Dhosana

Someone was pinching his earlobe.

It was weird and just a little bit painful. The strangeness of the sensation dragged Ben back towards wakefulness.

"...en? Ben, wake up! I do not think this is working."

"Try again," someone else said, and the pinching returned. Ben groaned a little and tried to push away the annoyance.

"That is it," a voice said, encouragingly. "Open your eyes, Ben."

He did so, slowly, blinking in a dull, grey light of shifting shapes. A face was peering down at him, looking concerned, and he mumbled a reassurance.

"'m okay."

"He is awake," someone, Pakat, said.

"I give thanks," another voice replied. He thought it was Shaarm. "Ooouli, I am not going to tell you again. Please sit down when we are travelling."

He was warm. It was one of the first things Ben noticed, tucked in against a broad body under a warm arm. The ground was shifting unsteadily below them, and he could hear engines. Of course, the speeder.

His eyes were trying to close again without his permission, and Pakat gave him a little shake.

"Shaarm says you cannot go back to sleep, Ben, I am sorry."

Ben wearily forced his eyes open again, and tried to bring the world into focus. He was propped up in the rear of the landspeeder, tucked between Pakat and Nenka. Ahead he could see Shaarm driving, and beside her, Tiki, and Ooouli half standing to peer back at them. Around them there was nothing but formless, shifting whiteness, pressing in on all sides.

"Where are we?" Ben asked.

"Just coming up on the moat at Tszaaf," Pakat said. "The fog set in about half an hour ago. You passed out as soon as we left the village so we let you sleep as long as possible. Then we could not wake you up."

Yes, of course, they had driven through the village. And before that they had been at the house. The house where they had abandoned Chana and Grandmother to the mercy of the three Jedi.

"Chana..." Ben said, his voice croaking and dry. "We have to go back."

Pakat patted his hair, soothingly. "Do not worry about him," the Kheelian said, though he himself was doing a poor job of hiding his terrible anxiety. "Chana can look after himself. How are you feeling?"

"Tired," Ben admitted, although 'utterly exhausted' would have been more accurate. He was still intolerably weak, his limbs felt slow and sluggish, and his head was pounding. There was dried blood on his face, and the painful stab of pins and needles in his legs was worse than the numbness he had felt before.

"That is no surprise," Shaarm said, from the front. "You have not yet slept or eaten enough to even begin building back your energy reserves. Ooouli, there is a packet of Ben's food in my medical bag. Can you... yes, that is it, good girl."

While Pakat took the packet of food and broke the block up into smaller pieces, Ben craned his head to look at the Kheelian slumped to his other side. Nenka was still pale and worryingly still, but the youth was conscious behind his closed eyes; Ben felt a gentle pressure on his fingers as he reached for Nenka's hand.

"How is he?" Ben asked.

"He is holding on, for now," Shaarm answered, in Basic, and then added. "We are almost there."

True enough, the fog on either side darkened and closed in as they passed over the bridge and then they were hemmed in on both sides by dark hulks looming in from the curling mist. They must be travelling now between the first rows of houses though they could be barely made out. The fog swirled densely on either side, gloomy and unbroken, even though it could not be later than midday. Shaarm navigated them confidently through the shifting, deceiving haze, passing other speeders and pedestrians who pressed in on both sides. Though the sounds were oddly muted and distorted, Ben could not help but feel the town was noisier and busier than he remembered, the mist full of ghostly shapes and half-formed sounds. He peered out into the whiteness as he ate the tasteless food Pakat pressed into his hand, and tried to fill in the blank view with what he could recall of their route to the medical centre. They had passed the railway, he was certain, and a school house. Perhaps a market place?

As Shaarm started to slow the vehicle, Pakat leaned forwards, looking around.

"Where are you going to wait?" he asked his wife.

Shaarm navigated a few turns, and then pulled the speeder in under what looked like a set of low scaffolding in a quieter side street. She stopped the vehicle and the fog-muffled sound of the engine fell away into silence.

"I think this should be out of sight," she answered Pakat, peering into the gloom. "The fog will do the rest for us. Good luck!"

