-1.05 BBY - When Sanis Met Cirr

[Sanis Prent]

"C...c...collllld...."

My teeth were chattering. My damn teeth were chattering. I blew hot breath into gloved hands, watching steam shoot out the sides. This wasn't supposed to be happening.

"MARCUS....how long till you fix this?"

The droid module, hard at work already with replacing the life support system's climate regulator, still took time to address the very valid concerns of the ship's crew.

"The anomaly will be corrected in three hours."

Showing considerable amount of empathy, MARCUS added onto the assessment.

"There needn't be cause for alarm. The residual heat retained on the ship, combined with the admittedly out-of-spec performance of the unit will still retain a habitable temperature aboard the ship. It may indeed be uncomfortable however. You are, I see, in the warmest part of the ship. If it were my place to suggest, warm blankets and hot beverages may help to endure this minor situation as I correct it."

"Thanks." I spat out, bitter and uncomfortable. MARCUS apparently either missed the sarcasm or avoided confronting it.

"No thanks are required. It is my job to be done."

The droid module then clammed up, leaving Cirr and I huddled together under three blankets, curled up against the slightly-warm engine bulkhead. We each had a pair of jackets on, multiple pairs of socks, and I snagged a few of his toques. He wasn't faring any better, but I came prepared for the long haul at least.

I pulled a familiar glass bottle full of brown liquid out from under the blankets.

"Well, Cirr ol' buddy, I never thought I'd hope you were a cuddler."

[Cirrsseeto Quez]

Cirr, as if on cue, reached a big arm over carefully around Sanis, pulling him closer, while the other arm collaborated with Sanis's efforts to pull the blankets up practically to their necks. His cheeks looked slightly blue, and Cirr chattered out breaths of steamy air as well.

"jIs that what jI thjink jit jis?"

With MARCUS at least dispelling the possibility that they'd freeze to death, Cirr felt a lot better about the idea of passing the bitter cold by pounding down a liter of Corellia's finest.

Cirr impatiently reached for the bottle, plucking it from Sanis's hand. Not wanting to move his other arm, Cirr stuck the bottle top in his mouth, unscrewing it with his teeth instead. Once free, he spat the top across the floor, upturning the bourbon bottle for a glug or two.

"Thrree hourrs he sajid? Of all the fuckjing thjings to go south..."

[Sanis Prent]

I waited for my turn, liberating the bottle from my mechanic and taking my own swig. The burn of the alcohol felt better than anything, and as my face flushed, I at least felt a bit less like a popsicle. I scooted in further in Cirr's embrace, half pulled in by his left arm. It was a sorry situation to be in, that's for sure, but the kid put out more BTU's than a swoop bike. I'd look as ridiculous as I pleased if it meant being warm right now.

"Can you remember a time when everything on this ship actually, you know, worked?"

[Cirrsseeto Quez]

Cirr's answer to that was to unsheath the claws on the hand that was keeping Sanis pulled close to him. Just enough to...

"Ow, fuck! Stop!"

Cirr gave him a slight scowl as he took the bourbon back, having another drink.

"Don't talk bad about herr, she's a good shjip, and always gets us wherre we need to be. Rrememberr when she only had half as many ljight yearrs on the meterr?"

He was always a little sad that Sanis berated Layla like he did at times. It was just his way of dealing. He was sure that the Nar Shadaan loved the ship every bit as much as he did, maybe even more.

[Sanis Prent]

I nodded, getting the bottle back on my rotation.

"I do. Even then, we always had to stay one step ahead. How long's it been? Seven years?"

[Cirrsseeto Quez]

"Ejight as of last month."

Cirr took the bottle again, pausing to reflect.

"Two weeks frrom now wjill be my forrteenth weddjing annjiverrsarry."

The big felinoid always became a conflicting ball of emotion when he looked back on the life he left behind.

"Forrteen yearrs. Thats overr half my ljife. Funny how that worrks."

Taking another drink he passed it on to Sanis.

"jI stjill thank you forr thjis ljife. The chances jI have to do betterr thjings."

For emphasis, Cirr squeezed his captain a little tighter as he leaned back against the bulkhead, deep in his memories.

[Sanis Prent]

"Cirr, air!"

