Chapter Four

   “Would you like our porter to carry your bags to your room sir?”

The desk manager smiled warmly at Jan as the A-desandian and Terrie signed their names in the hotel guest book.   Jan shook his head and took Terrie’s waiting hand, nodding down at his shoulder bag and Terrie’s own holdall slung over her shoulder.

   “No thanks.  We travel light.”  He noticed the young bellhops face downturn at the loss of a certain tip.  “But we could sure use a guide to take us to our room.”

   “Certainly sir.  Rarrd.”

The bellhop stepped from behind the desk and motioned for Jan and Terrie to follow him.

   “If you’ll follow me sir, madam.”

They were led through the elegant and well-furnished halls of the Floovah Hotel, past the large dining hall and breakfast bar, up a steady incline to the second floor and their suite.  Waiting at the door the bellhop smiled courteously and paused, hand cupped for the expected gratuity.  Jan swallowed and checked himself.  If I wasn’t on such an important job and paid expenses I know what I’d put in that hand you smug little punk.  He dug into his pocket and produced a five-credit coin.  The bellhop’s eyes widened in delight at the generous tip and he pocketed the coin.

   “If there’s anything you need sir, anything at all – “

   “Just some peace and quiet,” interjected Terrie with a knowing smile.  “That will do just fine.”

   “You’ve got it madam.”  He smiled again and left them alone in the corridor.  Jan lifted his holdall and inserted the card into the door slot, nudging the door handle down with his elbow and pushing to door inwards.

It was an excellent room, with a fine view of the square and the m id-afternoon sky.  Lomona nodded in appreciation as he entered and turned as Terrie closed the door behind them.

   “Can’t grumble at the accommodation.  Whoever booked our rooms must have been a fan of mine.”

Terrie placed her bag onto a plush chair and moved towards Jan, a serious look on her face.  When she came close to Jan, a look of intent in her eyes he wasn’t at all sure what she was going to do or say, although he had a pretty good idea.  Her voice dropped to a husky whisper.

   “Chances are this room is bugged.”

   “Bugged?  You’ve got to be kidding.  You think we’ve been compromised already?”

She eyed him closely, her eyes narrowing into suspicious slits.

   “Nothing about this operation would surprise me.  Now get into character or we may as well go back to the Sunrise and leave.”

Jan nodded jauntily, his outward demeanour hiding the questions within.

   “Into character.  The husband thing, right?”

   “As much as it pains me to say it, yes.”  She moved even closer, her soft cheek brushing against his unshaved face.  “You’re not the only one getting well paid for this.  I can act the hind legs off an Eopie.  If I’ve got to pretend you’re my husband, then you’re my husband.  So get used to it.”

   “Yes ma’am.”  Jan pulled back from the informative encounter and ran his fingers through his long hair.  Of late he had allowed it to grow, so much so that it now reached down beyond his broad shoulders.  His daughter Paige hated it like that, until he had shown her pictures of himself when he was her age with the same style of hair.  Not a million klicks from her own current style. 

He turned back to the view.  From the second floor he could easily view all visitors to the Floovah Hotel, walking up the short pathway from the main road and into the entrance.  A gaggle of Stormtroopers marched past, towards a small troop carrier on the edge of the square.  Jan squinted.  Across the large square he spied his first view of the prison.  The maps were absolutely correct; the prison did indeed face onto the square.  Weird place to have a prison, facing onto a shopping mall.  I bet jailbreaks are great for local trade.

   “What are you looking at?”  asked Terrie as she began to take her clothes out of her bag and lay them on the bed.  Jan turned, tactfully avoiding direct eye contact with the more than revealing clothing that Terrie was unpacking.  He turned a chair to face out of the window and sat, crossing his legs and closing his eyes. 

This is too soon, being here with Terrie like this.  Too soon after Frans.  I shouldn’t have agreed to it, should have told them about…us.  Part of me wants to be here, but another part wants to run away.

   “The square,” he answered, pulling himself back to the moment.  Self-doubt would have to wait for another time.  “I’m surprised that so much of the city faces onto it.  This hotel, all the shops and restaurants, the speeder pool, the prison, the main speeder way.”  He leaned forward to get a better view, of both the square before him and the reflection of Terrie leaning across the bed in the glass behind him.  “There doesn’t seem to be much beyond that.”

