The Liberator/Part 18

Day 62 of the Liberation of Milagro

"I hate you," Kadelle muttered as she watched the drive glow of the Rogue's Gambit arc upwards toward space.

Mali Darakhan had the gall to look wounded. "That's a bit harsh."

"A bit harsh?! You're holding me as security!  Hutts do this!"

Nal, I want you to run a load of gravity mines to the northern front, Darakhan had said. The idea of going anywhere near Valin Aresh was a bit off the beaten path for them—Nal made it a practice for them to avoid active war zones—but the figure in credits he had quoted had made the deal too sweet to refuse. They had haggled on the details, Nal trying to pry a few more credits out of him, but Kadelle knew her sister well enough to know Nal wouldn't really turn the deal down; their accounts had been in the red most of the year, and not everyone to whom they owed money was the forgiving type. In the end they had all come to mutually acceptable terms, but Nal's suspicion had lingered.

What's the catch?

No catch, the Jedi had said; Kadelle grimaced just thinking about it. One third payment up front, you deliver the gravity mines to General Cazars, and I pay you the other two-thirds when you get back.

And you trust us not to just run off with the gravity mines and sell them to the highest bidder?

Well, of course I do, Darakhan had said, and smiled. Kadelle's staying here.

They had yelled at him then, and threatened, and guilted; Nal had actually poked him in the chest so hard he wobbled back and Aldayr flexed the fingers of his cybernetic hand. The Jedi had been so damnably calm that Kadelle and her sister got angrier, and it had been close to ten minutes before they'd finally shouted themselves silent. He'd bowed, giving them the night to think on it, and in the morning they'd accepted, though if looks could kill, he'd have died twice in a heartbeat.

"Hey now! If your sister welched on a deal with you as collateral, who would you rather she be selling out, the Hutts or me?"

And that, in the end, was how Kadelle had ultimately sold Nal on the idea, though that did nothing to improve Kadelle's mood now. "…I still hate you."

"Careful," Darakhan cautioned, "hate is the path to the dark si—"

"Oh shut up!"

They watched together until the last gleam of the Rogue's Gambit was gone, then Mali gestured with his head. "Let's go."

He had a handful of guards, though they seemed largely ceremonial; he had ordered Aldayr to give the sisters their blasters back, and even allowed Kadelle to carry hers in his presence. Maybe he was just enjoying sensing her mental struggle not to draw on him; she was almost certain that was something Jedi could do, and she was beyond certain he would do it. Aldayr, who now had his own pair of guards, was waiting for them outside the spaceport, reading his datapad with a sour expression.

Down the way, the Milagroans had put together an impromptu memorial for the murdered RSAP officer—a few printed pictures of his face were scattered among flowers, candles, religious symbols, a bowl of flickering embers, and Milagro's flag in all sizes. Kadelle didn't see the Republic's flag, though she noticed the stylized lightsaber and wings of the Jedi Order on one. A woman sat in front of one of the pictures, patting her eyes with a handkerchief.

Touched, Kadelle strayed out of the collection of guards, reaching under her collar for her necklace. Scrolling through her handful of trinkets, she smiled as she came to a burned-out security spike. Unhooking it from the chain, she laid the spike on the memorial, touching her hand to her chest and bowing before she turned away.

The Jedi and their guards had all stopped; neither Aldayr nor the soldiers showed any emotions, but Darakhan had his head turned to the side, and the sea green eyes that so often gleamed with confidence had softened in a way Kadelle didn't completely understand. He nodded at her necklace with an inquisitive look.

"Just trinkets I've collected over the years," she said, holding it up for him to see.

He took the necklace gently in his fingertips, flipping through a few of her bibelots before looking at the memorial. "What was that one?"

Kadelle smiled, reminiscing. "The security spike Nal and I used to escape the first time we got arrested. It seemed appropriate."

A few of the soldiers traded glances and Aldayr raised his eyebrows, but Mali laughed. "Ah, the good times."

He slacked his grip and she took the necklace back, tucking it under her top as she chuckled too. She realized what she was doing as they walked back to the guards and grimaced. "Still mad at you, Jedi."

"Eh, I probably deserve it."

He did not look remotely abashed, and so Kadelle gave him a daggered look as they got into the armored speeder. She had never traveled with a police escort before, apart from the memorable occasion when the Ilic Police had flattered Nal and Kadelle with their obvious belief than no fewer than two dozen officers and three security droids were required to arrest them and impound the Rogue's Gambit. She chuckled to herself at the memory; when she caught Mali smiling back at her, she immediately scowled, and he laughed.

