The Ruins of Dantooine (6 page)

The ball landed on twenty-eight. Black.

Dusque was a little disappointed, but she flashed her unknown companion a smirk even as the others groaned in sympathy. The black-eyed man met her gaze with his own soft smile. Before either said anything,
there was a funny
pop
and the onlookers collectively gasped. Dusque broke away from his gaze and looked at the wheel. The ball was nestled in the slot marked
DOUBLE ZERO
. It was green. Against incredible odds, she had picked the winning number again.

“And the selector has popped the ball onto double zero,” the astonished attendant announced. “We have one winner.”

“Unbelievable,” she whispered.

While Dusque stared in amazement at her companion, she noticed from the corner of her eye that one of the pit bosses had come over to talk to their attendant. The Gungan female was well dressed and stern faced. She leaned over to the attendant and whispered some instructions into the employee’s ear. He nodded vigorously, and she stepped behind him.

“Sir,” the attendant said to the black-eyed man, “considering the amount of your winnings, I’m going to have to cash you out tonight.” He glanced back to his boss for support, and Dusque could see he was nervous. However, he didn’t have to worry. Dusque’s companion took the news without fuss and smiled easily.

“Cash me out,” he told the attendant and made it sound as though it had been his idea. “My lady friend has had enough of the game anyway and wanted this to be the last spin. Didn’t you?” he added and winked at her.

“Yes,” Dusque answered truthfully, “I did want this to be the last round on the jubilee wheel.”

“We’ll go ahead and credit your account,” the attendant offered.

“That will be fine,” he agreed. “Shall we?” he asked Dusque and motioned to the entrance.

“I think I’m about done for tonight,” she told him, trying to beg off.

He leaned toward her ear and whispered, “One last look at the stars for the evening? After all the luck we’ve shared?”

Dusque felt shivers along her back as he breathed against her ear. She knew better, and yet she was intrigued by the strange man who hadn’t even introduced himself. She decided to take a chance. If he was like most, she knew she could handle herself. She understood she was considered attractive by most standards, and it wasn’t the first time someone had tried to get her alone. It just frustrated her that she always seemed to be thought of as a woman first, and not a scientist. And a part of her hoped that he was exactly like all the other men she had met. Because, as it stood at the moment, she couldn’t make him out at all, and she prided herself on her ability to read other creatures. He, however, was definitely a puzzle, and she was intrigued.

“Maybe just one glance,” she quietly agreed. His smile grew wider.

I think I’ve got you pegged
, she thought.

Lightly placing a hand on the small of her back, he expertly guided her through the busy casino.
Passing by the bar, Dusque noticed that a few of the patrons had become a bit rowdy. The free drinks had long since run out, but the serious folks had started tabs. As two disagreed on who owed how much, the very drunk Mon Calamari took a swing at his companion to punctuate his point. But he overcompensated for his inebriated state and completely missed his friend holding the bill. His swing brought him crashing toward Dusque. She started to flinch, but before she could make a move, her companion shot out a muscular arm and caught the drunk before he even touched her.

“What yer think yer doin’?” the Mon Calamari slurred.

“You should think very carefully about what you plan to do next, friend,” her companion shot back in a deadly voice.

Dusque wasn’t the only one who saw just how serious he was. The Mon Calamari’s more sober friend, who had a slightly better grasp of the situation, grabbed his companion and started to pull him from the black-eyed man’s grip.

“Sorry,” he apologized. “Too much fun on the first night, I guess.” And with that, he yanked his friend toward the far end of the bar.

“Are you all right?” the black-eyed man asked Dusque.

“Of course,” she answered.

They walked out of the casino without further incident. Once outside, Dusque let her head fall back.
She breathed in deeply. She had forgotten her blossoming headache, and the cool air felt good. When she faced her protector, she realized that they weren’t alone. A few of the other patrons had also escaped for some air, and they meandered around the marble walkway. One pair laughed in such a way that Dusque knew they wouldn’t want to be disturbed, at least for a little while.

“It smells like rain,” she told the stranger, slightly uncomfortable with the silence between them. “I don’t think we’ll see many stars tonight.”