Pakat nodded. He hopped out over the side of the speeder, and disappeared into the shifting mists.

"Where's Papa going?" asked Ooouli, curious and unafraid, her young voice cutting through the heavy air. She had obviously just about managed to contain her voracious spirit during the flight from Thet, but now was bursting with questions. Tiki just watched, silently, her cast arm held tight to her front and her thumb in her mouth.

Shaarm stepped easily over into the back of the speeder beside Ben to check on Nenka, and said; "Papa is going to make sure that none of the bad people, the ones who have been looking for Ben, are waiting for us." Satisfied Nenka was still stable, Shaarm then turned to Ben, peering into his eyes and taking his pulse. "Someone said that the first place they would watch would be a tavern or a medical centre."

Ben smiled faintly, remembering his own words from days ago.

"Why did Dada and Grandmother have to stay behind?" Ooouli asked. Ben winced, but Shaarm just sighed.

"You remember the Pechnar who came to the house last night? The ones I asked you not to talk to? We think they are not very nice people that are searching for Ben. Your Dada is going to try and delay them at the house for a while so they do not realise that Ben came with us."

"How 'not very nice'?" Ooouli asked, once again showing she was as sharp as a pin when it came to poking holes in an evasion. "Is Dada going to get hurt again?"

Shaarm turned around fully until she was facing the children.

"No," she said firmly. "Dada is not going to get hurt. Grandmother is there to make sure that does not happen, and Yanto and Diega, and Kerra too. They will be perfectly safe."

Ooouli nodded, although she did not look convinced. "But, Mama," she said. "What about Nenka, is he going to be okay? And Ben? How long is he going to have to hide from the bad people?"

"Well, we are really not sure if- "

"Why are they looking for him anyway, Mama? Do you think that-"

Shaarm sighed, rubbed her forehead, and interrupted, gently. "Ooouli, I know that your fathers and I have told you that you can and should always ask questions about the world whenever you want and that it makes us happy and proud to answer them. Well, perhaps, this time you should not take me at my word. Maybe you could just save all your questions up for the time being until Mama is having a less trying day."

Ooouli sighed dramatically, and sat back. "Yes, Mama," she agreed, unenthusiastically.

Ben had not yet had time to miss the sound of her voice when Pakat reappeared back out of the fog like a ghost taking form.

"You were right. They are watching the front entrance, just like you thought," he confirmed in a low voice, leaning over the door of the speeder. "I had to walk past a few times to spot him, but there was at least one Pechnar across the street. What are we going to do?"

Shaarm muttered a word Ben did not recognise, and pushed a hand through her mane in an oddly nervous gesture. "We'll have to go round to the staff entrance. We can carry Nenka in that way."

"If they are even a fraction as smart as I think they are, they will certainly have someone watching the back too," Ben put in.

"How many of them can there be?" said Pakat, looking doubtful. "Three at the house and one here...So many humans would draw a lot of attention."

"We do not know that the Jedi are all human," Ben countered. "But even then, they may have allies amongst the Kheelians. You said the Jedi were revered here. It would not take much to enlist the help of a local to watch out for us, eager to assist Jedi business."

"So what do you propose?" Shaarm asked.

"I'll wait here," Ben said, tiredly, "while you go on. It is me they are looking for, after all. Get Nenka to help. I can hide out here until you come back."

"We are not leaving anyone else behind today," snapped Shaarm shortly, and that was that. "Girls," she instructed, "go and sit next to Ben."

Ooouli and Tiki followed her instructions quickly, climbing into the back of the speeder and curling up at Ben's sides. Tiki wrapped one long arm around his chest and put her head on his shoulder. Ooouli took Ben's hand in her left and Nenka's in her right, and gripped them both tightly. Ben felt the Force, which had been silent since last night, give a flutter in his chest. It would not be enough to protect the children, not yet, but it would return given time. His Force sense was weak, wounded, but not crippled.

Shaarm looked them over for a moment, and then she readjusted Ben's coat, pulled up his hood and wrapped the scarf up around his neck and lower face to hide his features and the telltale bandages on his neck.

