All That Glitters

[Molly Black]

-hiccup-

Molly squirmed. "He seemed awfuly eager to get done with the business of scrapping the ship, but he said he'd be by shortly to settle up with your transfer."

There was just no easy way to put it.

"He's in big trouble... huh?"

[Mu Satach]

"Trouble? No..." She drummed her fingers on her desk.

<i><font color="yellow">"Sata, if you want to stay alive and free on the rim, never cross a Hutt and never interfere with the Black Sun."</font></i>
Her father's ghost drifted into her consciousness.

Whatever Smitty had found was worth enough for him to loose his senses, and if it was that much, then a million to one odds that someone would start turning over bodies to get it back.

"he's a walking dead man."

She looked at Molly. "Thanks for checking in on him for me Molly."

<i>Nothing to do now, but wait for him to show up. If he's not already dead.</i>

[Smitty]

Smitty dunked his head into a sink full of ice water. He stayed under as long as he could until his skin began to burn from the cold.

He jerked his head out and with a gasp of air shook the water from him. The past several hours were a blur, but not blurry enough he didn't know what he was doing.

All traces anybody could have picked up from the freighter were now piles of scrap being processed, or already long gone. Sal had been sufficiently consoled with promises of a newer and better ship they'd be able to build. And Molly, he grinned to himself, <i>and Molly... </i>

He grabbed a towel and started wiping away at his chest, upper arms and head. He needed to get to Cloud 9 before <i>she</i> got any more suspicious than he knew she already was.

That was the one thing that bugged him about Satach. She wasn't much of a gambler by nature. Oh she could play, but everything was too calculated. Sometimes it was like working with an accountant. She could pro and con things to death before deciding on a course of action. The fly by the seat of your pants aspect of true gambling was lost on her.

He finished rubbing the towel around on his head. His black hair stuck out in all directions at once.

<b>KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK</b>

<i> Damn, she's come looking for me.</i>

"Hold on, hold on... I've got your money."

He started stepping across the piles of junk scattered here and there on his floor towards the door when suddenly it burst open. Several figures rushed the room and tackled him to the floor.

"HEY!"

A fist smashed into his face and he heard something inside go <i>crunch</i>; after that there was blessed darkness.