Tup struggled to his feet. 'We are merely victims of its violent tendencies.'
'Innocents must suffer,' Weez sighed. 'Such is fate.'
The three stood next to one another. Covered in mud, they were like three descending steps. This ridiculous trio was his best lead to Qui-Gon?
Patience, young Padawan. Suspend your judgment, and every being has something to teach you.
Obi-Wan sighed. 'We're not offering you a job. We want information and we're willing to pay for it.'
Cholly attempted to look shrewd. 'What kind of information? We don't squeal on friends.'
'Unless they get on our nerves,' Weez said quickly.
'This friend is dead,' Obi-Wan said.
'In that case, let's see the credits,' Cholly said, as Weez and Tup looked more cheerful. Astri held out a few credits.
'That's all?' Tup asked in dismay.
'We haven't heard anything worth paying for yet,' Obi-Wan pointed out.
'What do you want to know?' Cholly asked. He reached out for the credits, but Astri closed her fist before Cholly could grab the currency.
'It's about Ren S'orn,' Obi-Wan said. 'Can you tell us about his last days?'
At the name, the three friends traded sad glances.
'Ren.' Tup took a deep breath, then let out a long, drawn-out sigh.
'Poor Ren. He told us about this offer he got. He was going to get paid a lot of credits. We're always talking about the big score. Something to get us out of here. Ren said he found it.'
'Did he say what it was?' Astri asked.
'He was going to be part of this big experiment,' Weez said. 'Some scientist thought his brain was really special or something. Wanted to study him. Ren said he'd do it for awhile, but she was going to end up paying bigger than she thought.'
'Obviously, Ren ended up paying bigger than he'd thought,' Cholly said. The three friends bowed their heads.
'Did he tell you where the lab was?' Obi-Wan asked.
The three of them shook their heads. 'When he got back, he wouldn't say.'
'What was he like when he came back?' Astri asked.
'Different,' Tup said.
'Weak,' Weez said. 'He shook all the time.' 'He was scared,' Cholly said flatly.
'And then he was killed,' Tup said. 'Woosh. It was sad.'
Again, the three bowed their heads.
'Why was he scared?' Astri demanded. 'Don't know. He wouldn't say.'
'Maybe Tino would know,' Weez said.
'Who's Tino?' Obi-Wan asked. Asking this trio questions was like pulling the fur off a Wookiee one hair at a time.
'Ren's roommate. He took him in when he got back from that experiment,' Cholly said.
'Ren said he needed to hide out for awhile,' Weez added. 'Tino used to hang around with us, but he got a job. Works over in that big warehouse near the landing platform.'
'Can we have the credits now?' Cholly asked. He held out a hand.
Astri counted out a few credits.
'Hey, that's not very much,' Weez complained.
'You didn't give us very much,' Obi-Wan said. He had a feeling the three knew more. He was anxious to talk to Tino.
Obi-Wan and Astri left the three squabbling about how to divide up the credits and hurried back the way they'd come. Obi-Wan had noticed the big warehouse by the landing platform.
'Maybe Tino will have more answers than that bunch,' he told Astri.
'Let's hope so,' she agreed.
By the time they reached the warehouse they were almost as muddy as Cholly, Weez, and Tup. Huge loading doors stood open and inside they could see a multilayered structure of catwalks, ladders, ramps, and chutes.
Small, compact tech droids rolled through the aisles, pushing graysleds filled with durasteel crates and boxes. Obi-Wan scanned the area until he glimpsed the person in charge, a woman of middle years in a gray unisuit with a headset, who was barking orders at the droids.
Obi-Wan approached her.
'We're looking for Tino,' Obi-Wan said.
