Chapter 7
That evening, after meditation, Tahl sat quietly in her room pondering her mission. Too-jay interrupted the peaceful silence with comments on that day's events.
"I feel it is necessary for me to state that our visit to the work space of the head of the security for the city of Telos did not provide any clues that might be helpful to the solving of the mystery of the lost children." Too-jay said matter-of-factly.
"Couldn't you just speak one sentence without all the technical mumbo- jumbo, Too-jay?" Tahl asked in exasperation. "Besides, I already know that our visit to the security office was no help." "I didn't even run into that Kivutan character again," she thought to herself. All in all she had made no progress on her mission that day. But still, she felt satisfied. Maybe it was of Qui-gon's reassurances that she soon discover who was behind it all, or maybe it was the way Qui-gon had looked at her when he told her he believed in her. Either way, Qui-gon had cheered her up, and now her head was clear enough to decide what avenue to pursue next. Another visit with Kivutan perhaps? That would mean going back to mid-town. She thought long into the night, long after the sun went down, and dusk fell. Tomorrow she would surely find a clue.
*******************************************
Not so far away, in the middle of town, another was awake and restless. Kivutan, unable to sleep, decided to go for a walk around town before it got too dark. He was walking in the marketplace where he had first met Qui-gon and Obi-wan, when he felt a sense of foreboding danger. He looked around as shadowy figures appeared out from the darkness and surrounded him. As they drew closer, he could make out Offworld uniforms. He tried to back away, but they were all around him, and there was no one to call for help. "They finally got me!" He thought. The next thing he saw was a rag being pressed up against his face, and then everything went dark.
He awoke a few hours later, in a room filled with children. He recognized many of them as the street kids that had disappeared from his neighborhood, and there were others he did not know. They all seemed subdued, and very tired. None of them tried to speak to one another, but seemed content to sit on the floor and rest.
A little further back he saw a line of cages with metal bars, and to his horror, he saw that there were more kids sitting inside these cages. Some seemed as subdued as the children outside the cages did, but he saw defiance in the eyes of others. He walked along the rows of cages, but stopped in front of one. Inside the cage was a close friend of his that he hadn't seen recently. "Trajo!" Kivutan exclaimed. "What are you doing in here?"
His friend looked up, and Kivutan was pleased to see that his eyes were full of fight. Those were quickly replaced by surprise however, when he saw Kivutan standing there.
"Kiv! Quickly, escape while you still can! As soon as they see that you won't stand for being mistreated, you'll be in a cage, like me, and then there will be no escape for either of us!" Trajo said in a rush.
"No way! I'm not leaving you here!" Kiv said. "There has to be a key around here somewhere! What is this place?"
"The key is on the slavemaster's belt. There's no way to get it. PLEASE go now!" Trajo urged.
"Wait! Slavemaster? Trajo, I'm confused! Where are we?"
But before Trajo got a chance to reply, they heard a door open, and a man clothed all in black walked towards them. He had a ring of jingling keys on his belt. "That's the slavemaster." Trajo whispered. "Act as docile as possible, and maybe you'll stay out of a cage." he instructed. "Good luck!" The slavemaster reached them and turned to Kivutan.
"You will come with me now." He said, before turning and walking back the way he had come. Kivutan followed quietly.
The slavemaster lead Kiv down one dark corridor after another. They all looked the same, and were equally confusing. Kivutan tried to keep track of the turns they were making, in case he needed to know later on, but he was soon completely disoriented. "Great," Kiv thought. "Now even if I got a chance to escape, I'd have to ask for directions!"
The slavemaster stopped suddenly in front of a door and pointed to it. "Your presence has been requested. You may enter now." he said almost cruelly. Kivutan looked at the door dully, wondering what he was supposed to do. But he needn't have worried, for as he approached the door, it swung open, revealing a well-lit interior.
Kiv looked around apprehensively as he entered the room. It was empty save a few chairs and.
"Xanatos?!?!?!" Kivutan burst out. The door slammed shut, and Kiv jumped. He leaned forward to get a better look at the man.
"Yes, I'm Xanatos." He said. "Don't you remember me, your only cousin?" "Not that you've shown that much loyalty to your family recently, running off and letting me live on the streets all these years!" Kiv said hotly. It occurred to him that this might not be the best time to be lecturing Xanatos on one's loyalty to one's family, but it was too late now.
Xanatos seemed a bit taken aback by Kiv's reaction, but recovered himself quickly.
