Star Wars: The Dark Calling
By R. C. Carpenter
Chapter Four
Nobody cared about the space pirates floating around Yuqing Zhan, a slum of a town in the country of Zalocha, on the planet of Næhe. The streets were dirty. The people were dirty. Most importantly, the money was dirty.
The more convicts and gangster that hit and ran the streets, the better. It was a time and place of frivolous spending, gaudy outfits, and little morals. There was no particular outlaw that called the shots around here. Things were rather run in a warlord fashion, with sections of the town they used as their own. Some of the older and wiser lords had transformed their sector into profitable businesses or well-to-do entertainment houses. While still other leaders stuck to their roots of spice, blasters and loud music.
A man dressed in worn-out tatters walked down the alleyways, a bulging parcel tucked neatly under his left arm. His hair was long and stringy, the gray hardly noticeable beneath the months without a bath. He turned into a dilapidated basement of a fallen in building complex. The door creaked and hundreds of furry animals scattered with the barely changing light rays, their feathery tails convulsing to find safe passage around the rotten floor boards. The sturdy boots that he was wearing pressed down on half a dozen or so of the frightened creatures, killing them instantly from the pressure and weight.
He lumbered over to a makeshift table and dropped the parcel onto it. Dust flew off in many directions, causing the man to begin to sneeze. He arched his neck, raising both cupped hands to his face. He sneezed.
From deep within the room, a shadow moved slightly off it's perch towards the man, "G'blesh you."
He turned his face towards the voice, his hands still up and his mouth still open from the sneeze.
The woman, his love interest for the time being, walked towards him, the cat towards the mouse. She rose a gently hand up to his face and stroked his hair behind his ear. His face began to regain its composure and he let out a sneer at the violet hair girl.
"What're you doin' here still? I thought you left on that cruiser fer Braaten yesterday." He said in a confused and hurt voice.
"You'd only like to think that, wouldn't you? Evidently, I never got on the ship. There had been rumor that there were spies on it. Spies looking for you, love." She bent her knees to sit on the crate, her torso and eyes angling directly up at him.
He kicked aside another handful of the furry creatures and sat down next to her on the cot near the table. He needed to be as close to his package as possible. Though he did have a peculiar fondness for the girl and he had begun to like her for her cunning and willingness to manipulate and deceive, he did not yet trust her with his 'business transactions'. He thought it very daring of this elegant young beauty to roam the streets during the night hours. Undoubtedly amusing toward the outside viewer, the pair was happily engrossed in each other's heists and tomfoolery.
"Lookin' fer me, eh?" He got up from his cot and clutched his bundle tight to his chest. He knew why they were searching the planet for him and what he held to him was most likely the reason behind the sudden upgrade in security.
A disruption was heard from a cubbyhole in the secluded subdivision of the two level residence. Apathetic to the clamor, the girl glimpsed at the indistinct area with her piercingly cerulean eyes. Another young man, the elder's sibling, stretched his sore arms towards the ceiling. His mouth gaped into a consumed yawn and his eyes pirouetted inside his head as he attempted to spring away from the mattress. His feet stumbled, catching hold of the bedding he had only momentarily tossed aside onto a crate. With the force of all his slumbering weight, he began descending the three steps between him, the girl and his brother.
The facial expression on the others remained a blank stare even when the fallen lad raised his smudged face up in a wide toothy grin. Stumbling forward, he pulled himself up on the box that the girl sat on. His words were bouncy and jovial, cut short by an unnoticeable stutter he always developed around his brother and his brother's girlfriends, "Hey, guys, what's up?"
They ignored him as he attempted to assemble a conversation and make light of his incident. The girl glimpsed past him and glanced at the carton he had floundered upon. She stood and traipsed towards the cinnamon stippled receptacle. The duo stared flirtatiously and despairingly at her as her perfect, trim figure swayed over to the torn piece of board.
She hunched over and draped her open-palmed hands into the container. High-pitched squeaks erupted from inside the paper chamber as she pulled up a fuzzy kitty-monkey. Its fur bristled up as the girl grabbed it by the scruff of its neck. The creature's head swung back in an attempt to bite the hand that fed it. She dropped it into her arms on its back and it instantly became quiet, helpless to stop itself from falling asleep.
"Well, Dephja, what happened to checking up on your sources?" her voice rang true to her anger.
He half-grinned, half-winced away from her. "You see, Feliscyia, that's what I wanted to tell you..."
"After you took a nice long nap of course."
"Yes, after that." He was caught red handed, a miserable thing to happen to any good criminal.
