Chapter Three

When I woke up the next morning, I was curled up in the chair again, though I knew I fell asleep on the floor next to the bed. Carth was already up, sitting at the workbench, hunched over his blaster.

He looked over at me as I removed the blankets. "How are you feeling?" He asked me.

I leaned forward in the chair and stood carefully. There was a dull pain in my leg, but it wasn't any worse than when I'd gotten a stress fracture years ago. "Much better, "I told him honestly. I glanced over at Jetson. "Did Jetson not wake up at all last night?"

"No. He thrashed around like hell, though." Carth finished whatever he was doing with his blaster and put it in his holster.

I moved stiffly to check on Jetson— the clothes Carth had bought were a little too big, but they were a welcome change to the bloody pants and sweat streaked technician uniform I'd been wearing before. I rolled the sleeves of the shirt up as I peered at Jetson. His face had more color to it. His eyelids fluttered. "Jetson?" I asked quietly.

He jerked up to a sitting position, almost head butting me. I gasped in surprise and straightened. Jetson was breathing hard, his eyes over-bright. He sat still for a few moments, his gaze moving from me to Carth.

"Good to see you up instead of thrashing around in your sleep," Carth said a little dryly, but his voice was genuine.

"What happened?" Jetson questioned us hoarsely. "Where am I?"

Carth stood up, crossing his arms, and leaned against the workbench. "We crashed. We took the last escape pod from the Endar Spire. Do you remember who I am?"

"Admiral Carth Onasi," Jetson answered slowly. He looked at me. "Hakota— one of the techs. I remember now. Where are we?"

"I found an empty apartment here in the uppercity. I've scouted the planet a bit while you were out. Our goal right now is to find Bastila and make sure she's safe." Carth told Jetson. "I know you're a scout and not a soldier, but we have a duty to the Republic."

Jetson's expression didn't change, and he asked, "The uppercity… what planet are we on?"

Carth frowned. "You really smacked your head, didn't you? We're on Taris. The Sith are currently occupying the planet. There's a quarantine on it as well, so there's not much of a chance of us getting out of here any time soon."

Jetson looked at us and flashed a grin. "I owe you both my life. Thanks." He rolled his shoulders back and stood up from the side of the bed. He swayed and I instinctively reached out to steady him. "I'm fine," he told me, giving my arm a reassuring squeeze. "I guess we should start scouting the planet for Bastila. Do you have any leads, Admiral?" He addressed Carth.

Carth nodded. "The undercity. And it's just Carth here." He said, reminding Jetson of the same thing he'd told me. Carth tossed Jetson the bag that had clothes inside. "Change first, then eat something and we'll head out."

Jetson nodded. "Thanks." He turned and saw the door to the bathroom and went inside.

Carth turned to me and said, "An admiral, a scout and a technician. At least between the three of us we'll be able to survive. I saw Jetson's records when we were still aboard the Endar Spire. He can speak more alien languages than I could ever hope to. Not that Taris has a huge alien population, but it might help get us friends from different places."

"Once we find Bastila, we'll be an even odder group," I told him, and he gave a little smile, but it didn't reach his eyes. He yawned, and I gave him a concerned look. "You've been doing all the work and haven't been sleeping at all. You can let Jetson and I scout around today to see if we have any leads on how to get to the undercity."

Carth looked at me calculatingly. "I don't think so," he said evenly, but there was an undercurrent tone in his voice that made me feel like he was suspecting me of something.

I didn't say anything else until Jetson came out of the bathroom, changed and dark hair wet. "Where to first?" He asked.

"You're eating before we leave," Carth said, and tossed the bottle of supplements to Jetson like he'd tossed the clothes earlier.

Jetson sat down on the bed next to me and opened the bottle. He looked at me suspiciously. "Imagine the texture of slime with the taste of dust," I whispered to Jetson, who made a face and then chugged the supplement down.

"Perfect description," Jetson told me once he finished, his eyes watering. We laughed, and Carth looked at us sharply from across the room. "Ready to go," Jetson said, standing up.

"If either of you start feeling like you're going to pass out-"

"We'll be fine," I assured Carth, and Jetson winked at me.

Carth grumbled unintelligibly under his breath as he put his blaster in his holster. "There was a vibrosword in the closet that I didn't sell," he told us, "Do either of you want to carry it?"

"I will," Jetson said, looking at me from the corner of his eye. It was probably easy to see on my face that I had no desire to take it.

Carth picked the sword, still in its sheath, and handed it to Jetson, who strapped it on around his waist. "Where do we start?" I asked them.

Jetson looked at Carth, who answered, "I was thinking we could try the cantina today. If we could listen in on some conversations and ask around, we might be able to find someone with connections who could get us past the guard at the elevator to the undercity."

"There's just one guard separating us from the undercity?" Jetson asked incredulously. "Why don't we just knock him out or sneak past him or something?"

Carth seemed to resist the urge to roll his eyes. "There are cameras watching the elevators. I don't know about you, but I'd like to avoid being arrested by the Sith and interrogated."

Jetson shrugged. "Right, right. Just making a suggestion." He took the bag that previously held the change of clothes and food and looped it over his shoulder.

