The Star Map stood open before her, its light casting an eerie bluish glow into the shadows. The scene was primitive, tangles of vines winding up tree trunks of impossible girth, undergrowth so thick that a full grown rancor could be completely concealed behind it…
Brinna awoke with a start and immediately leapt from her bunk, hastily pulling on her Jedi robes before hurrying up to the cockpit. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Carth start at her hasty entrance but her gaze was focused on Bastila, who looked pale and wore a smile so tight that it was almost a grimace. One look at her confirmed what Brinna had already suspected; they had once again shared a vision.
"It looked like the Star Map was on the forest floor," she told Bastila.
Bastila nodded and told Brinna what she knew of Kashyyyk. It was really nothing that Brinna didn't already know but she was so shaken by sharing yet another vision with Bastila that she didn't say anything.
After a few moments of silence, Brinna finally gave in and prompted Bastila to go ahead and tell her whatever it was Bastila was itching to say. Brinna tried her best to maintain her patience as Bastila launched into another lengthy lecture about the dark side. She knew that Bastila was just trying to help her but Brinna wished that Bastila would find another way of going about it. Even her own mother had not lectured her half as much as Bastila already had.
She was jolted out of her wandering thoughts as Bastila began to talk of the fallen Jedi. There was some bitterness in her voice and Brinna knew that their betrayal cut Bastila deeply.
"What greater weapon is there than to turn an enemy to your cause?" Bastila asked.
Brinna had no response for that. She felt some sympathy for Bastila. If there was one thing that could be said for Bastila, it was that in spite of how cold she was, at least she wasn't all paranoid and mistrusting like Carth. Bastila had seen people she deeply respected fall but she still seemed to believe that there was hope for humanity, unlike Carth.
"We'll be landing in five minutes," Carth said quietly, breaking the silence that had fallen upon the room.
"Right. I'll go make sure Zaalbar's awake. Carth, be ready to go in half an hour," Brinna said, turning on her heel and hurrying out of the cockpit.
The visions were starting to get to her and the bond between her and Bastila allowed her to ascertain that they were getting to Bastila as well. What possible reason could there be for her having them? She'd been to Tatooine and Manaan a couple of times on scouting missions but she'd never been to Kashyyyk or Korriban before. Yet she was having dreams about Kashyyyk, about where the Star Map could be found. How was this possible? How could she dream about so many things she'd never witnessed? She fervently wished that she could stop the dreams. They were making her feel as if she had no control over her own mind and the sensation was nearly driving her crazy. She fingered her necklace in an attempt to calm herself but the familiar gesture was of little consolation at the present moment.
Zaalbar was in the common room with the rest of the bunch. They all looked up at Brinna as she entered the room, all of them staring at her.
"What?" she asked.
"Oh nothing. Except that you flew through this room without seeing a single one of us, even though you passed within centimeters of Juhani," Mission told her.
"I did?" Brinna asked, truly astonished.
"Yeah. Are you feeling all right?"
"Bastila and I had another vision," she said, wearily accepting the mug of caffa that Mission brought to her. The Twi'lek's expression was one of deep concern.
"You and Bastila are sharing visions?" Juhani asked.
"Yes," Brinna sighed, taking a sip from her mug. "The Council said that we have a bond. No one seems to know exactly why this is but in addition to this bond, the Force is bringing us shared visions."
"The Force works in mysterious ways," Juhani remarked. She lowered her eyes and added, "I know that perhaps better than most."
Brinna sat down at the table and blew out a breath. "I'm not used to the Force working through me. A couple of months ago, I was just a scout. Anyway, that's not important right now. Zaalbar, we're about to land and I want you to suit up when you're finished. None of us knows this planet as well as you."
"As you wish," Zaalbar told her.
She could sense the Wookie's uneasiness and she remembered Mission telling her that Zaalbar had been forced to leave Kashyyyk, although he had never told her why. Brinna could only hope that whatever had forced him to flee his home world would not affect the success of their mission.
