Sabé didn't know whether to be annoyed or amused by the pirate's antics. She was counting down the last few minutes of what would now be the fourth hour of Hondo's supposed "price", although she suspected it to be a farce for something else he had planned. Four hours. Four hours of this pirate enthusiastically clapping his hand to her back while shouting her name in amusement, as if she had said the most humorous thing the planet had ever heard, despite having been silent a majority of the time. Four hours of the pirate drinking, swaying back and forth as the liquid sloshed around in his cup with his movements. Sabé had taken the first drink offered, and had done her best to stick to just the one. Sabé had never been one for drinks anyway, anything that might take her slightly off guard did not appeal to her. She had always kept her mind clear, always on guard, always on protecting Padmé. She continued that now, despite the fact that Padmé was not with her, this was still for her and she would be dedicated to it just the same. Sabé shifted in her spot, her legs having started to fall asleep. She had been sitting in the same tense cross-legged position for the entirety of their time together. Her back had a slight ache from sitting so stiffly. Hondo had not offered her proper seating at this "meeting". They were gathered around a small campfire, sitting on the rocks and ground around it, beneath a small cliff overhang. Sabé had to admit, for such a desolate place, its night sky may be one of the most beautiful she had seen. Even on Naboo, one had to find the countryside to see so many stars as she did here. Those that populated here were poor; while there were a few towns, there were no grand cities. No city lights to blur out the night sky. All she could see was stars for miles, no clouds or city lights in sight. Perfect. Sabé shifted her cloak closer together, the setting of the sun causing a slight chill in the air.
"So!" Hondo abruptly exclaimed, his voice breaking the one small moment of silence in the air. "You want to know where the traffickers camp?"
Sabé nodded in response, watching has Hondo got up from his own crouched position from across the fireplace and sauntered over to her, sitting down. He landed in a floundered slump, leaning closer towards her face with his own, closer than Sabé felt comfortable with. She resisted the urge to move backwards from him, the strong scent of alcohol and sweat rolling off him in waves. This close she could see the different lines in his face, natural to the Weequay, deeper than she realized from a further distance. His eyes were dancing with mirth and a grand smirk was displayed across his face. His own clothing was in disarray from him jostling around so frequently, yet he held himself with such great esteem; as if he were truly a lost royal, not the leader of his own pirate gang. The urge to move backwards struck her harder, as Hondo reached out to grab a twisted strand of her hair that had fallen loose from her braid, twirling it in his fingers, as he began in a low voice.
"What are you really doing here, Tsabin? A beautiful woman as yourself wouldn't be wandering out in Florrum for no purpose… hm?"
Sabé didn't appreciate the way those words left his mouth. His voice was dangerously low, husky, an attempt bordering on alluring. Despite her inner annoyance, she let a small laugh escape her, taking his hand down from her hair and shoving her own drink into his hand instead.
"Is this your price, Hondo? To repeatedly ask me questions I have no intention of otherwise answering? I would have thought you to charge more than that. I have seen how you deal with others. I think I have learned by now that your price isn't always what it seems. You are too intelligent and devious to not be asking more of me than that."
She finished with a smile and a quirked eyebrow, as he finally leaned away from her, taking her drink to his mouth and finishing it all in one full swig. He was a seasoned drinker she would give him that. Most men would have passed out long ago, lying in their own sweat and vomit by now. But he was just as conscious as he had been at the start of this, as if he had not had a single drink at all. It was in this full bravado that the pirate looked at her now with calculating, yet flirtatious confidence.
"Tsabin! You flatter me! To think you have taken such an interest in me!" His boisterous voice echoed from the stone walled cliffs around them and Sabé couldn't even dare deny the rolling of her eyes.
"Don't feel too flattered Hondo." She let out in a breathy laugh. "While you are quite interesting, I do not wish for you to misunderstand my intentions. I will admit, I have never met someone quite like you. But I am afraid I am entirely, and will always be, unavailable in the way you might perceive me." She replied lightheartedly.
"One much too young to be making such affirmative statements." Hondo responded looking thoughtfully.
"One too sensible to be a pirate, perhaps?" She countered, the smile never leaving her face.
"Ah! My lady, you wound me! But my flattery remains. I shall help you, Tsabin. In return for a small fee of course."