"Let's move out." Carth said, and opened the apartment door. I had just sealed the doors behind us when we came face to face with a Sith patrol.

The patrol was facing two aliens, one who was saying something I couldn't understand very well. The human leading the patrol, a man in a Sith uniform, pulled out his gun and shot the alien that had just spoke down where he stood.

My jaw dropped as the Sith patrol leader turned on us. "Humans? In an alien housing unit?"

Jetson's hand moved to the hilt of his vibroblade. "Get behind me," he muttered.

"They're republic fugitives! Attack!" The patrol leader fired a shot at Carth, who dodged easily.

Jetson stepped in front of me while yanking his sword free, then swiped cleanly through the droid closest to us. Carth took out two of the droids closest to him before turning on the patrol leader, who Jetson had just impaled with his sword. The remaining droid aimed at Jetson, but Carth shot the droid with a blast that sent it crumpling to the ground.

The other alien had been attempting to fight alongside Jetson and Carth, and now looked at them gratefully. He said something to them, and I could make out a 'thank you'.

"Not a problem," Jetson answered. He stooped down to look through the patrol leader's belongings and pulled out a medpac, putting it in the bag he had slung over his shoulder. "Do patrols come here often?"

The alien answered him and Jetson nodded. The alien grabbed the shoulders of the dead patrol officer and began dragging the body down the hall.

"I hate this planet already," Jetson told me. He sheathed his vibrosword and looked at Carth, who was putting away his blaster. "Maybe we won't get shot at in the cantina."

Carth shook his head darkly and stepped over the fizzling droids, and we followed him out of the halls of the housing complex.

I blinked in the sunlight, and my cheeks flushed at the crispness of the air. I kept pace with Carth and Jetson as they moved through the streets of Taris, the buildings all the same shade of gray— probably made of the same metal. There were skylines in the distance, reaching like fingers into the clear sky.

"Taking time to be a tourist?" Jetson teased me, noticing how my eyes wandered and I barely focused on the street in front of me.

I grinned at him. "It's my first time actually being on another planet besides Alderaan. I mean, I've been on space stations and space ships, obviously, but never another planet. As a tech, I pretty much spend all my time in space ports or in a shop working with machines."

Carth overheard me. "Taris may look pretty on the outside, but it's got a history of corruption. And once we make it to the undercity," he said quietly, "you won't think much of this planet."

The smile slipped off my face, and Jetson scowled at Carth once Carth fell in step in front of us. Jetson told me, "The skyline is pretty great. Don't let the old man ruin your gawking, tech girl."

"I wasn't gawking." I protested, but he was right. "Jetson, how many planets have you been to?"

His dark eyebrows pulled together as he tried to remember. "Well… I don't know. I've lost count."

I sighed enviously. "Too many planets to recall. And you speak countless alien languages, too, don't you?"

"Hardly countless," Jetson grinned at me. "You probably spent too much time with your machines to learn anything other than their incessant beeping and whirring. If I ever had a droid, they'd be able to speak basic. Nothing drives me crazier than a droid who won't shut up with all its beeping."

I shook my head. "I like it. It gives the droids their own little personality, you know?"

Jetson looked at me like I had told him I loved the supplement drinks. "You're a strange little tech, you know that?"

"We're here," Carth told us, pointing at the doors to the cantina. They looked almost exactly like the doors to the housing unit. The architecture here was uncreative at best. "Don't say anything to get us find out, understand? Let's try to stay together."

I nodded earnestly, but Jetson seemed unconcerned. The three of us moved past the bouncer, who was a Sith guard.

The cantina was noisy and crowded, and smelled like expensive alcohol. In the front room, clusters of well dressed men crowded around a card game. "Pazaak, tech girl," Jetson told me, noticing my curiosity. "I'll teach you to play at some point."

We got into the main room of the cantina, where people sat around the bar in the center. I heard cheers coming from the room across from me, but music to my right. Carth and Jetson moved toward the cheers, and I told them, "I'll check it out in here."

Carth looked like he was about to tell me I couldn't, but Jetson nodded and kept walking. Carth followed him with a glance back at me.

I squeezed my way past the Tarisian nobles to see a band playing. They were aliens, Bith, I think, playing music that sounded like something my parents would like.

"Hello there, friend," a smooth voice came from behind me. "Are you enjoying the band? They're quite good, aren't they?"

I turned to face a man with a wide smile— one that made me feel a little uncomfortable. I may have grown up spending a lot of time with droids, but that was because I understood people all too well. This man was up to no good. "Yes. I like them a lot," I answered, and tried to turn around again.

The man put his hand on my shoulder. "My name's Jorgan, little lady. And I can have you meet the band for a mere few credits."

"No, thanks." I said, shrugging his hand away.

"Are you sure?" He asked. "You'd be missing an excellent opportunity to meet the soon-to-be famous musicians."

I forced myself to smile at him, knowing this was a con. "I'm sure, thank you for the offer, though."

Jorgan gave me an annoyed look before pushing his way closer to the center of the room. I shook my head as he disappeared. I turned to go catch up with Jetson and Carth and ran straight into someone. He was just at the height where my forehead slammed into the side of his face.