Chapter II – Elios Maliss

As we got around more people, Elios seemed to relax, and many of the station personnel greeted him with a smile and hello. He seemed to know everyone's name and even stopped to chat with a few. He appeared to be able to change his deportment like a chameleon, being serious one moment and charming the next. In the brief moment we walked to the café, I could see him playing people, getting them comfortable and even agreeable. I wondered if he played me just moments ago in his office. Did he become combative in order to test me and discover my motives and weaknesses? As we entered the doorway to the café, I began to realize that I had underestimated Elios, and quite possibly he had intended me to.

The café was a small, curved room against the station's outer wall. There were portal windows with a star-scape view and soft mood lighting to match the dinner music playing loud enough to mask table talk. The tables were mostly full with station personnel who glanced our way as Elios led me to an open table near the bar. He chivalrously pulled my chair out for me, which irritated me for some reason.

"Thom, how did the servo testing go?" Elios yelled to a guy several tables away. "I'll be right back, have a seat," he said as he shuffled off to talk to the man he called to.

I sat down and looked over at Elios chatting up the people at the other table. He was working his charm, and I had to wonder what his motive was. That was the problem I had with him, especially now that I knew his game. How much of his interest was genuine and how much was playing to the audience? I knew that he was Imperial intelligence and was probably highly trained, but how much did the people on the station know about him? It could explain the station commander's irritation; she probably saw through his act as well.

While I had a moment, I decided to contact Andronikos.

"Pez, contact Andronikos," I ordered. The round droid beeped behind me, shifted positions, and beamed a hologram over my shoulder onto the table.

The top half of Andronikos appeared in the hologram and looked toward me. "You said it wasn't going to take long," Andronikos stated dryly.

"I've run into a delay."

"Oh?"

"Zash's contact is not being very cooperative." I left the details at that. "How did the inspection go?"

"No issues. I guess we passed."

"Good, I need you to check on something for me. The station commander mentioned that she isn't getting support from Fleet Command. Apparently, she has several requisitions that have gone unfulfilled. I want you to see if we can help."

"You do realize that I am anathema to Imperial Fleet, right?"

"You've got connections, Andronikos. I'm asking you to use them."

"What's the point? I thought we weren't going to be here long. Besides, I'm going to draw attention to us by poking around."

"The point is that I need friends, and right now we don't have any. Commander Yelka feels neglected. If I can help her, then maybe she will return the favor."

"Okay," he grumbled, "it's not like I have anything else to do. I can't promise anything though."

"Thanks, contact the commander's office and see if you can get the unfilled requisition orders."

"I know how to handle this," he complained, "just get back here so we can get on with the mission."

"I'm trying," I replied, noticing Elios glancing over at me. "I'll check back in a bit."

Andronikos cut the com and Pez stopped the holo-projection as a Twi'lek waitress walked up and tried to greet me before Elios rushed up and interrupted her. "Mar'Ga, darling," he said smoothly, "do you think I can talk to Farra? Hopefully, she isn't too busy."

"I'll ask," she replied, giving him big eyes.

"I knew I could count on you . . . you look pretty tonight, by the way."

"Thank you," she beamed, "do you want a holo-pad for the menu?"

"What about a drink?" Elios asked as he looked at me.

"No thank you," I said softly.

"I'll have a Rodian Wailer," he said as he looked back at Mar'Ga.

"Okay, what about the menu?"

"No, I want Farra to fix up something special for Lord Kallig," he said as he pointed to me. "She is a Sith Inquisitor."

"Oh," Mar'Ga turned her big eyes toward me, "I've never met a Sith Inquisitor before."

"She just came in from Dromund Kaas . . ."

"Elios," I interrupted sharply.

He and the waitress stopped and looked at me. "I'll see if Farra can come talk to you," the waitress said as she stepped away from the table and spun on her heels.

"I'll be right back," Elios said as he turned to head back to the people he was talking to.

"Elios!" I growled, "sit down."

"What?" he acted surprised as he settled in the chair opposite me.

Pez was still hovering over my shoulder, and I looked at the spherical droid. "You're too close. Drop to my feet and be quiet, I'll call you if I need you." The droid drooped his eye and let out a deflated hiss as he drifted to the floor. I turned my attention back to the agent. "What are you doing?"

"I'm getting us dinner."

