Chapter 16: Oc'nel
Aboard the Agarath
ALPHERIDIES was the strangest world Oc'nel had ever read or heard about. He had no idea what to make of the terms describing the planet on his datapad such as "plant-analog."
"If you want to leave the ship to visit the planet's surface you will have to leave your ranged weapons here—"
"—waa-yug egh rrashrakrrykap ma gugukras?!" ["Do I need to get rid of my weapons?!] Awerl interrupted in an alarmed voice.
Pax answered in a mix of Basic and Shyriiwook "No Awerl. No, you only need to leave your weapons here. You don't need to get rid of your weapons. Na waa oh rrashrakrrykap oh gugukras. Your weapons should be in the armoury anyways Agent!"
"Uma masha," Awerl replied in a sad voice.
Oc'nel rolled his eyes, but his injured eye hurt, and he regretted it.
"Anyways, as I was saying," Jazal continued, "ranged weapons are banned on the surface of Alpheridies, even for law enforcement. Because visible light is harmful for many lifeforms on the surface, all arrivals descend into Fospol on the space elevator. There is no spaceport on the surface. Visible light is allowed within city limits of Fospol and other towns on the planet. Visible light is also is allowed on the side of the planet facing away from Aber, the sun, the side that has very little life and is mostly ice. Any questions?"
"How do we get around on the planet?" Carver asked.
"I was going to get to that…" Jazal said, changing the presentation to a map of the surface. "There is a train network connecting all towns on the side of Alpheridies facing Aber. Alternately, you can walk through numerous trails connecting the cities, while using infrared binoculars or a local guide."
"Are we allowed to stay on board?" Driffu asked.
"You would rather stay aboard than visit my home?" Jazal spoke in an affronted voice.
Driffu snickered, "Master Jedi, hanging out on a planet with zero light is not my idea of a fun time. Some of us have eyes."
Oc'nel winced in anticipation of drama. His fur swirled nervously. To his surprise though, Jazal did not take any offense from Driffu's goading.
"Aren't you force sensitive Driffu?" Jazal asked in a calm tone.
"I don't talk about it," Driffu replied.
The Bothan wondered what this could be about, his fur swirling with suspicion. Don't talk about it?
"If I were you Driffu, I would want to go to Alpheridies to practice wayfinding only using the force instead of my eyes, but sure whatever. Why not sit up here for a week? It's not like you've been sitting here for a month… Averross? Can Driffu stay aboard?"
Averross jolted awake. "Uh what?!"
"Can Driffu stay aboard?"
Averross scratched his mangy, thin, grey beard. "That's a negative Driffu. The ship's gettin' repaired. You can stay aboard the station though if you like. We are gettin' our repairs in Alpheridies station—"
"—Which is the station connected to the space elevator," Jazal interjected, to clarify.
"Oooohh," Oc'nel said, understanding dawning on him. He scrolled over the image of Alpheridies on his datapad. Looking past the clouds to a terrain map, he the vast expanse of snow on the dark side of Alpheridies he thought Hover Skiing… "Jazal? Is there Hover Skiing on Alpheridies?"
"Yes Oc'nel, I was going to get to that once we described the climate—"
"—Master, is there Ice Boarding too?" Drega asked excitedly.
"Yes Drega, okay fine, we'll go to the climate," Jazal said. "The climate of Alpheridies is unique. The planet has many facts about it that are unusual for a habitable world, mostly an artefact of the nature of the star Aber. The Circumstellar Habitable Zone of Alpheridies—"
"—Jazal! I don't think the Judicials know what that is," Averross interrupted.
Everyone in the room stared at Averross.
"It means the habitable zone around a star sir," Oc'nel said with a smirk.
"I know what it means Agent! I don't need you translatin' for Jazal."
"Sorry Master," Oc'nel replied, still wearing a smirk on his snout.
Jazal sounded impatient now. "Okay, the area of the solar system that can have the livin' stuff, that better Averross? That livin'-stuff place is close to Aber," Jazal started. "Aber is a Red Dwarf. Red Dwarf means it is small and red. Any questions? Small and red."
