NOTES:
.
English isn't my first language.
Thank you for reading and commentings.
Enjoy the reading.
Dame Iris
Chapter 3: The ship
..
.
Cara was awakened by a familiar hubbub coming from the street just after one hour of sleep. She put on her armor, her marshal's insignia, braided her long hair, before eating a small breakfast.
She then went into her bedroom and opened the door. She wanted to be reassured. She was glad to see him still sleeping, and she was now ready to leave her house.
"Where is Mando ?"
Greef inquired as he stood on the threshold of the old cantina, watching her arrive alone.
"May be, you could start with "Hello Cara". She responded as she walked past him.
The old man corrected her with a smile that was more amused than offended.
"Hello Cara, where is our Mando? He should be with you"
"That's better." She said as she came to a halt near the old counter.
Her smirk, which had been fleeting, had vanished.
Greef could tell something was wrong by her darker complexion.
"He's not with me right now because he's sleeping. After the dose of sleeping pills I had to give him, this isn't shocking.
It has the potential to take out a blurrg."
Greef's eyes opened as he listened to this ridiculous notion.
What are you talking about?
The cold-blooded mandalorian, Mando!
The merciless bounty hunter, Mando!
What the heck was going on?
Cara pointed to his office.
.
Cara told her friend about the events of the previous days until she felt safe enough to talk. Greef realized how complicated the situation was after she told him about the Child's destiny, the repercussions of winning the Dark Saber, the contract with Bo-Katan, and Din's current fragile mental state. Every discovery astounded him, but nothing shocked him more than his new perspective on his Mandalorian companion.
"I honestly wouldn't believe it if this whole story came from someone other than you." He admitted it.
"Having said that, it seems to me that you've done the best you can so far. Listen, I'll lend you a helping hand. Why don't you bring him over here today?
I'll find something for him to do. You'll have plenty of time to think about something else.
Cara was grateful for the assistance. Despite her dislike of relying on others, she felt grateful this time because her fresh and difficult condition had rendered her powerless.
She then inquired about the arrival of the authorities in charge of the two imperial captives, but Greef was unaware of the situation. He got up to open the door and cried, eager to give her a response.
"MYTHROL, come in!"
The lawbreaker with the azure skin marched up to the judge. He bowed respectfully when he saw Cara.
"Magistrate, what can I do for you?"
Ever gasping for air, he inquired.
"Marshal Dune has inquired as to whether we have received any information about the departure of our two brigmates.
"No, Magistrate, not yet."
"All right, we've got our answer", he said. This friend's disappointment was nothing compared to his.
He confronted his secretary once more.
"Thank you; you can leave. I'd like to be notified as soon as they contact us.
"Well, sir" said the blue secretary as she walked away.
"Well, I guess we'll have to wait."
Cara sighed. The only positive aspect of this situation is that I'll have plenty of time to come up with a plot.
I need to get Din's bounty without revealing his identity. A middle-aged man dressed in a long blue velvet tunic and wearing a long chain from which hung an imposing gold medallion beckoned to the magistrate through the half-open gates. The man was a representative of one of the city's merchant guilds, and his tidy dress represented his high social standing.
Greef extended his hand in greeting, apologised to his mate, and proceeded to meet him.
When Cara arrived at the cells, she quickly checked to see if the inmates were still there.
The Moff sat on a metal bench against the cage's only wall, which was made of metal bars. "Good morning, Marshall.
What's up with our mutual friend?"
"Oh, please, don't say something! Save your breath for later!" Cara screamed loudly as she came to a halt in front of him. It took a lot of willpower for her not to lose her cool with the imperial officer.
She went on her way, but not before slamming the door between the prison cells and her office shut violently.
A tiny shape furry with silver and red hairs appeared and jumped on her boots as she was about to place her legs on a pile of different documents covering her desk. The ruby-eyed mongoose approached her to eat the sweets she was keeping. When it was done, it went back the same direction it had come.
"See you tonight" Cara said, recognizing that the lava mongoose will return as usual in the evening.
A bip informed her of a new message: the officials in charge of transporting the detainees had arrived.
Cara mumbled as she dragged her shoes away from the desk, disappointed that she hadn't had enough time to come up with a story for her guests.
The larger it is, the less it is heard, she realized later, relieved, as she reflected on her bad explanation to her interlocutors.
