"Impertinent, inconsiderate," Bastila grumbled "not to mention ill-advised!" The last words were punctuated by an angry twist at the sash as she fastened it around her house robe. She marched across the room from her bed towards the erratic staccato of the chirping comm-link. "Yes?" she hissed.
"Bastila, open up!" Carth's voice buzzed back. She pushed a button—Carth rushed through the doorway. His face was haggard and worried.
"Carth, it is the middle of the night!" Bastila mewled.
"And Jiara isn't back." He raked his hand through his hair; for a moment the two unruly locks that hung over his eye fell into formation, then slowly, stubbornly slid forward again. "HK said she hasn't returned, and even he is getting anxious."
"Have you called Canderous?"
"I've been hailing them both all night, no answer. I can't believe you let her leave with him!" Carth gestured wildly as he paced the room.
"I am not her keeper. When Canderous came to her door this afternoon, it was her decision to go with him. But you are right to worry—they have been gone far too long."
"When they did not return by sun down, I went searching—no one saw her. I checked every cantina within walking distance, and believe me, there are plenty here."
"Let me try the comm…knowing Canderous, he was ignoring your call," she said matter-of-factly. She picked up her personal comm-link and activated it. "No answer from Jiara," she said after a pause. "Now let's try the Mandalorian…"
"Make it good!" Canderous growled through the link. Surprise and relief washed over Carth's face. It quickly dissolved into anger.
"We've been trying to reach you all night," Bastila responded.
"I turned off my link. Damn Onasi kept beeping me every five minutes." Carth scowled at the communicator. "Timer must have reset, otherwise it'd still be off."
"Where have you been?"
"I've been… busy. Anything else?" he snapped back. His already thin patience was stretched to its limit.
"Where are you now, Canderous?"
"It's the middle of the night! Where do you think I am? I'm in my room!" he thundered back.
Bastila looked up barely in time to see Carth disappear through the doorway. She raced after him, frantically pressing on the comm. "Jolee," she yelled into the device "Jolee, get out here! We have a situation!" Carth was already at Canderous's room, banging furiously on the door, by the time Bastila caught up to him.
"Open up Mandalorian, before I blast my way in!" he yelled, not bothering with the comm-link. The door slid open to reveal a half-asleep—and half naked—Canderous. "Where is she?" Carth demanded.
"What…" Canderous growled back. "What's it to you?"
"Don't play games, where is…" Carth looked beyond Canderous's shoulder into the room. In the dim light from the hall, he caught a glimpse of a shape on the bed; there wrapped in the sheets was a small form with all the right curves in all the right places. "Damn you!" Carth muttered under his breath. He took a wild swing and landed a solid punch to Canderous's midsection. Instantly Canderous reacted; Carth dodged the left jab and went high with a left of his own, connecting hard with Canderous's chin. Canderous took advantage of the opening and delivered a devastating right uppercut into Carth's rib cage. There was a sickening snap: Carth doubled over, then rushed Canderous head first, grappling him to the ground. They fell to the floor a tangled mass of flying fists.
"Boys! BOYS! Carth, stop…Canderous, control yourself!" Bastila rushed towards them, then stopped cold as she too saw the shape in the sheets. "Oh…..dear," she breathed.
"What in the name of the Force is going on in here!" Jolee blustered as he arrived behind Bastila. "Alright, break it up," he commanded. The fighters ignored him. Carth smashed his fist into Canderous's nose as he received a solid punch just under the eye. "I said, break…it…UP!" Jolee held out his hand: the two suddenly separated and were roughly pushed apart. They landed across the room from each other with a heavy thud. Bastila knelt beside Carth.
"I believe I heard your ribs break. Where does it hurt?" she asked as she surveyed the damage. Carth's eye was already swollen shut while scrapes and bruises painted an angry map across his skin.
"Everywhere! It was like punching a Sandcrawler," he groaned looking at his bruised and swollen knuckles.
"Well, you certainly look like you were run over by one. We can't leave you like this—I'll see what I can do." Bastila closed her eyes in concentration. "Hold still," she instructed as she placed her hands over him. Carth winced as he felt his ribs begin to knit.
"Thanks for the concern, princess," Canderous shot from across the room. Jolee offered his hand out and helped the Mandalorian to his feet.
"Need a heal there?" Jolee offered. "That nose looks broken…"
"Naw, my implant is already on it," he said as he wiped blood from his lip with the back of his hand. "A worthy fight, I actually felt a couple of those hits. But, as much as I love a good knock-down drag-out, what the hell was this about?"
"Don't play dumb, sonny," Jolee's anger was clear. He pointed towards the bed at the form hiding beneath the covers. "Come on out missy," he demanded. The sheets slowly lowered around a green and brown-skinned Twi'lek woman. "What the…!" Jolee gasped.
"That's not Jiara!" Carth blurted.
"You thought…I bedded Revan?" For the first time ever that anyone could remember, Canderous looked shocked.
"Can I go now?" the Twi'lek whined.
"Yes girl, go on, shoo," Jolee said waving his hand while averting his eyes. She grabbed her clothes and shuffled to the door, the sheets clutched around her.
"Sure know how to show a girl a good time, Canderous," she huffed as she brushed past him. "Hmmph!" she added with an exaggerated head-tail snap. Bastila stared at the woman with consternation.
"Aren't you…"
"Lena?" Mission, Juhani and Zaalbar crowded in the doorway.