   “I don’t think there is.  The brochure says that the square is the centre of the city.”  Silently and without telling Jan she activated a bugging scanner within her holdall and lifted the bag off the bed with the scanner inside, sweeping the room as she appeared to place the bag inside the wardrobe.  The indicator light showed green – no devices.  Relieved she closed the door to the wardrobe and turned to Jan.

   “You can relax, we’re clear.”  She moved to the window and crossed her arms as she watched for herself the city as it lived and breathed.  “Prison to the south, us to the north.  You’re right, it is a strange lay out for a city.”

   “Why do you think it’s like that?  Maybe to make it easier for Stormtroopers to pacify a rebellious crowd?”

Terrie shook her head.

   “There are no records of any insurrection on Maquina.”

   “Maybe the Empire was planning in advance?”

   “Well if that’s the case why isn’t every city laid out like this?”  She shook her head.  “I’m no architect, but there’s usually a reason for bold planning like that.”

   “As long as there’s a quick way out of that prison then I don’t care what the architect was planning.”

Terrie smiled and nodded as she moved from the window and began unbuttoning her top.

   “True.  Look, I’m going to have a quick shower and then we’d better get to the Suncharr Restrooms to meet our first contact.  I won’t be long.”

Jan turned in his chair.

   “No problem.  By the way, is this shower one of those husband moments you keep telling me about?”

Terrie unbuttoned the final catch and ran her fingers through her hair. 

   “Dream about it flyboy.”  She entered the shower room with a large grin across her face. 

Almost as large as the grin that covered Jan’s.

Admiral Haden laced his webbed fingers together and gazed down at the information displayed across the table top before him.  General tactical information pertaining to a mission such as the one to Maquina, nothing out of the ordinary.  The kind of report he’d read many times throughout his career.  A preliminary report, telling of Jan Lomona and Terrie Saffras arrival on Maquina.  Their arrival at the allotted hotel.  General stuff.  But something bothered Haden, bothered him deeply.  Lomona had already risked compromising their cover by becoming embroiled in a street brawl with a Janite beggar.  By all accounts Lomona and Saffra had dealt with the threat in minimal time, but that was not the issue.  He had hoped, no prayed that this seventh mission would pass with little to no incident. Get in, grab the prisoners and back out again.  Straight to Lomona’s ship the Berone Sunrise and away before their disappearance was registered.  But already he knew that it was not to be.

He glanced up at the door as an aide entered, placing another hard copy report before him and leaving silently.  Here above the industrial world of Leogard the mission had seemed so promising.  Jan Lomona was a man who had many ties with the Alliance through the Setnin Sector. He had assisted them before and fought alongside them on occasion. With knowledge of the lanes matched by only a select few and a streetwise reputation infamous throughout the underworld he would have seemed to be the perfect choice.  Even down to the fact that due to a mission he had undertaken many years before while working for the sectors once great underworld leader Glann Cipple, his name was automatically wiped from Imperial records as soon as reports were registered.  A man with the skills, the motivations and the resources to enter places and get the job completed.

And yet Haden still felt the ice grip of dread clutch at his chest.

Commander Terrie Saffra was another matter entirely.  She had repeatedly proved her worth to the Rebel Alliance and now the New Republic.  Like Lomona she was a fighter to be reckoned with, but unlike Lomona she was one who could be gauged.  Assessed.  Controlled.  Ordered.  Her devotion to the New Republic meant that she would perform whatever deed was necessary to complete the mission. It was, after all, something that she had done for her previous employer. 

Haden blinked and returned his concentration to the present.  He’d just remembered something, something about Saffras previous employment.  He grasped for the folder before him and began thumbing through it, his webbed hands flicking through page after page commending Saffra for her excellent service.  He slowed as he neared the page he needed. 

And there it was.

Terrie Saffra once worked for Glann Cipple as a field agent, working her way through his organisation to become one of his best operatives, eventually locating to Abrogard in the Verlence Sector on the edge of the Core Worlds.

Jan Lomona had once been Cipple’s best smuggler, and had helped bring the old operation of Dessio D’Staan into the larger Cipple organisation.  D’Staan, who was based on Abrogard.

Haden closed his eyes and lowered the folder.  Lomona and Saffra must have known each other.  They both had dealings on Abrogard and in the past had worked for Cipple.  But why wouldn’t Commander Saffra have divulged this information?  Lomona he could understand.  As a man offering his services to the New Republic on a credit-based bias there was no requirement for him to tell them anything.  But Commander Saffra.  She was a ranking officer, the commander of the honourable Squadron Indigo.  Information like this wasn’t irrelevant; it could possibly have a massive impact on the mission.

