Chapter 8

Anara walked a few paces ahead of Din. She had no intentions of talking to him after his outburst in the cargo bay. She replayed the plan that she had adjusted learning that Din would be following her around the market. She knew he would not follow close enough to hear the conversations she would be having with the local inhabitants. She was going to bribe each individual with a small number of credits from the satchel to keep them quiet even if they didn't know anything. "Better safe than sorry," she thought.

Din stalked behind Anara not wanting to match her pace. She knew the plan and now it was her job to carry it out. He was just there to make sure nothing went amiss since she carried the reward of credits. As they approached the market, he scanned for travelers that may cause problems. He split away from Anara walking closer to an area where people had parked their speeders, a lone happabore drank at a central watering hole. He turned his line of vision to look at Anara one last time. She glanced over her shoulder and Din gave her a brief nod.

The market wasn't particularly busy. Most of the travelers were located at the center of the market trading in parts they had scavenged from the many deserted ships around Jakku. Unfortunately, she knew the truth. This way of life gave little to live by. Maybe only enough to feed one person. The locals that ran their market stalls were likely the only ones who had family that survived here in Jakku. She felt a sense of pride being able to help some of these individuals today.

Anara decided it was best to work from the outside in. She entered the first stall she came to where a shriveled looking woman sat. She was covered in Jakku's dust and it made her skin appear orange.

"Excuse me," Anara said gently. The old woman looked up at her slowly but did not say a word.

"There's a Mandalorian here in the market right now and he's looking for someone. A woman named Niya Tir. I would appreciate it if you could keep quiet and pretend not to know what he's talking about." She slid her hand into the bag and pulled out several credit chips and dropped them on the counter toward the woman. Glancing up at Anara, she grabbed the credits and nodded. "Thank you," Anara said and then proceeded to the next stall.

Din watched as Anara made her way around the outside of the market stalls first. He leaned up against a rusted communication tower. He scanned the crowd forming at the central booth where many travelers and local inhabitants were trading their scrap in. "This planet is useless," he thought. The air felt hot and dry. A breeze picked up the sand and brushed it across his boots. It seemed that Anara was not having much luck. Even though he was quite far away from her current location in the market, he noticed she moved around quickly. Din grew impatient and sighed with annoyance.

Din kept his eyes locked on Anara. He watched her body language while she talked with the occupant of the stall. He saw the glint of something placed on the counter between them. Anara still had her head down in conversation, but the stall owner scanned the market as if looking for someone. He wasn't sure what was going on and waited until Anara left. His line of vision stayed on her moving to the next stall. He closely watched the scenario happen again. Nothing looked amiss, until he saw the owner move his hand across the counter and drop something into his lap. He watched as the owner nodded at Anara and Anara said her goodbyes.

Something wasn't right. Din needed to move closer but without causing distraction. He kept walking around the outside of the market making sure not to draw attention from the shop owners. He was closer to Anara's location now. Squatting down behind an abandoned stall, Din pulled out his digital aiming scope and zoomed in on Anara. Nothing seemed unusual until he watched her slip her hand into the satchel and pull out several credit chips laying them on the counter. The woman at the counter snatched them up immediately and shook her head in acknowledgement. Din snapped the scope closed and sat back on his heels. He couldn't steady his breathing. Anger raged through him. He wanted to grab her and drag her ass back to the ship. He knew that would only warrant a full-fledged fight from her though.

"Why would she be giving credits to the shop owners?" he thought. She was fully aware of the plan that he had put in place. The credits were to lure the owners into giving up information. She wasn't supposed to be giving them out freely like this. Din stood up and searched the area for an innocent bystander. Someone he could use to help him figure out what Anara was doing. A young boy was picking at a stale piece of bread under one of the cloth overhangs. Din caught his attention and motioned him to come over. He could tell the boy was hesitant, but hunger drove him to walk closer to Din.

"I need you to do me a favor." Din stated, trying not to startle the boy. "See that woman over there, I want you to tell me what she's saying to that the stall owner. Here." He handed the boy a handful of credits. The boy looked up at him with wide eyes.

