Chapter 3 – Choices
Annora shadowed her master down the dimly lit corridor, adrenaline coursing through her veins like a rogue fire. She used the back of her sleeve to wipe away the dried blood on her face, trying to ignore the fact that it had once belonged to a living individual. The memory of Igu's mangled corpse endured in her mind, but Annora knew in her heart that justice had been delivered. Her master had seen to Igu never again hurting another person or creature. Death – it seemed – was but a tool for her master. He had not faltered as he pulled the trigger, comfortable in the knowledge that he was about to end a life.
This is what shocked Annora most.
For the first time she questioned her role in all this. Apprenticed to her master obviously came with expectations. Would Annora be expected to pull the trigger? Would she be expected to kill? If so, she already knew she couldn't do it. To take a life – a life like that of Gon Ror and Senti – was too overwhelming for her to consider let alone accomplish. She pushed the unpleasant thought away, hoping she'd never be asked to do the impossible.
They slowed to a stop when they saw the corridor was branching out into two separate, narrower corridors. Annora propped herself up against the wall, trying to catch her breath, marveling at her master's indefatigable demeanor. He looked as though he'd just taken a leisurely stroll outside rather than having fled prison.
Her master considered the two paths, running his long fingers along his muzzle contemplatively, his other hand still gripping the blaster he'd snatched from the guard.
"Mesa know the way, but wesa got to be careful now. Wesa don't want to alert anyone to oursa movements."
Annora nodded, wiping the sweat from her brow, her hand coming away red and sticky. Surprisingly, their path so far had been unimpeded with no signs of guards anywhere – not even a single maintenance droid. Foreboding nagged at her thoughts, probing the peripheries of her consciousness.
Annora closed her eyes, reaching out and touching the invisible ripples surrounding her mind. There was more to this stroke of providence – to their unimpeached escape – than she realised. But grasping the intruding sensation was like trying to stop water from trickling between your fingers – it simply slipped away and was gone. There was little use in worrying about it now.
"What's our next move, master?" Annora asked, opening her eyes.
"Wesa need to find three traitors before wesa leave this place, mesa apprentice. Theysa pose a great threat to oursa cause… theysa know too much already. Wesa got to make sure theysa silenced for good."
Annora swallowed hard, searching her master's face for answers.
"You mean to kill them?" she asked, feeling as though she'd uttered a statement and not a question.
Her master nodded, his ears swaying slightly as he spoke. "Sometimes wesa have no choice. Sometimes wesa kill if wesa must. Wesa not the Jedi, weak and easily deceived. Wesa do what wesa must to win."
A lump was forming in her throat. She had feared his answer, fearing too that he was willing to kill indiscriminately to ensure total victory. Annora knew her own fate and decisions hinged upon her next question.
"What about innocent people? Do we kill them too – if we must?"
Her master stared at her, his golden eyes softening. "Of course not, mesa apprentice. Wesa not monsters. Wesa want to bring stability to the galaxy, not terror."
Annora felt a heavy burden lifted from her shoulders, though uncertainty still hampered her heart.
"It gladdens me to hear it, master, but I cannot kill anyone," she admitted, bowing her head. "I cannot take a life."
Her master placed a hand on her shoulder. "Could yousa kill to save someone from a creature like Igu?"
Annora searched her feelings, remembering the rows of rotting teeth, the rank stench of Igu's breath upon her face, the promise to consume her flesh and relishing the moment. She looked up, teeth clenched, eyes narrowed.
"Could yousa save someone like Gon Ror or Senti?" her master asked.
Words were not needed. Creatures like Igu needed to be obliterated from the universe. The weakness within Annora evaporated, solidifying instead into a hard determination. Her master returned her a knowing look.
"Wesa go looking for Commander Dunjok first. Hesa responsible for the Senator's personal guard. Hesa planning on telling hesa force about oursa plans soon. Wesa must stop him before hesa does."
"Why is he so important?" Annora asked. "Isn't Senator Mo Tatora the person we're after?"
"Wesa must cut out all the rot, not just the centre of it. Commander Dunjok is a dangerous person, mesa apprentice. Too dangerous to keep alive."
"What did this Commander Dunjok do exactly?"
"Hesa killed a lot of mesa friends. Theysa good friends too." Her master's ears pricked up, abruptly. "Wesa got to go."
Annora followed her master down the right corridor, trying to stay quiet. It wasn't long until they paused in front of an elevator door: an unremarkable feature in an otherwise unremarkable wall. She had expected her master to press the call button, but was surprised when he wormed his fingers into the jamb and forced the doors open.
A blast of hot air greeted them and Annora stepped back, shielding her eyes, her clothing flapping against the ferocious current.
"Yousa first. Theresa ladder you can climb over to the side," her master shouted over the noise.
Annora peered disbelievingly at her master through the gap in her arms. He had to be kidding. No sane person would knowingly climb into an elevator shaft unless they wanted to die. She could hear the whirring and strumming of the thick cables echoing from inside the cavity.
"Hurry, mesa apprentice, hurry. Theresa isn't much time." His arms were shaking from the effort of keeping the doors open, the blaster dangling from a strap.
Annora shook her head, not quite herself as she ducked under her master's arms and into the darkness beyond. Her stomach dropped as she peered into the abyss below, her hands shaking as she reached for the metal rung of the ladder on the adjacent wall.
Her hand slipped on her first attempt because her palms were sweaty. She tried again, this time managing to grab ahold of the bar and pull herself over the threshold. She clutched to the ladder, pressing her entire body against the warm metal, her heart thumping heavily against her ribcage.
This was madness. This was insanity. She was hanging in the middle of an elevator shaft!
There was a thunderous crack and suppressed a shout as she was plunged into darkness. But a moment later, her master touched her leg reassuringly. He had leapt from the doorway and onto the ladder with her.
"Climb, mesa apprentice. Wesa go two floors up. Hurry or wesa gonna be riding thisa elevator down and down."
Another rush of hot air hit Annora, forcing her to again cling to the ladder. Her mind whirled and spun, her stomach not faring much better. The elevator's cables clanged together piercingly; her own personal symphony of horror.
Come on, Annora. You can do this. Climb, you Clanker!
Annora pulled her hand away from the first rung and slapped it down upon the next. She wrenched herself up, pulling her hand away before reaching for the next. She was moving, her arms burning, her muscles protesting.
There was another rush of hot air and the cables ceased their clanging. The silence was suddenly palpable. Annora looked down and felt her heart jump into her throat. Below, two pin-pricks of light were racing toward them.
The elevator was coming.
"Go," her master yelled. "Wesa almost there!"
Annora climbed faster now, ignoring the pain in her arms, knowing that she'd feel nothing if she didn't hurry. The whirring grew louder and louder, closer and closer. The cables were clanging again, the air so powerful it was propelling her onward.
Annora climbed, gritting her teeth.
Lights illuminated the walls, dimly, then like beacons. The ladder was shaking, jolting her, threatening to throw her. She reached for another rung, tears running down her face.
Annora was wretched from the ladder and she screamed, knowing the end had come. She fell but was jerked aside just as the elevator zoomed past her. She landed backward into a stainless-white hallway, the doors to the elevator snapping shut in front of her with a resounding crack.
She lay panting on her back, her eyes blurry from the intense light emanating from the ceiling. Her heart was threatening to jump from her chest, her head throbbing from exertion. A shadow loomed over her, blotting out the light.
Annora sat up, bracing herself with her hands against the polished floor. Her master's grinning face materialised into focus.
"That was close, mesa apprentice. But mesa think we take the stairs next time."
Annora groaned and collapsed onto the floor again.