Breakaway ---The Mandalorian

Chapter 18: The Space Station

The Yellow Bird pulled gracefully into the space station Perseus Prime during the early morning for Clara and Din. With no reference for time, the activity on the space station was bustling. Grogu woke up groggy and hungry when they made a connection with the fueling port. A stout lizard like creature with scaly arms and a stubby tail took their payment as the three traveled from the fuel station to the commissary. With limited real estate available, the space station felt cramped and claustrophobic. The narrow aisles were tightly packed with storefronts and visitors were constantly bumping into each other. Din wore his armor, freshly polished in the ample down time on their journey over.

Clara and Din had been able to have several normal conversations after Clara confronted him. Din retired his armor for the remainder of the journey and Clara enjoyed being able to see his face in the starlight of the ship. Grogu had been progressing rapidly through training. His abilities would far exceed Clara's when he entered adulthood, but neither Din nor Clara had any idea how long that would take. Grogu's primary hurdle was his young age and inability to focus. Clara had trained younglings for a couple years before entering the medical academy. She was familiar with their short attention span and inability to control their abilities. The problem with Grogu was that he was too powerful for his age. He wavered between being unable to do the simplest of tasks and catapulting a tool across the ship and damaging the electronics. Clara arranged some padding on the walls of the spare room to prevent any accidents. When Grogu finished training with Clara he would work with Din on sign language. When he was thoroughly tired from both, he would have an afternoon nap while Din and Clara had some alone time. Their alone time was rarely what Clara wanted, but it was nice conversation. She had only been able to share a handful of kisses and some gentle handholding with Din in the several days journey to Perseus Prime. Her frustration from being rejected regularly was starting to build but she wanted to take things at Din's pace. However, their evening in the bath house was still fresh in her mind, and she had an eager desire to finish what they had started.

Din stopped at a small table and they ordered food for Grogu and Clara. They were quickly served some noodle dish with indiscriminate bits in it. The smell was incredible and Clara ate rapidly while Grogu slurped his directly from the bowl.

"This place is a lot more dangerous than it seems. The crime is kept in check by a few gang leaders, but they are just as likely to rob or kidnap you as the other criminals are." Din said. The noise from the crowds was loud enough that it was hard to hear Din through his helmet. "We will need to trade for a forged landing pass for Coruscant. Without it we will only be able to stay a couple of days in the merchant quarter" Din added.

"Where do we get that?" Clara asked through the noodles. Din's stomach growled under his armor. He had gotten used to eating when he wanted on a regular schedule. Watching Clara and Grogu eat was difficult now. However, he would never remove his helmet in a place so dangerous.

"We need to find Tatai, he is a good forger, and he works for the local gang." Din said. The three of them finished their food and Din grabbed the bowls and returned them to the stall. Their seats were immediately taken by three children and a tired looking parent. Din led the way down the zig zagging alleys until Clara's head was spinning. There was too much to look at and too many people. There were shops for everything, clothes, shoes, tools, food, and many things Clara had never seen before. So many of the shops repeated several times down the alley, as if people rarely traveled more than a few steps from their spaceship. The space station was a circular ring with landing ports lining the inner and outer rings. Artificial gravity kept everyone on the ground but it was only about 60% that of her planet. She felt herself bouncing a little too much while walking. Some of the long-time residents on the space station had started to thin out from the lack of gravity. They had lanky arms and legs with little muscle tone. Just as they were about to complete the circle for a second time, someone flagged Din into a small room off the main avenue.