"I'm sorry, but I had engagements elsewhere. I couldn't spare time to come and collect you, and I trusted no one else to do it. But I'm here now, to get you out of here." he said.
"Where am I?" Kiv asked.
"Never mind that," Xanatos said. "The real question is why are you here? This place is only for criminals, and I can't imagine you doing anything illegal. I can't get you out until I find out why you're in. can you think of anything?" he asked. Kivutan thought about it. Xanatos seemed sincere, and what he said made sense. Maybe he could be trusted.
"Well. I was probably sighted talking to some Jedi I met. Maybe that's it." He said.
He saw the tiniest flicker cross Xanatos's profile, too fast for him to identify the emotion, and then Xanatos was speaking again.
"Jedi???" Xanatos looked very surprised now. "Here? But I thought Jedi had been outlawed on this planet. What Jedi would dare to disturb us anyway?" Kivutan looked at him in surprise, and Xanatos quickly amended,
"Dare to disturb you, I mean." Kiv was skeptical, but he decided to trust Xanatos for a little while longer.
"They said their names were Qui-gon, Obi-wan, and one other. Oh yes, Tahl. But they weren't disturbing anything, they seemed to be trying to help us solve some of our problems." Kiv ventured.
"Don't you see? That's what I mean." Xanatos said. "Jedi are constantly meddling in others affairs. Qui-gon, Obi-wan, and Tahl? Hmmm.. I should have known. Obi-wan and Qui-gon are especially well known for their nosy qualities, and Tahl often assists them. Together they are the worst. Do you recall if they said why they were here?" Xanatos asked.
"I.. don't think so." Kivutan lied. Something wasn't right. He hadn't even known Qui-gon, Obi-wan, and Tahl knew each other. How could Xanatos have known, and why would he have jumped to the conclusion that they were working together? When Kivutan had spoken to them, they had each told him they were on different missions, here on the planet. And besides, he had a very hard time imagining the Jedi he had met as meddlers. No, Xanatos was not telling him everything. What was going on?
"All right then. Thank you very much, you've been a great help to me." Xanatos said. "Let me help you back to your cell until I can get you out." Xanatos led the way back towards the door that Kivutan had entered from.
"Wait! I really need to know more. Do you know Qui-gon and the others? Why did you-" But Xanatos held up a hand to silence him.
"When we leave this room, you must not speak to me as such. I have passed myself off as a merchant and you as my assistant. I have told them that I need you back desperately, and I'm hoping I can strike a bargain with them so as to be able to free you. But you must not speak to me as your equal, it might blow my cover."
"Yes of course-" Kiv paused. "What should I be calling you?"
"I have told them my real name, I am not known in these parts, it will not be recognized."
"Okay then."
"Come along now." Xanatos said.
Then he led Kiv out the door back to where the slavemaster was still waiting for Kivutan to return. Xanatos led the way back, with Kivutan following him, and the slavemaster bringing up the rear. Xanatos brought him back to the room with the other children in it, and to the cage next to Kiv's friend Trajo's. The slavemaster then stepped forward, opened the door, and spoke to the girl inside. She was beaten and bruised, and there was a lost look in her eyes as she looked at the slavemaster.
"Can you behave yourself, or do you need another visit to the room of pain?" He asked, sneering cruelly. The girl looked at him with her sunken, defeated eyes, and Kivutan wanted to cry. Who could be this cruel to innocent children?
"I'll be good, sir." she said, speaking softly.
"Good, now go join the other children." The slavemaster said. She hurried over to where the children now slept, and the slavemaster turned to look at Xanatos.
"Shall I put him inside, Great Honorable Xanatos?" Kivutan turned sharply to look at Xanatos. "Xanatos?" he said, a catch in his throat. "What is he talking about?" Xanatos looked slightly uncomfortable, but the emotion was quickly replaced by a haughty expression.
"I had hoped not to let you find out, but as this imbecile has spoken out of turn, I suppose I have no choice. Get inside." He spoke forcefully, and when Kivutan did not respond, he grabbed an Electro-jabber from the slavemaster's belt, and setting it on low power, hit Kiv on the arm. Kivutan yelled and scrambled into the cage.
Xanatos closed the cage, laughing at the expression on Kiv's face. "Now really, you didn't truly expect me to let someone as smart as you go running around ruining everything for me, did you? Young people can be so thick sometimes; their heads are too full of thoughts of justice and peace. You'll outgrow those, I promise. One day, you'll realize as I have, that the only things worth your time are money, and revenge."
