Once again, the Mismatch and her captain were on the way to Acres of treasure. Just wonderful, Eleni thought as she willed her ship to fly even faster, she had a hint, “take the head”, she had a light saber, and she now had a plascube to contain the damned thing. It seemed a paltry list compared to what was at risk. She had run out of time for further investigation. The time it would take to return to the Acre was all she had left. She spent the days in hyperspace meditating and practicing with the light saber so she didn’t cut her arm off. Bene Gesserit ways were so much more refined.
The faint alarm sound stirred the smuggler from her meditations. Again, 50 minutes early. It made little sense to her that she could be wrong twice, but there it was. Eleni went to the cockpit, looking for the green ball of tree that had greeted them previously. The pulse in her head slipped into a dull ache as she saw the Acre Fen, now mostly covered from this viewpoint by a more sinister blue shine. Her hands went to her temples, and she rubbed at her eyes slowly. Mak had always said never to let your guard down, because there would always be someone around to test it. She recalled his advice as a sleek red ship came out of hyperspace to the right of the Acre.
Master Baele? No such luck. The ship was slowly approaching hers, and showed no sign of powering down its weapons. Eleni flicked some switches, running the ID through her computer as she heard a smug female voice over the comm system.
“Allo Eleni Benecor, capitan of the Mismatch. You arel spicking to Keelin Andries, bounty hunter and all around mercenary for Black Sun. You will hand over the agent Parnell Makola and not be blown out of sky.” By the end of this speech, Keelin’s windshield was even with Eleni’s. She could see the young brunette, wearing mandalorian armor, sizing up her prey.
“This IS Eleni Benecor, Captain of the Mismatch. I am actually happy to see you, if you are who you say you are. Mak is a bit stuck at the moment, but maybe you can help us both out.” Eleni’s finger flipped at the little box cover for the switch to the shields, just in case.
“He is stuck at moment? How is stuck?” Keelin half-stood, trying to see if Mak were in the cockpit with Eleni. Aha. At least she was curious and not out kill first, make up answers later.
Eleni pointed over to the Acre, “He’s in there. I have to get him out. You coming?”
Keelin frowned, and was obviously calling up her sensor array to see what was going on, “Is dying tree. “ she muttered.
“Yes, it is. And he started it. And now, he’s trapped on it unless I can kill the blue thing and get him out.”
Keelin rolled her eyes. This was not as easy as she’d been led to believe. Eleni could tell by the smile as the bounty hunter nodded agreement. This one was plotting a backstab already. “I will assist you.” Oh yes she would, right until it was convenient to blast Eleni into oblivion.
Eleni clenched her teeth and smiled, “Great. I’ll open an airlock for you,” and maybe close it. Maybe.
After a long tense moment of Keelin trapped in the airlock while Eleni wondered if she truly needed the help - No one insulted her ship. So what if it wasn’t shiny? When you’re in an airlock, you just don’t SAY those kinds of things - the two women finally managed a decent greeting. Now that she had a better look at the bounty hunter, Eleni could tell that she was young, and new, with a lot of bravado but not much sense. The girl’s ship was auto programmed to come in if needed, but would stay in orbit, but as far from Collin as possible. Keelin checked and rechecked her weapons and jetpack as Eleni guided her ship on approach. The Mismatch couldn’t land where she had the last time. The entire area had become a desolate viscerally pulsing blue hell. Recalling how quick Collin had moved when threatened, Eleni wondered what would happen now that she had returned to finish him off.
The groan of the dead branch resounded in the ship as the Mismatch landed in a somewhat barren section. The air was thinner, but still breathable, and a few leaves still struggled to survive. Eleni coasted down the ramp, looking for sign of the Bracca. The once glowing nodes along the branches were dark.
“They’ve left,” she said sadly, “They said they would leave. I just thought that it wouldn’t look so final.”
Keelin followed her out, “Is like drift wood. Dark, with holes. Who want to live in death?” Her tact was lacking as well, it seemed.
Eleni closed her eyes, trying to center on Mak’s life force. There he was, and wow he was in a bad mood. She reached out to him, but almost immediately regretted it. Keelin uttered a foreign curse that sounded like “monkey’s underpants”, and Eleni turned to find out why. Even if Mak hadn’t noticed her return, Collin had. Hundreds of bright blue tendrils were slipping their way towards the ship, faster than ever.
“That’s what we‘re fighting!” Eleni shouted, tugging Keelin towards the lower, thicker branches.
