"What is the use of freedom if we don't have food?!" Kane's mother yelled. The paper thin walls of their minuscule apartment couldn't stop the sound of a fly farting, much less two adults screaming at each other at the top of their lungs. Kissy crawled closer to him, her hands forcefully clamped over her ears. Kane hugged his sister tight, trying to sooth her. If they could not afford the medicine the best thing was lots of rest in a calm environment. That is what the doctor had said.
"So you don't care if the whole galaxy goes up in flames, is that it?" came the spiteful reply from Kane's father. After they had moved here his father hadn't been around much. Kane didn't know why they have had to move or what his father did these days, just that his mother didn't approve. And that there had been a lot less food on the table lately.
"How noble of you! And while you are out on your grand adventure to save the galaxy we are cursed to a life of poverty in this rathole!" The rathole in question was Nar Shaddaa. The infamous smugglers moon orbiting the Hutt homeworld. While technically under imperial control it was as dark a place you could find in an already dark galaxy. Take a wrong step and perish choking on toxic fumes. Turn the wrong corner and get stabbed for the clothes on your back. Say the wrong thing to the wrong people and no one will ever see you again. Not an ideal environment for children to grow up in.
"Always the same thing with you. More credits, more credits and more credits! I keep telling you that I am sending you all I have! But I guess that isn't good enough for you anymore! What happened to everything you got last week?" yelled Kane's father. His mother worked as a seamstress, patching clothes and doing odd jobs where she could find them. Back on Corulag she had had a successful little shop that made airy dresses for noble ladies. But here it was different. Running a business out here was impossible without connections. They had found that out the hard way.
"That didn't even pay off half of our debts! And don't you dare accuse me of wasting it! You have no idea of what I have had to do just to survive!" Kissy was rocking back and forth in his arms, hands firmly pressed against her ears, trying to shut out all the shouting and screaming. She had already started to tremble. Kane knew that if it continued like this she would have another one of her episodes. He also knew that the odds of his parents ending their argument anytime soon was slim to none. That left him with but one option.
"Kissy?" He pried his sister's hands off her ears. They were red from how hard she has squeezed. "Kissy listen to me. Do you want to go look at the flying stars?" The 'flying stars' were freighters coming and leaving from the nearby starport. The freighter dock was pretty close by and the way there was mostly safe. The merchant guilds kept the worst of the gangs away from the area and there was an Imperial customs office close by. And Kane had found that as long as you kept your head down, most adults would leave two small dirty children alone. It was the other children Kane worried about. But he didn't really have a choice. He could see in Kissy's eyes that it she stayed here it would only be a matter of time before she would be shaking in fits on the floor.
Sneaking out of the apartment was easy. The front door was locked tight and there were no windows in their tiny quarters. Child's play. Kane had long since figured out that you could crawl through the ventilation shaft into the back part of their apartment complex. In many ways it was safer than walking the corridors anyway. The rats in the shaft must be the only things that were afraid of him and Kissy. At first Kissy had been afraid of the tight spaces but then Kane had started placing treats for her in the secret passages. Odd pieces of candy, brightly coloured cloths and pictures of faraway places. The allure of these treasures had worked it's magic and soon the shafts felt more like home than their actual apartment.
Kane dropped down from the ventilation and onto the dirty back alley below and dusted off his clothes. He looked around anxiously but found no one watching. Satisfied he helped his little sister down. Careful to place the loose grate back in position again the two siblings scurried out into the busy street beyond.
Nar Shaddaa never slept. The moon was overdeveloped to such a degree that the entire surface was covered with one giant sprawling cityscape. There was no time of year or day when the streets were not packed to the brim with people from every corner of the galaxy. Desperate refugees from conflicts no one cared about. Shady dealers of all kinds peddling the most wondrous and terrible of wares. And ordinary factory workers just trying to make it home from a hard day's work. Chemical plants, bio labs and factories for forbidden goods dominated the lower part of the city where Kane and his family lived. Positioned in the lowest levels of the Corellian sector almost on the border to the feral Undercity their part of the city housed the poor who had not yet totally succumbed to Nar Shaddaa. Here giant corporations had always been quick to make use of the moon's non-existing regulations and destitute population. They all knew that if a worker disappeared during a shift, no authorities would come looking for him. If a couple of thousand children suddenly died of cancer, there would be no inquiry. And if the workers didn't like the low pay and dangerous conditions, they were free to starve. Furthermore it was an ill-kept secret that the corporations and the gangs had a deal in place to keep the population of the lower city in check. If anyone spoke up or tried to rally the workforce in order to improve their lot in life they were quickly found in one of the back alleys, throat slit from ear to ear. In return the corporations turned a blind eye to extortion, murder and drug dealing. As long as it didn't affect any profit margins.
