Chapter39
The River
Melissa was looking at the moving water in contemplation after Bastila's statement
"While it is great to see all the enthusiasm, we are going to have to regroup first." Melissa stated
She pointed to the water
"First off at this depth the water is likely freezing, so we will have to compensate for that. Two we don't know if we are going up river, down river or diving. We may not have the equipment to keep going on."
Terri rubbed her chin
"True, what if we go back and get the EV suits. They should be insulated enough against the cold and they carry half an hours worth of oxygen." She suggested
"That could work, but we only have two suits. And we will need to disable the rock trap as well. Some decent lights will go a long way as well" Melissa replied
"And find a way to cross the gap that does not depend on hanging on by your fingernails." Mission added.
"We can ask Zaalbar if he could rig a rope bridge, the Wookies use them a lot on Kashyk." Terri pointed out
"Can we not use the drone to scout a bit for us?" Bastila asked
Melissa shook her head.
"No it uses repulsor coils, in water it will just sink. Though if we get back to the Hawk I should have enough components left to build an aquatic drone with just a basic camera."
Terri idly pushed her hand into the water and jerked it out immediately
"You were right about that temperature, it is definitely freezing." She reported.
The chasm was traversed the way they came in with a microline fired into the opposite side as a safety line. The deadfall trigger was bypassed by force jumps and a disgruntled Mission being levitated over it.
Carth and Canderous were playing Dejarik in the crew lounge as they trooped into the Hawk. A quick look through the cockpit window had shown a veritable blanket of dust as the storm howled. The expanded shield keeping the dust from blocking the cavern entrance. Zaalbar was down on his cot taking a nap as Mission entered the men's dorm.
"Come on big guy we have some work for you." Mission cheerfully informed him, kicking the cot leg
"I am taking a nap." He growled irritably
"We have a job that only you can do." She insisted
Zaalbar proved to be worth his weight in gold as mostly he carried the supplies down for their expanded investigation. They anchored the deadfall rock with strips of metal crossed over it and another metal plate over the triggerplate. It took him several hours to rig a rope bridge across the chasm. Taking one look at the underground river he declared he was not going in there. This was the first time they learned Wookies were hydrophobic as a species. He did stay behind to help Carth and Canderous set up the generator and lights they had brought down
Melissa dropped the new drone into the water after having started the engine, the data from the first contact drone having been useful again as she had checked on aquatic vehicles on a whim. Mission was operating the drones control from a datapad. Light appeared underwater as she engaged the lights and camera functions. They waited patiently as she circled the drone around in the water.
"Got something" She announced
They crowded in behind her and looked at the camera feed. The drone was hovering in front of a square shape thirty feet down in the opposite rockface to the landing they were on.
"Five metres by five metres, I am taking it in."
The drone slowly went into the opening. The passage statyed the same size till it reached a wall twenty metres in, what looked like handholds were carved into the wall.
"They really did not want anybody to get through here, did they?" Mission remarked
Canderous started up the portable generator they had brought down and light flooded the area. A rainbow kaleidoscope of light burst across the ceiling. All of those present looked in awe at the roof.
"Are those…" Carth started
"Gemstones, possibly." Bastila finished
"So how are we going to get some of them?" Mission asked
"I have no idea." Melissa replied
Terri looked at the hovering scout drone
"Can that drone take samples?" She asked
"No, recon package and manipulator arm only. Nor can it go that high." Melissa replied
Mission looked at the ceiling in thought
"What if we add more repulsor coils to it and add a fusion that work?" She asked
"You would need to add a collector tray as well to catch the stones as it gets cut." Carth added
"It would be easier to build a new drone, specifically for this job. The ship fabricator should be able to create the parts for us but we are a bit low on raw materials for the fabricator." Melissa replied
"What about the bounty hunters gear, we could strip that for parts." Zaalbar suggested
"If the Jawas did not strip it already sure, but that would mean going out in the storm." Melissa answered
Carth cleared his throat
"So plan of action, most of us will go back and see if the storm has died down or passed and see if we can salvage the bounty hunters gear and strip it down for base materials. I am guessing you want to check out what is beyond the water passage."
