"You tage me to syuch wudurful plathethz," Vette said. She felt the stench of the Krayt dragon village saturating her skin.
"You wanded to syee the galagthzy," Mau'te countered.
"From a syip," Vette said. "With vyenth and styuff. Why do they styingk syo muchg?"
"They're githzard sytones, Mithz Vedte," Quinn said. "Fwesh from the dwagonthz gut."
Mau'te searched the pearls in front of him and selected two. "Both," he said.
"Finally," Vette said.
Mau'te paid for the pearls, and they took a speeder back to the processing center. There, he documented the pearls and handed them over for depuration, and they were guided to the chemical showers.
The attendant said, "Your possessions are already here, still locked. Sterile jumpsuits and boots go in the incinerator. We suggest you clean thoroughly before opening the lockbox. And, I'm afraid we're a bit busy at the moment. We only have a communal shower available."
"What?" Vette said.
"That will be fine," Mau'te told the attendant.
"No," Vette said. "That will not be fine. We can't do that."
"We'll turn our backs, Miss Vette," Quinn said.
Stench versus shower, but the stench was horrible. "Wait outside," she said. "Until I'm in the shower."
"Of course, Vette," Mau'te replied.
She thought, he was enjoying this way too much. She went into the locker and found her box. Incinerator tube over there, shower stalls, towels, got it. The stalls lined both sides of the room, so they'd have some distance.
"We're running out of time," Mau'te yelled.
"Just a minute!" Asshole. She threw the jumpsuit and boots into the incinerator, covering herself against the empty room, picked a stall, and locked herself in. "Now!" she yelled and turned on the shower. They entered the locker room, and she turned away.
"No peeking, Miss Vette," Quinn said in a lighthearted tone and began to undress. Mau'te began to strip as if he were alone. Quinn paused and stared then turned away. "Very relaxed, sir."
"Grew up in a warm climate," Mau'te said. "We didn't care too much." He threw the clothes into the incinerator. Vette peeked in spite of herself and saw every part of Mau'te's back. Tall, muscular but not massive, firm, and she looked away.
Quinn said, "I would like to remind you, sir, I do enjoy both."
"Thank you, Captain, but no."
Once the other showers started, Vette said, "What are these for again?"
"Color crystals have flaws and impurities, like any crystals," Mau'te told her. "They can scatter the beam. The crystal could overheat and crack. The scattering can be reduced with a collimating lens."
"That's the pearl?" she asked.
"Exactly."
"Do you really need the pearl? I mean, is there a way to not need it?"
"About one in five thousand crystals are clean enough to not need a pearl," he said. "And purple crystals never need a pearl. Their power is conveyed more by frequency than intensity. It gives the purple crystal a special status. Some view it as the most pure blade, and it is favored by master swordsmen. However, Krayt dragon pearls are much easier to acquire than purple crystals."
"Is that why Grathan had one?"
"Most likely," Mau'te said.
"Lord Grathan?" Quinn asked.
"A job for Darth Baris," Mau'te said. "I'm not sure he wants it discussed."
Vette's shower beeped, and she switched it off and waited. The other two showers soon beeped, and she heard the men exit. And heard footsteps approach her.
"I don't mind that you peeked," Mau'te said. "Peek again, if you like."
"I don't need to."
He waited a long time then said, "You're right. I'm sorry. We will wait for you outside."
After they dressed and left, Vette leaned against the side of the stall and shuddered. She really, really wanted to peek. She toweled off and dressed. She was her old self by the time she met them outside.
Once the pearls were safely aboard the Juggernaut, they left to meet Baris' operative on Tatooine.
"The harsh sands of Tatooine welcome you," the woman said with a bow. "I am Sharack Breev. Our lord and master Darth Baras- oh." She paused when she got her first good look at Mau'te.
"Yes?" he asked.
"Darth Baras bid me to impart my knowledge of this planet and help you track down the Jedi Master Yonlach. I am to provide whatever service you wish. You alone will be my master during this time. In all ways."
Vette sighed. "Do you ever get tired of that?" she asked Mau'te.
