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Chapter Five - Planting Seeds
"Every action you take, every word you speak, is a seed planted. Make the galaxy bloom." ~Tri Delta AgriCorps saying, 243 BBY
Asharé watched Midge walk away and felt eyes on her. Surreptitiously, she looked around, spotting faces in windows and people loitering in the street. She didn't sense any unkindness, only curiosity. She went back inside and closed the door behind her.
In the end, you'll be alone, Jedi.
The words ran around Asharé's mind like a herd of wild banthas; destructive and inescapable.
"Master?" Binah.
Asharé strode toward the back of the house. "I need to meditate."
She darted into one of the bedrooms, then closed the door and fumbled with the manual lock. Everything she'd seen so far was pretty low-tech.
Sinking to the floor at the end of the bed, Asharé sought guidance from the Force. What had that jolt of premonition been?
When she'd been younger, she'd had dreams and visions, as did many initiates. But as she'd grown, the visions had become murky—clouded by something dark—until they'd finally stopped. When she'd asked one of her instructors about it, she'd been told that the Jedi Council was aware of the situation, and not to worry about it. This was the first time in years it felt like something of the future was trying to reach through that veil of darkness to make itself known.
But as she dropped into the flow of the Force, nothing was forthcoming. Asharé breathed, hand over her heart as Master Jenro had taught her, and tried to see. Still nothing. Only clouds and mist and tendrils of darkness that called out for her to wrap herself in them so she could tear the mist apart and take what she was looking for.
Asharé inhaled, and on the exhale, gave the darkness to the Force. As feelings of frustration or anxiety came up, she breathed and gave them to the Force. As she let go of the darkness and anxiety, something new brushed the edges of her awareness.
A light.
A song.
She stood, half in a trance, and followed the song. At the back of the house, there was another door and she opened it. The door led to a small fenced backyard. It was still winter brown, but hints of spring were everywhere. Asharé opened herself completely to the Force, allowing her senses to be flooded by the life energies around her. She toed off her boots, peeled off her socks, and stood on the cool ground.
Zilmaris sang through her veins; it's people, it's plants and animals. Everything on this hemisphere was awakening.
Force! How long had it been since she'd walked barefoot in the grass? Coruscant was all steel and glass and duracrete and she didn't realize how disconnected she'd been until this second.
Asharé basked in the wellspring of life that was the planet on which she stood. The darkness that had been whispering to her since Iridonia withdrew. She wasn't even disappointed when the feeling of connection began to fade and leaving only a slight buzzing in her little fingers and the back of her skull.
Whatever the future held, she could face it.
Renewed, she picked up her boots and socks and went back inside.
The clones and Kiri had arrived while she'd been communing with the planet. They all clustered around the table munching on whatever they'd found in the refrigeration unit. Asharé dropped her boots by the back door and joined them, reaching over Poli's head to snag a long slice of some pale blue fruit.
"Wow, that's good," she said after swallowing a bite.
[I agree,] Kiri rumbled. He grabbed two more slices. [We need to find out what this is and get more.]
"Translation," Hart said, poking the Wookiee in the ribs.
Kiri purred a laugh reached for EM-6, but Asharé beat him to it.
"He says we need more of this." She held up her half-eaten slice of fruit.
"Agreed," the clones all said at the same time, the grinned at each other.
It felt as if all the terrible things of past week had just been a bad dream. Happiness and contentment filled the room.
"So, where's everyone bunking?" Ripp asked.
Asharé's happiness factor dropped a bit. "Did anyone show you the house across the way?"
The clones deflated a bit too.
"No," Ripp said.
"Well, let's go check it out," Asharé said. "Just to look around."
"We can drag mattresses over here and all bunk on the great room," Kiri said, via EM-6.
That brightened the mood back up. They finished eating, Binah and Hart ushered the younglings out the door while Asharé and Kiri put the food in the refrigeration unit and the dishes in the sink.
As Asharé and Kiri stepped outside, they found everyone still clustered around the door, and two newcomers, a man and a woman.
"I was just saying hello to your friends," the man said. "I'm Roh Tithatan, and this is my wife, Kina. We live next door and just wanted to come over and welcome you."
Asharé smiled. "It's good to meet you Roh, Kina."
