The Ubese merely tittered even louder. “Oooh. Feisty, too! I must have her. Come on. Love… how much?”
“She’s not for sale, ‘Thermal’. And even if she was…”
Daniera gave him a look over her shoulder.
“…You couldn’t afford her in a million years,” Love hurriedly finished.
Mah-Luu looked annoyed as he tossed the cred stick back at Love. “Even trade. Her for Induki.”
Love shook his head. “That’s not an offer.”
“You’re right,” Mah-Luu said, triggering the detonator. “It isn’t.”
Two burly Rodian bodyguards appeared at the door, dressed in scarlet-colored cloaks and brandishing blaster carbines.
Love glared at Mah-Luu. “We had a deal!”
“So much for those pesky ethics,” Mah-Luu giggled as he switched off the detonator.
Daniera had not moved her weapon. “In case you forgot, there’s a blaster pointed at your head.”
Mah-Luu chuckled, nodding to his guards. “And one pointed at each of yours. With reinforcements on the way. Not the best odds.”
Love’s right hand was snaking into his coat as he talked. “I always prefer to play the hand I’m dealt.”
“Too bad I don’t feel the same way.” ‘Thermal’ began to chortle wildly. “House rules, you know.” He touched a bloated finger to another button under his desk, opening a comm-Iine. “Vab, take Induki for a vacation. Now.”
Daniera locked eyes with Love. He gave her a quick wink and then suddenly dropped like a wounded bantha, landing flat on his back. The heavy blaster was already cradled in his hands and before the first guard could lower his own weapon to draw a bead on the now-prone enemy, Love pulled the trigger.
A deafening roar echoed through the room as a pulsing blaster bolt exploded into the Rodian merc, knocking him off his feet and more than a meter backwards. The guard slammed into the wall and crumpled to the ground, his chest smoldering and blackened.
Without taking her eyes off Mah-Luu, Daniera whipped her gun arm around and snapped off three rapid shots into the remaining merc.
Mah-Luu tried scrambling to his feet, but Daniera already had the barrel of the gun re-trained on him. “Oo-ta goo-ta, Tubbo?”
Love grinned as he joined Daniera.
“Rescind that last order,” she demanded. “Tell Vab to bring Induki in here.”
The Ubese merchant sneered at her. “Surely you wouldn’t shoot an unarmed man…”
“No,” Love answered for Daniera, “but I would.” And he unceremoniously shot Mah-Luu point-blank in the chest.
Daniera cried out in shock, spinning around to face Love. “Love, you are a maniac!”
“Thank you.”
“How could you—”
“Relax, sweets,” Love said as he twisted a knob on his blaster back to its original setting. “This thing does have a stun setting, you know.”
She looked back at ‘Thermal’, who had flopped back into his chair and was on the starspeeder to unconsciousness.
“Great, but what about Induki?”
Love suddenly cocked his head to the side. There was the distinct whine of repulsorlift vehicles close by.
Before Daniera could even open her mouth, Love started for the door. He paused in the hallway for a split second, then hurried back into the room and punched the stunned Mah-Luu in the stomach. The thermal detonator in the Ubese’s hand popped up into the air, and Love easily plucked the device from its ascent. He then spun on his heel and sprinted out into the hall.
Daniera was right behind him. “Love, you are certifiable!”
“Thank you.”
She gestured frantically. “That way is a dead end. We’ve got to go back the other—”
The words died on her lips as she heard the sound of many booted feet approaching from that very direction. “Love! We’re about to have some company.”
Love was still running for the wall at full speed even as he thumbed the switch to activate the thermal detonator. He sent the device spinning ahead of him and began to count out loud the six-second timer delay.
Closing in from behind, Daniera realized what he was doing. “Stay out of the blast sphere, you lunatic!”
Love waved in annoyance back at her. He had been pacing his run all along and she was disrupting his counting.
“Two. One!” Love cried just as the silver sphere clinked against the wall far ahead of him. There was a small flash and then the detonator’s particle field expanded outward at blinding speed and the blast sphere vaporized the wall, most of the celling, and part of the floor.
With the newly created observation platform, Love and Daniera had an unobstructed view of the proceedings occurring in the alley below.
A struggling young girl was being dragged into a waiting speeder truck by two more of Mah-Luu’s scarlet-cloaked Rodian enforcers. Three rickety-looking speeder bikes, each carrying a Rodian rider, were warming up alongside the speeder truck.
Of course, everyone was now looking up at Love and Daniera in complete surprise. The amazement was temporary. The two mercs hustled Induki inside and the speeder truck abruptly made tracks into the Undercity, followed by one of the bikes. The Rodians on the remaining two bikes took aim with their blaster carbines.
Love was already pulling out his hand-held blaster artillery. He quickly aimed and fired twice. The roaring bolts missed their mark, but Love was sure the mercs were having second thoughts about engaging in a prolonged firefight.
The heavy blaster whined loudly as it recharged, and the lead Rodian took the opportunity to engage in a hasty retreat while his buddy lagged back to provide some cover fire.
