Tripping On Air

~~*~~

Obi-Wan paced the corridor of the Senate building outside Senator Aldo's office. The stubborn woman would not allow him access to her office, feeling it would send the wrong signal that she was running scared from those who wished to weaken her position. Yet what was the signal she was sending by having a Jedi standing outside her door?

To the very moment, the move irritated the auburn-haired Jedi, as he seemed to be staring into nothingness, but was keenly aware of all that was going on about him. How was he to protect her and her family if she kept shutting a door in his face at every turn?

The gentle buzz of his comlink going off distracted his musings as he nodded to passersby while answering the device. "Kenobi," he spoke clearly.

"Knight Kenobi, this is Officer Novara, Embeth Novara," she began, her voice rather difficult to understand, it was as if she were standing deep within the trenches of...something. "I might have a lead on Durra...he's been...right before...I'm checking it out now..."

Obi-Wan stopped his pacing and frowned. He didn't like this one bit, and the connection between the comlinks fracturing was not making matters any better. "Repeat that again, Novara. I cannot make out what you are saying."

"I'm almost there...the Lunara Club...he's owed...if he's on Coruscant...he'll collect..." the officer disjointedly explained as the comlink continued to act up. But this time, Obi-Wan had a rather good idea why the comlink was hitting such interference; Novara was heading right into the bowels of Coruscant that not many dared to enter.

Striding purposefully to the Senator's door, Obi-Wan continued to speak into the comlink. "Do not go in there alone, wait till I meet you," he ordered, receiving nothing but static in return. "Novara, do not...bloody hell," he muttered impatiently, bursting into the office and ordering the Senator's bodyguards to be on full alert as he was leaving on business involving Durra.

Thumbing off the comlink, Obi-Wan quickly changed his mind, contacting the Temple and requesting another Jedi be sent to the Senate to take his place for the time being. They had the Senator's daughter safely hidden back at the Temple, but now the Senator could possibly be the target of retaliation if the vote were to go through and the allowance of senatorial increase was shot down...as expected by Aldo's swaying vote.

~~*~~

The music was so loud it rattled her teeth. The smoke so thick it felt like her lungs were on fire, but Embeth Novara had a job to do and she was very patient, she could wait it out if it meant finding Durra and staying in her dark, corner booth observing her surroundings.

Watching the gyrating bodies on the dance floor, sway in their erotic dance only made the young woman shake her head while taking a sip of the smooth, Corellian brandy in the glass before her. She couldn't help but think that not even in her youth, could her body move like that.

As her eyes adjusted to the dim light, it was easy to glance about the room for Durra, but a little more difficult to keep a low profile being a lone female as many a male eye raked over her body in a most devilishly tempting gaze. The look from one or two male patrons leaning heavily against the bar had made her nervous, but damnit, she was Corsec, she'd been trained to do exactly what she was doing now. The only problem was, she hadn't done this before and was not feeling completely comfortable blending into the walls like she'd hoped to do. A single, fairly good-looking female alone in the lower dredges of Coruscant and sitting by herself in a dark bar frequented by the not so sociable inhabitants, was enough to frazzle even a pro's nerves-and she was nothing but a glorified desk-phile at Corsec.

But this time, the stakes were too high and Embeth Novara was beyond determined to find this Durra. At first it was just another fugitive to be found, but somewhere along the lines it had become a sticking point and she would not lose this game. Truth was, it was her tenacity and stubbornness kicking in, something that tended to happen when she sank her teeth into finding those most wanted in the galaxy. Plus too, she welcomed the element of dangerous risk, something-anything to break of the monotony of her chosen career.

Though she might appear klutzy, a tad ditzy at first glance, Embeth Novara was good at what she did. And now that she was actually out in the field and not stuck behind her cluttered desk, the dark-haired woman was feeling a renewed sense of adventure in her usually drab, dull job.

It was right about that time, while taking a long sip of the burnished colored liquid that her jubilant thoughts of finding Durra and alerting Jedi Kenobi collapsed like a house of sabaac cards upon spying the figure now darkening the doorway.

Not many in a lifetime could honestly say that a Jedi-a handsome and charming Jedi at that, could elicit such a dour reaction from anyone other than a Sith or someone they were bringing to justice. But Embeth Novara was no fool, she could read Obi-Wan's displeasure a galaxy away if the frown upon his lips and furrowed brow were any hint of indication to her that the calm, serene, Jedi, was not quite that calm or serene at the moment.

The crowd couldn't help but take notice of Obi-Wan as he strode purposefully inside, making his way to the back booth and the lone woman who had been sitting there nursing the glass of Corellian brandy all evening.

Sliding into the booth, Obi-Wan kept his gaze on the crowd, which had gone back to their normal, gyrating routine while Embeth cocked her head to the side and just stared at the Jedi. "You really have no idea what covert means, do you?" She snapped, shaking her head, ignoring his displeasure and focusing in on how he'd called attention to her and himself.

"For your information, you are about as covert as a...a..." he stuttered, keeping his gaze to their surroundings, not daring to look at the woman beside him.

"Yes?"Embeth dared with an edge to her voice.

"Forget it," Obi-Wan said in such a cool tone that most would have been warned off-but not Embeth Novara.

"No, I will not forget it. What do you mean I'm not...covert?" She demanded, lowering her voice, pulling on the shoulder of his robe to get the handsome Jedi to look at her.

Eyes the color of a raging storm suddenly looked down upon her and the emotions swirling about those alluring depths made the woman raise her brow daringly. "Everybody and anybody can tell you're Corsec..." he began, but unexpectedly stopped as the figure entering the club was reflected off the far mirrors behind the bar.

Corbin Durra had stepped inside and was just now making his way through the sea of people, heading towards the bar.

Embeth snorted indignantly while focusing her gaze upon the face she'd seen staring back at her from her work station monitor for far too long. Durra had barely taken ten steps inside the club when his attention diverted to the back of the bar where Obi-Wan was now walking, casually making his way towards the disheveled man.

Running on instinct, Durra turned and fled from the club, Obi-Wan fast on his heels as most patrons quickly stepped aside, not wanting to get involved with what was occurring. Embeth, placed credits to the table and while elbowing her way out of the crowd that had resumed normal activities, had the good graces to get on her comlink and alert those Corsec officers in the area of a fugitive retrieval with a Jedi fast on his heels.

Glancing up to the gray sky-actually nothing but durasteel as far as the eyes could see. Embeth sighed loudly, still irked with the Jedi's reaction before she trudged to the nearest shuttle station to await heading topside.

~~*~~

tbc