Velocity. As her name implied, she was fast, and I don't just mean
her speed in getting men into her bed. She rode a swoop like a smuggler
with half of CorSec less than a half klick off her aft end. She was quick
upstairs, too, though certain portions of her brain worked faster than the
rest, and those parts that were fueled by her ego fastest of all. Most of
her words came out hurtful, mean, nasty, spiteful, vindictive, snide, or
sarcastic. If she'd ever stopped to think a moment, I'm sure they would
have come out calculating, cold, rude, and malicious.
She was tall, if you like that sort of thing, and full-figured, to use a euphemism, and she had guys panting after her like she was the last female on Coruscant. Personally, if I was a guy, I wouldn't pursue her even if she was that last female on Coruscant. After all, there were dozens of other inhabited planets within a day's hyper travel.
And just so you know it's not just me, Nash and Ishtari and Reeabok and Shael and the triplets didn't like her either.
Anyway, because of all that, with my suspicion that she was the one being paid by CoruCorp to make trouble as icing on the cake, I was more than a bit surprised to learn that she was hosting a summit to negotiate an end to the hostilities.
I snorted derisively, and I didn't care who noticed. Roble did, and he shot me a glance that told me to shut up and keep my opinions to myself. Mason noticed and rewarded me with a playful wink. Shael noticed the wink and oh-so-casually draped an arm around my shoulders. I rolled my eyes.
"So, she's invited the leaders of each gang and two assistants to come to Heaven and talk peace," Roble concluded.
I snorted again. "Assistants? I take it there are restrictions?"
"Yes, we were asked not to bring our lieutenants. I think she hopes to reassure us that she's not trying to wipe out the leadership of all the rival gangs in one shot."
Shael straightened in his seat, suddenly worried. "Do you think that's a good idea?" he asked.
"Actually, I think it's a very good idea." Death nodded. "Between the three of you we shouldn't have any significant lapse in leadership should anything happen at the meeting."
"So, have you decided who you are going to take with you?" Famine inquired.
"Yes, but I'll only ask, I won't order. This is volunteer work only. I want that understood perfectly." There were nods of agreement all around the assembled mob seated at the meal tables before he continued. "I'd like Reeabok and Crash to come with me."
The Wookiee immediately whuffed an affirmative with an aggressive nod of her shaggy head. Shael's arm tightened around me, and he didn't give me a chance to answer for myself. "Why Crash?"
"She's Lorrdian, Shael. You know that, I know that, everyone knows that, but not everyone understands the significance of that," Roble explained patiently. The easy way the words rattled off his tongue was proof enough that he had rehearsed the answer more than once. Death knew Shael better than a brother. "She can keep me apprized of their moods, whether they are tense or relaxed. She can help me get a feel for real intentions, and she's got the best kriffing sabacc face I've ever run up against. She's got skills I'll need."
"I'll go, Boss," I told him, before Shael could open his big mouth again. "Protecto Boy here is just jealous of you."
There was a hearty round of laughter at Shael's expense after that, but he stopped protesting. He didn't look happy about it, but at least he didn't drag me off to one of the private rooms to try and talk me out of it. Maybe I'd managed to drum that message through his thick skull after all.
Roble was right, and Shael knew it. Not only could I do all that he had just said, but I could also read lips, too. Anybody within easy viewing range who was turned toward me while talking might as well shout because the only way to keep me from knowing every word would be to speak in some language I don't know. Needless to say, it's a talent that comes in handy more often than you might think.
Mason's hands lifted over his head in a casual stretch as the others began rising from their seats and spreading out to their various tasks. Then his hands moved, and I had to fight to keep a grimace off my face at his atrocious and awkward grammar.
*An eye to be keeping on all things meeting while at. Attend I cannot, but will need knowledge I.*
*Relax. I've got Death's back, I won't be missing anything,* I replied when he stood smoothly and turned enough to see the motions. *And your grammar's pathetic.*
*******
Heaven was rather nicely named. I've never seen so much luxury crammed into that much space. Everything was plush and cushioned and covered in white bantha leather or raw Alderaani silk. There was carpeting! The floor and walls were all a soft, bluish-grey. The tables were all actual glass with silver-chased durasteel supporting them. There were filmy sheets of white, gauzy fabric hanging from the ceiling that served to muffle noises and conversations and give a close, cloudy feel to the atmosphere. It was the weirdest place I'd ever been.
It took me a minute to figure out that all I could see was seating arrangements. There were no beds, no maintenance bay, no 'freshers, no kitchen. Finally my eyes picked out well camouflaged doors to other areas. They had enough space and money to spare to put up walls to separate the various parts of their home pad.
The rewards of successful drug traffic stared me in the face, but instead of jealousy, all I felt was disgust. The Horsemen didn't have much, but what we did have hadn't been earned off the misery of others and I was proud of that. I liked the closeness that we had because there were no walls to keep us apart. There were no secrets, well almost none, within our ranks.
Right then, every inch of Heaven was packed with sentient beings. The Hell Hounds had their three, a couple of Humans and a Rodian. The Wild Cards were gathered around a table with two gullible Angels who were getting taken for all they had. The Sithspawn in black and red, the Knights in deep blue, the Speed Demons in green and orange, the Imperium in purple, the Cloud Reapers in light blue and white, even a few of the gangs too small to have real territory of their own had their representatives there.
In all that crowd, only the Angels were not leashed tightly to their fellows by strings of distrust and paranoia. Death, Reeabok and I entered the room in a tight trio. The Wookiee's eyes scanned everyone in the room. No one was supposed to have weapons, and we'd submitted to a scan when we arrived to ensure it, but weapons came in all sorts of shapes and sizes. Reeabok's size and strength would go a long way toward keeping us safe. My unique skills and the knowledge I could gather with them could certainly qualify as another weapon. And keeping that in mind, there really wasn't anyone in that room who was unarmed, but some of us were definitely closer to the top of the firepower pile than others.
I immediately determined the reason for the extra white and gold sprinkling the room. It was their home base, of course they were going to have more muscle around than anyone else. Not only that, but I picked out more than one concealed blaster hidden under riding leathers. Velocity was taking no chances.
Mindful of my task here, I scanned each small grouping. The Cards were casual, calm, unconcerned, their focus on the game they were playing. The Demons and the Imperium, the two gangs caught squarely in the middle of the sector, were tense and edgy. They stayed even closer together than the rest of the groups, even the tiny gangs. Everyone was curious, everyone except the Cards was impatient for things to begin now that the last of us had arrived.
Roble whispered something to Reeabok, as my eyes raked across the room again. There was something here I was missing, and I refused to keep missing it. There. It was an Angel, sitting quite casually on the corner of one couch. He was giving the whole room the same once over that I was. He was handsome in a hard, dangerous sort of way, his longish dark blond hair and green eyes shown off nicely by the white and gold of his leathers. Something about him, maybe it was the set of his shoulders, or the slightest of creases between his brows, or the calculating look in his eyes, had my nerves singing out a warning. When his gaze passed over me, I kept every muscle relaxed and smiled flirtatiously at him. His stare lingered for a moment, a minute twitching of muscles at the corner of his mouth betraying his desire to smile back, and I made a slight kissing motion at him before turning away to attend to something Death had just said to me. I kept close watch on him out of the corner of my eye, but he moved on, unconcerned. I could almost read the thoughts right out of his mind.
//Wookiee- dangerous, Death- dangerous, Death's soon-to-be-ex- girlfriend- cute, not a threat.//
"Crash?"
"Huh?"
"I said, are you seeing anything I need to know?" Roble repeated.
"Yeah, there's someone here who's doing the same thing I am, just not as well," I told him.
His eyes narrowed. "Who?"
"I'll only tell you that it's an Angel. Anything more might make you look at him. I don't want to tip him off."
Death sighed. "Okay, fine. Anything else?"
