University Library.
Maze leaned back from the screen, arms crossed and read it over again.
"Well?" Asked Essie.
"It puts a slightly different perspective on it."
"So you agree with my conclusion?"
She could hear him practically grind his teeth, he hated having to change his own conclusions and she had to mount a water tight argument for him to even remotely consider changing his mind.
He was so stubborn.
"Are all clones this…..stubborn?"
"I am not stubborn."
"Nah! And I'm not a female human." She huffed and turned away.
"Aren't you? What are you then? Trandoshan?"
She snorted a reply that may or may not have been swearing in Ryl.
"How can you not accept that argument" she jobbed at the screen, "with all the points I've put forward?"
"You don't like to be wrong do you?"
"Pfft!"
"Do you?"
"I'm never wrong when it comes to this!" She jabbed her finger again.
"Now who's being bloody stubborn?"
"Not as bad as you."
"I agree."
"See. I told you…. what?….you agree?"
A smile tugged at one side of his mouth, "Your arguments are well constructed. The only part is this. I don't know how you made the jump from that to that." He pointed at the two documents on the screen.
"Intuition."
"There. You have to have something more than bloody intuition."
"Why? Don't you have a soldier's sixth sense or something?"
"Hm!"
They sat in silence both with their arms crossed, mirror images. Essie glanced at her chrono.
"Hell's it's late. I should have closed by now."
"Shouldn't have argued."
"I wasn't arguing."
"Yes you were. I'll check the perimeter for you."
"Thanks. Do you want to go for Caf when we finish? I know a really good Caf Shop we can go to. They bake everything on the premises."
She stopped for breath, realising she was gabbling like an idiot; she was nervous asking him and had not thought he would return after his last visit but she enjoyed his company and this evening had been good, even with the bickering, which she secretly enjoyed and he apologised for his rudeness plus he was the only person, apart from a few parents at the nursery, Johl and Sol and Nat, who she spoke to on a regular basis.
"Yes. I would like that."
She breathed out
"Good. I'll close up." He followed her around the Library, then checked the perimeter for her.
"We'll have to take the EasyRide Train." She said, as she activated the biometric lock, "the stop's not far and after that it's about five minutes walk away."
"That's not a problem."
He was about to put his helmet on to go outside but stopped and decided against it; instead he clipped it on the back of his belt, where it bounced against him as he walked. Clack. Clack. Clack.
"That must be irritating." She commented as they walked along.
He frowned.
"Your helmet, making that noise."
"Yes it is, now you mention it."
It was irritating. He had never noticed it before. He would have to do something about that.
They walked along to the stop, past a few staring citizens; it was empty but they only had a couple of minutes to wait. She automatically paid for him; he had not realised you had to pay, he must remember his credits next time.
They sat silently on the EasyRide, only two others in the car. Maze watched them carefully, a Rodian and Falleen, they appeared innocent enough but you could never tell. They were certainly giving him some funny looks; maybe it was because he didn't have his helmet on. He met their gazes head on. They both looked away within a few seconds; he could do that stare all night.
"Do you take the train every night?"
"Only when I'm on a late, normally I finish about five, five thirty, so I get home earlier."
"Oh." He wasn't good at this small talk. It was so much easier when they were talking about the documents they looked at.
This is why I don't talk to females.
"How often do you have to work late?" He tried again.
"Only once a week." She paused, her mouth slightly open, "I've been watching some of the HNN reports on the Outer Rim. Were you ever…"
So that's what she wants.
"Troop movements are classified." He replied sternly.
"Oh, sorry. I didn't mean to…."
He nodded. He saw the pale red flush rise up her neck, as she turned away from him and looked out of the window.
"So how did you learn on…" she paused unsure if it was common knowledge where the clones came from.
"Kamino?" That wasn't classified now.
"Yes."
"We had Flash learning backed up with...simulations." He explained.
"Flash training?"
"Yes, it's…."
"I know what it is. It's just, I never thought it was used that extensively."
"It was the only way we could learn what we needed to and fast enough."
She nodded, "And the simulations?"
"Battle practice."
"You had to practice fighting battles?" She asked incredulously.
"How else would we learn without taking part in real battles."
He didn't mention the 'live fire exercises', when he was half his current size. Just the thought of them brought him out in a cold sweat.
"I'd never heard of Kamino before the war started." She added
"It was where I was cloned and matured to adulthood."His voice was flat, no emotion when he spoke.
"I know that, I…." her voice tailed off unsure what to say at the clinical way he described it. She looked out of the window again.
Well I just closed off that part of the conversation. Thought Maze.
She watched the buildings fly by. The Captain was more animated when talking about Republic Politics and History. She would suggest looking at Republic Law next; she thought that would interest him. She hoped it would; it was a fascinating subject.
"Our stop next." She nudged his arm, they alighted and continued on foot.
"Did you get enough information on Dooku?" She asked, the latest person of interest for him, especially with being the figurehead of the CIS.
"Yes. Although I thought there might be more about Sorenno and his family."
