Who You Are in the Dark/Part 5

The Vanguardian disarmed Tirien and clamped him in a complicated restraint—a cuirass-style chestpiece with two cuffs on each side of the breastplate which secured his arms so his fists were almost against his throat. They took Narasi's weapons too, but only gave her a pair of stun cuffs. She wasn't sure whether to be offended by that, but she was too frightened to really give it much thought. Her anxiety leapt into overdrive as their captors led them to a second Vanguardian.

"More infiltrators," the one who had caught them reported.

The other had the same sallow skin and livid yellow-and-red eyes behind his face mask; they might have been twins. "Keep them for testing?"

"Fine, but not together," the first said. "Put the Zygerrian with the old man. This one can go with the woman."

The two Vanguardians began to shepherd them in different directions. "Master!"

"Stay calm, Narasi," Tirien advised. "Feel the Force—"

The Vanguardian hit him in the gut, and Tirien choked off with a grunt and a gasp. "Shut it, Jedi."

They dragged him away. Narasi thought of struggling against her own captor, but realized how dangerous that would be, especially unarmed. She tried to calm herself instead, though that became harder when the Vanguardian deactivated a force field over a hole in the cave wall, flung her to the rocky ground, and reactivated the force field behind her.

Shifting quickly to a seated position, Narasi found herself in a smaller cave lit only by the glow of the force field. She picked up a pebble and threw it at the force field; it bounced back at her. She was relieved that it didn't disintegrate, but…

"Yeah, not happening," said the man in the corner.

Startled, Narasi shifted and pressed her back to the wall. The Human sat against the far wall, also in stun cuffs and wearing tattered civilian clothing. Narasi couldn't always tell with Humans, and the dark didn't help, but he looked at least middle-aged. His stringy hair clung to his bruised face in the cave's muggy warmth.

"First Sith, now Zygerrians," he said, glowering at her. "What, didn't catch enough slaves to make quota? Or did one of them escape?"

"What…hey!" Narasi snapped. "I'm a Jedi!"

"Yeah," the man answered, raising an eyebrow.

Grimacing, Narasi extended her hands, and some of the pebbles on the cave floor rose. The Human raised the other eyebrow to match the first, and Narasi let the pebbles drop with satisfaction. "There, see?"

"I see you using the Force," the Human said, the edge in his tone sharper. "But that doesn't make you a Jedi."

"Oh, come on!" Narasi grumped. "I'm Tirien Kal-Di's Padawan."

"What, did you just pick the first famous Jedi you could think of?" the Human mocked.

"Grrrrr!" Narasi resisted the urge to go over and kick him. "If I wasn't a Jedi, why would these people put me in here with you?"

"Enemies run together," the Human said. "Being a Sith won't help if you're not their kind of Sith. They send you in to rescue your master?"

"I'm not a Sith!" Narasi said, scandalized. "I came here with my master to…oh, don't tell me you're the one we're here to rescue. Gennic Forgey?"

The Human chuckled. "Filled you in, did they?"

"The Jedi Council filled us in! We came here to rescue you!  They sent you on a mission here, but you didn't report back, so—"

"Yes, yes, very convincing," Forgey said, shifting his weight to a more comfortable position.

Past the flares of annoyance, Narasi felt the first touch of genuine anger. "We wouldn't be having this conversation if I was Human, would we?"

The Jedi sat up, and his eyes opened just a bit. "You're not, are you?"

And he settled himself back against the wall. Narasi stared at him, too outraged to speak. Here he was, the object of their mission, and he wouldn't so much as look at her. Her anger intensified as she thought of that Human thug at the bar—what she remembered of him, anyway. What was with this species? She knew Aresh's reputation, but civilians? And now even a so-called "good guy"? She was rapidly losing patience with being treated like the rest of her species.

Ah, a little voice whispered inside, but what if you are like the rest of your species?

I'm not! Narasi told herself, but no sooner had she thought it than she remembered the bartender's fear and the way it had empowered her. A shudder of shame wracked her, and she drew her knees up to her chest, hugging her legs. She wished Tirien was here. She wished she had confided in him fully when he had asked her what was wrong.

She tried to reach out into the Force, feeling for her Master's presence. She thought she felt him, but she had the distinct impression Tirien had his own problems at the moment.