Chapter 7

"I'm not gonna repeat myself again, old man. Give us the goods, or I take off her pretty little head!" The pirate brought his knife closer to Keraa's throat, grinding his teeth, his two fellows chuckling behind him. Nikau, Mrs. Onari, and an old Pantoran man stood across from him, the latter holding out his hands pleadingly.

"I already told you, we don't have what you want! Please, let the child go!" he begged, his voice trembling. "You can have anything else here."

The pirate scoffed. "I don't want any of your useless crap! I want the Avital!"

"We don't have any harvested. It would take us several days to get some!"

The Weequay hissed in displeasure and was about to make quick use of his blade when a strong but slightly shaky voice pierced the air.

"Wait! We'll get you the plant!" The pirate turned, raising an eyebrow as he spotted Anaria, followed by three clones. She stopped a good distance from the pirate, motioning for the soldiers to stay put before continuing forward. "I know where to find some and I can get it to you before tomorrow evening."

The bandit seemed to be mulling it over, tilting his head back and forth for several seconds before smiling creepily. "Very well then. But I've got orders to bring it in right away. If I'm going to get crap from Vandrick about the fact that you filth don't have anything useful, then it better all be worth it! I want a cartful of the stuff at the front gates by sunset tomorrow."

"Sunset eh? Wow, aren't your cliché." Anaria frowned, folding her arms. "Fine then. You'll have it. But not if you don't let the kid go."

The man smirked, fiddling with his knife. "I have a better idea. How about I keep her until you give me the goods?"

Anaria's eyes grew dark and her lip curled slightly. "Or, you can let her go and I'll bring you the Avital tomorrow at the decided time, and if you don't stick to that deal, I'll have these lovely boys behind me blow your head off."

The pirate frowned. "Are you threatening me? You really don't want to do that girly."

"It's only a threat until I follow through with it. If you hate threats so much, I'm more than happy to turn it into a reality."

"I'm the one with a knife to your kid's throat."

"Don't screw with me, Daneel."

The pirate cocked his head, the smirk on his greasy face widening. "You clearly know who I am. So you should know those are pretty dumb words coming from someone in your position."

Anaria smirked. "Oh really?"

Daneel let out a cry, staggering back, clutching at his ear as a shower of blood suddenly splattered all over his face and shoulder. Keraa, no longer trapped by the pirate's grasp, quickly ran and hid behind Anaria, clutching her leg tightly.

Daneel cursed as the crimson liquid rand down his neck. "Damn you! What did you do!? Where-"

"Get out of here, or the next one is going through your head." Hunter had walked up to stand beside Anaria, his blaster aimed at the pirates as the old Pantoran man quickly got Mrs. Onari and Nikau inside.

Daneel bared his teeth, glaring poisonously at Anaria. She stared blankly back. "Tell Vandrick he'll get his drugs. Now get the hell out of here."

The Weequay motioned for his goons to follow him and the three headed over to their speeders. "This ain't over between you and me, girly. You're gonna pay for this."

The three men took off, Anaria making a rude gesture to their disappearing figures before scooping Keraa up in her arms, rubbing her back gently. "It's okay, sweetheart, I've got you."

Hunter switched on his comm, looking up at the mountain. "Nice shot, Crosshair."

"Naturally. I'm on my way down."

"Copy that."

Anaria looked at Hunter, smiling gratefully. "Good idea, sending him up there."

"It's never a good idea to just charge into something. You've got to be strategic."

Anaria nodded, looking at the ground sheepishly. "Yeah, that was pretty stupid of me."

"It certainly was." Tech and Wrecker came over to stand beside Hunter, the bespectacled clone shaking his head, his brow furrowed. "You do realize that by not evaluating the situation, you could very well have caused the deaths of all present?"

Anaria's face turned deathly pale and then switched rapidly to beat red as she averted her gaze from Tech's scolding eyes. "I… I know…"

"Hey, c'mon, Tech! She was just try'na help the kid!" Wrecker folded his arms, looking down at his brother with a frown.

"Be that as it may, running headlong into a situation like this would have been a foolish mistake."

"Yeah, well-"

"He's right, Wrecker." Anaria shook her head, looking down into the valley at the small clouds of dust that billowed into the air from the speeders. "That was stupid of me. However…" She looked stoically at Tech for a moment, her previous embarrassment gone, and an odd shade to her usually clear eyes. "As stupid as that was, I want you to remember something. I'm not a soldier. I'm not trained in strategies and battle tactics. The only thing I have to go off of are my instincts." She stroked Keraa's head, and the little girl clutched at Anaria's shirt, her big blue eyes sad and filled with tears. "I'm sorry if you think I'm an idiot, and though you might be correct about my poor approach to the situation… Never confuse my inexperience with a lack of caring."

Tech nodded slowly. "I can respect that."

"Thank you."

Crosshair appeared behind them, breathing heavily from his run down the mountain. At the same time, Nikau and the Pantoran approached the group, Nikau's face full of fury, while the old man looked cautious and concerned.

