[i] The Tiraahn system[/i]

So far so good. Several hyperspace jumps without incident and the Hound was handling well. A'sha set the navicomputer's coordinates for the next lane and left the ship to fly itself. The Republic had a strong presence in the area, for now she needn't worry about any hostile surprises and they were close to the hyperspace lane, a few minutes and they'd be one more jump closer to their destination. A'sha stood from her chair in the cockpit, stepping out along the corridors. She spared a glance into the crew quarters. Their passenger was sleeping soundly, a rare occasion – the man barely ever left his cargo out of sight. This was her chance to take a closer look at it. 

Rounding the corners of the corridors, she stopped at the cargo bay doors, throwing a glance over her shoulder before stepping in and making straight for the container their contractor had brought aboard. It was large, but securely sealed, and the doctor would probably be able to tell if it were opened without his permission, it was certainly a state-of-the-art box, if ever there was such a thing. She needn’t pry it open to catch a glimpse of its significance, however. A’sha closed her eyes as she pressed an open palm against the container’s cold surface. Her mind stilled, and her senses reached out, tracing along the threads of the Force, that bind everything and everyone.

[i] There he was...the young doctor, feverishly tapping away at the container's panel, checking up on it, hour after hour, like a man possessed. Sweat is beading down his forehead. He's not in his right mind. What is he afraid of?[/i] 

The images ceased as A'sha pulled her hand away and gazed intently at the container. Her lips pursed and she contemplated opening it then and there, as her hand drifted to a control panel on the side of the device. The sound of the cargo bay doors opening made her bring her hand away as if it were burnt and she turned about sharply, an excuse ready in her mind, before she saw her mechanic standing at the threshold. With a sigh, her frame relaxed and she took a few steps closer. 

"What is it, Silla?" 

"We've got a problem, we're in queue for the lane, but there's Republic ships here and they're hailing us." she seemed worried, her eyes glanced aside from her partner to the container. 

The jedi lightly placed a hand on her mechanic's shoulder, giving her a reassuring, perhaps even somewhat cocky smile as she stepped past her toward the cockpit once more. The traffic about the ship seemed to have stirred the doctor's light sleep. He was standing with his head out of the crew quarters, looking groggy and more than a little wary. 

"What's..going on?" he muttered as A'sha stepped past him on the way to the cockpit. With no answer forthcoming, other than a shrug of her shoulders, he followed. 

The woman sat in the pilot's chair and turned her attention to the scanners. Customs corvettes, and squadrons of fighters. Things were bound to hit a bump along the way eventually, she thought. She opened the channel between the Hound and one of the corvettes and a simple demand chimed over the speakers. 

"Freighter "Hound", prepare your ship to receive a search party for contraband." 

She didn't respond, didn't really need to. That she remained in place and powered down the engines would be telling enough that they intended to comply. She leaned back in her chair as movement caught her eye from the view port. One of the ships in queue had broken off and was speeding away from the Republic's forces. Needless to say, the corvette and its escort disengaged in pursuit. This could be her chance to speed past and enter hyperspace. Another pause..customs had already hailed them and they had their ID signature. The jedi raised a hand to her chin in contemplation.

"Shouldn’t we be moving along to our destination, captain?" their passenger sounded, perhaps for the first time, alarmed. A’sha could sense, and evidently see his anxiety. It only seemed to grow as she made no move to steer their craft away.

"They already know we're here. If we slipped past them now they'd simply notify the Republic forces in the next system and we'd be apprehended there." 

Her reply, or rather, the calmness with which it was delivered did not seem to put the man’s mind at ease in the slightest. 

“I can get us through this.” She reassured him, looking him squarely in the eye, her tone grew serious. “However, for me to do so, you have to show me [i]exactly[/i] what your cargo is.”