Auditors of the Empire - Part Two

[lucie]

"Too bad you don't have a little more green to your skin tone" Tora yawned hugely and scratched behind his ear. "You could seduce him, get the creds and we could be off this rock in a couple hours".

"Male Rodians only go into rut every other year" began Oscar, happily preparing to educate it's companions. "So unless the timing is perfect and Mistress Blix were displaying an enormous blue..."

"Enough already" snapped Blix. "Come on, it's time we found a hotel. I've got enough info to start. And please, please remember to call me Bliss Antarres. There's just a chance someone connected with this money will have heard of Blix Ansata." She shut down her pad and pulled out a mirror to check her make-up.

"Bliss" sniggered Tora. "Damn, I've heard some inappropriate names in my time but..."

"It makes perfect sense. It's similarity to her own name makes it less likely that we will be caught out in an error, and she will answer to it far more readily than another" O said reasonably. "And of course, Antarres is a common name all over the Empire, so she will be hard to trace"

Oscar picked up Blix's cases. "If I may suggest, the Regal-At-The-Spaceport is said to be the best hotel in Darrakha, although the Sojourner's Rest is favored by those travellers seeking a "authentic" Bandokarran experience".

"Hmm. Blix favors authentic, but I think Bliss wouldn't be caught dead anywhere that doesn't have the very latest in hair-care technology" Blix sighed. "Suggestions?"

"Let's talk bars. Who's got what?" Trust Tora to get right to the important issues.

"The Sojourner's Rest serves locally fermented beverages only. The Regal claims to have selections from over 300 civilized worlds in it's 7 gourmet restaurants" Oscar answered.

"Air conditioning?"

"Oh yes, all suites have controlled atmospheres"

"Regal's got my vote. O?" Tora did a quick, automatic personal weapons inventory and tossed his rucksack to Oscar.

"Whatever Bliss decides. Remember, we are only her humble bodyguards, here to keep her out of trouble while she cruises the galaxy" O turned slightly toward, or it might have been away, from Blix.

"You only say that 'cause you don't drink" Tora swiped at O with his left foot. "Kiss-ass"

"I guess the Regal would be the best choice. Is it very expensive?" Blix started toward the hanger exit.

"Oh, my, yes. Dreadfully pricey for fringe world." Oscar followed behind her.

"Hot damn, O. I love a girl with a big, fat, expense account" Tora and O moved to bodyguard positions near Blix, who shifted character suddenly and began a bouncy, careless walk toward the dangerous streets that always surround a spaceport.

[Eddioboy]

"Hey, Girlie," uttered a shadowy mound in a recessed doorway, "interested in 'used' jewelry? Step inside."

"Cheap room!" chimed in a small man in gray, tattered clothing, "spaceport flyer people special! Cheap room for you!!"

"Ooooh, a Dug!" The tall blonde prostitute ran her finger along Tora's calf as he passed. "Sugar, I admire the turn of your leg! Why don't you stay awhile?"

The milling throng in Darrakha's seedy section was concentrated around various old buildings whose facades were now cluttered with flea market stalls and covered tables. Blix and the others were trying their best to make their way through the crowd with minimum contact. A surprising number of different tongues were overheard, from a multitude of different races and species.

"I'm collecting a wide variety of microorganisms in this region," shouted O over the crowd noise. He was rolling, squeezing, and flattening alternately to get between the many legs in the wet, cracked street. "I'm afraid I'm going to have to undergo a lengthy, molecular purge once we reach our destination."

The Regal-At-The-Spaceport looked like a diamond jutting from a pile of dirt clods. The new hotel had the clean, organically-shaped architecture found in the better part of the city, but was built close to the port to accomodate visitors easily. Lights shone on it from below, dramatically illuminating it as well as some of the large Bando leaves high above it. Private guards surrounded the entrance, discriminating against the poorly dressed from among the people who wanted to enjoy the high life that the Regal and its restaurants offered. "Bliss Antarres" explained the role of her companions, and they were let through along with a wealthy looking man and woman dressed in expensive, and fairly gaudy clothing. Something the man said caused Blix to turn her attention to their conversation:

"...with Fire Squurd, and Schimplies...yumm. And, although it is a hoversnake factory, it is decorated grandly each year for the Shareholder's Dinner. Oh, and all of Darrakha is expected to turn out. Anybody who is anybody, that is. Oh, you simply must go." the man said.

