Are New Beginnings Supposed to Be This Hard?

"Well, she is a hunk of junk, isn't she?" Ben said, looking at the ship for the first time in daylight and outside.

The wind carried dust from the countryside and he closed his eyes, mercifully shutting out the sight in front of him.

"I'm going to love explaining this," he murmured, noting that he might as well continue talking to himself and just go the extra mile over the crazy cliff. She looked at him in askance, and he turned from the ship to face the entrance to the landing bay, made from what looked to be stucco and dried mud. The structure itself was little more than a wall, a little over two stories high, erected around a large empty space in the middle. There was no ceiling or roof, allowing the elements in freely.

"Mama Taa's going to be here soon," he sighed. "I don't even have a name for this thing yet."

He walked out of the open landing bay and sat down on a bench in a shadowed corner of the building, watching the sleepy little town just down the hill. In the far distance, the spires and towering buildings of a huge city were visible, distorted by the waves of heat rising from the ground.

Lips parted, a response lingering on the tip of her tongue, but she thought better of it. Ben was right, and Enedra would be beyond surprised if the thing managed to lift off, never mind break atmosphere. But dust came swirling in and forced a cough out of her instead.

It was probably for the best. There was really nothing she could say that would make Ben feel any better in that moment. Hell, she was tempted to hug him, but since he was already on the crazy train, she didn't want to derail it completely.

Enedra followed him after a moment, lingering in the shade but not sitting down. "We could call it the Aluminum Albatross..." she said quietly, a faint smile curling her lips. At his glance she shrugged and looked out over the heat-shimmering landscape her expression sobering.

Her dark gaze turned over her shoulder briefly, looking towards the pile of her things that waited just inside the hangar. Her ripped up jacket lay atop the neat pile, reminding her. With a faint sigh, she dropped down to sit beside Ben, glancing at him briefly before looking out at nothing once more.

Ben huffed a laugh.

"Sure looks like it was made out of aluminium, doesn't it?" he said. "Nah. I think I'll call it Alderaan. I was going to name the Albatross that, but it didn't fit."

The red-headed pilot turned captain frowned.

"That might raise some questions though, huh?" he asked, both himself and Enedra. "I guess it'll work until I can think of something else."

Thoughts swirled through his head at a mile a minute, and he couldn't focus enough to deal with them all. Instead, he turned his attention to the necessaries.

Food. And water. Fuel cells, and tanks for the laser cannons. Program the new name and information into the ship, and paint over the carbon scoring and distinctive marks, and remove and replace prominent features, like the forward laser cannon under the cockpit. Too unusual. The hyperdrive would need to be looked at and upgraded, as would the shield generators and the power supply...

Enedra shifted next to him and he blinked, sitting up and looking down the road to the town, squinting to see better in the glaring sunlight.

A sedan glided to a stop outside of the blue collar district starport. Syragor's largest city Ryuumbiiri. In the distance, the plateau of the city center could barely be seen through the smog. This far out, they were in the immigrant and human quarters, a far cry from the finery of Carshoulis Prime or the other glittering centers of Cizerack commerce. The driver's gull wing door opened, and a Cizerack woman in a chauffeur's uniform stepped out, looking slightly annoyed through the otherwise aloof veneer her job required of her. With a slight motion to her jacket pocket, she removed a small disc, holding it up in her hand as a holographic figure flickered to life.

"jIss thjiss on? Oh. No, turrn me arround, wherre jiss he?"

The figure of Matron Taataani Meorrrei lost some of her patrician gravitas when presented as a twelve inch hologram, but she still stood as if she were rightfully twelve feet tall.

"Captajin Merrassska, jI don't ljike bejing ssummoned to Ssjyrragorr. What'ss the poljite worrd? jIt'ss cossmopoljitan. Morre poljite than ssajyjing jit'ss full of poorr half brreedss and poorrerr forrda trrjyjing to sstrrjike jit rrjich on rrusst farrmss. Sspeakjing of rrusst farrmss..."

The hologram's face grimaced, looking past Ben.

"What mannerr of hatchet-faced garrbage sscow djid jyou arrrjive jin?"

Ben grimaced as well, looking back through the partly open doors.

"That is...uh..." Ben mumbled something incoherently.

Enedra, Mama Taa, and even the haughty driver all looked at him blankly.The pilot took a deep breath and firmed himself before speaking more slowly.

"The Albatross is gone, Mama Taa," he said, looking directly at her little hologram. "Enedra here and I barely made it out on the oh so very dazzling lady you see behind me, but my ship is gone."

He paused.

