Kinsie pulled out from the Cantina and made as if she was leaving town. She crested a hill just outside of town and took a sharp turn to the left. She circled the settlement to park near the back of the Cantina she had just left. She parked her bike and felt eyes watching her.
“I will pay you credits if nothing happens to my bike,” Kinsie called to the darkness.
No response came from the darkness, nor any sound. Kinsie shrugged, pulled up her hood and tucked her lekku back. She called shadows to her as she crossed into the lit street. Her destination was the local Inn, a tall building that was attached to what acted as the space port.
The light was starting to fade from the sky as she approached the front of the building. Lights on buildings were starting to come on, but did little to dispel the shadows. The last of the day shift workers were heading for either home or the Cantina. In the distance she could hear the low hum of swoops coming over the rise.
The door to the Inn opened as Kinsie approached. Dust swirled in the doorway as she entered. The atmosphere inside the Inn was very different from that of the Cantina. Colorful tiles were laid out on the floor in a unique design, one that reminded Kinsie of somewhere she had been as a young girl. The walls were made of cut stone polished to a lust that only a droid could accomplish.
The hum of mechanics could be heard over the soft music that played on the speaker system. In the middle of the room a few large overstuffed chairs sat for guests. A desk was positioned directly across from the door, behind which stood a protocol droid. The droid buzzed to life as Kinsie crossed the threshold of the door.
“Good evening, welcome to Smiley’s Inn,” The droid’s monotone voice greeted. “How may I be of assistance?”
“I could use a room,” Kinsie responded as she approached the desk. “and why is this place called Smiley’s Inn.”
“It is named for the valley. From the air I am told the valley looks like a smile,” the droid responded. “Would you prefer a street view or a view of the landing pad?”
“Which is quieter?” Kinsie returned, it really didn’t matter, but she was wanting to linger in the lobby for a little while.
“Well it depends on the day,” the droid responded. “Though we have not had a ship doc in months. The view from the doc side is much better.”
The response Kinsie had hoped for was part of the Droid’s reply. Droids could be so stupid in the information they shared with people. She nodded waiting for the droid to continue to rattle the pros and cons of either type of suite.
“Though the street side lets you see all the lights the people have set up on the buildings.” The droid continued. “Really lady it’s up to you.”
“I think the doc side would be best then,” Kinsie smiled from beneath her hood. “Is there a place where one might find a bite to eat?”
“The best food in the settlement is made by Master Toshi. He serves up every evening through that door,” the droid pointed to a doorway on Kinsie’s right.
“If I wanted to get off this rock, how would I go about doing that?” Kinsie nodded.
“Book transport with me for the next ship,” the droid clicked through a few screens on the desk in front of him. “Unfortunately we do not know when that will be and I don’t recommend walking to the nearest city. It is far and the beasts”
“Thank you,” Kinsie cut the droid off. “how much for the room?”
“50 credits.” The droid switched returned to the task at hand. “Can I get your personal information?”
“All information is found within this card,” Kinsie waived a data card over a receptor on the top of the desk.
The computers whirled as they searched the information downloaded related to her identity and ability to pay for the room she had booked. The droid looked up slowly from the screen as the information was relayed from the computer to its processors.
“Mistress,” the droid bowed his head. “It is an honor to have you staying with us. Please let us know if there is anything that you might need. Your room can be found through the door there, up the lift to the third floor and at the end of the hall.”
“Thank you,” Kinsie nodded taking the offered keycard. “Is the owner of the Inn around.”
“I believe that she can be found in the diner,” the droid returned. “will that be all.”
“Yes,” Kinsie turned and walked towards the diner which was to the right as the droid had indicated.
Glass doors separated the diner from the lobby of the Inn. Through the doors Kinsie could see that the place as busy. She smiled, all the better to hear the latest gossip. She approached the doors and they slid open. The din of a diner greeted her and the smells of sickly rich food turned her stomach. She found a place in booth that had a view of both doors and where she could hear both the patrons and the workers conversations.
The main conversation was about the newcomers. Questions about what they could possibly want and why there were so many of them, were they just passing through or were they going to be staying. Some knew that the settlement leaders had met with three of the newcomers, but nothing was being said about what was discussed. A few of the bikers had pulled up outside distracting the patrons and staff.
“Excuse me,” Kinsie said softly to one of the servers as she passed by. “Do you serve coffee?”
“Oh, sorry, didn’t see you,” the server replied. She was scarred and looked to have seen better days. “I will be right back.”
Kinsie sat back in the seat and watched as members of Kajidic made their way into the diner. A serving droid activated from a corner as the group sat in a booth close to the front door. They did not acknowledge Kinsie, which was as she wished it. She was there to get information not find her friends.
The serving girl returned with a data pad and a mug. She set both before Kinsie and started to pour a dark liquid from a steaming pot she had in her other hand.
“We don’t have much on special, but the cook makes a good stew. Not sure what meat he is using these days, but the sauce is good and the other bread is fresh.” She shifted uneasily on her feet as if the admission that the menu was just for show was uncomfortable. “We have not had a shipment of goods for quite a while and have had to rely on the local hunters. Unfortunately hunting has been, well, sparse.”
