Carth:

            "Hey, geezer!  You're going to wear a hole into the floor if you keep pacing like that!"  Mission's voice jarred me from my thoughts.

            I looked over my shoulder to see her sitting on the bed with a datapad in her lap.  I guess beneath her smirk there was a semblance of concern.  I sighed.

            "You're probably right." I admitted.  "I just wish I knew what was going on down there."

            "I'm sure Rian'll fill you in on all the gory details if you let her." Mission said.  "She'll be back soon."

            "How do you know?" I asked.

            "I looked at the clock." she replied.  "Races don't take that long.  What's this damaged Morgana file you've got in here?"

            "Don't you know enough to leave other people's datapads alone?" I snapped.  I stormed over and snatched the datapad from her hands.

            Mission's lekku twitched.  "Well, what else am I supposed to do?" she demanded.  "I can't play pazaak by myself."

            "Why don't you play with your Wookiee friend?" I suggested.  I closed the datapad and slid it into the top drawer of the bureau.

            "Big Z's not really a good loser." Mission guffawed.  "I don't want him dangling me by my ankle if I win too often."

            Zaalbar roared something and nodded his head.

            "Well, maybe you could try to teach me Shyriiwook." I suggested.  "Frankly, I'm finding it very frustrating that I can't understand anything Zaalbar says."

            Mission shot Zaalbar a sidelong glance before giggling.  "I guess I could try.  What do you say, Big Z?"

            The Wookiee gave a perturbed snarl.

            "What did he say?" I asked.

            "Zaalbar doesn't think you have what it takes."  Mission's smile extended to both her Tchin and Tchun.

            "Let me be the judge of that." I retorted.  "Let's start with something basic.  How do you say 'yes?' "

            Zaalbar snorted derisively.  Mission bit down on her bottom lip to keep from laughing again.  Her face purpled with exertion.

            "I take it he said something other than what I asked." I stated dryly.

            Mission nodded.

            "Well, if he doesn't say what I'd like him to, you could just translate what he does say instead." I offered.

            "What do you say, Big Z?" Mission asked.

            The Wookiee glared at the girl, his mouth shut.  Mission groaned and hopped off the bed.  She trotted over to Zaalbar and jabbed him in the ribs.  The Wookiee remained silent, although his glare darkened.  Mission began to poke him incessantly.

            Zaalbar initially maintained his calm.  Every finger that landed in his ribs, however, began to wear at him.  The Wookiee's nostrils twitched, and I noticed his upper lip quivering.  There was a part of me that wanted to tell Mission to leave him alone, but deep down, I knew she wouldn't listen.

            Zaalbar blinked slowly.  His chest expanded to its fullest capacity.  Maybe he was taking deep breaths and counting to ten.  He of all people should know how to deal with Mission's antics by now.

            I was nearly knocked from my feet by the world shattering roar that erupted from Zaalbar.  Mission's lekku wilted and the color drained from her face as the Wookiee gnashed his teeth and snarled.

            Zaalbar howled one last time and threw his arms up into the air.  He stormed past Mission into the bathroom, slamming the door shut.  Mission looked up at me sheepishly.

            "Do you want that translated?" she asked.

            "Why not." I sighed.

            "He just started raving about how he'd give his life for you, but refused to teach you his language." she explained.  "Something to do with honor."

            "He can keep his honor." I muttered.  "I just wish I knew what he was saying without a translator."

            Mission joined me over by the bureau.  She opened a package of caffa beans silently.

            "Making caffa?" I asked.

            "Do you want some?"  Mission poured the beans into the filter.

            "Sure."  I leaned up against the wall.

            Mission flicked the 'on' switch.  My mind trailed off after the drone coming from the caffa maker.

            "Carth, can I talk to you for a second."  Mission regarded me with her dark blue eyes.

            I snorted and pulled myself back to reality.  "It depends.  Is this going to turn into another tantrum?"

            Mission's face scrunched up in fury.  "Tantrum?" she blurted out.  "I'm trying to apologize about last time, you nerf-herder!  Uh…"

            Her face fell slack while her eyes darted around the apartment.  Mission was a good kid, she just needed to learn how to control her outbursts.  Maybe she'd grow into it.

            "I mean, I'm sorry." she murmured.  Mission began to concentrate on pouring herself a cup of caffa.  "I didn't mean to get mad at you.  It's just that I'm sick of everyone treating me like I'm a helpless kid."

            I walked back to the bureau and picked up a mug.

            "Yeah, I know."  I offered her a smile.  "I'm sorry about what I said too.  I'm just a little on edge lately.  Not surprising considering all we've been through, but I shouldn't take it out on you."

            Mission's eyes flickered up.  They seemed to be regaining some of their impishness.  I put three heaping spoonfuls of sugar in my mug and poured caffa up to the brim.

            "Mission, you have to know that we don't think you're helpless."  The caffa burnt my tongue as I took a sip.  "We need you."

            "You really mean it, don't you?"  Mission looked like she was trying to contain her emotions, but she was beaming regardless.  "Nobody's ever said anything like that to me, not even Big Z.  He might think it, but he's not really one for words, you know?  Thanks, Carth."  She stuck the sugar spoon in her mouth as she tried to suppress a grin.

            "It's no big deal.  I know how it is."  I shrugged.  "Sometimes you just need to hear a few words of encouragement."  I smirked as I added, "Kids are like that."