A little too tight. He relaxed and I sighed thankfully, taking my drink in turn. The bourbon was helping to endure the cold. I felt warmer and a little more relaxed.

"Thank your mother. It was her hairbrained plan. I was just young and stupid enough to do it."

* * *

Carshoulis Prime, within the Carshoulis Cluster

Capital of the Cizerack Pride

Eight Years Ago

The transport arrived at the hyperspace beacon, signalling it to sling back into realspace. Inside, we were packed in pretty tight. Humans, humanoids, other aliens. It was a cosmopolitan mix. About the only thing we had in common was that we were poor and needed work, and had heard from a little birdie or two that there was enough of that in the Pride. Some people were glum about moving out to what was non-aligned space. Some people were hopeful, coming from war zones and escaping either the Empire or the Alliance or both.

Me? I was indifferent. I grew up poor on Nar Shadaa. I knew what that was like, and I knew I wanted no part of staying that way. Like so many on that planet, you learn an honest trade or two, but you also learn a hustle. You need both to break even. I'd hustled my fair bit across a few planets. I knew how to steal and how to make do with what I had. Crossing the Jedi Knight Lok s'Ilancy was an exercise in humility for me, but for some weird reason she seemed to take some amount of pity and interest in me. That could've ended a lot worse, like with me getting cut in half but a lightsaber.

A felinoid woman with a tight ponytail stepped forward to address us as our ship moved closer to what I imagined was Prime. Like Coruscant, the planet buzzed with a corona of near-constant ship activity. Freighters, shuttles, bulk ships, capital ships, all of it. We were one very tiny cog in the machine.

The woman cleared her throat, looking at our assmbled group with a less-than-impressed expression on her face.

"Welcome to Carrsshouljiss Prrjime. We wjill be touchjing down jin a few mjinutess."

She seemed about as bored with her scripted speech she had to give as I was. My head leaned against a viewport as I watched our entry to the planet begin.

"Pleasse have all perrssonal effectss wjith jyou when jyou deparrt. Anjy jitemss left behjind wjill be confjisscated and cannot be rreturrned. Have jyourr name jidentjifjicatjion badgess wjith jyou and clearrljy vjissjible. jYou wjill need thesse forr worrk vjissass. Once landed, sstep out and to the left and jyou wjill be prrocesssed forr temporrarrjy worrk sstatuss."

Relieved that she was on the last breath of her spiel, the woman rocked a bit on her feet as she clasped her hands.

"Agajin, thank jyou forr fljyjing Itraassie Sstarrljiness, the Clussterr'ss numberr one trranssporrt sserrvjice forr overr two hundrred jyearrss."

Our eyes met as she turned to leave. She suppressed a smirk, and turned away to head back to the front of the transport. By then, the oranges and pinks of the Carshoulis sky were bright in the window, and we were touching down on the tarmac. The whole group of passengers seemed relieved to be done with the long voyage, and everyone started stirring and grabbing at their belongings.

Fifteen minutes later, I was off the gangplank and breathing fresh air. For two months, subject to renewal at the end of the work period, this was my home. Better get used to it.

[Taataani Meorrrei]

The Meei'jassrei' Starport was a curious little place. It was set up apart from the main commercial and general transit starports, and it's purpose was more or less to be a direct "off the boat" labor pool for the rapidly expanding Cizeri economy to lap up an ever-full pool of cheap labor. There were the usual bleatings from old-guard racists and speciesists about cheap foreign labor taking jobs of citizens, but Taataani Meorrrei had seen the citizens who complained about it, and doubted they were any less than pampered double-talkers that would never want to get their hands dirty.

These forrda sometimes had educations and trades. That made them useful, especially to a woman like Meorrrei who always had business concerns. She would pay, on average, one fourth what she'd pay a Cizerack woman for a job. These people didn't have villas, they didn't generally have multiple husbands they had to earn their daily meat for. It was cheap and as far as she was concerned, most everybody came away happy. Besides, find a Cizerack woman with eight husbands who would willingly take a speeder courier job for what it paid?