She had reached an understanding by the end of her interview. She will receive the bounty. She was instructed to hand it over to an anonymous bounty hunter who had to flee the city due to a family tragedy.
.
A guy, blushing and breathless, arrived shortly after the representatives had left. He had obviously arrived in a rush.
He began to clarify that he was the owner of one of the hangars that housed the ships in transit, with some passion in his voice.
The bodies of two people suspected of being part of the local underworld had just been discovered there.
The man was very concerned about the negative impact such an incident would have on his company.
It was clear that renting a structure that had become known as a crime scene would be difficult. His worries about respectability and benefit had no effect on the marshal. She was concentrating on the names of the victims.
"Are you sure? I thought them two been gone for a while.
Many local criminals, unable to operate their businesses after the former head of the Bounty Hunters' Guild and his marshal took control of the city, chose exile.
Those who remained were now extremely cautious, knowing that even a minor blunder would land them in prison with little chance of early release.
Cara did her job and got up from her seat, despite the fact that she was not interessed of investigating this case.
- All right, let's see what happened.
She was cautious enough to warn of her departure.
Getting into trouble was always a possibility, and certain backups were not excessive in such situations.
After an hour of meandering through the city's crowded streets, she arrived at the crime scene, led by the man. She grunted.
'Of course, it had to be market day.'
That was the day that a speeder lost more time than any other mode of transportation.
As she walked into the hangar, she saw a small group of people gathered around the bodies. Rodians who were killed by blaster fire.
They seemed to have killed each other, but the cause of death was unclear.
"Was someone else present when this happened?"
Cara enquired. She didn't expect an answer; she knew that witnesses were normally afraid to speak up.
After so many years of rule by the worst kind of thugs, it was difficult to persuade people to change their minds.
The young woman sighed in resignation as she listened to the silence. It's business as usual; there are plenty of people to watch but none to talk with.
She took out her radio and, though standing aside, dialed the magistrate's office, which was answered by the magistrate himself.
"It's me, send two guys. I need to remove the bodies. I'll be leaving soon because I won't be able to learn any more if I stay here.
I have a few ideas that I'd like to test with my data terminal."
"Cara, copy that."
She looked at the ships parked in front of her after the communication was completed. One in particular drew her attention right away.
She thought it was so unique. She wore a lot of clothes. Cara predicted that she would be able to welcome more than twenty crew members on board.
Her sharp-tipped wings, like the Lambda shuttles', were folded vertically. Many geometrical patterns drawn in turquoise on her gray hull emphasized her graceful form.
Cara wasn't really an expert on spaceships. To be honest, she didn't care about them. However, the one in front of her raised her interest and was beautiful.
Greef's men approached her and talked to her, jolting her out of her reverie.
"Marshall, are you willing to take these two?"
"Go ahead and do it. We'll have to take care of them as normal if no one claims them by tomorrow."
The man nodded and gave the order to begin working right away.
.
Cara immediately exited the room to return to her office. A man approached her as she began to walk down the nearest street where she had left her speeder.
He wore a gray jumpsuit with black grease stains, several pockets, and a bag slung around his waist. He was a mechanic, Cara deduced.
The guy was jittery and uncertain. She could see where he was coming from and what he was looking for.
"Come on, let's go by there; we'll be quieter." She said as she drew him into an alley by his sleeve.
"You were there when it occurred ?."
The man smiled and nodded. Cara attempted to comfort him in the hopes that he would witness.
"You have nothing to fear if you tell me what you saw. No one will know."
The witness said, his voice dropping, that he was still unsure.
"Well, I was working on the huge white cargo ship's maintenance crew,
Marshall. I'm a mechanic, you know."
"That was something I had guessed. So, what exactly happened?"
"So I put my tools down and went to look through one of the cockpit windows when I heard screaming on the deck.
You know, just in case..."
"And what did you see?".
"The two men screaming and grabbing each other. They were discussing the gray ship in the back, which I believe you saw earlier "..
"So, what exactly were they saying?".
"The one with the hideous scar on his forehead said she was his because he had won her in a game. The other said it wasn't true. He claimed the rightful ownership of the ship.
He was certain, as far as I could tell, that the person who had gambled the ship had claimed to be him. It's not surprising that the other one was unconcerned with his explanations.
I knew it was going to end badly once I found out who they were, so I knew the safest thing to do was hide. I made the right decision, and the shooting began immediately."