            "Kids are like that?" Mission exclaimed.  She dropped the sugar spoon and pointed a finger at me.  "Listen you…"  She glared up at me and noticed my smile.  Mission laughed and nodded.  "I get it.  Okay, you got me.  You're pretty funny, Carth.  For an old guy."

            Our conversation was interrupted by the door opening.  Rian walked in followed by Bastila Shan who seemed to be making a conscious effort to remain at least an arms length away from the other woman.  Rian was haggard, her right arm hanging loosely and her bottom lip split open and bleeding freely.  But Bastila was unharmed save for a bruise darkening alongside her jaw and a matching fat lip.  I heaved a sigh of relief.

            "Bastila, you're alive!" I cried.  "Finally, things are looking up.  Now we just need to figure out a way to get off this planet."

            At my comment, Rian scowled.  Bastila sniffed and faced me with a cold stare.

            "You mean you don't have a plan to get off Taris yet?"  Her eyes bore into me.  "What have you been doing all this time?"

            "We were trying to find you, remember?" Rian cut in with a snarl.

            Bastila considered Rian out of the corner of her eye.  The Jedi appeared to be furious, although it came off as icy.  I reached for my goatee nervously and sloshed hot caffa over my hand.

            "I see."  Bastila's voice was clipped.  "Now that I'm back in charge of this mission, perhaps we can start doing things properly.  Hopefully our escape from Taris will go more smoothly than when you 'rescued' me from Brejik."

            Mission slammed the rest of her caffa.  The mug hit the bureau with a dull thud.  She turned to Rian.

            "This is the friend you had to rescue?" Mission asked.  With her eyebrow raised she looked incredulous.

            Rian shrugged.  "Where's the hairball?"

            "In the bathroom hiding." Mission said.

            The door to the bathroom flung open and the sulking Wookiee emerged.  The muscles along Bastila's shoulders contracted. 

            "Twi'lek." Rian commanded.  "Wookiee.  Follow the Maimed Twi'lek."  She pointed to herself.  "If anyone needs us we'll be in the cantina."

            Rian spun around and marched out of the apartment.  Zaalbar and Mission followed close behind.

            The door glided shut, leaving me alone with Bastila.  The young Jedi began to finger comb her hair.  She walked over to the bureau and inspected the half empty caffa pot.

            "I know you're new at this, Bastila, but a leader doesn't berate her troops just because things aren't going as planned."  I set my mug down and grabbed a towel out of the bathroom to wipe the caffa from my hands.  "Don't let your ego get in the way of the real issues here."

            "That hardly strikes me as an appropriate way of addressing your commander, Carth." she snipped.  "I am a member of the Jedi Order and this is my mission."

            No wonder Rian had disappeared in a hurry.  Our encounters had always been brief while on the Endar Spire, so I must have pushed from my mind what a pain Bastila could be.  She could have been the most powerful Jedi in the universe for all I cared, but when it came to being in charge of anything more important than her own bootlaces, Bastila Shan was useless.

            "It doesn't make you a good leader."  I took a deep breath, trying to control my frustration.  "A good leader would at least listen to the advice of those who have seen more combat than she ever will."

            Bastila's bloody lip jutted out as she wove her hair into braids with rigid jerks of her arms.

            "I suppose you feel that you are more qualified than I?"  She raised an eyebrow in what seemed to be a direct challenge.

            I groaned.  "You know, I had my doubts, but I figured the Jedi Council wouldn't put you in charge if you weren't prepared.  But here you are acting like a spoiled child!"

            There.  I said it.  Bastila swallowed hard and blinked.  I was just relieved that Rian and Mission weren't here to witness me scolding the woman who was supposed to be in charge.

            "I see." Bastila said finally.  "It's true that I don't have much military experience; perhaps I should not be so quick to judge.  Very well, Carth, what do you suggest we do?"

            Bastila looked at me expectantly.  I was thankful that she wasn't fighting me anymore, but my stomach began to twist itself into knots.  The Jedi woman was different than Rian, but had the same distinct ability to put me on edge and make me feel as uncomfortable as the smuggler.  Where Rian was feral and uncouth, Bastila was refined, but underneath her manners she was just as venomous.

            I cleared my throat.  "First off we can't get hung up on who's in charge; we all need to work together if we want to get off this rock.  The answer's out there, we just need to find it."

            Bastila nodded slowly.  "Well said, Carth.  Before we head out, do you mind if I ask you a few questions?"

            "What do you want to know?" I asked.

            "What can you tell me about Rian Vega?"  Her gaze was hard and unsettling.

            "You probably know more than I do." I replied.  "Her file was restricted to the point that I couldn't even access that her home world was Deralia."

            "Yet you know that her home world is Deralia."  Bastila's blue eyes were accusatory.

            "Because I asked her."  I held a hand up to shield myself from her stare.

            "Surely you must know something about Rian other than the bland facts on her file." Bastila persisted.

            "Well, she's pretty handy with two vibroblades." I offered.  "And she can drink quite a bit without throwing up."

            Bastila shook her head.  "Did she mention anything regarding her past to you?" she asked.

            "Not really."  I shrugged.  "Is there anything I should know about her past?"

            "No." Bastila murmured.  "I suppose not.  Is there a place in this hovel that I could rinse my mouth out?"

            I pointed towards the bathroom.  What was her problem?  Did she sully her mouth by talking to me?  I headed to the bureau and poured myself another cup of caffa.  If I was lucky, Rian wouldn't drink herself silly at the cantina.