"You'll probably have more luck in the Jedi Archives, if it's his early life you're after."
"You think so?"
"Oh yes. They must have lots of information about him. Perhaps your General could get you access."
"I'll ask him."
They fell silent again.
Maze found her fairly easy to talk to, when they were in the library, listening and commenting in the right places, almost getting him to open up more than he wished. He would have to watch that but this, this small talk, was difficult
I'll com Ne'tra. He was good at this part of the training.
They reached the shop, Tualin Oola, written in large gold letters on the transparisteel windows, at least he assumed that what they were. He automatically assessed the security. It was in the middle of a narrow walkway, running off the main one and led to a small area of artificial green space with seating, lights and what looked like children's play equipment. He stared at it.
"Maze, this way." She pushed open the door.
It was an older building, well maintained and away from the busy sky lanes. She walked straight in and as they entered, the heady aroma of strong caf and sweet, fruity, nutty cakes hit him. Maze had never smelt anything like this on Kamino or in Arca Barracks, despite Zey's penchant for caf. He inhaled deeply and closed his eyes savouring the smell for a few seconds.
"Kandosii". He whispered; despite himself, some Mandoa words fit the situation perfectly. He had become used to normal food on Qiilura, as little as they got there but it never smelt like this.
Essie turned to him.
"Sorry. I didn't catch that."
"Nothing." he replied and smiled.
"Sit down over there" she pointed to an end table, pleased that he was actually smiling, it changed his whole face, made him look even more handsome. Just like when they were bickering.
Yes, he was handsome. She wasn't immune to a handsome face.
"Friends of mine own this place. Sit at that table there." She pointed to an empty one
As Maze walked, he heard a shout for her to come into the back room but she didn't leave immediately. Her name was shouted again.
"Essie!" The shout was followed by a small middle aged human female, who grabbed Essie, and hugged her. When she turned to Maze, a look of horror crossed her face.
"Nat!" She screamed and pushed a confused looking Essie behind her, away from Maze in a protective gesture.
A large, muscular Twi'lek, pale flesh and teal in colour, came rushing from the rear of the shop, with an incongruous apron wrapped around his middle. He moved fast for big humanoid, scooped Essie up and away, as if she were a child then put himself between the human female, Essie and Maze. He took a fighting stance.
Maze reacted, knocked over the table, as cover, and drew his dual blasters and pointed at all three. They had triggered his automatic response to aggression. Fight.
"It's okay, he's with me!" Essie shouted from the middle of it.
Both the Twi'lek and the woman looked at her, astonished and then at the blasters.
"It's Maze. He's a friend." They turned back to her. Maze's eyebrow rose.
Silence.
They turned in unison to look at Maze, who returned their stares with a pointed glare but holstered his blasters. They were unarmed civilians; that would be way too much paperwork to complete, not to mention dealing with all the fallout from the powers that be, Camas.
"I told him it was a good place for a Caf with the best cakes on Coruscant and somewhere where we could talk. Not this."
"Although, if this is what happens when customers come in; l'm not so bloody sure." Maze grumbled loudly, still scrutinising the male Twi'lek whose lekku were severely scarred and tattooed, as was his face. He was muscular, as wide as Maze, and taller.
A fighter.
The woman ignored him and grabbed Essie to give her another big hug and kiss and whispered something to her. Maze strained to listen but it sounded like Ryl and he was a little rusty on that but Essie replied with an emphatic shake of her head. The Twi'lek joined in, all the while staring at Maze.
They eventually untangled themselves.
"This is Nat and Sol, the owners of the shop." Essie introduced them. "This….. is Captain Maze."
He was not used to all the familial hugs; it reminded him too much of the farmers of Qiilura. They watched him cautiously
"Ma'am, Sir."
"So you're Essie's friend?"
"Yes, ma'am." That's how she had introduced him.
"Call me Sol. Would you like something to eat and drink?"
His stomach growled.
Traitor.
"I'll take that as a yes then. Nat get the caf."
Maze righted the table and picked up all the broken items, handing them over to Essie, who smiled at him and mouthed sorry before taking them into the back.
Nat brought out caf and Sol produced sandwiches and pastries, placed them in front of Maze, then took Essie in the back again. She closed the door behind her.
"Del's asleep. The noise didn't wake him."
She stared at Essie, gently touching her forearm.
"You frightened me. I thought you were in trouble. You don't see many Republic troopers here. We thought he'd been after you."
"It's okay. I don't think he will be back. He doesn't know about Del. I should have warned you about the Captain but you always said I could bring friends back."
"So this," she hesitated. "Is it serious?"
Her adopted daughter had not brought a man back any time recently.
"What?"
"You and the Captain, Maze is it?"
"It's not like that. We like talking about history and politics." Essie was gabbling again.
"Pufft" Sol huffed, "He's too good looking for his own good. It's a good job he doesn't realise it…... Be careful." She added, cleaning up the counter and talking at the same time. "We don't want you to get hurt. And I don't want Nat to get into trouble. You know what he's like, he swore that oath to your Dad."