"I don't want anything special, don't want attention drawn to us, and want this meal to be quick so we can get on with business. Making the chef come out to take a special order is the opposite of all of those things."

"Relax, it's no big deal. Farra likes to cook things not on the menu; she'll enjoy it."

"Stop introducing me to everyone. I want to keep a low profile."

"Don't you ever loosen up?" he sighed. If I could have reached him, I would have smacked him. "It'll be alright, I know what I'm doing . . . besides, news travels quickly through the bored staff on this station, I'm sure everyone already knows who you are."

He had an uncanny knack of saying the thing that could irk me the most, and I found myself glancing around the room to notice numerous people looking at me. "That's not helping," I replied in frustration as my eyes returned to him, "why don't you talk about something that does."

He leaned back in his chair and gave me a grin. "Okay, we'll play this your way. You want me to talk about something helpful, which I take to mean helpful toward your mission, not that I know what that is. Zash sent me to gather information about a Sith ghost. Is that what you're after?"

"All I need to know is where it is located."

"Really, so you're not worried about the station commander letting you go planet-side, or the composition of Imperial assets on the surface, and who is best capable of helping you? It doesn't concern you whether Republic positions will prevent your approach to the location, or that there's a whole Jedi enclave full of Jedi on top of it?"

Elios Maliss was giving me a headache. In my desire to get away from him, I was starting to sound foolish. "Those details are relevant, is it possible that you have a report prepared?"

"I've got multiple reports, and several hours of recon videos. Even an unprofessional guy like me needs to work every now and then."

"Why didn't you mention this at the beginning?"

"Because I wasn't sure of your motives, remember?"

"Can you give me the report?"

"I don't have it on me."

"Of course you don't," I sighed in frustration. Before I complained further, a pureblood Sith woman walked up to the table, her dark eyes, crimson skin, and facial bone spurs giving her a dangerous appearance.

"Hello Elios," she said as her eyes drifted from him to me.

"Farra, my dear," Elios gushed, "sorry to drag you out of your kitchen, things seem busy tonight. I've been visited by an important Sith from Dromund Kaas, Lord Kallig."

"Nice to meet you," I said with a slight nod.

"Anyway," Elios interjected, "I was hoping that you could cook her something from her homeworld. She grew up on Ziost, and that is pretty close to Korriz, from what I recall." Elios turned his attention to me. "Farra worked on Korriz for quite a while. So, what do you think?" he asked the chef as he spun his head back to her.

"I've done quite a lot of cooking with Ziostian cuisine," Farra stated thoughtfully, "do you prefer a Curdu or Turmac?"

"Anything would be fine, really," I replied. It struck me that Elios knew I was from Ziost and I eyed him carefully. "My household traditionally used Garma Mashla in our cooking."

Farra nodded, "I don't have a lot in the stores but I think I can whip something up for you."

"Thank you," I said with a soft smile.

"I'll just have my usual," Elios added, "and thanks Farra, I owe you again."

"I'm keeping a tab," she replied with a sharp smile.

"She's the best thing about this old station," Elios leaned forward and put his elbows on the table after the chef left, "she'll knock your socks off, you'll see."

"Elios?" I sighed

"What?"

"Your reports, why don't you have them?"

"I thought it was obvious. I needed them for a bargaining chip, if you were intent on killing me that is. I put them in a hiding place, they're quite safe."

"But they don't do me any good in your hiding place, do they?"

"Relax," he smiled, "you really need a drink to loosen up."

"I don't imbue alcohol or take drugs. I was force-fed Zombie-Spice as a girl in order to keep me compliant. It took me years to recover from it."

"Sorry to hear that," he replied. For a moment his confident grin was gone. "Let's have some dinner and then I'll get you all the information you could ever want."

"I seriously doubt that," I grumbled.

"I'll remember that attitude when I surprise you," he countered.

I had to reach up and rub my forehead to ease the stress he was giving me, it helped that my hand blocked the view of his smug face. "Is it possible that you can give me a synopsis of the report while we are waiting for our food?"

"I could, but like I said, I don't think very well when I'm hungry." He eased back off his elbows when I dropped my hand and glared at him. "Okay, well let's see . . . the synopsis is that there have been several occurrences of a dark Force aura in the ruins close to a Jedi enclave, which is near the main Republic footprint on Taris. I don't say specifically that it is an apparition, or ghost, because the Jedi are not in agreement. It seems like most of them are of the opinion that it is a dark Force energy signature, likely from a deceased Sith. Only a padawan and her master seem to insist that it is actually a ghost."

