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Chapter Seven: Spy Mission
After three days of vigilance, the admiral finally granted them leave to depart The Profundity. There had been no further attacks, and the human families had left the area hastily with their newly adopted youngsters. Rixxi and Sal had been satisfied with the families' intentions and had cleared them so that they could welcome the kids into their families. Lyna had felt very guilty about letting the two twi'lek children go, but with two wookiee younglings and three ewok kits, she knew that they would all have their hands full.
Jalleck Braxton, Qualle, Yabecca, and the wookiee/ewok younglings had left a day earlier to begin work on The Polar Carp and its defunct droid-engineer. Jalleck had continued to send reports on his progress to Captain Raddek, who remained on his father's ship as a courtesy. Even if they were barely speaking to each other, it seemed somehow wrong to simply leave him in the middle of a crisis. As it had turned out, Raddus had not even paid them a courtesy visit. It was, of course, entirely understandable under the circumstances, but it irked his son nonetheless.
Raddus did show up as they were boarding their shuttle to go down to Mon Cala to visit Rallen Marne, Raddek's mother. He briskly praised Kyara for her work placing the youngsters, ignored Lyna and the children, and unceremoniously pulled Marney aside to speak to him.
"Rad," he said to him, "I am conducting a meeting of the War Council today on board The Profundity. You tell your mother that all is well. If those pirates show up again to cause problems, we'll be ready for them...and we'll fire a blaster cannon straight up their miserable asses. How dare they challenge me and my forces? They're becoming more bold with every passing year, because they've been emboldened by The Emperor and his band of metallic misfits. But everything is under control. You be sure to tell your mother that."
"Yes, Admiral Raddus," Marney replied stiffly, "Will there be anything else?"
Raddus hesitated a moment before speaking.
"Yes, there is," he murmured softly, "There are a few members of the Calamari Council who have suggested to me that...your talents as the Empire's trash-man might be put to better use. They would like to use you as a spy, Radka. I told them that the idea was ludicrous, because you had a wife and family to look after. They came right back at me and said that you could leave your wife and children on Mon Cala, where they would be better protected. It would involve a great deal of courage on your part to accept the proposition, as there would be a high risk of torture and death if you were caught. I don't expect you to answer me right away, but after a few days' time you can contact me if you are interested...it would be a way to redeem yourself, my son."
Marney stared at his father in disbelief. He was caught between his anger at his father for even suggesting such a thing and his desire to win the older male's pride and approval for a change.
"So, Papa," he managed to say, "I guess that'd be a great way to get rid of me, huh? If I died spying for you, you wouldn't have to be so ashamed of me."
"Radka," Raddus replied, his voice lined with stress, "Once you are an adult, respect must be earned...that is the lesson that I have always tried to teach you, and I had hoped that at your age you might have learned it. You will never earn the kind of respect that you crave by wallowing in the Empire's trash. Your wife said that you fight the Empire with your compassion, by rescuing these orphans. Well, the Council sees fit to offer you another sort of opportunity. This has nothing to do with me being an inadequate parent, it has to do with your pride and self-respect. If you want to know the truth of it, your wife was partly correct: the shame is my own, and it has nothing to do with you. When you used to get drunk and screw up, it reminded me of my own similar failures with your mother and you two tads. I have been an exceptionally lousy father and husband, Radka, and that part of the equation was not your fault. Nonetheless, we can't un-do what's been done or re-do what's been undone in the past so we may as well do the best we can for the present...your mother and sister have forgiven me, and one day I hope you will, too."
"I don't know, Papa," Marney finally responded, his anger spent upon hearing his father's almost-apology, "I think Lyna'd kill me if I left her on Mon Cala and ran off to die. I've just got a new bunch of crew members, and I was hoping to continue rescuing orphans. If I do this spy-mission thing, I can kiss my rescue operations good-bye."
"Yes, but if you were to find information pertinent to the destruction of some of the Empire's bases, you would rescue more people; and you would prevent the children from being orphaned in the first place. Sometimes you need to think in terms of the bigger picture, Rad."
"I...uh...I'll think about it, Papa, but I can't promise anything right now. I have a family to consider."
Raddus nodded his head, and the younger male turned to go.
"Radka," the Admiral said before Marney walked away, "It's been a long time since you called me 'Papa'."
"It's been a long time since you called me 'son', Papa," Marney replied.