Never Talk to Strangers...

Disclaimer: I own nothing in the Star Wars universe and I make no money from these flights of fancy. They are purely for my own edification, and the enjoyment of those who choose to read them.

Chapter 10

“How long are you going to wait for him to make up his damn mind?” Riley asked, wiping down the last two tables as Aislynn washed dishes at the sink behind the bar.

“As long as it takes,” she said, gritting her teeth behind her smile.

“I mean what’s it been now, five, six years, and you’re still here, and he’s gods know where...”

“I don’t see where that’s any of your business, Riley. It’s my life,” she said, slamming the glass into the drying rack a bit too hard.

“All I’m saying is, you could do better,” the skinny drummer finished with the tables and tossed the rag on the edge of the sink. “And I thought this was the whole point to having droids. I’m a musician. I shouldn’t do drudge work.”

“You’re a fair drummer, a professional drunk, and I like to keep my own bar clean. Go if you like. Pridam will stay until I’m finished. That’s what I pay him for,” Aislynn nodded at the bouncer, silently lounging against the door frame.

“Sure. Yeah. I’ll go. I’ve got me a date tonight anyhow,” Riley picked up his knapsack from it’s spot behind the bar as Aislynn counted out his share of the night’s tip money.

“With who? Another one of Madam Channelle’s girls?” she smirked, holding the cash just out of his reach.

“Real funny. No,” he snapped, snatching the money and heading for the door. “She’s a trader’s daughter. Loaded.”

“What the hell does she want with you then,” Aislynn barked a laugh.

He paused by the door, and gave a cockeyed leer, “You really want to know?”, twisting his hips lewdly.

The door slammed shut as Aislynn launched the dish towel at him.

She walked around the bar and started putting the chairs up on the tables. The bouncer came over to help.

Suddenly, the door opened. Aislynn’s head snapped up.

“Riley, I thought you were...” She stopped short. Behind the drummer were two hulking men, dark haired and dusky skinned, both with blasters in their hands. One was leveled at the back of Riley’s head. The other was aimed at Pridam, whose hand was resting on his own weapon.

A third man entered as the first two moved away from the door. He was obviously alien, but a species she had never seen before. Tall, reptilian, covered with a fine layer of iridescent scales. When he spoke, his voice was clear and crisp, with a hard edge of authority. “Surrender your weapons, please, gentlemen. We don’t want anyone getting hurt.”

“Then why did you walk into my bar waving guns around,” Aislynn snapped.

The tall alien bowed slightly, a perfectly controlled movement. “I beg your forgiveness, milady, for the intrusion.” There was no sincerity behind his formal words. “My employer wishes to speak with you.”

“What are you talking about? Your employer?” She heard a noise from upstairs, and then the sound of footsteps on the stairs. “Kip! Visitors!” she called out a warning.

The fat man stopped at the foot of the stairs, half asleep and pissed. “Who the fuck are you and what the fuck are you doing in my bar!” he headed for the closest gunman, who looked ready to fire. A short motion from the tall alien stopped him.

“A thousand pardons, Master Kip, but his Highness wishes to speak to your singer.”

Riley and Kip looked like they had both swallowed their tongues. Aislynn stared at the man blankly.

“What the fuck is he talking about?” she demanded.

Pale faced, Kip managed to find his voice through his fear, “What does Black Sun want with my bar girl?”

“I believe this is a personal matter. It is, however, extremely important to his Highness.”

Kip looked at the three men, then at Aislynn and Riley. “Get out,” he said, low and dangerous.

“I fear that is not an option for us. We are not leaving without the girl.”

Aislynn stepped between the tall alien and the Kip, and addressed the lizard. “He doesn’t own me. I’m a free agent. Talk to me, not him. I want a straight story. Drop the bullshit.”

Riley answered, “You go with them, or they’ll kill us, and burn the place to the ground to cover the evidence. They’re Black Sun, they can...” The gunman closest to him struck him in the back of the head and the drummer dropped like a stone.

A long silence ensued.

“Wait here. I’ll get my things.”

“You won’t need them,” the tall alien leaned close to her. A cloying perfumed scent hung in the air around him. Aislynn felt strange pressure behind her temples. This close, his words seemed to wrap around her as he spoke, diffusing her anger and leaving...something...in its place. “All that you require will be provided for you.”

She stepped away from him, shaking her head to clear it. Her anger flooded back. “I. Am. Getting. My. Things.” she said, then hurried up the stairs. She took the smallest of her pistols and stuffed it in her boot, added an extra pistol to her hip holsters. Probably wouldn’t let her keep them, but she had to try.

She quickly threw a few things into the bag along with the disks that held her music. Then she hurried back down the stairs.

