The Red and the Black

1992/1999 short story by Mark Newbold

Nine years after Episode IV - A New Hope

Jan Lomona frowned and threw the Electro-wrench down.  The nut was tight and nothing short of a lightsabre would budge it.  It was entering his third night on the dusty world of Alsopha III, working long and hard to repair the damage to his freighter the Berone Sunrise.  And his patience was wearing thin.  Why the stang did I let Alexa talk me into this anyway?  Perhaps it had something to do with the passenger he was carrying, the female passenger of sector-wide infamy and renown.  Yeah, perhaps that’s it. He was initially on his way to Zelon to deliver a cargo of spice when he bumped into his old friend.  Her request of a ride to Angoria IV was interesting enough, as was the thought of Ziggy Teflon going wild wanting to know where his DL-7 spice was.  And Glann Cipple?  No doubt he’s got a bunch of bounty hunters on my tail, after what I got mixed up in back on Wennsia.  Knowing my luck lately they’ve already traced me to this dustball.  But what of his passenger?  Jan wiped his hands on a ragged cloth and entered the Sunrise, closing the ramp as he passed his astromech droid Troopie on the way.

   “What’re you beeping at?  You’re the astromech droid - you fix the damn thing.”

Troopie emitted a plaintive beep.

   “Save it Troopie.  I’m sure Alexa’s going through hoops.”

As Lomona entered the main corridor of the Sunrise to make his way to her room the intra-ship comm unit crackled to life.

   “Unless Glann’s hired Boba Fett and put him on my tail no one knows I’m here.  Who the stang could that be?” 

Jan flicked the comm switch and whistled through his teeth.

   “Lomona?  Captain Jan Lomona?”

   “This is a private channel.  Who’s asking?”  Lomona paused.  “I haven’t got all century.”

   “My name’s unimportant - “

   “Not to me it isn’t.”

   “ - but my reason for calling is of extreme importance to you Captain Lomona.”

Jan raised an eyebrow and seated himself on the couch opposite the speaker.  This was getting weirder by the second.  If it was a bounty hunter come to catch his bounty then this was a unique way of going about it.

   “Okay pal, regurgitate the facts.  What do you want from me?  Whatever it is, I don’t come cheap.”

   “We have no need of your skills, Captain. We require what you’re carrying aboard your vessel.”

   “My cargo?”

   “If you will.”

Lomona smiled and stood to his feet.

   “Well, this is a strange way to start a spice negotiation.”

The caller fell silent for a moment, took a deep breath and continued.

   “I think you know full well who we mean.  Alexa Black was supposed to be on Angoria IV two days ago.”  The man paused.  “We suggest you hand her over.  Immediately.”

Jan bristled.  He hated small talk, that was true.  But threats from a stranger?  That was just plain rude.  And handing over friends to port-scum like this?  Not in this galaxy.

   “Hold up jet-boy.  There’s just me and my two droids onboard.  If you’re looking for anyone else you’ve come to the wrong ship.”  Jan paused.  “You should get your facts right pal, making accusations like that - “

   “Jan, we’re out of Boorga Duarga.”

Lomona sunk his head into his hands and shook his head.  Perfect timing Alexa.  There was no way that she could have known that Lomona was on the comm until she entered the corridor, the freighters walls being sound-proofed.  But still, given the situation they were in….

   “Captain Lomona, would you be so kind as to bring Miss. Black to the comm unit?”

Jan found that he had no words to reply.  He walked up to Alexa’s room and stood in the doorway.

   “Alexa?”

Alexa Black turned around to face Lomona, her dark eyes glistening in the ship light.  Alexa was an A-desandian like Jan but was unusually small.  Not a dwarf, Alexa was in perfect proportion but stood barely over 1.5 meters tall.  Twisting on the bed she smiled.

   “Yes Captain?”

   “Someone wants you on the comm.  Says you should have been on Angoria IV two days ago.  Like I don’t know that.”

