Chapter 1- Fraternising With the Enemy
Dr. Ovolot Qail Uthan lay on the bench attached to the wall of her cell, deep within the detention level of the Republic Cruiser Majestic. She sat there silently, patiently awaiting her transfer to Republic facility on Couresant for interrogation by Republic intelligence for her part in creating the Separatist nano-virus FG36, a deadly concoction designed exclusively to eradicate the army of Jango Fett clones which composed the core of the Republics fighting force.
Uthan allowed her ruffled, raven dark hair to cascade down her back as her fingers flew across the fresh bandages encapsulating her lower torso, stifling the wound she had received during her abduction from her facility on Qiilura. Under normal circumstances Uthan would not have allowed even a simple imperfection in her grooming routine. Her lapse in her appearance simply helped to emphasise her downfall. In a single day Uthan had been transformed from the Head Scientist on Qiilura with thousands of battle droids, a team of assistants at her call and even her own personal Kath Hound Ghez Hokan who busied himself barking at the local inhabitants to ensure that her every needs were met to being a prisoner of the Republic and a disgraced scientist. The bitter irony was almost humorous.
Uthan sat in her cell, watching the shimmering force field before her which maintained her detachment from the remainder of existence. Beyond the force field stood two clone troopers assigned to guard her cell. Uthan had never come face to face with a Jango clone until her abduction from Qiilura by that clone Commando Squad.
They were magnificent specimens, exact duplicates of the original Fett. They stood perfectly at attention, never wavering in their duty. Despite their apparent youth they were the model of physical fitness and were trained in military equipment and training in ways few veteran fighters could match. But at the same time they were abominations. These 'men' were shells, slaves to the whim of the corrupt corporations pulling the strings of the Republic, to be used for their personal gain until their usefulness ended and they had served their purpose.
The main doors at the end of her cell block slid open, the sound carrying through the confined deck. Metal boots clanked down the corridor. The soldier appeared in front of Uthans cell, he stood with the two guards in front of her cell. There was something about him; he carried himself with an aura which set him apart from the other clones. He seemed broader, even by Jango standards; his main distinguishing feature was the deep scar which cut across from his eye to his top lip. There was something familiar about him.
The force field disintegrated, the clone stepped into the cell carrying a tray between his arms. The force field reformed, the two troopers guarding her cell suddenly stepped down the hall, out of sight. Her visitor stood proudly in front of Uthan. "From the mess hall" the soldier indicated the tray between his hands.
"You are that commando" Uthan spoke more as a statement than an accusation. "One of the ones who kidnapped me from Qiilura" She spoke dumbfounded that out of the thousands of clones aboard this ship she had been visited by this particular one.
The clone took a step closer, a smile forming on his lips. "Atin"
Without warning or clear indication Uthan leapt off of the bench and lunged towards her visitor with fury burning in her eyes. However Atin, with the lightning reflexes born of a decade of flash training, managed to side step the feral swipe even with the tray between his hands, Uthan stumbling harmlessly past him, forcing her to brace herself against the force field to maintain her balance, the static of the field tingling at her finger tips. Atin calmly placed the tray down on the bench. "Ma'am, please calm yourself"
Uthans fingers closed into fists. She turned sharply on her heel, bringing her fist down on whatever part of the clone she could meet. Atins hand snapped up from his side, catching the feral punch in his palm, his strong fingers clasping tightly around her hand. Uthan threw her left hand in a wide sweep, once again Atin flawless caught her hand in midflight. Uthan stared with burning eyes into Atins, her impotent anger boiling up inside of her. Uthan threw her forehead forward in a final desperate attempt. Atin pulled Uthans right hand across his chest, swirling her arm around her neck and pulling the smaller woman's back tightly against his chest. Uthan vainly struggled against his iron hold, only succeeding in straining her injured muscles even further.
"Ma'am please restrain yourself." He spoke with a calm and collected tone. Uthan defiantly brought her elbow back past her side, the joint connecting with Atins side sharply. Uthan could feel the soldier cringe slightly at the impact, but his solid grip refused to falter. Atins hold on Uthans clenched fists tightened; arching his back he forced the woman to stand on her toes to maintain her stance. I don't want to drop you but I will" Uthan could hear the anger laced in his voice, but he fought to keep his tone neutral. "Now I am going to put you down. So sit down and behave"
Uthan despised being talked to like that- she was a respected scientist and academic scholar, not a disobedient child. But Uthan quickly realized the futility of her situation and quickly relaxed her frantic movements. Atins grip gently began to release, Uthan slipping down to her feet. Uthan collapsed down onto the bench, she allowed a much needed breathe to once again fill her strained lungs. She glanced up to face her visitor. "When Ghez Hokan told me you were the best, he was correct"
Atin lifted the base of his shirt, his sharp eyes scanning across the fresh bandages which encased his muscled torso. Atin looked up, noticing Uthans interest. "A memory of Qiilura" Atins words shattered Uthans trance. "And if you want to see something impressive" Atin released his shirt, the material falling back into place. He reached into his pocket, retrieving a datapad. A hologram suddenly emerged from the pads glowing surface, the light suddenly formed into the silhouette of two individuals. The silhouettes slowly began to take form- one was the Mandalorian warrior Ghez Hokan. The second figure took the form of a tall, elegant woman with long raven black hair cascading down her back, dressed in an expensive nightgown. Uthan quickly recognised it as the night that Ghez Hokan had chosen to test the structural integrity of the laboratory blast doors using his battle droids. Uthan could feel a sense of intrusion seeping through her. "Do you make it a habit to take pictures of women in their night gowns?"