Haden felt the weight of command bear down upon him, the pressure of every decision he had ever made pile upon each other and return to him.  Six teams had failed before.

Would it be unlucky seven?

   “This was where he said to meet, right?”

Jan paced along the carpet of the Suncharr Restrooms for what seemed like the hundredth time and thrust his hands into his pockets.  Terrie sipped at her glass of iced water and crossed her legs, her long hair falling free and lying across her shoulders.  Jan snatched at his Duarga and slugged a mouthful back, a keen eye watching outside for the approach of their contact.  Not that he knew what he, she or it looked like.  As per usual everything about this mission was a mystery to him and Jan Lomona was the unwilling passenger.  It’s like being a witness to a crime and getting paid for it.

Terrie rolled back her sleeve checked her chrono.  18.32. Their operative was seventeen minutes late.  Punctuality was something that Terrie admired in any professional, and she had to hand it to Jan that he was always on time.  During the mission to Soluman he was regularly early.  A real demon for keeping time.  Almost as if he gained pleasure out of cutting corners off everything.

Jan placed the Duarga down and turned towards the door to their small side room, which had a large window that faced onto the squares main street.  Dusk was approaching and the night-lights were starting to glow.  Bistros and restaurants were opening their doors for the early evening rush of after work eaters and the speeder lane buzzed with the steady flow of homeward bound traffic.  Everything appeared normal, as normal went.  Jan turned slightly as he heard the notch of the door handle twist and a slight, greying man entered carrying a briefcase in one hand and a glass of something steaming in the other.  Terrie straightened as he closed the door and the three glanced at each other.  Jan inclined his head.

   “And you are..?”

   “No names.  The less you know the better.”

Story of my life, thought Jan as they all seated themselves.  The man laid the case on the tabletop and sipped from his drink, wincing slightly as Jan realised that the bubbles weren’t from heat but dry ice that gurgled steadily at the bottom of the glass.  The man paused for a second.

   “You’ve checked in at the hotel?”

   “As ordered.”  Answered Terrie, crossing her legs and leaning back slightly.  Jan eyed her closely.  Do you know this guy?  Lomona also eased back.

   “Don’t worry about us two lovebirds, we’re doing just fine.  Help us with something we can’t deal with.  Like how to get these guys out.”

The man nodded and opened the case.  He removed two flim sheets and a tiny square of what looked like greenish cake.  Jan frowned but Terrie smiled and lifted the cake.

   “Good, they got it through.”

   “Got what through?  You want take-out, I’ll order room service.”

Terrie lanced a half-serious glare at Jan and raised the block to eye –level.  Jan looked closer and then realised what it was he was looking at.

   “Ahh, I get it.  Saturated Janos Jewel.  This’ll blow the back end out of a World Devastator.”

   That’s right,” interjected the man, closing the case.  “Your wife requested it when the mission was first arranged.  It took a while, but we managed to procure it from a supply chain near the Fallast Corridor.  Our agents were compromised, but it was worth the risk.”  He leaned closer.  “If this mission is a success then things shall change.  Drastically.  I think you understand what I mean.”

Jan Lomona didn’t have a clue what he meant but nodded anyway.  Terrie raised an arched eyebrow and also nodded.  The man pointed at the sheet Terrie was holding.

   “A complete layout of the prison.  Access tunnels, crew quarters, staff corridors, everything.  We had an agent fake a crime to get arrested and get inside.  And there are a few motivated Imperials who’ve decided they don’t like where the future is taking them.  This map should give you the tactical advantage you need to find the men and break them out.”

Jan eyed the map closely.

   “Okay, I get that.  But where are the men?  It’s not marked on the map.”

The grey man sipped at his drink again and leaned back.  He looked blankly at Jan and Lomona frowned.

   “Oh I get it.  You don’t know where they’re being held.”

   “Correct.  The major pitfall of this mission.  It’s a big prison and you’re going to have to find a way to get deep inside and locate them.  We’ve had a few ideas.”

Jan looked across at Terrie, hoping to make eye contact and somehow telepathically scream To hell with this.  Let’s get to the Sunrise and start a new life somewhere.  But he was no telepath, no Mind, and he couldn’t make his feelings known.  He couldn’t even make eye contact.

