| Title: A Bond Of Friendship: Story 9: Silent Tears (Part Three) Author: Angel5000 * * * * * �You can�t leave! Healer Bash�ta gave me orders to keep you here!� Obi-Wan glared at the young Healer�s Apprentice, �If you don�t move then I�m going to make you move!� He threatened. �Uh-uh, I�m not going anywhere, and neither are you!� The thirteen-year old said, with a shake of her head. �Fine. I�m *ordering* you to move! And don�t even say a word about it, because I *can* pull rank and I *am* pulling rank! Now MOVE!� Obi-Wan said, his voice raising. The girl bit her lip. Bash�ta had given her orders to stay here, and make sure Obi-Wan did the same, but now she was being given another order to move�what should she do? Luckily for her Bash�ta arrived with Master Yoda at that moment. �Obi-Wan�I thought you promised me you�d remain here.� Bash�ta said with a smile. �Bash�ta! Would you tell this Apprentice to move out of my way so that I may go get a drink of water?� The boy exploded. �Of course Padawan Kenobi.� Bash�ta turned to the Apprentice, �You can leave now, thank you for your services.� The apprentice bowed, �It was my pleasure to be of help, Healer Bash�ta.� With a final glance at Obi-Wan the girl hurried from the room, eager to get away. �Okay Obi-Wan, climb back into your cot. I�ll bring you a glass of water. We need to start this immediately.� The boy muttered something before climbing back onto the cot. After sipping the water for a few minutes he set it aside and turned to the Healer, �Okay Bash�ta, what are we doing?" �We will attempt to discover what caused you the immense pain, and the blackout.� She raised her hand as Obi-Wan opened his mouth, �Don�t say anything, I�ll explain it all. I am going to put you into a drug-induced sleep. Once you are in a deep trance Master Yoda will perform a mind search on you, in an attempt to discover the source of the problem. When we�re finished we will bring you out of the sleep. Before you completely enter the trance you must drop all your mind shields. You may place a few shields up around some of your most personal thoughts. Are you willing to try?� Obi-Wan nodded. He had expected something like this, and he didn�t mind. �I�m willing Bash�ta.� He lay down on the cot and waited as she prepared the injection. Bash�ta carefully injected the needle into his vein and slowly pushed the liquid into his bloodstream. �Drop your shields now Obi-Wan, you�ve got about two minutes before you fall asleep.� The young Apprentice slowly dropped all his shields, one at a time, leaving only the most personal ones in place. Master Yoda would no doubt leave those areas of his mind alone. Soon he could feel his eyelids dropping and it wasn�t long before he was sound asleep. * * * * * Blackness�blackness and pain�blackness, pain, and a burning sensation. That was all Qui-Gon felt. For days on end the cycle would continue�never ending, ever torturing. Just as the pain was subsiding, as the burning was ceasing, and as the blackness was ending the scientists would enter the room again. Once they entered the room they would inject him again, and for several hours all he felt was the pain. Then the blackness would come and they would leave. As the blackness faded, the room began to come into focus again; Qui-Gon knew that the scientists would be returning soon. The thought filled him with a dread he had never experienced before. Most of his life had been spent defending the Republic, and the defenceless, but now � when it mattered most, he couldn�t even help himself. With a groan Qui-Gon pulled himself to a sitting position and tried to remove the Force Restrictor collar. Unfortunately the chains on his arms had been tightened so that he couldn�t reach his neck. The collar was stuck there for now. Somehow, someway, Qui-Gon had to get that collar off. He was pulling on the chains, trying to loosen them, when the door slid open again. Suddenly fear shot through Qui-Gon and he pulled as far away from the door as his chains would allow. This strange sense of fear baffled the Jedi Master. He wasn�t used to being afraid like this. Sure, he had been afraid before. But never for his own life, never for himself. Always it was for someone else, usually his Padawan. A young boy, around fourteen years in age entered the room. The Jedi stared at the boy, his face full of surprise. //Where are the Scientists? And what is this boy doing here; caught up with a criminal like�what is his real name anyway?// Qui-Gon�s thoughts were twisting back and forth, yet he couldn�t find out a reason for this boy to be with the man who called himself Aramis. �Sir Jedi, I must request that you lie down. I have been given orders to make sure you are kept sedated and I cannot do that if you will not remain lying down.� The boy said. His voice was quiet, and tentative, as if he was scared. Qui-Gon found himself obeying the boy, although he had no reason to be afraid of him, like he was of the scientists. There was something about this boy that awed him. Perhaps it was his young age, or perhaps it was the resemblance to Obi-Wan. Whatever it was, it had this Jedi Master in shock. �Why are you doing this?