Coming Out of the Dark, Chapter 4 There is More to Duty Than Revenge

As soon as Carth stepped outside of the clinic, the sky opened up and a fierce thunderstorm began. He was drenched within seconds. “Great, just when I thought everything was looking up…” he mumbled. He made his way quickly to the apartment building, trying not to draw attention to himself. The Sith had put a curfew in place when they declared martial law. Fortunately, the apartment complex wasn’t far and he got in very easily.

An old man was walking down the hall with a flashlight, and spotted the unexpected young man. “Hey there, young man, did you get caught in the storm?” he asked, walking toward him cautiously.

Carth hid his pistols and stood in a shadow, hoping the old man couldn’t see the bloodstains on his clothes. “Yes, I was told I could find shelter here by Odan. Would you happen to know how I can find Kadir?” Carth asked, trying to hurry through any small-talk.

“You’ve found him. I‘m Kadir, the janitor. Odan sent you? You must be an off-worlder. Don’t worry, I don’t ask questions. Just tell me what you need and I’ll try to help you out. I’m at your service,” Kadir said with a warm smile.

Carth noticed that Kadir seemed slightly senile, so he decided to use it to his advantage. “My sister and I had some trouble in the Lower City. She was injured badly. Odan took us to the clinic, and he said I could find shelter for us here. I haven’t got any credits. All we need is a room until she get’s back on her feet. I‘ll pay you somehow,” Carth pleaded, trying hard to sound like a desperate brother.

“Tell you what. I have one apartment left. It isn’t the best, but it’s yours for as long as you need it. Now, let’s get you dry and I’ll bring you some food and clothing. Then you can go back to the clinic to get your sister. I’ll show you where the place is,” Kadir said, smacking Carth on the back.

As they walked to the apartment, Carth’s inner suspicions gnawed at him. `This guy finds me barging into his building, and now he’s willing to give me anything I want. Not only that, he doesn’t demand anything in return! Something isn’t right here…` “Excuse me, but do you always take in everyone who gets caught in the rain? I could be anybody and yet you’re giving me free shelter. What if I’m a murderer or worse?”

“You said you know Odan and if he told you to come here, he knows your need is genuine. The whole reason I let people live here is because they have nowhere else to go. Not all Tarisians are greedy nobles, young man. Now, here’s the apartment. It needs a good scrubbing, but it’s warm. I’ll go get some clothes and food for you. Wait here,” Kadir said, all traces of senility gone from his voice.

Carth sighed. He wasn’t about to let his guard down, but sometimes he let his distrust cloud his judgment. People like Zelka Forn and Kadir were the reason he fought for the Republic. After his family had been wiped out, he began focusing solely on vengeance. It was times like this when he received a wake-up call. People were suffering all over the galaxy because of this war. Every so often he’d remember that the galaxy was worth saving, and he was grateful for it.

“Forgive me, Kadir, my manners are deplorable. I truly appreciate your offer of shelter for me and my sister. I can’t pay you now, but I’ll have credits for you by the end of the week.” Carth’s voice was quiet and strained from fatigue.

“Don’t worry about that right now, young man. For now, rest and heal your wounds. Zelka will contact you if your sister needs you, and don’t worry too much about her. She’ll be fine. Zelka’s the best doctor on Taris. If anyone can heal her, he can. Just stay out of the Lower City unless you’ve got enough equipment next time,” Kadir replied, his friendly voice visibly relaxing his young tenant.

“Thank you, Kadir. May the Force be with you.” It had been years since Carth had said those words and meant them, but he had a feeling things were about to change. As he closed his eyes, he hoped to the Force those changes would be for the better.

Carth woke before dawn and was relieved to find the rain had stopped. He quickly put on his boots and jacket, hoping that Gia-Sade was out of danger. Zelka hadn’t contacted him during his rest, so he assumed the doctor had no trouble with the medical procedures he performed. After making sure he had his blasters, Carth was ready to go. A short walk in the fresh air did him a lot of good. He was able to begin putting the many deaths he’d seen during the battle of the Endar Spire into their place.

Zelka had been monitoring his unique patient all night without letup. The young woman was healing remarkably fast. He had never seen a human with such a healing rate before. He briefly wondered if she could possibly be a Jedi, but dismissed it. If she had been a Jedi, he had no doubt the young man wouldn’t have left her side. Zelka was almost certain the young man was a Republic soldier, and no self-respecting Republic soldier would leave a defenseless Jedi alone on a hostile world. No doubt he would be coming soon, so Zelka finished his preparations for leaving the young woman in his care.

Carth entered the hospital and immediately found Gia-Sade lying on one of the beds in the back. He walked to the bed and noticed right away that she looked better. She was still as white as the sheets, but the ashen pallor of her skin was gone. The blood that had soaked her hair had been washed away, leaving behind glossy curls of dark hair. Now that they weren’t fighting for their lives, Carth had the opportunity to truly look at his companion.