"Maatsu." Anaria turned to the man, a worried frown on her lips. "Why did they want the Avital?"

"I don't know. They just barged in and demanded it."

"What's Avital?" Hunter asked, and Tech adjusted his goggles.

"Avital is an herb that is usually used for medicinal purposes, primarily as a sedative."

Maatsu nodded. "Yes. However, what most don't know is that, when combined with certain ingredients, it can also be a hallucinogen or induce hypnosis. None of which are good in the hands of pirates, I might add."

Tech looked curiously over at the Pantoran. "You certainly know a lot about the plant's properties for someone from such a small village."

Maatsu looked at him. "I should. I'm a doctor."

Anaria put Keraa down, the little girl clinging to her leg and staring at Crosshair, who was being quietly updated on the matter of the pirates by Tech. "I don't want to give them any of the Avital… but I'm not willing to risk the kids' lives."

A couple of villagers began coming out of their houses, peering timidly at the small gathering in the middle of the road. Anaria pinched her nose in frustration, sighing. "We need to do this. Besides…" she turned to face Hunter. "I think this might work to your advantage."

He tilted his head slightly, his expression hidden beneath his helmet. "How so?"

"I need to get those plants to Vandrick by tomorrow evening… If I hurry, I can get them to him earlier than that… it would make the perfect distraction. While I'm delivering the Avital, you boys can sneak in and get your ship back."

Hunter nodded, folding his arms. "That could work…"

"Are you insane?!" Maatsu grabbed Anaria's shoulder, his face one of severe disapproval. "You cannot let the delivery of those plants be in any way attached to these clones! If Vandrick discovers that anyone from our village helped them, he'll come and kill us all! Don't forget, Daneel was just shot by the sniper, and he saw the others with you. He'll have informed Vandrick of their presence and will link them back to us!"

Anaria hesitated, knowing full well that Maatsu's words held truth. "I…"

"Maatsu's right!" A grouchy old lady stomped over to them, waving her fist. "They shouldn't even be here, and if you help them, girl, you'll get us all killed! These clones will cause nothing but trouble for us!"

"But-"

The villagers who had come out of their houses began to join in on the protest, some yelling for Anaria not to help the Batch, while others yelled for the squad to leave the village all together. The shouting grew louder and louder until finally, Anaria covered her ears and shouted to be heard above the tumult. "That's enough!"

The villagers grew quiet, and Hunter put a hand on Anaria's shoulder. "We don't want to do something that will put these people in danger… However, we can't just leave. We have nowhere to go and no way off this planet until we get our ship back."

Anaria nodded. "I know. That's why… I am going to help you." She folded her arms, looking at all the villagers. "I'm going to deliver the Avital to Vandrick tomorrow, and I am going to help these soldiers get back their ship. The way in which I do so will not put the people here in danger. Whether you realize it or not, I live here too, and so do people I care about." She patted Keraa gently on the head, giving Nikau a small smile. "I will not put their lives on the line. But I'm not about to just throw my hands in the air if there's something I can do to help someone."

Some woman in the crowd gave an angry shout. "They're soldiers of the Republic! Let the military bring them a new ship if they want to leave so badly!"

Hunter took a step forward. "We would if we could, but the only reason we're here to begin with is because we're the only men the Republic can currently spare to come all the way out here. We need to rendezvous with a cargo ship tomorrow evening to pick up medical supplies and rations to deliver to a battalion in need of help. No one else can do that. We need to retrieve our ship."

"And how is that our problem?! You got yourselves into this mess, get yourselves out of it!"

"Oh, shut up!" Everyone started as Nikau gave an angry shout, glaring at the crowd.

Anaria put a hand on his shoulder, calming him, but she too glared in disapproval at the people in front of her. "I know you're all upset because we have lived in constant fear for years, with no help from the people who claim to be fighting a war to protect us. And now, soldiers come to our village in need of our help, and it seems like a raw deal. Oh, they only come to our planet when they need something?" The Batch looked over at Anaria, expecting anger to be directed towards them in some way, but her anger was only directed at the complaining villagers. "Guess what… a tiny town in the middle of nowhere is so minute in comparison to the hundreds upon hundreds of people that are dying every day because of this war. People these men are trying to help. If there is a way that I can help them do that, with no risk to any of you, then why wouldn't I?"

"You can't guarantee our safety!"

"Yes, I can. Because I will never do anything that doesn't guarantee theirs." Anaria motioned to Keraa, Nikau, and the other children of the village, who had been hiding with Mrs. Onari upon hearing the angry shouting in the streets. "I promise I won't risk anyone's life. Why would I?"

No one responded. They all stared at the ground or nodded slowly, clearly at a loss for what to say. Anaria's argument was sound, and they all knew it. Anaria motioned for Nikau to follow her, and she picked up Keraa, walking back to her house. The Batch followed, looking back at the townspeople as they all slowly returned to their own homes. Hunter felt as though it was all too simple, just finishing the whole conversation like that. But of course, it couldn't be so easy.