Seeing Quinn and Badesh sleeping next to each other caused Vette to smile. Both looked different when they weren't awake, so peaceful and relaxed. She sat on Badesh's bed in his quarters, leaning against the wall. As silently as possible she got up. She opened the door and left, before the door slid close she caught a last glimpse of the men in the bed – Vette smiled again and walked to her bunk to change her clothes.
She mused about Theron and Kalda. Perhaps she should tell them that they wouldn't end up in a dungeon in Dromund Kaas. But what if there were complications? Badesh himself had said that imperial law required that every force-sensitive had to attend the Sith academy. It would be cruel to give them hope if it wasn't secured that everything would be fine. As she dressed herself Vette decided that she had to wait before announcing anything to Kalda and Theron.
Before she put her pants on Vette briefly examined a bite mark on her tight; perhaps she should put some kolto on it. She went into the Medbay and smeared some kolto gel on it before she grabbed a medkit and walked into the cargo bay.
ooOOoo
Theron and Kalda still sat cuffed on a mattress that Vette had placed on the floor to make them more comfortable. Theron looked ill while Kalda had a grim expression on her face.
"Theron, how are you holding up? Do you want some painkillers?" she asked and knelt down beside him to feel his forehead.
"How is he supposed to hold up? Badesh cut his damn hand off!" Kalda's comment lacked the usual self-confidence. She sounded tired.
"I know," replied Vette. "And I am sorry…"
Theron smiled at her, but it was obvious that he was desperate. "Hey, I'm the one who tried to commit suicide by Sith. Just give me a few painkillers."
"Here you go," Vette put two pills on his tongue and gave him water to shallow them. "Do you want anything else? Are you hungry?"
Theron shook his head. Kalda hesitated and finally said: "I'm hungry."
"Alright, let's go to the mess hall – but you have to stay cuffed." Vette opened the chain that tied Kalda's cuffs to a pipe at the wall.
"Is that really necessary?" asked Theron.
"After you little display earlier? Yeah, it is," answered Vette and helped Kalda on her feet.
Vette brought Kalda a fish dish and sat down next to her. She cut the fish and shoved it on the fork, then she fed Kalda with it; her hands were still bound behind her back.
"You really seem to like fish, Kalda. You replicate it more than any of us – I am more a nerfburger type."
Kalda chewed and after swallowing the food she replied. "I do, but it also gives me comfort."
"Comfort? In what sense?"
"It's silly, I know… but I have read that Togruta on Shili eat mostly fish. I feel connected to my heritage when I eat fish."
Vette put the fork down and put her hand on Kaldas upper arm and pressed it a little. Then she continued to feed her. "I can relate to that. Being born in a xenophobic society does that to you, doesn't it? You just see that you are different, but you only know human customs. When I was a child it confused me to no end – I was no human, but what and who was I?"
Kalda laughted, but there was no joy in it. "Tell me about it… when I was 15 years old I actually tried to learn Togruti, I even stopped wearing shoes because I have read that Togruta usually don't wear them."
"You said 'tried' – what stopped you?" asked Vette.
"The more I read about the way I was supposed to be – a proud hunter who despised weakness and individualism. The more it felt… wrong. Even the language felt wrong. It took a while, but I had to learn that I am no more a Togruta than a human. What about you? Didn't you try to connect to you heritage too?"
"Nope, it never crossed my mind. All I ever aspired to was being… as close as possible on being a human – once I even tried to hide my lekku under a hood, but of course the other slaves just made fun of me. Some time back I was a member of a Twi'lek relic hunter gang – we tried to save rylothian relics sometimes, but we did it mostly for the money. But our leader, Taunt, was a very proud woman and taught me to be a proud of my heritage. But of course it didn't work that well… I mean, Ryloth's main export has been slaves for over 500 years. There is no Twi'lek culture left besides that we have to do to be good slaves."
"Somehow I can't imagine that you were truly a 'good slave', Vette."
"Nah, I wasn't – I soon learned that humour is the weapon of unarmed people. My masters didn't appreciate it when I got cheeky. I paid a high price for my jokes of course, but since I got nothing else I still stuck with it."
They fell silent for a moment, before Vette spoke again: "There is one thing that is good about not knowing who you are supposed to be," Vette smiled at Kalda. "With a clean slate you can become whoever you wish to be."
"You are wrong," retorted Kalda. "Not knowing who you are isn't setting you free – it merely limits your identity to the viewpoints of outsiders and how they see you."
"I don't agree; I am who I am because I chose to exceed any expectations placed in me. Not that they were that high…"
Kalda looked as if she wanted to object, but then she simply looked away. It was clear for Vette that she had remembered that they were on their way to Dromund Kaas. Seeing a spirited woman like Kalda simply giving up bothered Vette.
"Whatever happens, I will keep my promise – you won't suffer." Vette glanced on the plate – during their discussion she had forgotten to feed Kalda, the dish was probably cold now.
"You can't promise that," replied Kalda flatly.
"Listen… don't lose hope. We will think of something!" Vette smiled at her.
"I doubt it… please bring me back to the cargo bay. I'm not hungry anymore."
ooOOoo
Vette returned to Badesh's quarters. Quinn had left, probably for the shower, and Badesh was about to dress himself. Vette let her gaze glide over his muscular body and decided to ask about the large black tattoos on his chest.
"Are these…" she stepped closer and casually touched the tattoos, "some kind of Sith symbols?"
Badesh lips curled slightly upwards. "No, I simply wanted to cover the crest of my family that was inked into my skin after I joined the Sith academy."
