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He simply nodded his thanks and left the bar, hurrying down the street toward the area skinny guy had told him about.
If it was a dead end, he could always go back and shake the guy down later.
Chapter 11
Gianna’sguardsleftheras she entered the main area of the dock. She headed into a public restroom to clean herself up a little and then joined a line of people getting on a small shuttle to the space station.
The collection of beings heading up to the station was a very strange mix. No upper-class passengers were here, which was to be expected. Gianna hated to admit it, but it looked like everyone going to the space station was on some kind of illegal business.
The shuttle trip was a short one, and Gianna was grateful for its brevity. It wasn’t fun being packed into a tiny space with a bunch of weird aliens and dodgy-looking people. As far as she was concerned, the tickets were far too expensive, as well.
She was not checked or scanned at the port, and Gianna felt that the operation might have been too easy. Either she was being set up, or the guards at the dock and the station itself were paid to look the other way.
As she walked out into the surrounding streets, she saw a small group of young people hawking a game of chance. She grinned as she hurried over. This was one game she knew how to win, even if it was rigged.
Gabe and I have been playing this gig since we were little!
“Come, pretty lady!” one of the kids shouted. “Try your luck in the game of chance.”
“I certainly will,” she said, pausing by the table and rifling through her bag. She slapped a stack of money down on the table.
“Three games,” she said.
The young guy whistled. “Big spender! Welcome to my table, pretty lady. Let’s see how you play!”
The others watched as she threw down with the leader of the group. It was a simple game, guessing the location of a small bauble as he shifted metal cups back and forth. She knew it had nothing to do with which cup it went under. The trick was slipping it from place to place by hand as the cups were moved.
She beat him three times, watching his frustration rising each time. Gianna raked the money into her purse and stepped back. She had tripled her money already, and she couldn’t just stand here and keep beating him, especially if she wanted to keep a low profile.
“Thank you for the game,” she said, backing away. “It was very fun. I’ll be off now.”
“Hey, wait!” the kid yelled. “That’s bad form. Get back here!”
Uh-oh.
Gianna ran. The kids followed her. Immediately, she cursed her own stupidity. This was not a familiar place. She had no idea where to hide. The kids were right on her heels, and she turned down dark, narrow alleys to avoid them.
Of course, the smart thing to do would be to run toward the security officers, but I can’t do that with a bag full of drugs.
Even though the kids were quick and nimble, she managed to lose them by ducking through a hole in a fence and waiting for them to run past.
Gianna held her position for a while, waiting for her heart and her breathing to settle. As soon as she stopped panting, she checked her instructions, slipped out of her hiding place, and headed back to the dock.
She didn’t need to go all the way back to the common areas near the shuttles because her instructions led her to the ramshackle areas far beyond the well-lit, secured dock. Every bar in this area was surrounded by hard-looking humans and aliens who glared at her as she passed by.
Gianna didn’t get far before three big aliens and a bald, muscular human began to follow her. She was so afraid, she wanted to run, but she also knew that would only make things worse.
She had no doubt these guys were security of sorts for the criminals, and if she didn’t prove she was one of them, they would make her disappear.
Gianna took a deep breath and stopped, turning to face the big, tough aliens and muscular man. She stuck out her chin and narrowed her eyes.
“You guys know Droka?” she asked, her voice coming out hard.
The biggest alien quirked an eyebrow. Obviously, he knew the name. “This way,” he muttered, gesturing down a side street. Gianna walked ahead of them, trying to appear confident.
“To your right there is a door,” the alien said. Gianna stopped abruptly and looked. She saw a dark, narrow door there and slipped inside. The toughs followed, blocking the exit.
In the glow of a single lamp, she saw an ugly, frog-like alien sitting at a table. Gianna was very frightened now that she was going to be robbed, so she pulled out the package and pushed it across the table. Droka—she assumed that was who it must be—took the package and put an envelope down on the table.