He’d read her file and her stats; height, weight, and general description. But now that he was really looking at her, those facts were misleading. A woman of six feet tall generally called to mind someone less feminine than average women. Not so in this case. She was slender, even petite, at one-hundred-thirty pounds. Gia-Sade was willowy and appeared very delicate. Her ability to survive the battle of the Endar Spire showed that she must be in top condition, especially since she had used blades the whole time, but that strength wasn’t obvious by sight. She was toned, yes, but her muscles weren’t built up like other female soldiers he knew. All in all she looked even less threatening than Bastila.

“Ah, you’ve found her! I’m afraid she didn’t have a good night. As soon as the anesthetic wore off, she began having terrible night terrors. They got so bad that I eventually sedated her again,” Zelka said, approaching Carth.

“Well, she did hit her head badly when we were attacked. I’d be surprised if she didn’t have some bad dreams,” Carth said, hoping that the doctor wasn’t going to give him any more bad news.

“Yes, disturbing dreams are common when a patient suffers injuries such as the one she has sustained. What worries me is that I cannot revive her. I’ve tried several times this morning and nothing has worked,” Zelka said, his weariness evident in his slumped posture and quiet voice.

“Does this have anything to do with her memory implant?” Carth asked, masking his concern for the mission by acting like a desperate family member.

The truth was, Carth was very concerned for the young woman, but he had to focus every last thought on finding Bastila and getting off this planet. He watched as Zelka injected another stimulant into her neck. Unlike the last time, she stayed unconscious.

Zelka sighed. “Well, the removal of her implant might account for the severity of the dreams, but I should be able to revive her,” he replied. Seeing the distraught look on the younger man’s face, he hastened to reassure him. “That doesn’t mean I think she’ll never recover. Indeed, I believe that she will wake up, but I’m not sure when.”

Carth felt the air rush out of him as if he’d been rammed in the stomach by a basilisk war-droid. “Doctor, do you realize how much you scared me? I thought you were telling me she would remain comatose!” he said, running his hands through his hair in frustration.

“Forgive me. I had a long night and I’m afraid fatigue has caught up with me. Your ‘sister’ will recover. I only wish I knew why I can’t revive her. This is quite unnatural,” Zelka said. ‘I wish I was sure he is a Republic soldier. At least then I could confide my secret to him,’ he thought to himself.

Over the night, the Hidden Beks had brought him eight surviving soldiers from the crashed Republic escape pods. They were so wounded that none of them would survive. He thought of one boy who could not have been more than nineteen. The poor boy’s injuries were the worst Zelka had ever seen in his entire career as a physician. The boy had been torn apart by a frag grenade and then caught in some sort of fire. He was missing his left leg and right arm, and burns covered what was left of his body. For the first time since he saw his first cadaver, Zelka Forn was ill at the sight of a patient.

He worked tirelessly, trying to ease the pain of those eight men hidden away in the kolto tanks. Then Gia-Sade let out a blood-curdling scream that Zelka was sure could be heard throughout the whole city block. She cried out in a language he had never heard before as she thrashed violently. Zelka stopped her from throwing herself off the small bunk throughout the night, but, at times, her strength almost overpowered him. He was an elderly man, and she was young and in excellent physical shape, aside from her injuries.

“I’m sorry that we deprived you of your sleep, doctor. She does look much better today. I hope we’ll be able to move her to the shelter I’ve found for us soon. I’d like her to be as comfortable as possible. She’s been through far too much,” Carth said, the last sentence whispered.

Carth knew from experience that if Gia-Sade woke up and remembered any of the events that had transpired, she would have an extremely difficult time dealing with the tragedy. She might have served in the Mandalorian Wars, but there was no mention of her serving in active combat situations. If the record was accurate, this would be her first time dealing with a real battle. The first time was always the worst, and if you kept your humanity, the pain never went away.

“I believe it’s safe for you to take her to your apartment. I have a speeder waiting outside. I’ve also taken the liberty of cleaning her armor and packing up her belongings, just in case. As long as you keep her warm and comfortable, I don’t see any reason to keep her here. With the Sith occupation, it’s better if she’s not here in case they come to interrogate me. This morning it was announced that some Republic escape pods crashed into the Undercity. If the Sith thought I had sheltered any survivors, they’d close this hospital down. I doubt they’d believe me if I told them your sister was attacked by the Vulkars, in light of her injuries,” Zelka explained.

Zelka’s entire demeanor changed when he said the word Sith. Carth saw his eyes widen with terror and his body tense up as if he was expecting a physical blow. Once again, Carth was struck by the civilian side of war. His hatred for the betrayers of the Republic burned through his blood. Saul Karath was the man responsible for orchestrating the battle plans of Malak’s fleet. ‘If I had only killed Saul when I had the chance, I might have prevented the suffering of this entire planet,’ he thought.

