Do they have Corellian style restaurants on Corellia? -Diary of Baka Ma'lik
"They said what?" Janua exclaimed. The shifts had changed once again and Prat was taking a few minutes to tell her and Dantien what had happened.
"They suggested that I go to the hospital. On the way down, I wasn't exactly the steadiest pilot. They must have thought I was having a heart attack." Everyone laughed. "But beware of the Ma'lik; he'll be bragging for months." Once the other two were almost quiet again, he said, "Well, good luck. Don't tell customs where we came from or Jess'll have to stay put until we have a chance to get someone else to rescue her. Good night." Then he left for the pink room. It was so quiet, you could have heard the padding of a pitton if there was one.
"He's right," the blue Twi'lek said, breaking the eerie silence, "we'd better get a move on."
The two gathered a few things and some credits before leaving. Since Clipper wasn't there, they dug out the half-burnt instruction manual from the cockpit and eventually figured out how to lock the ramp behind them. As they made their way down a few stories to Coruscant Customs, they discussed whom they should reveal Kitzlym to. It was a delicate subject as far as they were concerned; if anyone came into the system with weapons blazing, the Imperials would be sure to exterminate both their friend and her beloved pet.
"We could bring it up at the next Senatorial session."
"What, and have them take months just to decide where the planet is and if Imperials are a threat?" she pointed out.
"Just brainstorming," Dantien replied defensively. Now they were in the cavernous Coruscant Customs, and with the jumpy security, they decided to change the subject.
Two hours later, after standing in a slow, endless string of impatient sentients, the Twi'lek and Alderaanian were unconsciously heading to the restaurant the crew always met at.
"They really could have picked a better actor to play Solinar," commented Janua.
"I don't know. I thought he was pretty good," replied the mechanic. "What'd you think was wrong with his performance?"
"His performance was fine, but in the book, they described him as being." Her argument trailed off as they came to a stop in front of Car'ulorn's Kavsrach. "Wait a minute. Weren't we going to go to." Again, she stopped in midsentence, not because she had thought of another, more important subject to bring up. She didn't know how to finish it. Neither of them knew where they were going; they just knew where they were and what they had to accomplish.
"To tell someone about," he said, unsuccessfully trying to finish her question. He did not want to say the planet's name out loud for fear an Imperial spy, namely Amak Borrit, might overhear and tell the general to get rid of Jess Jess.
She nodded. "We could talk to one of the senators, but I wouldn't trust everyone."
"Agreed. How about Admiral Ackbar."
"I think the Chief of State's nicer. Can you find her house?"
"I've seen this really nice one many times while we're landing. It could be hers." They turned and headed in the direction he thought would lead them to the correct place. Speeders of every make, model, and color zoomed by, adding sound to their silent musings. As they were getting closer, Dantien muttered, "I don't like this."
"What?"
"That blue convertible's gone by four times at least," he replied, staring into the traffic.
The Twi'lek raised a dark eyebrow. "You've been counting?" Disbelief made her voice stand out over the drone of the countless other conversations on the sidewalks. "And you're sure it's the same one?"
"Yup."
She shook her head and they continued in silence.
Finally, Dantien spoke again. "There," he said, pointing to the top of a nearby skyscraper. "I think that's it."
As they looked around for an entrance into the building, the speeder slowed to a stop behind them. "Jettoz. Nockneez, kiladez."
Janua looked back to see the Sullustan in the vehicle staring straight at them. "Well, so much for that idea," she grumbled to her coworker.
"What do you mean?" He was astonished and outraged at her willingness to give up when they were this close. How else were they going to get Jess Jess out without calling Wesba?
"We could always come back, but let's see what he wants. After all, Leia could be out of town."
He reluctantly followed her toward the mousy figure that didn't act or look threatening, but he seemed to be very powerful. "Kiladez, nockneez," he called again. They sat down in the back seat of the speeder, wondering what he wanted. There was a kind of benevolence about him that let them know they could at least trust him not to blindfold them and take them to some unheard of Outer Rim system without a very good reason. "Zanki."
Dantien leaned over to his friend as the driver pulled into the traffic. "You do know what he's saying, right?" he asked shakily.
"You don't?" she replied with a wry smile. She looked toward the mysterious driver. "Tuz de ju mugee hyperspaaze?"
His high pitched laugh pierced the wind. "Noza; dopeelya puka!"
She smiled at the remark.
"What are you saying?"
"I asked if we would be jumping to hyperspace. He said we wouldn't; it's only an in-system rental!"
"If I didn't know you better, I'd think you were drunk."
She turned back to the Sullustan. "Meez noza batza bazic."
His eyebrows flicked up momentarily, his mouth caught half open. "You're right, the Chief of State's out of town. Have you not seen the HoloNet for a while?"
Poor Dantien was so confused, he resigned himself not to speak until they were back to the Vornskr.
"No, we haven't. We just got back. What makes you think we were going to try to see her anyway?"
