Cloak and Shadows 9

I sat at the small table in the galley drinking tea and reading. Thrawn had sequestered himself in the cockpit to work on his current project, asking to be left alone so that he could meditate on the work at hand. He had said it was easier for him to think where he could see the stars and I had just smiled because I understood this. I had made him tea then left him to his thoughts. We were still at least forty-eight hours away from the Avenger and while he had worked on his plan for dealing with the Rebels and the arms smuggling that was going on, he wanted to be certain that he had all possibilities and permeations thought out. He would not speak of what he was working on and I did not ask. I was pretty certain that sooner or later I would learn of the results of this plan anyway. I didn’t want to know details.

I didn’t hear anyone moving around me but when all the hair on the back of my neck suddenly stood on end I knew I wasn’t alone any more.

“I know you’re there.” I told the air and a second later Rukh stepped out of whatever shadow he had been hiding in to stand beside me.

“Can’t you just walk around like most normal beings, what is with all the sneaking about?” I asked without looking up at him.

“We are trained to be silent.” His gravely voice was soft.

“Well, if you keep this up you will give me a heart attack.” I told him. That wasn’t strictly true since I had sensed him but I didn’t really want to spend the rest of the trip wondering when he’d suddenly pop up, giving me the fright of my life.

“That is not my wish.” He said. “Admiral Thrawn specifically said you were to be protected and not harmed.”

“Then I suggest you sneak louder.” I said crossly.

“That will be difficult but I will try.”

“I’d appreciate it and so would the Admiral, he’s getting tired of me complaining about you scaring the sandjiggers out of me.”

“May I ask you something, lady Merlyn?” Rukh asked after a moment.

I nodded. I had given up asking him to stop calling me lady Merlyn; he just did what he wanted to do no matter what I said or asked.

“You are the Admiral’s bond mate.” He said. It wasn’t really a question.

I raised both my eyebrows in question and I was about to say something not so polite about him minding his own business but then managed to squash that impulse. In the end, considering the obvious fact that sharing a small shuttle space left no room for secrets and Rukh was not stupid, I didn’t see the point in trying to fabricate some huge story or explanation. “Well, I suppose that is one way of calling what we have, although I am not sure what I’d call it myself.” I answered. Truth of the matter was I had no idea what to lable the relationship I had with Thrawn.

“Do you have offspring?”

“Uh… no.” I made a face.

“But you are his mate.” He pressed. “You will bear him offspring, yes?”

“Uhm… not right now, no” I said and then seeing the frown on his face added. “It’s complicated.” I told him. “The Empire isn’t exactly happy about our uhm… relationship. Why do you ask?” I couldn’t believe I was having this conversation with an alien assassin who had nearly throttled me not so long ago, but then again considering my life in general it wasn’t weirdest thing to have ever happened either.

“He protects you.” Rukh said. “He has asked I protect you as well. He has said he is bound to you. He said….”

I interrupted him. “I get the idea, Rukh. Why are you asking this?”

“If there were offspring they too would be under my protection but for that I would need to know where they are.”

“Well, there are none so you don’t have to worry about that. Is that why you have been following me around like a love sick bantha, because the Admiral told you to protect me?”

“Yes, lady Merlyn.”

“Rukh, we’re in a shuttle in hyperspace. No one is getting onboard any time soon to do anybody any harm. You can relax.” I told him. “I don’t need you to bodyguard me here, so for the love of the great and almighty Sarlacc will you knock it off?”

“You did not know I was onboard and I can do great harm.” He pointed out.

“Yes well, unless there are more of you hidden away that I don’t know about, I think we are all safe for now. You can stop shadowing me, it’s unnerving.”

“I am to protect you at all costs.”

“Admiral Thrawn told you this? In those exact words?”

The Noghri nodded.

“Well you can stop with the ‘at all costs’ bit, for now we are all safe and once we get to where we are going I don’t think lord Vader would be pleased if I brought you back home with me.”

Frowning, Rukh thought about what I had said and decided there was a failure to communicate somewhere and gave up pressing the matter. I guessed that when it came down to whose word had more weight; it wasn’t mine that had priority. Whatever Thrawn had told the Noghri warrior about our relationship I didn’t want to hear it. I was already confused enough by some of the things done and said by this man who was still a mystery to me in so many ways. I was still mulling over in my head what exactly had happened on Hjal at the unmasking ceremony. Of course, I really wasn’t sure I wanted to know that either, so I hadn’t pushed for answers.

Now I began to wonder if perhaps I should, especially considering his words to me our last night together on Coruscant. “I am already bound to you,” he had said. “You do not need to mark me as yours.” I hadn’t given that much thought at the time but as his words suddenly echoed in my head, resonating with Rukh’s I wondered if perhaps I might want to bring this up with him and find out exactly what he had meant. I was beginning to suspect that there had been great significance in the Dantassi ceremony, especially the part that no one had explained to me, that I had blindly said yes to but for the moment I was mostly content with the whole ignorance is bliss idea. I was brought out of my thoughts when Rukh moved slightly.

“You know, you can sit.” I told him. It was a little unnerving to have him stand stone still all the time. He was very good at standing very still.

“I do not enjoy to sit.” He told me.

I looked up at him then. “What do you enjoy?”

The Noghri was silent for a few moments then said. “I enjoy the Hunt.” He said. “It is what I am trained for.”

“How long have you been training?”

“From birth the Noghri warriors are taught the ways of battle. We train and practice daily for many hours.”

“Sounds like fun.” I muttered. “Well, you are really good at it and you scare the sandjiggers out of me.” I told him. “Maybe I should train with you.” I half joked.

“You have warrior skills?” he asked, sounding very sceptical.

I might have been insulted except I had been on the receiving end of his skill and knew exactly how good I was not. “I’m starting to wonder about that but Lord Vader sometimes teaches me in his ways of combat and I have been trained in the Bunduki arts and.”

“We do not use the ways of the followers of Palawa. I would be happy to teach you but the Noghri ways are not easy.”

“Nothing ever is.” I told him. “But you jumped me like I was a brainless patch-piece doll and there wasn’t anything I could do about it. I’d like to be better prepared.”

The Noghri gave me what I hoped was a smile and said in that rough voice of his, “Few ever see the Noghri coming, fewer are prepared to fight us.” He nodded.

“Right.” I looked at him, then asked. “Are you hungry?”

“I have already had nourishment.” He said and then before I could say or ask anything else he slipped into the dimly lit corridor and effectively vanished. I guessed the conversation was over.

I sighed and refilled my tea then spent the next hour mulling over the whole bond-mate, belonging to someone, having offspring conversation. At some point I was going to have to talk to Thrawn about this but not yet. For the moment I was just content to share his bed and bits of his life.

The rest of the trip passed easily enough, especially since no one else decided to shoot at us. When Thrawn wasn’t locked away somewhere working out his brilliant plan for saving the Empire and I was not checking on the ship or learning some pretty interesting, but according to Rukh very simple and basic Noghri combat techniques, we spent our time together. Both of us knew it was limited and precious, so we made the most of it. Only when we were a couple of hours away from our rendezvous with the Avenger did the distance of duty and work slink back in between us. That side of him which I suspected few ever got to know, which was warm, tender and often funny, receded behind his mask of cold, calculating logic.

Thrawn withdrew to the galley and buried his thoughts in the datapad he had with him, both studying his plans and finalizing them. He had spent a great deal of time working out his battle plans for Derra IV and he needed to be sure they would work. A lot was riding on this going well. I knew better than to distract him when he was working so I left him alone.

My retreat was to the cockpit where I sat reading or watching the hyper-space lane. The last hour of the journey was filled with the usual last minute preparations and tidying. While a cleaning crew would come on board and magically make the ship spotless, I never liked it when pilots left their ship looking like a garbage scow just because someone else would do the dirty work. I also didn’t want more rumours starting up so I stripped two beds in the crew cabin and the one in the stateroom we had been using.

Our arrival on the Avenger was quiet. There was no large honour guard waiting to meet Thrawn just the captain, a slender, nervous looking man called Loth Needa, two young looking officers and two stormtroopers. They looked a little more worried when Rukh shadowed behind the Admiral but he waved their concerns off with a brusque flap of his hand. Thrawn and the captain spoke briefly, there was a flurry of saluting and then the captain ordered the young officers and the two troopers to escort Thrawn and Rukh to quarters. I watched all this from the top of the ramp and I was the last to leave the shuttle. The Captain looked at me as I walked down the ramp with a mixture of distaste and amusement.

“Miss Gabriel, I presume.” He said with that polite yet frosty manner all Imperial men seemed to have been trained to use when meeting someone they have to be respectful to despite their dislike.

“Captain Needa, it is a pleasure to meet you in person.” I said cheerfully.

“Like wise, welcome on board Avenger.” He said but he didn't mean it. “Lord Vader has sent word that he will be joining us in a day from now and that you were to be afforded every courtesy.”

“Lord Vader is most considerate.” I said knowing this would really confuse the captain because that description didn’t do my boss any justice at all. “I take it you have accommodations for me?”

“Yes. Lord Vader requested that you be quartered close to him.”

“Thank you.” I said with a smile. “I have to finish the paperwork for the journey here, maybe you can send someone to show me to my room in, say, half an hour?” I was letting him off the hook; he was very uncomfortable in my presence.

He smiled. “That will be arranged.” He told me then handed me a datachip. “Lord Vader’s instructions were to give you this upon arrival.”

“Thank you, Captain.” I said taking the chip from his hand. He gave me a curt nod then turned and left the hanger. I watched him leave, looked at the datachip in my hand, sighed then went back inside the shuttle to sort out the last bit of my work as pilot and get my things together. I was looking forward to a hot bath and some decent food. When the young aide came to fetch me I was more than ready.

Cloak and Shadows 8

According to the star chart we were not that far away from where the second attack had taken place. Thrawn’s ability to make these mini and micro jumps amazed me. They were often a topic for hated debate amongst pilots as a theoretical possibility and I had been involved in many such discussions but always the general consensus was that it was far too dangerous to attempt. The forces of going into and coming out of hyperspace in such tiny increments of time were thought to do more damage than was worth it. While the two micro jumps he had made had put great stress on the hull so far I saw no real damage of any sort showing up on the sensor’s and the Sigiri had very good sensors. Micro jumps were thought to be improbable yet he managed to do it with the shuttle effortlessly.

The attack came at us from the starboard side. Laser blasts flashed brilliant in the darkness and for a moment it was all I saw. The ship rocked but the shields held. I scanned the instruments but nothing showed up on the screens.

“Swing around to port.” Thrawn said. I did as he asked, wondering what he was up to since the fire had come from the Starboard side.

“What are you doing?” I asked, watching him recalibrate something in the external sensors.

“Testing a hypothesis.” He told me. “If this is what I think it is then certain trace elements and residue will be emitted from the cloak, while we can’t see the ship the sensors will find this residue, exhaust if you like.”