Carth came into the room for some breakfast and caffa. He tried to cast surreptitious glances Brinna's way but she could sense each and every time he looked at her. He seemed surprised that she had asked him to accompany her and she was a little surprised by this herself. She had intended to take Canderous along instead but, somehow, she found that she just couldn't leave Carth behind. In spite of her current anger with him, she felt safe when he was with her. Moreover, this whole quest had started with the two of them pooling their skills and she was certain it would end the same way. She had come to depend on his judgment and to trust his prowess in battle. They had each picked up on the other's techniques and they fought together as if they'd been doing it for years and years.
It has nothing to do with your…other feelings about him, a mocking voice in her head said. She ignored it.
She ate quickly and left to get her pack, intent on getting the mission started as soon as possible. Before she made it more than a few steps out of the bunkroom, though, Zaalbar stopped her to tell her that he and Mission had noticed something strange. There were some supplies missing and they could not account for their whereabouts. Brinna frowned at this information and told him that she would look into it. She asked him to wait in the loading bay with Carth and said that she'd join them shortly.
Changing direction, she headed for the cargo bay, where she found several half-eaten food packets lying on the ground. Frowning, she picked them up and studied them. They had been neatly torn open and it did not appear that this could have been done by rodents. A strange sound caught her attention and she whirled around but there was nothing behind her. Tossing the food packets aside, she crept as quietly as she could through the Ebon Hawk's corridors.
Several times she heard what sounded like footsteps but every time she turned, there was nothing behind her. Finally, she heard footsteps echoing faintly ahead of her and she full out ran to the cargo bay. What she saw there stopped her completely in her tracks.
A young girl stood before her, studying Brinna with a frightened gaze. She was dressed in a drab tunic and matching pants and her hair was the color of the grasses on Dantooine. Brinna didn't think she could be much older than nine or ten and she wondered how the child had managed to sneak onto the ship without anyone's notice.
Brinna approached the child slowly, holding her hands in plain view so that the girl would know she wasn't concealing anything. She addressed the girl in Basic in a gentle tone of voice but the girl looked confused and when she opened her mouth and spoke, it was in a strange language that sounded vaguely like Mandalorian.
Languages had never been a problem for Brinna and she patiently did her best to communicate with the girl using a combination of gestures and speech. She picked up enough key words to understand that the girl was named Sasha and that she'd been kidnapped by Mandalorians. Sasha mimed being beaten and Brinna understood that Sasha was telling her that she'd been abused by the Mandalorians and that she was afraid of them. Brinna managed to get Sasha to tell her that she'd hidden herself in one of the panels in the cargo bay and that the girl felt the starship was her home. Gently, Brinna explained to her that the starship was not her real home and did her best to explain that Lur Arka Sulas was looking for her on Dantooine. Brinna assured Sasha that she'd be safe and that they'd return her to Dantooine as soon as possible.
Once this information had been communicated, Brinna called Mission into the cargo bay and introduced Sasha to the Twi'lek. She told Sasha that Mission would look after her and Sasha nodded in understanding.
"Keep her away from Canderous," Brinna told Mission in a low voice. "She was captured by Mandalorians and she's deathly afraid of them. I'll let the rest know about Sasha and ask Bastila and Juhani to help you with her. Try to communicate with her as best you can. Bastila knows several languages and she may be able to help you talk to Sasha."
"Don't worry about a thing, I'll look out for her," Mission said fiercely. The determination and protectiveness in Mission's eyes told her that the Twi'lek identified with their stowaway.
"I know you will," Brinna said, squeezing Mission's shoulder and hurrying off to tell Juhani, Canderous, and Bastila of Sasha's presence on the ship.
"What kept you?" Carth asked her when she finally made it to the loading bay.
