Identical Twins, A Party Invitation, and A Locked Closet Pt. I
Din had finally learned to be cautious. The Asset was still locked away in a closet aboard the Razorcrest, but unlike his trip to Tatooine he'd done all that was humanly possible to child proof his ship. The cabin, cargo bay, and weapon's locker were secured with passcodes, and he'd rigged the controls so it would be impossible to accidentally initiate a start-up sequence. He'd even made sure to double and triple check the ship before handing it over to the young mechanic at the dock.
He was almost positive The Kid couldn't get out, yet there was an inkling of unease in the back of his mind. The Child had an uncanny ability to be where Din did not wish it to be, and to appear as if from thin air whenever was most inconvenient. It had done it before, It could do it again.
He leaned back in his seat in the dingy cantina to spy out the window at the docking bay, confirming that there was no tiny creature toddling down the ramp. So far so good.
"Mandalorian?"
He pulled his attention away from the ship below to look at the young woman in front of him. She was small with dark skin and long, blue braids that fell down almost to her knees. The wide violet eyes that were trained on him held both curiosity and wariness. She seemed to be waiting for him to make the first move, so he inclined his head and extended a hand. She sat, not across from him as he'd anticipated, but to his immediate right, scooting so close that he was tempted to put a little space between them. Instead he sat perfectly at ease, the helmet a buffer for his discomfort.
She extended a small, gloved hand towards him and whispered. "Tia, at your service."
As Din shook her hand, he felt a vague sense of pity. Tia was not his usual sort of client. She hardly looked old enough to create enemies, let alone dig up the funds to pay for a bounty hunter to take them down. Whatever the mark did to her must have been pretty bad, and he did his best not to speculate what it might have been. Life could be cruel sometimes, even for the innocent.
"I know you came a long way to be here. Let me buy you a drink." She offered, then reddened a little. "Oh I'm sorry."
"It's not a problem."
He wasn't sure if Tia was old enough to drink, but the bartender didn't seem to care about that sort of thing as he took her order with the same lackluster expression that all bartenders seemed to wear. When her drink came, she tipped her head back and took a swig, only to spit it out, sputtering. His brows rose. She seemed nervous, but about what he couldn't imagine.
That inkling of unease came back with a vengeance, and while she tried to clean up the front of her brown tunic he took a quick look out at the ship. No droids were lingering around the hull, as per his instructions, and the mechanic was hauling a bag of tools into the cargo bay. Everything was quiet, which meant The Asset was still safe and sound in the closet. For now.
"I'm sorry." The girl gasped, and he brought his attention back to the table. She was wiping her face on her sleeve, eyes watering. "I don't know how these things usually go, but I heard that you're the best around."
Her fingers were playing the the edge of her mug as she spoke, her eyes glued to the front of his mask. "I'm afraid I don't have a puck or a fob to give you, but I have a contact here in the city who may have some information about where he was last seen."
"Who's the target?"
"Black Krrsantan."
He frowned slightly at the mention of the infamous Wookiee. There were many who had complaints about this particular bounty hunter, but none were brave enough to offer a reward for his capture. "It's against guild rules to take money for bringing in other bounty hunters."
Not to mention the fact that this Wookiee was an extremely dangerous, and as such would cost way more than his usual clientele to bring in.
"I thought you weren't running with the guild anymore?"
The naive question was enough to put Din on his guard. She didn't appear to be the dangerous type, but he had unusual array of scars that reminded him that looks could be deceiving. He narrowed his eyes her. Her name didn't ring any bells, but there was something familiar about her. Maybe it was the look in her eyes, but he had a feeling that they'd met before.
"It would cost you triple my usual fee. What you're asking is no mean feat."
"I'm prepared to pay it," she said earnestly, "To see Krrsantan brought in, I would give almost anything."
Of this fact, he knew she was telling the truth. Hatred was a difficult thing to hide, and it was written clearly on the fringes of her face.
