A little Mirko in the Mix

[Mirko Spendrim]

Mirko polished the counter top with a softfibre cloth, his round brown eyes endlessly roving over the present clientel.

He could not believe his luck. He had found a niche, at last. Looong last.
He didn't know how long his luck would hold. Ms Mu Satach may return at any moment and he would be rendered back to insignificant particle-matter floating aimlessley through space and time. For that was how Mirko Spendrim had spent the better part of his life. Coursing the galaxy as a one step up from bottom feeder, gleaning what information here and there which could be deemed 'useful' and selling in to whomever had a cred. Most times it was the rebels who came through for him - Aurelias Kazaar most notably. A smile tugged at Mirko's mouth as he remembered the gruff bounty hunter/slash/rebel op with affection that bordered on hero-worship. Boy, that day Kazaar came to bust him outta the Imperial detention was a day Spendrim would never forget. Mirko dabbed at a wayward tear. Kazaar had saved his life. But, to get back on topic.

Here he was, Mirko Spendrim, proprietor-au-temporare. Had a nice ring to it and Spendrim put a little extra pride into his countertop buffing.
O'course, it was a bit dodgy being in Cloud City with all these Imperial guys about -- hopefully he would not be recognised from that daring jailbreak. It was unlikely - Spindrift was a backwater planet and who cared about a lowly information broker anyhow. If the Empire had wanted him, they'd had plenty of time to snatch him up before now. It was all so much water under the bridge. Bygones. Surely the Empire believed in bygones. Mirko was also a hopeless optimist.

A new arrival took a seat across the bar from him and Mirko gave a curt, but friendly, nod in greeting. As the customer got comfortable, Mirko wondered if he should create a new drink in honor of his new vocation. He could call it the "Spenny-colada." Hm, maybe he'd think on that one bit more..

"Hi there, names' Spenny. What'll you have?"

[Mirko Spendrim]

Molly was serving another table. The girl was a marvel. Gorgeous. Wasted talent to be working here - she could be in holovids for sure. Mirko had understood that her shifts rotated and he never knew when she would be working. He was the boss and so he could check the schedule if he wanted, but somehow that made him feel he was being a bit creepy. Besides, he liked the surprise of coming on duty and seeing her here. It was like Christmas.

The customer still had not ordered.

"May I recommend one of our Corellian Ales - the <i>Splicer </i>is a good one. Or, should you like a more sophisticated refreshment, Core bourbon with namana juice is really quite splendid"

[Arya Ravenwing]

"Fine, fine. The Splicer one sounds great." Arya dropped a few credits on the table to cover the drink as the fussy barkeep went to pour it. Cloud 9 was not the bottom-dwelling, scum-sucking type of bar that she was used to, but it had its own charms. She brushed her black hair back out of her eyes, and slumped against the bar again.

[Molly Black]

She turned away from her customer, laughing an off-hand comment over her shoulder as she approached the bar.

"Sure honey, that's what they alllll say." She winked and placed his order, waiting for it to be ready, as he was her only table. The guy was harmless enough, in fact he was turning into something of a regular.

While she waited, she leaned forward and stretched out her tired back muscles. Leaning an elbow on the bar and placing her cheek on her hand, she spied her new boss. Spenny. Mu had been gone a while now and Molly was starting to wonder if something bad had happened to her. As long as her coveted position at the Cloud 9, was secure though, she had little to worry about. Aside from that, she thought, Spenny seemed to be working out just fine.

Molly lifted her fingers in a little wave and then lifted the newly arrived tray, whisking it away back to her customer. "Be back later, to check on you. Make sure you are still misbehaving, as expected. Cheers!"

She took a moment to wait at the bar, catch her breath, grab a glass of water and wait on the boss to see if he needed anything..

[Mirko Spendrim]

Molly had sauntered by and spared a little wave his way. Spendrim responded with one of his own, adding "cheers," temporarily distracted from the beer pouring so that he almost spilled. He turned back now to his customer, his ears tinged a bashful pale pink.

"Are you new 'round here?" Mirko queried as he placed the frothing glass neatly on a cloud-shaped cardboard coaster just to Arya's left, "I only ask, because Im new here too"

[Barton Henning]

Away from the bar itself, sat at one of the tables-for-two, was a world-weary tired looking individual. He was alone, a little island of solitude amidst the mostly cheerful banter of the bar. Now and then another customer would acknowledge him, recognize him, but none of them wanted to sit with him. He was, as they called him, the Doctor. There were other doctors within Cloud City, of course – it would be ludicrous to think that one man could care for the entire million-fold population - but he stood out, somehow. There was something different about him...