Elios was interrupted by the waitress who came up with a tray. She set Elios' drink down in front of him and as she reached onto her tray, I caught a whiff of a fragrance I had not smelled in years. The house I lived in as a child was near an orchard where Star-fruit trees were grown. Every fall the trees would ripen and workers would spend weeks plucking the star-like fruit from the trees. The smell of the orchard struck me and threw me back to my childhood.

The waitress took a bowl from her tray and set it in front of me, "Farra thought you might like to sample some of the fruit from her personal stores."

I stared into the bowl of mixed fruit like I was six, looking for my favorite, but it was not there. "Thank you," I replied, catching the waitress' eye before she turned and left. My favorite was Dragon pear. It was expensive and uncommon, but I begged my mother and afterward my master for it. It was cased in a thick, hard shell with sharp spines, and took real effort to get to the soft, sweet fruit in the center. Even without the Dragon Pear, the Star-fruit was amazing, and there were also Banda grapes and Choggas; a meaty cherry-like fruit. The first taste made my head spin and I pondered how long it had been since I tasted these childhood fruits.

"It's good, isn't it?" Elios said.

I looked up to see him grinning at me. "Why do you have to ruin everything?"

"What?" he complained.

He was right, even if I didn't want to tell him. The fruit was good. "What is this, Elios? What are you up to?"

"I don't know what you mean?" he replied defensively.

"You're playing me. Why do you know where I'm from?"

"You are the most suspicious person I know," he grumbled. He seemed to wait a moment and then realized I wasn't going to let the issue go so continued, "you might not think much of me, but one thing I'm good at is staying alive, which requires making bosses happy and doing constant threat assessments."

"Let me guess, I was part of the threat assessment?"

"All Sith are a threat, so don't take it personally."

"So, you used Imperial intelligence to research me, and now you are trying to ply me with largess?"

"Not everything has to have a motive," he replied with a grin.

I didn't believe him one bit, but went back to finishing the bowl of fruit. It wasn't long before the main dish was brought out. Again, the aromas of my childhood wafted off the tray, not exactly but very close. The chef had made a Garma Mashla dish with tubers and white meat over a bed of wild river rice. There was a flatbread sprinkled with butter and spices still warm from the oven, and a side of Gortta sprouts mixed in a cream sauce spiced with Turmac. The smell was making my mouth water before I picked up a utensil. As a child, I would have ripped off a piece of the bread and pinched or scooped the food into it, and then jammed it into my mouth.

I quickly tasted the food, using a utensil for manners to not act like a sloppy little girl, and was not disappointed. The flavors burst through my mouth and again threw me back to the memories of home. It was a powerful moment, and the emotions were hard to contain. After my mother died, I was fed from the workers' kitchen, which was cheap universal rations distributed through the empire for military and government purposes. I was not afforded the home-cooked food that my master ate. Memories rushed through my mind, and with them came excitement, happiness, anger, fear, and many other emotions that I had experienced as a slave child.

I quickly glanced up at Elios and saw him watching me, his cunning and shrewd eyes giving me a knowing gaze. He knew what he had done, and what I was now experiencing. Part of me wanted to pull away, to hide the pleasure that experiencing my past provided me, especially from the Imperial spy across from me, but the food tasted wonderful and I realized how long it had been since I had eaten good food. Finally, I decided to let him have his little victory.

"You are right, Farra is a good cook." I expected him to gloat; for the annoying grin on his face to stretch past his ears.

"I'm glad," he said softly as he turned to his own meal.

We ate in silence for a while, and I found myself enjoying every mouth full of the meal. The worries of my life, for a brief moment, were gone. I thought it strange that something as simple as a well-cooked meal had eluded me for so long. Life at the academy was intense and spartan, with little time for personal fulfillment. The food resources there were the same military-grade meals as I ate on Ziost as a slave. In the rat race of survival, one simply accepted what was offered and made the best of it.

The thought made me look across the table at Elios Maliss. Somehow the Sith agent had made a point to indulge himself, seeing as though he was well acquainted with the chef and her staff. What did it say about him, that he made a point to experience the finer aspects of life? What did it say about me that I did not?

