What the Eye Doesn’t See…4

“You’re not concentrating!” CJ said as he hit me again with a superb kick that brought me to the mat for a second time. “You’re so much better than this, get up!”

“I’d like to see you do as well on almost a week of no sleep and two days of non stop Vader induced adrenaline!” I snapped at him.

He laughed. “That’s a piece of spice cake next to the training we Royal Guards undergo so shut up and put up!”

We had been sparring for the better part of an hour and I was just too tired to think straight. CJ had said that this was as good a time as any and that pushing my limits was a good thing since one never knew what sort of situations one might get one’s self into. That had made me laugh and I told him he didn’t know the half of it. When he sent me backwards again for the third time I just lay there and sighed. He stood over me, shaking his head and then decided I was a lost cause and sat down beside me.

“What’s he in a tizzy for anyway?” CJ asked.

“I take you know about the Madine defection?” I asked as he handed me the bottle of water.

He nodded, “Yeah, stupid bastard stole a shuttle full of vital information and took off for the rebels. That alone will earn him instant execution if they catch him.”

“Well they did catch him, I mean Lord Vader and General Mohc did and he was sent to the Orinackra Detention Center.”

“Pleasant!” CJ said sarcastically. Orinackra, a prison planet notorious for its high mortality rate, was probably one of the most infamous and detested places in the galaxy next to the spice mines on Kessel. If you went in there, chances were you never came out.

“No it’s not, it’s actually horrible.” I told him with a sigh.

“Hey wait a sec, you make it sound like you were there.”

“I was.” I told him unhappily.

“Why would you go there?”

“Well, as Lord Vader’s personal Assistant it is my duty to accompany him everywhere he wants me to.” This was my stock answer.

“And he needed you in a prison? Why, did he need a special order of spiced coffee or something?”

“Ha very ha.” I said swatting his thigh with my hand. It had become a running joke between us that my role in Vader’s life was really that of a pretty stimcaf maker. “If you wish to continue to enjoy the privilege of my amazing spiced coffee then you need to show a tad more respect for its maker!”

“Okay, okay!” he said sitting up to start his cool down stretches. “So why would he drag you all the way down there? I mean really that’s not part of your job description, is it?”

“There is no job description for what I do.”

“That’s not what I hear from the holo-news!” he teased.

I just looked at CJ with my you are so not funny face and shrugged. “One of my better force talents is being able to discern truth from lie, sometimes Lord Vader finds me useful in this respect. He often has me with him during an interrogation.”

“Oh that must be pleasant.” CJ said sarcastically.

“Yeah, like bathing naked in the pit of Carkoon is pleasant.” I nodded.

“So what happened?”

“He had me fly out to this Corellian hell of a planet to listen in on the interrogation, as if the drugs and the droids were not enough, except just as I get there the Rebellion launches a bloody strike on the prison and manages, and you’ll love this, to haul Madine out of there right under Vader’s nose.”

CJ’s mouth opened and then closed then opened again.

I nodded. “Yeah, it was messy.”

“Are you serious?”

“Deadly.” I told him. “I thought Vader was going to blow up from the inside out, to be honest, he was apoplectic. I’m pretty sure if there were vents in his mask I would have seen steam. I don’t remember when I have seen him just so angry and that’s saying something. So now General Mohc has hired a bounty hunter to go after the rebel who was responsible for this mess.”

“Do they know who it is, the reb? Do they have a name?”

I nodded. “Some young guy named Kyle Katarn.”

“Katarn?” he asked in surprise. “I know that name.”

“You do?”

“Yeah, now there’s a story and a half.” He said.

“You gonna tell me or will I have to read your mind?”

He shot me a look. “You’re good sweetheart but not that good!”

I just raised my eyebrows in a like you would know manner.

He gave me one of those grins that I was sure made other girls’ knees weak. “You had your chance…” he told me.

“So you keep reminding me.” I retorted.

Shortly after I had come back from Thrawn’s exile assembly CJ had found me alone in the room where we worked out sitting on the floor crying. I had thought he was on duty so I was not expecting anyone to come in when I had gone to work out. Despite the fact that I was exhausted, I had not been able to sleep, so I had thought working out might help. Instead of finding release in the movements I had been taught I had ended up on the floor. I could no more stop the flood of tears than I could Lord Vader’s temper. That room was code activated and only a few people had the code. It was probably the first and maybe the only time he had dropped the cute bad boy act and been genuinely kind. Because I needed to talk about it, I had told him what had happened and confirmed what he had already guessed anyway. It told us both two things, one: I was not about to have a fling with him no matter how much he flirted and teased and Two: I was not quite as tough as I had hoped. It had been a moment of weakness neither of us ever spoke of again, but he teased me mercilessly about everything else afterwards.