"Yeah, I need you to act jealous of me," I told him calmly, a coy smile twisting my lips as I slipped up closer to him and rested one hand on his chest while the other ruffled at his hair. "I'm going to flirt like it's going out of style and I need you to growl and huff and scowl as if you were Shael."
"What are you planning, girl?" he asked me suspiciously. Reeabok ignored us as if this was something she saw all the time and was mildly annoyed by it.
"I'll be a lot less noticed if I'm your girlfriend, rather than your assistant," I purred. "And if you look carefully, you'll see I'm not the only girlfriend here." My finger drew idle circles on his chest and I pouted just a little. "I'm just going to be the most obvious one."
Roble sighed in exasperation and nodded, then snaked his arm around my waist and hauled me up securely to his side. Then we all moved farther into the room and took possession of an over-padded arm chair. Roble was the only one who actually sat on it. He lounged comfortably and I perched on the arm next to him while Reeabok stood behind us with her formidable arms folded over her broad chest and did her best to look mean and ready for trouble.
I smiled and winked at four or five of the best looking beings in the room and kept my eyes peeled for potential problems. I flirted. I batted my eyelashes and smiled and made kissy faces and winked in the most revolting manner. And Roble scowled and glared bloody murder at anyone I made eye contact with. It was the sort of scowling that I would imagine entropy would give to engineering types who dared to put the universe in some sort of order. The only thing that spoiled it was the faintest tinge of big brotherness that lurked around the edges.
When Velocity strutted in, I frowned, then pointedly turned my shoulder towards her and engaged Roble in conversation. She sneered back at me, convinced that she had no worthy competition when it came to beauty, and strolled casually over to where Mr. Dangerous was still keeping an eye on things.
It clicked into place for me as they talked briefly to each other. He must have been her newest right-hand man. She went through them fairly quickly, since she usually only put her current lover in that position, and she tended to get bored with them after a couple of months. This one, rumor had it, had lasted for over six months already, and was looking to spend at least a few more in the coveted post.
In the short time they stood there, I read the whole relationship from their postures. She liked him a whole lot, though I don't think she could have actually loved anyone other than herself. She thought he was completely devoted to her. He could have cared less. He was only in this for the power he now had, and was planning on getting more.
The user was getting used this time. Served her right. I giggled at something Roble said and focused my eyes on their lips.
"I can't believe he brought that-"
"She's not a lieutenant, that's all we stipulated."
"She's their slicer, Jayek!" I almost sniggered. That was my least important skill, for the moment anyway.
"We'll just keep her away from any computers, then. Besides, she appears to be spending all her energy on looking for a new boy-toy."
I focused my eyes on the continuing saga of sabacc and lost creds, pasting a calculating, interested expression on my face, and missed her reply, if she made one. When I glanced back, Jayek was speaking again.
"... the plan. We need to keep our focus and not get thrown by little things that aren't really problems. This gesture is what will clinch it for us. Stick to the script and we'll be the only ones left standing at the end." His face, his body, he used them both to force her to believe him, and she did. I couldn't help but be impressed. Nodding reluctantly, Velocity turned away and strode to the center of the room.
I had been right. Velocity was in this up to her penciled eyebrows. The Angels had to be behind the sudden fighting. Now, if I could only manage to figure out how she was fingering the cops ... I'd win some serious points with them if I could tell the cops how to keep their undercover agents alive around Velocity.
"Welcome to Heaven." Velocity's voice would have rung out through the room if it weren't for the sound dampening effects of the carpeting, 'clouds' and a lot of people. As it was, she had to be happy with getting everyone's attention. "We've invited you all here to begin working towards a truce, a cease-fire. There have been too many deaths and too much violence in the past couple of months. The people are getting restless and worried, and the cops are starting to crack down on [i]any[/i] gang activity. We need to work together to keep things from getting worse."
Wolf, leader of the Hell Hounds, snarled and looked pointedly at the Speed Demon representatives. "We were doing just fine until someone hit us hard in the southern range and tried to edge us out of the street sales there."
I called up the rainbow map in my mind and noted the starting skirmish. Trapper had told me three known street dealers had been found blasted to rags with a fine dusting of spice in their pockets. The cops hadn't been able to pin it on any one gang, but everyone figured it had been the Demons.
Velocity held up her hands for silence even as angry accusations, threats and counter-threats erupted all across the room. Only Death remained silent. "Please, this solves nothing, gains us nothing."
I stood and wound my way around the room, stopping next to Mr. Dangerous. I waited, pouting a little when it took him a while to finally turn and acknowledge me. I looked up at him from under dark eyelashes and smiled in an inviting manner. "Could you point me toward the nearest 'fresher? I need to ... powder my nose."
Jayek didn't look impressed, but he didn't brush me off either. I could read the conflict clearly in his eyes. He wanted to stay and read the room as best he could, but he also didn't want to let me out of his sight if I was going to be out of the carefully prepared meeting room. There wasn't a single computer terminal anywhere in the room. He was suspicious that maybe Roble had sent me on this trip specifically to try and get into their system.
I didn't care. The cops would all probably give their first born children and a year's salary for the drug trafficking records that were sure to be stored there, but I knew what I wanted wouldn't be there, so I just didn't care. What I wanted was a glance at the faces of the other Angels.
Finally he made a decision and signaled for one of the low-brows to come escort me to the refresher and back. Jayek gave him specific instructions, that he was careful to make sure I couldn't hear, to keep me far away from the computers.
I glanced over my shoulder on the way out and caught Roble's unhappy scowl. It was very authentic looking, probably because it was real. Big brother scowls often look a lot like jealous boyfriend scowls.
Outside the meeting room there was an actual hallway --talk about wasted space-- and the light airy theme continued right down the entire length. The low-brow thug guiding me led the way down to the third door on the right and stationed himself there, waiting. I resisted the urge to roll my eyes and batted them at him instead before pushing through the door.
This wasn't working the way it should. There would have been a large open space where all the others lounged at their ease, or waited for their leader's command. Instead they closed themselves off, put themselves in little boxes called rooms. I was going to have to work a little to get to see any of the others.
Leaning against one wall, I brought to mind the sparse description of the men Shael and Trapper had seen when they were attacked. Within my mind I created a vague picture and kept it at the front of my thoughts so that I could lay it over anyone I saw, to compare. Maybe I could find one of them and confirm my theories beyond any doubt.
Leaving the 'fresher, I trailed a finger across the chest of my guard. "We don't have to go back right away, do we?" I asked with a pouty little smile. Much as I detest women who act the way I was at that moment, I knew it was important, and I've witnessed enough of the nauseating behavior to mimic it perfectly. "I thought that maybe you could introduce me to a few of your friends."
"Umm." It wasn't a very intelligent response, but that's what I'd been hoping for. He was rapidly checking over his orders and finding that my request in no way violated them, provided he kept me away from any computers. "Sure, the guys wouldn't mind a little company, I guess."
I tilted my head and smiled in a pleased way, then let him lead me farther along the hallway. The door he opened at the very end of the hall lead into the wide, open room I had been looking for. It appeared to be some kind of games room, for there were old-fashioned wooden billiards tables, sabacc tables, and other things that I couldn't easily identify. My eyes flicked from face to face as everyone turned toward me and the opening door. I kept a smile curling my lips and waved a greeting to all and sundry as I continued to check faces against the mental image I had created from Shael's description.
"Hello, boys."
A few of them scowled at the colors I was wearing, but the man beside me gestured when he thought I wasn't paying attention, and no few of the expressions eased into curiosity. "Boys, this is ..."
"Crash," I supplied for him.
"Crash. She wanted to meet a few of my friends." His tone was loaded with innuendo, and my expression and body language weren't doing anything to discourage them from that notion. I moved among the group, winking here, pouting there, trailing fingers along arms and shoulders. When I was done, the required chatting over with, when I'd compared every face in the room with my mental picture, I excused myself.
"Death will be wondering where I'm at," I cooed. "I really should go back to the meeting."
