Karmlyn and Bayle drew a few looks as they danced, but not many. And those who did didn't look for long. They slowly moved, swaying left to right in a slow, clockwise, spin, to the slow-paced music.
It was a relaxing moment, and Karmlyn was tempted to just let her mind drift, and let the memories the tune made her recall flow freely. But she couldn't let down her guard more than briefly. Part of the reason was the huge winning she made, both the adrenaline from the match and the fortune still packed in her purse. But there was something else that was on her mind.
She decided to go ahead and ask, "It seems your friend still hasn't shown."
Bayle took a quick glance around, "No."
"So what were you meeting for?"
"Oh, he's an old friend of mine, and we meet time to time. We thought meet here tonight, discuss things."
Bayle then glanced slightly in one direction, and Karmlyn noticed him holding the look for a second too long, "Something wrong?" she asked.
"Uh, no. Just a little nervous I suppose."
They were silent for a few moments, then Karmlyn felt the man's hand slide slowly down to her rump. What the- She began to suspect Bayle had certain intentions. She had no wish to go along, but decided to try more subtle means of dissuading him rather than a flat no.
"That doesn't feel like nervousness." She cracked a grin, "Do that to the girls every time you dance?"
Bayle leaned forward to her ear, whispering, "No, and this isn't what you think. Your race has a tail that can grip small items, get ready to catch."
Karmlyn then felt something poke through the fold meant for her tail, which had remained inside her dress all night. She wasn't sure what was going on, then felt something slip through, and drop. She quickly caught it with the end of her tail, something round and flat about a couple inches across.
Bayle whispered again, "There's a man on his way here, Lexxon Kessler. He has blond hair, and -"
Before she could make a comment, she noticed several men were approaching. Five humans, and a large humanoid. They were uniformly dressed in suits. She and Bayle stopped dancing. It wasn't just her instincts that gave her a bad feeling about this.
One spoke to Bayle, "Mr. Riveryn, would you please come with us."
"What's going on?" asked Karmlyn.
"You'll find out in a few minutes, Miss. We'll need you to come along too."
"Who, me?" Karmlyn gave an innocent smile, "The man just simply asked for a dance, that's all. Is there something wrong with that?"
"You won't need to take her." Bayle told the men, "She's not involved with me."
"See." Karmlyn told them, "We were just dancing. Now, if you'll excuse me." Sorry about leaving you behind, Bayle, but I'm not putting my tail in the fire.
Before Karmlyn could turn to walk off, however, her path was blocked, "Please come along anyway. We do not wish to create a scene."
Karmlyn then realized she wouldn't be able to talk her way out so easily. She tried a different way, "Oh, all right. But this better be quick. My Uncle's a very rich man, and he doesn't take kindly to his family getting harassed."
"And we don't take kindly to threats, lady. Now, let's go."
Karmlyn reluctantly went along with these men as they directed her and Bayle in a certain direction. What the hell do they want with us? She wondered if what he gave her had something to do with it. If so, she was in trouble as well. Damn you, Bayle! What have you gotten me into? She hid her feelings, not wanting to give the men the impression she had something to hide. Bayle himself was saying nothing more.
What did he slip me? Too round to be a credit card. A data disk? The object did feel like one, and was about the same size for datapads like hers. She wondered what kind of information could be on such a disk that these men would want. Did Bayle find out something, and try to pass the information on? Was he trying to blackmail someone? Either way, she was in trouble.
The question was, what kind of trouble? If these men planned to turn her over to the police, she'd be able to get a good lawyer and prove she was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time. If these men were part of some criminal element, however, they had a tendency to handle those who found out things about them and tried to pass it on in a rather permanent fashion, even if someone found out by accident.
Her gut feeling told these men were with the latter.
She thought about simply dropping the disk, but one of the men might see it. Go to do something, but what?
Islyne finally found a door with a sign: TO CASINO, and stepped through. She looked around, trying to find the man of the description Lexxon Kessler had given her.
She saw the roulette wheel, the slot machines, the card tables, and other games, but no sign of this man with the mustache.
She then happened to notice a lady walking away, surrounded by some men in suits, and saw almost right away from the furred arms, ankles, and ears she was another mymar. Islyne's attention was briefly jarred by the mixed emotions she felt by the sight. While this was one of her own, they did not usually see her as such. She then noticed next to this mymar lady was a man who fit the description Lexxon gave her exactly.
