Chapter XIV – Ravings
and Musings – Part I
In
the wee hours well before dawn…
“She’s still here,” Cela told herself, half
surprised. “I only hope I haven’t lost my mind,” she
continued as she disabled the Conquest’s
defensive system and waited for the ramp to lower so
she could climb aboard. “I hope she stays asleep. If
I wake her –” Scampering up the platform, Cela took
a quick glance around and darted inside. All the
equipment was in ‘standby mode’ as if Mara had
wanted to make a hasty departure should the need
arise. I wonder what’s going on? she
pondered. Navigating through the ships dim
passageway’s, Cela went to her quarters, stripped
out of her clothes, and lay down on her bed. Morning
was only a few hours away and she knew she had to
get her story straight by then.
__________________________________*****__________________________________
Early
morning…
Obi-Wan awoke first and slowly walked into the
fresher. He knew a hot shower would invigorate him
and as the days turned into years he seemed to need
that more and more. Age, he tried to mentally
remind himself, is a process that even a Jedi
cannot defeat.
He
turned on the water to let it warm up to the desired
temperature and took a look in the mirror. He rubbed
his chin with one hand, taking in the abundance of
gray strands that were occupying his goatee. He then
turned his attention to the lines that graced the
corners of his eyes, signifying his age. He began to
realize the inevitable was happening – his youth had
slipped away from him only to be replaced by the
image before him now. Albeit an older and wiser
version, he silently vowed that he would make these
the best years of his life – and Sakoya’s. The depth
of love he had for his wife couldn’t be measured,
nor should it be, it was boundless and he could
think of no one he would rather share his life with.
No, Sakoya was his soul mate and he knew that if she
were to come to harm, it would be as if he were
wounded himself.
“Are you alright?” Sakoya asked as she padded into
the fresher and saw her husband gazing wistfully
into the mirror.
Obi-Wan turned toward his bride and took the step
forward that separated them and enveloped her into
his embrace. “Good morning, sunshine,” he told her
as he nuzzled her ear.
Happily surprised, Sakoya whispered, “Yes, it is.
Would you like your back washed this morning?”
Obi-Wan sighed and hugged her tighter. “You’re in
good spirits this morning.”
Sakoya dipped her head to her chest, closed her
eyes, and then took a deep breath. She stayed that
way for a few seconds and then raised her head,
meeting her husband’s concerned gaze. “Yes. I was
able to sleep soundly, which I imagine you had
something to do with.” She eyed him suspiciously.
“Perhaps,” he replied with a grin.
Sakoya smiled and kissed him. “Thank you, love. Now
about that back washing…”
“What did I do to deserve you?”
“A
question I ask myself daily,”
she replied teasingly.
Obi-Wan
didn’t want to let his wife go but he also didn’t
want their company in the other room to find them in
any compromising positions. Reluctantly, he pulled
out of their embrace and cupped his wife’s chin in
his hand. “Would you see to our guest while I
shower?”
Sakoya’s
eyes twinkled knowingly as she said, “Of course, but
I owe you later.”
“I’m
looking forward to it,” he countered with a wink as
he allowed his
garments to fall to the floor.
Sakoya took a long appreciative glance and then
slowly left the fresher.
__________________________________*****__________________________________
“What happened to you? Where have you been?” A
visibly upset Mara hovered over Cela’s bed. She was
dressed in her all too familiar black jumpsuit, a
one-piece leather outfit that hugged her like a
glove.
“Huh?” Cela replied sleepily.
“You didn’t come back right away! Did something
happen?” Mara demanded, her agitation clear in her
body stance.
Cela groggily sat up and grabbed her head with her
hands. “I-I don’t remember,” she lied. “I was in the
cave as you instructed and then everything went
black. I vaguely remember trying to find my way
through town…somehow I made it back here.”
Mara stood with her hands on her hips, scrutinizing
the girl and trying to decide if she were telling
the truth or not. “What do you mean you don’t
remember? Were you assaulted?”
Cela rubbed her temples, trying to make her head
stop throbbing. She’d had too little sleep to endure
one of her mistress’s barrages but in a way it was
advantageous. Mara was more apt to believe her in
her current state. “I-I…don’t remember. I don’t
think anything was missing but I wasn’t carrying
much. Maybe someone thought to rob me.” She paused
briefly and then continued, “I’m sorry, Mistress
Mara.”
Cela appeared a little too dazed in Mara’s opinion
to be lying. The minutes passed and the teenager’s
demeanor still hadn’t changed. “I’ll let you off
this time. Don’t ever let it happen again,
understand?” she growled.