“We must stand and fight, then” Keelin drew a blaster and fired at one of the speeding blue vines. It stopped and withered as it was hit dead on, but that left hundreds more still advancing. They covered the Mismatch, curling around every extremity until it was barely recognizable. Eleni uttered one of her own favorite curses and punched her jetpack’s throttle, sending both her and Keelin to a safe distance.
“No turning back now, hm”
“Speak for self, my ship is still awalible.” Humph. She could tell that they wouldn’t be missing each other after this.
Eleni let go of Keelin and focused on Mak’s life force. It was deep, hundreds of miles away. She remembered that he was to be taken to the heart of the Acre, and slowed, pausing at one of the dark and vacant nodes.
“They used to live in the tree. These were windows.” Keelin ran a gloved hand along the concave glass, intrigued. Eleni frowned, “Unfortunately, I don’t have a key.”
“Key? I have key.” Keelin made a fist, and a small dart at her middle knuckle shot out, embedding itself into the glass, which cracked easily. With her other fist, she punched a hole.
“That’s not a key.” Eleni managed without grumbling, but stepped inside anyway.
Within the node was a modest home made up of four rooms. One held a similar glass doorway to a thin hall. With Keelin’s help again, the two were soon making their way deep into the heart of the Acre. It was darkening more and more. The branches were thicker, with fewer nodes in the area. Eleni took the lead, and tried again to send something, anything to Mak. It might have been her imagination, but all she could feel from him was anger.
The Acre was a different story. It was fighting Collin, determined to live as long as possible, and it sent welcomed breezes of oxygen through the hollow passageway as Keelin and Eleni sped along. The Bracca had completely abandoned their home. All along the way were signs of hurried exit, weapons and personal items littering the hallways. Eleni had no use for armor or weapons. Besides, she kept telling herself, the Bracca would soon be home and needing the things themselves.
As the hours went on, Keelin suggested linking to each other and taking turns sleeping. Eleni took first watch, and had the next 5 hours to her thoughts. Keelin had been very quiet, but for some reason Eleni trusted her, at least for now. Neither of them wanted to tackle Collin alone, and when the time came, Eleni would be needed to dispatch him. It was with that kind of trust that Eleni fell asleep as Keelin took her turn. The young bounty hunter woke her smuggler partner as they entered a vast dimly glowing cavern some hours later. Keelin had stopped their progression, and was glancing around,
“This heart must be close,” she said, moving to examine a wall of familiar-looking relics.
“The Bracca have had many visitors, “ Eleni explained. “They kept the stuff, so they would remember how to deal with them.”
Keelin raised an eyebrow, “Killed?”
“No, most likely imprisoned. The ones that got away went crazy.”
That didn’t seem to reassure her for some reason. Eleni picked up an air mask assembly and tucked it in her pocket. If Mak weren’t breathing, it might be useful. The cavern had many small nodes running along the outside wall. Through the nodes, the two saw several lines of bright light dart suddenly into view. The glowing ends landed against the node in front of them, and moved slowly along the surface, as though trying to sense what was inside. Eleni shook her head as Keelin drew her blaster, and hurried onward.
The same thing happened again, just as they reached a giant circular node at the end of the passageway. It must be the heart! Through the transparent material that barred their way, Eleni could see hundreds of similar passageways leading away. The entire chamber seemed empty, but Eleni could feel the energy and pulse within it, filling her with hope for Mak and the Acre. A bright tentacle of light felt along the outside node, then left again. Eleni let out a breath. Collin couldn’t have moved that quickly! Not for a sustained period like that. But, she thought, what new abilities might all of that life force give to the dark side creature?
“Capitan. I see a hand. I fear him dead.” Keelin looked quite annoyed, “That will be half the bounty.” Eleni noted another tendril outside, and zipped over to the glass of the node. Only one hand, sticking out at an odd angle, could be seen from their vantage point. It wasn‘t moving, but that didn‘t mean much. Eleni tried to sense him again. Yes, he was alive, a tiny speck of life within the overwhelming force of the tree. She had to get in. Time to try her own version of a key.
“Open,”
The voice was used before she gave it a second thought. Keelin didn’t seem to notice. The Acre Fen did, though. A small split formed in the center and opened wider to allow the two women. Now that she and Keelin were there, the Acre began to focus everything on its heart. The air flooded with rich oxygen and moisture, and the walls pulsed softly with green light in welcome. It took a few minutes, but Eleni went quickly to Mak’s confined form. Man-made metal binders had been attached to the inner walls to hold him in place, but floating easily. The bemused glance he gave Eleni as she slowed to hover before him looked thoroughly annoyed.
“Mak, I’ve come to take you back.” She moved closer to examine his bonds.
