Expensive Taste - 10.012

[Sasseeri Reeouurra]

Tap tap tap tap

Sasseeri Reeouurra's manicured nails clicked on the surface of her desk while she waited. Waiting wasn't something she was used to doing. If he came in smelling like thousand dollar liquor again she was going to wrap her hands around his neck and slowly squeeze the life out of him.

Then she'd have him brought back so she could do it again. Maybe frozen in carbonite and defrosted and then frozen again? Over and over and over until he went mad.

She tapped her nails on the black lacquered wood, her wall holoscreen on a news station with the sound muted. When her receptionist used the intercom to indicate her lieutenant had arrived, she fixed the door with a baleful stare and waited for it to open.

[Sanis Prent]

I hated this damn door every time I saw it. It was the seal on a Pandora's Box of all my torments, and I was repeatedly doomed to open it over and over again and let them all spill out at random. Only it was never so graceful as a deluge, instead a ruthless controlled drip, like water torture. She knew exactly what she was doing, and me knowing that didn't actually buy me any favors. I was, as always, trapped.

Still, my cage was plenty gilded. It was almost enough to make me fall in love with the bars. Speaking of, I caught a reflection of myself in the far window, automatically making sure my bespoke suit was falling like it should. At ten thousand credits, it damned well should. Further still, it damned well should completely cover the blaster holster I was now *permitted* to tote - a nice illusion of freedom that was. That one was calf skin, and every bit as tailored as the suit, whose fall was thankfully completely undisturbed by the conceal.

I popped a mint out of the thinnest attempt at plausible deniability, coiffed my hair out of habit, and stepped into the Lioness' Den. The first thing I heard as the door parted was tapping, which gave me a pretty good idea of what waited for me.

[Sasseeri Reeouurra]

"You'rrre late," she said, her tone overly calm. "Have a seat, Mjisterrr Prrrent. jI see you have a new sujit, jI assume you arrre keepjing the local tajilorrrs jin busjiness."

Sasseeri didn't wait for Sanis to make a reply, giving her fingernails another run over the desk to cut off any dialogue. "Djid you prrreparrre the rrrreporrrt on the new casjino jin Alljiance space we have been wantjing to open? jI do not want to wajit any longerrr forrr that foothold."

[Sanis Prent]

No sense falling for the bait, so I played it cool. I had an expense account that she kept filling, so if she was even worried about that one she could just turn the spigot and be done with it. I wasn't going to crawl out from under her debt, even if I tried to, so I didn't.

And for more tortures, paperwork. I reached into my suit, pulling a small dataslip free, and holding it in the air between us so that she was going to have to come to me for it. Little rebellions where permitted. And as much as I loathed her, she was a feast for the eyes, so I usually didn't mind when she got close. Usually.

"If by prepared, you mean pitched the details for the number muppets to put into a presentation, then consider it prepared."

Like she expected me to do any of that nerd shit.

"It's pretty boilerplate, boss. The Alliance has developed a newfound stick up their ass, but their not the complete death of fun."

Of course the fun was always cut and dry in Sasseeri's empire. The detail was in the extra fun, the kind that was illegal in just about any interstellar body of government save the seediest tinpot empires and namana republics.

[Sasseeri Reeouurra]

"Fjine," she said, leaving the dataslip in his outstretched hand, then impatiently leaning forward and snatching it. Sanis sat back with a satisfied look on his smug face for some reason. Sasseeri didn't look at the slip, but dropped it on the desk in front of her.

The proposed casino was important, because they needed a way to bridge the gap between them and Hutt Space, the gap that was currently filled with billions of pissed off Alliance members. Pissed off, armed, and dangerous. Traveling past the Carshoulis Cluster was not a real option except for legitimate deliveries. A staging area on an appropriate planet was needed - somewhere in the soft center of the Alliance where the authorities weren't going to look too hard.

All this she had already spoken about with Prent, so she didn't bother going over it again. Sasseeri stared at him, knew how much he was into her for, and saw how much he no longer cared. The thing was, she was starting not to care either. The rough edged, hard nosed smuggler seemed to be gone. He'd already been replaced by a cocky Rebel pilot, and now appeared to be lost in his own feathers, a peacock constantly preening for imaginary admirers.

