Chapter 29: A New Threat

Mordivai stood at the desk in the Imperial Reclamation Service's office. Two days he had spent on Taris, and while he had secured the ghost's help, he had not found Ciela or any sign of what she had been after. By the time he had returned from the ruins of the Jedi enclave and made his way to Site Besh, Ciela was long gone. He wandered uselessly about the site, but gained nothing other than insect bites. He was still left despondent over the deaths of the two Jedi, and could not get the sight of Ashara's terrified face out of his mind. He had been angry with Khem at first, but then he realized the futility of it. What else had he brought Khem for, if not protection? And the Dashade had done his job. Mordivai believed him when he said the Jedi had attacked first. No doubt they would have, upon having first caught glimpse of a visage like Khem's.

Mordivai touched his chest, where the memory of that cold burn still lingered. He worried about just how much control he had over this long dead Sith. He wanted to be able to talk him at will, but it was equally important that the ghost should eventually leave when their conversations were done. Being tied to a ghost was disconcerting. And tied he was. He had made a binding promise, which the scars on his arm attested to.

"There is a reward you know," the official at the Reclamation Service desk was saying. "For freeing the site of the ghost. And you took care of a group of Jedi as well!" The woman flashed a smile at him. "Now we can start excavations there, thanks to you. We are so grateful. Hand me your datapad, if you will my lord, and I will see that the reward money is added to your account."

Mordivai pushed his datapad across the desk and the woman drew a wand across the surface, making it beep. She handed it back. "Just a moment."

Mordivai took it. There was a message there, he saw, that must have only recently arrived, because he hadn't seen it earlier. He opened it.

Sender: (xx98PLZ encrypt#deadzone-776.H5G)

Subject: You can't hide

Message: I know who you are. I know what you are. Disgraces like you will be eliminated. Have no doubt, I will track you down.

Mordivai stared at the message. What he was? What did that mean? He thought of the dead Jedi again. Make an enemy of one Jedi, and he could end up with all of them on his tail. Such revenge was not supposed to be the Jedi way, but Mordivai knew better than to think that all Jedi were capable of living up to their ideals. But, how had they found him so quickly?

"It's all set, my lord," the official said brightly. "Thank you again!"

Mordivai nodded absent-mindedly and left the building. The spaceport dome loomed just ahead, and Mordivai walked the way alone, having sent Khem back to the ship earlier. He was still pondering the letter when he entered the spaceport. Sith made enemies, he knew that. But not since Ffon had he had an enemy that felt so personal.

There was a commotion ahead and Mordivai looked up. To his shock, he saw the Togruta Jedi, Ashara, in the midst of a physical struggle with two security guards.

"You can't arrest me for no reason!" she yelled.

Mordivai's path took him closer. He could hear one of the guards responding, using that overly calm tone that usually indicated that he thought they had a real problem on their hands.

"If you'll just come with us, we'll look into the reason why your I.D. doesn't check out."

Mordivai sunk deeper into his hood and maneuvered around them. Ashara was the last person he wanted to see right now. Her voice was growing more shrill however, making it difficult to ignore. What was she doing in an Imperial spaceport anyway? Why hadn't she slipped off the planet using the shuttle she and the other Jedi had arrived in? Was she unable to pilot it alone, even with the benefits of a navicomputer?

He took one last glance behind him to see that two more security guards had arrived on the scene, one of them talking rapidly into a comm unit. Mordivai slipped into the hangar, relieved to see his ship and be on his way. The Togruta's prospects were not good, he knew. Aliens without papers would normally be taken as slaves, but a Force sensitive one would be sent to Korriban, where she would be treated harshly for her alien blood. It was likely she wouldn't survive.

He was responsible for her predicament, in a way. She was trapped on an Imperial-controlled planet, possibly alone, since that other foolish Padawan had probably gotten himself eaten by Rakghouls by now. If Mordivai had never gone to their camp site, no one would have died and none of this would have happened. Of course, if the Jedi masters had just let him go on his way, none of this would have happened either, but that had always been an unlikely outcome.

