Chapter Sixteen

"Rogue-class passenger cruiser, please identify your passengers and state your mission," Lieutenant K'aanar said dryly, his voice crackling over the transmission.

Nothing.

"Rogue shuttle, please identify yourself!" The lieutenant repeated.

Silence.

Cayaa'lan K'aanar lifted his head to stare out the command shuttle's viewport at the dark, lifeless vessel. Until now his job had been painfully mundane, and he'd cursed his commanding officer for assigning him to this mission. He was an able-bodied soldier, and surely he could serve His Majesty the King in a better fashion than this!

"Unidentified vessel, if you do not state your names and mission immediately we'll be forced to board your ship."

"What we got here, K'aanar? Troublemakers?" Asked Captain J'aarukai.

"Yes sir," Said Cayaa'lan as he reached out to grab his blaster. "We might finally see some action around here!"

"You got your team assembled to search the vessel?" Asked the captain.

"All ready to go, sir," The lieutenant barked as the search team assembled in front of him.

The men waited as the two ships docked with each other. Once the captain said it was clear to go the lieutenant motioned for his men to follow him onto the suspicious shuttlecraft.

Cayaa'lan blinked as his eyes adjusted to the darkness of the silent ship. His rudimentary jedi skills were going crazy, and he knew that danger was near.

"Found anything yet, K'aanar?" Asked the fuzzy sounding voice of the captain over the two-way communicator.

"No, she's totally empty. Still, I can't shake this feeling that something's not right here," Cayaa'lan muttered.

"Well, keep searching. You're the one with the jedi powers here, and I trust your gut instincts."

Cayaa'lan nodded and turned to where his sense of danger was the greatest. He motioned for his three soldiers to get behind him as he reached out to open a sliding door.

Cayaa'lan looked down to see N'aadija crouched on the floor of the small storage space. She looked up at him with wide, surprised eyes.

"Hi . . ." She said, smiling up at them.

"Stand up," Cayaa'lan ordered, motioning to her with the barrel of his blaster.

N'aadija slowly complied, putting her hands up over her head like the lieutenant ordered.

"Sir, we've found one. A female N'aanwarian," Cayaa'lan said into the two- way. "It looked like she was purposely hiding from us, and I suspect that there might be more people on board."

"Good work, lieutenant," Said the Captain's voice. "Secure the prisoner and bring her over to our ship. Then, continue your search."

"Right away, Sir."

Cayaa'lan took out a pair of stun-cuffs and motioned for N'aadija to put her arms behind her back. She followed orders, but he noticed a small smile crossing her face.

"What's so funny, Miss?" The lieutenant said coldly as he secured the bindings around her wrists.

"Nothing. So, what's your name, soldier?" N'aadija asked, smiling wider.

"Lieutenant Cayaa'lan K'aanar, Miss," Cayaa'lan said quietly as he began to escort her toward the door.

"You're quite handsome, lieutenant. My name's N'aadija. What do you say you handle me a little more gently, huh?" N'aadija said, giving him her most pleasant smile.

"Beg your pardon, Miss, but you're in a lot of trouble. The Narundi Dynasty doesn't take kindly to people who don't follow military orders. Security has been increased here since our ambassador was assassinated," Cayaa'lan growled, shoving her forward. "You can never be too careful."

"Is that so?" N'aadija said slyly, reaching out with the force to loosen the stun-cuffs from around her wrists. They were crossing the bridge between the two ships, and N'aadija figured she didn't have much time left to act. She quickly kicked back with her foot at the same time that she freed her hands from the stun-cuffs. She felt the sharp crunch of bones breaking from underneath the hard sole of her boot. N'aadija smiled as she heard the agonized cries of the lieutenant, and he fell to the floor in front of her as she spun around, lightsaber in hand. In one quick motion she cut two of the soldiers in half, secretly cringing as she felt the life being ripped out of them. It was not something that she enjoyed most of the time. The last soldier scrambled back toward the Dark Pirate, not wanting to join his fellow officers in death.

"Going somewhere?" Daa'salar sneered, pointing a blaster straight at the center of the soldier's forehead. He quickly fired two shots, before the soldier had time to react to the weapon pointed directly at his head.

"Good job, Daa'salar," M'aaranik said, emerging from the ship into the bridge. "How many more are there on their ship?"

"I sense two of them. It's not too hard to detect. None of them are force sensitive." N'aadija replied with certainty.

"Good. They should be easy to take on. Lets go, before they wonder where their buddies went!" M'aaranik hissed.

"Wait, this one's not dead!!" N'aadija cried.

"Well, are you sure!!?" M'aaranik asked, annoyed at her for holding things up.

N'aadija reached down to feel for the lieutenant's pulse. A look of confusion spread across her face.

"That's funny! I only broke his leg! I didn't think I killed him, but I can't feel a pulse at all!!"

"Hah! You don't know your own strength, N'aadija! Come on! You've wasted enough time with this idiot!!" M'aaranik whispered harshly.

The three dark jedi crossed the bridge into the other ship, where they were met immediately by Captain J'aarukai, armed with a blaster.

"Halt, in the name of His Majesty!!" The captain ordered.

"Oh, please!!!" M'aaranik cried in disgust, rolling his eyes and reaching out to bend the barrel of the Captain's blaster with the Force.

Captain J'aarukai dropped the useless piece of metal to the floor with a clang.

M'aaranik quickly pulled out his own blaster and dispatched the captain as Daa'salar went towards the cockpit to confront the pilot.

N'aadija frowned as she looked down at the captain's lifeless body sprawled out on the floor. She slammed her hand down on the control to close the door that connected the two ships.

"Lets get out of here!" N'aadija cried. "Oh, and the next chance we get, we're dumping the bodies!! I don't want them around in here to stink up the place!!"

"As you wish, my dear N'aadija," M'aaranik said sarcastically. "That was an awful good plan you had there, taking over their ship! Simply brilliant! You're starting to think like an evil mastermind!"

"Hah. Yeah," Thought N'aadija as she hung her head. M'aaranik failed to notice her sudden change of mood. The entire situation had made him cocky and in a good mood, and he wasn't paying attention to anything else but their victory.

"Halt, in the name of His Majesty!!! Yeah right!! Like I'd ever obey the orders of a Narundi!!" M'aaranik said with sarcasm. When he came to the word 'Narundi' he sounded as if he had acquired a rotten taste in his mouth.

N'aadija just stared out the viewport, ignoring him as they traveled off toward N'aanwaria.

Cayaa'lan K'aanar opened up his eyes when he heard the sharp sounds of blaster fire. He didn't know how, but he'd been able to fool a jedi into thinking he was dead. He'd slowed his own heart rate to the point where it was undetectable, and that girl hadn't even known the difference! Something told him that those three were the people the Narundis were looking for. Still, he only managed to get a good look at the female, because he was playing dead when the two males were around. With a great amount of pain and effort Cay'aalan pulled himself along the floor of the bridge back into the Dark Pirate. He pulled himself up to his feet, cringing from the pain that throbbed up and down his shattered leg, and sealed the door to the ship shut. He promptly collapsed to the ground, the pain in his leg proving to be unbearable. He knew that he needed medical attention, but right now all he wanted to do was rest. He'd wait until they were gone, and then he'd leave to seek help.

'Yes,' Thought Cayaa'lan as he passed out. 'That's what I'll do . . ."