Chapter 7
A thick black column of smoke rose against the orange red of the Katalian sunset. An ominous column because as they got closer Xan began to see where it was. The shop was on fire! Xan knew Marnist was watching, and he was glad not to be able to see her face at that moment. Xan gave more power to the sublights, and as the distance closed Xan began to notice the scurrying forms of people on the ground, along with the flashing strobe lights of the fire tenders.
Mar didn't say a word as she rushed from the cockpit and went to stand by the boarding ramp.
"A5, lock down the boarding ramp controls. Only open them when I give the command." Xan said, he wanted to be able to stay as close to Mar as possible, just in case.
As quickly and as safely as he could Xan put the Comet down, well back of the fire tenders. Even if Mar managed to find a way to override the ramp controls he would have enough time to catch up to her.
It looked hopeless though, all of the main building was on fire, and it had spread to at least one of the outbuildings that Xan could see. Xan hurried back to the boarding ramp where a frustrated Marnist stood hammering her fist against the boarding ramp controls.
"I'm sure everything's alright." Xan said, placing his arm around Mar's shoulder. "A5."
The ramp began to open, knowing that Mar wanted to be there as soon as she could Xan started walking them down as soon as the ramp moved. The young women stayed with Xan long enough to get to the bottom of the ramp, but as soon as her boots hit ferrocrete she took off running. Xan caught up quickly and ran beside her. He knew she was fighting back the tears that seemed to be inevitable, no matter what the outcome.
Before either of them could get to close to the blaze a firefighter stopped them. Mar struggled to get passed him, but she got nowhere. Tears began to cascade down her face.
"Dad!" She shrieked. "Dad!" Over and over again, so loud, and with such force that she began to cough.
Xan bent down and held her around the waist, an ever worsening feeling in the pit of his stomach. Mar fought against him, thrashing and throwing blows, one of them catching Xan in the chin. It was just after that that she broke free from his grip, but this time she ran back towards the Comet.
Xan watched but turned back to the firefighter. "What happened here?" He asked.
"We're not sure." The man said lifting his protective facemask. "Some of the flame color makes it look like something touched off some stored korfaise gas."
"I knew that wasn't safe. Any survivors?"
"Not a chance. From all the reports we've got there was an explosion in the main building, and the fire spread to fast for anyone to have a chance."
"Well thanks. If you find anything contact me at the Artell Ranch." Xan said and he began to jog back to the Comet. As he got closer A5's mournful keening came to Xan and he picked up the pace. He reached the top of the boarding ramp to see Mar with a fusion cutter ignited and pointed at her left wrist.
"Mar no!" Xan yelled.
"I have to!" Mar screamed. "There's nothing left for me anymore." She said through sobs.
"Yes there is Mar, you have your whole life ahead of you." Xan said as calmly as possible. A5 was making his way closer to Mar, and Xan knew that something was brewing on those electrical circuits.
"No Xan, what am I going to do. My dad is dead, my mom is dead I have no place to go, nowhere to live, no way to make money. There's nothing left for me Xan." She choked.
"Of course there is Mar." The fusion cutter was against her wrist, she gave a little shriek as the jet broke the skin and plunged through tissue. "What am I going to do without you?" Mar looked at him, and paused. "I need you Mar, you're my co-pilot. You're my quadgunner. How would I have gotten off Carida if it wasn't for you?"
"Really?" She paused, and that was what the little droid had been looking for. His electroprod shot out and a bolt of electricity arced out and hit Mar in the right hand. She dropped the fusion cutter. Xan sprinted over and kicked the tool out of her reach. Mar gave up, sat back on her haunches and cried.
Gently Xan took her left arm and began to examine her wounds. Tools were scattered all over the deck of the ship. Blood oozed from a good sized cut that ran across her wrist as well as a series of parallel slashes going down the inside of her forearm.
Xan held the small sobbing girl in his arms, tears plastered sandy colored hair to the side of her face. He squeezed to show he was there, hopefully showing how much he cared.
"It's alright Mar, everything is going to be alright." Xan soothed as he pressed her head against his chest. Mar responded by using her good arm to squeeze Xan the best she could. "I'm here for you Mar." Xan said as she continued to cry. She clung to him with her good arm, feeling somehow safe in Xan's arms as the tears continued to burn her eyes. It was as if Xan was the only thing she could be sure of in the Galaxy.
The sound of Xan's heart thudding away furiously against her ears was soothing. Every time he stroked her hair she felt a little calmer. Even though it was hard for Xan to keep his voice even she found in it a certain soothing quality.
Xan's legs wobbled slightly as he picked her clean up and walked to the med station, where with one hand he began to rummage through the kit for gauze to cover Marnist's arm.
