Two months later
"Attention, we will be leaving hyperspace in five standard minutes!" announces the sonorous, mechanical voice of the autopilot and the two occupants of the shuttle sit down and buckle themselves in to avoid the turbulence associated with the fall back into real space.
Nen Yim's nerves buzz with excitement as she tightens the straps on her seat. Nom Anor has promised her a trip into the blue for their honeymoon - a surprise that will only be resolved when they leave hyperspace. She has never flown without knowing at least the name of the destination, but she trusts that her freshly minted husband will not disappoint her.
The Theta-class T-2c shuttle jumps out of hyperspace and Nen Yim's green eyes look disappointedly at a planet full of angular, straight Infidel structures - like Coruscant before the planet was briefly renamed. Between the high-rise buildings she can even make out the thin bands of streams of equally lifeless, mechanical gliders - local transport.
"You promised me a quiet, untouched, natural place for our honeymoon!" complains the shaper.
"That's only one side of the planet," Nom Anor tries to reassure his wife. "We, however, will end up on the other side."
"Then why didn't we come out of hyperspace there?"
"Because I specified Yoggoy City as the official destination and that's right below us. However, we will now deviate just below the orbital control radar and fly to our actual target."
"But won't we be missed down on the landing deck assigned to us?" Nen Yim objects.
Nom Anor grins wickedly. "Not if my local agent lands there with a shuttle of the same type."
He pulls the shuttle with its bird-like side wings and their characteristic slit-like recesses near the outer edges in a sharp arc to the right and they leave the city behind them. It turns green beneath them and Nen Yim visibly relaxes.
"I strongly suspect your agent on the ground is also wearing the same Ooglith mask as you."
"Of course, what do you actually think of me?" Nom Anor asks slightly reproachfully.
The green jungle below is punctuated by mountain ranges. In some of them cave holes yawn and one of the caves is even on a mountain top and falls into a vertical crater.
"Here we are," announces Nom Anor and begins the landing approach.
The steep crater is now directly below them and the T-2c shuttle folds its wings up in preparation for landing, causing a hum so loud that Nen Yim covers her ears in annoyance.
"When will we finally fly a real, organic ship that doesn't make such loud noises again?"
Her husband puts on a confident smile. "When we have scraped together enough new planets for Pellaeon and have finally proven our trustworthiness."
"I think Pellaeon is blackmailing us," says Nen Yim darkly.
Nom Anor just shrugs. "Of course he does, but if he lets even a subordinate as stubborn as Moff Kurlen Flennic live on, then we have at least as good a chance, don't you think?"
The Theta Shuttle dives into the vertical cave and sinks deeper. It becomes dark around them until Nen Yim can see a yellowish glow from below. It gets a little brighter and they come to a platform that looks like the buried bottom of a volcano crater. From the cockpit, Nen Yim sees many dimly lit corridors radiating out from the round landing pad. Phosphorescent tendrils on the cave walls provide pleasant light - a not unfamiliar sight, but one that raises a question in Nen Yim.
"How do you think our phong corals get here?"
She looks at her husband, but he doesn't have an answer to her question any more than she does. So you can still surprise Nom Anor.
But the former executor soon regains his composure and his good eye smiles at his wife. "Well darling, is this natural enough for you?"
"More than I expected, in fact."
They get out and see one very tall and a medium sized man who are apparently ready to receive the guests.
"Hello, I'm Welk," says one of the two, a blonde man with brown eyes, then points to his tall companion, whose burn-scarred face Nen Yim immediately notices. "And this is Raynar Thul, tourism officer for this colony. We have been informed that you would like to honeymoon here undisturbed."
"Yes, that's right," says Nom Anor. "I am Pedric Cuf and this is my wife Viqi. We had booked a suite here at the Hotel Gorog's Quietude and also had an appointment at the local spa for today."
Welk smiles winningly. "Yes, of course, Mr. Cuf. Your luggage will be brought to your room immediately. And I will be your driver."
Two brown insectoids that are at least as big as Nom Anor come towards them and get the suitcases.