"Hmm," the woman said contemplatively, "tonight, eh? I don't know how this new-money, off-worlder 'Garabash' could convince Society to annually celebrate his commercial successes. But I've heard such good things. Alright. I suppose you can count me in."

"Oh, goodums!" squealed the fellow, while clapping excitedly.

[lucie]

"'New money'", snorted Blix under her breath, "Like your's is more than a generation old". Her expert eye ran over their expensive, cheap finery, fashionable on Alderaan for about 3 months six years ago. Frontier fortunes, made in a handful of years and squandered by the succeeding generation, were common out on the edges, and the first and second generations had a particular style that was recognizable no matter what world you were on. Blix had certainly seen enough of them during her years of field service. One of the style points seemed to be a feeling that they were rich enough to disregard Imperial tax laws.

"Didja catch that bit about Garabash?" Tora hissed in what he believed to be a whisper.

"Shutupshutupshutup" Blix clamped her hand over the Dug's muzzle, looking frantically to see if his question had been overheard. The couple had moved across the lobby toward one of the restaurant's, oblivious to the offworlders. O placed a psuedopod on Blix's wrist, gently moving her hand out of danger.

"You're lucky Tora likes you." O said mildly. "Usually he dismembers first and apologizes later."

Blix looked at O in surprise, then at her hand, and finally at Tora. "Oh, er, sorry. I guess I wa a little concerned about our cover being blown."

Tora leered at her. "I knew you wouldn't be able to keep your hands off me forever, Bliss. Whaddya say we get ajoining rooms and you can show me where you want to put 'em next."

"Oh yeah, forget the rooms and just bring your scrawny neck over here. I'll show what I can do with these hands. Back on the farm.."

"Pardon me, did you wish to check in?" A squat droid porter had rolled up behind them unheard. Blix's sudden change from murderous agent to spoiled rich girl was smooth and instantaneous.

"Why yes, we would. A large suite, with a view. Oh, and make sure it has adequate quarters for my servants. I don't want to be stumbling over them at all hours" Bliss smiled and pretended not to notice O wrapping a restraining psuedopod around Tora's arm. She took her credit disc and pressed it on the droid's scanplate.

"Certainly, Miss Antarres. By an amazing stroke of good luck, the Satrap Suite has become available. It is one of the Regal's finest, featuring 15 rooms, a fully appointed autospa, wet bar, anti-grav sleeping as desired, escort services to meet all your needs -"

"It sound perfect." Blix said, cutting off the sales speech. "We'll need it for about a week. I assume there is a hospitality unit? I'll want to know about clubs, safaris, parties, local events, you know the sort of things. Places to meet and mingle"

"All out rooms have hospitality units. But if you find you need more information, perhaps about special requirements you may have that are not on the menu, please do not hesitate to ask one of the porters with the red lights. We exist to serve."

[Eddioboy]

Mohrduk sat stone-still and alone in his meditation chamber. Bright blue gases spewed through the transparent columns lining the otherwise pitch-black, underground hall, providing not only dim illumination, but a comforting hissing/ gurgling sound. The slick, roughly hewn walls were smoothed around his giant chair, and inscribed with artful designs mixing symbolic images with excerpts from some of his favorite ancient writings. His instructions were that his accomodations were not too large, lest he stir the anger of this world with his excavations. His eyes slid closed and his mind stretched outward. In that space without space, and over the course of timeless time, he observed the intricate tapestry of recent events.

Thoughts from Palpatine's homeworld sprang to life. He could envision his man Dainen again in the shadows of Inwald Tolweer's office. Both were doing a good job being blindly idealistic, thanks to donations of technology from Dainen's "commander" Mohrduk. Had not Mohrduk outfitted him with state-of-the-art broadcasting and security gear, the ambitious rebel would surely have become another "official disappearance" statistic within hours of his first broadcast. When Dainen first met with Mohrduk, it was easy to convince the desperate young scholar that they join, with the glue being their common goals of imperial reform. Mohrduk convinced Dainen that talk wasn't enough, however, and that he had a plan for stepping up the struggle. It was not long before Dainen found other disgruntled sentimentalists like Tolweer to join his budding cause. As a result, Mohrduk was privileged with a small, growing fleet of spacecraft. Their crews were loyal to Dainen's political ideal, while Dainen was loyal to "his commander". A smile spread across Mohrduk's face. Fools!