"Then, follow me, Crash."
"I could show her back for you."
"I'd be happy to do it."
"It's my job, Jayek told me to keep careful watch over her." There was considerable grumbling over this, but everyone backed down. This was an important detail. Jayek had just as much real power with the gang at large as he did with Velocity. Maybe more.
Back at the meeting things were going just as I had guessed they would. Nowhere. Different gangs were still shouting at each other. Accusations and threats were flying faster than the swoops parked in the garage. Several beings were on their feet, trying to give their words more weight. I slipped through the crowd and posted myself back at Roble's side. Jayek watched me move across the room, and my escort nodded to him when he raised a questioning eyebrow. Out of the corner of my eye I noticed that he never once even tried to signal to Velocity.
Jayek had an agenda that Velocity wasn't a part of, I was suddenly quite certain of that. But how did that factor in with all the rest? Did it? I desperately wished for a brief moment that Mason was there with me. My Jedi would have been able to figure it out and tell me what was going on.
Jayek's eyes swung toward me suddenly, his gaze tight and suspicious. I forced my body into a state of light tension, to reflect the mood of the room. My face held an expression of mild worry and I reached out one hand to Roble as if seeking safety. Jayek's gaze never wavered as he took it all in, his mind ticking over. He wasn't buying it, but I couldn't understand why. I was doing everything perfectly. I was expressing concern, mild fearfulness, and a desire to flirt a little more with all my body. He should have been lapping it up like a feline with a bowl of rich cream. It made me more than a little nervous.
I tried to ignore Jayek and his burning stare, but it wasn't easy. He brushed at some imaginary dirt on his shoulder and Velocity materialized by his side. //Coming to his beck and call now, are we?//
"She's up to something, 'Locity. How long have you known her? Could she be a cop?"
Velocity issued a low, sneering laugh. "Not a chance. She's been a Horseman since it was legal for her to be out of school."
Jayek's expression was urgent, intense, but Velocity was never the most perceptive person I had known. "Could she be an informant then? Or could we at least make people believe that she is?"
"Jayek, no." Velocity's classically beautiful face screwed itself up in confusion. "Everyone knows her. The cops are a useful tool to her, but she'd never actually work for them. No one would believe it if we accused her."
Mr. Dangerous grabbed her shoulder and pulled the raven-haired woman away, farther from anyone who could hear, and unfortunately turned them so that his back was to me and Velocity was hidden from my gaze by his body. I wasn't going to get anymore of that conversation, but it had answered an important question. Velocity wasn't the one fingering the cops. Jayek was, and she was taking the credit.
Beside me Roble stirred, dragging my attention back to the rest of the room. "I take it you were up to something, leaving the room like that?"
"Yeah," I murmured back, "I managed to get a look at a bunch of the other Angels. Shael gave me a pretty good description of the men that took those potshots at him and Trapper. Not a one of them is even a partial match."
"Is there a possibility that you just didn't see them all?"
"What's the current Angel population?" I slipped off the arm of the chair and into his lap, one finger tracing the curve of his ear.
He chuckled at me, a resigned look on his face. He was embarrassed that someone he considered his little sister was acting this way around him, but he played his part and wrapped his arms around my waist. "At last guess, we estimated that they out numbered us by about half again as many," Roble reminded me.
"So ninety to a hundred of them?" I cooed. Roble just smiled and nodded, glancing over my shoulder to see if the meeting was going to go anywhere serious in the next few minutes. "Then with the ones in here and the number I ran into out there, unless all five of them are hiding out and keeping strictly to themselves, the odds are pretty slim that I wouldn't have seen at least one of them."
"What are you saying?"
"I'm not sure, but I don't think it was the Angels that hit us that day."
Roble jolted, but relaxed almost immediately when I gave him a warning pinch. "The Angels are the only ones we aren't on great terms with, Crash. They're the only ones who would have hit us. They're still grouchy about that three by seven block area we snatched from under them a while back."
"I'm just telling you what I saw and didn't see."
"What about weapons?"
I leaned forward and whispered in his ear. I hoped he had the sense to twist his lips into a pleased smile. "Armed to the teeth, Boss. They had a table full of heavy blasters, a scattering of light ones and a half dozen carbines. I saw an open box of grenades, and the hint of two more under a tarp in the corner."
Roble whistled low and I sat up quickly to hide his expression from anyone who might have been looking our way. "Watch it," I warned him.
"Sorry," he whispered back, awkwardly reaching up a hand to caress the side of my face. "I'm getting a very bad feeling about all this. Get ready to leave. I don't think anything good is going to come out of this."
Reeabok kept her eyes scanning restlessly, tirelessly across the assembled crowd. I'd taken a short moment to point out the Angels in the room who had blasters for sure and she no longer had her powerful arms folded across her chest. Her hands rested lightly on the back of the chair Roble and I sat in, ready to instantly jerk us backward out of any line of fire.
As soon as the conference in the corner ended Velocity strutted back to the center of the room and sneered until the accusations and counter accusations, threats and counter threats, and plain old obscenities finally dropped away into silence.
"There is no reason why we should be fighting. The territories are well established. These strikes and skirmishes only make the problem worse." She tossed her hair over her shoulder with calculated casualness. "The only thing that changes is the number of people you know that are dead."
"The Horsemen have no dead." Roble's bold, flat statement silenced even Velocity for a short time. Heads turned, optic sensory organs stared, and then angry mutterings started again.
"Death is right." Velocity stepped right into the growing agitation and used it to her advantage. "The Horsemen have no dead because they did not fly off half cocked. They didn't retaliate and didn't escalate the fight. They holed up in their home pad," somehow she managed to make it sound smart and cowardly at the same time and I ached to pound her violet eyes out the back of her empty head, "and laid low until the stupidity was over. They were the smart ones."
Velocity had their undivided attention. I gave her that much, she was good at manipulating people. She paced slowly back and forth, keeping all eyes on her. She was riveting. My hand, wrapped around Roble's neck and out of sight of anyone else, spoke quickly. Stroke-tap-tap-tap. Danger. Tap-tap-pause-ta-tap. Change course.
I felt, actually felt, his gaze burning my skin. When I snuck a quick look over my shoulder Mr. Dangerous was boring holes through me with his eyes. Not Roble, not Reeabok, but me and a chill of fear slithered down my spine. This man was more than just dangerous. He was deadly.
"We are only weakening ourselves. We are making the cops stronger. We are making competitors, streeters and runners, stronger. This cannot continue."
"And just what did you have in mind, Velocity?" Roble's tone, his whole demeanor was beautiful. I could have kissed him. It was disdainful and mocking and bored sounding, with mildly amused curiosity peeking around the corners. It was just what was needed to throw her off stride, break the spell, if only marginally. Of course, that's why he was Death, and not me.
Velocity managed to not sputter. She opened her mouth, paused for the merest moment, then pressed on, but not as smoothly as she had no doubt planned it. "We need a cease-fire."
"But that's sorta what we got right now," Bobby drawled insolently, drafting off Death's lead. "Ain't none of us shooting at the others right now."
"That's not the point," Velocity argued, rather desperately.
"That the point is exactly," a Krikteri in green and orange countered through his translator module.
"There is nothing solid, nothing binding-"
"And you honestly think you could bind any of us?" the leader of the Imperium, Treggor I think his name was, pointed out snidely. "We would not be constrained by writing on a page, or vows to such as you. We are too strong for that."
That started an avalanche. Hands waved in negative gestures while everyone began denying the need to even discuss the problem of the fighting. Every 'assistant' was loudly backing up their leader. It was all I could do to keep from grinning. Velocity kept shooting lethal looks at myself and Roble, who had remained completely silent after his disruptive outburst. Whatever her plans had been, he had knocked them right out of the sky and they weren't about to regain stable flight anytime in the near future.
"Ve are leavink," a Reaper declared. "Zhere is no point to zhis."
