Not as many creatures dwelled in this place as in the Mos Eisley cantina, but there was a great variety of species there. Smells from a thousand worlds assaulted her nose and voices and languages of millions of beings mixed and intermingled. Nelkf saw them all and let the few words of foreign languages she could understand mix around inside her mind. If one thing could be said to her credit, no one could master a language faster then she. It had helped her wonderfully many times. Now the skill was just of entertainment value. She listened in on what the other beings were saying, but not much of it was interesting. No one was plotting to kill, rob or maim anyone else. Nelkf felt strange in such a calm, orderly place.
Nelkf was able to spot Cail, and at first glance found nothing amiss. He appeared to be asleep, arms folded and face buried in them on the table. But a Sklinthi nose is only slightly sharper then a Human nose, and Nelkf could smell intoxicants. She had never seen a being drink them self senseless before. It puzzled her as to why Cail might have done that.
Jax gave his friend's shoulder a rough shove. "Wake up," he growled, shoving Cail harder. His voice was anything but concerned. "Wake up."
Cail stirred and looked at them blearily. His eyes were glazed over, looking to Nelkf like fogged blue glass. He grinned foolishly, not seeming to realize he was in trouble.
Jax sighed in disgust. "I thought you got over this," he muttered not at anyone really, but sort of at Cail.
Cail blinked in an alcohol-induced confusion. "Over what?" he asked, his words slurred to near unintelligible.
Jax frowned, and for a moment, Nelkf thought he might actually growl the way her people did. Instead, Jax just shook his head. "Okay, get up," he muttered, "Let's get going."
Cail shook his head. "'M not done yet. 'M gettn' anur' drink."
"No, you're not," Jax snapped angrily. "Now get up, we're leaving."
Cail waved. "Bye."
Jax sighed and turned to Nelkf. "You see if you can get him out of here. I have to go see if they'll let me squabble over the bill."
Nelkf nodded, still wondering why Cail had gotten drunk. Before Nelkf could begin to get Cail moving, her ears picked up a faint sound. Someone was trying to get her attention. Looking around, she saw the woman behind the bar waving for her to come over. Seeing no immediate harm in doing so, she complied.
"Did you want me for something?" she asked. Her hand reflexively went to her blaster. No one who wanted to live past middle age would deal with a total stranger defenseless.
"I just thought I'd tell you to keep an eye on the kid there," she told her, "He's probably had more to drink then is good for him already."
Nelkf nodded. "Yeah, we figured that out."
"I'd pick up an anti-intoxicant patch for him if I were you," the woman told her, "He may not be alright otherwise."
Nelkf glanced back at Cail who had seemed to have acquired a bottle full of some sort of drink. Damn, you stupid glitbiter, what's wrong with you? "I don't know that he'll like that. I'm not his watchdog after all. I'm just a friend."
The woman shrugged. "It was only a suggestion, dear. But I would keep an eye on him if I were you."
If you were me, If you were me. Well, you're not me, Lady. Be thankful for that. This was what Nelkf thought, but what she said was; "I will, thanks."
Nelkf returned to the task set before her. She mentally reviewed the problem. They had to leave, but Cail didn't want to. Jax wanted her to get Cail moving. Well, that wasn't even a problem. Nelkf grabbed Cail's jacket collar and dragged him to his feet. Cail looked surprised, and Nelkf didn't blame him. Sklinthi strength always came as a surprise to those who weren't expecting it. "Come on, you sorry excuse for a Human," she growled at him.
Puzzlement left Cail's eyes and he started to laugh, as if he knew something she didn't. Nelkf couldn't help but think that perhaps he did. After all, how could she say what went on in his mind? Had she gone through the metamorphosis her species usually did, she would, but that was an opportunity missed, and what was missed couldn't be helped.
"Cail," she repeated "we've got to be going now, and if you don't go on your own, I'll drag you out of here."
Cail laughed again and took a drink from the bottle in his hands. Defiance, Nelkf thought angrily. No, not with me you don't. Tightening her grip on Cail's jacket collar, she started to lift him up. She was now bent on getting him out of here, his feet dangling at least a centimeter off the ground. Once again, Cail was surprised at her strength.
"I'll walk!" he pleaded. "I'll walk!"
Nelkf managed to restrain her anger and let Cail back down. The addict seemed confused a moment, then started to head towards the door. Actually, he only made it as far as the next table before his balance gave out on him. Nelkf checked around for Jax, he would know what to do. But, to her dismay, she saw he had left already. Sklinthi intelligence - the slowest form of thought in this godforsaken Universe, she cursed herself. Well, she couldn't stop to go over all the facts now. She would just have to trust her judgment. I don't know how smart that is....But what choice do I have?
Karlian, what are you thinking? She scolded herself, you can't be uncertain. Not now, not ever from here on in. If I'm meant to be anyone -not just a Jedi- I've got to be certain of myself. Just because Sklinthi logic is slow doesn't make it wrong. In fact, it only means we think things through. But there are times I need to trust myself in decisions. Like now.
All this thought, unnoticed by Nelkf, took place in less then a second. Her thinking was actually quick. Not as fast as it could be, but not as slow as she thought it was.
