Pate Forn took a deep breath and began ringing his water glass with a butter knife. As the small crowd of his twenty five closest friends and family hushed their discussions and anxious chatting, Pate cleared his throat.

"Well folks, tomorrow is the big day! The ship is finally ready and our long awaited and certainly hard earned departure is at hand. The plans have been finalized with the Churba government and we will be a free trade colony on the world of New Cov! CongratulationS everybody! In just a few weeks you will be able to call yourselves proud citizens of Tos-Jundi!"

Cheers rang out as extravagant amounts of water were consumed among cheerful teary eyed friends. Soon the harsh cruel life they all knew would be left behind, opening to them a new life where hard work would actually yield visible rewards instead of sand and a parched throat. The proverbial greener pasture was at hand.

Kateri watched Rita dance with two of her playmates. She had been so frightened when she lost track of her earlier that day. Kateri had wrapped most of her soul around Rita; like a protective blanket for Rita and Kateri as well. She had sunk her attention into raising her daughter and running the farm for the past two years. Rita’s father had been killed in Mos-Eisly after selling their harvest one season. He was gunned down just as he was leaving town. In the middle of the day, in plain view, three drunk off duty Stormtroopers were beating a non-human for sport. He tried to stop them. One of the troopers, apparently threatened by the new odds, drew a hold out blaster and shot him through the chest. Cleanly, efficiently; he died for no reason other than trying to help an innocent. The troopers were off planet before Kateri had even heard about what had happened. Kateri reported it to the local authorities and she was told they would look into the matter and if they found anything out they would contact her.

Well that was two years ago and she had forced herself to concentrate on living. She had engulfed herself in the running of the farm. As a result of her efforts the farm had done well.

It was her brother that had convinced her to go with Pate Forn and this hopeful bunch. If it had not been for him she probably would not have even noticed. She and her brother had sunk everything they had into this colony and she was impatient to see more prosperous days.

Her brother had been more than willing to help Pate work on the new spaceliner. New was not exactly the appropriate way to describe the spaceliner. It was a coqus liner which was a redesign of an older seinar ship. It had needed a lot of work when it first arrived and her brother had made no secret about it.

Kateri had kept her meeting with the pilot on the launch pad a secret. But Pate had announced his arrival and that he would be running escort. He mentioned that he might even be staying on the ship part of the way.

There were seven women Kateri’s age in the group of twenty five people. They all gobbled up the news of this rouge pilot like thirsty banthas at a seep.

Kateri caught a glimpse of the white haired old man that was Huff Darklighter. He had made a large part of this expedition possible, for without his help the arrangement with the governments on New Cov would not have been possible. It was obvious that Huff had taken a liking to the group and had been caught up in the zeal of everyone’s optimism. Everyone was saying that old Huff needed a cause, that he just hadn’t been the same since his Biggs had died. His son was a hero and he didn’t let anyone forget it, but it was clear that he dearly missed his son. Even a smuggler gets sentimental sometimes.

Everyone here knew that Huff was a smuggler and so did most of the people on Tatooine, so it was no surprise that Huff Darklighter had been given a 10% share in the colony. It was worth his help and would surely provide him with a nice retirement if the colony did as well as was planned.

Eventually the party wound down. Pate, Huff and Kateri’s brother, Kehller, were sitting at a table discussing their plans for departure and where they should stop to let Rancer rest and refresh himself.

"Rancer is a good pilot and he will protect you to the end if he agrees to participate," said Huff, smiling.

Kehller looked up at his sister sitting by the door talking to one of her friends. "How did you say you knew this guy again?"

Huff grinned even bigger. "Rancer is very secretive about his past and out of respect for him I will only tell you what you need to know. He used to be an Old Republic soldier. He trained with folks that are generals now either with the New Republic or some Imperial faction. He became unhappy with the new military training of Emperor Palpatine. He believed independent thought was the most crucial element of a good soldier.

"He worked as a mercenary for a while after that and eventually pieced together his own mercenary team. They would hire out for missions they could stomach and thought were worthwhile. Eventually though, the Empire caught up with them. They set a trap and wiped out the whole band except for Rancer. To this day I don’t know how he got out of that one. He popped up here and there, training special forces groups and teaching guerrilla tactics to anyone who opposed the Empire. He worked for the Alliance but would not ally himself or commit to any one group. Rancer learned how to fly when he worked with the Alliance and probably has learned a lot more in the past few years.

