Breckin
got up off the floor of the brig. "That bitch!"
he yelled suddenly. "How could she do this to me? I don't
believe it!" he wandered to the door, and put his hands on the
bars. "Why would she betray the Alliance like - " his
voice was growlly, and he shook the door. It clicked open. "That?"
"He told me there
were blasters hidden in the wall." Lindsey pushed past Breckin,
who was staring in awe at his all-powerful hands.
Nordat followed Lindsey
out of the cell. "Do you think Espen gave the son the
antidote?"
"I hope so,"
Lindsey opened the compartment, and handed her a weapon. He carried
one over to Breckin. "Giles left it unlocked, Breckman. Now,
let's go see if we can help."
They raced to the Bridge.
"Do it, get it over
with." Wesley said to Simpson.
"No, Scruffy - "
"Stop it, Bushroot,
there's no way out here."
"I'm glad you see
that," Simpson was waiting for the charge to reach full power.
"We
helped you. You can't
just kill us!" Deanna tried to reason with the other.
"Yes, you did. In
fact, you very well may have saved my life. But I certainly can just
kill you."
Espen checked the time.
"I'll meet you outside, Woman. We don't have time to play
around, so you'd better be right behind me." he left then, and
went to the cargo bay to claim the prize he had taken from Léonna
VI.
"Say goodbye to your
dear brother, Deanna."
She held him tighter.
"No," she sobbed.
From down the hall,
Breckin could see into the Bridge. Simpson was holding a gun to
Deanna's brother's head. Without thinking twice, Breckin raised his
blaster, took careful aim, then shot Simpson neatly in the neck.
She dropped instantly.
The three ran to the
twins. Breckin knelt beside Deanna, folding her into his arms.
Wesley laid down on the deck in relief. Lindsey and Nordat checked
Giles, but he was dead.
"Where did Espen go?"
Lindsey asked the twins.
"Who gives a flying -
"
"Well, Scruffy, if
nothing else, Kasparaitis gave you a dirtier mouth." Deanna
patted him on the shoulder.
"I still feel like sh
- crap." he mumbled into the floor.
Deanna gave Wesley a short
hug, then told Lindsey, "I think he went to the cargo bay. he
moved some merchandise down there while Dad locked you guys up."
"What kind of
merchandise?"
"Weapons,"
Wesley speculated. "Some kind of weapons. That's my guess."
"Your guess?"
Nordat was skeptical, but Lindsey was already heading away. "Kane!"
she called after him.
"Leave him be,"
Deanna began.
"Or he'll kill you,
too." Wesley finished, sitting up slowly.
Lindsey sighed, "Are
you suggesting we let him go?"
"No," he shook
his head. "I'm saying we get him later. Can't you see there's
something bigger going on here? We should follow him, then sabotage
his little operation."
"Or we can let him
go, and forget about him." Deanna suggested instead. "I
don't want to have anything more to do with that man so long as I
live."
"Fine," Wesley
stood even more slowly than he had sat up. "You can stay here,
and," he looked over at Lindsey, "I'll go with you."
"Are you sure - "
"Yes,
I'm sure. That bastard tried
to kill my sister, tried to
kill me on several occasions, and - " he glanced at his slain
father. "And he's an asshole."
"I see," Lindsey
nodded. "So, how do you propose we follow him?"
Wesley grinned, then went
over to a console. "I put a tracer on his crate."
Nordat and Lindsey joined
Wesley intently.
Breckin ran his fingers
through Deanna's hair. "I'll go wherever you go." he told
her.
She smiled at him. "Thank
you, Lance. I appreciate that."
He returned the smile.
"You make me feel so needed." he kissed her sweetly.
***
Espen stepped into the
elevator. The crate, his prized possession, floated on a hoverlift
beside him. He pressed the button for the eighth floor, where the
meeting was to take place between he and S'Ritak Vedul.
Espen had never met the
Twi'Lek who would be a Sith, and frankly he thought it was a joke.
Twi'Leks were natural schemers, double-crossers. They never
committed to one thing - or anything, for that matter - why was this
one endeavoring to be a Sith?
