Rian:
Strolling down the shimmering streets of Upper City Taris I was satisfied. My belly had been filled and Carth was concentrating on other things suspicious enough to watch besides me, so despite the stink of the Tarisian noble's superiority a smug look had crept to my face. Now all we had to do was find Bastila and call it a day.
I stopped walking when a hand clasped around my wrist. Carth motioned a finger to his lip with his free hand and nodded over to an alleyway.
"Davik says you missed your last payment." A scrawny old man was caught between two thugs. One of the street toughs drilled a finger into the man's chest.
"Davik doesn't like you missing payments."
"Here—I've got fifty credits! A down payment!" The old man's eyes were rounded and frantic. "That should buy me some time, right?"
The first thug, and obvious leader, shook his head chuckling. "Sorry, you're out of time. Now it's all or nothing. Davik can't have people not paying debts."
"But I don't have that much!" The man edged into a corner as the goons closed in on him. "How can I give you credits I don't have?"
The second thug piped in. "That's too bad. Davik's going to want to make an example of you. You're coming with us!"
The leader grabbed the man's arm and turned to walk away. The man desperately tried to wrench his arm free.
"No—Help!" the man cried. "Somebody help! They're going to kill me!"
Carth looked at me and I tried to stifle a groan. I thought he had said we needed to keep a low profile.
"I know we have to be careful about drawing attention to ourselves," he whispered. Carth looked like he was going to burst. "but are we just going to let them drag this guy off?"
"Hold on a second." The leader pushed the old man to the ground and stared directly towards us. "Looks like we've got ourselves a couple of witnesses here."
"Davik doesn't like witnesses." the second one sneered. I couldn't believe I was going to waste my time on these two.
"How does it feel to be the helpless one?" I shot the leader a feral grin as I unsheathed my two vibroblades.
"I don't like your attitude. I better teach you a lesson." He thought he could scoff at me? He was a dead man!
I leapt into the fray immediately. That way they wouldn't be given enough time to get a clear shot with a blaster. The leader's crony went down easy, the poor fool never saw what hit him. I hacked my blade across his eyes and he fell clawing at his wound.
The leader put up a fight. If it hadn't been for the second blade I carried, he would have cut me from throat to groin. While my first blade was still connected to his subordinates face, he struck. I managed to parry, but that was it. He was using the strength of both his arms against my weak arm, so things weren't exactly in my favor.
That's when he fell over. I noticed a smoking hole in his back as he slumped face forward. Carth gave me a triumphant wink. I wondered what would happen if I slapped him.
I leaned my weight on the wall of the alleyway. It must have been that cantina food, but I wasn't feeling so hot after that quick battle. The world was rapidly becoming more dizzying and the only thing that kept me from heaving my insides up was my pride.
The old man wrapped his gnarled hands around mine. He looked on the verge of tears as he fiercely shook my fists.
"Thank you—I owe you my life! Those bounty hunters were going to take me away and kill me!"
I just wanted to take a nap. Maybe lie down right on the street. Just a short little nap, then I'd be fine.
"My wife warned me not to take a loan from Davik. Now I can't pay him back. It's not good to owe a crime lord money. He'll just keep sending more bounty hunters after me until I'm dead!"
What did this man want from me? The entire Upper City of Taris had decided to start spinning and this guy thought that he could unload all his problems onto my shoulders. And Carth wasn't any better. He stood in the background like a wary parent watching a naughty child. I ground my teeth together.
"Maybe I can help you." I offered. I'd prove to Mr. "you have to rely on me but I'm going to be suspicious of you" that I was genuinely wonderful.
"You already helped me by saving me from those bounty hunters." The old man sighed and dropped my hands. "So unless you have a spare 100 credits to give me so I can pay off Davik, there's nothing else you can do."
"Here's 100 credits. Take them." I reached into the pockets of the orange jacket and fished out the proper amount. The old man's jaw dropped.
"You're going to give me 100 credits?" he stammered. "Just like that? I—I don't know what to say. Thank you! Thank you!"
He turned quickly running off, promises of paying Davik and loud "thank you"s in the air. I turned to Carth and grinned smugly.
"You're giving him 100 credits?" He ran a hand over his goatee. "Generous."
One point to Rian Vega! Carth was impressed. I shoved off the wall, but stumbled. Carth caught me mid-fall, the show-off.
"Hey, easy there." He tried standing me upright, but my legs had turned into the consistency of jelly.
"It was that damn cantina food…" I grunted.