Just like there was something different about Cloud Nine that Barton Henning couldn't quite place. He looked up from the menu, scuffed at the corners, in his hands and glanced a little vacantly around the room. He had the sudden feeling that he had been here much longer than he had planned, without so much as ordering a drink. Barton glanced at his wrist-chrono and saw that almost twenty-minutes had passed in what felt like a moment. He shook his head and sighed, rubbing the heels of his palms into his eyes. It had been a long day.

[Molly Black]

Since Spenny seemed to have matters well in hand at the bar, Molly decided to go make her rounds amid the tables. The Cloud 9 boasted not only one of the most well stocked bars in the City, but also a full menu worth sampling. They had frequent diners as well as the expected crowd at the bar and their specials were usually quite good.

Molly spied yet another welcomed regular, the Doc, as most of the employee's called him. Molly genuinely liked him, he was somber but she suspected very good at heart. At least he helped a lot of people. She made her way to his table and smiled a bright greeting to the rather weary looking doctor.

"Good evening, Doctor Henning. We have an awesome braised nerf tenderloin tonight, with steamed veggies as a side if you haven't eaten. Although you look like you'd benefit more from a nap.." She just barely checked the urge to shake her finger like a scolding mother.

[Barton Henning]

Drawn out of his thoughts by the sound of a familiar voice, Barton offered a meek smile as he looked up to see the smiling face of Molly Black.

“That sounds delicious.”

It wasn't often that he got the chance to taste a good home-cooked meal, but he didn't like to complain. He worked so much that half the time he forgot to be hungry. It was only now that he was surrounded by the aromas of the bar and grill that his stomach began to protest against all the hours it spent knotted and ignored. As for being tired... well, there was time to sleep when you were dead, that's what his grandfather had always said. Until then, there was far too much to do and see in the world to worry about sleeping.

“Is Mu around? I have an overdue prescription waiting for her at the practice.”

[Mirko Spendrim]

"What?" he looked from Arya to the glass, "Something wrong with the beer?"

[Arya Ravenwing]

"Ah," Arya looked down at the slowly warming beer in her hand, and then back to the bartender who'd apparently been talking to her. "That is, no. Nothing wrong with it."

To prove her point she took a generous swig from the condensating glass. "I'm sorry, I think I was a million lightyears away just then. What were you saying?"

[Mirko Spendrim]

"Lot on your mind, huh?" Mirko affirmed, as if he himself sometimes carried the weight of the galaxy on his back. "Anything you wanna talk about? Maybe it'll do you good, you know, unburden yourself. My name's Mirko. You are..?"

[Molly Black]

"Sorry, Doc. Mu has been out for a while. I'll send her 'round when she is back from business."

Sliding up to the bar Molly put the doctor's order in and stole into the kitchen to get him some fresh bread to munch on and fix a drink for him herself. She had customers and then she had regulars that she would bend over backward for, Dr. Henning was of the later. She hated seeing him look so..haggard, for lack of a better way to put it.

"Hey put a rush on this one okay?" She tucked the warm bread into a clean soft linen napkin and grabbed a pat of butter, tossing the lot on a tray with a cup of caf, Molly whisked passed Spenny and headed straight back to Dr. Henning's table.

"There ya go, love. I'll make sure the rest is out in record time. Holler if you need anything else.."

[Mu Satach]

A bloody hand reached for the wall near the back alley entrance of Cloud 9. The tattered remains of a black leather glove could be seen near seared burned edges. A figure slumped against the wall and slid to the concrete floor. Air gurgled through windpipes choked with blood. A coughing fit was soon followed by vomiting. The figure hauled it's self back to a standing position and staggered forward towards the access pad. Another coughing fit sprayed the area with crimson droplets. Fingers stretched out and hovered over the keypad.

"Now... what was the access code?"

A cat jumped down from a ledge and knocked over some boxes in the alleyway. Mu clutched her guts and tried to keep them from spilling out as she propped herself up against the wall. She watched the cat inspect a piece of garbage then turned her bloodshot eyes back to the keypad and glared at it.

"Oh hell with it... "

She reached down and ignited her lightsaber, the electric blue blade shot out as she heaved it against the door. Sparks flew as it cut through the metal and circuits. The blade winked out of existence, the cat screamed and was gone, burnt circuits filled the air with fine tendrils of smoke as the door swung open as the alarm went off.