Alexa shook her head and stood.

   “No.  They know the arrangements.  I talk to them when I arrive, not before.”  She moved to the tiny circular window and glanced outside.

   “He’s pretty insistent you at least speak.”

Alexa turned.

   “I’ll bet he is.”  She paused and cocked her head.  “You didn’t tell him I was here did you?  I know I can be a bit much sometimes, but - “

   “I didn’t have to Alex.”  Jan picked up the empty bottle of Duarga.  “You have a way of making your presence known.”

Alexa Black grinned and moved to the doorway, ducking her head and walking under Lomonas arm.  I never got used to her Dad only being as tall as my astromech, Jan smiled to himself.  I could put her in pigtails and pass her off as another daughter.  Though I don’t know what Paige would think of that.

   “Come on shorty,” Pulled Alexa on Jan’s sleeve.  “Let’s see what the man wants.”

   “…Listen to me, Captain Lomona’s freighter blew a valve head.  We had no choice but to land on Alsopha III.  Besides,” Alexa frowned at Jan in annoyance.  “the Captain has other cargo to consider.”

   “So I believe.  I’m sure Customs and Trade Officials will be eager to see the Captains cargo manifest and licenses for carrying such goods.”

Jan didn’t smile.

   “We simply require your co-ordinates so we can rendezvous with you.  Then the negotiations can continue in a civilised manner.”

Alexa shook her head again, running her fingers through her silvery hair.

   “He’s the boss.  I’m just a passenger.”

The man continued to persist.

   “The co-ordinates Captain.  I can assure you that you’ll come to no harm.”

Lomona grinned.  Sure pal.  Starships rust but trust is eternal.

   “Forget it.  If I give you my location, how do I know who’s gonna turn up?  And in what mood?  Besides, I don’t particularly like people knowing where I am at the best of times, so if you don’t mind - no thanks.”

   “Captain, you have my word.”

   “The word, pal, is no.”  Jan flicked the comm off to a crackle of static and turned to look at Alexa.  “Who is that jerk?  You’re not working for him, are you?”

Alexa grinned weakly and rubbed the back of her neck as she turned away from her towering smuggler friend.

   “Remember that job I told you about?  The one on Angoria IV?”

Jan frowned in recollection.

   “The one where you broke down on Angoria IV, played some government officials at a game of Doonback and cleaned them out of 5000 credits?  That job?”

Alexa smirked at the memory.

   “Yeah, that job.  Well, laughing boy was the official who owed me the 5000 credits.  I told him to keep it, but to remember me to his superiors when they had a cool job that needing doing. So now they’ve offered me an intelligence mission.”

   “Doing what exactly?”

   “Checking out some peoples backgrounds.  The Angorian government is having trade negotiations with their neighbouring system, but they don’t entirely trust all of their opposing delegation.  So they’ve hired me to check them out.”

Lomona grinned again.  The least trustworthy con artiste this side of Chancai working for an elected government. 

What a crazy universe.

   “So what now Alexa?  Do I take you over to Mister Personality or get us the hell out of here?”

Alexa leaned over to the nearby tool kit and lifted out an electro-wrench.

   “Worry about that later.  Right now I’ll help you with the repairs to the Sunrise.  Then we can go to the agreed location.”

Jan nodded.  He liked her company, and he needed help fixing the faulty valves that had been giving him so much bother.  But he knew it would take some time.

   “You in a rush?”

   “Dressel wants me there as soon as possible so I can get some information for him.”

   “You’re spying for Dressel as well?”

   “Yep.  I’m having my cake and eating it.”