His vision turned to events nearby. He watched as Arana Paelid spoke to her comrade in petty crime, the Rodian industrialist. No doubt she explained what he must do to transfer her stolen funds to one of her accounts, or any number of other considerations that were meaningless to Mohrduk. He felt greed emanate from the Rodian, his dark eyes glinting with avarice over his share of a few credits. Soon, Arana's rare Sojourner heritage will come in handy in a way she is not even yet aware of, but at present she and all the rest seemed consumed with working within the emplaced systems. They all seem unable to envision true greatness, seemingly indebted to the powers-that-be simply for their continued existence. Not Mohrduk. He hated debt, and he knew that the only way to repay a debt is to rid oneself of the creditor.

Mohrduk's eyes flicked open at the sound of voices. Two of his tall, hooded guardians glided into the chamber, their whispering voices filling the room with a continuous, barely audible chittering. Between them they easily carried the enormous bulk of Naero Corprus. He was known to Mohrduk in only an ancillary fashion, and posed almost no threat to his plans whatsoever. But, he did know who Arana Paelid was, and that sort of information was not something that he could allow free to roam.

"Wh-what did I do? What's going on? Wh-what do you want from me?!" shouted Corprus, his voice reaching a fevered pitch. "I run a legitimate business! Okay, so I may have a few things going on the side, but...are you an imperial? What's g-going on?!"

Mohrduk approached the giant man slowly, fixing him with his gaze. From underneath his robe, he drew a long, sharp steel blade. Black letters were inscribed in the blade like runes. "It won't be long before I am the very highest ranking 'Imperial'. You, however will not live to see my ascension. Close your eyes, why don't you? It won't help you against the pain, but I'm certain you won't want to watch."

Corprus' screams drowned out the sound of the guardians' chittering, and the gas tubes. But only for a moment.

[This message has been edited by Eddioboy (edited 10-11-1999).]

[lucie]

Tora looked around the room and gave a small, low whistle. "Look at me, O. I've died and gone to wherever the hell good Dugs would go if there were any". He moved with unerring instinct to the panal hiding the bar. "Hey, they got swabach! This stuff costs 150 creds a glass on Central" He pulled the stopper and sniffed ecstatically.

Blix snatched the bottle from his foot. "No drinking, dammit. This is going to be touchy enough with all our resources. I don't want to have to haul your soggy drunken butt off this rock at a dead run if things get too hot."

Tora made a grab at the bottle, but found himself stopped by an orange psuedopod. "Hey, I can hold my drink. Leggo, O. That's prime swabach!"

"Mistress Blix, it would be unnecessary for you to carry Master Tora should he become the worse for strong drink." Oscar had returned from putting away the luggage and was checking the furniture for dust. "I am perfectly capable of bearing the weight of a mature male Dug. Although my primary duties are domestic, my load-lifting abilities-"

"Thank you, Oscar. I'm certain it will not be necessary. Why don't you, um, check the settings on the autospa. I'm sure we'll all want a restful session before starting the evening's work" Blix shoved the bottle back into the bar and used her room card to seal it the panel shut.

"In fact, Tora," O began, "I did not wish to tell you, but you are famous around the barracks for your inability to maintain equalibrium after consuming alcohol. Do you remember the small party we gave for Joval when he made Overpilot? After only two glasses of Vrum, you smuggled a unneutered lorax into Captain Piet's quarters, expelled the contents of your primary stomach in his personal ablution chamber, made highly improper advances to Joval's mate, spent the next month in detention, and ended up demoted to Underpilot."

"Well, yeah, okay. But that was Vrum. A glass of that stuff will drop a Wookie." Tora grinned ingratiatingly at Blix. "Swabach is the good stuff - practically harmless. Almost no alcohol at all"

"Good. Then you won't miss it. Now how about getting on the hospitality unit and see if there is anything official about Garabash's little soiree. It'll be a lot easier if we don't have to crash the party. O, if you would, see if there is any mention of it in whatever passes for the society news here. I'm going to use the spa for a bit, get some of this planet out of my pores, then look at the local banking records. Ta, boys." Blix exited toward the spa room.