"Wait," Velocity demanded, but her words were ignored completely. I shot a quick glance back at Jayek and it didn't take a Lorrdian to see that he was seething. His eyes were narrowed to slits, his nostrils were flared and his whole face had a pinched, tight look about it. And from where his gaze landed I could see who he blamed. Velocity, and me. He regained control almost instantly, his face smoothing out into his normal intense calm. But I had seen it, and I knew that this was not a man to get on the bad side of.
Death jerked his head and we stood swiftly, each circling the chair a different direction so as not to slow the other. With Reeabok watching our backs, Death and me, we walked straight for the door. Behind us feet scuffed the floor as everyone else rose to follow us. There was a snarl of frustration and a panicked command and a blaster bolt slammed into the wall, only inches from the door jamb.
I was already throwing myself to the floor, rather gracelessly I might add, when Roble slammed into me from the side and carried me the rest of the way down, using his own body to shield me from any other bolts that may have been aimed our way. I saw, when I managed to get a peek around Roble's brawny shoulder, that Reeabok had spun and tossed the being nearest her straight at the Angel who had fired. After that there wasn't much need for us to be concerned since everyone else in the room had drawn a weapon of some sort. Shivs, daggers, brass knuckles, black jacks, even a few slug throwers, all unpowered and thus hard to scan for, appeared and began to vigorously defend their wielders by wreaking mayhem and inflicting damage on those around them.
Most of the violence was aimed at the Angels that had suddenly sprouted blasters.
The three of us took shelter behind an overturned couch and Roble immediately reached for his boots and pulled out something that looked suspiciously like a blaster barrel. Of course, that's exactly what it was. With swift efficiency, the three of us assembled the parts we had smuggled in. Last of all, I pulled the energy cell from my datapad to power the weapon with. Since it was a simple, non-dangerous datapad, I'd been allowed to bring it into the room with me. Ishtari had been the one to suggest that.
Red streaks of killing energy sizzled through the air over our heads, so we kept them down. The little energy cell didn't have enough of a charge for more than a dozen shots, so Roble held his fire, waiting until he was sure of a hit, and made each shot count. After a few moments he jerked his head toward the door.
"We've got to get out of here before the reinforcements arrive," he growled. " 'Bok, grab Crash, we're leaving."
"Wait, I don't need to be coddled-"
My words went unheeded as the Wookiee scooped me up effortlessly and cradled me close to her chest. She woofed her readiness, then she turned and pelted for the door while Roble, blaster in hand, covered our retreat.
We were the first ones to make it out and all the swoops sat waiting before us. As the last to arrive, our rides were the nearest to the exit of the garage and we legged it toward them. Or rather, Reeabok and Roble did. I was still being carried like a child too small to care for itself. A movement caught my eye and I shouted a warning before the first stab of red reached out toward us.
There were now angry Angels between us and our swoops.
We hit the deck behind a small cargo speeder and turned the air blue with some choice words. There was only three of them, but the odds of us getting at them before someone else came out of the meeting room behind us were getting longer and longer. Death popped up and fired off a shot, forcing them to duck back. I watched him carefully, his stance, his motions, his face and expression, then I began to creep sideways away from him. Reeabok wriggled forward on her belly, heading the opposite direction I was.
I was just praying that one of those guys out there didn't hit upon the bright idea of sabotaging our rides. Roble and I could 'borrow' just about any of the others parked around us, but our Wookiee companion needed her extra large swoop. She just wouldn't fit on anything else.
Scrambling from cover to cover, hoping desperately that the Angels wouldn't spot me, I moved closer to them and farther from Roble. Every time he darted up to take a shot at them I counted. He didn't have a whole lot of shots left before the power source fizzled out on him. Reeabok and I needed to hurry.
Finally, I was satisfied that I was far enough away to give Roble a fighting chance, so I brought my feet underneath me, knees bent, and took a few deep breaths. Shael was going to kill me for doing this. Of course, if it didn't work he wouldn't get the chance.
I jolted up, my hand coming up as if holding a blaster, my head tilted slightly, my eyes squinting a bit to aim properly, just as I had seen Death do. Instantly two of the three swung their weapons in my direction and fear froze my muscles. Roble shouted, rising to snap off two careful shots, but the words didn't register. Farther away, and much closer to the Angels, Reeabok roared out a Wookiee obscenity and charged. The men had suddenly too many targets and didn't know what to do.
Reeabok's cry shocked me into motion and I dropped back down just in time to feel a searing bolt of red death slice through the air above me. There were fearful, agonized screams coming from the Angels and I could hear Roble's blaster fire twice more before falling silent. The sudden lack of sound was so loud that I could hardly stand it. My nerves were tangled and twitching, imagining all sorts of horrible outcomes for our near-suicidal actions.
Just when I thought I could handle it no longer, when I thought I would break down and cry in the middle of Heaven's garage, Roble's voice cut through the silent roaring in my ears, and I'd never heard a more welcome sound in my life.
"Crash, you get your butt over here this instant!" I scrambled up and stumbled through the maze of vehicles to where Death and Reeabok were starting up their rides. Roble spared a single moment to fix me with a savage stare as I approached. "If you ever do anything like that again Shael won't get the chance to flay you alive. I'll do it myself!"
I nodded jerkily and snatched up my helmet, my hands shaking with the effects of adrenaline overload. I kept my eyes carefully away from the still forms that were heaped on the floor nearby, and I threw myself onto the swoop behind Roble. I struggled into my helmet, fastening it tightly as we eased through the partially open doors and out into the welcome sunlight.
As soon as we were well and truly on our way, with no pursuit in sight, and within range of Armageddon, Roble was burning up the airwaves with comm traffic. I didn't even mind when Shael roared out his demand that I be returned to him that very instant so that he could personally verify that I had taken no damage during the fight. I was just way too glad that we had all gotten out of there safely. I only managed one whimpery 'I'm fine', and spent all the rest of my energy clutching to Death, my helmeted face pressed close against his back, and cursing myself roundly for ever wanting a little more adventure in my life.
Adventure was for masochists!
We shot through the skies at speeds we'd normally use only when chased by the cops, dodging the other vehicles with only the thinnest of safety margins. We were all thinking about that meeting and the way it had ended. Gang relations were going to be at an all time low after this. Anybody else who managed to escape was going to go straight home and report that the Angels had laid a trap. Personally, I didn't give them a very long life expectancy, especially if the other gangs could shelve their own issues long enough to team up against the Angels.
I made a small mental note to think long and hard about everything I had seen and heard while at that meeting. It could prove to help unravel the whole mystery. But that would wait, I couldn't manage to hang on to an entire thought long enough to get all the way to the end of it just then.
Roble threaded the needle into Armageddon's garage and we were surrounded before the swoop had come to a complete stop. Strong arms pulled me from the swoop and hustled me through the crowd that mobbed around Death and Reeabok clamoring for more details.
Shael sat me on his bunk and eased my helmet off while his little brother lurked in the background, hovering protectively. He pushed my jacket back off my shoulders so that he could run his hands down my arms and body to assure himself that I hadn't really been hit by a stray shot. It was only then that I realized I hadn't sealed up my jacket before jumping on Roble's ride. With a sound that was half whimper and half sob, I threw myself into Shael's arms, desperate to be held, to be comforted. //We're alright! All of us. Oh, but what if ... // I couldn't complete the thought. The possibilities were too terrible to think about.
Shael clutched me tightly to him and rocked me gently back and forth while I cried into his shoulder. I cried myself out and then just leaned against him, sniffing and reveling in the strength and safety of his arms. His hand stroked slowly over my hair and he was warm and comforting.
"You're safe, Chen. You're home and you're safe," he murmured to me over and over again. I was vaguely aware that people came and went and that Shael chased them off. Famine's voice was the most recognizable.
"Some stunt there, Crash," he congratulated me. I wasn't in the mood to accept it and Shael definitely wasn't in the mood to have people encouraging me to do stupid things.