"The most important thing to know about Rancer is that when he says he is going to do something, he does it. From what I have been able to find out, his resources are on the small side right now but he has been a major player in the mercenary circuit before. We just found him at the right time."

Kehller scratched his chin. "I asked you how you knew him?"

"Oh!" said Huff, with a slightly shocked expression. "I think that story will have to wait for a while. I am not ready to tell all my secrets just yet. I doubt if Rancer knows me or anything about me, but eventually he will make the connection. Well, you fellas better get some rest. You have a long journey ahead of you in the morning!"

Kehller glared at Huff, rather annoyed that he had avoided his question, but he trusted Huff and after all, he had helped pay for this venture. If he said Rancer was O.K., then he must be.

Rancer awoke to the unfamiliar antiseptic smells of his rented room. He gathered his sand colored duffle bag of sand colored clothes and walked out into the sand filled world of Tatooine. He made his way to the spaceport and headed for pad 17 to finalize jump vectors and routes with Pate and his people. As he approached the old Coqous spaceliner, he saw about ten or so people standing about outside saying farewell to loved ones and standing around waiting. He saw Pate and made for him. Most of the folks noticed him coming and watched him for a good minute as he closed the distance.

As Rancer walked up to Pate he noticed Kateri with a small group of young ladies near the boarding ramp. Several of them were looking at him and giggling.

That is weird, Rancer thought. He checked his outfit. He had worn the black fatigues today. It seemed fitting for space flight. No open zippers or spilled milk on him anywhere.

"Good morning," Rancer said to Pate, obviously distracted. "What are the flight plans?"

Pate chuckled, seeing the pilot’s obvious distraction and produced a slew of star charts.

Kateri could not help but to get caught up in the excitement of the other girls. She had thought the news of a young pilot would catch their attention, but she hadn’t realized just how isolated she and these women had been. They were all whispering and carrying on like school girls! They knew he was not going to be a part of their expedition and that he was not exactly a prince. No one that would be a part of the life they had ahead of them, but a little dreaming and a little flirting were good for the mind. Heck, even if it wasn’t good for the mind it sure was exciting and after days and days of sand and more sand, excitement had a very tempting allure.

Rancer was satisfied with their flight plan. Not overjoyed, but it was a solid plan. The flight plan avoided most of the heavily pirated areas and allowed for regular stops so he could sleep and use their refresher units. They had arranged for him to dock with them three times via an air lock their ship had before entering the Churba system. They would provide him with food and a place to sleep. The stops would be at twelve hour intervals and in deep space. This kept them away from pirates and pretty much anything else that might want them.

Rancer felt confident they would make it to Churba without much trouble. The plan was for him to launch first and make sure the area around Tatooine was clear. Then they would launch. They both had the nav co-ordinates so all the liner had to do was give him a "ready" signal and he would enter hyperspace a few minutes ahead of them. This way he could begin to clear out any hostile threat before they arrived and could distract any hostiles long enough for them to jump to safety. Rancer would get the rest of his money when they landed on New Cov in the Churba system.

As Rancer climbed into his cockpit he only had two burning questions remaining. How did Huff Darklighter know him and what was up with those women at the launching pad?

Kateri decided that stars were much more beautiful from space than from Tatooine. The gentle thrum of their ion-engines had been the musical accompaniment to the never ending sparkling flow of stars that danced outside their ship. The passing of a particularly impressive looking star fighter would break the rhythm from time to time. The ship flew close enough at times for Kateri to make out the image of Rancer Muldoon in the cockpit.

"DUNG-CHANG!" The sound of magnetic clamps grabbing Rancer’s Y-Wing snapped Kateri out of her reverie. She snatched up the basket of goodies she had put together for their escorting pilot and whisked her way through the cramped gangways of the ship to where he was supposed to sleep.

Rancer was rubbing his eyes as he tried to climb out of his Y-Wing. His legs were killing him. His eyes were red and strained and he needed a bath. He had been flying for twelve hours so far and the docking had taken another hour. There had been no problems, but he was dead tired. Rancer was looking forward to a hot meal and a shower.