"This was the first place I thought to go. Carshoulis Prime has a lot of eyes, ears and mouths - you know this for a fact - and on my good days I tolerate that, but today hasn't been very good to me, and limping into heavily regulated space in a ship like this, without a name or transmitting credentials - fake or not - that's just not something I, or you, need right now."

She took a deep breath of her own, stepping a little closer to Ben, standing just behind him. A spot meant to be supportive and yet, enough of a polite distance to not make his unease any worse. They'd been through a hell of a time together, though. And he'd witnessed what was perhaps her very worst moment and its runner-ups.

"Frankly, we also thought that this was likely one of the only places we had to run to." Enedra offered quietly, glancing at the hologram and inclining her head.


A more formal introduction had yet to be made, but now didn't seem like the time. 'Nee fell silent once more, dark eyes focused on the hologram. She was a little unsure of what more to say, if anything.

Her jawline set and her left ear flicked.

"Gone. What do jyou mean, gone?"

It was such a vague word. It could mean any number of things, from frustrating to maddening. She knew the sticker price on that ship, and even for her, it wasn't a pittance.

The woman with Ben spoke, and Taataani keyed in on something she said.

"Rrun to? Whjy werre jyou rrunnjing, Ben???"

It was a rhetorical question, fashioned into a spear, and lobbed into his belly. The barb on the spear, her using his first name, ensured it wouldn't easily be removed.

"Get jin the carr."

Ben grimaced.

"Well, ah, you could say I've been running my whole life, and not only in that metaphorical sense but also very very literally..."

He trailed off at the look of anger on Taa's face. If the detail on the little hologram could be trusted, she was pissed.

He stepped toward the speeder and opened the door, allowing in first Enedra and then sitting down himself. The driver closed the door and then settled herself behind the wheel, the disc still in the palm of her hand.

Ahh shit...I shouldna said anything...she winced internally, sliding into the car with a soft 'thank you' for Ben who displayed a fine sense of chivalry in a most...trying moment.

If by trying you meant climbing into a car with an angry twelve inch hologram who was doing her level best to glare through them.

But Taataani, she had heard, was a force to be reckoned with in any form, and out of respect for Ben, Enedra wisely kept her mouth shut. Never mind that she generally made it a policy to not speak until she'd thought about her words; but doubly so when she was exhausted and strung relatively tight with everything that had happened.

Shutting up was an art form 'Nee had extensive practice in, given her background.

Blinking, she realized the speeder had begun to move, with the driver handling the controls smoothly even though the hologram remained in one hand. Leaning slightly forward, she spoke.

"Would it be easier if I held that for you while you drove?"

The driver didn't dare move until the hologram cleared it.

"jYess of courrsse, pleasse do. jI want Ben jin one pjiece, at leasst untjil jI get to ssee hjim."

Relieved, the driver went about her duties, easing the sedan into the air and clearing the industrial district and slum sprawl before heading to the plateau city center.

"He hassn't jintrroduced uss jyet, and jI'll asssume jyou arren't hjiss mjisstrresss becausse jI've gjiven up on anjy ssenssjible asssumptjionss."

"Honestly, Mama Taa, that's the last thing on my..."

Taataani fixed him with another look, stopping his statement cold.

"Alright, it's not the last thing on my mind, but it's sure not even close to the top five things," he grumbled, before scratching a non-existent itch. "I just want you to know I'm not asking for anything. Except for access to that account you said I had. I'm - We're - going to have to fly off the scanners for a while."

Another look.

"Listen, I'll explain it all face to face, and preferably in a deep dark room with no chance of anyone hearing. But not before then."

Her lower lip ended up firmly caught between her teeth, allowing only the hint of a laugh to escape. Ben responded before she could manage to compose herself, a fact for which she was somewhat thankful. She sat back in the seat, holding the hologram's disc up securely between the two of them, affording Taataani a good view.

She certainly had a way with Ben, that was for certain. Enedra certainly couldn't get him to stop his happy little train of thought once it started, and the Cizerack woman did it with a glance. A single glance.

'Nee had to learn that trick.

Taking a deep breath as the gaze transferred to her, Enedra managed a smile, though the expression was somewhat tired to match her overall feeling. "Ben's right. There is much to say that is best left to a more private setting..."

Arching a brow, she finished her thought. "...however, you were also right. I am not his mistress. Frankly, I think he's afraid of me."

That surprised Taataani not one bit. Ben was nearly afraid of his own shadow.

"Then we don't have anjythjing to ssajy untjil then, do we? Honesstljy jit'ss forr the besst. Whateverr jI ssajy that jissn't jinto Ben'ss well-twjissted earrss wjill be losst jin trransslatjion."

