Unfortunately, Caeben didn't know to which supply shop Arra had gone. He wasted a lot of time looking for him, frequently checking the list of addresses he'd gotten at an info-kiosk. At last he went in the door of Jallen's Droid and Mechanical Supply Stop and saw Arra over by the credit changer, ready to make his purchases.
Caeben was about to head over to him when he spotted a stormtrooper headed the same way. The Sylelian froze and ducked behind a display of multi tools, hoping he hadn't been spotted. Imps made him very nervous, living on the fringe of the law as he was.
But the stormtrooper continued on a beeline toward Arra and the credit changer. Caeben stealthily moved a few feet nearer as Arra looked up in surprise into the vacant-looking helmet.
"What is your name and place of origin?" The stormtrooper's tinny voice rang out as the clerk began to warily back away.
[Arramylian, of Kashyyyk,] the Wookiee replied.
The Imp turned to the clerk in irritation. "Do you have a translator droid?"
"One moment, honored sir," the Crenellian replied squeakily. "I will fetch one."
Caeben sneaked as close as he could without being seen then hid behind a stand of spare motivators. The nervous clerk soon returned with a 3PO droid.
"State your name and planet of origin," the Imperial again ordered. Again Arra answered, and the 3PO droid translated.
"He says he is Arramylian, from Kashyyyk. Though really why you need to ask I don't know. All Wookiees come from the same planet, so it is quite superlative to ask each individual his or her place of origin. It is really quite obvious--ask anyone--all Wookiees are from Kashyyyk--"
"Shut up!" the Imp ordered at last. He turned to Arra. "You are under arrest on suspicion of anti-Imperialistic sympathies."
Caeben was all set to use his blaster when several other stormtroopers, too many to fight, emerged from various parts the store, disarmed Arra, and manacled his hands. The leader reported via comlink.
It was too late. Caeben could only watch as his closest friend and companion was carried away into captivity. He knew he would never see him again.
Jae was jolted out of his dreams by the sound of a door closing nearby. He sat up and saw that Caeben had entered the tiny med facility, carrying a bag of electronic supplies.
"You're back! Did you remember the hydrospanners?"
Caeben mutely handed the bag over and sank into a chair. It took but a moment for Jae to find that the pilot had indeed remembered. "Where's Arra, Captain Matock?"
When the Sylelian didn't respond Jae looked up, abruptly pulled out of his world of Y2 couplings and multi tools. It was then he noticed the deep depression on Caeben's face, his slumped shoulders and grieving eyes. "Captain Matock, what's wrong?" he asked quietly, suddenly concerned for the man.
"The Imps took Arra," the pilot said numbly.
"Why?"
"Suspicion of anti-Imperialistic sympathies." Caeben looked up, and Jae saw dull horror behind the glittering tears. "They took everything else from me, and now they took Arra."
Jae slipped out of his bunk and stood by Caeben's chair, ignoring the bag of supplies at his feet. "We'll get him back, Captain Matock."
Caeben shook his head. "No one ever comes back. Especially suspected Rebels. And he does have Rebel sympathies, kid. I'll never see him again."
"No, no," Jae insisted, nearly frantic to pull the young man out of his despair. "You will. We'll break him out of there. We will, you'll see! Come on, Matock, snap out of it! I need your help!"
The Sylelian just sat there, numbly shaking his head. Jae, however, was desperate to get to work. His first task would be to drag Caeben Matock out of his paralysis.
Jae ran along the hallway toward the cockpit, then suddenly stopped and leaned against a wall, overcome by a wave of dizziness and nausea. "This will never do," he muttered, chafing at his weakness. At last he went on more slowly, and finally sat at a dataport in the cockpit.
"Time for some slicing," he said to himself, struggling to recall everything Kyell had taught him five years ago. It had been right before the older Tallen left for the Imp academy, only two months before Shelpion destroyed their home and family….
Jae shook off the old painful memories. Three hours later, exhausted by the effort of concentration and remembering past the terrible things he had experienced since the last time he saw Kyell, Jae had written a slicing program and plugged it into the Imperial databanks.
For a few moments he watched it progress, but his eyes kept closing of themselves, shutting out the data scrolling on the screen. The boy dragged himself to a more comfortable chair and curled up in it, almost asleep on his feet. Instantly he was lost in dreams of smoke and fire and black alley pavement.
Bleep--bleep--bleep… The alarm he had programmed woke Jae less than an hour later. "Yes!" he whooped, seeing the words flashing on the screen, pulling him out of his sleep-induced fog.
Jae sat at the dataport and accessed a quick search program. Five seconds later he had the information he needed.