“No, thanks. I think I’ll just stay here and talk to the tree some more. It’s got a lot of interesting ideas about.. About bark and.. And leaves.. And wood.. And..” He must have been extremely angry; his wit had been damaged.
Eleni put a hand to his mouth, “Shut up.” He did so, but glared at her. “Collin’s still out there. I think he’s trying to follow us.”
“Umph?” Eleni rolled her eyes and took her hand away.
“Us? Who did you bring with you? That kid you took to Glanzen? Oh, don’t give me that, I know all about you and Kip”
“Tik”
“Whatever.”
“I haven’t seen him in months. Black Sun sent a bounty hunter after you. She found me and followed me here.”
“She, huh?”
“Yes. She’s been hired to take you to safety, and probably to kill me, but I think Collin will take care of that.”
Mak’s mood wasn’t lightening, “Good. That way I don’t have to go anywhere with you.”
“Keelin? He’s all yours.” There was no way she would hash this mess out with an audience in the middle of a dying tree.
Keelin didn’t respond, which made Eleni turned towards the makeshift door. She groaned inwardly. The girl was wrapped tightly in Collin’s blue strands, struggling to blast the stuff off of her. The blue malignant entity had honed some of its tendrils to razor sharp, and had cut its way through the outer node.
“Oh well, guess you’ll have to actually work to get yourself out of this,” she ignited the light saber and swiped it at Mak’s bonds, which broke neatly in two, allowing him to float unsteadily next to her.
“What the trig is that?”
“It’s a light saber”
“Where did you-”
“Duck”
She swiped, and Collin’s outstretched tendrils retracted, the pain almost audible. Eleni smiled, “aha.. That worked.”
With her other hand, the smuggler tossed Mak a vibroblade, “Help Keelin! I’ll keep them off of you.” Mak nodded, still a bit wobbly, but managed to waft over to Keelin and started slashing. The fancy sword didn’t do half as much damage as the lightsaber, but Collin was being kept at bay for the moment.
Keelin managed to struggle free of the wiggling blue threads. Mak gave a jaunty lopsided smile, “Hi. I heard you were asking about me?“
Keelin nodded, “Yes. You must come with. Black Sun says all forgiven.“ She brought something forth from behind her. It was round and shiny, with small lights blinking.
“That’s” Mak’s smile faded quickly, “That’s a thermal detonator? Are you mental?“
Keelin brought it up to eye level so she could adjust the time delay, “Is for Capitan and tree. No more problem.“
An outpouring of anger and darkness sent a sharp pain to Eleni’s force sense. She turned away from fighting off Collin’s tendrils, searching for the source. Collin had stopped its assault on the other two. Her eyes widened, oh no.
“Mak! Don’t get angry! Collin is feeding off of it!“
The dark feelings were spreading quickly, and Collin’s smugness reached her with awful clarity. Mak wasn’t listening at all. He made a leap at Keelin, wrestling for the thermal detonator. Eleni’s eyes narrowed as she saw hundreds more of Collin’s projections stream in through the hole. Her training would not help her for long.
“You’ve won, Collin!“ she shouted, “Mak’s taken by anger, this girl is about to blow us all to our makers. Aren’t you going to show your real self and mock me again?“ She turned around, noticing the blue tendrils wrapping slowly around Mak’s and Keelin’s forms as they continued to fight each other. “Maybe you can’t. Maybe you’re still not strong enough. Maybe, you’re …afraid.“ She closed her eyes, waiting.
The tendrils paused before her, simply hovering. Collin was waiting, saving her for last. Mak and Keelin were still fighting within a cage of blue, the anger and hatred from both causing the filaments to pulse. Eleni’s head hurt terribly, like an ice pick being stabbed into her temples over and over again. She could hear the creature, wanting in; wanting to feed. A blue filament wrapped around her waist, as she fought to block out the increasing pain in her head. Slowly, almost imperceptibly, Collin carried the three out of the node, heading for the outer branches where there was no oxygen, and no hope. Eleni shook her head once, trying to call up memories of her reverend mother again, asking for advice this time, guidance. It was a long shot, considering the disapproval she kept dreaming about. Even so, Eleni knew better than to let her emotions take control. She could feel them, all of the anger, hatred, frenzied misery at losing to this thing, rising to the surface and threatening to drown her. The litany against fear became lost in the wash.
“MOTHER WEISZ!” she shouted, in a last effort to take control.
And, as in answering her prayer, she was there. Reverend Mother’s face was there, glowing, stony face set in pitiable understanding, “Quiet down, Child. You are letting your emotions cloud your judgment once again.” the face said sternly, “This life form, although not human, possesses the right to live, just as you do. You were wrong to rob it of its only means of nutrition.”