"We have a stowaway. She escaped from the Mandalorians on Dantooine and hid on the ship. We'll have to take her back once we're finished here," Brinna said tersely. Carth opened his mouth to ask her another question but Brinna cut him off. "Come on, let's go." She sensed his unhappiness as they made their way down the ramp and onto the walkways of Kashyyyk.
Zaalbar's uneasiness was almost palpable and Brinna was on the verge of asking him what was wrong when an Ithorian walked up to them and introduced himself as Janos Wertka. He asked them to follow him to his office as he wanted to speak with them. Every hair on Zaalbar's coat was standing on end and she looked at the Wookie questioningly but it was obvious to her that she wasn't going to get anything out of him at the moment, so she turned to follow the Ithorian.
They hadn't moved more than a few steps when Zaalbar suddenly stopped, looking about him with a haunted expression in his eyes. He alluded to his flight from Kashyyyk but when Brinna tried to prompt him to talk further, he clammed up. All he would say was he hoped that his family troubles wouldn't cause them any problems while they were on planet. Brinna sighed and told him they'd deal with any problems when and if they arose.
Janos Wertka moved very slowly and Brinna's patience was slightly less than limitless on this particular day. She was annoyed that the Ithorian was insisting on dragging them to his office before he'd speak with them and she had the sneaking suspicion that it was because he knew that they wouldn't like what he'd have to say and wanted the protection of the other Czerka employees who'd be in the building. Brinna noticed two men standing in a corner of the walkway at what appeared to be a small shop. She walked over to them as Janos shuffled slowly past.
The shop keep's name was Eli Gand and he introduced them to the other man who was with him. It seemed that Matton Dasol was a mechanic who was working for Eli to pay off a debt incurred when Matton's crew had taken off on him, leaving him high and dry. Matton seemed to find it hard to believe that his crew would simply have abandoned him and there was something so slimy about Eli that Brinna couldn't help but find the whole situation a bit suspect. Even if she'd thought Eli seemed like a fine, upstanding citizen, she still would have been disgusted by the indentured servitude that he had imposed upon Matton. She asked how much debt bought a man's life but Matton very graciously declined to allow her to pay off his debt.
With one last look at Eli, she led Carth and Zaalbar away from the shop and they headed for the Czerka office. As they walked back toward where Janos was waiting, Brinna noticed a half-moon shaped cage on the floor. Zaalbar noticed it too and he let out a low growl that made the other Czerka employees finger their weapons and look at him with undisguised fear and dislike.
Brinna soon came to understand why Janos had insisted on talking in his office; she was, indeed, very angry to hear what he had to say. Though reluctant to talk at first, Brinna persuaded him to tell her about Czerka's operations on Kashyyyk and was disgusted beyond belief to find out that they were running a slaving operation. Even worse, she learned that the Wookie leader, Chuundar, was aiding and abetting Czerka.
At the sound of Chuundar's name, Zaalbar growled and said it was one he hadn't wanted to hear. Brinna asked him why that was but he didn't give her a straight answer. Janos expressed his surprise that Brinna allowed her "thrall" to speak for her and she found herself fingering her own weapons. She informed Janos through gritted teeth that Zaalbar was not her "thrall" and that he followed her because of a life debt. He congratulated her on her success, saying it was hard to fake one of those. His words made Zaalbar furious and the Wookie roared so loudly that the sound reverberated throughout the office.
As much as she would have liked to allow Zaalbar to tear Janos to pieces, Brinna asked him to calm down. There was too much at stake for them to make an enemy of Czerka at this point. Brinna had to find the Star Map but she had also already decided that she was going to see what she could do about Czerka's little slaving operation. For the time being, it would be smart for her to hold her cards close to her chest until she could learn a little more about the political climate of Kashyyyk. Once she had a better feel for just how strong of a hold Chuundar had over the Wookies, she could formulate a plan.
