Author Notes: Just a short one today, lads. Bridging story arcs, introducing characters and all that jazz. Back to the usual length (~4,000+) on Friday. :)
Chapter Ten
Seven Hours Later
Hyperspace
When Thomas Kien first awoke, he rather wished that he hadn't. While the stabbing pain in his head had subsided somewhat, it had been replaced by a dull, unspecific ache that seemed to suffuse his entire cranium. Creaking his way out of bed, he noticed a bottle of water and some pills on the table next to him, along with a handwritten note: 'Painkillers, anti-inflammatory and antibiotics just in case – Y'. Smiling helplessly, Kien was once again struck by a profound melancholy. How was he supposed to teach and guide the young Jedi – let alone manage his own crew – if he couldn't even look after himself?
No, he thought. No, there's no room to think about that. I just have to do better next time. He could ill afford to get caught up in doubt. They were all okay, and that was what mattered. He himself had been out of commission, but Blaze and Yuli had pulled through. A little pride swelled in Kien's chest. He could hardly take credit for Yuli's actions after teaching her for less than a week, but it gave him a measure of peace of mind to realise that perhaps he didn't have to be so worried.
She was strong, Kien reflected as he downed the pills. When he had taken her on as a Padawan, he had seen her sense of righteousness and compassion, but not her strength. He had thought her weak, he was forced to admit. During the battle on the Sunrise, her emotions had overwhelmed her, throwing her off balance and reducing her to a child, running fearfully in his wake. He hadn't seen the steel in her until just now, on Nar Shaddaa.
Yes. She would do well as his apprentice. For now, he just had to focus on keeping them all alive. The worst was behind them now, surely. They were outside the Republic's normal sphere of influence now; while many Outer Rim worlds were allied with the Republic, the Senate's grip had always been weak out here, particularly near the self-governing Hutt Space. Hopefully, the transition from Republic to Empire would have exacerbated affairs. They would be unlikely to encounter Palpatine's troops out here.
Letting the door to his room whoosh closed behind him, Kien strode towards the cockpit. He came up short, however, when he saw Yuli and Blaze in conversation in the medical bay. They stopped when they saw him, greeting him with smiles. "Sleep well, Master?" Yuli asked.
"Too well. We should be about halfway to Sriluur now, right?"
"Well, by our new pilot's reckoning," Blaze said, rolling his eyes visibly, "we're five hours out."
Kien checked the timepiece above the supply shelf. The maths checked out. Of course it does. He kicked himself. Was he really that untrusting? Did he really think Zaara was going to hijack the ship or something? It was ridiculous to think, but he was still unconvinced about the newest member of their crew.
Stop second-guessing yourself. "I'm going to have a word with Zaara," he said. "Wait here."
Zaara was kicked back in the co-pilot's chair, right where he had left her. At first glance she could have been asleep, but she turned to smile disarmingly as he entered the cockpit, slowly taking his own seat. "Morning, sleepyhead," she said. "Feeling better?"
"Hmm," Kien said noncommittally. Now that he was up and about with drugs in his system, he was more or less all right. He wasn't going to credit Zaara with that, though.
"Once everyone else woke up, I had a proper look at your first officer's rib. It's only a minor fracture, and it won't even hurt once the bruising dies down. I'd rather he didn't do anything too strenuous for a week or two while the bacta does its work, though."
Kien looked at her for a second. "Zaara," he said slowly. "Why are you so . . ." He gesticulated helplessly.
"Talented? Wonderful? Beautiful?"
"So . . . interested. You're a strange one. You worked for Thorssk as a bodyguard. That means you're competent, and you've been working for him long enough that he trusts you."
"Of course." So far, Kien had only seen her in two aspects: casual and flippant, or bossy and overbearing. Now, though, she had her arms folded in a tensely cautious stance. If he hadn't been watching her intently for just such minor tells, he might have missed the subtlety of the movement.
"Yet you obviously have some kind of medical experience," Kien continued, "which you are more than willing to put to use taking care of my crew. Your first instinct is to look after people, which leaves me with two best guesses. One – and I don't like this one – you're just buttering us up, making us trust you and let down our guard for . . . some nefarious purpose."