Eighteen hours later the Berone Sunrise kicked into life and thrust her engines at maximum efficiency.  The Alsophan dust plumed behind her as she revved and roared, purring like a Hoojib when Jan decreased the power.  Satisfied he jogged down the ramp, collected his tool kit from the rear engine compartment at the back of the Sunrise and ran back inside, closing the ramp and sealing the airlock.  Sliding into the pilot’s seat next to Alexa he grinned as the Sunrise bulleted upward out of the Alsophan atmosphere and towards the skies above.  All systems checked out fine and Lomona relaxed back into his seat and let the Sunrise run herself.  He cast a glance at Alexa next to him.  She was wearing an oversized overall that belonged to Frans and an oily cap that used to belong to his late friend Latti Tellex that was wedged at the rear of a locker.  She’d looked better.

   “Hadn’t you better get changed?  We’ll be there in two hours, it’s only a short hop through hyperspace.”

Alexa nodded and slid out of her seat, edging past Jan and out through the cockpit doors towards her quarters.  Jan checked behind him to see that he was alone and locked the door.  Glancing back at the comm system he punched in a series of numbers and waited.  After a moment he got a connection.

   “Sleeping Krayts Never Dance.”  There was a pause.

   “Jan Lomona, what a pleasant surprise.  I didn’t expect to find you around here.  Not after what you did across Glann.”

Jan froze.  Had the news of his indiscretion reached out this far already?  He hoped not.  If so, he was alone and in trouble.  More trouble.

   “Goolib, how are you doing?  Long time no see.”  He paused to gauge Goolibs reaction.  Goolib had been Glann Cipples Angoria IV agent for many years, but a friend to Jan for longer.  He hoped that that friendship would count for something now.  “What have you heard about Glann and me?”  He could almost imagine the smile down the connection.

   “Oh, the usual.  That you were working for Glann and another boss at the same time doing different jobs to the same location on Wennsia.  And when Glann found out he went ballistic and threatened to have you killed.”  A pause.  “Is that a million klicks away from the truth?”

Jan had to smile.  Better than a million, it was right on the money.

   “As ever pal, you have excellent ears.  Yeah, I was running to Wennsia for Glann and an operator from Klaem out in the Corb Sector.”

Goolib gasped.

   “The Corb Sector?  Did you get any names?”

Jan shrugged and peered out of the window.  The point of entry for hyperspace was fast approaching.

   “No.  Why?”  He shrugged.  “It was a one off.  No need for Glann to send bounty hunters after me.”

   “Jan, you know better than that.  There are rumours of a new player.  Someone big, although we don’t know who. Glann’s concerned that he’s about to move in on his turf and take over.”

Jan shook his head.

   “It’ll never happen.  Glann has this sector wrapped up so tight it’d take a thousand ships with more firepower than - “

   “ - Jan, listen to me.  I can cover for you for a while, but I advise you to get a message to Glann and sort this out as soon as you can.  He’s serious about this.”  Another pause.  “And he needs all the help he can get from his best men.”

Jan smiled and leaned back in his chair.  Yeah, Glann does need me.  There ain’t that many of the old guys left anymore.  And it was only one job.  I mean, how important could a delivery of sealed Flameout crates really be?  

He gripped the controls to hurl the Sunrise into hyperspace.

   “Okay, thanks for the assist.  I’ll be landing on Angoria IV in a couple of hour’s time.  See you in the normal place?”

   “I’ll be waiting.  First rounds on me”

   “Jan, Jan, wake up, we’re almost there.”

Lomona mumbled something obscene in A-desandian and wiped the sleep from his eyes.  He was still in the pilot’s chair; he must have fallen asleep.

   “Here already?  I haven’t pulled us out of hyperspace yet.”

   “You will in two minutes.  Come on, there’s a lot to do.”

Jan sat up and glanced at the door.  Didn’t I lock that?

   “How’d you get in?  It was locked.”

Alexa frowned and shook her head in mock disgust.

   “Come on Lomona.  You don’t think I got to where I am today without being able to pick a few simple locks?”

Hyperspace strobed by outside the Berone Sunrise, shadow points of reality flickering away.  Jan spent a large proportion of his life in the realms of hyperspace.  He’d even got to recognise some hyperspace lanes by sight.  But he was always relieved to duck out of lightspeed and bob back into reality.  At least for a little while.

