A Tango in Taramind Part 1

Jezebel awoke to the soft hum of the hovercars engine. He looked opposite of him, Jean was still heavily asleep in her seat. The terrain surrounding the car gradually turned into farmland, organized fields of various crops grown for export to other planets.

"Hey Dinah, when will we be back at the transport?" Jezebel asked

"We won't be yet, we're making a quick stop in Taramind. The miss has organized a meeting with the technology advisor from our ship. I believe she plans to give him those blueprints you got? I don't quite know. That's your field."

"I suppose it is, Dinah. Thanks for that information. I suppose I'll wait for her to wake so I can get that itinerary."

They stopped talking, and Dinah carried on driving. He'd always wondered why she manually drove instead of relying on autopilot, but he chalked it up to feeling safer in manual control.

An unknown amount of time passed, and they'd finally arrived at the outer limits of the city, stuck in a line of traffic. They didn't take any diplomatic routes, less they'd be discovered by more unsavory forces such as the two sisters.  As they slowly traveled through the dense traffic, Jean was slowly roused from her sleep. She blinked a few times and brought her hands up to wipe the sleep from her eyes. After she rubbed her eyes, she looked out the window and released a heavy sigh.

"Haaaaah, sir Jezebel. I'm quite bored, do you have anything to entertain me with?"

"Miss, I do have some books. I also have some games on my PSD, if you're interested?"

She sighed again, her light intonations filled the cabin of the car.

"I don't wish to read or play games. I'd quite like some conversation, something mentally stimulating like that."

"Well, I could ask about our itinerary. Since we're heading back into Tamarind, and not the landing craft."

"Ah, that. Yes... It's quite simple really. We're going to make a quick stop at a local clothing company that I quite like, and get me in something more suitable for a formal dinner. After that, we shall head to a restaurant called La Tansika."

"Ah, alright miss. I shall research that location and do proper information collection on how to best protect you. Does this dinner have a planned time?"

"Yes. It's at 19:30 local time."

"Alright miss, now I've got to do some research. I hope you don't mind that I stop talking for a bit."

"No, sir Jezebel. I do not mind."

She looked away, and out into the metal distance. He activating his personal storage device, and a holographic display appeared.

'Hello there... Jezebel. Where would you like to navigate today?' the device displayed in text. A keyboard popped up, he entered 'Map of Tamarind'. The screen displayed a loading bar for a few seconds, then it slowly built a live holographic map of Tamarind. Hovercars shuttled about through the air, as vehicles on the ground moved through the streets. He typed in 'Show me the restaurant, La Tansika.'

The display panned and closed up to a restaurant near the top of the city, in one of the taller buildings. The impressive window-filled building enlargened until only the top part of it was shown. On the roof, was a dome-covered restaurant with a cooking area behind the outdoor seating.  A short biographical window popped up, 'This restaurant 'La Tansika' is named after the head chef Bella Tansika. It serves a combination of local specialties like Lagrons Fisker, as well as off-world cultural delights.' He viewed the tables closely and noticed they were made of sturdy wood. 'Perfect for cover' he thought.  He then took notice of all potential exits and places to attack from. He closed the map, and sat back into his seat, picking up a nearby holo-book. 'Consider Phlebas' it read. He nestled into the seat and prepared for the long wait for the traffic to clear.

They finally cleared the gates into the city and were on their way to their first destination. Dinah pulled down to the surface streets and began to drive along. She cruised along the extremely well-paved roads, eventually pulling into a parking garage under a building. She swiped a black card, and carefully drove in. She took a few minutes to find a parking spot, then turned off the car.

"Alright m'lady, we're here at Moxie's. Hope you already have some ideas about what you want. Don't wanna take too long to get ready for the dinner."

"Of course Dinah, I'm always ready when it comes to getting new clothes. I'll choose something quite proper. Come along now sir Jezebel. I'm going to need a male opinion for this."

"Yes, miss. I'm always here for your protection."

"Er... I suppose as such. Now, come along. I have got an outfit to pick."

Jezebel and Jean hopped out of the car and walked along to the nearby elevator. Their footsteps echoed in the semi-dark parking garage. Both of them boarded the lift and took it to the sixteenth floor. The doors opened into a grand foyer. Gold trims were on everything, and a bright brownish-red could be found as the main color. The floor was an intricately designed red and gold Victorian rug. An older human woman walked out from a side hall.

"Hey there hon, what is ya looking for?"

"Ah, Missus Grandell, I'm looking for a good dress for a dinner tonight at La Bella."

"Ahhh, Princess Jean Quincy Klarranti the Fourth of Her Name, so nice to hear from you again! It's been some time since you've stopped by.

"It is nice to see you again as well, missus Grandell. I hope you're ready, I have quite the requirements"

"Of course Princess Jean, I'm always ready for my clients. What is ya looking for hon?"

"I'm looking for a pencil dress. A bit longer, however, and not as tight at the bottom. I want something a bit more loose around there, better movement."

"Got it, any specific colors or fabrics?"

"I'll leave your choices up to you! You're the best designer in this sector of the galaxy!"

"Got it, go wait in the dressing room and have your little friend wait out front!"

"Alright sir Jezebel, I'm gonna go try on some dresses now. So you just sit right here-" she led him to a seat out front of the silk-curtained dressing rooms. "And stay still, Got it?"

"Yes, m'lady."

"Good, I shall be out soon."

She entered the dressing room and left Jezebel to his own devices. He fiddled around with his PSD and played some games which he had installed. A few agonizing minutes had passed, and the silken curtains pulled to the side. Jezebel tore his eyes away from the game he was focused on, and instead glued them to Jean. She was in a decently long dress, almost entirely black. It was tightly fitted down to her waist, where it then hung loose and covered her legs. Along with the dress, it had seemed that she also was in a pair of black heels.

"H-how do you like it, sir Jezebel?" Jean asked, abashed.

He took a final look drew a deep breath, he mentally readied himself to give his opinion.

"Looks amazing, miss Jean. It's gorgeous on you."

"Thanks, sir Jezebel... That makes me quite happy." Jean closed the silken curtain that divided them.  A few more minutes passed, and she came out dressed in her shirt and jeans she was already in.

"Alright missus Grandell, thanks for the dress!"

"No problem Miss Jean, you and your little friend here are always welcome back!"

Jean and Jezebel walked back down to the car, staying silent until they reached it.

"Got your dress, m'lady?" asked Dinah.

"Yes I did, let us start heading toward La Tansika. I need time to change."

"Of course, m'lady."

-----------------

"So... she's humiliated us once. But that certainly won't happen again. Isn't that right Anna?"

"Yes, it is, sissy Laurelynn."

"I'm very much furious. So, I think it's about time to play all of our cards. She's going to dinner with our technology officer right? So, let's ruin that."

"How  will we do that?"

"Well Anna, I guess we've got to find a new mercenary crew. That last one was a bit too... uptight. I'm not worried about the money, so let's go for broke. I've heard the Green Tiger Gang is quite great for this sort of thing."

"Green Tiger Gang?"

"Yes, the Green Tiger Gang. Quite a large amount of people, easily around 200. We'll storm La Tansika, and kill that pesky bodyguard of hers. They can ransom her off, I'll just advise that they kill her before the hand-off. I've even heard that some of their members have powers. That's quite rare around the edge out here."

"Sounds like a plan, sis!"

Laurelynn and Anna peered down from the roof of a tall building. Behind them were the leftover corpses of the previous team they hired. Blood pooled around them, and each had a gun in their hand as if they commit suicide themselves.

"That bitch messed with the wrong person," Laurelynn growled, a furious heat burned in her.