"The fog is a blessing," she said again, to Pakat. Then she looked back at Ben. "Sit still enough and do not talk, and you may pass for a child if they are not looking too closely."

With the three of them huddled together in the back of the speeder at Nenka's side, it seemed more than likely that a casual observer would see only a group of Kheelian children. But Ben knew these observers would be anything but casual. Still, they had little choice.

Pakat leapt into the space vacated by the girls in the front of the speeder, and Shaarm gunned the engine, weaving them out of the scaffolding posts of the construction site and back into the side streets.

The muffled hubbub of sound ebbed and flowed around them as they passed by other speeders and pedestrians, now visible through the haze. It seemed as if the fog was lifting a little, and occasionally Ben would see figures and groups ambling along the street or clustered in doorways. There was a general atmosphere of anticipation.

Crack!

A sharp bang on their left cut through the fog. Ben reacted faster than thought, pure instinct throwing him forward as he pushed both of the children down and curled his body to shield between them and the explosive. It took more than a moment for his exhausted mind to comprehend that no concussive wave had followed the sound, there was no bloom of fire; no blaster bolts or slugs whistled in the air. The sounds he could hear were cheering, not screams. He sat up slowly, forcing his fingers to release their iron grip on Tiki's jacket.

"Ow," said the little girl, with a scowl, waving her cast forelimb. "My arm."

Ben rubbed her ears in apology; "I am sorry, Tiki. I was startled."

"It is just a firework, silly," Ooouli told him, with some affection. "They can't hurt you."

Shaarm put a hand to her head. "Of course! I had completely forgotten it was Second Night."

Pakat nodded. "That's why there are so many people around."

There was a second bang further off in the distance that echoed oddly down the street. Someone whooped and clapped.

"There are always fireworks on second night, Mama," Ooouli added.

"Second Night? What is Second Night?" Ben asked, still waiting for his heartbeat to slow.

"Second Night of Kel-Marr!" Ooouli said, exuberantly. She was clearly excited.

"Kelmar?" Ben repeated, none the wiser. "I am sorry, that word isn't familiar."

"It is the festival for the eclipse," said Shaarm. She smiled, but Ben thought she looked sad. "I am sorry, I should have thought the noise would startle you, but the truth is I had forgotten all about what day it is. So much has happened."

"We are coming up to the med centre," Pakat warned, quietly.

"Right," said Shaarm. "Quiet everyone. Ben, keep your head down."

Ben ducked his head low against Ooouli's side, hiding his face, but tilted his chin so that he could see at least a narrow strip of the world outside beneath the hood. He tensed, not knowing what to expect, and not knowing if he would even be able to do anything about it if it did. They drove along the street in silence, passing the med centre on their right. Ben's eyes scanned both sides of the street, but if the Pechnar was still there, he saw no sign of him.

Shaarm drove them on past the centre and then after about ten seconds turned right into a smaller side street. She made a few more twists and turns until they had worked their way circuitously to the back entrance of the med centre. Shaarm pulled up the speeder and stopped it. They all waited in silence for a moment, scanning the alley and the rooftops around, but there was no sign of anything any larger than a skrallrat. It seemed that they had not been observed.

Shaarm finally switched off the engine, and hopped out of the speeder.

"I'll be right back," she told Pakat, punched the access code into the door lock, and was gone. Pakat himself went round to the rear of the speeder and started to prepare Nenka for being moved. The teen looked like he might have passed out again.

Ben looked around at the alley, and then up at the med centre. It seemed strange to think it had been just over two days since he had last been here. That was when he had first seen the Jedi. So much had happened in such a short time.

"Papa," began Ooouli, and Ben could tell another round of questioning was about to ensue. "Papa, what will happen if the Pechnar do not want to leave our home?"

"I do not know," Pakat said, sliding Nenka's blanket free and folding it carefully. "What do you think will happen?"

Ooouli seemed to think about this for a second, and then said; "Ben is going to stay forever, of course, but I don't think I want the other Pechnar to live with us too. One of them was very bossy."

"Whatever else happens, my darling, I think it is extremely unlikely that that will occur."

