Here's a long chapter for you. Enjoy.
I was considerably groggy when I awoke after being treated by the doctor. I had the terrible feeling I had been drugged. There were Force techniques to ride drugs from the system and I was doing my best to remember how to apply them. I had been taught about them, but had yet to practice their application in real life.
I got an odd sense of deja vu as I sat up to find the man I had met earlier in the room with me once again. This time, however, we was seated in one of two chairs around a small table a few feet away. I looked around and to my surprise, I found I was in a totally different room. This room looked more like a soldier's quarters than a prison. Along with the cot, the room had a small table with two chairs and a set of empty shelves to one side. There was even a small photograph hanging on the far wall, along side what was obviously an intercom. This room was set up for guests, not prisoners.
"I feel I must apologize to you again. You mustn't blame the doctor for drugging you. After our last talk, I decided to have you moved to a different room and I figured it would go smoother if you were unconscious for the trip. I don't make a practice of drugging my guests."
The man was once again dressing in the same uniform as the previous time we had spoke and he emitted the same calm exterior. This time, however, he seemed happier. He was almost excited.
"So, I'm a guest now? Not a prisoner?" I asked. I rolled my neck in a circle a few times. I didn't like the feeling of being drugged. I'd have to remember to practice the drug removal technique with Master Kiwiiks, if I ever saw her again.
"Indeed. When my scouts first reported seeing you with the Republic troops, I thought you were a defection from the Empire. We have an arrangement with them to return any traitors, you see. The idea of turning over one of our own to the Empire wasn't overly appealing to me, but I have found I often have to make difficult decisions as a leader. Anyway, since it's more/less confirmed that you are not a traitor to the Empire, as I had first believed, I see no reason to treat you as one. True, you serve the Republic, but I can hardly hold that against you, since you were raised amongst them."
This was an odd turn of events.
"I seem to remember you leaving a question of mine unanswered, before you had me drugged."
"Ah, yes, my intentions. Well, you see, that has become a complicated question." There was a knock on the door and a man came in carrying a tray. He placed it on the table, then bowed and left the room. "Please, come eat something, unless it bothers you to eat and talk at the same time."
Between the pain in my back, which was thankfully almost non existent now, and being drugged, I hadn't even thought about being hungry since my capture. It had been at least a day, probably longer, since I had eaten. I didn't feel much like eating, but know better than to turn down food. I needed to keep my strength up.
I carefully took a seat opposite my capture and took the top off the tray. The tray contained a large bowl of a thick stew and a mug of some type of steaming liquid. There was no way to tell if the food was drugged or poisoned, but since it had already been proven that I could be drugged at any point anyway, my captures had no need to be covert.
I tasted the stew carefully. It tasted like nothing I had ever eaten before. The spices used were obviously of an exotic variety, but were quite delicious.
The man smiled at me, seemingly waiting to confirm that my meal was adequate before continuing to talk.
"What I was saying, before the interruption, was that this situation I find myself in with you is quite complicated. As a part of our alliance with the Empire, the Ascendancy has agreed to hand over any captured Jedi or Force users to the Sith. We also allow the Empire to take over the interrogation of Republic captives. Now, you are both a servant of the Republic and a Jedi, so common sense dictates that I must turn you over to Empire. You being a daughter of the Ascendancy, even a lost one, complicates things."
The man stood, pacing around the room as he continued to speak. I didn't feel the need to interrupt, simply continued to eat.
"You see, though we're an ally to the Empire, we are loyal members of the Ascendancy first. I'm compelled to treat you as a lost soul to the Chiss, before an enemy of the Empire, or even a Jedi. But then again, I can't simply let you go and send you on your way. You see my dilemma?"
I did see it. Even though I was obviously an enemy to his allies, he also saw me as one of his own. He didn't wish to turn me over to the Empire, where I would no doubt be tortured, interrogated, brainwashed or possibly killed, but he couldn't release me either. I knew too much and he had no guarantee I wouldn't share what I knew with the Republic.
"I've thought on this for many hours and I've come to an arrangement that will get me out of this unfortunate situation I have found myself in and quite possibly benefit you greatly as well."
"I'm listening." I said, leaning back in my chair. I had finished the stew and now hand my hands wrapped around the hot mug of liquid, which turned out to be some form of tea, though it, like the stew, was unfamiliar to me.
"Stay here with us, for a while at least. You must have so many questions about our kind. Where we came from. I'm offering this to you."
"And what information do you require in exchange?" I asked.
The man sat back down, folding his hand together on the table. "Nothing. As I stated before, you're not my prisoner, you're my guest. I don't wish to learn any Republic secrets from you. I only wish to share the knowledge of our people. It's not your fault you were removed from the Ascendancy at such a young age. I'm offering to pull you into the fold. You do not need to join us, merely take some time to learn about us."
"Will I be able to leave?"
He smiled at me. "Eventually, yes, I believe we'll be able to release you."
"But you have no way of knowing that I won't spill everything I learn here to your enemies."
He nodded. "This is true. There will be a certain amount of trust involved with this arrangement, from both sides. You must trust that what you learn is the truth and I must trust that you will eventually decide not to share what you learned. There is risk involved, yes, but I'm willing to take that risk, if you are."
I took a sip of my tea, thinking. My incarceration had taken an interesting turn. Instead of pain, I was being offered knowledge. True, I couldn't be positive I would be told the truth or that there would not be a hidden catch somewhere down the line. This man had yet to deceive me. He did have me drugged, but he really hadn't lied to me. As far a I could tell, he was risking far more than I.