"You know what yourrr prrroblem jis, Prrrent? You'rrre weak."

[Sanis Prent]

I shifted in my seat a little, knowing that despite any attempt at looking nonchalant, that little comment got its claws in me. It was a broad insult, but one that was absolutely true. I'd latched on to the money and the lifestyle I used to think I always wanted, and it never felt anything more than a consolation prize now that I'd gone my separate ways from people I cared about the most.

Petulant silence wasn't moving this along, so she might as well have the pleasure of laying me bare.

"Weak?"

I wasn't even patted down to remove my blaster. Was she that confident in her dominance over me? Yeah, weak was an understatement.

[Sasseeri Reeouurra]

"Yes," she said. "Weak of charrracterrr. jIt jis, frrrankly, djissapojintjing." Sasseeri steepled her fingers under her chin and leaned back in her leather office chair. "jI expected morrre frrrom the man jI met jin Cloud Cjity. Morrre challenge.

"But you'rrre soft. Complacent. Eagerrr to take advantage of jyourrr posjitjion's perrrks, and unconcerrrned about the futurrre." Her lip curled slightly with disdain. The more she articulated just what about Sanis Prent annoyed her, the more it annoyed her.

[Sanis Prent]

I pulled my shades off, folding them up but keeping them in my hands instead of slipping them into their case.

"I did the job."

My hands danced around the frames, turning them over a few times before I set the sunglasses on my lap.

"The job you asked me to do. It's front money. Cards face up on the table. If I'm not who you met on Cloud City, that's not the kind of job you'd ask that guy to do."

The gun holster felt noticeably heavy against my ribcage, and I leaned back in my seat, the unspeakably soft leather and plush backing of the chair mocking my frustration as it sighed.

"I feel like a bird in a cage. You take me out a few times, get me to sing a song or two, and I go right back in."

I didn't want to ask. Maybe not all of my pride was gone. But I was starting to realize that I was hungry for something I missed, and Sasseeri had a nose for it.

[Sasseeri Reeouurra]

"Frrront money?" Her demeanor slipped from irritated to icy cold. "You arrre frrrolickjing jin large pjiles of my crrredjits, because jI choose to trreat you well, despjite the debt you owe me. At thjis rrrate yourrr chjildrrren's chjildrrren wjill jinherrrjit the consequences of yourrr poorrr decjisjion making skjills."

Sasseeri stopped and took a calming breath before continuing on. True, she had offered the clothes and expense account to him, in order to further cement her hold on him. But this foppish dandy he'd turned into was not really something she was interested in. A rough man in fine clothes is one thing. Sanis seemed to have worn off all his rough edges on his satin sheets - or was very good at hiding them. "You prrretend to hate the cage jI have jimprrrjisoned you jin - then consjiderrr the doorrr open.

"but," she added, "Once you leave you arrre on yourrr own, and the bounty wjill turrrn to a kjill orrrderrr. Perrrhaps you wjill evade capturrre, perrrrhaps not. jIf you choose to stay, jI have a job forrr you."

[Sanis Prent]

"Finally."

The irritation on my face must have been pretty plain. I was tired of getting thrown scraps. We both knew I wasn't leaving, but every fetch trip I ran it made me look at that suicide option a little more fondly.

"Something real this time?"

Hopefully with a ship attached to it.

[Sasseeri Reeouurra]

She arched a manicured brow. "Every job is real, Sanjis. But yes, a verrry rrreal job, just you and me. We'rrre gojing to check up on yourrr homeworrrk." Sasseeri tapped the data slip, sliding it back across to him. "Pack a bag. Nothjing flashy. Meet me on the rrroof jin an hourrr."

She leaned back in her leather seat, feeling pleased with herself. If he'd left it would have been a good, if short chase. But seeing the door open and choosing to remain was somehow an even sweeter victory.

