Chapter 14
In the shadows
The next morning, there was nothing in the news about the fiery blast that had rocked the space lanes the previous day. Nothing about whether or not there were any survivors or what the reason was behind it. Not that anyone was expecting it. These days, reporters didn't dig where they weren't led to by the "proper" authorities.
These days, people in general, didn't ask questions. It was a far cry from the brighter skies and freer times of years past. Now days, everything that one did had a certain tinge of danger to it, whether one was just getting food or entering one's apartment.
These were perilous times.
Yet no one knew exactly who or what had caused it. It had started with a few deaths within the senate, then it had spread rapidly to random citizens throughout Coruscant. People went missing, only to return killers. It had quickly created an atmosphere of distrust. Who knew if one's neighbor would suddenly reach out and become a homicidal maniac?
It had happened within several bars in the underbelly of the planet. No one was safe.
It was in this atmosphere that Iris sat at a bar counter chatting up the bartender, asking him for information. The man from last night had disappeared by the time she had left her apartment this morning. She had an inkling that that she wasn't through with him just yet.
"He couldn't have been a Jedi," the man whispered as he bent down to grab a glass. He stayed bent down as he continued, "They know not to come down here, even the bad ones, unless…"
He stood up and moved to the other side of the bar to serve some customers.
Iris, tapped her delicate nails on the counter. Gathering information these days was such a tedious task. Spies were everywhere, good and bad, and they were always listening.
Returning, the man reached up for another bottle.
"Maybe that man is one of them," he turned around and poured a glass for a customer that had popped up next to Iris.
"Hello, sweetie," the obviously drunk man said grabbing a hold of her arm, dragging her down slightly with his weight.
"I'm no sweetie of yours," Iris said yanking his arm off her and moving over a seat.
Stubbornly the man stumbled around the chair and leaned on her again.
She glanced at the barkeeper, who shrugged with his eyes. She shook her head annoyed and tapped into her inner power. Searching the man's mind to convince him to leave her alone, she was surprised.
This man was not under his own control. She looked around the bar, but could not detect anything from around her.
"You might try the back corner on the left side of the door," the suddenly sober man whispered in her ear. Then as she watched, the man's eyes went blank, then became confused as he realized how close he was to her. Surprised he muttered apologies as he backed up into the chair behind him and walked dazedly toward the exit.
Casually, she followed him, weaving through the throng of mingling people. She liked crowded bars better than the empty ones. Crowded bars were better places to get information without being suspected too much. Acting very smoothly, she let her long blonde hair out of its bun and took over a tray of drinks and moved to the left, leaving the confused man to continue on his way out of the bar. She smiled coyly, playing it up as she passed by tables looking for the right one.
Soon enough she felt the slight tug. There in the very corner, in the darkness. It was a man. He was alone. Not missing a beat, she unloaded her drinks one by one leaving only two. With a confident smile, she approached the table.
"Would you like a drink?" she asked. Her smile faltered as soon as she saw who the man was.
"Would you like one?" the man asked her, "You look a little surprised; one of these would calm you down for sure."
"You," she said. She examined the man in the dim light. Not a scratch was on him, he looked perfectly healthy and very much alive.
"What?" he said looking at her reaction to him, "Thought I would still be lying there waiting for you pathetically?"
"Among other things," she muttered, looking around her.
"Nervous?" the man asked.
"You wish," she said looking back at him, "Did you follow me? Or did you just know I would be here?"
"It was easy; you give off a light that is hard to miss."
Iris smirked.
"That has got to be one of the creepiest pick up lines I've ever heard," she countered.
"I bet you get a lot of those," the man said suggestively.
Iris could only guess what his eyes were looking at.
"Get to the point," she said rolling her eyes, "What do you want with me?"
"I want to see you dance."
She felt like slapping him.
"How do you even know I can dance?" she asked angrily.
The man tapped his head.
"I saw it in your mind," he answered.
Iris furrowed her brow, she was sure she had blocked him out.
"Your little blocking bit wasn't strong enough to keep the likes of me out of your head."