As she passed Kip, he murmured, “I’ll try to find him.”

She shook her head, and said firmly, “No.” Then she followed the tall men out the door, flanked by the gunmen.

~ ~ ~

Their ship was a spacious transport, and the quarters to which they brought her were lusciously furnished. The tall alien dismissed the gunmen and appraised her clothing with a look of consternation. “You should sleep. In the morning, I will send someone up to dress you properly.” He left.

He had never even asked about her guns. She checked the door. It locked from the inside. The room had no outward security devices other than standard cameras which seemed to have functioning privacy settings. She had a completely equipped networking console in her room. Didn’t help her at all, since she couldn’t make it do anything other than play music.

The room itself was plushly carpeted. A large alcove set into the wall held a full size bed. There was a wardrobe and dresser with real wood finish, and a full bathroom. Sonic shower of course, but still...she yawned. Realizing there was nothing she could do now but wait for the morning, she crawled between the sheets and soon drifted off to sleep.

~ ~ ~

When she woke, the clock on the console told her she had been asleep for over nine hours. As she made her morning ablutions, the panel next to the door buzzed loudly. The door immediately slid open. Without waiting for permission, a smallish human woman walked into the room accompanied by two droids. The woman ordered her out of the bathroom and told her to stand n the center of the room.

As the two droids took measurements from her, the woman walked slowly around her in a circle, clucking her tongue, plucking at her clothing and sounding highly disappointed.

“No ass at all. Shoulders too wide, hips to match, but his Highness won’t mind that. Hair’s going to be impossible. We must do something about her waist...”

The woman stepped forward and reached for Aislynn’s face. Aislynn stepped backwards so quickly, she tripped over one of the droids.

“Hold still!” the woman snapped, then raised her chin to look into her face. “Your skin’s too fair, all those freckles... eyes are nice at least. Bright and clear. Tri-color...hazel, they call it?” She dropped to the floor suddenly. “Girl, your feet are enormous! How do you walk on those?”

Aislynn kicked at the woman, who caught her foot deftly and placed it back on the floor. “Temper, temper, dear. I didn’t mean any harm by it. My name is Lucretia, and we have approximately four hours to make you presentable for his Highness, so you’re going to have to cooperate.”

“I look fine. His Highness wants to see me, His Highness can bloody well deal with the way I dress.”

The woman gave her a shocked look. “Certainly not. Clean yourself up, and I’ll be back in half an hour.” The woman gave her a last appraising look. “Make that fifteen minutes.”

Lucretia remained true to her word. No sooner had Aislynn stepped out of the shower, than the door slid open once again and the woman entered, droids in tow, toting several large crates on a cart. Two of the crates were filled with lengths of fabric. Another held shoes and boots. The last was filled with cosmetics.

The woman pointed to a chair. “Sit.”

Having no other real choices, Aislynn did as she ordered. One of the droids set to messing with her hair, while the other handed Lucretia one fabric swath after another. The woman muttered to herself the entire time.

She eventually left Aislynn with the droid, and took the other with her, returning a short time later with a dress in tow. She had decided on a deep blue-green crushed velvet. The dress weighed a ton, even before Aislynn reluctantly allowed herself to be squeezed into it. The bodice of the dress barely reached the top of her nipples, and the corset laced so tightly, she thought she may pop out of it, until she tried to move. Her breasts would stay exactly where they were put.

The woman knelt and helped her into a pair of heeled boots. The uppers of the boots were made of softened leather, dyed to match the brilliant colors of the dress. After this was finished, the droid finished messing with her hair and Lucretia went to work on her face. Aislynn protested loudly through the entire process, attempted to squirm and found it impossible in the confining dress.

After several hours, the woman declared they were finished, and led her over to the full length mirror. Aislynn stared in amazement at her reflection. The dress forced her body into a perfect hourglass shape, her eyes outlined in dark kohl appeared huge, dominating her face. Her breasts attempted to spring out of the top of the gown, and her hair was coiffed and coiled atop her head in an intricate knotted design. She couldn’t see any of herself in this woman in the mirror.

The woman took her silence to be approval and dismissed the droids.

“I apologize, milady, for the simplicity, but we are pressed for time. Come. I am to take you to the bridge.”

Overwhelmed, and a bit short of breath, Aislynn followed the woman out the door. The walked through twisting corridors, stopping every so often for Lucretia to make an adjustment on the garment. Eventually, they stood outside a large steel double door. The woman pressed the call button on the panel beside the door. A man’s voice answered and the doors slid open.

