Part Two: Air
Taris
Chapter 1
A Strange Dream
A doomed ship, like the Spire, but certainly not the same one. The technology was not Republic, hexagonal shapes and strange angles suggesting unknown and alien design. The lighting was dim and oppressive, and through the view ports, the battle raged.
Republic fighters and Sith snub-nosed bombers dove and danced like insects, green and red blaster fire flashing briefly before connecting with their targets. Sith officers and soldiers lay dead on the decks. The readouts on the panels were shrieking their warnings and critical danger signals, but there were no alarms on this ship.
Clad in the Sith style of full armor, heavy cloak, and concealing face mask, their leader waited for the inevitable. Enemies were coming - enemies that would be destroyed lest they escape the doomed ship - lest they destroy the Dark Lord as the Council no doubt ordered. The leader shouted orders, transmitting plans to the ships that remained and cursing the Republic. How could their enemies see through the plans? How was it that the perfect strategies could fail so badly?
A disturbance in the Force - the Jedi had come. Revan knew what they'd come for, and damned if they would get it!
The bridge doors opened. Four Jedi stepped forward. Three wore the traditional tan robes. The one who led them did not. She was quite young, with the build of a dancer - lithe and tall, wielding a lightsaber of sunshine yellow.
Revan turned, sending a mute command to the honor guard to stop them. Four Dark Jedi rushed from the shadows to beat the invaders back. Revan could not look away. The clash of lightsabers, the sizzle of energy and the smell of ozone filled the air.
"The Force fights with me!" the young Jedi shouted as she fought back the attacks with astounding skill and reflexes. The strange part was how unruffled she looked in the heat of battle, not even one strand of syrup-brown hair seemed to come loose.
Outside, the battle was all but lost. Strategy had failed, and the Dark Side was failing Revan. The only thing left was the bridge of Revan's flagship - and making certain these Jedi would never take a Dark Lord - dead or alive.
Kairi Niko, Civilian advisor, class three...
Carth must have read the datapad he found in her jacket a few hundred times already. Standard Republic file - dry reading. It didn't have much else to say about the small woman who had spent the last two days drifting from unconsciousness to delirium, and back to unconsciousness.
Whatever she was seeing behind her eyes, it must have been one hell of a nightmare.
The apartment was a dump, but at least it was relatively safe. The pod crashed in the Upper City of Taris - a planet that once had been called the Outer Rim's Courscant, as the sprawling city took up most of the planet's surface. With new hyperspace routes, though, came Taris's slow decline. The fighting overhead had provided a lot of confusion and panic, so he had been able to grab Kairi and run away from the crash of their pod. He stumbled into this sleazy building and overrode the low-grade lock. Fortunately, the landlord apparently wasn't a frequent visitor, or a stickler for the law. Most of the building's residents weren't human, and that was technically illegal for this part of the planet.
A Sith patrol marched down the sidewalks. It didn't take them long after the battle to march down here and impose "order" (read: martial law). They'd been strutting the sidewalks since the battle, but hadn't come by this building yet. The less fortunate news was that they'd quarantined the planet. Even if they could book passage or attempt smuggling themselves off-planet, Sith automated turrets would vaporize the ship before it could break atmosphere.
In his scouting, he also learned that escape pods had crashed into the Lower and Under cities, and the most he was able to learn is that they were lawless and dangerous places. The Sith sent patrols down there, and were hiring stranded mercenaries as scouts.
Carth had been using the workbench and a discarded bag of tools to make some modifications to his blaster when he heard Kairi gasp, and bolt upright in her bunk, her dark eyes searching the room and obvious panic on her face. Putting the blaster aside he hurried to her side, taking her shoulders.
"Kairi?"
She stared at him blankly. "Where...where am I? Who are you...?"
Awake! Between the plasma shock and the pod crashing, it was nothing short of a twice-over miracle! "Easy, there," he said. "We're okay for the moment. I'm Carth, one of the Republic soldiers from the Endar Spire. I was with you in the escape pod. Do you remember?"
Her gaze went inward, probably trying to make sense of what happened. "I...I remember a battle, yes." She put her head in her hands. "But everything else...it's a blank!"
"You're lucky to be alive at all, shoving me out of the way of that exploding plasma conduit. Thank you, by the way. You've also been in and out of consciousness for a couple days now, so I imagine you're confused. Try not to worry. It'll probably come back to you."
"You must have been the one to save my life then." She paused, seemingly baffled by the very idea. "Why?"
"Why?" Carth wasn't sure he heard that right.
"You put yourself at risk to save someone you didn't know." It wasn't an accusation; more like the whole concept was a little hard to understand.
Carth bit back his irritation and picked the simplest explanation he could. "I've never left anyone behind on a mission, and I'm not about to start." He handed her a datapad. "Here, it's got your service record on it. Maybe it'll bring back a few things."
She took the datapad, reading it over in silence. If she was confused before, then reading her file only served to worsen it.
"According to this, you're a translator, specializing in Outer Rim languages that Bastila hauled along for the mission," Carth explained. He took a deep breath before speaking again. The next words were hard for him to admit. "Anyway, I'm no linguist. Aside from Basic, I know enough Twi'leki to ask directions, and enough Mandalorian dialect to get me into a fistfight. If any of your linguistic talents are intact, we'll need them."
"Who is Bastila?"
Geez, she's not kidding about her memory being shot, is she? "Bastila's a Jedi, and she's key to the whole Republic war effort. It's critical that we find her before the Sith do."
"How can one person, even a Jedi, be so important?" She scowled and rubbed her forehead.
Carth wagered she still had a vicious headache, and tried to explain, even if he didn't know much past the basics. "She has this gift called Battle Meditation. Don't ask me how it works, but she's able to influence the course of a fight just by sheer will. Already, she used it in the battle that killed Revan - Malak's Sith master. And that's the reason why Malak wants her so badly."
Kairi scowled, rubbing her forehead like it ached. "Malak and Revan...the Sith leaders, right?"