The Matron sized up the female on the other side of the holo, and felt comfortable dealing with a woman of relative strength of her own. Her formal haughtiness dropped from her tone somewhat as she crossed her arms.

"Mjy drrjiverr wjill take jyou to mjy ssujite and esscorrt jyou jin. jI expect to ssee jyou both prromptljy."

And with that, the holo terminated.

Ben grimaced.

"I think she's mad at me," he said, his voice trembling a bit.

The city was now beginning to surround them; and the driver pulled the speeder up from ground level through several lanes of traffic. The sight of the city, draped in clouds of smoke and the orange-brown patina of dust was still somewhat majestic. The driver took them to one of the tallest towers, whose top floors pierced the smog and offered a clear view of the sky and the horizon.

With a slight jolt, the speeder landed on the pad, which mercifully boasted a complete railing ringing the entire platform.

Ben didn't wait, but opened the door and stepped out, and stretched. Meorrrei wasn't waiting for them here, so Ben paused, eyeing the doors to the suite she owned warily. The driver shot him an annoyed glance, and he glanced at Enedra and took a deep breath.

"Waiting will only make her more surly," he said, partly to her, but mostly to himself, and walked quickly to catch up with the haughty driver.

Reaching over before she could think twice about it, 'Nee patted Ben on the shoulder, gently offering some measure of support. Of course the woman was bound to be upset...she'd invested a considerable amount of money and being informed that the ship was gone would be jarring to anyone who'd done the same.

Ben's voice, however, made Enedra debate following up the pat on the shoulder with a smack upside the head. Thankfully, she resisted the urge easily. There was no use fighting Ben's nature right at that moment, no matter how much she wanted to. It wouldn't do either of them any good.

She'd have to content herself with hoping that no matter how upset Taataani was that she'd at least understand what had happened after they explained. Not that it would make the loss any easier to bear, but still...perhaps it would help.

Lost in thought, she watched the view change as the speeder climbed, but stared blankly at the beauty of it as they approached and landed at their destination. 'Nee passed the holodisc back to the driver as she got out, striding swiftly behind Ben as he rushed inside when the driver opened the door.

They were lead without fanfare or delay through the hallways of the suite to a pair of double wooden doors, which abruptly parted before them. A Cizerack man hurriedly exited, paused, and his eyes met Ben's like a deer caught in headlights. Fixing the lapel of his coat, he hurriedly moved along, apparently not wanting to be anywhere near the human guests.

"Mjisstrresss wjill ssee jyou now, Captajin."

Faashieerro Meorrrei, one of the Matron's husbands, nodded at the periphery, gesturing the pair inside. Taataani could be seen in the far corner of the room, standing next to a full length mirror next to the wet bar. She tended to her drink, topping off a crystal tumbler from a matching decanter and paying the arrival of her guests no mind.

She turned, acting as if she noticed them for the first time.

"Ah."

Taataani wore a monogrammed tailored bathrobe whose lines nearly fooled the eye into thinking it could actually pass for a kimono or something meant to be seen in public. Her bare feet betrayed it all, which she made no effort to cover with the nearby slippers.

Padding over to her guests, the Matron embraced Enedra, air kissing to each cheek as she held her drink behind the woman's back. At this intimate distance, the slight glistening of perspiration on Taataani's features was noticeable.

"Taataani Fai'sheea Igaarrai Meorrrei, Rrou'fai of Housse Meorrrei, and Barronesss Executorr of MeorrreiCorrp."

She parted, sipping at her drink slightly.

"We sstjill haven't been jintrroduced, but ssjince jyou've done the courrtessjy of brrjingjing back ssomethjing that belongss to me, jI've decjided that we wjill be frrjiendss."

Taataani crunched an ice cube, waiting to hear whatever convoluted mess they were about to lay on her.

Ben looked around, as if he could see or feel the presence of listeners about them.

"You're sure this place is safe enough?" he asked, before shrugging and sitting down quickly on a nearby divan. A small, almost unnoticeable cloud of dust rose at the action.

"Like I said before, the Albatross is gone. Exactly that. I don't know whether the guy who stole it got away clean or not, but I'm expecting that it's a wreck floating in the black now."

He fell silent and swallowed, but couldn't get the lump out of his throat. He continued.

"I know I said I'd explain it all, and I'm going to tell you as much as I can, but you have to promise not to get angry at what I can't tell you. It's dangerous - listen - it's dangerous. I know I have a reputation for not being fond of heroics, but in this case it's truer than I would even like to admit."

He paused.