[Sanis Prent]

It took every bit of an hour to get ready. Surprisingly, it was easy to assemble a wardrobe of bespoke-tailored suits and accoutrements. Assembling the kind of things I used to wear in another life? I had to ask around to people who had to ask people and so forth. Even then, it felt like I was wearing someone else's hand-me-downs. The blaster in the drop-leg holster of my mechanic's pants felt heavier than it should; the holster felt too stiff for my liking. I wanted the hitting power, so there was no way I was going to handicap myself with the Gentleman's Special I kept for my nicer duds.

I put it all together with five minutes to spare, and had enough time to glance it over in full length mirror in my apartment. It was a strange moment. Like looking back but not remembering something the way you always thought it was. Lightning fast, I pulled my blaster free from the holster, leveling it to bear at my reflection. Still could do that. The stiff holster still felt alien. The blaster's angular features lacked the organic grace of my antique Mandalorian gun. It, much like Cirrsseeto, Lok, and the rest, were relegated to the lost and found bin of the galaxy. I clung to my changeable luck like a tribal totem in the hopes that these precious things would turn up in my life again.

Even if they did, I was changing and so was the galaxy around me.

* * *

She was waiting for me, even though I was a minute early on the chrono. Normally I'd find some reason to be late out of half-hearted need for rebellion, but I wanted what faint opportunity she deigned to offer me now. I'd dance on cue up to a point for that. The ship on the roof was a Corellian YZ-79, and was probably the newest-looking Corellian ship I'd seen outside of the military productions they marketed to the occasional Powers-That-Be. Like almost all Corellian birds of the class, it was overbuilt and modular. The only difference is that YZ's tended to already pack the good stuff that any good smuggler would spend years lovingly cobbling together. It was the kind of ship I imagined a syndicate maven like Sasseeri would prefer - all the sex and a little more, but little of the romance.

[Sasseeri Reeouurra]

He hadn't used the hour to pack his things and make a break for it, which was good. Sasseeri stood beside the open ramp to the freighter, her tail flicking excitedly as Sanis walked toward her. He was wearing some secondhand clothes and his old spacers boots, a bit of the old swagger already in his step. Probably an unconscious reaction to the old shoes, she mused, a half smile on her lips as he stood in front of her, his eyes bright.

Sanis reached out... and touched the hull of the ship, manicured hand almost caressing the plating. She deflated a little, turning away just a bit so she could watch Tick and Tock in their tan Reeouurra Inc. jumpsuits walking into the ship carrying a pair of totes. "jI thought you'd ljike herrr," she murmured, straightening her cropped leather jacket. Burgundy with cream stripes down the arms, over a black matte sleeveless catsuit. A slightly battered black leather holster was casually belted over her hips.

"She usually takes a crrrew of ejight, but we'rrre managjing wjith fourrr forrr thjis outjing." Sasseeri gestured to the ramp so she could follow Sanis inside.

[Sanis Prent]

Too much of a crowd for my taste...

I stepped back in her direction, the wind on the rooftop whipping up a bit as I drew my coat a little tighter.

"Before we get on board, we need to talk terms. You tell me where to go and what to do, that's fine. But how we get there is on me. I don't fly by committee, and the quickest way to get into trouble if we get people looking or us or shooting at us is to start second-guessing the details from the back seat."

Was I raising my voice? Maybe. It was a philosophy I believed in, and there wasn't much out there that I tended to believe.

"That's my standard boilerplate for customers and employers alike. It keeps us both alive. I want to make sure we have that understanding."

[Sasseeri Reeouurra]

So serrrjious. Sasseeri merely shrugged. "jIf anyone starrrts shootjing at us, thjis wjill have gone terrrrjibly wrrrong. Yourrr rrrequjirrrements arrre fjine." She liked that he automatically assumed, despite the presence of other beings on the flight that he was to be the primary pilot. To be honest, she would have made it a private trip, just her and him, except that she never went anywhere without her bodyguards and wasn't about to start.

Frankly, even with the twin Twi'leks around her safety was not guaranteed. The whole incident with a Tear, for instance. Sasseeri gestured to the ramp. "Afterrr you, Sanjis. jI trrrust you can get us to the Nanth'rrrji Rrroute frrrom herrre wjithout jincjident. Gyndjine, was jit, the planet you suggested? Orrr Attahox?"