"But then what do we do? How will we ever be able to go home to Dada?" Ooouli continued, starting to sound worried. "If the other Pechnar cannot be allowed to know Ben is here..."

Pakat stopped fiddling with the landspeeder, and leaned over to talk to his daughter. "I am sorry, Ooouli, I do not have any answers for you. I wish I did. But we must all be patient and see how things turn out. And trust in Grandmother and Dada."

Ooouli scowled for a moment, and then she said, "Tiki is hungry."

Pakat sighed. "Of course. It has been a long morning for us all. As soon as Mama returns we will try and fix that. Oh, I think I hear them coming back. Ben, lie still."

Ben ducked down at Ooouli's side again, and Pakat pulled his coat back up until he was mostly concealed. The rear door of the med centre opened with a sharp bang, and Shaarm emerged, followed by four other Kheelians in hospital uniforms pulling a hovertrolley behind them.

"Over here," Shaarm said, and the medical team quickly gathered around the landspeeder. Ooouli gave her cousin's hand one last squeeze, and in a matter of moments, the Kheelians had Nenka settled carefully onto the trolley and were wheeling him back into the building.

"Please run his scans and prepare surgery bay two," Shaarm called after them. "I will be there in a moment."

Ben watched the medical team go, until they were out of sight, and then slowly sat up.

"Ben," Shaarm said, calling his attention. She sounded uneasy. "Listen to me. The administrator tells me that humans have come in looking for you, twice, since your surgery. Someone was here last night."

"They are watching the med centre, then." Ben said. "It's as we thought." This unrelenting, inescapable, blasted pursuit. Wherever he went, the Jedi would still find him. His options were slowly being cut off, one by one.

"What are we going to do?" said Pakat, looking anxious. "They will find out Ben is here the moment we go inside."

Shaarm looked Ben over, critically. Ben tolerated her inspection for a moment, and then said;

"What is it?"

"Are you certain that your current state is nothing greater than fatigue?" she asked. "Please be honest with me, Ben. I need to know your condition before I decide what to do. You have no other injuries?"

Ben shook his head, keen to assure her. "Nothing that you do not already know of, I promise. I think I used the Force- excuse me, my, ah, magic, incorrectly when I healed Nenka. I used too much of my own energy. I am just exhausted, but I don't think I've suffered any permanent damage."

Shaarm glanced back at the med centre, and then nodded. "Then there is nothing really I can do for you here?"

"No," Ben agreed. "And I would rather not draw any more attention to you and Nenka if at all possible."

Shaarm sighed. Ben understood; it was clear how much Shaarm was frustrated by her own helplessness at the whole situation.

"Very well," she said. "I have to get back to Nenka, but I do have another idea. You remember Yalani, the technician? He is not working today, because of the festival. Pakat, if you take Ben and the girls up to his house, he will be able to look after Ben and you can stay there out of sight while I manage Nenka's care here. I will call up and let him know you are coming. I picked up some saline for Ben – here."

Pakat nodded, and took the satchel she handed him.

"All right," he said. "Please let us know as soon as you know anything."

"I will," Shaarm said. She hugged Pakat, kissed the girls and ruffled Ben's hair.

"Take care, Ben," she said, and went back into the med centre. The door clicked shut behind her. Ben was unnervingly reminded of Grandmother's parting earlier that morning.

Pakat settled into the speeder's driving seat, and paused. He looked at the array of controls for a second and hummed, nervously. Ooouli squirmed free of her sister's grip and said;

"Stay here, Ben." She climbed over into the front passenger seat. "It is okay, Papa," the girl continued, sounding very like her mother. "I will help. That one is the ignition."

Pakat pressed the indicated button and the engine roared into life.

"Papa hates driving," Ooouli explained over her shoulder.

Pakat nodded, sounding miserable. "It is the worst. I would happily let Ooouli drive if she could reach the controls."

