A New Life!

Zara watched the Timer on the Hyperdrive count down it's final seconds and pulled back the levers when a tone sounded. Starlines returned to stars as the small T-Wing fighter rocketed towards a small trader's station. The small T-Wing couldn't carry enough fuel for the full trip to Togoria so a stop had been planned. Zara was anxious to streach his legs after the first 12 hour trip. Though the T-Wing had the same size cockpit as the X-Wing, the ship was smaller and made Zara feel he was being cramped in the seat. Zara quickly cleared a landing path with the spaceport authorities and brought the fighter in swiftly but smoothly. He steped out of his fighter and locked down the canapy as the fuelers arrived at his docking bay. He took out a small credit chip and looked at one of the techs. "Where's a good place to eat around here?" Zara said as he flipped the credit to the tech. The tech caught the credit and started to laugh. "A good place to eat? Anywhere but here!" Said the tech as he put the credit in his pocket. Zara's shoulders slumped a bit. "Ok, where can I get something to eat without getting food poisoning?" He said as he retrieved his blaster belt from a side compartment and relocked the door. "Well, your best bet would be the Hazard's Cantina one level down. There will be signs leading the way." Said the tech as he began fueling the fighter. Zara thanked him and headed into the station. Zara arrived at the Hazard's Cantina and quickly took an open table. He waited only a few minutes before a Twilek female waited on him. He ordered a soup that he felt would be safe to eat and the Twilek left to put the order in. He noticed a Sabac game was going a few tables away and sat back to watch the action. Zara never gambled on Sabac but enjoyed just watching the game. It was a rough looking group except for 1 female. Though she shined like a light compared to the gruesome bunch she was playing, she obviously was one not to be messed with. Zara watched as she took hand after hand till the Twilek returned with his soup and the bill. Zara paid the bill and started in on the soup as the Sabac game continued. Zara continued to watch the Sabac game as player after player left after losing all thier credits. He sat and watched several hours of the woman winning almost every hand. She did manage to lose a couple of the bigger pots keeping only a couple of the others going till there was only one opponent left. The one remaining pilot was getting very frustrated as his credits slowly disappeared into her pile. The man put his last bet in the pot and called her hand. She smoothly laid out her display of an idiot's array winning herself the hand and the Sabac pot. The man stared in disbelief as she started to scoop up her winnings into a bag. "Did you cheat?" The man asked her. She looked back up at him with a bit of alarm in her eyes. "Cheat? How could I cheat? you did all the dealing." She said in her soft voice. She went back to putting her winnings in the bag but Zara could see the muscles in her neck was tense. The man just sat and stared at her as she finished picking up her winnings and got up from the table. The man and Zara just watched as she walked out of the cantina. As soon as she was out the door, the man quickly got up from his table and started out the door after her. Zara waited an extra second and he too headed out the door after him cussing himself for getting envolved. It was obvious the man was looking to get his money back. The woman would probably lose her life just because she was lucky at Sabac. Zara stepped out the door to see the man following her through the crowded trader's market. At least she was smart enough to stay around the bigger crowds. Zara followed them up a level and towards the docking bay. He continued following them glad to see they were headed in his direction anyway. As they got closer to the docking bays, the crowded streets became more and more open. Zara reached down and undid the strap on his blaster as she came up to a docking bay and entered. The man went into a dead run for the door and pulled his blaster as he reach the entrance. The man stopped at the door letting Zara catch up with him and pull his own Blaster free. As the man reach for the release on the door, Zara pointed his blaster to bear on him. "It's not worth it buddy!" Zara said as he came to a halt about 5 meters from the man. The man froze in place and slowly turned his head towards Zara. "What's your stake in this?" The man asked as he started to lower his blaster. Zara didn't really have an answer for him since he was just butting into the situation. "I just don't think it's right for ya to go after her. I watched the game and she didn't cheat." Zara said in a more demanding tone than he felt. The man eyed him a little more and had the look in his eyes of planning for a way out when the door to the docking bay opened and another blaster was pointed at him. "Drop the blaster and leave." She said in her soft but firm voice. The man's shoulders slumped in defeat and he dropped the blaster. "At least tell me how ya did it?" The man asked as he took several steps from his weapon. The woman smiled slightly and put one foot on the fallen blaster. "You lack a poker face. I could read every hand you had in your face. I didn't need to cheat." She said bitterly. The man hung his head and headed back towards the crowd. Zara watched him go till he was out of site then turned back to the woman to find her blaster now trained on him. Zara's eyes looked from her face to the blaster and then back to the soft features of the woman. "Your welcome!" Zara finally said. The woman's aim didn't waver in the slightest. "Now you can throw your blaster down too!" She said smoothly. Zara looked down at his blaster and chuckled. "I think I may need this." Zara said as he returned the blaster to his side and refastened the strap holding it. "Have a nice day!" He said as he turned and headed back to his own docking bay. The woman stared after him in confusion. Zara kept cussing himself for even getting envolved all the way back to his fighter. He had lost several hours for nothing but amusment. He made the final turn to his docking bay and hit the door release. Zara took one step inside before freezing in place in total shock. The T-Wing was scattered about the docking bay disassembled almost completely. Zara walked around the mess quickly noting the missing vital components. He had been robbed. Zara looked at the time estimating how long exactly he was gone. Noting that only 4 hours had gone by he went and kicked what was left of the cockpit in anger. Zara slipped on some lubricant and fell hard to the ground for his effort. The silence was broken by a soft laughter. Zara turned back towards the door to see the woman laughing at him so hard that she almost fell too. Zara reach over and picked up a bolt and threw it accross the bay. This is what he gets for getting envolved!


CHAPTER 3