“Zelka, I can carry her to your speeder if you would get her things,” Carth said, willing his mind to focus on the present.

“Yes, that would be a good idea. I’m too old to lift pretty young women now,” Zelka said with a small chuckle.

Carth was able to half smile at the older man’s self-deprecating words. He wrapped the blankets tightly around the young woman, and gently lifted her in his arms. He had expected her to weigh more than she did because of her height, but she was a very comfortable weight. Her head rolled onto his shoulder and Carth felt the slight tickle of silky strands of hair on his neck.

He froze for a second. It had been many years since he had been physically close to a woman for any reason. For a moment, he was bombarded by memories of his wife’s hair; the way it smelled and how she couldn’t stand to keep it longer than her chin no matter how many times he begged her to grow it. He was a little shocked to discover that his wife’s pin-straight, blonde hair wasn’t as soft as the dark curls now nestled against his neck. ‘Stop dreaming! If you want to think about the past, wait until you’re safely back at the apartment,’ the soldier in him admonished.

Zelka had gotten Gia-Sade’s things out of his small vault, and led Carth out to his speeder. “You can lay her down on the back seat. There are straps there to keep her stable. You’re staying in Kadir’s building, so it will be safer if we use the back entrance. Everyone knows that illegal aliens find refuge there. If we’re seen going in through the front, somebody might get suspicious. Humans on Taris distance themselves from other species,” Zelka explained, his tone making it obvious that he viewed his planet’s bigotry with extreme distaste.

It was less than a five minute ride, but Carth was grateful for it. He couldn’t be seen carrying a comatose woman down the streets. Kadir met them at the back entrance and unlocked the door. He took one look at the woman in Carth’s arms and his eyes widened.

“Such a beautiful young lady! Boy, you’d better be glad you got away from them Vulkars. If you hadn’t, they might have sold her to Davik or worse.” Kadir said the name Davik like Zelka had said the word Sith.

“Davik? Who is he?” Carth asked, hoping that he didn’t have yet another enemy to worry about.

“Davik is a member of the Exchange, and he’s in charge of the entire Tarisian underworld. He profits from every deplorable aspect of vice you can think of. Slaving, smuggling spice and other terrible drugs, arms dealing, and a thousand other vices. Davik makes the most notorious Hutt look like a Jedi in comparison,” Zelka snapped in disgust.

“If he saw this pretty girl, and you owed him money, he’d either sell her to the highest bidder or take her for himself. Please, off-worlder, be careful not to get his attention while you’re here,” Kadir pleaded, shaking more than usual.

“Don’t worry. Nothing will happen to Gia-Sade. She’ll be better soon and, believe me, between the two of us, she’ll be safe,” Carth replied, his voice confident and firm.

“We’d better get her settled in. I have to return to the clinic. Gurney is a proficient medic, but he’s isn’t always reliable,” Zelka said, rolling his eyes in frustration.

Carth and Zelka entered the apartment, and Carth gently set Gia-Sade on one of the small cots in the back of the room. Zelka looked around the dusty, dark apartment and cringed. It was in bad condition, but he realized that two young people stranded on a foreign world with no currency could not be picky; especially in the middle of a war and on a planet that had been conquered by the enemy. Taking out his portable scanner, he went over to the cot and performed one last physical for his patient.

“The scans are completely clear. I believe she’ll wake up in a few days, but if anything should go wrong, you know where to find me. If she doesn’t wake up in three days, contact me immediately. I believe her body will wake her up naturally, so I wouldn’t worry about it too much. The only thing I’d worry about is dehydration,” Zelka said in a calm, reassuring voice.

“Thank you, doctor. I can’t imagine what I would have done without you. I only wish I had something to give you, if only so you could get more supplies for the clinic. When she wakes up, I’ll let her know how much you’ve done for us,” Carth said with a warmth he hadn’t felt for a long time.

“I did no more than what was necessary, young man. If you truly want to show your appreciation, you let her rest as much as she can,” Zelka said, stretching out his hand.

Carth took his offered hand and shook it. “I’ll do everything I can to make sure she stays well. I know that head injuries are hard to recover from,” Carth assured the older man.

“Take these two medpacs. They’re all I could spare, but they’ll come in handy for you. May the Force be with you both,” Zelka said.

Carth took the medpacs and let the elderly doctor out. Then he sat down on the faded, dusty couch in the sitting area and picked up his datapad. On it was a crew manifest of the Endar Spire. He had read most of his companion’s file, but hadn’t had time to finish it. He thought that now would be a good time. As soon as she was strong enough, they’d be searching for Bastila, and a way off the planet.