Chapter 3
Benji had shown Luke to their room a few hours ago and now was asleep in his bed. Luke was sitting in a chair in the corner trying to make sense of his world. His immediate bearings were easy. He was on a starship that seemed to be under the command of Mara Jade, who he assumed was still an information broker/smuggler.
He couldn't remember where he was immediately before this or what he was supposed to be doing there. Whatever it was, it must not have been very important. Of course, nothing seemed important anymore. Not since . . .
Maybe he should start there. Where was he and what was he doing when it happened? He was fighting, he thought he remembered that. He fell to his knees in the middle of battle. He'd almost been killed, but obviously he'd survived. He thought maybe he killed his opponent. But he couldn't remember who it was or even if he should have done that.
And how long ago was that? A week? A month? He wasn't sure.
Now for the really hard questions. Where was Callista? Why wasn't he with her? Where was Benji? Why weren't they together? There was a simple answer of course. Because of the war. He thought hard, but he really couldn't think of what the war was about. Who was fighting whom? Which side was he on?
He felt like he'd been fighting his entire life. One battle after another. So much so that it had all run together in his mind, into one long battle against a single opponent with a million different faces.
Luke shook his head in frustration. He was trying to clear his mind again when he heard a soft tap on the door.
"Yes?" Luke responded, keeping his voice low so he wouldn't wake Benji.
"Are you hungry?" Luke recognized the voice as belonging to the man from the landing field with the unidentified accent. "We're just about to serve dinner for the crew. You're welcome to join us."
Luke's stomach growled at the mention of food; he couldn't remember the last time he'd eaten. Nevertheless, he was about to decline so he could stay with Benji and continue sorting through his thoughts, when Benji leapt to his feet.
"Of course, Dankin. We'll be right there," Benji exclaimed. "Aren't you hungry, Dad? The food's not great, but I'm starving."
Luke had forgotten that Benji had been travelling on this ship for some time before Luke arrived. "I am hungry," Luke replied. "Just let me splash some water on my face before we go." Luke figured he must look terrible, he hadn't changed his clothes in days and who knew when he'd bathed last. He winced slightly as he looked at himself in the mirror. Some Grand Master I am. I look like a rancor's chew toy, he thought. He winced again when he realized he probably looked even worse when Mara had first picked him up.
"Come on, Dad," Benji whined as Luke patted his face dry. "I don't want to miss anything."
Taking a final look and deciding his hair was a lost cause until he could get a proper shower, Luke stepped back into the bedroom. Benji was already a few steps down the corridor and Luke followed quickly.
They arrived in the mess room just as a Togorian was setting plates on the long narrow table. Benji took a seat beside Dankin and Luke sat on Benji's other side. On the far end was another male human and across the table was a male Kerestian and the female Togorian.
"This is Dankin," Benji said, gesturing to the man beside him. "And Odonnl," Benji indicated the man on the end, "And Pormfil and H'sishi," pointing to the Kerestian and the Togorian, respectively.
"Nice to meet you. I'm Luke."
"We've actually already met," Dankin replied. "A couple of times."
Luke didn't remember Dankin at all and as he was racking his brain trying to recall their past meeting, Odonnl asked, "Does it technically count as meeting if one person is a prisoner?"
"You were a prisoner?" Benji asked the smugglers. "And my Dad caught you? What did you do?"
Dankin chuckled. "No, we weren't the prisoners . . ."
Then Luke remembered someone mentioning Myrkr out on the landing pad. He must have met them when we has being held captive by Karrde, a lifetime ago. Luke suddenly felt a little uneasy. He had since come to more or less trust Karrde and Mara, but they were still not exactly model citizens. And these people, who his son was so excited to dine with, could easily be hardened criminals.
"My dad was a prisoner? Why?" Benji asked.
"It's a long story," Odonnl replied around a mouthful of food. "Maybe you can get Mara to tell you sometime," he added with a wink. Benji grinned. Luke noted that his son did seem to be coping surprisingly well.
"So is it okay if we call you Luke? Or do we need to use your full title? Grand Master of All That is Good and Pure in the Galaxy or whatever?" Odonnl asked.
"Luke is fine," Luke replied, not certain if he should be offended by Odonnl's clear disdain. He wasn't the least bit surprised by the smuggler's lack of respect for authority—he remembered how Han used to refer to Leia as Your Worshipfulness and other such names. But the truth was lately he himself hadn't felt totally comfortable with his title. Wanting to move away from the subject, Luke looked to the man on the other side of Benji. He really didn't remember him at all. "Is Dankin your first name or last name?" he asked, hoping maybe hearing his full name would jog his memory.
