”

At that moment, Shiba couldn’t think of anything. After a moment, she said, “I just don’t understand you. One moment you act like a complete jerk, the next, you’re the champion of chivalry. I don’t get that.”

“Good. You’re not meant to.”

“I just hope that you don’t hold the same views about - ”

Flik laughed. “Of course not! Things have changed drastically on Naboo since Senator Amidala was in office.”

“You say that like you knew her.”

“Only on a professional basis, even then, I had few dealings with her,” Flik replied.

“We need to bring this group down.”

Flik flashed her a rare smile. “We may not be able to accomplish that by ourselves, doctor, but our actions will contribute to its downfall. Of that, I have no doubt.”

“I wonder why the Empire failed to put an end to all of this.”

Flik glanced out the window as he answered. “The answer to that question is simple, doctor. While the non-humans and their sympathisers are battling against the purists, it prevents them from turning their attention to their real oppressors, the Empire. With the destruction of Alderaan, more and more systems are taking up the call to join the Rebellion. It wouldn’t do for Palpatine’s homeworld to turn against him, now would it?”

“I hadn’t thought of it that way.”

Flik continued looking out the window. “In many ways, the Naboo are much like the people of your planet were, peaceful, but with a strong belief in justice and fairness. Dividing the inhabitants of Naboo like this destroys that.”

Flik checked the chronometer on his wrist. “We have time to spare before we’re due to meet our contact. I suggest we use that time to practice your self-defence.”

“Agreed,” Shiba said, getting to her feet.

They began by practising the postures that Shiba had learnt from him already, and then followed it up by the moves he had taught. Though most of the time, Shiba still ended up as the loser, she was starting to hold her own against him. Flik, however, executed his moves with caution, as he didn’t want to hurt her unduly. As a result, he set up most of his moves to be effective, but he kept back any unnecessary power from them that he would have used against a real opponent. In spite of that, he encouraged Shiba to put all her power behind her moves, so that she could improve and to not be afraid to use force when she met her real opponents in battle. Shiba even succeeded in flooring him a few times.

“You have greatly improved, since we began, doctor,” he said, as he looked up at her from the floor the final time she floored him. “We should call it a day, I think.”

Shiba pushed sweat soaked hair away from her face. “I’ve had it,” she agreed, reaching down to help him to his feet. With a quick movement that Shiba didn’t see, he had her pinned with her back against him, his left arm holing her across her chest tight enough so that she couldn’t struggle. His right hand held a vibroblade up against her throat.

“Now that’s fighting dirty, Sivrak,” Shiba managed to gasp out.

Flik pressed his muzzle up to her right ear. She could feel his breath on the side of her face. “You’ll find that most of your opponents will fight dirty, dear doctor,” he whispered. “I have to prepare you for that.”

He took the vibroblade away from her throat and returned it to its sheath on his belt. He spun her around and the look in his eyes caused her heart to miss a beat. The next thing Shiba knew, his mouth was pressed up against hers. The following kiss was as gentle as Flik could manage it. Shiba found herself returning the kiss and she was glad that he’d found her more appropriate clothing because if he hadn’t, she knew that it would have gone much further than just the kiss.

A moment later, Flik pulled away from her and turned his back on her as he stammered over an apology. He squeezed his eyes shut in frustration. He felt a hand on his shoulder and he stepped away from her.

“We should get on with our mission, doctor,” he said.

***

Before they left the cantina, Flik suggested that they should gather up their equipment and take it with them since given the Gungan’s reaction the night before, t he cantina was no longer safe. In fact, Flik was surprised that the Imperials hadn’t came down on them already. Shiba agreed, and she’d been surprised that they had escaped from the villa so easily.

Flik advised Shiba to wait outside for him while he settled business with the Gungan, as he didn’t think it was a good idea for the Gungan to set eyes on her again. Shiba had to agree and she had no desire to meet the Gungan face to face so soon. So, having gone out the back way to avoid the Gungan, Shiba waited on the wooden bench situated near the cantina’s front entrance while Flik settled things. As she waited, Shiba watched a group of Gungan children play. It seemed that no matter where she went in the galaxy, or what species they happened to be, kids were all the same. After about five minutes, an adult Gungan, which Shiba took to be a female, came out of one of the nearby buildings and glared at her before herding the children inside. Shiba sighed and waited for the wolfman to appear.

It seemed to her that he was gone for ages when in fact only a few minutes had passed. Shortly after the mother Gungan had herded her children inside, another adult Gungan came out of the building and headed towards her.

“Is there a problem?” Flik asked, holding his blaster casually at his side. His posture was non-threatening, though there was a hint of a growl in his voice. The Gungan passed his gaze over the wolfman, taking in the blaster and his tone. Deciding that continuing the confrontation wasn’t worth it, the Gungan retreated back into the building.

Shiba glanced up at him as she got to her feet.

“Did you get it sorted?” Shiba asked.

“Yeah, after a manner,” the wolfman replied. “The Gungan tried to make me pay extra because of your presence...to keep quiet about you if the Imperials came around asking questions.”

“What did you do?” Shiba asked.

Flik’s muzzle creased in a grin. “I persuaded him that trying to blackmail me was not in his best interests,” he replied. “We’d better be on our way. The people are resentful of humans around here.”

“I’ve noticed.”

***

The protocol droid, H-3PX, met them in Rhinda’s front garden and this time the droid took them to the kitchen. Rhinda proved to be more amiable than the Gungans had been, much to Shiba’s relief. Today, the Bothan woman was wearing a green tunic and trousers. After the droid introduced the visitors and left, Rhinda bade them to follow her and took them through to a small room lined with shelves that were filled with data discs, most of which were works of literature, some of which Flik recognised from his time as a padawan before the onset of the Clone Wars and some which Shiba remembered reading during her time studying on Alderaan. There was a computer terminal in the middle of the room with a pile of data discs and a collection of holocubes on the desk beside it.