Aislynn stepped onto the bridge, acutely aware of all the eyes staring at her. As she stepped onto the bridge, she suddenly noticed that Lucretia had left her alone. One of the reptilian aliens rose from a central chair and stepped forward to greet her. He smiled broadly, showing rows of sharp teeth, and said, “I thought you may like to watch our landing from here, milady. I have been told it is your first visit to our planet.”

She nodded. He motioned for her to take a seat and reached down to connect the landing belts. As he leaned in close to her, she smelled the strange spicy perfume again, and her head buzzed strangely. She turned her attention to the view screen in front of them.

She could see the world turning below them, blue and deep greens, encircled by white and gray swirling clouds - quite different from the desert planet. She remembered with a twinge in her heart her first glimpse of Tatooine and for a moment, old memories threatened to overwhelm her. Then the ship began its descent and she watched fascinated as they dropped through the atmosphere and the surface came into view.

Huge oceans, lush jungles, and cities which arched through the treetops. She heard the captain beside her and tried to focus on what he was telling her. “We have a beautiful planet, do we not? Thoroughly modern cities, wrapped into the forests. There are ocean cities as well, which reach beneath the waves as well as above. They are mostly resort towns, as the storm season closes them down. My family is from this city, in the demense of His Highness Prince Xizor.”

“Have you met him?”

“Once, I was so privileged. The Prince is a fine man, a powerful man, and a lover of beautiful things, as are we all. We Faleen enjoy the fine things life has to offer us.”

Aislynn swallowed audibly.

The captain gently stroked her arm from shoulder blade to elbow. She assumed the gesture was meant to be reassuring, but she shuddered involuntarily.

“You have nothing to fear.”

“I wish I had your confidence,” she answered. They said nothing further, as he turned back to business of landing.

~ ~ ~

Her nervousness increased after they landed. She was met by three armored soldiers, apparently human, who informed her she was to be escorted to His Highness at once. She followed them through huge hallways lined with flowering plants and climbing vines. At several points, the enormous trees grew through the building - or the building had been built around the tree - she couldn’t quite tell which. The ornamentation was at times subtle, at times extremely garish. Statues, mostly nudes, and fine paintings were strategically placed along their path.

The floor was covered with plush carpet, just like the her room in the ship had been. The air was filled with the scent of spices and incense. There were along their path, dimly lit alcoves, and as she passed one, she swore she could smell the pungent odor of glimmer-spice clinging to the air. Soft music traveled through the hallways.

As they approached a huge set of intricately carved wooden doors, she could hear the faint sound of water splashing, mingled with the music. Two guards in ceremonial armor waited at the door. One spoke softly into a com unit, and the doors swung inward a few moments later, opening on a lavish audience hall.

Couches and cushions were scattered around the edge of the room, several of them occupied. Others were seated at low tables. At the center of the room was the source of the splashing, a beautiful 3-tiered fountain, carved with strange exotic creatures. Beyond this, Aislynn could see a raised platform upon which an ornate chair which seemed to be carved out of the trunk of a living tree. Apparently the one seated on this chair was the one she had been brought to see.

As she entered, a hush fell over the room. Quashing her first instinct to run, she raised her head high and strode towards the chair. He rose smoothly to his feet as she approached. He was a good six inches taller than either the captain or the alien who had collected her. His scales shone brilliantly in the sparkling light of the hall.

He was clothed in floor length robes of crimson and black, trimmed in gold. He moved with mesmerizing grace, and closed the distance between them in a moment, grasping her hand and raising it to his lips. When he spoke, his voice was quiet, yet somehow it carried throughout the room.

“Milady, I am your humble servant.”

“I don’t believe you,” she murmured.

He gave her a wounded look. “I beg forgiveness for the manner in which I have been forced to bring you to me. You would not answer my summons.”

She glanced around nervously. “I don’t generally answer mail from people I don’t know.”

He laughed, a strange sound which ended in a sybilant hiss. “I wish you could understand the humor in your own words. But I am forgetting my manners. Easy enough to do in the presence of such beauty,” he kept hold of her hand as he spoke, running one claw tipped finger gently across her palm.

She felt a jolt of energy slam into her, smelled that strange perfume, and felt her senses reeling.

“I am Xizor, Son of the High Noble House of Dharjiss, which makes me royalty in name only. The Emperor, May He Live Forever, allows us to maintain the trappings of nobility, though he refuses to recognize the authority of ancient blood,” he turned her hand over slowly, trailing his fingertips upwards towards her wrist. “It would please me greatly to know your name.”

“Aislynn.”

“Lady Aislynn, be welcome in my house. Come, sit and dine with me, and we will speak of business, so that later we may speak of more...pleasant...things.” He grasped her hand and led her to an alcove she had not seen before, tucked off to the left side of the stage. Inside was a large armless couch, and a low table surrounded by cushions.

