Chiana was, she knew, drunk. Through the warm, happy fog of alcohol she felt invincible.
The reason she was drunk was twofold.
She had gotten very drunk, very quickly and efficiently and most importantly cheaply by a tried and tested method. She had found that she could select, with an astounding degree of accuracy, a young man who would happily buy drinks for tipsy young women when they came and sat in their lap. Over the last few hours, she had sat in a lot of laps. But that, she considered slightly vaguely, was the cause of her cessation of sobriety, her embrace of inebriation. The reasons... she thought fuzzily back to the start of this paragraph with difficulty, were two.
One, it was fun. Contrary to the opinions of certain uptight ex-peacekeepers and overbearing half-Luxans, the pursuit of fun was not Chiana's sole driving force. It was however, one of them.
Two, people were less cautious than they probably should be around drunken young girls, particularly when one stumbled over to a high stakes card game, scattered her thousand credit stake over the table, then slurred, "So how do you play this game, anyway?"
Chiana looked down at her pile of chips. It had grown substantially in the last few hours. She looked up into the face of her sole remaining adversary. The man was slightly built and immaculately dressed. He had the wrinkled face of a bad humoured ferret. His small eyes were fixed on hers with the honest gaze of the professional cheat.
Chiana looked down at her cards and hiccuped gently. "What the frell," She gestured grandly, knocking her empty glass spinning. She made sure to exacerbate the slur slightly as she spoke. "I'm all in."
The ferret-man's eyes never left hers. After a moment he pushed his pile of chips to the centre of the table to join hers. He laid down his cards meticulously.
Chiana threw down her cards and beamed triumphantly, without even bothering to look. "Hey, do I win again?" She swept up the pile of chips with one arm, "I must be like naturally lucky, or something."
The ferrets hand shot out and caught her wrist. He smiled, very slowly. "I must congratulate you on your good fortune." he said in a low voice that was almost a whisper, "Perhaps one last game?"
Chiana pulled on her arm. The man's grip was gentle, but unbreakable. She would pull off her own hand before she broke his grip.
Chiana swallowed and forced herself to keep her gaze steady. "I don't think so. Think I'll quit while my luck holds."
Ferrets hold tightened. Chiana's hand was turning numb. "I believe that time to have long since passed."
Chiana narrowed her eyes, "I said no. Now let go of me."
Ferret held on for a moment longer, then let go of her wrist so quickly that Chiana rocked back in her seat. Chiana rubbed at her wrist.
The ferret smiled a smile without any warmth, "Then I thank you for a stimulating game. I trust I shall see you again."
"Yeah, right." Chiana muttered. She staggered hastily away from the table.
She looked around and took stock of the casino again. Even this late at night it was packed full of gamblers eager to relinquish their hard earned currency. All around the large, glittery room were tables, spinning wheels, and rows upon rows of flashing machines. In the centre of the room was a bar, a rectangular counter with the centre cut out, in which the bar staff served out an unending stream of drinks. On the stage an elephant was trying to play the trombone. Chiana thought it looked oddly familiar for some reason. Up above on the high vaulted ceiling, a dazzling array of lights twinkled, their patterns shifting and changing every few seconds.
Chiana shifted her attention casually back to the bar. He was still there. He was leaning against the bar, sipping a small drink and apparently engrossed in the elephants musical misfortunes. He was a short sebacian of a slight build. He had been present in all three of the casino's Chiana had visited. Perhaps it was just co-incidence, but Chiana's instincts said otherwise.
Chiana made her way over to reception, where she cashed in her chips and took back her pulse pistol and her cloak. She slipped out of the casino, back into the leaking night.
It was cooler now although still humid. The rain had slowed to what the locals probably considered a light drizzle. Water still cascaded from the overflowing drains like waterfalls. Chiana rolled her eyes upwards and saw that there were actually gaps in the cloud cover. Looming overhead, stretching across half the horizon squatted the huge ellipse of the gas giant Tarus. One giant storm raged on its surface, like a baleful red eye watching over her. There were less people around now, but the streets were still dotted with damp, dispirited gamblers on their way back to their hotels with dramatically reduced bank balances and much increased blood alcohol levels.
Chiana hurried a little way down street, clutching her cloak tightly to her. She ducked down a side alley. Thick mist was rolling over the ground and creeping insidiously up the walls. It seemed to cling to her as she stepped through it.
She sprinted along the alleyway, down several side turnings, splashing through puddles heedlessly. The winding back alleys behind the front of the casinos and hotels formed a virtual warren, and Chiana intended to use that to her advantage.