"Beat it, Souther!" I remembered it mostly because it startled me when Shael called Famine by his real name. I didn't think I'd heard it in several years. Judging by the look on his face as he walked away, neither had Famine.
She was tall, if you like that sort of thing, and full-figured, to use a euphemism, and she had guys panting after her like she was the last female on Coruscant. Personally, if I was a guy, I wouldn't pursue her even if she was that last female on Coruscant. After all, there were dozens of other inhabited planets within a day's hyper travel.
And just so you know it's not just me, Nash and Ishtari and Reeabok and Shael and the triplets didn't like her either.
Anyway, because of all that, with my suspicion that she was the one being paid by CoruCorp to make trouble as icing on the cake, I was more than a bit surprised to learn that she was hosting a summit to negotiate an end to the hostilities.
I snorted derisively, and I didn't care who noticed. Roble did, and he shot me a glance that told me to shut up and keep my opinions to myself. Mason noticed and rewarded me with a playful wink. Shael noticed the wink and oh-so-casually draped an arm around my shoulders. I rolled my eyes.
"So, she's invited the leaders of each gang and two assistants to come to Heaven and talk peace," Roble concluded.
I snorted again. "Assistants? I take it there are restrictions?"
"Yes, we were asked not to bring our lieutenants. I think she hopes to reassure us that she's not trying to wipe out the leadership of all the rival gangs in one shot."
Shael straightened in his seat, suddenly worried. "Do you think that's a good idea?" he asked.
"Actually, I think it's a very good idea." Death nodded. "Between the three of you we shouldn't have any significant lapse in leadership should anything happen at the meeting."
"So, have you decided who you are going to take with you?" Famine inquired.
"Yes, but I'll only ask, I won't order. This is volunteer work only. I want that understood perfectly." There were nods of agreement all around the assembled mob seated at the meal tables before he continued. "I'd like Reeabok and Crash to come with me."
The Wookiee immediately whuffed an affirmative with an aggressive nod of her shaggy head. Shael's arm tightened around me, and he didn't give me a chance to answer for myself. "Why Crash?"
"She's Lorrdian, Shael. You know that, I know that, everyone knows that, but not everyone understands the significance of that," Roble explained patiently. The easy way the words rattled off his tongue was proof enough that he had rehearsed the answer more than once. Death knew Shael better than a brother. "She can keep me apprized of their moods, whether they are tense or relaxed. She can help me get a feel for real intentions, and she's got the best kriffing sabacc face I've ever run up against. She's got skills I'll need."
"I'll go, Boss," I told him, before Shael could open his big mouth again. "Protecto Boy here is just jealous of you."
There was a hearty round of laughter at Shael's expense after that, but he stopped protesting. He didn't look happy about it, but at least he didn't drag me off to one of the private rooms to try and talk me out of it. Maybe I'd managed to drum that message through his thick skull after all.
Roble was right, and Shael knew it. Not only could I do all that he had just said, but I could also read lips, too. Anybody within easy viewing range who was turned toward me while talking might as well shout because the only way to keep me from knowing every word would be to speak in some language I don't know. Needless to say, it's a talent that comes in handy more often than you might think.
Mason's hands lifted over his head in a casual stretch as the others began rising from their seats and spreading out to their various tasks. Then his hands moved, and I had to fight to keep a grimace off my face at his atrocious and awkward grammar.
*An eye to be keeping on all things meeting while at. Attend I cannot, but will need knowledge I.*
*Relax. I've got Death's back, I won't be missing anything,* I replied when he stood smoothly and turned enough to see the motions. *And your grammar's pathetic.*
*******
Heaven was rather nicely named. I've never seen so much luxury crammed into that much space. Everything was plush and cushioned and covered in white bantha leather or raw Alderaani silk. There was carpeting! The floor and walls were all a soft, bluish-grey. The tables were all actual glass with silver-chased durasteel supporting them. There were filmy sheets of white, gauzy fabric hanging from the ceiling that served to muffle noises and conversations and give a close, cloudy feel to the atmosphere. It was the weirdest place I'd ever been.
It took me a minute to figure out that all I could see was seating arrangements. There were no beds, no maintenance bay, no 'freshers, no kitchen. Finally my eyes picked out well camouflaged doors to other areas. They had enough space and money to spare to put up walls to separate the various parts of their home pad.
The rewards of successful drug traffic stared me in the face, but instead of jealousy, all I felt was disgust. The Horsemen didn't have much, but what we did have hadn't been earned off the misery of others and I was proud of that. I liked the closeness that we had because there were no walls to keep us apart. There were no secrets, well almost none, within our ranks.
Right then, every inch of Heaven was packed with sentient beings. The Hell Hounds had their three, a couple of Humans and a Rodian. The Wild Cards were gathered around a table with two gullible Angels who were getting taken for all they had. The Sithspawn in black and red, the Knights in deep blue, the Speed Demons in green and orange, the Imperium in purple, the Cloud Reapers in light blue and white, even a few of the gangs too small to have real territory of their own had their representatives there.
In all that crowd, only the Angels were not leashed tightly to their fellows by strings of distrust and paranoia. Death, Reeabok and I entered the room in a tight trio. The Wookiee's eyes scanned everyone in the room. No one was supposed to have weapons, and we'd submitted to a scan when we arrived to ensure it, but weapons came in all sorts of shapes and sizes. Reeabok's size and strength would go a long way toward keeping us safe. My unique skills and the knowledge I could gather with them could certainly qualify as another weapon. And keeping that in mind, there really wasn't anyone in that room who was unarmed, but some of us were definitely closer to the top of the firepower pile than others.
I immediately determined the reason for the extra white and gold sprinkling the room. It was their home base, of course they were going to have more muscle around than anyone else. Not only that, but I picked out more than one concealed blaster hidden under riding leathers. Velocity was taking no chances.
Mindful of my task here, I scanned each small grouping. The Cards were casual, calm, unconcerned, their focus on the game they were playing. The Demons and the Imperium, the two gangs caught squarely in the middle of the sector, were tense and edgy. They stayed even closer together than the rest of the groups, even the tiny gangs. Everyone was curious, everyone except the Cards was impatient for things to begin now that the last of us had arrived.
Roble whispered something to Reeabok, as my eyes raked across the room again. There was something here I was missing, and I refused to keep missing it. There. It was an Angel, sitting quite casually on the corner of one couch. He was giving the whole room the same once over that I was. He was handsome in a hard, dangerous sort of way, his longish dark blond hair and green eyes shown off nicely by the white and gold of his leathers. Something about him, maybe it was the set of his shoulders, or the slightest of creases between his brows, or the calculating look in his eyes, had my nerves singing out a warning. When his gaze passed over me, I kept every muscle relaxed and smiled flirtatiously at him. His stare lingered for a moment, a minute twitching of muscles at the corner of his mouth betraying his desire to smile back, and I made a slight kissing motion at him before turning away to attend to something Death had just said to me. I kept close watch on him out of the corner of my eye, but he moved on, unconcerned. I could almost read the thoughts right out of his mind.
//Wookiee- dangerous, Death- dangerous, Death's soon-to-be-ex- girlfriend- cute, not a threat.//
"Crash?"
"Huh?"
"I said, are you seeing anything I need to know?" Roble repeated.
"Yeah, there's someone here who's doing the same thing I am, just not as well," I told him.
His eyes narrowed. "Who?"
"I'll only tell you that it's an Angel. Anything more might make you look at him. I don't want to tip him off."
Death sighed. "Okay, fine. Anything else?"
"Yeah, I need you to act jealous of me," I told him calmly, a coy smile twisting my lips as I slipped up closer to him and rested one hand on his chest while the other ruffled at his hair. "I'm going to flirt like it's going out of style and I need you to growl and huff and scowl as if you were Shael."
