Daiyu

Mid Rim

0 BBY

"I'm going to ask one more time and then I will let it go," Ari said between his teeth. "Why Naboo?"

"If I knew that, I'd probably also know of another option," Mara hissed back, bracing herself as he swerved to avoid another ship in the busy airspace of Daiyu.

They were nowhere near Naboo as of yet. They were descending into the main spaceport of Daiyu. He'd always hoped to never have to set foot here again. But they would get no closer to Naboo without fuel and interplanetary passes, and he knew of no other planet nearby where they had a hope of obtaining either. Daiyu had the largest black market in the mid rim, so much so that you could stop calling it a black market and call it the main economic driver of the planet. No one bothered doing shady business under cover here. Forged documents, weapons, every psychotropic substance one could want, trafficked men, women, and children of whatever species one could ask for; everything was done right out in the open, on this or that street corner. It was like Uscru had been cultivated into a planet wide cancer.

The look and feel of it made Elian want to vomit.

The previous day he had inventoried their... "ship", if their temporary transport even warranted the description. There were no books, no clothing, very little food. It was intended for short range transport of university staff, not as a pleasure cruiser. He pooled the few credits each of them had on their persons when they'd fled Alderaan. He figured there was just enough of value to get them some fuel and maybe provisions enough to keep them from starving along the way. But there was nothing left for the passes they would need to keep them out of a prison ship if they tried to enter the Nubian System.

That left one option – his own somewhat symbolic source of credit. He hoped it had not yet quite run out.

He set them down in the public side of the spaceport. When the engine had gone quiet, he turned to Mara. "How ready are you to lay aside your boundaries?

She narrowed her eyes. "How much 'laying aside' is this going to take?"

By way of reply and before she could make a move to stop him, he clapped a pair of hydraulic cuffs over her wrists and cinched them tight. She froze for a beat and he braced himself. Rightly so, because as soon as she recovered from her shock, she screamed in outrage and tried to brain him with the bulky power pack of the cuffs, kicking and even attempting to bite him as he grabbed her and tried to get her still. A little fight was good, but they had a long walk and this was ridiculous. He jerked the cuffs enough to hurt her wrists but not damage them and she cried out.

"Calm down," He said, his voice power-laden.

There was absolutely no effect this time. She was on to his tricks. "You bastard. This was your plan? To use me as currency to buy your freedom?"

"Shut up and keep your eyes open."

She stilled, and he dragged her down the hatch and into the spaceport, the resistance she was still putting up just enough to be convincing and move his plan along. He used one hand to keep her moving and the other to thrust a handful of credits into a nearby Rodian attendant's surprised face. "Fuel that up and point me in the direction of Marg Krim."

The Rodian made its version of a laugh and addressed him scornfully in its native tongue. As if any space rat foul from flight could walk right into Marg Krim's salon.

Elian was losing patience altogether. He drew his blaster and put a smoking hole through the Rodian's shoulder. The Rodian screamed in pain and outrage and fell to his knees as Mara gasped beside him. There was a commotion as the nearby attendants attempted to grab him. He swung his blaster to put them in his sights as well. "I promise you, if I'm not taken to see Marg Krim immediately, he will want to know the reason why. Now who will show me the way?"

Another Rodian raised his hand to point shakily. The others shrugged and dragged the whimpering injured Rodian away, revealing that the course of events really wasn't all that unusual for Daiyu.

Mara was white-faced and trembling.

"Welcome to life down below the ivory tower," Elian muttered to her grimly as he jerked her cuffs to make her follow him.


Marg Krim had gotten fat. Elian hadn't known that was possible for a Pyke, but his blue belly bulged beneath his ornate breast plate where he slouched on what he probably thought of as his throne. A Twi-lek girl was trying to dance sensuously in front of him, but she didn't even look like she'd reached maturity and clearly had no idea how to effect sensuality. Marg looked bored, too; another thing that seemed difficult for a species without a proper mouth or movable brows to communicate to a human. The crest of long yellow scales above his slitted orange eyes drooped lazily, and he rested what little chin he had on his hand.

