Coruscant was alive.
Zam felt the multitude of souls moving about in the marketplace below her. She crouched on an awning hundreds of feet above them. Aliens and other creatures moved within the humans, going into the bars and the shops and the dark alley that led to the Club…Zam smirked. The Club was her destination tonight. She plucked her holograph out of her pocket and a face shimmered on the screen. Her eyes narrowed as she studied the face. It was an alien, with long flowing hair and an aquamarine face. Zam would never know why the alien's life was to be ended. Rinx never gave reasons.
Ever.
Zam flicked her finger over a button and the face disappeared. She stood up, bending low to remain hidden, and leaped off the building. She focused on one of the lower platforms in the alley and aimed for it. Her arms spread wide, and for a moment their shape disintegrated and changed, but in the next moment she had landed on the platform. Her arms melted back to their original shape. Zam flexed her fingers and took off at a sprint down the platform, dropping down from it and landing on the alley, crouched like a cat and never losing her balance.
Rinx's rules ran through her head as she flew down the alley towards the neon doorway of the Club. Never be seen, never be heard, and never lose your cover. Emotion is your enemy.
Zam ducked into a small enclosure that was cut into the alley. A speeder buzzed overhead and landed on the roof of the Club. The Club was the most secluded spot in Coruscant- it was on the ground, it was small, and you'd have to know the exact directions in order to find it. It was a dark spot in a world of neon lights and tall silver buildings. It was a place where a man could go for a woman or for drugs or for mob activity. It was a seedy place. Zam loved it.
She slipped into the Club, remaining unnoticed. She pulled a veil over her face and picked up a drink. Her eyes scanned the bar for sight of the blue alien. Laughter floated through the perfumed air. A couple disappeared into a back room. A fat human was slipping a Wookie foreign dollars under the table. An assassin slipped a vial of powder into a drink.
Wait- an assassin! Zam's eyes narrowed as she rummaged inside her cloak for her dart gun. Rinx had taught her many things and one of the rules he stressed most was all other assassins are your enemy. Zam drew out the gun and filled the dart with a glimmering yellow poison. She slid off the bar stool and walked casually towards the club, keeping the barrel of the gun peeking out from under her cloak. She passed the assassin and as she was a foot behind him, she shot him with the dart. He crumbled under the table. Zam took the drink and poured it into the assassin's pocket, leaving the glass next to him. Zam hid the gun back in her cloak and scanned the bar for the blue alien.
There. He was sitting at the bar, talking to a slender alien of another species. A vial clicked in Zam's pocket. Rinx wanted this alien killed with poison. No other method would suffice. Zam supposed that it was because bounty hunters never used poison. Once they found the body, no one would think that it was Rinx's doing.
Zam glanced at the vial, making sure it was the correct one. The fine powder slid around in the glass container, making whispers of noise. The white grains gleamed in the tacky neon light coming from the ceiling. Zam strode back over to the bar and sat next to the blue alien. She studied his cloak as he gestured towards his companion. His drink sat unguarded on the countertop. Zam uncorked the bottle off the powder. In one fluid motion she threw the powder into the drink with a flick of her wrist, just like Rinx had taught her. The poison lingered on top of the liquid in the cup for a moment, and the dissolved into the drink. The alien laughed. Zam smirked with pleasure.
He threw back the drink, not suspecting a thing. Zam slipped off the stool and exited the Club, running through the alley and leaping up onto the platform. The marketplace throbbed with life below. Zam jumped down into the crowd and ran through the throng, pushing people out of her way as she went. The buildings loomed above, reaching into the sky. A speeder cut through the crowd. Zam ducked out of its way and ran towards one of the buildings. The doors slid apart as she ran through them, keeping the veil over her mouth and nose.
The elevator was empty. Zam leaped inside before the doors could close and pressed the button that would bring her all the way to the top. She leaned against the glass walls and breathed deeply, slowing her heart rate. She let the veil slip from her face. It gathered around her shoulders. She drew it off and put it in her bag as the lift's doors slid open silently. The room was quiet, but Zam knew that Rinx was there. Bounty hunters keep their presence unknown until the last second.
"Is he dead?" came Rinx's voice.
"He drank the poison," said Zam. Her voice did not waver but her heart thumped with growing nervousness. You could never tell if Rinx was pleased or not.
"Is he dead?" said Rinx again.
"I told you," Zam said, stepping into the middle of the room. She glanced around. Rinx stood in the shadows. The dim light made his white hands and face glow eerily in the shadows. "He drank the poison, Master," said Zam. "I did not stick around for them to figure anything out."
Rinx stepped out of the shadow and into the light. Darkness spread across his features for a moment. "What else happened?" he asked. His voice betrayed nothing.
"I killed another assassin," said Zam.
"How?" demanded Rinx.
"With the dart gun," Zam said, her face remaining blank and emotionless. Rinx narrowed his eyes. The fingers of his right hand tapped against the palm of his left hand.
"Whom was the assassin working for?"
"I don't know, Master."
"What did the assassin look like?"
"He was a man," Zam said, searching her memory for details. "He was using a blue colored powder in someone's drink. He was wearing a purple coat. He had short brown hair. I don't remember anything else," Zam finished. Rinx remained silent. Zam's knees shook a little. She didn't feel like a ruthless killing machine anymore. Rinx blinked.
"My other apprentice killed another assassin also, tonight," Rinx said. Zam's eyes narrowed. It wasn't with the bounty hunters as it was with the Jedi- bounty hunters had many apprentices. Zam had never seen this other apprentice. All she knew about it was that the apprentice was a male. She had no idea of his age or anything else. "He also wore a purple cloak," Rinx said. His eyes were thoughtful, but sharp as always. His bald white head gleamed in the dim light. Rinx thought for a moment before his next words.
"I have your next assignment." Rinx said. He took a holograph out of his pocket and handed it to Zam, who in turn handed him the device with the blue alien on it. Zam activated the holograph. A young man, with black hair and sunken eyes looked back at her from the picture.
"What do you want me to use?" Zam asked.
"The darts, the poison, it doesn't matter," Rinx said, walking to the window and looking out on the city.
"Why do you want him killed?" Zam ventured to ask. Rinx did not answer. There was a noise outside the door. Zam whirled around and drew out the dart gun, leveling it at the elevator doors. Rinx stepped towards the lift warily. The room lay in a heavy silence for a moment.
Then the lift doors slid open. Rinx found himself staring down the barrel of a ray gun. Zam flipped the safety on the dart and squeezed the trigger, leaping in front of Rinx at the same time. The person with the ray gun fell back into the elevator, sliding against the railing. Zam delivered a square kick to the person's side, to make sure they were dead. Then she dragged the person by their feet into the room. A small spot of blood appeared on the floor. The light glimmered on the person's cloak.
"Purple!" breathed Zam as she threw the dart gun aside. She drew the covering off the person's face. A woman stared back at her. "It must be some kind of conspiracy," said Zam.
"Yes," said Rinx. He thought for a moment. "Go out on your next assignment. If you see any more of these people," he gestured at the woman, "kill them immediately. Do not hesitate. You can find your victim at Zika's Bar. He is there now. Go."
Zam flew out the door and jumped onto her speeder, flying out into the night.