Chapter XXI – Cyborg: There Is Another
"Well, what do we have here? Another mixed bag, I see, but what a mix! An acklay, a weird droid, a stormtrooper, the galaxy's finest, some bird thing… and Luke Skywalker? Darth Vader? Boys, I do believe we've hit the jackpot! Boss'll be pleased! Take 'em this way!"
The muzzle of a blaster shoved painfully into the small of my back, forcing me forward. Again I attempted to wrench free, but the hulking Trandoshans holding me were far stronger than I. My hands bound behind me, my lightsaber gone, I had no choice for now but to comply.
What had I been thinking! It was a trap, a fool trap! I had blindly trusted the ring, leading the others aboard the cruiser without even thinking… and practically into the arms of the pirates. They had attacked us so swiftly that we were subdued before we could even draw a weapon… and before I could hide myself behind an illusion. They knew me for who I was, and they were not about to release me or let me out of my sight. Presumed danger was not the only reason for this vigilance – I was worth a fortune if they could turn me in to the Alliance.
Even the ring seemed to be confining me – the moment I attempted a mind trick on my captors, the ring bit painfully into my finger. A warning, perhaps? What danger was there in using the Force? I tried again – and this time the ring did not merely stab into my hand, it released a flood of its own power into me, counteracting the Force and forcing it back before I could draw on it.
Had the ring suddenly turned traitor? Had it decided I was not worthy to wear it? Or was it simply preventing me from cutting off the quest prematurely?
I turned my head to seek out the others. Ash hung limply by her legs from the grip of a Twi'lek like a butchered fowl in a market, wings askew. Two Whiphids were dragging a manacled Luke forward, hands clamped so tightly around his arms I feared they would break bones. Oddly enough, he seemed completely serene, as if he were merely taking a stroll with a friend. The Gotal-Zabrak duo holding Fett were having a rougher time of it, for the hunter thrashed and jerked in a desperate attempt to break free. Tuck was the only one of us humans who went uncuffed – not necessary, seeing as he was still unconscious from the stun blast to his chest and was carried over the shoulder of a Besalisk like a sack of laundry. On my other side, Jessa was shackled from neck to ankle with heavy chains and hauled by a cluster of Gammoreans, her eyes afire with fury. Nightwind, too, was chained, and it took twenty men to keep him under control as he reared and struggled to escape.
The creature leading us deeper into the bowels of the cruiser turned to smirk at us, pleased with her catch. She was a scarred dark-skinned Gungan, dressed in a sleeveless green leather bodyglove belted with scarlet reptile skin, a pair of heavy DL-44s holstered at her hips. Heavy gold rings pierced her curtain-like ears in several places, and her bare arms were banded with gold bracelets shaped like serpents. I scanned my memory, wondering if I knew this individual, but nothing was forthcoming. Then again, it had been over twenty years since I had seen Jar Jar Binks or any of his ilk…
"Relax, boys," the Gungan said with a sly smile. "Boss doesn't bite. Often."
Jessa let the Gungan know exactly where her Boss could bite her.
"My, my, aren't we in a pleasant mood." She spoke almost perfect Basic, without the added syllables typical of her kind's speech and only the slightest warping of the R sounds. "Trust me, we aren't the Empire. We treat our prisoners well, very well, until…" She shrugged. "Until Boss decided what to do with you, I guess."
"This Boss fellow sounds like quite a guy," Luke remarked casually.
"He's been around," she replied. "I'm his lieutenant. Call me Cleiko."
I inspected Cleiko more carefully. She wore no insignia, no sign of rank. Neither she nor her fellow pirates wore the mark of Black Sun – or any crime syndicate, pirate ring, or mercenary guild, for that matter. Independently operating pirates, perhaps? But if that was so, who was Boss? Who did she answer to?
"Tell us more about your superior," I requested.
"He wants it to be a surprise," Cleiko replied. "I'll only say this – he's a powerful creature in every sense of the word. He'll crush you to a pulp if you cross him. He has plenty of troops and servants to do his bidding. And his wealth would put your former estate to shame, Lord Vader. Even you could not claim to own your own planet."
"He owns a planet?" I repeated.