"Yeah." Carth tiredly looked up. "Republic managed to get Revan out of the picture about a year ago, but the cost was high, and for what Revan had for tactical brilliance, Malak makes up for in sheer evil - he and his followers don't respect anything but raw, brutal power." His words were bitter. "They became monsters - ruthless tyrants that will crush anything in their way and want to leave the Republic a smoking ruin." Shaking his head in bitter disbelief, he added. "Hard to imagine that the both of them were Jedi."
"They were?"
"Yeah. You didn't know?"
"It's..." She shook her head. "There are bits, pieces...nothing makes sense."
"Not your fault that you can't recall anything. I've seen the damage plasma bolts can do - disrupts all the electrical impulses in a person. Most of the time, the nervous system and brain just fry from the overload. You're lucky, Kairi."
She thought about this for a moment. "All right, Carth. I...I'll help you. It's all I can trade for my life," she said. "What's the situation?"
"We're in abandoned apartment on Taris. It's a dump, but it works pretty well for a hideout." Carth explained. He walked over to the window and looked out on the vast cityscape. "While you've spent the last couple days recovering, I've done a little scouting."
"Go on."
"The situation's bad. The Sith fleet is in orbit, and they declared martial law on the whole damn planet. There are patrols out on the streets, and Bastila's still missing." He shook his head. "I've been in worse spots."
Kairi raised an eyebrow, silently asking what qualified for "worse."
He avoided answering her question for the time being. "The planet's one big city, and the deeper you go, the worse it gets. There've been reports of crashed escape pods in the Undercity. One of them might be Bastila's; that's where I'll need the help. Going in there unprepared is suicide, and we're no good to her dead." He handed her the blaster she carried from the Spire, along with a harness to holster it. She inspected it like it was an exotic piece of machinery, and not the most common weapon on the Rim.
"The Republic's not going to be able to help us - not with the Sith blockade. We're on our own there. Half the Sith fleet's probably looking for her. The good news is that means a couple common soldiers like us might be able to move about undetected. The second bit of good news is that many of the citizens are armed. Tarisian nobles still get into duels over petty insults, and we're still talking about the Outer Rim."
"Well, the sooner we start looking, the better the chances we'll find her before her enemies do." She finished her inspection of the blaster. Satisfied, she put it back in the holster and pulled on her jacket to cover it. After she put it on, she paused, feeling in the pocket and pulling out a set of leather hair ties with silver beads. She looked at them with vague recollection. "You saved these, too?"
Carth shrugged. "They were yours."
She secured her hair. "I'm certain there are those who are sympathetic to the Republic here, or at the very least opposed to the Sith, and the very idea of a Jedi crashing here would generate a lot of talk. A cantina, preferably one by the spaceports, would likely have some of both."
"Good idea. I just hope the leads don't lead us into a Sith garrison." He stared out the grimy window as if he hoped to see Bastila out on the streets below. "I've heard some grim things about Dark Jedi interrogation techniques. They say the Force can to terrible things to a mind. It can wipe away your memories and destroy your very identity."
"It's bad enough I can't recall anything now." Kairi grimaced. "I'd sooner not find out if those rumors are true."
"I don't either," Carth admitted. "Alright, soldier, let's move out."
The apartment complex itself was poorly laid out, running around in a circle with rows of unmarked doors. It took a little "persuasion" to get the lift slide open, and a slow and shaky ride in it brought them to the lobby.
Unfortunately, a "situation" blocked their exit. A low-ranked female officer with apparent delusions of grandeur had two Duros up against the wall. Two Sith troops in full armor stood nearby.
"You had better tell me where you hid those uniforms, alien scum. The Sith can make your life..." Her voice dropped ominously. "Nasty and short otherwise. Tell us what you know of the Tarisian underground and we might reduce your punishment."
"Just great," Carth muttered. "You get back inside the lift -"
The Duros language wasn't comprehensible to Carth. From what he could tell, they were protesting the charges. Fortunately, his theory about Kairi's skills being intact proved correct. She turned to him, whispering. "They say they don't know anything."
"Knowing the Sith, that won't matter," Carth whispered. "She'll kill him anyway."
"I see you don't carry the proper papers, either. Where are your work papers?" the officer demanded.
"Oh, great," the first soldier said to the other. "Lieutenant Crace is losing her temper again. Took me hours to clean the blood off this armor last time."
As the smaller of the Duros attempted to explain, the commander turned her blaster rifle and shot him point-blank in the chest, killing him instantly. She leveled her rifle at the horrified survivor. "That is how we Sith deal with smart mouthed vermin. Now, tell me what I want to know or be next!"
One of the troopers turned in their direction, his body radiating hostility and his vibroblade punctuating his words. "You're a little too curious for your own good, citizens," the trooper warned. "Move along if you know what's best for you."
Turning her attention from the captive Duros to Kairi and Carth, the officer's blaster rifle went up and her voice was burning. "What is this? Humans hiding out with aliens?" Her face turned livid. "Republic fugitives, I'll bet! Attack!"
So much for trying to lie low.
Kairi drew her blaster, shooting the officer in the shoulder, causing her to drop the blaster with an angry howl. A second shot sent the Sith crumpling in a heap. Carth drew his blasters and nailed one of the guards. In the moment's distraction, the surviving Duros grabbed the blaster rifle and took down the third. The patrol was dead and the fight over. The Duros knelt by his friend, but there was nothing to be done. Kairi translated as he spoke.
"Poor Ixgil. He never should have talked back, but I am glad that you were able to step in and help, humans."
"Won't they search for this patrol?" Kairi switched languages fluidly.
"I'll move the bodies, and make it look like they got caught in the gang war in the Lower City. That should throw them off the track. With any luck, they won't bother us again for a while."
When she quickly translated for Carth, he asked, "Gang war?"