"The less you know the better, but I was doing a job for the Alliance - ain't going to say more about that - with Ned here and we got boarded by some very unfriendly Imperials. Things got complicated after that. Expect a visit or a call at the very least from someone from the Empire. Imperial Intelligence most like. They're going to ask questions about me and Ned. Tell them what you know. Let them see whatever they want."

It was obvious Taataani wanted to say something (or many somethings), but Ben spoke louder and bulled through until he veritably pleaded with her to tell them what she knew.

She offered Taataani a smile, one that warmed her features for the briefest of moments. A formal introduction of her title and rank would have spilled past her lips in response, however, Ben's impeccable sense of timing struck again.

Enedra let it go, stepping away as he spoke and crossing her arms over her chest. The whole mess they were in did nothing but make her anger bubble up to the surface, evidenced only by the tightness with which her fingers clung to her upper arms. Dark eyes traced the art installation on the wall she faced, finding a sense of calm in the intricately repetitive pattern.

"If I may?" 'Nee interjected, her tone firm though still within the bounds of etiquette and decorum. She hadn't always been a SpecForce soldier, after all.

"Ben is phrasing it very mildly, Taataani...do forgive me for addressing you so informally, I am not certain what the proper form is in your culture." She took a deep breath, turning to face them as she drew closer, boots barely making any noise on the spotless floor.

"We were boarded and the ship taken by force. What we were doing was immaterial...the Imperials wanted Rebels...and they wanted information. Don't give me that look, Ben, they were going to torture yo-us. Was I supposed to let it happen?" 'Nee's voice snapped with a mix of frustration and something else before she got it back under control.

"I am...or rather was, Special Forces. Six stormtroopers wasn't much of a challenge, the rest of the squad plus the Intel agents were, however. We barely made it out alive, and by the time we did, the Albatross had been jacked by stars only know who. We took the first ship we could find and hightailed it out of there. Going back to...to the Alliance...was out of the frakking question."

Madam Meorrrei's glass came to rest on her desk audibly, missing it's coaster which was just adjacent.

"Faashieerro, leave uss."

Meorrrei's husband became invsible, closing the doors behind him as he exited.

"jYou'rre both Alljiance, then?"

She was looking at Ben, as the question was to him alone. Then she laughed.

"That'ss funnjy. jI sspent the betterr parrt of an hourr handljing jyou losjing an extrremeljy valuable sstarrsshjip. Now, jyou tell me thjiss. That, jI wassn't expectjing to hearr."

She picked up her drink and promptly finished it, depositing the tumbler against the far wall at a high rate of speed, where it was obliterated. In the next instant, her hands were at Ben's collar, forcibly hunching his frame down so that he was eye level with her.

"What arrrre jyou thjinkjing?!?"

Still holding Ben close, Taataani locked eyes with the SpecForce soldier.

"And jyou let hjim?"

Ben's eyes widened comically as his boss pulled him down to her eye level.

"See, uh, that's the thing. I'm not - we're not Alliance," he said, following with a mumbled 'anymore' after half a second. He scratched his jaw awkwardly, Meorrrei's hands getting in the way of his nervous gesture.

"I mean used to be," he continued when she seemed to not calm down. "I used to fly fighters. One of the worst pilots in the squadron, but I kept coming back when others didn't. Then the Empire..." he blinked and thought for a moment before finally shrugging and saying: "...blew up my planet. I didn't come back after that."

He thought for a moment that her hands loosened a bit.

"Mama Taa, you know Lyanie. You know Cirr. I just... she's like a sister to me. You have all this."

He gestured to the suite.

"All I had was a ship."

Fingers tightened and muscles tensed at Taataani's accusation, the four simple words burning like so much salt poured across an open wound.

There was a flash at the edges of her vision, the way it always was when her reflexes kicked in and her adrenaline gathered for the rush. There was a reflex to protect Ben, tempered only by the fact that though she seemed livid, he wasn't in his normal panicked state. That was about the only thing keeping her from making the situation all kinds of worse.

All 'Nee could do was sigh and let it drain away as Ben spoke, her expression melting into something unreadable as she stared down at the floor. Who was she without the rank she'd earned, the patches on her jacket she'd torn off and thrown away?

Enedra approached the pair, and with infinite care, pried Ben's collar out of the angry Cizerack's fingers. She smoothed it out but did not step between them, knowing that it was neither her place, nor truly necessary. But she remained there at Ben's side, gently nudging his shoulder with her own. "You've got me now, for what its worth."

