All the next morning, Jali was hanging out for Tira's promised message from Trevali. He hadn't been able to get any work done and so had sent the new client that had come along to Xhen. Jali's nerves were wired to the highest pitch and he had paced his office until he was sure he had left a trail of wear in the carpet.
When she had said that the Twi'lek would find him, she didn't specify how this would happen. Jali had assumed it would be some sort of call, or perhaps a note and the promise of a rendezvous. What he hadn't expected was the package that had arrived when he usually would be having lunch. It was a large flat black box tied with a big red bow, Jali looked at it suspiciously and called Xhen in.
"What do you think?" Jali asked, not taking his eyes off it.
Xhen looked from the package to Jali and then back at the package. "What?" he shrugged "Is it your name day and I missed it?"
Jali didn't laugh. This could be the message from Tira, but for all he knew it could be a bomb.
Xhen looked suddenly startled. "Hey," he said rather nervously, "this doesn't have anything to do with that…that Twi'lek woman, does it?"
Jali looked up at Xhen. "It's interesting you say that."
Xhen raised his eyebrows. "What's that supposed to mean?"
Jali shrugged. "Nothing," he answered, "it's just interesting." He leaned over to pull the bow to open the package put Xhen put a hand on his arm to prevent him. "What?"
Xhen's face started to go red. "It's just that…you…you should be careful…you know."
Jali frowned. "Haven't you learned by now that there's no use in telling me to be careful? Besides," he added, mischievously lifting his eyebrows. "If this box is set to explode, it'll take out both of us as well as Ayan."
"I figured that," Xhen said, his hand still on Jali's arm.
"I thought you might," Jali said, shrugging off Xhen's grip and pulling the ribbon.
Xhen instinctively shrank back, curling up into a ball next to the wall, covering his hands for his ears and squinting his eyes shut in preparation for what he assumed to be the inevitable explosion.
But nothing happened.
Cautiously, Xhen opened his eyes. Jali was holding what seemed to be a white index card.
"What's that?" Xhen asked. "Another bomb?"
Jali smiled as he read it. "Maybe," he conceded, "but apparently I've been invited for a night of 'exceptional entertainment' at Luba Luft's."
--
Luba Luft's was a gaudy, flashy strip-joint on Vos Gesal Street that Jali had had the good fortune not to need to enter until that evening. He had heard rumours, of course, about what trade they did on the side, but whoever owned the place had either enough money or enough connections—or both, as Jali personally thought—to escape even the occasional Security Force raid.
Of course, there was a long line of males at the door with their pleas to enter the club stopped by an uncompromising Echani bouncer. Yet when Jali had given him the invitation—engraved on ivory he believed—the bouncer unhesitatingly lifted the velvet rope and let Jali in with a polite, "Have an nice evening, sir,".
The card had given specific instructions to go to certain door at the back of the club—the only real door next to a row of fake ones—and show the card again to the man who was waiting there, who looked rather like the Echani bouncer's big brother.
"Door right at the end of the corridor," he told Jali, pocketing the card and turning away from him.
Jali walked the length of the corridor, beneath the red lights that were fastened to the ceiling. Either side of him were closed doors, and from the sounds coming from some of them Jali didn't have to stretch his imagination too far to work out what was going on inside. He finally came to the last door and knocked tentatively. He still wasn't sure what he was letting himself in for.
The door slowly opened, a white-skinned Twi'lek stood on the other side.
"Jali Dawler," she murmured, "it's about time you showed up."
Trevali's white skin was tinged slightly by the overhead lights and she wore a transparent black dress that floated about her ankles. Her red-painted lips were inclined in the form of a smile, her teeth were white and pointed.
"Trevali?" Jali asked uncertainly.
The Twi'lek inclined her head in ascent and grabbed his arm. "Come inside," she whispered, enveloping Jali in an exotic scent as she pulled him in and shut the door.
Jali smiled hesitantly, but didn't resist her grip. He let her lead him to a long chaise lounge covered in leather. She sat opposite him in a matching armchair.
Whatever he was here for, Jali was definitely not planning on being seduced. But for some reason, Trevali knew this even though everything about her and where she they were screamed otherwise.
If Trevali had ulterior motives, she would have made them apparent early on, just as Jali would have made it early on that he wouldn't have been interested. Instead, Trevali looked at him without any emotion.
"I can tell you're just about scared witless by being here," she said in a business-like way, "so I'll get to the point. Basically, I didn't have to meet you, but I chose to."
Jali was confused. "Why?"
"I talked to Tira," Trevali said, "and I decided to help you out, even if it means telling you nothing at all."
"So why go to all this trouble?" he asked.
"Someone needs to put you wise about what's going on," she replied, "and I thought I should do that, before you get your head blown off that is."
Jali smiled. "If you made me come all this way to tell me I'm in imminent danger, I could have saved you the trouble." He pulled out his cigarettes. "Do you mind?" he asked.
Trevali shook her head. "Go ahead," she said. "Just don't let it get on the couch."
The cigarette lit and firmly between his fingers, Jali spoke again. "The Silver Ring's been onto me since I arrested Senix Breen all those years ago," he told her. "They tried to get me before, but it was Tira who stopped them, now I don't have that advantage." He took a deep inhale. "I'm surprised you haven't taken a shot at me yet."
Trevali smiled. "Trust me, as much as I'd like to, you're probably not worth it."
"Nuada might disagree," Jali countered gently.
"Nuada's not the one calling the shots this time," Trevali replied.
"I see," Jali said with a nod. "Aurek."
She smiled again. "So someone has put you wise."
"They have," he conceded. "Just not as much as I'd like."
"Well here's a bit more," Trevali said. "I'd say in about five hours from now someone calling themselves a friend of yours is going to be worth as much as a broken umbrella in a Ryloth storm."
Jali took this as calmly as he could, drawing on his cigarette "So they have decided to do something."
The Twi'lek nodded. "Unless…" She held up a finger. "You beat them to it."
Jali stared. "What? Eat a blaster before I go to bed?"
Trevali ignored this. "There's someone else you need to talk to," she told him. "Someone you know…or rather, someone you thought you knew."
"Nuada or Aurek's planted someone on me?" Jali asked.
Trevali didn't reply.
"Why are you telling me this?" Jali asked her.
"There's still time for you to get out of this, Jali," she said. "But I'm not really sure if you want to do that."
-- end of chapter 9 – let them work it out