Pakat cautiously turned the craft around, and under Ooouli's apparently expert direction, navigated their way back onto the main streets of the town. Pakat drove very much more cautiously than his wife through the clinging mist, nervously avoiding other speeders and groups of Kheelians. Breaks in the fog showed them going in and out of shops, carrying boxes and containers. As the 'speeder passed close enough to the edge of the street to see clearly, Ben noticed that many Kheelians were setting earthenware or copper dishes on the step outside the houses. All part of the upcoming festivities perhaps.

Ben held Tiki's hand while his eyes scanned the shrouded roadway, pavements and buildings either side. He saw no humans, nor anyone showing particular interest to them or their speeder beyond that earned by Pakat's erratic driving. But a sense of foreboding still remained. Ben tentatively reached again for the Force, but it remained little more than a weak flicker, like a tiny flame caged behind his sternum. He dared not ask anything of it now, too afraid that even a breath of air on that frail light would extinguish it entirely. He just needed time and rest, to feed and nurture that flame. As Ben got stronger, the Force too would return. He hoped.

They passed on through the town, up a long residential street lined with small houses that curved up the low hillside. There were fewer people around now and the fog was thicker again, and full of a heavy quiet. Ooouli directed them to the right, down a narrow lane of close-packed round two-storey buildings, most of which seemed to be connected with an interwoven network of covered passageways, like a nerve cluster. Unlike the rest of the town, where modern materials had been used only to build up and out from a core of stone or brick, here every building seemed to be formed of identical pre-fab plates, though all were similarly worn, patched and altered. It was as if the entire neighbourhood had just appeared in one moment and then had been left to age for decades. Instead of the bustling activity in the lower town there seemed to be no-one around, although the area still had a festive air; every building had hundreds of long streamers in bright colours pinned to hang down across the doors and windows, and flags hung limply in the still air from roofs and rafters.

"Yalani lives down here on the left," Ooouli explained, as Pakat parked the speeder behind a low curved building barely taller than Ooouli. "All the Dhosana in the town live here."

"Ysella, ysella!" said Tiki, excitedly, pointing into the fog. Ben could see nothing though, and did not know what she meant.

While Pakat lifted Tiki down from the speeder and Ooouli was occupied with the bags Shaarm had packed for them, Ben shuffled to the edge of the craft. He had been testing moving his feet while they had travelled and he was reasonably certain, through the painful tingling in his muscles, that he had most of the sensation back in his legs. Ben thought he was being honest when he had told Shaarm that all he needed was rest and food. Now he just had to determine that his body wouldn't make a liar of his tongue. Ben intended to regain his independence as soon as possible, and this seemed a reasonable time to test the current limits of his strength. Cautiously, and gripping the edge of the speeder in a tight grasp, Ben swung his legs over the side and dropped down to the ground. It was a pleasant surprise to find his legs held his weight, though he didn't dare loosen his grip on the speeder. He was standing up at last. It was a good sign, even if he had a long way to go before he was back to his full strength, whatever that was. It could take days. Weeks, even.

"Ben!" Ooouli had spotted him. With another excellent impression of Shaarm's scolding tones she said; "Should you be standing up?"

Ben felt himself start to sway. "Probably not," he admitted, as his legs began shaking. Pakat caught him easily before he fell and hitched Ben up onto his back. Ben held on tightly, too satisfied with his returning strength to be concerned with Ooouli's scolding. Pakat and Ooouli took a bag in each hand, ushered Tiki in front of them, and the group set off up the narrow path.

The small round houses with their weaving interconnected pathways pressed in closely on each side as they walked up the narrow paved route between them. Ben could see many windows, but few doors.

Ben took the opportunity to ask; "Are you sure that Yalani will be happy to have four of us drop in unexpectedly, and on a festival day, too?"

"Oh, Shaarm will have called him by now," Pakat said. "But either way, the Dhosana have an even stronger respect for hospitality than we do. It is nothing of concern."

"And who or what are the Dhosana?" Ben asked, intrigued. It was reassuring that he had the energy to be curious again. He must be recovering.

"The Dhosana come from the west continent," Pakat explained, as they passed into an open space like a courtyard, surrounded by round walled structures. The stone slabs that paved the yard were scattered with hundreds of copper and duralumin dishes, clustered against the walls and under the windows. Curious.

