Prey for Life

[James Prent]

Walk to the store. Walk back to the hotel. Don't use the comm. Don't access your accounts, use the cash chit we authorized before we left Cloud City. Don't act nervous, in small towns they can sense when outsiders are anxious. Don't forget to smile.

Smile.

James Prent forced her shoulders to relax as she walked out of the grocery store, cloth bags weighing her down unevenly on either side. She limped down the sidewalk as wheeled vehicles rolled by on the paved street. Copperline was a blip on the astronavigational map of the galaxy, a small time agricultural planet that was still working on harnessing the energy of all its natural resources.

It was near to Bespin, but not too near. And they'd been there for almost two weeks and there hadn't been a peep of any Imperials sniffing around for them.

Them. Her and Byl. Byl. James' cheeks heated a little at the thought of him, her stomach feeling that familiar flutter. When everything was going wrong around her, he was the only thing that seemed to be right. And at the same time, he was like a ticking time bomb. It was only a matter of time before he regained his old memories and left her. She was ashamed, but she'd prayed that he never remembered.

This time of the evening there weren't a lot of people out and about, most inside with their families eating dinner. She tried to lengthen her strides, but at five feet tall she wasn't going to be getting anyplace real quick. Soon enough she came up to the hotel, and hauled her groceries up the stairs to their second floor room.

Their room. She flushed again, and fumbled with the keycard at the door. Byl didn't open it for her when he heard her there, which was unusual. She finally got it open, wedged the heavy door with her foot, and deposited the grocery bags on the floor by the door. "Wow, that was -"

Byl put a finger to his lips and she let the door close, instantly on guard and worried from the look on his face. After a few silent moments there was a knock at the door from outside.

[Byl Laprovik]

Byl pulled James along into the adjacent room, careful to not make a sound. Already his blaster was drawn from his waistband and at his side. When he was confident he was out of earshot of the door, he whispered in James' ear, careful to be both clear as well as quiet.

"Check at the peephole. Two women. One brunette, one red-head. Nod once if it's them."

Carefully, he approached the door with James again, pressing himself gently flush against one wall as he stood out of sight, watching her face. While James was gone, it seemed their room had been the object of curiosity. He was surprised he'd even noticed them, and that's what was troubling. If it was the two women, they knew well enough to be extremely subtle.

He could see the tension on her expression. Knowing eyes watched her as he mouthed a silent It'll be okay.

He wasn't going to let the Empire catch up to them.

[Jane Starborn]

Jane waited a bit impatiently outside the door to a cheap motel that looked like it might have been made out of plasterboard and wooden nails. Her blaster was tucked into the back of her pants and hidden with her jacket, but ready to be pulled out should anything... interesting happen.

Eluna looked at her, and then knocked again.

The tension built, much like during the extraction mission Jane had been a part of three years previously. Her fifth mission as a junior Operative, Jane had scouted the building, relayed the layout, and then none of it had mattered because the Imperials 'guarding' the mark had put a blaster bolt through his head before they could get to him.

And her thirty-eighth mission, an Operative this time, at a hotel similar to this one instead of surprising the target he surprised them by bursting out and shooting Tage Walsin in the chest and nicking Sanik Polk in the arm. Tage had looked surprised when she'd seen him lying there, dead. Polk hadn't stopped swearing until they'd gotten in the shuttle, and she'd shot the target. Center mass, and then in the head.

They'd had to leave Tage there with the mark. Jane had to go through his pockets to double check that there hadn't been any identification left behind. Of course there hadn't been anything except for a receipt for a toothbrush he'd bought the night before. Green, extra soft. It had cost two credits.

Jane looked at Eluna. Was Ms. Prent going to answer the door? In a few moments they were going to have to kick the door down and go in after her.

[Eluna Thals]

Eluna had already prepared for the contingency that violence was a distinct possibility. She stood nearby, looking entirely casual as they waited.

"I suggest letting me take point. If she's irrational enough to answer the door with a blaster, I can take that better than you can."

[James Prent]

James took a deep breath and opened the door. She only opened it part way, and noted the two women, one red haired, the other brown. Her mouth went dry and she nodded. "C-can I help you?"