Daniera clipped off a half-dozen shots at the lead bike, but the range on her hold-out was limited at best. Most of the blasts fell far short of their mark, so she turned her attention to the remaining Rodian.
Love took careful aim and sent another thunderous blast hurtling toward the departing merc. The shot hit the speeder bike’s rear, the concussive force spinning the vehicle 180 degrees and right into the side of a crumbling building nearby. The colorful explosion sent fiery debris raining down over the area.
The second rider wasn’t sticking around for another demonstration, but just as he started moving, three of Daniera’s crimson bolts slammed into his back. The impacts blew the Rodian right off his vehicle. The now riderless bike shuddered to a quick stop as the automatic kill-switch engaged, leaving the vehicle hovering motionless above the ground.
Love immediately took a running jump off the ragged ledge. He dropped toward the bike and landed with surprising grace atop the empty seat. After taking a second to be impressed with himself, he turned back to shout up to Daniera. “I’ll be back for you!”
Love was shocked, however, to see she was no longer atop the ledge. Then he was jostled forward as Daniera landed on the seat behind him.
He turned to look at her with complete astonishment.
Daniera merely slapped his shoulder and barked, “Just shut up and drive this thing.”
“Yes, ma’am!” he laughed and gunned the bike’s powerful engine.
“You know something, Love, you are crazier than a berserk bantha!”
“Thank you.”
“There they are,” Daniera shouted.
“I see them.” Love quickly accelerated, at the same time dipping the nose of the bike to avoid a large elevated crosswalk blocking their path.
The speeder truck had lost most of its head start in the twisting maze of decay that was Coruscant’s Undercity. The vehicle’s size and bulk were hindrances in the ancient highways and twisting corridors. Here the bikes held the distinct advantage.
Love deftly maneuvered the speeder bike through the chaotic jumble of fallen girders, crumbling walls, and overgrown toadstools. Daniera continued taking potshots at the remaining Rodian, who could not shake the tenacious pair from his tail.
The merc twisted around to fire off a blast from his carbine, but the shot went wide. It did, however, slow him down enough for Love to pull even with it.
Love one-handed the bike and reached for his pistol, but before he could even slide it from the holster, Daniera let out a strangled cry.
Love whipped his head around to see if she’d been hit, just in time watch her leap from their bike onto the rear of the merc’s. It was a close call as to who was more stunned, Love or the Rodian….
“No riders,” Daniera grunted and slammed the butt of her hold-out against the mere’s neck. Before the dazed Rodian could react, she shoved him off the bike… and into a rotting compost pile below.
Love exchanged a look with Daniera, who pulled her bike back alongside his. “Remind me not to upset you.”
“Too late,” Daniera grinned as she gunned the bike and tore after the speeder truck.
They found the speeder truck in a dimly lit alleyway a few hundred meters away. Completely powered down, the vehicle was ominously silent.
Both Love and Daniera dismounted and made a careful approach.
The only noise was from the drizzling downpour that suddenly erupted over head… the Undercity’s microclimates of rising air and condensing moisture often created tiny rainstorms where one would least expect them.
Love wrinkled his nose. The air was thick with the smell of rotting garbage, corroded metal and stagnant water. There was one other odor that Love instantly recognized…
“Stay here a minute,” he ordered.
Daniera was about to argue, but saw the look in his eyes. She nodded quietly. And the rain quietly drizzled down around her.
Love pried open the side door and stepped inside, blaster at the ready. The two Rodian mercs were both slumped over in the cockpit, each one bearing a point-blank blaster hit to the back of the head.
He carefully continued to the back of the truck, and found her sprawled across the floor. Love kneeled next to Induki’s body. The girl was very beautiful, and younger than he’d originally thought.
Love traced a finger over the gold-handled vibroblade stuck in her chest. He leaned down, closing his eyes for a moment as he took a whiff of the dead girl’s perfume…
Then he knew.
Love heard a strangled gasp and looked up as Daniera finally entered.
After taking a moment to compose herself, she asked, “Grieve was already here?”
“Probably inside the whole time. Cleaning up his mess.” Love stood back up. “It was sloppy to leave witnesses in the first place.”
“What do you mean?”
Love tossed her a cred stick. Daniera’s eyes widened as she read the amount. “This was in her pocket. Grieve probably paid her to take Odaay to the Kaerlia Queen, although obviously the Senator didn’t get what he paid for…”
“But why would Grieve suddenly alter his habits? The blasts those Rodians took don’t appear to be generated by the same weapon.” She gestured at Induki’s body. “And the girl was actually killed with the vibroblade.”
Love passed her as he exited the truck. “Well, you’re half right.”
“What?”
Love stepped outside into the rank alley, brushing the raindrops that quickly accumulated on his coat. “That was definitely a standard blaster wound. Very standard. As in issue.” He flipped one leg over his speeder bike. “And the girl wasn’t killed by any sharp weapon, at least not the most obvious one.”
“You’ve completely lost me.”
Love shrugged as the bike began to power up. “It’s hard to follow in the footsteps of genius.”