When he caught sight of Elian, he straightened. The yellow crest lifted to attention, and his moustache-like tentacles wiggled eagerly. "Ahhh!" He said in his snake-hiss voice. "The prodigal son! It has been too long."

"Not long enough," Elian replied, dragging Mara across the floor. She stumbled and cursed him.

"And who is this?" Marg asked, the tentacles lifting and straining in Mara's direction as if they could smell her.

"No business of the court's." Elian said shortly, looking pointedly around at the "court" - a collection of exhausted looking slaves, escorts, and drug addicts leaning and collapsing around the corners of the room. He noticed Mara staring in horrified fascination as one of the human girls present plunged a thick syringe of glitterstem into a arm below a tourniquet pulled tight. As the medicine hit her bloodstream, the lifeless-looking girl looked more lifeless still, her head lolling onto her shoulder and a rivulet of foam trickling from her mouth and wetting the fabric of her shirt.

Marg made several long sniffing sounds through his snout, the tentacles writhing speculatively. Finally he lifted a lazy hand and made a slashing motion in the air. "Leave us."

That was a process. A full third of the people in the room were high on glitterstem, and their fellows had to help them stumble to the side doors. The guards had to kick a few of them to produce any movement at all. At last the guards shut the heavy doors and they were left alone.

"It has been a very long time, prodigal son," Marg said.

He'd always called Elian that, smart enough to know of Elian's less than favored position with his father. But today there was a particular emphasis in the words that made Elian's spine tingle. "Nevertheless, I need your assistance. I've captured a rebel spy and I need to get her back into the core under the radar."

"But why?"

"Why do you suddenly think that the particulars of my father's business are any of yours?" Elian snapped. "He would be interested to hear of your sudden scruples."

"Oh yes, I am sure he would be interested," Marg said, his tentacles lifting in what Elian supposed was a smile. "You see, when you contacted me, I took the liberty of conducting a little research. Perhaps you would like to see what I found?"

Elian's pulse hitched up, but he kept his face impassive. He moved forward to see, and Marg turned around his datapad.

It was an official Imperial dispatch below a picture of his own face. Missing, presumed dead. If sighted contact imperial authorities immediately.

"Interesting that you don't seem to have communicated your safety to your father. Also interesting that your guest seems to be wearing distinctly Alderaanian clothing. I think I will ease your way by contacting the Emperor directly and-"

He didn't finish his sentence because he couldn't, choked as he was by his own green blood filling his mouth. Mara screamed and then stifled the sound with her hands as Elian wiped the blade of his dagger across his pant leg. Already he heard pounding footsteps in the hallway returning to the door. He force-pushed a heavy ornamental table across it and deactivated Mara's cuffs. Then he dragged Marg's body down from the throne, his head bumping across it limply and leaving a green trail. He dug in the dead leader's waist pouch and pocketed two cards he found there. Then he turned to Mara. "As soon as you see an opening, run."

The door burst open and the guards streamed back inside. There were more than six now. Before he had much time to react, one of them had his arms around Mara and was dragging her away. Mara kicked her feet frantically, her desperate eyes meeting Elian's. Cursing, he reached out his hand and called one of the guard's wicked looking crescent spears to it, the wood slapping into his palm as he spun to strike her assailant.

Curiously, he was too late. He was just in time to see Mara plant one foot, turn herself out from under the restraining arms and pull the creature's head down in time to meet her uprushing knee. Green blood exploded out of its delicate breathing holes and it staggered on its tree trunk legs. Mouth agape, Elian tossed her the spear, and she thrust it under the guard's chin with enough force to send it reeling backward into the wall behind it.

She looked at Elian, panting. "Maybe my mother prepared me for more than I thought."

"I'll say," Elian muttered, and recovered the spear and another besides, tossing her one and using the other to slash at the next closest guard. The guard fell to his knees, the one behind him stumbling over him and shortly falling victim to Mara's spear. They blocked the door momentarily, and the other was still free. "Run!"