At this moment, Oc'nel had difficulty containing his laughter so he laid his face on the table and put both of his hands on his snout. Pax was glaring at him. Blast. Rather than laughing, he held his snout shut and exhaled hard through his nostrils.
This star is so cold that the Circumstellar Habitable Zone—the place where the livin' things can evolve," Jazal continued, once again mocking Averross's Ringo Vindan accent, "is between 1,500,000 kilometres and 3,000,000 kilometres from the star's surface. Because of this, the planet is tidally locked—meaning one side always faces the sun. This, Master Averross, Awerl, Driffu, is why Oc'nel and Drega were talking about a 'dark side,' but in this case Oc'nel and Drega were not entirely correct. Dark side in this case is a misnomer. There is no visible light on the light side of the planet either. Pax, you might be able to see because there is infrared, but the rest of you won't be able to. The 'light side' is just hotter than the dark side and is not really hit by light. Any questions?"
Oc'nel raised his hand. Pax and Averross both looked like they wanted to whomp him on the head. His fur swirled nervously as he winced but kept his hand up. "Master, my datapad is talking about 'plant-analogs.' What are those?"
Pax gave a sigh of relief.
What the hell did he think I was going to say?!
Jazal answered with a question, "there is no visible light on Alpheridies right? None of it penetrates Alpheridies thick atmosphere—its atmosphere is about 15% thicker than Coruscant's so you might feel a headache if you don't equalise, but more importantly, it is full of aerosols that—we'll get to that later! Plant Analogs… What do plants do to generate energy Oc'nel?"
"Photosynthesis ma'am," Oc'nel answered, his fur dancing with excitement. I get to show Jazal I am smart.
"Exactly. There is no visible light on Alpheridies. All of the quote 'plants,' really plant-analogs because they aren't plants, they do photosynthesis with infrared using chlorophyll-f. Pax?"
Pax had raised his hand. "What colour would the plants—plant-analogs I mean, what colour would they be?"
"I wouldn't know. I've been on Alpheridies Pax, but I don't have any eyes," Jazal said simply.
"They're black, purple. Sometimes they are brown," Averross answered to everyone's surprise.
"You've been to Alpheridies?!" Jazal asked in shock.
"Yep," Averross said simply.
"All right," Jazal paused awkwardly. "Many of the plant-analogs are edible and most of them produce oxygen and breathe CO2, like real plants do. Most life on Alpheridies lacks eyes. A few reptiles can see in the infrared spectrum—"
—Oc'nel was no longer paying attention. Now that he understood what 'plant-analogs' were, the Bothan was excitedly reading further in his datapad, now staring at a climate map of Alpheridies. The warmest climate seemed to be a ring around the central mountains on the side facing Aber—mountains formed by Aber constant pulling on the crust. The climate of the warmest ring was desert in parts, humid jungle in others. Further out were more temperate zones, grasslands, and farmland cultivating swamps of edible and oxygen-producing algae-analogs, as well as imported crops in artificially lit greenhouses. Most of the water on the planet was frozen on the dark side. During summer months, parts of the dark side warmed, melting the snow, and the rainy season started. Occasionally it would snow in some parts of the bright side of Alpheridies. Tectonic activity was shaped by the gravity of Abron and the systems single other planet, a gas giant called Lom. Winter on Alpheridies happened one season of the year when Lom was behind Alpheridies, pulling it 10% further from the star. Summer conversely happened when Lom pulled Alpheridies 10% closer to Aber, when Lom was behind Aber.
Oc'nel snapped out of his datapad once he heard Averross's accent again.
The Jedi Master had replaced Jazal at the head of the table. "So, now that we've gotten science week out of the way," he muttered sarcastically. "We are all taking shore leave, got it? The ship is gettin' repaired so there is nothin' to do anyways. I am sure we can get free accommodation at the Jedi Temple in Fospol. If you go elsewhere, you'll have to pay for it. Extraction Team Cresh?"