Nom Anor and his wife follow them and Welk pulls out a remote control to direct a glider that will take them to the hotel while Raynar Thul leaves the couple. They climb into the back seat of the glider while the insectoids behind them stow the suitcases in the luggage compartment. Welk starts the engine and the vehicle rushes away through one of the caves.
Nom Anor glances at his wife. Nen Yim seems as pleasantly surprised as he is because the glider glides almost silently through the cave. Then his gaze bores into the driver's back. He knows this person from somewhere, but can't remember exactly. So many missions, so many people - and their subtypes return again and again.
Welk stops the glider in front of a junction closed by a lighted door. Gorog's Quietude is written in large basic letters above the door.
"Here we are," explains Welk cheerfully.
Without Nom Anor noticing that Welk was communicating with anyone, the hotel gate opens. Two other insectoids of the same species as before come out to get the suitcases out of the glider.
"You can find all further information at the reception," says Welk. "Welcome to the Gorog Nest!"
It takes less than fifteen minutes for Nom Anor and Nen Yim to move into their cave suite. There are also phong corals on the walls and there are mussel shells on the table filled with local fruit and vegetables. When Nom Anor and Nen Yim come back down to the hotel lobby with their bathing suits packed, Welk is there again to show them the way to the spa.
Hot, foggy steam hits them as Welk opens the door to the underground sauna area. Threads of water run from the irregularly shaped ceiling of the Dome of the Rock to the ground and wet brown moss as they flow past. Rock walls about two meters high that are covered with climbing plants - or are they even hedges? - divide the large domed hall into many niches and secluded corners in which people, Sullustans and Gotals lazily doze off on loungers or recover otherwise. A large spherical lamp hangs from the highest, central point of the grotto ceiling, whose greenish light causes all objects and living beings in its area to cast grotesque shadows on the already dark walls. The further they walk along the winding path in this nested spa landscape, the quieter the voices of the other bathing and sauna guests become, the better they can immerse themselves in the nature of this underground, secluded landscape.
Welk finally stops. Their guide assigns them a cozy alcove containing a small pool, just large enough for a humanoid couple, as Nom Anor is pleased to note. As if Welk had guessed their thoughts, he nods goodbye and rushes away.
Nom Anor and Nen Yim undress and climb into this cozy bathing area. The contents turn out to be more mud than water, but are pleasantly warm. It smells of aromatic herbs and of forgetfulness and Nen Yim stretches out comfortably on the mossy bottom of the circular pool. An insectoid like the two porters comes to them and places a tray of drinks and snacks next to the pool before silently and discreetly disappearing again. Nen Yim takes a cracker and bites into it with relish. Nom smiles at her when he sees how she likes it.
"Yes, it's all very organic, darling," says Nen Yim. "I have to admit that at first I was angry with you because you hadn't organized a wedding party at all two months ago and the wedding ceremony on Bastion was so short, sparse and top secret."
"It's the gesture and the intention that counts."
"And we only had one best man - Onimi," complains Nen Yim. "I always thought you knew so many people."
"But not for something like that." He strokes her head. "And anyway: What is such a ceremony of unbelievers? But everything will be okay from now on, darling."
Nom Anor takes Nen Yim in his arms and pulls her close. There are good rumors here in the darkness of the pool, and he's going to enjoy it - to the fullest. He'll be wallowing in the mud right here and now with Nen Yim... and no one...
But there!
He has just noticed a movement in the corner of his eye and instinctively he lets go of the astonished and apparently disappointed Nen Yim again. Almost simultaneously, they turn toward the source of the disturbance and see an insectoid approaching the pool. One of his four claws motions for Nom Anor to come along.
"I'll be back with you in a moment, darling," he says confidently, briefly squeezing her hand.
Then Nom Anor rises, wraps a towel around his loins, and follows the insectoid. Nen Yim watches him with furrowed brows as he goes with the brown six-legged friend to another corner of the pool area. A person comes across them almost casually; it is the scarred one who was introduced to them as Raynar Thul. Nen Yim thinks that this encounter seems far too casual, far too fluid, to be normal. This is clearly a conspiratorial meeting and she hasn't been let in!