"James Prent? I'm Captain Thals and this is Agent Starborn of the Alliance. May we come in and talk to you for a few minutes?"

Alliance? Now that was unexpected. But perhaps it was a ploy to get her to reveal something. "Um, do y' have any identification?" James peered at the ident that the brunette flipped open for her, still keeping the door only half open. "Its not really clean in here," she said lamely, trying to keep the women out of the hotel for as long as possible.

[Byl Laprovik]

Byl shook his head, which he hoped James could see in her peripheral vision. The two at the door weren't giving her any information they couldn't easily conjur into a lie. She was right to ask for identification. Still, he had some concern, even if they were Alliance. He still had no idea about his own narrative. Even if James was familiar with the Alliance, could he guarantee that it would be in their best interests to meet.

Considering his options, he didn't know if there was an alternative. He waited to hear more.

[Jane Starborn]

"That's okay," Jane said, seeing the girl's suspicion and accepting it. "We don't have to come in. But we would like to ask you about Byl Laprovik. I know that you spent quite a bit of time with Captain Laprovik while you were with the Fourth Fleet. Has he been in contact with you recently?"

The girl's eyes widened just a bit and she looked down while talking. "Uh, no. I haven't seen him in weeks. I mean, months." She looked up, "Is he in some sort of trouble?"

The door still didn't budge an inch, and Jane didn't want to traumatize James any more than they had to. There would be no forced entry today.

[Eluna Thals]

She was lying

Eluna was no slouch on reading body language. Her eyes betrayed her, at least somewhat. She was convinced Prent was caught in a lie, the question was the size of the lie, and the context. If it was Eluna, she'd already be through the door, and Prent could speak clearly enough with a boot holding her to the floor. It wasn't her say, so for now, she backed Starborn's play. Still, she began to suspect that Byl was close.

"There's no trouble, no need to worry. We're colleagues of his from Alliance Intel. We've been trying to make contact with him for some time now."

[James Prent]

James did not look in Byl's direction. She took a deep breath, working at what little Lok had taught her about Jedi meditation to keep her face as close to a sabacc face as possible. With his amnesia no wonder no one can get in touch with him.

But she'd never seen these women, and could not rule out the possibility that they were Imperial agents. Any moment now they might shove their way in and have her in stun cuffs, no matter what she told them.

"I wish I could help you, really." James shrugged apologetically. She really was sorry. If they were Alliance, then this nightmare could be over. They would have protection, could go to the fleet and not have to worry about stormtroopers kicking in the door at night. "I... I met him on Cloud City a few weeks ago. But he didn't stay long. Just a few nights."

Her cheeks colored lightly, and she added, "I dunno where he went. An' then things got heavy an' I had to leave."

[Byl Laprovik]

Byl felt the color drain from his face as she confirmed his presence on Bespin. That wasn't going to let them off their scent. It was chumming the water. Dead silent, he strained to listen to the women on the other side of the partition, only diverting his eyes back to James when she mentioned their...

...whatever it was.

For the briefest moment, Byl's thoughts clicked off of fight or flight, and he lost himself in thinking about James. What would they do? Could they even run at this point?

Byl turned, pressing his blaster against the wall in the "best guess" trajectory to hit one of the disembodied voices. From this range, he had a decent shot at it. The only thing keeping him from pulling the trigger was the sight of James, exposed and vulnerable. Was it worth the risk?

[Jane Starborn]

Jane saw a shift in James' eyes, and recognized the concentration of an adept. Eluna's stance changed just slightly, her head shaking almost imperceptibly. Prent was making herself harder to read, managing to mask whether she was telling the truth, or not.

Not for the first time Jane wished for an IR scanner, but she wasn't equipped and the Force knew if Eluna could do such a thing, or if she had already tried. "You've seen him." Frustration nearly made her forget all her training, but she held herself together. "Look, I know you don't trust us, but I think he's in trouble and we need to bring him in. General Dan has made some serious accusations against him, and if anyone else finds him first... they won't be polite."

[Eluna Thals]

The bantha in the room was the fact that they were on Copperline in the first place. Eluna calmly asked the question they'd danced around.

"What brings you to Copperline, Miss Prent? It's hardly on the beaten path, unless you're into animal husbandry."