Mordivai got back to his ship and began to prepare for departure. He caught himself staring blankly at the controls at the cockpit, and realized that he hadn't been paying attention to anything he was doing for the last five minutes. He sighed. There was no way he could leave Ashara to her fate as an Imperial prisoner.

He left the ship and went to the spaceport security office. Ashara was there, already fitted into a Force-dampening collar and sealed in an energy cell. Mordivai tugged his hood into place and marched over to the first officer he saw.

"I see you got the Padawan. I'll take her off your hands now."

"She's a Jedi?" The officer blanched and shot a wary look in the direction of Ashara's cell. "We assumed she had stolen the lightsabers. We found her trying to grab a shuttle off-world. No identification whatsoever."

"She is the last of four Jedi I have been hunting. I commend you for her capture and will speak well of your efforts to your superiors. Release her to me so I can get going."

"Four Jedi? There were others here on Taris?" The man rushed behind a counter and began typing furiously on a datapad.

"Yes, talk to the Imperial Reclamation Service if you need the details. The Jedi have been taken care of, and this one I must return to my master for questioning. You have her things?"

"Her?-Oh, yes the lightsaber. I have it right here." The man pulled open a drawer and set a saber hilt on the counter. Mordivai stared at him expectantly.

"There was a second lightsaber?"

"Oh!" The man yanked open the drawer again, looking flustered, and pulled out the other hilt. "It had rolled to the back of the drawer." He laughed nervously.

Mordivai took them both and turned to stare at Ashara's cell. She was watching him, her eyes murderous.

"Do you need an escort, my lord?"

"An escort? What for?"

"For the Jedi. I mean...I wasn't sure if you wanted to take her out of here alone. She was being quite belligerent only a few minutes ago."

Mordivai waved his hand dismissively. "That won't be needed. There is nowhere left for her to run." He gave Ashara what he hoped was a meaningful look.

"Very well, my lord." The officer went to Ashara's cell and punched in a code on the nearby datalock. The energy walls sunk into the floor and disappeared.

Mordivai turned to face Ashara, making sure she had a clear view of his face beneath the hood so that she would recognize him.

"You're coming with me."

She glared at him, but said nothing. Under the lights of the security office, he could see now that she had dusky purple skin and reddish montrals. He had read that the colorful skin tones of the Togruta species were a form of camouflage on their world, and he wondered if such colors were indicative of what region a Togruta clan was from. What place could have such strangely colored plant life?

Ashara stepped out of the cell and began to walk ahead of him.

"Move along," Mordivai said. He prodded her in the back with the hilt of his lightsaber, not too harshly he hoped, but enough to keep up appearances. He couldn't tell yet if Ashara had any clue that this was really a rescue. They paraded through the spaceport, earning a few curious looks since Ashara was still wearing her collar and wrist binders. Everyone knew better not to stare too openly.

He guided Ashara to the hangar where his ship waited. Her footsteps slowed as they grew closer and the ship came into view. While Mordivai used his ship primarily for transport and as a second residence, it was outfitted for war and made an impressive sight. Ashara trudged up the gang plank, and Mordivai was forced to prod her again to get her through the door.

The door sealed shut behind them. Immediately, Ashara spun around to face him.

"So now I'm your prisoner, is that it? As if you haven't done enough already?"

"You are not my prisoner." Mordivai raised his hand and the cuffs on Ashara's wrists snapped and fell to the floor. He hesitated only briefly before doing the same to the Force-dampening collar around her neck.

Ashara dropped her gaze to the ground where the broken binders lay and then back up at Mordivai.

"What is this?"

"I'm helping you get off-planet."

"You're helping me? Why?"

"Because I know what happens to Jedi who are sent to Korriban. And that would have been your next stop."

Mordivai stepped past her and went to the cockpit. Ashara followed him and watched as he got the ship through the spaceport departure routine and up beyond Taris's atmosphere. Mordivai set the autopilot and spun his chair to face the doorway. Ashara stood there, still waiting for him.

"I'll drop you at the nearest neutral planet or spaceport. How's that sound?"

"That's...that's fine." Ashara still looked like she expected him to grow horns and turn nasty.

"So, what happened? Why couldn't you take the shuttle off Taris the way you came in?"