Feliscyia moved her hands over the furry ball as it purred softly.
"You see, I was on my way to Baz Farouk'El's when I was stopped at the transport and I got..."
Dephja's brother broke in with a twang, "Y'got scared shitless, that's what happened."
Feliscyia's lips curled into a half-smile at the commentary, "Aw leave him alone, Mark. He's only just a kid." She turned back to the kid, "But why didn't you try and have some one else go ahead for you to check things out? I could a been killed because of you."
"Gee, I'm sorry, Liscyia. I didn't know that the law was after Mark until today when they stopped me. I thought that he was just in trouble again, but did you know they got people all the way from the Republic and the old empire staking out some a his old hideouts." He turned to Mark, "Man, what have you got that's so important that they gotta send out half a National Security after ya?"
Mark shied away from this question with a gruff look of disgust flung into his brother's face. He grunted and stormed off into the other room to grab some food.
Feliscyia shrugged and continued to stroke the downy fur of the cat.
Dephja yawned in boredom, "I'm hungry, let's go grab some grub."
From in the make-shift kitchen, Mark's voice resonated into the main room, "Sounds good ta me."
He came back into the main room, the package now gone from his arms and placed in some hidden area he usually kept all of his other treasures of battle. He had put on a happy face and was rubbing his hands together in anticipation. The kitchen hadn't been restocked in over a week since he had been home.
The girl and the younger brother muddled over the man's bizarre enthusiasm. Dephja struggled to his feet, clutching the nearest object tightly, and skipped off after Mark, "Hey, wait up fer me!"
Feliscyia, taking advantage over her free moment, sneaked into the kitchen. She opened a small handlink and turned a knob ninety degrees to the left. She raised it slowly and quietly to her lips and spoke softly, "Ground Zero on Næhe in Yuqing Zhan requesting hoverport main control room over the fourth moon, do you read, over?"
She waited silently in a long terrifying moment, hoping that neither Mark nor Dephja would return to have her catch up. Finally, the static broke and the clear voice of a woman answered, "Maeda Zgonis calling Ground Zero, we have received you, over."
She sighed a slight relief and continued to talk.
"This is Feliscyia Cygne on Næhe for Gvan Tlkov investigating the reports on one Mark Tibias and Brother Dephja Tibias. Status report to commence. Over."
The woman's voice suddenly dropped and she spoke hastily, "Cygne? For Tlkov?"
"Correct..."
Feliscyia felt her stomach tie in a knot as the woman on the other end said what came next. "I'm terribly sorry, Miss Cygne, Commander Tlkov was killed in battle three days ago."
She dropped to the floor, the comlink still grasped in her hand as it went limp at her side. For a moment, she couldn't see anything that was going on, she couldn't feel herself. It was almost as if she was out of her body and watching from the other side of the room.
Reality set in and she regained thought of her mission. So what if the commander of the operation was dead? He died an honorable death and now she must continue his work so that his memory may live on. So what if they were to be married after this business? She was still young and the galaxy was full of available war-heroes willing to have an equally driven wife. She didn't even have to get married, she was almost past Lieutenant.
"Is there someone who has taken the Commander's place at this time that I may speak to about the importance of the success of this mission?" She articulated her every syllable, regaining her edge on standards and rules.
The other end was quiet and then a rugged and tired voice burst over it. "Commander Leszek Tarca. Go ahead."
Feliscyia smiled widely and spoke with a hint of relief, "Commander Tarca, Ground Zero on the Tibias case."
"Go ahead."
"The brothers have left their apartment and have headed out to eat. I am to join them in a moment." She continued to smile, wondering when the new commander would realize who she was.
"Status report on the vital information...um...Sergeant?" His voice told her that he recognized hers but that he was unsure of her military ranking at this point.
"Lieutenant, Commander Tarca." She corrected him, "The Tibias brothers are definitely involved in something. The elder, Markus, is in charge and Dephja is merely left in the dark and pulled along for the ride...and the blame."
"Any news on the merchandise?"
"There has been some alluding to the stolen goods by brother Markus, not a word from Dephja. There was a strange package in the possession of Markus this evening when he returned home a while ago. Suggest sending a squadron down to investigate the property for the content of said package."
"Copy that. Very good, Lieutenant. We'll see you up here when your mission is complete. Meanwhile, keep those two out of the building for at least three hours."
She nodded, even though he could not see her doing so, "Yessir."
She was about to shut the link down when his voice cracked across it for one last note.
"Oh and Cygne..."
She smiled, "Yes Les?"
"Watch your back, ok? I want to welcome you home personally up here."
"Shall do, Commander. Over and out."