   “Okay, let’s clear this up.  I land in the docking bay and you meet up with…?”

   “The official you spoke to on the comm.  He’ll deliver me to the government building and then we’re away.  Simple.  Why all the questions?”

Lomona frowned and sat back, scratching his chin.

   “Call me psychic but I’ve got a feeling that this ain’t all it’s cracked up to be.”

Alexa tilted her head and smiled at him smugly. 

He shook his shoulders.

   “Believe me, I know about these things.”

She patted Jan on the arm and slid in to the co-pilots seat.

   “Thanks for the concern.  Believe me, it wasn’t patronising at all.”   She stood quickly and left the cockpit.

Running his fingers through his hair Jan smiled and concentrated on the exit from hyperspace.  Dissolving streaks of light shrunk into dots of distant suns and Angoria IV hung before them expectantly.  Not wanting to disappoint he began their descent.

   “Docking Bay 9.  That sounds familiar.” Murmured Jan Lomona to himself as he viewed the busy port.  Not unlike many other starports it was built upon an open plan, which required approaching starships to enter and exit upon precise flight paths. Below he could see other landing bays and docking ports filled with larger cruisers and freighters.  Nice ships, but none of them could live with the Sunrise. 

He swung his stock heavy freighter around in a 180 degrees circle and sat her square in the middle of Docking Bay 9; the repulsors humming with barely contained power.  Once down, he activated the energy saving systems and cooling units and grabbed his blaster.  Closing the cockpit door behind him he turned to see Alexa waiting for him at the top of the ramp.  She smiled.

   “My ride is here Jan.  Thanks for the ride, and the company.  I know we’ll meet up again sometime.”

Lomona nodded and wrapped his arm around her shoulders in a brotherly hug.

   “Just make sure I was wrong.”

   “About what?”

   “My bad feeling about this job.  If you get into any bother I’m here for the next few hours.  You’ve got my comm number.  I’ve got a couple of old pals to check up on and then I’m off to Chancai to deliver that DL-7 to Ziggy.  And then I’ve got to straighten things out with Glann.”

Alexa stepped down the ramp and waited as Jan secured the vessel and activated the security systems.  They could see the official hover-skimmer waiting at the edge of the landing area, and a tall human man with thinning hair exit from the front passenger seat.  Alexa acknowledged him and smiled at Jan for the last time.  Jan simply nodded and stood still.  He watched her greet the man, shake his hand and enter the skimmer.  Slowly it pulled away into the traffic and was lost in the mass of metal.

   “She’ll be fine.” 

Jan had to say it twice to convince himself.

   “So, where are we headed?  And who do I have to deal with?”  Alexa paused and smiled feebly.  Feeling very small and very vulnerable, she was sitting in between two hulking security guards of unknown alien origin, both wearing black suits and dark glasses, even though one of them had no ears and the other no eyes.  “Sorry for sounding so pushy but I’m pressed for time, and time is money.”

The man Lomona had dealt with on the comm unit turned to her and smiled.

   “Of course Miss Black.  Time is of the essence.  But first, other matters must be attended to.”

   “Like what?  My fee?  My expenses?  Surely we can sort that out later, after I’ve proved myself.”  She gripped her hands together. 

What’s the matter with me?  Nervous inside, nervous on the outside.  Some impression this is.  Even though these goons make me look like a child’s doll, they’ve been polite enough.  And the ID’s check out fine.  So what’s the worry?

   “As you are aware Miss Black, Angoria IV has been at odds with our neighbouring system of Biltsena for many years.  Naturally, our nature is one of suspicion, so our nature requires that we check out our enemies.”  He leaned in towards her, and the two henchmen squeezed closer at either side.  “We also check our allies.  You, for example Miss Black.  You are a spy.  You sell information to the highest bidder.  You manipulate situations to your own ends for later cultivation.”  The men squeezed even closer and she found it difficult to move.  “You deceive, lie, cheat and con people Miss Black.  And our nature finds that detestable.”