"Ah," the Duros said. "You are from off-world. You will find many here who oppose the Sith if you know where to look. Authorities turn a blind eye - both the Taris ones, and often the Sith. Maybe they figure it's not worth the bother, or maybe our landlord bribes officials." He continued as he started searching the bodies. "As for the gang wars, there are only two important gangs to worry about. The Black Vulkars that want to control the entire Lower City and will kill almost anyone that crosses their path. The Hidden Beks stand in their way."
"I suppose it's because I'm not from here, but what does the gang war have to do with the Sith?" Carth asked.
"The Beks do not bow to invaders - not Vulkars, not Sith. When the Mandalorians occupied the planet during the War, the Beks committed themselves to the Resistance and helped drive them out. They're still the closest thing to law you get in the Lower City. Gadon Thek, the Bek leader, is gathering resources and uniting gangs to stand up to the Sith and show them what we showed the Mandalorians! That is why we send them supplies and information from the Upper City. Beks are glad to help anyone who is no friend of Sith. You should go there - mention that I sent you and Gadon will do what he can."
Kairi glanced up at Carth. "Looks like we didn't have to travel far at all to get a lead." She then looked back at the Duros. "But about the uniforms?"
"Beks take Sith armor. When Sith come to the Lower City, the Beks use the disguise to ambush their patrols."
When Kairi translated this to Carth, a plan seemed to start brewing. "Interesting. Maybe he can point us in the right direction, and we certainly could use a local guide."
"We'll check it out, thank you."
The Duros handed them a small bag. "Take this. Gangs loot the bodies, and I think you could use it."
Kairi opened it. Five hundred credits in extortion money were inside.
"Best of luck, enemies of Sith," said the Duros, already slinging the corpse of the officer over his shoulders and vanishing from sight.
****
Like an aging beauty, the Upper City of Taris was more beautiful when one saw it for what it must have looked like in its prime, not in its present. Graceful skyscrapers hundreds of meters high were built in the circular or arching design that was the height of fashion a century ago. Abstract sculptures gently turned on repulsorlift bases and the fountains flowed, recycling their water in a never-ending pattern. It was enough to overlook the less than kind aspects of time, like the scars left by acid rain on the sculpture or the overly-chemical smell of the water with its grimy coins at the bottom and mildew growing into the cracked permacrete. The Upper City's citizens seemed as part of the landscape - faded beauty. Most wore fashionable clothes and carried themselves with a jaded air, lacking interest in what was around them as they did their daily business. Efficient but worn protocol or maintenance droids could be seen on their tasks.
What stood out about Taris were the patrols. Their polished armor and precision of movement clashed greatly with the complacency and mild neglect of the surroundings. They walked like they owned the streets because they did own the streets. Everything about them was cold, efficient, brutal and hard. Even without the concealing, intimidating armors of red, silver, and black, they were unmistakably Sith.
Kairi looked around, curious about everything, trying to place the words to objects, hoping something might trigger any trace of a memory. Had she been here before? Maybe that wasn't important to think about right now. There was just so...much...around her -- bright colors, the sharp, acrid smells of the chemically-treated water and wet permacrete. It had rained recently, and the streets were slightly slick, the air heavy with ozone. This place seemed a little odd in that it was rare to see any non-human. There was a beggar in one corner that might have been a near-human. A Twi'lek was following closely behind a fat old woman that was obviously her employer -- or worse, her owner. An Ithorian with a large orange patch on his clothing, denoting permission to work in the area, was fixing a cleanup droid.
She tried to listen to some of the conversations as she passed by, but couldn't hear many words over the noise. Still, there was a certain noise she could make out -- something that hummed low and loud through the air. It spiked when a patrol walked by and people halted their conversations.
Fear.
The elevator to the Lower City was on the north side of this sector, near the Sith Base, past an area of town aptly called "The Maze" for its narrow, twisting passageways. "The Maze" showed more neglect than most of the Upper City - overflowing refuse bins, the odd graffiti on a wall. It would be a good place to lose someone - in more ways then one. It was also strangely abandoned - as if no one had reason to even venture into the area's labyrinth of alleys and decay.
Unfortunately, a fully armored soldier was guarding the lift, and with the base nearby, overpowering him wasn't an option. They waited in a nearby blind alley. Maybe the end of his shift would give them a chance.
Two more armored Sith walked up to him. Giving them a cursory glance, he opened the elevator doors and waved them past. "Did you see that?" Carth asked.
"See what?"
"The guard's lazy. He's not even bothering to check ID. If we manage to get our hands on some uniforms, I'll bet we can sneak right past him."
"We should have asked the Duros back at the apartment," Kairi said. "Or find another way to steal some uniforms."
"We'll add that to the grocery list," Carth said as they followed the maze of back streets and dead-end alleys. "Now, first, we're going to have to --"
"Help! Someone!" It was the voice of an old man.
Kairi's hand went for her holster. Carth grabbed her arm. "Low profile, Kairi. If there's Sith involved..."
"Help!" called the old man again. With it, came a sharp...she couldn't call it pain because it did not hurt, at least physically. The discomfort seemed to come in waves, making it impossible to stay put. Kairi shrugged off Carth's grip, running towards the source of the cry.
Two menacing-looking thugs had an old man pinned against the wall in a dark alley. No Sith or anyone else was in sight. It would appear that the thugs had chosen this abandoned cul-de-sac carefully.
"Davik doesn't like people missing payments old man," the first thug said. He brandished a nasty-looking vibroknife, holding it to the man's throat.
"But I don't have the hundred credits." The old man was shaking now. "I've only half that. Please, take it and go."
The second thug, an Aqualish, laughed. His human companion just shrugged.
"Too bad. Davik wants it in full. We're just going to have to take it out of you another way..."
"Let him go!" Kairi shouted.
The human thug sneered. "We're with the Exchange, and we own this rock. You don't want us to be your problem."
"And this is how you demonstrate that power? Roughing up old men?" Kairi patted her pocket. "I heard enough. I've got what this man owes. Take it and leave."