Together they plunged headlong into the sunlight, blinking in the glare. Shouts followed them, and a few guards were running up from their right. Elian yanked her to the left, tightened his hand on hers, and pulled her tumbling over a low stone wall. His stomach dropped as they fell through space, and his throat closed at the mind-numbing chill when they both splashed into a cistern filled to the top.

Struggling to the side, he threw a leg over the edge and was gratified to find a catwalk there for footing. He reached down and pulled Mara out, not letting her even pause for breath as they ran down the metal steps and then zigzagged through innumerable gloomy alleys.

When it was finally quiet he paused, and let her slide to the ground. "Two minutes," he said, watching her try to catch her breath.

She glared up at him, pushing wet tendrils of hair away from her face. Both of them looked like drowned rats now. "Was that your plan all along?"

He scratched the back of his head. "Not exactly."

"What do we do now?"

"Well," He searched in his pockets and brought out the cards he'd lifted from Marg's corpse. "I did get what we came for."

Mara's eyes widened. "Will those work?"

"No idea. But again, do you really have a choice?"

She leaned her head back against the bricks wearily. "None at all."

"One thing and then the next, Mara," He said quietly. "Now come on. We need to make tracks to the spaceport before they do."

This time her hand in his was unresisting and almost...trusting. At the very least she allowed him to pull her to her feet and then guide her back through the alleyways. They lost themselves in a busy open air market, managing to quickly obtain cloaks to obscure their appearances and perhaps just enough dehydrated food to get to Naboo. Only when he saw the towers next to the spaceport was Elian able to draw a normal breath. They started across the square.

A shout rose from nearby. "THERE THEY ARE! THE SPACE TRASH THAT KILLED MARG!"

Elian's eyes met Mara's and they bolted at the same time, not even turning to look at who chased them. One swipe of Elian's hand brought a huge cart crashing behind them and he heard a commotion as it blocked their way but he still didn't pause to look. They pounded up the hatchway into their shuttle. Mara slammed the button to close the hatch with her hand just as Elian slid into the pilot's chair and turned on the engine. It was only then that they had time to see the angry rabble of Pykes armed to the teeth with spears and blasters through the narrowing gap of the closing hatch. When it sealed they heard the Pykes banging on it from the outside, but at least that part of the ship was sound. The plasma streams from the engine must have hit them because they heard screams outside as they lifted off.

They didn't speak until they had passed through the atmosphere and put a comfortable distance between themselves and the planet with no signs of a following ship. Then Mara looked at Elian with a raised eyebrow. "I get the feeling you've done this sort of thing before."

"Just enough to recommend you not make a return visit," Elian said, accelerating out of the system.


"You should rest. The next part may not be any easier."

Mara had been sitting at the port window for an hour watching the stars whiz by. There was no wonder on her face, only fatigue and maybe a touch of fear. Perhaps that was healthy. It meant her will to survive was intact, if depleted. She'd fought hard for it in Daiyu. While she'd been sitting, Elian had torn through two protein bars and a cluster of fruit that had looked appetizing but had ended up tasting of unwashed socks. He'd eaten them anyway. The food he'd put at her side remained untouched.

"Next part?" She asked dully, her fingers touching the transparisteel.

"We'll reach Naboo in six hours."

She sighed, and reached down to poke at the food with little interest.

"Eat. Then sleep. You'll feel better."

She laughed bitterly. "Yes, that's all I need."

He shifted awkwardly in the chair. Yes, he knew she needed more than a good meal and a rest. The last thing she needed was the monster she was sharing space with. That was what she was thinking.

"There are so many of them," She murmured, lifting her head again to look out at the stars. "I've always wanted to see them, and my mother always told me it wasn't the right time. I knew the right time would be never. I hated her for that sometimes."

There was nothing to say to that, so he didn't, opting instead for attentive silence.

She turned to look at him. "Do they all have planets?"

"Most of them."

"One of them doesn't," She said, a faint tremor in her voice. "And...are they all like that? Like Daiyu?"