"Just a small, backwater, out-of-the-way planet," she said dismissively. "The natives call it Earth."
Jessa spluttered. "Earth? Who'd wanna own Earth?"
Cleiko gave Jessa a faintly surprised look. "You know of Earth?"
"Know of Earth? That's my homeworld!"
"Jessa, shut up!" hissed Fett, but Cleiko had already caught on. She motioned for the guards to stop, then strode up to the chained cyborg and stared long and hard into her brown eyes. Jessa glowered back fiercely. Had she still possessed lips, they would have been curled in a feral snarl.
"So…" Cleiko murmured. "So." A grin split her long mouth. "Boss will be most interested in you, young lady." She motioned sharply for everyone to continue.
"Hnnngh." That was Tuck, waking up at last. "What the…"
"Trooper's awake," the Besalisk informed Cleiko.
"We're almost there, don't worry about him." She led us down a final corridor, one that terminated in a set of blood-red doors. "And yes, he owns the planet of Earth. Not that it does him a whole lot of good in my opinion, but he enjoys it. Goes down for a visit sometimes. Fool natives don't even realize he exists, let alone that they're practically his property." She keyed open the door. "Wonder if he's even in… ah, he is!"
The seven of us were shoved into a room the size of a banquet hall, yet completely bare of any furnishing whatsoever. The walls were of smooth gray durasteel naked of any decoration. Grooves and scuffs patterned the steel floor, and one wall was made up entirely of a single great window revealing a spectacular view of the surrounding starscape. A solitary figure stood before that window, cloaked back turned toward us, clawed hands clasped behind his back. I froze in my tracks, stunned, until a jab from a blaster prodded me forward again. This could not be… it was not possible… I had expected almost anything but this…
"What the hell!" shrieked Jessa, echoing my thoughts.
Fett also recognized the ship's commander, and he stopped struggling and gave me a startled look, as if expecting me to assure him that he was hallucinating.
"Boss, I've brought them," Cleiko told him.
The creature turned to face us.
He was nothing like Jessa. I do not know how in the galaxy I got that notion. He was much taller, much stockier, less compact and streamlined, more exposed machinery and crazy angles. Her faceplate was narrower and longer, giving it a slightly equine look; his was quite clearly evocative of a skull. She moved like a panther, graceful, smooth, and stealthy; his gait more resembled an ancient reptile or a huge predatory bird. And his eyes… I had grown so accustomed to Jessa's medium-brown human eyes that the feral, yellow, slit-pupiled gaze that now fixed upon me sent a tremor down my spine.
"Where did you get this lot?" His voice was just as I remembered it – tinny and guttural, with a strange desperate edge to it like that of a man on the brink of insanity.
"General Grievous," I said aloud. There. I admitted it. I accepted that the impossible stood before me, that one of the most deadly leaders of the CIS had somehow risen, phoenix-like, from his grave to haunt me anew.
"What the hell!" Jessa had yet to come to grips with that, it would seem.
"They strolled onto our ship like fools, Boss," Cleiko replied with a smug grin. "Practically walked right into our arms."
"Hmph." The cyborg general strode closer, his acid-yellow gaze raking us, his voice rambling on like a flooded river, interrupted occasionally by coughing spasms. "Not much promise to this lot… boy's a scrawny thing… bird's useless… troopers are a credit a dozen… hunter looks pretty much spent… an acklay? Been awhile since we've come across an acklay, and he's young, can be trained…"
"Boss, look again," Cleiko urged, displeased that her commander seemed to have overlooked the obvious. "Look who leads them."
He met my gaze for a moment. No emotion registered in those reptilian eyes. "Darth Vader, fellow cyborg, deposed military leader." Another bout of hacking. "What's so significant about that?"
"The Rebellion is willing to pay for him," she pressed. "A grand price too…"
"What makes you think I want the Rebellion's money?" demanded Grievous.
Cleiko hesitated, startled at being rebuffed. "It's a fortune, sir!"
"And I have a thousand such fortunes already, why do I need another?" His glare was on his lieutenant now. "The Rebellion can have him once I've finished with him, but not before."
The Gungan frowned. "The Rebellion doesn't pay well for damaged goods."