He stood to leave. "I'll have to think about it."
She scrambled to her feet, placing a hand on his arm. "Please, wait!"
He was so surprised by the action that he froze.
"If you would only come and hear what our contact has to say. He's risking a lot to come here and give us this information, and time is of the essence. Krrsantan rarely stays in the same place for long. This may be our only chance to ensure his capture."
Us. Our.
That inkling of unease was back.
He slowly sat back down, giving the girl's face a more serious inspection. "Where does this contact want to meet?"
She lowered her voice and leaned in close, while at the same time pressing an identification card into his hand. "This is an invitation to an exclusive party being held in the upper city apartments at midnight. Show this to the guard at the entrance and you'll be let in, no questions. I can meet you once you're inside and we'll meet the contact in the lounge."
"Seems like a pretty public place for a secret meeting."
"There's going to be a lot of people, and more noise means fewer possibilities for being overheard."
It sounded like a fairly naive plan to him. Perhaps she wouldn't raise any interest, but once he arrived he'd bring undue attention to himself simply for being a Mandalorian.
He flipped the identification card over in his fingers, pretending to examine it while at the same time examining her. She was so close that he could smell her strange perfume, and her violet eyes appeared to be doing their best not to dart away.
"I'll need to get a few things from my ship."
There. It had been the merest of movements, but her eyes had flicked towards the window that looked down at the docking bay.
He made a few mental calculations. By sitting next to him rather than across the table, she had certainly positioned herself to have a good view of it. But how could she have known it was his ship unless she'd been watching him? Or perhaps she had an accomplice.
The insight struck like lightning. Add a few layers of dirt, head wrap, and a flash of purple hair, and you'd have someone who greatly resembled the mechanic who'd met him at the dock.
Identical twins. How could he have missed it? They had the same violet eyes, and even smelled the same. Like musk-rose.
If he was lucky, they were just a pair of common thieves who thought he was an easy mark. If he was unlucky, then they were ransacking his ship for something far more valuable than he was prepared to part with.
His heart was pounding, but he forced himself to remain calm. "Alright. I'll meet you at the party at midnight."
"Oh thank you!" She looked relieved, but seemed panicked when he once again stood to leave. "Wait!"
"For what?"
Her eyes widened a little, and seemed to be trying to come up with an answer when he swept past her. He stepped onto the balcony and made a few mental calculations before dropping into the docking bay. It was a lot farther down than he'd anticipated, but he couldn't afford to got all the way around to the entrance, not based on the panic he'd seen in the girl's eyes. He only allowed himself a moment of acknowledging the pain in his shins before he strode onto his ship. The mechanic was nowhere to be found and nothing looked out of place, but it felt wrong. The mechanic's bag was empty, but sitting next to the closet that contained The Child. A small tool sat next to the lock, and he felt momentary relief that the lock hadn't yet been cracked.
Yet that feeling didn't last long. He couldn't imagine that Tia had managed to warn her twin in time for her to leave the ship before he arrived. He'd had his eyes on the Razorcrest from the moment he stepped onto the balcony, which meant that the intruder was still on board. He readied his hand on his blaster. His ship was small, which meant she was either in the cockpit or in the cargo hold. He doubted she would run into the corner with no escape, so she was probably hiding somewhere in plain sight...
His blaster cleared his holster at the same time he was knocked to the floor. His blaster was kicked across the compartment, and when he managed to roll over his assailant was already gone. He scrambled to his knees only to hear movement from his blind side. Luckily his attacker did not have the strength of Cara or else he would have been knocked out cold. As it was, he managed to turn his head enough that the spanner glanced off the side of his helmet with little more than a loud noise. He threw his elbow back, only to meet thin air.
He spun on his knee and raised his flamethrower at the same moment his blaster was leveled at his chest.
"Don't move."
He stifled a sigh. "I suppose you're here for The Kid."