He had been caught, and somehow this other mymar had gotten involved.
And she wasn't sure whether or not she had recovered enough to pull a mind trick for a rescue.
She began walking forward anyway, quickly, thinking up a plan on how to get this Bayle, and the other mymar, to safety.
Think girl, think. There's got to be a way.
The group of men continued to escort Karmlyn and Bayle on. She wondered what she could do. Perhaps she might get a chance to ditch whatever Bayle handed her into a trash can or something. Bayle himself seemed poker-faced. Whatever he was thinking, there was no clue what it could be, Resigned to his fate maybe.
She noticed they were headed to crowd of people, some of whom were looking her way. Apparently, they recognized her from the card game. As the group of men around Bayle and Karmlyn began to make their way through the crowd, they were each momentarily distracted. Perhaps long enough for a stunt.
Karmlyn then had an idea come to mind. Hmmm. It's crazy, and I'd loose quite a bit. But if these men are who I think they are, I don't have much choice.
Someone in the crowd spoke up, "Hey, there's the alien lady from that card game," and smiled at her. Karmlyn smiled back, and decided this was the right moment. She reached into her purse, and scooped out a large handful of coin.
"Hi again," she spoke with a charming smile to those from the card game audience earlier, "That was a great match earlier, wasn't it? I'm so happy, I feel like sharing some of my winnings."
And she threw the credits in the air.
Almost immediately, the crowd began rushing to the coins. The men around Bayle and Karmlyn were taken by surprise, as they were shoved out of the way by patrons making their dash for the cash. To make sure these men were occupied enough for her getaway, Karmlyn grabbed some more credits, and threw them into what was becoming a feeding frenzy for cash.
Then someone grabbed her by the wrist. She feared the worst, then saw it was Bayle, "Okay, let's get out of here while we can." He then led the two of them past a break in the line of men in suits, and into the main mass of humans and humanoids scooping up credits.
Islyne had been walking up to the group of men in suits, trying to think of what to do. Then she saw the other mymar lady throwing credits into the air. Islyne's eyes widened with surprise, "What the -?" Who would pull a stunt like that?
She then recalled the words this woman had mentioned just before, recalling these were gambling winnings. She then caught a glimpse of her face as she moved around the main group of people, and saw the eyes were a sharp green color. She then recalled hearing some stories about a certain green-eyed mymar woman known for her gambling skill and causing trouble. But as she saw she and Bayle were trying to make their way out, she stopped trying to figure out who it was, then rushed forward, hoping she could get them away.
Karmlyn found herself stepping around people as she walked around the main group, following Bayle as they tried to get away. She occasionally had to dodge someone either jumping in to get one of the credits, or someone knocked back, "Hey, watch it!"
"Karmlyn," Bayle finally told her, "I'm sorry I dragged you into this."
"You better be!" Karmlyn snapped, "Just what was that thing you slipped me?"
"I'll tell you in a minute. Right now, we have to -"
Bayle's words were cut short as the large humanoid forcibly shoved away three people in his path, leaving the way between the two of them clear, "You are going nowhere, Riveryn." He then began advancing toward him and the lady gambler.
Islyne saw the huge humanoid lumbering over to Bayle and Karmlyn. She thought about what to do, then saw someone near him in front bending over to get some of the coins. She concentrated hard, putting her index and forefinger to her temple, I hope this works.
The person was still getting credits off the ground when he suddenly fell backward, right in front of the huge humanoid walking through. The humanoid tripped over him, and fell flat on the ground, hitting his forehead hard on the floor, "Uhhhh."
"Ha!" Karmlyn mocked the fallen humanoid, "As the humans say, 'see you next fall.' Talk about timing."
"Save it for later," Bayle told her, "we've got to get you out of here." He took her by the arm, took a step to the side, and both halted in their tracks.
In front of them both was another mymar woman, but solid while with blue eyes, wearing a dark green jumpsuit. She had been slowing down after running over, and came to a stop.
Karmlyn had heard stories here and there about a young lady albino mymar whom trouble seemed to follow wherever she went. The odds that they would run into each other like this ... For a moment, her face reflected her surprise.
