Pleasure Yacht, Part I
Pushing Atton ahead of me I closed the door to the cargo hold. Going over to the containers I picked out two vibroswords, intent on familiarizing him with melee weapons.
"Catch!" I threw him one of the swords and he threw himself on the floor. The sword clattered to the metal floor a few meters behind him.
"Do you want to kill me?" he yelled indignantly. He got up brushing some dust off his jacket.
"Atton, the worst thing that could have happened is the handle hitting your nose… I didn't throw it blade first you know."
"Oh…" he nodded and picked up the sword.
Two hours later we stepped out of the cargo hold. Sweating I nodded with approval as he twirled his sword lovingly. "See," I told him. "If you stop thinking about Pazaak, who's flying the ship, and whether the hyper drive is in order, you actually do great."
He smirked. "Yeah well, you know me, I have many talents."
I smiled back. "On the contrary. I don't know you…"
"Oh yeah… well not much to tell. Smuggler, Pilot, and other things that pay well."
We entered the cockpit. "Jedi bounties pay well…"
He jumped from the Pilot seat. "Hey, even I am not that low. You rescued me remember."
"Right…" I answered looking at the galaxy map to find our position.
"So… where is it?" he asked.
"It? It can be any number of things." I replied.
"Oh, don't give me that. I meant your lightsaber." he answered.
I rolled my eyes. "Now how was I supposed to know that you meant my lightsaber? It was taken from me when I was exiled."
"Oh… I thought Jedi were supposed to be married to there lightsabers. I heard someone call it, 'an extension of there self'." I nodded. "Well, that's like ripping a part of you from your body."
I was impressed. "Indeed. You continue to surprise me Atton."
He smiled. "Thanks. Was your saber red?"
"Silver." I replied.
"Like Exar Kun's? I heard his was double bladed." he asked.
I looked at him suspiciously. "You hear a lot about Sith and Jedi history."
"Oh well, uh, when I was a kid I had a Exar Kun action figure and…"
I interrupted. "Ok, no need to tell me about your child hood."
"Alright, alright…"
"When will we reach Telos?" I asked.
"Almost a standard day's time." he answered.
I turned around and started walking to the cargo hold. "I'm going to check if there is something to eat on this ship."
A few minutes later I returned to the cockpit carrying ration bars. "Well Atton, today's menu will be ration bars, ration bars and ration bars. What would you like?" I said sarcastically.
He turned around in his pilot chair. "I think I'll go with the ration bars."
I smiled. "An excellent choice."
We sat down on the floor eating and playing pazaak. Atton seemed to win every game and I was starting to wonder if he was cheating.
"Oh, what about the old hag… Did you give her something to eat?"
"Yeah, but she wasn't too pleased about the menu choice."
He smirked. "Who can blame her?"
We finished our game and I decided to call it a day. "I'm off. Stay here in the cockpit in case of emergency."
He looked incredulous. "I'm tired too!"
I smirked. "You can sleep in the pilot's chair." I replied.
He grumbled something but didn't argue while I claimed the starboard dormitories as my quarters. I undressed and fell asleep the moment I put my head on my pillow.
I slept exactly eight hours as I always do. Waking up I looked around and it took me a few seconds to realize where I was. Yesterday's events came to my mind. 'I had more happen yesterday than in the last three years combined.' I thought. I stumbled to the medbay and used the fresher adjoined to it to clean myself. 'I destroyed and killed more on Peragus than all the years since the war combined.' It filled me with a strange sense of pride considering I killed only "bad guys".
I walked over to the cockpit to find Atton twisted strangely into the Pilot's chair. When I tapped him on the shoulder, I was surprised to find him reaching for his blaster in a blink of an eye. "Hey, it's me!"
Atton looked up and groaned. "Oh God, I feel terrible." he began massaging his neck.
I stretched out, and touched his neck. The force poured into his sore muscles healing him instantly. "There."
Atton smirked. "JedI's have there advantages. Of course if it weren't for you I could sleep in the dormitory but…"
"Alright, alright." I interrupted. "Where are the ration bars?" I asked.
"I stuffed them in the closet below the galaxy map. I opened the door, to what seemed a storage compartment, and found that stuffed was an understatement. "You weren't kidding." I told him.
He seemed to realize what I mean. "I'm not the most orderly person." he replied. "Can I have one?"
I threw him one which he caught. "Remind me to get some food on Telos." I said. "I mean 'real' food."
I carried a couple of ration bars over to Kreia but quickly retreated when she raised her hand without turning to face me. Not a moment to soon, because behind me lightning struck into the metal wall of the ship. Without entering I yelled. "It's not my fault. There is no food in the ship."
I heard the faintest sound of a chuckle. "I will use the force to nourish me until we arrive in Telos."
"Suit yourself…" I went back to the cockpit finishing my tasteless meal. Atton had finished his also and looked at me with a and-what-now look on his face.
"What do we do now?" he asked.
"Dejarik, sword fighting, or Pazaak…"
We began with pazaak and eventually played some dejarik. It was not Atton's strength and he lost every game. "Well I guess now were even." I said. "Your win every Pazaak game and I win every dejarik game, although I can't understand why the cards are always stacked against me."
"Scoundrel's luck." he answered grinning.
Atton also improved considerably in melee combat. He became agile and fast improving steadily. A few hours later we went to the cockpit and realized that we had almost reached Telos. I decided to play it safe and take off the mining uniform. 'Who know's what they would do If they hear what happened on Peragus.' I wondered. Atton took the ship in for a smooth landing while I put on some normal clothes.