Determining the time of day was impossible this far down. Kilometers of buildings rose above them, blocking out all but the smallest sliver of natural light from the parent planet that the tidally locked moon orbited. And that the smog was more than capable of taking care of. It was a place of perpetual twilight, lit by the neon lights of billboards and roaring gas flames. Kane and Kissy both wore simple mouth protectors to filter of the worst of the pollution and poisonous factory fumes from the air. Originally white at this point they were both worn and brown from all the filth they had soaked up, probably only working a fraction of their designed capacity. Yet it was still better than nothing.
Kane pushed through the crowds, leading his sister by a firm hand. Being small could be a huge advantage on Nar Shaddaa. They wove in and out between the streets and alleys, running between legs of huge cargo droids, slipping behind food trucks and squeezing through places an adult would never fit. And then they turned a corner and there it was. The spaceport.
The city opened up as a huge shaft lead straight through the skyscrapers. It was like a giant had taken a knife and slashed a cut straight through decaying flesh of the city. Through that cut light and magic streamed down from above. A constant shuttle traffic of ships flowed both ways from the landing pads and the sky above. And there far above finally the yellow light from Nal Hutta smiled down at the two children. Kissy's eyes went wide at the wonder before her.
"Come!" Kane called and guide his sister towards one of the railed walkways at the edge of the shaft. From there they had front row seats of the many starships approaching for landing. Like the city itself, the dock attracted all types. From huge worn bulky cargo freighters descending so slowly, they almost stood still too flashy one man courier ships zipping around like dancers with bands of light after them. Kane pointed out all the different ships types and markings to his sister. This was his oasis, where he went when things were rough. His watering hole in the desert of Nar Shaddaa underworld.
A well-clad trader's family hurried past behind them. A steady stream of complaints flowed from the eldest son in the family. It was too hot. It smelled bad. The candy he had gotten was not to his liking. After a while, his father lost his temper, grabbed the bag of sweets and threw it over the railing. Aghast and stunned the crying son was dragged past them, desperately reaching out towards the shaft where the candy had fallen.
Kane peaked over the railing. The small bag of sweets had fallen on a small maintenance grating some meters below their position. It lay there, taunting him. He looked over at Kissy. She used to love sweets back on Corulag. He peaked again. A series of construction poles reached almost all they way down to the platform. The settings where other platforms had undoubtedly at one point been connected looked like perfect grips for his small hands and feet. Grinning with dare and adventure Kane slipped off his shoes and started climbing over the railing.
"Kane what are you doing?" his sister exclaimed in horror, her hands clasped around her mouth.
"Don't worry Kissy, I will be right back." Kane grinned back and swung over the railing. Below him was a bottomless jagged hole filled of outcropping landing platforms on all sides. The wind howled fiercely from deep down below. One false step and all hope would be lost for Kane. He shrugged his shoulders. Like everywhere else on Nar Shaddaa then. His naked feet found the first setting and tested it with his weight. The cold iron didn't move at all, as if connected to the mountains far below. So step by step Kane probed his way down the pole. At first carefully but soon ever more quickly as he gained confidence. This wasn't any different from scaling house facades. Actually it was far easier, the indented pole acting almost like a ladder. With one last jump he landed on the grating below. His hands closed around the brown paper bag with candy. Far above Kissy's face shone down on him in a mix of delight and worry.
