Hutt Space
Xhorta System
Xhorta, swamp covered sole planet of the Xhorta System
Within the Inquisitor's safehouse
The boy stood ready, giving Sal a profile with his left leg forward and red-bladed training lightsaber held high in both hands. behind him were roughly a dozen more human children, boys and girls who all looked younger than the boy at the door. Shirtless little boys and girls who all looked scared and like they had just climbed out of bed. Sal's eyes fixed on something, a tattoo on the bare pec of the boy standing at the door. A black tattoo of a spider. He's a Black Spider? she asked herself in amazement. So was the Inquisitor. Did the Inquisitor take him or did he come willingly? Then Sal noticed something else, she felt it. He's sensitive to the Force, she realized. They all are.
"We're here to help you," Sal said. The boy glanced past Sal at Agent Sluka in his Imperial armor, then to the Gand and Bothan behind him.
"Help?" the boy snapped back. "You're with them!" he said as he nodded his head to those behind her. "They stole us and dragged us here."
That's good, Sal said to herself. He doesn't seem too attached to being here, so I'm guessing Inquisitor Marrik hadn't won his loyalty yet…but that anger. Sal glanced over her shoulder at the Gand and Bothan. Each glanced at the other for a moment and what fur of the Bothan that was visible stood on end for an instant. Each turned back to Sal but said nothing. She turned her attention back to the boy. "You're from Revelen 3, aren't you?" she asked. The boy did not answer but he shifted his feet and the question clearly made him uncomfortable. "And even at your young age, the Black Spiders jumped you in." The boy did not respond but she saw a little bit of pride flash in his eyes. "You want to see my tattoos?" she asked.
"Don't try anything," the boy said and bent his knees a little more.
Sal simply pulled apart her robe and then her shirt beneath, revealing the upper half of her chest. And the Five Tattoos of the Tribes. "I started out as an Alinde Cat from Adelhoffe," she said. "But now, I'm all Five of the tribes." Sal glanced back over her shoulder at Agent Sluka and said, "And so is he." She turned back to the boy and noticed that the children in the background were straining to see. They're curious, she realized with relief. It's overcoming their fear. Sal considered Tico's two employees for a moment, then said, "My name is Varina Gisald, rightful Queen of Adelhoffe and Sister within the Alinde Cats."
The boy just stared at her.
"And I'm Malgo Sluka," said a voice from behind her. Sal glanced behind her to see that Agent Sluka had removed his helmet. "My father led the Horned Serpents on Albin 2." Agent Sluka glanced back at Sal. "I like this young man," he added. "He's decided these kids behind him are his Brothers and Sisters now, and he's willing to fight for them. That's what it means to be a member of a gang. A member of the Tribe. What it means to be a Brother." Agent Sluka stepped up beside Sal and spoke directly to the boy. "I'm glad to meet you, and I want to shake your hand." He reached out his large gauntleted hand, open to take in the boy's. "Like Varina here, I'm a member of all the Tribes, of all the Gangs. And that makes you my Brother, something I'm proud to say."
"I'm Harod," the boy said as he reached his hand out to take Agent Sluka's.
Sal felt the boy's nervousness, then felt his Anger drain, replaced by Pride and a little bit of Hope, as he shook Agent Sluka's hand. The boy longs for that Brotherhood, she realized. He longs to belong and have meaning. Sal glanced back at the other children and felt their longing, felt their Hope. The little boys eyeing Harod and Agent Sluka. The little girls eyeing her. And so do they, she realized. A thought struck her. What could the Inquisitor have done with that longing if we hadn't stopped him? Where would his ambitions have led these children?
Thus ends Episode 8 of The Adventures of Agent Malgo Sluka, ISB