Chapter 11

(Mariatu)

Vesha irritated me. She was constantly ordering everyone around. Normally I don't have any problems taking orders—well, most of the time, but there was something about the blue skinned girl that just rubbed me wrong. It was obvious that she was completely devoted to her sister, and admirable that she wasn't just leaving Sàdiya to take the fall, but she kept treating me like I was some backward kid from the middle of nowhere. Okay, so the Jedi academy was in the middle of nowhere, but still….

Two days after meeting Sàdiya's friends we had everything we needed to rescue my niece. Or so we thought. We had the location from three of Z'rellia's "reliable sources," and Vesha had spent a whole day watching the place, confirming the information.
To be honest, I was surprised at how quickly Z'rellia was able to discover where the bounty hunter was keeping Sàdiya, but when I told her that I was concerned it might be a trap she just laughed at me and said, "You've never had to buy information before, have you?" I could think of nothing to say to that.

Vesha's plan of attack was simple. We waited until dark before approaching the small residence where Sàdiya was being kept. The house was small, just another simple, rundown, box shaped building among the rows of similarly boring homes in a poor neighborhood. A narrow alley ran behind the houses where the dumpsters were kept. The four of us crouched behind one such dumpster, our breaths visible in the chill air and watched the house. Only one room had a light on, but the curtains were drawn and we couldn't see any movement.

"Are you sure this is the right house?" I asked Vesha, tucking my hands into my jacket and wrinkling my nose against the foul smell coming from the dumpster.

"Of course I'm sure," she said, not taking her eyes off the house.

We waited more than half an hour, but still there was no movement. "What exactly are we waiting for?" I asked our self-proclaimed leader.

Vesha sighed. "For the lights to go out. We wait until they're asleep, then we go in, find Sàdiya, and get out. And if we're lucky, we will be long gone before the bounty hunter even knows we were there."

I shook my head. The plan would never work. Even if the bounty hunter went to sleep, and I wasn't sure that was going to happen, there was no way we were getting in and out of that place undetected. I opened my mouth to say something then froze. The hair on the back of my neck stood on end. I instinctually drew my training saber and ignited it while I leapt to my feet and spun to see who was behind us. Vesha started to her feet, pulling her blaster. Z and Z'rellia took a few more seconds to respond.

The soft green glow from the blade illuminated the dingy alleyway. Standing just a few paces in front of us was a tall man. He wore a full suit of durasteel armor, but to my surprise, he wore no helmet and his blasters were still clipped to his belt.

The man smiled wryly at us and said, "Your little friend is tired of waiting for you to make your move, so she suggested I come out here and fetch you."

I could sense the truth and mild amusement in his voice so I switched off my training saber and clipped it to my belt. "Of course," I said quickly before Vesha could take matters into her own hands, "lead the way."

"What do you think you're doing?" Vesha hissed at me.

The man turned his back on us and walked to the house, obviously expecting us to follow. "If he meant to kill Sàdiya—or us—he'd have done it already. And yet we still live. You still point your blaster at him and yet he turns his back on you," I spoke in hushed tones. "That man," I pointed at him, "is not what he appears to be. The Force isn't warning me. If anything, it's urging me to listen. Our best course of action is to go in there and see what he has to say." I turned and walked away, following the man to the house. A few seconds later Vesha and the others caught up to me.

"I hope you're right about this," Vesha muttered under her breath.

(Vesha)

Vesha fumed as she followed the padawan into the house. She couldn't believe Mariatu would just trust the man after he kidnapped Sàdiya. What was she thinking? Vesha had everything planned out. They were going to get Sàdiya out of the house and to safety, then figure out what to do next. It would have worked too if that overgrown, nerf herding oaf of a bounty hunter hadn't showed up. He just walked up and invited them inside. Vesha still wished she had blasted him when she had the chance.

The inside of the house was tidy, almost feminine. Not what Vesha was expecting. He led them into a small kitchen and motioned for them to have a seat.

Vesha remained standing. "This isn't your house, is it?" She narrowed her eyes to glare at the man.

He grinned, but before he could answer, Sàdiya rushed into the kitchen. "What took you so long?" She smiled at her friends, then frowned, looking curiously at Mariatu. "Who are you?"

"Sàdi!" Z rushed to her and pulled her into a hug. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. But seriously, who's the new girl… wait a minute, aren't those my clothes?"

Z'rellia smiled and shrugged. "Well I wasn't going to let her walk around in Jedi robes, she'd have gotten us all killed."

"What?" Sàdiya looked confused.

Z smiled, one arm still around Sàdiya's shoulders. "She's your aunt, Mariatu."

Recognition shone in Sàdiya's eyes. "Dad told me about you. The Jedi took you when you were little. He always said you had the Jedi spark—but I think he regretted how things went down. I overheard him once, talking to Mom… said they were always mean to you."

Mariatu blinked, a flicker of surprise crossing her face.

"Anyway, Auntie M," Sàdiya grinned, "nice to finally meet you—though I would've preferred better circumstances."

"Oh, you can call me Mariatu. It's okay."

"Sure, sure, Auntie M," she smiled, her tone full of mischief. "Since we're doing introductions, allow me to introduce you all to my new friend here." She gestured at the bounty hunter. He swiped his hand over his bald head and his face had a look that said he was starting to question his choices in life. "This is Braden," she smiled, "Braden, these are my friends… and family, I guess."

He crossed his arms and his features settled into a look of determination. After a long moment he nodded at them, his eyes calculating as he studied them. Vesha in turn looked him over and concluded that having the bounty hunter on their side might just prove useful. "So," she demanded, "why did you take Sàdiya?"

"It wasn't my first choice, but there's more than one bounty hunter after your sister, and they were both closing in. I was running out of options. I had to get you out of there."

"But why take Sàdiya?"

He sighed, "I was planning on bringing all of you here where you'd be safe. I didn't really expect you to come charging out of the storage unit firing blasters."

"What did you expect us to do? Just sit there and wait to be blasted?" Vesha threw up her hand in exasperation. "You were pounding on the door like an enraged bantha!"

"There was no time. If I hadn't acted they would have caught you." He swiped his hand over his head again in a nervous gesture. "You're just lucky they thought I had your sister. If they had realized she was with you… well, I don't want to think what would have happened to you kids."

"Why would you want to help us?" Z'rellia asked. "Why not just collect the bounty and be done with it?"

"Because she," he nodded towards Z, "killed my target, and the only way I'm going to get paid for it is if we work together to finish the job."

"And what exactly is your job?" Mariatu asked.

"Well, aside from killing that bastard, which comes with a hefty bonus because of what he did to my client's daughter. And my client isn't just rich—he's furious." His lip curled in disgust. "Anyone who would harm an innocent child deserves to die in my book, but my primary mission is to remove the Senator from power."