With this concluding statement, Hondo extended out his hand toward Sabé, one of his classic grand smirks lighting across his face. He wagged his eyebrows at her as her own smile fell and hesitation gripped her, before she firmly grasped his in her own and shook it slowly. Sabé knew at some point, she would regret this. It was with that final thought that Sabé led herself back to their makeshift camp.
It was Amry that greeted her at their perimeter. Amry was a newer recruit to Naboo's volunteer security, having joining only few years ago, but Sabé had liked her immediately. She was rather quiet and to anyone else would appear as plain as a blank sheet of paper, but Sabé had discovered differently. She reminded her of herself at that age, the 15 year old silent but stubborn and strong-willed. They had not spent much time together, but in the few missions they had, she had proven to Sabé over and over that she was independent, intelligent and insightful.
"Amry" She greeted, nodding to her as she spoke.
"Captain." She replied. "If I may, how were the negotiations?"
If it were Padmé or Saché asking, she wouldn't hold back the snort she so desperately wanted to make. Her time with Hondo had been anything but a negotiation, more of his own interrogation and riddle making.
"As well as they could be expected negotiating with a pirate I'm afraid. He would not answer straightforwardly, which I expected."
"What did he want then?"
"To join us." Sabé answered, a small smile flashing to her face at Amry's incredulous look to her response. She watched as Amry struggled to get her face blank again. When they first met she had asked Sabé a multitude of questions about being a handmaiden, many she couldn't answer for security sake. But from what she could, Amry had eaten it up and had since done her best to reflect it, including keeping her face as blank as she could. It was almost endearing.
"I'm not sure why. He wouldn't say, but after fifteen days I am ready to take all the help I can get." Sabé continued. Amry shifted a little, looking down to straighten her uniform before glancing back to Sabé.
"Do you think Captain Tonra would have been of help?"
The question startled Sabé, causing her to stiffen just a little enough to not be noticeable to anyone, but those that knew her best.
"I'm unsure. He is indisposed at the moment. There is no point in asking rhetorical questions that we will never have answers to." She responded calmly, her voice slightly chillier than before, Amry nodding in return. "We will depart at dawn, be ready." She finished before leaving Amry there, heading to her own small enclave for sleep.
Sabé wiped more sweat from her brow as she shifted in her position again. The suns were hot, beating down on the ground below where Sabé laid. It wasn't exactly comfortable laying on the rough rocky terrain, the planet's climate only adding to her current discomfort. She had already stripped herself of her extra clothing, cloak and over-shirt long forgotten in her bag at the camp. Despite this, her blaster was heavy and hot strapped to her leg and her thin sleeveless under-shirt was drenched in sweat. Sabé could only be grateful it wasn't a jungle planet, lacking in bugs and creatures alike. She lifted her binoculars to her eyes again, finally spotting a camp down below the cliff where she was currently positioned.
"What do you see?" Hondo's voice came, breaking Sabé's eyes away from the camp.
Regret.
The one word that burned through her mind as the sweat rolled down her face and she sighed heavily. This was not exactly the fee she had in mind when she had taken the agreement. She was not sure she would understand his purpose until it was too late. For now she would have to embrace it and hope for the best, hoping his silence would last for longer than a few moments at some point. This had been his longest stint of exactly five minutes without asking her a question or exclaiming about one thing or another. Whether it was about her or the elegance of the mountains around them, she was certain that she was only a few more words away from knocking him into silence. Sabé usually considered herself a patient person. She had stood still for countless hours, never once speaking. She had been alone with Jar Jar Binks clumsy and reckless self for more time than she would have liked to be and he had pushed every button and tested every boundary and yet; it would be Captain Hondo of the pirates that broke her long spell of patience.
"It looks like they're setting up to move." She finally replied, passing the binoculars over to him.
To her surprise, Hondo seemed suddenly calmer. He looked down below for several moments, searching from something. He continued like that for a few moments, until he looked back to her and spoke.
"They're holding the people beyond that cave."
"How do you know?"
"There are several more men hanging back that way." Sabé looked at him incredulously. "Its what I would do if the treasure were mine." He continued somewhat sheepishly. At his admittance Sabé quirked a small smile before sliding backwards from their position to their small camp.