How long is this going to continue?
A new burst of steam is expelled from a hole in the cave dome and the three figures blur into mere shadows before her green eyes. They sit down at a small table and the shaper pricks up her ears, but she can only understand hissing and clicking sounds - a very guttural language, probably spoken by the native insect species.
What an intelligent and galaxy-savvy husband I have who speaks so many languages!
But that's her only comfort in this sudden loneliness - for at least a standard hour, as she counts in her mind, but it feels like many hours. At some point the viscous endlessness is over and Nom Anor gets up from the table. He approaches her again while Raynar Thul and the insectoid sit and talk for a while. She sees how her husband falters a little in his steps and Nen Yim understands that he would like to listen, but immediately forbids himself from doing so and speeds up again. When Nom Anor has almost reached their pool, the two also stand up and move away from each other in the opposite direction. Nen Yim finds this very conspiratorial too.
Nom Anor peels the towel off his hips and climbs back into the brown, comforting soup. He immediately pulls her back to him, but Nen Yim grabs his shoulders and keeps him at a distance. The surprise in his veritable eye quickly gives way to annoyance, but Nen Yim doesn't let him express it until she's finished asking.
"What were you guys talking about?"
The displeasure in his blue eye turns into pure, sparkling pride. "This planet, too, will soon become part of Pellaeon's empire."
"That's what they told you?"
"That's me and Raynar Thul agreed upon."
"Agreed?" Nen Yim opens her eyes wide. "Then this is just a business trip for you? Like all the other trips before without me?"
Nom Anor smiles winningly. "That's the way it is. You have grown so close to my heart that I no longer want to be without you on my business trips."
"But I thought this trip was just for the two of us!"
"There's no such thing as just the two of us with the Killiks here on Yoggoy, darling. Only the collective counts," Nom Anor instructs his wife. "And this collective will continue to grow, because today I reached an agreement with Raynar Thul to expand."
"Expansion? "Who is expanding?" asks Nen Yim in surprise.
"The Killiks, of course," explains Nom Anor, as if it were obvious. "And the best thing about it is that it will happen completely unnoticed," he puts an index finger in front of his needle-sharp smile, "and completely silently, so without the Galactic Alliance even noticing anything about it, until it is too late."
The grip of her hands on his shoulders loosens slightly. "That was your last appointment, right?"
His gaze slides from the pool across the mist-soaked floor to the table where he was just sitting. "That was just the beginning, darling. The day after tomorrow I will meet the queen."
Nen Yim gasps in the hot steam. "With which queen? Yoggoy is a republic, as far as I know."
Nom Anor's tone becomes slightly irritated. "With the Queen of the Killiks of this nest, of course, to make the expansion official."
Nen Yim doesn't believe that. "Officially?"
Nom Anor's good eye sparkles with amusement. "Officially, of course, only in the compound eyes of the Killiks."
Her hands slide from his shoulders and playfully travel along Nom Anor's arms, finally sinking into the brown mud bath. "You talked about that nest. How many of these Killik nests are there anyway?"
His eyelids droop meaningfully. "There are more and more of them. That's why the expansion."
"And how far will this expansion go?" asks Nen Yim, her chest tightening despite the invigorating fumes around her. "How long will it take?"
Nom Anor spreads his arms. "In two years at the latest, Pellaeon will realize who the ultimate power in his empire is."
"Two years? And how long will you…?"
"Is it my fault that our empire is now in ruins?" Nom Anor snaps at her.
She shakes her head. "No, I would never..."
"Then why these accusations?"
Nen Yim doesn't know how to respond and he leans a little closer to her. "Then tell me who is to blame for this grandiose failure."
Even though her hands are hidden below the surface of the brown mess, Nom Anor knows his wife well enough to know that she is kneading them awkwardly because she is so uncomfortable with the following answer. "Tsavong Lah because he switched sides?"
Nom Anor laughs briefly. "Tsavong Lah would never have thought of switching sides on his own. I'll tell you who it was: the very man who came after us about Yoog Skell's death!"