"Told you! No pro..." and then the grating he stood upon creaked and shifted. Kane was shocked, it had looked so sturdy. Then the truth became apparent to him. It was a revolving grate, able to shift at different angles to accommodate various types of machinery. The gears must have rusted with time. But Kane's weight had shaken them free. Now it was slowly tilting threatening to spill the contents into the bottomless hole below. Empty boxes, leftover poles and discarded tools had started sliding off the platform. The boy stood frozen in panic, staring into the abyss. Desperately trying to keep his balance on the ever more slanting platform.
"Kane!" Kissy cried from above. His sister's cry tore the shook from Kane. He ran, like he had never run before. The pole that had acted as his ladder down was but a few meters away. Time seemed to slow down. Each step Kane took stretched into an eternity. And in that eternity he came to realize he would not make it. The next step slipped on the steep slope he was now ascending. Instinctively his fingers quickly found the grate and latched on. But he would not be able to hold on for long with just his fingertips. Below his his feet were desperately trying to find something to grip. But an old oil can had poured over the grate and his feet trashed in vain.
Then the grate stopped tilting. The rusted gears must have once again clogged up. As the floor came to a standstill so did Kane's heart. After a while at least. Shaking he found his footing again. And then step by step he slowly started ascending once again. A few minutes later found him once again climbing over the railing onto the walkway.
"Why did you do that?" Kissy pummeled his chest with tiny fists, tears flowing freely from her eyes. Smiling Kane pulled out the bag of candy, took out a sticky shining candy and gave it to her. As tears turned to joy that lit up her dirty face Kane decided it had all been worth it.
The siblings shared a moment of peace, enjoying the sweets and the sights. Kissy started naming all the ships according to her own taste. 'Sleepy Teddybear' was a huge bulky freighter with massive attached gripping arms that sat on a dock below them, just getting ready to unload its cargo. One of the small patrol craft the constantly monitored the traffic was dubbed 'Angry Bee'. Kissy insisted it stung the other craft when it flew close to them, no doubt redirecting them to some landing platform. Kane wondered where she had heard of bees. There were none on Nar Shaddaa, for there were no flowers. She was just finding a name for a Z-95 Headhunter mercenary fighter when a rough shove caused the candy bag to fall out of Kane's hands.
Back when Kane and his family had first moved to Nar Shaddaa they had not been so destitute as they were now. Back then they had had decent clean clothes and soap to wash with. Their mother, still keeping her manners from the core worlds sent her children to school on the first day wearing their finest clothes. Clean as a whistle. That had been a mistake. The other children had hated the newcomers with an intensity normally reserved for the fires of hell. With their washed hair and clean clothes. With their proper words and education. Even now that their family was even worse off than the others and had moved to the lowest parts of the sector the other kids still had never pardoned them for the crime of being different. On Corulag Kane had learned maths, reading and writing, engineering and poetry. On Nar Shaddaa he had learned how to take a beating and keep his head down.
Half a dozen kids had circled Kane and Kissy. The leader, a girl named Clara, picked up the candy bag Kane had dropped with a smug smile on her face. In other circumstances, she would have been really pretty. High cheekbones, tall, with piercing blue eyes. Here, her hair had fallen out after a chemical plant had leaked raw sewage into the drinking water. And the skin on the left side of her face was scarred by something that looked like acid. She was in the same year as Kane, four years older than Kissy. And already the light had gone out of her eyes. Nar Shaddaa does that.
"What do we have here?" Clara drawled. "Have your family finally become so poor that they are forced to eat out of the garbage cans?" she opened the bag and looked down into it. She picked up a shiny caramel, a stunned expression on her face.
"This is Corellian Caramel! Where did you steal this?"
"We didn't steal it!" Kissy shouted and tried to grab the bag back.
"I wasn't talking to you, freak!" Clara shot back and raised the bag high out of Kissy's reach. Looking Kane straight in the eyes she placed the candy in her mouth.
"Just take it and go. But don't call my sister a freak." Kane said, trying to keep his voice calm. It was the wrong thing to say, but he had to stand up for his little sister. It was in his blood.
"Oh, I'm so sorry Mr. core worlder. You see out here on the rim we are so uncivilized." Two of the other children were moving in around Kane, flanking him. They were both larger and stronger than Kane. He pressed his back towards the railing. Were they just going to beat him up or were they thinking of throwing him over the edge? Or even worse, go after Kissy. He needed to think fast to make sure they chose the first option.
