This part of the top level in Dissolution, was much quieter than the level they had just come from. There were still plenty of people wandering here and there, but it wasn’t quite the press that the main shopping sector had been.

The units on the front here were mainly bars and places for amusement. The shop next to pinkies was a sim bar. It was half full of people that at first glance were asleep in their seats. A second look revealed the wires attached, leading to the nearby sim boxes.

The three passed the sim bar and headed on to Pinkies.

As they reached the door, Vincent stopped on the threshold. His eyes quickly scanning the interior of the place. It was poorly lit inside and not very busy. It seemed to be just regulars and daytime drinkers at this hour. He stepped inside.

To the right of the entrance was the bar. The tender briefly looked up as the three entered, he gave a slight nod of his head and returned to his work.

The rest of the space inside was taken up with small tables, dotted around the room at regular intervals. At the far end of the place was a small stage. It seemed that they sometimes had entertainment here too.

Vincent could only guess what kind.

To the right of the bar was a second section. It seemed to be private, or members only. It was separated by a wall of windows and a wide doorway, with a curtain pulled across. In the poorly lit room, it was almost impossible to see inside.

There was no one obviously monitoring the entrance, but Vincent was sure the doorman would soon appear if someone unwanted tried to pass.

Vincent led the three of them to one of the empty tables near the back of the room. They wouldn’t be too noticeable there, but they could still easily see people coming and going through the entrance and the private section.

Maya sat at the table as they stopped, Vincent did the same.

Sam pulled out a seat and joined them. For a moment he went to wipe the sweat from his brow, he stopped short remembering the holo. “I was sure someone was going to recognise me, that or pull Maya up about that weapon.”

The rifle was hardly concealed.

Vincent reached to the centre of the table, as he did an in-built display lit up listing the drinks and limited food menu.

He looked up at Sam calmly. “Relax, the light in here is perfect, no one is going to spot you. I wouldn’t worry about the weapon. Half of Dissolution carries, and this is hardly the kind of place to ask questions. No one batted an eye.”

Sam was still nervously looking around the bar. “I hope you’re right… It’s hardly subtle.”

Vincent relaxed into his seat. “Acting like that is only going to draw more attention.”

Maya had been studying the menu, she sat up and looked to Vincent. “Do you think they do table service here?”

Vincent laughed. “I don’t know.” He looked around again. “I somehow don’t think so. What did you want? I’ll go check at the bar.”   

She momentarily glanced back down. “Hmm, I think I’ll have a Sazerac… Yes, one of those please.”

Vincent wondered for a moment if it was a little early for a cocktail, but then again it was Maya ordering one.

He nodded. “Sure.” He turned to Sam. “What about you?”

Sam didn’t need to check the menu before he answered. “Just a beer please.”

“Okay then, one beer and one Sazerac…” He glanced between the pair. “I’ll be right back. You two keep an eye on things here.”

Vincent left the two at the table and negotiated his way between the tables, then across the room to the bar.

The barman was stacking a batch of clean glasses away. He paused hearing someone walk up to the bar and turned around. “What can I get you?”

He was youngish looking lad, with a practiced smile.

Vincent leant against the edge of the bar. “One Sazerac and two beers.”

“Sure, coming up.” He ducked under the counter for a moment and pulled out a glass and placed it on the top. He then spun back around, opened the fridge behind the bar and pulled out two beers. He popped the tops then placed them down. “Your beers sir.”

“Thanks.” Vincent took one of the bottles and had a sip.

The barman begun preparing the Sazerac. As he did so he glanced across the room. “How’d you find a girl like that?” He nodded in Maya’s direction.

Vincent looked sideways back to their table for a moment. “Oh…” He laughed as he turned back. “She found me.”

The barman tilted his head, blowing out air in a kind of half whistle. “Lucky man.”

He nodded. “You have no idea.”

The man held the glass as he poured the cocktail. “You don’t see many like her around here.”

Vincent shrugged. “There isn’t many like her anywhere.”

Only ten of her specification ever made, and only one like Maya.

Having finished pouring the drink he carefully pushed the glass towards Vincent. “Here you go sir.”

“Thanks, how much do I owe you?”

He quickly checked the till. “That’s thirty credits.” He held up the payment machine.

Vincent waved his hand in front of it.

“Thanks…” The barman glanced around cautiously before he spoke. “I shouldn’t really say, but a girl like that, you’ll want to keep an eye on her around here. There are, well, some of the folk that come in here, you’re probably best off keeping her away from.”

Vincent picked the two beer bottles up in one hand. “I’ll remember that thanks. She isn’t really one that’s in need of looking out for though.”

He leant on the counter. “I saw her walk in with that rifle. Can’t say it’s every day you see someone like her carrying like that. Still not all folk would be put off just by that.”

Vincent shrugged and gave a knowing smile. “She doesn’t need it.” He took the glass of Sazerac in his other hand and turned to leave.

Hard to tell for sure, but he just seems like a barman. I’d be surprised he was involved in any other activities at this place. Doubt he could stomach it.

He was soon back at the table where Maya and Sam were waiting. He carefully placed the drinks down on the table and sat back down. “Here you go.”

Maya took the Sazerac “Thank you.” She took a sip.

Vincent pushed the other beer bottle across to Sam. “Here.”

Sam nodded as he reached for the bottle. “Cheers.”

There was a moment of silence as the three of them drank.

