CHAPTER FOUR – WHERE THERE'S SMOKE, THERE'S FIRE

LUX

I tuck the back of my shirt into my pants.

"Ahsoka, you're sure we'll get by without having Zygerrian armor?" I whisper.

"You wouldn't have it anyway," Ahsoka whispers. "When my master wore it on our mission it drew attention to him. Outsiders don't wear Zygerrian armor."

"If you say so."

Beside me, Saw clears his throat. "They won't look too hard. Atai's too busy to concern himself with us. He'll send a flunky at best."

I hope that's true. Saw and I have to walk through the markets to get to the palace. But unlike Malagan Markets, the wares aren't produce and handmade goods. They're sentient beings.

I force myself not to look and just to focus on the job. Saw sneers to himself to keep his anger in check.

In our earbuds, the rest of our team is fascinatingly closed-mouthed. I can only assume they're walking through more of the same.

Soon it'll be over, Lux. Soon Atai will be drowning in debt and some of these people will slip through the cracks in security. I promise myself. Ahsoka swore it. All we have to do is chip away at his wealth bit…by bit…by bit.

Saw and I step up to the palace gates, and a camera droid floats up to our eye level.

"Identify yourself," It's pre-programmed voice orders.

I set my eyes on its photoreceptor. "Fire marshals."

"We're here for the fire inspection." Saw reports, folding his arms.

The droid levitates away and the gates open, revealing a mean-faced guard.

"Fire marshals." He half-snarls.

"That's us," Saw says and glances over to the guard station. "You got a cover for that wiring?"

"We do."

"Good," he replies through gritted teeth. "Put it on. Now take us into the buildings; we don't have all day."

…

"What is this carpet made of?" I ask.

The guard flounders for a second and then says "Synthetic fabric."

I bend down and touch the carpet. "Highly flammable. If a spark so much as hits it, then the whole floor will go up in flames." I made a note on my datapad.

"And this!" Saw pokes at the cover for an outlet with his stylus. "Are you actively trying to burn the place down? You can't have an outlet this close to the vent."

The guard can only stare at us. The vent and the outlet are a foot and a half apart.

"Lint!" Saw snaps as if that explains everything. "Lint is flammable, and the outlet can generate a spark. I'm gonna have to dock you."

This is the fifth "violation" Saw and I have written up today. All in all, the scam is going beautifully.

"This door frame is too narrow." I announce. "You need to expand it another six inches at the very least to be compliant."

The guard stares at us.

"Is there a problem?" Saw asks.

"Is this one of those hidden camera holo shows?"

"Why would you say that?"

The guard shuts his mouth and over the comm, my team erupts with laughter. I even hear Kira snicker through her temporary earbud.

"I think that concludes this building." I say, consolidating all the citations on my datapad and scribbling down the fines. "The carpet will need to be torn up and replaced, the wiring redone, vent moved, the door widened, you'll have to change the baseboards and add a smoke alarm and more emergency lights."

"Lux and Saw, I'm into the electrical system." Hutch says.

I open the door. "That goes for the whole building and every one like it. Now we just have to test the fire alarm."

"On the count of three. One, two …three!"

I pull the alarm and the sweet, sweet sound of silence fills my ears.

"What is this?"

The guard stands there, looking utterly defeated.

"Faulty fire alarm. You'll have to replace the system." Saw tsks and taps out the bill on his datapad. "For your superiors. I expect this to be paid in the next few days."

The guard's jaw drops at the amount. "Fifty thousand credits in fines?"

"You have a week to make this place compliant, or they'll double." Saw announces. "Come on, Eric. We have other things to do."

I follow him out the door, leaving the guard to stand there holding the mother of all fire hazard citations.

"How far do you think that'll sink them?" Hero asks through the comm.

"The renovations will clear a million, easily."

"One million isn't enough." Kira whispers. "Atai can replace that easily during one slave auction. If we're to destroy his empire financially, we need to take over-," she does a few calculations. "Ten million at the very least."

Saw lets out a low whistle. "That's a lot of credits."

"That's why you're here, Kira. Are you and the others in position?"

"We are."

"Good, you all know what you're doing. Let's go steal the buyers."

AHSOKA

Atai Molec's entertaining room buzzes with all sorts of high-class scum.

"Everyone here is either a current or potential buyer." Kira says. "Atai hosts these events to establish rapport with the clients so he can exploit it later when they purchase slaves. He'll offer them a pseudo-bargain and they'll walk away having spent more money than they intended."

I shudder internally at the thought of how Kira knows this.

"That means they're all loaded." Hero muses. "I'll take the guy in the corner, with the dark jacket."

Sierra's gaze flits around the room. "I don't like this. I recognize a few people in here – some of them are former marks!"

"You're older and you have a haircut. Stay away from them and work your magic. You'll be fine." I assure.

"If you say so," Sierra mumbles and walks off into the crowd, "accidentally" tripping over her feet and allowing herself to be steadied by a Theelin.

