Kindred Spirits Read online

  Sudden perplexed cries of pain and anger came from the entrance area of the grand hall, followed by blaster fire. Hondo turned to look, and in that moment, Lassa sprang.

  She brought the lightsaber arcing down, but Hondo recovered in time to block it with his electrostaff. His eyes narrowed behind his goggles. “This is a fight you cannot win, my dear. You may have the laser sword, but you don’t have the Force.”

  “Don’t need it.”

  He swung the staff low, but she leaped up and it sliced only air. A second jump brought her onto the table, and she swung with the lightsaber. This time, he struck it hard and the impact jarred her injured shoulder. Gritting her teeth, Lassa kicked out and up, and the electrostaff flew from Hondo’s hands.

  “Not bad,” Hondo admitted. He recovered the weapon and vaulted up to join her, shoving one of the sparking ends of the staff like a spear. She parried, but let him drive her down the table, pretending to be unsure of her footing. A smile curved his thin mouth, and he feinted, dodging her blow and bringing the staff down.At the last second, Rhayme swerved and dove for a blaster someone had left behind. In one graceful movement, she grabbed it, fired at Hondo, and flung the lightsaber toward the doorway.

  Ventress—don’t fail me...

  Ventress had been using a combination of the Force and the pirates’ own blasters to methodically mow them down. It was almost too easy. She’d already incapacitated the half-dozen who had been unloading the cargo ship, and Hondo had brought only another ten back with him. There was an ample supply of things to hurl at them—pitchers, a crate and the sharp-edged tools it was filled with, mugs, stools, even the pirates themselves could be used to knock their fellows down. It was good exercise, and Ventress welcomed the chance to work up a sweat while fighting hated Weequays. Respectful of Rhayme’s wishes, she didn’t shoot to kill, but several of them were on the ground writhing in pain from blaster shots to their arms or legs.

  Suddenly Ventress felt a quick, bright urgency in the Force. She whirled, looking toward the far end of the hall, and saw her lightsaber hurtling upward.

  It turned end over end, still lit. Some of Hondo’s pirates tried to grab it in mid-air, and paid with their fingers. Others, more wisely, dove out of the way. Ventress shot out her hand and the hilt smacked into her palm. She grinned as she sensed the tension in the remaining four pirates skyrocket. At that moment, she heard the sound of another ship landing outside, and felt the presence of two-dozen life forms racing across the landing field.

  She grinned, and set to.

  “Not so fast!” Hondo warned as Lassa turned to fire on him. He struck her full in the chest with the end of the electrostaff and Lassa gasped, flailing helplessly as the jolts surged through her. She crumpled, gasping, and tumbled limply off the table, spasming on the ground.

  He leaped lightly down and gazed at her. “A good effort, my dear. I’m impressed. You almost lived up to your—”

  Rhayme lifted the blaster and aimed it directly at his chest.

  “—reputation,” Hondo finished.

  “It’s set to kill,” she warned him. “Throw away the staff.” “Surely we can work this out like two civilized pirates,” he protested, but did as she ordered.

  Lassa got to her feet, still feeling the effects of the staff, but forcing herself not to show them. “On your knees, hands behind your head.”

  Again, Hondo obeyed. “Come now, Captain Rhayme, let us not be hasty.”

  She stepped forward, placing the tip of the blaster between his eyes. “You mocked me earlier. I think you’ve changed your tune.”

  “Most certainly,” he said. To his credit, his voice was completely calm.

  “I’m taking what’s mine.”

  She fired.

  “Hondo was rather charming, actually,” Lassa said, finishing her account as she and Ventress sat in her cabin aboard the Opportunity. On the table beside the bounty hunter sat a nondescript metal box about a third of a meter high. “Of course I wasn’t about to kill him, but he didn’t know that. It’ll be fun to hear what sort of rumors he’ll spread.”

  “Well done,” Ventress said as Rhayme uncorked a bottle of aged Tevraki whiskey. “So... I’ve been wondering something.”

  “Fire away.”

  “You don’t have any tattoos.” She’d noticed it immediately upon meeting Rhayme. All the Pantorans Ventress had encountered adorned their faces with bright yellow tattoos. She wasn’t sure what they signified—family affiliation, social rank, personal achievements—but they all had them.

  “That’s because I have no loyalties other than to my crew,” Lassa said. “They are my family. Otherwise—I belong only to myself. I am my own woman.”

  Ventress nodded. She liked that. She thought of her own tattoos, and how much they meant to her. Rhayme’s unmarred face obviously conveyed the same pride.

  Rhayme raised her glass. “To success—and perhaps, new friends.”

  Asajj was surprised at her reaction. She didn’t have “friends.” But she’d grown to admire Lassa, and the other woman had kept to every part of their bargain. And... she was good company. Ventress said nothing, merely gave a fleeting smile as their glasses clinked. The whiskey was delicious—a warm, slow comfort slipping down her throat.

  “Much better than what they serve in the bars on Thirteen- Thirteen,” Ventress said. “I could get used to drinking this.”

  “Why don’t you?” Lassa said. “I can provide erratic but profitable income, bed and board, adventure, fair treatment, and the company of the woman who beat Hondo Ohnaka in single combat.” She winked a golden eye.

  It sounded good. Very good. And for a long moment, Asajj Ventress was tempted. But then she thought of all the company she would bring along with her; the shades of the dead, the remnants of dark memories, and a wariness that would likely never fade. Ventress would never trust anyone, not really, not even this remarkable woman with whom she had partnered for a brief time. She would always be alone, and she accepted that.

  “While that’s a fine offer,” she said, “I must decline.”

  She sensed Rhayme’s genuine disappointment, but the Pantoran recovered quickly. “If you ever change your mind, the offer stands.”

  “And if you ever need a bounty hunter, I’m not hard to find.”

  “Deal.” They shook hands. “In the meantime,” Rhayme said,“let’s take a look at this item that’s been so problematic.”

  Ventress glanced at the box beside her. “Part of the deal was that I don’t look at it.”

  “You’ve worked pretty hard for your bounty this time, Asajj. Go on. You can always say you were making sure it wasn’t damaged in the fighting.”

  Ventress considered that. “Sheb does strike me as a dealer who’d appreciate that concern.”

  The lock was easy to pick, and Ventress carefully lifted the lid. A small force field in the box itself prevented unauthorized handling. Ventress was seldom moved by beauty alone, but this time, even her eyes widened as Rhayme gasped softly.

  The object that had given her so much trouble was no gem, or weapon, but a simple statuette. A sea mammal with four flippers and an elongated muzzle was caught in a moment of joyous freedom, its small gem eyes sparkling, its sleek body curled beneath it so its tail merged with the wave that formed the base. The stone from which it was carved was a breathtaking shade of blue. The entire image—its sense of action, of grace and power and playfulness, its delight in movement, even its hue— seemed to Ventress to be a reflection of the Pantoran woman sitting before her.

  A pirate’s life—but not for me, she thought.

  “A pity you can’t keep it,” Rhayme said.

  Ventress merely nodded. With unwonted gentleness, she closed the lid and locked it.

  “I do my job,” she said, and slid her glass over for a refill.

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  From Star Wa
rs Insider 159 (August/September 2015)