"Not so far," he replied.
"Yeah, I'll bet," Vette said. "Sometimes I'm amazed you can get any killing done at all."
"I thought you didn't like the killing part," he countered.
"I don't, but this goes to my self-respect as a woman. She's ready to grovel at your feet."
"I never said 'grovel'," Sharak told her. Vette and Mau'te scowled at her, and she backed away.
"I'm just saying the fawning gets to be a bit much," Vette continued.
"That's hardly my fault," Mau'te replied. "I'm not instigating it."
"Whatever," Vette finished.
"My apologies, Lord Mau'te," Sharak said. "If I'd known you had a consort, I would not have been so forward."
"A what?" Vette asked.
"A consort, my lady," Sharak said. "I mean, anyone else would be choking after that."
Quinn said, "It's best to stop where you are." Sharak nodded with gratitude.
"The mission?" Mau'te said.
"Yes, of course," Sharak replied. "You will find Master Yonlach by tracing the path the Padawan and her Master took. I can tell you where they started. I followed them to the forbidden lair of the ancient sand demon, a terrible beast. The Padawan left her weapons and entered alone. Impossibly, she returned unscathed."
"Stop," Mau'te said, visibly shaken.
"My lord?" Quinn said, cautiously.
"Nothing," Mau'te replied. "Sharak continue."
"I investigated the cave," Sharak said. "The beast was there, also undamaged- and what's most perplexing, its skin was glistening." She waited for a response but got none. "The beast was whole and covered in a viscous layer as if newly born. What happened in that cave is a mystery, as is where the Padawan and her Master went afterwards."
Mau'te shook his head. "What happened is not a mystery. That was a Vision Cave, a place where the Force has gathered. How do we get there?"
"There is one man on Tatooine who might be able to help," Sharak told him. "Izzeebowe Jeef. He's as old as the sand. Part mad man, part soothsayer. They say-"
"I don't care," Mau'te said. "He's a moderate Force Sensitive. They're not unknown. Get me an audience. I want to talk with this man immediately."
"The world is weeping," Izzeebowe said when he saw Sharak. "And the tears evaporate in the heat of our sins."
"I think you mean from the heat of our suns, Izzeebowe," she replied.
"No," Mau'te said. "Tatooine is a harsh world. Pain lingers in every stone and sand dune. Every Force Sensitive can feel it. Most of us push it out."
"You are the seeker Sharack spoke of," Izzeebowe said. "You wish to understand the Jedi's purpose in the lair of the sand demon?"
"No," Mau'te said. "I want to know where it sent her."
"Fine," he said. "Gather close. Few are aware that Tatooine was once a place of positive Force energy. Jedi made pilgrimages here to renew and purify. The sands speak of a ritual called the Demon's Blood. This is likely what the Jedi that Sharack witnessed was engaged in."
"How is the ritual done?" Mau'te asked.
Izzeebowe told him, "A Jedi seeking enlightenment would cover himself in fresh sand demon blood and enter the village of the savage ones."
"The demon wasn't slain," Mau'te said.
Izzeebowe shrugged. "There must be another way to bathe in the beast's blood, but you will have to discover that for yourself. If you care to. To know where this Jedi girl went, you will have to perform the ritual yourself, and then see if the savage ones speak."
"I know," Mau'te said, angry somehow but not at the old man. "Where is this sand demon?"
"I will guide you," Sharak said. "To the demon and the Sand People."
"Eww," Vette said. "Just when I got one stink out of my clothes."
"I didn't kill it," Mau'te said. "I thought you would be happy."
"About that, sure," she said. "Are all Sith missions this stinky?"
"I'd like to point out, you're not the one dripping with blood," he countered.
"A remarkable feat, Lord Mau'te," Sharak said. "To cow a sand demon so easily."
Vette rolled her eyes.
"The Sand People?" Mau'te asked.
Sharak said, "If Izzeebowe is right, they will not harm us."
As they approached the cave, the Sand People caught the scent of the blood and lowered their weapons, but they did not let Mau'te pass.