He seated her first, finally releasing her hand, then seated himself across the table.

As soon as they were seated, servants entered, carrying glasses of a deep red liquid and a tray of fruit. She watched him suspiciously, refusing to touch anything, waiting for him to make the first move.

“I did not bring you here to poison you,” he said gently.

“Why did you bring me here?”

“Straight to the point. I expected as much,” he reached for his own glass. “Forgive me, milady, but I am not accustomed to such hurried ways.”

She shrugged, and picked up the glass, sniffing it. She had expected it to be similar to wine, but it smelled sweet.

“I suggest sipping,” he said, smiling as she tasted it, tentatively. The liquid was indeed sweet, but it burned its way down her throat to her stomach, warming like brandy.

“That smile might be charming if it wasn’t for all those teeth,” she said without thinking. She heard him hiss, started to apologize, then realized he was laughing.

“The Falleen have a fearsome appearance, but I assure you, milady, we are businessmen, not warriors. My people are great lovers...of pleasure and beautiful things. I consider myself a collector of unique and beautiful things which is, in part, why you are here.”

She took another sip of the liquor. “You certainly collected me.”

He sighed. “You do not understand.”

“No, I don’t. I don’t understand, Your Highness. Pray, enlighten me.”

“I wish you to sing for me. Here, at my palace. I wish to offer you permanent employment.”

“Bullshit!” She exclaimed, and burst out laughing.

He sipped his drink and waited for her to finish, reaching down to delicately spear a piece of fruit on his right ring claw. “I don’t understand why you would be so surprised at my request.”

“Why? Because I sing drinking songs for people who are so trashed they can’t remember my face half the time. I think this place is a bit out of my league. Thanks, Your Highness, but I’ll catch the next ship back to Kips and sorry for wasting your time...” She started to stand up.

He intercepted the movement and pushed her gently back down onto the cushion. Their eyes met, and she felt the strange sensation in her stomach - and lower. Suddenly, she knew.

“Stop it,” she snapped.

“Stop...what exactly?” he looked genuinely confused.

“Whatever it is you’re doing. Now. Stop it. It’s making my head feel funny.”

Understanding dawned on him and it was his turn to laugh. “I’m afraid I can’t exactly...stop. It’s an inherent trait of my people. I didn’t realize... you truly have never encountered Falleen before? We are not so rare in the galaxy.”

“I don’t get out much.”

Still hissing softly, he settled back into his place across the table. “No. Were you happy at Kip’s?”

“Yes,” she said shortly, bitterness sneaking into her voice.

“I will compensate them for your loss. I give you my word.”

She looked away from him.

“Surely my court must be considered an improvement over a Tatooine dive,” he sounded insulted.

She shrugged.

“Does singing bring you pleasure?”

She nodded.

“Then why will you not sing for me?” he reached across the table to touch her hand. She jerked away from his touch as if burned.

“You are worried, perhaps, that your bounty hunter will not visit you here?”

She turned on him. “How...”

“A wise ruler uses information as currency. As long as you remember that, you’ll get along well here. I suspect your fears are unfounded. He will have little trouble tracking you here.”

“That’s it, isn’t it. That’s the real reason I’m here. It’s got something to do with him,” she felt her stomach drop. “Well, you screwed up. He doesn’t care about me. He just drops in every once in a while when he’s in the neighborhood and needs a good fuck. He won’t risk himself coming after me. I’m not worth that much to him.”

The Prince waited for her to finish, watching her carefully. His face may as well have been a stone wall. “That is quite possible, however, I believe you are wrong. Human men are by nature extremely possessive creatures. If he sees you as his, he will not allow me to claim you. He will come for you, and we will come to an agreement, he and I. In the meantime, you will sing for me.”

She stared into that impassive face, and knew she had no choice. She shifted uncomfortably in the chair fighting the inevitable. Finally, she nodded, adding “You’ll have to tell that woman to dress me so I can breathe.”

The reptilian face broke into a wide grin. “Tomorrow evening, then. I shall look forward to the performance. I will be posting a guard at your quarters, for your own protection. You may inform him if you require anything. Anything at all, and it will be provided.”

“Thank you.”

“Although you do not wish to be here, you are a guest in my house. Now, we will talk no further on this matter. Now, we will talk of more pleasant things. Pleasant company makes a meal infinitely more digestible.”

Aislynn let the Prince do most of the talking for the rest of the meal, and focused on her glass. Even with the strange liquor roaring through her blood, she still couldn’t find any light behind the storm clouds brewing in her mind.