She looks down. "Not without reason."
"But why? So that Ash'ett or one of the other prefect idiots can become High Prefect instead of me?" he asks bitterly. "We could have had such a nice time on Yuuzhan'tar back then – I, as High Prefect, would have directed the political fortunes of the Yuuzhan Vong and you, as the undisputed master shaper, would have brought the enemy to their knees with your inventions. Shimrra would have continued to eat out of our hands. But Harrar and Tsavong Lah had long since disliked the old priestess Vaecta. I saw how Harrar led Tsavong Lah to the sacrificial feast to put an end to the old woman. But I never would have thought that Harrar would go so far as to form an alliance with our enemies against Shimrra!"
"And you?" Nen Yim asks quietly. "The Killiks are just as infidels as Pellaeon, don't forget that."
"Oh, Pellaeon!" he hisses contemptuously. "Soon his empire will no longer be his!"
Nen Yim smiles sourly. "So we should enjoy this cozy honeymoon while it lasts."
Nom Anor pats her shoulder. "Yes, we should, because in a week we have to leave to negotiate with the new Miskara of the Vagaari above the planet Geroon. The Vagaari are willing to join the Empire in exchange for certain freedoms elsewhere. I have to make sure that these freedoms…"
"In a week?" Nen Yim's hands cling to his shoulders again and shake them angrily. "You said at the beginning that we were going on a three-weeks honeymoon!"
His eyes become slack and tired. "One must celebrate the festivals as they fall, Nen Yim. And it's the same with business trips. People don't always have time when we would like it, at least not until we have worked our way up again."
Wrinkles form on her previously smooth forehead, but the grip of her hands on his shoulders softens. "Does Pellaeon not care at all that we're on vacation?!"
Nom Anor smiles more deeply than usual. He is touched that his wife tries to shift the blame away from him and onto the Grand Admiral, even though she knows better. He puts his arms around her again and pulls her close. Nen Yim lets it happen. She has already given Nom Anor enough backlash for the day and now she needs some harmony again. Her hands slip from his shoulders and wrap around his waist. Now he can finally relax a little again.
"No, it's not like that. Rather, it is an agreement I made unofficially with Moff Kurlen Flennic. The appointment call came to me yesterday on the shuttle while you were sleeping."
Nen Yim twitches in his embrace, but she doesn't dare to disturb the newly burgeoning harmony. "Kurlen Flennic? But …"
"Yes, I know Kurlen Flennic is a lousy schemer," Nom Anor croons, his hand sliding along her hip deeper between her thighs to spread them. "That's why we understand each other. And if things go wrong, he alone is responsible for it, since he is officially not allowed to meet with me without the Grand Admiral being informed about it in advance."
"Yes, that's how you'll bend it," Nen Yim murmurs, arching her neck back. "So this game will never end. You will always be traveling, devising and implementing plans - and always with an ooglith mask - like now."
A drop of sweat runs down her false skin - just one of many. The sweat causes her equally false black hair to stick in greasy strips to her shoulders and back and she tilts her head a little further back into the brown soup so that she can at least begin to forget this feeling of being trapped in the human shell. Her ears dive into the heavy water and find a velvety-feeling calm.
"You know me," she hears Nom Anor's gruff voice, muffled through the cloudy soup. "And Raynar Thul would certainly never have gotten involved with a Yuuzhan Vong, but he certainly would have with a fellow human, Mrs. Viqi Cuf."
Nen Yim twists her mouth in disgust at this code name, but just a blink of an eye later, this negative feeling gives way to a hot wave that begins when Nom Anor opens her thighs a little wider and...
A hoarse gasp escapes her throat and she wraps her arms around her mate. It's so terribly hot down here - under Yoggoy's earth - under the Ooglith mask - under Nom Anor. But at least later in their room they will take off their masks and just be two Yuuzhan Vong on vacation - a concept of relaxation that Nen Yim has never known before.
Seven days later
"I hope you had a pleasant stay in the Gorog Nest," Welk says kindly to Mr. and Mrs. Cuf.