By R. C. Carpenter
Chapter Four
Nobody cared about the space pirates floating around Yuqing Zhan, a slum of a town in the country of Zalocha, on the planet of Næhe. The streets were dirty. The people were dirty. Most importantly, the money was dirty.
The more convicts and gangster that hit and ran the streets, the better. It was a time and place of frivolous spending, gaudy outfits, and little morals. There was no particular outlaw that called the shots around here. Things were rather run in a warlord fashion, with sections of the town they used as their own. Some of the older and wiser lords had transformed their sector into profitable businesses or well-to-do entertainment houses. While still other leaders stuck to their roots of spice, blasters and loud music.
A man dressed in worn-out tatters walked down the alleyways, a bulging parcel tucked neatly under his left arm. His hair was long and stringy, the gray hardly noticeable beneath the months without a bath. He turned into a dilapidated basement of a fallen in building complex. The door creaked and hundreds of furry animals scattered with the barely changing light rays, their feathery tails convulsing to find safe passage around the rotten floor boards. The sturdy boots that he was wearing pressed down on half a dozen or so of the frightened creatures, killing them instantly from the pressure and weight.
He lumbered over to a makeshift table and dropped the parcel onto it. Dust flew off in many directions, causing the man to begin to sneeze. He arched his neck, raising both cupped hands to his face. He sneezed.
From deep within the room, a shadow moved slightly off it's perch towards the man, "G'blesh you."
He turned his face towards the voice, his hands still up and his mouth still open from the sneeze.
The woman, his love interest for the time being, walked towards him, the cat towards the mouse. She rose a gently hand up to his face and stroked his hair behind his ear. His face began to regain its composure and he let out a sneer at the violet hair girl.
"What're you doin' here still? I thought you left on that cruiser fer Braaten yesterday." He said in a confused and hurt voice.
"You'd only like to think that, wouldn't you? Evidently, I never got on the ship. There had been rumor that there were spies on it. Spies looking for you, love." She bent her knees to sit on the crate, her torso and eyes angling directly up at him.
He kicked aside another handful of the furry creatures and sat down next to her on the cot near the table. He needed to be as close to his package as possible. Though he did have a peculiar fondness for the girl and he had begun to like her for her cunning and willingness to manipulate and deceive, he did not yet trust her with his 'business transactions'. He thought it very daring of this elegant young beauty to roam the streets during the night hours. Undoubtedly amusing toward the outside viewer, the pair was happily engrossed in each other's heists and tomfoolery.
"Lookin' fer me, eh?" He got up from his cot and clutched his bundle tight to his chest. He knew why they were searching the planet for him and what he held to him was most likely the reason behind the sudden upgrade in security.
A disruption was heard from a cubbyhole in the secluded subdivision of the two level residence. Apathetic to the clamor, the girl glimpsed at the indistinct area with her piercingly cerulean eyes. Another young man, the elder's sibling, stretched his sore arms towards the ceiling. His mouth gaped into a consumed yawn and his eyes pirouetted inside his head as he attempted to spring away from the mattress. His feet stumbled, catching hold of the bedding he had only momentarily tossed aside onto a crate. With the force of all his slumbering weight, he began descending the three steps between him, the girl and his brother.
The facial expression on the others remained a blank stare even when the fallen lad raised his smudged face up in a wide toothy grin. Stumbling forward, he pulled himself up on the box that the girl sat on. His words were bouncy and jovial, cut short by an unnoticeable stutter he always developed around his brother and his brother's girlfriends, "Hey, guys, what's up?"
They ignored him as he attempted to assemble a conversation and make light of his incident. The girl glimpsed past him and glanced at the carton he had floundered upon. She stood and traipsed towards the cinnamon stippled receptacle. The duo stared flirtatiously and despairingly at her as her perfect, trim figure swayed over to the torn piece of board.
She hunched over and draped her open-palmed hands into the container. High-pitched squeaks erupted from inside the paper chamber as she pulled up a fuzzy kitty-monkey. Its fur bristled up as the girl grabbed it by the scruff of its neck. The creature's head swung back in an attempt to bite the hand that fed it. She dropped it into her arms on its back and it instantly became quiet, helpless to stop itself from falling asleep.
"Well, Dephja, what happened to checking up on your sources?" her voice rang true to her anger.
He half-grinned, half-winced away from her. "You see, Feliscyia, that's what I wanted to tell you..."
"After you took a nice long nap of course."
"Yes, after that." He was caught red handed, a miserable thing to happen to any good criminal.
Feliscyia moved her hands over the furry ball as it purred softly.