He laughed bitterly. "I don't suppose the gaping hole in the back of your head has anything to do with it?"
"That's not a very polite thing to say, you know?"
"Alright, sister," He slung my left arm over his shoulders and wrapped his right arm around my waist for support. "we're going to get you to a doctor."
"Waste of time. I'll be fine." My protests were feeble at best.
"I'm sure." That lice-ridden bantha was laughing at me, wasn't he?
I clenched my eyes shut, trying to force the pain and nausea from my brain. I gave up trying to walk and eventually let Carth haul me through the streets of the Upper City. If anyone looked twice in our direction Carth would complain loudly about how irresponsible I was when it came to Tarisian ale.
Why was Carth doing this? He had no right. If he was smart he would have thrown me from the top of Taris' tallest skyscraper while I couldn't defend myself. Instead, Carth was selflessly taking me to a hospital. This didn't change anything. As soon as an opportunity presented itself I would take his money and abandon him.
When I opened my eyes, I was facing a stern looking gentleman. He was shaking his head at me, clucking "tsks" from the back of his throat. He raised a bushy white eyebrow over his dark eyes to give me a petulant look. I smiled with a child-like glee despite his discerning stare. He was nice even if he didn't want to admit it.
"I see from your appearance that you are an off-worlder. Still, you are welcome here. I'll not have it said that Zelka Forn refused to help somebody just because they weren't citizens of Taris."
See? I knew he was nice. Carth set me gently on a bench and I cradled my head with my knees.
"Do you require healing or medical supplies? I can treat almost any injury or ailment right here at the medical facility, except the Rakghoul disease of course."
"The lady needs some treatment." What was that sound in Carth's voice? I couldn't tell. My knees felt so knobby on my forehead.
"I can see that." Were they talking about me? "Who tried to stitch her head like that? A blind Rodian?"
"Hey, hey, hey!" I protested, raising a hand. "Carth rescued me! He's a good kid." Someone grabbed my hand.
"Oh great," Carth muttered. "I thought we got rid of that fever."
"Are you telling me she's been like this for a while?" Zelka demanded.
"I didn't want to move her."
"We don't have time for this nonsense. Hold her head still while I inject her with this."
That stung. But then I couldn't feel anything. Maybe I didn't have a head anymore. It wouldn't surprise me.
My vision started fading out. I guess it didn't matter too much, I mean, all that I was staring at was my knees. But I wanted to be at least slightly coherent for this. It was my disembodied head, after all.
"Telos? Why Telos?" Zelka Forn's facility was long gone. In its place was a massive bridge. That ship again.
"Telos made perfect sense." Who was that? His voice sent a burning flame spiraling down my spine, but I couldn't place it. There was no way that I knew him, yet the familiarity was unsettling.
"Telos would make perfect sense to a battle-hungry barbarian, but strategically it's worthless."
"We needed to test his loyalty."
"Those Republic codes weren't proof enough? You had to waste resources to demolish a pathetic rock as well?"
The tension on the bridge made me feel faint. I was slowly losing consciousness again.
"The Rakghoul disease is a terrible affliction that has plagued Taris for many generations."
"Rakghoul disease?" I tried to lift my head, but found that it was firmly pinned down.
"Yes," Zelka said. "you did ask about it, didn't you?"
"Sure…" My brain must have been leaking out of that hole in my head.
"It is spread by the Rakghouls, horrible monsters that live in the Undercity below Taris' great skyscrapers. Prolonged exposure to the Undercity breeds the disease and those infected will eventually mutate into Rakghouls themselves, becoming mindless beasts that feed on the flesh of others."
"Is there no cure?" A good thing to know if Carth wanted us parading around the Undercity.
"There is no antidote for the disease, though I heard the Republic scientists at the military base here on Taris were close to perfecting a cure." Zelka sighed. "Then the Sith arrived. They overran the military base and now they refuse to allow anyone access to the laboratories inside. The Sith are keeping all the serum for the patrols they send into the Undercity. If I could just get my hands on a sample of that serum the Rakghoul disease could be wiped from the face of Taris forever. But I don't see how that's going to happen... I'm all done with your head."
I sat up and was struck with another wave of dizziness. I leaned heavily on Carth's arm for support. I bet that amused him.
"Maybe I could find a way to get my hands on that serum for you." I offered. It was the least I could do for him piecing me back together.
"I don't see how anyone could get their hands on the serum." Zelka scrubbed his hands fiercely over a sink. Was that blood on his hands? I really didn't want to know.