   “Like what?”  Asked Terrie.  “Access isn’t a problem.”  She nodded towards the Janos Jewel. 

   “Yeah, but place that baby in the wrong hole and you’ll take half of Maquina out.  A facility like that’s gonna have power lines running under the city for kilometres in every direction.  This’ll need something more…subtle.”

Subtle?  I didn’t know that was in your dictionary, smiled Terrie to herself.  But he was right.  One wrong move and it would all go to hell – prisoners, townspeople, the two of them, everything.  And the only benefit would be that the explosion would be traced back to Janos.

The New Republic hated Janos almost as much as the Empire.

   “What you do is up to you.  We want the prisoners back safely and in one piece.  Everything else is irrelevant.  But keep it low-key.”  The man stood, took a final swig from his drink and lifted his case.  “Study the flims and memorise them well.  They’re designed to degrade in ten hours time.  And if you’re captured…”

   “We know the drill.”  Jan interrupted calmly.  “You’ve never heard of us.”

   “Heard of who?”  said the man as he closed the door. 

Jan closed his eyes and opened them looking directly at Terrie.  Night had fallen and the stars were coming out, the moonshine glowing gently across the square and into the room.  She smiled softly and stood to her feet.  Jan looked up at her, the pale light illuminating every curve, and returned the smile.

   “Come on Captain.  I think it’s time this couple had an early night.”

Jan Lomona chewed the inside of his lip to keep the smile from escaping, but it wasn’t having any of it.

   “Sleep well?”

   “I never sleep well on couches.”  Grumbled Jan as he rolled off it and landed on the floor.  Terrie stepped over him, dressed only in an oversized shirt and tiptoed to the kitchen area.  He could already hear the sizzle of breakfast as he sat up and pulled on his vest.  How come I get the couch?  What ever happened to equality?  Respect for your elders?  Sharing a bed?  He stood and threw the duvet back onto the couch, pulled his trousers on in a swift yank and searched for his boots.  05.45. What kind of a time is that?  Sitting back on the couch he watched Terrie closely.  What a sight for sore eyes.  And these are sore eyes.

   “So what’s the plan?  Check out the prison first-hand?”

   “How?  Get arrested?”

Jan raised his eyebrows as Terrie approached with two plates. He took his plate and rested it on his knee.  Terrie put hers on the table and leaned across to eat.

   “Getting arrested isn’t a bad idea.  So how do we do it?”

Terrie grinned at this unusual line of tactic and played along.

   “You mean how do we get arrested?”

   “Yeah.  Breaking and entering, traffic offences, public indecency…”

Terrie chewed slowly on her meal.

   “And what exactly would that entail Captain?”

Jan shrugged innocently and lifted a fork full to his lips.

   “I don’t know.  Doing what real married couples do in private in a public place.”

Terrie elbowed Jan in the ribs and laughed aloud.

   “If you had a more active imagination you’d be dangerous.”

   “If I had a more active imagination I’d never leave my ship.”  Jan grinned and finished his meal, placing the plate on the table.  “Okay, seriously, how do we get in?”

It’s too early for serious.  Let’s play, thought Terrie to herself, but professionalism prevailed and she sat back into the couch.

   “You study the map before it degrades and then we hit the streets.  Scout out the cargo bays and entry points and find the best way into the place.”

   “I’ve already studied the map.  It looks like the north side is where we’ve got the best chance of entering.  All the consumables enter through there, and it’s where the access tunnels all link up underground.”

Terrie nodded in admiration.

   “You’re a quick study.”

   “If you mean I pick things up fast then yeah, I am.  If you mean I’m quick at picking up on things, then no.  Sometimes it has to be spelled out to me.  Slowly.”

Terrie shrugged, nodded and smiled all at once, unsure what reaction to give and stood with her plate.  She took Jan’s and he continued to fasten his boots.  She opened her case and pulled out an indigo-coloured body suit, black cotton jacket and boots and moved towards the bedroom.  Jan stood, fastened his blaster belt and checked the P-48 type three custom heavy blaster was in good condition.  Satisfied he looked towards the bedroom as Terrie fastened the last hook on her skin-tight body suit.  He cocked his head and smiled.

   “How the hell do you get into that thing?”

Terrie raised a corner of her mouth in a smile.

   “Well for starters you can buy me a drink.”