"What now, my lord?" Quinn asked.
A short time later, a shaman appeared carrying a parchment. He held out the parchment to Mau'te and bowed. Mau'te bowed in return and accepted the parchment. The shaman left, and Mau'te handed the parchment to Sharak.
"It is a crude but very clear map of the desert," she said. "It marks a door carved into the wall of the Desert Wound Ravine. But I've mapped this ravine, and there is no such door."
"Take me to this ravine," Mau'te told her. "I will find the door."
At the ravine, Sharak said, "The door should be around here I think."
"There," Mau'te said. He pointed to an outcropping. "The Vision Cave is there. And it hungers for me."
"That's creepy," Vette said. "So, what's in there?"
"Only what I take with me." He put his lightsaber into diagnostic mode and gave it to Quinn. "Run if you can. Defend if you must. Do not try to face me. I will not be myself, but it will pass."
"Of course, my lord," Quinn replied.
Mau'te entered the cave, and the others waited.
"Is he always like this?" Sharak asked.
"No," Vette said. "This is the first time I've seen him scared."
"Lord Mau'te can overcome a great many challenges," Quinn said.
"That's not why he was scared," Vette said without taking her eyes off of the cave.
A short time later, they heard a rumbling from the cave, then the crackle of Force lightning, and then a scream, but not from Mau'te. It sounded as if a young girl cried out in fear and anguish and was rewarded with greater suffering. A boulder near the cave entrance was knocked away as if kicked by a giant. Another scream followed, this from Mau'te. Almost. Or someone who sounded like Mau'te. The girl screamed again, a wail of absolute agony. Boulders smashed against the inside of the cave, and Mau'te and the other voice shouted at each other. Then silence, so sudden and absolute that it terrified Vette more than the scream. Mau'te appeared at the cave entrance in a feral rage, lightning surrounding him. He leapt at the three of them. He knocked Sharak out of the way and pinned Quinn to a boulder with the Force. He pulled his lightsaber from Quinn's grasp, but it wouldn't activate, and he yelled in anger.
"Mau'te!" Vette said. "Stop it! That's enough!"
He spun toward her and backhanded her hard, knocking her to the ground. And he froze in shock. Vette stared at him from the ground, holding her cheek, and Mau'te backed away from her.
"Sir?" Quinn asked.
Mau'te turned toward him. "Take Vette to the ship. See to her injury. Sharak, we must travel beyond the Forbidden Pass."
"We?" she said. "I... I know what I promised, Lord Mau'te, but, well, it's forbidden for a reason. It's near the equatorial desert. Most things can't survive the heat except the Krayt dragons and their prey. Lots of Krayt dragons. They prey aren't that friendly either."
"Nomen Karr and his Padawan survived. We will survive. And Vette..." She glared at him but said nothing. "I will see you when I return."
They shared Sharak's speeder, traveling by night and camping by day. Mau'te was able to distract any predators, to a point. The second day, Sharak's fear was getting out of hand.
"Calm yourself," he told her. "I can't hear them over your emotions."
She scoured the desert and clung to an outcropping as if she could fuse with it. "I've seen too many people not come back." Something dangerous howled in the distance and was silenced by something more dangerous. "Sometimes a place deserves its name."
On the third day, they reached an oasis with a small hut next to it.
"Happy?" he asked.
"I'll be happy when we're back."
In the hut, they found an old man behind a desk and a much larger man guarding him. The younger man stepped forward and said, "Master Yonlach, the Sith you've been tracking is upon us. Retreat to safety. I will take the intruder on!"
Mau'te rolled his eyes.
"No, Yul-li," Yonlach said. "Control your feelings. Stand at my side. I will face this trespasser." He turned to Mau'te. "I've been watching you, Sith. Former Padawan. Breaker of armies. Destined destroyer."
"What do you know of my destiny?" Mau'te asked, genuinely interested.
"Not enough," Yonlach said. "The fog clouds too much. Beware Corellia. Control your hatred, if you can."
"Why tell me this?" Mau'te asked.