"Honey," a horse whisper escaped her throat, "I'm home." She took one step forward and collapsed to the floor.

[Arya Ravenwing]

"Ravenwing." Arya finished her drink with a flourish, and was about to say something else when a distinctive odor caught her attention.

She turned towards a door that led into the backroom and inhaled carefully. "Ah... Mirko..." Arya lost her train of thought completely at the smell of blood on the air, and got to her feet. She frowned, still staring at the backroom door, and then took a step backwards. Best not to get involved. Who could tell what was going on behind the scenes at a bar like this?

"I'd like another." She smiled thinly, sitting back down.

[Mirko Spendrim]

Ok, well, that was weird.

And Mirko knew weird, being a tad that way inclined himself.

But Ravenwing's behaviour gave him the 'uhoh' feeling, and he turned to look at the door.

"Is something there? Did you hear something?"

Ravenwing's thin smile was still in place and Mirko's skin prickled up his neck.

Clearing his throat, Spendrim announced with his best Maitre'D voice, "I'll be right back"

And taking his leave from the slightly scary stranger, he walked towards to the back door. Halfway over, the alarm sounded and the little Cloud 9 proprieter quickened his pace to a restrained panic speed.

Pushing on the door, it would not open. Mirko pushed against it repeatedly, and with greater effort each time. It wouldnt open! He stood, mere seconds of terror that the whole place was going to burn down, before he remembered his keys.

"Uh!"

Running his hands over his blazer, his trousers - little frightened fingers darting in and out of pockets (why did he have so many pockets?) he at last located his keys.

Scratching the lock clumsily before finally succeeding in inserting the right key, Mirko expelled a short shout of cheer as the door gave way before him. By now heads all over the bar were turned in his direction, eager to see what the excitement was about.

He was vaguely aware that Molly had joined herself to the investigation behind him and was to remember afterwards, with some embarressment, that he threw a hand to his mouth to stiffle his shocked girlie gasp when they discovered upon entering - a woman, bloodied and unconscious on the floor.

[Molly Black]

Molly had left Dr. Henning with the promise of a decent meal, promptly served. She was approaching the kitchens to once more make sure they knew to put a rush on the order when she realized that something was going down.

She had worked too damn hard putting this place to rights before the opening. She had ordered the new furniture, over seen the painting, the remodeling and the entire design for Mu. She was not about to let some drunken idiot start a brawl and trash it, nor was she prepared to tolerate a break in. She reached under the counter as she passed, grabbing a blaster pistol where she had stashed it. Molly tucked it into the back of her apron and tailed Mirko, shooing the other bar maids and staff away. They knew better than to cross her, she was something of a supervisor and held sway with both Mirko and Mu.

She rounded the corner to find her boss stretched out in a puddle of blood on the floor and silenced her own scream with a hand over her mouth. Molly dropped to her knees in the blood and pointed a finger out the door, knowing that not everyone would have listened to her orders.

"Get Dr. Henning. NOW! Make it quiet like..."

[Barton Henning]

Barton was about to take his first bite of his meal when one of the waitresses appeared at his side, visibly flustered. She whispered something, in frantic tones, into his ear and seized hold of his arm. Laying down his fork, and consigning himself to another day without a proper meal, the Doctor got to his feet. He followed the girl into the back of the bar and found, to his surprise, the proprietor herself – choking on her own blood.

“What's happened here?” he asked, quickly moving to Mu's side.

[Mu Satach]

Mu's consciousness drifted in darkness. The pain was gone and things in the black were warm and comfortable.

"Well, a fine mess you've gotten yourself into this time kiddo." she mentally chided herself.

"It's not my fault." she argued back.

"That's a phrase you use a lot. You might want to rethink your current occupation."

"And what would you have us do? Spend the rest of our life just frittering away on some planet? find some schmuck to breed with? pop out a few younglings and fade away?"

"No, but there has to be a less violent perhaps even legal way to make a living and still enjoy the finer things life has to offer?"

"Look sister, the deal would have gone just fine and we wouldn't be having this conversation if the buyer didn't panic and accidently trigger that thermal detonator. Like I said, this wasn't my fau... "

Mumbling voices began to filter in through the darkness, Mu quit arguing with herself and struggled to hear what was happening. Through a hazey pain filled fog she began to sense a figure looming over her.

