The Inquisitor entered hyperspace, relaxing into his chair.

Zee was on the same lane. She and Raia had been eyeing each other warily, and she gladly took the opportunity to answer the comm. "Sirejj?" she asked, and Raia straightened.

"I've made it to hyperspace in one piece." He still sounded winded. "There was an Inquisitor in the caves. That's why it took so long."

"An Inquisitor?" Her brow furrowed in concern. "Were you followed? Is he after us or you?"

"Predominantly me I'm guessing, but seeing as you're harboring the people Tarkin wants dead, I'm not sure it matters." He sat back and pondered for a moment. Was he being followed? Not that he knew of, but there was always a chance...

"I'm not being followed." He said flatly, making up his mind. "There's no trackers on this ship, but splitting up was a good precaution."

"Glad to hear it." She flipped a tendril over her shoulder. "That was...that was the closest to dying I've been in a good while. He wasn't playing."

Sirejj chuckled grimly. "I could say the same. Seconds difference and we would have been dust." He watched the streaks of light through the windshield as they travelled. "Has the plan for Eriadu changed at all? Am I to head to the original coordinates, or maybe see if I can visit more than one location to gather the documents until you arrive?"

"I'm going to Raven's Peak and the city house, now," she replied. "I figured Thalassa should stay of Phelarion in light of recent events. Though...if you're offering, you're going to be closer to Raven's Peak than I will. Could you go there directly after you visit the forest mansion?"

"I can do that. Then back to Phelarion after? It doesn't take a force user to know there will be trouble coming that way in time."

"Back to Phelarion," Zee said with a nod. "Thalassa is calling a summit to meet with her legitimate investors as well as the Treacle heads so she can address what's going on, but I have a feeling we'll be packing up. The Phelarionese senators won't be pleased at having the Empire knocking on their doors, and two of them are very securely in Thalassa's pocket." She frowned. "Why the hell did he have to antagonize her? And why did she jump on it like that--gods damn it, can't they just be normal? For once?"

"It was bound to happen sooner or later." Thalassa had loved her son, and his blood would never have gone unavenged. "Far be it for me to give a lecture on morals, but Tarkin is an unbelievable individual. Part of me hopes we cross paths again." There was a vague threat to his tone.

"I'll strangle him myself." There was potent and long-festering loathing pouring into Zee's voice. "You have no idea, Sirejj; you haven't known him even a quarter as long as I have. The hurt he's caused..." Her lip curled. She had no words to describe how she felt; he'd committed so many transgressions. The fact that he was a rival for Thalassa's affections wasn't even the half of it, though that did play a large part. Thalassa went where she wished, did as she pleased, and as much as that hurt Zee, it hurt more that she had gone with him.

"I won't pretend to understand, but I've seen enough in my short time of knowing him to give me more than enough reason to snap his brittle old neck." He tapped his fingers on the dash, remembering the cold heartless eyes of the governor as he had watched his son die before his eyes. There was an anger in Sirejj's chest that had never completely died out, and the idea of getting rid of Tarkin personally gave it a reason to burn again. He still didn't understand what drove him to comply so easily with his son's murder. Was he afraid of Vader? Did he not love his own flesh and blood? Was power more important to him? He supposed it was all of the above. He was wholly irredeemable.

"Whichever one of us gets to him first, the other should buy drinks. There's a pub on Corellia I've always liked." She rested her chin on her hand. "We'll toast Garoche."

"Sounds like a fair bet." That would do more to settle this matter than anything else they'd tried. "I'll see you on Eriadu, then. Take care of the cargo. They know nothing of the rest of the galaxy and they can't understand us at all. I fear the transition from their homeworld may be hard on them."

"What is this language they speak?" she asked. "It's not like anything I've heard before."