Dark eyes turned back to Taataani, a brow lofting as her tone cooled. "He's risked his ship and his life to save mine countless times, and I've done the same in return. I didn't let him do anything. I severed my ties with the Alliance and Ben gave me somewhere to go when no one else would."

She wanted to rant, rave, scream, and slap the taste out of Ben's mouth. The only thing staying her hand was that she was the highest order of hypocrite, and the entire foundation for her anger bordered on the absurd. That normally wasn't liable to stop her from following on such an instinct, but she found herself reliving the past. She couldn't even stop Cirrsseeto. Was Ben's situation any less valid?

Curled fingers relaxed, and her hands eased back to her sides.

"jIt'ss not the monejy jI'm upsset about. That merreljy annojyss me. jYou know whjy jI'm angrrjy."

The Matron looked from Ben to Enedra and back.

"jYou've placed jyourrsself jin dangerr, and now jyou'rre asskjing me - and mjy famjiljy - to sharre that dangerr."

It was a prospect she'd long dreaded, but had the foresight to at least prepare for.

"Ssjit down. Both of jyou."

Of course he knew why she was angry. He knew it from the second she'd thrown the glass into the wall; he felt a shiver of remembered cold.

But he couldn't - wouldn't - say anything about it. There was too much to be said on that subject for it to be worth much. She probably knew that he felt he was nearing the end of his rope, that the serendipitous 'luck' that had pulled him through so far was going to turn on him sooner or later.

He looked at her intently; he'd obviously been gearing up to say something, before he realized something.

"Hold on a second. We're - I'm - not asking you to share any sort of danger with me. That's why I told you we're going to have to skedaddle. Sure if the Empire has the ship name and information they'll come here looking for what you know about where I am." He stopped. "You're going to have to fire me, Mama Taa. Sooner the better. Get me off the books, and make it obvious for someone who's looking for it. Either that or make it like I've died. But they've got people who can tell if you're lying."

Taataani looked fixed on saying something mean again, and Ned, well, he didn't know her quite well enough to know what her expression meant yet. He hoped he'd get through this without having someone put their fist to his eye. Or eyes, he amended. Either or both.

Perhaps, 'Nee mused, they should have taken the chance and gone to Sorrus. She'd had some few allies last time she checked, friends who would care enough to lend her a hand when called upon. People who owed her a debt that could easily be repaid with something of this magnitude.

Then again, landing on Sorrus would have meant dealing with her family. And those bridges, 'Nee had learned the hard way, had been well and truly burnt beyond repair. She'd have been arrested and handed over to the Imperials in the blink of an eye, and Ben, they'd likely have sheltered and aided him. Would have been worth it.

But...that was neither here nor there in that moment. They'd been bid to sit, and while there was still plenty of soldier in her that wanted to simply do so to expedite things, there was still some measure of proper Sorrusian society and manners left as well. Long strides took her over to where the Matron had retrieved her drink from earlier, a dark glance cast across the bottles and decanters arrayed on the bar.

Enedra poured a measure from the decanter she'd seen Taa use earlier, and added two ice cubes, swirling the glass as she returned the stopper to its place. She set the glass gently in the woman's hand before taking a seat, long legs crossed and hands clasped together in her lap. "Ben, sit..." she said after a moment, patting the cushion.

"...and stop looking like you're expecting me to hit you, for love of the stars. If I'd wanted to, I'd have done it already and you wouldn't have had time to think. I don't have a plan, or any ideas at all. I'm completely out of my element here and don't even know where to begin." 'Nee finished, her voice even and her expression mostly unreadable save for the concern that knit her brow together ever so slightly.

Taataani took the drink in her hand with the barest of nods, appreciating the kind of subtle empathy Ben's companion employed.

"Sso what jif jI djid? Fjirre jyou, that jiss. What would jyou do? Wherre would jyou go?"

Ben could be magnanimous and offer to deflect all the heat that he wanted, it still didn't do anything to assuage the concern she had for him.

The Matron looked to Enedra for the answer to that question, and she wondered if she was the guardian for Ben in her stead.

Too many unanswered questions. She sipped at her liquor, eyes fixated on a spot on the floor as her mind moved past them. She thought of Kallum, her unofficial majordomo, and the risky business she already dealt with, in the shadows.

"I'm betting on the severance package," Ben confessed frankly, while also admitting that he'd actually read the contract he'd signed. "Use that and maybe the parts of the Kazellis that got us here - that ship's too rare to go unnoticed for long - buy a nice, anonymous ship, and fly out of here, and do what I've done since Yavin. Take jobs where I can, and try to stay ahead of the Empire."

