"This thing's amazing. You've upgraded practically every system. How fast does she go?"

".75 class hyperdrive but I've got my eye on a new .5 system." Vin remarked proudly as he removed his robe and tossed it aside. He wore an outfit not unlike Kaz's except for the color scheme. Vin opted for a black tunic over a lightweight, dark gray jumpsuit and knee high wrapped boots.

Another interesting feature about Vin was that, like his father and all the Wander clan, he was totally blind. Kaz was always a bit jealous about it in their youth. Being blind meant that you perceived the Force twice as well as other jedi. Possibly more. Without pesky physical senses like sight to deceive him, Vin was almost undefeatable in lightsaber sparing classes and could sense trouble well before others did. And most people wouldn't even realize he was blind at all since he wore dark glasses all the time, day or night.

Kaz sat up. "This is perfect. You feel like going on a supply delivery?"

"I wasn't really planning on working." Vin sighed, obviously very tired.

Kaz sat down in one of the lovely swively chairs in the rec center of the ship. "Yeah, what are you doing here?"

"Didn't you get my message?"

Kaz thought back to his encounter with Diggot. He rolled his eyes. "No, I didn't read it."

"I came to visit you."

"Good. You can visit me on the supply run." Kaz smirked.

* * *

Kaz stood outside the loading ramp as dock workers loaded up the jungle green ship with all manner of cases. Kaz looked through the cargo manifest on his infodex. Vin strolled up, drinking a can of Fizz.

"What are we hauling?" he asked, taking a sip.

"Medical equipment." Kaz looked up from his work and spotted the drink. "Did you get me one?"

Vin shook his head. Kaz slumped in disappointment.

They looked at each other for a while. Vin took another sip. Kaz whined. "Oh come on!"

"What? I don't have anymore change."

As they argued, a small droid wheeled up and bumped into Kaz's foot.

"Wha?!" Kaz looked down. The droid backed up and opened a projection chamber. An image of Ganes shimmered to life before them.

"Are you ready to leave, gentlemen?" Ganes purred.

"Just about, Sir." Kaz replied, checking the manifest again. "Just a few more crates."

"Good, good. Safe journey to you all."

Vin looked uneasy. "Mr. Ganes, is there anything dangerous we should be expecting?"

Ganes paused and looked over his shoulder, presumably at Hillgottt. He looked back at Vin. "And who are you?"

Kaz jumped in. "This is my good friend, Jiv Marko. He's supplying the ship."

Vin's concern escalated knowing that Kaz didn't even trust this man enough to divulge his real name.

Ganes smiled. "Well, Jiv. Why do you ask?"

"Just... " Vin shook his concern away. "... a precautionary measure. Much needed medical supplies often mean war or plague. Should we expect either?"

Kaz raised an eyebrow. He should've thought of that. "Good point." He remarked.

"Yes, it is." Ganes replied. "But rest assured, you journey will be a peaceful one." Ganes flickered out and the droid sped off.

Kaz turned to Vin. "What's wrong?"

"Don't you sense any deceit with them?"

Packing up his infodex and jacket, Kaz made his way up the ramp. "Vin, I've sensed nothing but deceit from everyone since I came to Van Koor. It's just something you've got to get used to."

Vin looked around the docking pad. Concern shrouded his normally peaceful demeanor. His hand dropped to the vicinity of his lightsaber as it often does whenever he feels nervous or cautious. Throwing away the Fizz, he marched up the ramp as it closed.

* * *

Vin made his way to the cockpit. Kaz was already sitting in the pilot's seat with his feet up on the console. Vin whacked him on the shoulder and pointed him to the copilot's seat. Kaz begrudgingly moved over as his friend sat down and wiggled into his usual comfortable position.

Vin clicked on the comm switch. "Control, this is the Maw Shockwave requesting takeoff clearance, 'mon back."

Kaz raised an eyebrow at Vin's spacer jargon.

The comm system crackled. "Maw Shockwave, you're cleared for takeoff from docking bay 304 at this time. Follow your flight beacon to the following assigned jump coordinates."

Kaz typed in the correct coordinates and the Shockwave darted into the sky and off into hyperspace. He leaned back in his chair to enjoy the ride. "Maw Shockwave?"

"Yeah, don't like it?"

"Don't get it." Kaz shrugged.

Vin was taken aback. "You never heard of the Maw?"

"No."

"It's a large cluster of black holes near Kessel. It's huge and nearly impossible to navigate. Most pilots and smugglers die before they even see them. That's the trouble with black holes... they're black."