"It's my only name," Dankin replied simply.
"You don't have a family name?"
"Don't need one. I was born a street rat. Never met my parents." "Oh," Luke paused, not certain how to proceed. "I'm sorry."
"Don't be. I wouldn't have known what to do with a family if I'd had one." Luke would have expected some underlying anguish to accompany this assertion, but if it was there it was well hidden behind Dankin's bright eyes and the good humor he seemed to exude.
"Mara's the only one on the ship with a last name," Benji added helpfully.
Luke considered that. "So you're all . . . street rats?" Luke would have preferred to use a different term, but Dankin seemed comfortable enough with it and he couldn't think of a better one.
Pormfil nodded. "That's right," Odonnl replied. H'sishi just stared at Luke with hard feline eyes. Luke wondered whether he'd already managed to offend her or she just didn't like strangers.
Luke looked down at his plate to avoid having to come up with something else to say. The meal appeared to be cut up ration bars drizzled with a watery sauce. Luke took a bite. Not exactly gourmet, but the sauce added more flavor than Luke expected and it really wasn't bad. Or course, he was so hungry, grokk eggs would probably have tasted good. The others starting discussing repairs the ship needed and Luke's mind drifted to thoughts of Callista.
Once the meal was finished, Pormfil collected the plates from the table and Dankin disappeared into the kitchen. A few minutes later Dankin returned with a tray of mugs. "Dessert?" Luke asked as Dankin distributed the mugs.
"Yup. We call it Pirate's Brew—warm milk and rum."
"I think I'll pass," Luke said.
"Gonna lay off the alcohol for a while?" Dankin asked with a glint in his eye. "You're in luck. We happen to have our extra special Jedi Brew for just such an occasion." Dankin handed a mug to him and one to Benji. The last mug he set at the end of the table, where no one had been sitting.
"My favorite," Benji declared and took a big sip.
"What's in it?" Luke asked uncertainly.
"We replaced the rum with chocolate," Dankin explained. He hadn't sat down after distributing the mugs and he was making his way toward the doorway. "See you later," he said as he exited the room.
Luke was still hesitant and took a quick sniff of the liquid in his mug.
"You can relax." Luke turned as Mara entered the room. "No one's trying to slip you anything. It's just hot chocolate." Mara sat down at the end of the table and took a long drink from the mug that was waiting there for her.
Luke took a sip. It was indeed hot chocolate. "Where did Dankin go?" he asked.
"We can't leave the bridge unattended," Odonnl explained.
"Are you saying this is the entire crew? Just five of you for this whole ship?"
"Afraid so. We've been running sub-skel for months now. No thanks to you and your Republic friends," Odonnl replied.
"Me? What did I do?"
Mara sighed. "Luke no more runs Republic Intelligence than you control weapons maintenance on the Dawn Beat, Odonnl."
Odonnl smirked. "How could I forget? It only seems like the galaxy revolves around certain people."
"Odonnl." Mara hissed. There was an icy undercurrent to the word.
"I think I'm gonna try to get some rest before we get to Daloon," Odonnl muttered, as he stood up and stalked out of the room. Luke was used to all kinds of people hating him before they'd even met him, so Odonnl's attitude was nothing new. But something about it still dug at Luke, though he wasn't sure why.
"You should all try to get some rest," Mara said to her remaining crew. Pormfil and H'sishi nodded and left.
"You have trouble with Republic Intelligence?" Luke asked Mara after the others were gone.
"Only with them poaching my employees," Mara replied shortly. "If you guys are okay, I think I'm going to head to my room for a bit. You might want to do the same."
"I want to go to the bridge with Dankin," Benji replied. "He never sleeps."
"Everyone has to sleep sometime." Mara pursed her lips. "But if you want to keep him company, that's fine with me."
All this talk of rest and suddenly Luke was utterly exhausted. Benji was eagerly awaiting his permission to go to the bridge and Luke couldn't think of any reason to say no—after all, Benji had been hanging out with Dankin for some time before Luke even got here. "Okay, you can go. Just stay out of trouble."
Benji grinned and gave his dad a big hug. "I'll be good, I promise." Then he scurried out of the room.
"Benji seems quite fond of Dankin," Luke commented.
Mara looked bemused as she watched Benji disappear down the corridor. "Mostly I think he's hoping Dankin will let him steer the ship again." She turned a critical eye to Luke. "Get some rest. You look like hell."
Luke grimaced. "Thanks a lot." He'd meant it to be a sarcastic retort, but his tone came out flat with exhaustion. He headed back to his room and was asleep the instant his head hit the pillow.