All of Extraction Team Cresh except Awerl said "Yes sir?"
"We will all meet in the Jedi Temple in Fospol. Its location is on your datapads along with a map of the whole planet."
"All of us Master?" Pax asked.
"Yes Agent, all of you. I decided that we are all briefing the entire Jedi High Council via the Jedi secure HoloNet channel and they may have questions from any one of us. Oh! Higil, Soqes, Kier?!"
"Yes sir?" Higil asked.
"Yes Master?" Kier and Soqes asked.
"You need to come too. You were on the away mission to Rhen Var Station and they may want to talk to you too."
Damn that is going to be one disorganised and crowded briefing, Oc'nel thought.
o.o.o.o.o
Pax had cornered Oc'nel in the hall immediately after the briefing.
"Oc'nel," Pax said sternly, "try to stay on Master Averross's good side. It reflects poorly on me when you can't maintain a Judicial Bearing during a briefing. I already have Awerl and Driffu acting up, and for the most part, there's nothing I can do about that."
"Sorry Pax I—"
"—I know it's annoying having to work with Master Nerf Herder over there," Pax said tilting his head to the right in Averross's direction. "Hopefully, after this, we'll get an assignment with no Jedi or any Jedi but him."
Oc'nel laughed hard at the 'Master Nerf Herder' comment but contained it quickly, snapping his snout shut.
"It's one thing to screw a Jedi Oc'nel—"
"—What are you talking about?!" the Bothan whispered in a panic. As his fur fell flat, he felt the lid of his bad eye brush his eyepatch as his eyes went wide.
"—It's one thing to kriff a Jedi or a Senator," Pax whispered back harshly, using an even more vulgar term. His narrow Duros mouth wore an angry frown. "It's another to get involved in their Jedi politics. That is way above your paygrade. I'd rather have Jazal as the mission leader than Averross too, but do not ever side with her in a briefing against Averross. It's none of my business, but if I figured out you guys have done it, Averross certainly has too and he could report Jazal."
Oc'nel hung his head sadly, his fur swirling nervously.
"I doubt that spice-head would," Pax continued, "because he has far more skeletons in the closet than Jazal, but I can tell it gets Jazal angry too though when you side with her or say things to make Averross look stupid, got it? So, stop. That's an order."
"Yes sir," Oc'nel sighed.
"How's your eye feeling?"
"It doesn't hurt anymore, but I feel ridiculous with this stupid white eyepatch," Oc'nel admitted while he tugged on the eyepatch. "Sometimes I accidentally scrape the side of my face on things."
The ship jolted as they exited hyperspace.
"Well, ready to see this thing?" Pax asked.
"Yep," Oc'nel replied, his nervously swirling fur relaxing.
o.o.o.o.o
"Well Master, we've arrived," Rama said from her station as those from the briefing began arriving on the bridge.
Jazal took a seat and pulled put her Shadowsync.
"Whoa…" Oc'nel said as he looked towards the main viewer. It was one thing to see Aber on a tiny datapad, another to see it on a giant screen. Aber was glowing in a shade of red so dark it almost looked black. A small black blob obscured a part of Aber which Oc'nel guessed was Alpheridies. The blob was getting closer as they neared Aber.
A few minutes later the black blob expanded to the size of a planet. The Agarath swung into orbit and quickly manoeuvred to the side facing the sun.
Averross and the others began arriving onto the bridge. "Right Rama," he said, "pull us up to Alpheridies Station, I'll hail them. Alpheridies Station, this is the Agarath requesting internal docking and repairs. Clearance Number 987935."
"Very well Agarath, your Diplomatic Clearance has been accepted you are clear to pull into portal 1."
A massive station the shape of a spinning top slowly merged into view. It was an ugly smattering of all sorts of colours, clearly painted by beings without eyes who just threw whatever spare space paint they had on it. A thin shaft connected the top into the dark planet below. Many lights were visible from its windows, and a big circular portal on the top half emitted a yellow light. The portal became bigger and bigger on the main viewer as the Agarath drew nearer. Eventually, it was possible to see the interior—a massive cylindrical room with repair scaffolding on the walls. Cranes of various sizes were mounted on parts of the scaffolding.