He stared at her hard and then said quietly, “I think I can still find something interesting to show you. Come on.” And with that, he grabbed her hand and led her away from the other revelers, toward a fountain with a few discreet shrubs and alcoves. When they found an unused corner, he turned and faced her. He looked quickly from one side to the other.

Now is when he tries something
, Dusque thought, prepared to stop him. “Look, whoever you are, I’m sorry if you thought—” she began, but he cut her off.

“I’m the one who should be sorry,” he said, and Dusque noticed a change in his demeanor. He no longer appeared to be the sly suitor, but something very different.

“Let me explain,” he said, further confusing Dusque. After another surreptitious glance at their surroundings, he continued, “My name is Finn Darktrin and I’m not what you think I am.”

“Excuse me?” she asked.

“I’m taking a big chance talking to you like this. If anyone were to overhear us, I’d be dead,” he explained without the bravado he had shown inside at the gaming tables. The lack of that cockiness made Dusque take notice.

“What are you talking about?”

He grabbed her upper arm and said flatly, “I’m part of the Rebel Alliance. I’m a spy.”

If he hadn’t been holding her, Dusque would have turned away. She couldn’t believe what she had heard. But the gravity of the situation was carved on his face. She realized that this wasn’t some sort of elaborate ruse to trick her into a clandestine, romantic liaison. He was serious. She was relieved but also a little disappointed.

“What?” she said again, feeling the beginnings of fear creep in. She found herself looking over her shoulder and overly aware of her surroundings, but they were alone.

“I wish I had more time,” he told her, “to let you get used to the idea and for that, I am truly sorry. But time is the one thing neither of us has any longer.”

“Then tell me what you want,” she answered.

“You are absolutely vital to my current mission,” he replied.

“How could that be? I don’t even know you.” But, just like at the jubilee wheel, Dusque could feel her pulse begin to quicken.
I’m vital to something
, she thought.

“Because of who you are. Look,” he tried to
explain, and Dusque could hear the edge to his tone, “the mission I accepted is critical to the Alliance. It could even potentially turn the tide in the Galactic Civil War. And you are the one who can make it work.”

“All right, tell me more,” she said, lowering her voice and unconsciously taking a step closer to him.

“You are an Imperial bioengineer. One of the top-ranking scientists in your class. That alone gives you free rein when it comes to travel. You show your credentials and no one bats an eye, and they certainly clear out of your way. And,” Finn added, “most important, it gives you access to any planet you desire. That’s why I need you.”

“Oh?” Dusque asked.

“I want to travel along with you as your assistant. I need to retrieve a device that contains the names of some vital personnel and I need to find it fast. The Empire knows of its existence and I’m sure they won’t waste any time sending their agents after it. With you as my companion, no one will question me. I can be in and out before anyone could be the wiser,” he finished.

“Oh,” she said again, and she was hard pressed to hide the disappointment in her voice.
Of course
, she thought,
he only wants me for cover.

Perhaps sensing that he was losing her, he loosened his grip on her arm and added, “And I knew you would be sympathetic.”

Dusque yanked her arm free of his grip. “What
makes you think I would be a Rebel sympathizer?” she demanded, fear making her words harsh.

“I know about you,” Finn told her, “and about your family.”

“You don’t know my family and you certainly don’t know me,” she replied, her anger on the rise. “You don’t know me at all.”

“That’s where you have underestimated the Alliance. Do you think your name was chosen at random? Do you think I would ask this of just anyone within your class?” Finn’s voice rose dangerously. “Please give me a little more credit than that.”

Dusque folded her arms across her chest like a barrier against his words. But she didn’t back down.

“Your father worked for the Empire,” he recited to her, “and look what that job brought your family. It drove him to his death. He couldn’t live with what he was doing.”

Dusque lowered her arms slowly as though she were deflating, a shocked look on her face.

“Your mother basically died with him, no longer the woman she had been. Your younger brother died at an ill-equipped Imperial training facility, and that was the nail in your mother’s living coffin, wasn’t it? And your older brother—”

“Stop it,” she hissed at him.

“All right,” he agreed. “Then let’s take a look at you. You study, you learn, and you take a job that turns out to be exactly what you didn’t believe in.”

“What are you taking about?” she asked through clenched teeth.

