Chapter 10

Old Wounds

Carth stared at the manikin, modeling one of the store's "on sale" buys—a bright orange jacket with neon green spots and matching bow tie. If I were to wear that, would I even be allowed into the building? Much less without being kicked off of Mannan?

He felt a tap on his shoulder. Carth turned and saw one of the personal assistance droids.

"Master," it said, "your tuxedo is ready."

"Oh, I didn't order a tux," Carth said, "I—"

The droid nudged him rather forcefully. "Sir, we have a tuxedo ready for you in the back-room. Would you care to take a look?"

Carth already understood what the droid had meant from the nudging but its statement only gave him the impression that it was belittling it. Carth decided to ignore it, though, as he had little choice.

"Sure," he mumbled.

"Follow me."

Carth followed the droid down many isles of sample tuxedos and other fancy men's clothing. When they reached one of the counters where customers return their rented clothes, they went behind it to a door. The droid took a cautious look around before opening it.

"Hurry," it said in a hushed voice, and pushed Carth through.

Carth stumbled inside and the droid closed the door behind them. Carth took around, figuring it to be a storeroom due to the many canisters and other large containers he saw. It was a rather small room in comparison with the rest of the store and, as he noticed, was very cluttered. However, there was a small clearing leading from the door to the center of the room where, seated on the floor and on the plasteel canisters, were personal assistance droids (all the same model), a couple of Selkath, and a human male. They all seemed to have stopped whatever they were doing, and instantly looked over at the door the instant it opened. When the man saw Carth, he smiled and stood up.

"Greetings," he said in a hospitable voice, shaking Carth's hand, "my name is Mr. Tolton, but you can call me by what my friends call me, Ulin."

"I'm Carth," Carth replied.

Ulin gestured to one of the canisters. "Would you care to sit?"

"I prefer standing," Carth took a glance the droids the Selkath as they intently watched him, "and I don't want to seem rude, but I have a lot of things to attend to."

"Fair enough. We'll just get right into business. Have you made a decision yet?"

Carth hesitated. The man seemed friendly enough, but perhaps too friendly for his liking. There was also an appearance about him—the way he nicely dressed and parted his perfectly cut hair—that made it seem like he desperately wanted to come across as someone respectable. "Why do you care so much about this?"

"We're only employees of this fine clothing store. There isn't much we do during our spare time aside from playing jokes."

"You're kidding, right?"

Ulin shook his head. "On a planet like Mannan, there's little else to do."

Carth could not help but to agree with that statement. "I guess…I guess…" Carth looked around once more at the Selkath and droids. This is just too weird. Why am I even considering? "No."

The smile instantly faded. "No?"

"It isn't right. I…I don't even know you people. Besides, it isn't…to be frank, it really isn't any of your business."

Ulin turned to the ground and sighed, rubbing his temples. "That is fine. I understand." He looked back up at Carth. "But if you do change your mind, you're welcome to come back here. Just talk to any of the droids and they'll send you to me."

The droid who led Carth earlier into the room grabbed his arm and led him to the door. It opened it ajar and took a quick look around before opening it wide and shoving Carth out. The instant he was out, the door was instantly shut. Really strange group… he thought and headed for the exit.

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"I thought you said he would certainly help us!" Sasha exclaimed, angrily at J2.

"I didn't know!" J2 said defensively. "I was told he was one of us by a certain someone." J2 gave J8 a side glance.

"It may not matter," Ulin said, taking his seat on one of the canisters. "Comrade J5, didn't you say that the HK droid acted really strangely when you first encountered it?"

J5 nodded. "Very much so."

"And didn't that man, Carth, seem somewhat annoyed by it?"

"Yes, he was annoyed."

Ulin folded his arms and leaned back, his shoulders and head pushing against a large container behind him. "Then I don't see a problem. It's just another risk to take. Sounds like this droid's master doesn't care much and the droid itself acts strangely."

J8 made a clicking sound in its vocabulator, attempting to imitate how humans clear their throats. "That man you saw didn't claim to be the master when I spoke to him."

Ulin was silent for a moment. His eyes were fixed on J8 in such a way that it seemed to penetrate straight into its matrix. "Then who was I speaking to?"

"It was a friend of the master…I believe."

Ulin clapped his hands together. "Well, then, I don't believe that we should back down on our plan. No, we've gone too far to stop here." He jerked his head towards one of the large canisters. "Then we better get started. The dance is only two days from now."

J8, J5, and J2 approached the large containers and began to move a couple of the smaller, plasteel canisters in front of it. Ulin watched them for a moment, then turned to Sasha. "Are you ready, Comrade Sasha?"

The Selkath reached into her pockets, pulling out pliers in one hand and a deck of pazzak cards in the other. "It's now or never, Comrade Ulin."

The opening to the large container creaked as it swung open. He looked over and saw the droids carefully bringing the assassin droid to the light.

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Carth slowly made his way towards the Ebon Hawk, not looking forward to telling Jolee about how he made the decision not to go along with the idea. He must understand that it was just too weird. It isn't like the whole alliance thing is working out anyway.

"Carth?"

Carth turned at the sound of his name, instantly recognizing the voice. He was so happy to see her face, he forgot all his problems and smiled. "Hey, Ayla, how've you been?"

Ayla turned her head from side to side. "Okay. And you?"

"The same," Carth replied and the good feeling was gone. His smile disappeared as everything that had happened between them returned to mind. "How's Canderous?"

"I don't know. Haven't spoken to him much," Ayla said with a shrug.

"But aren't you going to the dance with him?"