"Is there a Cantina and a Commissary here on Alpheridies Station, Master?" Driffu asked.
"Yes, there is."
"Alright, I'm staying here," Driffu said. "Anyone else staying?"
Oc'nel looked at her with a scowl. "Uh… No."
Shortly thereafter, Driffu received a "no," "nope," from everyone on the bridge and a "na" from Awerl.
"Na Awerl? Really? You'll regret it," Driffu echoed prophetically through her gas mask. "Besides, it'll be fun hanging up there with me."
Awerl roared at her in annoyance.
"I am telling you Awerl," Driffu insisted. "Stay up here."
"Na," Awerl roared.
Driffu cackled madly, getting several odd glances. Averross put his hand to his head, rubbing his temples as if massaging a headache. Suddenly, he blurted out, "right everyone… Judicials, it would probably be best if you put on civilian attire. We are on shore leave, remember?"
To Oc'nel's surprise, Jazal approached him and whispered. "Itoll, I want you to pack for a hike. Pack your ruck with wet-weather clothes, boots, and enough canteens to hold enough water for you for two days."
"All right," Oc'nel whispered. "Master, I wanted to go skiing, maybe we could—"
"—No Itoll, if you want to hang out with me on Alpheridies instead of Drega or Higil, we are going on a hike first. Maybe we can do some other stuff later," she said firmly.
Oc'nel thought about this for a few seconds. He looked at Drega fumbling around with a datapad with his bandaged fingers. Skiing with Drega or hanging out? I guess I am hiking.
o.o.o.o.o
The Judicials and crew of the Agarath rode the massive hangar-sized turbolift down to the surface of Alpheridies. The moment Oc'nel had stepped onto the station, he felt a more familiar gravity.
Sharing the enormous space elevator with them, was an entirely Rodian crew of thirty. They were dressed in hunting garb and carried an assortment of swords and knives.
Fojo was talking away with the Rodian hunters while everyone else stared out of one of the transparisteel walls.
Jazal stood next to Oc'nel with an unnervingly blank Jedi expression.
Pax's version of civilian attire was farmer-looking clothes under a dark brown trenchcoat, ridiculous boots with spurs that forced him to walk bow-legged, and a huge black wide-brimmed Duros hat. He carried all of his belongings in his rucksack, as did all of the other Extraction Agents.
Kier and Higil had each packed suitcases, while almost everyone else had backpacks.
Awerl was wearing his usual attire. He wore nothing except for a Peacekeeping badge hung around his neck showing he had law enforcement authority, and a belt holding a single datapad poking out of his woolly Wookiee fur. He had no belongings at all with him, no bag, and no boots.
What a weirdo! Does he even brush his teeth? Oc'nel wondered in horror as he stared at the Wookiee.
Pax walked up to Oc'nel and asked, "You know what I am doing as soon we land?"
"The cantina?!" Oc'nel chuckled. "It's three in the afternoon Coruscant time."
"Yeah three in the afternoon, on a planet that is perpetually darker than night," Pax grinned. "On a planet that is tidally-locked, so there are no days; a planet with no visible light."
"I am going to check out the temple first. Later this week, when all of the briefings are done, I am going on a hike," Oc'nel said with a smile.
Jazal let off an angry sigh.
Oc'nel gulped.
"A hike?!" Pax asked. "There's nothing to see and they don't allow visible light outside of the cities Oc'nel. Where are you hiking?"
"Oh well," blast what do I say?! "I guess by hike I really meant um…" Oc'nel stammered, "skiing. I meant skiing."
"All right Agent," Pax said looking at him, then looking back at Jazal suspiciously. "Stay safe out there, and listen to Jazal. I don't want you to get eaten by some infrared-seeing lizard."