"It'll be great, you'll see," he promised. "Besides, I could use your advice as a consultant on imports."

A paid consultant?, Nal would've asked. Kadelle, though, was more intrigued by the request. "Don't you have Republic people for that?"

"Sure, but it never hurts to have a fresh pair of eyes."

There was something there—something he wasn't telling her. He was good at hiding it, but Kadelle had learned to read people, and ulterior motives clearly weren't Mali Darakhan's strong suit. Keeping her own sabacc face, she shrugged and said, "Well, I might take a look. Not like I'm going anywhere."

Mali took care not to smile too much this time, and Kadelle watched out the window as the streets of Rogeum flew by. Most of the people they passed recognized the Republic insignia emblazoned on the speeder's doors, though Kadelle could tell not all of them were thrilled to see it. She wondered if Mali would have better luck if he put the Jedi crest there instead.

"Sir, we have reports of a disturbance near the government center," the soldier sitting beside the driver called back.

"What kind of disturbance?"

"Apparently some kind of protest, sir."

"Free Milagro Only?" Aldayr asked.

Kadelle had seen the banners and graffiti during her brief time on Milagro before being arrested, but she hadn't learned too much about post-Sith Milagroan politics, though she thought she could guess the gist. "Not everybody's happy with the Republic being here?"

"Or with Milagro joining the Republic," Mali said. To the driver, he said, "Do we know what it's about?"

"Negative, sir. Information's still coming in."

He considered it, then nodded. "We'll keep going for now."

When they closed on the government center, though, it became clear that lack of information was more of a handicap than Mali expected. Kadelle could hear the chants even through the speeder's reinforced armor, and she saw a throng of protestors from two blocks away. The speeder slowed to a halt, and the speeder bike cops formed a protective box around it.

"How do you want to proceed, sir?"

Mali thought about it for a moment, and Kadelle was struck by the change that had come over him. There was nothing hard or cold in his face, but his playful, joking manner had vanished. He tapped a finger on his thigh for a moment, glanced at the viewport, then said, "Aldayr, get Kadelle back to the government center safely. I'm going to address them."

Aldayr stared. "What are you going to tell them?"

"Hey, sometimes people are open to talking these things out."

"And if the Pastor or the Sepzee/Beethar group have agitators in the crowd?" Aldayr demanded. "Or the Sith?"

"Well, that'd be good to know too."

He reached for the door, but stopped when the soldiers hefted their rifles. "You guys go with Aldayr."

"Sir, we're you're guards," their corporal pointed out, trying mightily for a respectful tone to balance out his stare of blank disbelief.

"If they're anti-Republic, the last thing I want is to come across 'listen to me or else'," Mali replied. When they still looked quarrelsome, though, the Jedi's expression smoothed and he adopted a tone of calm authority to command, "Stay with Aldayr, that's an order. Aldayr, back to the government center."

And he stepped out of the speeder before Kadelle could protest too. Aldayr watched him go, rolled his eyes, and said, "Let's get going."

The speeder moved out, and Kadelle took the opportunity to study Aldayr. He had a lot in common with his master—the same sort of rugged good looks, in a square-jawed hero sort of way—though his clean-shaven face and dark hair were nothing like Mali. He had the same kind of authority in his voice when he gave commands, too, if perhaps a bit less polished at it. If there was a real difference, Kadelle thought, it was that where Mali could be serious or even grave, Aldayr came across more hard despite his youth. It made her wonder…

"Aldayr…can I call you Aldayr?"

He looked surprised for a moment before he snorted. "Kadelle, you're a pirate and a criminal, but you still saved my life, and Mali's, and Narasi's…" He trailed off, frowning, then shrugged. "You can call me whatever you want."

Kadelle raised her eyebrows. "Narasi…she's the Zygerrian girl, right?"

Aldayr looked up and nodded.

"Is there…something going on there?"

The young man's dark blue eyes narrowed. "Don't push it, smuggler."

Kadelle pressed her lips together so she wouldn't giggle at him in front of his troops. Once she had herself together, she asked, "How old is he? Mali?"

Aldayr looked up, bobbing his head from side to side. "Twenty…eight? Twenty-nine next month.  Why do you ask?"

"Just curious," Kadelle said, but she couldn't conceal her surprise. "He's younger than Nal and he's in command of the whole planet?"