The shuttle rocked violently as the cloaked ship fired on us.

“Evasive manoeuvres.” Thrawn said.

“Okay but do you mind telling me how I evade something I can’t see?” I asked as I swung the shuttle hard about.

“Do your best to not get us killed while I make these calibrations.” He said calmly with a hint of a smile.

I made a face. “If you say so.”

“The proper response to a command from a superior officer would be ‘yes sir’.” He teased.

“Oh… well in that case…Yes sir.” I said banking us hard to starboard and looping us around in a tight circle.

“There is hope for you yet!” he told me with a smile.

“How can you be so calm at a time like this?” I asked as the last of the latest volley of fire hit us. The shields strained and the engine whined. Thrawn fired a wide strafe of fire but nothing happened.

“Is there a reason to not be calm?” he asked.

“Oh, I don’t know maybe because some invisible ship is trying to blow us to tiny bits and we have no way to find them? I’d say that was reason enough to not be calm.”

He glanced at me and smiled. “Well then, my dear, allow me to give you something to sooth your concerns.” He flipped some switches and suddenly there was a blip on my screen.

“You can see it on the read out now?” He asked.

“Yes on the display, but not when I look out the window.” I told him. I banked us hard around to avoid the latest blasts to come out of nowhere. “How did you…?”

“Follow the instruments and ignore what you don’t see outside.” He said without giving me any explanations.

So I did what he said and followed the blip I was not what was out side, or rather not out side. Thrawn gave instructions and when we were close enough he fired on the invisible ship. I watched as the cloak began to fail and the ship slowly appeared. Thrawn fired again specifically at the engines and the ship twisted and lost power.

“That looks like a lot like some sort of weird TIE phantom copy.” I said.

Thrawn nodded. “The design is similar.”

The ship rocked and slowly stopped moving. I scanned her. “I read one life sign but her engines are not functional. She’s dead in space.”

“Hail her.” He ordered.

I did as he asked but shook my head. “Who ever they are, they are not answering. There is a power spike in the hyperdrive.”

“Ktah!” Thrawn swore. “Get us away from her, she’s set to self destruct.”

I powered the Sigiri away from the strange ship, watching the read out on the small screen the massive energy spike which would destroy the ship which had tried to destroy us. When she blew the explosion was surprisingly violent. The Sigiri rocked with the shock wave but the shields held as we were showered with debris that was much smaller than I would have expected. We waited in silence, watching as the debris scattered and slowed and everything returned to being quiet.

“That’s it?” I asked after what seemed forever.

“There would have been only one ship. They would not have wasted two.” Thrawn said coldly. When I looked at him I could see he was angry but I wasn’t sure of the exact reason behind it.

“You care to explain this?” I asked him starting to get annoyed.

He swivelled the chair to look at me, then looked at the small tracking device in his hand. He unstrapped the harness and got up. “Get us into hyperspace; we have a rendezvous to meet.” He said and left the cockpit as abruptly as he had spoken to me.

“Yes, Admiral.” I answered biting my tongue from saying what was really on my mind. He was obviously furious and I didn’t need to or want to provoke him further. I was reasonably sure he’d tell me in time what had just happened and more importantly why it had happened. I took a good look around the debris field. There was nothing but unrecognizable, tiny pieces of metal. The ship had definitely had an Imperial design but it had not been like any ship I had ever seen, and I was pretty sure I’d seen them all. I set the co ordinates into our nav-computer and then began a very thorough ship wide diagnostic. While the vessel that had fired on us had not done any visible damage I wanted to be sure. I didn’t really fancy the idea of blowing up in hyperspace. Once I was certain we’d be fine and we’d reached the jump point we slipped into hyperspace. If all went well we’d be in this route for the next sixteen or so hours. I watched the rippling and shifting of light that formed the hyperspace lane for a while then set the ship on auto pilot. I was tired, I was hungry and I needed to shut my eyes for a while. Angry or not it was Thrawn’s turn to stand watch and keep an eye on my ship.

I found him sitting in the dark of the galley. He had disassembled the tiny tracker and was toying with the pieces in his hands. I switched on the small blue light over the stove, then put the kettle on for tea and sat down across from him. For a long moment there was a thick silence between us then he looked at me, his eyes glowing with that eerie light they had of their own.

“You look tired.” He said sounding just as weary as I felt.

I nodded. “That would be because I am.” I told him.

He went back to looking at the pieces of the tracker. “I find it difficult to comprehend that someone working for the Empire would go to this much trouble to eliminate one being simply because they are alien.” He said after another lengthy silence. There was a bitterness in his voice which I had not heard before. It made me sad.

“You know who it is, don’t you? I mean, you know exactly who it is, not just some vague guess.” I asked, getting up to make tea.

He drew a long, slow deep breath. “I believe I do.” He said, “And it disgusts me.”

I poured two cups of white Chaya leaf tea and sat back down. “How did you know how to find the ship?”

“I am involved in a project dealing with cloaking devices.” He said. “What you saw was a prototype but it was not the same one that I have been involved in fitting with a cloaking device.” He took the cup of tea gratefully and sipped at it slowly. “Cloak technology is a tricky business and we have not yet managed to get it quite right. I knew how to track the ship because I knew exactly what to look for.”

“I don’t understand. Why did this happen?”

“I believe that I am a threat to someone high up in the Imperial echelon. One or perhaps several members of the Emperor’s elite think he is wrong to keep me in such a high position of power but their complaints about me have fallen on deaf ears as far as he is concerned. I had hoped the public disgrace we arranged would quell this but it would appear that not everyone believed it as we had hoped. I have experienced great amounts of prejudice for being non human, which was part of the reason for arranging the fall from grace. It is impossible for me to accomplish my work, my goals when I must deal with the day to day xenophobia which seems to run rampant in this galaxy.”

I sighed because I did not know what to say to this. I felt guilty just by association.

Thrawn must have seen this on my face because he said. “It is not just humans that act this way, tekari, my own people are also the same, fearing that which they do not know or understand. It is most counterproductive, but what happened here was a complete waste of Imperial resources over petty jealousy and hate based on prejudice and ambition.” He sounded so angry but underneath his words I sensed a hurt that I was not sure I fully understood and there was nothing I could do to ease it.

“All these incidents are connected aren’t they? The first tracker, the spice cake, now this….”

He nodded slowly. “It would appear that someone is trying to sabotage my career in the Imperial navy. At first they tried subtle means with the poisoned cake, hoping that by eliminating you while under my care I would feel Vader’s wrath, then the first tracking device which I now believe did have something to do with that pirate we ran into. Only, as luck would have it, you knew something about him the people who hired him did not, which was sloppy on their part but I suspect that when the incident with the spice cake failed they had to work fast. You are a lot tougher to kill than they thought and Doctor Thracer was much better at his job than the average ship’s doctor.” He paused to take a thoughtful sip of tea. “What this tells me is that someone on my own ship, of my own crew set these incidents up, now again it has to be someone on the Admonitor. That I cannot even trust those working on my own ship….” He shook his head in disgust. “You, my dear, are unfortunately caught in the middle of this and for that I am truly sorry.”

“Who is it?”

He shook his head. “While I have my suspicions I’d rather not voice them just yet, not because I don’t want to tell you but because it is better, safer for you if you don’t know. When I am certain I will address this issue but I beg your patience until such time. We are investigating this but covertly, while I am sure you know more than the average person does, it is better that you be kept out of it. I don’t want you becoming any more of a target than you already have been.” He spoke quietly and I knew then that it wasn’t just the attacks on him that had angered him but that I had also been in the line of fire. “I expect the rest of this trip will be quiet, unless the ship was damaged and you need to repair something.” He pinched the bridge of his nose and then looked at me.

“The diagnostic showed all clear. I expect there are some serious blast burns on the hull but apart from that I could not find anything that requires repair or attention. The hull’s integrity wasn’t compromised, she’s a tough little ship this. I suspect Lord Vader knew that when he assigned her for my use.”

Thrawn smiled. “So you won’t be spending anytime hanging upside down in the engine room?” He was teasing me.

“Not if I can help it, besides Sigiri’s engine room is better set up than the hwk’s.” I told him stifling a yawn. “I really do need to sleep.” I said.

“I told Rukh to take the crew cabin.” He informed me.

I frowned. “My stuff was in that cabin.”

He nodded. “I know. I had it moved to the one I was in. I thought that it made more sense, less work for the cleaning crew on the Avenger. And don’t worry, the broken glass has been dealt with.”

“So you assume that I want to share your bed?” I asked with a little smile.

“I don’t assume, sj’iu tekari, I know.” He said smugly. “Besides you’ll have it all to yourself because I will be on watch.”

I sighed and although I felt oddly disappointed by his statement I just nodded. I really was tired. “Okay.” I said getting up. “Wake me up in four hours or so?”

“As you wish, although you can sleep longer if you need it. There will be no more such attacks and especially not while we are in hyperspace.”

“You sound awfully sure of yourself there.”

“I am.”

I stared at him for a moment then nodded. I was too wrung out to even contemplate trying to argue or get into a discussion with him about how and why he was so certain.

The stateroom he had chosen was the largest of all the rooms and was the most comfortable. The crew cabin had four single bunk beds. I could see why he’d prefer this room to that one. I readied for bed and when I was done I slipped in between the covers. His scent lingered on the pillow and I found that comforting. Surprisingly enough I did not toss and turn with thoughts of the past couple of day’s events racing through my mind. Sleep came swiftly and was welcome.

After the second time Thrawn and I were parted from each other and from Coruscant I would dream of him often. I would slowly surface from sleep with the essence of his touch on my body and his voice in my mind. Always upon waking fully, only to realise that it was just a dream and he was not really there, I experienced a terrible sense of sorrow. Now, as sleep receded and I began to wake up, I found myself once again caught in this reoccurring dream. It was so real it made me ache with longing that was painful and I fought against opening my eyes until I realised I wasn’t dreaming, that the touch of fingertips on my skin was very real. I rolled over to find him lying on top of the blankets beside me, his head propped up on his arm. He was smiling.

He brushed tangled hair from my face. “And she who dances as light upon snow finally awakens.”

“Finally? How long did you let me sleep for?” I mumbled, ignoring his strange poetic manner of calling me by my Dantassi name.

“It’s been almost eight hours.” He said. “You needed it. The last thing I want is my pilot exhausted.” I frowned but before I could protest that I had only needed four hours of sleep, he added, “Especially since I plan on working her hard.”

“The ship okay?” I asked wondering if we now had some sort of engine trouble I needed to deal with.

He nodded. “Everything is fine. Rukh is keeping busy practicing being stealthy, the ship is working within normal parameters and we are on schedule.”

I yawned and stretched. “So… now what, you mentioned work?”