The pair seemed to consider it for a moment. The Aqualish was like stone. The human couldn't stop smirking. Just as it seemed that they were going to take Kairi's offer, the Aqualish spun around and shot the old man in the leg. The human with the knife lunged, and sliced through her jacket, leaving a long, jagged gash in her arm. The blood on her hand made the blaster hard to hold.
Before the man with the vibroknife could strike a second time, she saw it coming. Blocking it, she spun and kicked the man into the wall as hard as she could. A second strike to the back of his neck knocked him cold. The Aqualish fired on her, forcing her behind a refuse bin. Just as he had her trapped, a second blaster shot flew through the air. The Aqualish, hit square in the chest, collapsed.
Kairi ran over to the old man. The wound in his leg was painful, but not immediately life-threatening. The sharp discomfort she had felt when she heard his cry had dulled to a steadier ache. She heard Carth behind her.
"Damn it, Kairi, next time you get the impulse to play hero..."
She looked behind her shoulder. "And what was I supposed to do?" She looked at the would-be muggers. "I'm not watching someone else die today."
Carth swore under his breath. He was here to do the same thing. Unfortunately, that meant he couldn't chew out his companion properly over a reckless act of heroism. Still, he was the soldier. She was a civilian with a purported case of total amnesia, and some part of him felt responsible for her. "Kairi, he got your arm. You're bleeding."
Kairi pulled off her shirt and ripped it to rags to bandage the old man's wound and her own, apparently not caring that she was down to her undershirt in full view of two strangers. "He's going to need a doctor."
The man groaned. "Zelka...his clinic is nearby."
"I just hope he's not one for questions." Carth helped the old man up, allowing him to lean heavily on him and Kairi as they hurried along the labyrinth of streets.
The clinic wasn't far at all, maybe a kilometer from the attack. The pair pushed open the doors and Carth bellowed for a medic. Within seconds, a repulsorlift stretcher and two medtechs whisked the old man off. Carth insisted on going with Kairi and a third medtech as they led her to another treatment room.
A synthskin bandage took care of Kairi's wound, and one of the medtechs found Kairi a shirt, but they were told to wait in the treatment room while Zelka, the head doctor, ran some tests to make certain the bounty hunter's knife didn't have toxins on it.
It left them alone for a good while in uncomfortable silence. He kept looking at her, then looking away. So much for the low profile. Already they nailed three Sith and two bounty hunters. He really couldn't blame her for any of it. After all, the Sith picked the fight and those bounty hunters were about to slice apart some old man who probably hadn't done anything but borrow a handful of credits. He wanted to ask where she learned that counter to the guy with the knife, but it wouldn't get him anywhere. She couldn't answer that.
Or wouldn't, his suspicion argued. Total amnesia is more common to holodramas than reality.
"Carth, something's bothering you."
"Just thinking, I suppose," he said.
She experimentally rubbed her healing arm. "Well, there's nothing to do but wait." Just as it seemed things would go back to their long stretch of silence, she asked. "If it's not too much trouble, can you tell me a bit about yourself?"
"About me? I guess I can see why. I get the feeling we're going to be spending a while together." Carth scowled for a moment. No way she could know, right? Well, either that, or she's... He folded his arms and relaxed against the wall. "You sure you want to know? It's nothing special, trust me."
She tilted her head to one side and gestured for him to continue.
"I've seen plenty of war, Kairi. Was fighting in the Mandalorian wars before this started, but that's nothing compared to what those Sith bastards can unleash. I've seen it - been too close to it." He hesitated, and then shook his head. What the hell? It was public record, anyway. "My home world was Telos, one of the first to fall to Malak's fleet. The Sith...bombed it to ashes, and there wasn't a damn thing I could do to stop them."
Horror crossed her face, followed by sympathy - the usual reactions. "I'm sorry, Carth." Usually, this was where everyone shut up and left him the frak alone, or got eager to change the subject.
Kairi, he soon would realize in more definite terms, was not most people. "Say what you want. I'll listen."
"What is there to say?" Anger slipped into his voice. "I'm just a soldier. I go where the fleet admirals tell me to, following orders, doing my duty. Just..." He sighed with frustration, sitting heavily on the bench near the treatment cot, one hand running through his hair. "It just doesn't seem right that doing that means I failed them. I...I didn't!"
She was scowling now - upset and confused because he was upset and confused. "The people of your home world?"
"Yes...No. That's not..." He paused and sighed heavily again. "I'm not making sense, am I?" Rising to his feet again, he walked ahead of her. "You probably mean well, Kairi, but I'm just not accustomed to talking about my past very much. At all, actually."
Kairi nodded, but reached out to put a hand on his shoulder. "If you need to talk, know that I will listen."
He wanted to like her. He truly did. As much as he wanted to get some of this off his chest, the hurt of betrayal was still burning white hot. Carth decided he already said more than he wanted.
"Maybe," he said. But he really had no intention of following through on it.
The door opened, and a dark-skinned human man in late middle age checked his pad and looked them over. "I can tell from your clothing you're from off-world. Still never let it be said that I turn away someone in need. My name is Dr. Zelka Forn, and you are..."
"Kairi," she said. "The man with me is my friend, Carth."
Before Carth could say anything, Zelka looked at the healing gash on Kairi's arm. "Well, good...no adverse reactions to the dermal regeneration pack." He made a note on his datapad and looked up at her again. "How did it happen?"
Carth decided to explain. "Two muggers and an old man. We...got into a fight with them."
Kairi's eyes widened. "Yes, we brought him with us. Is he going to be all right?"
Zelka seemed impressed. "So you're the pair of spacers that rescued Leto? Well, for that you have my thanks. And if they were muggers or bounty hunters, I wouldn't worry too much about the law here seeking reprisal."
"Figures," said Carth.
"How did an old man like him run afoul of bounty hunters in the first place?" Kairi asked.
"During the last outbreak of Corellian flu, Davik seized the shipments of medicine and the price soared. Those who couldn't pay were forced to take out loans - not even I could reason with him." Zelka shook his head. "Leto did everything to try to save his wife, even dealt with Davik. Even after the medicine, her system was badly weakened. She passed away some months later."
