Toxicity and a Little Girl

[Santiago Cristobal]

Menaa, the capital city of Mrlsst: Three Days Later:

"Santiago, a pleasure to see you again." Marie Thomsdottir's eyes lit up as she shook hands with Cristobal. A medium-sized Corellian woman, Thomsdottir had white hair, grey-green eyes, and high cheekbones on a thin face. A blue and gold dress covered her figure and a large bracelet covered most of her left forearm. Cristobal couldn't help but notice, rather ruefully, Thomdottir's office was larger than his on the 'Hope For Change'. But, he decided, that did make sense since she was Incom Corporation's representative on Mrlsst. She was also, unknown to her superiors at Incom, she was the Station Chief on Mrlsst for Rebel Intelligence. And also, possibly, a traitor.

"What brings you to Mrlsst, Santiago?" Thomsdottir motioned Cristobal to take a seat in a plush chair. "Can I get you something to drink?"

"Juice please." He responded, settling in the chair. "I was just here to see if you'd anything more from the Mrlssi on our offer."

"To provide us with more hyperdrive technology?" The two Rebels kept the conversation as vague as possible, just in case one of Incom's corporate rivals had any listening devices in the office. Or the Empire. "They've agreed to give us some technology. But you know how they are about being...neutral."

Santiago smiled as the tart flavor of the Endrolian ground-apple juice slid across his tongue. "Of course. The Mrlssi have always been pretty careful about who they sell to." He smiled again. "How's everything else going?"

Thomsdottir leaned back in her chair and sighed. "Quiet. There isn't much else to report really." She leaned forward. "Why are you really here Santiago? Normally a courier comes to hear these things, not a high-ranking company official."

The Sub-director of Analysis and Cryptography sighed. "We're worried someone may be going after Cannondale and the board (he used one of Intel's codenames for Razien)."

A white eyebrow quirked and Thomsdottir almost dropped her drink. "Seriously? How good is the info?"

"Pretty solid. We had two sources confirm it."

"Could they be wrong?" Thomsdottir wasn't an analyst so her skepticism wasn't surprising.

The analyst shook his head. "I don't think so. It's all vague but something's been chewing at me on it. We think a move may be made soon."

The station chief nodded. "I'll keep my eye out for anything. How long are you in town?"

"Two or three days." Cristobal took it as his cue to leave. "Want to grab dinner?"

"I'll have to look at my schedule but you can bet on it. Thanks for the info, Santiago. It's good to see you." They shook hands and Cristobal left the office.

Downstairs, the Rebel gazed over the Mrlssi street a moment and turned right towards a small cafe near the Mrlsst Academy. Entering the cafe, he slid into a booth near the front.

"Well...you heard the conversation. What do you think?"