"What are you planning, girl?" he asked me suspiciously. Reeabok ignored us as if this was something she saw all the time and was mildly annoyed by it.
"I'll be a lot less noticed if I'm your girlfriend, rather than your assistant," I purred. "And if you look carefully, you'll see I'm not the only girlfriend here." My finger drew idle circles on his chest and I pouted just a little. "I'm just going to be the most obvious one."
Roble sighed in exasperation and nodded, then snaked his arm around my waist and hauled me up securely to his side. Then we all moved farther into the room and took possession of an over-padded arm chair. Roble was the only one who actually sat on it. He lounged comfortably and I perched on the arm next to him while Reeabok stood behind us with her formidable arms folded over her broad chest and did her best to look mean and ready for trouble.
I smiled and winked at four or five of the best looking beings in the room and kept my eyes peeled for potential problems. I flirted. I batted my eyelashes and smiled and made kissy faces and winked in the most revolting manner. And Roble scowled and glared bloody murder at anyone I made eye contact with. It was the sort of scowling that I would imagine entropy would give to engineering types who dared to put the universe in some sort of order. The only thing that spoiled it was the faintest tinge of big brotherness that lurked around the edges.
When Velocity strutted in, I frowned, then pointedly turned my shoulder towards her and engaged Roble in conversation. She sneered back at me, convinced that she had no worthy competition when it came to beauty, and strolled casually over to where Mr. Dangerous was still keeping an eye on things.
It clicked into place for me as they talked briefly to each other. He must have been her newest right-hand man. She went through them fairly quickly, since she usually only put her current lover in that position, and she tended to get bored with them after a couple of months. This one, rumor had it, had lasted for over six months already, and was looking to spend at least a few more in the coveted post.
In the short time they stood there, I read the whole relationship from their postures. She liked him a whole lot, though I don't think she could have actually loved anyone other than herself. She thought he was completely devoted to her. He could have cared less. He was only in this for the power he now had, and was planning on getting more.
The user was getting used this time. Served her right. I giggled at something Roble said and focused my eyes on their lips.
"I can't believe he brought that-"
"She's not a lieutenant, that's all we stipulated."
"She's their slicer, Jayek!" I almost sniggered. That was my least important skill, for the moment anyway.
"We'll just keep her away from any computers, then. Besides, she appears to be spending all her energy on looking for a new boy-toy."
I focused my eyes on the continuing saga of sabacc and lost creds, pasting a calculating, interested expression on my face, and missed her reply, if she made one. When I glanced back, Jayek was speaking again.
"... the plan. We need to keep our focus and not get thrown by little things that aren't really problems. This gesture is what will clinch it for us. Stick to the script and we'll be the only ones left standing at the end." His face, his body, he used them both to force her to believe him, and she did. I couldn't help but be impressed. Nodding reluctantly, Velocity turned away and strode to the center of the room.
I had been right. Velocity was in this up to her penciled eyebrows. The Angels had to be behind the sudden fighting. Now, if I could only manage to figure out how she was fingering the cops ... I'd win some serious points with them if I could tell the cops how to keep their undercover agents alive around Velocity.
"Welcome to Heaven." Velocity's voice would have rung out through the room if it weren't for the sound dampening effects of the carpeting, 'clouds' and a lot of people. As it was, she had to be happy with getting everyone's attention. "We've invited you all here to begin working towards a truce, a cease-fire. There have been too many deaths and too much violence in the past couple of months. The people are getting restless and worried, and the cops are starting to crack down on [i]any[/i] gang activity. We need to work together to keep things from getting worse."
Wolf, leader of the Hell Hounds, snarled and looked pointedly at the Speed Demon representatives. "We were doing just fine until someone hit us hard in the southern range and tried to edge us out of the street sales there."
I called up the rainbow map in my mind and noted the starting skirmish. Trapper had told me three known street dealers had been found blasted to rags with a fine dusting of spice in their pockets. The cops hadn't been able to pin it on any one gang, but everyone figured it had been the Demons.
Velocity held up her hands for silence even as angry accusations, threats and counter-threats erupted all across the room. Only Death remained silent. "Please, this solves nothing, gains us nothing."
I stood and wound my way around the room, stopping next to Mr. Dangerous. I waited, pouting a little when it took him a while to finally turn and acknowledge me. I looked up at him from under dark eyelashes and smiled in an inviting manner. "Could you point me toward the nearest 'fresher? I need to ... powder my nose."
Jayek didn't look impressed, but he didn't brush me off either. I could read the conflict clearly in his eyes. He wanted to stay and read the room as best he could, but he also didn't want to let me out of his sight if I was going to be out of the carefully prepared meeting room. There wasn't a single computer terminal anywhere in the room. He was suspicious that maybe Roble had sent me on this trip specifically to try and get into their system.
I didn't care. The cops would all probably give their first born children and a year's salary for the drug trafficking records that were sure to be stored there, but I knew what I wanted wouldn't be there, so I just didn't care. What I wanted was a glance at the faces of the other Angels.
Finally he made a decision and signaled for one of the low-brows to come escort me to the refresher and back. Jayek gave him specific instructions, that he was careful to make sure I couldn't hear, to keep me far away from the computers.
I glanced over my shoulder on the way out and caught Roble's unhappy scowl. It was very authentic looking, probably because it was real. Big brother scowls often look a lot like jealous boyfriend scowls.
Outside the meeting room there was an actual hallway --talk about wasted space-- and the light airy theme continued right down the entire length. The low-brow thug guiding me led the way down to the third door on the right and stationed himself there, waiting. I resisted the urge to roll my eyes and batted them at him instead before pushing through the door.
This wasn't working the way it should. There would have been a large open space where all the others lounged at their ease, or waited for their leader's command. Instead they closed themselves off, put themselves in little boxes called rooms. I was going to have to work a little to get to see any of the others.
Leaning against one wall, I brought to mind the sparse description of the men Shael and Trapper had seen when they were attacked. Within my mind I created a vague picture and kept it at the front of my thoughts so that I could lay it over anyone I saw, to compare. Maybe I could find one of them and confirm my theories beyond any doubt.
Leaving the 'fresher, I trailed a finger across the chest of my guard. "We don't have to go back right away, do we?" I asked with a pouty little smile. Much as I detest women who act the way I was at that moment, I knew it was important, and I've witnessed enough of the nauseating behavior to mimic it perfectly. "I thought that maybe you could introduce me to a few of your friends."
"Umm." It wasn't a very intelligent response, but that's what I'd been hoping for. He was rapidly checking over his orders and finding that my request in no way violated them, provided he kept me away from any computers. "Sure, the guys wouldn't mind a little company, I guess."
I tilted my head and smiled in a pleased way, then let him lead me farther along the hallway. The door he opened at the very end of the hall lead into the wide, open room I had been looking for. It appeared to be some kind of games room, for there were old-fashioned wooden billiards tables, sabacc tables, and other things that I couldn't easily identify. My eyes flicked from face to face as everyone turned toward me and the opening door. I kept a smile curling my lips and waved a greeting to all and sundry as I continued to check faces against the mental image I had created from Shael's description.
"Hello, boys."
A few of them scowled at the colors I was wearing, but the man beside me gestured when he thought I wasn't paying attention, and no few of the expressions eased into curiosity. "Boys, this is ..."
"Crash," I supplied for him.
"Crash. She wanted to meet a few of my friends." His tone was loaded with innuendo, and my expression and body language weren't doing anything to discourage them from that notion. I moved among the group, winking here, pouting there, trailing fingers along arms and shoulders. When I was done, the required chatting over with, when I'd compared every face in the room with my mental picture, I excused myself.
"Death will be wondering where I'm at," I cooed. "I really should go back to the meeting."
"Then, follow me, Crash."
"I could show her back for you."
"I'd be happy to do it."
"It's my job, Jayek told me to keep careful watch over her." There was considerable grumbling over this, but everyone backed down. This was an important detail. Jayek had just as much real power with the gang at large as he did with Velocity. Maybe more.