“I
won’t, Miss Mara, I promise,” Cela replied, her tone
quite subdued. She didn’t dare breathe a sigh of
relief – not yet. “Would you like me to prepare
breakfast?” she asked, glancing up at Mara who
looked as if her thoughts were far away. Cela waited
for an answer but when one wasn’t forthcoming she
got out of bed and dressed herself. After she
finished, Cela sat back down and awaited Mara’s
instructions.
“Do you know what is in that vial?” Mara finally
said.
Cela glanced around uneasily, “N-no.”
“I’ll tell you – the ability to make me a rich
woman. A toxin that could change life and with it –
power,” Mara’s fists clenched tightly, “and a new
respect.”
“Wh-what does it do?” Cela timidly inquired. She
couldn’t believe Mara was actually sharing this
information with her. Not wanting to give Mara any
reason to stop talking, Cela kept her level of
excitement tightly guarded.
Mara’s head whipped over to glare at her slave, her
dilated eyes boring into the young girl’s blue orbs.
“From what I have gathered in my tests and other
information, in my estimation a full version of this
toxin could kill a person within minutes of
exposure. That is if its creator is whom I believe.”
She paused as if she were contemplating something.
“However, the sample I have is diluted so much that
I believe its effects would be minuscule.”
“But how –”
Mara interrupted the girl, her own desires frothing
to the surface. “I went back to the cave last night
– to gather all the samples. Those dim witted pukes
had no idea what they had. Just think,” she put her
hands on her hips as an air of supremacy emanated
from her, “holding that kind of power in your
hands…”
Cela looked confused. If Mara went back to the cave
and retrieved the samples…why was she still here?
The Emperor’s Hand looked directly at her
slave. “But enough, I’ve said enough. Perhaps I need
a test subject. Considering you’re one of the only
people left who knows about this.”
Cela’s eyes widened in horror. “NO! Please, Miss
Mara, no.” Cela held her arms out in front of her.
She paused for a moment and then nervously inquired,
“One of?”
“Someone took the rest of the vials before I could
get them. They could have stumbled upon them in the
cave but I doubt it. Those insufferable brothers
must have had someone else involved that I don’t
know about.” Mara sneered at the teenager. “But I
can’t have you divulging this,” she said
thoughtfully.
Cela’s mind was reeling. Mara had never acted this
way before and it was scaring the teenager
senseless. Had this toxin somehow gotten to Mara
during her tests? Had she drank some or exposed
herself some other way? “Mi-mistress Ma-ra, please,”
Cela begged as she broke into a cold sweat, “I-I can
help you. We can find this other person and get the
toxin from them. We-we can do it together.” Mara’s
eyes had a wild look, one that Cela had never seen
and she vowed silently that she wouldn’t touch or
smell even the minutest trace of the toxin.
Mara began to reach for her lightsaber even as she
considered the proposition and finally nodded her
head. Her hand moving away from her weapon, she
stated, “Fine. I won’t kill you now, but that may
change. I’m going to my quarters. Fix me some
breakfast and bring it to me there,” she barked and
quickly turned away, striding out of Cela’s small
room.
Cela sat on her bed for a few minutes completely
befuddled. She wasn’t quite sure what to do and
instead ran her fingers through her silver locks,
massaging her head. Mara’s behavior was erratic at
best and to say the teenager was confused was an
understatement. “What just happened?” she asked
herself.
__________________________________*****__________________________________
Sakoya walked out into the main room of their suite
expecting to find Cela fast asleep. What she wasn’t
prepared for was the empty couch and strewn blanket
that was sharing itself with the couch and floor.
“Oh, Cela…nooo,” she said sadly, her hand reaching
up and covering her mouth. Sakoya looked around,
hoping the girl would have left some kind of message
but there was none. She stopped in the middle of the
room, her hands on her hips, and a look of
consternation upon her face. “She went back to
Mara’s ship, she had to of.” Disappointed, Sakoya
picked up the remote for the holovid and turned it
on. As she watched the news highlights flash across
the screen she muttered, “I hope she knows what
she’s doing.”
Obi-Wan, feeling invigorated after his shower,
strode into the main room of their suite hoping to
find a hot cup of caf waiting for him. Instead, he
found his wife sitting at the desk, staring at a
blank viewscreen looking as though she were another
world away. The Jedi Master looked around for Cela,
expecting the two women to be chatting over an
entire range of subjects.
“Where is Cela?” he inquired.
“Gone.” Sakoya sounded crestfallen.
Obi-Wan walked up behind her and wrapped his arms
around her. “I can’t say I’m surprised,” the Jedi
sadly confessed. “Our young friend seems to be the
determined type. Still, you can’t mother everyone,
my dear.”
