CHAPTER EIGHT – THE REBELS BABYSIT
KIRA
The children eagerly come with us with the promise of Hoth's ice cream. As Ahsoka and I shepherd them out of the building, Saw contacts his sister and tells her to return to the ship.
"I should be able to close the deal tonight when Atai meets me for drinks." Steela says, jogging out of the palace. "Saw, what's the big deal? We were making some – holy Unifar!"
I guide a few children up the boarding ramp. Steela brings up the rear. "Were they in the container?"
"We should have realized it when we discovered the container had been shipped from Zeltros. Zeltrons are considered highly attractive, but Zeltron slaves are a rarity. Child slaves can be trained and they can serve for the longest period of time." I tell her.
Steela shudders and turns her attention back to the kids. "Hi, guys. Let's go inside."
I join Sierra at the head of the group of children as she leads us to the main part of the ship. Before she can even reach for the panel, the door opens.
Mina looks at her with first a relieved, then a shocked expression.
"Sierra, who are these children?" Mina asks incredulously.
"Atai was keeping them in the container." She says. "We rescued them."
Mina stares at the children one moment longer, until a little girl breaks into tears.
"Hoth's?" she whines.
Mina pushes Sierra and I aside to come into full view of the children, and a collective hush falls over the group. Even though they don't understand our language, the little ones still recognize the woman who holds the highest echelon of authority: motherhood.
"Amonna!" a child wails.
Though we have no sure way of knowing, it seems safe to assume that amonna translates to mother.
"Oh dear." Mina frets. "Bring them inside."
…
When I first boarded the ship, the first words I thought of were organized chaos.
That type of chaos pales in comparison to the same ship filled with ten small children.
Poised, collected senator Mina Bonteri is a whirlwind. She flies around giving hugs, washing faces, and wiping noses, all with a smile. The children speak to her in Zeltron and she replies in Basic, calming them even though they can't understand her.
Saw Gerrera and Captain Rex sit on the other side of the ship attempting to engage a few children in a board game. Hutch shows a holomovie in Zeltron on the computer screen, a popular title I recognize from my Temple days.
"Don't touch that!" Tandin shouts, grabbing a purple boy around the waist and lifting him away from the rebels' sofa before he can bring a permanent marker to the fabric. "Everyone needs to sit still and play nicely."
I may not be a mother or older sister, but I do my best. I allow the kids to sit on my lap and braid one little girl's pink hair.
But Hero is the hero of the day. She walks into the room holding aloft a frost covered tub of –
"Hoth's!" she calls.
The children scramble off our laps and over to Hero, clamoring for a bite of ice cream.
"When the job is over I'll leave a tip with the Zeltros Bureau of Investigation." Hutch says. "More than likely these kids were kidnapped from their homes."
"Speaking of the job, what point are we at now?" Saw asks. "We ran up a huge fire code bill, eliminated the top buyers, and stole the most valuable stock. What's left?"
"The killing blow." Ahsoka says gravely.
…
When Steela leaves for her part of the job, she hands me a lipstick.
"It's Sierra's. Can you return it for me, please? I'm late." she asks, quickly grabbing her pocketbook and rushing down the boarding ramp.
"Of course, it's not a problem."
"Kira, you're a lifesaver." Steela says and shuts the ramp behind her.
I walk back to Sierra's room both to return her makeup and tuck in a few of the Zeltrons who have fallen asleep there, but the door is closed. As I get closer, I can hear voices slip through it.
"Lux and I both noticed it. She's been in that palace before, but why?"
Ahsoka sighs. "Don't say anything to Kira about this; it's like you and Tor."
"Of course, but what is it?"
"Kira spent her entire childhood in the palace, as a slave."
I slide the lipstick into my pocket, turn on my heel, and walk away, emotion balling in my throat.
…
That evening, Sierra tiptoes into the bedroom.
"Steela just lost her bed, didn't she?" she whispers, glancing at the group of three younglings who've fallen asleep in Steela's bunk.
"For the moment, she has." I whisper, covering the younglings with the blankets.
"She doesn't need it at the moment." She replies, sitting down in her bed. "Kira, I know you heard me talking to Ahsoka in the other room. It's not anything you did, or your behavior. It's because someone else saw you, and that someone has a really big mouth."
"Would it happen to be Saw?"
"Saw," Sierra confirms. "Kira, I'm sorry about what happened; I had no idea."
"How much do you know?" I ask.
"Ahsoka told me about you and Atai, and also about your master and … Cadena." She admits. "And if you don't want to talk about it I'll drop the subject right now. You didn't push me about Tor, and I want to give you the same respect."
"Thank you." I swallow hard. "I appreciate that."
Sierra climbs into bed and tucks herself in. I check on the Zeltrons once more and follow her lead, switching off the light with the Force.
We sit in silence for a while.
"How long have you been a con woman?" I ask. The silence in the room is crushing.
"As long as I can remember." She answers. "I was always Lux's accomplice when he was getting into mischief. I played a waitress during the Lazarus project to swipe credit cards, but my first actual con was against a corrupt mayor. How long have you been working with Senator Organa?"