"Correct." Terri replied
Canderous looked thoughtfully at Melissa
"Your bodysuit should withstand the temperature of the water if you want to go through the passage , your armour will be too heavy though." He suggested
"I can seal my helmet independently from my armour, and have oxygen for ten minutes. But that would mean leaving Mission alone, and I don't think that would be fair on her. " Melissa answered.
Mission lifted the datapad in her hand.
"I am more than happy to play with the drone and see if there is anything else down there. So go ahead." She said
"You sure?" Melissa asked
"I am sure, besides it is not like I can really swim that well yet."
"Something we will be fixing soon." Canderous firmly stated
Melissa unbuckled her armour and handed it to Canderous. Her gunbelt and lightsaber was placed in a waterproof bag. She chuckled in her helmet as Bastila and Terri had to be helped into the cumbersome Ev suits for their swim. The two finally waddled to the edge of the landing and she sealed her helmet. They dropped together into the water. Despite the heating coils in her body suit she still felt the cold of the water. Mission swam the drone in front of them lighting the way. Melissa fought the urge to go ahead of the slower moving two. There was a slight current pushing them to the side as they swam and they had to correct for that.
Melissa's head broke through the water as she cleared first, the light on her helmet lit up the room beyond as she circled in the water looking for dangers. Finally she pulled herself out of the water and stepped onto the landing, unsealing her helmet.
The water bubbled behind her as the first Ev suit came up. She used the force to lift the person from the water onto the landing beside her and did it again for the second person. Despite wearing gloves her hands were slightly numb from the cold and as such she struggled to get Bastila out of the EV suit. Steam was coming from her bodysuit as the heating coils were working overtime to dry her and keep her temperature constant
"Next time I am borrowing one of your bodysuits." Terri groused as Bastila helped her out of the EV suit
"If you can fit in one. Sure." Melissa replied
"I will make it fit. These thing handles worse in water than in space and that is already bad enough." Terri complained
Opening their waterproof bags they armed themselves before switching on their flashlights and playing across the room. The usual warning pictographs were present on all the walls, with the added threat of spear wielding statues having their spears levelled at them.
"If this was a game I would say it is safe to assume we reached the next level." Melissa commented
"And here I thought al those spears were to hang your clothing on to dry." Terri snarked
This room contained a new set of statues. Males were depicted on their knees, holding dishes above their heads. A sole beam of light fell on one and reflected light onto the ceiling. Melissa looked thoughtfully at it.
"I wonder." She mused
She extended her hand and reached into the force. With a grating noise the dish turned and the beam of light now lanced towards another statue
"I get it! We have to align the dishes to light the room." Bastila exclaimed
It was hit and miss for several moments before the room was lit and a single beam lanced down a passage to the next room. The ceiling was covered in elaborate paintings and the three stared at them in wonder. Between two sets of armed statues doorways could be seen. They cautiously walked to the closest and Bastilla plied her flashlight over the walls of the unadorned room. She lowered the beam in disappointment.
"What is that on the ground?" Melissa asked pointing
Several shapes covered the ground against the walls. Terri cautiously lifted one with force and brought it closer and rotated it in front of them
"This could have been a short sword or a pike blade." She said after a moment
"So this was likely a guard room." Bastila postulated
"Or an armoury for the gaurds." Terri remarked
"Which means this place was more likely a temple than a tomb." Bastila continued
"Till they armed the traps and left it is possible." Terri shrugged
Melissa was elevating a much smaller artefact towards her. She recognised it as an arrow head
"This would have been nasty." She commented once the degraded head was close
Despite being heavily eroded the jagged serrated edges of the four bladed arrow head was still visible, to make it worse it looked as if two jagged heads made the point.
"Going to copy that?" Terri asked
"If we are hunting Rancors, yes, shooting a sentient with this would be beyond cruel." Melissa replied
The second room was much larger, this too had large dust mounds covering the floor. Firing a flare showed the room was about the same size as the grave room they had gone through earlier. The gleam of metal was barely visible in the light of the flare, twinkling lights suggested the presence of gemstones. Elevating an object from one of the piles brought a palm sized flat disk over. Wiping the dirt of it, Terri examined the object
"Not sure, but I think this is gold." She stated, before slipping it into a pocket
"Not worth much today, but back then I guess this would have been a staggering fortune." Melissa remarked
"This brings up the question, if they left this here, unsecured what is up ahead?" Bastila asked
"It could have been secured, but everything rotted away over time." Melissa suggested
She played her light across a pile and swung it back as she saw a solid green shape. Reaching out she lifted it and brought it closer. It appeared to be an emerald weighing at least fifteen kilograms
"If this real, I can retire now." She muttered
"That is one big emerald." Terri whistled in awe
Reluctantly Melissa elevated the stone back to the pile she lifted it from. She turned and walked to the passage the light was shining down. This passage was fully tiled, floor ceiling and walls, with no decorative details. Well almost none as she brushed her gloved hand over the ground tile revealing a pictogram in the middle.
