Erit looks at Arnae.

"She's telling the truth, but not all of it."

He then turns to Ta.

"You're safe here. For the moment."

'Za watches the exchange, including Erit's meaningful looks. As he finishes, she looks at him, down at Ta, then over at Arnae. "Safe? Hell, if she's holding out on us, that info's what is most likely to cost us and what we most need to know. If she won't share, I say we space her and save ourselves a lot of hassle later."

Erit looks at Jileeza, the slightest hint of annoyance in his voice.

"You will not harm her. It appears you have forgotten that not everybody is a moral lowlife."

He saves the "like you are" at the end.

Wayde crosses his arms in protest.

"Hey! I resemble that remark and I'd prefer you not talk to her that way. She's just being cautious and if you haven't been keeping up on things lately, you haven't exactly been a choir boy. Associating with known criminals, smugglers, and cut-throats...that'll stand up well if it ever gets back to the Jedi Council."

He adjusts his posture as to not come off as confrontational towards Erit.

"Look, let's just get to Bespin and we'll sort it out from there. I suggest we put her on a short leash, loosen her bindings a bit, and post a watch. She's not going anywhere and I'm sure (looking directly at the Twi'lek) that she appreciates everything we've done for her. Besides, if she can hotwire a baydoor, she might just help keep this heap together. Right?"

Wayde's been in this situation before...mostly due to his experience in dealing with locals in Imperial territory. Fucking with someone in distress is the last way to get anything useful out of them. Two tours of Tatooine taught him that.

At least she's not a Jawa...

Erit merely blinks at Wayde.

"What gave you the idea that I care about the Jedi Council?"

He snorts, then turns to Jileeza.

"The fact that I rarely ask for anything does not mean that I work for free. Consider her safety my price."

Jileeza doesn't appear the least bit cowed or intimidated by Erit's attitude. More amused than anything.

"Work for free? Price? What the hell makes you think any of us are getting paid, you stupid fucking wanker." 'Za casts her gaze around at the other. "Are any of you getting paid here? I sure as hell am not."

Not waiting for an answer, she returns her gaze to Erit. "This is about survival, pure-and-simple, dimwad. That is the only consideration that matters.

"Oh, and by the way, I don't take my orders from you. If Arnae or Wayde here decide that she's outlived her usefulness, she'll be dead before you can blink."

"That's it. Erit, Wayde, 'Za, my office, now." Arnae points to the passage to the cockpit, then looks back at the girl. "Ta, you stay put."

Arnae follows the three into the cockpit, squeezes in after them, and closes the hatch.

"Listen up. We aren't spacing the girl, and that's that. However, until we can trust her, it isn't such a bad thing if she doesn't know that. Agreed?"

As the brooded over each other bunch make their way to the cockpit, Mak can be heard humming "..got in trouble, theeeyy got in trouble.."

When the hatch closes, he gives Reyes a nudge in the ribs and winks towards Aurelia.

"Think the captain is going to ground them to their rooms?"

Erit nods solemnly.

"I apologise for starting an argument, Captain. But this girl has been traumatised enough for one day. She's not telling the whole story, but what she says is true. I am merely of the opinion that we need to treat her with some respect and allow her to calm down, lest she believes we're not better than the people who raided her ship. Scaring her won't help us."

"It's your ship, cap'n. Do what you want with the Twi'lek, I'm just offering my tactical advice."

Jileeza flashes Mak a saucy wink as she departs for the captain's office. It would seem she's truly enjoying this.

"Actually, scaring the girl may well have been our best bet for finding out what she's holding back. And you can bet there's a reason she doesn't want to tell us. Can we afford not to know what it is?"

'Za sighs and looks at Arnae. "Look, milking information out of people is a big part of what I've done for a living for the past decade-and-more. And one thing I've learned is that fear is a hell of a motivator."

"We'll have Aurelia search her. Can't be too careful. She's scared enough of you as it is, 'Za. Aurelia comes off as unthreatening, no offense. We can play 'good stormtrooper, bad stormtrooper' until we get results."

(Edited by Infested Paladin at 4:16 pm on Mar. 2, 2004)

Wayde shrugs.

"Whatever. I'm just as comfortible locking her up in an empty crate in the cargo hold until we get to Bespin, but I'd rather not find out then that the Twi'lek has been secretly carrying a transponding up her butt the whole way there..."

"Exactly. Erit's right, though, too. She'll have time to geto to know us after we've gotten to know her.

"Now, before we get back out there, does anyone have anything else to add? Erit?"

"No. I believe we are now in agreement about our further actions."

Aurelia chuckles softly. "No problem. She's a fellow grease monkey, maybe I can get her to talk without resorting to um..." she smiles at 'Za "your particular brand of persuasion."

"Yeah, you do that," Jileeza replies with a smirk. "C'mon, let's get out of here; all these men in here is beginning to make the room stink."

Quote:

Quote: from fanchergw on 6:23 pm on Mar. 3, 2004
"Yeah, you do that," Jileeza replies with a smirk. "C'mon, let's get out of here; all these men in here is beginning to make the room stink."

Wayde follows Jileeza out of the room,

"Hey, sister. It's been days since any of us had a shower, so I'd be careful with the stinky finger pointing, sweetheart."

"Good. Good. Aurelia, you get on that. If anyone needs me, I'll be in my quarters."

Aurelia's search of Ta reveals various small tools still in their pouches, the larger spanner belt having been discarded for speed's sake. Aurelia's satisfied that the Twi'lek is indeed a mechanic, for good or ill. Probably an apprentice or simple ship tech, nothing too fancy. No explicit weaponry, although a small hydrospanner or arcdriver would make a nice dent or hole in someone. No tracking bugs as such are present, although Reyes does a cursory scan of her tools for any disguised transmitters.

Ta sits mostly silent throughout the entire proceedings with a look of astounded annoyance, interrupting a search here and there with "Find the decoder ring yet?" or "Who do you think I am, anyway?"