“Don’t know what I mean? What about that mission on Tatooine?”

“What about it?”

“What happened to the genetic sample of the Sarlacc you were supposed to retrieve? Where did that disappear to?”

“It wasn’t properly stored and didn’t survive the transport,” Dusque explained.

“Sounds plausible enough,” Finn agreed. “Except you’re better than that. I think that you had an attack of conscience. After all, if the Empire started playing around with the DNA, mixing and matching creatures with that kind of potential for destruction, how many innocents could they kill?”

“That’s not my problem,” she said, trying to dismiss his accusations.

“Ahh … but I think it is. I think it bothers you more than you admit to anyone. And then there were the snow slugs of Alzoc Three, the failed attempt to improve the combat arachnids of Carida, the clawing dinkos of Proxima Dibal, the—”

“That’s enough,” she interrupted.

“You’re right,” he agreed and glanced around. “It was more than enough reason for the Alliance to take notice of you. We did. And we need you now.”

“For cover,” she said, “and nothing more.”

“Exactly.”

She shook her head slightly, thinking that here again was someone who didn’t realize her abilities.
He knew I had a sample from a Sarlacc
, she thought,
and didn’t even recognize how difficult it must have been to collect.

“So that’s all I am to you people? You want me to risk bringing the displeasure of the Empire down on my head so that you can have a free ticket to go planet-hopping? I won’t do it.”

“Why not?”

“I’m surprised you even have to ask, after you laid it out so obviously before me,” she countered, growing angry. She started to tick off items on her fingers. “The Empire destroyed my family. I won’t lose anything more to them. I’ve got a good job and I’m safe,” she added and started to walk away. Before she had taken two steps, though, Finn grabbed her and spun her around.

“Safe?” he nearly shouted at her, but remembered where he was and lowered his voice. “You think you’re safe with your head buried in the sand? If we noticed the things you were doing, or rather not doing, it won’t take your Imperial superiors much longer before they do—if they haven’t already. And when they do,” he added, “they will come for you. Make no mistake about that.”

Dusque shook her head in refusal, but didn’t say a word.

“Don’t you see,” Finn added, moving closer to her, “that there is no safety in not taking a stand. The Empire doesn’t just kill exposed Rebels. Even if you choose to do nothing, you could still be choosing death.”

Before Dusque could respond, Finn grabbed her
upper arms and pulled her to him in a deep kiss. Dusque was momentarily stunned. But even more startling was the fact that she found herself responding to him. For a moment, she forgot who and where she was. A flash of white and the clink of armor, however, brought her back to reality as a stormtrooper patrol passed by them a moment later.

Dusque pulled herself free of Finn’s grip and dragged a hand roughly across her mouth. She looked at him disgustedly and said, “Was I just cover there, too?” In the subdued light, though, Finn didn’t look so self-possessed. That observation off-balanced her more than the kiss, and she realized that she just didn’t know what to make of the man. It frustrated her, but it confused her, as well.

“I’ve got to go,” she said awkwardly.

Finn hadn’t given up quite yet. He reached out and caught her hand once more. “What will it take?” he whispered to her.

Dusque shook her head and, without a backward glance, broke away. “I don’t know,” she answered, too quietly for anyone but herself to hear.

Tendau Nandon was slowly making his way around the casino. He hadn’t seen Dusque for a while and suspected that she had managed to head back to her hotel room. He shook his head sadly and nearly banged it against a low-hanging lamp in the process. The casino was just not well equipped for his kind, although it did accommodate a variety of other species well, judging by the happy noises.

Or perhaps they are just too inebriated to notice
, the Ithorian thought.

The place had become more crowded since the doors had opened for the evening. Scores surrounded the spinnerpits, and there were lines to the lugjack machines four deep. It seemed as if at least a quarter of the players were winning, but it might simply have been that they were drunk and found everything worth cheering about. And when the Ithorian thought it couldn’t get any louder, he noticed an entertainer setting up behind a nalargon near the bar. As soon as he had tuned his instrument, though, he began to play a song that Tendau
could almost recognize. As if on cue, a few Twi’lek dancers appeared from nowhere and began an impromptu show. Although the mood was festive, the Ithorian sensed an almost frantic pulse behind it.