He walked toward the door, his cloak swirling behind him.
"But what about family!?!?!?!?!" Kivutan yelled after him. Xanatos stopped before exiting the room. "I hope the slavemaster works to death. Family means nothing to me. Not after what caring did to me last time." He said, and then exited the room, slamming the door after him. The slavemaster locked the door of Kivutan's cage, and scurried after Xanatos. He tried to imitate the way Xanatos had slammed the door, but failed, and the door simply swung shut behind him.
Kivutan slumped to the floor, suddenly too exhausted to hold himself up any longer, his head spinning. He sensed someone looking at him and glanced upward. The girl who had been in the cage before him was standing at his door. The defeated look was gone from her eyes, and there was a fire lit in them, but the look on her face was sympathetic.
"Are you all right?" she asked. "You don't look so good."
"Yeah Kiv, are you okay?" Trajo asked from next to him.
"I'm fine." Kiv said. "A little tired, and VERY confused."
"Are you sure? Electro-jabbers are no picnic, trust me, I know." There was an almost wistful look about her as she said that. There was a long silence, and then Trajo seemed to shake himself out of a trance, and introduced himself.
"I'm Trajo, and he's Kivutan." He said. "And you're very pretty."
It was true; she was very beautiful, with long red hair and stunning green eyes. But at his words, her eyes filled with irritation, and she tossed her head angrily. All traces of the meek girl she had appeared to be earlier were gone.
"Do you have any idea how often I hear that?" she demanded of Trajo.
"I'm sorry." He said, shrinking back from the enraged girl.
"Okay, break it up you two." Kivutan intercepted. "It's very nice to meet you."
"Dariya. My name is Dariya, but it often gets shortened to Dari. You can call me either, I don't care."
"Okay, well it's very nice to meet you Dariya. Sorry to sound clueless, but where are we?"
"I'm not sure exactly." Dari replied, recovering herself. "It's not good though, that's for sure. As far as I can tell, everyone here has been kidnapped. They beat us, work us nearly to death, and only feed us very occasionally. And we're constantly under surveillance. I disabled the security camera in my cage, the guard doesn't seem to have noticed yet."
"And then kids just disappear. They tell us to work hard, and that then we'll be allowed to leave also, as if maybe we'll be set free." Trajo said hopefully.
"Sorry to burst your bubble, but think about it, Trajo." Dari said. "It's true that the ones that disappear are always the nicest, most obedient ones. But still, no one knows where they go. Don't you think they would tell us if we were going to be allowed to go home? I mean, all the more reason for us to work hard right? No, I think they go somewhere else."
"But where?" Trajo asked.
"It sounds. Well this sounds a little crazy, but it sounds almost like we're being trained as. slaves." Kivutan ventured hesitantly.
"You're right! That's exactly what it sounds like." Trajo said. "Okay, this is not good. This is not good at all." He started to look slightly panicked. "But wait! This isn't possible! Slavery is illegal!"
"Not on all planets." Dariya said. "My uncle once visited a planet where everyone either had slaves, or were slaves. It sounded like an awful place."
"So. we could be being trained as slaves, and then transported off-planet to a place where slavery was legal, and then. sold!" Trajo moaned softly. "Not good, not good, not good." he chanted quietly under his breath. "Do you know if there's anybody who's more important than Xanatos in this whole scheme?" Kiv asked.
"Well not that I know of." Dari said. "When we get in trouble, the worst threat is to be sent to Xanatos so that he can dispose of us. But when I was kidnapped, the men were wearing Offworld uniforms."
"Yeah, same here." Trajo said.
"I had the same experience." Kiv said. "But it was late, so I could have been mistaken. So is Xanatos in charge? Or is Offworld? And who's in charge of Offworld? Maybe Xanatos is in charge of both? But then that would mean Xanatos is secretly controlling Telos from a safe place on another planet. Or. has he been here the whole time? I don't know what to think anymore." Kiv thought out loud.
"What?" Trajo asked. "What are you going on about? Where did you go anyway? Tell us everything that happened." So Kivutan explained all that had gone on in that room with Xanatos, and his theories on whom was behind everything. They continued discussing it until Dariya called a stop to it.
"We need to get some rest. We'll need our energy to work tomorrow, and besides, I can't be caught talking to you, or I'll be back in a cage, and then what will we do?" And so she went back to the other children, and Trajo and Kiv lay down and slept.
