Chapter 20

"So", Marc said. "What do you do exactly?"

Marc and Garr had made their way onto the fifth floor of the building. It was high enough to give them a good view of the courtyard in front of the warehouse, but low enough to give them a quick escape if it went bad. They'd been sat for several minutes, and Marc was growing more and more nervous. He had decided to start talking to take his mind off it.

Garr looked at him, his eyes narrowing. "Why so interested?" he asked.

"I don't know", Marc said. "Just passing the time, I suppose. You don't have to tell me if you don't want to".

Garr sat silent for a moment, contemplating his answer. Eventually he seemed to come to a conclusion. "I'm a smuggler", he said, matter-of-factly. Marc's eyes widened in surprise. He hadn't expected Garr to answer so honestly. "I carry illegal goods from planet to planet, trying to turn a profit".

Marc looked at him. "And is that why you're on this planet?" he asked. "Trying to turn a profit?"

"Exactly". Garr smiled widely. He shuffled in his seat. "I came here to deliver some… uh… chemicals, but I was double crossed. They took the goods and my ship, and now I'm stranded here unless I can get it back. I don't really care about the goods, but I can't stand the idea of being marooned here for the rest of my life".

"So who are they?" Marc asked, indicating towards the warehouse. "The people we're about to kill?"

"They're… gangsters, I suppose. They deal in drugs, and weapons, and death", Garr said, the smile falling from his face. "Trust me, kid. This world will be a damn sight better with them gone".

Marc looked out over the warehouse, at the five men standing guard outside, and wondered if Garr was telling him the truth.

"Don't call me kid", he said absent mindedly.

Elle sat by Garin's bed; he had woken up for barely ten minutes since they'd left. The warehouse was quite close by, so they had brought the truck back here and walked. She was getting bored, and the constant worrying about whether Marc was safe was driving her mad. How could he leave me here like this? she wondered. Why is he so determined to put himself in danger? What is he trying to prove?

She shook her head, as though trying to shake the dark thoughts out of her mind. It didn't work. She stood up and decided that what she really needed was some fresh air. She checked Garin over one more time to make sure he was comfortable, and asked one of the nurses to tell him that she'd stepped outside if he woke up.

She strode through the waiting area, not looking around at anyone, and pushed open the front doors. She stood outside, leaning against the old truck, trying to sort her feelings out; fear, anger, love. She didn't even see the man until he was stood next to her.

His face was soft and smooth, and his smile looked warm. He was dressed smartly – like a businessman might – and he didn't move in a threatening way. Elle, who was a very sociable person, did not see any reason to be afraid of him. If she had looked in his eyes, however, she would have seen the look of a predator stalking its prey.

"Hey again", he said, his voice friendly. Elle looked at him and didn't recognise him at first. She smiled, though, not wanting to admit it. "So…" he continued. "How about that drink?" When he said that Elle recognised him as the man who had spoken to her in the bar, and who had offered her a drink.

She breathed out, feeling a little less nervous. He held his hand out to her; he was holding a bottle of what looked like water, and she realised how thirsty she was. She hadn't drunk anything since the morning – they were too preoccupied when they were in the bar, and they had run out of their own water earlier that day. She smiled and took the bottle.

She slowly unscrewed the top. A voice in her head was telling her that it would be a mistake to drink out of it, but the man seemed very friendly. She found it hard to believe that he meant her harm.

She took a swig out of the bottle and immediately she knew that she'd made a mistake. It had a sour taste; something had been put in it. It took barely a few seconds for her vision to start getting blurred. She stumbled away from the man, who followed her, grinning widely.

And then she blacked out.

Garin awoke with a start. His side was still aching, but it was at least better than it had been. He looked around, and quickly realised that he was alone. Where's Elle? he asked himself. Wasn't she here before? For a moment, he wondered if his mind had been playing tricks on him. He got the attention of one of the nurses, who walked over to him smiling.

"Good morning", she said. "Good to see you awake".

Garin smiled. He hadn't failed to notice how beautiful she was, but he had other things to think about now. "Thanks", he said. "Was there a girl here before? Young, blonde?"

The nurse nodded. "She said to tell you that she was going outside for some air, but that was quite a long time ago. Do you want me to go check on her?"

Garin shook his head. "I'll go myself", he said, and started to get out of bed.

The nurse moved to try and stop him. "You shouldn't try and get up yet", she said, her voice nervous. "You haven't recovered enough…"

Garin waved her protests away as he put on his coat. He smiled at her. "I'll be fine", he said calmly. He walked slowly out of the hospital, trying his hardest to conceal strain of walking. When he got outside he looked around; there was no sign of Elle out there. Where could she have gone? She wouldn't have left on her own. He was worried.