"They are a different sub-species within the genus," Pakat continued. "You met Yalani before? You did not notice the physiological differences? I suppose Pechnar would not. Strange though; such things seem quite significant to us."

"And Yalani is a Dhosana?"

"A Dhosan," Pakat corrected. "Yes. As Ooouli said already the Dhosana tend to live together in clusters like this within the towns where they dwell. All extended family groups, I believe; everyone in the neighbourhood here is related in one way or another. Yalani lives here with his sister."

"Ysella," said Ooouli. "She is nice. She teaches history at the school."

They entered in through a narrow doorway, festooned with coloured streamers, into a larger round building a bit like an entrance hall. Brightly coloured sashes of cloth were draped across the domed roof. Eight corridors led off in different directions; Pakat consulted a chart on one wall, and then took the second passage on the left. The walkway twisted and curved round, passing through several more round rooms like hubs where further passages and doors interconnected and led away. At each, Ooouli or Pakat checked a wall chart or a map before picking a corridor. Many of the doors were decorated with flags, and garlands in a multitude of colours were hung along the ceiling of the corridors. Eventually they arrived at a small grey door, hung with hundreds of long streamers in blue and gold. As these shifted in the air currents, they could see the surface of the door itself was beautifully painted with green symbols, perhaps names. Pakat nodded to Ooouli, and she trotted forward and knocked, before scurrying back to take Tiki's hand.

There was a call from inside, followed by a moment or two of silence, before the door slid open. Yalani looked just as he had a few days previously when Ben had first met him at the medcentre, although instead of his uniform he was now dressed in a saffron yellow tunic the same colour as his fur, and looked perhaps even more confused. Now Ben was looking for it, he could see that Yalani was a little smaller in stature than the other male Kheelians he had met, something he had originally taken to mean he was younger. Yalani had perhaps longer ears too, and his eyes were set a little wider apart than Pakat's or Chana's. But how many of these tiny nuances of appearance were the characteristics of a Dhosan rather than Yalani's own features, Ben didn't know.

Yalani looked at the ragtag group standing in the corridor with unconcealed surprise.

"Hello," Pakat said. He sounded rather awkward, and Ben was suddenly aware that perhaps Pakat did not know his wife's colleague as well as Ben had initially supposed. "Hello. It is Pakat. Shaarm's husband?"

"Of course," Yalani said, nonplussed. He glanced at Ooouli and Tiki, and then at Ben. His eyes widened a little. "What are you doing here?"

"Ah," said Pakat, even more uncomfortable. "Shaarm did not call you?"

"The telewire system is offline," Yalani explained. "Because of the festival."

"Of course," Pakat said. "I had forgotten. Um. Well. You see, we need your help."

Yalani nodded, and stepped aside, still staring at Ben. "Then you must come in. Please."

The girls glanced at Pakat for a moment, and then scurried over the threshold. Pakat followed slower, still encumbered by the bags Shaarm had given them, and by Ben on his back. Ben ducked low to pass under the doorframe, and then they were inside the apartment.

As with Shaarm's house, the front door opened directly into the circular, domed main living space, although there the similarities between the two residences ended. In front of Ben's eyes the entire room was alive. A strip of guttering ran around the top of the walls, and from this hung a thick curtain of hanging plants that trailed down every surface. The curved walls themselves seemed to be made of some lattice-like framework, for every few centimetres some new cluster of leaves burst out from the walls, enclosing the travellers within a vertical garden. But this was no purely decorative foliage; Ben could see many plants he recognised from Chana's own kitchen garden back in Thet, and there was an entire section devoted to tarvaroot plants. The tendrils of Ben's Force awareness pulsed with life.

Ben was forced to pause his delighted observations as Pakat sat up, and Ben took the prompt to slide cautiously down from his back. His feet still held him up, but Ben did not have to test his legs for long as Pakat lifted him over, and sat him carefully down at the Kheelian's feet so Ben could once more lean against his forelegs. He looked around to see the children were just as engrossed as he had been; Tiki was staring up at the fronds of hanging moss in mute astonishment, while Ooouli was standing on her back legs, poking at a bright yellow plant growing by the door.