His fingertips brushed down my bare arm and then followed the curve of my waist to my hip. “I thought we could spend some time catching up.” He said with a lazy smile.

Goosebumps prickled along my skin and there was a sudden flash of heat that danced through me, making me momentarily dizzy. “Catch up on what?” I was trying to think of what work he could mean. The only job I had been given was getting him to the rendezvous with the Avenger on time. As far as I knew I was on schedule with everything else. I was still waking up and therefore a bit slow on the uptake. He smiled at the sleepy confusion on my face then he pulled me closer to him. He shifted to lie over me, covering me, nudging my knees with his own so that I made a place to accommodate his body.

“Our covert conversational practice. We are a little behind on that.” He whispered in my ear.

“Oh.” I said finally getting it.

“Too much sleep makes you slow.” He chuckled softly and then before I could make a sound of protest he shut me up with the easiest, fastest and most delightful method he knew. I didn’t complain, I just followed his lead and wrapped myself around him. I had missed him, missed this physical contact. He took his time showing me just how effective his lips could be at expressing themselves without uttering a single word. We were in no hurry. It wasn’t as if there was any place we could go and there was nothing in particular we needed to do.

Rediscovering the wonder of what his touch, his kiss could do to me was as much fun as my exploration of his beautiful body. He had once told me that seduction was an art form but so was this and I delighted in the lessons given and learned. We came together, pieces of a puzzle that fit perfectly, one within the other and despite the lingering shyness I still sometimes felt there was no hesitation. He slipped me out of the night clothes I had slept in and I undressed him the way I might have unwrapped a Boonta Eve gift, carefully, with utter delight and expectation of all good things. I was not disappointed.

“I hope you locked the door.” I breathed in his ear as he nibbled that place on my neck which always made me crazy.

“Why?” he asked, taking delight as I shivered under his caress of fingertips that were exploring possibilities.

“I would hate for Rukh to think someone was being murdered in here.” I told him. “And come bursting in at an inopportune moment.”

His expression was one of amusement. “Yes, I locked the door. Yes, the ship’s auto warning systems are all on and no, Rukh will not think anyone is being murdered. Now before I have to take drastic measures to keep your oh-so inquisitive mind occupied are there any more questions?”

I grinned as my fingers traced that fine line of blue-black hair which ran from his navel to his groin. “Yes.”

His smile was slow and hungry as his body responded to my touch. He couldn’t find his voice so he arched his eyebrow in that get to the point before I devour you sort of way.

“Can we do this more than once?” I asked as sweetly as I could.

His smile widened. “I think that could be arranged, tekari, given enough time. Though if you keep that up…” he said catching my hand in his. “I can’t be held responsible for the consequences…” His voice was all warm and husky, his breath brushing against my skin. I pulled my hand free from his.

“Good, because you did say that we have some serious catching up to do!” I told him poking his chest with my finger.

“And now you understand why I wished you to be well rested.” He said.

Cloak and Shadows 7

The passageway was silent but I had the distinct impression I was being watched.

“Okay, you can come out now!” I yelled. Thrawn looked at me with a raised eyebrow. I just glared back at him. “Rukh, get out here right now! No hide and hunt games on my ship!”

There was a moment’s breath then the Noghri slipped silently out from where he had been hiding almost directly beside me. He was sneaky and silent. Now that my fright had subsided I got a good look at him. He was shorter than I was but he was powerfully built. His skin was a grey colour and he was, by human standards, pretty ugly. He had a short snub nose, sharp, needle like teeth and dark eyes that held far more intelligence in them than one might first believe. We just stared at each other for a moment until Thrawn broke the silence.

“Rukh, this is Merlyn Gabriel she is Lord Vader’s personal assistant. She is never to be harmed by you or your kind. You will treat her life with the same importance you would Lord Vader’s. Am I understood?”

“I understand.” He said in a gravely voice. He then took my hand and sniffed at it. I didn’t fight him. His clawed hands were cool to the touch. He let my hand go and stood back.

I just nodded, took the EV suit that Thrawn was handing me and began to get into it. I had to fight the sudden sense of claustrophobia that swept through me. I steadied my breathing and nodded to Thrawn who handed me the helmet. I hated suiting up, the feeling of being constricted, the sense of being confined and the strange metallic scent the oxygen always had.
With everything in place, I locked the helmet down and the flow of O2 started with a dry hiss. Thrawn went over the suit carefully, checking that everything was okay.

“You’re good to go.” He mouthed opening the maintenance hatch that led under the passenger compartments.

“Scanner’s in that box there, needs a lanyard on it.” I said, my voice sounding tinny from the helmet comm. Thrawn nodded and grabbed it. He clipped the end of the lanyard to the utility belt and handed the scanner to me. I slipped it in the large pocket on my right thigh.

“Admiral, I need you in the cockpit.” I said. “You,” I said pointing at Rukh, “go find some quiet place to sit and stay out of trouble.”

He looked at Thrawn who gave him a slight nod. “Yes, Lady Merlyn.” he said dutifully and stayed exactly where he was.

“Okay I’m going out for a walk, see you both in a bit.” And then I began to make my way down the ladder to the underbelly of the ship, to the external airlock. I grabbed the tether lines, clipped one end to the safety hook on the back of the suit.

The maintenance area was small and dimly lit. I walked carefully to the airlock. Opened the inner doors, watched them shut then began decompression. It took seconds, a warning light flashed and I knew that Thrawn was in the cockpit watching because my comm double clicked.

“I’m fine, just heading out now. Watch for invisible bad guys. I don’t feel like getting shot to day.” I told him as I began my little space walk.

“Be careful.”

“Copy that.” I answered then concentrated on walking with the magnetic boots out and under the hull of the ship.

Space is huge. Never endingly, overwhelmingly huge but most of the time when we are safe and sound in our space ships we never see how vast it is. We are surrounded by alloys and metals, engines and all the comforts of home and we don’t generally go tromping around outside because outside is not a nice place to be, even in a really good EV suit. The thing about space is probably the hardest to get used to is the lack of gravity, the lack of up and down. While the inside of the ship has artificial gravity or gravity plating and inertial dampers to offset spin and so on, outside there is none of that and were it not for the magnetic soles on the boots I was wearing with the suit I’d be free floating, grabbing hold of the hand grabs that were placed all over the hull of the ship. No gravity meant my insides had no idea what was up or down, it was a really disconcerting sensation and incredibly disorienting.

Most commercial or private pilots avoided EV like the plague and almost never went through any sort of formal training for it. Unlike the Imperial Navy, which had simulators for this sort of thing, the only experience we ever got with zero G and space walks was when we actually had to go extra vehicular to fix something in order to get to a space port to fix the rest.

My father had made certain I had some experience with this and had taken me EV for basic training three times. The very first time I had gone EV I had thrown up in the suit. It had been a very short, very unpleasant trip and a very long lasting memory. After that I usually made sure I took an antiemetic before I went EV, then again usually time allowed for it.

I tried not to look at the stars which spun slowly, even though we had stopped engines the ship still moved and that movement was making me sick. I took deep, slow and steady breaths and concentrated on the job at hand. With the scanner active I began to walk across the underbelly of the shuttle. My stomach rolled and I gritted my teeth as a wave of nausea washed through me making my whole body cold with sweat. I fought it because throwing up in an EV suit really was terrible. It had happened to me only once but that was more than enough to know I never wanted to experience that again. My insides just didn’t like zero G at all.

“Za’ar, you there?” my voice was shaky. I walked slowly from port to starboard and back in a slight zigzag, but the scanner showed nothing.

“Are you okay?”

“Just needed to hear your voice.” I said.

“What’s wrong?” he asked.

“You mean apart from the fact that I’m walking outside of my perfectly good space ship to find a tracking device that is allowing some invisible enemy to shoot at us and that the galaxy won’t stay still, then nothing at all is wrong. Just talk to me, okay?” I said. “I am trying to remember where it was my father had found the tracker the last time we had had this problem.”

“I cannot help you there, tekari I was onboard at the time your father discovered it.” He said.

“Maybe one of your famous best guesses then?”

I could sense Thrawn smile as he answered me. “Try near the port side wing.” He said. “Internal scanners show nothing but that was the side of the ship least visible in the docking bay.”

I nodded although he could not see me. “Copy that.” I said starting my way back over to the port side. It was slow business. I concentrated on staring at the ship’s hull and not the slow spinning stars all around me. Port-side had also been where I had to shoo away the maintenance droid. I didn’t think that was a coincidence.

“So, talk to me.” I prompted again.

“What do you want to hear?” he asked. His warm voice in my ear was a welcome distraction.

“Tell me about your trip as Kast.” I said.

“Well I suppose now is as good a time as ever.” He replied and then he began to describe in detail his adventure on Corellia while posing as a bounty hunter. His voice was soothing and it made it easier to concentrate on the job at hand and not throwing up but it was slow going. I sighed and scanned the hull. It wasn’t often I got to see a ship from this perspective, looking down on it not craning to look up or worse crawling under it. Walking across a ship’s hull in space with mag boots and tethers was tiring and tedious, when you are under a severe time restriction due to the threat of some invisible unknown enemy ship attacking you; well that just makes it even more fun. Searching for this tiny tracking device was like looking for a specific grain of sand in the desert.

“So, let me get this straight, the CorSec guys were father and son but they lied about it?”

“Yes. They did not trust me. I suppose they did not want that particular bond known publicly but if one looked close enough the resemblance was easy to see.” He said.

I sighed, wondering why people made things so complicated. “Go on.” I nudged as I trudged across the ship’s hull. There was significant carbon scoring across parts of it. It was a small wonder the ship that had attacked us had not done more damage

I smiled As Thrawn continued his story about his time posing as Jodo Kast. I laughed at some of the things he was telling me and shook my head in disbelief at others.

“Did this Corran guy tell you how he knew about Chassu’s works?” I interrupted in the middle of a description of Corran Horn's conversation about this artist’s works.

“Sort of, although I am not so sure he was actually telling me the truth.” He replied, “There was just something about him which gave me the impression he was a little better educated than most and he knew a lot more about the topic than he was letting on. Of course I am quite sure he was very surprised at my own interest in the art field.”

“You sound like a match made in heaven.” I commented dryly.

“Hardly.” He said and continued with his story. He was half way through a description of Thyne’s terrible taste in art when the scanner lit up. Right under the start of the wing join, there it sat. It was almost exactly where the maintenance droid had been fiddling with things. I would have to look into that when we got back or at least alert Thrawn to the possibility of a droid that wasn’t what it seemed onboard his ship. I stood for a moment and stared at the tracking device. It was tiny and I knew I would have some issues trying to pry it off with the bulky gloves. I bent close to it and studied it for a second and then figured that the best way to get this thing off the ship’s hull was not with my hands.

“I found it.” I said.

“Good, try to get it off intact and get yourself back on board, the chrono is counting down.”

“Copy that, now I need you to not speak for a few minutes.”