Elian decided to tell the truth. "Only the inhabited ones."

The silence stretched. Elian turned away from her and made a show of adjusting their heading and checking their sensors.

"Why are you helping me?"

His fingers stilled over the controls. "My schedule has been cleared suddenly."

"I'm serious. Why?"

"What do you want me to say? I want you to survive. I need you to."

"What does it matter? You've probably betrayed a hundred people just like me."

Thousands, more like. He swallowed. "Terrorists. That's what I thought at the time. You can't really betray a murderer. That's what I told myself. Until...Alderaan. Then I couldn't deny anymore that we were the terrorists. The murderers."

He felt her steady gaze boring into his back and turned to meet it, flinching. "At least you didn't lose your soul there, Mara."

Tears hung on her lashes. "So...redemption? Is that what you are after?" She said in a voice choked with suppressed rage.

The corner of his mouth turned up. "Isn't everyone in the end?"

"Not your father."


He was with his mother again.

He knew his grandfather and the servants thought she was simple and childlike. "Witless", he'd heard one maid whisper. But to him she was sunlight; flaxen-haired and laughing every time they were together. His hand tightened on hers as they walked through the market. She had promised him a sweet from the baker's cart and they were making their way toward it. In the meantime she was telling him about his father.

That was another thing the servants whispered about. She'd left for a year long study trip to the city and returned heavy with child. But she'd always assured him his father was a very important man who would some day want to meet him, and she repeated the same refrain as he gripped her soft hand tightly in the brilliant day.

"Some day he will send for you," she repeated gaily, bending down and tickling him playfully. "And oh, how he will love my little princeling!"

He giggled, but stopped when he realized that her attention had been diverted elsewhere. Her guileless face suddenly creased with concern. Then she looked down at him and said. "Something is happening."

As he watched, her white-blond hair went red down one side of her head. Her eyes widened and then went blank and sightless as she murmured again, "Something is happening."

"Mother!" He screamed.

Then he sat up and opened his eyes.

Mara jumped back. Elian tried to catch his breath. Her eyes softened for the first time since they'd been off Alderaan.

"What did you say?" He said when he could breathe and had realized he was back on the shuttle rather than on Chandrilla.

"I said something is happening," Mara repeated, watching him closely.

He stood from his pallet and went to the controls. The proximity alarm was going off. They were entering the Nubian system. It was a shock to look at the huge sphere filling the cockpit window where hours before there had been only a pale blue dot. He mopped the sweat from his brow and surveyed the darker smears across the planet denoting land masses and the variegated blue of the oceans. This place was legendary, a name on everyone's lips when it came to art, culture, and natural beauty. Some of history's most charismatic leaders had walked those lands, even if Elian had been taught that a lot of them had been on the wrong side of the war.

No more. After the fall of Queen Apailana, a puppet government had been put into place. Access to and egress from the planet were tightly controlled, and there was a heavy stormtrooper presence in all the major cities.

But they weren't headed to a major city. When they had been discussing their approach, Mara had revealed to him another thing her mother had prepared her with; landing coordinates should she ever need to flee Alderaan. Elian imagined the stone-faced woman he'd met reciting those coordinates every morning and every night for the little ginger-haired girl, but never telling her the name of her father or where she'd come from. Whatever they were for; a family home, a rebel enclave, or a smoking ruin, the coordinates were pointing them to the opposite side of the planet from any major city and for that he supposed he should be grateful.

They were not far from making atmospheric entry when they were finally noticed.

"Unknown vessel, this is imperial cruiser 5301. Identify yourselves." A tinny voice said over the ship's comm.

Elian exhaled and hit the transmission panel. "This is the educational cruiser Gallipoli. We are inbound with staff to study the ecological system of Naboo."

"Please import your authorization code," the clipped voice replied.

Elian scanned in the cards from Marg's body. He felt Mara lean over his shoulder, listening, her body as taut as a bowstring with tension.

After a moment the clipped voice returned. "I am supplying you with landing coordinates. Please proceed to them immediately."

