In Command (#1 Post-Order 66 Series)

In Command - Part 6

"Are you there yet?" she whispered into her comm as she rounded the corner near the cantina.

"Yes, I've been here for fifteen minutes. I'm on the east end of the bar. Easy to miss unless you're looking for me."

"And you're sure he skipped going to the comm tower?"

"I tailed him until he was well beyond the hub. He's in a hurry and he definitely still has the disk with him."

"He's in there now?"

"Got here about five minutes after me."

"Great," she muttered. "Alright, radio silence from here on out."

"Roger that."

She clicked off her comm, placing it in the pouch at her hip.

The cantina wasn't much to look at on the outside, and the outside didn't do much to impress either. She smelled the smoke of cheap herbs and fried food as soon as she passed through the doorway. Some sort of weird jazz music was emitting from speakers in the corner. The entire room felt as though it was covered in a layer of dust, and the upholstery on the chairs and booths were all somehow different shades of green. The place might have had some sort of divey charm if her stomach hadn't been doing flips. She noted the hooded figure at the bar that was nursing whiskey and tapping his pinky finger on the bar, the signal they'd discussed so she could identify him. Continuing to let her eyes scan the room, she spotted Fisk in the far corner, waving a little too enthusiastically. Squaring her shoulders, she plastered a smile on her face and approached him.

"Wen! It's so good to see you again."

"And you, Valla. You look stunning! Thank you so much for agreeing to meet with me."

"Well, you were so persistent, how could I say no?" she laughed, and he cackled a little too loudly.

"Please," he said, pulling out a chair from the table. She sat down, leaning forward so the low cut of her tunic was directly in his eye line. He stared gratuitously. Well this is going to just be too easy.

"So, where's Lon this evening?" he asked casually.

"Oh, he's out with some of his friends at their usual haunt across town. The Dust Bowl I believe it's called?"

"Ah yes, that place," Wen replied, doing little to hide his distaste. "Well, I'm glad you opted to meet me here rather than join him."

"He rarely asks me out with his friends, so I had the evening off," she said, playing up a little bit of discontent in her voice. Rex and she had agreed that there should appear to be some marital issues that may have led her here tonight, but nothing so overt that she would appear willing to climb into bed with him. Rex had been especially adamant about that point, which Senna had teased him about mercilessly.

"Oh, well that's too bad. If you were my wife, I'd never hesitate to show you off." He grinned in what she imagined was supposed to be a charming fashion, but ultimately, she would have rather been pretending to flirt with a Hutt.

"Alas," she said, letting a small smile creep across her face. He let his finger graze her hand, and using all of her willpower, she didn't pull her hand away. "So, how was work today? I'm terribly sorry to have called you out of it a little earlier than usual, but I'm so very glad you could meet me."

He grinned back at her, shifting slightly in his chair. "Oh, it was absolutely nothing, my dear. Quite the fitting end to a demanding day in the office." A metallic flash caught her eye. The decryption disk was just poking out of the inner pocket of his jacket, the chain it was held on dangling temptingly.