The cemetery was bathed in moonlight and fog, which somehow made every headstone look like it was leaning a little closer than before. Perfect night for grave robbing. Kinley's droid companion emitted a series of unhappy beeps as they passed through the rusted gate.
"You're kidding, right?" Kinley scoffed. "You know what's actually scary? Tax collectors. Hutts. Ex-lovers with good aim. Dead folks are easy. They stay dead."
The droid looked unconvinced and rolled closer to her leg. Kinley rolled her eyes. "You're a machine, and you're literally afraid of landscaping."
The grave sat near the edge of the cemetery beneath a twisted old tree whose branches clawed at the sky like skeletal fingers. According to Flint, some long-dead crime boss had been buried with a data cylinder worth a small fortune. He wanted the cylinder, and naturally, nobody else wanted the job. Something about disturbing graves, curses, bad luck, angry spirits. All nonsense as far as Kinley was concerned, but still this wasn't exactly how she wanted to spend her night.
"Honestly, I should charge extra for this."
She drove the shovel into the earth. The digging took nearly an hour. Dirt piled beside the grave. Fog drifted between the headstones. Strange nocturnal creatures called from the darkness. Every few minutes the droid would let out another nervous whine.
"Relax."
Shovel.
"It's a cemetery."
Shovel.
"Not a haunted temple."
Shovel.
"Those are way worse."
CLANG.
Kinley froze. The shovel had struck metal. Her grin appeared instantly. "There we go." Several minutes later, the coffin emerged from the dirt. She climbed down into the hole and brushed away the remaining soil before wedging a pry bar beneath the lid. With a groan of ancient wood, the coffin opened. A stale breath of centuries-old air rolled out.
Kinley physically recoiled from the stench. Inside rested a skeleton dressed in what had once been expensive clothing. Across its chest sat a small metal case. "See?" she called up to the droid. "No ghosts. No curses. Just a dead guy with bad taste."
She reached inside and grabbed the cylinder. The skeleton's fingers remained wrapped around it. Kinley tugged. Nothing. She tugged harder. Still nothing. Another hard yank.
CRACK.
Several fingers snapped off and the cylinder came free. Kinley stared at the broken hand. The skeleton stared back with empty eye sockets.
"That one's on you, buddy."
She pocketed the cylinder and turned to climb out when something soft brushed against her calf.
Kinley screamed.
Not a dignified scream. Not even remotely. It was the kind of scream normally associated with people being murdered. She launched straight out of the grave. The flashlight flew one direction. The shovel flew another. A blaster appeared in her hand so fast it was practically sorcery. She fired twice into the darkness. Red bolts lit the cemetery. Birds erupted from nearby trees. The droid emitted a startled shriek.
Silence followed.
Long.
Painful.
Embarrassing silence.
Then a very annoyed loth-cat stepped out from behind a headstone. It stared at Kinley. Kinley stared at it. The loth-cat stared some more. Then it casually licked a paw and wandered off.
The droid immediately began beeping with what sounded suspiciously like laughter.
Kinley lowered her blaster.
"...Not one word."
The beeping got louder.
"I mean it."
The droid nearly tipped over laughing. Kinley pointed a finger at it.
"Not. One. Word. Or I'm selling you for scrap metal."
The droid chirped indignantly.
-----
