Reluctant Killer

[inama]

Finding the trail

The beast trashed a while, unable to control its movements. Inama rose from her hiding place, brushing the fine desert sand off of her rugged attire. Her clothes were made to withstand both the oppressing heat, the harsh wind and the sun, but it was not anywhere near comfortable. Still, she was used to it and knew how to wear it like a veteran hunter. It consisted of a specially fitted helmet covered in light tan leather that extended both below her face and below her neck, parts of Ubese armour including a light leather cloak, and local desert boots, high cut. She also wore a bandolier with lots of pockets, and a belt with several pouches as well as her blaster and ammo. All her equipment were coloured tan or brown, making her hard to detect at the best of times.

 

Inama reloaded the ancient but capable rifle, carefully removing sand from the firing mechanism. It always paid to be careful. The beast, a big Dragonet, might look dead, but that did not mean it was. Inama slid cautiously down the sand dune, taking care to stand upright with her rifle aimed at the fallen beast. The ancient rifle did not have a lot of ammo, nor did it fire quickly, but it was the most powerful and reliable rifle on the planet, preferred by all hunters. It bore close resemblance to the Tusken rifle, but was enhanced in several ways. It packed a wicked punch. She could perhaps afford a newer one, but probably not a better rifle. Being a hunter was not profitable work, but it was, among other things, very challenging. It kept her on her toes.

 

None of the predators of Tatooine could be considered easy prey, especially Dragonets. This particular specimen would fetch a good price at the nearby mining facility, as they rarely got fresh meat. She also knew the hide and bones was valued, and that made the whole hunt worthwhile.

Inama was not born on the planet, but she had spent enough years on it to know how to survive in its harsh environment. Tatooine was merciless, especially towards unprepared people. She had learned from one of the best hunters in the whole system and as such, was considered a good hunter herself. Her appearance belied her toughness. Although she was covered in a typical hunters attire, when she was not, she was often condescended which mostly suited her fine. Her white hair, brown skin and startlingly green eyes, combined with a slender though sinewy body, made people assume she was frail and weak. She was maybe not physically strong, but she had enhanced reflexes and endurance, courtesy of a rich and overly ambitious father. It had served her well, both in school sports and later on.

 

The Dragonet lay still as she closed in on it, but Inama had the feeling it was trying to deceive her. She readied the rifle, quickly aiming for its head. It turned fast, its tail trashing the sand in front of her. Inama fired once into the cloud of dust, cursing the dangerous creature. She covered the rifle with her poncho and reloaded, careful as always not to get sand in the rifle. It did not matter if the big lizard was sneaking up on her, if she couldn't reload in time, and securely, it would not matter if she got a second shot in. The Dragonet loomed out of the swirling sand, its jaws wide. Inama barely managed to avoid the snapping teeth. She tumbled, coming up on her feet. Taking quick aim, she aimed for its eye, but the huge size of the beast belied its agility. With blinding speed, it picked the rifle from her hands, damaging her left hand in the process. Inama swore, blinking away tears. The beast snapped at her again, but she tumbled in the sand, using her right hand to unsheathe her trusted vibroblade. When the snarling head snapped at her again, she was ready. She rolled towards the beast instead of away from it, barely avoiding the poisonous bite. The vibroblade roared, slicing the head of the beast clean off. This time, it lay still and stayed that way. She knelt beside it, closed her eyes, and spent the next few minutes giving thanks to her gods.

 

 

The Dragonet had been fastened with large belts, and though the trailer was big, the beast still managed to make it look small. Inama unhooked the hanger from her speeder, fastening the hook carefully. The hook was the winch she had used to tow the creature onto the trailer in the first place, without which she would have gotten nowhere. Hooking her boot on the rail of the trailer, she leaned backwards and folded her arms, as she waited for the verdict from the small man inspecting the big critter. The mining supervisor inspected the hide and the meat with practiced hands and eyes. He clucked his tongue, muttering about poor quality, but Inama knew him too well. He was aiming to press the price down, but she could tell he was very much interested.

 

"I will give you 900 per kilo, no more" his mouth pursed as if he was disgusted with the beast.

Inama looked at him, smiling as she shook her head.

 

"You must be mad, the meat is tough and the hide is rough at best" he gestured wildly with his hands to indicate how stupid he would be to buy it "The men will laugh at me if I spend more than that".

 

Inama raised an eyebrow, then she unsheathed a small knife and tried to make a mark in the skin. It didn't leave a mark. The supervisor narrowed his eyes at her.

 

"You drive a hard bargain. Well, I will say 950 per kilo, but that is my last offer" he shook his head, sad at making the admission.

 

Inama grinned, shaking her head as she prepared to leave.

 

"Hey! Are you leaving? It's your loss! You won´t get a better price anywhere else!" his voice had taken on a hint of panic, and Inama almost felt bad for knowing him so well.