They left the Czerka office, Brinna barely able to conceal her contempt for Janos. They pressed onward down the walkway, which Zaalbar noted that Czerka must have built as it had not been there when he had left his home. True enough, after a short walk, they reached a set of doors guarded by a couple of Czerka guards and some blaster turrets. Once again, Zaalbar was treated like chattel and, once again, Brinna found herself unwillingly having to calm him down. She angrily told the guards she'd paid her docking fee and that they'd better stand aside because she was headed for the Wookie village whether they liked it or not. The guards sneered at her but they let her pass without further incident.
On the other side of the doors, they ran into a situation that almost made Brinna lose her resolve to maintain a low profile for the time being. A Czerka captain and a couple of guards stood around the corpse of a Wookie. One of the guards was worriedly asking how much the Wookie was worth and repeatedly stating that he'd had to put the Wookie down. Brinna knew Zaalbar wanted to rush over and tear the man's throat out and she marveled at the restraint he showed.
"Do your superiors approve of you killing Wookies?" Brinna asked the captain.
He answered her insolently and she allowed herself the indulgence of fantasizing about using her lightsabers to wipe the smirk off his face. With a very concerted effort, she collected herself, smiled in as friendly a manner as she could muster, and told the captain and his men that their post was trouble and that, if they were smart, they'd request a transfer. The captain looked rather flabbergasted by her assertion but she could see that her words had achieved the desired effect and he told his confused underlings that it was time they requested another post.
"I'm sorry, Zaalbar. I can't imagine how hard this must all be for you," Brinna said, as she contemptuously watched the Czerka goons scurry off through the doors.
"What is happening here is an abomination," Zaalbar said in a low growl.
"Yes, it is," Brinna said angrily.
"What kind of person would buy a slave?" Carth asked. Brinna glanced at him and saw that he was gripping his vibroblades so tightly his knuckles were white.
"I'm not going to let this continue," Brinna said matter-of-factly.
Zaalbar and Carth both looked at her.
"You know, if anyone else said something like that, I'd think to myself, 'Right, like you can do anything about it.' But when you say it, I believe it," Carth told her.
She could not help but smile at that and her heart warmed a bit toward him. Her expression turned serious once again as she continued. "It's killing me to not just start kicking butt left and right but I think we need to find out just how much support Chuundar has before we go doing anything rash. The last thing we need is to incite a Wookie and Czerka army against us. But I promise you, Zaalbar, that I am going to look in every corner until I figure out a way to get rid of Czerka."
"And I'll help," Carth said firmly.
"You do my home world a great service," Zaalbar told them both.
Brinna patted his shaggy arm and sighed. "Come on. Let's keep moving."
They continued down the walkway and soon ran into Brinna's favorite creatures, though these kinrath were of the forest variety as opposed to the kinrath they'd encountered on Dantooine.
"I hate these things," Brinna hissed as she activated her lightsabers and started swinging.
Fortunately, through diligent meditation, Brinna had honed her ability to call on the Force to heal her and her companions and she was now able to use the Force to neutralize toxins as well as to heal wounds. Her enhanced abilities came in handy as they fought their way down the walkway and through the forest kinrath.
Suddenly, they saw something that stopped them in their tracks. Three dark Jedi stood on the path before them and they were even uglier than the kinrath.
"Lord Malak was most displeased that you managed to escape Taris," one of them informed her. His voice was low and thundering and Brinna wondered how long he'd had to practice before he felt he'd reached his desired level of menacing evil.
"Lord Malak's going to be most displeased when he finds out that you failed to stop me as well," she told them in a careless tone of voice.
"You'll beg for forgiveness before the end," one of the other dark Jedi said. Apparently he had not yet managed to perfect his evil psycho voice.
"My lightsabers think otherwise," she told them, brandishing her violet blades. She called upon the Force and froze two of the dark Jedi in stasis. The third looked a bit worried but he attacked just the same.