Elian let out his breath. He eyed the small imperial craft that were suddenly visible on either side of their shuttle. Then he threw the thrusters into full reverse. Mara stumbled against the control panel and held on with whitened knuckles. The imperial craft were suddenly in front of them.

"Strap yourself in," He said tensely and yanked the ship into a wild spin that had both their stomachs against their spines. "I'm going to try to make a run to the asteroid belt."

But it was too late. A huge impact rocked the ship. The dash lit up with red lights, six different alarms whooping in tandem. Out of the corner of his eye Elian saw the trail of black smoke coming from their left side. He clung desperately to the controls as the ship lurched and bucked violently. He glanced at Mara. She'd managed to get herself harnessed into the co-pilot's chair and was jerking the belts as tight as they would go. Her face was pale, her mouth pressed into a thin line. He sensed her resignation, and it brought a rush of anger through him so hot that it surprised him. "You want to live, right?"

Her wide eyes met his. She jerked her chin once in a curt nod.

He nodded back, then tightened his grip on the controls and looked ahead. "Brace yourself. When you can, after we...uh...land, get away from the ship. They will be coming."

They streaked across the sky like Hezallah's fire.


Mara opened her eyes. Above she saw unencumbered blue sky. It took several breaths to understand that her chest was in fact moving up and down and so it stood to reason that she was alive. Experimentally she flexed her fingers and then her toes. She was pleasantly surprised to find many areas of soreness and some of sharp pain but nothing excruciating. Every body part seemed to be accounted for.

She raised her head. She lay in what remained of the ship's cockpit. Behind the shuttle was a long path of char, pulverized trees and destroyed vegetation. Beside her, in the other chair, was Elian. His face was streaked with blood, and she could not see an area of exposed flesh without a cut or rapidly blooming bruise. Nothing looked mortal, but what did she know? Beyond him there was smoke, coming from somewhere beneath the ship. Then there was a lick of flame. Then it was growing larger.

Mara struggled out of the harness and pulled her legs with difficulty from the piece of the control panel that was on top of them. Then she turned to Elian.

It was no longer an option to leave him to die, she decided. A few days ago it would have been the only option. But now, she believed him. Leia would have called her an idiot, she was sure.

His harness was much more tangled and damaged than hers, and it took many frustrating minutes to get it open. When she was done, the flames beside them had grown large enough to make her face and hands uncomfortably hot, and though she didn't know much about ships, she did known from Daiyu that they were creeping close to the the fuel pod at this point. In a surge of strength fueled by panic, she looped her arms under Elian's and crossed them over his chest, her thigh muscles burning as she dragged him out of the wreckage. Then she kept dragging him, one eye on the rising fire as his feet bumped over the uneven ground. Finally, she collapsed in the brush perhaps fifty feet away. She'd just managed to roll herself partway on top of him when the fuel pod blew up.

She looked down into his face as the ground around them was pelted with pieces of debris. Of course he looked innocent and vulnerable. Everyone looked like that when they were sleeping.

Why did I do that? Why did I protect him?

She didn't have much time to think about it, because just then she heard the crack of a twig beneath a foot, even over the roaring of the flames behind her. She looked up and saw in the dim a circle of strange amphibious faces, and a dozen electrostaffs popping and crackling as they pointed at her head.

Mara scrambled to her feet, reaching back into her memory.

There was one more thing her mother had taught her, something she had not yet mentioned to Elian. She didn't even known what it meant, but she repeated the long phrase phonetically, just the way her mother had made her rehearse it along with the coordinates she must go to on Naboo if she ever had to run. Without knowing, what she said in Ankuran Gungan was; I claim the protection of the life debt between Sabe Naberrie and Ganye Opadda.

The electrostaffs immediately lowered, and the Ankurans all straightened from their crouches, looking at one another in bewilderment. Suddenly a human woman pushed past them all. She had once been blonde, now rapidly going to grey. She looked Mara up and down with eyes like blue fire.

"My Gods," She said. "You look just like him."