 

"Stop! Stop!" he squealed "why are you so impatient?"

 

Inama slowed down, but she did not stop.

 

"1100 per kilo, last offer, please take, you are killing me!" his voice almost cracked with sorrow. His shoulders slumped as he hung his head in defeat.

 

Inama stopped and jumped off the speeder "why didn't you say so in the first place" she grinned at him, winking.

 

"Argh, wicked girl" he muttered, but Inama could see he had enjoyed the bartering.

As she unhooked the hanger again, she saw an old Twi'lek approaching rapidly.

 

Inama crouched slightly, pretending to be unfastening the belts. Her hands readied her blaster and when he was a few feet away, she whirled around, aiming it at him. The Twi'lek raised his hands in the air, surprised.

 

"No! I come in peace" his voice was high pitched and he seemed terrified.

 

"I recognize your uniform, you work for people I don´t want to meet" Inama narrowed her eyes, backing towards her speeder as she held the shivering Twi'lek in check.

 

"Aww, that is rude" a deep rumbling voice behind her said. Inama froze in place.

 

"Don´t turn Tiny" he continued, and she could hear him smile "I wouldn't want to shoot you".

Inama relaxed and sheathed her blaster, carefully. They had found her.

 

 

Tugging the leash

“Razor” looked fit, as always. He was standing by the wall, his heavily muscled, hairy arms folded. She could see he had new scars, but he didn't seem to mind them, for him they were probably reminders of a close encounter with death. He had gotten his name from them, having a multitude. It was a standing joke that he had gotten them shaving. People around here knew him better than most, as it was from here he ran his smuggling ring, when he wasn't working for whoever paid the most. There were several blasters in his belt, and he carried his ever present bandoleer full of grenades. His swarthy face was set in a grin, as usual, and his blue eyes lit up his otherwise sun baked face. He didn't seem interested in her though. In fact, he ignored both Inama and the man sitting opposite her. His powerful, well built frame loomed above Inama and their host, yet Inama was not worried about him. The man sitting in front of her was a different matter. As people went, Rudd al Toola was a handsome enough looking man, with his immaculate suit, carefully groomed appearance and well cut hair, but Inama knew him well enough to hate him. No one was more unpredictable or vicious than him, and to be under his control was unbearable. Yet, she had to. They were sitting in a room in a hotel, near the starport of Anchorage. Inama could hear the spaceships landing and taking off nearby. What a dump. But the room was nice enough, compared to what she was used to nowadays anyway.

 

“Pleasant journey I trust?” his oily voice gave Inama the shivers, and contrary to her otherwise stern self control, she found herself rising to the obvious spite.

 

“Quit with the banta poodoo” Inama hissed, tensing slightly. A big hand clamped down on her shoulder and she felt “Razor” warn her with a couple of squeezes. She relaxed somewhat, indicating to him that she was in control.

 

“You are quite a handful miss Alamin, I must say” Rudd smirked arrogantly, but not without humour. He leaned back in his chair, pulling his right leg onto his left knee.

 

“It took some time to find you, time and resources” he smiled again, but this time it was clear it was without any warmth.

 

Inama narrowed her eyes, glaring at him with intense hatred “I didn't break my contract” she allowed a smirk of her own, but she felt like jumping onto him to really show her what she meant.

 

“Hah!” he looked truly amused, but his smile faded quickly “Nice interpretation, but you know we own you, every tiny bit. Even your brain, what you would call your brain anyway. If you buckle too hard, we might feel we need to remind you who has got the upper hand. Maybe the death of your brother would do the trick, eh?” he snapped his fingers and a servant came hurrying from a hidden alcove with a slim metal case. “This is your next assignment. It is a tough one, but I think you owe me that for your disappearing act”.

 

“Show me the damned files” Inama growled, tears stinging her eyes as she gave in to the devil.

 

 

Hard target

“Rotten Yeomet ridden...” Tien Yebet flung the communicator across the room. Disappointingly, it didn't break as much as bounce around the room a while. Tien rubbed his face with his large hands. He had not had much sleep lately, and he was sure it would be even less now. Shaking his head, he grabbed his utility belt, blaster and helmet before heading out the door. At least he had work to set his mind to.

 

“She left you again?” Siado looked at him with her eyes full of compassion. He didn't need that now. Growling and half mumbling something to her, he passed quickly, eager to not get caught up in her net. He knew she liked men bouncing back from a broken relationship, and though she was not ugly in any way, far from, he felt her interest in him...wrong. As if she was a spider hunting for easy, wounded prey. They were both security guards in the same building, two of many, and the long hours made for a lot of prey for someone looking for men with a heartache.

Tien grabbed a report of the latest entries, trying to fix his mind to something. He could see there was a lot of activity in the new suite at the top. Several bodyguards had followed the new resident to his new apartment, along with a few select guests and the inevitable attention seeking women who loved to attend a party. According to the log, there had been disturbances.