My guts clenched. So Grievous' sadistic ways had not changed at all.
"What the hell!" Jessa screeched for the third time.
"And what's your problem?" Grievous rounded on Jessa now.
"You're supposed to be dead!" Jessa retorted. "Obi-wan Kenobi shot you in the guts! You fried like a bug! What are you doing here?"
"Such cheek for a droid…" he snarled, grabbing her by the neck.
I attempted to jerk free, intent on coming to her aid, but the Trandoshan guards hissed warningly and held me fast. I had always feared Jessa's mouth would be the death of her, and it seemed that premonition would come to pass…
But upon locking eyes with her, Grievous froze. Jessa held his gaze, surprised but unafraid, perfectly at ease despite the grip on her throat. The two cyborgs continued their mute standoff for several minutes, not moving, oblivious to the puzzled stares of the guards and fellow captives. Grievous had seen her eyes, seen that Jessa was no droid, but a machine-creature like himself, and it seemed he had no idea how to proceed.
At last, one claw at a time, Grievous released his hold. He took a slow step back, his gaze never leaving hers.
"So," he murmured, "there is another."
She nodded.
"When?"
"Five years ago. On my birthday, no less. What a present, huh?"
"What of Dalzor?" he inquired.
"Dead," she replied. "For a couple years now."
"I see."
And with a swift, brutal motion, he grabbed the chains that bound Jessa and tore them apart like damp paper.
"This one," he informed Cleiko, "will be my guest. Take the others to the cell blocks."
Shock suffused the Gungan's features. "You can't be serious!"
"Are you backtalking me?" snarled Grievous.
She curled her lips before whirling to face the guards. "Follow me to the Detention Block…"
"No!" Jessa exclaimed.
Grievous eyed her coolly. "You think your voice carries authority here, child?"
She glared up at him. "My friends and I come as a package deal, cyber-breath. If you have me as a guest, you have them as guests. If you have them as prisoners, you have me as a prisoner. Got it?"
The silence could have been cut with a lightsaber. At any moment I expected the general to explode in rage and crush Jessa…
But to my great surprise, he gave a barking, coughing laugh.
"You have some nerve, child!" he rasped. "You'll go far if you don't get yourself killed first." He turned to Cleiko. "Change of plans, Lieutenant. Take them to the living quarters and get them cleaned up. They'll join us for dinner tonight. But keep guards outside their doors at all times."
The Gungan gaped. "This is a joke, right?"
"Don't push my patience, Lieutenant," he growled. "Follow my orders if you want to leave this room alive."
Flushed with rage, she whirled and stormed out. Dumbfounded at our sudden turn in fortune, we followed, still surrounded by guards. What had just happened?
Break…
When we met Jessa again, it was in the mess hall of the cruiser at the evening meal. The chamber was packed with creatures of every species and profession – bounty hunters, pirates, smugglers, big-game hunters, slavers, mercenaries, bodyguards, escorts, spice dealers, hustlers, computer hackers, and virtually every grade of scum one could scrape off the dank underbelly of the galaxy. The walls rang with laughter, chatter, and drunken caterwauling as they took an opportunity to relax, totally oblivious to our entry despite the fact that we had a half-grown acklay trailing after us.
"You guys all right?" Jessa inquired, pushing past a Quarren to reach us.
"Confused, but all right," Luke replied. He gave her a puzzled look. "What's going on? And who is this Grievous, and why is he supposed to be dead?"
"During the Clone Wars, a cyborg general named Grievous surfaced. He was a cruel and ruthless foe, fond of slaughtering Jedi and keeping their lightsabers as trophies. Shortly before Order 66 was given to eradicate the Jedi, Master Kenobi was sent to find and capture or destroy him. He reported back that the general was dead." I decided not to mention what had gone on after that announcement – despite the passage of a quarter of a century, the wounds that ordeal had torn still burned.
"In the movie, Kenobi killed Grievous by shooting him in the exposed internal organs," Jessa added. "No one could survive that." She shuddered.
"So why is he among the living?" asked Tuck. "Especially after you claimed he had been 'fried like a bug?'"
