A few Days Off 6

“Absolutely not!” Thrawn said for the second time.

“What is your problem with this? Shiv wants to take me out for lunch, you have to work and I am going stir crazy. You can’t keep me locked up here all day!” I countered as Thrawn and I faced off on what was starting to build into a giant argument.

Shiv had messaged shortly after breakfast asking if I felt well enough to go out for lunch and catch up. When I had told Thrawn of my plans he had not been pleased and the discussion had rapidly gone down hill from there. Stubbornness was a trait we both had in common. I knew this was going to be a fight when he folded his arms across his chest and drew a deep breath. I had my hands on my hips and was fighting the urge to stamp my foot and scream at him.

“What my problem is with this is that there is a mad man running around out there trying to abduct you. Every time you have a run in with him something bad happens to you. Every time something bad happens to you I worry. I dislike that greatly because worrying about you interferes with my work. So today you stay put where I can keep an eye on you.” He said. He spoke calmly but the hardness in his voice that told me he meant every single word.

I sighed. “This was supposed to be my time off and I spent most of it, through no fault of my own I might add, in the med-lab. Jyrki won’t attack me now and I need to get out of this flat before I go mad. Shiv is not a threat, he’s one of my best friends and I haven’t seen him in ages. You are not my prison guard, please don’t act like one. If you are that concerned you can send Rukh out with me. I know you worry but you can’t save me by keeping me locked up here.” I said calmly hoping to appeal to his softer side. I actually didn’t know where Rukh was, I had not seen him since he had intervened in the fight between Jyrki and me but I assumed Thrawn knew his whereabouts.

He pursed his lips and frowned. “If I order you to stay here you’ll just sneak out anyway, won’t you.”

“Yes.” I told him honestly. “Look, it’s just lunch, I’ll be with Shiv and we’ll go someplace very public.” I gave him my best baby-jax eyes look and knew I’d won by the disgusted look on his face which was accompanied by a deep sigh which said why me?.

“Okay but I want you back here by three pm no later or else I will have Siavaan’s ….”
He didn’t get the chance to say whatever it was he wanted to say because I shut him up with a kiss. I was so relieved we were not going to fight over this and so happy to be able to get out of the house. By the time he had untangled himself from me but before he could utter another word I’d bounced off to get in touch with Shiv and tell him to come and get me, then shower and get dressed.

Shiv arrived shortly before noon. I watched from the kitchen window as he parked his speeder on the landing deck. Then ran to the entrance and had the door open before he could knock.

“So this is where you have been hiding.” He grinned as he engulfed me in a hug huge and held on tightly. “When I heard what had happened, I was worried sick.” He said as he pushed me back to look at me.

“I’m fine, really.” I told him. “Come in.” I dragged him inside and closed the door behind him.

“Admiral Thrawn, it is good to see you again, sir.” Shiv said as Thrawn walked into the living room. He approached Thrawn and shook the offered hand.

Thrawn gave him a genuine smile. “Likewise, Siavaan.” He said. “When did you get back?”

“Yesterday evening, much later than I had hoped. There was more to deal with on Naboo at the retreat than I had anticipated. I just heard about Merlyn’s accident when I returned, they told me when I went to see her in the Med-lab that you had taken her home.” He said glancing at me.

Thrawn nodded. “She made a remarkable recovery. Fortunately there was only a trace amount of the venom left in the weapon used or else things might have been quite different.”

There was a moment’s silence all around and then Shiv broke it. “You have a beautiful home.” He said, looking around him. I had forgotten he had never been here before.

“That’s because I didn’t decorate it.” I told him before Thrawn could answer.

Shiv grinned. “I can see that.” He told me. “The Admiral has exquisite taste.”

Thrawn smiled and inclined his head accepting the compliment gracefully.

“And I don’t?” I asked.

“When it comes to decorating, not really, no.” he told me with a grin, ruffling my hair as he did so.

Thrawn watched us in amusement.

I shrugged. “My talents lie elsewhere.” I told him loftily. “Can we go now?”

“Where will you be going?” Thrawn asked.

“I made reservations at B’schu’le’s.” Shiv said told him. “It’s busy and very public.”

“Excellent choice.” Thrawn said, then after a moment’s pause added. “Please, bring her home in one piece. I am getting weary of visiting med-labs.”