Two men helped him up out of his Y-Wing but once he was into the ship proper the men squared off for introductions.

"Hello, my name is Kehller. I think you have met my sister Kateri. Welcome aboard. This is Tondras Yinger. He’s another farmer with us."

Rancer looked the two over and noticed they were wearing blasters. The one who called himself Kehller was a large, tan young man who looked to be around twenty. His face showed confidence and something else. Rancer couldn’t quite put a hand on it but Kehller was definitely checking him out.

Tondras Yinger seemed to be every bit an average farmer right down to the callused hand offered to Rancer in greeting. Rancer smiled and politely shook both their hands.

"Fellas, I don’t mean to be rude but it’s been 12 hours since I ate last and these clothes are starting to grow into my skin. Could you guys show me to a shower and some food?"

Kehller grimaced. "Sure, right this way. Kateri put some food together for ya. I think she put it in your bunk. The refreshers are this way."

The two men left Rancer with some towels and directions to his sleeping cubical. Space had to be a real commodity on this ship with all the materials they were carrying. The passages through the ship were small, but that was to be expected on a small ship. There were boxes and crates in just about every nook and cubby. They were in the passenger section of the ship, though.

Most of this stuff must be personal effects. I guess it is hard to just leave a whole life worth of stuff behind, Rancer thought.

"Supplies?" Rancer said to himself. "There are only twenty five people on this ship. A quocus liner of this type should be able to hold at least fifty with a considerable amount of gear. Hmm. They must be hauling a lot of gear."

They reached the refreshers in just a few minutes. The two men gave him directions to his bunk and went about their business. He shucked his black fatigues and began to step into the shower when he heard a tinkling sound from just outside the door. Like the sound of a grenade pin hitting the cold metal of a spaceship deck. He whirled around, snatching up his blaster carbine in the same motion. No one there.

He ran out the refresher station door carbine muzzle first. He quickly looked down both directions of the corridor. Nothing. Rancer felt something sticking into his bare foot and he thought he heard a faint padding sound just barely louder than the beating of his heart, but he was not sure of what he heard or from what direction it came.

"Man, I need some sleep in a bad way," Rancer said to no one in particular. He reached down to retrieve the object from beneath his foot. It was a small strip of metal that had been folded in half. It was brown and seemed to have been coated or painted that color. It definitely looked like some sort of pin or fastening device. But he had never seen its like before.

After picking up the pin and letting his heart return to his chest he decided it was no longer prudent or polite to continue hanging out in the hallway.

After a good wash Rancer headed for his bunk hoping to find a tray piled high with steaks and a six pack of beer waiting for him. But instead he found a sleeping Kateri on his bed with a basket that was producing some intriguing smells. Rancer was wearing a clean T-Shirt and the pants from the day before and he had remembered to put on deodorant and brush his teeth. He felt as presentable as he figured he was going to get.

Kateri looked very peaceful sleeping in the nest of auburn that her hair made. She seemed to be smiling. About what, he had no idea but he was a little jealous. She was about to start a new life, a good life. There probably would be no killing. Probably lots of peaceful memorable time spent with people she loved and that loved her back. Rancer was a little envious for just a minute, then he recognized the scent of baked bread and a more primal train of thought took over.

He quietly placed his duffle bag on the floor and reached over Kateri’s sleeping body. A flush of heat washed over him as her scent over powered the smells of the basket. Rancer thought for the first time that her dress was not so drab after all. He could actually see...

The basket!" Rancer thought to himself. It’s a miracle you are still alive, Muldoon! Focus! Focus on your objective! Rancer mumbled as he continued on his mission to secure his dinner. Just as Rancer began to lift the basket Kateri stirred. He froze, hoping she would fall back to sleep but his hopes were answered by wide open eyes.

He smiled, about to explain, but before any words escaped his embarrassed lips two swift kicks caught him in the gut. Kateri saw his hand on the basket a split second after she had pummeled him. Realizing immediately what his innocent intentions had been, she looked back to Rancer to apologize as he slid to the floor holding his gut and his embarrassment.