"Imagine her calling you a boy, O", Tora cackled, firing up the hospitality unit.

[Eddioboy]

"I haven't turned up anything useful in the banks. Corprus and Garabash must have things in secret accounts," said Blix as she looked around for the last of Bliss' personal effects. "Now I just need to get to an onsite terminal so I can unstuff their mattress. Or at least get some useful information if we're too late to stop the cash-cleansing. Maybe I'll pull the old 'seven-two' filch, or lock up the data canals for a level-subsequence recon-hack."

"First of all, cut the department slang, will ya? You're losing us real people, for Grat's sake," Tora said as he stood up from the hospitality unit and stretched. He glanced with momentary longing toward the bottle of swabach. "Second of all, there isn't anything on this 'dinner' in the hotel hospitality unit. They must not want us commoners going in and making their fancy little world uncomfortable. But O found something on the public channels..."

O turned the holobox toward the others, and pushed a button causing a holographic sequence to play within. Bright, swirling colors began to materialize, and peppy horns and keyboard music introduced a 3-D logo that formed the words, "Cando Bando". The shot then zoomed toward a beautiful human woman, who was smiling attractively, and sitting at a desk in front of painted trees and a fake looking cityscape. When she spoke, her hushed and breathy voice seemed to be letting the audience in on juicy secrets. "Hello, and welcome to Cando Bando, the show that gives you the candid scoop on Bandokar poop." Tora punched the fast forward button just as the host began a long, exaggerated wink.

Blix sighed and shook her head, "This is just some kind of obnoxious gossip program. Is this going somewhere?"

O punched another button and said, "it is taxing on the mind, but yields a little information here."

The host slowed to normal speed in mid-sentence. "...not to mention her many husbands. And now for a story guaranteed to make you 'green' with envy. No, I'm not talking about the Verdeskin Protozoa outbreak, but about that Rodian bachelor Garabash's Shareholder Dinner and Ball. The manufacturer was featured in our story last week when a close friend of his admitted to yours truly that the hoversnake king has a special place in his heart for helping fund orphanages throughout the galaxy. It's rumored that the highlight of the evening will be a light show to take place when he unveils and ignites a prototype of his newest model of hoversnake, expected to be bigger and more reliable than ever. Vrooom, vroooom, Garabash. And in other news..."

Blix grabbed her purse and swept toward the door. "Come on, or we'll be late. I think we'll be able to make it in without too much of a hassle."

Tora stopped in his tracks. "Isn't that what you said when we arrived at the People's Station Primary?!" He shook his head and headed for the door, but not without first covertly swiping the bottle of swabach.

[lucie]

O relieved Tora of the stolen bottle and deftly dumped it down a handy garbage chute when Blix stopped in front of one of the hall mirrors to check her makeup. Hearing the sounds of muffled cursing behind her, she turned to see O hauling Tora out of the garbage chute. She started an exasperated sigh that quickly turned into an impatient pout as a well-painted T'tuon triad emerged from the room opposite.

"Really, I don't know why daddy insisted I bring bodyguards, but as long as you're here, do try not to embarrass me too much." Blix rolled her eyes and addressed the T'tuon. "It is so difficult to find proper servants these days. You'd think the threat of the spice mines would keep them in order, but..." she tailed off and shrugged helplessly.

One of the T'tuon inflated wildly tattooed cheek sac in sympathy. "Well, if one hires a Dug, one takes what one gets. Whatever induced your proginator to give you one as a companion?"

Blix fell into step with the group as they moved toward the descent lifts. Complaining under his breath, Tora and O took up station a little behind her, Oscar trailing the party by a few feet.

"Oh, he's really not a bad pilot, and anyone who knows anything about Dugs usually doesn't bother me. Of course, I told daddy when I went on tour that I didn't need anyone to take care of me, but he's always worried about kidnapping. I mean honestly, can you imagine someone daring to kidnap the daughter of a Plenan dreadnought manufacturer? And it isn't even as if we own the entire system." Blix let out a bubbly giggle and stepped into the lift.

