Chapter 35 – The Flop
Bowdaar said nothing as he let the men shuffle him down the main hall, away from the reception desk. He'd made a point of glaring at the guards as they'd scanned him, as much to figure out what he could about them as to intimidate them. They were fairly large, for humans, but carried themselves with a casual boredom, which he hoped was due to inexperience and the expectation that things would progress in an uneventful manner. The wookie smiled to himself. Nothing could have been further from the truth.
"So I am to be a test subject, then? What sort of tests will be run?" He watched carefully to see how the guards would react to the series of rumbles and barks.
But despite his politeness, his question earned him a shove from the shortest of the three guards who walked along with him. "Here now. None a your nonsense, wot? You don't want a zap from this thing, do ye?" The guard brandished the controller at him.
Bowdaar ducked his head and shook it from side to side. Not yet, anyway. He remained silent as they turned again and headed around a corner and down another corridor, this one narrower. They occasionally passed a heavy, unmarked door, but other than that, the hall was empty.
They reached the end of the hallway, and in a slightly-recessed alcove was a set of polished durasteel doors. Two of the guards stood on either side of Bowdaar, while the largest one stepped forward and pressed the button to call the lift. He turned around and glared at Shorty. "All I know is that if that meeting tomorrow is anuvver seminar on 'professional communication and consideration,' I'll know 'oo got us stuck with it."
Shorty gave a snort and waved one hand dismissively. "I don't see wot everyone's so worked up about – it was a perfeckly reas'nable compliment."
The guard on the other side of Bowdaar, his face liberally spattered with freckles, chucked, shaking his head. "Compliment, my arse," he grinned.
"I would, but you're not my type," retorted Shorty with a smirk.
Just then, a bell chimed, and the silver doors slid open. "Orright, orright, enough of that," said Tubby, motioning the others in. Freckles went first and Shorty gave Bowdaar a shove, then followed. Tubby watched carefully, then stepped into the lift and pressed a button to send them to the bottom floor.
A smooth, mechanical voice intoned, "Please stand clear of the doors." A moment later, the doors slid shut again. There was a faint whurr of machinery, and Bowdaar felt a soft lurch in his stomach as the lift began to move.
He took a breath. "I do not imagine that any woman would be interested in a compliment from you, puny manling." He tightened his jaw so that the words came out in something of a growl.
As he expected, Shorty was less than pleased at the outburst. "Here now! Din't I warn you once orready?" The guard brandished the controller in what was apparently supposed to be a threatening manner. "This is your last chance. Don't fink I won't use this!"
Although he kept his focus on Shorty, Bowdaar could see the other two guards in his peripheral vision. Their posture was relaxed; Tubby was leaning against the side of the lift, watching the interaction without any particular interest. The wookiee bared his teeth and snarled another insult. "Go right ahead – see if I care!"
"You asked for it!" Shorty snapped, and very deliberately pressed the button. However, it didn't have quite the effect he was expecting. The controller didn't have anything to do with the collar, which was nothing more than a prop. Instead, it activated a switch in the restraining cuffs, which immediately snapped open.
Bowdaar knew he had little time before the stunned guards remembered their training. While Shorty cursed at the controller, fumbling with it in frantic confusion, the wookiee grabbed the two other guards by the neck, smacked their foreheads together, and dropped their unconscious forms to the floor.
Shorty gazed up at the enormous warrior, his eyes wide. He had just enough time to squeak in terror before he joined his coworkers.
The lift continued its descent uninterrupted. Moving quickly, Bowdaar first retrieved the controller, then checked the guards for weapons. Shorty and Tubby both carried blasters, while Freckles only had a stun stick. He tucked the items inside the stealth belt that Fauler had attached the reconfigured cuffs to. Twisting back and forth, he decided that the weapons were secure, and the discomfort of having them wedged between the belt and his fur was manageable. The last item he removed from each of them was their passcard.
He tucked their cards away, and none too soon, because the chime sounded again. That same gentle, emotionless voice intoned, "Doors opening. Please watch your step." He grabbed the feet of the largest guard and dragged him partway out of the elevator, blocking the doors. Then he dropped to one knee between the other two. Wrapping one arm around the waist of each of them, he took a deep breath and then stood. While they were smaller than the other guard, they weren't small men, and he was glad he wouldn't have to carry them any farther than out into the hallway, where he set them carefully down onto the smooth, cold floor.
"Please stand clear of the doors," said the mechanical voice. Bowdaar cursed under his breath, knowing that meant that an alarm was about to sound because the doors were blocked. He turned back to the third guard, grabbed one of his ankes and pulled him out of the lift. But as he slid across the floor, his belt caught in the groove for the lift doors.
There is no time for such nonsense, the wookie growled to himself. With one final yank, Tubby – and his belt, thankfully – came tumbling free and the doors slid closed.
Leaving the guards in a rather undignified pile, Bowdaar activated the stealth belt and crept quietly down the hallway to where the power room had been marked on the plans they'd reviewed with Fauler.
[So finally it's another update! I have this coming week off for Thanksgiving break. For all that teaching can be incredibly frustrating, it IS necessary nice to have those breaks on a fairly regular basis. Seriously, if we had to spend 50 weeks out of the year in the classroom in front of students, I think we'd all implode! With any luck, I'll be able to do a good bit of writing this week and build up something of a buffer so that I can update more regularly, at least until this story wraps. I wish I had some way to blog here on ffn about my efforts to write, but the only thing you're allowed to post is actual stories. So I'm going to put my about-writing posts on my personal journal, over at .com.
Getting to know Bowdaar has been something of a struggle. I really don't use him all that much (well, much at ALL really) so I wasn't familiar with his battle cries. I think I've taken him away from how he's written in the game, where he's all about proving himself and gaining honor through battle. Even so, I like where I'm taking the character – he'll end up with his very own story arc, kind of like Risha and the treasure, that reveals his backstory and brings closure to some unresolved conflict.
Special thanks to Nerica for encouraging me to keep writing when I was like UGH I HATE THIS, and for spotting troublesome/confusing spots.
Finally, those of you who are familiar with the Disney monorails may have recognized the phrase the elevator uses. Alas, there's only one human language for some strange reason, so I did not get to use my Disney-Spanish in the story: Por favor mantenganse alejado de las puertas! It's one of my favorite places to be, and while I probably won't be able to go back for a long time, hopefully I'll get to visit it through my other story again soon!
Thanks for reading – and remember, comments are always appreciated. See you next time!]