"Oh Mister Muldoon! I am so sorry!" cried Kateri, smilling from embarrassment. "Are you hurt!? I saw you over me and I thought...well I was afraid you were...oh gosh, I hope I didn’t hurt you." Kateri had turned a bright color that matched her hair quite well.

Rancer looked up with a slightly pained but humored expresion. "The only things hurt are my gut and my ego and they have both had bigger dents than this."

Kateri reached down to help Rancer up from the floor. He took her hand and pulled. She hadn’t expected him to be this heavy. Her eyes opened wide as she fell off balance.

"Ahh!" came a short cry from Kateri as she fell into Rancer’s lap.

"Well, since we’re both already down here would you mind getting that basket. We’ll just call it a picnic," said Rancer, laughing between his words. His embarrassment had faded and was washed away completely by her accompanying laughter.

Pate Forn was pacing across the tiny bridge of the Star Rider, the legal name of their ship. They had never taken the time to paint on the outside of the spaceliner -- there had been too many other real problems. The ship had done well, though, and Pate thought she deserved to have a good coat of paint after all of this was over.

A little flashing light caught Pate’s attention. He looked closer at the light that was blinking red on the radar screen. "Red! That means bad. On the radar screen that means a ship, but we’re in the middle of nowhere! How could anyone know to look here?"

Pate hit the ship wide com and general alert at the same time. "Rancer Muldoon, radio the bridge immediately!" Pate was startled to hear his own voice booming over the com system.

Within seconds there was a light flashing on the communications console. Pate slapped it like a naughty puppy. "Rancer here. What’s going on!"

In a worry laden voice, Pate replied, "We have incoming hostiles!"

Pate checked the console anticipating Rancer’s next question. There were now three red dots on the radar screen at about 7000 kilometers and closing.

"How many of them?" came Rancer’s reply.

"Three so far. About 7000 kilometers out." There was a little static over the com and Pate would have sworn he heard Kateri’s voice.

"I’m on my way, Pate, have your boys meet me at my ship to unhook me."

Pate sent out the necessary orders over the ship wide com and turned to look at the radar console. There were four ships now and the fourth one looked bigger than the others. Pate’s spirits began to drop very low.

"Relax!" said Rancer as he looked up to see Kateri gripping her hold out blaster like there was a krayt dragon in the hallway. "The bad guys are on the outside."

Rancer smiled at Kateri, took another bite of his meal and headed for his ship.

When Rancer arrived, Kehller and Tondras were already unhooking his ship. Both had upgraded to blaster carbines as well. This certainly was a well armed bunch, Rancer thought as he began climbing into his ship.

He took one last gulp of milk from his glass and looked around for someone to hand it to. Kateri appeared out of nowhere and took the glass. She looked at Rancer with a very worried look on her face, but not a look of doubt or even fear for herself. She was worried about him! Rancer was touched. That hadn’t happened in a long, long time. He wanted to say something...

"If they are pirates they may try and board. So keep those blasters handy and be ready." Slipping into his flight harness, he thought, That was not exactly the right thing to say. I should have said some thing comforting.

"Yea, and what do I know about comforting. This is what I do!" Rancer said to himself as he jammed both of his throttles forward.

A slight tremor rolled through the Star Rider as the enhanced Y-Wing roared away. Kateri watched as the four bright engines rapidly became distant specks of light.

"C’mon, Kat, we gotta get to our stations!" came her brother’s voice.

"Huh…what…oh yea, let’s go!" said Kateri pulling herself away from the window and replacing her holdout blaster with her brother’s carbine.

Pate had already made the jumping calculations and had the ship pointed in the right direction. If things got bad they were ready to jump. "I guess that long range scanning equipment was worth it after all."

The scanning equipment had been Huff’s idea. It had been Rancer’s idea to move this far away from their entry point. He said that if someone had been following them, at least they wouldn’t jump in right on top of them. It was suddenly becoming clear to Pate that he was not exactly an expert when it came to space travel but he was glad he had found some people who were.

Pate looked out of one of the ship’s view ports. He couldn’t even see the ships, and he began to feel very nervous about their expedition. Had he led these good people astray? Were they going to die out here in space? Was he going to be responsible for their deaths? He couldn’t let himself think that way. He knew they were doing the right thing. He had gone through the research, and he knew what was out there and he had taken all the precautions possible. He only hoped it was enough.

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