“No, and I can’t say I’m surprised either,” she
replied in the same tone as before. “But I’m worried
about her. If Mara is as bad as she let on –”
“Then I’m sure she knows how to handle the
situation. We have no way of finding her and I’m
sure you already thought of trying to locate Mara by
name through the local authorities.”
Sakoya nodded.
“And?” he pressed.
“No one has used the registered name of Mara Jade.
She could call herself ‘Palpatine’ for all we know.
Which she didn’t, by the way.”
Obi-Wan was about to ask that question when Sakoya
answered it for him.
“We made a vow to her, Obi-Wan,” Sakoya reminded
him.
He
nodded. “Yes, we did and I will honor that vow
should she return.”
“Maybe we should go look for her?”
The Jedi Master shook his head. “She could be
anywhere. Mara’s ship could be anywhere and I don’t
think she’s the type of person to broadcast her
location.”
Sakoya slowly stood up and walked around her husband
and the desk, only stopping once she reached the
middle of the room. She kept her back to him and her
stance suggested defiance. “I don’t like feeling
helpless. I can’t just sit here and do nothing.”
“Cela knows where to find us. If she’s able, she’ll
come back – trust her.”
Sakoya suddenly turned around, her eyes flashing not
in anger but frustration. “She’s a child, Obi-Wan!”
she stated adamantly.
Obi-Wan knew that determined look and also knew that
arguing wouldn’t help. Instead, he veered the
conversation toward another subject. “We still have
to check out Garen. We can go to the front desk and
ask for him.”
Sakoya crossed her arms and sighed. “If something
happens to her…”
__________________________________*****__________________________________
Cela slowly made her way into the small kitchenette
on board the ship and began to make her mistress
some type of breakfast. She opened a small cupboard
and removed a variety of spices and then moved over
to the cooler and took one of the large Hawk-bat
eggs, which are a renowned delicacy from Coruscant
that Mara insisted on obtaining whenever possible.
An
idea crept into her mind while the meal was cooking
and she instantly went back to the spice cupboard
and dug around until she found what she was looking
for. “Ah, there you are,” she exclaimed, taking hold
of the herb bottles. “This should do it,” she
commented with a mischievous grin.
Cela timidly knocked on the door to Mara’s quarters,
a tray of steaming food in her hand. When she
received no answer, she knocked again and waited.
The minutes passed and still there was no
acknowledgment from her mistress. Finally, she
opened the door herself and stepped inside.
“M-Mara?”
Mara Jade was lying stretched out on her bed, her
eyes fixated on the ceiling. Cela would have thought
she was asleep except for the fact that her eyes
were open. She carefully approached and set the tray
of food down on the small table next to the bed.
“Mistress Mara? I brought you something to eat.”
“Good. I’m hungry,” she answered back.
“W-would you care for anything else?” Cela almost
regretted asking.
Before Mara could reply she was sitting upright and
reaching for the food.
Cela was taken aback by the sudden movement and
hastily handed Mara the tray.
“I
remember a time when I baked cookies for the
Emperor. I thought he would like them.” Mara frowned
at her memory. “He didn’t and threw them at me. I
was punished for wasting my time so frivolously.”
Her eyes shifted from their straight-ahead,
unblinking gaze over to Cela and she asked, “I’m
supposed to kill you. Yes, I believe that’s right. I
was just thinking about that.”
Surprised, Cela swallowed hard. “N-no, I’m your
partner. I’m going to go find the one who stole the
vials from you,” she desperately uttered.
“Yes, you do that. Find the swamp rat and kill him.
The treasure is mine. Skywalker must die.”
Mara was talking in circles and Cela didn’t know
what to do other than play along. “I-I’ll find him,”
Cela assured her. “You eat and then rest.”
Mara looked down at the food and voraciously began
to devour it. “Go. Find the thief.” Mara waved off
the teenager with her hand.
Cela took a step backward and then another while
Mara ate. She managed to sidle over toward the
computer console and cast a sideways glance. She
immediately recognized a small vial, its contents
halfway gone.
“M-Miss Mara?” Cela interrupted the woman as she
gorged herself. “Did-did you drink that?” Cela
pointed toward the vial.
Mara didn’t even look up from her meal. “Of course
not! It spilled on my hand. Didn’t seem to hurt me
though.” She looked up, food dribbling out of the
corner of her mouth. “Maybe it isn’t what I
thought,” she commented and then commenced eating
again.
Nervous, Cela slowly began to back out of the room.
As she neared the door she glanced at Mara one more
time and shook her head. “I need to talk to the
Jedi,” she murmured as she opened the door and
slipped out of the room.
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