But her next thought was not on this. Her next thought was as to what to do about Cail. She decided that he wouldn't be too happy with her if she dragged him out after she promised she wouldn't. Finally, she just put her hand on Cail's shoulder and guided him. She wasn't sure if he noticed or not, Cail continued to drink from the bottle. And, as little as Nelkf knew about Human systems and drugs, she could tell Cail was not doing anything that would be good for him.
Eventually, she managed to get him out of the cantina and onto the street. She noticed that now Cail's steps seemed even more unsure, and yet he continued to drink from the bottle. Nelkf decided to tell him he was going to make himself sick.
"Hey, Glitbiter, are you feeling okay?" she asked.
Cail looked towards her, and she was able to see his eyes were even blearier then before. A curse from some world or another flashed through her mind. Cail pulled away from her and stepped back, swallowing more of the strong liquid. His balance faltered, and Nelkf had to catch him by the shoulder before he fell. He grinned at her, and her nose nearly short-circuited from the smell of intoxicants. She wrinkled it unhappily.
"Fine," Cail told her, "Realee'M ho-kay."
She sighed in frustration as Cail took another drink from the bottle. "Don't you think you've had enough, though?" she asked him, keeping her hand firmly on his shoulder.
"No."
She glared at him angrily, silently wishing he would put down the bottle and listen to her. "Come on, Cail. That's plenty. You're going to feel like a flickodog got loose in your brain in the morning."
Cail glanced to the side, saw Jax coming and quickly drank the last remnants of the bottle. He grinned defiantly at Nelkf, then lost his balance and fell against Jax's speeder. Tossing the bottle aside, he glanced back towards Jax, and spoke as if to prove something to him. "See?" he said with a half laugh, "I can han'l it."
Nelkf rolled her eyes and Jax shook his head angrily. "Cail," Jax snapped. "get in the speeder and let's get going."
Cail looked at him, slightly upset, but Nelkf saw that he was not about to listen to Jax. "No," he said finally.
Jax hissed angrily, surprising Nelkf. She didn't know Humans could hiss. "You handle him," Jax muttered. "He seems to listen to you."
Again, Nelkf was surprised. Cail listened to her? But if Jax was confident that she could get Cail to listen at all, she would do her best. She was beginning to think Jax knew her better then she did. "Cail," she looked into the boy's eyes, digging deep, wondering what she expected to come of this. "We have to get going now, will you get in the speeder, already? Please?"
Cail blinked a moment, then looked at her curiously, as if exploring her mind back. Unbidden came a memory of something Nelkf had heard as a child, not even a two season old...
Many centuries ago, her clan, clan Karlian, was said to have powers. The Guardians, they had been called. They had been able to link their minds to others, healing or informing. But the minds would remain linked as long as both sides believed it would hold. Then, long before Nelkf had been born, the clan, nearly all of it disappeared. No one knew what had happened to them. The branch of the clan she belonged to was the only one left, but the powers had never existed in any of the clan she knew, so they were thought to be a legend.
But now they didn't seem quite so unrealistic.
"Cail," she repeated softly. "Please get into the speeder so we can leave."
Cail didn't say anything in return. Silently, he climbed into the back seat of the speeder and leaned against the side.
Jax raised one eyebrow and looked at Nelkf in an unsure way. "How-" he began. Then he stopped. "I don't think I want to know. No, I'm sure I don't." he shook his head and hopped into the speeder. "Come on, Nel. You best get in if we want to get to the mechanic shop before it closes. Ky never lets anyone in after she closes. No matter how good friends they are with her."
Nelkf was taken slightly aback by the quick switch in the conversation, but she jumped into the speeder and sat in the front seat next to Jax. Perhaps Humans switched topics frequently, Nelkf didn't know. She had never cared much about them, so she had never cared to learn about them. Nelkf glanced towards the back seat, checking on Cail. The boy's eyes were closed partway. Was he awake?
"Hey, Glitbiter," she whispered, "How do you feel?"
"Tired," Cail replied slowly. "I wanna sleep."
"I don't think you should," she told him, "it might make you sicker."
"I don' care," he muttered, shutting his eyes.
Again, Nelkf's incomplete knowledge of Humans left her at a loss. Cail had already fallen asleep, despite her warning. Jax gunned the engine of the speeder and they moved off slowly. Cail gave a soft moan, but didn't stir otherwise. Nelkf looked ahead of them, but darkness was beginning to fall, and it was becoming hard to see.
"You like Cail," Jax observed. "Don't you?"
Nelkf nodded. "Like a brother, I think." Ethnic restrictions be damned. He's my brother, ki or ni.
Jax shook his head. "You're asking for trouble, being nice to him like that. He'll be nice back, but you'll get nothing but grief. I don't get you, Sklinth."
"What is wrong with him?" Nelkf asked.
"He's an addict, you know that." Jax replied. "I don't know how he became one. I'd just gotten back from a smuggling trip when I found out. No one's ever done anything to help him, so far as I know. I don't even think he wants to be helped."
"Isn't he your friend?" Nelkf asked. "Don't you care what happens to him?"
Jax laughed. "Boy, you sure went through an attitude change."
Nelkf spoke softly. "Maybe I'm just starting to realize what you knew all the long." She liked Jax and Cail, but both in different ways. No, she loved Jax. She looked towards him, wondering if he knew.
Jax glanced towards her for an instant and their eyes met. Nelkf smiled. He knew, and he felt the same. Well, not the same, but still the same.