A quick call of "Ooouli," from Pakat had the older girl cease her own fascinated examination of the walls and she dropped quickly to Pakat's side onto one of the padded sitting mats. Tiki swiftly followed, squeezing into the space between her sister and father.

Yalani, in the meantime, stuck his head round an internal sliding door and called to someone. A distant voice answered. Yalani then went over to a small cupboard, one of the only pieces of furniture in the room, and pulled out a copper-coloured kettle, and a number of cups. It appeared that the Dhosana, whatever their differences, also shared in the tea ritual. The kettle was set on a hotplate to boil and cups were laid out on the floor before them on a gold cloth, and everyone lapsed into waiting silence. Ben glanced up at Pakat, and wondered if he ought to begin explaining why they had come. But the continuing silence from the Kheelians made him hesitate; after all he certainly did not want to commit another social blunder by speaking out of turn like he had at the Thet town meeting. Particularly as Yalani continued to eye them so curiously, but did nothing to prompt a conversation. Perhaps this was a different kind of ceremony than those he had previously encountered at Shaarms, and speech was not permitted at all.

Tiki began to fidget, and Pakat nudged her.

After a minute or so, Pakat coughed and said; "Your Kel-Marr decorations are beautiful."

"Thank you," Yalani acknowledged, and they lapsed back into silence. At last, the door off the living room slid open, and another figure, who had to be Yalani's sister, entered the room. From the deep blue colour of her fur it seemed clear that Ysella was another full grown adult, although she was incredibly petite, probably shorter than Ooouli, with a fine, delicate bone structure. She had the same long tapered ears and wide-set soulful eyes of her brother. She walked, however, with a strange uneven gait, and as she entered the room, Ben could see that one of her rear legs was tucked in close to her body, with the foot barely brushing the floor.

Ysella glanced around at them all though her gaze lingered on Ben, eyes wide with surprise. She said nothing, however, but limped over to the group and sat down carefully on a slightly raised cushion clearly designed for her. From close up, Ben could see her brown and grey clothing was sewn with dozens of pockets and pouches, and from the largest pocket in the front of the dress she drew out a small plastoid bottle and a wooden box. After some careful silent deliberation, Ysella chose one small bundle of leaves from the box and dropped them into the now steaming kettle. After one full minute Yalani lifted the kettle, and poured out the tea into each cup as Ysella held it up. She hesitated at the fourth cup, glancing at Ben, but Yalani nodded slightly and so she held out too. The children's cups were filled with juice from the plastoid bottle. Clearly this version of the ritual did not include the children, which Ben thought perhaps explained Ysella's hesitation in including him. Yalani handed around the cups, passing each over with several touches to the recipient's head. Ben accepted the teacup and the brush over his hair without a word. Following the others' lead, he drank the whole bitter scalding cupful down in one go, and managed not to grimace.

The draining of the teacups seemed to suddenly break the aura of tension the room had been under. Yalani sat back with a sigh, and Ooouli wriggled and laughed a little at something Tiki was doing. At a nod from their father, the girls dashed off to investigate the wonder of the living walls.

"We give thanks for the welcome," Pakat said, looking between their two hosts curious faces. "I am sorry that Shaarm did not give you any advance warning of our arrival."

Ysella waved the apology away. When she spoke her voice was quiet, but not shy. "Hospitality can and must be relied upon. There are no strangers in a Dhosana home. You must be Ben," she said, turning to look at him. "My brother told me about you."

Ben nodded. It might be the warmth of the tea or the sense of peace and familiarity about the home, but he was starting to feel exhaustion creep over him again. He rallied himself and his manners, and said. "And you, Ysella. It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance."

She nodded, gravely. "You look ill," she said.

"A little tired," Ben replied.

"So," Yalani said, clearly bursting for answers. "What is it you need help with? Is it the bracelet again? Because all of my tools are at work..."

"The bracelet?" said Pakat. "No."

"Something for the university then?" Yalani guessed again.

"It is...complicated." Pakat paused and hummed a little, looking at Ben and clearly at a loss as to how best explain their situation. Ben took pity on him, and decided that he would have to extend a little trust.