“Tell you what, I want to shower and grab a bite to eat, meet you in your office in twenty minutes, if you make some of that famous spiced addiction of yours I’ll spill the beans!” he said getting up.

“Okay, but bring food for us both then!” I told him realising I was hungry and I couldn’t remember the last time I had actually eaten.

“Aye, aye ma’am!” he said with a grin as he left. He knew I hated being called ma’am.

As I made my way back to my quarters I wondered if it was just my imagination or were there more and more people going over to this Rebel Alliance. Maybe it was just I was more aware of them now than I had been before, but it seemed to me it happened with more frequency than it should. By the time I had showered, dressed and made my way to my office, CJ was already waiting with what looked to be amazingly delicious sandwiches. He watched as I put the ingredients in my coffee and set the pot to slow cook. My office had a small lounge corner set up with comfortable seats and a small table, and we often used that as a place to eat after we worked out. It was private and easier to talk more openly in my office than in the mess hall.

“I’ve watched you make that stuff a billion times now and you never do it the same way. How am I supposed to steal the recipe if you don’t keep it consistent?” he complained handing me a sandwich.

“You’re not.” I told him. “I swore a blood oath to my uncle I’d keep it a secret!”

“What will he do if you tell, hunt me down and slice me into tarn food?”

“Does the word Tze’yusha’Jin mean anything to you?” I asked remember the title that Rikka Blane had given my uncle. I was grinning as I said it but the sudden look on his face chilled me.

“Yes it does.” He said quietly, almost fearfully. “Forget I ever asked. I don’t need that sort of trouble on my neck, not now, not ever.”

“Oh.”

He regarded me carefully for a moment. “You don’t even know what that really means do you?”

I shook my head.

“Probably a good thing if this guy is your uncle.” He said quietly, thoughtfully, “And if he hasn’t told you, I sure as hell am not going to!”

“I can see that Zte’sa Vahlek and I are going to have to have a serious heart to heart the next time we meet.” I muttered.

CJ just looked at me and took a bite out of his sandwich. “Your spiced coffee is going boil over.” He said effectively changing the subject. When we had finished eating and I had dutifully poured the spiced coffee he began to tell me about Kyle Katarn.

“He’s from Sulon, the moon colony in the Sullust system out on the Outer Rim. He joined the Imperial Academy on Carida and graduated with honours. He was given the medal of Valour from none other than Jerec, one of the Emperor’s Agents, for his part in neutralizing a rebel held asteroid AX-456. It was a messy mission and Katarn held it together well enough that he got noticed. The Empire doesn’t hand out that medal to just anyone for just anything.” CJ said. “He was touted as one of the hottest new graduates to come out of Carida in a long time.”

“So what happened to make him switch sides?” I asked.

“Yeah well, as I heard it, just after his graduation he got news that his father had been murdered by rebels. His mother was killed years ago. He was on his way to his first posting when someone from the rebels got through to him and told him the truth, that his father had actually been murdered by the Empire. He was beheaded by Jerec or something. Morgan Katarn was supposedly a part of the rebel cell on Sulon. Knowing Jerec there was probably more to it than that but I couldn’t tell you what. Seems that sort of made Katarn rethink his allegiances and he walked. He’s been a bit of a pain in the rear ever since.” He said stopping to take a drink. “If my information is right, it was Katarn who got a hold of the technical readouts for the Battle station everyone called the Death Star for the Rebellion. You know the rest of that story.”

I gave a low whistle. “Ouch.” I said.

CJ nodded. “Yeah, he is definitely on the Empire’s Most Wanted list.” He said. “Do you know who they sent after him? You said that a bounty hunter had been hired.”

“Who else but Boba Fett.”

CJ grinned. “Now there’s a showdown I’d love to see.”

“My credits would be on Fett any day of the week.” I said.

“I wouldn’t be so sure. Katarn has an almost magical way about him. Lucky doesn’t even begin to describe it.”

“You think he’s force sensitive?” I asked.

CJ shrugged. “No idea, but he’s got some guardian angel on his shoulder is for sure, to get him in and out of the stuff he’s been through.”

“How do you know all this stuff anyway?”

“It’s my job to know everything about possible threats to the Emperor and the Empire. You forget what I am, sweetheart. Just because I play nice with you doesn’t mean I am. Actually if you want the truth I am a real bastard most of the time. You don’t get to be a Royal Guard by being the pretty boy next door.” he said coolly. “I just have a soft spot for you because you try to beat me up.”

I was gong to say something else, something rude but I changed my mind. “I’ll take your word for it.” I said instead.

He grinned and I am sure he was about to make some sarcastic reply when a knock at the door stopped him.

I got up and answered it, surprised to see Jarack. He walked in with his usual cheerful grin but the second he saw CJ that changed and the air crackled.