"To save you from yourself," the Jedi master replied. "I know why you've come. Master Nomen Karr's Padawan threatens you somehow. You seek to flush her into the open and silence her. Don't. I have seen the conflict to come."
"I thought the fog clouded it," Mau'te countered.
"Much of the future is hidden," Yonlach said. "But you and your brother are beacons of power. I see devastation around you both."
"I know," Mau'te said. "I know what we are and what we must do."
"You know what you are," Yonlach said. "What you both are, but not what you must do. The Force has created more than one path for you. You must choose which path is right."
"That's true of everyone," Mau'te said.
"But not everyone has your... opportunity. The paths you and your brother take will be carved into the galaxy for generations. That is why I will tell you how to find Jaesa Willsaam."
"Master!" Yul-li said.
"Stop, Yul-li," Yonlach said. "Keep Jaesa alive, Sith, take her as your apprentice, and she may guide you to your best future. Or save you from your worst. Either way, the galaxy will be better for it."
"What do you see on Corellia?" Mau'te asked.
"Glorious," Yonlach replied. "And terrifying. But, too many paths converge. I don't know how it ends."
Mau'te smiled. "A cousin of mine has a saying, 'Sometimes the Force is subtle, and sometimes it is as heavy as a brick.' I will take Jaesa Willsaam as my apprentice, but you might not like how it ends."
"The Jedi have another saying," Yonlach said. "'Sometimes you must take the path you hate the least.'"
They reached their camp from the night before and unpacked. Sharak huddled against a boulder while Mau'te waited.
"You represent a considerable risk," Mau'te said at last.
Sharak shrugged. "Your path will be carved into the galaxy. He said nothing of Darth Baras. Our master wants a strong apprentice, but not stronger. He would not easily tolerate being surpassed. But, you knew that."
"From the day I became his apprentice," Mau'te said.
"I can play a long game," she said and laid down and closed her eyes. "And take advantage of it." She was soon asleep.
The next day, staring at the desert as if the dunes spoke to him. He glanced at her without saying a word and began to pack. He remained silent until the next campsite. When she woke the next day, he sighed and said, "It's not you. Something's happened. I don't know what yet." He said nothing else until they returned to Mos Ila.
Sharak climbed down from the speeder with a groan. "I thought I'd never see this place again." She pushed up her goggles and lowered her mask. "This is a great lesson. The only barriers that exist are the ones we create in our minds. I will never again assume that I know all there is to know. And I will spend a month's pay on a bath that lasts three days."
"Glad I could inspire you," Mau'te said.
"He speaks! Has your problem disappeared?"
"No," he said. "But now I know what it is."
"Safe travels, my lord," she said. "I hope Lord Baras knows how fortunate he is to have such a fine champion shepherding his cause," she added with a hint of a smile. "You shall always have an ally on Tatooine."
"It will be a pleasure to put this overheated sandbox behind us," Quinn said, approaching. "Master Yonlach?"
"More helpful than I expected," Mau'te replied. "How is Vette?"
"Recovered. Physically. Though she scowls if I say your name."
"Understandable, but I must ask her something. Sharak, all my best. Captain, time to leave."
Vette scowled and waited and scowled some more.
"I am preparing an explanation," he told her.
"You had six days," she replied.
"The Dark Side overwhelmed me."
"Will it do that again?"
"I don't know."
She turned away and sat down, refusing to look at him.
"I will find an appropriate apology."
She said nothing.
"I need to ask you something."
Still nothing.
"When did you last speak with Mako?"
"What?"
"Something has happened to Ter'viro. Contact her immediately."
"What about her?" Vette asked.
"I don't know her well enough."
"Fine," Vette said. She went to the holoemitter, searched, and groaned at what she found. "She scrambled her transponder signal. Mako, what are you doing? I'll contact their handler. She should know. But, I don't know if she'll talk to a Sith."
"I will change," he replied.
A short time later, Vette had Crysta Markon on holo.
"To whom am I speaking?" she asked.
"I'm a friend of Mako's. My name is Vette."