"Bastila we are going to need that brush of yours again." She stated
"Did not bring it." Bastila replied
Terri brushed the dust off another tile, revealing a different pictogram and a third tile another. Looking around Melissa noted one the mirror statues had lost it head sometime ago. Elevating the head she pushed it down the passage before dropping it. Several metals spikes shot up from the ground, the side of the walls and the roof before slowly retracting
"Force run?" Melissa suggested
"If we were sure there was not a master trigger yes. For all we know you only get a certain amount of wrong guesses before a master trap triggers all the spikes and closes the passage." Bastila countered.
"And we need to see the tiles to see if there is a pattern." Terri pointed out.
"So how do we clear the floor? It is not like we a have a mouse droid or three." Bastila asked
Melissa pondered for a moment before she started grinning devilishly. Terri and Bastila looked askance at her
"I am really getting worried." Terri remarked
"What is going on in that head of yours?" Bastila asked
"This time the two of you get to be lose your clothes." Melissa kept on grinning
"Come again." Terri stated
Melissa pointed down the passage
"Simple really, we need to clean the floor of dust, right?" She stated
"Yes, that is obvious." Basrtila replied
"And the only thing we have to wipe the floor with is your clothing. Doing it with one set will take too long." Melissa pointed out
"And you are not adding your clothing, why?" Terri asked
"Because I need my bodysuit intact to get out through the water passage." Melissa answered
Terri swore as she realised the truth of it. She unbuckled her gunbelt and dropped it onto the floor before reaching for the zipper of her suit after kicking of her boots. She stopped in surprise as a credit chip bounced of her hand. Melissa was about to flick another one at her as she looked up
"What now?" She asked
"I just paid for a sexy strip and I want my credits worth." Melissa grinned at her
Bastila rolled her eyes at that, then stopped as the second chip struck her forehead.
"You too. Want some music to do it to?" Melissa asked innocently
"You are still spending way to much time with Mission." Bastila remarked
Melissa leaned against one of the statues and took her helmet of. She started playing a music file through her helmets com system. Bastila rolled her eyes.
"Really?" She commented
"Well she did pay for a show." Terri remarked
"Are we really going to indulge this type of behaviour." Bastila complained
Terri extended her arms above her head and started gyrating her hips to the beat, a sultry look appearing on her face. She seductively slid one hand down her body while thrusting her hips forward as she danced forward. She turned around and bend forward. Slowly she twisted around and straightened, licking her middle finger as she did so. Agonisingly slow she reached for the zipper of her tunic and slowly started lowering it, demurely lowering herself to her knees as the zip lowered. She wildly shook her head, revealing her pointed ears. Crossing her arms she pushed the tunic away revealing her shoulders and bra. The tunic pooled by her feet as she stepped out of the tunic. She kept on moving to the beat, twisting and turning erotically, sensuously running her hands across herself as she was seemingly close to dropping her underwear too. She dropped to her hands and knees before crawling closer to Melissa. Slowly she inched her way up Melissa's tense body. She brought her head close to Melissa's ears
"Till you are sixteen this is the most you will get." She breathed in her ear.
With that she straightened and walked away, a definite sway in her hips as she strutted over to where her boots and gunbelt was lying. She reached down and donned said items. She looked over her shoulder at the other two.
"If you are done gawking we have a passage to clear."
Melissa shook her head to clear it
"Going to need dry panties now." She muttered
"You are not the only one." Bastila stated softly
"You still owe me a dance." Melissa replied
Using the tunics as dust clothes and the force to push it they managed to clear the floor till the far end of the passage. Occasionally triggering a trap as the pushed to hard on the cloth on the floor. Levitating the tunics back they realised the clothes were damaged beyond redemption. Melissa pausing to record the scene of the two in dressed in underwear, gunbelts and boots for later blackmail material.
