A/N: Ack! All of Arra's dialogue is supposed to be in brackets. Ffn keeps deleting them. :grumble, grumble, argh, argh: I'll go back and fix the earlier chapters when I can.

Part 2: The Sylel Wind

The next morning, after a long sleep and another meal, Jae was eager to get busy doing what he loved—repairing machinery. Arra was not satisfied. He inspected the boy's back and saw that the damage was beginning to heal, then studied him carefully as he walked about the med facility, proving that he was strong enough to get around on his own. At last the Wookiee shook his head, disapproval dark in his gentle eyes.

:He ought to rest for at least another two days: he said to Caeben, who leaned casually against the wall, watching the proceedings with languid gray eyes.

"I'm fine," Jae protested. "I don't want to be a burden."

Caeben shrugged, looking Arra in the eye. "The kid wants to get to work. Why don't we let him? We'll keep an eye on him, make him stop if it's slowing his recovery. But having a project to work on doesn't harm a convalescence—tends to help it, rather. He'll have more fun doing something he enjoys than lying in that bunk, fretting and fussing and wanting to get up."

Jae nodded quickly. "What he said. That's exactly right."

Arra shook his head slowly, watching the boy. :You are not a burden, little one.:

Jae bounced impatiently on his toes. "I know. You've told me that. I just want to fix something."

Arra looked at the floor for a moment, then at Caeben, his eyes dark with warning. :Don't push him, friend Caeben. We have plenty of time to get this scrap heap ready for another flight.:

Caeben grinned, standing straight from the wall. "You have my word, friend Arramylian. I'll watch over him as tenderly as if he were my own little brother."

Jae shook his head in confusion at this, but Caeben reached out a hand in invitation. "C'mon. I'll give you the grand tour."

The grand tour began with a good look at the outside. The Sylelian was proud of his beautiful ship, and he wanted his young fixer to get the full effect.

Jae took it all in: the gently curving lines, the smooth paneling, the almost organic molding. It was a gorgeous ship, more like a work of art than a hunk of metal designed to keep beings alive while hurtling through the empty void of space. The young Crenellian nodded to himself as he examined the Sylel Wind, going over a mental list.

"Well?" Caeben asked, waiting for an exuberant reaction. He never failed to get exclamations of wonder and delight from those who saw his lovely Wind. "What do you think, kid?"

"Impressive," Jae said. Then to Caeben's utter shock and wounded pride he added, "You've upgraded everything by at least a hundred percent, haven't you? I didn't know a ship of this configuration could handle that much."

Caeben mumbled something under his breath—most likely a curse. From the hatchway, Arra barked with laughter.

:She can't handle that much, friend Tallen: the Wookiee said. :That is why we need you.:

"Please show me the rest of your ship, Captain Matock," Jae said. Only the "captain" saved him from some choice phrases.

Caeben led him on a detailed tour, his proud mood spoiled. The boy continued to stun him at every turn with insightful comments and questions the pilot could not answer. Gradually his sourness gave way to reluctant admiration.

"How do you know all this stuff?" he asked as Jae began marking a datasheet with a list of supplies he would require.

"I don't know." The former waif glanced up with surprise in his blue eyes. "I just know what is right and what is out of place. I notice a cable slightly different from the others, an odd casing—it's mostly intuitive, I think."

Caeben shook his head in wonder. "You must be some kind of genius."

The boy reddened. "N-not really. I missed five years of schooling—can't do more than multiply and divide. But I know machines inside and out."

Arra snorted an amused agreement. He liked Caeben Matock, but he didn't mind seeing him taken down a notch by a youngster half his size. The Wookiee found it extremely entertaining.

Jae held out the datasheet. "Here's the list. I'll need it pretty soon."

Arra took it and prepared to set out. The items weren't all that expensive, but the quantity was a little surprising. Fifty Y2 couplings, sixty-five trans-nirem wires, thirty bren fuses . . . He took his credit pouch and was out the hatchway.

"Captain Matock, will you show me where the tools are?"

Jae went through the tools with several grunts of satisfaction and one yelp of surprise. He raised his head to stare at the pilot. "Where are the hydrospanners?"

"What?" Caeben jerked a startled glance at the boy.

"What happened to your hydrospanners?"

The pilot scratched his dark brown head, trying to remember. "Oh yeah. I lost them in a game of sabbacc."

Jae was slightly scandalized. "You gambled your hydrospanners? Captain Matock."

"I've turned over a new leaf since then, " Caeben defended himself, grimacing slightly in embarrassment.

The boy sighed. "I'll have to send Arra right back out once he returns."

"No, he hates that." Caeben flushed deep pink. "Look—you stay here. I'll go and tell him and help him carry back the stuff."

"All right," Jae said wearily. "I won't be able to do much until I get some hydrospanners. Get a whole set, okay? All the way from two millimeters to ten centimeters."

"Right. We'll be back soon. Just lie down and rest, okay?" Caeben disappeared out the hatchway.

Jae signed again and made his way back to his bunk. Nothing else to do, and he was still very sore, his back complaining at the slightest move. Eventually he drifted off.

X

Unfortunately, Caeben didn't know to which supply shop Arra had gone. He wasted a lot of time looking for him, frequently checking the list of addresses he'd gotten at an info kiosk. At last he went in the door of Jale's Droid and Mechanical Supply Stop and saw Arra over by the credit changer, ready to make his purchases.

Caeben was about to head over to him when he spotted a stormtrooper headed the same way. The pilot froze and ducked behind a display of multitools, hoping he hadn't been spotted. He hadn't done anything technically illegal lately, but you never knew . . . .

But the stormtrooper continued straight as an arrow toward Arra and the credit changer. Caeben stealthily moved a few feet nearer as Arra looked up in surprise into the vacant-looking helmet.

"What is your name and place of origin?" The stormtrooper's tinny voice rang out as the clerk began to warily back away.

:Arramylian, of Kashyyk: the Wookiee replied.

The stormtrooper turned to the clerk in irritation. "Do you have a translator droid?"

"One moment, honored sir," the Crenellian replied squeakily. "I will fetch one."

Caeben sneaked as close as he could without being seen, then hid behind a stand of spare mobilitors. The nervous clerk soon returned, shaking in his boots. "Deepest apologies, sir. I couldn't find one."

The stormtrooper shook his head impatiently. "It doesn't matter." He turned to Arra. "You are under arrest on suspicion of anti-government sympathies."

Caeben was all set to use his blaster when several other troopers emerged from various parts of the store, disarmed Arra, and manacled his hands. The leader reported via comlink.

It was too late. Caeben could only watch as his closest friend and companion was carried away into captivity. He knew he would never see him again.