Cakey Chapter 8

I rested my head against the wall of the refresher. There had been nothing but utter silence between Shen and I over the last week or so and I was just about ready t do my head in. The ship's noises were daunting and trying to sleep in the rough bunks had been the worst experience of my life; even worse than sleeping in Mira's smelly apartment.

Shen had discovered how to put the ship on Auto pilot; however he rarely left the cockpit. The only time I'd seen him come out was at midafternoon, or when it would be mid afternoon on Dantooine according to the ships internal clock, to use the refresher. I had joined him once or twice in the cockpit, but other than that, I found myself reading over old data pads I'd found in a locker next to one of the bunks.

One of the data pad's peaked my interest. It read:

…Lillian and Quil have decided to leave me alone. I never thought that it'd be this hard to deal with younger siblings, let alone younger human siblings. Mother explains that they will grow, all humans start out in this annoying state, but I can't help but think that Lillian's going…

…Dead. She's dead, all at Quil's hand. Mother has decided to send him to Nar Shaddaa with father, hoping that he can better apply his abilities there. She tells me that I'll be leaving soon. Apparently the Jedi are going to take me to Dan…

The log ended there. I knew immediately that it was Travis's log, it had to be, but who were Quil and Lillian? Siblings, but… It intrigued me.

However, my attention was diverted by a knock at the door. "Come in," I called and in walked Shen.

Shen looked like anyone else in his position would look, tired yet confused. I patted the matress beside me but Shen shook his head and leant against the furthest wall from me. I noticed at that point that the ship wasn't making the noises it did when it was moving.

Shen directed his glare at me and in a serious voice said, "We need to talk."

I nodded. "I know."

"Why are we doing this?" he asked, crossing his arms, "Why leave when you were still in the middle of my training?"

"Shen, we need to get Mira back…"

"Don't give me that," Shen swatted the air with his hand. "Tell me the real reason."

What? That I didn't want to lose you, my best friend, just for some Jedi training? That I was determined to stick with you to the very end because that's what family does and you're my family? I wasn't going to say that, but looking back on it now, that would have been the best reply. "You just have to trust me."

Shen sighed, "I do trust you. But running like this… This is not how I'd plan to rescue Mira."

He got off the wall and took a seat on the bed next to me. "Cakey, I want you to think about this. Are you sure that this is what you want?"

I took a moment to think then nodded. "I'm positive."

He got up, "I better get the ship up and running then," and left me in the dorm.

***

Nar Shaddaa looked peaceful from the ship, but we knew all too well of the mess it was in on the surface. In a way I was relived; we'd finally get off that hell of a ship; but in another sense I was saddened.

"It brings back memories," Shen said quietly as he took a seat in the pilot's chair.

I looked to him. "We can wait a day or two if it'd be easier."

Shen shook his head. "No. We need to start as soon as possible."

And so the ship descended t the ground below.

After being in space for a certain amount of time, your legs tend to feel lighter than what they are. As I walked through the ship with Shen to the cargo hold, I tripped and fell flat on my face. Sighing, I got up. Shen didn't offer me a hand, he was too busy trying to stop himself from passing out from laughing.

Stepping from the ramp to the cargo hold onto the landing bay made my head spin at first, but after several minutes I found myself at total peace with myself. It seemed returning to the moon helped me find total serenity.

We were greeted by a troubled looking Duros who seemed too much too curious in my opinion.

"State your business here," he said in his traditional language.

Shen and I exchanged looks. "You do not need to know our business," I said in reply, waving my hand in front of him. I was trying to use Force Persuade.

He looked at me puzzled. "Are you trying to be funny?" He asked, mimicking me. "State your business here."

I was about to slice his head off with my light sabre, but Shen stopped me. "We're here on family matters. My mother is gravely ill and wishes that her children come and see her before she passes away. This is my cousin Cakey. Please excuse her if she seems a bit weird, she was run over by a land speeder twice when she was very young."

I looked at him, shocked and insulted. But before I opened my big mouth to protest, the Duros opened the gates to the refugee sector. "Give your mother my blessings," he said before waving us off.

Shen walked out of the office and I followed closely behind, planning to pounce on him as soon as we made it to the docks.

The docks hadn't changed one bit since we'd left several months ago. To our luck, the dock guard for our section of the docks was still Yende. She was a beautiful selkath, although, Shen didn't like her very much. He didn't like any of the Selkath. She lived just down the hall from us with her husband Luff and two children, Elbretta, who would be 13 in human years now and Quizll, who was turning 23. Ten human years apart seemed like a long time, but for the ancient race of the selkath, was only a micro second.

I didn't dare ask Yende her age. She was old, and that's all I needed to know to treat her with respect. Unfortunately, Shen didn't think the same, so when we walked into the refugee sector, we decided that I should be the one doing the talking, just to play it safe.

"Greeting Yende," I said as we approached her.

She smiled like a selkth when she saw who we were. "Oh my dears, I haven't seen you in months." For a selkath, she spoke perfect galactic basic.

I nodded, "I know. We've been down at Dantooine. I'm a Jedi." I moved my long jacket back and showed her my light sabre.

She put her finger to her lips. "Ssh. Jedi aren't on good terms with the exchange at the moment. Apparently that's why they took Mira away."

Shen protested, "My mother ain't a Jedi. You listen here you smelly fish, if I ever hear you calling my mother anything she isn't I'll skin you and your children and feed them to the Kath hounds down at Vogga the Hutt's."

Yende put her hands up in defence. "No offense intended Shen," she continued, "But I advise you, Jakkie my dear, not to go flashing that thing around. You might find yourself in a world of trouble."

I nodded. "Thanks Yende, I take it the apartment's still in one piece?"

She nodded, "Just head down there and let yourselves in. It is your home after all."

I nodded a thanks and lead Shen away from her before he made more of an idiot of himself.

Walking along the passage way towards the apartment, I spoke quietly to Shen.

"What happened to me doing all the talking?" I asked, trying to keep my voice down.

"She's dodgey. Always has been and always will be." He said in reply.

I looked at him. "Yende's sweet, how can you say she's dodgy?" I asked as I opened the apartments door.

Shen pointed, "By setting us up like this."

I looked in the apartment to find 3 men, each wearing combat armour, each looking a lot strong than Shen and I. I put my hand on my hilt. "What can we do for you guys?" I asked, nudging Shen with my other arm, hoping he'd get the message.

However, when Shen pulled his blaster out, instead of holding it to the men in our apartment, he held it to my head.

"I told you my first Bounty would be a Jedi," he said, serious and evilly, "Guys, she's all yours. If you want to take us both to the Exchange so I can collect my payment and Alisque can accept his gift, I'd be very happy."

The men nodded and two of them took me by either arm. "Shen!" I cried as he lowered his weapon and I was dragged out to the docks.

He just looked at me, his face expressionless, and then followed the two men, beside the other man.

I had been betrayed by my own best friend.