Seven reoccurring pictograms were now visible on the floor. Using the statue head they pressed down on the pictograms to see what reactions they got.
"Seems the red serpentine figure is the safe tile." Melissa stated
"We will have to keep checking as we progress, they might swap the tiles further in." Bastila suggested
Slowly they stepped from red tile to red tile, carefully placing their feet as they went. Halfway up the passage the red tiles were replaced by a blue canine like figure tile.
"Like the main entrances. Red and blue." Terri remarked
When she received no reply she looked over her shoulder. She was currently standing wide legged over two tiles. The other two was not looking at the tiles.
"Will you two stop staring at my ass." She remarked with a sigh
"But it is right there." Bastila muttered
"Focus on the now, we are in the middle of a trapped hallway." Terri replied
The hallway ended at a solid wall beyond the doorway with passages leading right and left of to the sides. They could hear the sound of running water again.
"Is it just me or is it feeling a bit warmer here?" Bastila asked
"It is warmer, now that you mention it." Terri answered
They followed the left hand passage and stepped into a wonderland. Crystals on the roof lit up the entire cavern. The floor was covered by plants and flowers adding their aroma to the air. The tinkling of gently running water filling the room. The foliage reaching up halfway up the cavern walls. A foliage covered pyramid stood dead centre in the cavern
"Let us check the other passage first." Bastila suggested
Backtracking to the other passage they eventually came to another cavern. This one was shrouded in darkness. A fired flare revealed a square shaped building surrounded by small walkways, several partially submerged by water. Melissa pointed up at the ceiling.
"They copied the night sky." She said
Clusters of crystals lined the roof in a near perfect copy of the night sky as the dropping flare lit up the room
"Contrasts." Bastila stated musingly
"Come again?" Terri asked
" They liked contrasts, red and blue, dark and light, male, female. It is a recurring theme we have been seeing." Bastila explained
"Shall we go see what is in the building?" Melissa suggested
"Why not the pyramid?" Terri asked
"Easier to get too. It will take us ages to cut through the foliage to get there." Melissa replied
"Finding the traps will be harder in the dark." Terri pointed out
"True. Bas it is your call" Melissa replied
Bastila pointed to the building
"Let us go. It might be harder in the dark but it will be quicker. Plus we don't know anything of the foliage in the other chamber, for all we know it is toxic."
" Better keep our rebreathers ready in case we get pulled underwater." Terri suggested
Melissa took the lead. Her helmets night vision really coming in usefull. At points they were neck deep in the water and she pushed through rapidly keeping in mind that her companions did not have the insulation she had. Reaching the building she pulled a thermal blanket from a pouch on her gunbelt and handed it to the two.
"Try to get warm, I am going to scout a bit ahead."
Melissa stepped up a circling staircase to reach the top of the building. Firing another two flares she saw where they had entered and another passage halfway up the cavern slope. Luckily the next pathway seemed to be completely dry
She stepped down the staircase to notice flickering light coming from the bottom. She found the other two huddled in front of a fireplace lit by a roaring fire. The smell of resin filled the air. She noticed the other two had their rebreathers in place as they warmed up. The insidious nature of the trap made itself clear. The resin protected the wood, but burning it for heat and light produced a toxic gas. This trap was a lot more subtle than the ones they had faced before, as slowly being poisoned was not as clear cut as spikes. Hastily she sealed her helmet
Half an hour later the reached the summit of the second walkway and stepped into a hall. On the left another doorway was visible in the far wall.
"I wonder what the traps for that room was." Melissa spoke
"It won't surprise me if it was man eating plants." Terri shrugged
Sarcophagi lined the walls and floor of this room as well. Brushing the dust from one revealed another painted warrior. This time the armour was more elaborate than the ones from the previous hall
"Elite Guard?" Terri suggested
The pushed through the hall to where another hall was barely visible. Stepping into the passage, Bastila's foot dropped through as the ground collapsed. Terri pulled her backing time. Melissa played her light on the ceiling.
"No handholds." She reported
"Nothing visible in the walls." Terri spoke
Melissa fired a flare and checked the seemingly innocent area revealed. Bastila placed a hand on her shoulder.'
