Chapter 3

-Waiting

Kavan stood in the concealed doorway as he watched Kahn lead Indis out of the club. He took several deep breaths to calm his nerves before stepping out of the doorway. He glanced to the side and saw Olimpiu watching him from near the bar. Kavan nodded slightly to his boss, then turned and scanned the room.

The club was filled beyond capacity, as it usually was this time of night. The bar was crowded with all different kinds of beings, although most of them were Human. There were increasingly less non-Human's on the capital city/planet in the past few years. The new Empire seemed to favour Humans over the rest of the species in the galaxy, although Humans were, by far, outnumbered.

Kavan turned his mind from politics as he spotted a group of young women, seated at one of the round tables near the stage and staring at him. He smiled cordially and bowed, prompting an extended series of loud giggles. Kavan chuckled to himself as he quickly covered the distance between his post and the table. When he reached it, the women at the table pretended not to notice him until he squatted down to their level and politely cleared his throat. All four women turned to him immediately.

'Mind if I join you?' he asked, receiving more giggles before he was offered a seat.

After a few moments of light conversation one of the women stood up and asked where the latrine was. When Kavan directed her to the other side of the club the other three stood and made to go with her. Two of the women pushed down on the third's shoulders, shoving her back into her seat. They giggled as they walked off and disappeared into the crowd.

Kavan examined the woman they had left behind, judging that she was perhaps nineteen or twenty years old. She had shimmering auburn hair complemented by vivid green eyes. Her face had the look of timeless innocence, and her dress betrayed her social status. He knew she was from the upper-levels before she even opened her mouth.

The woman had been staring at her hands while Kavan studied her. Shyly she glanced up then returned her gaze to her hands and flushed a deep crimson.

Kavan smiled slightly to himself. Trying to ease the woman out of her discomfort he introduced himself. 'My name's Kavan,' he said, extending his hand to her in greeting.

Still looking down the woman placed her thin hand in his. 'Cano Narsella,' she said with a small twang in her accent. She quickly returned her hand to her lap and continued to stare at it.

'I've never seen you before,' Kavan said, relaxing against the back of his chair. 'Is this your first time here?'

Cano nodded but said nothing.

'How do you like it so far?'

At this Cano looked up, her green eyes dancing. 'Oh, it's wonderful!' she exclaimed. 'Your dance was amazing. And that woman, the one with the long red hair, I've never seen a Human move like that. She was better than the two Twi'leks!'

Kavan laughed. 'I'll tell her that when she comes back.'

Suddenly shy again, Cano's smile faltered, and she looked back down at her hands. Leaning towards her slightly, Kavan placed his fingers under her chin and gently tilted her head up so she was looking at him.

'How 'bout I buy you a drink,' he offered.

Cano shook her head, her eyes wide with confused innocence. 'I've never had anything like what they sell here before.'

Kavan smiled, not at all surprised at what Cano had said. 'Then I'll get you something light, ok?'

Cano smiled and nodded eagerly.

Chuckling to himself Kavan stood and strode toward the bar. He found an opening at the end of the bar where there were few beings around.

Noticing the boy immediately, Wyatt hefted his bulk over to where Kavan stood.

'What can I get for you, son?' he asked.

Kavan turned and pointed to Cano, who was sitting at the table watching him. When she saw him point to her she averted her eyes and blushed again.

'Something light for the lady over there,' Kavan answered.

'I've got just the thing,' Wyatt said, waddling back to the drink dispensers nearer the centre of the bar. When he returned, he gave Kavan a glass filled with a sparkling clear liquid. Kavan thanked the bartender, grabbed a glass of water for himself, and returned to his seat.

'Thank you,' Cano said quietly as she sipped at the drink. Her expression skewed into confusion as she sipped again. 'It's sweet,' she commented.

Kavan chuckled. 'It's called Flower Spice,' he explained. 'It's made from the nectar of a flower from Alderaan.'

Cano smiled sweetly and giggled. 'I like it,' she said, taking another sip. Setting her glass on the table she stared at it, tracing the lip of the glass with her finger.

'Where did you learn how to dance like that?' Cano asked, making her own attempt at conversation.

Kavan opened his mouth to speak but his reply was cut short by a loud shout and blaster fire behind him. Kavan stood and spun, his eyes travelling instantly to a large crowd at the bar. Two of the bouncers near the entrance bounded quickly to where Kavan stood and glanced at him silently. Kavan nodded to them and joined the pair as they pushed their way through the crowd. Olimpiu was making his way laboriously to the bar, causing patrons to scuttle out of his way.

