Author's Note: So I guess this chapter didn't come as soon as I thought it would! But at long last, this fic is continued... As usual, many thanks to my tireless beta Rian Sage!


Some Other Business

Ix sat at the bar in one of Nar Shaddaa's many cantinas, peering through the smoky haze to watch the people at the pazaak tables. The man she had come there to meet was currently engaged in a game, and she kept careful track of how badly he repeatedly lost to the dark-haired man across from him.

The other man was very, very good, Ix noted, and had she been in Kang's territory instead of Visquis', she would have approached the man for a little chat – either to offer him some sort of money-making contract in Davik's favor, or to find out how he was cheating and kill him for it.

As it were, Ix only watched with amused interest as her contact promptly dropped two thousand credits. The burly man scowled and threw down his hand of cards in disgust, rising from the table so abruptly his chair fell over.

"Hey," his dark-haired opponent quipped readily, scooping the pile of cred-chips toward his ever-growing stack. "Anytime you've got a couple thousand burning a hole in your pocket again, you come find me."

Ix's contact lunged across the table, but his smaller adversary leapt nimbly from his chair and drew his blaster. As was common in most Nar Shaddaa establishments, the other patrons of the cantina pretended not to notice the weapon. "Hey now," the dark-haired man warned, "no one likes a sore loser."

Ix saw her contact go for his weapon. "Lonnik," she barked, stopping the man in the middle of his draw. He startled at the sound of his name, glancing around for its source until his dark gaze found hers. He froze for a second, as if surprised to see her, and Ix nodded pointedly toward the empty bar stool next to her.

Lonnik Colnn hesitated, turning to glare again at his pazaak opponent, but then he reluctantly holstered his blaster. "Get outta here," he growled toward the other man, "before I accuse you of cheating and have you thrown out."

"Cheating?" his opponent scoffed, unfazed by the threat. "Listen pal, if you don't know how to play you shouldn't sit at the table!"

"Lonnik!" Ix's voice cracked like a whip; once more stopping her contact from beating the life out of the dark-haired pazaak player. Both men looked at her expectantly, along with half the cantina's population. But Ix kept her eyes on the man she had come to meet. "We have business," she said evenly, nodding again toward the bar stool.

The man grumbled, sent another deadly glare toward his pazaak opponent, and then grudgingly made his way across the crowded floor to the seat Ix had indicated. The cantina's patrons went back to their conversation as if nothing had happened, but the woman kept her eyes on the other man for a moment. It seemed he was going to take Lonnik's advice. He pocketed his winnings, and with a nod and a roguish smile toward one of the dancers, he left. Ix committed his looks to memory, knowing it might be worth something someday to dig around and see what she could find out about him.

For now, however, she had business with Lonnik Colnn. Ix turned her attention back to the broad-shouldered man as he took his seat and ordered a stiff drink.

"Dangerous to make a scene like that here," she commented blandly. "You don't want any of Visquis' guys to see us chatting, do you?"

Lonnik scowled. "He had a skifter up his sleeve, I know he did."

Ix raised a brow. "Looked like a straight player to me," she said. "And I'm excellent at catching cheaters." She smiled in a wickedly meaningful way.

Lonnik only grunted unhappily, snatching his drink from the bartender.

Ix went back to business. "I hope that wasn't my money you just pissed away," she drawled, running a finger around the rim of her glass.

"Of course not," he growled. "I ain't stupid."

"Could'a fooled me."

He shot her a sharp glare but knew better than to smart back.

"So," she prodded. "Let's see it."

The man glanced around furtively to be sure they weren't being watched, then reached into an inside pocket of his jacket and removed several cred-chips. He handed them over to her and she counted them swiftly, then looked up at him skeptically from beneath her brows. "What the hell is this?"

"Your money," Lonnik answered simply.

Ix narrowed her golden gaze and leaned toward the man ominously. "Is there something else you'd like to tell me?"

"No… that's all there is this quarter."

"Lonnik, it's half of what you usually give me."

The man shrugged and shifted uncomfortably on the stool. "Yah, well… Saquesh has been hemming in the refugees even more lately. Makes it a lot harder to kidnap any of 'em without him noticing."

Ix watched him silently for a long moment, trying to read his face.

He squirmed under her scrutiny. "Come on, Ix," he said desperately. "You know what Visquis would do to me if he found out I was stealing from his slave cache! And if he discovered Kang was getting a cut…" Lonnik shook his head helplessly. "Neither of us wants that, Ix. I'm just trying to be careful, to keep from being exposed. That's all. Business'll pick up again before too long." The man tried to crack a smile. "Nar Shaddaa will always attract plenty of poor, unfortunate souls to take advantage of."

Ix straightened in her chair. "I see," she said tonelessly. "So that two thousand you just dropped… that was your own, personal money?"

"That's right," Lonnik answered shortly.

"And where the hell did you get that from?"

The man shifted again. "It was my share of the quarterly slave market profits."

"And the rest of it?"