"Arramylian, cell 5687, level 1D, Imperial garrison of Rismyne…." Jae's voice trailed off. Quickly he pulled up a map of the garrison. He studied it with growing excitement. The Imperials had made a very bad mistake, and Jae would be sure to exploit it.
Jae glanced over the other information and suddenly turned paper white. The garrison was getting overcrowded with sentients arrested on suspicion of Rebel leanings, and the Imps were doubling up on cells. This considerably raised the stakes for Jae, for Arra's cellmate was…
"Kyell," Jae whispered, lying limply in his chair in shock. His brother was alive….
But what was he doing back on Crenellia, since he certainly believed all his family was dead? Why had he been arrested? What had he been doing for the past five years? Where had he been all this time while Jae was suffering and starving on the streets?
Jae shook his head. First thing first: he had to waken Caeben out of that consarned lethargy. He transferred all relevant info to a datapad, then headed back to the med facility.
Caeben had fallen asleep in his chair, but Jae shook him awake. "Captain Matock, you've got to pull yourself together. Here, read this."
The pilot obeyed apathetically at first, but with growing interest. He sat up in the chair, alert and hopeful. Jae was delighted. His plan had worked: Caeben was awake again.
The Sylelian stared up at his companion. "Where did you get this?"
"I sliced into the Imp databanks."
Caeben gaped at the datapad, then at Jae. "Minions of Xendor, is there anything you can't do?"
Jae blushed and shrugged slightly then stooped to lift the bag of supplies. "We're going to need an escape ship. I've got to get to work."
"Hold it," the other said, standing and placing a hand on the boy's slim arm. Jae turned back. "When was the last time you ate, kid? Can't have you collapsing in the middle of the hyperdrive."
"I've got to get to work, Captain Matock. Time is flying."
"It can wait while you eat a good meal and get a few hours sleep." The pilot could see weariness behind the eagerness in the boy's eyes. "And Jae? It's Caeben, just plain Caeben--not Captain Matock."
The young fixer nodded, smiling slightly.
During the meal Caeben kept studying the datapad, especially the page with the sketchy plan Jae had outlined. He repeatedly glanced at the tired face of the boy sitting across from him, hardly believing the same youth had written this plan.
"Do you really think it will work?" he asked at last.
Jae looked up, nodded absently. "It has to," he murmured. "We have to get them out."
"Them?"
The boy nodded again. "Did you notice the name of Arra's cellmate?"
Caeben searched for the info, then blinked. "Kyell Tallen." He looked up. "Related?"
"My brother. The only one left of my entire family." The youth toyed with his fork, thoughts far away. "In payment for my services as a mechanic, all I want is passage for both of us to any planet in the galaxy--I don't care which."
"That would only be the first installment, kid. If this works, even if it doesn't considering all the work you'll put in, Arra and I are indebted to you for life."
The boy shook his head. "You saved me from Kaltyk and life on the streets. You owe me nothing." He stretched and yawned, blinking sleepily at his plate of bilben stew.
Caeben shook his head and smiled, going over Jae's plan one more time. It was very risky and highly time-dependent, but feasible. Only one detail…
"Jae?" Caeben looked up and saw that the boy had fallen asleep with his head on the table.
The Sylelian smiled, then lifted the youth and put him in his bunk, surprised by his lightness. He tucked the young Crenellian in and left. Best to get some rest while they could. They had a busy day ahead.
A very busy day. Caeben had wakened to find Jae already at work on the hyperdrive, tools clanking and laser torch burning. "Oh good, you're awake," Jae said. "Hand me that red doodad over there, will you?"
Caeben spent the morning running errands for and handing tools to his young mechanic. Once or twice the irony of the situation struck him, eliciting chuckles. Usually it would be the man working on the engines, the boy assisting him, not vice versa.
During the course of the day the boy managed to repair the hyperdrive, navicomputer, and deflectors. Then he disappeared into the sublight engines for three hours, emerging only once to use the refresher then vanishing again.
At last Caeben came to stand by the engine. Only Jae's booted feet were visible outside the bottom. An occasional clunk of a tool or hiss of a laser torch told the man the boy was still at work.
"Come on, Jae Tallen," the Sylelian said, nudging one of the boots. "Time for a break."
"Don't distract me," came Jae's muffled voice "I'm almost done."
Caeben waited five minutes, then nudged the foot again. "Jae, come out."
"Can't you find something to do besides harassing your mechanic?" Jae's voice was exasperated. "I'm in the middle of some dicey connections."
This time the pilot waited a full ten minutes before trying again to rouse the boy from his hydrospanner haze. The young mechanic yelped as he jerked and hit his head. At last his face appeared, grimy and oil-streaked, large bags under his irritated blue eyes.
