The Burned Cloak did not have that far to travel, in astronomical terms, but Deacon 90 wanted to burn his hyperdrives nevertheless. Cloak's design was Corellian and favored much the ubiquitous Corvette. With its thrusters large and stout, the eight cylindrical drives were all clustered in a full-circle around the posterior of the spaceship. The fuselage was long and truncated at the anterior, where it was beveled. Whenever Corellian ships traversed in space it screamed Human in a Galaxy teeming with a myriad of species. Which worked in Deacon's favor for transporting Kaird's family.
To say that the Burned Cloak had eight thrusters was actually deceptive...for half of the eight structures were actually cargo-holds, in the shell of thrusters! It was one of those tricks that smugglers adapted to in order to avoid detection and boardings, first, by space pirates, then later the Imperial naval galactic ships. The four real thrusters were the ones on either side of Deacon's ship. The four other faux-drives were hollow and the back end of each of them were fashioned with pyrotechnics that made the faux- exhaust burn bright-blue, like the majority of space craft in the galaxy. But even then, that was to conserve energy. For the faux-drives actually had engines, at that very same location with the pyrotechnics. But the engines were for emergencies.
There were a few times that Deacon ran into trouble with nefarious spacers of all sorts—bounty hunters, Hutts, other smugglers. So, to deflect attention from his cargo he had to jettison the fake thrusters, much like rockets! And that was where the engines in the faux-drives came into play. After being boarded by such scums, Deacon had then traced where each of the thrusters had gone, retrieve them, and then finish his smuggling job and got paid. Handsomely!
The only trouble Deacon never had problems with during his five years of smuggling was with the Empire...until now!
“A Star Destroyer,” Deacon said aloud, more to himself then to Ccer, Kaird's wife. She was seated next to him in what would have been the co-pilot's seat, except that Deacon 90 always worked alone. On the console's terminal-monitor was telemetry about the mile-long, triangular star ship. Burned Cloak had just come out of hyperspace from a long distance from Utapau, so the Destroyer was toy-sized by the naked eye. The computer's enlarged scope of the craft verified only too well what Deacon and Ccer were able to see.
“Well, of course,” she stated, surprised of his reaction. “The Imperial forces never left from Utapau since that terrible galaxy-wide battle a few years ago...when General Grievous and many of the Jedi died.”
“Order Sixty-six,” Deacon said under his breath.
“What,” Ccer said irritatedly. She was the female version of Kaird, with her mid-sized beak, thick, short fur, and a very vibrant set of eyes. Only, unlike her husband's florescent-violet, hers were sun-purple. Also, her fur-like feathers were almost white, while Kaird was a much darker shade.
“Ma'am, didn't you say your husband had a good working relationship with Administrator Tion Medon?”
She thought for a moment while Deacon was referring to his terminal for information about the System, as he punched in commands and read displays. “Well...he told me some time ago that the Utapaun Committee had signed a contract for several years' worth of Nedimix shipments out here, and his meeting with Tion went well, but...” She sighed and shook her head, disappointed. “With all these battles between the Empire and those Rebels of late, I don't see how Kaird can risk sending his shipments out here! Why do you ask?”
Just as Ccer was finishing her sentence, Cloak's com-system chimed and a male's voice, official in presentation, a bit threatening in tone, came over the speakers.
“Please state your business and identification, per the Empire for security reasons.”
Deacon and Ccer gave long, concerned looks at each other.
“Since when do sovereign planets need protection with Imperial Destroyers,” Deacon asked sardonically. Ccer nodded in consent with a frowning face. Nevertheless, he activated his com. “This is the Burned Cloak, and I'm captain Deacon 90. I have a writ from Kaird, of the Nediji, in regards to a mining contract with the Utapaun Committee...I was instructed to meet with Administrator Medon himself.”
“Please transmit the document.”
All that was, in fact, true. Deacon never told Ccer and their adult children why they were being smuggled out to Utapau 7. Deacon reasoned, for all she and their family knew, the Empire had just done a hostile take-over of Kaird's mining operation and Kaird simply wanted his family to move to Utapau for better prospects for their tribe. In fact, Kaird's entire family never knew about his Black Sun involvements, and Kaird and Deacon kept it that way over the years!
As Deacon waited for a reply, he thought about the cover story Kaird had left for him in that transmitted note in Deacon's ship's system. In the belly of the ship, Kaird had some of his other miners load up the Cloak with a few tones-worth of Nedimix, packed away in containers. It truly was a legitimate contract with a legitimate shipment of product...meanwhile, Deacon had asked Ccer's grown-children and their own family members to stay in the faux-thrusters—which were modified with space-seats bolted to the floors and a few other creature comforts to soften things. Years ago, Deacon made sure that each of the faux-thrusters were manufactured with sound-proof insulation. He figured there would be some times that he would needed it...and this was the first time in those few years that the sound-proofing would be put to a test!
Deacon also had to think about how to “handle” Ccer. For she was independent, formerly a professional herself before meeting Kaird and starting a family, and she was very unpredictable! It was Deacon's idea to keep her in the cockpit of the Cloak. He reasoned she would become suspicious if she were asked to stay in the Thrusters with the rest of the family during the entire hyper-trip to Utapau 7, so he thought he could deal with her roaming around his ship for a couple of hours or so.
But, this! He did not expect the Empire. If they were to learn of Kaird's family—even if they learned of Ccer alone—they would put two and two together and that enslavement deal for Kaird would turn into a death sentence! Had it been space pirates or the Hutt, or even Black Sun, none of them would even care about Kaird's family. They would just board the Cloak and take the Nedimix, and if they were in a good mood, let the Cloak go on about its merry way...gone were the simple days for a smuggler!
“Permission granted,” the Imperial mouthpiece finally responded. “The Empire thanks you for this temporary inconvenience. Please land at the provided coordinates.”
Deacon's muscles relaxed just a tiny bit.
“Oh,” Ccer said, a bit terse, “so now we have to make a stop on Utapau? I thought we were going to Utapau 7.”
“Uh, yeah...I wish your husband had told you all about me taking along some samples while dropping you off. You know; striking two birds with the same rod—“
Given that Ccer and her family were raptoids, Deacon could see that the figure of speech was not the wisest thing for him to say. They kept quiet the rest of the flight until they reached one of the many sinkhole-cities that Utapau was famous for. Dactillions carrying their riders shared the air with spaceships, all coming and going as the lime-green panorama of Utapau slowly gave way to an enormous sinkhole, some of its segmented levels rimmed with a city furnished with various buildings and parked spaceships.
“Madame Ccer,” Deacon finally said, as soft as possible, after a long silence during the landing, “is there a possibility that you could make yourself comfortable with your children and your grandchildren while I conduct this meeting for your husband?”
She gave him a long look, shifting her head to get a look at Deacon. “You must think me a fool, young man. You think this is the first smuggling-run I've been on for my husband's business?”
Deacon felt a surge of shock course through his body.
Ccer got satisfaction upon seeing his reaction and chuckled a bit.
“Do you honestly think that Kaird would not have someone keep an eye on his precious ore? Deacon, I've been on several smuggling-runs. I will say that you are, by far, the most honest of all those employed by my husband...I can see why he picked you for this job. Don't worry; I will stay out of your way. But don't think that I'm not keeping an eye on things. Remember, Deacon, I'm the wife of a rich industrialist, so I've had the privilege to traverse this Galaxy more than you...be careful with this new Empire of ours, Deacon.”
Deacon watched her walk out of the spacious cockpit and the door close behind her. She gave him a lot to think about.
…................................... End of Part I…............................................
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