Ayla frowned. "What is that suppose to mean?"

"Well, I just think it's strange you're going to the dance with some guy that you don't talk to much."

"So, what, because we don't talk constantly together means that I shouldn't go to the dance with him?"

"I…" Carth began but soon realized how futile it seemed to argue with Ayla something that was already made up. "I'm sorry. It's just…you know my feelings toward…toward Canderous," he said quickly. "I can't stand that Mandalorian."

"He's…he's not as bad as you think."

"Really?"

"Yes, really! It's like…there's another side to him."

"Oh, I've heard that one before. That's the classic one a woman says about her jerk boyfriend."

"Maybe you're being the jerk, Carth Onasi!"

Ayla abruptly turned her back on him and walked away from him. Carth wanted to say more but was so shocked by her outburst, he was not given the chance. He just watched as she disappeared in a crowd of Selkath.

Could she be right? Carth thought. Am I the one to blame? A thought sparked into his mind and his demeanor changed. Is that Mandalorian telling her things about me?! Pitting her against me?!

Carth hurried his pace towards the Ebon Hawk, eager to confront Canderous. His thoughts soon changed, though, the instant he caught sight of Bastila out of the corner of his eye. He turned and saw she was heading right towards him. He altered his course to instead meet up with her.

"Carth, I need to talk to you," Bastila said in a low voice.

"Well, I'm right here," Carth said, but Bastila shook her head.

"No, not here…not in public. Let's go to the Ebon Hawk."

"Alright, that's where I was heading."

They started off in the direction towards the docks. Throughout the walk, Carth would look over at her but she did not exchange any glances. Her mind was set on something; her only anchor to reality was the walking. She kept her legs moving in the direction of their ship. Carth wished she would say something to him so that they would start a conversation but her silence continued. Carth remained silent as well, seeing no point in trying to talk to her.

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When they were in the ship, Bastila finally turned to him. "Carth, I'm going to ask you some questions and I want you to be honest with me."

Carth tried to read her face to get an inkling of what type of mood she was in, but it was difficult to tell. Her demeanor was as it usually was. At least she isn't angry.

"Okay," Carth replied.

"Have you noticed anything odd about my recent behavior?" she asked.

"You seem much more…tense. A lot more demanding than you usually are, and you—"

Bastila frowned. "Demanding? You think I'm a demanding person?"

"Well, you can be overbearing at times."

"Overbearing!?"

"Hey, you told me I could be honest with you! If you don't want to hear what I have to say, then I'll leave."

"Forgive me…yes, I do believe that you are right. I have been far more overbearing. I apologize for my behavior."

"Maybe…" Carth hesitated. He wondered whether to offer Bastila any advice since it might only make her angry, but he reasoned that he should try. "Maybe you should try relaxing during our relaxation period. You seem to be more uptight than when we're on our mission."

"But that's exactly it. The rest of you think that because I granted you leave the mission is at a hiatus." Bastila shook her head, looking distressed. "I cannot get it out of my mind. I keep thinking about the Star Maps, the Sith, the Jedi. I have tried some relaxation methods I learned from training but it does not put me at peace. I'm so sorry, Carth, I shouldn't dump all of my personal problems on you when I really came by to apologize and ask your help."

"Help? With what?"

"It's about Ayla. I know I have been hard on her, and I am thinking that I am perhaps being too hard. Ayla is well disciplined and will not misbehave at the dance."

"You're…you're allowing her to go?"

"Yes."

Carth breathed a sigh of relief. "This is great. Have you told her about this?"

"Not quite. Even though I will respect her decision to attend, I do not respect her choice of partner."

Carth hesitated. He hated Canderous but what Ayla last said to him remained in his mind. "What do you want me to do about it? You should talk to Ayla about it."

"If I am certain that Canderous, to be frank, can act in a far more civilized manner than he normally does, then I will not worry so much. Truthfully, I could approach Ayla and tell her not to attend the dance with Canderous, but it would not be fair. This would only be based on my judgement of his character."

Carth was surprised by Bastila's sudden change of manner. He did not say anything for a few moments. Carth scratched the back of his head. "I…I still don't understand what you want me to do."

"I want you to talk to Canderous."

"Me? Bastila, you've got the wrong person. I can barely say two words to that Mandalorian before he…insults me and…I can't stand him."

"I know you two are not on the best of terms, but perhaps you could put it aside. Canderous does act brutish, uncivilized, and…stereotypically Mandalorian, but maybe…there is hope."

"You think Canderous can change?"

"If Canderous really is serious about…acting decent in front of Ayla, perhaps she will act as a good influence. It could change his whole character…and at least his manners."

Carth sighed. "Don't get me wrong, I would love to see a moment when Canderous isn't being sarcastic or crude but…why can't you talk to him?"

"Canderous and I are on…bad terms."

"Not any worse than the terms we're on. We fought on opposite sides and…and that's a pretty big deal."

"I encountered Canderous earlier and he…insulted me."

"Canderous insults everyone. Don't take it personally."

"But it concerned Ayla and if I try speaking to him any further about her, I fear he will not be honest with me."

"I don't know why you think he would be any more honest with me. We argued over Ayla recently."

"Over what?"

Carth hesitated. "Just about…her and…who's going to the dance with her."

"It could be used to your advantage if you still act like you really want to go with her. If Canderous is serious, he would counteract you every way he could."

"That's…going to take some time."

"In any case, think over what you want to do. Don't wait too long. Preferably, start today before it gets too late."

"I'll see what I can do."

Carth left the bridge with a massive headache.