That evening, after meditation, Tahl sat quietly in her room pondering her mission. Too-jay interrupted the peaceful silence with comments on that day's events.
"I feel it is necessary for me to state that our visit to the work space of the head of the security for the city of Telos did not provide any clues that might be helpful to the solving of the mystery of the lost children." Too-jay said matter-of-factly.
"Couldn't you just speak one sentence without all the technical mumbo- jumbo, Too-jay?" Tahl asked in exasperation. "Besides, I already know that our visit to the security office was no help." "I didn't even run into that Kivutan character again," she thought to herself. All in all she had made no progress on her mission that day. But still, she felt satisfied. Maybe it was of Qui-gon's reassurances that she soon discover who was behind it all, or maybe it was the way Qui-gon had looked at her when he told her he believed in her. Either way, Qui-gon had cheered her up, and now her head was clear enough to decide what avenue to pursue next. Another visit with Kivutan perhaps? That would mean going back to mid-town. She thought long into the night, long after the sun went down, and dusk fell. Tomorrow she would surely find a clue.
*******************************************
Not so far away, in the middle of town, another was awake and restless. Kivutan, unable to sleep, decided to go for a walk around town before it got too dark. He was walking in the marketplace where he had first met Qui-gon and Obi-wan, when he felt a sense of foreboding danger. He looked around as shadowy figures appeared out from the darkness and surrounded him. As they drew closer, he could make out Offworld uniforms. He tried to back away, but they were all around him, and there was no one to call for help. "They finally got me!" He thought. The next thing he saw was a rag being pressed up against his face, and then everything went dark.
He awoke a few hours later, in a room filled with children. He recognized many of them as the street kids that had disappeared from his neighborhood, and there were others he did not know. They all seemed subdued, and very tired. None of them tried to speak to one another, but seemed content to sit on the floor and rest.
A little further back he saw a line of cages with metal bars, and to his horror, he saw that there were more kids sitting inside these cages. Some seemed as subdued as the children outside the cages did, but he saw defiance in the eyes of others. He walked along the rows of cages, but stopped in front of one. Inside the cage was a close friend of his that he hadn't seen recently. "Trajo!" Kivutan exclaimed. "What are you doing in here?"
His friend looked up, and Kivutan was pleased to see that his eyes were full of fight. Those were quickly replaced by surprise however, when he saw Kivutan standing there.
"Kiv! Quickly, escape while you still can! As soon as they see that you won't stand for being mistreated, you'll be in a cage, like me, and then there will be no escape for either of us!" Trajo said in a rush.
"No way! I'm not leaving you here!" Kiv said. "There has to be a key around here somewhere! What is this place?"
"The key is on the slavemaster's belt. There's no way to get it. PLEASE go now!" Trajo urged.
"Wait! Slavemaster? Trajo, I'm confused! Where are we?"
But before Trajo got a chance to reply, they heard a door open, and a man clothed all in black walked towards them. He had a ring of jingling keys on his belt. "That's the slavemaster." Trajo whispered. "Act as docile as possible, and maybe you'll stay out of a cage." he instructed. "Good luck!" The slavemaster reached them and turned to Kivutan.
"You will come with me now." He said, before turning and walking back the way he had come. Kivutan followed quietly.
The slavemaster lead Kiv down one dark corridor after another. They all looked the same, and were equally confusing. Kivutan tried to keep track of the turns they were making, in case he needed to know later on, but he was soon completely disoriented. "Great," Kiv thought. "Now even if I got a chance to escape, I'd have to ask for directions!"
The slavemaster stopped suddenly in front of a door and pointed to it. "Your presence has been requested. You may enter now." he said almost cruelly. Kivutan looked at the door dully, wondering what he was supposed to do. But he needn't have worried, for as he approached the door, it swung open, revealing a well-lit interior.
Kiv looked around apprehensively as he entered the room. It was empty save a few chairs and.
"Xanatos?!?!?!" Kivutan burst out. The door slammed shut, and Kiv jumped. He leaned forward to get a better look at the man.
"Yes, I'm Xanatos." He said. "Don't you remember me, your only cousin?" "Not that you've shown that much loyalty to your family recently, running off and letting me live on the streets all these years!" Kiv said hotly. It occurred to him that this might not be the best time to be lecturing Xanatos on one's loyalty to one's family, but it was too late now.
Xanatos seemed a bit taken aback by Kiv's reaction, but recovered himself quickly.