"You're going skiing? I am definitely hitting the slopes on my ice-board," Drega interjected, eavesdropping but missing the listen to Jazal comment. "Perhaps we can go together? Just don't go too slow in front of me."
"Yeah maybe," Oc'nel said nervously scratching the swirling fur on the back of his neck. Maybe not. Definitely not. I am hiking.
Outside of the space elevator windows, in the upper layers of Alpheridies' atmosphere, everything looked dark red except for the few points of starlight emerging from the surrounding nebulae. As they descended into the clouds everything became pitch black; as dark as the interior of a cave.
"Whoaaa…" Oc'nel said as he looked out at the pure darkness. As the minutes went on, Oc'nel did not feel bored or confined himself, but he started getting a sense of everyone else's impatience. Awerl paced nervously, Drega, Higil, and most of the Agarath's crew looked bored.
"Currency. Currency!" Jazal said the first word calmly but the second word loudly, breaking the silence. Everyone turned and looked at her, including the Rodians. "I am sorry everyone, I forgot to mention currency in the briefing. As you know, Miraluka lack eyes. Some vendors will accept Republic credits, credit chips, or debit codes, but most only accept Miralukan Credits because they can be verified by touch. You can withdraw Miralukan Credits using your credit chips at many banks and terminals. No one accepts Republic credit cash payments."
"Blast Jazal, you scared me," Averross grunted gruffly. "Get a grip on yourself!"
Awerl groaned something incomprehensible.
Pax chuckled, clearly trying to get on Averross's good side.
I bet I know who else is hitting the cantina, Oc'nel thought.
The space elevator finally emerged out of the pitch-black clouds. Far below, lights from a city could be seen forming the shape of a city grid. Around the city however, there was nothing visible. The city itself was almost like a beacon of light on a completely dark landscape in every direction. As the elevator lowered, through the floor windows, Oc'nel could now make out individual structures including a lit wall around the base of the space elevator.
After ten more minutes, the elevator groaned to a halt. One of the huge walls fell outwards like a ramp and everyone stepped down it and proceeded to the weirdest immigration, customs, and security station in the Galaxy.
There were four Miralukas dressed in black with necklaces wearing placards that said "Immigration and Security." They held batons and just stood there. Oc'nel could almost feel them all reaching out to him using the Force, probing his bags, his clothes, his innards. It was one of the most unnerving feelings he had ever experienced. They pulled one of the Rodians to the side and started asking him about weapons. Everyone else walked through.
"Now that was unnerving," Oc'nel growled aloud once they had gotten through security.
"You're telling me," Carver said in agreement.
Jazal and Averross both laughed a little bit.
"What's so funny?" Pax asked.
"Ah, Temple security is just like that," Averross said, "only not as… hostile."
"You mean the three times I went to the Jedi Temple I was probed like that?!" Pax asked.
"Yep," Averross replied.
"This entire population is Force sensitive, at least the Miraluka, keep that in mind during your interactions with them everyone," Jazal said cautiously.
Fojo gave an ironic "hoooo-aahhh" in his most wimpy-sounding voice as if teasing Judicials who yelled hooah in response to orders. Most of the group laughed.
The group began splitting off in different directions once they reached the street. The buildings in the city were the ugliest buildings Oc'nel had ever seen. The street was not lit well enough to make out the entire surfaces of most buildings, but most lacked windows completely and were painted in the most random mixes of colours, often rainbow-ish in parts until the colours all melted together into an ugly green or brown. The town was, as Jazal had said, a town. The only skyscraper was the space elevator.
"That's the Alpheridies Republic High Commission buildin' right here," Averross pointed towards a three-storey building which was painted ugly like the rest, but which had windows many of which were lit. "If you get into a fight or something and need legal help, then talk to them. I ain't balin' you yokels out," the Jedi Master said sternly.
If anyone is getting into a fight, I bet 100 credits it will be Averross, Oc'nel thought to himself.
Awerl roared triumphantly, pointing to his Peacekeeping badge as if it were a pass that let him do anything.