The gill slits of her new companions ruffled and turned bright pink. They were clearly impressed. After observing the traditional few seconds of silence on the lift, the first T'tuon turned to Blix. "I am Bosoal Lutto, these are Bosoal Konnus and Bosal Frix."

"I'm Bliss Antarres. A pleasure. Are you here on vacation? I am. I wanted to see someplace really different, now that I'm out of Final school. I hope the shopping is good." Blix smiled brightly. "Right now I'm off to find some excitement. I'm certainly not planning on spending my first night in a hotel, no matter how quaint and primitive."

Lutto burbled quietly to his companions, then turned back to Blix. "You'll want to be careful about looking for excitement here. Perhaps, as it is your first night, you will accompany us to a party? A private affair, with only the very finest citizens and offworlders in attendance."

Blix sighed. "That's really awfully nice of you, but I spend so much of my time going to these sorts of things. I was really hoping for something a little, well, wilder. More dangerous."

Konnus spoke up for the first time. "Danger you will find here, and plenty of it. But I hear our host is planning some unique entertainments at his party. Why not waste a few hours with us us first? I understand there will be many humans of all sexes present tonight."

"Well, perhaps I could go for a few hours. It never hurts to know the right people"

The lift finished it's descent, openning inot the lobby. Blix held back to let the T'tuon move off first. "Is this great luck?" she hissed to Tora and O. "We walk right into an invitation to Garabash's party. We may be out of here tomorrow."

Tora snorted. "You sure it's the right party? I never heard them say exactly where we were going".

"Of course it is. Look at the way they're painted. They wouldn't get that decked out for an evening around the pool. How many big parties do you think are going to be held in this city on the same night as Garabash's bash of the year?" Blix smiled at the T'tuon and hurried to catch up with them.

Tora shook his head gloomily and said "O, I know you hate it when I say this, but I've got a bad fee-" Tora stopped abruptly, staring at someone in the crowd. "Aw, damn. Why him, why here, why now?"

[Eddioboy]

Arana glanced around the street, finally spotting her contact from the spaceport near the gate to the hotel. What was his name? Shrevus, that's right, she thought. She sensed intelligence, and a high potential for good health in Shrevus. If only he wasn't physically dependent on so many rare and illegal substances, she would have considered assimilating his genetic material one day. Still, given her current mood, she wasn't quite sure if Shrevus would live until morning.

"You disturbed me when I was busy. What have you got, and it better be good," she snapped. Shrevus, still wearing the uniform of the Darrakha Spaceport Authority, spun in surprise. His stringy bangs fell in to his eyes, and he hadn't shaved in awhile. Looking up expectantly, he began to hum tunelessly. Sighing with exasperation, Arana glanced around to see if any local authorities were nearby. Shrevus licked his lips when Arana took a small vial from her pocket, and subtly handed it over. He quickly palmed and pocketed it, trying to look non-chalant.

"Thank you, Miss Pale. It was getting bad there. I was..."

"Cut to it. What did you see," barked Arana. Shrevus dropped his gaze to his shifting feet in response to her menacing tone of voice, but Arana hated wasted speech. She flicked her head to the left to dodge the huge collar on an outlandish, puff-cheeked T'tuon walking past. Her mood was not being helped by the crowd milling around her like an ocean.

"Okay. A ship landed this morning with someone who matched your description. A young human woman, anyway. She was with a scroungy-looking Dug, if that's any help. Nothing too suspicious, but they were making up aliases, so I tailed them here just in case. Maybe a little bonus for my troubles?"

"For that? You should be glad you got what you did. Why didn't you tell me earlier if you thought this was so important?" On this world, everybody had an alias for one reason or another. Still, her perfectionist side demanded she gather intelligence about her surroundings. After all, Corprus' security ships might not have intercepted that meddling accountant. She and the girl never actually met. She only knew of her presence at the Station after Corprus hastily announced by commlink that she was escaping with encrypted files. She decided not to tell Mohrduk about the unlikely prospect of an Imperial entanglement, lest he cut off all dealings. Or worse.

"I tried! I tried to contact you but you didn't answer the...hey." Shrevus stopped abruptly, looking past Arana at somebody in the crowd. "Speak of the Dug, look who's coming."

[This message has been edited by Eddioboy (edited 11-16-1999).]

[JBMoney]

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[JBMoney]

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