"I know you're in pain right now, and I can't promise you that it will ever go away, but what you were about to do was admit defeat. And that's not the Marnist Kinkla that I know. You have to keep fighting, besides, what would I do without you?" She had stopped crying for the most part. "I'd miss you to much little girl, and where would I get an other co-pilot I could trust as much as you." Xan kissed her on the forehead, and headed for the cockpit, his astromech close behind. Mar looked up at him, slightly fuzzy through teared up eyes, damn was he handsome. Mar snuggled closer into his arms.
Once in the cockpit Xan put Mar down in the co-pilots seat, and sealed the cockpit so Mar couldn't escape and try again. As always Rydell was waiting when Xan put the Comet down in the hangar. He heard Rydell's footsteps before he saw Rydell, and when they suddenly got faster Xan looked up.
The only thing Rydell could think of to say was; "What happened Xan."
"I can work for you full time." Xan answered. "The shop blew up."
"Is she asleep?" Rydell asked as they headed into the main part of the house.
"Passed out is more likely. She tried to open up her wrist with a fusion cutter. Could you grab me a good medkit and meet me in my room?"
Rydell headed for the kitchen, they had the most complete medkit because the cooks never got any real deep cuts, which meant all of the larger sized bandages and bacta patches would still be in it. I hope she makes it, Rydell thought, that would be the worst thing for Xan right now, to loose his father and then to loose someone he cared about as much as Mar. Rydell knew that Xan would never admit it but he and Mar had almost been cloned for each other, despite the four year age difference.
When Rydell reached Xan's room, he had put Mar in his bed and covered her up. It looked to Rydell as if Xan had laid her in state.
"How is she?" Rydell asked, holding the medkit out to Xan.
"She's alive, if that's what you're asking." Xan said as he removed the old bandages and began to clean the wounds. Rydell looked on surprised at how deep the cuts had gone. "She's going to make it through, just unconscious from blood lose, pulse is a little weak, she'll make it through." Xan said optimistically, although Rydell began to doubt, and worry. He had only seen Xan like this one time before, when he had come home from the Academy after his father had been exiled. Xan slapped bacta patches over the wounds, covered them with gauze, and rebandaged them.
"What's going to happen to her?" Rydell asked.
"I don't know. I guess she has to stay with us if that's alright."
"So what are we going to do, we're going to the Academy in a month."
Xan didn't say anything; he just sat there and stroked the stubble on his chin. "If I got you the credits, could you have someone slice into the Imperial records and change her age so she could got to the Academy with us?"
Rydell nodded. "It's going to cost you a bantha load though, like twenty thousand to change the records, and if you're looking at getting her into IPEC with us, you're probably looking at sixty to seventy thousand. Even if I got you on every run for the Rebels until we left you couldn't make that much. You might be able to get up enough credits to get her transferred at the beginning of the second semester."
Xan shook his head. "I can't be away from her for that long."
"Well what are you going to do, you don't have the money, I can't lend you that much, and unless you go crook I can't see making that much money."
Xan got a smirk on his face, as he got a glass of rum. "I don't have the money, but Xander Parck does."
No, he didn't just say that. To go into his old accounts was insane; first it would let the Imperial know exactly where he was. Security procedures would almost certainly force Xan to confront a being that would be able to visually identify him.
"That's insane Xan, and you know how crazy it is if I'm saying it's insane!"
"Don't worry I've got an idea."
"Come on Grand Admiral Xan, you know I'm all for doing crazy stuff and gambling, but this is going to be like trying to hold your breath in vacuum! You can't get away with it! The Imps will be able to track you for sure."
"It's worth a shot."
Rydell threw up his hands in surrender. "Alright fine, go to the Unknown Regions and rot with Thrawn! See if I care."
"Good, because you know you're going with me."
"Oh no they won't." Rydell shook a finger in Xan's direction. "They won't catch me, and if they catch you I know you won't sell me out." Rydell stormed out of the room, only to poke his head back in the door in an other minute. "Sorry about earlier at the warehouse. I said some things I shouldn't have. Especially in front of Mar."
"It's alright, when's the next shipment for the Rebels."
"An other couple of days, Mar will be ready by then right?"
"Right put me on it, and every one from now on."
Raiding his old accounts would be dangerous, but it had to be done, and the less he had to take out the better his chances of getting away with it.
Xan went over to the computer, and pulled up his music files. With his nerves the way they were, and his body shaking from adrenaline he needed something to calm him down. The chords of a classic Alderaanian waltz filtered into the room, in his nerf hide chair. Xan looked at Mar laying on his bed, so young and peaceful, not that he was old by almost any species life scale, but in the past six months he had aged so much that he sometimes looked on Rydell as a child.
"Who's Xander Parck?"
Xan's body went cold, like a mynock had latched onto his spine and sucked out all his body heat.
"I am, Mar."