Chapter Three

Ammi had to let the ship land on autopilot, due to the fact that she was busy vomiting. Space travel had never made her sick before; this was, to say the least, bizarre.

The problem, however, was not mere sickness. During the trip through hyperspace, her brief chances to sleep had been interrupted by the most unusual nightmares Ammi had ever experienced. Something was very wrong with this place, yet it had to be better than staying on Coruscant.

The baby began to cry as Ammi's weak body crumpled on the floor. She sighed helplessly, summoning every last ounce of her strength to pull herself off the cold floor and attend to him. She made no effort to control the tears streaming down her face. Even for a Jedi, pain and fatigue could multiply to become formidable adversaries.

Gradually, Ammi's head began to clear. She wiped her moist eyes with the back of one hand and began singing to the infant now in her arms. Whatever's going on at home, she thought, I better be able to go back soon.

Vor groaned with the effort of opening his eyes. He blinked several times before saying aloud, "Now that's a hangover."

"You gonna be all right?" What would under normal circumstances be considered a sweet, melodious voice echoed in his far-too-sensitive ears. "Could you whisper?" His head felt on the verge of explosion. "And who the hell are you, anyway?" Unable to sit up, he settled for suspiciously eyeing the beautiful Twi'lek who stood over him.

"My name is Lita." Her flute-like voice made the ordinary words hauntingly beautiful. "You must have been pretty drunk ; last night you didn't care about wasting time with introductions."

"What?!"

She simply laughed at his disbelief, then went on. "I'm just kidding! Nothing happened. You got hit really hard by that pig-faced moron, and I brought you back here to keep you alive. You've probably got a mild concussion, it should heal fairly soon. Just relax."

"Where am I, anyway?"

Lita grinned. "Like my apartment?"

She seemed to be merely an innocent bystander who was kind enough to help, but paranoia would not allow him the luxury of believing so. "I should probably go now," he told her, hoping she would not cause him any trouble.

"I'm not sure that's—"

"I need to go!" he snarled. She seemed rather taken aback, but not frightened. Likely the woman blew it off as irritability resulting from the head injury. "I have business to take care of," he told her, taking great care not to sound on the verge of homicidal rage. "Where's my datapad?"

Lita shook her head. "It got smashed in the bar," she informed him. Noting the suspicion on his face, she added, "You can ask the bartender if you don't believe me."

Vor began to relax slightly. "No, it's fine, it's fine." No one in their right mind would dream of interfering, even if they could somehow find out his purpose. "I just need to find a certain person, and the sooner I can contact her, the better."

Lita listened to this mysterious person with fascination, but wondered just how much she could trust him; something about him made her want to. Of course, being privy to her secret life didn't seem to be a major concern of his, which certainly counted in his favor. This asset, coupled with the fact that working alone was stressful and boring, seemed to be a sign that he would make an ideal partner. Trusting her reliable instinct, she raised an eyebrow and told him, "Maybe I could help you find this chick. Why is this so important to you?"

Vor narrowed his eyes at this disturbingly unique woman, who simply flipped her lekku over her shoulder and flashed him a cocky smile in return. "Why should I tell you?"

She shrugged at him, not losing an ounce of confidence. "Just thought we might be able to help each other. I mean, I found you unconscious in a sleazy bar. You could probably benefit from having someone to watch your back, as well half the profits from my business. It's an idea."

"You think you could help me?"

"Let me put it this way. I got cash, real and counterfeit; spice; assorted weapons; various illegal substances; fake identities; you get the idea. I can be pretty helpful when you need to do stuff that doesn't exactly coincide with Republic law." She smugly planted her hands on her hips, clearly proud of herself. Vor had to admit, her claims were impressive.

He grinned back at her. Blatant defiance of laws pleased him; perhaps she was worth a chance. Her operation did have the potential to work in his favor; besides, there was something about the girl he liked. "I don't suppose you could help me with an assassination…"

Lita pensively chewed her lower lip before replying, "I'm not really experienced in that area. I've committed about three or four murders, but I'm not really into killing unless it's absolutely necessary. I've got a pretty good arsenal though, if you want to take a look. And a few rare poisons."

"Good enough for me." Vor patted the lightsaber under his cloak and nodded at her. "Let's do it."