"Pretty tough with your goons around you aren't you? Scared to face me alone?" Kane taunted Clara. The truth was she didn't need them. Clara could beat the living daylights out of anyone her own size. She was mean as a street cat. Calling her out like this ensured he would get a beating to remember. What she couldn't do was to single handily heave him over the railing. And having focused her anger on Kane, once she had beaten him up there would be no reason for her to go after Kissy.
The gamble paid off. With an angry glance, Clara called off the two kids on his sides. They backed of formed a semicircle around Kane and Clara. Might as well get this over with, Kane thought and lunged. If he started the fight she would look better in front of her friend when she beat him. With ease Clara stepped aside from the blow, landing an elbow on his back. Kane turned around and swung again, this time at her head. She caught his arm, twisted it around and hit him straight in the nose with an open palm. There was crack and blood started streaming down Kane's face. This was happening too fast. He had to buy more time for her to vent her anger. In his first real attempt to fight Kane fell back from the blow, placed his hands on the railing and kicked out. His sole of his foot connected his her hip and she fell back, swearing.
Wiping blood from his face Kane started circling Clara. She followed him, vary of an attack. Then when he didn't make a move she launched herself at him. From this point on the fight quickly escalated into a beating. As expected Clara was too fast, too strong and too experienced. Kane tried to shield himself as best he could but she always found a way past his defences. A jab to the ribs. A kick to the shin. In the end, she landed a solid knee right to his crotch and Kane fell retching to the ground, curled up as pain blinded his vision.
"Stop it!" Kissy half yelled half begged, struggling towards them. She was quickly stopped by two of the other kids who held her back.
"Let him go!" she screamed as Clara just kept on kicking. Kissy struggled in vain against the older stronger children's grasp. Powerless she shrieked and thrashed in impotent fury against her bonds. As blow after blow rained down on her beloved brother the blood was steadily rising to her head.
Then the seizures hit. Kissy's eyes rolled back into her skull and frothing drool starting flying from the corners of her mouth. Her arms and legs started to shake like a small earthquake had moved into her soul.
The other children, not initially able to tell the violent convulsions apart from her previous bucking responded in kind. Thinking she just got even more violent the biggest bully sank his fist into her stomach to quiet her. When her cramps instead escalated they let go of her and started to back away.
At the noise Clara looked up from her beating to see Kissy on the hard ground, bounding around like a popcorn without a pan. After a while, her fit subsided and she just lay there, shivering with empty eyes.
"What did you do?" Clara hissed in panic. She left the bleeding Kane on the ground and walked over to Kissy. Reluctantly like she was afraid to catch a bug she prodded the prone girl with the tip of her shoe. Kissy didn't react at all.
"Nothing! The freak just spazzed out!" her minions exclaimed nervously while steadily backing away. A bubbly mixture of saliva and blood was spouting from Kissy's mouth into the dirt. Clara looked around. The isolated walkway section suddenly didn't feel so isolated anymore. She did not want to get caught here with two dead bodies if a patrol showed up. It would mean the lowest level of the chemical plants for her. Fighting hard to maintain her cool the scarred ringleader turned her heel and started to walk away.
"Come one. Let's get out of here". The other's needed little urging and soon the gang disappeared into a side alley.
Kane's head was a ringing. There was not a part of his body that didn't scream in pain. A sharp stabbing pain in his stomach told him the kicks had probably broken a rib or two. With great effort, he pushed his head off the ground. A lone broken bloody tooth was left behind in the dirt. Only with great reluctance did his swollen eyes open.
Then he saw Kissy and all the pain rushed away like smoke in the wind. Kane leapt to his feet. A split second later he was at his sister's side. Gently he cradled her in his lap.
"Kissy! Kissy!" He almost slapped her cheeks with shaking hands. No response. Her eyes were like those of a fish, wide and empty. A steady stream of slime and blood ran from the corners of her mouth. Kane pushed down ice-cold fear gripping his heart and recalled his training. This was not the first time Kissy had collapsed. He checked for breathing. There was none. With the greatest care, Kane turned her slender neck backwards and set his lips to hers. Time and time again he pushed life back into her little lungs. Her chest rose and fell against the backdrop of the landing pad where massive glittering starships streamed in an out of the city. But Kane had eyes for none of that now. For him, only one thing mattered.