She carried on down a few more alleys before she decided she had gone far enough. She stopped, breathing heavily, her heart beating hard with excitement. She looked around herself, examining the alleyway. One solitary street light shone above, leaving most of the alley curtained in thick darkness. Satisfied, she unfastened her cloak and laid it on the ground in the middle of the alley, directly in the light. She drew back into the deep shadows of a doorway and waited.
She had waited for just a few minutes before she heard the sound, the sound of boots scraping softly, of the gentle rustle of clothing. It was the sound of someone creeping up, trying not to be heard. They weren't very good at it, but in the rain Chiana probably wouldn't have heard them, if she hadn't been listening for exactly that sound.
A figure emerged cautiously into the alleyway. The person was cloaked and hooded so that she could not see its face, but their head turned from side to side, then locked onto Chiana's discarded cloak. Chiana could almost hear the figure thinking. They looked around, cautiously scanning the alley. For a moment, their attention swept across Chiana's hiding place and she felt her heart skip a beat. Then the figures focus returned to the cloak. The figure circled it warily, then finally apparently satisfied, stepped forwards. The cloaked individual knelt and picked up the garment with one hand.
"Hi."
They spun round and crouched, searching the shadows for her hiding place. Chiana stepped out of the doorway, confident that the shadows were still deep enough to conceal her from the person standing in the light.
"Now, was there any particular reason you were following me?" she said.
The person straightened, although their head kept moving from side to side, as if trying to pinpoint her location by sound.
"Very clever." the voice identified the speaker as male.
"Thanks." Chiana said cheerfully. "By the way -" she squeezed her eyes shut an instant before she squeezed the trigger to her pulse pistol. Bright orange light flared behind her eyelids.
She opened her eyes. The man was standing, staring at the cloak he held in his fist. There was a large ragged hole burning in the centre of it.
"Move one step, and that's you." Chiana told him, "Lie to me – that's you. Avoid my questions, well you get the idea. Piss me off and I can shoot you wherever I like. Now, why were you following me?"
The man shrugged. "Because I was paid to."
"Chiana frowned. Some doubt, was nagging at her. The man seemed too relaxed for someone in his position.
"Paid? Paid by who? Who sent you?"
"Mr Carino."
Chiana took a silent step forwards. "Who the frell is Mr Carino?"
What was it that bothered her? Some sense of wrongness, of something not being what it should. Then suddenly she realised what it was. The man she had suspected of following her for, that she had set this trap for had been short, barely of medium build. Insofar as it was possible to tell beneath the cloak, this man was tall and far too bulky.
"Pull back your hood." she commanded.
Despite the threat of the weapon the man hesitated. Then he pushed back his hood. Chiana drew in her breath in a sharp hiss. The mans face was wide with lumpy features, a thickset neck and protruding lower jaw. It was a face Chiana had never seen before.
"Who the frell are -"
Chiana felt movement in the air behind her. She started to turn and then something heavy hit her hard behind the ear. She fell to hands and knees, the street seemed to lurch and spin around her. She tried to level her pulse pistol desperately, then a foot connected powerfully with her ribs.
The pulse pistol was lost somewhere in the dark mist, but that was only a minor detail compared to the pain. It rippled through her whole body like a stone striking the surface of a lake, each wave sending her to fresh new crescendos of crippling agony. Dimly she felt hands grasp her by the arms and by the hair, roughly hauling her up until she was kneeling.
Chiana struggled wildly, in panic without thought. For a moment she nearly broke free of one of her captors. Then a fist crashed into her cheek, snapping her head back and turning the entire side of her face numb. She went obediently limp, but that did not spare her a further blow, a vicious backhand blow to the mouth. Chiana tasted blood.
More than one on them, she berated herself hazily. They must have crept up behind her while she was gloating to the first one. Next time I shoot first and question them later, she promised herself. But how many others, and what did they want with her?
Another figure stepped into Chiana's view. Pain blurred vision refused to reveal details, all she could tell was that this person was much smaller than the man she had apprehended.
"Good morning. Allow me to introduce myself property am Mr Carino."
Chiana forced pain and nausea to one side and forced her eyes into focus. She laughed weakly.
"Hey again! Something tells me you're a sore looser."
Ferret smiled down at her. He was, she noticed, wrapped in an extremely expensive looking fur coat. Chiana was trembling, not entirely just because of the cold.
"I wouldn't know." he said calmly, "Yes see, I never loose."
Chiana swallowed. The side of her face was beginning to sting as the rain pelted it.
"Fine. Take your money, it's all still there."
Ferret shook his head. "I'm afraid it's too late for that. You see, a man in my position must maintain a certain reputation, and tonight you impugned that reputation. Tonight I was made to look foolish by a silly little girl, and very powerful people were watching and taking note. I need to restore my reputation, and taking your money shall not be sufficient."