"You see, I was on my way to Baz Farouk'El's when I was stopped at the transport and I got..."
Dephja's brother broke in with a twang, "Y'got scared shitless, that's what happened."
Feliscyia's lips curled into a half-smile at the commentary, "Aw leave him alone, Mark. He's only just a kid." She turned back to the kid, "But why didn't you try and have some one else go ahead for you to check things out? I could a been killed because of you."
"Gee, I'm sorry, Liscyia. I didn't know that the law was after Mark until today when they stopped me. I thought that he was just in trouble again, but did you know they got people all the way from the Republic and the old empire staking out some a his old hideouts." He turned to Mark, "Man, what have you got that's so important that they gotta send out half a National Security after ya?"
Mark shied away from this question with a gruff look of disgust flung into his brother's face. He grunted and stormed off into the other room to grab some food.
Feliscyia shrugged and continued to stroke the downy fur of the cat.
Dephja yawned in boredom, "I'm hungry, let's go grab some grub."
From in the make-shift kitchen, Mark's voice resonated into the main room, "Sounds good ta me."
He came back into the main room, the package now gone from his arms and placed in some hidden area he usually kept all of his other treasures of battle. He had put on a happy face and was rubbing his hands together in anticipation. The kitchen hadn't been restocked in over a week since he had been home.
The girl and the younger brother muddled over the man's bizarre enthusiasm. Dephja struggled to his feet, clutching the nearest object tightly, and skipped off after Mark, "Hey, wait up fer me!"
Feliscyia, taking advantage over her free moment, sneaked into the kitchen. She opened a small handlink and turned a knob ninety degrees to the left. She raised it slowly and quietly to her lips and spoke softly, "Ground Zero on Næhe in Yuqing Zhan requesting hoverport main control room over the fourth moon, do you read, over?"
She waited silently in a long terrifying moment, hoping that neither Mark nor Dephja would return to have her catch up. Finally, the static broke and the clear voice of a woman answered, "Maeda Zgonis calling Ground Zero, we have received you, over."
She sighed a slight relief and continued to talk.
"This is Feliscyia Cygne on Næhe for Gvan Tlkov investigating the reports on one Mark Tibias and Brother Dephja Tibias. Status report to commence. Over."
The woman's voice suddenly dropped and she spoke hastily, "Cygne? For Tlkov?"
"Correct..."
Feliscyia felt her stomach tie in a knot as the woman on the other end said what came next. "I'm terribly sorry, Miss Cygne, Commander Tlkov was killed in battle three days ago."
She dropped to the floor, the comlink still grasped in her hand as it went limp at her side. For a moment, she couldn't see anything that was going on, she couldn't feel herself. It was almost as if she was out of her body and watching from the other side of the room.
Reality set in and she regained thought of her mission. So what if the commander of the operation was dead? He died an honorable death and now she must continue his work so that his memory may live on. So what if they were to be married after this business? She was still young and the galaxy was full of available war-heroes willing to have an equally driven wife. She didn't even have to get married, she was almost past Lieutenant.
"Is there someone who has taken the Commander's place at this time that I may speak to about the importance of the success of this mission?" She articulated her every syllable, regaining her edge on standards and rules.
The other end was quiet and then a rugged and tired voice burst over it. "Commander Leszek Tarca. Go ahead."
Feliscyia smiled widely and spoke with a hint of relief, "Commander Tarca, Ground Zero on the Tibias case."
"Go ahead."
"The brothers have left their apartment and have headed out to eat. I am to join them in a moment." She continued to smile, wondering when the new commander would realize who she was.
"Status report on the vital information...um...Sergeant?" His voice told her that he recognized hers but that he was unsure of her military ranking at this point.
"Lieutenant, Commander Tarca." She corrected him, "The Tibias brothers are definitely involved in something. The elder, Markus, is in charge and Dephja is merely left in the dark and pulled along for the ride...and the blame."
"Any news on the merchandise?"
"There has been some alluding to the stolen goods by brother Markus, not a word from Dephja. There was a strange package in the possession of Markus this evening when he returned home a while ago. Suggest sending a squadron down to investigate the property for the content of said package."
"Copy that. Very good, Lieutenant. We'll see you up here when your mission is complete. Meanwhile, keep those two out of the building for at least three hours."
She nodded, even though he could not see her doing so, "Yessir."
She was about to shut the link down when his voice cracked across it for one last note.
"Oh and Cygne..."
She smiled, "Yes Les?"
"Watch your back, ok? I want to welcome you home personally up here."
"Shall do, Commander. Over and out."