Back at the meeting things were going just as I had guessed they would. Nowhere. Different gangs were still shouting at each other. Accusations and threats were flying faster than the swoops parked in the garage. Several beings were on their feet, trying to give their words more weight. I slipped through the crowd and posted myself back at Roble's side. Jayek watched me move across the room, and my escort nodded to him when he raised a questioning eyebrow. Out of the corner of my eye I noticed that he never once even tried to signal to Velocity.
Jayek had an agenda that Velocity wasn't a part of, I was suddenly quite certain of that. But how did that factor in with all the rest? Did it? I desperately wished for a brief moment that Mason was there with me. My Jedi would have been able to figure it out and tell me what was going on.
Jayek's eyes swung toward me suddenly, his gaze tight and suspicious. I forced my body into a state of light tension, to reflect the mood of the room. My face held an expression of mild worry and I reached out one hand to Roble as if seeking safety. Jayek's gaze never wavered as he took it all in, his mind ticking over. He wasn't buying it, but I couldn't understand why. I was doing everything perfectly. I was expressing concern, mild fearfulness, and a desire to flirt a little more with all my body. He should have been lapping it up like a feline with a bowl of rich cream. It made me more than a little nervous.
I tried to ignore Jayek and his burning stare, but it wasn't easy. He brushed at some imaginary dirt on his shoulder and Velocity materialized by his side. //Coming to his beck and call now, are we?//
"She's up to something, 'Locity. How long have you known her? Could she be a cop?"
Velocity issued a low, sneering laugh. "Not a chance. She's been a Horseman since it was legal for her to be out of school."
Jayek's expression was urgent, intense, but Velocity was never the most perceptive person I had known. "Could she be an informant then? Or could we at least make people believe that she is?"
"Jayek, no." Velocity's classically beautiful face screwed itself up in confusion. "Everyone knows her. The cops are a useful tool to her, but she'd never actually work for them. No one would believe it if we accused her."
Mr. Dangerous grabbed her shoulder and pulled the raven-haired woman away, farther from anyone who could hear, and unfortunately turned them so that his back was to me and Velocity was hidden from my gaze by his body. I wasn't going to get anymore of that conversation, but it had answered an important question. Velocity wasn't the one fingering the cops. Jayek was, and she was taking the credit.
Beside me Roble stirred, dragging my attention back to the rest of the room. "I take it you were up to something, leaving the room like that?"
"Yeah," I murmured back, "I managed to get a look at a bunch of the other Angels. Shael gave me a pretty good description of the men that took those potshots at him and Trapper. Not a one of them is even a partial match."
"Is there a possibility that you just didn't see them all?"
"What's the current Angel population?" I slipped off the arm of the chair and into his lap, one finger tracing the curve of his ear.
He chuckled at me, a resigned look on his face. He was embarrassed that someone he considered his little sister was acting this way around him, but he played his part and wrapped his arms around my waist. "At last guess, we estimated that they out numbered us by about half again as many," Roble reminded me.
"So ninety to a hundred of them?" I cooed. Roble just smiled and nodded, glancing over my shoulder to see if the meeting was going to go anywhere serious in the next few minutes. "Then with the ones in here and the number I ran into out there, unless all five of them are hiding out and keeping strictly to themselves, the odds are pretty slim that I wouldn't have seen at least one of them."
"What are you saying?"
"I'm not sure, but I don't think it was the Angels that hit us that day."
Roble jolted, but relaxed almost immediately when I gave him a warning pinch. "The Angels are the only ones we aren't on great terms with, Crash. They're the only ones who would have hit us. They're still grouchy about that three by seven block area we snatched from under them a while back."
"I'm just telling you what I saw and didn't see."
"What about weapons?"
I leaned forward and whispered in his ear. I hoped he had the sense to twist his lips into a pleased smile. "Armed to the teeth, Boss. They had a table full of heavy blasters, a scattering of light ones and a half dozen carbines. I saw an open box of grenades, and the hint of two more under a tarp in the corner."
Roble whistled low and I sat up quickly to hide his expression from anyone who might have been looking our way. "Watch it," I warned him.
"Sorry," he whispered back, awkwardly reaching up a hand to caress the side of my face. "I'm getting a very bad feeling about all this. Get ready to leave. I don't think anything good is going to come out of this."
Reeabok kept her eyes scanning restlessly, tirelessly across the assembled crowd. I'd taken a short moment to point out the Angels in the room who had blasters for sure and she no longer had her powerful arms folded across her chest. Her hands rested lightly on the back of the chair Roble and I sat in, ready to instantly jerk us backward out of any line of fire.
As soon as the conference in the corner ended Velocity strutted back to the center of the room and sneered until the accusations and counter accusations, threats and counter threats, and plain old obscenities finally dropped away into silence.
"There is no reason why we should be fighting. The territories are well established. These strikes and skirmishes only make the problem worse." She tossed her hair over her shoulder with calculated casualness. "The only thing that changes is the number of people you know that are dead."
"The Horsemen have no dead." Roble's bold, flat statement silenced even Velocity for a short time. Heads turned, optic sensory organs stared, and then angry mutterings started again.
"Death is right." Velocity stepped right into the growing agitation and used it to her advantage. "The Horsemen have no dead because they did not fly off half cocked. They didn't retaliate and didn't escalate the fight. They holed up in their home pad," somehow she managed to make it sound smart and cowardly at the same time and I ached to pound her violet eyes out the back of her empty head, "and laid low until the stupidity was over. They were the smart ones."
Velocity had their undivided attention. I gave her that much, she was good at manipulating people. She paced slowly back and forth, keeping all eyes on her. She was riveting. My hand, wrapped around Roble's neck and out of sight of anyone else, spoke quickly. Stroke-tap-tap-tap. Danger. Tap-tap-pause-ta-tap. Change course.
I felt, actually felt, his gaze burning my skin. When I snuck a quick look over my shoulder Mr. Dangerous was boring holes through me with his eyes. Not Roble, not Reeabok, but me and a chill of fear slithered down my spine. This man was more than just dangerous. He was deadly.
"We are only weakening ourselves. We are making the cops stronger. We are making competitors, streeters and runners, stronger. This cannot continue."
"And just what did you have in mind, Velocity?" Roble's tone, his whole demeanor was beautiful. I could have kissed him. It was disdainful and mocking and bored sounding, with mildly amused curiosity peeking around the corners. It was just what was needed to throw her off stride, break the spell, if only marginally. Of course, that's why he was Death, and not me.
Velocity managed to not sputter. She opened her mouth, paused for the merest moment, then pressed on, but not as smoothly as she had no doubt planned it. "We need a cease-fire."
"But that's sorta what we got right now," Bobby drawled insolently, drafting off Death's lead. "Ain't none of us shooting at the others right now."
"That's not the point," Velocity argued, rather desperately.
"That the point is exactly," a Krikteri in green and orange countered through his translator module.
"There is nothing solid, nothing binding-"
"And you honestly think you could bind any of us?" the leader of the Imperium, Treggor I think his name was, pointed out snidely. "We would not be constrained by writing on a page, or vows to such as you. We are too strong for that."
That started an avalanche. Hands waved in negative gestures while everyone began denying the need to even discuss the problem of the fighting. Every 'assistant' was loudly backing up their leader. It was all I could do to keep from grinning. Velocity kept shooting lethal looks at myself and Roble, who had remained completely silent after his disruptive outburst. Whatever her plans had been, he had knocked them right out of the sky and they weren't about to regain stable flight anytime in the near future.
"Ve are leavink," a Reaper declared. "Zhere is no point to zhis."
"Wait," Velocity demanded, but her words were ignored completely. I shot a quick glance back at Jayek and it didn't take a Lorrdian to see that he was seething. His eyes were narrowed to slits, his nostrils were flared and his whole face had a pinched, tight look about it. And from where his gaze landed I could see who he blamed. Velocity, and me. He regained control almost instantly, his face smoothing out into his normal intense calm. But I had seen it, and I knew that this was not a man to get on the bad side of.