Daniera mounted her own bike, pushing her damp hair out of her eyes. “So where is it leading us now?”
“I have to confirm a suspicion of mine.”
“Then let’s go.”
Love shook his head. “I need you to go back to Cracken’s office. Scan the NRI’s reports on all of the victims.”
“Our best analysis specialists have poured over those files since this mess began. What makes you think—”
“Concentrate on the toximorphic screens,” Love interrupted. “Don’t tell anyone what you’re doing, understand? And then meet me at the Hold-Out in 45 minutes.” With that, he roared away into the shadows.
Daniera’s gaze remained on Love’s retreating form, then slowly shifted back to the speeder truck. “That’s not all I intend to check on.”
Daniera slipped into General Cracken’s chair. Technically only the General was allowed to use the computer; however, it was an unwritten rule of Cracken’s that any time one of his favored NRI agents needed, they could use the powerful machine.
It only took a few minutes for the speedy computer to find the data she wanted. She studied the toximorphic test findings from all of Grieve’s victims, but found nothing out of the ordinary. With a shrug, she copied the information into her own datapad.
Daniera prepared to leave, but paused and then sat back down. She began an information search on M’Kyas Love. As she expected, the files were password-encrypted. The NRI’s business was keeping secrets, after all. It would be a major policy violation, possibly enough to get her terminated, but she just had to know. Breaking the files then and there would take too long, so… using her datapad link, Daniera also transferred Love’s personnel files into her datapad and put her built-in decryption unit to work on them.
She slid the small datapad back into her jacket and switched off Cracken’s computer, plunging the room into darkness.
Love squeezed through the happy hour crowd and leaned against the bar. After some prudent use of elbow, he managed to clear out a little breathing room. Though considering the various odors emanating from the patrons of the Hold-Out (named for the leading cause of death in the joint), that wasn’t necessarily a good thing.
The bartender was busy scrubbing a glass as if his very life depended on it, and the man had yet to even look in Love’s direction.
Love cleared his throat with Hutt-Iike intensity but succeeded only in drawing a few looks of annoyance from the drunks seated around him. It seemed that if you weren’t a regular here, you were viewed with as much warmth as womp rat droppings on a freshly buffed hull.
The bartender’s head remained down and the glass was quickly becoming the cleanest object in the entire cantina.
There were many, many things in the galaxy that Love did not like. Being ignored was definitely one of them.
Love slid one hand back over his coat, casually displaying the massive blaster cradled in a replihide shoulder holster. “Who do you have to kill to get a drink around here?”
Silence.
Then someone (obviously unconcerned about personal safety) rudely tapped Love on the shoulder.
Love slowly swiveled his head around.
“I don’t like you,” hissed a one-horned Devaronian with breath that could drop a bantha at ten meters.
“Yeah, yeah…” Love returned his attention to the bartender. “Save it for the next farmboy, pal. I’m really thirsty right now.”
“I have the death mark on…”
“Four systems? Five? Great. Congratulations. Your maternal unit must be very proud. Now do us both a favor and jump yourself out of my personal space.” Love shook his head in disgust. “Have you even showered since the Old Republic?”
Love glanced back at the entrance and checked his chronometer. A microsecond later Daniera walked in, right on time, but she didn’t look happy.
Her lips parted and Love had the sudden image of turbolaser batteries charging up. He was bracing himself for the worst when Daniera’s mouth abruptly shut and a well-manicured hand slid into her jacket.
Love’s trusty gut told him he was about to be shot. “Dani—”
Right Idea. Wrong direction.
A hold-out blaster jabbed intrusively at the back of Love’s head. The Devaronian’s fetid breath washed over him.
Love smiled at Daniera as if nothing was wrong. “About time you got here. I was beginning to think you weren’t gonna show.”
Daniera’s eyes widened in surprise. She continued toward him, but did not draw her weapon. “Wouldn’t miss it for the world.”
Love grinned as his left hand slithered in the direction of his powerful blaster. “I knew it… sooner or later you’ll fall for me.”
The Devaronian was annoyed, jabbing the hold-out into Love’s skull to get his attention. “Idiot! Did you happen to notice I am about to kill you?”
“Actually,” Love said as he squeezed the trigger of his still-holstered pistol. “No.”
The pulsing blaster bolt erupted from the barrel, tore a ragged hole through the back of Love’s coat, then caught the Devaronian square in the chest.
The concussive force blew the alien across the room. The crowd scurried out of the way as the Devaronian came crashing back down between two tables. The impact shattered chairs, sent meals flying everywhere way, and launched an expensive bottle of Cassandran Choholl toward the bar.
Love tracked the spinning bottle, smoothly snatching it from mid-air.
He raised the Choholl in a toast, then triumphantly put the bottle to his lips. There was a short pause. He shook it once, twice. Not a drop left.
Love sighed, tossing the empty container over his shoulder.
There was an odd ringing sound followed by a jarring thump and the soft tinkle of breaking glass.
Love slowly turned around.
Not coincidentally, the bartender had vanished from sight.