He turned to Yalani. "When we met I told you I was a colleague of Pakat's. I am afraid I was not being entirely honest with you. I do not want to burden you with the complexities of my situation, but it would be fair to surmise that I am...an exile. Other Pechnar are hunting me down, and they have already driven me from Thet. Now there are more Pechnar lying in wait for me at the med centre too. I would never have made it so far without Shaarm and Pakat and Chana, but I needed somewhere to wait for a day or two those who pursue me are gone."

He blinked, tiredly. Yalani and Ysella were both leaning forward, absorbed in the tale. "So you need medical attention?" Yalani guessed. "What is your condition? Ysella is right, you do look ill, and you seemed far healthier two days ago when you were undergoing surgery."

"It seems to be a form of severe exhaustion," Pakat said, saving Ben from trying to address the history of his Force powers and his near disastrous misuse of them. "He pushed himself too hard dealing with the naarm crisis. We think he just needs to eat, to have somewhere safe to rest and recuperate, and then his strength will return."

"I understand that you could not go to the med centre," Yalani said, "And we will do what we can to help, of course. But I am not sure why Shaarm sent you here. I am a technician more than a nurse, and Ysella a historian. There are many others who have better medical resources than us."

"Shaarm trusts you," Pakat said, straight-forwardly.

"Perhaps she thought we would understand what it is like to be an exile, to be alone amongst strangers." Ysella added, softly.

It sounded as if the pair would agree to help. Ben closed his eyes, just for a moment, to consider Ysella's last remark. It had been a long few days.

"As for the first, that is easy enough," he heard Yalani say. "It would be my pleasure to prepare a midday meal for us all, if you have not already eaten?"

"We have not," Pakat replied, quietly, sounding far off. "And the girls especially would be delighted to accept. But I think Ben might have to move directly on to the resting and recuperating part for the moment. Can I...?"

"Of course, this way."

Ben felt himself lifted up, but he was too tired to open his eyes to investigate further. He was carried and then set down somewhere soft and quiet. Far off, he heard one of the children laugh.

They were safe.

"Something is wrong."

A voice says; "What is it?"

"I don't know...I'm not reading any errors."

The man hearing this is blind. He rolls his head, but he can't see who is speaking. His arms are trapped. His body is awash with tides of broiling, dangerous pain, and his brain is pounding, as if it's being steadily crushed under some heavy weight.

"Try again," says the voice. "Maybe it's a glitch. I hate working with wetware. Start again from the beginning."

The closer voice says, right in his ear; "Where are you?

"I...I am..."

He stops. He doesn't know. Horror trickles, cold and rancid, down his spine. His mind is blank. He is waiting and waiting for an answer to appear, waiting for something to come flooding back, but there's just...nothing.

"I don't know," He says. His voice is a stranger's, a skeletal croak of sound.

"Still nothing," says the distant voice, anxiously.

Pain shoots up his arm as the heel of a hand crushes suddenly down on what must be broken fingers. He cries out, into the dark. Closer, the quiet voice says, "I am losing my patience with you. Stop. Resisting. Tell me what standard year it is."

"I don't know!" He says again, pleading. "Listen, I don't-"

There is a sharp, painful sting on his face. A violent backhand across his mouth.

"Quiet!" The voice snaps. "I've told you enough times." Then, to someone else; "Why isn't this working? A few hours ago you told me it was perfect."

"I don't know! But I don't think this is another trick. I'm sorry, but there just isn't any data to read."

"I don't accept that! Calibrate it again."

Someone touches his head, and the pressure inside ramps up until it's like his brain is being squeezed, like his eyeballs will burst right out of his skull. The voice beside him demands: "Tell me your age. Now."

He groans, and shakes his head.

What is your home planet?"

"I don't know! What do you want from me?" For all that he is tied down, he feels like he is spinning, untethered, into the crushing, buzzing, hum of pain centred on the side of his skull, and dragging him into the emptiness within.

"I want you to remember!" The voice shouts. "What is your rank? How old are you?"

"I don't...I don't know."

"What is your name?"