"Link with me." She said
Melissa stepped back as Bastila dropped to one knee. Terri placed her hand on Bastila's shoulder and started channelling the Force. Melissa joined in shortly. First they scanned the room using the force and found nothing. Taking a deep breath Bastila unleashed a force scream. The sound echoing through the room. Cracking noises soon followed and the floor collapsed into a deep chasm. The sound of crashing echoed for a long time and a dust cloud rose from the chasm. Very narrow walkways revealed itself over the chasm, leading to a passage on the right of the room. This was less elaborate than the visible entrances on the far side of the room to the left and the front. Without hesitation they stepped onto the narrow walkway easily maintaining their balance as they crossed the floor.
The floor sank slightly as they stepped onto another pressure plate. Spikes started slamming and retracting in an irregular pattern as they looked down the passageway. Terri lit her lightsaber and tossed it down the passage. The spinning blade cutting through the spikes as it skimmed along the walls. Melissa's blade joining moments after. They kept levitating the blades till no more spikes were visible, the noise from the mechanism kept on going as the shortened poles prodded through the holes.
The final room was lit by crystals. Niches were cut into the walls of the circular room. Bodies perfectly preserved, encased in crystal was seated in the niches, they all were female and mostly young. A throne carved from pulsating crystals stood in the centre of the room. Bastila stepped forward and touched the throne. With small crack a piece of crystal detached. It glowed with a golden hue as she held it.
Another hallway was visible behind the throne. Stepping into the last hall they found the true treasure. Squarely hewn crystals were piled upon one another, writing etched into the surfaces, what may have been a hammer and chisel was lying by an unfinished tablet on a stone bench by the doorway. As far as they could see there was square tablets arrayed on stone shelving.
"A library of the Ancients." Bastilla breathed out in awe
The stood and stared in wonder at the greatest treasure ever found, no one saying a thing for several minutes. Finally Terri clasped Bastila'shoulder.
"Your father did it, the greatest find ever." She spoke softly
Bastila took hold of Terri's hand and held it, a single tear running down her face.
"Let's go back and tell the others what we found." Melissa suggested
Metallic screeching and wailing was filling the air as they surfaced. Looking up, Melissa saw a basic platform close to the roof with T3 perched on it. The droid was constantly complaining as sparks flew from its fusion cutter.
"You are only coming down once those baskets are full." Mission shouted up at the droid
Melissa pulled herself from the water and took off her helmet. She pointed at the floating platform
"And this?" She asked
"It was easier to build from what we had lying around. That storm is till going full strength outside." Mission replied shrugging
Melissa turned around and elevated the two Ev suits from the water as they surfaced Terri looked at the protesting droid as she was helped out of the suite
"How did you get it up there?" She asked
"Told it to check the programming before the platform gets used. Then maglocked it once he was on it. The dataport is underneath the platform where it can not reach it. So it is stuck till it completes the job." Mission replied
The four made their way back to their camp. They found that Carth and Canderous had set up another group of tents and was currently seated in front of a grill, bottles standing by their chairs legs. Canderous lifted an eyebrow on noticing the state of dress of Terri and Bastila. Bastila scurried of to her tent to find clothing. Terri though just dropped into a chair and helped herself from the cooler crate next to it. Melissa went to her and Mission's tent to get clean clothing for herself.
Carth opened the conversation once all of them were seated around the grill
"With you being back I assume you finished your exploration." He stated
"Before we begin were is the rest?" Bastila asked
"Juhani has appropriated the holocom unit so it is safer down here. Zaalbar is watching the storm and the ship. Neither of them is interested in what is going on down here. And that homicidal droid is out in the storm hunting for any Jawas left behind to spy on us." Carth answered
Melissa pulled a datachip from her helmet and plugged it into her datapad. Setting it to hologram mode she started to project the recordings she took. Bastila let out a muffled cough as the dance was replayed, a red tinge to her face.
"And here I thought this was a serious expedition." Mission stated smirking
"Yes, well. I am not responsible for that part of the adventure." Bastila replied coughing
Carth was studiously studying his boots till the conclusion and they proceeded onwards. Moments later he was studying his boots again. Canderous was looking at the traps in interest
"I would love to know how they built that, and how it is still operational after all this time." He remarked
"As would I." Melissa stated
At the end of the recording they sat back lost in their own thoughts. Predictably Mission was the one to speak first
"So how are we proceeding from here? Who do we contact? The Enclave or Coruscant university?"