To the untrained eye, Iris didn't react in the least to what the man said. But to one who knew what to look for, her breath had quickened and her muscles had tensed.
"You're hiding quite a bit in that head of yours," the man teased, "A spy-"
"Not here!" Iris shushed. She reached over the table and grabbed the man's hand, forcefully pulling him off his seat and led him out the bar.
Once outside, she lead the man, who strangely didn't resist, to the only safe place she could think of to interrogate him.
"Do you always take men back to your apartment after the first meeting?" he said after she roughly pushed him into her main room.
She focused on locking up before she turned to the man who had taken a seat on her couch as if he owned it.
"Only men who seem to know way to much about me," she said pulling out her blaster and pointing it at the man.
"Name?" she said slowly closing the space between them until she had the gun stuck to his forehead.
The man shook his head.
"I don't take well to blasters pointed at my head," he said.
"Don't care."
"Just thought you should know," he said.
In the few seconds following his words the blaster vanished from her grip.
Iris stared shocked at her now empty hand before being yanked backwards and thrown into the wall behind her. As she slumped to the ground, her vision fading to black, she took note that the man on the couch had not moved a hand or any part of his body in his effort to send her flying into the wall.
When she woke, she found herself lying on her own couch. A delicious smell filled the air. She rubbed her head; a massive headache was building. She looked around herself until she caught sight of the wall. There was a crack going up into the ceiling from where she had impacted it. Georn was not going to be happy about that.
Slowly she sat up. What she needed was a good cup of caffe to get her senses back in order. She pushed herself up off the couch and soundlessly approached her kitchen. That was where the smell was coming from.
As she peered into the other room, she was surprised to see the previously aggressive man being almost…domestic. He was chopping up various vegetables and adding them to a large pot.
"So now you're a cook?" she said leaning against the door frame, her arms crossed.
The man dropped the knife he was holding as he turned in surprise only to let out a yelp of pain as the knife landed on his bare foot pointed side facing down. Iris looked at the man doubtfully. What was going on?
"Y-you're awake," he said, bending down and grabbing the knife.
Looking at his foot, Iris almost gasped as she saw it heal before her eyes.
The man seemed to bustle about even more now that he knew she was awake. He busily put away ingredients and cleaned up the scene before grabbing two bowls. He filled the bowls up with what was in the pot and bypassed Iris as he went into the main room and set them down on the table in front of the couch. Iris could only look at the man strangely as he went back into the kitchen, grabbed two glasses, filled them with juice, and came back into the main room.
Like a gentleman, he stayed standing, waiting for her to take her seat on the couch. Eyeing him suspiciously, she sat as far away from him as she could on the couch. Grabbing the bowl, she sniffed the food, searching for anything that might hint of poison.
"I didn't poison it you know," the man said, taken a spoonful from his own bowl.
Ever since she had woken up, the man's voice seemed different. She must have hit her head hard. Cautiously, she took a small spoonful. It was pretty good she had to admit. It had been a while since she had eaten this well at home. Usually, she could only expect to eat decent food on the job. she just wasn't made out to be a cook.
"Did I hurt you?" the man quietly asked, breaking the silence.
This caused Iris to look at the man.
"Do you have short term memory loss or something?" she said annoyed.
She put the bowl down.
The man shrugged his shoulders dejectedly.
"Something like that," he muttered.
Iris stood up and went to the other side of the room and crossed her arms.
"I don't know what is wrong with you, but leave me out of it" she pleaded. "My life is dangerous enough without a two sided psychopath after me."
The man put his bowl down.
"I'm sorry."
This caught Iris off guard.
"You're sorry?"
The man nodded.
"I don't know why I'm here," he said, "I don't even remember how I got here."
"You expect me to believe that?" she said disbelievingly.
The man shook his head.
"No." he said looking down at his hands. "But I don't know how to explain it to you, or if I even should."
Iris glanced at him sideways.
"What kind of crazy act are you trying to pull?"
She looked down at the floor around her and caught sight of her blaster. Quickly she bent down and grabbed it, pointing it at the man.