My comm clicked twice and I grinned at how well he took orders from me sometimes. I squatted down as best I could in the EV suit and concentrated on my breathing, finding my center. I found that thread of the force which wound its way around everything, with that in mind I pictured the little tracking device lifting up and moving towards me. When it was safely in my glove I slipped it into one of the flap pockets on my leg. I tucked the scanner back in the other pocket and began the trip back to the airlock.

“Got it, am on my way back now.” I said. I was hurrying as much as was possible in the bulky suit. That nasty sensation of all the hair on the back of my neck suddenly standing up on end was starting to worry me. I was almost at the airlock when a blast rocked the ship. If I hadn’t been tethered, even with the magnetic soles of the boots I might have come off, as it was I managed to grab a hold of one of the hand bars.

“What the hell was that?” I yelled.

“Get inside now!”

“I’m trying, it’s not like I can actually run in mag boots!”

“Hurry up!” he pressed.

“Not helping!” I yelled into the comm.

“I need to know the second you are in and the airlock is sealed so we can make another jump.”

I rolled my eyes but hurried anyway. Another blast hit the ship and she rolled like a pregnant bantha. I swore and gritted my teeth as the galaxy around me spun violently. The airlock opened up, I unclipped the tether from the ship and I scooted inside the hatch as fast as I could, slamming the close door button hard.

“Is it cloaked as well, I couldn’t see where the shots were coming from?” I asked as the small airlock re-pressurised. Another blast hit the ship.

“Cut the chatter and get inside now!” Thrawn said crossly.

“I’m in. Go!” I told him as I slipped through the inside door and shut it. The ship rocked and the engines whined. I felt Sigiri shudder as the hyperdrive engaged. The ship lurched forward and so did my stomach. I scrambled up the ladder to the main bay. The Noghri was waiting for me and grabbed my arm as I struggled with the last steps and hauled me up easily.

“You are safe, lady Merlyn.” He said.

I nodded, afraid to open my mouth. I ripped off the helmet as fast as I could, clapped a hand over my mouth and then ran to the head, the helmet clattered on the deck as I dropped it. I made it just in time to throw up in the toilet and not all over the floor. I hated going EV. When there was nothing left in my stomach I just knelt on the floor with my head resting on my arms, listening as the toilet vac-flushed, remembering to breathe and willing my head to stop spinning. Zero-G was a lot like being very drunk without having the fun of drinking.

“Are you okay?” Thrawn asked as he offered me a cup of water.

I nodded and rinsed my mouth out with the water. “Going EV always, always makes me sick.” I told him. “Usually I take something against it but that wasn't possible in this situation.”

He helped me up. “Come on, we have some time. I’ll make some tea, that should help settle your stomach.”

I got to my feet and pulled off the gloves, dug around the little pocket on my thigh and pulled out the little tracker device. He took it from my still shaking fingers and frowned. While he studied it, I washed my face and cleaned my teeth.

“The same design as the other one?” I asked struggling out of the suit when we were in the passage way and out of the tiny ‘fresher.

He nodded then helped me with my battle against the EV suit and turned to head back to the main passenger area. I followed him with the suit slung over my arm. When he reached the small galley he filled the kettle with water and put it on the small stove.

“Where’s Rukh?”

“I am here, Lady Merlyn.” the Noghri said from the shadows of the tiny dining area, his gravely voice making me jump in surprise. I had not even seen him.

“Do you ever not sneak up on people?” I asked. Thrawn, watching this exchange, just sniggered quietly to himself making me want to shoot him.

“I am trained in stealth.” Rukh answered.

“Well, maybe you could go and be stealthy someplace else?” I asked crossly, sitting down.

He just stepped back into the shadows.

“How long did you put us in hyperspace for?” I asked.

“Long enough to test a theory.” Thrawn answered. He made tea, poured a cup into which he put a lot of sugar and handed it to me. “Drink.” He said.

While I drank the tea gratefully, I watched as he played with the tracking device in his hand.

“You know who is doing this don’t you?” I asked.

“I have some ideas.” He replied. There was an edge to his voice that I had never heard before. I didn’t like it.

I sighed. “Why is there no peace and quiet when I am with you?” I asked.

“We do have our moments.” He said with a slight smile.

I just made a face and finished my tea.

“Feeling any better?”

I nodded.

“Right let’s get back to work, shall we?” He said getting up.

“That thing still active?” I asked nodding at the little device in his hand.

“Yes.”

“So, who ever is after us will find us the moment we come out of hyperspace?”

“Yes.” He said.

“And they’ll shoot at us again?”

“That’s the idea.”

I nodded. “I see.” I said. “And you have a plan that won’t get us killed?”

“I do.”

I gave him that look that said ‘uh huh’.

He gave me that smile which said. ‘A little trust, Miss Gabriel.’

I rolled my eyes. “Lord Vader will not be happy if I bang up the shuttle, you know, he just had the paint touched up.”

He gave me a tight smile that never quite reached his eyes. “Let’s hope we will have a shuttle to bang up after this.” He said.

I sighed as the ship came out of hyperspace and we slowed to a quarter speed with shields up. I glanced at Thrawn and checked over the instruments while he looked at the little tracker in his hand and drew a deep breath. I hoped he knew what he was doing.

“So what do we do now?” I asked.

“Now we wait.” He said.

“Great.” I muttered.

He just gave me a grin.

Cloak and Shadows 6

A billion thoughts crashed through my head in the space of the time it took Thrawn to switch on the lights, get out of bed and assess the situation. Most of them had to do with my seeming inability to defend myself. I had been trained in the Bunduki arts, I was a force user and had been taught to fight by some of the best and the most brutal teachers this galaxy had to offer, so why was it that the moment some creature with a grip of dura-steel grabbed me I panicked or at least froze. The first thing I did was try to get my heart rate and breathing back down to a sane level. The creature that held me could break my bones as easily as Lord Vader could force choke a room full of idiots. There wasn’t much use in struggling further.

“Release her.” Thrawn spoke quietly but there was such ice, such command in his voice that I wasn’t certain who I should be more afraid of, him or the alien who held me in the death grip from hell.

“Now.” Thrawn insisted calmly. “I shall not ask you again.”

The creature did as he was asked and Thrawn pulled me towards him to shield me with his body.

“Are you alright?” he asked. He looked at my throat and I suspected from the dull pain that I would have bruises there. For once, I thought, they could not be blamed on Lord Vader.

I nodded and swallowed. My knees were still shaky but that would pass. “Who…what is this?” I asked.

Thrawn drew a deep breath. “This is Rukh.” He said coolly. He was angry, angrier than I had seen him in some time. “Rukh is a Noghri warrior assigned by Lord Vader to protect me.”

I looked at the Noghri called Rukh, who simply stared at me and then I looked back at Thrawn. He was naked. “You should get dressed and put shoes on; there are glass shards on the floor.” I said. Before either of them could say anything else I left the cabin.

The adrenaline that had flooded through my system receded and left me cold with anger. Thrawn had not seemed in the least bit surprised by the Noghri’s presence which led me to believe he had known the creature was on board my ship and he had not told me. I stopped at the galley, filled up a large cup with the rest of the spiced coffee then I made my way calmly to the cockpit, closed the door and locked it. I needed some time to calm down and think and this was the one place that was mine and mine alone. I sat for a very long time just staring out of the window cradling the warm cup in my cold hands, trying to sort through this latest incident and my seeming inability to defend myself. It was depressing. For over three years I had been training and I still could not seem to get it right when someone grabbed me. I doubted that, given the strength I had felt from the Noghri I would have been able to break free from his grip even if I had tried but that didn’t change how ineffectual I felt now.

A knock at the door broke my thoughts. I ignored it.

“A’myshk’a…?” Thrawn asked.

My answer, in his language, was very rude.

I could sense his frustration mixed with concern. “Open the door, please.” He tried again.

I repeated my previous statement. There was a lengthy silence and I thought that maybe he’d actually done as I had told him for once. Maybe he would leave me in peace to calm down but no, that was not the case. Instead he had used his official override code and unlocked the cockpit door. Opened it, walked in then closed it again. I could feel him stand directly behind me but I didn’t turn to look at him.

“Get out.” I wondered if the tone of my voice matched the icy fury in my veins.

“I need to know that you are unharmed.” He said quietly.

“I’m fine. Go away!”

“I know you are angry with me but I am not responsible for this.” He said maintaining the same calm quiet tone.

I drew a deep steadying breath and had to relax the grip of death I was inflicting on my cup. I heard him move to come and crouch down at the side of the chair. The nav computer peeped letting me know we would be coming out of hyperspace soon.

“Tekari, look at me.” He said. When my jaw clenched and I did not move he added, “Please?”

So I did as he asked. “Where is your friend?” I growled.

“Back aft.” He said.

I nodded and went back to staring out of the window. “Keep him the hell away from me.”

He reached out to touch my face but I pulled away from him. “You should have told me he was on board.” I said coldly.

“I did not know he was on the ship. I was under the impression he had remained on board the Admonitor. If I had known so would you.” Thrawn spoke to me the way Navaari had, in that steady calm voice which soothed timid creatures and fractious children.

“How is that possible?” I asked angrily. “You know everything! Prepared for every, any and all eventualities! How could you not know this?” I was being nasty but I didn’t really care.

He sighed and got up to sit in the co pilot’s chair across from me. “Lord Vader was pleased with the work that I accomplished on Corellia, as part of a reward if you like, he has given me command of the Noghri, a race of beings most efficient in the warrior arts and quite deadly as commandos. He introduced me to Rukh earlier, before we left this morning.” He paused to look at me, I ignored this. “I agreed to take Rukh on as a bodyguard and I thought I had made it clear that he was to remain on board the Admonitor. I was obviously mistaken. I am sorry.”

“Since when do you need a body guard?” I asked.

“I don’t believe I do, but these Noghri believe in a form of life debt and they apparently feel they owe it to the Empire, especially to Lord Vader who convinced them this passes on to me. You know as well as I do that respect for other cultures is tantamount to maintaining law and order. It would have been imprudent to dismiss their beliefs and their service.”

“Well your body guard just tried to kill me.” I said coldly.

“He was doing his job. You entered the room without turning on the lights. He thought you were going to assassinate me.”

I narrowed my eyes and glared at him. “Maybe next time I’ll try that instead of bringing you spiced coffee!”

He sighed. “How many times shall I apologise for this before you back down?”

I shook my head. “Just go away.”

“A’myshk’a…” He drew a deep breath and I could feel him struggle to keep his own temper in check.

“Blast it all to Corellia’s nine hells and back! I don’t need this crap when I am piloting. I do not need this stress because travelling with you is stressful enough! That… that… Noghri tried to kill me. He is not welcome on my ship so get him off it!”

“And just how am I supposed to do that? Toss him out the nearest air lock?” Thrawn's tone had gone from concerned to cold.

