Sparks

Chapter Twelve - The Concealed

"I should ask you the same thing, but after you shut up that girl it's not like I have to guess." His accented voice was deep, and it sounded kinda...familiar. Erica put that thought out of her head for now.

"Look, if we're going to get what we want, we have to be fast. And for the record, she was getting on my nerves."

The Lasat looked past Erica at the wall and fired his gun. Ping. Looking over her shoulder, she saw the smoky remains of what used to be a camera hanging from the wall in the bright lights.

"She was getting on all our nerves." Both of them started for the control panel, but then the stranger looked behind him. "Get over here you rust bucket!"

Erica looked over from the screen and blinking buttons to the orange astromech, who had plugged himself into a charging station. He began beeping angrily at his companion.

"You charged back at the ship! Quit complaining and get over here." He growled. Erica could understand the droid and snickered as the astromech rolled to the panel, saying some very colorful words.

"What's so funny?"

"Your little friend has...interesting word choices."

"Ugh, of course, he does."

"Wonder where he got them from."

The Lasat gave her a pointed look.

"I'm kidding."

The astromech extended his arm into the droid port and started beeping again.

"What's he saying?"

"He's saying that the port will only let him access the system if an Imperial ID is entered."

"Karabast." He muttered. Erica thought for a moment. She didn't trust easily anymore. These two weren't with the Empire and didn't act like bounty hunters. But, that didn't mean she wasn't going to be careful about what she said. "I have one," Erica revealed, pulling out the metal ID.

The Lasat looked at her, surprised and asked, "Where did you get that?"

"Working in a bar on Raydonia. An Imperial data worker from Garel was complaining about the security there. He forgot about it after a few drinks."

"Smart move. Look, if you'll let me use that to get into the system, Chopper can help you find what you're looking for. Deal?"

"Deal." They shook hands, the Lasat's covering Erica's completely.

"Name's Zeb."

"Er-Erica." She stuttered, not meaning to say her real name. While Zeb didn't notice her hesitation, she thought she saw recognition in his eyes. That's strange.

Erica pushed the ID into Chopper. Chopper waited a moment and beeped triumphantly. The screen went to a directory, and the droid began searching.

"So, what are you searching for?"

"The reason why a bunch of Star Destroyers made cargo ships go to Lothal instead of Garel." Not surprised.

"Oh, yeah. I heard about that before the transmission." More like heard them ordered to reroute while it was happening.

"What about you?"

"There's a man I'm looking for. He's not around anymore, I don't think, but his past can help me get answers for something."

"Who is it?"

Before Erica could answer, Chopper beeped again. "He found something, a document. It's a shipment report for a...project?"