Before she could even reach for her blaster or her comm, the guard to her right reached around with a huge hand, which almost entirely encircled her chest and shoulders.  Tightening firmly and steadily she could feel the air being drained from her lungs as the other huge alien held her legs down.  Her last sight was the balding human leaning in close to her face.

   “You are such an agent Miss Black.”  She made a tiny groan and closed her eyes as consciousness faded.   “And so am I.”

Jan paused at the corner of the street and chewed on his lip for what seemed like the fiftieth time.  It wasn’t that he didn’t think that Alexa could take care of herself, he knew that she could.  Her father had brought her up to be tough and independent and able to deal with situations, which she did on a regular basis.  No, there was something else behind all of this, something sinister.

He shook his head in annoyance and climbed up a row of nearby steps that led into a shop doorway.  With the help of his massive height he could make out the distant shape of the skimmer as it wound its way through the throng of traffic towards the distant government buildings which sat high upon the hills.  I shouldn’t have just let her go like that.  Should have stayed with her, checked those goons out.  I didn’t like their tone when they contacted us on the Sunrise – I like them even less now.

He hopped back down onto the street and looked around for a passing Landspeeder or taxi to hire, but there were none around.  Cursing in A-desandian he twisted around and began to stride up the street when he heard a familiar voice call out his name.

   “Jan!  Jan, over here!”

Jan turned and saw his friend Goolib approach from across the street.  Lomona relaxed visibly as Glann’s Angoria IV agent approached.

   “Goolib, am I glad to see you pal.  I’ve got a situation, but I’m gonna need you to keep it under your hat.  Can you help?”

Goolib shrugged and waited.

   “Depends on what you want me to do.”

   “Oh, nothing much.  Just bust into the government offices on the hill and break a friend out.”

Goolib grinned and shook his head in amusement.  Same old Jan Lomona.  Why ask for a favour when a miracle will do?

   “As it’s you asking Jan…I’ll see what I can do.”

Alexa awoke in a darkened room that reeked of cheap booze and cigarillos.  She managed to lift her head from the hard surface, but when she tried to move her arms she found that she was bound to the table.  She tried her legs, but they too were constricted.  Just my luck, she thought.  First chance to impress the locals and I’m strapped to a table.

   “Awake Miss Black?  Good.  I’d so hate for you to miss anything.”

Alexa turned her head to where the voice was coming from and saw a silhouette shadowed against the wall.  She squinted, but could make out no discernible features.  Whoever it was, she didn’t know him.  But he knew her.

   “Okay, give me a clue.  Who are you and where am I?”

   “All your questions will be answered in due course Miss Black.  Suffice it to say, you’re not where you think you are.”

Can’t argue with that, she frowned to herself.  She cleared her throat and shifted to allow some warmth to reach her back side.

   “Fine.  Whatever.  Just get on with whatever you’re going to do and let’s get this over with.”

The voice laughed easily and moved forwards into what little light there was.  Revealed was the man from the skimmer, the man who had abducted her, the man she’d played Doonback with those few short months before.  She was sure of it, but in this light he looked somehow…different.  Changed.  She knew there was something not the same about him, but she couldn’t put her finger on it.  Closing her eyes she put the thought out of her mind and brought her attentions back to the present.

   “Why Miss Black.  Whatever do you think I’m going to do to you?”

   “Who knows?  I don’t know what you’re in to, do I?”

The man sniggered again, this time with a hint of danger edged along it.

   “No, you don’t.  And you don’t want to.”  He moved away, back to the darkness.  “And you won’t, if you answer a few vital questions.”

Alexa nodded slowly and wriggled her wrists to get the circulation going again.

   “Alright.  What do you want to know?”

