Please note that all standard disclaimers apply.
One With the Force
by Zenya
Part Two : A Surprise Rescue
In the dullness of the detention cell, the only light that broke the darkness came in from a
small window with thick durasteel bars crisscrossing it. And now, as night approached,
even that was diminishing.
Soon it would be almost pitch black in the cell, the only light coming from a small
lantern hung outside the cell door.
Charisa Thonola shivered. She hated the night, mainly because she couldn’t see if
anyone was creeping up on her. The Gorind scenery wasn’t much better in the daylight,
but she preferred it to the nightime.
But they would come for her sooner or later, whether it be day or night, and there would
be no escape.
At that thought, Charisa panicked. Her heart pounded faster and faster as she glared at
the door, imagining who was coming for her from behind it.
She clamped her eyes shut, tears of pure terror rolling down her cheeks. But when no
sound came from behind the door, she relaxed. She was safe, at least for now.
Not being a person who was able to stay still for a second, Charisa soon became bored.
She gazed at the small window and then pulled the cell chair so it was positioned
beneath it, stood on top of the chair, and viewed the scene outside.
Nothing much to look at. Just a heap of derelict houses, dark figures moving in the
night, and almost inaudible sounds coming from different parts of the small town.
Suddenly, a bombardment of shouting voices came from outside the cell. Charisa heard
the identifiable sound of blaster fire, and then a strange fuzzing noised that sounded like it
was right outside the door. In a burst of flames that made Charisa fall off her chair, the
door fell off its hinges to reveal a tall figure standing in a cloud of smoke. The shape of a
blaster was in one hand, and in the other was a tool that Charisa was not familiar with.
Fear grew in her stomach. They had finally caught up with her.
But his voice said, “Come Charisa. Quickly! I’m here to help, but you must come
now!”
That was enough for her to hear. Whether he was here to kill her or not didn’t matter, as
long as she got out of this hell hole. Without another thought, she jumped up and ran after
the strange man.
Together, they plowed down the grey corridors, leaving a trail of blaster fire and dead
bodies behind them.
They came to the front entrance, almost out of the detention centre. But a line of troops
blocked their way.
The unknown rescuer turned around with startling speed, grabbed Charisa and dragged
her back down the corridor. “There is a back entrance, I think.”
But when they reached that door, it too was blocked by troops.
“Damn!” the man cursed angrily, as he aimed his blaster and fired at the line of troops.
Several dropped, and the ones that didn’t were too injured to do anything.
The rescuer nodded his approval and kicked the door open.
“Follow me!” he commanded gruffly.
The pair bolted down the alleyways of the town of Sharin, and soon reached what was
obviously a docking bay.
“This one!” he shouted, pointing to Docking Bay 14.
The two fugitives ran into the rather large docking bay and dashed hurriedly up the ramp
of what was no-doubtedly a smuggler’s ship.
As Charisa strapped herself into one of the passenger seats, Norsk Fraylan ran to the
cockpit of his ship, the Avenged, and powered up the engines.
The rescue had been easy, a little too easy. But there was no time to think about that
now, he had to get them out of here.
He heard the sound of voices yelling, and energy bolts bombarded the ship’s hull.
With a whine from the repulsor engines, the Avenged lifted off the ground and flew
towards the sky.
Norsk powered the craft forward as fast as it would go, and soon the Avenged had left
the planet’s atmosphere and was in the relative safety of space.
He set the hyperspace coordinates and watched as the stars transformed into the fuzzy
streaks of hyperspace. There were not many occasions when Norsk took the time to fully
appreciate the beauty of the universe, but as he sat in the cockpit of the Avenged, he
thought about how impressive it really was.
A sudden thought struck him, and he jumped up and walked hurriedly into the main
living area of the spaceship.
At his entrance, Charisa spun around and glared at him with such malice in her eyes, it
sent a shiver up his back. Norsk was sure he could sense the pure hatred radiating from
her. It was like a black cloud had engulfed his mind, and for a moment he wavered where
he stood.
