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SIXTEEN
Getting to Pi Vistaproved a strategic challenge. Seraphina traded information to receive information on security protocols and spent a sizeable amount of credits to get a ticket for the sold out event to hear Niehl Quai speak at the Assembly Hall.
It was foolish to believe law enforcement wouldn’t be looking for her there. If they had enough evidence to attribute the killings of Jarad’s top men to her, they’d be expecting something with Niehl.
“Excuse me,” a voice murmured, brushing by her.
Seraphina stepped aside as a passenger exited before her. She picked up her pace, adding a rushed stride to her steps to keep up. Shoulders bouncing side to side, she pretended to stare in wide eyed excitement around her.
“First time here?” a male voice growled in the local accent.
Blinking as if startled though she’d been aware of the proximity of everyone around her, she met the gaze of the green skinned Prentian and nodded. “Yes. Going to the Niehl Quai speech.”
He grunted. “Very crowded event. Watch your belongings and pockets. Thieves run rampant during these times.”
Amusing, considering long ago she would have been one of those thieves. Maintaining her cover, she chirped in a high pitched voice, “Thanks.”
Shouldering her travel bag, she kept her head up and moved with the crowd down the ramp. Overhead announcements listed arriving and departing transports, the whoosh of the underground trains rumbled through. So many sounds bombarded her senses as she made her way through the station.
Security checkpoints prevented anyone without appropriate ID from leaving. As she approached, the guard pointed to the many rolling conveyer belts behind him. “Bags go through the scanner for screening.”
She tossed her duffle and watched it roll through and withheld a pleased smile. Her laser didn’t trigger the machine.
“ID,” the guard on the other end asked as she walked over.
He ran his handheld scanner over the chip she flashed in her grip. He gave a brisk nod. “Welcome to Pi Vista.”
She grabbed her duffle and strolled into the bright early morning. In a few hours, this would be over and if everything went without a hitch, she’d be back at this station leaving none the wiser.
At a public eatery, she headed for the cleansing room and entered a stall. A quick morph changed her from the wide eyed teenager she’d used to a green skinned Prentian native of Pi Vista. She switched the flowy ankle length blue dress for loose pants and a hip length yellow top that bared her newly muscled arms.
With her new look in place, she turned her duffle containing her weapon and one last change of clothing inside out and strode from of the eatery in a slow staggered step to match the elderly persona she’d adopted.
As she made her way awkwardly to the location she’d scouted the day before, no one gave her a second glance. She was one native among many. After traveling for several hours and transferring various planetary shuttles to disguise her trail, she was exhausted and still had a long day ahead of her.
At her designated site, she dropped her morph and shifted into the body and face of Tempest. Calculating how much time she had, she deciding to take a quick nap and set her alarm. When it beeped hours later, she woke instantly and rolled over to get her things ready.
Stretched out on the roof of the building directly across from where Niehl would stand on a balcony, she brought her laser in close and set it up. It didn’t take long before the doors she watched opened and the man himself stepped out.
Green braids hung about his boxy face, gray eyes narrowed as he read from a prepared statement he held in his three fingered hand.
In a pompous voice, Niehl explained Jarad’s recent absence due to a busy schedule without going into details and assured the crowd Jarad would be at the annual House of Oolun public event in a week. Jarad’s right hand spoke to the people in a smooth convincing tone that would have fooled her if she didn’t know the real man.
Smirking, she braced her cheek on the end of her laser and adjusted the aim. Jarad couldn’t hide forever and there was still the House of Oolun event, which thank to Niehl’s speech, she knew for certain he’d attend.
She squinted through the holosight imaging. A few adjustments narrowed her target to a perfect dot at the center of Niehl’s forehead.
She half-listened as he rattled on and on, but her attention kept wavering. The back of her neck in the nano suit itched and her senses wouldn’t stop tingling. At first, she put it down to nerves. Ever since her capture, she hadn’t been able to settle.
Thinking of how she’d fallen so easily into a trap led her to thoughts of Rook. Her mind filled with images of him, the sex sharing, the rough kiss exchanged in the room he’d held her in while his scary leader threatened her.
Her gut clenched. His lack of action probably hurt more than anything else from that disastrous affair. After all they’d shared, Roarke let another man wave a knife in her face and had stood by expressionless.
To think for one moment, one tiny grain of sand in time, she’d felt like someone in this vast world understood her only to have him betray her at her weakest point. Drugged, confused and on the anniversary of Coco’s death no less. Her heart lurched and she swallowed back the dart of pain at the memory.
Since Coco, she didn’t have anyone to support or defend her. Stupid to think Roarke would have been that person. Her lips firmed. She’d made it five years by herself and could do this last part by herself as well. Dreams of a future with a family and a man who understood her were just that—dreams.
Taking a deep breath and exhaling, she nestled her face close to the holosight again and steadied her heart rate as she’d been taught. She checked the security measures the House of Oolun had in place to see if anything had changed since she’d scouted her position and made her way to the roof bright and early this morning.