Kaz nodded in approval. "We should swing by there on the way back home."

Vin sneered at Kaz's joking remark. At least he hoped he was joking. "Anyway, scientists predict that the black holes will eventually collapse into each other in a chain reaction. The kickback from the multiple gravity wells should cause a shockwave that'll take out the entire sector when that happens."

"But why name the ship after that?" Kaz asked, still not understanding.

"This ship's engine core is 'geonium' based."

"Ah." Kaz finally understood.

"It's perfectly stable in the core but if it's ever breached this thing will go up like a pressure bomb and take anything in the area with it." Vin smiled broadly at his friend, proud of his flying time bomb.

Kaz laughed. "I'm glad to see that you've retained a bit of a sense of humor. With most jedi, it's the first to go."

"I try to keep it low key and casual when I can, but I'll be honest. This is the first time I've had to joke at all in the past few years." Vin flipped a couple of the autopilot controls and leaned back.

"So what have you been up to all this time?"

"I've spent the last nine years as a padawan to Master Oorrooww. We went from one end of the galaxy to the other, solving everyone's problems... No rest for good, you know." Vin said distantly.

"Funny. I thought it was supposed to be for the other side. You sound a bit bitter about the whole thing." Kaz remarked, trying to probe into his friend's psyche.

Vin snapped back defensively. "I love my work more than anything. It's who I am."

Kaz nodded, not so much in agreement but in exhaustion. "Well, as much as I love this conversation, I've gotta stop 'cause I'm hungry. You got anything to eat on this boat?"

Vin pointed back to the aft of the ship. "Yeah, there's a kitchenette in the back.

"Ba`snizz-natch!" Kaz quoted an old slang term from his homeworld as he leapt from his chair and bolted to the back.

Reaching the galley, he riffled though the cabinets and the cooling unit. "Ah ha!" Kaz spotted a bowl of cold ramma noodles in dracnaa sauce. He took it to the warming unit. At least he tried, except there didn't seem to be one around. Kaz spun around scanning the ship. "What the..." He checked the kitchenette again. "Hey Vin? Where's your warmer?"

"Haven't got one." He shouted back from across the ship.

"What, you mean I gotta eat this stuff cold!?!" Kaz whined.

"Use the stove."

Kaz turned back mumbling obscenities to himself. He searched the counter until he found a button marked "stove." He hit it and an electric heating plate popped out from the unit. "Heat plate? Bloody savage."

Vin looked back from the cockpit. "Careful, those things can get really hot really quick."

Kaz sneered. "Hey, I'm not a gamorrean, you know. I've been in the real world" Kaz turned back to the unit. "Not under the robe of some old wise bastard." He mumbled under his breath while he keyed the unit on. A flash of heat engulfed his left sleeve setting it ablaze. "Ow! What the?!?!"

Although Kaz's dura-fiber jumpsuit protected his arm from burns, his tunic sleeve kept the fire burning, and unfortunately his hand was unprotected. Kaz danced around the galley in pain. "Ow! Ow! Ow! On fire! On fire!!"

Vin darted back from the cockpit to aid his friend. Not wanting to waste time with the Force, he picked up a pitcher of cold stim-tea from the counter and doused Kaz's left arm.

Kaz, in serious pain, grasped his left hand and fell back into a chair. Vin rushed to help him but Kaz refused.

"Ow, ow, ow.. just lay off!" Kaz snapped as he slapped Vin's hand back. "I can take care of it!"

"Let me help!" Vin rebuked, trying to get around Kaz's defenses.

"I can handle it!" Kaz barked. Vin stepped back in frustration as Kaz automatically regretted his attitude. "Look, just grab me some medical supplies from one of the crates in the hold. This isn't the first wound I've had to fix."

Vin nodded and climbed down into the cargo hold in the deck below. Entering the spacious room, he tried getting a fix on which crate was for first aid through the Force but he didn't sense much of anything in the way of direction. He went to the first case he found and popped it open. He was greeted by a flash of electric blue light and a tangy, sweet smell. Vin frowned at this as he scraped his finger across the contents of the medical case. He sniffed it, then tasted the tip of his finger. The effects were slightly euphoric. Spice. Highly illegal glitterslim spice.

"What's the hold up?" Kaz shouted.

Vin was speechless for a moment, but only for a moment. "We've got a problem." He responded in a deadpan tone.

Kaz made his way down the ladder into the hold. Running up to Vin, he to saw the contraband drugs.

Vin sighed, "I've got a bad feeling about this."

End of Part Two