Vincent put his bottle down on the table. “I didn’t see anyone come in while I was at the bar. Did either of you two notice anything?”

Sam was shaking head. “Nothing. I don’t recognise anyone here. They could be related to things, but none of them were there the other day.”

“Thanks Sam.” He turned his attention to Maya.

She already knew what to say. “Three men and two women in the back room. One of the men standing just behind the door out of sight. I assume he’s part of the security. The other four seem to be enjoying a drink at one of the tables in the back.”

Sam’s eyes widened in surprise. “What! How can she tell that?”

Vincent made a signal for Sam to quiet down. “Bio sensor, she can’t actually see inside.”

Sam’s slumped in his chair realising he had been talking loudly. “Sorry.”

“It’s okay.” Vincent quickly looked around the room. “Doesn’t seem like you drew any attention.”

Sam took another gulp of beer, before putting his bottle down and sitting forward. “What do you want to do now? We can’t tell if their boss is in there or not. If not, we don’t know he’s going to come back.”

Vincent didn’t seem troubled. “He’ll come back. We just don’t know when. For now, let’s just finish these and see what happens.”

Maya drained the last of her drink. “I could go to the back section. I don’t think they would give me much resistance.”

“I doubt they would, but I don’t want to cause a scene. Not when we don’t know if the boss is there or not. I’d like to speak to him in person.”

Sam leant forward and asked. “What if he doesn’t come back?”

Vincent sighed. “Then we’ll go with Maya’s idea. We’ll leave that as a plan B, because there’s no guarantee we’ll get the information we need if we storm in there and there’s a chance some of the customers will get hurt.”

“And if we see him?”

“Maya and I will follow them in. Try to keep things as calm as possible, if not you fire a couple of rounds in here scare out the customers. Then follow after us once things calm down.”

It was obvious Sam didn’t like the sound of that, he had begun nervously scratching at the label on his bottle of beer. “Okay, I think… I think I manage that.”

Vincent looked at him seriously. “If anything happens out here, get to safety. We don’t want you getting hurt.”

Sam was nodding in agreement and went to take a sip of his beer, when he suddenly froze. His attention was focused on the entrance to the bar behind Vincent.

It was hard for Vincent to tell Sam’s exact facial expression, because of the holo mask, but he was sure that he was worried by what he had seen.

At the same time, Maya’s eyes were following the people that had just walked in. Not that she knew who they were.

Vincent leant back a little and casually looked across his shoulder, so he could get a look at the doorway without drawing any attention to himself.

Three men had just walked inside and were making their way to the bar. One of the men was fairly short but stocky, he had an ill-tempered look about him. He was sandwiched either side by what looked to be bodyguards. Both men were tall and well built.

Vincent turned back to Sam. “I’m just going to guess by your reaction that you recognise them.”

Sam simply nodded in reply.

Vincent placed his beer back down. “The boss?”

Sam silently nodded once again.

The group had passed the bar after briefly saying a few words to the barman. They were now heading towards the curtained doorway of the separated section.

Maya leant forward over the table. “What do you want to do?”

Vincent thought for a moment before answering. “Let’s give it a minute, see if anyone else follows them in. Then we’ll go and have a chat.”

The group stepped behind the curtain and were now out of sight.

Sam seemed to relax a little once they were gone.

Vincent turned to him. “You okay?”

Sam instinctively felt his stomach where he’d been wounded. “I’m fine…” He didn’t look certain.

Vincent followed his movements, then tried to smile reassuringly. “Okay, well you’ll be staying out here. Which one was the boss?”

“The shorter one. He might not look much compared to his guards, but he’s a vicious bastard.” His voice had trembled as he spoke.

“He’s the one that stabbed you?”

He nodded. “Yes.”

“We won’t take any chances with him don’t worry.” He turned his focus to Maya. “What about the people in here, any of them armed?”

Maya did a quick visual sweep of the room. “Couple with particle pistols. The others might have mechanical weapons, hard to tell.”

“Okay, let’s hope they’re just for protection and they aren’t part of the gang.”

The conversation died down as the three of them sat there, waiting to see who else would walk in the bar.

Five minutes passed and no one else came.

Vincent drained the last of his beer and calmly got to his feet. “Let’s go and have that chat.” He turned to Sam. “Just stay here and try to keep out of sight. We’ll try and keep things as quiet as possible inside, but if all hell breaks loose, you know what to do.”

Sam nodded nervously. “I do.”

“Good.” Vincent put a hand on his shoulder. “You’ll be okay, we’ll find out what we need to know and get out of here. We’ll find your family.”

“Thank you.”

The reminder of why he was doing this seemed to strengthen Sam’s resolve.

Vincent nodded to Maya. She climbed out of her seat and casually slung the rifle over her shoulder. Once she was ready the pair then calmly made their way across the room, towards the curtain.

The pair drew the odd glance from the others in the room. No one made a move for them and none of them even got from their seat. This was a relief for Vincent.

They don’t seem to be involved. I just hope I’m right about this.

As they reached the curtain, he turned back and looked at the bar. The barman looked back for a moment. It was as if he was going to say something, but he seemed to have thought better of it.

Vincent turned back to Maya.

She nodded to signal she was ready. She pointed to the left of the door where the doorman was stood, the pointed out the location of the other three men.

Vincent took in a deep breath and the two of them pushed through the curtain.