“Yes, Reverend Mother,” Eleni nodded As with everything else Reverend Mother said, she disagreed, but she knew better than to voice her argument.
Inside the glowing blue cage, Keelin stopped fighting for a moment as she saw the head form and move to float in front of Eleni, “What is?” Keelin asked.
Mak shook his head, “You don’t want to know. Just hope it doesn’t turn into one of your bad dreams.“ He looked in the direction they were headed, “We’re getting close to the upper canopy now. He’s going to kill us the easy way.” Keelin punched some buttons on her arm without answering.
“You must pay penance now, child.” The face said, “Open yourself to it. You must give what you have taken away.”
Eleni nodded again, her head bowed. Collin’s hold on the other two slackened as his tendrils all moved towards Eleni, beginning to slowly envelope her from her feet upwards. The feeling was warm, comforting, but she felt frustrated, just as she had at Geidi Prime. Reverend Mothers liked to make up orders just to see if you would defy them, it seemed. Mak gripped a tree branch to stop himself from floating further away. He looked between the thermal detonator in his hand and Eleni, and considered throwing it, but turned it off and tucked it back in his pocket: Too risky.
Collin’s Reverend Mother face floated closer to Eleni’s now. It was smiling, anticipating the feast it was about to have. The warm blue ends slipped around her wrists, but remained slack, waiting for the perfect moment to immobilize her. Eleni whispered something, and the head moved closer still.
“What did you say, My Child?”
Eleni’s head raised, her eyes cold and distant, “I said that Reverend Mother Weisz doesn’t smile. Ever.”
And with that, the light saber ignited, flashing in a clean force of energy and severing the head from the rest of Collin. Eleni reached out, the small plascube in her other hand, and let the head fall inside. There was a mechanical swoosh as it became vacuum sealed, and Eleni hovered there, the blue bands dying around her lower body and wrists.
“Never smiled.” she murmured.
Only then did Eleni notice the others. Keelin was gone. Mak was hanging there, his blaster pointed at her head while he looked at her in a cautious way.
“You ok, ’Leni?”
“Probably,” she managed to smile.
She could see the Mismatch from where they floated. Everywhere, the blue bands were fading out. The blue head in the plascube bounced in a rage, but couldn’t escape.
“Where’s the girl?”
“Probably run off to save her ass.” Mak said. Looking like a windmill, he did his best to lower his body so that he could see her eye to eye. He put his blaster away “Still hurts?”
“No. You’ll be happy to know the Acre is recovering nicely.”
“That’s not what I meant.”
“Oh.”
“Don’t know if I’m over the whole betrayal bit yet.”
“That’s too bad, Mak. I came back for you, just like I said I would.”
“You shouldn’t have left in the first place!” he was getting riled up again. “We could have fought our way out, easy!”
“They could have killed us at any time.” She said it very quietly.
Mak paused, then nodded, accepting, “Eleni - I’m an-”
His statement was cut short by the vivid wash of bright searchlights above.
“Ah. There’s your ride.”
Eleni patted Mak on the shoulder, saying good-bye. Thanks would have been nice, but he just wasn’t like that. At least she had managed to get them back to normal. Mak glanced up at the shiny red ship, then back at her with a grin. He reached out to take her in his arms, kissing her with sudden intensity before pushing her away. The momentum gained by the push directed him towards Keelin‘s airlock while Eleni’s backside pressed into a branch. She rolled her eyes. They were definitely back to normal.
“Always an adventure, Pretty.” He gave her one of those crazy grins.
Eleni sighed, but managed to smile, “Next time, bring wine.“
She watched him climb into the ship, then headed for the Mismatch. It was visible now that Collin had been captured. Eleni wasn’t sure what to do with the hopping blue bugger, but it would come to her. For the moment, she stored it in a combination safe inside the airlock, along with the lightsaber. On her return back to the Tapani sector, she searched until she found the neighboring Acre, and told the Bracca there that Acre Fen needed them to return. The translucent, graceful people were already preparing to return. They had heard the Acre Fen’s song of dying change to one of welcome as soon as Collin’s hold had been severed. Through the droid, she was also told that a new legend had already begun about the brave couple who had risked their lives for one another, and for the Bracca and Acres of the region. Eleni managed to skip the huge party thrown in her honor, even though it sounded like quite a production. It was time to recover some of the money she had spent saving Mak’s behind. She wondered how long it would take Mak to turn up at their place with new bounties and cargo for her to go after. Probably not long. Hopefully not long. Eleni smirked to herself and set coordinates for home. If she ever saw Barnes Baele again, she hoped Vanya was with her. She’d beg to have a front row seat at that meeting.