"You look thoughtful," he said as he looked up from his plate, "What is bothering that pretty little head of yours?"

"Did you just try to compliment me?" I replied in irritation. He gave me his stupid grin as a response. "Let's keep this relationship professional."

"Sorry," he replied shiftily as he picked up his drink and took a swig, "I let the ambiance carry me away." He said he was sorry, but did not act like he was. "I've been in this wreck of a system for almost two months and most people here are as sullen and unwelcoming as you."

"Maybe you're the common factor in that observation."

"Touché," he grinned. "I have met several nice people who also don't deserve to be stuck here. One of them is a very capable forward officer named commander Pillus. He's been tasked with drawing the attention of Republic forces near the resettlement zone. A little piece of hell called Crater Command Base. I spent two weeks there while I infiltrated the Jedi Enclave and collected Zash's information. It's a messy situation they are in." He stopped to take a bite of his meal.

"Is that where I should land?"

"Hell no!" he almost choked on his food, "there's no drop-ship activity in that area. The Republic would shoot you down before you could even plot a landing vector. They're in no man's land, even supplies and wounded are difficult to get in and out."

"Wounded?"

"Yeah," he about sneered at me, "you better expect to get your fancy little boots dirty if you plan on getting that close to the Jedi enclave. Commander Pillus is in a fortified position, surrounded by Republic siege batteries and constant harassment patrols. Needless to say, the Republic is not that happy with Imperials snooping around near their settlement. On top of that, the damned planet is still settling from its destruction hundreds of years ago. The ground beneath your feet can shift or even collapse, dropping you into a sinkhole to God only knows where. Then there's the Rakghouls and other wild animals living in the ruins. More men have been lost to accidents and wildlife attacks more so than anything else. Why the hell the Republic wants to resettle the forsaken planet is beyond me."

"What I need is proper intel, not your patronization."

"OK, sweetheart, I'm just trying to provide perspective. Like I said, commander Pillus has been stuck in that position for as long as I've been here with no relief. He knows everything about the Republic positions and how to get around them; kept me out of harm's way."

"Don't call me sweetheart," I rebutted. Elios just grinned. "This commander, is he Special Forces?"

"Nah, he's from a marine division in the Twelfth Fleet. Come to think of it he could be Special Forces, though they don't call it that in the marine units. I suppose if they put him in a forward recon position like he is, it's likely that he and his men are the best assets we've got in system. If you don't like me, you won't like him. He's unprofessional-looking and rough around the edges. Don't expect him to take any bullshit, 'cause he doesn't have time for it."

"I'm not sure why you and Zash are so interested in a Sith ghost anyway?" I let his question hang and it seemed to irritate him. "Snooping on the Jedi was boring as hell. A complete waste of my talents if you ask me."

I grew weary of Elios' condescending banter and returned to my meal. Elios was quiet after I ignored his question and let us both finish our dinner. The waitress was watching over us and when the food was mostly gone, she brought me a cup of Bandrek, a sweet and spicy hot drink, which I scooped up into my hands and tasted it before she could set it on the table.

"Please tell the chef that she is a wonderful cook," I told the waitress before she could leave.

"I will," she smiled, "I'm glad you liked it."

After she left, Elios pushed himself away from the table and looked at me through comfortable, sated eyes. "That hit the spot," he mused. I sipped my warm drink and let him have his moment. "Now that we've gotten dinner out of the way, we can head back to my place . . ."

"What!" I almost spit out my drink.

He looked at me in surprise for a moment before he recognized my concern. "No, that's not what I meant . . . the key is in my bunk. I need to grab it so that I can get your information."

"I'm not going anywhere near your bunk. You can go fetch the information and bring it to your office. I will meet you there."

"Suit yourself," he shrugged. "I want to talk to a few people before I head out." He rose from his chair and headed over to the table he was at before dinner, chatting up the occupants like he had never left.

I sat and sipped the drink thoughtfully for a while, trying to be less anxious and intense. The spicy warm drink was helping, and I made a promise to myself to explore more memories from my past. Despite my hard life, it was not all bad, and my memories were a part of what defined me.

