A Father's Blade: Chapter Fourteen

Noelani steps out of the small diner, Chase's hand twinned tightly in her own as he follows behind her. She looks up and down the street, happy that there's no BioTech personnel within sight. She turns to Chase.

"So what now?"

"We need to find a way off world. Which one really doesn't matter. We just need to get out of here."

She frowns, concern for Tahiri blossoming in her chest. "But what about Tahiri? I can't just forget about her."

"We really can't help her though. The longer we stay on the planet, the faster that some of those BioTech goons get us. And we don't know anyone with a hypercomm transmitter that's not part of BioTech. We need to go somewhere else so that we can even hope to call for help."

Noelani sighs, and turns towards the spaceport. "I know. I just don't feel right about leaving Tahiri. She risked her life to rescue me. I should do the same."

Chase shrugs his shoulders. "If she risked her life to rescue you, do you think she'd want you to throw yours away trying to rescue her?"

Noelani silently shakes her head and begins moving towards the spaceport. "Then I guess I should tell you about the Star."

Before long, the two teens are hiding behind some crates, a short distance away from the Stolen Star. Noelani frowns, a feeling of danger hanging over everything. She shakes her head slightly. "This is no good. They have to be watching her."

She can feel Chase nodding his head. "Yeah, in fact there's one on the far side of the landing strut."

Noelani leans against the crate slightly, straining her eyes, and can just barely make out movement around the rear port landing strut. She sighs, and looks towards Chase. "Any ideas?"

He gestures with his head towards the left. "Come on."

Together they crawl through the landing fields, checking on every ship in the port. They finally stop at a medium-sized Corellian transport, where a human and a Wookiee are arguing as they load supplies into the hold.

Chase grins at her roguishly and says, "Looks like they're going somewhere."

She shakes her head. "I don't know…that is a Wookiee."

"It'll be all right. Trust me."

She sighs. "Okay, but if I get my arms ripped off I'm not talking to you any more."

She grins as he barks a short laugh, and admits to herself that she kind of likes the sound. He takes her hand and they creep towards the transport, quickly closing the distance between them and the two. For a second, Noelani has the feeling that she should be listening to what the two are arguing about, but she pushes the feeling away to the more immediate concern of sneaking aboard the spacecraft.

Noelani suddenly has an idea, and makes a gesture towards a stack of boxes on the far side of the ship, pushing them with the Force. The top one tumbles to the ground with a loud bang, and both the man and the Wookiee look over.

The man pulls his blaster and both go to investigate. With their backs turned towards Chase, Noelani and the main hatch, the two teens dart forward, and quickly climb aboard the transport. The look around, and Chase drags them to the common room – a large room with a holotable offset from the exact center, and a small galley set off to the side. Grabbing her hand again, he pulls her towards the corridor leading deeper into the ship and comes to a cross way – one path leads to the cockpit the other leads to a gunnery well. Looking up and down the hallway, he pulls her further into the ship. He glances into the first room they come to, and notice that there is a travel bag sitting on the bed. Then they go to the next room and find that it is empty.

Frowning, they go further down the hall, and enter the room furthest from both the cockpit and the ramp, and find it in use. Chase presumes it is the captain's quarters as it is larger than the other two rooms and with more personal paraphernalia than the first room. Chase quickly backtracks and enters the second room, pulling her in as well, shutting the door behind them.

Noelani looks around the small cabin, and realizes that it is designed for only one person and contains merely a cot, a small dresser/desk and a half refresher – basically just a toilet and a sink.

She drops to the bed, happy that it doesn't creak or make a sound as she does so. Then chase is brushing her hair away from her ear, leaning in close to it. His breath is warm and she has to suppress the urge to giggle and twist away as he whispers in her ear.

"We're going to have to be very quiet in here."

Noelani nods her head and then stretches out on the bed, the events of the past day and a half quickly catching up to her. She rolls to her side, and cradles her broken arm.

Then to her surprise, the bed shifts and she can feel Chase stretching out beside her, and then his arm wrapping around her stomach, sending flutters through it. She snuggles back against him, feeling safe and warm in his embrace, and then closes her eyes allowing sleep to claim her.

She jolts awake when the ship shudders as it jumps into Hyperspace. She frowns as she tries to get her bearings, trying to remember how she got here. She groans as the dull ache from her arm reasserts itself, and can feel the arms wrapped around her grip her tighter in response to the noise that she made.

That is when she realizes that she's wrapped tight in Chase's embrace, nearly laying atop his chest. Blushing, she tries to extricate herself from his arms, the movements causing him to cling to her tighter.

Giving up, she lays her head back down, and allows the drumming of his heart to lull her.

The next thing she knows, she can feel someone gently running a hand through her hair. She keeps her eyes close and her breathing even, just enjoying the feeling of contentment which runs through her at the simple caress.

She reaches out with the Force, feeling Chase's focus as his attention seems directed towards the top of her head, and she can feel both a blush cropping up on her cheeks, and her lips twisting into a lopsided grin.

Then she reaches out further, feeling the human and the Wookiee in different parts of the ship. The Wookiee closer to them, just a few meters on the other side of the door to the unused room they're hiding in. Then she reaches further, stretching herself, trying to touch Tahiri's presence, sending her awareness down through their training bond.