"Please, Captain Matock--leave me alone. I promise I'll come out as soon as I finish this, all right? Just let me work. And don't even think of startling me like that again. I'll probably break my neck or get a concussion."
He burrowed into the sublight engines again while Caeben leaned against a wall and laughed. Several moments later Jae emerged, filthy and triumphant. He fastened the panel on the engine, then looked up at Caeben and managed a fatigued grin.
"Done. They won't need service for at least five thousand light years." As Caeben reached down to help him to his feet the boy added, "Thanks for trying to get me to take a break, by the way, but it was pretty useless. It usually takes a small explosion to get my attention when I'm in the middle of a job."
"All right, but your supper is probably cold by now, kid."
"Oh, I don't care. I've been living on scrounged scraps and wistful yearnings so long, anything seems like a feast."
While Jae used the refresher, Caeben warmed the food up again. He had the table set by the time the boy appeared once more, damp hair sticking up in strange places, blue eyes wearily content.
During the meal Caeben remembered the question he'd meant to ask the boy. "Jae, your plan is good--expect for one detail. I don't want you going in there alone."
The former alley vrelt looked up surprise. "Who did you have in mind then?"
"Me. You stay here and take care of the Wind."
Jae shook his head decisively. "Do you know how to hot-wire a gate or deactivate a G2RD guard droid? No, it's my job."
"You can teach me how. Look, kid, not so long ago you collapsed in the street from hunger. I don't want to take the risk of you fainting or something in the middle of the prison complex."
"Oh don't worry," the boy replied absently. "I would get Arra out before anything like that happened. Stim-pills, you know."
"It's not Arra I'm thinking about." Caeben reached across and ruffled the youth's hair. "Somehow, kid, you've managed to make me care about you." He blinked suddenly, and his next words came softly and hesitantly, "You remind me, so much, of a little brother I had, before Alderaan…"
Jae softened. "I understand… and I'm sorry. All right, I give in. We'll both go. I can set the Wind up with a slave remote so we can open or even fly her from the outside. But you're not leaving me here."
Caeben grinned. "Good enough. But don't even think about skipping breakfast and lunch like you did today ever again, okay? Arra and your brother don't have to be rescued tomorrow, after all."
"Okay." Jae nodded wearily and slid out of his chair. Time for a few hours rest.
Mynan Shelpion glared at the captain in irritation. "What is it now, Anlessic? Is it more about the overcrowding problem? I told you; they can share cells."
"No sir--I have good news."
The Governor gave a surprised double take. "Really. About what?"
"Tallen, sir. He has confessed to being a Rebel. Apparently the interrogations have finally broken him."
"Has he divulged the names of his compatriots or the Rebel bases he has been to, not to mention their locations?"
The captain looked sheepish. "No sir."
Shelpion waved an exasperated hand in the air. "Then he is not broken! It is not enough!"
The governor's fat shook as he stood. His cold hazel eyes became even icier. "Step up the interrogation process. A session each hour. Sooner or later he will break."
"Yes sir."
As Anlessic turned to go, Shelpion suddenly called him back. "And Captain…"
The Imp returned. "Yes sir?"
"Bear down harder on the other prisoners as well. I want confessions."
"Yes sir." Anlessic nodded.
The Governor allowed himself a smile. "When we have enough confessions, the public executions will deter Crenellia from rebelling against my rule for a long, long time…."
Jae sat down at the dataport with bleary eyes, blinking and yawning. Caeben had not yet wakened, and the lad didn't like to eat alone, so he would use this time to check the Imp databanks for news.
He had it almost immediately.
The boy stared at the screen in horror. Kyell was being hourly interrogated. Sooner or later he would be killed. And they were pounding on Arra too, though not nearly as hard.
Forget breakfast--an energy bar would have to do. Jae Tallen, fixer extraordinaire, had a lot to do. No more time for recuperation. The Sylel Wind had to be ready that night. Jae would wait no longer.
Without further ado he tackled the power cells.
When Caeben dragged himself out of bed three hours later, Jae was walking down the companionway past the pilot's cabin, carrying an armload of spare parts. Startled into wakefulness, the man jumped out of his bunk and into the companionway.
"Jae? What's going on?"
The boy explained in a few succinct sentences as he continued down the narrow companionway, Caeben at his heels. "I've got the power cells up and running," he finished, "and the turbolaser and concussion grenade launchers are in tip-top condition again, but the quad-guns need work, and so do the sensors, main computer, cockpit control, and life-support. I've got a busy day ahead. We're breaking them out tonight."
"All right, but wait a second." Caeben squeezed around the boy to block his way. Jae stopped walking and tossed him an irritated glare. "Kid, have you eaten? It won't do either of us any good for you to get sick again and pass out or something."