After the drink was gone, I stood up and ordered Pez off the floor. Elios saw me moving and headed over to follow me. We were moving towards the exit when a blonde woman entered and caught Elios' attention. She walked up to us briskly, eyeing me harshly. One glance over her appearance told me what impression she was going for; long loose hair, overdone make-up, tight-fitting uniform with buttons left undone, and a seductive motion as she walked.

"Elios?" she chirped in a sharply pitched voice.

"Hi, darlin'," he grinned.

"You said you couldn't go to dinner with me?" Her accusation hung in the air as her eyes bore into me.

"That's right," he sighed, "because I had business to attend to. This is Lord Kallig. She came from Dromund Kaas to meet me."

The woman fumed at me with jealous eyes, and I found myself nauseous at the idea that she thought there could be something between Elios and me. "Is this some kind of joke?" she snapped.

Elios took her by the arm and led her out of the café into the corridor. "It's not a joke, dear. She's a Sith Inquisitor who can probably snap you in two with her Force powers, so please show a little respect."

I didn't want to hear any more of Elios' personal problems and walked past them on my way to his office. Once I reached his office I sat at his desk and looked at Pez. "Open a com to Andronikos," I ordered.

Pez beamed the hologram onto the desk, and Andronikos' upper body appeared.

"What have you found out?" I asked when his face turned to look at me.

"Well, the Twelfth Fleet is preparing to deploy, which is why requisitions are backlogged. I'm sorry to say that your commander is quite a way down the priority list."

"That's not good. Do we have any alternatives?"

"There is Central Fleet Logistics. I managed to get a somewhat friendly petty officer to talk to me, but it doesn't sound like they have much in the way of available resources either. It seems as if the whole Imperial Fleet has been mobilized to hot spots all over the galaxy. Besides that, the bureaucratic nightmare you would have to navigate to go up the chain of command to CFL is prohibitive. It would likely be a year before you got any requisitions."

"What about unofficial channels?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, you were a pirate once, and you know the Exchange."

"There's about as far-fetched an idea as I've ever heard," he laughed. "You want me to convince the exchange and my pirate friends to help supply an Imperial military station?" He laughed again.

"Don't make me do all the thinking, Captain. You told me you know ship mechanics and places you can get skilled crewmen. The Exchange can get the supplies we need. Use a reputable civilian resource, maybe a salvage company to deliver the goods."

"It might work, with a lot of finagling, but it's going to cost a pretty penny." There was a hint of irritation in Andronikos' voice.

"Empty Zash's credit account. I won't be able to use it much longer anyway."

"I'll see what I can do. What authority do I give if anyone asks?"

"Tell them you are a special envoy from Darth Zash supporting the Imperial efforts on Taris."

"Sounds official enough."

"Maybe you can't get the whole requisition list, but even if we manage to get her part of it, it might buy us some favors."

"I think it's a far-fetched idea, but I'll work it and see how far it goes."

"Thank you."

It wasn't long after Pez cut the com to Andronikos that the office door swept open and Elios' strode in with a job box and set it on the desk in front of me.

"Here's your intel," he said as he patted the top of the box. "Inside you've got several holo-pads of my report and data collected around the Jedi enclave. There is also about six hundred hours of footage from three stealth droids I managed to get inside the compound. There are soil and debris samples from the area of the ghost sighting, though my analysis did not find anything extraordinary."

While he talked, I slid the case closer to me and unclasped the lid. Flipping it open I sorted through the items while he listed them. On the bottom, I found a plastic bag with what looked like a large beetle inside. I lifted it up and held it out to Elios.

"That is the sapper droid that brought back the debris samples. I kept it just to be thorough."

"I have to admit, it seems like you've done good work."

"Don't get too excited yet," he grumbled as he dropped down into the chair opposite me. "I already told you this mission was boring as hell. Ninety-nine percent of the video footage is empty scenery, padawans sparring and meditating, and stupid lectures about the Jedi way."

"I only care about the ghost sightings. You said that you managed to pinpoint the location?"

"Not exactly," he frowned. "Let me give you the short version. Several Jedi over the past two years have mentioned a dark Force aura in an area of ruins near the enclave. There were only two records in the Jedi database which had little detail . . ."

"You broke into the Jedi computers?" I asked in surprise.