"Do you need anything?" Kina asked. "Midge oversaw the cleaning of the houses, but Roh and I weren't sure if you had food, or bedding."
"We've got food," Asharé said. "We were going to get a few more mattresses from the other house and bring them over here."
Roh smiled. "We can help with that. Let me grab a couple of fellows."
"We can manage . . ." Asharé said.
"It's no problem," Roh said, jogging off up the street. "Meet you at the house."
Kina smiled apologetically. "Husbands," she said, as if that explained everything.
They all headed over to the Cinn house. The front door was unlocked, and Kina let them in.
"Doesn't anyone lock their doors?" Asharé asked.
"Not really," Kina said. "Midge pretty much interviewed all of us before allowing us to come to Zilmaris. She didn't let anyone come who she had questions about."
Asharé was shocked. To have that much control over who came to a planet to colonize . . . Midge was either extremely well connected or extremely wealthy. Or both.
Roh showed up a moment later with five men in tow; two humans, two Twi'leks, and a Duros. The men went to the bedrooms and started hauling mattresses. Asharé, Kina, and Binah pulled out blankets and food and packed them over to the house with the dubious help of the younglings. By the time Asharé and her group make it back, the men had shoved the couches and chairs out of the way and moved all the mattresses into the great room. Asharé tossed her armful of blankets onto the mattresses to be sorted out later.
"Thank you," she said to their guests.
Kina took the hint and started herding the men out of the house.
"You need anything, you just let us know. I make a mean wirry pie, and I'm willing to share the recipe."
Asharé hoped wirry was some type of meat. "I'd like that."
She said goodbye to their guests and closed the door, leaning against it as she pressed the heels of her palms into her eyes, behind which a dull headache was starting. The buzz she'd had from her earlier contact with the lifeforce of Zilmaris was gone, and she just wanted to curl up somewhere quiet and dark. When she dropped her hands from her eyes, she found Kiri and the clones watching her.
"What?" she asked.
"You look tired," Hart said. "Why don't you take a hot shower and get some rest. Kiri, Binah, and I can take the younglings out to explore the town."
That sounded amazing, but it was only a few hours past noon. If she were to sleep now, she was afraid she would be awake the rest of the night.
Asharé smiled and shook her head. "I'm fine. Let's go explore."
With a little cajoling from the younglings, Dune and Ripp were convinced to join them. Outside the sun was falling westward and the air had picked up more of a chill. Through the trees of the mid-street park and the houses beyond, Asharé thought she detected the glint of light off a body of water.
"Let's head that way," she said.
Adults and children came out of their houses as Asharé's group walked. A couple of yellow-skinned Twi'lek children a little older than Liri and Zaig ran up and paced the group a few yards away. More children joined. Then a few adults.
"I can't tell if we're being herded or hunted," Hart said, eyeing their growing escort.
"Observed," Asharé said.
If there's any hunting, it will come later, she thought.
Passing the houses on the west side of the street, they came out to a cleared space. The water Asharé had seen was a broad river. A mill with waterwheel sat on the near bank. Further up the river a stable and corrals were seated near the field where Orn's ship sat gleaming in the sunlight. There were coups filled with clucking fowls, and pens with different animals that lowed or bleated as they reached their heads through the fences to nip at the grass.
"Do you kids want to see something interesting?" a Twi'lek male asked, breaking the silence. He was crouched down at the bank of the river.
Tana-Di, Poli, Zaig, Liri, and Vash all turned their eyes to Asharé.
She smiled. "Let's see what he found."
The younglings whooped and rushed to the male's side. Asharé and the others followed.
The Twi'lek, yellow-skinned like the two children who had first started following them, reached into the water and pulled out a pear-shaped object, snapping it off a vine that extended back into the water.
"It's called river paloley," he said. He dug a sharp nail into the paloley's rind and began pealing it. "They grow in the lake too. The rinds are tough, but the flesh is sweet."
He bit into the peeled fruit, then handed it to a little Twi'lek boy at his side. The little boy took a mouthful and hmm'd happily.
Showing us that it's not poisoned? Asharé wondered.
She crouched and dipped her hand into the frigid water, pulling up a paloley.
"Not that one," the Twi'lek said. "It's dark blue; unripe. Find a lighter colored one."