After what seemed like an eternity a jolt of electricity ran through Kissy's body as the spark of life ignited in her eyes once more. Rolling onto her side her body expunged blood, bile and saliva onto the sidewalk. A couple walking by quickly hurried past the two children. Helping never crossed their mind. After all, this was Nar Shaddaa.
When Kissy was completely drained Kane lifted her up into his arms. Her eyes were wide with fear. Awake again her body shivered with the aftershocks of the seizure.
"Am I going to die?" she sobbed, big brown eyes boring into Kane. A warm liquid ran onto Kane's arms as his little sister wet herself in terror. Summoning every last piece of strength Kane shielded her from the fact that he was thinking the exact same thing. And that it was very likely.
"No of course not silly" he smiled down at her. Kane got to his feet with Kissy in his arms. His legs screamed in agony back at him. He ignored them. There were much more important things at stake here.
"We are going to go home to Mommy and you are going to get your medicine. Then you will feel all better! Ok?" Kissy nodded numbly. It felt like her gaze was probing his for some weakness, some evidence of the severity of the situation. Kane gave her nothing but a soothing grin. At long last, she snuggled up into his arms. He felt her breathing and shivers calm slightly. Now was the time to move. While there was still time. Holding her listless body in his arms he forced one foot forward. His leg almost buckled beneath him but he willed it steady and shuffled his other foot forward. One step at a time he started to make his way off the walkways overlooking the landing pads.
Kissy coughed slightly in his arms as they entered the acrid avenues of lower Nar Shaddaa. Kane had ripped off her mouthguard when giving her first aid. He swore silently at himself for his stupidity. Now he had no choice but to remove his own and gently place it over his sister's mouth. She whined slightly as he adjusted to cords to fit snugly over her mouth, just barely conscious. Kane drew a deep toxic breath and staggered on along the filthy side streets. On their way there the siblings had made their way from their home to the spaceport in less than fifteen minutes. But that had been on nimble feet, dodging in and out of crowds to make the best time. Now Kane had to take the long route while carrying his sister. And with every step, her breathing seemed fainter.
Normally Kane would have chosen an even longer route. Showing weakness on Nar Shaddaa was akin to inviting trouble. Bloody and encumbered he was easy prey for gangs, slave catchers or simple thieves. It would be the easiest thing in the world to slip a knife between his ribs and rob him blind while he was bled to death on the street. But thankfully his dirty appearance and bloody face was now a blessing. He destitution was plain on his face. The only thing he had of value was in his arms. The only people likely to hurt him were the ones who would do so for sport. And thankfully those were heavily outnumbered by those who would do so for profit.
But it didn't matter. None of it mattered a damn to Kane. Nor did the burning in his lungs or the crippling pain in his legs. As fast as he could he compelled his body forward through the crowds and alleys. Several times he fell to his knees as sharp elbows and unfriendly shoves knocked him to the ground. But every time he got back to his feet and struggled forward. He knew it was a race against time. Kissy's body was giving up, hanging limply in his embrace. After a while, she faded out of consciousness. Twice he had to stop just to make sure she was breathing. And she was, just barely. But she wouldn't be for long if she didn't get her medicine.
At long last Kane staggered into the hallway of their apartment complex. The toxic fumes outside, the beating and his fatigue were finally taking its toll. For each staircase, the lights in the hallway seemed to dim a little. Still, he refused to surrender to the darkness until he was home. When Kane at long last collapsed on the doorstep to their home he was no better off than his sister. He would have one hell of a time explaining how he had gotten out in the first place later. But that was later. With one last outpour of strength, he screamed for his mother. Without his mouthguard, his lungs felt like they were on fire and his voice all but failed him. Still, the raspy cough he managed was enough. Upon hearing his mother's hurried footstep his last strength left him and the world went black.
The road home had been a long one. But it was only the start of an even longer road for Kane and Kissy.