"I am Sith Intelligence you know," he replied in a hurt voice, "but I'm not Delta Level, so I only got into the unencrypted records. Anyway, things changed when a padawan wandered into the ruins and came out traumatized. She claimed that a Sith ghost appeared and tried to attack her. The Jedi masters closed off the area and a detailed investigation was performed, but nothing came of it. Several months later, one of the masters took the padawan back into the ruins to face her fears, and apparently, the ghost appeared to both of them, though the master's report seemed rather non-committal.

"The Jedi command seems to be going to great lengths to deny the fact that there is anything supernatural going on. It doesn't seem to fit their philosophy. So, they cordoned off the area and are basically ignoring the issue."

"Again, do you have an exact location?"

Elios gave me a frown. "I don't think you are getting my point. There is no location, or a ghost. The records showed a rough drawing of the ruins and where the Force aura should be, but the Jedi are discounting its validity."

"Is the map in the records?"

"Of course, but it doesn't match the story that the padawan or her master gave. I got the debris samples from the map location because it's all I had."

I stood up and closed the box. "Thank you, Elios. I will take this information and study it."

"I still don't get the point of this," he grumbled, "are you planning on going into the ruins? Because if you are, you're going to need help."

"Why do you say that?"

"Well, first of all, it is within the enclave's defense perimeter. They have sensors and picket droids on constant patrols. Second, the ruins have been restricted, I'm sure they have security measures in place to prevent entry. Then there is the fact that you are less than fifty meters from the enclave itself, which is led by at least two Jedi masters and staffed by an additional six Jedi knights and over a dozen padawans."

"If you have done your job right, your videos should provide me defense perimeter patterns and weaknesses."

"They do," he replied defensively, "but it will take some time to analyze the video. I wasn't told why I was collecting data, so I collected everything . . ."

"Then you have done well," I replied as I picked up the box, "I will check back with you if I need anything else."

"You're going in there aren't you?" He asked shrewdly. I didn't answer. "It doesn't make sense. I've got videos of the whole ruins, there's nothing there but rubble." He was eyeing me but I gave nothing away. "So, you must be after the Force aura, or the ghost. Do you believe in ghosts, Sith?"

"I believe in ghosts," I replied flatly. Of course, I did, I had two of them living in my head!

He shook his head slowly. "Some kind of Sith nonsense, I suppose. You're taking an awful risk trying to get into those ruins. I hope it's worth it."

"It will be."

"If that's what you're after, you need the padawan. She's the only one who admits to seeing the ghost. One of the masters believes there is a blood connection between the padawan and the ghost. He seems to think she is the key to making it appear."

"I don't want any contact. This needs to be covert."

Elios shook his head more vigorously. "I've been involved in covert ops before. What you're trying to do is wing it, which is a bad idea. My report is preliminary. What you need is an insertion and recovery plan with a detailed assessment of threats and contingencies."

"I don't have time for that."

"Even a personal cloaking device won't get you into the ruins undetected."

"I think you're underestimating me," I complained.

"Really?" he smiled, "I spent two weeks monitoring the enclave and observing its defenses. You haven't even been on the ground yet."

"You've given me what I need. I'll take it from here."

"Hold on," he said as he sat up in his chair, "what about me? You said you could help me, and now you're just going to walk out and leave me hanging?"

"Let me formulate a plan and get back to you."

"That's my only bargaining chip," he complained, poking a finger at the box in my hands.

"Then you are going to have to trust me."

"Shit! Honey, there is no such thing as trusting a Sith."

"You can trust me," I replied, looking him in the eye. "Give me your personal holo contact."

He begrudgingly pulled out his holo-pad and opened his contact signal. "I'm not waiting around too long, so don't dawdle."

Pez made a buzz and ping sound to indicate he had the contact ID.

"You mentioned that you were monitoring the incoming news from Dromund Kaas. I recommend continuing to do so, and let me know if there is any mention of Thanaton."

"In that case, I will need your com-ID as well."

I was loathe to give him my com number, mostly because he irritated me so much, but I relented and gave Pez the order to relay it to Elios. "Don't contact me for any reason other than a warning," I instructed, "I'm not in the mood for idle chats with you."

"As you wish, my Lord," he whispered with a smirk. "I'll keep an ear out and provide you ample warning," he added. "Does that mean we are working together?"

"It means we can help each other," I countered, not liking the idea of being that close to the imperial spy. I left Elios in his office and went back to the Intrepid.