“That would be one way.” I replied. I watched as we slid out of hyperspace into normal space. The next jump would be a lot longer and follow a standard shipping lane, but we would have to fly for half an hour to get to the right hyper point. I set the co-ordinates into the nav computer and engaged the autopilot.

“You are not being reasonable.” He said crossly.

“Reasonable? Some alien I have never seen before in my life, that I did not even know was on board my shuttle just tried to strangle me for bringing you a glass of spice coffee and you tell me I am not being reasonable? Get him off my ship, confine him to the cargo hold, or tie him up with pipe tape for all I care! Do what ever it is you need to do to keep him away from me, because if he comes at me again I will chop his head off with my lightsaber or die trying! Am I making myself clear?” I asked getting up. I knew he was right but I was just too angry to want to see reason.

I brushed passed him but he caught my arm with a steel grip that bordered on painful. Whatever he had to say next he was making sure I would not just hear it but listen as well.

“If I had known he was on board I would have told you.” He said very calmly. He was now angry with me rather than anything else. “I would have made it perfectly clear to him that you are not out to kill me and that if I am under his protection then so are you. Do you really think I would have withheld this information from you?”

I glared at him. “I don’t know! With you I never know!” I said. “Damn it I have enough complications in my life as it without you and your new pet adding to them! Now will you get the hell out of my cockpit?!”

“Merlyn, please…” he started. He never called me by my first name unless he was being formal or he was annoyed with me. In this case the latter was the reason. I was testing his patience to the bitter end.

I stamped my foot down hard on the floor. “NO! NO! NO! This is not acceptable, no! I want that …that…bodyguard-warrior-Noghri-creature- whatever off my…”

I never got to finish my sentence because suddenly there was a huge BOOM as an explosion blasted the port side of the ship, rocking the shuttle violently. Alarms and lights started going off and flashing madly. If Thrawn had not been holding my arm I would have been flung backwards. I grabbed hold of his chair as he let go of my arm to scan the instrument panel.

I scrambled back into my chair and strapped in. “Now what!” I hissed crossly. “Did we hit something?”

“No, that was blaster fire.” He told me. He activated the shields and I said a silent prayer that what ever had hit us hadn’t hit anything vital.

“Blaster fire??” If I hadn’t been angry before now I was. I scanned the systems readout but nothing serious had been hit or compromised. We had been lucky.

The shuttle was rocked by a second volley of fire.

“Affirmative. Blasts hit us port-side aft, nothing significant was damaged. Shields are holding.” Thrawn told me. He was setting up tactical even before I had to ask, transferring the gun controls to his consol.

“Someone is shooting at us? There is nothing registering, no proximity alert nothing on the scans….Who…what the hell is shooting at us?”

A third blast shook the ship and I heard the engines whine, just a little, from the power drain of the shields.

“Whoever it is is still attacking us port side aft. Shields are now at ninety percent. They have better guns.” He said as dryly as if he were commenting on a news net article.

“You strapped in?” I asked taking us off auto pilot.

“Yes what did you…?”

“Hang on!” I yanked hard as I could on the throttle and sent us into a wide arcing loop. The shuttle’s engines protested but I knew what she was capable of. “Find whatever it is that is shooting at us! I take it you know how to work the guns on this thing?”

“Yes.”

The gravity plating and inertial dampers compensated for the sudden motion but not quite fast enough to offset the sense of spin. I hated sudden rotation like this it always made me queasy which was why I would never have made a good fighter pilot. I gritted my teeth and hoped for the best. The shuttle wasn’t designed to be flung about like a TIE fighter or an X-Wing.

“Well?” I asked as a volley of laser fire sliced past the nose of the shuttle by millimetres.

“Nothing, according to the scans we are completely alone.”

“Okay well your aloneness is trying to kill us.” I sent us barrel rolling to the starboard, shutting my eyes tightly as we did so.

“I know you are cross with me right now, but I need you to take orders from me and not be stubborn or argumentative, can you do that?”

“Will it make them stop shooting at us?” I asked as I began to compensate for the next spin.

“Yes.”

“Then you are in charge, Admiral.”

“Bank hard to port on my command.” He said. I glanced at him and wondered what he had in mind. “Now!”

I pulled to port hard and Thrawn fired a series of shots that arced as we banked. The last shot hit something.”

“Hard to starboard now.” He said. I marvelled at his calm. My heart was in my throat. I did as he said and my stomach lurched. The engines whined and the ship shuddered. He shot again and again the last set of laser bolts hit something. I watched in amazement as out of the nothingness a ship began to decloak then was suddenly invisible again.

“On my mark pull up hard, loop wide then hard roll to starboard.”

“Aye.”

“Mark.”

I did as he asked and watched as he fired the aft canon but before I could express my elation that we had maybe won we were once again hit by a volley of fire and the shields fluttered.

“What ever is shooting at us will take out our shields if they keep hitting us like that!” I told him.

“Micro jump.” He said. “We need to get out of here now!”

“What? Are you out of your mind? You can’t micro jump in this thing!!! ” I yelled at him. I had never actually done a micro jump, they were almost unheard of.

“Give my full control now!” He ordered. Another blast hit us starboard side and the shields dropped to forty percent. The shield generator couldn’t get enough power fast enough to regenerate the shields to full.

I did as he asked then watched as he manually set the spatial co ordinates and then punched the hyperdrive. The stars elongated and twisted in a way I had never seen before and then suddenly we were back in normal space. A blow out showered sparks from the main control panel and alarms shrilled out in protest of the treatment of the shuttle. I clapped a hand over my mouth and forced my lunch to stay put.

“Wow!” I said when I found my voice. “You so need to teach me that trick.”

“Next time, I’ll talk you through it.” He replied tersely.

“Bloody better not be a next time!” I started running through a systems check and looked over at Thrawn who frowned. “What? You have that look on your face.”

“Did you recognise that ship?” he asked me.

I shook my head. “No, I didn’t get a good look at her. Was she really cloaked? How is that possible? I thought cloaking technology on anything smaller than a dreadnought was a myth.”

He drew a deep breath. “Yes, she was cloaked and she is small and manoeuvrable. She was also, I believe, Imperial in design.”

“What?!” I almost exploded.

“What’s our status?” He ignored my question.

I blinked at him for a few seconds but he just gave me that one eyebrow higher than the other ‘answer my question’ stare. So I answered him. “Shields need time to regenerate and apart from some blown fuses we are actually in good shape. The Sigiri may be a milk run shuttle but she’s got teeth and a hard shell. How the hell did they find us, who the hell are they and why the hell were they shooting at us if they were Imperial?”

“Those are the questions aren’t they? Guess I will need to go for a little walk to find out.” he said getting up.

“What?”

“Do you recall the tracker we found on the Ahnkeli Su’udelma?”

“How could I forget?” I asked undoing the buckles and following him out of the cockpit and through the ship as he made his way aft.

“We will need to do a hull inspection. I think that someone has pulled the same trick on us.”

I sighed this explained why he had not gone into a longer hyperspace jump. If we had a homing device on our hull who ever it was would find us again no matter where we jumped to. “Then I guess it isn’t you going for a space walk it’s me.”

“A’myshk’a…” he started.

I put my hand on his arm. “You are far, far better at tactical than I ever could be. It’s not something I was ever trained for. If something goes wrong you can still get to the Derra System. I do the space walk; you stay here and keep me alive, that’s the deal.” I told him.

He made a face. “Do you even know what you are looking for?” he asked.

“Yes and the scanner I swiped…er… I mean borrowed, from the Admonitor will tell me how to find it.” I said. I could feel him about to protest but I stopped him. “You are the more valuable of the two of us so you stay on board. Unless you got word from Lord Vader to say otherwise I am still the pilot which sort of makes me the captain and since I am not actually in the navy you don’t get to outrank me which means I get final say. I walk, you stay here.”

“Your logic is a little flawed, tekari.” His voice was soft as he caressed my face.

“You know I am right.” I said. “How long do you think we have?”

“Not long, the jump was incredibly short but if this is what I think it is they cannot go into hyperspace with the cloak and if they are using some sort of transport ship to carry them into hyperspace she won’t be able to micro jump. They’ll have to find us sublight which means I bought us two maybe three hours at the most, depending on how fast the transports sublight engines are.”

“Okay, then that will have to do.” I nodded.

“You checked the suits and air before we left?” There was genuine concern in his eyes.

“Yes. I always do that.”

“Make sure you tether twice.”

I stopped and turned to look at him. “You know, while I have never done a micro jump before, I have done this. Trust me, I know how to handle myself EV.”

“Then why do you look like you are going to your death?”

“EVA sometimes makes me sick but there’s no time to find an antiemetic.” I said tersely. “Help me get into the suit; it’s good to have a second set of eyes check it. And keep your body guard away from me. I don’t think he’ll like it if I throw up on him.”

Cloak and Shadows 5

My fingertips danced their way around the night table in search of the source of the beeping which was slowly breaking through my sleep. I activated the comm and brushed the hair from my eyes. It seemed as though my head had barely touched the pillow and already I was awake. I wasn’t happy.

“What!” I barked.

“Miss Gabriel?”

“Yes?”

“The Admiral has returned, he wishes to see you in his ready room.” The annoying voice said.

“I’ll be there in a moment.” And shut the comm off before he could say anything else. I rolled out of bed and stumbled to the ‘fresher to wash my face and clear the sleep from my eyes. I had been dreaming when the comm had gone off. All I could remember now was fragments. The desert, the man my uncle had called Qui Gon Jin and a dreadful sense of sorrow. I was grateful I couldn’t recall any details. When that man showed up in my dreams it was usually a sign of bad things not good. I cleaned my teeth, brushed my hair back and pulled it up into an untidy knot held in place by mismatched Zenji sticks. I threw on a loose dress and grabbed my data pad then made my way to the Admiral’s ready room.

Captain Niriz was just on his way out as I headed in. “Good morning Miss Gabriel.”

“I take it he is in one piece?” I asked, pausing at the door.

Niriz smiled. “It would appear so. Lord Vader was just here, asked me to tell you to wait until he returns.”

“Thanks.” I said as I walked into the ready room.

Thrawn sat back in a chair still wearing the Mandalorian armour, he was drinking mineral water. He looked tired but satisfied.

“How was it?” I asked as the door hissed closed behind me.

He gave me a smile. “Very interesting. Your uncle was right about Thyne and the information he gave me was most valuable. What he didn’t mention was Thayne’s appalling taste in art.”

I raised my eyebrows then. “Unlike you, that’s not really the first thing Zte’sa Vahlek tends to notice.”

Thrawn grinned. “He would have noticed this, trust me.”

“Are you planning to tell me what happened any time soon or will I have to pry it out of you?”

He gave me a short laugh. “I’ll tell you all, I promise, when the time is right.”

“I’ve heard that before.” I told him testily.

