Case hastened his pace, walking harder trying to catch up to Nat, he had never seen Nat walking this fierce, he was worried, he reached out grabbing his hand, the rain continuing to fall, Nat reaching for the Car door.

“What happened, what’s wrong, what’s going on” Case asked adamantly, he panicked, he was out of breath and seeing Nat serious, gave him anxiety. That's not his character he was supposed to be the laid back one and I am the one with anxiety Case thought. Nat let go of the door, he turned to his friend, his face stoic, his mannerism dull, his facial expressions ceased and his usual demeanor diminished. Nat cleared his airway, sighing and catching his breath.

“Case.. Don’t you think this doesn’t make sense” Nat questioned.

“What doesn’t.”

“Why did those mercenaries come after Shakk in the first place?’ Nat posed the question to Case again.

“I don’t know man, if anything isn’t this Shakk’s fault” Case stated trying to rationalize and calm his friend.

“No man, why are mercenaries hunting a mercenary, something isn’t adding up, that's not how they operate, someone had to set a hit, but who” Nat said pounding his fist against the door of the car.

“ Man calm the fuck down” Case said standing in front of Nat. Case sighed, even if there was more to this it's not like it mattered, it wouldn’t bring Rissa back, it wouldn’t change that she died because of them. Case looked over, Nat was distraught, he put his head in his palm wiping his face slowly.

“Okay, where do we start?” Case questioned. Nat smiled at his friend, he hugged Case holding onto him. Case pushed him off.

“Alright… alright, not too much of that lovey dovey shit, makes my skin crawl” Case said dusting off his jacket. Nat laughed.

“I think there’s more to this, I’ll reach out to some sources and try to dig up some info, you go to your parents company and see if your dad’s private investigators can come up with something” Nat said eagerly.

“You want me to go to my parents for help?” Case asked confused.

“Yes”

“That’s not your brightest idea Nat”

“Why not?”

“ Did you forget about Jon and his proclamation, did you forget that they are nobility as well?”

“Who said you had to disclose that info to them, just look for the info pertinent to what we need.”

“Fine,”Case said reluctantly.

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

Nat opened the door of the hovercar, he climbed inside shutting the door, the rain picked up he turned on the engine, the turbines sputtered on, his hovercar was an old model, a gift a parents had given him for getting his first column published, good ole betsy, her gray hugh was rusted, she was aged, her leather was sun baked, her dials and knobs a little oxidized but she ran like she was a young thing. The engines turned over the pistons came to life, the fuel injecting into the engine, the roar blew over the silence in the rain, Nat stared out the window down at Case standing in the rain as the car ascended into the air, he nodded to his friend, he drove his foot to the petal accelerating into the downpour. He hit the wipers, the slid across the windshield slowly pushing water out of his view, He grabbed his holo from the dash, pressing play list on a random playlist, the holo connected to the car, the song clicked on, the guitar, came over the speaker slow, the banjo accompanying it, Nats stomach turned, he hung his head, this was the sung he and Rissa had danced to the first time they slow danced, he choked up on his tears. The neon advertisements shining through the rain as he raced through building after building the gleam of the fluorescence seeping through the heavy rainfall.

“Terminal call Rodger” He said solemnly, he cut off the music as the call dialed. The line rang. No answer. It rang again. No answer. He rang it one more time, the dial tone came over, the line clicked, a husky voice came on the line.

“What do you need Nat, I was about to eat with the family” Rodger questioned.

“Rodge, I need you to look into something for me, I have a hunch, of course this isn’t for free.”

“Really how much scratch we talking, my baby girl needs a new terminal.”

“Forty thousand Galla, half now and half when you're done.”

“Jesus christ… Am I rebelling against the empire” Rodge said laughing. Nat didn’t respond, his silence was implicit.

“Nat….. What are you doing kid, I have a family.”

“I know, I’m not sure yet, but I have a hunch and I'm not sure how far the rabbit hole goes.”

The line hung in silence, Rodger turned to his family at the table. His daughter Amy hand-signing to her mother that she didn’t want to eat her peas as she fixed her hearing aid. He smiled at the sight. He gripped the holo staring at the reflection of his family at the table, he put his hand on the wall staring out the window at the rain. His eyes focused.

“So what am I looking for Nat, send me docs.”

“I’ll send them over shortly, I’m looking for a connection between the empire and mercenary groups, I just wired half your fee to your off planet account.”

The line clicked dead, Rodger hung up the holo, he sat back in the chair.

“What have you gotten yourself into Nat” he mumbled to himself, pushing the chair into the table, he swallowed while walking to his dinner table, his wife Tabby smiled, his daughter pushing the peas to the side on her plate.

“Who was that?” she asked.

“A job offer.”

“Lucrative?”

“Very,” He said hesitantly.

“What's the matter?”

“I feel something in the air, it could be my superstitions, but I feel fire and brimstone coming.” He said clasping his hands together, she covered his hands with hers, kissing his forward head as he leaned forward to her, she smiled.

The rain hit their window furiously, the window picked up slamming the violent rain against the window pane. The rain slowly letting up, the silence filling the room, the stillness of the unease filled his mind, the concern for his mentee gripped him. He could be overreacting, it could be nothing, but this didn’t feel like nothing.

This felt like calm before the storm, this felt like he was way down in the mines again, suffocating from drowning despair and smoke, he hoped he was overreacting, hopefully the light would be present even way down in the mines.