Zaara snorted. "Please. I could have murdered you all in your sleep and dumped the bodies in space if I wanted to."
"Exactly, which is why I'm not buying that one. Still an outside possibility, though. Secondly . . . you're desperately trying to get on our good side for some other reason."
"Can't a girl protect her interests?" Zaara prompted, raising an eyebrow. "I'm not likely to make it to Betha if my hired crew insists on getting shot at and beaten up."
Kien raised an eyebrow in return. "All right, then," he said. "I'll take you at face value for now, but remember that I don't entirely trust you, and I won't until you come clean with us."
". . . Deal." Zaara looked a little perturbed, but she nodded. Then she laughed, shaking her head. "Stars, but you're sharp, Captain 'Fulbar'."
Kien blinked. "Right. I should probably tell you that's not my name."
"Like I didn't know that," she laughed. "I won't mind if you don't wanna tell me, though."
"No, there's no point now. On my own ship, I'm Captain Thomas Kien."
"Charmed. And the others?"
"Blaze serves as my first officer and mechanic, and Yuli is my . . . protégé," Kien said slowly.
"Uh-huh." Zaara didn't seem to buy it, but at least she wasn't questioning it. "Well," she said eventually, standing up and stretching, "this has been lovely, but I need to get some shuteye now too. Ta-ta." With that, she sauntered out of the cockpit, leaving Kien alone with his thoughts.
Finally able to gather himself, Kien looked over the itinerary Zaara had supplied once more. When plotted on a star chart, it was a curious route. Taking them pretty much dead north out of Hutt Space, they would follow both commonly known and less-trafficked hyperspace lanes from Sriluur, through to Boonta, Budpock, Lianna and finally Zygerria, a remote world on the edge of Wild Space. It would have been a perfect start for disappearing from the Empire's radar, but the final stop – Betha II – was so far out of their way as to be suspicious. Was that really her destination?
Kien sighed, spinning idly in his chair. There was no sense thinking too deeply about it now. He would only go mad trying to puzzle out the mercenary's goals and motives. For the moment, all he had to do was avoid getting complacent around her.
He checked the nav computer. Four and a half hours out, as it should be. Jeez, relax. Not everybody in the galaxy is out to get you, he scolded himself. Zaara was hiding something, though. Whether that something posed a threat to him and his crew, though, he could not discern.
Closing his eyes, Kien slipped into a shallow meditation, letting his breathing and heart rate slow while he reached out with the Force, brushing against every presence on the ship. Zaara's presence was strange and unfamiliar, but it didn't feel malignant. Divining people's intentions had never been a strong point of Kien's, but he was fairly sure Zaara could be trusted, at least for the meantime.
Allowing himself to relax, Kien spent the rest of the journey quietly ruminating.
Perses stood, unmoving, amid the filth of Nar Shaddaa. Rodents squeaked and skittered around his feet, but he paid them no mind. Distant speeders buzzed through the skylanes like insects, but he heeded them not. Groans of heavy machinery from the nearby industrial district filled the air, but he tuned them out without even thinking. His heavy, blood-red cloak pooled on the dirty ground, and the distant flames flickered against his fanged mask. A bone-white visage, permanently frozen in a monstrous scowl, it was a mark of his new identity – and his new purpose.
His attention was focused, direct. He sought the Force, grasping it and bending it to his will. Power flowed through him as he watched the warehouse burn. It reeked, both physically and on another level. Spice let off a pungent smell when burned, such that nobody who came within a hundred metres would have any illusions as to the contents of the collapsing building. Even more telling, though, was the fading signature of the Force. Weak, but noticeable, he had sniffed it out.
There had been Jedi here. When? Minutes ago? Days? It mattered not. He would find them. He was the destroyer.
And he would have his prey.