“I promise, tekari, when the time is right.” He said gently, he had that look on his face which said there is more going on than you know about so stop digging.

I sighed and gave up, switching the topic. “Need help getting out of that armour?”

“Already wishing to undress me? You have a one track mind, my dear.” Thrawn smirked.

“I am quite happy to let you struggle on your own.” I shrugged that I don’t care one shoulder shrug.

He looked at me for a moment then smiled. “Very well, you can assist me if you like.” He said getting up.

I was in the middle of helping him shrug off the body armour when the door slid open and Lord Vader walked in. He paused for a moment while Thrawn untangled his arms from the chest pieces and then handed the Admiral a datapad. In typical Vader style he then turned his back on us both and stood, with his arms folded across his chest, to stare out of the window.

I took the armour piece and set it on the table as Thrawn studied the information Lord Vader had given him. “Do you wish me to formulate a strategic plan for this?” He asked as he studied what ever was on the datapad.

“By all means.” Lord Vader replied, “It was your information that has given us this opportunity. I have some ideas but your input would be…welcome.” then he turned to look at me. “I need you to prepare the Sigiri for a long haul run.”

“Yes, my lord.” I said with a nod.

He looked back at Thrawn. “Your hand in this battle plan will please the Emperor and your elegant touch will be unmistakable but he will not wish it overtly known that you were instrumental in the planning of this. He has instructed me to request that you be onboard the Avenger for the briefing and planning. On the way there you can work on the details. I must return to the Executor but will rendezvous with you on board the Avenger before the briefing takes place. I take it you have no objections with Miss Gabriel piloting you?”

Thrawn gave me a slight glance. “Not at all, your assistant is a most efficient pilot and I am certain she will enjoy the chance to log more hours in the L-class shuttle.”

Both men stared at me but I said and did nothing. This was unusual, even for Lord Vader and while a shuttle could be piloted by one, usually a crew of minimum three ran it. A high ranking official travelling without a guard compliment was very irregular. I wasn’t happy with this situation but there was nothing to say about it. This was not a time to argue with Lord Vader about my likes or dislikes of his orders.

Lord Vader nodded. “We will be expected to join the Avenger in seven days from now; they are currently en route to the Derra system but the Emperor does not wish the Admonitor to be involved in the conflict. He prefers that you come alone.”

Thrawn nodded. “Yes, I expected as much.

“The hundred-and- eighty- first will be the fighter group you will be planning for. I have enclosed their information on the data pad and given the Sigiri’s capabilities you can make it to the Avenger in just under a week. This gives you plenty of time to study the pilot records and best determine how to plan for their abilities.” Lord Vader said. “Your return to the Unknown Regions will be delayed.”

Thrawn nodded. “I work for the Empire, Lord Vader. When the Emperor requests my presence I obey.” He said. “The Unknown Regions of space are not going anywhere. When do we depart?”

“As soon as you are ready and your shuttle is prepared.” Lord Vader said turning to look at me.

I nodded. “I’ll get right on it. Admiral, I take it I can requisition anything I need from your stores?”

He looked at me. “The quartermaster will see that you are given what you need within reason, of course.”

“Thank you.” I said. “Lord Vader, will there be anything else before you leave?”

“No. Just see that you keep the Admiral in one piece.” He admonished.

“Yes, of course, my lord.” I nodded. “So I will see you in about a week then?” I asked him silently.

“Yes.” He sent back then added. “Behave yourself, especially on board the Avenger. Be discrete and stay out of everyone’s way! I will hear of any problems.”

“Yes, my lord.” I said out loud and then, ignoring the one eyebrow question from Thrawn, I left to go and pack my stuff and ready the Sigiri.

The Quartermaster looked at the list I had given him and made a face but before he could say anything negative I told him if he had problems with the items I had requisitioned he could confirm them with the Admiral or Lord Vader. He pursed his lips and nodded.

“I will see what I can do but it will take at least an hour to get all these things together. I am also not certain about the food stores but will do the best I can. Do you wish to be apprised of substitutions?”

I nodded. “That would be very considerate of you.”

He sighed and nodded. “Very well, Miss Gabriel, will there be anything else?”

“No. I have to do some minor repairs but I will speak with the deck officer about the ship parts I might need, although if you have a spare set of coveralls or a flight suit that I can get dirty in I’d appreciate that, I wasn’t planning on playing mechanic this trip so I didn’t bring mine.”

“You are a certified mechanic as well?” he was surprised.

I grinned. “Yes. I am.”

He shook his head in disbelief. “Come with me, I’ll kit you out. I am not sure we have one that will fit you properly, you are a little on the small side for regulation Imperial clothing.”

I laughed as I walked beside him to the ship’s stores room, where he dug through his supplies until he found a fabric flight suit which was small enough that I would not swim in it. I thanked him and made my way back to the flight deck to get to work on the shuttle. I took a walk around the Sigiri. I never tired of looking at her, she was a pretty ship. I guess I was not alone because I had to shoo a very persistent maintenance droid away from her. The droids were usually assigned to hull scrubbing and minor repairs but I generally didn’t want their help. Once he left me alone I did a quick outside check and then went inside to check the engines.

The engines were located under the passenger compartment. There was a maintenance hatch located midship’s behind the exit ramp. There was enough room to move about and who ever had designed this ship and her engine room had done a bang up job. I went through the airlock and the EV suits to check that everything was in good shape and then I went to work on the engine. I was in the middle of checking the hyperdrive fluid levels when the supplies started to arrive. By the time everything was on board and stowed away, I had pretty much finished what I was doing and was satisfied that we would not blow up half way there.

I commed Thrawn to tell him the shuttle was ready when ever he was and then headed back to my quarters to shower and change for the trip. As usual, I took the long way up, along the stairs and gantries. I was almost out of the docking bay when I caught sight of Lord Vader sweeping in. I stood on the high gantry and watched as he stood with Thrawn talking to an alien the likes of which I had never seen before. He was small of stature and had grey skin. There was not an ounce of fat on him, bipedal and muscular, I knew without a doubt that this was a creature honed for the hunt. I stared at him until Lord Vader, sensing my presence looked up, the alien’s gaze followed. He wasn’t pretty and I suppressed the urge to shiver. Lord Vader sent me a wave of displeasure at my hesitation. I was wasting time, something he despised. I sighed and quickly left the hanger bay. The sooner I was ready to get on the go the soon this job would be done and I could get back to my regular chaotic life.

By the time I was ready, Lord Vader and the alien had gone from the hanger and Thrawn was speaking with his deck officer. I glanced at him and he gave me a slight nod of acknowledgement. I was anxious to get on the go. I dumped my belongings in the crew room, did a quick walk through the ship to make sure that everything which should be safely stowed away was. I was sitting in the cockpit going through my pre flight check when Thrawn joined me. His hand warm on my shoulder as he let me know he was there.

“You all set?” I asked putting the headset on.

He slid into the co-pilot’s seat and strapped in. “Yes. I take it you found everything you needed?”

I nodded and began departure procedure. The ship’s engines hummed and flight control gave me to the okay to go. The Sigiri slid out of the hanger, through the force field and into space. I was happy with the little tune up I had given her. She sounded a lot smoother than when I had flown her here.

Corellia danced beneath us and I smiled. We would have to get away from the gravity well of the planet before we could go into hyperspace but to see a planet whole and beautiful, hanging in the inkiness of space always took my breath away. I began to punch in the co ordinates and routes into the nav-computer to meet up with the Avenger in the Derra system. Once we were clear of the planet’s gravity the hyperdrive kicked in, stars elongated and we slid smoothly into the hyperspace lane.

Ten minutes after our jump into hyperspace Thrawn sighed as he looked up from the datapad he had been studying. “So, my dear, how long will the first jump take?”

“Seven hours.” I told him as I set the auto pilot.

He got up and patted my shoulder. “I have not had a chance to rest since my return from Corellia, will you be alright up here on your own?”

“Yes.” I told him. “When do you want me to wake you?”

“In six hours, unless there is a problem.”

I nodded, getting up. “Okay, what cabin did you take?”

He told me as we left the cockpit.

“Okay.” I said following him as far as the small galley. It was late morning now and I was hungry. I hadn’t had the chance to grab breakfast so now was as good a time as any. He stopped and looked at me as I set the kettle on the small heater.

“Maybe you’ll make some spiced coffee for me later?” He asked.

“If you’re lucky.”

“I could make it worth your while…” he teased.

It had the opposite effect it was supposed to. I sighed. “Why am I here?” I asked him suddenly. “You should have a proper pilot and a gaggle of stormtroopers watching after you. This is highly irregular.”

“A gaggle?”

I gave him a look, rubbed my forehead with my fingertips. I was tired and in no mood for games.

He gave me a slight smile “Lord Vader seems to think we work well together. The Emperor wants my involvement in the project kept quiet and both men know that I work better alone without an entourage. You are a good pilot and trust me, we are in no danger. Or would you rather be surrounded by the Emperor’s finest?”

I sighed. “Just wondering about this arrangement, it seems awfully convenient.”

“Are you complaining about being alone with me?”

I shook my head. “No, but it feels a bit like a set up or something.”

He grinned. “The Sigiri is not full of spy and surveillance equipment, no one is watching us flirt.”

“How would you know?”

“The reason you were assigned this shuttle is because she is not set up for that. She is used for milk runs with lesser dignitaries. She flies under the radar, so to speak.” He said. “My crew did an internal and external sweep after you and your uncle disembarked. She’s clean.”

I drew a deep breath and nodded. “If you say so.”

He frowned. “What’s bothering you?”

“I should not be your pilot and you should be travelling with a full crew. This is just not right on so many levels I cannot even begin to list them. Is this a game to you and Lord Vader? You think this is fun to keep putting me in a situation like this?”

“What situation is this like?” he asked coolly. I could hear the crossness in his voice now and knew that the conversation would start to go downhill, unless I got to the point. He was tired.

“Don’t you find this improper?”

“No.” he said then with a sigh added. “A’myshk’a, Vader knows what you are capable of, he trusts you to do your job and he knows that I will do mine. The job comes first for both of us. I know what you are thinking but that simply isn’t the case. I discovered something while I was on Corellia, a smuggler ship with a shipment of arms for the rebellion. No one and I mean no one but you, myself, Lord Vader and, I suspect, the Emperor knows of this information. Vader is making certain it stays that way. No matter how many precautions we take there are breeches in security, lately, far too many of these leaks for my tastes. We wished to make it difficult for the spies who seem so prevalent among us.” He paused, when I didn’t say anything he continued.