“Jax.” Jarack said coldly with a nod of his head as he walked into the room.

“Behl.” CJ answered matching Jarack’s icy tone.

“I take it you know one another.” I said carefully.

Jarack looked at me and handed me the courier envelope. “You might say that.” He replied coldly. “Do you have anything for me, Miss Gabriel?”

I nodded as I signed for the envelope.

“Thanks for the drink and the chat, sweetheart!” CJ said with special emphasis on the nickname he had decided, much to my annoyance, to call me. “I’ll see you tomorrow for practice.” And with a wink, he left.

When the door closed and the air stopped crackling a bit I looked at Jarack for an explanation, instead he gave me one of those looks that men give you when they think you’ve been up to no good.

“Does the Admiral know you spend time with him?” he asked.

“I don’t know if I’ve ever mentioned CJ. I spar with him and sometimes, like today, we eat together. Why?”

Jarack shook his head. “He’s not nice people.” He said.

I looked Jarack in the eyes. “Maybe so, but he’s my sparring partner at the moment and so far he has never done me any wrong.”

Jarack nodded slowly. “What do you have for me, Miss Gabriel?” he asked coldly.

I handed him the two envelopes. One held a letter for Thrawn and the other held a data chip from Lord Vader. I was well aware of the look he was giving me and it annoyed me.

“What is your problem?” I finally asked.

“Nothing.” He finally mumbled. At least, I thought nastily, he had the good grace to actually appear embarrassed.

“You think something is going on between CJ and me?” I asked, knowing full well that is exactly what Jarack was thinking. Part of me had to stifle a laugh at the ridiculousness of the whole situation and part of me had to wonder at the loyalty Thrawn inspired and a part of me had to refrain from screaming blue murder.

“I don’t know you well enough to say, Miss.” But his tone of voice held uncertainty in it.

I shook my head. “Well, perhaps you should ask Admiral Thrawn what he thinks.”

“I would not presume…”

“Oh but you do!” I said crossly. “You came in here and looked at CJ sitting there and you immediately thought that something weird was going on.” I snapped. “He’s on stormtrooper rotation and I spar with him because there are no other Bunduki artists on board, as far as I know. Maybe he’s not nice people, and maybe you don’t trust him but you should trust me!” I said almost shouting.

He sighed and I felt him back down. “I’m sorry. I just don’t have a good relationship with that man, few people do.”

“He’s a Royal Guardsman so that doesn’t surprise me.” I said tartly.

“The Admiral won’t like knowing you spend time alone with him though.” Jarack said.

I arched an eyebrow. “How would you know what the Admiral likes and dislikes? I can tell you this for nothing, Admiral Thrawn does not get to dictate to me who I spend time with, or who my friends are and neither do you!”

He looked at me coolly for a moment then nodded. “You are quite right, I apologise.”

I shook my head at him. “Why is it men always assume the very worst?”

He managed a short sharp laugh. “Experience.” He said sadly.

I looked at him and signed for the outgoing envelope. “Who ever it was I am not that person, you are not Thrawn and CJ is just someone I spar with and talk with. He’s a friend and nothing more, but feel free to tell the Admiral what ever you want.” I did not manage to keep the frost out of my voice.

“I’m sorry Merlyn, it was a gut reaction. Maybe some time I will tell you about it,” he said using my first name which he almost never did.

I nodded. “And maybe some day I’ll even ask.” I said. Now I was being mean.

“I suppose I deserved that.” He said.

“Yes. You did.” I told him pointedly and then, relenting, asked, “Do you want something to drink?”

He shook his head. “Can’t this time, the Admiral is waiting for this.” He said waving the envelope at me.

“Next time then?” I asked lightly, hoping the anger I still felt no longer showed.

He grinned tentatively. “Next time.”

I watched as he left and then let out the breath I had been holding. What in the name of sarlacc was it in the air that made men act like total brainless morons? I sighed and looked at the envelope I held in my hand. I liked CJ and we did flirt from time to time but he was not in my heart. It was not his touch, his body, and his presence I longed for when I lay awake in bed sleepless and restless. It was not CJ I thought of when I wanted comfort and guidance. I enjoyed CJ’s company and even his attentions because they took away the sting of missing the one man who knew me better than anyone else, but they did not replace him. No one could do that and suddenly the terrible pang of separation shot through me like a solar flare causing tears to well up in my eyes, making me annoyed with myself.

Attachments… they caused nothing but trouble. No kidding!

I knew then it was time to go to my own quarters, pour a generous drink of the bottle of brandy I had smuggled on board and shut off the comm for the next twelve hours at least. Lack of sleep made me very cranky and even worse, maudlin and this was not a good combination. I hoped there was something cheerful in Thrawn’s letter to me because I could use some nice news for a change. I was beginning to think I should have stayed put on Coruscant.