Asharé pulled up another paloley, snapped it off the vine, and—for lack of a knife or sharp fingernails—bit into the rind then peeled it. She took a dainty bite of the fruit.
"That's good," she said. "A little tart."
"The lake paloleys are sweeter," the Twi'lek replied.
A long hairy arm reached over Asharé's head and plucked the paloley from her hand. Kiri popped the rest of the fruit in his mouth.
"Hey, that was mine!" Asharé feigned indignation.
The Wookiee grinned, bearing his fangs at her.
Ripp crouched and thrust his hand into the water. "I want to try one."
"Me too!" Liri and Zaig said, moving up on either side of the heavy gunner.
Asharé grinned. She wondered if Ripp realized that the twins seemed to have chosen him as their preferred companion.
Vash tugged Dune's hand. "Pal'ee?"
"Sure, kid," the ARC said, letting Vash lead him to the water's edge.
Some of the other colony adults and children joined them, and soon they were all eating paloleys and talking.
"Thank you for this," Asharé said to the Twi'lek.
He smiled. "I couldn't let you all just wander around looking lost. Figured someone had to come welcome you to the neighborhood. My name's Ilar."
"I'm Asharé. Roh and Kina came over and said 'hi'."
Ilar nodded. "They're good people. Alderaanian. Lost some family in the war, like most of us here."
"Is that why you're all on Zilmaris? Because you lost family?"
"That's a big part of it. Some people just wanted to get away. Some lost everything—homes, jobs, loved ones—and this was a good place to start over."
"And how did Midge find you? It seems like she's handpicked everyone on Zilmaris."
"I don't know all the details," Ilar said. "For me, she showed up at a refugee camp on Ryloth. She walked around interviewing people. When she got to my family, she asked about our situation, if we had any family that would miss us, and a list of questions that apparently meant something to her. Then she handed me a little medallion and said to meet her a few miles outside the camp after midnight and tell no one."
Some of the adults had drifted closer as Asharé and Ilar talked and a few of them spoke up.
"It was the same for my family," a human man said.
"My husband and I had a similar experience," a Duros female added.
There were nods from other colonists.
"What about you group?" Ilar asked. "You came with Orn. Did Midge interview you on her last trip out?"
Asharé hesitated to answer. It sounded like she and her group had bypassed some protocol, and she didn't know if that would be okay or not. Looking for her friends, she saw Dune and Ripp still busy fishing out and peeling paloley for the younglings. Hart and Kiri were hovering at the edge of the group. Kiri nodded almost imperceptibly. Trusting to the Force, she told them as much of the truth as she dared.
"We were trying to find passage to the Outer Rim on Vicondor when slavers took an interest in the younglings and Kiri. We were almost caught by them, but Orn rescued us and led us to his ship. I think he contacted Midge before we landed, or maybe he just decided to show up and charm her—"
This brought chuckles from the colonists.
"—But either way, she's letting us stay for now."
"Good thing, too," a human woman said. "Slavers going after the younglings; that's just disgusting."
More nods and murmurs of agreement.
A breeze blew off the river, and Asharé shivered. It was a good thing spring was on the way. If the winters were as bad as Midge had said, they'd all need new coats before the next one.
"We should probably head back," Hart said, moving to stand next to Asharé. "It's getting cold and we've had a long journey."
The other parents agreed and began rounding up their children.
Asharé leaned into Hart's side for a brief moment. "I hope what I said was alright."
"They needed to know something about us," the medic said. "We ought to talk later and get a story in place. Like Orn said."
"Yeah. I think you're right."
They rounded up the rest of their group and headed back to the house. Once they were all ready for bed, they gathered in the great room and settled down on the mattresses, and Kiri turned out the lights.
For some reason, Asharé's senses were on high alert. Perhaps it was being on a new planet surrounded by strangers. She'd felt safer on Orn's ship in the middle of hyperspace. She tried to meditate, since sleep eluded her, but found herself distracted by every creak of the house.
She finally rolled onto her side, trying to find a comfortable position, when a body curled around her, and a heavy arm draped over her waist. She froze. Who had been lying next to her? All she could sense in her discombobulated state was that it was one of the clones. She tried to remove the arm from around her middle.
"Quit squirmin'," a sleep rough voice muttered.