"I'm sorry, but I had engagements elsewhere. I couldn't spare time to come and collect you, and I trusted no one else to do it. But I'm here now, to get you out of here." he said.
"Where am I?" Kiv asked.
"Never mind that," Xanatos said. "The real question is why are you here? This place is only for criminals, and I can't imagine you doing anything illegal. I can't get you out until I find out why you're in. can you think of anything?" he asked. Kivutan thought about it. Xanatos seemed sincere, and what he said made sense. Maybe he could be trusted.
"Well. I was probably sighted talking to some Jedi I met. Maybe that's it." He said.
He saw the tiniest flicker cross Xanatos's profile, too fast for him to identify the emotion, and then Xanatos was speaking again.
"Jedi???" Xanatos looked very surprised now. "Here? But I thought Jedi had been outlawed on this planet. What Jedi would dare to disturb us anyway?" Kivutan looked at him in surprise, and Xanatos quickly amended,
"Dare to disturb you, I mean." Kiv was skeptical, but he decided to trust Xanatos for a little while longer.
"They said their names were Qui-gon, Obi-wan, and one other. Oh yes, Tahl. But they weren't disturbing anything, they seemed to be trying to help us solve some of our problems." Kiv ventured.
"Don't you see? That's what I mean." Xanatos said. "Jedi are constantly meddling in others affairs. Qui-gon, Obi-wan, and Tahl? Hmmm.. I should have known. Obi-wan and Qui-gon are especially well known for their nosy qualities, and Tahl often assists them. Together they are the worst. Do you recall if they said why they were here?" Xanatos asked.
"I.. don't think so." Kivutan lied. Something wasn't right. He hadn't even known Qui-gon, Obi-wan, and Tahl knew each other. How could Xanatos have known, and why would he have jumped to the conclusion that they were working together? When Kivutan had spoken to them, they had each told him they were on different missions, here on the planet. And besides, he had a very hard time imagining the Jedi he had met as meddlers. No, Xanatos was not telling him everything. What was going on?
"All right then. Thank you very much, you've been a great help to me." Xanatos said. "Let me help you back to your cell until I can get you out." Xanatos led the way back towards the door that Kivutan had entered from.
"Wait! I really need to know more. Do you know Qui-gon and the others? Why did you-" But Xanatos held up a hand to silence him.
"When we leave this room, you must not speak to me as such. I have passed myself off as a merchant and you as my assistant. I have told them that I need you back desperately, and I'm hoping I can strike a bargain with them so as to be able to free you. But you must not speak to me as your equal, it might blow my cover."
"Yes of course-" Kiv paused. "What should I be calling you?"
"I have told them my real name, I am not known in these parts, it will not be recognized."
"Okay then."
"Come along now." Xanatos said.
Then he led Kiv out the door back to where the slavemaster was still waiting for Kivutan to return. Xanatos led the way back, with Kivutan following him, and the slavemaster bringing up the rear. Xanatos brought him back to the room with the other children in it, and to the cage next to Kiv's friend Trajo's. The slavemaster then stepped forward, opened the door, and spoke to the girl inside. She was beaten and bruised, and there was a lost look in her eyes as she looked at the slavemaster.
"Can you behave yourself, or do you need another visit to the room of pain?" He asked, sneering cruelly. The girl looked at him with her sunken, defeated eyes, and Kivutan wanted to cry. Who could be this cruel to innocent children?
"I'll be good, sir." she said, speaking softly.
"Good, now go join the other children." The slavemaster said. She hurried over to where the children now slept, and the slavemaster turned to look at Xanatos.
"Shall I put him inside, Great Honorable Xanatos?" Kivutan turned sharply to look at Xanatos. "Xanatos?" he said, a catch in his throat. "What is he talking about?" Xanatos looked slightly uncomfortable, but the emotion was quickly replaced by a haughty expression.
"I had hoped not to let you find out, but as this imbecile has spoken out of turn, I suppose I have no choice. Get inside." He spoke forcefully, and when Kivutan did not respond, he grabbed an Electro-jabber from the slavemaster's belt, and setting it on low power, hit Kiv on the arm. Kivutan yelled and scrambled into the cage.
Xanatos closed the cage, laughing at the expression on Kiv's face. "Now really, you didn't truly expect me to let someone as smart as you go running around ruining everything for me, did you? Young people can be so thick sometimes; their heads are too full of thoughts of justice and peace. You'll outgrow those, I promise. One day, you'll realize as I have, that the only things worth your time are money, and revenge."
