The rain poured down on him as he walked down the narrow walkway, soaking into his dark cloak. It rained constantly on this damned world. And yet people still flocked here in hoards, eager to see its wide oceans, and huge floating cities. He wondered how they could stand the rain, and the darkness. Every day he had been here it had been dark. And raining. It never showed any sign of stopping, just falling down from the clouds above.
As he walked down the narrow passage, he wondered how the worlds’ inhabitants could stand to live here. Mon Calamari they called themselves. He called them fish. They took great pride in their world, and instead of finding refuge somewhere else, they constructed giant floating cities to live in. Into these cities they poured their very heart and soul, making each one different. He had to admit, as he looked about, that the city he was on was quite impressive. Foamwander City, they called it.
They should call it “Round.” There was not a straight line in the place, it was all smooth and round. They couldn’t even build hallways in a straight line, for god’s sake. He had to spend his time wandering around, trying to familiarize himself with the twisted maze of halls.
But he was Atsath’eri’nuruodo. He was a Chiss. It was not a problem. After several days he had located the Bar where he was to meet his human contact.
Human.
How his Lord could trust something as important as this to a human he did not know. But it was not his place to ask questions, only to follow orders. And so he was here.
He walked down yet another narrow hallway, and in the distance he could see a blinking sign. It swayed in the wind, rocking gently back and forth. As he approached the letters came into focus. It read Waterside Bar. It was clear that its ‘tender did not keep it well, as he could see several lights burnt out from the sign.
He pushed open the door, and peered into its darkened interior. He could see aliens of several species, and many of the strange fish that were the planet’s native inhabitants. In the corner, he could see a fat male human, and knew right away, by some instinct deep inside him, that this was his contact.
He approached the man, concealing himself in the shadows along the walls, a task made easy by the enfolding darkness of his cloak. When he was just behind the man, he spoke. “Do you have it?”
The man spun around, clearly startled. When he saw the Chiss behind him, he seemed to tense “You are my contact?”
“I am.”
“You’re late. You were supposed to be here yesterday. I’ve wasted valuable time waiting.”
Herin’s eyes flared but he said nothing.
The man regarded him for a moment, then turned away, withering under the powerful gaze of the Chiss. He reached under the table and pulled out a small datapad, then extended it to Herin.
Herin took it from the man and flipped it open, examining its contents. “It is all here?”
“Yes.”
Herin pulled a bag of credits from within his cloak and tossed in onto the table. “Don’t spend them all in one place.” And then he was gone.
* * *
The shuttle appeared out of hyperspace, above the massive planet. It was a routine trip, a frequent visitation from Calamari. A casual observer would dismiss it as nothing and continue along their business. These things were so frequent at Coruscant, that many would not notice it at all.
The shadowy figure on board knew that this was all the better. The fewer questions asked, the easier his mission would be. Many of the shuttles passengers had stared at him, but no one yet had ventured to ask of what he was doing. To many he was just another stranger, one of billions they would see every day.
One, however, knew that this was not so. He knew what the glowing red eyes meant. He had been told that this stranger would be here. The stranger had on him something more valuable than all the treasures of the world. When he had been told that the stranger would be here, he had scarcely believed his ears, the value of what he had. This would make him very rich indeed.
* * *
As the shuttle docked, Herin strode off, becoming invisible in the crowds of new arrivals on Coruscant. As he pushed his way through the crowd however, he knew that he was being followed. He could tell by the way that the human had looked at him, he could tell that the human
knew.
Herin hurried through the crowd, muttering an apology to the elderly lady that he knocked over. He slipped into a turbolift nearby, and keyed it for one of the lower levels of Coruscant, where the scum of the galaxy resided. Just before the door closed, several others slipped in beside him, including his human follower.
When the lift came to a stop, Herin pushed his way out the door, and walked down the empty street. The human walked out behind him, dropping back to follow Herin from about fifty feet. Herin noted that if the human was trying to remain inconspicuous, he was doing a very poor job of it. Indeed, he was almost announcing himself to be there. Herin shook his head in disgust.
A short way down, the human called out to him. “Going somewhere, sonny?”
Herin ignored him and continued on his way. The human quickened his pace, and soon came only a few steps behind the Chiss’s back. “I asked you a question.”
“It doesn’t concern you.” Herin said gruffly.
The human drew out a blaster and pressed it into Herin’s back. “Make it concern me.”
Herin sighed and swung his arm around, cracking down on the human’s wrist. He cried out in pain and dropped the blaster, letting it clatter on the metal floor. Herin reached his arm into his cloak, and in a flash he had his favourite dagger in hand. “What do you want?”
The human smirked. “You know damn well what I want.”
Herin lashed out and stabbed the dagger into the human’s chest. Before the body hit the ground, it was dead. He wiped the blood off his dagger and placed it back in his cloak, this time closer to his grasp.
What the hell did he do now?