� He finally managed to get out. The boy looked up in surprise from the chains he was tightening, ��Scuse me?� �Why are you doing this? You have your whole life ahead of you, why are you working for a criminal?� Qui-Gon repeated his question. The boy shook his head, �I have no choice. My service is owed to Aramis to pay off a life debt of my father.� His answer was short and to the point. The words, spoken so easily, tore at Qui-Gon�s heart. Imagine, a boy so young, spending the rest of his life serving a criminal to pay off a debt owed by his father! �How long have you worked for him?� Qui-Gon asked. �Since I was six, sir Jedi, and I will continue to serve until either Aramis himself no longer has need of my services, or until I am too old to perform my duties, at which point my own child, if I ever have one, will take my place until the services are no longer needed. Truly, the only way my family can be released from the life debt is if Aramis, and the members of his family, no longer need my family�s services. Which won�t happen anytime soon, I can assure you of that sir Jedi.� Qui-Gon gasped, as the chains were pulled tight, banging his hands against the table. The boy bit his lip, �I�m sorry, Sir Jedi, but I�ve been given my orders. If I don�t obey there will be dire consequences.� �That�s alright�um�� �Aru, sir. Aru is my name. Forgive me sir, for causing you harm.� Aru said quietly, yet he continued to tighten the chains. Qui-Gon opened his mouth to speak, but the door slid open again, and the two scientists walked in. As he saw them the Jedi Master flinched visibly, and Aru bit his lip. �I�m sorry, sir Jedi.� He whispered before straightening. �Good morning sirs.� Aru bowed slightly, and kept his eyes on the floor. Qui-Gon noticed that Aru seemed very frightened and timid. �Did you tighten the chains and sedate him accordingly?� The shorter of the two, whom Qui-Gon had finally named Dwarf, asked with a stern voice. �Yes sir, I tightened the chains sir.� Aru�s face was full of fear, and Qui-Gon knew that something bad was going to happen, even without the help of the Force. �Did you sedate him?� Dwarf ground out. �No sir, not yet sir.� Aru whispered. The words had barely left his mouth and Dwarf�s hand shot out, landing a stinging blow to Aru�s face. Almost instantly a bright red mark appeared on his right cheek. �I�m sorry sir, I wasn�t given time.� Aru whimpered. �Not given time? You dumb whelp!� Dwarf slapped the boy with the back of his hand and Aru gave a stifled cry. The boy�s hand flew to his mouth, and as he pulled it away there was blood on his fingers and his lip. �I�m sorry sir, I�ll sedate him now.� Aru whispered, before heading to the desk for a syringe. �Never mind, you stupid boy! I�ll take care of it now. Go about your duties. Aramis wishes to see you, and don�t you dare start telling him stories about your face! You tell him the real reason you got yourself slapped, that you got slapped for sassing and disobeying orders, or I�ll make you wish you had! Understand boy?� Dwarf snapped. Qui-Gon could see Aru quiver and the boy nodded before hurrying from the room. //How could they treat that poor boy like that? How could they do something so cruel?// He didn�t have time to wonder anymore though, because at that moment Dwarf pulled a syringe out of his pocket. Dwarf looked at the Jedi and grinned evilly, �It�s too bad for you that the boy didn�t sedate you. Now you�ll have to go through this procedure fully aware of everything you�re feeling. Actually, now would be a great time to try an experiment I�ve been wanting to do for months.� Dwarf turned to Goose and smirked, �Give me the enhancer.� At the word enhancer Qui-Gon jerked. He had heard of enhancers and their abilities. The enhancer served to heighten your senses, but if enough was injected it could become painful. Your senses would be heightened to the point where a tap on the arm, would feel as painful as a slap; a slap would feel just as bad as a punch; and a punch�well a punch felt no better than if you had been hit by a speeder. Just the thought was painful. Dwarf filled up the syringe, injecting the entire thing into Qui-Gon�s arm, twice. It only took three minutes before the affects were being felt. Noises became louder, and the cuffs on his arms and ankles, seemed to irritate him worse than ever before. When Dwarf was sure that his �patient� was fully ready he pulled out two more syringes, and filled them with bright liquids, one blue and one a sickly yellow. Then he began to inject them. The injections themselves were more painful than Qui-Gon had thought humanly possible, but it was nothing compared to the burning sensation he felt coursing through his veins. His skin became slightly translucent and the veins, as well as the liquid coursing through them, could be seen through the skin. Before, when the Master had been injected with the poison, it had burned and he had eventually ended up screaming. Previously the Scientists wouldn�t stop the injections until they got him screaming with pain, wanting to find his limit. But this time it was