“Thank you, a bowl of the stew and the coffee will suffice,” Kinsie responded handing back the data pad. “Do you know who those people are?”
“Not directly, we had a visit from what the folks are calling a biker gang earlier this evening and it looks like they are staying for a while,” the server responded and moved away from the table.
The bikers had seated themselves and also ordered coffee and the stew, really wasn’t much other option, and the conversation began to pick up again.
A couple close to the doors to the lobby of the Inn were intently looking over a data pad and whispering about where they might put an additional room for their how. The excitement shone from them. New parents or parents to be, Kinsie guessed. Exciting and scary in this place.
Another group talked about work. How the harvest would be poor and the research being done on new crop types was taking too long. They seemed to be concerned about a shortage of food for the settlement and that they could not engineer anything that grew properly for this climate and soil type.
An older couple sat near the front windows and reminisced about home. The lush green planet they had come from. The rich foods they were able to grow. The children then left behind. It was a sad conversation. The first war had taken three of their six children, the other three were scattered across the galaxy doing this and that job for this or that ruler, criminal, or something else that they couldn’t talk about.
The talk from the kitchen as a little more enlightening. The Cook grumbled about not having enough stock to be able to make the menu items. That they were running low on coffee bean and other beverage making elements. Even the fuel for the cookers was running low.
The server returned with a bowl of sweet smelling stew and a hunk of dark bread. She placed these on the table before Kinsie and moved off to clear the table vacated by the elderly couple who had finished their meal.
The Crime Lord was right about the opportunity this place provided. It was ready for something to happen. The people were getting worn out and many would start the migration, if they had transport, to larger centers where more secure opportunities could be found.
Kinsie took a few bites of the stew, brown sauce, some strange meat that had an odd texture and root vegetables that seemed to have at one time been dried and reconstituted. The stew was extremely rich to cover some of the odd flavors. The bread on the other hand was marvelous. She dunked it into the sauce until it was gone then pushed the bowl away.
She took a sip of the coffee and sighed. It was weak. Hardly any flavor at all. The way to get to this community was to restore the shipments of produce and stock. She began to wonder what this settlement had in trade. Food was obviously not a commodity.
The other patrons were starting to thin out. As they left they avoided the front door and many opted for the door that led to the lobby of the Inn. The bikers were talking about their bikes and what each would be doing to upgrade systems when they had settled in a new location.
“More coffee,” the serving girl asked as she came by. “Are you finished with the stew?”
“Yes thank you to both questions,” Kinsie responded. “I am wondering if you can tell me what this settlement does to remain here?”
The server suddenly looked scared. She glanced around the diner to make sure no one was within earshot. She then leaned in closer to Kinsie before responding.
“Spice,”
The server quickly walked away taking Kinsie’s half eaten bowl of stew back into the kitchens. Spice, well that was a bit of a revelation and one that needed to be shared with the Crime Lord. Through a series of quick hand gestures Kinsie caught the attention of one of the bikers. She relayed the message through the code taught to all Kajidic members, then sat back to enjoy the rest of the weak coffee.
“Will that be all,” the server came back a few moments later.
“Yes thank you,” Kinsie smiled and pushed her hood back from her face. “And thank you for the information. Will this cover it?”
Kinsie handed over a few credit chips and watched the server’s eyes go wide. She fingered the chips and looked around as if she had done something wrong.
“Mistress this is too much,” she whispered.
“Good,” Kinsie smiled.
The server stepped back from the table to let Kinsie go past. She still had the scared look on her face as she turned to watch Kinsie walk back into the lobby for the Inn. The droid buzzed from behind the desk, but did not address her. Kinsie walked through the lobby to the door leading to the landing pad.
The bays were empty. Nothing stirred. Dust covered the floor through which the only thing seen were droid tracks and bugs, but even those were starting to disappear in the dust. It had been a long time since this community had seen freight traffic. There were a number of bays, she counted eight in total. So once this community had seen heavy trade traffic.
‘I wonder what happened here,’ Kinsie thought. ‘For a settlement to have this kind of organized freight system…something to find out about.’
Kinsie turned and walked back into the Inn. She needed to talk to the Crime Lord. She walked to the lift and up to the room that she had paid for. Closing the door she looked quickly around the sparsely decorated room. It was clean and there were all of the amenities of a typical Inn, but nothing more. She tapped her holo communicator to reach the Crime Lord. It buzzed waiting for a connection. The connection snapped and popped as the Crime Lord connected.
“What have you to report?” the Crime Lord asked.
“A couple of curiosities. One is that the community produces, or produced spice.” Kinsie responded. “The settlement hasn’t had a shipment in months, many months.”
“These are all things that are very helpful,” the Crime Lord smiled. “Keep digging, I have been contacted by the settlement leaders for a meeting in the morning. Meet me at the diner.”
“Will do.” Kinsie closed the channel.
A few hours remained before Kinsie needed to meet up with the Crime Lord and she still needed to find a few more answers. The biggest one was what had happened to the trade. Why had the shipments stopped? The Cantina would be a place to possibly find answers.
The Adams-Schlag Family 