"Bastila, Jolee…what is all this commotion so late at night?" Juhani asked, her eyes scanning the room. Zaalbar let out a soft rumble.
"No way, it IS you!" Mission shouted. "Yuck!" Utterly mortified, Lena pushed her way past Mission and ran down the hall, the bed sheets trailing. Zaalbar roared after her.
"Don't waste your breath Big Z, she doesn't understand Wookiee. How did that space skank end up here?" Zaalbar mumbled a low howl. "What!" Mission spun around and looked directly at Canderous. Her cheeks blushed to a royal purple. "Oh GROSS!"
"Okay, show's over. Everybody outta my room NOW!" Canderous commanded. All that got him was everyone's undivided attention as they remained still.
"I owe you an apology," Carth began as he gingerly got up off the floor. Bastila's Force healing had done its work; evidence of the fight remained only as faded pink scars of new skin tracing his cheekbones and eye. But he was still sore, and he knew he would be for a while.
"This was honor," Canderous interrupted. "You thought I took your woman; I expect nothing less for such a charge. Had you accused me, then done nothing, I would have killed you where you stood. If it were true or not: if you do not defend your honor, you do not deserve to breathe, let alone deserve one such as Revan."
"Men," Bastila muttered. "Now that this is settled, would you care to tell us where Jiara is?"
"How would I know?" Canderous griped. "I haven't seen her since we got here this morning."
"But I saw you…" Bastila returned quickly. "I was with her in her room, you came to the door…"
"Wasn't me sister. I got tired of looking at these four walls so I went out for a drink. Lots of cantinas around here."
"That's true, Bastila, I saw him in the hall, watched him go… alone," Jolee insisted. "You sure it was Canderous at Revan's door?"
"I am certain. Not only did I see him, but Jiara told me she was going with him. She did not say where."
"I went out by myself. I wasn't much for company this afternoon," Canderous growled.
"That sure changed by this evening…" Mission snorted. Juhani giggled openly and even Bastila could not hide her smirk.
"Damn right," Canderous boasted shamelessly. Bastila rolled her eyes in disgust.
"This is getting us nowhere—we still don't know where Jiara is," Carth reminded. "I just wanna know where she is."
"We all do sonny. I am getting a bad feeling about this," Jolee muttered.
"A moment, Jolee, in the hall," Bastila motioned towards the door. Carth began to follow, but Bastila stopped him. "This is a matter for Jedi," she said coolly.
"Don't leave me out of the loop on this Bastila, Jedi rules be damned!" She did not answer him as she continued quickly from the room.
Once outside and the door was closed, Bastila pulled Jolee even further down the hall. "I know you used the Force to alter my thoughts, to make me forget the fight I had with him," Bastila whispered as she nervously watched around her.
"Really? Damn, I must be losing my touch," Jolee grumped.
"I only know of the fight, not what was said. HK told me."
"You don't want to know…" Jolee offered.
"From what I have heard, you are correct, I do not want to know. That is not why I asked you out here: I assume you also removed the Mandalorian's memory of the encounter?"
"Of course…ah, I see where you are headed with this. I watched him go alone to the elevator right after I cleared his mind of your shouting match. He did not go to Jiara's room."
"Could he have doubled back?"
"Even if he did, why can't he remember?"
"Maybe you used too much Force on him?"
"He is strong-willed, I had to use quite a bit, I admit, just to remove those few minutes. But you know Force persuade does not work that way, Bastila—you cannot affect future memories. He cannot recall being with her this afternoon because someone else removed those thoughts. Or, he is covering for her."
"I do not sense any deception in him. He is completely convinced he has not seen her since we landed on Coruscant this morning. Do you think Jiara cleared his mind? I am surprised she would do such a thing, given her own past with altered memories, but she would be strong enough to affect him if she chose."
"Good way to get a head start. She is under constant watch by the Council and that damned droid of hers. If she wanted to get away, this was a pretty good plan."
"She was greatly troubled when I saw her. You no doubt felt the darkness…"
"Did you find out why she unleashed it?" Jolee asked with as much curiosity as concern.
"You knew it was her too, didn't you? She was feeding on the fear and anxiety Carth had from proposing to her. She had slipped alarmingly far into the shadow. I tried to help her, but she was deeply ashamed and upset. I can understand her wishing to be alone. She told me she felt she could not be trusted." Bastila thought back to the conversation, a tiny gasp escaping from her as she remembered Jiara's words. "She said being with Canderous made her go away, disappear…"
"Well, it seems we have reached a dead-end. If she wants to be alone to sort things out, we wont find her. She covered her tracks well. Poor Canderous, Force persuaded twice in one day!" Jolee snickered.
"I wonder if I could retrieve the lost information…" Bastila pondered.
"You do not want to go fishing in that man's head. Let's keep that as a last option. You know he won't sit still for it anyway, especially from you," Jolee chuckled. "If he knew anyone was messing in his mind, we'd have a massacre…"
"You are right, I never should have even considered it. I will seek the Council immediately and inform them. They may have some insight." She turned to leave.
"Good luck," he called after her.
"Oh, you'll need it more than I," she said as she hurried to her room.
"What…?" The door to Canderous's room opened and Mission burst forth. Raucous squabbling and random Wookiee howls filled the hall around her.
"You guys better get in here quick, they're at it again!" Mission said breathlessly, then turned back to the doorway. "Hold him, Big Z!…Ooh, that's gonna leave a mark…" she cringed as she rushed into the room.
"I'm too damned old for this…" Jolee sighed as he headed towards the ruckus.