He walked toward the door, his cloak swirling behind him.
"But what about family!?!?!?!?!" Kivutan yelled after him. Xanatos stopped before exiting the room. "I hope the slavemaster works to death. Family means nothing to me. Not after what caring did to me last time." He said, and then exited the room, slamming the door after him. The slavemaster locked the door of Kivutan's cage, and scurried after Xanatos. He tried to imitate the way Xanatos had slammed the door, but failed, and the door simply swung shut behind him.
Kivutan slumped to the floor, suddenly too exhausted to hold himself up any longer, his head spinning. He sensed someone looking at him and glanced upward. The girl who had been in the cage before him was standing at his door. The defeated look was gone from her eyes, and there was a fire lit in them, but the look on her face was sympathetic.
"Are you all right?" she asked. "You don't look so good."
"Yeah Kiv, are you okay?" Trajo asked from next to him.
"I'm fine." Kiv said. "A little tired, and VERY confused."
"Are you sure? Electro-jabbers are no picnic, trust me, I know." There was an almost wistful look about her as she said that. There was a long silence, and then Trajo seemed to shake himself out of a trance, and introduced himself.
"I'm Trajo, and he's Kivutan." He said. "And you're very pretty."
It was true; she was very beautiful, with long red hair and stunning green eyes. But at his words, her eyes filled with irritation, and she tossed her head angrily. All traces of the meek girl she had appeared to be earlier were gone.
"Do you have any idea how often I hear that?" she demanded of Trajo.
"I'm sorry." He said, shrinking back from the enraged girl.
"Okay, break it up you two." Kivutan intercepted. "It's very nice to meet you."
"Dariya. My name is Dariya, but it often gets shortened to Dari. You can call me either, I don't care."
"Okay, well it's very nice to meet you Dariya. Sorry to sound clueless, but where are we?"
"I'm not sure exactly." Dari replied, recovering herself. "It's not good though, that's for sure. As far as I can tell, everyone here has been kidnapped. They beat us, work us nearly to death, and only feed us very occasionally. And we're constantly under surveillance. I disabled the security camera in my cage, the guard doesn't seem to have noticed yet."
"And then kids just disappear. They tell us to work hard, and that then we'll be allowed to leave also, as if maybe we'll be set free." Trajo said hopefully.
"Sorry to burst your bubble, but think about it, Trajo." Dari said. "It's true that the ones that disappear are always the nicest, most obedient ones. But still, no one knows where they go. Don't you think they would tell us if we were going to be allowed to go home? I mean, all the more reason for us to work hard right? No, I think they go somewhere else."
"But where?" Trajo asked.
"It sounds. Well this sounds a little crazy, but it sounds almost like we're being trained as. slaves." Kivutan ventured hesitantly.
"You're right! That's exactly what it sounds like." Trajo said. "Okay, this is not good. This is not good at all." He started to look slightly panicked. "But wait! This isn't possible! Slavery is illegal!"
"Not on all planets." Dariya said. "My uncle once visited a planet where everyone either had slaves, or were slaves. It sounded like an awful place."
"So. we could be being trained as slaves, and then transported off-planet to a place where slavery was legal, and then. sold!" Trajo moaned softly. "Not good, not good, not good." he chanted quietly under his breath. "Do you know if there's anybody who's more important than Xanatos in this whole scheme?" Kiv asked.
"Well not that I know of." Dari said. "When we get in trouble, the worst threat is to be sent to Xanatos so that he can dispose of us. But when I was kidnapped, the men were wearing Offworld uniforms."
"Yeah, same here." Trajo said.
"I had the same experience." Kiv said. "But it was late, so I could have been mistaken. So is Xanatos in charge? Or is Offworld? And who's in charge of Offworld? Maybe Xanatos is in charge of both? But then that would mean Xanatos is secretly controlling Telos from a safe place on another planet. Or. has he been here the whole time? I don't know what to think anymore." Kiv thought out loud.
"What?" Trajo asked. "What are you going on about? Where did you go anyway? Tell us everything that happened." So Kivutan explained all that had gone on in that room with Xanatos, and his theories on whom was behind everything. They continued discussing it until Dariya called a stop to it.
"We need to get some rest. We'll need our energy to work tomorrow, and besides, I can't be caught talking to you, or I'll be back in a cage, and then what will we do?" And so she went back to the other children, and Trajo and Kiv lay down and slept.