The driver chose to ignore the question and continued on his own train of thought. "There's a huge jamming and interdiction field in the Corellian system, where she is." With that, he pulled the speeder to a stop in front of the spaceport. "Koo-looz."
The shipmates got out and worked their way back to their YT-1300.
"That just makes me feel wonderful!" Dantien exclaimed sarcastically. "Some guy out there was following us, knew we were trying to see the Chief of State, and knew what spaceport we're docked at!"
"He's probably a security guard," she replied smoothly, "just doing his job."
"By the way, what'd you say to him to get him to switch to basic?"
"'I know you speak basic.'"
"How'd you know?"
"Just playing a hunch. It's a lot easier on Coruscant if you know basic."
By then, they were at the ship with one problem: they'd locked themselves out.
"Great. We might as well go back." The very thought of standing in the customs line again made both of them shudder.
"Wait," Dantien told her as he walked around to the starboard side.
"Why? What are you doing?" She followed him and a contemplative look came onto her face. He merely stood there, studying the loading port.
"I can break in." He glanced around, searching for some unseen treasure. Whether he needed a hydrospanner or dropped credits, Janua couldn't tell, but she was shocked at the suggestion of breaking and entering their own ship.
"Great, so somebody'll see us and report us. And because half of C.S.S. will be in prison, we'll rely on Baka to get us all out!"
"Then go stand by the turbolift and look like you belong." Suddenly, his eyes lit up like a teenager getting his first, brand new speeder and his search was over. He trotted around the ship that was docked beside them and came back a few minutes later with a large, curved piece of scrap metal.
"Now what are you doing?"
He hefted the durasteel to cover the six indentations around the door. "Hold this." She cautiously moved closer and kept the heavy piece from falling.
Meanwhile, the mechanic climbed up to the keypad on the inside of the rim and tapped in a code that only the day shift crew knew. A few seconds passed and she realized that the scrap was to trick the scanners into thinking another ship was here. More time went by as the air pressure was checked. Finally, the airlock noisily slid open. Dantien rolled into the empty room. "And you wanted to go stand in the customs line again. Ha!" He turned to help the other up.
"Uh-oh," she muttered as the other door to the room hissed open.
"Don't move!" a forbidding yet familiar voice commanded from the hatchway. The navigator pulled herself the rest of the way in while the figure fumbled in the dark for the light switch. Once he saw who the intruders were, Prat was stunned. "Jan! Dan! I thought you guys were."
"That just proves how bad those lines are, that we'd rather break into our own ship instead of going through them again."
She grudgingly stared at him, not wanting to admit that he was right.
"What?"
"They said what?" Janua exclaimed. The shifts had changed once again and Prat was taking a few minutes to tell her and Dantien what had happened.
"They suggested that I go to the hospital. On the way down, I wasn't exactly the steadiest pilot. They must have thought I was having a heart attack." Everyone laughed. "But beware of the Ma'lik; he'll be bragging for months." Once the other two were almost quiet again, he said, "Well, good luck. Don't tell customs where we came from or Jess'll have to stay put until we have a chance to get someone else to rescue her. Good night." Then he left for the pink room. It was so quiet, you could have heard the padding of a pitton if there was one.
"He's right," the blue Twi'lek said, breaking the eerie silence, "we'd better get a move on."
The two gathered a few things and some credits before leaving. Since Clipper wasn't there, they dug out the half-burnt instruction manual from the cockpit and eventually figured out how to lock the ramp behind them. As they made their way down a few stories to Coruscant Customs, they discussed whom they should reveal Kitzlym to. It was a delicate subject as far as they were concerned; if anyone came into the system with weapons blazing, the Imperials would be sure to exterminate both their friend and her beloved pet.
"We could bring it up at the next Senatorial session."
"What, and have them take months just to decide where the planet is and if Imperials are a threat?" she pointed out.
"Just brainstorming," Dantien replied defensively. Now they were in the cavernous Coruscant Customs, and with the jumpy security, they decided to change the subject.
Two hours later, after standing in a slow, endless string of impatient sentients, the Twi'lek and Alderaanian were unconsciously heading to the restaurant the crew always met at.
"They really could have picked a better actor to play Solinar," commented Janua.
"I don't know. I thought he was pretty good," replied the mechanic. "What'd you think was wrong with his performance?"
"His performance was fine, but in the book, they described him as being." Her argument trailed off as they came to a stop in front of Car'ulorn's Kavsrach. "Wait a minute. Weren't we going to go to." Again, she stopped in midsentence, not because she had thought of another, more important subject to bring up. She didn't know how to finish it. Neither of them knew where they were going; they just knew where they were and what they had to accomplish.
"To tell someone about," he said, unsuccessfully trying to finish her question. He did not want to say the planet's name out loud for fear an Imperial spy, namely Amak Borrit, might overhear and tell the general to get rid of Jess Jess.
She nodded. "We could talk to one of the senators, but I wouldn't trust everyone."
"Agreed. How about Admiral Ackbar."
"I think the Chief of State's nicer. Can you find her house?"
