Young Writers Society

"She allows her feelings to lead her. But she may not have much more information other than her employer's alias. She's told the truth so far." He was a little relieved to talk about something else. "But she is intelligent. She may know more than she lets on about your operations. And your wife's." He was careful in that territory, knowing Tarkin was secretive about whatever operation Thalassa was in charge of.

"Mm." He leaned against the counter, letting the coffee warm his hands. "I'll have to notify Thalassa about this. Perhaps we should hold off on interrogating the Phindian further until she's made aware. She may have her own questions."

"That may be the case." It was beginning to get annoying, coordinating between these two and their questions. "I wonder if she discovered that herself, or if her employer has fed her that information? I know little about all of your political friends. You will have to deduce if the information she's given you rings a bell over any of your enemies." He moved to get a cup of coffee for himself.

"It's fairly common knowledge that Thalassa is affiliated with the Treacle. It's simply hard to peg her activities down properly," he said carefully. "Everybody who could take her down either owes the Treacle favors or doesn't have enough evidence to prove she's doing anything illegal." There was a small amount of pride and amusement in his voice as he said this; he'd had the Treacle after him a few times. There were one or two agents who still kept an eye on him.
"That said, I believe the Phindian's employer is well aware of Thalassa's mob ties. Why else would he come after her? Her legitimate businesses are no threat to anyone."

Sirejj hadn't heard of them before this, but he wasn't involved in the galactic crime syndicates or politics.

"But whoever it is specifically targeted you both. It would be interesting if the employer had a priority, if he wanted one of you dead more than the other. That may indicate who they were angry at first anyways." He took a sip of coffee. "It makes me wonder if she was the only hunter he sent. She's capable but young. Whoever sent her must know her chance of failure was high to begin with. As much as I hate to admit, you make a formidable opponent."

"I can think of five people with grudges against us both and is well aware of Thalassa's activities." He looked down at his cup. "I have no doubt there will be more, but let's chisel at the weak link for now. The rest of the chain will break with it." He would pass along her face to the ISB to see if they pulled up any matches.

"That's somewhere at least." This phindian was a massive inconvenience. The sooner they could gather enough information and return to Atoa, the better. He had things he wanted to find there as well. It had been an interesting few days.

"She shouldn't be too hard to read. But I'll leave her be for now till Vader comes. There will need to be something left for him to question."

"My thoughts exactly. I'll ease the temperature a little so she's not dead by the time he arrives, but I plan on leaving her isolated. We want her unbalanced." He sipped at his coffee. "I appreciate your assistance in the forest, by the way. I expect I could have won that, but you aided in ending it quickly."

"Oh I'm sure. You looked to be handling it well." He smiled into his coffee mug, looking at Tarkin's battered face and filthy clothes.

"It was an enjoyable exercise. It's been too long since I let loose." He sighed wistfully. "High Command is a privelige, but it can be stifling at times."

"I could only imagine." Sirejj glanced at the spear leaning against the wall. "I could try to see if her weapon holds any secrets. Or Vader can try that, if that's something the Sith can do." He still had the tooth from Garoche's cat in his pocket. He would go back to that mystery later.

"If you believe that will help, by all means. Vader might very well make putty of her mind; it might make his intrusion less destructive if you already have information. I'd like her to be useful later down the road."

That was one of the many things Sirejj despised about the Sith. They were incapable of anything but annihilation.

"I will spend some time on that."

"Excellent." He glanced at Sirejj. "What have you gleaned from the tooth? Is this spear similar as a wayfinder?"

"It may be. There are some spells that may reveal places. Images. Memories. If she's crafted this spear herself she's no doubt put a lot of attention into it. I may be able to see some things." He wasn't as connected to the spear as he was to Garoche's mystery. It was easier to see when he was standing in the very places Tarkin's son had stood long ago.