 

“What do you know about this Siado?” he turned on her, just as she was about to pat his back in a comforting way.

 

“Uh, well, I'm not exactly sure, but it seems that the neighbor reporting the incident, retracted it. At least he did when I arrived. He was pretty nervous though.” Siado smirked “I bet the big, burly bodyguard standing in the doorway next door to him had something to do with that.”

 

“Ya' think?” Tien chuckled, despite himself. He did like Siado, truly. She was a good colleague, just not when you were down “I will look into it.”

 

Siado looked disappointed when he left, but that only made him feel it was a good call. Tien took the long ride up the elevator, up to the umpteenth floor. He really didn't care where it was, it was enough to speak the incident report number out loud in the elevator, and it brought him there.

 

The door opened to a long sterile corridor, empty except a long carpet and some small potted plants. Tien hoisted his belt. Damnit, the trouble with Jaenn had made him lose his appetite as well. He arrived at the door of the repenting neighbor. It was one of the best adresses in the place, and Tien could see the door to the new arrival a few meters to his right. It was guarded by a tall, bald dark skinned man. His shoulder was broader than Tien was high, and he shook his head at the thought of fighting one of those people. One would have to be insane.

 

Tien buzzed the door, waiting for the neighbor to arrive. He knew the man was a notorious busy body, but he had never actually met him. It wasn't for nothing that the apartment next to him had been sold a few times already. Nobody liked a nosy, pestering neighbor, especially the rich and famous. Tien buzzed the door again, slightly annoyed at the time it took for him to open the door.

 

He nodded to the tall dark bodyguard, but he ignored Tien completely. Sighing, Tien gritted his teeth and opened the door with his universal card. Just then, the door opened.

 

“Yes?” her voice was well modulated, and he was struck by her appearance, her eyes.

 

She looked exotic. Like a flower in concrete. From her blue, slanted eyes, her tanned skin and blond, almost white hair, to her slender body, well hidden under the clothes of a serving girl. She barely reached him to his chest, but her presence was far larger than him.

 

“I...uh...is...” he closed his eyes. Try again. This time, connecting your brain to your tongue “Excuse me, miss, but I would like to talk to your employer” he smiled in what he hoped was a reassuring way.

 

“I'm sorry, sir, but my employer told me he was not to be disturbed” she smiled too, but it was a sad smile, like she didn't want to be where she was.

 

“I'm afraid this can't wait” Tien looked at her with serious eyes, shaking his head.

 

The young woman glanced once in the direction of the bodyguard, sighed and looked down at her shoes, before opening the door “You had better come in then”.

 

Tien entered, taking care to wipe his feet on the doormat. The small servant girl waited patiently for him to finish before leading him through the corridors to her employer. She was stunning, in an eerie way. Tien had a gut feeling that told him she was no pushover. She probably had to be tough to stand being around that annoying man.

 

They entered a big sun lit room, overlooking the city. It was filled with a few select items, intended to imply wealth and good taste. To Tien it implied pretentiousness and a lack of confidence in finding ones own taste.

 

“Please wait here, I will fetch him” she smiled that sad smile again, this time even gloomier, before entering a door to the right.

 

Tien shook his head. He walked over to the window, grabbing the window sill with his gloved hands. How odd it was to see the city from up here. It looked distant, unreal. Tien sighed again. He wished the last twelve hours had been unreal. That they hadn't happened, but he of course new better. His head was ever in gritty mode, ready to pick apart any glimmer of romance. Maybe he would get a new chance. Maybe he would find another girl, someone to share his life with. Yeah, and that girl would come back in and make his day.

 

“I'm sorry” the girl entered the room again.

 

Tien nodded to the window before turning to her. She held a gun in her hand. He recognized it immediately as a top model gun. Brand, spanking new. It had a built in blaster reducer, to make sure it made as little sound as possible, and it was impossibly expensive. So expensive in fact, that the only people that used it was government agents and...

 

“I am, truly, sorry” she said again, her eyes shiny with regret. Regret and compassion. Then the world went black.

 

Inama went over to kneel at his still body, checking it for any life signs. He was dead. His name tag proclaimed his name to be Tien Yebet, five years her senior. She wished she had not read the tag. Quietly, she closed her eyes and prayed for him, and then, with little hope, she prayed for herself. Opening her eyes again, she gritted her teeth, ready to fulfill her contract.

 

 

 

“So, you finish it?” Razor eyed her up and down when she entered the room back in hotel located in the shadier area of town.

 

Inama nodded, flinging name tags onto the bed next to Razor. He flicked through them, as much interested in them as in the network program he was following.

 

“Nice. You managed to take him out with five bodyguards? I knew some of these guards, they were no easy kills” he whistled, impressed.

 

“They were not the hard ones” Inama said, her eyes filled with tears.

Edited July 17, 2013 by inama