Melissa leaned forward.
"I believe we should keep this between ourselves and close up the passages as we leave."
She held up her hand as Bastila was about to speak in protest.
"Right now is not the time to reveal this find. For that matter I don't believe there is any time to reveal this."
"Go on, explain your reasoning." Canderous encouraged her
Melissa took a deep breath
"What we found is probably the biggest discovery in a century. An undiscovered advanced ancient civilization on a dust bowl of a planet. But how do we protect it?" She said
"The council and the university will do all it can to protect it." Bastila stated
"Will they? With someone like Dorak I would believe it, but Dorak answers to Atris. What if they find something the current council considers dangerous. What is to stop them from burying the knowledge or destroying it? Then there is the university. How long before some collector decided they want one of those tablets for their collection, but why stop at one. Once the details of the underground river or the gemstones get out how long before a company like Czerka tears this place apart to get to it? Or the Hutts find some way to plunder this place"
Melissa knelt in front of Bastila and took her hands
"I know you want your father to get the recognition he deserves and I want that for you. But this is bigger than us or him. We need to protect this. Some day when all of this over. we can come back and do it the right way, once we are able to secure the proper security and resources."
Bastila mutely nodded as she accepted the reasoning. Mission dropped her head in her hands
"I hate it when you are right, I assume we have to dump everything we found here." She groaned
"Not necessarily." Melissa gave a devious grin
She stood up.
"I believe there is a way we can take a few things from here and get away with a reasonable explanantion."
"How do you explain a fifteen kilogram emerald?" Terri asked
Mission and Carth did spit takes
"A fifteen kilogram emerald? I thought it was glass." Carth spluttered
Melissa opened another program on her data pad, this one with the details of the star maps. She pointed to the sector where the sun had gone supernova
"Right now that is an asteroid field with a gravity anomaly. The deeper you go to a planets core the bigger the gemstones get. Diamonds the size of Skyhooks have been reported by crews crazy enough to go treasure hunting in such areas."
"You want to rely on tavern tales for a cover." Carth stated incredulously
Terri started chuckling
"That could actually work, stones that size would actually be quite possible in an asteroid field. I am guessing the story is we jumped there in desperation to find data and had that and several other stones embedded in the hull when we ran into a meteorite shower before managing to jump out while redlining the hyperdrive."
Melissa nodded
"Correct. We limp into a repair yard like Sluis Van with several gemstones imbedded in the hull who would not believe it especially if they get hold of our ship logs."
Carth caught onto the implications of the scheme moments later
"You want our flight data to be found. Mining guilds and treasure hunters will flock there. Privateers will go haring there looking for easy scores, once the news get out, removing a growing problem. The Sith will have spies and infiltrators getting the news to Malak." He stated
"It may cause him to divert ships to investigate that area. If they and the privateers get into a squabble who cares. Any ships lost will only be of benefit to the Republic, plus who will come to investigate this dustbowl when there is a much more believable story out there." Melissa concluded
Melissa sat back in her chair.
"That is my idea. Wait for a better time. I feel we should vote on this. Reveal everything or hide everything."
Terri took a deep pull from her drink before putting the empty bottle down
"I agree. We all have an equal say in this. My vote is to wait for a better time."
"Grab some things and wait for a better time." Mission voted
"Wait." Canderous voted
"Four for waiting." Melissa stated
Carth sighed
"Kind of pointless since you already have the majority vote, but I agree. Now is not the time."
Bastila gave a wry smile, before nodding at Melissa
"I also think waiting for now is best. Though that vote will cost you a favour."
"That being?"
"You forget about that dance you paid for."
"Nope. That dance is bought and paid for and I will collect."
Melissa grinned at Terri
"I will be sixteen in ten days, so you will have to finish what you started then."
"Double act." Mission cheered
The two teenagers high fived
"I thought you did not know when your birthday was." Carth commented
"Decided to pick a day when I took my real surname up, it is close to my father's birthday." Melissa replied
Carth accepted that explanantion with a shrug. Mission plopped her datapad down next
"While not as exciting as your trip I also found something." She happily declared
"Go ahead." Melissa invited
"I found another six shafts at the fifty metre mark, could not get much from the drone as I was starting to lose signal once I started exploring. Then I examined the main branches and found something very interesting."