"You're Vette!" Crysta said. "Maybe you can help us. We've been trying to find those two, but Mako scrambled her signal."
"I know," Vette said. "Did she leave a clue?"
"If you can call it that," Crysta said. "It doesn't make any sense. Every slicer and codebreaker I know has tried to figure it out, but nothing. Her last message said, 'Unclip the dog hook.' Whatever that means."
"I understand," Vette said. "You just need to know how to think like Mako."
Crysta shook her head. "That is not something I aspire to."
Vette said, "Give me a minute."
While Vette worked, Crysta examined Mau'te. "You must be the cousin. Even in civies, you smell like a Sith."
"I am helping my cousin," he replied.
"I guess," Crysta said. "I suppose it's better than one of the Jedi. Do you really have that many Force Sensitives?"
He shrugged. "At least one every generation for the last eight centuries."
"Oh," she said. "One of those families."
"Got it," Vette said at last. "They are on... huh. Dromund Kaas."
"They're here?" Crysta said. "Son of a bitch! Does it say where?"
"Sorry," Vette said.
"We will find them," Mau'te said. "Captain Quinn, set course for Dromund Kaas."
After an hour of searching the Dromund Kaas spaceport, they located the Silver Scree. Mind trick got them past security, and Vette opened the hatch. Mau'te entered first, and a Devaronian leaned his head out of the galley door.
"Whoa!" the Devaronian said. "Look, I'm new to this organization. Whatever they did to piss off a Sith Lord was before my time."
"Where are they?" Mau'te asked.
"I don't want to piss you off, but I really don't-"
Mau'te took a step forward. "Where are they?"
Vette said, "He's not going to help us like that. We're not here to hurt anyone-"
"Sure," the Devaronian said. "Whatever you say. Just let me-"
"Hi, I'm Vette. Mako might have mentioned me."
"Oh!" the Devaronian said. "Yes. Right. If Vette shows up. That's how you disabled the lock. Got it." He walked toward them and held out a hand. "Gault Rennow, at your service."
Mau'te looked at the hand and said, "No, you're not. Where is my cousin?"
"Is that like a Sith term for something?"
Mau'te groaned. "Ter'viro's father and my father are brothers."
"Oh," Gault said. "Like 'cousin' cousin. Okay. He didn't mention that. But, I guess that makes sense. So-"
"Where?!"
"Hospital!" Gault said. "They're in the hospital. They didn't want anyone to know. Because of the grenade."
"The what?!" Vette and Mau'te said together.
"Someone threw a grenade at them. Killed a couple of bystanders, I guess. They don't know who did it."
"Probably Tarro Blood," Vette said.
Gault shook his head. "Not him. He'd be shouting it to the world."
"He's right," Mau'te said. "Which hospital?"
"Got the address right here. You know," he said to Vette. "Mako was going to give me the codes for the ship, but she forgot. I don't suppose you get past that for me?" Vette stifled a laugh. "Worth a shot."
"You shouldn't be in here," the nurse said to Mako.
"Where's that Twi'lek nurse?" Mako asked, staring at Ter'viro. "She was nice."
The nurse sighed. "We don't have a Twi'lek nurse on this floor. I've told you that. You should be in your own bed. You were injured too."
Mako didn't move.
"Fine," the nurse said. "But you'll get twice the kolto tomorrow." She turned to leave but stopped short when Mau'te and Vette walked in. "My lord." She looked at Mako and Ter'viro. "They're... they're just-"
"My cousin," Mau'te said.
"Yes," she said. "I'll just... mark that down." Mau'te held out a finger. Confused, she attached a DNA sampler, waited for the readout, and her eyebrows shot up. "Oh. Well. I guess I really will mark that down." She left the room.
Mau'te looked at the bandages on Ter'viro's back and the deep scowl on his face.
"Lightning not good enough for you?" Mau'te asked.
Ter'viro shrugged.
Mau'te said, "Don't take that tone with me. You're lucky to have survived."
"Who did this?" Vette asked Mako.