different. He didn�t scream, and he didn�t beg. Instead he cried. Slow, painful tears. * * * * * Kari�Aun sat; her knees pulled up to her chest, and stared with frightened awe into the blackness surrounding her. Just the thought of going back to work in the morning, as a slave, was alarming, but with her feeling so sick the thought was terrifying. She had never been on a Togorian transport before this trip, and definitely not as a slave. It had been a week since she was initially captured, and things weren�t looking up for the girl. Her health was not good, and slowly she was weakening. Christe did her best to make things easier, and to give her strength, but the Healer-Knight herself wasn�t strong enough to do much. By now both Kari�Aun and Christe had been on several different ships as slaves. They had transferred several times a day. By now it would be nearly impossible for anyone to trace them to this ship. Along the way many of the slaves had been divided up and mixed up, so that hardly anyone knew where anyone else was. Luckily Kari�Aun and Christe had managed to stay together, with a little help from the Force. As soon as they had arrived on this ship the slaves had been placed into locked cells. Each room held one person, making communication and thoughts of escape out of the question. Every morning, at 0400, the cells were unlocked and the prisoners were escorted to their slave posts. Everyone wore chains and electric collars, and no one was allowed to talk. So far, Christe and Kari�Aun were working together, as personal slaves for the Captain of the ship. The captain was a large Togorian who wouldn�t hesitate to bring a whip down on any slave�s back. At the moment Kari�Aun was waiting for the doors to unlock so that she could be taken to work. Her body ached all over, and she needed sleep, but sleep wouldn�t come. The fever was high, and Kari�Aun knew she was developing a bad cough, yet she must work. Slaves who were sick could be allowed a few days break, but their already meager food rations would be cut in half. The rule was simple, you don�t work � you don�t eat. And, although the rest would have done the girl good, nourishment and food were more important to her. Every night at 2100 when they were allowed to return to their cells, Kari�Aun would drop onto her mat and fall into an exhausted sleep. But instead of allowing herself to sleep the entire seven hours permitted, she would set her �biological clock� to wake her at 0230, giving her only five and half hours of sleep. Then, for the last hour and a half she would slip into a healing trance, focusing on her wounds and building up her strength reserve. The inadequate sleeping time was beginning to take its toll, and Kari�Aun knew it wouldn�t be long before she would have to cut her healing time down. It was a step she didn�t want to take, but eventually it would happen. She was thinking about how far she could push herself when the lights in all the cells began to power up. In five minutes the guards would be there with whips, vibro-jabbers, and chains, to take them to their workstations. ~Kari�Aun, are you awake my apprentice? ~ The words flowed into Kari�Aun�s mind as soon as the lights flicked on, and she knew Christe hadn�t been asleep either. ~I am awake now Master.~ She replied, adding the now into the sentence and hoping Christe wouldn�t ask how long she had slept. Christe would no doubt scold her for depriving herself of the sleep, and then order her to stop her healing trances. ~How are you feeling? Is your fever still very high?~ ~The fever is dropping Master, and my wounds are slowly healing. The healing waves you send me each night are most helpful.~ Christe bit her lip and stood up in her own cell. The guards would open her cell anytime now. So far the fact that they were Jedi was unknown, and she hoped it would remain that way. Once that fact was known, anything could happen. ~The guards are on their way Kari, it�s about time to return to work. Are you ready?~ ~Yes Master, ready as I can be.~ A loud click was heard, and Kari�Aun knew the doors were now unlocked, but it did her no good. The only control panel was outside the door, so even if the doors were unlocked she couldn�t escape. The only reason there was a lock at all, was so that the guards couldn�t take prisoners from their cells after lockdown without permission from the head supervisor. It was actually a plus for the slaves. The girl waited a few minutes and soon the door slid open. Once it did a guard stepped in and Kari�Aun immediately sat forward onto her knees, bowed her head, and placed her hands in front of her. The guard latched a pair of electro-chains onto her wrists, and then attached a third chain to the electro-chains, putting her on a type of leash. No one spoke until he was finished. �On your feet.� He snapped, as soon as all was ready. Kari�Aun slid as gracefully as she could onto her feet, considering her injuries, and waited as a second guard searched her for any material or item that could be used as a weapon, or to escape. When he was satisfied that she was clean he nodded, �She�s ready, take her to her new work station.