She activated the pad and a blurry holograph sprang to life. The light from the drone picked out a shape in the water. Moving closer it came more into focus. A group statues was seen, one seemed to be standing behind two crouching shapes. The drone swam round the far end the statues nearly blocking the passage before swinging around. The standing figure had her hand outstretched in a stopping motion, the two crouching shapes had spears extending from behind tower shields. The drone was seriously fighting against the current.
"The outflow part I am guessing." Bastila stated
Mission nodded
"It took me a while to get the drone back, when I checked the other end I barely got fifteen metres before the current was too strong and the drone got pushed back." She reported "what I could see as the drone was being pushed back looked like paving stones."
" Meaning the flooding of that area was probably deliberate." Bastila stated
Melissa stood up with a yawn
"I am going to crawl into my sleeping bag, something tells me we have a busy day ahead."
Carth was impatiently drumming his fingers on the counter at the fuel depot. On stating how much fuel he required he had been informed that they had to pay up front. The delay in the refuel was being caused as they were waiting on clearance from the IGBG for the purchase
Taking a look at the figure he winced once again, With the engines powering the shields they had barely had enough fuel to make it back to Anchorhead. Finaly a green light appeared on the terminal screen and the depot manager went from borderline hostile to nauseatingly servile
"Carth Onassi, as I live and breathe."
Carth spun around, hand close to his blaster before relaxing. The elderly dark skinned man was armed with a deep smile
"I have not seen you since Coruscant when I retired." The man continued
"What are you doing out here, Mino. I thought you said you are never going to space again." Carth replied, extending his hand
"Had to start working again. Wife divorced me and took half." Mino stated
"How about I buy you a drink and we catch up?" Carth suggested
"Wont say no to a cold one that is for sure."
Carth turned to the depot manager
"I assume there will be no further problems getting my ship fuelled."
"Of course not, sir"
Mino placed his mug down and sighed softly. Carth was leaning back in his seat. The table was filled with plates and empty mugs
"I was sorry to hear about Clarissa. She was a great woman, luckily Dustil is still around. Even though he fell in a with a bad crowd." He said
Carth was upright in a flash
"Dustil. I have been looking for him everywhere. Where have you seen him?" Carth cried out
"Korriban, he was in the Sith Academy. The company I work for had us doing runs out there. I barely recognised him."
"What is he doing there, he is not force sensitive." Carth protested
"I saw him throwing that silver lightning around, I am sorry to say he must be." Mino answered
"When did you see him?" Carth demanded
"Two weeks ago."
Mino stood up and scribbled a note on a flimsy
"I see you have a lot to work through, that's my comlink. We can catch up again later."
Carth made it back to the Ebon Hawk on autopilot. He found the crew seated outside the craft looking akward. Melissa and Juhani were trying to meditate but from the periodic winces and their constant fidgeting was finding it very difficult. He walked up the boarding ramp and stopped in shock at the sounds he was hearing coming from the airvent. A trail of clothing leading to the cargo bay showed he was not hearing things.
Turning around he found Mission leaning against a strut of the ramp
"They have been at it for the last hour and a half." She stated
"What?" Carth spluttered
Mission led the way outside and sat down on a packing crate.
"They went out to deal with Bastila's mother. When they got back the clothes started flying when they were barely in the ship." Mission explained, "needless to say things got uncomfortable quickly in there."
Melissa stood up with a huff and walked to the fire suppression hose
"That is it I can't take it any more." She screamed
"Grab her." Mission called
Zaalbar pulled her back from the equipment and sat down, holding Melissa in his lap. Carth was looking thunderstruck as he looked at her
"What! Never seen a horny teenager before?" Melissa snapped
"What? What is up with you?" Carth demanded
Juhani cleared her throat
"Carth, she is feeling them in her bonds. We can feel them broadcasting in the Force but with the bonds…" She tried to explain.
"Oh." Carth responded
"We though of getting some space away from here but it did not work." Mission stated
Carth sat down and looked over to Mission
"Pazaak?" He suggested