"Turns out the movie was a bit skewed on that point. Kenobi did shoot him, but missed the organs. He hit his hip joint, and he fell. Then Kenobi kicked him over the edge of a cliff. Of course, he assumed the fall killed Grievous, but apparently he's a tougher cookie than Kenobi thought. By the time he clawed his way to a working ship and got to Mustafare to meet with the rest of the CIS leaders, though, it was all over. Nothing but dead bodies. So he scrounged up a crew and decided to go solo." She gestured to the gathered criminals. "And here we are. Not a criminal empire exactly. More like a country club for criminals. They have a place to recharge, resupply, take a load off… for a price."
"And your planet is the country club," I theorized.
"Only a few make it to Earth," she replied. "He owns property on over a dozen systems…"
She fell silent as Grievous approached our party. The droid general placed a clawed hand on her shoulder and addressed me.
"I take it your friend has been telling you my story," he growled.
"As she stated, General, we are a package deal," I replied, giving a respectful bow. "If we believe others in our company will benefit from information, we give it."
He nodded once. "You and your company have nothing to fear from me, Lord Vader… yet. But I warn you – the first sign of treachery or intrigue, and all deals are off." He addressed us as a group now. "You are all under guard from this moment on. You may not leave your sleeping quarters without an armed escort. And the lower levels of this ship are off-limits to you. Understood?"
"I thought we were guests," muttered Fett.
Grievous' eyes flashed. "Hold your tongue, hunter. I am being generous. Don't make me rescind the privileges I have given you."
"Understood, General," I replied.
"Good." He motioned for Jessa to follow him. "There are things we must discuss…"
Jessa gave me a nervous look – finding herself the sudden object of General Grievous' fascination was undoubtedly unnerving. I could do nothing to help her, however. And besides, at the moment he seemed to be no threat to her. Curious, perhaps, but not a threat.
"This is weird," Tuck whispered. "I thought we were going to be locked up. But he's actually letting us wander his ship."
"Not necessarily," Ash pointed out. "We are still under guard. And there is the matter of the lower levels. I wonder what he must be hiding there…"
It would have been wiser if Grievous had never mentioned the forbidden levels of the ship. If he had just kept silent, we would never have suspected anything. But the knowledge that he had secrets locked away in the bowels of the ship only served to pique our curiosity, and the moment the evening meal had ended we met in our sleeping quarters – in actuality a large storage room refitted to accommodate four men, a bird, and an acklay. Jessa was not present, still in Grievous' company, and for the first time I noticed what a glaring gap in our fellowship her absence made.
"We have to find out what's down there," Luke insisted. "It could be important to our quest."
"I dunno," Tuck replied worriedly. "He's kind of extended his trust to us. And I get the feeling a guy like this doesn't do that lightly. If we go down there, the consequences could be nasty."
"Then we don't get caught," Fett replied shortly. "That simple."
"He's obsessed with Jessa," Ash pointed out. "That works to our advantage. Not only does it keep him occupied while we investigate, but it means we have a handy source of information. She can keep us informed of what he tells her."
"What do I do?" asked Nightwind. "Want to help."
"You can stir up a distraction," Luke suggested. "Occupy our guards."
He bobbed his head eagerly. "Okay! Know just what to do!"
He must have sensed something we had not, for the moment we exited our quarters he was off like a shot. I wondered what he was up to but decided not to question him until we had finished our investigative mission. While the guards pursued the "mad acklay," we split up and departed in different directions, with strict instructions to return to our quarters in half an hour.
I drew on the power of the ring, and this time it responded, cloaking me in its illusionary power. I slipped down a side corridor and made for the stairs. Taking a lift would be far too obvious to anyone searching for us. And besides, a lift was the worst possible place to be cornered…
The ring tightened warningly as I descended the stairs, a silent reminder to be cautious. With every additional step I took, it grew colder and colder, until the chill spread into my bones and threatened to freeze my blood. So something was down here… something ugly… terrible… something that could spell our doom…
The lights on the second level were dimmed to a quarter of their normal capacity. It was difficult to make out anything in the indefinite light, but I could only assume there was nothing of interest here. I prepared to descend to the next level…
"…quite the menagerie, don't you think?"