Atin closed the hologram, returning it to his pocket. "Only if it was in service to the Republic, ma'am" Atin replied in his stable tone as if he had heard the question a million times before.
"Dik'ut" Uthan muttered under her breath.
"You talk to your mother with that mouth?" Atin smiled. Uthan returned his smile. He sat down on the bench, laying the tray between them.
Uthan glanced at the offering. "They sent a commando with my dinner, I am flattered"
"Well if they sent a trooper you would not receive this…" He reached into his pocket again, retrieving several slices of the Nerf Jerky Darman had obtained on Qiilura. He laid them down on the plate beside the standard ration cubes.
"So what is on the menu for your star prisoner tonight?" Uthan stared down at the plain cubes that looked as appetizing as Styrofoam.
"Well todays specials from the mess hall are dry rats, dry rats, and my personal favourite, dry rats" Uthan retreived one of the cubes, placing it on her tongue. Her expression quickly turned from inquisitive curiosity to utter disgust. "Nice huh." Atin smirked at her.
Uthan swallowed the cube. She quickly gulped some of her water, desperate to remove the unappetizing taste. "Can I ask you a question?"
"Yes ma'am" Atin replied. It surprised her how polite he could be despite his military upbringing, their stance on either side of the political battlefield and the simple fact that she was responsible for concocting the virus designed specifically to exclusively exterminate him and his clone kin.
"While I was on Qiilura Ghez Hokan told me that the Komonians bred you clones to be cannon fodder for the Republic, that you had no free will in life" Uthan's hand rose from her side, her fingertips running across Atin's chiselled chin. "But you seem so normal. You have individual personalities. You even crack jokes? I must know. What are you?"
Atin pondered the question. "I am a soldier ma'am. I go where command orders me too, I complete my mission and return to base for rest before the next operation"
"And the jokes?" Uthan raised her eyebrow inquisitively.
"When you spend your life surrounded by death and suffering you learn to find humour in any situation. It was simply one of the aspects of Jangos personality the Kaminoans were unable to remove during the cloning process" Uthan began to look her new friend over with her searching eyes- his strong arms, his broad shoulders, his muscled chest and that rough grizzled yet innocent and trustworthy smile.
Uthan took the tray and placed it on her other side, allowing her to scoot across the bench towards him.
"So what other parts of Jango Fett were the cloners unable to remove from you?" Uthans gentle finger slowly began to drift down across his muscled chest.
"Well, I am afraid that his 'lone wolf' attitude proved difficult for the Kaminoans to remove"
"No. What I meant was all the other emotions? Fear, anger. Desire?"
"Of course not, ma'am. If you remove the animal instinct from a soldier he would have no hope of surviving"
Uthan smiled "What about Fett's legendary stamina, and his 'other' qualities?" Uthan ran the fine tip of her finger across his rugged chest.
Clones had little interaction with females and had never experienced feelings of desire. For the first time in the ten years since he emerged from the cloning tube he was afraid. This was no battlefield. There was no line of droids firing at him; there was no weapon in his hand, no brothers standing by his side. There was not even an enemy to face. There was just woman and a child trapped in a man's situation.
Atin strode through the durasteel door into the barracks which had been requisitioned for their squads return to Couresant. Atin wordlessly collapsed into his bunk. "So where did you go?" Fi hung down from the bunk above him.
Atin glanced up with a cold, hard stare. "For a walk" Atin spoke blankly, his gaze returning to the deep grey wall beside him.
Niner glanced up from the training holovid held in his hand. "A walk which took two hours? It's a small ship, tat. Even a drunken Bantha wouldn't take that long"
"I don't know, maybe he met someone along the way" Fi smiled mischievously. "Maybe he even went to see that scientist we nabbed-"
"You know, Fi" Atin spoke with ice in his voice, his pupils burning in his eyes. "The sound of a trachea snapping sounds the same for over six hundred species, dik'ut"
Fi held his hands up in veiled submission "Wow, wow. Calm down"
Without another word Atin curled up silently in his bunk with thoughts of Couresant, warm meals and Uthan.