She stepped towards the door, looking deceptively vulnerable as she met the human's eyes.

"It is, however, an excellent place to avoid Imperial entanglements. If I needed such a place, I would choose it too.

You bought two tickets here. Who used the second ticket?"

[James Prent]

She felt like a nuna in the headlights of a speeder. "Ah... my brother Sanis. Only he didn't use the ticket. Frellin' bastard bailed on me." Some actual emotion tinged the words, a little heartache from how things between them had ended up.

James hunched up a bit, as though trying to appear smaller than her five foot height. "Imperial entanglements are exactly what I'm tryin' t' avoid. I'd go someplace else but..." her voice trailed off a bit helplessly. "I don't have anywhere else t' go. An' he might still show up here."

[Byl Laprovik]

Byl kept his eyes on James, exhaling as silently as he could as he eased the barrel of his blaster away from the wall. She certainly sold the lie, at least. Maybe it was a lie made halfway of truth, and maybe she had a brother named Sanis. Either way, it seemed to come out credible. Whether the two women accepted it was something else.

He gave James a reassuring nod. Whatever she was doing, she was doing it well. As well as they could expect, given the hand they were dealt.

[Jane Starborn]

"Sanis Prent." Well, he certainly had a reason to have stood her up - he was with the Wheel now, the convoy of mismatched ships the Jedi and Alliance had put together to protect the beginnings of a new Jedi Order. Something Eluna was not cleared to know anything about.

"He is rather notorious for being unreliable," she said. "I've read much about him and his dealings with the Alliance. And of course, how he brought you to us in the first place." Jane looked at the shorter girl sympathetically. Burnt at the stake. No wonder she was terrified at everything that came knocking at her door.

[Eluna Thals]

Eluna raised an eyebrow at Jane's words, not expecting her to give James' excuse much weight. The human must have some reason to accept the story, the droid concluded, so she remained silent.

Her analysis of James' expression and inflections certainly didn't give anything away to indicate a lie there. Maybe the implausible was the most likely option then.

[James Prent]

James' lips twisted into an approximation of a smile, though it was closer to a wince. "Agent Starborn, is there some way I can reach you, if I need to?"

"I was just about to suggest that," the dark haired woman said. She reached into a pocket, pulled a small dataslip out and handed it slowly to James. "If you hear from Byl. Or need any assistance at all." Her expression was warm, not unlike the other woman, but there was something about the red haired captain that James didn't quite trust. She couldn't put her finger on it, but the woman seemed... wrong somehow.

James tentatively took the slip, putting it into a pocket in her pants. "I will." She paused, "I promise."

Captain Thals stared at her a bit longer, but the two women walked away, James shut the door, and no stormtroopers or Inquisitors had burst in from windows or back entrances. She slid the deadbolt into place and then found herself sitting on the floor, her legs suddenly turned into jelly.

[Byl Laprovik]

Byl dropped to the floor, sliding along the door frame until he rested beside her with his legs bent in front of him. Gun-hand resting on his knee, he reached his other hand around James' shoulders, pulling her towards him as he whispered in her ear.

"It's alright James. You did it. You were perfect."

Looking beyond, Byl had to wonder how they made it. By any accounts, they were dead to rights. Her lie, it seemed, carried something in it that pushed them off the trail.

"Brother?"

[Jane Starborn]

They didn't talk until they were down on the ground floor. Standing in the parking lot looking up at the unit Jane said, "We should follow up on the rumor out of the Dauntless. If Byl was on Cloud City a few weeks ago, he could have been picked up by someone reporting to Dan."

Still, she stared up at the hotel room, as though she was expecting two silhouettes to appear in the closed curtains. Jane shook her head slightly. Intuition was game she never played.

[Eluna Thals]

"More importantly, was Sanis Prent?"

Eluna's problems with Jane's judgment were now at liberty to be revealed.

"We have nothing to suggest he was there, although admittedly, nothing to deny it. We did, however, trace Byl to Bespin, and we have records showing James left Bespin for immediate transit here. She knows Byl, so this isn't simply some coincidence."

She looked to her counterpart.

"If James Prent leaves Copperline, it may be difficult for us to ask her a second time."