So once again, the Meorrrei clan matron had come to dip her tongue to the pool, so to speak. Stepping out of her airspeeder, she adjusted her decorative wig as she walked. Her daughters T'yeellaa and Raifaani, most trusted with matters of business, had come with her. With a brood of twelve sons and eight daughters, keeping business in the family was always shrewd.

"Keep jin mjind we want worrkerrss wjith trradess. jI don't carre about unskjilled laborr. We've got ourr own men forr that."

Raifaani, in her late teens, walked alongside her mother with her nose buried in a datapad.

"Motherr, how'ss thjiss forr a ljisst? jI know about how much thejy'll assk, and we can talk them thjiss farr off thejirr prrjice."

Taataani slipped on her glasses to check, her face telegraphing her pleasure at her daughter's good business sense.

"jI can afforrd that. jYou and jyourr ssjissterr go pjick."

Raifaani and her older sister T'yeellaa both trotted along to the work registrar's booth, their tails swishing as they confidently pushed ahead to put in a petition to bid on the labor pool.

[Sanis Prent]

"What'ss jyourr trrade?"

After hearing it six thousand times, it was getting old. We were arranged into groups, and stood waiting for work. You'd think we could stop for say a bite of hot chow or something, but they pretty much just pulled us off the ship and immediately set about parcelling us off for cheap jobs. I felt strangely similar to the way I imagined livestock felt.

"I'm a pilot." I also said this six thousand times.

One lady giggled at that. Why? Did it seem so unlikely? I got visibly irritated at that.

Another lady reached up to grab me by the shoulder, giving me a squeeze. She held up a silver necklace-looking thing and asked "jYou take?"

I shook my head, remembering in my "Welcome to Carshoulis" pamphlet exactly what that necklace meant. It was a very quick and legally binding social contract, and I didn't come here to get hitched. It figured that the skin trade would be booming here. I smiled, a little smug.

"Flattered though. Honest."

The woman's mood darkened and she muttered something in Cizeri as she left that I had to assume was less than polite.

At least that broke the monotony.

"What'ss jyourr trrade?"

sigh.

"I'm a pilot."

[Taataani Meorrrei]

"What do jyou pjilot?"

T'yeellaa, her hair drawn into very tiny braids, gave Sanis a once-over, a look of skepticism on her face. It was easy for these workers to lie.

"jIf jyou arre a pjilot, wherre jis jyourr sshjip? Whjy come herre when jyou can fljy anjywherre?"

[Sanis Prent]

Ah yeah, sound logic there.

"Starships are expensive, and I have no money. I'd like a starship, yes, but I need money. That's where you come in. I fly you, you pay me. I make money and get a ship. What's the turn of phrase, picking myself up by my bootstraps?"

The tall one was unimpressed, but her tagalong, the short one with the datapad, still seemed to be paying attention. I looked at her instead.

"Look, you came here in a speeder of a sort, right? If you need a reference, I can test drive it. I grew up on speeders."

I omitted the whole I used to steal them for a living part of my resume. No need for that to sour the deal.

[Taataani Meorrrei]

T'yeellaa looked at Sanis, still a bit disapproving. It was a bluff. She was in agreement with her sister to pick him up on a trial basis. The issue now was to talk down the price. She reached down to his neck, holding the ID card that stated the daily wage that was being asked. 200 credits a day.

"Too much forr a Forrda. jYou'rre pale and sskjinnjy, and jyou ssmell ljike drrjink. One hundrred twentjy."

[Sanis Prent]

"I'm not skinny!"

Well, damn, I was. But after a few months of eating vending machine cuisine and whatever I could steal, you didn't make a fuss.

"I'm the best pilot you're going to find in this lot today, tomorrow, or this month. Give me the keys and I'll show you. One seventy."

[Taataani Meorrrei]

T'yeellaa looked to her sister, bent down, and whispered something in one of her upturned ears. Raifaani looked back to Sanis, nodded, and turned to leave, going down the line ostensibly to look for other potential hires.

The older sister looked at Sanis's eyes for any sign that he was less than sincere. She looked at his hands. They were sure and they didn't shake, and she imagined a steady hand was a good sign in a pilot. Stepping forward, she put a hand squarely on his crotch and gave an appraising squeeze.