Norsk shrugged this display of weakness off, and smiled uneasily.
“Do you often hate the people who rescue you?”
“I’d say you have condemned me to death rather than rescue me.”
“What?”
“Don’t you dare act like you don’t know what I’m talking about,” Charisa snarled,
fiercely. “I know your game. Or have you forgotten who I really am? You’re all the
same. Make me trust you, make me think I’m safe, and then....BANG! You kill me or
send me back to them. Well, I’m not falling for it, you wretched bounty hunter scum!
And don’t think this smuggler’s ship is going to fool me, either.”
“Look, I don’t know what you’re...”
“Like the Empire you don’t!”
"Please let me finish. I am not a bounty hunter. And if you’re wondering why I rescued you, well, there’s really no
explanation.”
“Bah! No explanation! I need no explanation from you.”
“Look, I don’t know what your problem is. I rescued you because I felt I had to. I am
not going to kill you and I am not a bounty hunter.”
“Oh really?” Charisa smirked sarcastically. “Then what are you?”
“My name’s Norsk Fraylan and this smuggler’s ship, as you observed, is my smuggler’s
ship, called the Avenged. And, yes, I am a smuggler. And now Charisa Thonola, tell me
about your situation.”
Charisa walked over to the small viewport. For some strange reason, she felt like she
could trust this man, like he was here to help her. But common sense had always ruled
over feelings in Charisa’s life, for her wit had saved her life quite a number of times.
With a sigh of tired depression, Charisa explained, “I don’t know why I’m telling you
this as you probably already know it all. But maybe it would be good to get it out of my
system. For starters, my name isn’t Charisa Thonola, it’s Janara Tarin, as you are most
likely already aware of. I come from the planet of....this is so stupid. You already know
all this, why do I have to repeat it?”
“Let me get a few things straight. I have never met you in my life, I do not anything
about you, so stop assuming that I do, and just tell me the things that I need to know. And
do you prefer Charisa or Janara?”
“Charisa. And I guess it wouldn’t hurt to tell, although I don’t see why you want to hear
it again...” she stated with a glare of exasperation, “...but the story goes like this. I was
born and raised in the Tarin family, which of course I am not proud of. Do you know who
the Tarin family are?”
Charisa smiled sarcastically when Norsk shook his head.
“I bet you don’t. But anyway, the Tarin family are the largest and most dangerous
criminal family in the entire Colonies region of the galaxy. I am the daughter of the most
prominent crimelord, Horas Tarin, the most heartless and cunning man I have ever met,
and I basically hated living with the murderers that are my relatives. When I was twenty
my father wanted to introduce me to the ‘wonderful’ world of piracy and crime. I turned
him down and had to flee from my family.
“I knew too much. I had seen to much. And now, every bounty hunter in the universe is
after me. I can’t do a thing without looking over my shoulder. It’s been a year since I
fled, and still they haven’t let up. And they won’t until I’m....”
Charisa turned away from Norsk’s staring eyes. It was apparent that the subject of her
past was a painful thing to remember.
“You don’t have to talk about it any more. I understand your pain, although mine is a
little different. My family is ashamed of me because of what I have become. I can no
longer face them.”
“Is that meant to make me feel sorry for you? Because I don’t. I know what your real
purpose for rescuing me is. I mean, if I were a bounty hunter, I’d go after myself. It’s an
awful lot of money for the bounty of one helpless girl. But as you may soon find out, I am
not that helpless. All the years of growing up around crime paid off.”
“How many times do I have to explain this to you. I am not....”
A beeping sound broke the tense conversation, alerting Norsk that they were coming up
on their destination.
“We’re here. At the planet of Dura-Khan. I’m meeting a friend and you’re coming with
me. You’ll be pleased to know that he’s a bounty hunter.”
With a last smug grin, Norsk vanished down the hallway, making his way to the cockpit
of the Avenged.
Continue . . .
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