Then Bayle broke the silence, "Friend of yours, Karmlyn?"
Karmlyn quickly recovered, her habit of showing surprise or confusion as little as possible, telling Bayle, "Not exactly. I know her by reputation." She smiled at the latecomer, "Fancy meeting you here, Islyne Jixsi, or should I say Jinx?"
"Likewise." Islyne/Jinx answered, not changing her expression.
Bayle looked back at the scene behind him. While the men after him were still in the mass of people, they were starting to work their way out of it, "Uh, ladies, we have a pressing matter at hand. I need you to get a disk to Lexxon."
"Is that what you passed me?" Karmlyn asked.
"It is."
Karmlyn's eyes gave Bayle a cross look, approaching a scowl, "You used me."
"Look, I'm sorry, but I had no choice. There's more at stake here than just the three of us."
"Lexxon is in the clinic." Islyne/Jinx told Bayle, "I am here in his place. He had been caught and was badly beaten."
Bayle's concentration was briefly interrupted by one of the men from earlier tripping over another of the coin grabbers. He then spoke, "He told you where to go if you can't get to him?"
"He did."
"Fine. You both get out of here while I arrange a distraction."
"But we cannot just leave you."
"Don't worry. I have ways of slipping away from the mob's errand boys. Now get out of here!" Bayle then reached in his shirt as he ran off.
Both women looked at him for a couple seconds. "The mob?" Karmlyn though out loud, "I knew something was up with those guys."
"I was told by that man's partner they were trying to expose a corruption ring," Islyne/Jinx told her, "run by some men in organized crime."
"He sure wasn't talking about choir boys." Karmlyn pointed to the door, "We better get out of here now, but not too quickly. We'll attract less attention if we just walk."
"As if we haven't attracted enough, but I see your point."
Both women briskly walked to the main entrance. Along the way, they heard a loud noise, and looking back saw a huge, dark, smoke cloud. Someone shouted, "Fire!" That got people running.
"That's our cue!" Karmlyn grabbed Islyne/Jinx by the arm, and they both ran to the main entrance. They exited as several others were doing the same, and seconds after they emerged, the crowd behind them began streaming out of the Starlight Club.
Both women looked around, and it was Karmlyn who first saw the taxi, "There's our way outta here." She and Islyne/Jinx ran over, and each got in through both rear doors at once. Karmlyn asked Islyne/Jinx, "Where'd this Lexxon tell you to go?"
After the answer was given, Karmlyn told the taxi driver to head there, and the cab took off. Karmlyn then asked her new partner, "Okay, now, just how did all this start?"
Back in the Starlight Club, a couple workers were spraying fire-retardant foam on a small object emitting smoke, and the celling and vent shaft fans were at their highest speeds. But the damage had been done. The surrounding area had smoke stains, and the stampede from the crowd had left furnishings, wood and glass, turned over and broken.
The suited men who had been escorting Bayle before the fiasco were now being berated by their boss, "Damn you!! Can't you do anything right? We lost Bayle and that disk. And to what?! You tell me you lost him because some pussycat was tossing credits in the air?"
The large humanoid interjected, "Mister Nastrum, we-"
"'But' nothing! You idiots! All of you!! Why weren't you keeping a closer eye on her."
"Gee boss," one answered, "We thought she was just someone he picked up. Maybe the guy has a taste for exotic babes."
Yeah," another commented, deciding to make a joke of it, "getting a piece of tail." That remark got some grins from his partners.
"Shut up! " their boss roared, angered rather than amused, "Disgusting. You think it's funny, don't you? Well, it's not!"
The men stood stiff, erect, and silent, the one who made the joke shaking a bit from nerves.
"We'll discuss that later. Right now, I want Bayle and that credit-swiping pussycat! The white one that was seen with her too. Mess up this time, and you'll all be doing racket work in the slums! Now go!"
The suited men then ran off. Their boss watched them as they went out of the building. Nastrum scratched an itch in his red hair, and noticed his shirt over his portly stomach was hanging out over his belt some. He tucked it back in before anyone else noticed, not wanting it to detract from the clothes' high fashion.
"Humiliate me like that and steal my money will you?" He mumbled to himself, "By the time I'm done with you, I'll have your carcass turned into dog meat."