Carth grimaced. "Nice guy."
Zelka took out a medical scanner. "But, back to the subject of you, Miss. I was checking for neurotoxins. Fortunately, I didn't find any." He stroked his chin as he checked the datapad again. "I did detect evidence of other neural damage, though. Any dizziness in the past few days? Faintness?"
Kairi shook her head. "No, none of those."
"She got hurt a couple days ago," said Carth, attempting not to give out too many details. "Got too close to a transformer that blew. Her memory's been fuzzy after that."
Zelka whistled. "You're quite lucky, then. I still want you back here in two days for a complete scan."
"We're...we're stuck here for the moment. Quarantine." Carth explained. "We're a little low on credits right now."
"That doesn't matter. I'm not here for the credits. Just pay what you can - I operate on a sliding scale. I'd just like to run some more tests on your friend here." Zelka shook his head. "When I was younger and braver, I'd go to the Lower and Under Cities often to heal the sick. No one is turned away here - not the richest Tarisian noble, and not the poorest Outcast."
"Outcasts?" Kairi asked
Zelka sighed, and his entire body slumped from long-held grief. "When this planet was in its heyday, there was some illusion of local law. Aside from the Sith, the only universal law on Taris is the law of your credit chips or blaster." He rummaged in his kit for another scanner as he continued. "Well, the Upper City's not bad, if you can tolerate the self-absorption and snobbery. The Lower City's overrun by swoop gangs, and from what I've heard, there's a full-blown gang war down there. The Undercity is even worse. The people living there, the Outcasts, are mostly decent, but the rakghouls have then under siege constantly."
"Rakghouls? What are they?" Kairi asked.
"It's a disease that's plagued Taris for decades. The Undercity is filled with the creatures - horrible monsters that feed on flesh, and anyone bitten soon mutates into a rakghoul themselves. I've been working on a cure for years, but just as I was about to create a vaccine the Sith confiscated my notes, and it's not like the authorities here give a damn what happens to the Outcasts." Zelka's tone was bitter. "I hear the Sith have actually used my notes to make a workable serum for their patrols that go into the Undercity. If only I could get my hands on a sample of the serum. I remember enough of my notes that I'd be able to make it myself if I could just see the finished product. Until then, a cure is just a dream I'll never see."
Kairi looked over at Carth, asking silent permission. When he nodded approval, she fished her credits from her pocket. "I don't know how much it will cost to take care of my arm, but if there's anything left over, please give it to Leto. Tell him to pay off his debt to Davik."
Zekla took it, and inspected it. "I know spacers. Most aren't terribly benevolent. I wasn't going to charge you for this - you were injured saving an old man's life, but you're also paying his debt to Davik?"
Kairi nodded, and pressed the vouchers into his hand.
"I was beginning to forget there are benevolent spirits that still walk among us," Zelka said. "I'll make sure this covers Leto's debt to Davik. The only good part about that man is that he calls off the bounties once debts are paid. With this, Leto can live out his days without fear."
After Zelka left the room, they continued to watch the door.
"We could have used that to get supplies, y'know," Carth said quietly.
"I may not remember the reason for it, but crime lords disgust me," Kairi said distantly. "Leto has his life. I would still call it money well-spent."
After a pause, Carth nodded with agreement. "Very well spent."
****
They came to the door they used to enter the clinic only to find it locked. A sign on the door read that the entrance was locked after the eighteenth hour.
Carth rolled his eyes. "Geez. I swear Taris was designed by some near-sighted guy with a hang-up for labyrinths."
"Best to go back to Zelka's office and ask if he can escort us out."
Retracing their steps, they walked back into the main lobby of the clinic. It didn't take long. Zelka was checking the supplies. He didn't see them, but closed the door behind him. They approached the door and knocked. No answer. The lock was easy enough to slice, and they walked in. Zelka was nowhere to be found.
"I don't get it," Carth said. "How could he just vanish?"
"Maybe there's more than one way out," Kairi said, feeling the edge of the shelves. "Carth, this one's not attached to the wall. I think..." She traced the edge until she found a panel, concealed as an ordinary temperature gauge.
A hidden door slid open, revealing a lift. Stepping inside, the lift whisked them upwards, stopping at what appeared to be the topmost level - storage. The doors opened and they stepped out. It wasn't storage they found. The room was no bigger than the main room of their hideout. Inside healing chambers were four critically injured men. Zelka was checking the readings on one of them when he must have heard them enter. Sensing the other people in the room, the doctor whirled around, dropping the datapad that was in his hand, but otherwise paralyzed with terror.
Kairi backed up, stunned. "I...I don't believe this."
Carth's eyes went wide as he got a look at the face of one of them. "These men. Kairi, I recognize them! Zelka, you've been..."
"You recognize them?" Zelka asked. "But how...unless...unless you're also Republic soldiers."
"I have been for most of my life," said Carth. "Our escape pod crashed, and we were able to get away. You've actually been..."
"Good to know some managed to survive - and stay out of Sith hands." Zelka finally let out that breath he was holding, picking the datapad he dropped from the floor. "Since the battle, people have brought these survivors in. These men...they likely won't survive. All I can do is make their dying moments more comfortable, but I am a healer - I couldn't just hand them over."
"For that, you have my deepest thanks." Carth extended his hand in gratitude. "It is still good to know that some of these soldiers found their way into compassionate hands."
Zelka gladly shook hands. "The Sith haven't returned since their initial questioning, but I shudder to think what would happen if these men were discovered. I'm just glad that I could hide them away."
"Is there anything we can do to help you?" Kairi asked. "Supplies, information?"
"Keep my secret, and I'll keep yours. Thank you again. Now, I'll be the one to show you the way out as soon as I'm finished."
****
They purchased a few medpacks and were on their way again. The five hundred credits were down to about a hundred and seventy. The sun had set by the time they got back to the apartment. Stockpiling the medicine in one corner, they decided to extend their information gathering to the cantina.