Steela shares a look with me. "Do you see the punch bowl?"

"Two o'clock. You should be able to get there without much trouble at all. And Steela," I lean in close to whisper in her ear. "I might need you to distract Atai."

Steela jerks back. "You want me to grift him? You're talking to the wrong person."

"I don't trust Hero to do it, he won't take Sierra seriously, and he knows Kira's and my faces." I nod slightly to let Kira know I won't go into any more detail than that. "It probably won't even happen. You'll just do your drop, work the crowd, and all will be well."

She checks the clutch purse she borrowed from Mina. "That's good. I don't want anything to crash and burn on this job." She says and strides purposefully to the punch bowl.

Kira straightens and faces me.

"Were they told anything?" she whispers.

I shake my head. "I didn't tell them about you and this place and they haven't asked. I haven't mentioned you and Master Kenobi or about Cadena, Caleb, or our other friends. Unless they paid Hutch off to do some spelunking, they don't know anything."

Kira purses her lips, whether it's a reaction to the place or the conversation I'm not sure. "I believe Sierra's suspicious at the very least. Steela might be as well."

"They might be, but I doubt they know anything. Senator Organa took care to bury your records; they'd need Hutch to open them, and he isn't one to pry needlessly. It takes up too much time and server space." Steela may have a tendency to pry, case in point being the never-to-be-mentioned-again Folic Acid Incident, but hacking and physical burglary are two very different fields. "Kira, about Cadena…"

Kira blinks hard. "Ahsoka, please don't mention her now. I can't think about her and be in the same room with Atai. It's too -."

"I understand," I interrupt before she starts to flounder for words, cry, or both. "I'll leave it be until we get back to the ship. But then we need to have a talk."

"That's acceptable," she squares her shoulders. "For now, what do I need to do?"

"Do you see that man in the blue robe?"

She follows my gaze. "The human standing next to the plant?"

"That one. I need you to direct him and his friends over to the punch bowl." In my peripheral vision, I see Steela pause near the punch bowl as if inspecting the appetizers available, then move on with a piece of fruit in her hands and something else disappearing into her pocketbook. I speak louder so the comm will pick up my words. "Sierra and Hero, move your men to the punch bowl. Kira, go pick one. Steela, where's Atai?"

"He's not at the front of the room. I think I lost him."

And then a lecherous voice picks up off her earbud "Hello."

"Found him!"

STEELA

"Found him," I whisper into my earbud as I turn around with a fake smile on my face, the mark himself behind me.

"All right, Steela." Ahsoka says, her tone belying her nervousness. "Say hello and follow his lead. He objectifies women, so if you're submissive and passive he shouldn't notice anything."

"Hello," I say through my smile, my voice so chipper it sounds like Katooni's.

"I haven't had the pleasure of seeing you at the other auctions." Molec says.

"I'm a first time customer."

"For certain. I would have noticed someone like you in the past."

Ugh. I hate the way that sounds.

"I would have noticed such a fine auction. My husband wasn't lying when he said Zygerria only offered slaves of unmatched quality. We haven't been able to find any stock quite like yours."

Molec brushes a bit of lint off his shirt. "We have a reputation to uphold." He leans in, ever closer. "Now, you say you're married?"

Don't say it. Don't say it.

Oh man, I'm going to say it.

"For now."

A smile spreads across Atai's face.

"Steela, the punch bowl." Sierra whispers. "I've gotten my mark to it, but what's the big deal?"

The punch bowl. I'd better get Atai over to it; he deserves all of it and worse. "The slaves aren't all I'm impressed with. You've spoiled us with the menu, really. It looks delicious."

Atai leads the way to the table and stops at the "We use only the best kitchen slaves. After such a long journey, a lovely lady such as yourself must be…thirsty."

He pours two cups of punch and hands one to me.

"To the auction."

Oh, come on.

I swallow hard. "To the auction."

I know what's coming to me. I put the vial in the bowl. But Atai is watching, and if I don't drink this stuff, he won't either. I take a gulp of the pink, overly sweet liquid and Atai follows.

The moment I force the punch down my throat, Hero's mark and a few other of the guests start to vomit.

Out of my peripheral vision I see the look of realization dawn on Kira and Sierra along with a green pallor.

I force a smile, hoping the punch doesn't kick in in such a small dose.

My stomach turns over the same time Atai's makes a loud, gurgling noise.

Well, most of the people in that room deserve some bad punch at the very least. Our heroines? Not so much.

I'd like to make a note about Cadena. She is the property of katierosefun, who graciously gave me permission to mention her in the story. So, an enormous thank you to her!

I'd like to answer a question from McAwesome, who I can't PM because they are a guest: At this point in the story, Tor is in jail but not dead yet. This story takes place one month after WOFFJ, so our least favorite prison warden still has about twelve years to live before the incident in the prison yard.

Thank you to McAwesome, starwarshobbitfics, MusicKeeper, and Rose Ravenclaw for your reviews. And speaking of which, please review!

Until next time,

Lux's Sister