She finally gets a flash of her master, feeling the anger and outrage which rolls back to her through their training bond. Then Tahiri clamps down on the training bond, cutting Noelani off – not allowing her to feel what her Master is feeling.

She opens her eyes, and twists her head to look up towards Chase, blinking back the tears that have already sprung to her eyes.

The movement seems to startle Chase slightly, and he stops petting her hair, and just frames her cheek with his open palms.

He whispers, "What's wrong?"

"Something's very wrong with my Master. And she's hiding it from me."

Then the she feels the gentle tug in the pit of her stomach which indicates the reversion from hyperspace to real space. Turbulence causes the ship to shudder slightly, and Noelani sits up suddenly, looking off towards where the sounds of the engines have suddenly become very strained.

She closes her eyes, and stretches with the Force, with that part of her that has such an affinity with mechanical devices – and can feel the wrongness in the engines. Instincts tell her that they have not been properly maintained.

She jumps off the bed, landing in a slight crouch, and starts to the door. Chase grabs her arm, and hisses, "What are you doing?"

She pulls away and palms the door release, darting through, calling back over her shoulder, "The engines are going to blow if we don't do something."

She hears the startled roar of a Wookiee as she brushes past him, and opens the door to the engine room. As she does, black smoke billows out, and she utters the first thing that comes to mind, "Sithspit."

---------------------------------------

Tahiri hears the energy door flicker off and then back on again, and then the soft steps of someone wearing soft-soled shoes of the type preferred by the technicians and scientists employed by BioTech. She can feel a grin stretching her lips, and knows that this is the time to try to escape.

A male voice intrudes on her awareness. "Hello Tahiri."

She clenches her jaw, not responding, keeping her body still, and ignoring the man.

Then the sheet which covers her is ripped away, she inhales sharply as the warmth of the sheet is suddenly replaced by a blast of cold air. Her eyes pop open and finds herself staring at a middle-aged man. His hair is greasy and limp, and heavy jowls frame a pair of dull blue eyes.

She narrows her eyes as he grins.

His voice has a nasal whine and says, "You will speak when spoken to. Hello Tahiri."

She snorts and wonders for a second what sort of spice the man has consumed, if he thinks she is going to answer him. Then she hears something which catches her off guard. A feminine voice, with a very slight Tatooine accent. Her voice.

"Hello."

She can feel her eyes widen, and she wonders what could have possessed her to actually speak.

Then the man speaks again. "That's right. You must obey me. Now stand up."

She throws her legs off the edge of the bed, toeing the floor for just a moment, before shifting her weight forward and standing up. She rocks on her heels, trying her best to sit back down – but her body refuses to obey her wishes. She lifts her head to look at the man and can feel anger cut through the fog which the tranquilizers create in her mind.

Then she notices the smile which touches the man's lips – her anger growing as his grin grows wider.

"I see you're beginning to understand your plight. Don't worry, I'll probably order you to enjoy yourself, but we have introduced a series of chemicals in both your food and your air which makes you obey every order you're given. Now don't move."

She grits her teeth, wanting nothing more than to slam her fist into his meaty face, and watches him as he steps closer. As his hand runs down her arm, she struggles to move. To twitch even so much as a single finger.

He walks behind her, his hand trailing around, caressing her butt.

Her anger and outrage erupts in her chest as the trailing finger crosses her body, coming back around to stop in her belly button.

She focuses inward, pulling the Force to her, delving into her body. She can find the various tranquilizers and sedatives in her bloodstream, and bypasses them, hunting for the other chemicals that have been introduced into her body.

She quickly begins purging the toxins from her body, setting that task on automatic as she once more focuses on the world around her. As she does so fire blossoms across her arm, and she looks down at the thin slash across her forearm. She looks to her other hand and finds herself holding a laser scalpel.

Then his voice calls out from behind her, "Sit."

Tahiri hesitates, and grins as she finds that she is able to, and then she drops to her haunches. Thick fingers snatch the scalpel away from her, and she curses under her breath, having hoped that he would leave it with her.

She can feel his fingers twinning themselves into her hair, and she has to stop a shudder of revulsion from his touch. Then pain blossoms throughout her scalp as he pulls back on her harshly, dragging her head backwards. Tears rise unbidden to her eyes, and she opens them, seeing the vague, blurry outline of the man's face above her.

His voice sounds thicker. "We're going to have some fun now."

Tahiri utters a Tusken curse and bounces up, hearing the sickening crack as the top of her head collides with his face and a dull ache blossoms across the top of her head. She spins on her heel, facing him to see him sprawled across her cot, holding his nose, blood staining the white tile of that wall.

She can feel her lips part into a smile as she stalks forward. She straddles him, settling herself on his chest, gently laying the tips of her fingers on his temples.

He moves his hand and looks at her with venom in his eyes. "You Jedi whore! I'm going to get you for this."

Tahiri just sadly shakes her head. "Oh, I don't think so. Now show me what BioTech is doing here."

Then she steps into his brain, ripping the knowledge that she seeks from him. She opens her eyes in horror as the images of his treatment of the test subjects flash through her mind's eye. The desire to vomit rears its head and she forces the bile back down.

She leans forward, moving her hands from his temples to wrap them around his thick neck. He starts to come around, and for the first time she sees a genuine emotion in his eyes. Fear.

"This is for all those little girls you sick monster."

Then she squeezes, and with just a touch of the Force, she hears the clean, clear snap of breaking bone.