The three Human men finally broke through the crowd, only to step on the arm of an unconscious Nikto sprawled out on the floor. Looking up they saw the culprit, a bounty hunter, with a blaster still in his hands. The Zabrak looked at the trio with smug arrogance and raised his eyebrows in a challenge. Wary of the blaster, the three separated slightly and stopped moving altogether.

'What's the meaning of this!' Olimpiu demanded, pushing his way through the rest of the onlookers.

The bounty hunter glanced sidelong at the club owner and smirked. 'Just business.'

'Well, take your business elsewhere!' Olimpiu growled, taking another step forward, not caring about the weapon that turned toward him.

The three Humans advanced threateningly, receiving a short, dark glare from the Zabrak. To their relief the bounty hunter nodded slightly and complied, hefting the unconscious Nikto over his shoulder and carrying him out of the club. Olimpiu huffed and disappeared into the crowd.

Kavan and the two bouncers looked at eachother in relief. One of the bouncers, the taller of the two rolled his eyes and chuckled. 'That was fun.'

'Sure, Jax,' Kavan patted him on the shoulder, laughing with his two friends as he shook his head. When he returned to his seat the two bouncers returned to their posts near the entrance.

Cano looked up at him, her green eyes frightened and concerned. 'What was that all about?'

'Huh?' Kavan asked, his voice muffled by his drink. Swallowing the cool liquid, he set his glass down and answered, 'Just another bounty hunter. Nothing to worry about.' He cast her fears away with his crooked smile as the other three young women returned to the table, giggling.

Kavan sat at the bar spinning a small glowstick in his fingers. The only sounds were the buzz of the dim lights, the swish of the water washing the glasses, and the slop of the janitors mopping up the floor. He sighed deeply as he glanced up at the chrono behind the bar. It was six in the morning. The club had been closed for over three hours, and the janitors had almost finished up.

Kavan yawned as he rested his head on his hand, impatiently clicking the glowstick against the counter top. He tried not to think about Indis and Kahn, but he could find nothing else to think of. He had already counted the number of different bottles behind the bar, renamed the colours of the liquids in them, and numbered the tiles on the wall they were propped up against. He watched the chrono tick past the minutes, trying to think of something new to occupy his time.

'Have you counted the number of cracks in the tiles yet?' a gruff but friendly voice asked from behind him.

With a slight smile and a soft chuckle Kavan shook his head, glancing over to see Wyatt heft his weight onto one of the stools next to him.

'Well, in case you were wondering,' Wyatt continued with a grunt as he managed to balance himself on the too small seat, 'there are nine thousand seven hundred and eighty four.'

Kavan laughed, dropping the hand that was supporting the weight of his head and turning toward the grinning bartender. 'How many times have you counted?' he asked.

Wyatt hesitated a moment, seeming to think about the question before answering. 'Seventy two,' he replied. 'And look,' he said, pointing to a tile near them, 'that one happened three days ago.'

'It's a wonder none of them haven't just crumbled off the wall,' Kavan said dryly.

Wyatt chuckled, his whole body moving up and down as he did so. 'It's only a matter of time, my boy,' he said, patting Kavan on the back.

The corner of Kavan's mouth quirked up into a half smile as his eyes drifted again to the chrono. Wyatt quickly sobered up and looked at the young Human with concern.

'Try not to think about it, son,' he advised, his voice quieter and lacking its previous mirth. 'Dwelling on it won't help Indis.'

Kavan sighed, tearing his eyes off the chrono. 'I know,' he said, clicking the glowstick against the counter top again. Kavan watched the movement of the glowstick for a few minutes before he let it come to rest on the bar. Resting his head on his hand again, he turned back to Wyatt, who was still watching him.

'You know,' he started, 'it's not that I don't trust Indis. I just...I worry that Kahn could hurt her. I mean, he doesn't exactly have a good track record.'

Wyatt's big mouth curved into a sympathetic smile as he silently listened to the Human voice his concerns.

'And now that the bounty on him's gone up...' Kavan sighed and shrugged, letting his hand drop and resuming his play with the glowstick. 'What if one of the bounty hunters gets to him?'

'Indis is a tough kid,' Wyatt reminded Kavan. 'She'll put up a pretty good fight.'

'That's what I'm afraid of.' Kavan's eyes drifted back to the chrono then quickly returned to the glowstick. 'Most girls would just hide, but Indie won't. I know she won't.'

'Tell you what,' Wyatt suggested. 'Why don't we go take a look at the place, ease your mind a little bit, and then you go to bed and I'll wake you when Indis calls? Ok?'

Kavan forced a soft smile. 'Ok.'