"You could have simply removed the tattoo altogether."
"No, I didn't want to erase my past, I simply wanted to… drown it under something larger and darker."
"If you ask me… a colourful butterfly or a roaring nexu would have done the job too," Vette beamed at Badesh.
He was visibly confused. Badesh wasn't very good with jokes, he usually brooded too much and therefore missed it when she tried to lighten up the mood with a joke. Vette knew him good enough to anticipate that he would change the subject; he usually did when something puzzled him.
"Did you check on the agents?" Badesh asked and put his tunic back on. In this moment Quinn returned, he wore a fresh uniform and looked as prim and proper as always. Nothing indicated that he hadn't been so prim and proper two hours ago.
"Yeah, and they are not doing well… but it's understandable. They are afraid of what will happen to them. Theron is trying to put up a brave face, but Kalda has resigned. Have you already decided whether you want to proceed with Quinn's plan?"
"I will, but there is still the matter of Theron's force-sensitivity and of course the fact that his mother is the Grand Master. He would be a powerful weapon in terms of propaganda…"
Vette crossed her arms. "I don't know… Satele Shan doesn't care much about her son. She said it herself – she has already made a lot of personal sacrifices. She would probably simply deny that he is her son and everybody would believe her."
"That may be true, but since Darth Nox knows about Theron's lineage we need a good reason to let him go. It has to have strategic value…" interjected Quinn.
"Well, we sliced his implants; couldn't we say that we use him as mole – either he complies and delivers information or we kill him with his own implants – or some bullshit like that. And when they are gone, we can leak that the Empire commended them."
"Interesting, a good plan. Might I recommend that we actually try to turn Agent Heian? There is no need to waste resources," said Quinn.
Vette eyed him. "I though you wanted to let them go as well?"
"I did – because it would serve no purpose to let them suffer under a prolonged interrogation. But as double-agents they would have considerable value for us." Quinn rubbed his chin. "The question is whether they would comply."
"They wouldn't! Neither of them cracked on Alderaan and a simple death threat wouldn't change that! Come on guys – we should just let them go and pretend to do the whole double-agent thing."
Badesh nodded. "I agree with Vette. It would be complicated anyway to make up a cover story for the Grand Master. I highly doubt that she would believe it – and given the opportunity she could always read the mind of her son. Theron is too untrained to withstand a Jedi as powerful as her."
"Shall I set up everything?" inquired Quinn.
"Yes, everything must be ready when we reach Dromund Kaas. You and Vette can inform the agents about our decision."
ooOOoo
After an hour everything had been arranged. Quinn and Vette went into the Medbay before talking to the agents. Quinn was collecting drugs for Theron.
"We should stock cybernetic limbs," he murmured when he rummaged through the supplies. "Statistically seen there is a high possibility that one of us could be unfortunate enough to lose a hand or a leg too."
"You are really a ray of sunshine, Mal. But I guess you're right – we were lucky so far… well, apart from the time where my lekku got cut off and you were virtually cut in half on Hoth… now that I think about it, Badesh had suffered quite a few injuries too." Vette scratched her head.
"I have everything," Quinn simply remarked and strode towards the cargo bay. Vette followed him.
She felt bad as she saw how desperate Theron and Kalda looked when they entered. Perhaps she should have hinted that they were planning to free them?
Quinn stood at parade rest as he addressed Theron and Kalda. "Agent Biss, Agent Heian – Darth Tenebra has decided to end your captivity. We will free you."
Kalda jerked her head upwards and stared incredulously at Quinn. Theron's brows were knitted together and glanced from Vette to Quinn and back.
"Is… is this some kind of trick?" asked Theron. "Or is it some imperial euphemism for 'we are going to off you'?"
Vette smiled. "After all this time you still think that the evil Imperials use nice words to tell somebody that they are going to be killed? Nah, it's true – Quinn cooked up a plan that we can let you go."
Vette enjoyed the indignant look that Quinn shot her. "I didn't 'cook up' anything – I devised a plan of action. And might I remind you that you also had your part in it."
"I… I don't know what to say…" whispered Kalda. "That's not possible – there has to be a catch!"
"Indeed, there is: we are going to discredit you in a way that makes it impossible for you to return to the SIS – at least for a certain time," replied Quinn calmly.
"Discredit us?" Theron blushed. "And… how?"
Vette registered that Theron had obviously something in mind, she was also quite certain that Quinn as well as Kalda had seen it too. There was only one conclusion possible, given the way Badesh had lusted after Theron: He had slept with him. Vette was only mildly surprised, she hadn't thought that Theron would have sex with a Sith – but on the other hand she never thought that she would have a hot threesome with an imperial officer and a member of the Dark Council. So, everything was relative in a way.
"We will commend you for your excellent service to the Empire," answered Quinn, he even managed to say it without any trace of sarcasm in his voice.
"That's it?" asked Kalda.
Vette nodded. "The reports will say that we turned you and managed to coerce you to spy for us – but we all know that wouldn't happen anyway – so yeah, that's it."
"And I assume that the SIS will learn about the commendations?" asked Theron.
"Of course," replied Quinn. "I have arranged a transport for you from the Dromund Kaas orbital station to Voss. You will remain bound until then." Quinn crouched down next to Theron and scanned him. "I trust you will feel better when we reach our destination, Agent Heian."
"I guess I should thank you for ruining my reputation, Major – you too, Vette," said Theron with a faint smile.
Vette beamed at him; she didn't miss that Kalda still glared at them.