"Maybe so," I replied. "I know I'll need to be on my best behavior. Flattery is the surest way to survive an encounter with a Hutt. But just in case, keep the ship warm and ready if we need to make a quick exit."
"Understood, sir."
We soon descended through the atmosphere of Tatooine, giving me a picturesque view of the desert below. A far cry from the Dune Sea on the opposite side of the planet, the area surrounding Thok's Canyon was rocky and mountainous. With the way the twin suns hit the various mesas and crags, I could see why Beelma had decided to make his home out here. Once the palace was in sight, I received clearance to dock in the main hangar and guided the
Fool's Errand
in.
"I shall begin system diagnostics at once, sir."
"Thanks, Leecam. I've got my com if you need me for anything."
Once I was off the boarding ramp, I saw the welcoming committee waiting for me: a tall Green Nikto and a pair of Gamorrean guards. The Nikto spoke with authority as I approached.
"Welcome, Kyp Grant," he said in a rough, gravelly voice. "You are the last of the great Beelma's guests to arrive. He is pleased that you could join us today."
"Glad to be here. And you are?"
"You may call me Krah. I am Beelma's majordomo. This way."
Krah led the way through the dim hallways of Beelma's palace. Even with the invite, I remained on high alert the whole time, ready to draw my DL-18 blaster at the first sign of trouble. After all, doing business with a Hutt was one thing, but trusting one? That's something else. Yeah, maybe I'm a little paranoid, but it's kept me alive so far.
After a few minutes, Krah arrived at a door and slid it open for me. Upon entering, I found myself in a lounge of some sort with four other individuals relaxing on plush sofas. My competition, I presumed. I noted another human male, an Aqualish, and a Rodian, all of which were common sights in my line of work. But most interesting was the fourth person: a female Zeltron.
"The last of Beelma's guests have arrived," said Krah, interrupting my thoughts. "If you will all follow me to his Excellency's throne room, we can begin our business."
The foursome stood and followed Krah out the door. The other human, the Aqualish, and the Rodian all watched me closely, but no more so than I was eying them. If we were competitors in an auction, we had to size each other up, after all. As the Zeltron passed by me, she gave a little smile and a wink, far from unexpected in my mind.
Zeltrons were a near human species, known throughout the galaxy for their beauty and unrelenting sexual appetite. They appeared human in every conceivable way, save for their skin tone and hair color. I had met a few over the years, but never had the chance to get to know one more... intimately. But in spite of their human appearance, there were a few key biological differences in their species. Most notable was their ability to secrete powerful pheromones that increased their attractiveness to anyone in their immediate vicinity. From my experience, this extended to what one might define as "personal space," though I assumed this could vary between individuals.
Their other unique trait was their empathic capabilities. See, Zeltrons are heavily impacted by the emotions of those around them; they can sense how anyone is feeling in any given moment. Because of this, their entire society is focused on positive feelings and emotions while avoiding any negative emotions. In particular, they're obsessed with romanticism, which they view as the ultimate in positive emotions. This gives them their reputation for heightened sexuality and free love. Hell, their home world of Zeltros is one massive party planet where it's only unacceptable to not have a good time. Never been there myself, but the stories are legendary.
The female Zeltron walking a bit ahead of me was quite the looker by any measure. About my age, maybe a couple years younger at twenty-one or twenty-two. Tall, only an inch or two shorter than my six-foot body, well-defined legs, and a generous bust. Her skin, typical of any Zeltron, was a gorgeous shade of deep pink and, from the little bit I could see, lacked even the slightest blemish or imperfection. Her hair was the most striking thing about her appearance, being deep purple and flowing down to the small of her back. From all this, it would be easy to think her nothing more than a bimbo, but my gut told me the opposite was true. Primarily, most any Zeltron that left Zeltros with any regularity was aware of their own attractiveness and desirability. Hell, many counted on it, as I suspected this one did under the circumstances. But more than that, the way she dressed gave her the perfect combination of confident and sexy. Black skintight pants and an equally snug white tank top showed off her ample curves, but her brown pilot's jacket indicated she was more than just a pretty face. I made a mental note to watch out for this one, in more ways than one.
By now, we had arrived in Beelma's throne room, and it was exactly what you'd expect from a Hutt. Spacious, lots of comfortable seating around the edges, but plenty of open space in the middle for events or audiences. Ahead of us was a large stone platform surrounded by a bevy of beautiful females of several different species, all with their attentions focused on the enormous slug at the center of it all. It's almost impossible to tell most Hutts apart, being a near universal shade of puke green, but Beelma was unique in that he had more of a dark brown shade to his skin.
I expected Beelma to greet us at that point, but he instead signaled to a group of Biths in the corner. The musicians then struck up a sultry tune, and the various women surrounding Beelma's throne began a lengthy dance number. All the while, Beelma eyed the five of us; I assumed he was trying hard to make us jealous. The women were attractive, to be sure, but none of 'em came anywhere close to the alluring Zeltron. She oozed pure sexuality without even trying. As the dance number ended, Beelma then bellowed a greeting, translated for us by his protocol droid.
"Welcome, esteemed guests of the almighty Beelma!" the droid began. "The winds of good fortune have brought you here today, and my master is pleased with the opportunity to do business with all of you. He hopes you will find his hospitality both pleasurable and profitable."
I refrained from rolling my eyes out of a deep desire to live, but one of my competitors was not so patient. The Aqualish grunted something in his native language at the protocol droid, who then turned back to Beelma.
