Runaway

5. Chapter

"So where are you going?", I asked Lydiya as we left the room.

"Ryloth".
Her answer was short and standoffish. I got the feeling she didn't like me.

To avoid awkward silence I continued asking.
"And that old man, who is he, why is he here with you?"

"Oh, Tarash? He's an old smuggler, the boss used to be his sidekick back in the day, now Tarash is retired and the boss took over his business but Tarash is a restless old man so he likes to come with us". At least now she said more than just one word, but she still sounded kind of cold.

I tried another question.
"And are there more people in your crew or is it just the three of you?"

"Well, there's Coris Pax, our pilot, and then there's R6-T15, 1Q-9 and 6-60K", she answered.

"But aren't those just droids?", I wondered.

"Yes, they are, but they're still part of our crew."

"Oh sure, okay. So, what do we do now?", I asked, knowing that I sounded just like an annoying child.

Lydiya shrugged, "I don't know. I suppose we'll sit around and wait until we arrive and I try not to be annoyed by your stupid questions".
That was a bit harsh. I said nothing.
"Sorry, don't take that personally", she added," I'm just not a big fan of the Republic, and I know you deserted but to me you're still one of them".
I didn't know how to respond.

Right in that moment a little box droid, followed by an astromech stormed through the door.

"We got news for you!", the box droid shouted excitedly in a high pitched tinny voice. The astromech made his beeping noises as if to add something important, but I had never been good at understanding droid languages.
"That little fella talks?", I asked Lydiya . I was bewildered.

"Yes, he does, I added a bit of stuff to his default programming. That's 1Q-9 by the way. Maybe now you get why I see them as a part if our crew."
I nodded my head. That was quite impressive to be honest.
"So what's the news, 1Q-9?", she asked.

"The separatist have taken over Ryloth!", he said triumphantly with emphasis on every word.
Lydiya gave him a confused look: "But that's not good news, 1Q-9, in fact, that's terrible news". The astromech, R6-T15 I suppose, made some agitated beeping noises.

We ran through the corridor back to the bridge. 'The boss' and Tarash looked stressed.
"I guess you've already heard", said Lydiya, her voice sounded worried now. 'The boss' nodded.
"May I ask", I directed my question mostly towards Tarash, the old man seemed to be the only one that had nothing against me, "why the seps are such a problem? Isn't what you do illegal anyway?"

"It is", Tarash answered, "but the separatists are looking for us. We stole some very sensitive information from them last month".
"Oh, I understand"

"Don't worry, I got us covered".
That was Coris. He was a Kel'Dor with an unusual dark red skin color. His voice sounded deep and mechanical through the respiratory equipment that covered most of his face to protect his eyes and lungs from oxygen.
"We're on the Corellian expressway, if we slow down now, we can still take the exit to Tatooine", Lydiya suggested.
"Believe it or not, but that's what I'm already doing", Coris sighed
contemptuously.