"From my other job…"

"Your other job?" Ix repeated, leaning forward again. "Lonnik, if that's why you're sales were down –"

The man shook his head vigorously. "No. No, Ix. I only took that other job after I realized my sales weren't going to cover my monthly expenses. I swear."

"And what exactly did this other job entail?"

Lonnik hesitated, then swallowed down the rest of his drink and signaled for a second. "It was just a routine cargo run. You know, easy stuff."

"Enlighten me," Ix whispered, her voice deadly quiet.

Lonnik coughed into his hand. "Some rich aristocrat on Coruscant wanted me to fly in some stuff under radar. Nothing major."

"Smuggling?" Ix hissed.

"Well… technically I guess you could call it that…"

"And the cargo?"

The man cleared his throat. "Ix, it was just a side job –"

"Then why don't you want to tell me about it?"

"I don't mind telling you about it," Lonnik insisted. "It's just that I don't understand why you're –"

"You don't need to understand," Ix snapped. "Now answer my questions or I'm telling Davik you shorted him."

Lonnik grimaced at the thought, lifting his hands in surrender. "All right, all right. Don't get antsy on me." The bartender set down the man's second round; he threw it back all at once with a wince and then set the glass heavily back to the bar. "I, uh… I ran some spice."

Ix looked around the cantina, then back to the man waiting anxiously in front of her, her fingers curling around the haft of her vibroshiv. "You did what?"

He swallowed hard. "It was a one-time thing, Ix. I'm not a smuggler, you know that. I find slaves for the market and sell them, that's my job. I only did the one run, and only to cover my expenses –"

In one swift motion, Ix stabbed her blade into the man's right hand, pinning it to the bar, and Lonnik Colnn's sentence broke off in a gruff cry. "Shhh," she whispered into his ear, smiling gently as she leaned her weight onto the knife's handle. "Don't want to make a scene, remember? Some of Visquis' guys just came in the back… if they come up here, I'll let them know what you've been up to these past few years. I'll conveniently forget to mention your connection to Davik, of course, but I don't think they'll be too happy with you, regardless."

Lonnik clenched his jaw against the pain; she saw his left hand curl into a fist, but he did nothing. Apparently he had also seen Visquis' cronies in the back of the cantina, and Lonnik had dealt with Ix often enough to know her threats were always valid. Still, the man's dark glare made it perfectly clear he would gladly retaliate, if given the chance. Ix didn't plan to give him one.

"Now," she continued, still whispering, "why don't you tell me a little more about this smuggling job of yours?"

"Why don't you get your knife outta my hand first?" he countered through gritted teeth.

Ix grunted, shaking her head. "Nope. Not till you tell me what I want to know." She twisted the blade just slightly to emphasize her point; Lonnik rose from his chair briefly, his free hand dropping toward his blaster, but then he glanced back to the thugs lurking in the rear of the cantina and sat back down. He wiped his left palm against his pants and Ix noticed his breathing had quickened considerably. She gave the vibroshiv another quarter turn, and Lonnik squirmed on the stool.

"Okay, all right," he hissed. "For stars' sake, ease off!"

Ix smiled, signaling the bartender for another drink, though she still kept a firm hold on her knife. "I must say you've disappointed me, Lonnik," she said matter-of-factly. "Spice is a very precious commodity. And you know as well as I that not just anyone can have it shipped out or in. More than that, you know the Exchange wants to control any such shipments if they can. Yet I know you didn't fly that shipment for Davik. And I have a feeling you weren't flying for Visquis, either. So I suppose the question I'd most like answered would be... who exactly were you flying for, Lonnik?"

"No one important," he answered hoarsely, and far too quickly. "Look, Ix, I only work for Davik. I wouldn't fly for another boss... this guy was a nobody, I checked him out beforehand, don't worry..."

Ix accepted her drink from the bartender; the humanoid tossed a fearful glance toward Lonnik's impaled appendage, then hastily scurried away to the other side of the bar. Ix turned her golden glare back to the man across from her and casually tipped her glass; the ale spilled over its edge and splashed onto Lonnik's hand. The man jumped from his stool as the alcohol seeped into the open knife wound, but he choked back the cry before it reached his lips.

"Whoops," Ix said, shrugging innocently. "How clumsy of me." She took a sip of the ale, but kept her gaze locked on Lonnik's face. The man acted again like he wanted to go for his blaster, but he resisted. She knew his thoughts. As long as he played her game he had a chance of leaving the cantina alive. If he drew his blaster against her, however, his chances of survival severely diminished. Even if he managed to escape the cantina, Davik would have him hunted to the far ends of the galaxy. It wasn't worth it to him to chance that yet. Yet. "Who were you flying for, Lonnik?" she asked again, very calmly.

The man fidgeted, and Ix began to tilt her glass of ale again. "It was a Hutt," he finally ground out. "A flaming Hutt, okay? For the love of -" A short bark of pain escaped him as Ix brutally twisted her blade into his hand.

"A Hutt?" she spat. "A Hutt? Have you lost your mind?"