He leaned down and seized Chiana by the chin. He tilted Chiana's face up to meet his.
"Unfortunately for you, in most cases if this had happened, I could be lenient and allow the culprit to live, after a fashion. But you are Nebari, and my associates will see your actions as a challenge by the establishment. They will want to send a message to your people, that we are not to be interfered with."
He drew a slim bladed knife. Chiana held her breath as the blade hovered a hairs breadth from her eye. "Your flayed and gutted corpse should speak louder than words."
Chiana shivered a shiver that had nothing to do with the chilling rain.
"Listen - " she said desperately, "Yeah I'm Nebari. Some pretty powerful people are going to be really upset if I turn up dead, and they'll come looking for you." Chiana tried to sound confident, but couldn't quite manage to keep the fear out of her voice. "How about you let me go and we both forget this ever happened, yeah?"
Ferret put his head on one side thoughtfully. "Well, we wouldn't want that would we, that could be most inconvenient."
"No, we wouldn't."
Ferret sighed. "I am afraid that you were far better at bluffing while playing cards, Nebari."
There was a blurred sense of movement followed by gristly sound. Chiana felt a cessation of pressure to her arms relax and two bodies toppled forward. Ferret leaped back, knife raised defensively, his eyes dancing with alarm.
"What -"
Ferret rocked back on his heels. He opened his mouth and a thin dribble of blood trickled out of the corner. He made a little croaking noise and his eyes went glazed.
He collapsed.
Chiana lurched to her feet, swaying like a drunken pendulum. She searched the shadows for her invisible benefactor, wondering at the same time if she was next.
"Who – whose there?"
A man stepped out of the shadows. He was short and slender, although now that she saw him up close, Chiana noted approvingly that he was well muscled and moved with deceptively easy grace. His dark hair was short and spiked at random angles thanks to the rain. He was unshaven bordering on lightly bearded, and a long narrow scar ran from the corner of his left eye down his cheek. He was wearing worn brown leathers which Chiana found herself yearning to see beneath, and he was not visibly armed. Chiana recognised her stalker from the casino.
The man stood watching her patiently as she completed her inspection. His light blue eyes were confident and relaxed.
"Hi," Chiana said, then felt like an idiot.
"Hi yourself." the man responded.
Chiana gestured nervously towards the recently deceased. "Did you do that?"
"Yes."
Chiana licked her lips, tasting rain water. "Well, thanks."
"You're welcome."
Chiana fidgeted restlessly. She pushed her dripping hair back from her face with both hands.
"Talkative, aren't you?" she blurted out.
The man said nothing. The ghost of a smile tugged at the corners of his eyes.
Chiana took a tentative, darting step forwards. The man didn't move. "What's your name?"
"Tanis." the man said simply.
Chiana took another step. Her mind still felt lethargic and unfocused, but it was beginning to dawn on her that if this Tanis had wanted her dead, she would be by now. Instead he was engaging her in what for him seemed to pass for conversation.
Emboldened by that thought, she smiled her best smile.
"Good to meet you, Tanis. I'm -"
Tanis held up one hand, the sudden motion sending Chiana scurrying back a couple of steps. "You're Chiana. You must come with me."
"What? How did you know that? What?"
Realisation dawned, very slowly. She didn't usually pay much attention when their plans were outlined, as they were always guaranteed to bear little resemblance to reality anyway. But a few details were beginning to come back to her.
"You're him. Our contact with the resistance?"
"The man nodded curtly, "I am to take you to them."
"What? No. We were meant to meet you tonight, at our hotel. We were -"
"Your people know about that meeting." Tanis said shortly. "Somehow they learned of its details and their forces are on their way there now to apprehend your friends."
"What, no!" Chiana gasped, "I have to get there, I have to warn them."
Chiana took a few tottering steps in a random direction. She felt a sense of unstoppable vertigo, then the next thing she was aware of was Tanis' arm around her waist.
"You cannot help them, not like this. We have another member of the resistance on his way to warm them." Tanis promised.
"But, but -" Chiana stammered, her teeth chattering in the rain that was turning to hail. Tanis' body felt warm against her own. "If you're our contact, how will they recognise them as a friend?"
Tanis looked amused by some private thought. He released her and took a few steps back. "Trust me, that won't be a problem." he gestured to her urgently. "Now come on."
Chiana hugged her arms to herself as the freezing rain washed over her, achingly cold. She felt lost, exhausted and confused. Worse still, she didn't even feel drunk any more. She looked dejectedly at the remains of her cloak, lying torn and trampled in the mud.
She looked at the corpse of Ferret, with its warm, luxurious fur coat. She smiled.
"Sure, just give me one moment."