A Taste of Forgivness

[Mu Satach]

Stephen shook some<i>thing</i> off of his shoe. He shook out a handkerchief and held it over his face as he walked through the dank under ground. His hand reached out and knocked at a slime covered portal. He wiped the back of his hand against his trousers.

The portal opened slightly, RóBehr’s blue eye looked at Stephen through the slit. “Are you alone?”

Stephen shoved the door open and pushed his way past him.

RóBehr slammed the portal closed behind him and watched the street through an electronic peep hole, blaster drawn and ready.

“Krast!” Startled by the weapon Ivins stumbled backwards a bit.

“SSSSHHHHH!” RóBehr waved the weapon at Stephen.

Ivins shook his head. Around him were piles of stacked crap, empty food cartons, a stream of water, he hoped it was water, flowed down one side of the wall, and something scurried over his shoe on it’s way towards the other room, “God…”

RóBehr pointed the blaster at Stephen without removing his gaze from the street outside.

“RóBehr, put the gun down.”

The barrel of the blaster didn’t move.

“I said put the gun down!”

RóBehr’s thumb flicked the safety off.

“You said someone was hurt.” He whispered.

The back of RóBehr’s head moved slightly.

Water dripped somewhere in the hovel. The rhythmic plop ticked away the passing moments. A bead of sweat rolled down the side of Stephen’s face.

Finally, the blaster was lowered. RóBehr turned around and locked eyes with Stephen who growled at him, “What the frell is going on?”

Dark circles under RóBehr’s eyes yielded no information. “In here.” He worked his way past Stephen, through a ratty green curtain into another room. Stephen cautiously followed.

RóBehr turned up the illumination, Stephen rushed forward to a figure laid out on RóBehr’s bed. It took him a moment to recognize that it was young human female. Anger swelled as he examined her battered burned body. He looked up at RóBehr’s wide frightened eyes. He charged RóBehr and threw him against his slime covered wall.

“WHAT DID YOU DO!”

RóBehr grabbed Stephen, threw him back and hissed at him, “I found her like this. You’ve got to help her.”

Stephen stared at RóBehr for a moment then reached down to his med kit and opened it up, “Krast, why didn’t you call the medics then, get her to a hospital.”

“You’re kidding, right?”

“No I’m not,” he pulled out his equipment and started cutting away the burned clothing. “She needs a burn ward, anti-biotics, and some place <i>clean</i>. We’re going to have to move her…”

“We take her to a hospital they’ll KILL her!”

Stephen turned “What the frak are you talking about?”

“Stephen, look the clothing, she’s Jedi.”

“Even better, we’ll take her to them...”

“You don’t know?” The two looked at each other in confusion. “You don’t know.”

Stephen went back to stabilizing the girl. “You’ve lost it.”

RóBehr scrambled through his piles of debris found his portable holovid and clicked it on. A snowy static filled image popped up.

A dark cloaked figure appeared flickered and continued speaking, “The Jedi Rebellion has been foiled.” RóBehr flicked through several frequencies all depicting the horrors the night had held while Stephen slept soundly. Reports of the assassination attempt, the run on the temple, the glorious victory of the army against the Jedi and finally rested on an image of the still smoking towers of the Temple in daylight hovered in front of Stephen's face.

"This... this isn't," Stephen's head shook slightly, "wha... what's happening?"

"We can't take her to <i>any</i> authority." RóBehr swallowed, "they'll kill her Stephen."

"But she's a child."

"And what do you think were in there!" RóBehr shoved the holovid of the temple at Stephen.

He stumbled backwards, "No... no, that's not possible, the army wouldn't, couldn't..."

"Stephen think about it!" He grabbed Stephen by the shirt and shook him. "The Knights are spread from one side of the galaxy to the other leading the clones against the Separatists, that leaves only the younglings, padawans and the civilian corp in the temple. There was no rebellion."

"I... I..." Stephen shook slightly, "We can't treat her here."

RóBehr looked around and nodded his head. "What do you need?"