CHAPTER THREE
SPACE – THE SHADOW
Shadelis groaned and leaned back against the wall of the shower, red eyes glancing down to see the pale white smooth head of Kaliyo, water beading and running off her. The chiss groaned again as she felt the woman's tongue against her sex, sliding over her slick and swollen petals, flicking and teasing the hard nub of her clit. Her hands reached down and stroked over the ratattaki's head, urging and guiding her harder against her aching, throbbing sex.
" Kaliyo." Shadelis half whispered the woman's name, head falling back against the wall and eyes closing once more.
Shadelis felt Kaliyo's tongue quicken, drawing on her more until she cried out as the pleasure built and overwhelmed her. Legs shaking, Shadelis groaned and looked down, their eyes meeting even as the ratattaki pulled back and grinned up at her. Every nerve seemed raw and sensitive. She could feel the air, the water from the shower head hitting her skin, that tingling as it ran down over her body. She felt alive.
"I told you we'd run about the galaxy having fun!"
Shadelis laughed at that and nodded back, catching her breath. She had to admit, the two of them indeed had a lot of fun, in any number of ways, including the present. Part of her was quite glad she had dismissed those who comprised her crew, and had only brought in Kaliyo. There was a quiet calm about the ship, and it reminded her well back in the beginning when it was just the two of them. It had been a long time since they both shared such, and it brought back good memories.
"Well it is a nice way to get warm, isn't it?"
Kaliyo laughed and rose, sliding against Shadelis, her pale white skin a sharp contrast against the blue skinned chiss. Reaching up she gave a sharp tug of Shadelis' long dark blue-black hair and winked at her before kissing her.
"There are worse ways." Kaliyo quipped back before pulling back and stepping out of the shower and grabbing a towel to wrap about herself.
Shadelis studied the woman a moment as she watched her drying herself off. She was average height, thin but muscular, with ample breasts capped by greyish nipples tight and tiny. Kaliyo was striking to look at really, she knew. The pale white-grey skin, the black tattoos that ran under her eyes and down onto her cheeks, as well as the three lines that ran along each side of her bald head. She was sexy, but could also seem rather intimidating, Shadelis knew. It just depended on her demeanour and how much attitude the ratattaki wanted to show. Sometimes she came across as downright scary.
As she had noted before, they made quite the contrasting pair. Shadelis was almost the same height, with a similar build, but her breasts were a good couple sizes larger. The blue skin and red eyes of her chiss heritage clearly marked her and set her apart however, as did the three scars that ran down over the left side of her face from forehead down onto her cheek. The scars were old, from childhood in fact. Thinking on that made her remember days long gone, and faces she had not seen in just as long. For a moment she felt the pang of regret hit her, knowing as far as anyone knew, she was dead. Secrets demanded a price be paid, and she had paid hers. There was no going back she knew.
Kaliyo finished drying herself and tossed Shadelis a towel as she sauntered away naked, turning as she reached the doorway and cast a glance back over a shoulder. The ratattaki had often been open and quite comfortable in those early days when on the ship being naked. Shadelis was slightly more modest, but when she thought about it, they both had spent a good portion of the time together naked back then.
"Meet you on the command deck in a few."
" Indeed." Shadelis remarked and smiled to her as she shook off thoughts of days long gone. " We have some things to discuss."
Shadelis sat in the command chair in the cockpit of the ship, staring out at the stars, lost in thought. While waiting for Kaliyo to show up, she had uploaded and gone over the files that had been salvaged from the Warstorm. She had gone over the information that was still on the screen twice already, digesting every bit of it. She felt sick to her stomach with what she had learned. It had not at all been what she had expected. Sometimes ignorance really is bliss, she mused.
" You look like you're about to face a Rancor naked and unarmed." Kaliyo commented as she attended the cockpit, moving in and settling in to one of the co-pilot seats.
The ratattaki stretched her legs out comfortably before her, ankles crossed over one another. Shadelis had half expected the woman to show up naked, but Kaliyo had settled for a simple pair of loose cotton pants and oversized plain shirt, both black in colour. It made her complexion seem all the more pale. At least I'm not distracted, Shadelis thought as the clothing did little to entice at all.
"Sometimes you wind up knowing things you just wish you didn't." Shadelis remarked softly before looking at the other woman, " You know what I mean?"
" Sure," Kaliyo remarked offhandedly, " It happens all the time."
Shadelis gave her a sharp knowing look that told Kaliyo she was not kidding at all. The ratattaki raised her hands defensively and shrugged before studying the woman. While she was thrilled about getting back to making some credits and working, and having it be just the two of them like the old days, there was something that made her uneasy. Shadelis was far too tense for Kaliyo's liking. They had worked together, and been together too often, for her to not be able to read her moods and demeanour.
" Ok, so we've toured Hoth, and I'm here." Kaliyo said finally after a moment. " So the real question is why you called only me in, and what is going on. I think I'm owed an explanation."
Shadelis smiled at that and nodded in agreement. The chiss knew she owed the other woman that much at least. She couldn't expect her to watch her back, to follow her into harm's way, if she could not trust her to know what it was all about. Shadelis may not have wanted to fully trust Kaliyo, but she also knew she had to, at least somewhat take that leap of faith and do just that. Why did you bother to call her otherwise, she reminded herself.
" I called you because I need you to have my back." Shadelis stated pointedly. " The truth is, there's trouble coming."
" Oh, this sounds interesting." Kaliyo quipped, motioning for Shadelis to continue.
Kaliyo knew it went unsaid that she would be there for Shadelis. Most would have hung her out to dry for decisions she had made. While it had strained their relationship, the woman had not turned her back on Kaliyo. That counted for a lot with her. And if anything, perhaps this would mend some of those burnt bridges.
"I don't know who my parents were, what my name was. I was given the last name Darkstar when I was a child. I was a child of the Empire, an orphan." Shadelis confided, settling back into her chair and staring out the viewport to the stars beyond as she talked.
" I remember basically growing up under the Empire's care on Ziost, being trained from a young age to serve the Empire. While there I guess you could say I made friends with some of the other orphans. We were all we had, and I guess you could say we're family."
" Ok and I thought my own background was strange." Kaliyo joked before sighing seeing Shadelis was not going to smile. " So where's this leading? I mean it isn't exactly uncommon knowledge the Empire would use orphans to swell their ranks."
" I found something in the codex, Kaliyo." Shadelis finally said. That grabbed Kaliyo's attention and the woman shifted, straightening in her chair. Elbows went to knees and head rested on her hands as she stared intently, waiting for more from the chiss.
" It concerns me, my family as it were. Some sort of.. I don't know… program… called the Darkstar Legacy. The information from Hoth confirms such and elaborated a bit on it but still left a whole lot of questions. What I do know is there's trouble coming and I and my family's lives are on the line."
" Then I guess we'd better start taking care of things." Kaliyo grinned and winked at Shadelis and this time the chiss smiled back and nodded.
" I'm going to owe you." Shadelis said, knowing the truth of those words.
" Oh, and I expect you are going to give me what I want too." Kaliyo remarked right back and Shadelis could only wonder just what was going through the other woman's head.