Jae decided not to mention the spell of dizziness he'd experienced while working on the Wind's turbolaser. It was the fifth such since that first the day Arra had been captured. "I had a ration bar. I'm fine, really. Just let me get down to work."
"Are you sure you're all right?" Caeben continued talking as the boy ducked under his arm and continued down the companionway. The Sylelian followed. "You look a little pale."
Jae rolled his eyes. "You worry too much, Captain Matock."
"Caeben," his companion corrected. "C'mon, let me carry that stuff. I'm feeling useless and left out."
Jae paused with a sigh. "Fine." He handed over the spare parts. "You can be my 'errand-pilot' again. Come on, let's get to the ventral quad gun."
Throughout the morning Caeben kept a scrupulous eye on the former urchin, watching for any sign of illness. But Jae carefully hid the occasional bouts of faintness and nausea he experienced. This was no time to baby himself. Kyell and Arra needed help.
Eventually Caeben caught his young friend's urgency, and both forgot all about stopping for lunch. If Jae had remembered, he would have ignored the gnawing in his belly and worked with greater intensity. What must Kyell and Arra be experiencing under the not so tender care of the Imps?
Late in the afternoon Caeben stood up from the cockpit control board and stretched. "You did it, Jae!" he said enthusiastically. "You've fixed the Wind in only two days! I thought for sure such a massive job would take at least three weeks, but we're in business already!"
The boy looked up from his position on the floor, blue eyes large in his white face. "What's the control board show?"
"All systems green and good to go."
Jae let out a breath in relief and allowed a weary smile. Now all they needed to do was get Arra and Kyell out of the Imperial prison, get back to the ship, blast off, evade all pursuit, and find a safe place to hide. Shouldn't be too hard.
Yeah, right…
And that was his last thought as the dizziness returned tenfold and blackness quickly overcame him….
Jae woke to the sound of cursing. His head spun in pain as he realized he was lying flat on his back on the metal deck of the cockpit. Caeben was kneeling at the boy's side, savagely berating himself as he fiercely rubbed at the Crenellian lad's hand.
"Caeben?" Jae moaned.
"Jae!" Relief in the pilot's voice transmuted into vehement rebuke. "Why didn't you tell me you weren't feeling well? We should have stopped hours ago, and taken time for lunch, too."
"We have to rescue Arra… and Kyell…. Let me up…."
"Kid, there is absolutely no way I'm letting you go to the prison complex. You're staying right here."
Jae's eyes cleared as he pushed away the nausea and weakness. He saw Caeben's face, gray eyes concerned to the point of anger. "You don't know how to hot-wire a gate or deactivate a guard droid. There is no way…"
"Well, you're just going to have to teach me. I'm telling you, you're staying right here."
Jae blinked, fully alert and awake now. "Caeben, let me sit up," he said with quiet firmness.
Caeben shot him a worried look, but did as he asked. The boy waited until the dizziness passed then struggled to his feet, gripping the Sylelian's arm. At last he dropped into the chair in front of the dataport.
He pulled up a diagram of a gate mechanism--the kind the Imperial prison used. "Memorize this, and everything I'm going to tell you," he said softly. "We have to get them out tonight."
Caeben nodded and set to work studying the maze of wires while Jae told him what to do.
Kyell Tallen lay curled up in his cell, waves of pain crashing over and through him. The interrogations were growing steadily worse and harder to bear. Most Imps didn't need one of those infamous interrogation droids to question their prisoners, and these had proved it, pumping him up with narco drugs and applying pain without permanent or even visible outer damage. Lately the pain was so bad he couldn't even walk for half an hour afterwards. And then another half-hour after he could start moving again, they took him back to the interrogation room and the mind-numbing drugs and neural pain prods. He didn't know how much longer he could hold on to his secrets or his sanity.
He didn't know how remarkable he was for holding on for this long.
His Wookiee cellmate, Arramylian, rumbled a question. With little to do on Imperial-ravaged Crenellia but learn about and study other worlds, Kyell had learned Wookiee while just a boy--he and his younger brother. At the thought a wave of pain far more poignant than the physical ache swept through his heart.
"I'll be all right, Arra," he said. "I don't know how much longer I can stay quiet, though."
[Do not give up,] Arra said. [I still believe we may be rescued. Caeben is as loyal as they come, and your brother is a most remarkable child.]
Kyell shuddered with heartache. After learning of his brother from the Wookiee, he had been unable to think of anything but Jae for nearly an entire day. To come so close, yet still be so far away…
"Thank you, Arra," he said, managing a painful smile. But he felt nothing but despair. Sooner or later the Imps would kill him, and he would never see his brother or the free stars again.