“The more people on board this shuttle the greater the chance this information that we have will be leaked, the greater the chance that someone will warn the rebels that we know. We will only get one shot at this. That is why it is just you and me. Vader knows just how good you are and he knows you have what it takes to get me there in one piece. He trusts that I will do my job and come up with a way to stop these people from delivering this arms shipment and what ever else they may have planned.” He stopped and looked at me for a moment. “Did you think this was some sort of punishment? That Vader has you here with me because he likes to watch you suffer? He could care less what relationship you and I have as long as we get the jobs we are assigned to do done.” He shook his head. “You need to start looking at the larger picture. You stopped being just his office girl a long time ago, when will you wake up and see this?”

It was my turn to sigh. “You both make my life so damned complicated!”

He came to me then, cupped my face in both his hands. “Complications keep it interesting.” He said. His eyes staring into mine, studying my expression trying to read my thoughts, trying to make his understood. I closed my eyes as I slid my arms around his waist and held him to me tightly. I didn’t speak, I didn’t look up and I didn’t let go. With my head against his chest, I could hear his heart beat. He kissed the top of my head as he wrapped his arms around me. I felt him relax as he sensed the tension I had been holding slowly unwind. He drew a deep breath and separated himself from me. I just rested my forehead against his chest.

“Not everything is one of the Emperor’s games and not everything that happens is about you, either.” He spoke gently. A curled finger lifted my chin upward so I looked him in the face. “Vader trusts you; you have an unbelievable position in his life which no one understands or dares to question. I think that you need to learn to trust his judgement. You would not be here if he did not think you were more than capable. If you can’t trust him, will you at least trust me?”

I just stared at him then, after a moment, nodded.

He smiled slightly. “I know you are tired, wound up and that the last few days have not been easy but try to relax a little. We have time to be together before we reach the Avenger and there is nothing else going on. No one except Vader knows our destination, you checked out the ship from stem to stern so there is nothing to worry about. When I’ve rested I’ll cook for you if you like and over dinner I’ll tell you about my time as Kast and what happened on Corellia.”

“Okay.” I said, accepting his peace offering. “You should go and rest, you look exhausted.”

He kissed me lightly on the lips, more an affectionate afterthought than a sign of passion and then went to his cabin. I sighed as I made myself a sandwich and poured a generous cup of tea then headed back up to the cockpit. I had a half finished book to read in my satchel and there was no place else I needed to be but as I tried to read I found I just couldn’t concentrate. No matter how much I wanted to believe everything Thrawn had told me a small part of me could not help but feel uneasy. I ate my sandwich absently, stared out into the eerie light of the hyperspace lane and tried to put my worries aside. He was right I was over tired and stressed, never a good combination. It had a tendency to make me jumpy and paranoid. I put my feet up on the consol and picked up my book again, determined to get beyond my own case of nerves.

I knew from my past experiences when flying longer hauls with Thrawn that we generally abandoned the traditional watch system in favour for what worked for us. We took turns on watch and mostly worked with as well as around each other. He could go for longer periods without sleep than I could but I found it easier to doze or take little naps, something he didn’t do. I enjoyed sitting in the cockpit reading, studying the star charts and ship’s database or just staring out into space but I fidgeted a lot. He would get annoyed with that and leave, often going to some quiet out of the way space to meditate or read. We travelled well together despite the differences.

I set up my own routines. I walked through the ship once an hour give or take, spent time with the engine, and mostly read a lot. No matter what people said, long haul space travel was dull for the most part. I was very happy with dull.

With Thrawn resting, the ship was very peaceful. Unlike my own ship, the lambda class shuttle’s engines were very quiet by comparison. The ride was smooth and easy. As I walked through the Sigiri, checking everything was in order I thought about my uncle’s question as to why I had not chosen a career as a pilot. Certainly I was never happier than when I was flying. It made me smile as I navigated my way through the ship under blue light which the Imperial Navy favoured over red.

Space was dark unless one travelled too close to a star. Having standard lighting was useful but for a pilot going from normal white light to the dark cockpit it was annoying. It took time for my eyes to adjust, okay, not much but enough to make a difference should something go wrong. I insisted that the ship go to dark when I flew. Thrawn didn’t mind, he had exceptionally good night vision anyway and the blue watch light didn’t bother him at all. I liked the quiet atmosphere it gave the ship. Somehow it made the trip seem less hectic and calmer. The Sigiri was easy to navigate around. It hadn’t taken me long to get to know her and be able to get about without worrying about bashing my feet, or knocking my knees into something.

The six hours Thrawn had wanted to rest passed by quickly and uneventfully. I had managed to nap, catching up a little on my sleep, as well as spend time studying the star charts for the system we were headed to. Ten minutes before he had asked me to wake him I got up and made spiced coffee.

Spiced coffee was a Tatooine drink, locally known as mek’kefa. I don’t know who had first created it although the myths often said it was the Sand people. I doubted this was actually true since the beans that made the coffee were not locally grown and expensive to come by. I suspected it was actually something the Hutts had brought with them. They had a liking for exotic things but since no one ever wanted to admit to liking something the Hutts liked a whole story had been woven up around the drink and like most things that made their way to Tatooine the recipe had been adapted to the planet over the years.

I liked my spiced coffee the way my uncle made it, so after much wheedling and pleading he had finally; under pain of death should I ever tell anyone else, given me his recipe. I was pretty certain he was teasing about the pain of death threat but sometimes one could never tell with him. You could get premixed, ready to go spiced coffee but I always found it tasted awful so I always made it from scratch. I had dark roasted beans that were finely ground to a powder then added the spices and the honey. The specially designed carafe allowed the mixture to boil without over flowing, you had to watch it and nurse it a bit and it took longer than using one of the automatic machines that could be found around but it was worth it. I liked the procedure, there was a sort of peace in it, and I suppose it reminded me of home. The scent of the spices mixed with the dark roasted grounds always reminded me of sun, warmth and my uncle’s kitchen.

Thrawn had not enjoyed the drink the first time he had tried it. I had expected this, it was an acquired tasted. The drink, which was usually served in small glasses without handles, was thick and strong and there were always grounds at the bottom of the glass. The first taste on the tongue is very bitter, but the aftertaste of the honey is delicious and it is easy to become addicted to it. I had not expected him to come around because he wasn’t overly fond of things that were bitter so when he developed a taste for it I was surprised. I smiled as I poured a glass for him. Sometimes I would wake him up with a cup in the mornings if I had gotten up first when we had been living together.

He had chosen the state room down at the end of the short corridor. It was quiet and relatively spacious. I wandered down the darkened hall humming to myself. The scent of the drink I carried wafting through the air. There was a specific way of holding the glass so that one didn’t burn one’s fingers, but it was a tenuous grip to say the least. I hit the door button and stepped through into the room. The door hissed shut behind me and the room was almost pitch black. For a second I stood to get my bearings and let my eyes adjust to the darkness. I knew where he was, I didn’t need to see him, I could sense him through the force. I stepped towards the bed, smiling in anticipation of his reaction.

He had told me once that the open affection between us was a rare and precious thing, that he treasured it deeply. The Chiss were not generally known for their ability to be affectionate. He had said that I allowed him this. I had not thought that I would have anything to give back but he had remarked that this could not be further from the truth. I could still hear his voice telling me in the quiet of the night that I was as much as gift to him as he was to me and that while maybe I complicated his life, he would not have it any other way. The memory of that night and what had followed after he has said this to me caused me to blush, if there had been time I would have been grateful for the dark but instead at that moment something, someone grabbed my arms from behind, the glass in my hand fell to the floor and smashed, as I began to yell a powerful hand clamped over my mouth and the second hand that held me moved to clamp around my throat. I could not move. I flinched when the room was suddenly flooded with light and blinked the sudden tears away as my eyes watered in protest. The hand at my mouth moved to hold me from struggling. I twisted my head around to see who it was that was holding me, trying to choke the life out of me and then I yelped in fright.

Cloak and Shadows 4

Lord Vader strode down the shuttle’s ramp, his cloak flowing behind him. I could tell by the way he walked that he was not overly happy. The stormtroopers and officers that were there to greet him all snapped to attention and saluted as he passed. He ignored them. Captain Niriz began to speak but Lord Vader cut him off with a brusque flap of his hand and turned to look at me.

“Good evening Lord Vader.” I said handing him the data pad I had been holding. “I trust your flight was a pleasant one?”

He looked at the datapad and growled something unintelligible about bad pilots as he walked to the turbo lift. I had to trot to keep up, as did captain Niriz.

“Have you more to add to this, girl?” he snapped, sensing my thoughts.

“Prince Xizor was really annoyed with your last request for rescheduling the meeting over the possible new ship designs he wishes to discuss with you. He has demanded to speak with you personally. His office refuses to communicate with me any more until you comply.”

“You may inform the Prince that if he wishes to speak to me he must make an appointment through you. If he doesn’t like that then he will not get to speak with me. What else?”

I sighed. The battle of wills between Lord Vader and Prince Xizor was getting beyond the pointless and stupid stage. “The latest batch of Probe droids will be ready in two days. I asked them to deliver, as per your request, to the Executor but they will need to know where to deliver them to.”

He nodded as we stepped out of the turbo lift and headed towards the bridge. “Next?”

“Admiral Thrawn will be delayed in meeting with you. He has encountered an unexpected difficulty. There is no ETA as of yet.” I said.

He paused and turned to look at me then at Captain Niriz who paled visibly, but before he could do or say anything else I added. “And the Emperor wishes to speak with you, at your earliest convenience.”

“Why did you not say that right away!” he snarled and turned on Captain Niriz. “I require privacy!”

The Captain nodded and showed Lord Vader to Thrawn’s ready room with a secure HoloNet transmitter. Only after the door closed did the captain turn to me and raise his eyebrows.

“That was a clever trick.” He said.

I gave him a small smile. “Distraction works best when delivering news that might annoy him. He’ll be more cross that I didn’t tell him about the Emperor wishing to speak with him than about anything else but by the time he’s finished speaking with his master he will have mostly forgotten about being cross over the bad news.”

“What happens when that doesn’t work?”

I gave him a slight smile. “You don’t really want to know.”

He nodded.

“What do you suppose the Admiral is doing down there?” I asked as I walked over to the side view port and looked at the planet of Corellia. It seemed small and fragile from the high orbit the Admonitor had taken. I wondered where the Executor was. I couldn’t see her, but I was sure she was not far away.

Niriz shrugged. “Confusing the devil out of who ever he ends up working with I suspect.”

That made me laugh because it was most likely true. Niriz smiled but then stiffened as Lord Vader returned to the bridge. He made a come here gesture with his hand and with a little glance at the Captain I did as he asked.

“You have a secure work station?” he asked.

I nodded.

“Show me.” He said grabbing for my arm, I dodged him and we left the bridge together. The walk to the quarters I had been assigned was silent and when we entered the room, it seemed suddenly smaller with Lord Vader in it.

“It would appear that Prince Xizor is unimpressed by your secretarial skills and has complained to the Emperor about my lack of co operation in the matter of meetings.” Lord Vader said as he began to punch a code into the HoloNet transmitter. “Go stand out of the transmission range.” He ordered and flapped his hand at me in a get out of my sight manner.