Instintively she grabbed the thoat of who or whatever it was and began to squeeze. The throat was soft, warm, full of stubble, forcing her eyes open it took a second for her to focus in on the face attached to it. Mu's body shook as she locked eyes with Dr. Henning. Another second passed as the face registered as friend, not foe and her fingers loosened.

Her body shuddered in a fight to stay somewhat concious Mu sputtered out, "Sorry doc... " she made a feeble attempt to pat his cheek. "It's been a bad day."

[Barton Henning]

“So I can see,” Barton said, mostly to himself. He looked over the woman lying barely conscious in front of him. None of the waitresses had been forthcoming with the details of how she had ended up so battered and bruised, so it fell to the Doctor to divine the cause himself. As well as bleeding, from the inside-out, the bar proprietor was showing signs of burning, some of her clothes scorched and skin marked with ash. His tired mind struggled to piece together the evidence, eyes darting up to Molly.

“Where's the first-aid kit?”

[Molly Black]

Molly jumped to her feet and ran back out to the bar, reaching underneath and releasing the first aid kit from the clamps holding it in place. A few of the patrons seated at the bar gave her a curious look, like she had just run out from the kitchen with a meat cleaver. She looked down and realized her white lace skirt had a smear of blood on it.

"Umm.. hehe, bit of a drunk out back. Someone has a nose bleed. Nothing to fret about. Please have a round on the Cloud 9." She swung around to face the bar tender. "The people at the bar only!"

She pivoted and ran back into the office, sinking to her knees beside Dr. Henning and popping open the kit. She hadn't seen so much blood since the night Hadrian had... She shook the image out of her head and focused on Mu.

[Arya Ravenwing]

The cocktail waitress hopped out of the backroom, grabbed a medkit from under the bar, and offered up a lousy excuse to the patrons.

Arya watched her disappear into the back room, the incessant smell of blood indicating that it was much more than a bloody nose. But a round for free was all right! She told the bartender what she wanted, and drank down the shot of Corellian whiskey as soon as it was poured.

The smuggler pushed back from the bar and lurched towards the front door. If there was one thing she'd learned it was mind your own frelling business.

[Mirko Spendrim]

Mirko, his place being usurped first by Molly, and after her by the doctor - reinserted himself back to the forefront again. Looking down grimly at the pooling blood, he asked Molly,

"Who is she?"

[Mu Satach]

She could feel the blood oozing from her body, the shrapnel from the blast had pierced it in so many places. She wanted to just slip away. Fade away, slide back into the black and escape the burning pain... the burn the burn the burn oh God the burns. The pain was unbearable, the fire was gone yet it still burned and seared her flesh. She could smell her burnt clothing and hair. <i>What's that smell?</i>

<i>"No, no, no... not again, not again, not again"</i>

<i>"Again?"</i>

Henning's voice cut through the haze. "Stay with me! You gotta stay with me Mu."

Her eyes opened again and looked at the doctor, only he wasn't the doctor. He was young, almost a man with a scorched face covered in tears and ash.

"Noo..." Mu's voice warbled as tears began to flow from her eyes. "Noo..."

[Barton Henning]

There was a distant and faraway look in Mu's eyes now, one that worried Barton. He felt a sudden sensation of shared deja vu and helplessness, as he looked with quick eyes over the near innumerable burns Mu had sustained. The medi-kit that Molly had provided would have been adequate, at best, had minor scarring occurred – but whatever had happened to Mu had left her in a state beyond the limits means of the Bar and Grill. There was no way that Barton could treat her, not without moving her back to his clinic, and that in itself seemed impossible.

His brow became knitted tightly, realization quickly dawning on him. He knew what he had to do. It was something he'd sworn he would never do again. It had been two decades since he had last allowed himself to do it, but now – now he had no other choice. His hands trembling just above Mu's exposed skin, the Doctor summoned the Force to aid him...

[Molly Black]

Molly winced, nearly forgetting poor Spenny. The whole debale was a shock to her, but she at least new who was laying on the floor gushing. She scooted back, giving Dr, Henning room, but remaining close by if she was needed to lend a hand further. She looked up at Spenny with an apologetic gaze. She just couldn't let Mu die. No Mu, maybe no Cloud 9. No Cloud 9, no information to give to Kasajian, aka.. no further need for Molly Black. It was a dangerous game she played and she found herself in the akward position of having to play by everyone else's rules..