Whoever it was tightened his arm, pulling her more securely against his chest, and Asharé gave up. She lay still and listened to those breathing quietly around her.
Force save me from snuggly clones, she thought silently.
But the pressure around her waist and the warmth against her back eased a subtle tension in her muscles that she hadn't been aware of. Her whole body relaxed, and her breathing evened out, synching with the rest of the sleepers. Asharé slept.
For the first night in nearly a week, she didn't dream of Zyr or Sweep Company.
Dune came awake in an instant as he'd been drilled to do since he'd been decanted. Asharé was still pressed to his chest, asleep. His arm was around her waist. Dune retrieved his arm and sat up, looking around at the others. A few feet away, Kiri's eyes glittered at him briefly. Then the Wookiee curled tighter around Binah, who seemed to have her hands clenched in his fur.
Dune wasn't the only who'd been giving comfort, apparently.
The younglings clustered around Hart and Ripp, though Tana-Di was pressed up against Binah's back.
Dune stood and snagged his boots, then slipped out of the house. He tugged his boots on, said his daily remembrances, then stood looking out over the town. He wanted to move. To do something. Maybe he'd go for a run. He'd probably get blisters from the boots, but it was better than standing still.
This wasn't the life he'd envisioned for himself. He'd expected to die on some bloody battlefield. He'd never expected to face old age. He'd rather charge a battalion of battle droids . . . in his blacks . . . with only a vibroblade.
He could practically hear Wraith's voice in his ear. So gloomy, ner vod.
Dune imagined Wraith standing next to him, clad in civvies and toe-pinching boots. There would be no familiar clack of armor when their cloth covered shoulders touched, but the greeting would have been welcome.
"What do I do, Wraith?" he murmured.
What do you want to do, vod'ika? Wraith's warm hand would have closed over the back of Dune's neck, offering comfort.
Dune smiled. Wraith had always claimed to be older. Much like Asharé. He looked up at the stars, still clearly visible in the pre-dawn sky.
"I want to find our brothers."
You always gave poor Sted and the others the cold shoulder, Wraith would have said in response. Now you want to go find them?
"It's your fault," Dune said. His smile faded. "Do you think they got off Iridonia?"
Don't see why not. They're a canny bunch.
Wraith had really liked Sted and Mistral Company. The two of them—Wraith and Dune—hadn't been permanently assigned to a company since they'd completed ARC training. Dune hadn't wanted to get to know any of the vode too well, and Wraith had been okay with that.
But this last mission, Wraith had started talking about sticking around. Becoming part of Mistral. Dune had been torn. He didn't want to be partnered with any other ARC, but staying with Mistral was just opening himself up to being hurt again.
To live is to hurt sometimes, Wraith said. But it's also to find the good in each moment. Stop being so melancholy, vod'ika.
"When did you become a philosopher?"
Since you conjured me up out of your emotionally wracked mind. A teasing grin. But I forgive you.
Dune sighed. If he was going to run, he'd better do it. He wanted to be back before Asharé or the younglings woke.
Behind him, the door to the house opened, and Hart and Ripp stepped out.
"Want to run?" Dune asked.
"Fek, yes!" Ripp said. "A grav-mill's all well and good but sometimes you just want to move."
"You are moving on a grav-mill, di'kut," Hart said, scruffing Ripp's hair.
Ripp rolled his eyes and smacked the medic's hand away. "I know that. But you don't go anywhere on a grav-mill."
Dune envied their easy banter.
"Well, stop talking and let's get going," he said.
He took off at an easy jog to warm up. Ripp and Hart followed.
Wraith had been right. Mistral were good vode. All the brothers they'd fought with had been. Dune wished it hadn't taken him so long to see that.
Roh and Kina showed up at their door right after breakfast. Roh roped Kiri, Ripp, Hart, and Dune into helping with plowing the fields.
Kina, Asharé, and Binah herded the younglings to the house where the crèche was run, and left Binah to help the mothers who ran it. Ilar was there dropping off his boys too, and returned with Kina and Asharé to Kina's house where a group was gathered to help prepare lunch for those working in the fields.
"Is your wife helping with the plowing?" Asharé asked Ilar as they walked.
