Bothawui - Is it safe to come out now?

Terand just glared at Mel when he mentioned the last two places he had been. His fingers tightened around the handles of his blasters while his index fingers rested against the trigger guards. He was ready for a fast double quick draw if needed. There was only two types of people that would've known where he had just come from, the Bothan spies or some bounty hunter that had been following him.

"I'm looking for someone."

Janella was about to answer his question when he walked away, she followed him to the landing pad thinking 'What now!'. She watch her Masters conversation with the stranger and lowered he hand to her DL-44 Blaster.

Mel raised his eyebrows, letting a barely-detectable hint of sarcasm creep into his voice, just enough to let Terand know that this was not news to him at all. "Really, now. That's interesting...well, I believe you've come to the right place...unless, of course, you have no means of procuring this information." A slight gesture of rubbing his fingers together, one made slowly and deliberately to make it clear he wasn't drawing a weapon, should be enough to confirm in Terand's mind what he probably already suspected--Mel wanted to discuss payment. If Terand rebuffed this, it was likely that he had a lead of his own, or that he hadn't come to Bothawui seeking the Bothan Spynet's help anyways, but Mel figured the chances of that were slim.

Terand watched as Mel made it apparent who he was and what he wanted. It seemed natural that a payment of sorts was wanted in exchange for the information, but this seemed to look like Mel was no friend of Lancer's. Perhaps an acquaintance of sorts or he didn't know what had happened to the Jedi Master. Wither way, this was something Terand would have to deal with.

"Seems you're not close with the man I'm looking for. Come with me then."

Turning his back to the man, Terand headed to wards a locker and began shifting the things inside as though searching for something.

"How much?"

Mel gave Terand a humorless chuckle. "Close? In my line of work, it's not prudent to become too attached to your clients." With a wink, he followed Terand into the ship, then said, "Best to view them as files rather than as people...that way, emotion doesn't get in the way of your decision-making." As he followed Terand towards the locker, he squeezed the transmitter in his hand, signaling that he had made contact and was now on the cusp of completing his mission. From what he knew of the Jedi, it was possible, but not likely, that the other would detect that, but he would feel no malicious intent coming from the Bothan spy--there was none to sense. He expected no trouble, but it was standard procedure, and in his experience a little caution went a long way.

It seemed Terand was following along just fine--he had a firm grasp on the covert (well, not-so-covert in this case, but not open, either) lingo and obviously had come prepared to pay for the information he needed. Mel nodded in satisfaction, his suspicions confirmed. Many Jedi were too high on themselves to get their hands dirty, and most would find it distasteful to even speak to someone in Mel's line of work, let alone do business with him. Some, however, like Lancer and apparently Terand, were willing to do what it took to get the job done, and he respected that...it also signaled that the Jedi did not believe in his own superiority over non-Force adepts. "How much? Well, that would depend upon if I am correct in my belief of who you are looking for. More high-profile subjects will naturally cost more...but I assure you we can deliver." He said this with the confidence of a man who knew he couldn't fail, as sure as the sun shone outside. They had never failed to locate someone in all his years of working with the Spynet, and now would be no different--if they could track down an incognito Sithlord and the plans to secret superweapons, surely they could find whoever Terand wanted to find...especially if they were correct about him seeking the Jedi Master.

Terand listened to the bothan while shifting things around in the locker. It was becoming apparent that he wouldn't like this Mel character. Thinking of people as mere files seemed a bit cold hearted, not to mention whoever viewed their job in such a way couldn't be trusted, unless the price was right.

"I'm looking for a Kel Dor by the name of Lancer Onasi."

Terand knew that if Mel really was part of the spynetwork then he'd know who it was exactly the former Jedi was looking for.

"Now how much for the information?"

((I really don't know what an appropriate sum would be for this, so I'm just going to throw out a number.))

"Ah, yes...Lancer Onasi. An interesting story about that one," Mel answered without missing a beat, making it obvious that he indeed knew Terand's mission. "I believe we have the information you seek. Important information, too, to be sure. I think 200,000 credits would be appropriate." It was obvious that Mel--along with his coworkers--had already given thought to the fee they would charge by the lack of any sort of hesitation. He spoke it smoothly, as though it were his bottom line and he would accept nothing less than that, but if Terand were savvy enough he would realize that there was always room for negotiation. Jedi were notoriously cheap--they rarely had the funds to pay exorbitant prices, so if the Spynet wanted their business they couldn't charge too much. Of course, there was an ultimate bottom line, but it was half the amount Mel was asking for...and Mel believed it wouldn't go that far because he suspected that Terand had some form of funding that would enable him to afford that, at least.