Shiv nodded. “I can understand that, it must be quite tiresome.” He said. “She does have a knack for landing herself in difficult situations.”

“Your talent for understatement is almost as brilliant as your eye for colour, Siavaan.” Thrawn said dryly.

“Hey!” I yelled. “I’m standing right here!” Both men turned to look at me and both of them raised their left eyebrow at exactly the same time. I had to bite back a giggle.

“Well, you really are more trouble than you know!” Shiv said. Thrawn nodded in silent agreement.

I looked from one to the other. “Maybe you’d like to take each other out to lunch?”

Thrawn gave me a slight grin. “Perhaps another time, I have much work to do.”

I pulled my wrap across my shoulders and tugged at Shiv’s sleeve. “We’re leaving now!” I said giving Thrawn a look.

Shiv grinned. “Best not be late, they won’t hold the reservations.”

“Be careful.” Thrawn said, all signs of his earlier teasing gone.

Shiv looked him in the eye and nodded. “You can count on that Admiral.” He said and with that we left the flat to go and have lunch.

B’schu’le’s was a popular diner style restaurant off the main strip in the middle of CoCo town. It had begun its life as a small diner that recreated the look and feel of a Tatooine cantina but had grown to look like an explosion of various planetary cultures. It was known for its excellent food, which was plentiful and tasty without being too fancy or expensive and it’s rather peculiar drinks menu, which changed weekly.

We were seated at a small table tucked out of the way by a window in a part of the restaurant that looked like Nubian Swamp meets Tatooine desert. It was weird and fun all at the same time. Shiv ordered drinks while we looked at the menu. Once we had ordered and the drinks arrived we got down to the business of catching up.

The first thing on Shiv’s mind was Jyrki’s latest attack and Antygra’s arrest. He was quiet and thoughtful as I told him all that I could remember. When I was done he sat back and played with his glass. The look on his face told me nothing but I could feel how angry he was.

“You have to help me out here, kiddo, why does he do this?” He asked me after a silence that was too long.

I shrugged. “I don’t really know. My uncle says it is because he loves me….”

“Love!?” Shiv exclaimed before I could finish my sentence. “Love?” He shook his head in disbelief. “That man, you know the one with the exquisite taste in everything, the one who did not want to let you out of his sight today, he loves you. I’d bet my life on that.” He said firmly. “For the record, so do I, but I wouldn’t know what to call the emotions that drive this Jyrki Andando. Obsession, perhaps, I don’t really know nor do I care, but what your uncle tells you is wrong. It’s not love and you shouldn’t believe that.” He said. “If it was love, he wouldn’t be trying to hurt you, even in the name of trying to protect you.”

I sighed. I was certain that Shiv was right about Jyrki, though and whatever it was that was driving him was not love, not any more. Again we were silent for a few moments and I was grateful when the food arrived.

While we ate, we spoke about Antygra.

He shook his head. “I knew he was unhappy but I had no idea he was part of the rebel cell. That was as much a surprise to me as it was to you.” He said. “Intel hauled all of us in for questioning but neither Bobbyn nor Ynyth knew either. It was a big shock to us all, let me tell you. I heard that Intel now believes he was spying for several years. Bobbyn told me this morning that Antygra lost a brother in the recent battle that took place, but he was fighting for the rebel side.” He looked at me. “What would make them go against the Empire that way?”

“I don’t know, but I don’t also don’t what life was like before the Emperor came to power and my father doesn’t talk a lot about those days, not like it mattered much on a planet like Tatooine. I’ve read some of the history books and reviewed some of the data that’s available but all I can gather from that is that even before the Clone Wars the senate was a mess. The senators were bought off or pushed aside but corporations and alliances between wealthy factions. The whole reason the Clone wars even started was because a group of peoples wanted to separate from the Republic. It doesn’t sound like good old times to me and at least now the system in place is stable. I know people will say that the Republic didn’t enslave people but you know what, I don’t see how that matters. Slavery existed anyway, even during the Republic’s rule. Slavery was always huge on Tatooine and on many other planets. How does the Emperor ruling make that worse?”

Shiv shook his head. “I don’t know.” He said.

I played with the last of my lunch thoughtfully. “What would happen if these rebels actually were able to overthrow the government?” I asked.

