Out of Time [Star Wars Story]

15. Recovering on the Beach

Lorash picked her way to the cockpit as Eso brought the ship in for an early dawn landing on the quiet oceanic planet that their pilot had chosen as their hideaway while Seia recovered. The sith was already looking better, but she'd also spent the better part of the three days since their encounter with Zul asleep. The jedi padawan's breath caught in her throat as she looked out over the crystal clear waters surrounding the tropical island just as Eso brought them down for a landing.

Eso chuckled. "Seia said a beach."

The waters were so clear that brilliantly colored coral reefs were visible further out, all teeming with life that surrounded her in her sense of the Force. The trees waving in the wind had deep roots and were filled with delicate little flying things industriously weaving their nests from shoreline grasses and eating little sweet fruits from the branches. Twin suns rose in a delicate dance, gradually chasing the three moons from the sky. She gave Eso's shoulder a squeeze of gratitude. "It's gorgeous. I'm not sure I'll ever want to leave."

The miralian grinned. "Best part? It's, uh, uncharted. Nobody's going to bother us here unless that spy ship of Zul's breaks its cover."

"Good," Seia rasped from behind them.

Both of them turned to look. The sith was in the under-layers of her armored robes, the heaviest reinforcing shed with her outer robe. Scars decorated the muscles of her bare arms, fabric clinging to her form without restricting. Seia's golden eyes almost looked calm. Lorash knew better, of course. The tempest in the Force that was the sith still raged as fiercely as ever, more powerful now than it had ever been before.

"Still thinking about the agreement?" Lorash asked softly.

"I was already transmitted a dossier before the jump to hyperspace," Seia said bluntly. She tapped the holo in the cockpit as Eso finished setting the ship down, displaying the image of a pale, bearded man. "An arms dealer with rebel sympathies has been identified on Cantonica. Zul would like an example made."

Eso made a face. "Fancy tastes."

"I know nothing of him or that world." Seia eased herself down into the navigator's seat and kicked her feet up on the holo. "You do, I take it?"

"It's a pleasure world for the glam," Eso said. "I, uh, hear all kinds of nasty people like to play there, in their fanciest clothes and, uh, most expensive drinks. Not even just Hutts."

Lorash studied their potential target. He looked the part of a grizzled arms dealer, wearing a patch over one eye. Part of an ear was missing too, clearly clipped off by blaster fire. "I don't want to hurt him if he has rebel sympathies."

"Better dead than cultivated as a double agent." Seia crossed her arms, tipping her head back to regard the man's face. "He would do significantly more damage to your rebellious friends if that were the case, which is the only way I see sparing his life as feasible. Besides, the moment he gets a whiff of me, he will be ready to fight to the death if he is the man Zul claims."

Sickness welled in Lorash's stomach at a new thought, tangenting off the idea of killing this arms dealer. "What about Master Vori, Seia?"

They hadn't discussed the conversation with Zul yet, but now it felt inescapable. In six months, she was going to have to find her master and either deliver him to Zul or strike down the inquisitor and his apprentice. Seia was quiet for a long moment, only making the thoughts twist more and more anxiously in Lorash's head.

"I do not know."

Eso shot Seia a hard look. "That's not real reassuring, Seia."

"But it is not a lie." Seia turned in her seat. "If your master does not understand what you have done, Lorash, he will undoubtedly seek to end us both and force my hand. In that case, the matter with Zul is resolved to the inquisitor's satisfaction."