by Loren Rhoads
Raena Zacari sipped from the steel mug, intent on the man with muddy green eyes who sat nearby. The Force warned her that their paths would soon intersect ‑‑ for the worse. She didn't know what to do about that. She didn't dare act preemptively and draw attention to herself.
She wished the alcohol made her feel better, as it had once. She wished she could find a safe place to sleep. She wished she was far, far away from here, wherever it was. Draining the mug, Raena leaned back against the wall to rest her eyes.
She woke suddenly, to find the jade‑eyed man standing over her. She drew the pair of stone daggers from her sleeves without really thinking about it.
He easily pinned her wrists to the table. "I'm Sano Tocneppil," he confided. Even up close, Raena could barely hear him over the noise of the bar.
Before he could say more, she blurted, "I won't go quietly."
Amused, he released her wrists. "Put the knives away, Raena. You don't need them."
She noticed the unhealthy interest two stormtroopers had fixed on them. "You've attracted attention," she whispered, slipping the knives into their sheaths. If the stormtroopers came over, she'd need her hands free.
The spacer glanced casually over his shoulder to wave at the waitress, then slid onto the bench beside Raena. Before she could react, Tocneppil hauled her onto his lap. "Hide your face," he hissed. "They're coming over."
Then Tocneppil swept her backward into a kiss that made her face burn.
Over the spit of a translator, one trooper asked, "Exactly what sort of business are you conducting here, spacer?"
Raena swung her straight black hair forward and put a hand over the silver medallion she wore as Tocneppil smiled up at the stormtrooper. "She's from Hell's Belles, worth more than both of you get paid in a year. I've been saving for this a long time."
Under cover of her cloak, Raena slid a hand toward her lightsaber.
"You don't look like the kinky type," the white suit told Tocneppil, "but it was a nice bluff." His blaster's muzzle leveled at Raena's head. "Now, if you'll come with us, Zacari..."
Green flared out from Raena's right hand, slicing upward through the table. The lightsaber bit into the powerpack of the stormtrooper's blaster. The powerpack discharged, spilling livid fire down the soldier's armored forearm. In scant seconds, the energy ate through the armor and started on the flesh beneath.
The other soldier, using his comrade's writhing body as a shield, pulled a blaster rifle into firing position.
Raena crooked her fingers. The rifle began to whine as the power surge built. The stormtrooper heaved his weapon toward the doorway and dropped to the bar's greasy floor. The other tavern patrons followed his example.
Drawing up the hood of her black cloak, Raena returned her saber to her belt and stepped carefully over the fallen bodies. The blaster fell silent when she left the bar.
Her thoughts spun, cursing. They must have reinforcements nearby, for only two of them to attempt to capture her. They must have considered her too drunk to be dangerous. She shook herself angrily and tried to sober up.
Tocneppil caught hold of her sleeve. "Follow me."
The chill night air improved her mutinous stomach, but not her mood. Although the top of her head barely cleared his breast pocket, Raena knew she could take Tocneppil. Her fingers twitched, close to her saber. The movement was not lost on him.
"Trust me." He tossed a nod at another stormtrooper, who clambered onto a jetbike outside the tavern.
Raena saw how lightly Tocneppil's hand rested near his blaster. It was set for stun. Raena saw he planned her no immediate harm. Tocneppil would get her out of this current mess and she could always kill him later, if necessary. Raena clutched her dark cloak closer and waved for him to lead.
They dodged down alleys until the liquor and the maze had thoroughly confused her. Tocneppil halted before a crumbling stone building on a trash‑lined street. Stairs led down from the pavement. Tocneppil took them two at a time.
The half‑rotted door at the bottom squealed as Tocneppil shoved it aside. The smell of stale bodies rushed out of the basement at them. Into the dim room, Tocneppil called, "Outrider?"
"Hush, my friend. The house is full now. The others are just returning from their dreams. Perhaps, if you will wait. . .Oh." A moon-faced little man entered from another room, dressed in a rumpled rust-colored suit. "Nice to see you again," he said to Tocneppil. The pistol in his hand swiveled to point at Raena. "Who's your date?"
"Apprentice," Tocneppil corrected. "I thought you'd like to meet her."
Outrider lunged at Raena, raising his pistol as if to crack her temple with the barrel. Raena caught his wrist and straightened her arms, forcing the gun to point up toward the ceiling.
The drug dealer was stronger than he looked. She couldn't break his grip on the gun. Instead, he shook her off. Raena rolled to her feet, fulling expecting to be shot, but he holstered the pistol instead.
"I'm not paying you double just because there are two of you," Outrider warned.
Tocneppil nodded roughly. A granite edge forced any trace of good humor out of his voice. "We're ready to get off this rock. Do you want us to run this for you or not?"
"Deliver it as we agreed and I'll pay you on the other end." Outrider scuttled from sight.
Curiosity pulled Raena farther into the room. Eight horizontal cubicles lined the walls. In each lay an ancient body, shriveled, gray, contorted. Through the Force, Raena sensed that each person burned energy at an extraordinary rate. Without exception, they lay still as if dead.
When Outrider returned, he passed several plastic bags of white powder to Tocneppil, who stuffed them into the lining of his jacket.
"Velocity?" Raena asked, successfully sounding disinterested. That was what she needed to keep herself running.
Outrider shot her a superior look. Tocneppil did not glance up from his boots as he said, "Messiah."
The Messiah drug. That explained the tremendous life energy drain, as well as the current political unrest all over this planet. Raena had forgotten its name, but its story was familiar. These young people must have sold their youth to depose the Planetary Council, victims of the uncommonly pure Messiah drug that had newly infested the galaxy.
Her low opinion of Sano Tocneppil, whoever and whatever he was, sank.
"Now." A harsh business tone of voice replaced Outrider's joviality. "According to my monitors, there are swarms of white suits out tonight. I don't want them down here. The Imperial army has an age limit, but my customers would interest them for reasons other than the draft."
Raena headed for the stairs.
"You're not just going to walk out of here," Outrider exploded.
"Don't worry," she said, Tocneppil at her heels. "We'll be very discreet."
When she pushed through the door to the street, Raena tugged up her black hood. A trooper squadron surrounded a freshly kicked‑open door across the street. Tocneppil tagged after her. "How come they don't see us?"
"Shut up, or they will."
"Are we invisible?"
"For all practical purposes, but don't draw attention to us. It's a little trick my mentor taught me."
They hustled out of the troopers' range of vision. When they stood safely in an alleyway, Raena turned toward the spacer and demanded, "Who exactly are you working for?"
"Myself, primarily. But my ship needs some repairs, so Outrider's paying for them." He patted the drug cache.
"Really? Thank you for the field trip, Sano, but I'm on the run. . ."
He cut her off. "I'm also currently in the employ of the Alliance. I'm supposed to take you where the Emperor can't reach you."
"I would appreciate that." When she smiled, it infused her face with some beauty. "But I'm not a spy. Whatever I know is not likely to be of use to your Rebellion."
"It's not my rebellion. I'm only a pilot. My job is to get you to Alliance High Command. They can sort out what's important."
"All right. I'll talk, if you find me a safe place to sleep." With no warning but a yawn, she crumpled. Tocneppil barely caught her. She was sound asleep.
Tocneppil wrapped her voluminous black cloak around her and flung the little woman over his shoulder. Raena Zacari weighed less than a child.
To be continued...