"Of course, sir," he stuttered and ran off in Anara's direction.

Din watched as the boy weaved his way through the stalls and passing travelers. He slipped to the outside of the outer stalls behind the cloth curtains disappearing. Din tried not to pace as he waited for the kid to return. After about half an hour, Din felt a slight tug on his cape. He turned to see the boy behind him. Din knelt on one knee to face him.

"What did you hear?" Din questioned. He tried to hold back the frustration from his voice to not scare the boy.

"She told the lady to stay quiet. She said she would pay her credits to not give out any information. She mentioned a..." the boy paused. "She mentioned a Mandalorian." His eyes focused on Din's helmet.

"Thank you," Din ground out trying to stay in control of the mounting anger. He dropped another credit into the boy's hand and watched as the he sprinted away.

XXX

The hours dragged by as Din continued to watch Anara from afar. He stewed in his anger the entire time plotting how to handle the situation best. He straightened his body upright as Anara looked toward him. She nodded her head at him to signal she was finished with the job. Din raised two fingers near his helmet to indicate for her to start walking back to the ship. Letting her lead the way, Din flexed his gloved hands next to his side and let the anger he felt guide him.

The walk was long and agonizing. As the ship came into full view, he quickened his pace behind Anara. Anara waited as Din walked to the outside control panel and let down the ramp. As soon as it was fully lowered, she strode up the ramp and into the ship acting as if nothing was amiss.

Anara didn't have time to react. She was completely caught off guard by the massive body behind her grabbing the back of shirt and spinning her around 360 degrees. Din rammed her body up against the metal wall of the cargo bay locking his large hand around her throat. She tried to push back at him, but his sheer strength and weight held her in place.

"What are you doing?" Anara choked out. "Get your hands off me." Anara began to panic, twisting her body and struggling against Din's hold. Her thoughts were scattered. He must know what she did at the market. He wasn't stupid and she wasn't going to get away with it. Din didn't say a word but continued to pin her body to the wall. His vise-like grip tightened around her wrist. Anara attempted to claw at the gloved hand holding her throat, but he held steady. His helmet was inches from her face watching her every move. She could hear Din's heavy breathing through the modulator.

"Stop lying to me." Din's words were full of venom. "I know who you are, and I know the game you're playing. You think you are so smart Anara. You think you can fool me. This is over."

In one quick movement, Anara was picked up off the ground and thrown over Din's shoulder. He gripped the back of her thighs tightly to prevent her from kicking. Regaining her movement, she pounded her fists against his back hoping to cause some discomfort. His back felt rigid and stiff against her fists and gave no indication that he was in pain from her blows. In a few strides Din stopped in front of one of the prison cells in the cargo bay. He opened the automatic barred door and stepped inside leaning forward just enough to let Anara's body slide to the floor. Din retreated from the cell just as Anara whipped around and sprinted toward the door that had slammed down in front of her. Din stood back watching her bang her fists on the door and curse at him.

"We're going back to Vlemoth Port. I'm returning you back to Clan Awaud. This mission is over." Din turned away and began to walk down the corridor.

Anara felt herself beginning to lose control. "No please! Din, please don't take me back. I... I can't go back there. You don't understand." Anara's whole body shook. She couldn't breathe. Her mind reeled trying to think of any desperate attempt to gain his attention back to her. Her only option was to tell him the truth. "I am a Mandalorian. My name is Niya Tir. I ran. It's the only thing I could think to do at the time." Anara fell to her knees, tears streaming down her face. "Din please listen to me. I can't go back there. Please, just listen."

Din continued down the corridor until the lift opened. He stepped in and turned facing her one last time. The lift door slid closed, and he was gone. Silence filled the empty cargo bay except for Anara's sobs. She folded her torso over her knees resting her head against the cold steel. A few moments later, Anara felt the floor beneath her groan as the Slave II lifted into the sky leaving Jakku.