The doors opened, and
Espen stepped out into the spacious room. It was furnished only with
twelve armchairs and two tables, one of which was in the center of
the circle of chairs. The other was against the wall to his left,
laden with food. He helped himself to a banana, the floating crate
following him on his trek across the room, as he awaited Vedul's
arrival.
"Master, there is
someone you must meet." Maul's Twi'Lek apprentice stated. It
was time for his meeting with Trepur Espen and Corrina Simpson on the
eighth floor of the hotel. Final preparations for Emperor Palpatine
were to be made.
"Who?" Maul
demanded. "And why here?"
"Their names are
Espen and Simpson," Vedul reached out with the Force, and
discovered that the man had indeed arrived, but that Simpson had been
killed. "Just Espen, apparently. You'll get along. Come,"
Vedul keyed open the door.
"Jareena, you stay
here, and lock this door after we've gone. Don't let anyone in."
Maul told Lou.
"I think it would be
better if she came along. Just in case something happens in our
absence." Vedul stated.
Maul narrowed his eyes at
his apprentice suspiciously, trying to read his thoughts again. He
could not. "What do you think?" he asked her instead.
She glanced around the
room. "I'd rather go with you." she decided, getting up
off the chair she had been curled up on.
The three made their way
tot he elevator down the hall. Vedul pressed the eighth floor
button, and down they went. The doors opened on a spacious meeting
room.
Vedul and Maul both sensed
Espen standing to the side, hidden behind the small indentation the
elevator produced in the wall, a gun ready to shoot the first thing
to move into view. The Twi'Lek told his Master telepathically not to
attack.
Maul stepped in front of
Lou protectively, as Vedul called to the stranger, "Espen, it is
I, S'Ritak Vedul, come to meet with you. I have brought with me my
Master and teacher, Darth Maul, as well as," he paused, seeking
an appropriate word, "An acquaintance."
"Come off the lift
real slow," Espen responded coldly.
Maul's hand rested on his
lightsabre, as he followed his apprentice off the elevator. Lou
stayed close behind him.
"You don't have to be
suspicious, I am who I claim to be."
"You're a Jedi - "
"Sith,"
"Force-user,
whatever. You're all the same. I don't trust you. I don't trust
any of you. Never
have,"
"Oh, boo hoo,"
Maul growled.
"Is this her?"
Espen circled Lou and Maul.
"Indeed,"
"She's a strange one.
Never seen her kind before."
"She's rare, yes,"
"What importance is
that?" Maul hissed at Espen. the human was getting too close.
"None, it's just
interesting." Espen reached his hand into his pocket, took out a
fistful of its contents, then blew the magenta powder at Maul and
Lou.
"Hold your breath!"
Maul realized too late what was going on.
"It won't make any
difference, I'm afraid, Master. The powder is instantly absorbed by
the skin, and it shall take effect shortly."
"What have you done,
S'Ritak?" Maul illuminated his lightsabre, and lunged at the
Twi'Lek.
Espen fired one shot at
Maul's back. He dropped to the floor, his lightsabre skittering
across the room.
"Another effect is
the loss of your Force abilities." Vedul smiled slyly at his
fallen Master.
Lou dropped to her knees,
feeling dizzy. "I told him not to trust you. I told him..."
her voice trailed off. She focused her eyes on Espen. "What
have you done to me?"
Espen knelt on one knee.
"I have made you complacent for the trip home."
"And where is home?"
she watched as Vedul picked up Maul's lightsabre.
"Coruscant, my Dear,
Coruscant."
The Twi'Lek activated the
Sith's weapon.
"Oh, no,"
"Oh, yes," Espen
grinned.
"Leave him alone,
S'Ritak. He trusted you against his better judgment, you owe it to
him to let him live." she said.
"I owe him for all he
has taught me. Trusting me was his mistake." Vedul responded,
standing over Maul. "A mistake he shall now pay for." he
swung the glowing blade down towards the Sith's neck.
"NO!" Lou
screamed.
The weapon deactivated
moments before it made contact. "Let's go," Vedul said,
tossing the lightsabre aside.
Espen pulled Lou to her
feet, then activated the hoverlift. The crate obediently followed
the three out of the room.