"I've seen this really nice one many times while we're landing. It could be hers." They turned and headed in the direction he thought would lead them to the correct place. Speeders of every make, model, and color zoomed by, adding sound to their silent musings. As they were getting closer, Dantien muttered, "I don't like this."
"What?"
"That blue convertible's gone by four times at least," he replied, staring into the traffic.
The Twi'lek raised a dark eyebrow. "You've been counting?" Disbelief made her voice stand out over the drone of the countless other conversations on the sidewalks. "And you're sure it's the same one?"
"Yup."
She shook her head and they continued in silence.
Finally, Dantien spoke again. "There," he said, pointing to the top of a nearby skyscraper. "I think that's it."
As they looked around for an entrance into the building, the speeder slowed to a stop behind them. "Jettoz. Nockneez, kiladez."
Janua looked back to see the Sullustan in the vehicle staring straight at them. "Well, so much for that idea," she grumbled to her coworker.
"What do you mean?" He was astonished and outraged at her willingness to give up when they were this close. How else were they going to get Jess Jess out without calling Wesba?
"We could always come back, but let's see what he wants. After all, Leia could be out of town."
He reluctantly followed her toward the mousy figure that didn't act or look threatening, but he seemed to be very powerful. "Kiladez, nockneez," he called again. They sat down in the back seat of the speeder, wondering what he wanted. There was a kind of benevolence about him that let them know they could at least trust him not to blindfold them and take them to some unheard of Outer Rim system without a very good reason. "Zanki."
Dantien leaned over to his friend as the driver pulled into the traffic. "You do know what he's saying, right?" he asked shakily.
"You don't?" she replied with a wry smile. She looked toward the mysterious driver. "Tuz de ju mugee hyperspaaze?"
His high pitched laugh pierced the wind. "Noza; dopeelya puka!"
She smiled at the remark.
"What are you saying?"
"I asked if we would be jumping to hyperspace. He said we wouldn't; it's only an in-system rental!"
"If I didn't know you better, I'd think you were drunk."
She turned back to the Sullustan. "Meez noza batza bazic."
His eyebrows flicked up momentarily, his mouth caught half open. "You're right, the Chief of State's out of town. Have you not seen the HoloNet for a while?"
Poor Dantien was so confused, he resigned himself not to speak until they were back to the Vornskr.
"No, we haven't. We just got back. What makes you think we were going to try to see her anyway?"
The driver chose to ignore the question and continued on his own train of thought. "There's a huge jamming and interdiction field in the Corellian system, where she is." With that, he pulled the speeder to a stop in front of the spaceport. "Koo-looz."
The shipmates got out and worked their way back to their YT-1300.
"That just makes me feel wonderful!" Dantien exclaimed sarcastically. "Some guy out there was following us, knew we were trying to see the Chief of State, and knew what spaceport we're docked at!"
"He's probably a security guard," she replied smoothly, "just doing his job."
"By the way, what'd you say to him to get him to switch to basic?"
"'I know you speak basic.'"
"How'd you know?"
"Just playing a hunch. It's a lot easier on Coruscant if you know basic."
By then, they were at the ship with one problem: they'd locked themselves out.
"Great. We might as well go back." The very thought of standing in the customs line again made both of them shudder.
"Wait," Dantien told her as he walked around to the starboard side.
"Why? What are you doing?" She followed him and a contemplative look came onto her face. He merely stood there, studying the loading port.
"I can break in." He glanced around, searching for some unseen treasure. Whether he needed a hydrospanner or dropped credits, Janua couldn't tell, but she was shocked at the suggestion of breaking and entering their own ship.
"Great, so somebody'll see us and report us. And because half of C.S.S. will be in prison, we'll rely on Baka to get us all out!"
"Then go stand by the turbolift and look like you belong." Suddenly, his eyes lit up like a teenager getting his first, brand new speeder and his search was over. He trotted around the ship that was docked beside them and came back a few minutes later with a large, curved piece of scrap metal.
"Now what are you doing?"
He hefted the durasteel to cover the six indentations around the door. "Hold this." She cautiously moved closer and kept the heavy piece from falling.
Meanwhile, the mechanic climbed up to the keypad on the inside of the rim and tapped in a code that only the day shift crew knew. A few seconds passed and she realized that the scrap was to trick the scanners into thinking another ship was here. More time went by as the air pressure was checked. Finally, the airlock noisily slid open. Dantien rolled into the empty room. "And you wanted to go stand in the customs line again. Ha!" He turned to help the other up.
"Uh-oh," she muttered as the other door to the room hissed open.
"Don't move!" a forbidding yet familiar voice commanded from the hatchway. The navigator pulled herself the rest of the way in while the figure fumbled in the dark for the light switch. Once he saw who the intruders were, Prat was stunned. "Jan! Dan! I thought you guys were."
"That just proves how bad those lines are, that we'd rather break into our own ship instead of going through them again."
She grudgingly stared at him, not wanting to admit that he was right.
"What?"