As a Jedi, one of my main goals in life was the procurement of knowledge. I had just been offered an opportunity I didn't think I could pass up. There were so many questions I longed to know the answers to and until this moment, I had pretty much given up hope of ever learning them. Risk or not, I had to try.
"I agree to your proposal." I said.
"Excellent!" He said, obviously pleased by my decision. "A promise of knowledge is a hard thing to turn down. I guarantee, you will not regret your decision." He leaned back in his chair, crossing his arms over his chest.
"If it is agreeable to you, I think we should begin immediately. I think I'll start with some common knowledge."
He paused, seemingly to put this thoughts in order. I waited patiently. I had nothing but time, after all.
"Alright, the obvious. As you probably learned first hand, Chiss children are physically full grown at around ten standard years of age. Between the ages of ten and twelve they go through a phase similar to adolescence, and by the time they reach fifteen, they are fully integrated into adult Chiss society. Our skin color can range from dark blue, like myself, to the pastel blue of Dr. Yonca, who you met yesterday, to almost a silver, but they're all exclusively shades of blue. The color you're born with as no relationship to the color of your parents. For example, two dark skinned parents could have a light skinned child. Our society holds no prejudice in skin color, or much else for the matter. Our eyes are always red, though the intensity of their glow changes depending on the levels of oxygen in the atmosphere. We also have exceptional night vision."
I was surprised. I had never thought to observe the intensity of my own eyes while on different planets and no one ever commented on it before. I often forgot my eyes glowed.
"As a species, we have extremely robust metabolisms, which almost eliminate the possibility of obesity and we have considerably dense muscles, which make us quite strong. Our average life expectancy is is about eighty years or so, but with medical practices improving, that number is increasing. Some can live to be over one hundred these days. Our society and government is quite complex and would take hours to explain, but the key bit is that we have several noble families, which tend to run much of our government. Though we're allies to the Empire, we do not serve them. Some Chiss choose to join Imperial intelligence or the Imperial military, but only a few have ever earned rank, since the Empire doesn't necessarily open their arms to non humans. Those of us who work closely with the Empire carry imperial accents, but I'm sure you noticed a slight variation from the norm."
"Yes, actually. It was one of the first things that ran through my mind when I heard your people speak. I thought they were Imperial by the accent, but there was something different about it."
"Well, that's the natural accent our people get from speaking our native language. The syntax of it is quite complicated and speaking it fluently causes our basic to come out accented. The more we speak our native tongue, the heavier the accent." He paused and almost seemed to curse himself. "Here I am talking about language and accents and I haven't even had the common courtesy to introduce myself. I must apologize once again, this time for being so rude. I am Aristocra Saganu. Saganu being my name and Aristocra being my rank. I'm the commander of this facility." He gave me a slight bow.
"My name is Zanthia." I said simply, having no title or rank to my name, at least not yet.
"Zanthia? That doesn't sound like a human name."
"The soldier who found me as an infant was a Zabrak. He called me Zanthia and it just sorta stuck."
"Well, I think it's a beautiful name and I'm very happy to formally meet you, Zanthia." He took my hand, and gently kissed it.
I had the feeling that I was slipping into an intimate moment and I, once again, had no idea how to respond. Fortunately, Saganu continued on without missing a step. If he sensed my uncomfortableness, he didn't acknowledge it.
"That is pretty much the basics that all Chiss should know by the time they reach adulthood, though I'm sure I missed something."
I was blown away. "Well, if it makes you feel better, you just taught me more about myself in ten minutes than I have learned over the whole twenty years of my life."
"And this is just the beginning." He handed me a datapad. "This is a more in depth detailing of our society. I compiled it from various texts. I think you'll find it interesting."
I took the pad, but something serious crossed my mind.
"Since you've been very forthcoming, I feel I must do the same."
Saganu looked concerned, but waited patiently for me to continue.
"Technically, I'm not a Jedi, at least not yet. I'm what is known as a Padawan. I'm a student, a learner. I've been training to become a Jedi since I was five, but I am not a full Jedi yet. That being said, the reason I'm on this planet is because my Master has a mission here and I was to assist her on it. I arrived before her and she was to join me in a week or two. I'm sure the news of my abduction has already reached her, since you said you left the two men with me alive to return to our camp. A Jedi master and her padawan share a very strong bond. When she arrives on Hoth, she will be able to track me down."
I was over exaggerating the tracking ability of a Jedi master and their padawan. I didn't think Master Kiwiiks could pinpoint my location using the Force alone, but I couldn't confirm that she couldn't either. She would know I was alive and on the planet and that would be all she would need to know to begin a search. I didn't want an army of Republic troopers and Jedi to bombard this facility, just to rescue a guest who might not necessarily want to be rescued.
Saganu continued to look concerned. "Can you tell if you master is on Hoth?" he asked.
"She's not here, yet. I can feel her presence, but it's still very far away."
"And since you can feel her, I'm guessing she can feel you?"
I nodded. "She probably felt my pain when I was shot, but she definitely knows I'm still alive."
"This changes things. I might need to accelerate the timetable on what I planned to teach you. I plan to return you to your people long before they try to find you. I will not risk the safety of this facility or of my people."
"I don't wish you to risk anyone's safety. It's the reason I told you about my link with my master."
"I seems you're taking our attempt at trusting each other as seriously as I am. I do thank you for your honesty. I will leave you to read, since I now have much to plan. Dr. Yonca will be in shortly to continue the treatment of your back. If you need anything, please feel free to use the intercom. As I said before, you are not a prisoner. We will accommodate your needs as best we can."
"Thank you." I said. It felt like the very least I could say. Saganu bowed once again, then left me alone. I settle in on my cot to read the datapad he had provided me, eager to learn more.
To Be Continued...