“Listen, laserbrain, I can get you just about anything you want from just about anywhere you want it from. But I don’t deal in slaves. Find someone else to entertain your desire to traffic living sex toys,” Saiyanna Jhee dismissed her potential client nonchalantly, walking away as the noble was left scowling by himself in the Coruscant undercity. Sai didn’t particularly like Coruscant very much, but it was a great place to be to find a well-paying job. If she could only get around all the sex-hungry nobility that were looking for talented smugglers to help feed their little power fetishes, maybe a client would actually come up.

She continued to wander Coruscant’s lower levels, taking in the artificial lighting in all its glory. She much preferred Nar Shaddaa’s undercity to Coruscant’s; much like the lighting, the seediness of Coruscant felt artificial and manufactured, as if placed there by the Emperor himself just to appease the darker elements of society. At least on Nar Shaddaa there was the serious threat of being robbed or killed.

In any case, Sai continued her search for work. Or, more accurately, she continued her aimless wandering, hoping to reel in a client that would pay her well for good work. Most people that needed some smuggling done these days knew Sai, or at least of her, and would know how to find her. It only required one simple, word for word query:

“Is this where I can place an order for a mynock?”

Sai raised her eyebrows and couldn’t help but smirk. Her little code of choice never failed to amuse her. A quick glance around to note where any surveillance systems may have been placed, then Sai turned to face her potential client. A Quarren, dressed in a formal manner. Nobody Sai was familiar with, but he knew the code, so he seemed to want to employ her. Fortunately, Sai had a second line of defense, just to be sure this was a serious request for business.

“That depends. Your nock or mynock?” Sai kept a straight face, but inside, she was having a blast.

“Mynock. You lost yours on Onderon.” The Quarren looked a little annoyed, being forced to play Sai’s game, but he did what had to be done. On the inside, Sai was dying of laughter. Making fools of potential clients never failed to amuse her.

On the outside, however, Sai nodded without a hint of a smile. “So what can I do for you today?”

“Nothing for me. But I represent your true employer.” The Quarren offered a datapad, which Sai took cautiously. “Everything you need is in there, including coordinates, instructions, and the offer. Don’t look until you know it’s safe.” The Quarren glanced around shiftily; he was just as aware of Coruscant’s relentless surveillance system as Sai. Then again, who wasn’t these days? There were just too many stories of good smugglers and criminals being caught unawares by the Empire’s elaborate surveillance system on the planet. Everyone was careful, these days.

Sai simply nodded in response, stowing the datapad away. She wasn’t completely sure, but the mystery and intrigue behind the offer had already caught her attention. Besides, she had a good feeling about this job, and the Quarren sounded certain she would be taking the offer. The two parted ways, saying nothing else to each other.

Despite several more approaches that night, Sai rejected all of them, heading straight back to the landing pad where her ship waited for her.

--

“Hey, uh… I don’t know exactly who I’m asking here, but this is Sai Jhee of Drifter IV requesting permission to dock. I’m invited, apparently,” Sai spoke hesitantly into the comm channel provided to her on the datapad.

“Docking code?” A lone, rough voice asked on the other end.

Sai took a moment to consult her datapad. “Docking code DCI Three Thr- Hey!” Sai rolled Drifter IV to the right, narrowly avoiding a laser cannon round. “DCI Three Three Oh Four, you son of a bantha,” Sai barked into the comm.

“Gotta be quicker than that if you don’t wanna get shot at, girlie. Permission to dock granted, sending docking procedure to your nav computer now,” the voice returned, ignoring Sai’s insult.

“You aren’t the friendliest of people, are you?” Sai asked rhetorically. She wasn’t expecting a response, as her ship computer informed her that the comm connection had been cut. She pulled Drifter IV into one of the ship’s hangars, following instructions from her nav computer. 

--

She had spent the last several hours in the hangar tinkering with Drifter IV, but Sai grew bored. She had been on this damn ship for almost a full standard day, and besides aimlessly wandering the ship, tinkering with Drifter IV, and sleeping, there had been no word from this “employer” of hers. Suspicions began to rise, and Sai needed a way to get her mind off of things and relax.

And what better way was there to relax than a couple hours at a cantina?

Sai wasn’t one for drinking or vices of any kind, as she liked to have as much of a level head as she could at all times, but she appreciated the atmosphere of the cantina nonetheless. Upon entering, Sai took a headcount of those present and made a mental note of everyone’s faces and positions in the room. It was Sai’s personal rule of thumb to know as much as she could about a situation. It made adapting to changing situations that much easier.

Of those present, however, only four people in the bar really stood out to Sai: the big-ass lizard looking thing falling out of its booth, the pretty little Twi’lek that was strutting around like she owned the bar, and the drunk Human and Rodian males that couldn’t take their eyes off of the Twi’lek. They looked as if they were going to make a move on her; Sai mentally willed them to go for it. She could use a show, and these two were most definitely about to make fools of themselves.

Sai took a seat at a moderately lit booth towards the center of the cantina. She never understood why those of the underworld preferred the dark booth in the corner; as much as you wanted to be discreet, you were just so out of place. If you really wanted to blend in, why would you pick the place in the bar that was the most out of the ordinary? Sai personally believed the best place to hide was in plain sight.