He glanced at Ned, asking her without words for her opinion on that course; he hadn't discussed it with her, and she surely would have some say in how things would go down. She had seemed willing to stick with him, and it was much easier to work a tramp freighter with a first mate than by oneself.

"I owe you far too much to just up and leave," Ben said, trying to find some words to assure her that he would be okay and still be the truth. "Even though that seems to be... is... what I'm doing."

He stopped talking, obviously aware of how he was not making things better.

Her dark chestnut gaze met and held Taataani's for several moments before the Cizerack woman looked away. There was much here that Enedra didn't understand, too many dynamics at play that she obviously wasn't aware of. And those, she mused, affected just how much she could and couldn't say in that moment.

But the look on Taa's face, that glance that asked a very plain question was easy enough even for her to interpret.

"I'll take care of him." 'Nee added quietly to Taa, waiting until Ben had finished and looked to her for an answer to another unasked question. Today seemed to be full of those.

"It's a good plan. We should be able to make a decent amount between the two of us and the ship. But you're right...we need to ditch the Kazellis for something more non-descript that will actually break atmosphere without breaking up."

Taataani again weighed Enedra's assertiveness, and found that kind of initiative to give some comfort. She couldn't coddle Ben at all times, he wasn't a child, and she doubted he had any desire to be protected in a gilded cage. If he couldn't be always safe, then safe enough would have to do.

The next thing to consider was Enedra's demands for a practical ship. No matter how much she cared for Ben, she still knew exactly how much money she'd invested in him, and this was just adding to that pot. While she likely would never see that figure go into the black, in principle she really wanted it to try to get to that breakeven.

"jI can arrange that jindjirrectly sso jit doessn't come back to Meorrreicorrp, that'ss not a prroblem."

The Matron eased back on her desk so that her backside perched on the edge.

"Matterr of fact, therre majy jyet be ssome worrk jyou can do. Ssomethjing farr frrom the jImperrjialss, and ssomethjing not djirrectljy connected to me."

Ben blinked and smiled.

"Now see, that's what I like to hear. Work, far from the Empire, and for someone I trust very very much."

He paused.

"As to the ship, arrange something we can look at, maybe from local dealers or shops. I'll use the money in my account, the severance, and the parts from the junk-bucket to pay for it. I want to be making you money, Mama Taa, not taking it from you."

He thought for a moment.

"Well, taking any more than you've already sunk into me, that is."

He smiled weakly.

Fingers smoothed out a crease in her pants, tugging the fabric neatly back into place over her knee. It was a small thing, perhaps meaningless to most, but unless she was in the field she preferred to be neatly attired at all times. With a soft sigh of agreement, she nodded as Ben spoke, although his expression made her fight the urge to thwap him.

Ahh well.

Enedra rose from her seat, a glance shared with Taataani that left a request lingering in the air between them. One she could well understand, knowing that they had things to discuss that she did not need to be privvy to. She offered both Ben and the Cizerack woman a smile before speaking. "If you'll both excuse me, I'm going to step out for a little bit. Perhaps get some air and refresh myself."

Measured steps took her to the doors, closing them behind her after slipping through. A soft question to the man that waited beyond them saw her directed to a lavishly appointed bathroom. She splashed cold water on her face and took stock of her reflection for several moments, patting her face dry with a soft towel.

Enedra sighed and shook her head as she put the towel back and stepped out of the bathroom. A glance was spared for the doors before she retreated down the hallway to find a balcony where she could sit and think until she was needed once more.

Once more, Taataani was left impressed at Ben's companion. She'd certainly want to discuss matters with the woman before the two departed.

Alone with Ben, the Matron pressed off the top of her desk, stepping in front of him. She reached a hand to his face, running it along his jawline.

"Forr ssomeone sso ssoft sspoken, jyou'rre one of the mosst sstubborrn men jI've met, Ben Merrassska. jYou know jI could make all of thjiss trrouble go awajy, jif jyou'd let me."

Taataani leaned downward, and let her mouth find his.

Ben was expecting to be slapped. To be honest, he felt he deserved that much, and probably some words on the side about his cowardice and inability to truly pick a side being his biggest flaw.

Or maybe he was projecting his own thoughts onto Taa.

So the touch on his jaw had him tense and wait for the hit, when something else happened, that something else being that Mama Taa was kissing him.

Mama Taa was kissing him.

He pulled away, blinking rapidly.

"Well, uh, thanks," he said, stepping back, and regaining some equilibrium. That had come out of deep space. "But... but... what?"

He shook his head slowly and gawked at his boss, hoping for an explanation.

