Star Wars_ Millennium Falcon - James Luceno [71]
“Maybe you should have named her High Hopes instead of Second Chance,” Jadak said.
Taunt gazed at him. “Have we met before? Because you seem familiar. Ever been in lockup?”
Jadak shook his head. “I would remember.”
“What's your interest in the Second Chance? You don't look like the historian type.”
“My uncle was one of the pilots who died in the collision at Nar Shaddaa. His name was Reeze Duurmun.”
Taunt flicked his big head in a nod of recognition. “You get to be my age, you forget faces. But I never forget a name. I knew Reeze when he was flying contraband for the Ilk family. He and I ran into some problems on Nar Shaddaa, but we managed to work them out.” He paused briefly. “Fancy that, Reeze dying in the ship I wound up with. I never knew … but Reeze being your uncle still doesn't explain why you'd come all the way to Carcel looking for the freighter.”
“If she still exists, I want to own her.”
“That's an if of major magnitude considering how much time has passed.”
“We know that.”
Taunt appraised them. “Kind of a fling, is that it, your looking for the ship? You don't have jobs? You're independently wealthy?”
“I lost my legs in an industrial accident. I'm blowing the insurance settlement pursuing a lifelong dream.”
“And I'm supposed to help you make your dream come true?”
“We just want to know what became of the freighter after your arrest.”
Taunt considered it. “I could tell you straight-out, I suppose. But I have to ask what you're bringing to the table.”
“I won't insult you by saying credits, since it doesn't look like you lack for anything.”
“Nice of you to notice.”
“How about we reframe the question by asking if there's something we can do for you in exchange for the information we're after.”
Taunt rubbed his chins. “I do have something in the works. My employees are already on it, but they could use a couple of human hands. You'd have to be willing to jump your way to Holess. Are you flush enough to do that?”
“Providing you don't mind us taking the local.”
“Even the local will get you there in time for the job.”
“What's involved?” Jadak asked cautiously.
“Revenge.”
“We're not muscle.”
“Clearly. But this job isn't revenge of that sort.”
“Who's the target?” Poste asked.
“The Colicoids.”
Jadak was caught by surprise. “I didn't know they were still around.”
Taunt sneered. “Like any pest, they're hard to eradicate.”
“Revenge on an individual Colicoid or the entire species?”
“I don't overreach,” Taunt said. “Here's the way it lays out. Though things turned out well enough for me, I've never forgiven them for what they did to some of the members of my crew, and for what those karking buzz droids did to my future. I've waited a long time to even the score, and the chance is finally at hand.”
“What part do we play in this?” Jadak said.
Taunt leaned forward on the pillow. “Ever hear of a creature called a hueche?”
“An extraordinary creature,” Vistal Purn was telling Han, Leia, Allana, and C-3PO in his office on the upper tier of the arena. “Certainly the finest example of a marsupial ever entered into competition. His name is Tamac's Zantay Aura. The radiance of the orange stripes is what won him the prize. And so well behaved. You know, the female produces a salubrious