Ashara looked away, her face crestfallen. "The other Padawan escaped on the shuttle. Without me. Everything is a mess. I failed my Jedi trials. They want to hold me on Tython while they conduct an investigation. They were sending someone to come get me off Taris, but I can't go back to Tython." Her eyes reached his face, and Mordivai almost pulled back in surprise at the fire of emotion in them. "They think I fell for your trickery."

"No one was supposed to get hurt. You weren't supposed to be there at all in fact. You were illegally on Taris, remember?"

"Master Ryen and Master Ocera are dead!"

She was nearly trembling with anger, and while her reaction was understandable, Mordivai knew the Jedi would never admit into the Order someone who couldn't control their emotions.

"I regret their deaths." He hoped she could feel the sincerity in his words. "But why is the Council investigating you?"

"The other Padawan...he's probably ashamed that he ran away while I stayed behind and still lived. I think he made a big deal over how you...how everyone else died except me. And then the ghost was mysteriously gone. They think there's a connection."

"They think you bargained your life for the ghost?"

"I think so."

"The ghost is with me."

"What do you mean?"

"He bound himself to me and now he...well, he's sort of inside me now."

She gave him a look that said she wasn't sure if he was telling the truth.

Mordivai changed the subject. "Where are you going to go, once you get out of Imperial space?"

"I need to find someone who will speak on my behalf, who can convince the Council to give me another chance. There's a Master Cyman I want to find on Alderaan. Maybe he'll listen to reason." She turned away as if to leave.

"I hope you are right."

Ashara whirled on him, her anger rekindled. "Why do you act like you even care about any of this? I don't want your sympathy, Sith."

Mordivai sighed. "I'm not your enemy. And I have a name. My name is Mordivai."

She stared at him in disbelief and then frowned. "How can I trust you?"

Mordivai gestured at the ship around them, already deep within the emptiness of space. "You don't exactly have a lot of options here, you know."

"I know my way with a lightsaber," she said suddenly. "I was the best duelist in my class."

"You'll be safe on my ship. Even from the Dashade."

She jerked away. "That...thing that killed Master Ryan? He's on your ship? No, I…" For the first time, her confidence looked shaken.

Mordivai stood up from the chair and tried to take on a reassuring tone. "He won't hurt you. Your Master attacked him just like the other Jedi attacked me. We fought to defend ourselves only."

'"I saw what happened." Ashara lifted her chin and appeared to take a fortifying breath. "Fine. The monster follows your orders?"

"His name is Khem. And yes, he obeys me."

Ashara looked unconvinced.

"Let's get this out of the way now," Mordivai said, an idea striking him. He moved down the hallway and gestured for Ashara to follow. "Khem! Come meet our new guest."

Ashara fell backwards, bumping into a nearby wall. "No, I didn't mean-"

A moment later, Khem stepped around the corner, his clawed toes making light taps across the metal floor. Mordivai suspected that he'd been listening in all the while. "Yes, master?"

"This is Ashara," Mordivai said. "She will be staying with us for a little while. You will keep her safe and unharmed. Is that understood?"

Khem's red eyes raked over Ashara and then back to Mordivai. "The Jedi? If you wish it."

"I do."

"Is that all?"

"That's all Khem." He turned back to Ashara. "Do you feel any better?"

Her face was ashen gray. Her eyes still stared at the corner where Khem had just disappeared. After a moment, she flicked her gaze towards Mordivai. "Maybe."

"Let me show you your quarters."

Mordivai led her to his spare room, grateful now that he had not turned it into a library like he had been considering. Ashara stepped inside the door and sunk onto the bed, hunching in on herself and looking lost.

"Everything is dark and gloomy here," she said.

"Imperials like the color gray." Mordivai shrugged and tried to offer her a smile.

"Yeah. I noticed." Then she added, "Thanks for getting me off Taris." The words were pulled begrudgingly from her mouth.

"You're welcome. Oh. I believe these are yours." Mordivai took the two lightsabers from his belt and held them to Ashara.

"You're giving me my lightsabers back?"

"A gesture of good faith between us. Agreed?"

Ashara took the hilts from him and cradled them in her lap. "Agreed."

Mordivai nodded and left her alone.