"Er, your Excellency, it seems one of your guests wishes to see the hyperdrive unit so that they may begin the auction at once," the droid's voice quaked with fear.
Beelma studied at us for several long seconds. I thought we'd all be dead at that point, and if not, at least the Aqualish. But then, Beelma just laughed and motioned to a pair of his guards, who brought the hyperdrive in on a hoversled. After the Hutt spoke again, the droid continued his translation duties.
"The preponderant Beelma understands that you are each here at the cost of valuable time to yourselves and will proceed with business at once. However, he warns that any further disrespectful actions will not be tolerated. Be thankful that he is merciful."
The Aqualish stood there with his arms crossed, defiant as ever, but the rest of us nodded and murmured our understanding. Gotta cover our own asses, after all.
The droid then continued, "In regards to the hyperdrive unit before you, it is indeed available on this very day. However, there is no auction, as some of you may have incorrectly presumed. Instead, you will each play for the hyperdrive in a Sabacc tournament. The buy-in for this tournament will be 3,500 Imperial credits, which is half the value of this top-of-the-line hyperdrive unit. The winner of the tournament will not only receive the hyperdrive, but will also regain their entry fee."
My eyebrows shot up at hearing this. The other bidders, or players, rather, whispered to themselves about how unfair this was, but I saw the brilliance of it right away. By holding a tournament with five players, Beelma guarantees that he'll get twice what the hyperdrive is worth, even in giving the winner their entry fee back. No worries about if someone is good for the money they promised in an auction or if the bidding ended up not going as high as he wanted. It was genius! A moment later, Beelma thumped his tail on the floor, catching our attention once more.
"The great Beelma understands your apprehension, but be assured that this is precisely how my master wishes to award the hyperdrive unit. He wants someone of great skill to receive the prize, not merely one who has more money than anyone else. In addition, my master has long been impressed by one who is able to win games of skill and chance, and there is no greater such game than Sabacc. Of course, if you wish to leave now, you are free to do so. However, be aware that his Grace may take such an action as a lack of interest in ever doing future business with him. For all who do wish to participate, please step forward and submit your entry fee."
My mind was already made up, but I remained still for a few seconds, glancing at the others out of the corner of my eye. If I was going to be playing Sabacc against these clowns, then the game was already on. Sabacc, like most card games, wasn't only about having the best hand; it was just as much reading your opponents. If Beelma was a junkie for the game itself, then the chance to watch five players battling it out for a pricey hyperdrive would be all the entertainment he could ask for.
Soon, the rest of the group stepped forward to pay their entry fee, allowing me to slip right alongside them. As everyone registered, the protocol droid recorded our names and occupations in case Beelma wanted to do future deals with any of us. The other human was named Mat Griggs, a veteran smuggler. He looked to be maybe twenty years older than me; I pegged him as my toughest competitor. The Aqualish and Rodian were both bounty hunters named Gantu Balbal and Bordu, respectively. And the Zeltron? She called herself Tali Haru. Damn... to this day, that's the sexiest name I've ever heard in my life. Not many specifics on her occupation, just said she was a pilot. Anyway, once that business was done, it was time to start the tournament.
Sabacc was a card game with a simple objective: collect cards to get yourself as close to a value of 23 as you can without going over. Of the 76 cards in the deck, 60 were distributed in four suits, being flasks, sabers, staves, and coins. Each suited card was labeled anywhere from one to fifteen. The remaining cards were special cards with varying negative amounts associated with them, anything from the Star, carrying a value of -17, to the Idiot, with a value of 0. The tricky thing is, though, that it didn't matter if your hand's value was positive or negative 23 as long as you were the closest without bombing out. Only if two players had the same value did a positive number trump a negative number.
Soon, Krah and his men had the game table set up in the middle of Beelma's throne room, situated where the Hutt and all his guests could easily watch the excitement from any angle. As we took our seats, the main entrance door slid open and revealed a stunning Twi'lek woman, whom I recognized as the one in the invitation I had received. She was as tall as was Tali and looked to be the same age, but that was where the similarities between the two beauties ended. Where Tali had curves in all the right places, this Twi'lek was thin and willowy, almost delicate. She wore a shimmering silver gown held up by a single elegant shoulder strap. The gown extended all the way to the floor; a slit showed off the gorgeous teal skin of her slender leg. We were all mesmerized as she walked gracefully toward us and took a seat at the circular table.
"Greetings, esteemed guests of my master. My name is Ayana, and I will be your dealer for this tournament," she said in a sweet, melodious voice. "First, though I am sure you are all familiar with the general rules of Sabacc, allow me to explain the rules that this game will be played under. Each hand will begin with two facedown cards for each player, after which all players will announce their starting total without revealing their cards. Then, each player will have the option to check, raise, call, or junk."
Yeah, we all know how to play the game, lady,
I thought to myself.
"After that, however, the traditional rules of Sabacc are altered under the exalted Beelma's house rules. These house rules state that the Interference Field and Sabacc Shift are eliminated and will not occur in this game."
"No Sabacc Shift?! That's nuts!" shouted Mat, the other human.
"These are unique rules, yes, but be assured that this is how the great Beelma wishes today's game to be played," Ayana replied. "In my master's opinion, the Sabacc Shift eliminates player skill from the game and instead turns the game into nothing but chance. He wishes a player who is both lucky
and
skilled to win the hyperdrive."