"He was nobody important -"

"He was important enough to hire someone to fly his own personal load of spice to his residence," Ix snapped, and her fingers tightened on the knife haft until her knuckles turned white. "And you went to a Hutt for a job over the Exchange?" She shook her head. "Very, very bad decision, Lonnik Colnn. Doesn't make you look good."

"Ix, I -"

"Visquis will be very unhappy to learn of your activities within his territory," she said meaningfully, raising her voice just enough to be heard over the cantina's general din.

Lonnik's rugged face paled, but his eyes sharpened, and he fixed the white-haired woman with a hard gaze. "Don't do this," he whispered. "I'm not working for them, it was only one job."

"To think you were stealing his property, right from under his nose," Ix continued, her voice slightly louder.

"This won't do Davik any good," Lonnik insisted, trying a different approach. "If Visquis gets a hold of me... Davik won't get his cut..."

"And to think you kept all that money to yourself, and then wasted it on pazaak, all without Visquis knowing..."

"Ix, I'll find a way to double Davik's profits," the man said, a note of desperation in his tone. "You won't get anyone else as good as me."

But Ix saw the thugs had taken notice of her carefully planned words and now moved in her direction. She shook her head again, fixing Lonnik with a truly unsympathetic look. "Too late, my friend," she crooned. "How is Davik supposed to trust you now that you've worked for a Hutt? He can't. And if he can't trust you, I can't trust you. And if we can't trust you, then what good are you?"

Lonnik's eyes darted toward Visquis' approaching men, then to Ix, then to the knife still embedded in his hand. In that split second of hesitation, Ix reached across with her left hand and snatched the man's blaster from its holster. He immediately threw an answering left hook toward her face, but Ix ducked it and slid off her stool, releasing her grip on the knife and firing a shot into Lonnik's knee.

The man screamed as the bolt chewed through his kneecap, and now the whole cantina population turned to stare. Visquis' men quickened their pace; Lonnik yanked Ix's knife from his hand and hurled it at her, the blade nearly nicked her bicep as she dodged away and buried itself in the chest of a nearby Bith. The alien gave a surprised, gurgling cry, then collapsed heavily to the cantina floor.

Ix hardly noticed; her full attention focused on Lonnik as the man rose from his stool and turned laboriously to face her, fists clenched at his sides. His ruined knee was a mass of burned tissue and splintered bone; blood dripped steadily from the hole her blade had made in his hand. Only his sheer force of will kept him upright... Ix had never doubted his strength, nor his skills as a slave marketer. But his most recent mistake could not be overlooked. She shook her head, regretting the loss.

Lonnik's weight shifted forward; Ix spun in a kick and caught him in the temple. The man crashed unconscious to the floor, taking a nearby table and several schooners of ale with him. The occupants of the table screeched and leapt from their chairs, clearing the way for the group of Visquis' men, who finally reached the scene of carnage with hands on their weapons.

"What the hell is going on here?" the one in the lead demanded.

Ix looked at him - a big, brawny, long-haired human male - and sighed, gesturing toward the prone Lonnik Colnn. "I've just discovered this man has been kidnapping people from the Refugee Sector to sell as slaves," she said simply. "Without including Visquis in his sales. Thought you might want to know about it."

"Oh yah?" The man's fingers tightened around his blaster grip. "And how abouts did you find that out?"

Ix smiled wryly. "Maybe you should be asking yourself how it was you didn't know about it. I'm sure Visquis relies on men like you to make sure this sort of thing doesn't happen in his territory. I'm also sure he would be fairly unhappy to discover how miserably you've failed at your job."

The man released his weapon, crossing his arms, and the others behind him shifted on their feet. "What do you want?" he asked.

Ix shrugged, reaching behind her for her drink and taking another sip. "Nothing," she answered cheerfully. "I'm just passing through town. So, I'll go ahead and let you boys take credit for finding this guy." She nodded toward Lonnik. "Just get rid of him, would you? The Exchange doesn't need rogues like him upsetting our business."

"Of course not," the lead thug agreed, obviously relieved at the fact Ix had no favors to ask of him. "We'll take care of him. Don't worry." He motioned to those behind him and three of them moved forward to lift Lonnik Colnn's massive weight.

"Oh, I'm not worried," Ix said, resuming her seat on her stool and turning her back on the group of Visquis' guys. "I'm certain you can handle this one, simple task."

She half-expected to get an angry retort at her comment, but the group said nothing else as they slowly and with much difficulty maneuvered their unconscious catch to the door. Ix watched them go, then grunted in amusement and ordered a third drink as the rest of the cantina patrons uncertainly resumed their conversations once more. She had no doubt Lonnik would attempt to implicate Davik Kang once Visquis' men began interrogating him, but Davik had made sure there was no proof. And without proof, Lonnik's word would never hold up against hers. And, of course, she fully intended on telling Visquis about the utter failings of his crew. But for now, she just wanted to enjoy her drinks and contemplate potential replacements for Lonnik Colnn. And maybe, if there was time, find a handsome man to screw.

She wondered if it was too late to catch up to that dark-haired pazaak player.


TO BE CONTINUED...