Star Wars - Love is a Warm Blaster - Unpublished by Paul Danner Page A

chair and beamed. “So, any questions?”
    After taking a moment to regain her composure she nodded. “Just one… what in the galaxy possessed the great M’Kyas Love to let his considerable talents go to waste appraising customers in a back-end weapon shop on Coruscant?”
    “For your information, I only sell high-quality merchandise, and—” his eyes narrowed dangerously “—my custom creations sell for more credits than you’ve probably seen in your lifetime, girl.”
    “You’d be surprised.”
    “Well, now I know who you are and you know who I am.” He picked up his empty mug and started walking to the back of the store. “I dislike playing games with no wagering involved, so why don’t you just save us both some lifetime and tell me what you want.”
    “Grandyl Grieve.”
    To her credit, Daniera didn’t flinch as the mug hit the floor and shattered.
    M’Kyas Love slowly turned back around to face her. With the touch of a button, the lumasign on his front door flashed from “open” to “closed.”
    He slowly held out a hand, gesturing Daniera toward a back room.
    “Let’s talk.”

    “Grandyl Grieve. Now there’s a name I haven’t heard for a long time.” Love slid a steaming mug in front of Daniera and sat down beside her. “A fellow Latarzian and one of the deadliest assassins ever spawned by the Empire. Erroneously believed to be deceased many times over, he has the annoying habit of surviving certain doom. As I recall, he hasn’t been heard from since the Battle of Endor. That was quite a few years ago.”
    Daniera cautiously took a sip of the proffered drink, decided she liked it and let the hot liquid warm her up. “Well, he’s back. Hired by an unknown Imperial party to assassinate key officials of the New Republic.” She returned the mug to its coaster with a resounding thump. “And so far he’s doing a marvelous job.”
    Love leaned back in his chair. “Back after all this time, huh?” He shrugged. “I thought he’d retired.”
    Daniera cocked an eyebrow. “You don’t seem too concerned by the news of his return.”
    “Should I be?”
    “As the story goes, it was your relentless pursuit that finally drove him underground. And since Grieve is apparently taking up old hobbies, don’t you think he’d love to take a shot at his arch-nemesis?”
    “I think you’ve been watching too many holos, girl.”
    “The reality is people are dying. Another senator was found murdered this morning. That makes four in less than two weeks. Each one more important than the last.”
    “I thought the New Republic espoused equality,” he said with a chuckle.
    “You know what I mean,” Daniera snapped, growing more irritated. “So far we’re snapping at shadows. No one even knows what the Sithspawn looks like.”
    “I do.” He paused. “And that’s why you’re here.”
    “There has only been one break so far. Our agents have uncovered the identity of Grieve’s next target: Chief of State Leia Organa Solo.” Daniera took a deep breath before continuing. “You got closer to this monster than anyone else. We need your help.”
    He shook his head. “Grieve may not be retired, but I am. I’ve done more than my share of skip tracing, bounty hunting, private investigating, and sector rangering. I served my time in the nerfs and played superspy for General Cracken.” Love stood up, his eyes locked onto Daniera. “So you can go back and tell Cracken that my remaining years are going to be spent doing things that don’t involve being shot, tortured, or otherwise mauled.”
    Daniera was silent for a long moment, then abruptly got to her feet. She was at the door in a few short strides, but paused briefly to regain eye contact with Love. “General Cracken thought you might refuse. He told me to give you this.” She slipped something into his hand and then walked toward the front door without another word.
    Love reluctantly glanced down at the data chip, carefully running his fingers