It had been easy to track the ship. It didn’t have enough of a head start to disappear on them.

They had landed on Evenodds a few minutes after their prey.

Juden had considered stealing Starrider while its two passengers were busy having fun, but security here was too tight. They’d have better luck going on board with them.

That meant they needed to track them down.

And that would be much more difficult, considering how big and crowded this place was.

A quick hack of their host had revealed they were all programmed to take visitors to the Concourse, unless instructed otherwise.

Though he couldn’t be sure, Juden had a hunch Evenodds had not been a planned stop. After all, why bother staying on Alterica if you were planning to come here, just a short distance away?

No, he was willing to bet they hadn’t expected this at all.

And if he was going to make a bet, this was likely the best place for it.

He snickered.

“What is it, boss?” asked Warthol.

“How many times have I told you not to call me ‘boss’?”

The other man made a pout.

“I don’t know. Many.”

“Many would be correct. So please stop. I’m not your boss, I’m your partner.”

They were standing in the street across from the Concourse now, looking around them.

This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.

Those two had to be somewhere around here.

But even if they’d come here at all, it still left so many options. A casino, a mall, the hotel itself, and so many other shops and restaurants.

This was like a whole planet.

Well, if you came to Evenodds, wouldn’t you want to experience what it was best known for?

Juden eyed the casino and pulled on Warthol’s arm.

“Come on. Let’s go over there.”

“Oh, cool! I love to gamble.”

“No gambling,” warned his friend with a grunt.

“Why not?”

He could see another pout coming on the big man’s lips.

“Because,” he said as calmly as he could, “we are here for business, not for pleasure.”

“Oh.” Warthol frowned. “I don’t understand—”

Juden rolled his eyes. Here we go again...

“—why did Thiari send us here?”

“She didn’t. She sent us on a mission. I’ve told you before. We need to help this Bregg fellow.”

“Why? What does it have to do with us?”

He knew by ‘us’ Warthol meant the Gnorlians in general. The smaller man knew their people were hurting and trying to pull out from the Imperium, but he could not understand the subtleties of the plans in motion. Heck, sometimes Juden himself felt overwhelmed.

“Bregg is just a pawn,” he said as they walked past the mall and continued toward the casino, which was a couple of blocks away.

“I don’t understand—”

Juden flicked a finger against his friend’s head.

“Think, Warthol, think!”

“Ow!” The other rubbed his skull where he was hit. “What did you do that for?”

“Because you need to grow a brain.” Juden took a deep breath. “Bregg is like a dog. He’ll keep sniffing and digging. But throw a bone at him, and it’ll distract him long enough to... Well, to do what you have to do.”

“I like dogs,” said Warthol with a big smile.

Juden sighed. His partner was missing the point, but it didn’t matter. The man was not very bright, but he was good at doing what he was told—obedient to a fault. And that was all that was required.

“Let go of me!”

The voice rang from behind them, and Juden spun to see what the commotion was about.

Two large bearded men were escorting a younger one out of the mall... A younger man who looked a lot like their target.

This wasn’t good.

“Warthol. We need to stop those guys and free their prisoner.”

The smaller man’s eyes narrowed. He gave a short nod. With a few quick steps, he reached the abductors. Before they even noticed his presence, he’d broken one man’s leg and thrown him to the ground.

The second beard howled as he let go of Kaine to jump at Warthol. He never saw Juden come in, fast as lightning. He crushed his victim’s skull with the butt of his phaser.

When he looked up, he saw Kaine was ten feet away, running as if his life depended on it.

Juden cursed.