Grievous! I froze, straining to hear. Who was he talking to…
"You don't always keep them here, do you? I mean, not that I wouldn't mind taking my own private zoo with me wherever I went, but I think they deserve some space to roam, don't they?"
A cold hand gripped my stomach. Jessa!
"The bulk of my collection is on another planet, and yes, they have plenty of space. Only a few accompany me on my travels."
"Where did you get the white tiger? I hope you didn't steal her…"
A rasping laugh. "If it's my planet, it's not really stealing, is it? No, actually, she came from a zoo that had too many of the creatures and not enough room. They thought she was going to a botanical garden in Korea, of all places."
Jessa's clear laughter. "It's still kind of hard to believe that you, of all people, are interested enough in our dirtball planet to want to buy it off the Empire. I mean, it's not exactly a Mecca of technology or culture…"
"It has its charms." A pause. "Cleiko tells me it's your homeworld. And you mentioned that Dalzor had taken you from your family."
Jessa did not answer.
"We were on our way to Kessel to drop off a few of our spice dealers…" He paused to consider. "That can be postponed. Perhaps, my child, we can arrange a detour. Track down your parents."
Shock drove the breath from my lungs. Was that compassion I heard in his voice? Impossible! This was NOT the Grievous I had encountered so many years ago! That creature had been sadistic, insane, cruel beyond belief, incapable of the slightest bit of empathy toward any living creature…
And yet had I once been described using those very terms?
Jessa was quiet for a long time. I waited, sure that she would see his offer as some kind of ruse, sure that she would decline.
"You'd do that for me?" she replied softly.
"For you," he replied. "Jessalyn, do you know how long I have searched this galaxy, seeking another like me? Do you know the torment I have gone through, shunned as an abomination, a freak?" He laughed, but not the ruthless laugh of a beast, but softly. "Of course you do. You, of all the creatures among the stars, know what I have been through. You and I are alike in many ways. Surely you see that."
"But… but we're not that alike. I'm human and you're… well…"
"Never was. But that is an insignificant detail of the past. This is now."
Jessa sighed. "I can't go. I've made promises to the others. I can't…"
"The others? Admit it, Jessalyn, they think we're freaks. Monsters of technology. Even Vader, a supposed cyborg, is more human than machine. Even he oozes revulsion when he lays eyes upon me." He gave a bitter, coughing laugh. "Throw your lot in with me, Jessalyn. You will never be a monster in my eyes. You will be honored as you should be."
"That's kind of you, Grievous…"
Their voices faded as they continued down the hall. I stood in the stairwell for the longest time, trying to digest what I had just heard. What had caused this great change in the general? Had he mellowed with age? Was he smitten by Jessa? Or a combination of both, perhaps? And that had most definitely NOT been the Jessa I had come to know. Her sarcastic wit, her acerbic edge, her bizarre sense of humor… none of that had been evident in her words with the droid general. "Lovestruck" was too strong a word… but was it possible that she had feelings of some kind for General Grievous?
A snarl brought me back to my senses, and I turned to see one of the Trandoshan guards behind me, leveling a blaster at me.
"I was just leaving," I assured him, waving me hand.
He grunted and stepped aside. So the mind trick worked this time. I would have to puzzle out why it was being so selective later.
The ring burned like a red-hot brand all the way back to our quarters, but why I could not fathom. I had seen nothing to indicate what our quest would be, and while I had felt a general unease in the lower levels, I had no idea what threat lurked down there. The only possible explanation was that our mission here was to defeat Grievous… but he had shown no sign of open hostility yet. Quite the opposite, in fact…
Jessa! Of all of us, I would have thought her the least likely to get tangled up in something like this!
Luke, Fett, Tuck, Ash, and Nightwind were already gathered when I arrived.
"About time, Father," Luke said with great relief. "You're fifteen minutes late. I almost came looking for you…"
I cut him off and related everything I had seen and heard, leaving out no detail, no matter how small. By the time I had finished, I had everyone staring at me, open-mouthed. Everyone but Ash, who simply looked grim – or as grim as a bird can appear.
"So Jessa is not one of us anymore, be it temporarily or permanently," she remarked gravely. "And something nasty awaits us on the last level…"