Sure enough, the South End Cantina was packed - mostly an off-world clientele, too. Carth found a table and motioned for Kairi to sit. She seemed distant as she watched the room. Eventually, her eyes settled on a table near the bar. A human with a thick accent and a red tunic was flipping over cards, making the other man sitting across from him very irritated and rattled.
"Paazak," Carth said with a shrug. "Good way to kill time, but I'd never risk actual money with it."
When Kairi looked to him for an explanation, he just shrugged. "Not that good of a player."
Kairi seemed to consider this. "Would you object much if I took a risk with those credits we liberated?"
"Just take forty, all right? I don't want to lose our shirts here."
Kairi took up the credits. "Back in a moment."
She sat and watched the game, discerning the patterns. The game seemed simple enough - get to twenty without going over and use a side deck to add or subtract as needed. The first to win three hands won the match. The man in the red tunic smiled viciously as he overturned a card from his side deck, winning the match. Pounding the table in frustration, his opponent left quite a bit poorer.
She watched another opponent take the table, not watching for how they won or lost, but the cards themselves. There was a method to them, a pattern in the computerized dealing. There was also the matter of the dealer's side deck. She started to notice what cards he did and did not have. After two hours and a dozen losses, that opponent left the table in disgust.
Kairi tapped him on the shoulder. "Pardon me, sir."
"What?"
"I was wondering about Pazaak..."
"You want to get into the game? Fine. I'll sell this worthless deck to you for twenty credits. Still won't be a tenth of what I lost..."
Kairi shrugged and paid the man, who all but threw the deck at her in return, then walked up to the front of the table. The man in the red tunic was still gloating, a scantily-clad woman under each arm. "And Nikos, the great Pazaak player, wins again," he said, challenging the crowd for another victim. "Will any here challenge me?"
"I'll try," Kairi said. "If you'd not mind starting small."
Niklos smiled wide, but Kairi could see him sizing her up as prey. "Certainly, miss. Have a seat. We will deal the cards."
Niklos was overconfident...Kairi decided she would use it to her advantage. Her own side deck wasn't anything spectacular, but she was sure it would do the job. Settling in with a two credit bet, Kairi watched for the patterns.
Carth made the rounds. This place was like a million other sleazy cantinas through the galaxy, aside from the pretension. A Bith band and two Twi'lek servers were the only non-humans to be seen in the place.
Tarsian nobility stuck out with jaded arrogance that exceeded any previous definition he may have had for it. Already, he'd been mistaken for a waiter and screamed at twice. There seemed to be quite the crowd in the card room. He figured Kairi must have lost the credits to the shark already.
Aside from the music room and the card room, there were two other "back rooms." One of them was lined with monitors. A staircase at the back read "Duelists only!" Three humans and a Rodian in light combat suits were signing autoprints. A fourth sat glumly in a corner. On a large couch in the room's back was a good-sized Hutt counting what must have been sizeable profits from the last match. An advert for a "Buy, Sell, Trade" Weapons shop hung in the room as a "sponsor" for the duel ring. Judging from the placement of the ad and the style, it looked like a place where questions weren't asked if the merchandise was functional. He sat down at an empty booth to try and think of a plan when he heard someone speaking to him.
"Well, hello stranger..." An icy looking woman was staring at him the way a spider stared at an insect.
"Uh, hi..."
"I didn't realize how many off-worlders there were on Taris until we imposed the quarantine."
Sith - and by the looks of her, officer to boot. Time to hide your cards, Onasi.
"Yeah, I got stranded here. Know of any way off-planet?"
She laughed. "Guess the old joke about spacers is true then? Never stick around longer than it takes to have a good roll and pick up a handful of credits...Well, the first part is fine by me. Older men, especially with a bit of scoundrel...makes quite the combination."
She's...she's hitting on me? Damn good thing I wasn't in uniform during the attack, or I'd be in a morgue.
"Well, I'd at least like to know who I'm talking to before I consider offers like that." Not like he would, but maybe she'd slip something.
"Oh, so one who likes to pretend he's chivalrous," she purred and leaned in. "I'm Sarna. Junior Officer First Tier Sarna Galdak."
"Carth." He hesitated using his surname. For all he knew, it was on a wanted poster somewhere. He then felt a light tap on his shoulder.
"Hello, Carth," Kairi said. "Am I interrupting something?"
Sarna looked disappointed. "And here I thought you were alone."
"He's my employer, nothing more," she said, sliding into the booth.
Great save, Kairi.
Part out of relief, part playing along, he chuckled. "Nice job...You actually held your own at Paazak?"
"Better than that," said a man strutting out from the crowd and sliding into the booth, sandwiching them between him and the Sith officer on the other end. "She actually frustrated Niklos enough to leave the table! Three hundred credits worth!"
Carth whistled. "Nice one. You have got to tell me your strategy, Kairi."
"Carth, is it? And Kairi, this is Yun Genda. He's also a Junior Officer First Tier with the Occupation force. I'm surprised you're sitting with us," Sarna still had a smile that could freeze a sun. "Most folks on Taris can't stand us Sith. Makes this a lonely job."
"Well you did just conquer the planet," Carth muttered under his breath.
"What was that?" Sarna asked.
Carth cleaned his throat. "So, you're both Sith officers? And you're not in uniform?"
"We're off-duty," Yun said. "Besides, the owner of the cantina won't allow anyone in uniform to enter. Makes sense, I suppose...image and all that." He slid closer, putting his arm about Kairi's shoulders.
He wasn't blind. He saw her freeze. But Yun, being full of himself and the local hooch, didn't seem to notice. Carth gave her a silent look of "play along, at least until we can scratch gravel."
Yun continued to discuss the "light handed" treatment the Sith were giving Taris. "We could have done a lot worse - bombed it into glass, put bio-toxins in the air, imposed a curfew or started in with raids and summary executions, but we haven't! The Taris authorities were quite compliant - why can't the citizens be the same?"