   “Why you are working for the Angorian government?”

Alexa frowned hard and paused for a second.  What kind of question is that?

   “Oookay, forgetting the fact that you already know this, the reason I’m working for the Angorian government is because you owed me 5000 credits and I told you to keep it but to remember me if there were any cool jobs going.  And then you contacted me and here we are.”  She paused.  “That’s what you wanted to hear, right?”

The man stayed silent, his shallow breathing a steady rhythm against the fast beating of her heart.  Alexa closed her eyes again.

   “I hired you to check out the officials of the Biltsena government, which I presume you have done?”

   “I’ve collected some information, yes.”

   “And now you think you’re here to hand over that information and collect your fee.”

Alexa breathed deeply, her fear slowly being replaced by annoyance.

   “That’s correct.  So, are you going to pay me or what?”

He ignored her protestations and moved closer again.  There is definitely something not right about him…what is it?

   “The man you played Doonback with. The one who owed you 5000 credits.  The man who offered you the mission to spy on the loyal citizens of Biltsena.  He’s dead.  He died a week ago…at my hand.”

Alexa Black turned her head away from the man, so that he couldn’t see her smile of irony.  Dammit all to hell Jan was right.  There was something wrong about all of this.

   “So, what’s your story?  I gather you’re a spy, a double agent.  Did you have surgery?  Or are you able to alter your shape?”  The man remained silent.  “A human replica droid perhaps?”

   “Correct the first time, Miss Black.  I had surgery to alter my appearance and then infiltrated the Angorian government to learn as much as I could about their intelligence operations.  And when I learned about you, well.  How could I pass up the opportunity to interrogate such a…professional?  It would be criminal of me.”

   “So you’ve got what you need from me and you’re just going to kill me?”

The man nodded solemnly.

   “Yes.”

   “You don’t even want to know about my other employer?”

The man paused and folded his arms across his chest.

   “Do go on.”

Alexa grinned widely to herself.  I need to play for time, and this story could take hours.

   “As well as working for the Angorians, I also work for a ganglord named Dressel.”

Fifty minutes later Jan and Goolib, their hands wedged firmly into their coat pockets, waited patiently outside the main entrance to the government building, high on the hill.  Goolib glanced around nervously, waiting for the hovercar to approach and give them cover for their entrance into the compound.  It arrived, cover up to protect the occupants from the driving rain which had begun a brief time before, and pulled up next to them.  The window wound down and a head popped out from within.

   “Dozing Ronto’s always Snore.”

   “Luugar’s Dress for Shallamballa.” 

   “Hop in gentlebeings.”

The door opened and Jan and Goolib stepped inside the waiting vehicle.  Jan was introduced to the three occupants of the car by Goolib, who shook his cap dry of rainwater and leaned back into the seat.

   “Gentlebeings, this is Jan Lomona, one of Glann’s top men.”

The three nodded and one offered his hand.

   “Captain Lomona, your reputation precedes you.”

   “Well that’s sure good to know…”

   “Glann is very angry with you.”

Oh, that kind of reputation, thought Jan.  That’s the kind I can do without.

   “Well, it can’t be Republic Day every day.”

Goolib smiled and turned to the nearest man.

   “Jan needs someone freeing from within the compound.”

   “Who?”

   “Alexa Black.”  Interceded Jan.  “She’s been hired by the Angorian government to spy on the Biltsena, but she’s in trouble.”

The second man leaned forward, interest etched onto his craggy features.

   “And why would this be of interest to you?  Or us?”

It was Jan’s turn to smile.  He leaned back into the seat.

   “Because she’s a friend of mine.  And so is Glann Cipple.  And most of my friends are Glanns friends too.”

   “You forget Mister Lomona.  You are out of favour with Cipple at the moment.”

   “That’s right, at the moment.  But that won’t last forever, it never does.”  Jan leaned in closer.  “And I’m also sure that you don’t want to be working on a backwater world like this for the rest of your career, do you?”