Sriluur was just as barren and desolate as Kien had imagined it. 'Civilisation', such as it was, could be found in nearly every sector of the planet's dry, scrubby surface, but much of it was little more than temporary settlements and nomadic Weequay. Dotted around, however, were numerous elaborate, multi-storey houses belonging to rich offworlders. Sriluur was home to pirates, smugglers and brigands alike, but its location on the fringes of Hutt Space had made it an attractive prospect to those seeking to avoid the Republic's grasp.
Kien touched the Sunset down near the estate of a certain rich Houk. While Yuli helped him unload several cases of blossom wine, passing them off to the Houk's doorman, Zaara checked up on Blaze's condition. He was still resting in the medical bay with a bacta patch on his chest, although he swore up and down that he was ready to take on his duties. Kien couldn't see anything significantly wrong with him, but he deferred to Zaara's medical expertise when she said the young man should rest for another day.
Once the wine had been delivered, Kien took their payment – in cash – and returned to the ship.
"Master," Yuli said thoughtfully as they walked, "do you suppose there are other Jedi out there? Living on the run, like we are?"
"Almost certainly," Kien said. "What brought this on so suddenly?"
"I've had some time to think," she confessed, slowing her pace, "and I was wondering if we should be . . . trying to find them."
"For what purpose?" Kien sounded colder than he'd intended to. "I mean, what could we do even if we did find other Jedi?"
"I . . . I don't know. I just want to be doing something! The more I hear about this Empire, the more I become convinced it's a blight upon the galaxy. We could try and gather other survivors and try to do something about it?"
Kien sighed. "Your intentions are noble, young one, but optimistic. It bears thinking about, but for now, we are very much alone in the galaxy, opposed by an Empire with all the resources of the Republic and none of its limitations. We should focus on safeguarding ourselves, making the Empire forget about us, and then . . . then we can look to the future."
"You're right," Yuli said, her voice small. "I'm sorry, Master."
"Don't apologise, Blue. Your compassion is one of your greatest strengths. Just remember to temper it with reason and I'm sure you'll do the right thing."
Zaara was waiting for them when they returned, sitting casually on the edge of the cargo hold's open hatch. "You have a message," she said with studied indifference.
"Thorssk?" Kien asked.
"Yeah. It'll be in the central computer." She jerked her head toward the front of the Sunset.
"Thanks," Kien said, raising a hand in acknowledgement. "Oh, was that all the cargo for Sriluur?"
Zaara checked her copy of the itinerary. "We've got to pick up a shipment destined for Lianna, but it won't be ready till tomorrow night. Might as well stay here till the morning, we have plenty of time." She waved a hand at the rapidly setting sun.
"Yeah, good call." Kien paused for a moment to glance at the sky. It was pure habit, nothing more; he wouldn't see the Empire coming until it was too late.
Was this his destiny now? To spend the rest of his life watching his back, seeing shadows around every corner? Constant paranoia? That couldn't be healthy. Shaking his head, Kien entered the ship and strode into the common area, calling up Thorssk's message on the holotable.
"Fulbar, you've done me proud, jahumba!" the translucent blue Trandoshan said. "Millions of credits of spice, up in smoke! I love it! And I don't know how you did it, but you threw Gravtha's boys off the trail too! I was expecting an angry call from the Hutt himself or one of his goons, but he's got them running around the lower levels looking for Jedi! Impressive work, my friend. Anyway, I wanted to thank you directly, but I suppose you're off making deliveries. Don't forget to come and visit me next time you're on Nar Shaddaa. Thorssk out."
The projection rotated slowly and sank back into the table, leaving Kien and Yuli alone in the central room.
"Well," Yuli said after a few moments, "sounds like he was happy with our work."
"Yeah," Kien said, fighting back a wave of guilt. He forced himself to crack a grin. "Your and Blaze's work, that is. Seriously, thank you for getting the job done, Yuli. I know you weren't happy about doing it in the first place, but you overcame your concerns and completed the mission. You saved me this time."
"It wasn't easy, Master."
"I know. Stars, Yuli, I know that. But you came through, and I'm proud of you for that."
She was silent for a while, watching the muted HoloNet broadcast being displayed on the wall monitor.
"Hey, Master," she said. "Tell me more . . . of your story."