“We’d be out of work.” He said with a slight grin. “But I don’t see how that can happen. The Empire’s army is vast and incredibly well trained. It isn’t as if these rebels are a huge army or even that well organised.” He sighed. “What does the Admiral say to all of this?”

I sighed. “He says that we should never underestimate the underdog.” I told him. “Vader feels the same way. He believes that the Emperor should take this Rebellion threat more seriously than he does.”

“But we won at Derra IV, didn’t we?” Shiv asked. “I thought that was a serious victory for the Empire, that it put a major dent in the arms supplies that the rebels were hoping for.”

I nodded. “It was a pretty brutal defeat for the other side, but Thrawn said something like this will only strengthen their resolve. They will make heroes and martyrs out of the pilots who died and that they wouldn’t make the same mistake again.”

“You sound worried.”

I shook my head. “No, it’s not that I am worried, more like I am just trying to understand it all. I don’t know what motivates them.” I glanced out of the window, watching the constant movement of people and traffic.

“People are unhappy.” He said. “Particularly the non human races. I hear a lot of things from the courtesans and people that work for me, as well as from the owners of the businesses, Like Bam’s for example, that we deal with. It all looks shiny and peaceful on the surface but underneath….” He shrugged. “Taxes are high, there are a lot of restrictions on personal freedoms and if you are not human then life is even harder especially here on Coruscant. You and I don’t feel any of this because we have a place of privilege and prestige in the Empire but for a lot of other people things don’t seem so great. Not that I am recommending you do this, but were you to go down into the lower levels of this city you’d be shocked at the poverty and the crime. In some of the alien sectors there is serious over crowding and infrastructure issues. After a while there is desire for change but how organizing a violent rebellion is going to help matters, well I don’t know.”

“Do you think they actually have a chance to doing serious damage to the government?”

“Oh, I doubt this Rebellion could bring down something as mighty as the Empire.” Shiv said. “But they are costing the Empire money and man power.”

I toyed with my drink. “On Tatooine we have a saying. The smallest grain of sand can bring the mightiest engine to a halt. I think it is a mistake to underestimate desperate people. I can’t see them winning but I have to tell you, when I see how persistent Jyrki is, see how sneaky and clever Antygra was….” I shrugged. “I have to wonder if perhaps these threats should be considered serious. A tiny part of me worries more than maybe it should, and that’s not good.”

“I hope that you are wrong.” He said quietly. “But when people I thought I knew and trusted turn out to be rebel sympathisers and spies, well I start to question things as well.”

I nodded. It was one thing for this rebellion to involve people we did not know or have much of a personal connection to but when people we considered friends switched sides and betrayed us, well that was a whole other game. We were quiet for a moment while the waitress removed the empty plates took the desert order.

“So, what about you? Are you are okay now?” Shiv asked switching the topic back to me.

I nodded. “Yeah, still a little tired but I’m fine. Like the Admiral said, it was just a trace amount of venom and the antidote worked quickly. I return to the Executor tomorrow and I am glad, truth be told. I feel a whole lot safer working in close proximity to Lord Vader than I do down here on this planet.” I absently touched my shoulder where I had been stabbed. “The bright side is that I don’t even have a scar this time.”

Shiv shook his head. “You have the worst luck.”

“You think so? I’d say the exact opposite was true.” I told him. “I think I am incredibly lucky to still be alive.”

He gave me a smile but his eyes told me something else was on his mind. Dessert arrived and so did my tea. He sighed and fiddled with his glass.

“What’s bugging you, Shiv?” I asked. “You’re fidgety and you only get like that when you want to tell me something you don’t think I want to hear, so out with it.” I was half expecting a lecture about my living with Thrawn, or maybe the birth control lecture, or worse the ‘you don’t write enough’ lecture… even though we’d been over these topics a few times already.

He toyed with his fork for a moment and sighed. “I have some information for you. Actually it’s the reason I was late getting back from Naboo, but it’s really going to tick you off.”

“Oh?”

“I found out who was behind the attempt to kill you when you were on board the Vengeance. Who it was that actually planned the whole glow spice laced cake and you are not going to be happy when I tell you who it was.” He said quietly. “And you really won’t be happy when I tell you why it was done.”