He started to walk over to the truck and searched the ground as he walked. He suddenly heard the loud screech of tires spinning on a road, and the truck started to move away from him. "Hey!" he shouted after it, and started running.

Marc was starting to get worried. Jani had been gone for too long, he thought. What if something had happened to her? What if she'd been killed?

He told Garr that he was worried, but Garr brushed him off. "If she'd been caught", he reasoned, "then security outside would have been tightened, and I haven't seen any change". This made sense to Marc, but it didn't stop him feeling worried.

He started to fidget, and shift position. Garr looked at him, a slightly amused smile on his face, but he stayed silent.

You should go help her, a voice in Marc's head told him.

Then another voice said, She'll be fine. She's strong enough to take care of herself. Stronger than you.

Even so… you should at least try to help her, the first voice said. What if she's hurt, or worse?

The plan, the second voice said, was for you to wait. If you leave your position then you put all three of you at risk.

Then a third voice, unfamiliar, spoke. It boomed in Marc's head, drowning out all other thoughts and feelings, and it chilled Marc to the bone.

She does not deserve to live, it said, and Marc believed it with all his soul.

An explosion shook Marc out of his thoughts. Garr was screaming at him to get in position… he couldn't tell how long he had been lost in thought. Marc looked back toward the warehouse. The entrance was shrouded in smoke and flame, but Marc could just make out several figures emerging from a hole in the gate. Marc rushed to get into position, in a building opposite and to the east of the warehouse gate.

He heard screams, and saw the glow of a light sabre through the smoke. Jani was alive, and she was cutting down the enemy like they weren't there. As soon as the smoke cleared enough for him to see, Marc opened fire. Garr did the same.

The enemy were falling quickly, one after another. Garr was impressive with a rifle, but Jani was taking most of them down on her own with her light sabre. Marc took a moment to admire her. She moved like a dancer – everything was smooth, and it almost appeared like she was moving before the men had moved to attack her, as though she knew what they were going to do before they did it.

With the glow from inside the warehouse lighting up the battle, Marc realised that she was beautiful – strong, graceful and mysterious. Everything he thought the Jedi would be. He wondered to himself how many battles she had been in before today, and whether or not she had found this one even slightly challenging.

He felt a sudden pain in his stomach. At first he didn't react – the shock had rendered him motionless. Then the pain quickly spread up his body. He grunted in pain, and fell backward slowly.

He heard Jani shout his name, but she sounded as though she were miles away.

Then the world went completely black.

Elle's world was spinning. She didn't know where she was, or how she had got there. Her eyes were open but she couldn't make anything out. She could hear a voice, but couldn't understand what it was saying. She felt a hand touch the inside of her leg. It moved gently upwards, caressing her. It felt… good.

Then there were more hands, tearing at her clothes. A voice inside her head was screaming danger, and she managed to let out a dull scream. A hand clasped over her mouth, trying to shut her up, but she was coming around now… and she was starting to fight them.

She managed to wriggle free from them, and scratched on of them deeply across the face. She heard him cry out in pain, and she used the opportunity to run. She fell toward the door and tore it open, screaming as she did so.

Garin clutched his side. His wound had reopened with the effort of running. He'd lost sight of the truck a while ago, and he was now desperately running in the last direction he saw it moving in. He didn't know exactly what had happened to Elle, but he knew that he needed to find her. He held a blaster pistol in his other hand and was more than prepared to use it.

Unknown to either of them, Elle and Garin were heading towards each other. Both were stumbling as they ran. Elle wasn't fast enough, though, and one of the men chasing her managed to grab her and wrestle her to the ground.

"Stupid bitch!" he yelled, and hit her hard across the face. Garin heard the voice just around the corner from where he was. He slowed, wanting to make sure that he knew what he was up against. He waited just around the corner, and peeked around. What he saw made his blood boil. Elle was lying in a heap on the floor, her clothes either torn or missing completely. Three men stood over her, one with a large cut on his face.

Garin squeezed the gun he held in his hand, and made himself ready to attack. He span around the wall, not wanting to give the men any time to react, and opened fire. The men went down easily, one by one. Two of them died before they hit the ground. The other – the man with the cut on his face – was still alive. He tried to speak, but all that came out was a gurgling sound. The blast had cut through his neck.

Garin hurried over to Elle. "Elle", he said, kneeling down beside her. "Are you alright? Did they hurt you?"