[Sanis Prent]

"Gyndine. Safe enough to be respectable and bring in real money; frontier enough to keep real heat away."

I headed up the gangplank, not waiting around for Sasseeri or her lackeys to follow. She probably didn't care for the rest of the narrative, since I'd farmed out the doldrums to someone else to number crunch.

"We have a day to the junction on the hyper lane, and then a half day's shot off the path."

Taking my time, I cruised through the interior of the ship, getting a feel for the layout as I familiarized myself with the important stuff. Engine superstructure, power array, weapons hard points. My nose wrinkled at the uncomfortably new smell of it all.

"My contact on Gyndine is a Toydarian named Murghk. He fought in the Rebellion with me, but with things going legit he's feeling a little hemmed in. Figures the big guys owe him for keeping the peace in the system."

I doubled back, checking a few storage compartments along the way. A few of them still had their plastoid hardcovers in place.

"He's got a number for his 'services'. Calls it an 'entrepreneuial exploration' charge. I left that out of the report."

[Sasseeri Reeouurra]

"Prrrudent," she purred, following him leisurely as he flitted about the ship. Sasseeri leaned against a bulkhead, arms folded across her chest. "Wjith Gyndjine bejing such a securrre planet, once we arrre establjished we wjill be able to use that securrrjity to ourrr advantage."

She shifted slightly as he checked a compartment right next to her. "jIt's gettjing establjished that's the trrrjicky parrrt. jI hope yourrr contact jis as good as you say."

[Sanis Prent]

Stepping into the cockpit, I paused at the vista through the viewports. From the rooftop, the skyline of Coruscant was cast in orange and pink hues of sunset through a sea of clouds. In any other scenario, it would've been quite romantic. Still, the stink of new ship sat sharp in my nose. I hadn't forgotten where I was just yet. Easing into the pilot's chair, the pristine leather sighed as I surveyed the controls in front of me.

"His voice throws a bit of weight around, if that's what you're asking. They haven't set up a government, at least not one with a capital G. Still, he knows where enough of the bodies are buried to be able to have a stake in that, whenever it happens."

I could hear the faintest of purrs in her throat behind me. To drown it out of my mind, I began the pre-flight sequences, charging up reactors in succession to deliver power to the repulsors and acceleration drives. She still hadn't moved from behind me, and being annoyed with the fact, I gestured to the seat next to me. I'd much rather have her beside than behind.

"Anything I should know about this ship's registry? In case anyone asks?"

[Sasseeri Reeouurra]

She wave a hand dismissively. "Everrrythjing jis clean. One prrjiorrr ownerrr, no accjidents. No...jincjidents." Sasseeri smiled, sitting down and buckling up the restraints before he could say something ridiculous like "everyone wears a seatbelt or this vehicle is not going anywhere and I mean it young lady!"

Sasseeri sat back and watched him work, her sharp eyes taking everything in.

[Sanis Prent]

Two more leather seats sighed, signalling Sasseeri's ever-present dynamic duo were also aboard. With that, I wasted little time on the rest of the warmups, and we picked up air. The checker-patterned skylanes of Coruscant glittered above, and I followed the nearest buoy to guide into a lane that allowed express ascent to the upper atmosphere, and space beyond it. As pinks became purples and purples became black, the ever-present throng of space traffic over Imperial Center came into view. With that came the inevitable sight of a star destroyer trundling across high orbit. I couldn't help but stare at the dagger-shaped warship as I queued our ship up for a hyperspace exit vector. The harbor master gave our position, and we would be clear to jump in just under three minutes. A long time to stare...and to think. Again, I was behind the stick of a Corellian ship. At Coruscant.

It was hard not to think about how much my life had changed the last time this came to pass. Something in my head began to confuse the smell of a new ship to the stink of ozone...that acrid smell of burning in a ship in her death throes. I chewed the corner of a fingernail that grew long enough to divert my attention as my eyes remained fixed.