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“Do you have any idea how difficult it was just to get here? Tython isn’t exactly a chartered holiday destination, you know.” Thake couldn’t hide the sneer that came so naturally to him. He was trying. He really was. A small round face looked up at him with uncertainty and fear. So much like Cypher Nine’s, before the Universe had gotten to her. This kid was going to do a lot of crying. Pretty soon, the Jedi would be convincing her to push aside all that emotion and turmoil, pretend it’s not there. Don’t make it easy on them, he privately thought to himself. Bastards don’t deserve it.
Laiko was clearly searching for the right thing to say but struggling. Thake had no patience for it. “Don’t even bother. All you need to know is I’m a… friend (Ugh!) of your mother’s and I’m delivering something for her. You don’t understand. That’s fine. You’re not meant to understand yet.” He held out his hand, fist clenched tight. Laiko just looked more confused and after a moment, held out her own tiny, blue fist in a mimicry of Thakes.
Letting out an exasperated sigh, Thake took her hand in his, opening up chubby fingers, and placed what he’d been clutching into her open palm. “Don’t even know when someone’s giving you a present. The Jedi must be very generous to you.”
“They are,” Laiko replied hesitantly, her eyes never leaving her open palm.
Oh, that’s right. Tython, the planet that sarcasm forgot.
“Moving along. What you have there is a transponder chip. It is very valuable and also very delicate. I had it specially made for you and it’s programmed for one purpose and one purpose alone.”
Her eyes shot back up to his face. “It will allow me to contact her. Won’t it.” No question, no uncertainty. This was her damned force talent showing off,
“Yes Yes. You’re very gifted and special.” He replied, brushing imaginary dust from his gloves. “I’m sure you’ll someday bring peace to the entire galaxy by riding a celestial Sleen or some garbage. Can we get back to the part where I’m talking?”
Laiko nodded once. Thake returned with the most unappreciative “Thank you,” he could muster. “Now before you start getting all excited, this thing has been programmed to only work after a certain period of time. I’ve set it for two years.” He watched as she stifled a gasp and her face fell. Choke on it, kid.
“The wait will give you a chance to start figuring out whether you belong here and whether you’re happy. It’ll also give you time to think about whether you actually want to contact her at all. It’s going to be painful but it’s better than a lot of us got before some snotty person on high made the decision for us. Your mother included. You’re going to hate me for doing this and frankly, I won’t lose a moment’s sleep over it.”
Now came the hard part. “Listen to me very carefully now because I’m going to say this once and then I’m gone. You do not tell anyone about this. Not your best friend, not your eventual master, not the ghost of your ancestors and ESPECIALLY not Ardun Kothe. Don’t tell him that I was here, don’t tell him you even think about your mother and don’t let him worm information out of you with his mind or his mouth. I’m trusting you to be smart and I never trust anyone like that. Do you understand me?”
Her breathing quickened but the fear stayed quelled this time. Maybe there’s hope for her yet.
“I understand,” she replied, secreting the transponder chip into her robes.
“Whatever. I’m leaving now. I’d tell you to forget about me but I was never here,” Thake said with a finality as he activated his cloaking device. After ten seconds, Laiko was certain that she was once again alone in her room.
____
“You know the kid’s gonna cave. She’ll be blabbing about this to someone within a week.” It still irked Thake that he couldn’t sneak up on Kaliyo. “You practically gave her a loaded gun.”
Deactivating stealth with a sigh, he replied, “You’re probably right but the safety’s on for now and once it’s off, she gets to decide whether to use it and where it’s aimed. That was the whole point.”
Kaliyo rolled her eyes, “I hate it when you get all maudlin on me. You say you want to infiltrate the Jedi homeworld and mess with a small childs mind, hey, I’m all up for that kind of fun.”
“Even when it’s Thessa’s?”
“Especially when it’s hers. Point is when you’re not screwing with them, Jedi are about as fun as day old Bantha droppings. Can we please go shoot something now?”
“Why Kaliyo, I thought you’d never ask. I overheard mention of these delightful little beasts called Flesh Raiders, to the East of here. It should be worth a few pot-shots.” Kaliyo gave him a look as if to say, “I doubt that will keep me entertained for long.”
“And of course, I’ll be at your complete mercy in the cargo hold afterwards.” At this news, Kaliyo brightened up significantly.
“Good. I’ve got a new knife I want to try out. But I’ve got to ask, Agent. At any point do you plan on telling Thessa about this?”
As much as Thake loathed being called ‘Agent’ these days, he often let it slide with Kaliyo. “Plans are for self-righteous crybabies with too many kids,” He sneered as he lead the way.
“That’s why I love you.”