Elle looked up at him as though she didn't recognise him. Tears were streaming down her face, and her eyes darted around like she couldn't focus. Garin had seen these effects before – a common drug used to incapacitate victims.

The injured man was still gurgling. Garin was furious. He turned around to face the man. He stared at him, wordlessly, for a while before wrapping his hands tightly around his neck.

Garr stood, smiling, surrounded by bodies which lay scattered around inside and outside the warehouse. He was staring up at the ship… the ship that was worth all this death. He didn't feel any guilt about the slaughter that he'd instigated, just the warm feeling of victory.

He admired the curves of the hull, and the sheer blackness of the metal. It was so dark, he thought, that he felt like he could fall into it and lose himself. It ran about fifty feet from front to back – much larger than a fighter, and with a longer range, but small enough to be manoeuvrable in a battle. Its front end was pointed and as the hull went backwards it spread out to the side, forming wings – it looked like it had also been designed to be able to handle an atmosphere as well as deep space.

Jani was yelling at him to help her. She was knelt beside Marc, who was bleeding heavily from the wound to his stomach. Garr didn't hear her – or he chose not to. He moved closer to the ship, and put his hand on it, feeling the cold, smooth metal. His hand moved sideways, stroking it, until it reached the mechanism to lower the boarding ramp. He switched it, and the ramp lowered. He was about to board the ship when a hand slammed down on his shoulder, shocking him out of the trance he was in.

"Hey, asshole", Jani's voice boomed from behind him. "Marc's hurt. Help me get him on the ship; the medical bay on there should have what we need to treat him". Garr looked at her. She knew that he was trying to decide whether to help her or to try and leave them there. She sympathised – why should he get involved with them when they're more trouble than they're worth? Never the less, she moved her hand to her side and grabbed the handle of her light sabre, making sure that his eyes followed her hand. He got the message.

With Garr's help she managed to move Marc onto the ship and into its medical bay. She made him as comfortable as she could, and then she grabbed her communicator.

"Garin", she said into it. "Come in. We've secured the ship but Marc was injured. Get here as fast as you can".

Garin heard the message. He and Elle were still in the same spot, her head still buried in his chest, crying. When they heard that Marc was hurt, however, she raised her head and looked into Garin's eyes.

"Can you help me walk?" she asked him. He was surprised at the sudden conviction that he saw in her face, as though the thought of Marc being hurt meant more to her than the trauma she'd just experienced. He smiled down at her.

"With this hole in my side, I think we need to help each other walk", he said, and stood up slowly.

She grabbed him arm and used him as leverage to stand, and he grunted in pain. "Oh, I'm sorry!" she shrieked, genuine concern filling her voice. He smiled at her again, and gave her a dismissive gesture. The two figures then limped in the direction of the warehouse.

Jani stood at the top of the boarding ramp, waiting for Garin and Elle to arrive. She had reservations about leaving Garr alone on the ship, as she suspected that he would leave them here without a second thought. She was interested in knowing a little more about the men they had just killed, however, and allowed herself a minute to leave the ship and search the body closest to her.

It was a Mandalorian wearing a black outfit. Jani searched through his pockets, which were empty, and then she turned her attention to the rest of his body. If these were criminals, she thought to herself, why don't they have anything on them? Then she noticed a small bulge in his jacket. She lifted it up to find a bag, attached to the man's belt by a cloth strap. She opened it and took something out.

At that moment, Garin and Elle arrived. They saw Jani kneeling in front of them with her back to them.

"Hey", shouted Garin. "A little help". Jani didn't respond for a moment. She didn't even move. She just sat there as though lost in thought. "Hey", Garin shouted, a little louder this time. This appeared to shake Jani out of whatever she was thinking about. She looked back over her shoulder at them, and Garin waved for her to come over and help.

She moved closer to them, and Garin put his arm around her shoulder. She led him slowly and wordlessly up the ramp and into the ship. She led him straight into the cockpit, and sat him down in one of the empty chairs. She pointed Elle in the direction of the medical bay, who ran off to see Marc.

"We're ready", she said calmly to Garr, who had been sat waiting in the pilot seat.

"About damn time", he said, gruffly. He quickly switched several switches on the consoles in front of and above him, and the ship roared into life. "Can't wait to see what this baby can do", he said to himself. "Here we go".

The ship rose gracefully into the air, and then accelerated out of Socorro's atmosphere. Elle stared out of the window of the medical bay. Somehow, she knew that she would never see this place again. And she did not feel sad.