"jI can't orrderr jyou, compel jyou, orr thrreaten jyou. Well, jI can, but mjy hearrt'ss not jin jit, Ben."

Still making contact with her hand, she ran it up and into his hair, letting her fingers muss it slightly.

"jI'm ussed to gettjing mjy wajy, but that'ss often not the wajy the galaxjy worrkss, no? Grravjitjy pullss thjingss thejirr own wajy. We all have thjingss we'rre rrunnjing to, orr rrunnjing frrom."

She took the seat adjacent to him, now facing him at eye level. A thrum of a purr caught nearly inaudible in her throat.

"Sstajy. Tonjight."

"Okay. Wait. No, no, no, no, no, no, no..."

Ben stood and paced, his negations obviously meant for himself.

"If I stay tonight," he said, looking at her once more, "then chances are I won't be leaving tomorrow."

Ben sat down again, though a bit careful not to get too close and invite another kiss; while not unenjoyable, the emotion behind the gesture was morose, a sadness at his leaving that an actual desire for him to stay. Or maybe he was projecting again.

"I can't be what you need, Taa," he said. "And while I'm happy to know that you care that much, the danger is real. I need you to believe me on this. Someone is going to walk through your doors and ask you questions about me. They're going to see through every lie, take answers from you before you've even opened your mouth. And when they're done, there won't be anything left of me up here." He pointed to his temple.

"I've seen what they do, Taa. It ain't right."

Taa peered into Ben's eyes, hoping to find something less than resolve in what he'd told her. He wasn't backing down. She admired him, and hated him because she did. If he was only half the coward he masqueraded as, she'd have her way.

"jI know."

Though they were sitting next to each other, she could feel the light years growing in the distance between. Taa thought of Cirrsseeto, Loki, and Sanis. These curious males in her life that were hell-bent on forging their own way, even if so much of that journey was running from their own destruction. She thought of her beloved Taurrifar, and that terrible day that had brought her so close to Ben. In a way, it felt like letting him die again.

She smiled like the accomplished liar she was, that smile so easily covering the storm clouds that usually lurked just behind it, and leaned in again, this time to kiss his cheek. Her lips parted, and Taataani stood. A second later, and the Matriarch's poise returned to her. She returned to her desk, keyed in a few lines on a datapad, and returned to Ben, placing it in his hand.

"Kiaahondrree jImporrtss have a sshowrroom jin the captjital. jI don't do bussjinesss wjith them, but bjy all accountss thejy sstock a wjide asssorrtment of qualjitjy sstarrsshjipss. jI ssuggesst jyou sstarrt therre, Captajin."

Ben smiled wanly. He wasn't the brightest star in the night sky, but he could tell that she was hurt. At least it didn't seem like it hurt much, and she'd be over it by the next day.

He was almost sure of it.

"Seems high end, but it's a good place to start," he responded. An awkward silence followed, and he stood.

"Should I let myself out or...?"

Taataani offered Ben her arm.

"Come wjith me. jI sstjill have to sspeak wjith thjiss woman jyou'rre trravelljing wjith, and make ssurre jI trrusst herr wjith jyou. What'ss herr name? jYou'll have to tell me all about that sstorrjy."

It was a transition, and she handled it with easy poise, even if she still wasn't quite ready for goodbyes.

"Uh," he thought a moment, absently taking Taa's arm and started walking. He'd started calling her 'Ned' and had promptly lost the actual name.

"Uh... Enedar? Enedra? I think that's it. Well, I was on my way back to you after delivering that snooty engineer, what's her name, Sainarrra-something," he waved his hand dismissively, "to that research station out by the Roche asteroids, with all those Verpines? She kept blathering on about some sorta missile project, saanja-something-or-others (Sundrop sounds like a fizzy drink, so I think I heard something wrong) being more important than being sent off to try and make some Verpine droid more profitable and sellable in the Cluster. Wouldn't just take a hint and enjoy the ride. So, I got a message on my way back to you about a profitable venture picking up a group of outed militia guys doing some mischievous things on an Imperial planet. I asked if there was anyone else, and they said no, and lowered the amount. So I took it and flew off to the planet..."

She wondered if he was sweet on her, because he'd started to ramble, and it was a knack of his when put on the spot. Still, he'd let slip something important that she'd have to follow up on later, when she had time to consider the playthings of Cizerack engineers.

"Sso sshe'ss mjiljitjia? Carreful not to make herr jealouss, then."

Ben thought a moment, the jealous comment not quite slipping by.

"She was militia I think. Got herself in with... you know, them," he avoided saying the 'Rebels' after a thought that perhaps it wasn't the best time to bring them up directly. He shrugged. "She could be jealous, I don't know. I've worked with her about twice now.