I turn over in bed. "I've been at the Academy for two years. Before I enrolled I lived with Cadena's son and her husband, Jim."
"I heard about Lux's smooth move over there, with the stove? And the paint? I believe every word."
A memory of Lux, Jim, and I covered in paint flashes into my mind. "He was certainly memorable."
"For sure. He can't cook worth a bean."
"The important trait is that he's willing to fight for the Republic, just like you and I." I say. "When we topple the Empire, the Jedi Order will need to be rebuilt as well."
"It will. Are you going to rejoin when that happens?"
I nod, even though she can't see me in the darkness. "Undoubtedly. And you, what are you going to do?"
Sierra is silent.
"I don't know." She says. "I don't know how to do anything except grift and run games. House Bonteri has no nobility, money, or influence anymore, so nobody will marry me. When the Empire rose, I hadn't even finished school. I'll keep doing this, I guess."
How am I to respond to something like that?
But as if sent from above, one of the Zeltrons starts to fuss.
"Oh, dear." I say, and scramble up with Sierra to check on them.
THIRD PERSON
The next morning Atai Molec wakes up with a headache and the weight of another person in his bed. He relaxes. Even though he may not remember it right now, last night must have been excellent. He turns over to rouse his partner before her husband realizes she's missing.
"Mrs. Ellis?"
He freezes.
Tamara Ellis stares sightlessly at the ceiling.
Bile and panic fill Atai's stomach as he stumbles out of bed. How would something like this happen? Young, healthy women don't simply drop dead in their sleep!
Unwilling to look into the woman's eyes any longer, Atai throws a blanket over her face and rings for his personal guards.
"Take her to the infirmary." He panics. If he's lucky, maybe the woman is simply in a coma. "And delete all records of our meeting last night. Contact her husband and tell him she perished on her way home."
"Yes, Your Highness."
The guards load the woman's body onto a stretcher and carry her out of the room. Atai dresses, shaken to the core. He may be one of the galaxy's more famous sleazeballs, but no one can fully recover from the experience of having a dead body in one's bed.
How did she die? He wonders, and all he can come up with is alcohol poisoning. From what he remembers, he and the woman had enjoyed more than a few drinks while they hashed out the business agreements. He doesn't recall much after drinking, but they must have made their way up to his room at some point.
The intercom buzzes and Atai answers. "Molec."
"Your Highness, your nine o'clock is here!"
"Very well. Send down a cup of caf, extra strong." Maybe that will help soothe his roaring headache.
"Right away, your Highn-."
He shuts off the intercom before the person can finish her sentence.
…
The throne room doors swing open. Through his hangover, Atai makes out the image of an attractive blonde woman; a human/Togruta hybrid he thinks.
"Sire," she says, folding into a deep and perfect bow before rising. "Rhea Knight. I work for the Ellises."
Atai is seized by a moment of panic. "Ellis? I can't say that name is familiar."
Rhea gives him a withering look. "I tracked Mrs. Ellis' comlink to the palace. It looks like she's spent a significant amount of time here. In fact," she checks her comlink. "Her comlink is currently upstairs, in the general location of your bedroom."
Atai's eyes widen and "Rhea Knight" feels a stroke of victory.
"If you deliver the business payments to me immediately," Kira says, "Then Mr. Ellis is willing to forget everything and proceed doing business with Zygerria. He will neglect to inform his contacts in Black Sun and the Hutt circle of Zygerria's unproffesionalism."
…
Sierra steps to the guards at the front gate. "I'm here to see the King."
The guards check their schedule. "The King is busy."
That would be Kira's doing. "I need to see him immediately. It's urgent."
One of the guards lifts an eyebrow at her. "When was this audience requested?"
"It wasn't." She admits. "However, the King would be horrified to hear that you kept him from hearing the news."
…
Atai stiffens on the throne, but he weighs his options. The bribe payments would be a drop in the bucket compared to losing his markets in Black Sun, the Hutts, and anyone else who would be ready to pull out of their deals faced with this scandal.
"You leave me no choice." He growls and signals the nearest serving girl. "Bring the Ellis payments."
"You're not going to fall for that, right?" A voice says.
Atai pauses and turns in the direction of the voice. Sierra Bonteri stands in the doorway, shoulders back and eyes gleaming with the insanity Kira has only seen in one person: the prison warden she and Sierra know far too well.
"What would I be falling for?" he asks with a raised eyebrow, clearly shocked at the presence of this utter stranger.
"You're not going to just walk into what's clearly a trick." Sierra scoffs. "You're just going to give her the money, no questions asked?"
"What do you mean?"
"I mean that her name isn't Rhea Knight. It's Kira Narro." Sierra says. "And she's an escaped slave. I would go into further detail, but let's start with the basics. My name is Sierra Bonteri, and I have an asset to liquidate."
A/N: Sometimes the best commentary is no commentary. I'm just going to leave you all with this.
To McAwesome: You read the first story five times? That's amazing, and I'm so happy that you love the series so much. It means a lot.
Thank you to starwarshobbitfics, Rose Ravenclaw, MusicKeeper, and McAwesome for your reviews. And speaking of which, please review.
Until next time,
Lux's Sister