"He's great at what he does."

He said nothing more until they returned to the government center, where he led her to the security checkpoint. The guards waved him through, but he turned and extended a hand to her.

"Seriously?" Kadelle asked. "I've been with you and General Darakhan this whole time!"

He shrugged. "Not my rules."

Kadelle sighed, but drew her blaster and handed it over. She was struck by how quiet it was inside, despite being the middle of the day. When she pointed it out to Aldayr, he said, "The Republic's only sent the bare bones administrative support, since Milagro isn't in the Republic, and Milagro hasn't officially elected a government yet. It's basically all the Resistance members with any useful skills, plus the people who were doing the job during Karzded's government but not for Karzded, if you get my drift."

"Got it."

They passed a number of politicians, bureaucrats, and soldiers, all of whom recognized Aldayr and greeted him respectfully. Remembering the kind of looks she had gotten from older men at the same age, Kadelle shook her head. "How old are you, Aldayr?"

"Eighteen, why?"

"I just—"

She stopped mid-sentence as they almost walked into a dark-skinned woman with close-cropped hair and a retinue of attendants and guards. Kadelle had only been onworld a few days, but she had met the woman a year before, and she had heard enough to reattach the face to the name. She hurried to copy Aldayr as he bowed.

"Good afternoon, Your Excellency."

"And to you, Aldayr," Prime Minister Zemma Rufos said. She fixed Kadelle with her gaze and frowned in thought. "And I remember you, too. You were with us in the first days of the Resistance."

Kadelle tried a smile. "Yes ma'am."

"Chun…Nal Chun, isn't it?"

"Kadelle, ma'am," she corrected. "Nal's my sister."

"The smugglers, right?"

Nal would have been proud; Kadelle neither cleared her throat nor swallowed, though it took a bit of grasping to keep hold of her smile. "That's us."

Rufos's eyes narrowed in a way that got Kadelle's back up—the stern gaze of judgment common to all authority figures she had ever met. Well, maybe not Darakhan, but… "What are you doing on Milagro now?"

Kadelle lurched for the right answer, but after a second Aldayr saved her. "General Darakhan's brought her on as a consultant. With Lady Gasald blocking the Run and the northern Harrin, we need to get creative about bringing in supplies, and Kadelle knows some lanes we don't—and we're betting Gasald doesn't either."

Rufos's expression softened back to thoughtfulness. "We need all the supplies we can get in. Where is General Darakhan?"

"There was some kind of protest," Aldayr said. "He went to chat with them."

Rufos closed her eyes, and Kadelle wondered whether it was her staff or Kadelle the woman didn't want to lose it in front of. "If you'll both excuse me?"

"Of course. Good day, Your Excellency."

"Good day ma'am."

Kadelle said nothing until they were in the outer offices of Mali's suite. Aldayr threw his robe over a desk chair and drew out a code cylinder. "That's my desk."

He swiped the cylinder at the main door, and Kadelle frowned. "Shouldn't we wait for the General?"

"Time's valuable around here, and he wouldn't want us to waste it." The door clicked open, and he led her inside.

As he messed with the holoprojector, Kadelle said, "Thanks for the save downstairs, kid."

He stopped, looking up at her with narrowed eyes. "I'm not a kid, Kadelle."

Kadelle had heard that quite a few times in her life, working with other crews who'd brought on rookies with more enthusiasm than sense. Hell, she'd said it herself to Nal more times than she could (or cared to) remember. It was different with Aldayr, somehow; not as petulant, more…grave. She wondered what this eighteen-year-old boy had been through.

"No, you're really not," she had to admit. "You're…kind of the same. As Mali, I mean; you've got the same sort of vibe sometimes.  Not as much as him, he's got the command thing down, but…you've got some of it too."

Aldayr paused a moment, then smiled. Kadelle was struck by the expression, and she realized she couldn't remember seeing him really smile—not just since he arrested her, but ever. It softened his face and brought a gleam into his midnight eyes, and she saw he really did have his master in him, in a way that went much deeper than Corellian confidence and command authority.

"Thanks, Kadelle." He got the holoprojector going, bringing up a map of the galaxy with a series of criss-crossing hyperlanes shaded in different colors. "Aaaaand you don't need to see that version…hang on…"

The highlights disappeared, leaving only the stars and their hyperlanes. Aldayr nodded and said, "There we go. All right, smuggler, let's feed Milagro."