"Anyway, so there's a bunch of speeder bikes, AT-STs, and a shuttle shooting like they had all the tibanna in the galaxy to waste and Ned is all 'I'm staid and cool and silent', and the young girl is all 'Ahhh! Ahhh! Ahhh!'"

Ben mimed Ned with a voice deeper than his own, and the girl's voice was pretty badly done as it pretty much just sounded like him.

"And I'm nearly about to soil myself because they're all really trying to kill me..."

The story made Taataani smile, not just because of the heart-felt way he told it, but because she had to find humor in the farce of his self deprecation. He tried so hard to pretend he was a coward.

"And jyou sso jimprressed herr wjith jyourr pjilotjing sskjill that sshe'ss had no causse to leave jyourr ssjide."

The Matron patted his arm as they walked, enjoying her part in meddling with the narrative.

"Sshe rremjindss me of me when jI wass jyoungerr. Not that jI everr...well, jI wouldn't know what to do wjith a gun. But jI alrreadjy ljike herr."

Suddenly stopping, she looked at her former pilot a bit critically.

"jYou know, jI bought jyou morre than a few njice outfjitss, would jit kjill jyou to wearr ssome of them? jI thjink Enedrra would ljike to ssee jyou jin them."

Ben was about to answer with an addendum that she left, and he did his own thing before the rest of the words started sinking into his head.

"Uh, what? She would?" He looked down at himself. Standard jumpsuit, this time a dark green. It was his 'going out' jumpsuit. "Oh. Yeah, well, I don't find myself going to illustrious dinner parties as often as I used to. That high society lifestyle chewed me up and spit me out faster than a... than a... well, it was pretty kriffing fast."

He grinned, enjoying this more comfortable banter compared to the very emotional words of before.

"I don't think I'm cut out for the hound-eat-hound world of the upper class," he said wistfully, looking up and into the distance.

"Drresss forr the job jyou want, not the job jyou have, and all."

Of course that wasn't at all the point, and Taataani took on a mischievous look.

"And on top of jyourr talent, jyou'rre loveljy to look at, whjich jiss alwajyss a boon. jIf thjiss woman jiss gojing to prrotect jyou, catchjing herr ejye jiss all the morre jincentjive."

"I am lovely? Well, yeah, I am." Ben preened outlandishly, letting Taa lead him through a pair of doors into a large hallway. The hall ended with a seemingly solid wall of transparisteel, through which Ned could be seen looking out over the smog covered city.

Down there, he remembered, was a ship with his name on it. He wondered what it looked like.

"Wouldn't my roguish loveliness be a distraction in the heat of battle?" Ben asked with a grin. "Besides, you're about the only one I've ever heard say I was good lookin'. Even my old squeeze said I wasn't the prettiest man she'd ever slept with."

He shrugged.

"I was not blessed with an attractive face, and that's a fact," he said with a placid equanimity. "I like to think I got an extra pile of sanity to make up for it."

Taataani almost rolled her eyes in exasperation at Ben's indefatigable modesty. Instead, she planted a kiss on his cheek - a bless your heart implied within, which both was and wasn't a compliment. He saw the caterpillar, and she, the butterfly. The Matron just had to laugh off her frustration at not quite knowing how to bring about the metamorphosis within her pilot.

"Go fjind jyourr sshjip, Captajin. Make jit a fasst one."

Another kiss, more earnest this time, and she pressed him on his way as she parted.

"And Ben? Tell Enedrra jI would ljike to talk to herr."

Taataani's smile still remained, but somewhat inscrutable. She reluctantly let her eyes part his company and looked out the window he'd gazed from.

"Go fjind jyourr sshjip, Captajin. Make jit a fasst one."

"Can you see me getting something that wasn't?" Ben smiled as he detached himself from Taa, patting her arm a few times to reassure her.

"And Ben?"

He stopped, turning to look back at his almost former employer.

"Tell Enedrra jI would ljike to talk to herr."

"Can do," he said, nodding. He turned and watched the seamless transparisteel doors open almost magically while he exited onto the balcony, turning back and giving Taa an impressed look while the doors slid shut.

Ned had turned back, and was looking at him almost quizzically.

"It got... pretty heavy in there," he answered, though immediately after he said it, he wondered whether he had answered a question she hadn't asked. "Mama Taa wants to talk to you. She likes you, so it shouldn't be too much, but I'll be the first to say she's a mystery and a half. I figure I'll get started on hunting us down a ship. I got a commlink, so contact me through that once you're done talking with her."