"Sorry Spenny", she started, "She is the elusive owner, Mu. Although don't ask me how she got herself into this mess. I just serve drinks and the odd nerf filet.... You know that.."

[Mirko Spendrim]

"Mu?"

The name came out as a speak, and Mirko cleared his throat and tried again, "Mu - Satach?"

Oh, this was all so terrible.

He looked at Molly's stricken face, and took her hand, patting it lightly in an effort to comfort her.

He looked at Henning, and his hand patting stopped abrutply, "What-- what is he doing?"

Mirko knew exactly what the doctor was doing and his alarm-o-meter shot through the roof.

"You cant do that here" He quailed. He fixed Molly with his eyes now as large as eggs, "He cant do that here!"

Too bad Kazaar wasn't here, he'd punch him, or shoot him, or something to make the Doc stop.

Cloud City, crawling as it was with Imperials of every walk of life was not the place to be messing around using force powers, let alone this Bar - where every unsavoury informant and rat-snitch-squealer on the planet frequented the place with regularity. Who knew? There may be one just right outside the door waiting to bring the jack-booted Imp goose-steppers down on their heads for a few fast creds and a bit of notoriety...



Dropping Molly's hand, Mirko tapped Henning urgently on the shoulder with his index finger, "You gotta quit doing that Doc, ya hear me?"

Tap, tap, tap.

"Doc?"

[Barton Henning]

Barton, already struggling to call upon what had once come so naturally, felt his concentration falter. His mind was yanked back into the present by the persistent taptaptaping of Spendrim. With a grimace, the Doctor twisted on the spot and pinned Mirko with pained eyes.

“She's going to die!” he managed, through gritted teeth. He took a ragged, damp breath and then turned back to Mu, laying his hands on her as he head done before. The Imperials be damned. He had almost lost her once before and he wasn't about to do it again.

[Mu Satach]

Hands... pulling... pulling, pulling her out from beneath the pile of...
<i>Nnnoooo...</i>

Her eyes stared into the the darkness above them. A strange voice echoed through space to her "He can't do that here!" Mu struggled in the darkness, she fought through it, reaching for that voice. If she could just hold on to that voice, find that voice, she could find her way back to reality, back to her sanity. <i>Fight damn you fight!</i> She shouted to herself, <i>Hold on to that voice!</i>

It floated down to her again, "You gotta quit doing that Doc, ya hear me?" <i>YES! Almost there... almost...</i> She strained reaching for that voice through the darkness, a hallway, figures, a cold floor, <i>Yes, just a bit further...</i> Light started to come into focus, searing pain, but she was almost home and then... then she could die.

“She's going to <i>die</i>!” That voice sliced through her like a razor thin blade of durasteel. It wrapped around her and pulled her back down into the darkness, she couldn't fight that voice, she could never fight that voice, she would never be able to fight against that voice. <font color=tan>"Where have you been my friend?"</font>

Warm hands... heat enveloped her in the darkness, a ringing in her ears turned into blaster fire, troop footfalls and children's screams.

"If we can make it to the lower levels, we might be able to get them out." the young voice whispered.

Mu turned to look at Padawan Henning as they both hugged the marble walls of the Jedi Temple. Behind Mu stood a dozen younglings, none of them older than 7. She whispered back trying to remain calm, "The library has ventilation shafts that reach deep into the lower levels of the city." One of them clung to Mu's leg, her large blue eyes searched Mu's face for reassurance. Mu smiled at her. <font color=tan><i>Everything will be alright little one.</i></font>

[Mirko Spendrim]

Mirko curled his finger back into the safety of his palm and made no sudden move. The Doc's intensity was frightening and Mirko was at a loss as to what to do next, but he thought provoking a stressed-out force-using man who had very muscular shoulders and could probablly pack quite a whallop, was something to avoid.

Mu seemed to be struggling toward consciousness and Spendrim's heart went out to her. She would feel a whole lot worse when she woke up, her burns were terrible.

"Maybe some cool water? We could pour some into her mouth -- not too much though, because I knew this one guy that did that to a buddy who got ker-splatted in crossfire between a Rebel and Imp cluster fight and he poured too much down, and the guy drowned before the laser injuries did him in--ouch!"

Molly had stomped on his foot, thankfully, to shut him up. Bless her - Spenny prattled more than normal when he was nervous.

"I'll go get some water" he assured and scuttled off, eager to be helpful.