Death jerked his head and we stood swiftly, each circling the chair a different direction so as not to slow the other. With Reeabok watching our backs, Death and me, we walked straight for the door. Behind us feet scuffed the floor as everyone else rose to follow us. There was a snarl of frustration and a panicked command and a blaster bolt slammed into the wall, only inches from the door jamb.
I was already throwing myself to the floor, rather gracelessly I might add, when Roble slammed into me from the side and carried me the rest of the way down, using his own body to shield me from any other bolts that may have been aimed our way. I saw, when I managed to get a peek around Roble's brawny shoulder, that Reeabok had spun and tossed the being nearest her straight at the Angel who had fired. After that there wasn't much need for us to be concerned since everyone else in the room had drawn a weapon of some sort. Shivs, daggers, brass knuckles, black jacks, even a few slug throwers, all unpowered and thus hard to scan for, appeared and began to vigorously defend their wielders by wreaking mayhem and inflicting damage on those around them.
Most of the violence was aimed at the Angels that had suddenly sprouted blasters.
The three of us took shelter behind an overturned couch and Roble immediately reached for his boots and pulled out something that looked suspiciously like a blaster barrel. Of course, that's exactly what it was. With swift efficiency, the three of us assembled the parts we had smuggled in. Last of all, I pulled the energy cell from my datapad to power the weapon with. Since it was a simple, non-dangerous datapad, I'd been allowed to bring it into the room with me. Ishtari had been the one to suggest that.
Red streaks of killing energy sizzled through the air over our heads, so we kept them down. The little energy cell didn't have enough of a charge for more than a dozen shots, so Roble held his fire, waiting until he was sure of a hit, and made each shot count. After a few moments he jerked his head toward the door.
"We've got to get out of here before the reinforcements arrive," he growled. " 'Bok, grab Crash, we're leaving."
"Wait, I don't need to be coddled-"
My words went unheeded as the Wookiee scooped me up effortlessly and cradled me close to her chest. She woofed her readiness, then she turned and pelted for the door while Roble, blaster in hand, covered our retreat.
We were the first ones to make it out and all the swoops sat waiting before us. As the last to arrive, our rides were the nearest to the exit of the garage and we legged it toward them. Or rather, Reeabok and Roble did. I was still being carried like a child too small to care for itself. A movement caught my eye and I shouted a warning before the first stab of red reached out toward us.
There were now angry Angels between us and our swoops.
We hit the deck behind a small cargo speeder and turned the air blue with some choice words. There was only three of them, but the odds of us getting at them before someone else came out of the meeting room behind us were getting longer and longer. Death popped up and fired off a shot, forcing them to duck back. I watched him carefully, his stance, his motions, his face and expression, then I began to creep sideways away from him. Reeabok wriggled forward on her belly, heading the opposite direction I was.
I was just praying that one of those guys out there didn't hit upon the bright idea of sabotaging our rides. Roble and I could 'borrow' just about any of the others parked around us, but our Wookiee companion needed her extra large swoop. She just wouldn't fit on anything else.
Scrambling from cover to cover, hoping desperately that the Angels wouldn't spot me, I moved closer to them and farther from Roble. Every time he darted up to take a shot at them I counted. He didn't have a whole lot of shots left before the power source fizzled out on him. Reeabok and I needed to hurry.
Finally, I was satisfied that I was far enough away to give Roble a fighting chance, so I brought my feet underneath me, knees bent, and took a few deep breaths. Shael was going to kill me for doing this. Of course, if it didn't work he wouldn't get the chance.
I jolted up, my hand coming up as if holding a blaster, my head tilted slightly, my eyes squinting a bit to aim properly, just as I had seen Death do. Instantly two of the three swung their weapons in my direction and fear froze my muscles. Roble shouted, rising to snap off two careful shots, but the words didn't register. Farther away, and much closer to the Angels, Reeabok roared out a Wookiee obscenity and charged. The men had suddenly too many targets and didn't know what to do.
Reeabok's cry shocked me into motion and I dropped back down just in time to feel a searing bolt of red death slice through the air above me. There were fearful, agonized screams coming from the Angels and I could hear Roble's blaster fire twice more before falling silent. The sudden lack of sound was so loud that I could hardly stand it. My nerves were tangled and twitching, imagining all sorts of horrible outcomes for our near-suicidal actions.
Just when I thought I could handle it no longer, when I thought I would break down and cry in the middle of Heaven's garage, Roble's voice cut through the silent roaring in my ears, and I'd never heard a more welcome sound in my life.
"Crash, you get your butt over here this instant!" I scrambled up and stumbled through the maze of vehicles to where Death and Reeabok were starting up their rides. Roble spared a single moment to fix me with a savage stare as I approached. "If you ever do anything like that again Shael won't get the chance to flay you alive. I'll do it myself!"
I nodded jerkily and snatched up my helmet, my hands shaking with the effects of adrenaline overload. I kept my eyes carefully away from the still forms that were heaped on the floor nearby, and I threw myself onto the swoop behind Roble. I struggled into my helmet, fastening it tightly as we eased through the partially open doors and out into the welcome sunlight.
As soon as we were well and truly on our way, with no pursuit in sight, and within range of Armageddon, Roble was burning up the airwaves with comm traffic. I didn't even mind when Shael roared out his demand that I be returned to him that very instant so that he could personally verify that I had taken no damage during the fight. I was just way too glad that we had all gotten out of there safely. I only managed one whimpery 'I'm fine', and spent all the rest of my energy clutching to Death, my helmeted face pressed close against his back, and cursing myself roundly for ever wanting a little more adventure in my life.
Adventure was for masochists!
We shot through the skies at speeds we'd normally use only when chased by the cops, dodging the other vehicles with only the thinnest of safety margins. We were all thinking about that meeting and the way it had ended. Gang relations were going to be at an all time low after this. Anybody else who managed to escape was going to go straight home and report that the Angels had laid a trap. Personally, I didn't give them a very long life expectancy, especially if the other gangs could shelve their own issues long enough to team up against the Angels.
I made a small mental note to think long and hard about everything I had seen and heard while at that meeting. It could prove to help unravel the whole mystery. But that would wait, I couldn't manage to hang on to an entire thought long enough to get all the way to the end of it just then.
Roble threaded the needle into Armageddon's garage and we were surrounded before the swoop had come to a complete stop. Strong arms pulled me from the swoop and hustled me through the crowd that mobbed around Death and Reeabok clamoring for more details.
Shael sat me on his bunk and eased my helmet off while his little brother lurked in the background, hovering protectively. He pushed my jacket back off my shoulders so that he could run his hands down my arms and body to assure himself that I hadn't really been hit by a stray shot. It was only then that I realized I hadn't sealed up my jacket before jumping on Roble's ride. With a sound that was half whimper and half sob, I threw myself into Shael's arms, desperate to be held, to be comforted. //We're alright! All of us. Oh, but what if ... // I couldn't complete the thought. The possibilities were too terrible to think about.
Shael clutched me tightly to him and rocked me gently back and forth while I cried into his shoulder. I cried myself out and then just leaned against him, sniffing and reveling in the strength and safety of his arms. His hand stroked slowly over my hair and he was warm and comforting.
"You're safe, Chen. You're home and you're safe," he murmured to me over and over again. I was vaguely aware that people came and went and that Shael chased them off. Famine's voice was the most recognizable.
"Some stunt there, Crash," he congratulated me. I wasn't in the mood to accept it and Shael definitely wasn't in the mood to have people encouraging me to do stupid things.
"Beat it, Souther!" I remembered it mostly because it startled me when Shael called Famine by his real name. I didn't think I'd heard it in several years. Judging by the look on his face as he walked away, neither had Famine.