I did as he asked and sat down in the chair in the corner of the room away from the HoloNet transmitter to watch.

The small holoprojecter flickered to life and the familiar image of Price Xizor’s blond female assistant flickered into place.

“Lord Vader, what an unexpected surprise….”

He cut her off. “Dispense with the false pleasantries Guri, where is he?” he snapped.

“If you are referring to Prince Xizor then I am afraid he is unavailable.” She replied coolly.

“He complained to my Master that I was unreachable and now he refuses to speak with me? Is this how he intends to curry my favour?”

Guri drew a deep breath and folded her arms in that all too familiar stance of defiance. “Your female assistant is difficult to deal with.” Guri told him after a few moments. “She is insolent, defiant and …”

Again Lord Vader cut her off. “Miss Gabriel does as she is instructed. If you are displeased with her performance then you should direct your complaints to me. The Emperor has better things to do than to listen to the whining of the spoiled, wealthy, social elite over misunderstandings with a mere office girl. Get Xizor on line immediately or there will be repercussions!”

She paused just a moment to let Lord Vader know she was not happy at how she was being spoken to and then she nodded. “He is indisposed at this very moment. He will be available in ten minutes.”

“Use this holonet address!” Lord Vader said and terminated the connection.

I watched as he sat back in the too small chair and folded his arms across his chest. “Indisposed!” he snorted. “Lounging in his bathtub more like!”

“I am not going to ask how you know that.” I said.

“Probably for the best that you do not.” He nodded and then as the transmitter peeped for the incoming signal. Lord Vader waved his hand at me to sit still and he accepted the transmission.

“Prince Xizor, how good of you to take time out of your busy schedule to meet with me.” Lord Vader said, the sarcasm in his voice was unmistakable.

“Think nothing of it Lord Vader, how may I assist you?” the prince oozed charm and I shuddered involuntarily.

“It was my understanding that you wished to speak with me, in fact you were so adamant about it you even went to the Emperor to express dismay at my not being available.”

There was a momentary silence and I had to cover my mouth with my hand to keep from giggling. The holo image of the Prince shivered and then realigned.

Prince Xizor inclined his head, his topknot pony tail swinging with his movement. “I merely mentioned to his Excellency how busy you must be, because you were nearly impossible to reach and I had valuable information to impart. The young lady who arranges your calendar is most unhelpful in these matters. I prefer to deal with you directly, after all we are supposed to be working closely on this proposed project….”

I could feel Lord Vader working very hard to maintain his cool. “Get to the point.” He snapped.

Xizor smiled and began to give Lord Vader detailed information on the latest project they were, in theory, working on. It was interesting and long winded but much to my surprise Lord Vader did not interrupt and when Xizor had finished he was quiet for a moment.

“This is a worthy endevour. I trust your people are capable of producing these prototypes?”

Xizor nodded. “I guarantee their work.” He said.

Lord Vader leaned in close to the holo projector. “For your sake, Xizor, I hope so.” He growled. “Go behind my back again to complain to the Emperor and you will feel my wrath, do we have an understanding?”

“I believe we do, Lord Vader.” The prince said smoothly.

Vader nodded and terminated the connection, sat back in the chair and tilted his head to one side, looking at me. “What did you sense from him?”

“You mean was he lying?” I asked surprised at his question.

Lord Vader nodded.

“It’s difficult for me to tell especially with holograms and the Prince is always hiding something but I didn’t get the impression that anything he said to you in this message was a direct lie.”

“What do you mean, always hiding something?”

I shrugged. “It is hard to define. You are always angry. When I perceive you using my gifts you come across to me like white noise. The emperor is like smoke. I receive almost nothing from him. With the Prince it is like he is wrapped in mirrors. What you see on the surface is not what is happening underneath. It isn’t that he is lying but he hides behind a facade. Does that make sense?”

He stared at me for a moment then nodded. “Yes, it makes perfect sense.” He got up and started to pace around the room. “He is up to something, I sense it but so far nothing he has done warrants my suspicion. In the last few years he has curried great favour with the Emperor and garnered a place in the high court. I do not understand why my master allows this. ”

“Maybe because he heads Black Sun?” I said tartly. “I am quite sure he is always up to something, perhaps this way the Emperor feels he can keep a closer eye on him.”

“He hides his Black Sun activities behind legitimate businesses. He is clever and difficult to catch, how ever eventually he will slip up and I will have the evidence I need to prove that I am right about his motives for wishing to work so closely within the Royal Court.”

I drew a deep breath. “You spy on each other.”

“Of course we do, you stupid girl. How else would I know what he is doing?” Lord Vader said.

“So, if he knows what you are doing and vice versa then why did he run to the Emperor and complain about me behind your back like a spoiled little school boy?” I said crossly.

I could sense the smile behind Lord Vader’s mask, it was slow and nasty. “That was a power play. In doing so he is telling me that he exerts some small influence over the Emperor and I must bend to his wishes.” He said thoughtfully.

“Well that’s just a waste of time!”

“Yes, it is but Xizor does not see it this way, he sees these small power plays as little victories, undermining my place at the Emperor’s side. He is obsequious and he manages to twists words to his advantage. He wheedles his way around the Emperor in a most displeasing manner.” Lord Vader said. “And my Master sees fit to allow it, although to what end I don’t know.” He stopped pacing and looked at me. “However, I am sure that together we can find this out.”

“Together?” I asked carefully not liking the sound of that at all.

“You are the daughter of a Jedi with an unusual talent for disseminating truth from lie. I believe you will be present more often than you have been during some of my meetings with the Prince. I take it he does not know of your talents.”

I shrugged. “I don’t think he knows anything about me, except that I am your annoying office girl. I don’t even think he recalls the incident at the Grand Ball from three years ago.”

“Incident? Explain.”

I sighed, got up and made my self a cup of tea while I told him about the Prince’s little trick using pheromones and how Shiv had saved me at the Grand Ball where I had first been presented to the Emperor. I described the sensation of being enthralled and how addled it had made my head feel.

“You should have spoken of this at the time it happened.” He said. He was annoyed but there was no real anger in his words.

“I was a bit overwhelmed at the time!” I retorted. “And you were not in the best of moods! Besides since when were you ever interested in my personal life, or the mating rituals of the Falleen?” I asked.

“Your private life does not interest me at all but threats to Imperial security do. You have access to a great deal of personal information about me and my life, as well as sensitive information about Imperial business. I can only imagine what sort of information you would let slip while mating with a creature who possesses the power to addle your brain.”

I almost choked on my tea. “Mate!!??” I shuddered involuntarily. “I would never mate with that man!”

“It is my understanding from what you told me that you would have had no choice, he would have beguiled you into doing so.”

He was making me cross but he was also right. “Well lucky for me Shiv knew what was going on and saved me from being …how did you put it, beguiled.” I said snarkily.

“I shall remember to thank him the next time I see him.” He retorted. “You do seem to attract the scyks and Xizor is one of the worst.”

I sighed. “And you want me to be in the same room with this particular scyk?”

“Do you feel you are likely to wish to couple with him?” he inquired.

I gave him my best version of a hard stare. “No, he is repulsive and besides I already have my hands full, and contrary to popular belief I am not promiscuous, one man in my life is enough!”

Lord Vader laughed. Something which always made my skin crawl. It was a truly disturbing sound because the vocal augmentation and his breathing regulator made his laugher something that sounded like a cross between a huurton howler and a baby Krayt dragon. I just made a face.

He stopped pacing and stood at the window with his back to me, then he glanced over his shoulder and looked at me. “I was unaware that he used chemical means to attract females. It would explain why he cannot seem to keep them around.”

It was my turn to laugh. “He gets bored of them and then he dumps them often unceremoniously.” I said.

Lord Vader nodded. “Of course he does. Where is the challenge in pursuing then maintaining a relationship when it is handed to you on a chemically induced platter?” he asked. “I am quite certain Admiral Thrawn did not pursue you because you were easy prey. It took him three years to finally bed you, did it not?”

I just blinked at him and for a few moments I was utterly speechless. That was Lord Vader, blunt and to the point as always. Tact was not high on his list of things he cared about. While I had been fairly certain that my relationship with Thrawn had never been a big secret from Lord Vader, hearing him discuss it so offhandedly in that manner was disturbing. I sighed.

“Seeing as how he is on your mind, what exactly is the nature of the Admiral’s delay?” Lord Vader asked. He was picking up my thoughts.

“He is on my mind because you brought him up.” I said crossly. “Stay out of my head!”

“Learn not to broadcast your feelings so openly then.”

“I’m trying.”

“Try harder!” he growled. “The last thing I need is a love sick assistant, who cannot keep her mind on the job at hand.”

It was on the tip of my tongue to snap back, asking him what he knew about it but I managed to bite back my words in time. He knew exactly what I was feeling because he had gone through that with Padmé. During the Clone wars they had been separated more than they had been together. They had also had to sneak around, hiding their relationship, their love, their marriage. I couldn’t really argue with him because he was sort of right. I hadn’t thought I was that obvious but Lord Vader wasn’t stupid and he had been through the same thing. Instead I answered his original question.

“Admiral Thrawn did not state what the delay was caused by, only that he expected the job he was doing to take a few hours more than previously expected.” I said, finishing my drink. “The Emperor will not like you having me spy on the prince.” I added shifting the topic of conversation away from Thrawn.

“Then it would be best if he were not to find out, wouldn’t it.” He asked looking at me.

“I guess you need to teach me to mask my thoughts better, then.” I said with a little shrug.

He continued to stare at me and then gave me a small nod. “That can be arranged now as it appears we have some spare time until Thrawn returns.” He said tartly. “Sit down and I shall try to get some instructions through that stubborn skull of yours! These techniques will require discipline, something you lack a great deal of.”

I nodded and did as he bid, grateful for the time alone to train with him. I knew he had learned to mask his feelings from the Emperor and now I hoped he would teach me this technique. As he paced around the room around me I sat and slowly slipped into the stillness that I found when I meditated. With his words in my ears I began to follow his instructions. I had learned to listen and do as he said. It would be a long session and he was going to work me hard but I expected nothing less and smiled.

As I sat, desert style listening to the cadence of his voice I wondered if he knew how much he had come to mean to me. I was reasonably sure that my birth mother would be turning over in her grave at the thought of her daughter being taught by and admiring one of the most hated men in the galaxy, the man who had once been Anakin Skywalker the betrayer of the Jedi Order. I wondered what the irony in all of this was supposed to teach me. If there was a lesson I couldn’t see it.

“Pay attention!” Lord Vader snapped, cuffing my head with his hand as he sensed my drifting thoughts.

I nodded and did as he asked. Avoiding the Emperor and his probing had become my primary goal, no one was better at this than lord Vader, despite what the Emperor thought.