"One ssjixtjy. Take the offerr jyou sstupjid Forrda, that'ss the besst jyou'll get becausse mjy ssjissterr thjinkss jyou'rrre cute."

[Sanis Prent]

Oh, so it was like that, was it?

I glanced down the line at the 'sister'. She seemed caught up in the task of selecting other workers from the pool, and oblivious to me down the line. Then she looked back, smiled slightly, and continued to banter with the other hires.

"One sixty. Alright."

Shit, it was a little lower than I hoped.

"Any chance we can stop off for some food? I haven't eaten in a day."

[Taataani Meorrrei]

T'yeellaa laughed as they walked back from the employment line to get Sanis's documents checked off. The process was quick and they were in and out without a fuss. Raifaani arrived with the others: A human female who was an accountant by trade, another human male who worked in droid ciruitry, a Cathar woman who was a cook, and a nervous Bothan man who didn't really care to share the details of his work, but it was usually assumed they were always into espionage, which was always handy in business.

"Herre thejy arre motherr, and at an agrreeable prrjice."

Raifaani approached, handing Taataani her datapad as she whispered something out of earshot, presumably about how much she was able to talk down for the lot. The matron's ears bobbed up in a sign of approval and she gave her young daughter a squeeze.

"How ssoon jyou grrow up, jyou'll make a lot of monejy one dajy!"

T'yeellaa, intent on holding Sanis to his part of the bargain, pulled him along by the arm to show Taataani.

"Thjiss one ssajyss he'ss a pjilot."

Taataani walked over to him, adjusting her glasses as she turned his head from side to side with her hand at his chin.

"Oh good. We djid bujy that old Correlljian thjing lasst month, djidn't we?"

Giving Sanis an affectionate pat on the cheek, she beamed.

"jYou fljy Corrrelljian, Human?"

[Sanis Prent]

"I do mum."

Well, once. Corellian was a broad term at least. If you didn't live on a backwater with at least a dozen of them around you, you were truly in the boonies.

"Just about anything else, for that matter."

Truth be told, it was all generally an issue of a few flight hours in each. Even if it was something weirdo, like a Verpene ship, you could generally figure out the X, Y, and Z of it if you had enough time and a long enough leash.

"Your, uh, daughter? She mentioned a test drive. If you're up for it. Not satisfied, go ahead and leave me where you found me. I'm already agreeing to work below my pay grade."

[Taataani Meorrrei]

Taa's smile widened at that. She appreciated that this one had enough pride in what he did to push back a little. Most of the people that made it this way were just glad to be working and could be pushed around.

"jI'd ljike that."

She glanced to her daughters in an unspoken command to tell them both to wait on the tarmac. A skybus should be coming along anyway that would have enough seating to take them all back to the villa in the first place.

She walked along, expecting this human to be mindful enough to play the part he'd agreed to. Sure enough, he reached to the gull wing door and pulled it up, eased the Matriarch into the rear seat, and closed the door behind her. So he could also be trained to behave in a decent society too. That was a plus.

The human climbed into the driver's seat, closing his own door, and turned the key to flare up the repulsors.

"What'ss jyourr name, human?"

[Sanis Prent]

"Name's Sanis Prent, mum. Speaking of names, I should probably catch yours since you're signing my meal tickets now."

The speeder was an upper-model Sorosuub sedan. No problem with this thing, it was built to fly gentle as a feather. I gave a bit more thruster than I would otherwise because I knew the dampener could take it. We very gently rocketed skyward. I could nearly fly a 'suub in my sleep, and the deep, soft leather seats made sleep a very real possibility.

[Taataani Meorrrei]

Taa relaxed in the back seat as Sanis flew along. He seemed very sure-handed behind the controls.

"jYou want jit long orr sshorrt Mrr. Prrent?"

She liked the banter. The last thing she wanted was a 'yes ma'am / no ma'am' automaton. Mind you, the ma'am's should be plenty, but she wanted people around her who could think without having to, well, think about it.

"jI am Taataani Fai'sheea Igaarrai Meorrrei, matrrjiarrch of Housse Meorrrei. jYou want jit sshorrt ljike mosst forrda do, jyou call me Mama Taa. Hell, mjy cubss do sso whjy not?"