"My sister, I think. One of them, anyway. It wasn't the other two. They died in the blast."
"You had three sisters?" Vette said.
"Eleven," Mako said. "Maybe. I think. I'm not sure. A lot of them are dead, though. Maybe. I'm not sure I trust the data. But, I think one of them threw the grenade."
"They're not sisters," Mau'te said.
"They're family," Mako told him. "They were me. All three of them."
"Did each of them have an implant?" he asked.
Mako nodded. "Not exactly like mine. We all had our own."
Vette said, "How were you injured?"
"How?" Mako said. "How?! Three broken ribs and a dislocated shoulder when he jumped on top of me!"
Ter'viro shrugged again.
"You don't know that!" Mako said. "I've got armor! Do you remember that?! That armor you dented?!"
He shrugged and turned away.
"Did you see that?" Mako said to Mau'te. "Did you think that was fair? That wasn't fair!"
"She's right," Mau'te said. "She's your partner. You should treat her with more respect."
Ter'viro shrugged reluctantly.
"Thank you," Mako told him. "I hate it when you do that."
He shrugged coldly.
"That wasn't fair either. Was that fair?" Mako said.
"No it wasn't," Mau'te replied. "But you're not going to stop him. He's as stubborn as his father."
Ter'viro glared at him.
Mau'te said, "You most certainly are."
Ter'viro shrugged again, and Mako and Mau'te rolled their eyes.
Vette leaned over and kissed Ter'viro on the cheek. "Thank you for helping my friend."
Ter'viro said, "You're welcome."
Mako said, "Sure, for her."
"I will ask some people about this," Mau'te told them. "I don't like people hurting my family." Vette held back a glare. "You're safe. That's enough for now. Vette, we should go." Once they were out of the room, he said, "I will meet you at the ship. Will you... be there?"
"I don't have a choice, do I?" she replied. "Yes, I'll be there."
Mau'te returned a few hours later. Vette was there, still angry and not looking at him. Quinn shrugged his sympathy.
"No one reported the grenade," Mau'te told her. "The other two women were never identified. Their remains are missing."
"Great," Vette said.
"I asked Imperial Intelligence, but they were not forthcoming. Mako is just some slicer to them. Nothing else."
"That's a lie."
"I know," Mau'te said. "But I don't have much pull with them yet. That may change as my status improves. I also spoke to the Ministry of Justice. After a considerable fee and the promise of a few favors, I cleared your debt to the Empire."
She turned around. "You... really did that?"
"I did," he replied. "You may leave or stay as you wish. If you leave, you may keep all of the gear I have purchased for you, and I will buy you a ticket back to Nar Shaddaa. If you stay, you will be paid as an independent contractor with hazard pay. Hazard pay with a Sith Lord can be considerable. Of course, I want you to stay, but the choice is yours."
Vette thought for a while and said, "I'll stay on one condition. I need your help stealing something. I stole the map from a private collector, Cada Bliss, but I was there for something else. He has the Star of Kala'unn."
"Are you serious?" Mau'te asked.
"Sir?" Quinn asked.
"A Twi'lek artifact thought lost," Mau'te said. "Ryloth has offered a sizable reward for it."
Vette nodded. "Taunt, Flash, and Plasmajack want to use the money to build a slave rehab center. I broke into Bliss' vault, but he had copies. I didn't know which one was real, or any of them. I took the map instead."
Mau'te sighed. "I couldn't identify it either. I need to find someone trained in archeology, someone I can trust. Not easily done with a prize like that. I may need to offer a few more favors, but I will do what I can. It may be some time. If this collector has connections in the Empire, I can't act until my station is above his."
Quinn said, "I've heard Zash's apprentice is skilled in archeology. Isn't she interested in you?"
"Possibly," Mau'te said. "But the last Sith Lord she helped was Vaverone Zare. Or so the rumor goes."
"Oh," Quinn said. "I guess we'll keep looking. And, Lord Baras contacted us while you were out. We are to proceed to Alderaan and await instructions."
"Very good, Captain. Set course for Alderaan."