"It couldn't have gone better," replies Pedric Cuf just as friendly, while the Killik baggage handlers unload the glider and carry the luggage to the launch pad of the Theta shuttle.
But it could have!, thinks Nen Yim defiantly as she trots up the boarding ramp behind her husband.
Suddenly Nom Anor slows down, but only briefly. Nen Yim realizes that he has spotted another spaceship standing on the landing platform next to theirs. She doesn't know that it's a YV-888 Corellian light freighter, but she realizes that her husband doesn't like what he just saw.
"What was going on earlier?" she asks Nom Anor as the T-2c shuttle screws its way up the crater tunnel. "Was there something wrong with that other ship?"
"This person named Welk seemed familiar to me from the start. Now I know where from," Nom Anor hisses to her. "He has Force abilities and I'm afraid he recognized us for what we are but didn't say anything."
"How do you know he's a Jedi?"
He smiles contemptuously. "Not a Jedi. "One who stole that ship from his Jedi liberators on that world ship above the world of Myrkr and thus left them to certain death."
Nen Yim's green eyes light up. "Myrkr? That's where young Anakin Solo died, right?"
Nom Anor nods darkly. "I couldn't have assigned Welk or the ship alone. There are too many people who look like him, too many ships like that one. But now I know: Welk and a few others stole the very ship that was over there from the Jedi over Myrkr."
"Not just the ship," adds Nen Yim, "but also seedlings of our phong corals for the walls of the Gorog Nest."
"I realize that now," growls Nom Anor. "Once we're in the dark room, I'll go over the list I made for the Myrkr mission. I'm sure I'll score another hit."
"Are we going to have problems now?" Nen Yim asks worriedly.
"Not from the Jedi. So Welk and his friends made just as much money as us." He smiles his pin-sharp smile. "But unlike us, Welk and company don't know who they were dealing with – thanks to our ooglith masks. They think we're just as unimportant losers as they are – and that will ultimately work to our advantage."
Once again, Nen Yim has to acknowledge that her husband is exceptionally smart and cautious. She squeezes his hand. "I hope so – for us."
༺༻
Welk and Raynar Thul examine the room occupied by Mr. and Mrs. Cuf.
"Everything is clean," says Welk, lifting the bowl where local fruits are stored in a colorful potpourri.
"So the two of them didn't leave anything organic behind, which is good," says Raynar Thul. "What do you mean, Welk? Shall we tell the queen that Nom Anor was here?"
Welk shakes his head. "Why? We'll save that for later when we need something and then we can use that information to make a splash."
Raynar nods. "I thought something like that too. This Nom Anor seems so incredibly smart and clever, but I immediately recognized him and his ilk from the worldship above Myrkr. And then his left blind eye. He can't cover that up. How stupid does he think we are?"
Welk grins. "Probably for being as stupid as we pretended to be."
Raynar takes a deep breath. "Still, you shouldn't have parked the Tachyon Flier right next to his ship. I saw clearly how he slowed his pace and looked at our ship. I specifically told you…"
"There are thousands of ships of this type!" Welk defends himself. "And back on the worldship, neither you nor I had anything directly to do with Nom Anor. So how would he know our faces?"
"Lists!" Raynar snorts. "People like him always have lists, a list like the one that had my name on it because I, Anakin and the other Jedi were supposed to be officially handed over to the Warmaster. A Warmaster, mind you, who is now fighting on the other side!"
"So what?" asks Welk. "Nom Anor is now just as nobody as we are after the victory of the Galactic Alliance. So what do we have to fear from his kind?"
Raynar Thul sniffs and takes his time answering. "Maybe nothing, Welk, but maybe everything."
It's exactly one of those moments in which Raynar Thul wants to slap himself for even re-entering the old ship on Dathomir. If he had at least been there alone with Welk, he might have been able to overpower him. But Welk hadn't been alone... and now it would take years before Raynar Thul could show the galaxy again what a good Jedi he actually was... actually, because his only, secret hope had married someone else two months ago.
END