[Republic Commando] - 02(76)

The Forty-first were level with them now.

Fi smiled fraternally and got a bewildered nod or two in return. They don’t recognize me! That felt strange. All his commando brothers knew him. And he could tell infantry from ship’s crew by the way they walked. He walked between the men of the Forty-first with Sev like a marching band merging, and spun around at the back of the group to walk back toward the target.

She was still sitting there. But she was looking the other way.

She was staring at another group of clone troopers heading toward her from the other direction.

“I love being a familiar face,” Fi said. His anxiety gave way to a sense of heightened awareness, the thrill of the hunt. The woman’s spine straightened as if she was going to jump up, but she sat tense for a few seconds until the clones drew level with her and met the group coming from the other direction. They stopped to chat. Fi and Sev melted into the group at the rear.

“I’m heading around the back of the plaza,” said Jusik’s voice in their ears. “Niner’s on station now. I’ll give you some aerial recon.”

“Gotcha,” Fi said quietly.

It’s bad personal security to cluster like this. But that didn’t matter right then. The woman dithered, trying not to look at the group and failing miserably: Fi, like any clone, was exceptionally attuned to small gestures. Then she got up to walk briskly into the nearest shop.

“Maybe she owed Jango credits.” Fi shrugged and noted with a sinking heart that the shop looked to be exclusively for females. The garments on display were truly bizarre. “Or we’re just not her type.”

“So, smart-mouth, you going to follow her in there?”

“I could.”

“What, tell them you’re looking for a present for your girlfriend?”

“Don’t push your luck. Is there a back way out?”

Sev stepped into a doorway and shielded Fi while he took a quick look at the holochart and snapped off the image quickly.

“No, but there’s a landing platform for deliveries.”

Sev dropped to a whisper. “Bardan, you with us yet?”

Jusik’s voice was almost a chuckle. “Fascinating,” he said. “I’m waiting at the delivery platform. A taxi is just what she needs right now.” Sev and Fi looked at each other. They could hear Jusik, but the taxi wasn’t visible even when they stood back and glanced up discreetly at the roofline. Then they heard his voice, utterly level, utterly calm-utterly worrying. “Yeah? Yeah, I am, lady … where d’you want to go? I’ve got a booking, but …”

“Sev, tell me he isn’t doing what I think he is.”

“He’s doing it.”

“He’s nuts.”

Sev lowered his voice to a whisper in the comlink. “Bardan, if we lift her now, we’ll blow this op. Don’t overplay it.”

“Okay, lady, but the spaceport isn’t my regular run, so that’ll be extra.”

There was the sound of someone getting into the taxi and a woman’s voice. “Yes, just drop me off at the domestic terminal, please.”

Fi wondered for a moment if ordinary people had shared thoughts like the one he knew Sev was sharing with him. They’d been trained to think the same way, the soldier’s way. Where was Jusik going with this? If he dropped her off like a normal taxi, they’d lose her in the terminal anyway. He couldn’t follow her in there and check where she went without blowing his cover. And if he didn’t drop her off …

Sev was staring past Fi. “Lizard on your six,” he said quietly.

Fi turned very, very slowly and stopped when he caught the Falleen male in his peripheral vision at the point where the plaza funneled into a spiral ramp down to another level. He was searching. So the woman hadn’t caught up with him when he expected, and he was looking for her. And that meant she had no comlink, or she’d have used it.

“Now he’s going to be bad news. He’s carrying some serious cannon. Look at the line of his jacket.”

Jusik’s voice was a quiet descant to Fi’s pulse pounding in his head. “Oh, fierfek. That’s great. Being rerouted again … this is going to cost, lady … another detour . .”

“He’s way too smart for his own good.” Sev looked exasperated. “Bardan, are you doing what I think you’re doing? Are you heading back our way?”

“I pay good license money not to have to use automated lanes,” said Jusik’s voice in their ears. He really didn’t sound at all like a nice Jedi Temple boy now. And then I still get diverted. What do we pay our taxes for?”