Yun's hand slid down Kairi's arm, brushing lightly against her breast. She was pretending not to cringe. Carth decided he'd like nothing more than to tell the guy to keep his hands to himself. That's when he felt Sarna's hand on his thigh. These guys had all the subtlety of a bantha herd!
"You two certainly seem to be making the best of it," he said. He wanted to choke Sarna, but decided that rubbing her neck and just dreaming about it would have to do. "Picking up a couple of off-worlders in a cantina, enjoying the local ale..."
"Well, one learns the need to relax, blow off steam," Sarna said, blissfully relaxing into the neck rub. "Oh, you're good at this."
"Practice," Carth quipped.
Kairi, to her credit, was also trying to appear friendly. She also seemed better at turning on the charm. "Well, you're just doing your job, right? I wouldn't hold it against you."
"There's quite a lot I'd like you to hold against me," Yun said. Yup, she had him hooked and reeled in. "Nice to meet someone with a positive attitude. Good to talk about it. Gets lonely on base." He looked up at the chronometer on the wall. "Sarna!"
"What?"
"We're going to be late for our shift unless we hurry. Come on!"
Sarna looked up at the chronometer and practically bolted from her seat. As Yun got up, he told Kairi, "Some of us junior officers are having a party tomorrow night. North apartments, second floor, and unit eight - I'd really like it if you'd show up, Kairi. Perhaps we can talk some more?"
"Sounds good," she said.
Sarna brushed her hand on Carth's arm. "I look forward to seeing you, too. Bring those magic fingers of yours..."
The two officers left, and they breathed a huge sigh. Carth eagerly changed the subject.
"Three hundred credits playing Paazak?"
She hummed an affirmative. "I tried to play him to a standstill, starting out with two-credit bets. Once he started losing patience, his game suffered."
"I...well. This is going to go a long way to getting supplies!"
"Some of those winnings, however, will have to go to new clothes."
"You're thinking about pleasure shopping at a time like this?" Carth was boggled by the concept.
"Unless you want to show up to the Sith party in what we're wearing," she said, pointing to her slashed jacket, and his worn-looking one.
"I...you're actually serious about showing up to that thing?" He rubbed his forehead - one hell of a headache was on its way. "I hope you know what you're doing."
****
The next day was spent on gathering supplies. True to Carth's suspicions, the "equipment emporium" was a clean, yet vaguely sleazy pawnshop for new and used weapons. The proprietor, a human woman, was apologizing about the Sith confiscating her heavier weapons and swoop bike parts, but her business was still pretty brisk, thanks to off-world spacers being stuck on Taris. She also informed them that she welcomed new additions to the stock - no questions asked so long as the weapon was in good shape. Under other circumstances, Carth would have wanted to shut down a place like that. In their current situation, "no questions asked" was just the ticket.
After picking up ammo and a couple of light combat suits, the rest of the Pazaak winnings went to picking up sundries and a couple new sets of clothes. Not much was left over, but hopefully, they'd be off the planet soon enough.
"I don't know about this party. We shouldn't even go near it - fraternizing with the enemy, Kairi. You may be a civilian, but even you'd know that."
"It's called espionage, Carth. They're off duty, Yun tells me they've enough of the local ale to anesthetize a rancor, and they're Sith officers. The hope is that they'll let something slip." She adjusted her shirt to accentuate the plunging neckline, and made another check of her appearance in the metal panels that were the closest thing to a mirror they had. "It's the best break we've had so far, Carth. Even you have to admit that."
"Yeah, yeah, I do," he said. He adjusted the red tunic that Kairi insisted he get for the party.
Taking a step back, she opened her arms. "How do I look?"
Carth found it hard to say anything as he looked Kairi over. Her coal-black hair was loose, flowing over her shoulders, and her clothes accentuated her petite and otherwise boyish figure, bringing out the curves in her breasts and hips and emphasizing her sleek and toned muscles. The dark blue of the shirt contrasted against the light tan of her skin. Her heart-shaped face and dark, deep-set eyes had just a little coloring on them - nothing overdone.
"How do you look? You look...great." He tried to make light of it. "I'd invite you to a party anytime, Kairi."
She stood on tiptoe and lightly kissed his cheek. "Thank you."
Looking back, it would be the first time he thought of her as beautiful.
The party was in full swing when they arrived. About fifteen young men and women were present. A trash bin was already full of empty bottles that had contained the local ale. The sound system spat out bass-heavy music heavily layered with electronic instruments, producing several conflicting rhythms. Over in a corner, two young Sith were openly making out, their uniforms disheveled and partially undone.
The drunken revelry of the atmosphere hit Kairi like a physical blow. She stumbled with the force of it. The meditative high of the dancers as they concentrated on nothing but the music and the heavy rhythms seemed to fill her bones. The couple in the corner sent out lust that crashed into her like the beat of the music. Her movements were swaying slightly and she felt lightheaded.
Sarna pounced on Carth as he walked in the door, guiding him off to a far corner of the apartment. Kairi figured he could handle that groping woman by himself. She leaned against the wall, wondering how he could be so unaffected by the craziness.
"Hey, you made it!" Yun smiled broadly as she walked in. Hooking an arm about her waist, he led her to a sofa. "Was starting to think you stood me up."
Her head was still pounding, but she had to say something. "And what makes you think I'd stand up a man in uniform, especially one that invites me to a good party?"
Yun laughed heartily. "You can certainly pour it on, can't you?" He put an arm around her waist and led her about the party. She could tell he was already pleasantly drunk as he told bad jokes and leaned on her a bit as he introduced her to the others. Kairi made innocuous conversation and tried to relax, but her insides still felt like the overtaxed speaker system. Yun finished his tour and pulled her over to another chair, pulling her into his lap, one arm wrapped about her to prevent her from either falling or escaping.
As people paired off, and started vanishing, it was getting much harder to think. Her whole body was tingling, and she was feeling a bit intoxicated - even if she had nothing to drink at all since arriving.
