It Came from Nar Shaddaa: Chapter 2

Early the next morning, Dustil arose and made himself a light breakfast and got dressed for what would undoubtedly be a long day.

Without wasting any time, he scurried down the ramp and into the hanger where his ship, the Seedling, was stationed. Despite the task of loading kolto for a full day, he was in a relatively good mood. But that only lasted until he reached the bottom of the loading ramp.

There before him sat the entire shipload of kolto and no one to help load it. He waited for one of the vendors to show up for a few minutes before he realized that no one was going to help him load the kolto. He stood there for a few more minutes, plotting his next course of action. He came up with a brilliant plan to march down to the vendor's office and demand that he send some of his men to help load the kolto...or else be run through with Dustil's light saber.

Dustil thought about this and decided it was a bad idea...at least this early in the morning. Plus, holding someone at saber point and forcing them to do something they didn't wish to do (even though they really ought to) wasn't exactly on a good Jedi's to-do list. So, Dustil decided that the best thing to do right now was have another cup of caffa.

After his third cup of caffa, Dustil decided it was high time that he face reality. He decided to speak to one of the vendors about who he should talk to about loading the kolto. He exited the Seedling and looked for a path out of the hanger. He quickly realized that whoever left the kolto there had completely blocked the hanger door. He sighed and wondered if they had done this on purpose.

Dustil immediately began to move the heavy packs of kolto out of the way. Though he wasn't exactly happy about going back to the vendor's office (or anywhere outside the hanger for that matter), he wasn't about to load a shipload of kolto by himself.

After an afternoon of dragging around crates of kolto, Dustil finally managed to forge out a narrow path to the hanger bay door. He was never so happy to set foot on the streets of Nar Shaddaa as he was at that moment.

He took his time walking down the streets to the vendor's office. He rounded the corner into the alley where the entrance to the vendor's office stood. Dustil was more than a little weary of the door's location. 'How did the council find this vendor in the first place?' he wondered.

Dustil rapped on the door and waited a few minutes before knocking again. After no one answered the door after another few minutes, Dustil pounded on the door as hard as he could.

'They aren't going to answer the door' said a strange voice from behind. Dustil whipped around and saw a cloaked figure standing behind him only a few feet off. He couldn't make anything of the figure's appearance. The person wore a full brown jumpsuit, leather gloves, and a mask that covered its entire head except for its eyes, which were covered by darkened lenses.

'They did yesterday.' Dustil said slowly, trying to guess what species the figure was.

'That's because they were still here yesterday.' the stranger replied, a bit sarcastically.

'Oh, alright...' Dustil said, trying to remember if he had ever heard an accent like the strangers before. A few moments passed before what the stranger had said registered with Dustil. 'Wait a minute! What do you mean 'they were here yesterday'?

'Well...' the stranger said slowly, 'they were here yesterday...but they aren't here today.'

Dustil grew impatient and began to wonder if it was Revan hiding underneath the mask. 'Where did they go?'

'I don't know, they carried out a bunch of crates this morning and took dropped them off somewhere and then skipped town.'

'Where are they now?'

'Let's see...' the voice began with and air of sarcasm. 'I've already told you that I don't know were they have gone...so, therefore, it would be logical to assume that I know where they are now, correct?'

'Look, I don't have much patience for your sarcasm right now.' Dustil said firmly.

The voice shot right back. 'Well, I don't have much patience for you stupid questions right now...so if you're going to question me about something please...use a little bit of logic.'

'Gee...last time I checked, welcoming parties were supposed to represent the best qualities of a town.'

'Gee...last time I checked this was Nar Shaddaa.'

Dustil would have laughed at this had he not been so frustrated. 'How can you be sure there is no one in there?'

'You might say I had an inside connection.'

'What sort of connection, might I say?' Dustil asked, not without some sarcasm.

'You might say I 'knew' one of the slaves who worked there.'

'If you knew this 'slave'...wouldn't the slave have told you where its masters were going?'

'That's presuming, of course, that the master confided in the slave such an important piece of information.'

Dustil sighed, 'I thought you were through with the sarcasm.'

'I thought you were through asking silly questions.'

'You're the female of your species, aren't you?'

'Good call!'

At this point, Dustil had had enough of the entire conversation. 'Fine, I didn't need you're help anyway!' Dustil shouted. He then turned and force pushed the door to the office down.

'What are you doing?' asked the stranger.

'I'm making sure there isn't anyone in here.' Dustil called from the inside of the building.

'Last time I checked they called this 'breaking and entering'.' The stranger called, following him inside. She was bewildered as to how the young man could have broken down the sealed door in the two seconds she had turned her head to watch someone pass by the alley.

Dustil scoffed, 'Funny...last time I checked this was Nar Shaddaa.'