Wheeling and Dealing [WWFF, sparrow]

[sparrow]

He noticed the woman giving him a suspicious look. They always seemed to be doing that these days. He remembers that only a few years ago Zeltron were treated just like any other near-human. Now every female of every species he met lately seemed to make up her mind at first glance that he was some kind of pervert.

I hate you, Xander Seraph, he thought to himself. He had never met the man in person, but the story was he had left Zeltros a good number of years back, and made a reputation for himself in various places in the galaxy as sniper, and an even bigger reputation as someone who would flirt with any woman whether they wanted him to or not. Just one guy, making all our lives hard. Stupid stereotypes.

Or maybe he just had to lose the mustache. Could be either one really.

As for her questions, and boy did she have a lot of question... "She's an Army Major, not a special operative. She leaves more footprints where she goes than you would initially think." Of course, you had to know where to look. Simply hacking basic Republic records wouldn't do it. Most of the time you had to go deeper, stuff that couldn't be taken apart by some automated slicing computer. No, those things required a more personal and delicate, the kind of thing that kept slicers like himself still in business. "Plus, the Republic isn't the only one with eyes and ears. We have the last known location, make and model of her ship, list of known aliases... You should worry about the Dark Jedi. That's the area that I can't help out with."

He took another sip of the stew. It really was pretty good stew.

[Mara]

(((Apologies in advance for any suckiness... I haven't written with Ean in a while))).



Though he knew he wasn't high-ranking on the intelligence scale, Ean was still smart enough to believe and be quite sure that there would indeed be questions, and probably more from Zero than from Felze. He hadn't know the woman very long, but he could just tell from looking at her that her mind was always working, always spinning away at something. And besides, he hadn't exactly been very detailed yet about anything. In his defense, Ean kind of wanted questions, to see how much the woman needed information on, and so he could control how much information he let go of. If he had just laid out all his cards before hers were dealt, there was no point to the game. And Felze, well... the Zeltron man knew most of it already, and what he didn't know, would be revealed eventually or kept secret; it was doubtful he would have any further questions unless they had to do with their newest partner.

He stood there, back against the sink, arms folded across his broad chest, wondering how long it would take before Zero said something. It only took a few moments, in which silence Ean saw her look over at Felze, in a way he couldn't really identify. Perhaps she was just underwhelmed at his presence or skeptical of his abilities. She would learn in time, though, just as he had. Contacts could be helpful, but sometimes, having a slicer on your side made the red tape almost invisible. And the process of gaining information quicker.

Ean stood quietly as she listed off her questions. Of course, it would have been much easier for him if she had given him time in between to answer one at a time, but they were fairly simple and interrelated, and hopefully he would remember them all by the time she was finished. As long as he kept repeating them to himself, imagining them in his head; visualization always helped his memory.

Standing quietly, he refrained from nodding in answer to the first question. It was something he had hoped to discuss together, along with Felze's help. He had himself tracked the major to Mygeeto but had gotten sidetracked going after Sam. And now, he had no idea where she might be. Most definitely not anywhere near Mygeeto. He was hoping the slicer would be able to trace her tracks to a current location, or even just somewhere more recent than the ice planet.

And the second was easy enough--Felze was the answer, along with Ean's own contacts throughout the galaxy, and Zero's, assuming as a fellow bounty hunter she had her own information network. He was grateful when Felze spoke up then, explaining that Zero might be exaggerating a bit on the major's ability to disappear and hide. Republic-trained she may be, but there were ways to get around things. Especially since the Republic was who hired Ean in the first place. If necessary, he could pull some strings with that Colonel Vinay fellow who hired him. No, the tracking should be easy; no one could travel without leaving even a little trace behind.

But the part of catching up... That might be a little tougher. They would have to act fast in their information search and skip through all the destinations the major could have been and go right to the more recent ones, skipping any dead ends. Because if she continued to be one step ahead of them, it wouldn't matter if they knew exactly where she was; she would just keep moving ahead, leaving a location once they arrived. Plus, by this time, it would be reasonable to believe that the major would know bounty hunters were on her tail, not just Republic police. She would be careful.

Thinking she was finished, he was about to answer her, expounding on what Felze had said, when she got up and moved closer to him and asked another question. Not mission-related but obviously just as important to her. He had to smile. Ean hadn't really taken her for someone who needed crutches in order to focus on her work, but he supposed most beings had their little quirks. Deciding to answer the question of alcohol first, he nodded at Zero. "Not a lot but a good amount. I'm not much of a drinker." The Corellian equated alcohol and drugs with women, something he tended to abstain from while on a job to keep himself focused. Perhaps he and the woman weren't all that different in that regard; she needed whiskey to stay on course, he stayed away from it to do the same. "But I could always stock up before we leave Tyrena, if you wish."

Hoping that would satisfy her, he moved on to the more important things, pushing off from the counter and going to sit back down on one of the stools near Felze. "As to your other questions, as my partner here said..." He nodded to the Zeltron who was still eating the stew, despite the lack of spice. "She may have training, but everyone leaves at least some trace behind, no matter who they are. Even the careful ones." Ean left unsaid that the same could be true for bounty hunters. And their ships. "Information won't be a problem. With what he can gather, plus what we get from our own contacts, it's just a matter of time. The more we find out, the more quicker we can get closer to her. And this ship has some modifications. We should have no problems catching up once we know where to go."

A pause. "And he's right. We should be worrying more about what we do when we find her, than getting to her. That's the hard part. But that plan can come later." He stood up. It was time to get down to the real business. They had to get to the major first. Then they could worry about the dark Jedi she was with and anyone else she may have gained in the last few weeks. And how to separate them and bring her back to the Republic and finally gather his fee. "If there are no more questions..." Without saying anything else, he left the galley and returned to the common lounge area of the ship, wanting to be somewhere more comfortable for what was assumable to be a long discussion.

Once everyone was seated, he cleared his throat, not sure how to begin, but then deciding to get right into things and not waste time. The quicker they had a destination, the quicker they could leave, the quicker he could get his money and this troublesome job over with. And.... well, he didn't know what was next. "Okay, last known. Before I got off the trail, I had tracked the major to Mygeeto. She was no longer there, but I had been looking for a possible leave-point. But something happened, and I ended up having to let the trail go cold for a few weeks. So Mygeeto is last-known, though I'm sure she's been many places since." Zero didn't need to know about Sam; she would just assume it had to do with his family and being on Corellia, not his trips to Tatooine and Zeltros.

Glancing over at Felze, before turning back to Zero, "With his help, we should be able to skip over some of the middle points and get to something more recent. Maybe not where she is presently but hoping something warmer than Mygeeto. And with luck, we'll be in the same city before long." At least, that was his hope. As much as he appreciated the help from Zero and from Felze, the presence of others for too long made him uncomfortable. So the sooner this was over, the sooner his life could get back to normal. "But I'm open to any options you have." This was intended mostly for Zero, since Felze already knew his place in the plan, basically. And maybe, just maybe, it would lead into the other matter he had wanted to discuss with her before they left. For now though, they were just talking about how to find Major Borgonia.