Kina drew in a hiss of breath and Asharé realized she'd touched on a sensitive subject. When she reached for the Force, she could feel waves of sadness rolling off the Twi'lek male.
"No. My wife passed away this last winter," Ilar said. "It's just me and my boys, Siha and Ekod, now."
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean—"
Ilar smiled a sad smile. "You didn't know."
When they arrived at Kina's the Alderaanian woman set Asharé and Ilar to breadmaking, with Ilar acting as teacher, since Asharé had never done it before. They worked side by side, and occasionally his shoulder or hip would brush hers. He'd give her a shy smile, and apologize. Asharé might not have minded so much, if his interest in her hadn't been so blatantly obvious through the Force.
She wasn't sure how to tell him she wasn't interested. If he'd known she was a Jedi, it wouldn't have even been an issue. Everyone knew Jedi didn't form attachments. But now that she wasn't a Jedi anymore . . .
Ilar reached out and brushed his fingers across her cheek. "You had some flour on your face," he said.
Asharé sighed. It was going to be a long day if she couldn't find someone else to work alongside. Or just work up the guts to tell Ilar she wasn't interested.
Between making fresh bread for sandwiches, preparing and baking the lirry pies, and cutting up fruit and vegetables, it was nearly noon when they were finished.
A Duros female brought up a team of equines called icona and hitched them to the wagon while the rest of them loaded baskets of food and drink into the back. A Twi'lek couple, Bril and Nima, brought up three more icona each, saddled for riding. The icona had shaggy silver-blue fur with black stripes, liquid blue eyes, and whipcord tails that ended in a tuft of silvery-blue hair. A short bristly mane ran from the top of their skulls down to their shoulders.
Asharé approached one of the icona and reached out to it through the Force, projecting peace and calm. The equine dropped its velvety muzzle into her hands and wickered happily as she petted it.
"You seem to have a way with animals," Nima said. "Would you like to ride this one to the fields?"
"I'd love to," Asharé said. "They're beautiful."
Nima grinned. "My husband and I raised and trained blurrg on Ryloth. These icona are a little trickier, but no less rewarding when you gain their trust."
Asharé smiled and stroked the icona's nose again.
"Alright everyone, mount up," Kina called. The Alderaanian woman swung up into the saddle of her icona.
Asharé followed suit. She looked at those piling into the wagon or climbing into saddles. She didn't know how many people were in the settlement, but with several working in the fields, and this group leaving now, she wondered if there would be anyone besides the mothers, Binah, and the younglings left in the town.
They'll be safe, she told herself. There's no one around for parsecs.
She didn't feel much better.
The group headed east, Ilar riding by her side, plying her with questions about herself. She dodged as many as she could by asking him about himself and his boys in return. There were far too many attentive flutterings in the Force, from the colonists and Ilar himself, for Asharé to feel comfortable. She finally excused herself and urged her icona forward to ride next to Nima and Bril.
"Is the wagon yours?" she asked the Twi'leks.
"Yes," Bril said. "We have two others as well, in different sizes. Mostly for bringing in the harvest, but for moving other things around too."
"Could I rent a wagon and team from you this evening? Midge was telling me about the Loche place, and I wanted to check it out with the others from my group."
"Most trade is done by barter around here," Nima said, letting her teal lekku fall over her shoulders.
Asharé knew that Twi'leks could communicate with each other via a subtle language using their lekku. She wondered if that was what Nima and Birl were doing.
"Since you're new here, and not established yet," Nima continued, "We'd be willing to let you borrow a wagon and team. Just return it in good condition."
Asharé smiled at the couple. "Thank you. That's very kind."
A moment later, they arrived at the fields that were being plowed. Several acers of forest had been cleared and numerous wide fields lay barren under the early spring sun. Men and women were gathered in a knot in the middle of one field.
The wagon pulled to a stop, and four long tables were lifted out of the bed and unfolded. Asharé slid from her saddle and walked her icona to where Nima and Bril were picketing the others. Within minutes the food was unpacked and those who'd been working in the field joined them.
"And then, like the idiot he is, Ripp ran at the critter, yelling at the top of his lungs," Hart said, grinning. "Scared it right off."
The whole group broke into laughter.
"It's not like I could properly see the thing," Ripp muttered, his cheeks as red as his hair. He bit into what had to be his fifth sandwich.