The dark Jedi were strong but not strong enough to defeat Brinna and her war hero and Wookie friends. When the battle was over, Brinna deactivated her sabers and prodded the body of one of the dark Jedi with the toe of her boot, an expression of extreme distaste on her face.
"I take it we can expect similar ambushes on the other planets," she said.
She knelt down and helped herself to the dark Jedis' packs. To her delight, she turned up a couple of lightsabers, some crystals, and some other useful objects.
"Thanks a lot," she said to the dead dark Jedi before she turned her back on them and led Carth and Zaalbar forward.
They didn't make it much further before they were accosted by another Wookie, who was less than pleased to see Zaalbar. Brinna was confused at the exchange until Zaalbar tersely informed her that he was an exile because when he found out about Chuundar's complicity with the Czerka, he had attacked the other Wookie with his claws, dishonoring himself and earning him the title of Madclaw. Even more stunning than that, though, was Zaalbar's revelation that Chuundar was his brother.
No wonder he was so angry when Janos Wertka mentioned him, Brinna thought.
The other Wookie grew impatient with their talk and told them that he was going to take them to Chuundar. He marched the three of them through the Wookie village, every Wookie staring at Zaalbar in blatant amazement and, in some quarters, loathing. They reached the chieftain's home and were ushered inside.
Naturally, Chuundar was less than pleased to see his long-lost brother. They growled menacingly at one another, Zaalbar calling Chuundar a runt and telling him that their father would not stand for his actions and Chuundar dismissing this threat with a careless wave as he scoffed that none of the other Wookies would dare oppose their new chieftain.
Chuundar then informed Brinna that he intended to hold his brother while he sent her out on a little errand for him down in the Shadowlands. Brinna badly wanted to use the Force to knock Chuundar across the room but she patiently informed him that this was an unacceptable arrangement as she would need Zaalbar's help in the Shadowlands. Chuundar laughed at her and told her that she would just have to make her own way; he had no intention of releasing Zaalbar until she took care of a mad Wookie that was harassing the Czerka slavers. Brinna smirked and asked if this "mad" Wookie was perhaps just one of the many who might be willing to oppose their new chieftain. At this point, Chuundar basically told her to get lost and not come back until the problem was taken care of and then he had his guards escort her and Carth out of his dwelling.
"Damn," Brinna said softly once they were out on the walkway. "Mission's going to be devastated. I don't want to leave Zaalbar behind but what can we do? Bringing every Wookie on Kashyyyk down on our heads isn't going to help him any."
"I guess we'll just have to go down into the Shadowlands and find that Wookie," Carth sighed. Brinna knew that he, too, hated to leave Zaalbar behind; after all, he had remained on the disintegrating Endar Spire at his own peril until Brinna had managed to make her way to him and the waiting escape pod.
"It's getting late," Brinna said, looking up at the dim green light that filtered through the trees. "We'd better head back to the Hawk and set out for the Shadowlands in the morning. Before we do that, though, I want to try to talk to some of the other Wookies here to see if we can get a better feel for just how strong of a hold Chuundar has over everyone."
Carth nodded and they started canvassing the village. They soon learned that Wookies were less than fond of "outsiders" and were not able to gather any information of use. The only thing they were able to learn from the Wookies was that a well-respected Wook by the name of Rorworr had gone missing in the Shadowlands and that they were all anxious to find out what had happened to him.
Dispirited, she and Carth made their way back to the Hawk. Brinna was taking Zaalbar's capture hard. She'd saved him from Gamorrean slavers only to bring him back to Kashyyyk where he might very well end up in the hands of slavers anyway. She wasn't sure if Carth sensed her morose mood or if he was afraid to talk to her because she'd been giving him the cold shoulder for the past day. At any rate, he didn't say anything to her as they returned.
"Where's Big Z?" Mission asked as they boarded the ship. She and Bastila were waiting in the loading bay.
