Star Wars: Crash on Kessel

Chapter 07: Monster

Rand slowly opened his eyes to find himself lying on long supply crate in the storage area. Wondering how he go there, he tried to sit up, but straps around his arms, legs, and chest held him immobile. Looking around, he found Voz examining a data pad a few paces away from where Rand was restrained. Two dark bruises marked Voz's face, and bandages covered his hands in several places.

"Voz," Rand croaked, his voice strained and weak.

"Glad to see you doing so well," Voz said with a lopsided smile.

"What happened?" Rand questioned, closing his eyes as he lacked the energy to keep them open.

"For starters, you nearly electrocuted yourself to death along with Miyari," Voz scolded. "Walthen and I had to put on spacesuits in order to get you back to medical for treatment without getting that blasted dust on us as well."

"How is she?" Rand inquired.

"In addition to some severe electrical burns, she suffered multiple exposures to the dust," Voz explained. "I started filtering her blood again, but this time had her restrained. We nearly lost her twice, but she's stabilized. You were in better condition, so we moved you here to make room in medical.  If we're going to have more than one person on the crew down with injury or sickness, we're going to need more than one bed in there."

"Are these restraints necessary?" Rand queried.

"Apparently they are," Voz confirmed. "For the past two days, you've been trying to get loose or attack anyone else in the room. It would seem some of the withdrawal symptoms are paranoia and heightened aggression. It's a nasty combination."

"Two days?" Rand repeated.

"It's actually been three days since you and Miyari had your fight," Voz mentioned. "You were unconscious the first day, and there were a few times I didn't think you'd pull through. I'm glad you're still with us."

"You're aren't alone there," Rand agreed. "How about letting me out of these bindings?"

"Not yet," Voz denied. "I'm still testing some of your blood to make sure the dust is entirely out of your system. Besides, I don't know if it might have lingering effects afterwards. Just relax and rest while Walthen and I finish repairing the ship."

"How much longer will the repairs take?" Rand asked.

"We've retrieved all the viable hull plating from where it was scattered over the asteroid and covered the vital areas of the ship as best we could," Voz related to him. "Internal repairs are nearly complete with just a few systems remaining to repair and test. The hardest part in all of this was cleaning off our suits after being outside to prevent bringing any of the dust inside."

"We'll need to check the ship again before we land anywhere else," Rand decided. "I want to make sure we didn't scoop up any dust into the rents in the hull."

"Don't worry; we'll take care of it," Voz promised. "After Miyari is fully healed, we'll also destroy the toxins we filtered from her blood so there won't be any trace of the dust brought back with us."

The copilot, now an improvised doctor, started to leave.

"Voz," Rand said, causing the other man to pause his departure. "Thank you. Thanks for doing all this."

"I want a bonus when we get back," Voz joked.

"Consider it done," Rand chuckled.

"I also want better medical training, or you need to hire and actual doctor," Voz insisted.

"We'll see what we can do," Rand agreed. He started to relax and was almost instantly asleep again.

***

The Starhopper pushed against the asteroid with its thrusters and launched itself into space. The battered ship wobbled slightly but continued upward at a steady pace.

"We're going to need a name for this place on the maps," Rand commented.

"I have an idea," Voz put forward. "On my homeworld of Corellia, there is a legend of a monster that comes at night, bestowing fevered nightmares upon people until they die. Considering what this place did to you and Miyari, it would seem an appropriate name."

"What is it?" Rand asked.

"Kessel," Voz told him. "The monster's name is Kessel. Perhaps if we give it such a designation, no one will be likely to come here again."

"What about the dust?" Rand inquired. "Could someone use it medically in small doses?"

"It's possible," Voz admitted. "However, considering the effects it had on you and Miyari in its raw and unprocessed form, I'd hate to think what it could do to someone if refined. It might help, but it will probably cause more harm than good in the long run."

"I'll list Kessel in the charts as a lifeless, airless rock," Rand replied. "We'll try and make it as uninteresting in the records as possible so no one will have a reason to go there."

"Good," Voz accepted. "What about that cluster of black holes?"

"Considering we were nearly swallowed by one of them, how about calling it The Maw?" Rand suggested.

"It's fitting," Voz concurred. "I figured out why our sensors didn't detect them from range. The black holes are unusually stable and there are so many of them, their gravity signatures overlap and confuse the scanners."

"How soon can we make the jump to hyperspace?" Rand questioned.

"Due to the gravity of the black holes nearby, we'll have to get 14 parsecs out from Kessel first," Voz answered after checking his sensor display.

"I wish it were sooner," Rand growled. "I'd like to get far away from this place as soon as possible."

"If you had a faster ship with more powerful engines, you might be able to surge past the interference and make the jump at a shorter distance," Voz replied. "Maybe they'll be invented sometime in the future, but I don't know of any engines currently of sufficient power."

"I hope such engines are never needed," Rand countered. "I hope no one ever has to navigate the route to Kessel."

"You'll get no argument from me," Voz agreed soberly.

The indicator lights on the control board turned green, and Rand pulled back the levers controlling the hyperdrive. The repaired systems worked perfectly, stars turning into streaks of light outside the cockpit window as the vessel jumped into hyperspace for its journey back to the settled areas of the galaxy.