In the front, Nat was cleaning the tables ready to close and was still giving Maze the once over. Maze was on his second extra strong caf and sipping it slowly, savouring it, after devouring the sandwiches and several cakes, seemingly staring into space with a blank look on his face but watching every move the Twi'lek made.
"Good caf."He commented. The Twi'lek grunted, then there was a call from the back, and Nat answered it rushing to his wife.
Essie came and sat with Maze, nursing her own caf which was milky and frothy, and a plateful similar to his. Maze grimaced inwardly at the look of the adulterated caf.
"I am sorry about that" she apologised "they brought me up and are a little over protective."
He sipped his Caf and they sat with an awkward silence between them.
"So" she began again, "do you you always greet people with a blaster."
"Mostly."
Her eyes widened.
"Only if I like them."
She looked at him, frowning.
"Joke! Clones can make jokes you know."
She smiled before taking another sip of her caf, which left a white line across her top lip.
Maze snorted. He leaned over and wiped her mouth with the serviette.
She grinned, "I always do that." Then she continued, "Can I ask…"
"Can you ask what?"
"No it's nothing."
"If you want to ask me something just ask."
"How do you think the Jedi knew, that they would need you and your brothers to fight for the Republic at this particular time?"
Maze put his mug slowly to the table; this came out of the blue.
"I'm sorry, I don't want to upset you" she continued "But do you think they saw something in the Force."
"I don't know anything about the bloody force. I just obey orders."
"Oh. I'm sorry I asked." She took another drink.
His DNA was pure Jango and trained by him, to fight for the Republic and obey its orders without question. Why he had come into being at the specific time he had never considered but he knew he was already angry at being short changed regarding his accelerated ageing and if it was the Jedi's fault. He shut that thought down immediately. He glared at the table.
"Maze? I've upset you?" She paused. "I'm sorry that was rude." She reached out to his hand resting on the table, "I apologise. Again."
He grunted but left his hand there with hers just touching his fingers.
"The thing with Politics is, you can't study it in isolation. At some point decisions will have been made that have a direct bearing on you and what you do. And you have to question that."
She removed her hand to lift her milky caf again and gave herself another moustache.
What you do. Does she know exactly what I do or is it just the armour.
.
Nat and Sol stood in the kitchen trying to maintain the pretence they were cleaning up, but observing closely.
"They don't look as if they're enjoying themselves." Commented Nat.
"Oh, I don't know. She's managed to open her mouth and put her foot in it, twice by the look of it." Sol wiped the same mug for the fourth time.
"And he's still here."
"Hmm. He's doing well."
Sol stopped polishing. "Fek!"
"What happened?" His wife didn't swear often.
"I think she just suggested they study Law next."
Nat turned away from the couple and let out a near silent groan.
"Time to stop this before she does what the Seppies couldn't."
His wife looked at him, "What's that?"
"Bore him to death. He can't be interested in all that." He reverted to Ryl, hoping the clone wouldn't understand and walked over to the table.
"So you think you you know the Law?" He heard Essie say. He stifled a groan. This was the first person that had shown any interest in her since she had her son. He wanted her to have friends, he and Sol weren't going to be around forever, so he wanted to make sure she was going to have some support in the future and in this case beggars couldn't be choosers.
"It's time to close up —Essie?"
"Oh, oh yes. I'm sorry Maze. They open up early, for the workers."
"Yes. Of course we'll go."
"It's okay. She stays here."
Maze looked at Essie, sure he was not getting the whole picture here.
"You okay with that Essie?"
"Yeah, sure."
"Next time then." He rose slowly and if he hadn't been so big, he would have felt he was being ushered out.
"See you soon." Essie waved at him, as he left and watched him walk away.
As soon as the door locked Essie rounded on them.
"So what was that all about?"
Nat tried and failed to look innocent.
"I heard what you said. I just hope Maze doesn't understand Ryl because he's clever and picks things up quickly. It wouldn't surprise me if he did."
Her mouth was set in a straight line, as the couple just looked at her.
"And now you've upset him. Because he likes the same things I do. He's interested in politics and we're going to look at the law."
"Yeah." Nat said dismissively, "he's a soldier."
"And?"
"Soldiers aren't normally interested in that. They can't be. They're here to do a job. He's not…"
"Not an intellectual?" Essie finished for him, she knew what he was getting at.
"Yes."
"Essie, Nat's just…"
"I know what he's doing. It's just…..Gah. I'm going to bed."
Nat and Sol exchanged glances. They were only trying to help.
.
Maze stood outside the door, heard the lock click on it. He had never been pushed out of a room so quickly since he was a cadet. He jammed his helmet on and walked away. There was something going on there, something they were trying to hide. They spoke Ryl, obviously with Nat being Twi'lek but it was to exclude him from the conversation definitely something being hidden.
"I'll brush up on my Ryl, then we'll see." he could remember exactly what they said, in Ryl or not.
He headed back to ARCA Barracks foregoing the pleasure of the EasyRide Train system.
##
Tualin Oola – Royal Water