"Whoa…." Oc'nel said as he saw a strange building.
"Cut that out Oc'nel! It makes you sound so kriffing dumb!" Pax yelled in exasperation.
"Sorry but look!" he pointed excitedly towards a grey very well-lit building with floodlights coming down on it from streetlights above. Several green Corellian bushes were planted along the walls of the building, able to survive under the floodlight. A giant sign over the door "New Coronet Cantina" and was one of the very few visible signs. "Pax, how much you wanna bet whoever runs that establishment has eyes?" the Bothan asked.
"Yeah… I agree," the Duros said, pausing to marvel at it.
On any other planet a boring square Corellian-style building would be so unremarkable. Here it looked beautiful. The organised logical paint job where all of the walls were one colour contrasted with the chaotic mess of paint on the other structures.
"Well, I am going there," Pax said. His facial expression almost looked like that of an insect drawn towards the light in darkness.
"I am coming too," Carver said.
Averross rudely pushed past both of them and started making a beeline to the door with Fojo following.
With Averross facing away and walking towards the door, Carver flashed a very rude hand gesture in Averross's direction. Averross did not seem to notice, or if he sensed it, he had the remarkable maturity to ignore it.
Oc'nel struggled to suppress yet another laugh. Blast! Why does everyone have to be so funny?!
"Okay Pax, I am going to go to the temple and put my things there."
"So am I," Jazal said, almost certainly ignoring Carver's hand gesture. "We will see you later maybe."
"You sure you and Oc'nel don't wanna hang out here with some redneck characters like Carver, myself, and Master Averross?" Pax said in his thickest redneck Duros accent while touching the rim of his hat. "It'll be fun!"
"Uh no Pax," Oc'nel replied. "I grew up on Botha'ahir. That sounds like hell."
Pax and Carver laughed.
"Well, we'll see you later," Carver said.
"Bye!" Jazal replied
"See you," Oc'nel said.
"Bye," Pax said.
After the others all left out of what Oc'nel assumed was earshot, he asked, "hiking? Jazal, I thought you said sex was just a one-time thing and I was cool with that. No emotional attachments and Jedi mumbo jumbo and whatnot."
"Yeah well, Bothan, you look a hell of a lot cuter after that Koorivar stepped on your face. I cannot resist," Jazal said tugging his chin to force him to look into her eyeless face.
"I— what?! You can't even see!" Oc'nel yelped indignantly, thinking, I am very good looking.
"Haha! I am joking…" Jazal said as she grabbed his hand and started tugging him along.
"Where are we going Jazal?"
"The temple, we were telling the truth about that part. We have to hang around here for the next few days for our briefings anyways. We all have one tomorrow and then Averross and I have another one in two days."
"Okay," Oc'nel smiled with relief. "So, we're not hiking?" he asked hopefully.
"Oh no Itoll, we're hiking. Why do I sense fear?" she asked.
"Well Jazal… walking in the dark for hours sounds pretty dangerous. Besides I won't be able to see so it's not like I will be able to see any of the planet."
"Sometimes, facing your fears and expanding your boundaries is a good thing Bothan," she said in her sage Jedi lecturer voice. "There is also a lot to smell and feel, you have a very good, very cute, nose I might add, and I want to do a little experiment with you."
"Experiment?! Do I get to consent to this Master, or have we just decided my opinion doesn't matter?"
"Of course your opinion matters. Relax. If you disagree, it's fine. I'll tell you more about it tomorrow. For now, we need to get to the Jedi Temple and prepare ourselves for the briefing. Averross, and the others may get drunk, but we need to stay sober and be the voices of reason tomorrow if they are all hung over," Jazal said as she increased her pace.
"Master Nerf Herder hung over?! I'd never believe it," Oc'nel said, stealing Pax's 'Master Nerf Herder' description of Averross.
Jazal laughed a little, but added in a serious tone: "Agent, you really need to respect your superiors more."
Oc'nel smiled sheepishly, blinking incredulously. But... It's Rael Averross.