"Come, Captain, the time has come."
The traffickers, or as Sabé had learned later were a group of well-known smugglers of the Outer Rim, had not expected them.
Sabé, Hondo and a few of each of their crew had snuck down into their camp. Her and the Captain took down each man individually, hand cuffing them to one another, as their crew took the guards and freed the stolen people. Sabé watched as Amry rounded the smugglers together, awaiting the arrival of the prisoner transport ship they had called for. She herself had been helping guide those now free to their own transports, intent on getting them back to their own homes, or perhaps even a new life. To further her surprise, Hondo himself had been rather silent since their arrival. He had been with her since she came to help the prisoners, standing by her quietly, his eyes searching the faces of those that emerged from their cave prison. It was starting to worry Sabé, having been at least an hour now since he last spoke, something she did not exactly know him to be. Just as her thoughts turned to reach out an arm to him and ask after him, he suddenly exclaimed and bolted through the people emerging. Sabé watched quietly as he slapped the backs of several Weequay men and women, bringing them into his arms one by one. She could hear the loud excitement of his voice, though his words were not decipherable to her. Sabé smiled to herself, realization dawning on her. She turned back to her own duties before she felt his arm upon her shoulder.
"It is time I leave Tsabin, as I am sure you will be too." He spoke from behind her, finishing as she turned to face him.
"Indeed, Captain. Our job here is done, it is time to move on."
"Thank you, my friend." He replied, sincerity flooding his voice. With these final words, he turned and left her there, his comrades following behind him.
115 souls. 115 people. 115 Men, Women and Children freed. While the number felt like many, it felt like nothing in comparison to the rest of the enslaved world, a world she knew Padmé would continue to have her fight when she could. 115. It made the two and a half weeks on this barren planet worth it. Sabé would be lying if she was not ready to be back in civilization, keenly aware at how needed a real shower was.
"Captain." Amry's voice came from behind her, causing Sabé to turn towards her, as she saw the last of the people board the transport. "You have a com from the Senator."
"Thank you, Amry." She responded before following her to their personal ship. She had yet to inform Padmé of their success, causing curiosity to rise over her call. Sabé entered the privacy of the cockpit, motioning for Amry to wait outside. Padmé's image awaits her inside. Sabé is not shocked to see her in her senatorial garb, her hair entangled in one of her complicated headdresses. The nature of her call would be business, not personal, and her face says it all.
"Captain." She greets her and Sabé gives a slight bow as she responds.
"Senator Amidala. A pleasure to speak with you."
"Are you well?" Padmé asks. Sabé knows she will not ask after her current mission, as not many even know of it. She knows Padmé well enough that this question is not just after herself, but her task as well.
"All is well milady, for us all." She would have to fill her in the details later, when they were home again.
"Excellent Captain. I am afraid I have another task for you. The Senate is concerned for the Miraluka people on the planet of Alpheridies. The Jedi Order has many relations there that have recently gone silent. The Senate hoped we might send a small party to investigate and reinitiate ties with the planet." Sabé saw the grim shadow cross over Padme's face, the concern she held evident.
"I understand Senator."
"A Jedi shall meet you upon your arrival."
"Should I inform the crew?"
"No. This will just be you Sabé. No one is to know." With this statement, an almost wicked gleam entered Padmé's eye, one that Sabé only recognized when she had when a plan was formed.
"I understand Senator."
"I must bid you farewell. You must leave immediately. Go home with the crew, your ship will be readied for you there."
"Thank you Senator may favor fall upon you." She responded with another small bow.
"And with you." With her last words, the com went blank, Padmé disappearing from view. Sabé sat down in the pilots seat, her thoughts stirring at a sudden change in direction. Padmé had been so adamant to her about her new task, that this was unexpected. Unexpected usually meant dire.
"Amry!" She called, waiting for the familiar sound of footsteps behind her before she continues. "Ready the crew. We are going home."
Author's Note:
Sorry for the lull, I am really struggling with the transition from previous chapters into the ones I want to write. I am hoping the next few will be more invigorating for everyone. Thanks to those that continue to read :).
Review Response:
Arwan: Thank you for your review! I am glad you enjoy it and hope you continue to do so!