Lunch was winding down and everyone was sitting in the shade of some large trees that lined the fields. Asharé sat next to Kiri and kept a wary eye the yellow-skinned Twi'lek, Ilar, who'd shown them the river paloleys the previous night. Hart wondered what was going between them.
"You're lucky," said Winset, a twenty-something Corellian man. "Those kroya are dangerous." He pulled up his shirt to show four long scars along his ribs.
Winset's wife, Jeix leaned into her husband's side. "They took ages to heal."
Hart made a mental note, no running before dawn unless they had weapons. He hadn't got a good view of the creature that had crossed their path that morning, but the general look had been feline, and big. About the size of a Corellian sand panther.
A few of the colonists had brought slugthrower rifles to the fields, but Hart hadn't seen a blaster yet. He doubted Dune would be able to get replacement ammo packs for the little holdout blasters he'd brought. Hart wondered what it would take to get them a couple of slug pistols.
"What other creatures do we need to watch out for?" Asharé asked.
Hart smiled into his mug. She would have made a good commander. Always looking out for her people.
"The kroya are the main ones, though they're mostly nocturnal," Roh said. "The other is a little foxlike critter we call eyteila. They're about as long as my arm from snout to tail when they're fully grown, and the kits fit in your hand when their young. They don't sound like a much of a threat, but they're dangerous because they swarm. Twenty will take down a full grown icona. It'd probably take less to bring down one of us."
"Do they approach the town much?" Asharé asked.
Roh shook his head. "We have electrical fences that keep them out of the animal pens. But if you take the Loche place . . ." He shrugged. "Hey, Ferg, Wril, did you guys get many eyteila out at your parents' place?"
Ferg and Wril, the Loche brothers, were as similar as twins could be without being clones. They each had curly red hair, blue eyes, and fair skin sprinkled liberally with freckles.
Ferg shook his head. "Dad set up an electrical fence to keep them out, same as around the town. Never had a problem with eyteila or kroya."
"Alright, everyone," Kam, the foreman called. "We need to get at least two more fields plowed before the sun goes down. Let's pack it up."
Asharé stood and made her way to the Loche brothers. Hart saw Ilar move toward her and hurried to her side. She smiled at him.
"Ferg, Wril, can I ask you a question?" Asharé asked.
The brothers faced her.
"You want to know if it's okay if you take mom's and dad's place, right?" Ferg asked.
Asharé nodded.
"Our wives didn't like living so far from town," Ferg said. "I have no plans to move back."
"Me neither," Wril said. "Especially now that I have a baby. I think my wife would kill me if I suggested it."
"Okay. I didn't want to step on any toes."
The brothers smiled.
"Thanks for checking," Ferg said. "It's all yours."
Asharé grinned at Hart. "That makes me feel better."
They walked to the long tables where the food was being repacked and stowed in the wagon.
"What's going on between you and Ilar?" Hart asked, since they were relatively alone.
"Nothing," she said. "I just . . . nothing."
"You sure? You've been avoiding him."
Asharé grimaced. "If there's something going on, I'll handle it."
"If you need any help, you know I've got your six."
She smiled and bumped her shoulder against his. "Thanks."
They reached the tables and started loading food into a basket.
"Excuse me," a Duros male said. "I couldn't help but overhear that you're thinking about moving into the Loche's old home."
Asharé and Hart nodded.
"My name is Ruzaan. I helped the Loches build the house. If you'd like, I can accompany you. See how much work it will take to get back into shape."
"That would be very welcome," Asharé said. "Thank you."
A/N: Welcome to the planet. Enjoy your stay.
Comments and reviews are very appreciated, as they let me know that there's interest in the story.
Thanks for sticking with me through the world building. I know it doesn't always provide the most action, but its still important to the story. More action will be coming in the next chapters.
See y'all in Chapter 6.
Zilmaris Creatures:
Eyteila [eye-TEE-la] - little silver and black furred foxlike critters that take down prey by swarming.
Kroya [KROW-ya] - black furred panther-like creatures that live in the forests. Mostly nocturnal.
Icona [eye-CONE-ah] - domesticated equine-like beasts of burden.
Wirry [whir-REE] - a fowl similar to chicken. Raised for their meat and eggs.