"I've got bad news," Brinna said, placing a hand on the Twi'lek's shoulder. At the terrified look on Mission's face, she hastily added, "Zaalbar's fine but he's been taken captive by the Wookie chieftain. Come on, I'll explain more once we get everyone in the common room."
"Sasha's in the bunkroom," Bastila said quietly, in response to Brinna's unasked question. Brinna nodded and led them into the common room.
Carth went off to gather everyone as Bastila, Brinna, and Mission sat down at the table. Brinna took Mission's hand and squeezed it as they waited for the rest of the group to gather. When everyone was present, Brinna and Carth launched into an explanation of what was happening on Kashyyyk and told them of the visit with Chuundar.
"The Wookies want to send you down into their Shadowlands with an escort? It sounds to me like they're hoping you won't return," Canderous said.
"I'm sure that's exactly what they're hoping but they're going to be disappointed," Brinna said firmly.
"Poor Big Z," Mission said, her eyes filled with tears. "All this time he never told me about any of this. No wonder why Kashyyyk's always been such a sore spot for him."
"We'll get him back safely, Mission, I promise," Brinna said fiercely.
Mission nodded and brushed at her eyes.
"Czerka must be stopped," Juhani said in an angry voice. She had seemed very disturbed to learn of the slaving operations and Brinna made a mental note to talk to the Cathari in an effort to learn more about her background.
"First thing tomorrow, we'll set out for the Shadowlands. Carth, Canderous, I want you both ready at 0700 hours. As for the rest of you, I'd like you to see what you can prod out of the Wookies and the Czerka employees. We need to find anyone who opposes the slaving operations and see what we can do to gather the dissenters together. By the time we leave this planet, this will be one slaving operation that will no longer exist," Brinna vowed.
Everyone nodded their acknowledgement. It seemed that the others had already eaten so Carth and Brinna got themselves some food, although Brinna was too busy trying to console a despondent Mission to eat much. Carth quietly cleared away their meal and left Brinna alone to do what she could for Mission.
After a few hours, Brinna had finally calmed Mission enough to convince the Twi'lek to get some sleep. As Mission wandered off to the bunkroom, Brinna sighed and sat back, rubbing her burning eyes with the heels of her hands. This was definitely the lowest she'd felt since their mission had begun. It was hard for her to control the impulse to go storming into Chuundar's home, lightsabers blazing, and free Zaalbar but she knew that the sheer force of her will alone would not be enough to get the deed done.
The more she thought about Zaalbar's capture, the more Brinna realized that she no longer wanted to be on such poor terms with Carth. It killed her to have had one of her own snatched from her and all of her desire to continue giving Carth the cold shoulder had evaporated. Seeing how despondent Mission was over the capture of her friend had reminded Brinna just how important her own friendship with Carth was to her.
She made her way into the cockpit, Carth turning as soon as she entered the room. They looked wordlessly at each other for a minute before Brinna sighed and moved over to the co-pilot's seat. She pulled her Verpine headband off and tossed it aside and then tugged the tie from her hair, rubbing tiredly at her scalp.
"We didn't end our last discussion very well," she said quietly to him. She looked over and met his eyes.
He sighed and looked regretful. He told her that he owed her an apology and that he had been so anxious to face Saul at the battle over Taris.
"I know," Brinna said softly.
"Now the Jedi have us looking for these…these Star Maps. I know this mission is important, it's just…I feel a bit useless. I can fight, sure, but I'm no Jedi…" Carth sighed. "All this feels completely out of my league."
"Maybe if you pull yourself together you wouldn't be so useless," Brinna said with a small smile, unable to resist needling him.
"You don't exactly pull any punches, do you? Not that I don't deserve it, I suppose," he said, smiling in return. He confessed that he just hated feeling like he didn't know what was going on and the feeling of helplessness that went along with it.
"But I shouldn't have taken that out on you," he added. "I've been a royal pain in the backside, haven't I?"
Brinna laughed at that. "You sure have," she told him, her eyes twinkling mischievously.