The three glanced at each other, unsure of how to respond.

   “I thought not.  So, if you’d like a one-way trip up the career ladder I suggest you help me get Alexa out of there.”

The three didn’t respond with words, they responded with action as the hovercar moved away from the pavement and towards the compound.

Jan turned to Goolib and grinned widely.

   “I had a feeling they’d see things my way.”

The man turned again and paused, hands on hips.

   “I don’t believe it.”

Alexa rubbed her wrists again, the circulation pumping freely through her rope sore wrists.  She dropped to the floor and began to walk around the table to rid herself of the pins and needles which were driving her to distraction.

   “Look, you did the check-ups.  You know that what I’ve told you is true.  Dressel is looking for a way to exploit the tensions between Biltsena and Angoria IV.  Now, like it or loathe it, he’s going to find a way to profit from this.  But not through me.”

The man smiled and nodded.

   “I shall make certain that both governments hear of this.”  He paused.  “This could go some way to uniting our worlds.  This Dressel shall pay for his actions.  Miss Black.”  He smiled again.  “Your divulgence of this information has saved your life.”

   “Well, they do say it’s good to talk.”

   “But tell me Miss Black.  Did you accept the offer from both Dressel and the Angorian government through greed alone, or was there some other more noble motive?”

Alexa almost fell with laughter at that remark.

   “Oh please!  You’re a double agent, just like me.  What do you think?”

   “I did it for the good of Biltsena and the welfare of my people.”

Alexa coughed and folded her hands behind her back.

   “Oh.  Well, I did it for the money.  And that’s noble enough for me.”

The man nodded slowly.

   “Quite.  Ah well, perhaps we should go our separate ways.”

Alexa smiled

   “I’d say that was a good idea.  Any idea how?  My friend Jan will be leaving planet soon, and I guess you’ve got to find a way to get back to Biltsena.”

The man nodded in agreement.

   “That’s correct.  Just follow me through the building and say nothing.  If anybody asks, we’re on our way to the starport to meet some contacts.”

Alexa gathered her bag and followed the man as he exited the soundproofed and dimly lit interrogation room.  The two guards who had held her and brought her to this place were waiting patiently outside the room and she spared them each a glare.

The winding corridors seemed to go on for an eternity, twisting and turning back on themselves like power cables.  After a long walk they reached the reception area…

And almost walked directly into Jan and his group.

   “Alexa!”  Exclaimed Jan as he moved forward to greet his friend.  “I thought you…”

   “Shut up honey.”  Said Alexa hurriedly and leapt into his arms and onto his surprised lips.  She kissed him so savagely and passionately that he almost lost his grip, her feet wrapped around his waist and her arms around his neck.  She eyed him with a lusty stare and whispered as she nuzzled against his ear.

   “Just play along, we’re almost home free.”

   “Oh baby.” said Jan with a passion.  “Let’s go home.”

He turned to face the three men and Goolib and motioned for them to part and let him through.  Alexa’s fellow double agent followed and the three of them walked outside into the rain and the exit.  Jan lowered Alexa to the ground and smiled.

   “I think that’s the best diversion you’ve ever come up with.”

   “Well now I know it works I’ll have to use it again.”  She motioned to the Biltsenan spy who stood silently behind them.  “Oh, by the way.  Have you got time to give my colleague here a lift?”  

Jan eyed the man closely and nodded down at Alexa.

   “Sure thing Miss Black.  Anything for a quiet life.”

The Red and the Black

1992/1999 short story by Mark Newbold

Nine years after Episode IV – A New Hope

Histories - Written during the fertile RPG period of the early 1990’s, The Red and the Black, originally titled Out of the Black and into the Red, tells briefly the story of Alexa Black, a con artiste and con woman who was created by Mark Newbold for the RPG sessions of the time. 

Cast of Characters

Jan Lomona

Alexa Black

Troopie

Goolib