� When Kari�Aun heard the words a trickle of fear ran down her spine. New workstation? �Why can�t I remain in my current work station?� She asked, without thinking. The guard glared at her, �Don�t you know how to hold your tongue, you good for nothing whelp! Slaves don�t ask questions, they are here to work, and only to work!� He brought his whip down on her back once, but was stopped by the other guard before he could strike her again. �Don�t beat the girl for being curious, Bra�lon. She spoke out of turn, that is true, but can�t you see that she already has several wounds, and a high fever as well. The fact that she is continuing to work, without requesting break, is almost enough to make up for her minor misdemeanour. It could have just been the fever talking, rather than the girl.� Bra�lon suppressed a scowl and nodded, �Whatever you say Que-Tuk, you�re the boss.� He gave a rough jerk on the chain, �Come on girl, you�ve got work to start!� �Just a moment Bra�lon, I�m not finished with this slave.� Que-Tuk�s voice had one of authority, and Kari�Aun hoped he wouldn�t do anything cruel to her. None of the other authority figures had treated her any way other than cruel, �Give me your name and number.� He said, turning back to Kari�Aun. �My name, sir, is Kari�Aun; and my number is 00751.� She whispered, her head bowed and eyes cast on the floor. Que-Tuk punched the numbers into his datapad and scanned the information, �You�ve been ill since you arrived, with a high fever and several wounds. No rest time has been recorded, yet you�re health isn�t declining very rapidly. Someone has made a mistake, or someone is covering for you. Why hasn�t your rest time been recorded?� Kari�Aun bit her lip, �I have received no rest time sir, nor have I requested it.� Bra�lon backhanded her before his supervisor could stop him, �Don�t lie to us slave! I�ll teach you some manners!� He raised his hand to hit her again and Kari�Aun bit her lip and waited for the blow. When it came she let out a muffled cry, but did her best to remain quiet. The slap was hard enough that it knocked her to her knees. When she fell she crossed her wrists and pulled her arms in front of her face, hoping to prevent more harm from coming. When the third blow didn�t come she cautiously pulled her hands down, just enough to uncover her eyes. She was surprised to see Que-Tuk holding Bra�lon�s wrist with an iron grip. �Don�t hit her again.� He said, and his voice was iron hard. �Look at her! She is injured bad enough as it is, yet continues to work. Look into her eyes and you will see she tells the truth; there is no reason to beat a truthful slave. Those who are truthful will remain loyal longer, and loyalty is something many slaves lack! The captain would not be pleased to find that we are beating the more willing slaves. He wants slaves that are able to work, and those that are willing do better! If I find you beating her again, without reason, you shall receive a flogging of your own, are we in an understanding?� The last sentence was barely audible, but Kari�Aun used the Force to enhance her hearing and heard every word. //Perhaps this is my ticket out of here�// �Yes sir, we are in understanding.� Bra�lon ground out, his voice full of rage. If he had more guts he would have told Que-Tuk never to scold him in front of a slave again, but he didn�t have the guts. His supervisor was usually a pretty laid-back guy, but subordination and disrespect were things he wouldn�t accept. �Good. Now take this slave to her new workstation, but make sure she receives a week of light work.� Que-Tuk said. �But sir! The kitchen supervisor won�t be happy to hear that she can only do light work!� Bra�lon protested. //Kitchen supervisor? They�re putting me in the kitchen?// �Tell him I ordered it. She was never given ample time to recover from the wounds she had when she was first taken aboard, and we can�t have her working for us in this condition. Tell him to speak to me if he has problems.� Que-Tuk replied. �Now get going, the group is waiting!� Kari�Aun found herself being pulled out into the corridor. �Stupid slave! If it were up to me I�d thrash you soundly! I know you were lying, no matter what Que-Tuk says! You�ll pay for that scolding I just received, mark my words child � you�ll pay!� Bra�lon whispered fiercely. ~Master�~ ~Kari�Aun! Where are you? Our group is nearly to the workstation and you aren�t here!~ ~Master, don�t be alarmed. I have been given another workstation. I�ll be going to the kitchens now. But one of the guards, Que-Tuk, is not so cruel as the others Master, and he has ordered that I received one week of light duty. Master, I think that he is one of the few guards that has a heart and a conscious.~ ~Kari�Aun dear, what happened? I could feel pain from you, and it�s still there.~ ~Nothing Master, I�ll explain later.~ Kari�Aun didn�t wish to explain just then. Especially not about the comment Bra�lon just made about paying. It didn�t take the Force to know that he meant it too; he meant ever word he spoke. ***End Part Three*** |
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