"The military base is crawling with Sith guards. Breaking in there would be a suicide mission." He shook the excess droplets of water from his hands. "I suppose the Sith patrols in the Undercity might have a sample of the serum on them, if they hadn't already used it because of a Rakghoul infection. But I doubt a patrol would just hand the serum over." Zelka shot me an unyielding expression. "And nobody's stupid enough to attack one of the Sith patrols, even in the Undercity."
"Don't worry, Zelka." I waved away his warning with my right hand. "I'll get that serum for you!"
"Please don't say that!" His pallor grayed a bit. Zelka narrowed his dark eyes at me, and pointed a cautionary finger in my direction. "If the Sith hear you they might think I'm suggesting you start attacking their patrols. They could shut me down! I only mentioned the serum because you asked. I didn't actually expect anyone to get me the serum. Now, is there anything else I can do for you?"
I nodded, standing up. "Do you know anything about the Republic escape pods that crashed in the Undercity?"
It was worth a shot, right? At any rate, it felt like pachinko balls were rolling around in my skull and it's always more bearable when someone else is confused as you are.
"Republic escape pods?" Zelka didn't appear as muddled as I had hoped, but he did seem panicky. "Uh… no… why would you ask me that? I don't know. Those pods crashed in the Undercity. I'm not involved in any way!"
He was hiding something all right, and I'd bet my favorite vibroblade that it was juicy. It was amazing what I could stumble across just by cracking my head open.
"You seem awfully defensive about this." I gave a nonchalant shrug.
Zelka balled one hand into a fist and the color drained from his knuckles. "I'm not defensive! I just don't like being accused of knowing something about those Republic pods. This is as bad as an interrogation by the Sith!"
I could have pointed out that I hadn't accused him of anything, but I think his head would have exploded. I tried to give Zelka my best imitation of a winning smile. It was times like these that I wished I hadn't cut my hair so short. It was kind of difficult to rely on feminine wiles when I had a scrawny body and a little boy's haircut to match.
"Don't worry. I'm not with the Sith. I won't betray your secret if you tell me."
Zelka glanced from me to Carth, then back again. He sighed deeply, then shrugged.
"Well, you don't look like you're with the Sith. I guess… I guess I can tell you my secret. Or rather, I can show you." He nodded over to the back room of the facility.
The door glided open under Zelka's touch revealing numerous bacta tanks. Of the many, only two were unoccupied. The rest were filled with men and women wearing tattered Republic uniforms. I couldn't decide if a stunt like that took massive amounts of courage or stupidity, but I did feel safer now that I knew that people like Zelka Forn existed on Taris.
"Since the space battle overhead people have been secretly bringing in these Republic soldiers who crash landed on the planet." Zelka explained. "I had to take them in. What choice did I have?
"Their injuries are terrible, most won't survive. But at least I can make their last days more comfortable. And at least here they are hidden away from the Sith."
"Well, for that you have my thanks. It's good to know that at least some of these men ended up in compassionate hands." Carth's voice startled me. I had been so captivated with the soldiers in the tanks that I had forgotten he was there.
I recognized one of the men. His shaggy brown hair floated around his head like some kind of macabre halo, obscuring his face, but I knew it was him. The night before the Endar Spire was attacked, I had stayed up playing pazaak with him and a few others. As the night had progressed, I had scammed him out of nearly everything but his undergarments.
"I hate to imagine what the Sith would do if they discovered these soldiers here." Zelka murmured. "But since their initial questioning the Sith have not returned so it may be my fears are unfounded."
"Is there anything I can do to help?" I asked. The shaggy haired soldier kept my gaze.
"I'm afraid there is nothing more anyone can do for these soldiers." Zelka cleared his throat. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I should return to the front in case anyone comes in needing medical attention."
I nodded, letting numbness sweep over me. I walked towards the soldier floating in the bacta tank. My hand trailed across the glass as I searched for any glimmering of life. What was his name again? Tasgall, I think it was. Yes, Tasgall Vex.
"Tasgall," my voice cut through the quiet in the facility. I didn't like how small I sounded. "I cheated. I just thought you should know."
I reached a hand into the back pocket of my pants and grabbed my pazaak deck. That deck was more like an extension of myself, I never went anywhere without it. I kneeled down and set the pack of cards by the bacta tank.
I felt a hand on my shoulder and looked up at Carth. He had a wistful smile on his face.
"Hey, let's get going." He held out a hand and I took it, letting him hoist me to my feet.
"Okay."