"Please don't!" the man pleaded, raising his hands in the air, "I'm really sorry..." he stood up slowly, "…about before," he moved toward the door, "Really…"
He finally reached the door. Making sure his movements were clear, he opened the door and left, his remorseful eyes never leaving Iris until the closed after his departure.
Not one to take chances, Iris rushed to the door and redid all the security locks. Then for a moment she was silent. Only her loud breaths could be heard as she struggled to calm herself down. Turning around, she let herself fall back on the door and slide down to the floor. Then she brought her knees to her chest and hugged them close. Unshed tears loomed in her eyes, but she did not let them fall.
It had been a long time since someone was willing and able to take her on in the way that man did. Her little world had been dealt a blow today. She had grown too proud of herself, too reliant on her reputation. She could have been killed. All her work would have been for nothing.
It was something to think about.
As he gazed at the busy traffic outside the glass of his vast front room, he could not help but be frustrated. Here he was effectively out for the count, while he was out still out there; a menace to the galaxy. Of course, to those visiting, he didn't look like the wreck he felt. For all intents and purposes, he was simply kicking back in his reclining chair enjoying the view. All the necessary machines were concealed behind the portable partition directly behind his chair. The wires and tubes were craftily hidden in the sleeves of his dark leather jacket.
Though it would seem strange for someone to be wearing such a heavy jacket indoors, it was not out of the norm for this man. He had an image to keep up. The jacket helped; today in more ways than normal.
Frustrated, the man motioned to the statue-like guard at his door. Dressed in head to toe black, the guard silently acknowledged the other man.
"See what's taking them so long," he ordered.
The guard nodded and left the room.
Now alone, the man reached over to the small table next to him and grabbed a small datapad. He scrolled through various files until he reached one that did not have a name. Waving his hand, he closed the shades on the windows and laid the datapad gently on his lap. Then he watched as the datapad suddenly started projecting a holo video.
In the video there were three people fighting. As he watched, it became clear that it was a two on one fight. Shining swords of light pierced the air. The video was grainy at best, fading in and out as it started to fail along with the ship it was drawing power from. As the video grew more and more choppy, the man leaned in closer and closer, willing the image to clear.
As a bright flash of light overpowered the image, the man cringed as he remembered how he had been thrown back by the force. When the image cleared, there was only one man standing. This frustrated him the most. Every time he had watched this video, he had carefully watched for what had happened to the third man that he had fought, but every time, he found no answers.
All the witnesses he had managed to find put together the same story; that only one man had come flying out of the wreckage as the ship fell down into the depths of Coruscant.
The man rewound the video and slowed it down as he replayed the moments following the flash of light. Even slowed down, as the light faded away, there was no trace of the other man. As he gazed on the scene, the man suddenly became almost sentimental. With a sigh, he paused the video and zoomed in on the remaining attacker. After a few seconds the image refocused and was clear once more.
The man standing was tall and thin. He was young, late teens, to early 20's. His dark hair went to his shoulders and had flown every which way as he fought. For a second, there seemed to be regret in the watching man's eyes, but it passed quickly only to be replaced by a look of intense hatred as he forcefully turned off the datapad and roughly placed it back on the table next to him.
"My lord."
The man turned to the entrance where his guard was now standing. His only prompt was a raised of his eyebrows.
"We have found a lead," the man started, "Just this morning, there was a woman in the lower parts asking about a man she had found in the streets last night."
"Did she describe this man?"
The guard nodded.
"She described him as cheeky, over confident, and near death."
The other man was silent as he took in the details.
"This girl?"
"Not your ordinary girl," the guard said. "All we know is that she has quite the reputation."
"What kind of a reputation?" the other man asked.
"Some say she is a Jedi killer, my lord."
The other man looked pleased.
"She may be of use to us," he reflected, "Find her."
"Yes my Lord." The man disappeared from sight.
The remaining man had a calculating look on his face. It had been a while since he had found someone worthy of joining his plight. Perhaps this "Jedi killer" would have what it took to help him take down his remaining opposition.