Carth was pretending to laugh at a bad joke told by three of the other men. Why wasn't he being affected like this?
"Tell me, what exactly is such a fetching doll like you doing on such a miserable planet?"
She repeated the same answer. "The quarantine stranded me here."
"Yeah, but what brought you here in the first place?"
Kairi shuddered, the black hole of memory making her feel sick. She managed a plausible half-truth. "I'm just a translator. Thought Taris might be a good place to find work. Ships, crews...they always seem to need someone good with languages. Not much work with the quarantine."
"Oh," He took a bottle of Tarisian ale from the table, uncapped it and took a swig. "Ever thought about enlisting with the Sith? With all this alien scum about, we need a few good linguists to help the interrogators."
"I'm not really cut out for that kind of work," she said, remembering the Duros shot dead in her building.
"Of course!" Yun took another belt from the bottle. It was getting VERY uncomfortable sitting here. "How could I have been so silly? A delicate flower like you...well, it would be my duty to shelter you from those kind of dregs, wouldn't it?"
She wasn't about to get into an argument or carry that line of conversation further. "So, why the quarantine?"
"Nothing much. Just...well I'm sure you know that we won a pretty wicked battle overhead. Damn Republic managed to get some escape pods down to the planet, though. Mostly to the festering pits of the Lower and Under Cities. That's why we've walled off the place to tourists and off-worlders. It's not safe. If those Republic scum survived, we're more than happy to let them get shot by the gangs or eaten by the rakghouls. I certainly can't envy the blokes we send down to salvage the pods, though. Gangs and other scum likely beat them to anything of value." Yun inspected his empty bottle, and poured her off his lap. "Wait here. I'm heading to the kitchen. You ever try Tarisian ale? It's fantastic!" He was wobbling noticeably.
"Careful, Yun," warned Sarna, as she was trying to drag Carth onto the patio. "That wine's got quite the kick. We'll all be passed out on the floor after a couple more bottles."
"Who cares?" Yun countered. "We're not on duty tomorrow - let's live a little!"
Walking out of the kitchen with a half-dozen more ales, he passed them around the room. Kairi took hers without comment. Raising his bottle high, Yun called everyone in the room to attention. His speech was quite impaired at this point.
"Everyone...Everyone...a toast to the Sith. Long may we reign."
"To the Sith!" So was everyone else's...She mouthed the words. Carth was already taking a swallow to stop himself from having to say anything.
Kairi opened the bottle and took a small sip, but gagged on the sharp sour-bitter taste of it. She backed up so she was partly concealed by a potted plant. All but about two swallows went into poisoning the Alderaanian fern.
The night went on. The ale flowed. Many of the revelers went back home. Others were sleeping off the effects of Tarisian ale, draped in chairs and couches. At least four others - two men, two women - paired off and vanished. Yun barely let her out of his sight. His lust surged as the night went on. Kairi was using a lot more willpower than she liked to keep her head.
"Oh, come on, sweets. You didn't think I invited you here just for the ale, did you?" He pressed a panel and half-pulled them into the bedroom, startling a man and woman who'd already been taking advantage of the bed.
Yun's mood shifted abruptly, and that gave Kairi a bit more breathing room. At least she didn't have to fight him off for the moment.
"C'mon, Darien. Have a bit of class and take it out of my bed."
That startled them! The woman grabbed a sheet and belatedly wrapped it around herself. The man let out as volley of curses that would have made a Mandalorian blush. "Where's my uniform?"
"Just grab a shirt and trousers from my closet, and you can find it in the morning."
Acutely embarrassed, despite their highly inebriated state, the man and woman pulled on shirts from Yun's closet and staggered out of the room. Kairi glanced sideways as to not stare at them, and tried not to laugh. They'd tossed their uniforms out a window, one of them landing on the balcony's rail, another getting ensnared in the branches of a tree on the walkway below.
Yun flopped down on the bed, lying on his side. "Come on over here."
Kairi shuddered. Part of her was whispering to give in, to fall on that bed and just let him have his way. But that part was overridden by both disgust at him and a sense of panic that sounded too much like half-remembered warning klaxons.
She got onto the bed, her front to his back, and starting rubbing his shoulders. It was so hard to think. All she needed was a little bit of time.
"Sounds like an idea," he murmured. "My back is a little stiff. All the damn training..."
It didn't take long for the ale and Kairi's hands to coax Yun into a near-coma. Thank the Force! She listened carefully. The others were asleep as well, and dawn was starting to break.
She broke off a branch and knocked the female officer's uniform to the walkway below, and fished the male officer uniform from the balcony. Sneaking back into the living room, she saw most of the partygoers were sprawled out on the floor. Carth was sitting in a corner, eyes closed. She approached and reached for him, only to have his hand fly up and grab her wrist.
"Kairi? Where in hell?"
"Carth, you..."
"Ugh. That ale's worse than Jawa piss. At least Sarna's sleeping it off in the other room. There is nothing less attractive than a woman who doesn't know what 'too many' means. Where the hell were you?"
"Making sure Yun's also sleeping it off." She pulled open her pack, showing him the male officer's uniform. "Come on, we have to get out of here."
He got to his feet and they snuck out the door. Fortunately, it was still early, and the woman's uniform was right where it had dropped. Kairi stuffed them in her bag.
"Two Sith uniforms. Nice."
"I also hope these fit. I should think so, considering the sizes of their former owners."
"How did you? No, forget it. I don't think I want details on that. Come on, we'd better fill up on caffa and put these to use before the owners miss them."
They wore the light armor under the uniforms. In Carth's case, it made the uniform a bit small, but in Kairi's case, the added bulk was needed to make the uniform fit perfectly on her tiny frame. Shouldering an equipment pack, they made their way back through The Maze, and to the elevator.
"Another patrol going to the Lower City?" asked the guard. "Best of luck down there. The damn gangs shoot anything that moves." He opened the elevator and waved them through.
The doors sealed, and the lift descended. They'd made it through the first obstacles, but they were still a long way from finding Bastila.