The man took a few moments to think before adding ashamed.
"I didn't dare to say anything when you arrived. You have to understand, Marshall, if their gangs find out..."
"There will be no one who knows about this. I'll take care of their gangs, or what's left of them, you can be sure of that ".
"Do you mind if I leave now, Marshall?"
"NO, of course. Thank you for your assistance, "Cara expressed her gratitude.
She cried as the man was about to walk out of the alley and into the busy street.
"And what exactly is this ship? It's the first time I've ever seen one."
"Marshall, but she's a kom'rk class fighter! It's extremely uncommon!"
"Do you have any idea where she's from?"
"Absolutely! She's a Mandalorian. "
Before bowing politely and disappearing around the corner of the alley and the main street, the mechanic responded.
Cara was now smiling.
.
After much hesitation, Cara decided to take a detour to her house on her way back to her office. She needed to make sure Din was all right. She knew she wouldn't be able to be quiet for the remainder of the day. Even though it was nearly noon when she entered the apartment, the silence led her to believe her friend was still sleeping. When she opened the door to her room, she was shocked to see an empty bed.
What the heck is going on here? What happened to him?
She dashed out onto the terrace in the hopes of spotting him in the courtyard. She looked around, but there was no one outside.
The situation, which had shocked her at first, had become increasingly worrying. She didn't completely comprehend all that had happened to Din, but she was certain of a few things.
One of them was that her friend could not, should not, go off on his own as long as he improved. She had no choice but to search for and locate him as quickly as possible.
She heard voices coming from her neighbor's apartment as she was leaving. She quickly identified the old lady's. The second was huskier. It was clearly a man. She was taken aback because she had just expected two of Essie's friends to pay her a visit.
Cara couldn't pay attention because she was too concerned about Din's disappearance, so she continued with a hurried step. A glint of light in her neighbor's largest window nearly blinded her as she was about to get on her speeder. The curtains had been drawn back, and a human figure in metal armor stood in front of the glass. As a result, the reverberation of the sun's rays on the metal shoulder pads and helmet was all that was visible.
Din! Her heart jumped in her chest!
And he was exactly where she hadn't expected to meet him. She turned around right away. When she rang the old woman's doorbell, she was feeling much better.
When the door opened, she was greeted by a familiar, friendly face.
"Ah, it's you, Cara; I think you've come to see your friend."
"Indeed, Essie, and if it's okay with you, I'd like to speak with him."
Din had heard the visitor's voice before. He appeared behind the old lady who invited Cara to enter.
She said she'd leave the two friends alone as she closed the door behind her visitor. She asked Din, with a concerned expression on his face, if he could stay with her a little longer before leaving.
The Mandalorian nodded in agreement. Cara was too familiar with him to miss his brief pause. She knew he felt obligated to agree.
She inquired as soon as Essie had vanished.
"What the heck are you doing here, Din?".
He explained, embarassed, how he came to be here.
He had seen the old lady attempting to fit some of her many plants into a low wall as he walked onto the terrace. He offered her assistance because the pots were too large for her frail stature.
"At first, she was suspicious, but after I told her you and I were friends, she changed her mind, saying, "You're Cara's friend, that's nice. I'm glad to meet you ."
It was almost as if she considered me a friend after that. And I, the poor naive, asked if she needed anything else. She welcomed me into her home and showed me all of the "little things" that needed to be fixed. He continued, his voice dropping.
"Now I have to follow her everywhere in her house. She is always conversing with me and even asks me questions.
I still haven't figured out how to get out of here, Cara."
Cara thought to herself. "Don't expect any help from me.
After all, it wasn't such a bad situation. Din was kept busy as long as he stayed with Essie. It's preferable to be kept as a "hostage" by a sweet old lady than to be alone with his sorrow.
The list of "minor information" will grow longer. She was sure. Essie did not seem to need assistance, but she did appreciate having someone to confide in. Din was ideal because he hardly said something and still listened respectfully. She gave him a polite pat on the arm with a smirking grin.
"You seem to be getting along well with her, so keep going! And when she releases you, go straight to Greef. He'd like to speak with you. I'll be in my office.
I need to get some work done, and I don't want to stay up late tonight. As soon as you've finished with our favorite magistrate, come join me."
"Have a nice day, Essie," she said loudly from the doorway, then lower to her friend, "Hang in there, Din!"
..
.