“Those are all the data discs and holocubes that I could find, Sivrak. I will leave you to your work now – there’s a lot for you to get through. If you need anything, just ask H-3PX.”

“Of course,” Flik said. Once Rhinda had left, Flik filled Shiba in everything he already knew about the case before they started looking through the data discs and holocubes. They spent the rest of the afternoon researching the data discs that Rhinda had been able to dig out. From what they could determine, all of them pointed to this Janos Teff as being the killer of her husband, but there was something about it that didn’t sit right with Flik – he had the feeling that there was more going on than the evidence was showing him and it all seemed too neatly packaged.

“You think someone’s trying to cover up for someone else?” Shiba asked him from the opposite side of the desk after he had mentioned his misgivings to her.

“Yeah, I do,” Flik indicated the computer screen, which had Janos Teff’s profile on it, and he turned it around so she could see it. “We know from what we’ve read about Teff’s background that he’s a viscous thug. He’s been behind the murder of several Gungans before the creation of these prisons, which is why he was placed here to begin with.”

Shiba shrugged her shoulders. “It seems a strange thing to do, considering the large population of Gungans that live here.”

Flik flashed her a grim smile. “Yeah, but his connection to the Imperial Governor saves him from getting sent straight to Kessel, where those like him belong.”

Shiba shrugged her shoulders. “You could bet that had he killed a human, that he would have been, or had an alien done the same deeds, he or she would have been executed.”

Flik made no reply to that, knowing her words to be accurate. Shiba was about to suggest that perhaps it would be best to stick with what they knew for the moment, when Flik suddenly shot up out of his chair and drew his blaster.

“What is it?” Shiba asked.

“We have an intruder,” he replied. He didn’t elaborate more and exited the study.

***

Flik soon came up on the intruder, another bounty hunter that he had seen around the Bounty Hunter’s Guild, but one he had paid little attention to because he was one of the less prominent members, and so Flik had considered him less dangerous. Flik failed to recall the hunter’s name, and that was if he had even known it to begin with. Perhaps that had been a mistake.

He had Rhinda pinned down in the kitchen, the Bothan woman attempting to use the furniture for cover. The droid, H-3PX, had taken a blaster shot to his metallic torso that had melted his casing and wiring. Flik instinctively ducked as the hunter snapped off a shot at him, which missed, hitting the wall in the hallway behind him, causing it to blacken. A moment later, Flik heard movement as Shiba came up behind him, her blaster pistol primed for action if need be. Shiba’s arrival distracted the other hunter as he looked at her. Using the distraction to her advantage, Rhinda had produced a blaster pistol that she must have kept hidden in one of the cupboards and had a third blaster pointing her attacker’s way.

“Don’t move,” she snarled. The hunter glanced at Rhinda.

“You’re out numbered,” Flik barked at the intruder, before adding, “Drop the weapon.”

Seeing that there was no way he could survive a three-pronged assault, even if he managed to kill or severely injure one of them, the bounty hunter, a human male, did as the wolfman ordered and placed his blaster on the floor. Still keeping his gaze on the human, Flik indicated for Shiba to retrieve it. When she was back at his side and had her blaster on him once again, Flik asked him, “Who hired you?”

“Jessa Endeel,” the human replied, glancing at the Bothan with her blaster still trained on him. “It seems that she has an alien problem.”

That was all Flik needed to know. Without warning, the wolfman aimed his blaster and shot him. Shiba gasped in surprise as he slumped forward, dead before he hit the ground. Flik turned to Shiba.

“It had to be done, doctor,” he explained, coldly. “Other wise he would have jeopardised the success of our mission.”

Shiba merely nodded, uncertain whether to agree with him, or not. All her professional life, she’d had those words drilled into her, do no harm, and it wasn’t until that moment that she began to appreciate why he’d been so reluctant to take her on. She didn’t know what was worse, the cold way in which Flik had dispatched the other bounty hunter, or his calm demeanour as though nothing of the sort had happened afterwards. Ignoring Shiba’s moral dilemma, Flik turned back to Rhinda.

“A price is out on your head,” Flik said to the Bothan. “You mentioned earlier that Teff has your late husband’s associates under surveillance now.”

“That’s correct,” Rhinda replied.

Flik looked thoughtful. “That means you can’t go to them for protection. We’ll just have to think of something else.”

“You can bet that once he doesn’t report back that Jessa will want to find out what’s happened to him,” Shiba said, cutting into his thoughts.

Flik had to concede that point to her. To Rhinda, he said, “You’d best gather up what ever you think you’ll need. It’s no longer safe here.”

Once the Bothan had gone, Flik said quietly to Shiba, “You’d best start pulling yourself together, quickly, doctor,” Flik indicated the body of the bounty hunter sprawled on the floor. “He would have killed Rhinda if I’d arrived a few seconds later. It’s rare that you get a second chance in this game. Think about it, with her gone so would have your money.”

“Don’t you think that I know that?” Shiba asked.

“You’re going to have to start putting those sensibilities that your university professors drilled into you aside, doctor, if you want to stay in this. If not, you’ll end up dead.”

Shiba didn’t know whether to count that as a warning or a threat, possibly both. Frowning at him, she said, “That means we end up becoming like those we hunt.” Shiba didn’t add, like the Empire, but she was definitely thinking on those lines.

“Just remember, you chose it, doctor.”