Turning from the locker, Terand removed a small bag and looked at Mel. He shook the bag to rattle the credits inside so Mel would know what was inside. It wasn't 200,000 like the spy said, but he'd have to take it or leave it. Terand was sure he could find the information he needed without the spy but this made things easier. Besides, Terand had to watch how he spent the money he had now.

"100,000. You can either take it or I can find someone else that might accept less."

Ah, yes, the bargaining had begun. It was always tricky in these situations to keep the haggling going--he had to try to get the Jedi to agree with as high a price as possible without making the Jedi search elsewhere for his information. Of course, Mel was confident that the Spynet was the sole source of this particular bit of information--it was a unique case, to be sure--but if he pressed too hard the Jedi could decide it just wasn't worth it. Fortunately, Mel had carried out countless negotiations, many similar to this one, and he had years of experience to draw from, so as Terand spoke he noted that the Jedi wasn't willing to go much higher, so he decided to play it safe and drop it down by half.

"This information isn't likely to be found elsewhere. 150,000," Mel said smoothly, with all the confidence of a master bargainer. He had no intention of going down to 100,000 unless absolutely necessary--what would his superiors think if he managed to get the client to concede to only the bare minimum?

"You'd be surprised what people know when you dangle the right price infront of their nose."

Terand held the small pouch up to eye level and allowed it to sway to and fro as he stared at Mel's eyes. He could see the spy was willing to negotiate and so was the former Jedi, to a point.

"115,000"

"True...but I doubt you'd know where to start. 125,000." Mel suspected that Terand's sources hadn't dried up...rather, the trail had led here, and unless the Jedi happened to stumble upon a source, he would have a hard time picking up the trail after Bothawui without the information the Spynet had to offer. Regardless, he was growing more optimistic about reaching an agreement.

"A little foot work can go along way, 120,000. My final offer."

Terand pulled to pouch into his hand to stop it's swaying and he stared the spy down.

The sign of a good bargainer was knowing when to quit, and Mel could tell that now was the time. If he pushed Terand harder, they could walk away without any deal at all, which would be a bigger failure than if he only managed to get the bare minimum. So he quickly said, "Done! It just so happens that I have the information you need right here in my datapack...encoded, of course. Now...the money..."

Terand reached into the pouch and removed 120,000 credits. Placing the pouch on his belt, he held out both the money in his right hand while his left reached out for the datapack.

"At the same time if you don't mind."

Mel shrugged, then reached out with both hands, depositing the datapack into Terand's left hand while taking hold of the credits in his right. It didn't matter to him, really--he doubted the Jedi would cheat him, and if he tried anything, well...he would never make it out of orbit. After he received the credits, he would check them for authenticity with a scanner, again just as standard procedure. Assuming the credits were legitimate, he would look up and smile at Terand. "There are more details on that datapack, but the gist of it is that Lancer went to Obroa-skai...and it's impossible to say for sure, but we are 95% positive he never left."

With a wink, Mel would turn and walk out of the ship, heading back with the credits to the agents in the main docking bay. "Pleasure doing business with you," he would toss back over his shoulder at the Jedi, no trace of sarcasm in his voice or in his Force aura. It was always satisfying to successfully complete a transaction, and Mel respected those who knew the tricks of the trade and went through with it.

Terand didn't reply. He was glad to be done with the spy. As Mel left the ship, the loading ramp closed and the turrets went back online. Making his way to the cockpit, the engines started up. A few minutes later, the ship took off and went into space.

"Computer, I want you to decode this data pack and scan it's contents before showing them."

"Understood."

The ship's computer went to work on the data pack as the ship drifted into space. It had been some time until the computer accessed the data pack. After a thorough viral scan, the computer brought up the information on a larger screen.

"It seems your spy friend was telling the truth. The data pack tells of Master Onasi heading to Obroa-skai. Shall I set the coordinates?

"Do it."

With those two words, their destination was decided. The computer set the coordinates and the ship entered hyper space.

((POST CLOSED))