“Silence is the language of god,
all else is poor translation.”
“Be grateful for whoever comes,
because each has been sent as a guide from beyond.”
“Words are a pretext.
It is the inner bond that draws one person to another, not words.”
Rumi, Rumi, Rumi
G woke to find himself alone on the floor. He found his clothes scattered amidst the clutter, got dress, and then felt compelled to find a toilet. After doing his business, he paused in the mirror, surprised by how tired he looked. He decided not to look at himself, and sought out Kels. He found her asleep on her bed, arms and legs splayed out, and a half used death stick lay evident on the floor. The Periplaneta that owned her was on top of her, licking her face. It looked at G.
“I know you sold me on a harm reduction model, but I hardly find this less harmful,” G said.
If it was answering him, he could not discern it. Again, the face on the back of its head looked like her step grandfather. G returned back to the main living area, retrieving a transmitter from his belt. Doty answered.
“Hello, Boss? Did you enjoy your night out?” she asked.
“Um, it was okay,” G said. “Could you send me a vehicle to my present location? It needs to have reasonable cargo space, and um I need a couple guys to load it. Ask Freya to join them, please.”
“You got it, boss,” Doty said. “Also, those bank accounts you wanted emptied, I transferred their funds to the accounts you gave me.”
“Did the CEO’s of the Vault and Jungin’s pharmaceutical companies respond to the holo I had you send?”
“Not yet, boss. I did prepare you not to have high expectations in the matter,” Doty said.
“You did,” G said. “Thanks.”
G turned off the transmitter and moved closer to the wall. A woman, probably in her sixties, was frozen in carbonite. She looked peaceful, and one hand was perfectly extended as if she were reaching out to hold a lover’s hand. G reached out, intending to take the hand.
“That’s Kelsey’s grandmother.”
G turned to see Kelsey standing there. It was her voice, but it was not Kelsey.
“Kelsy was three when her mother was killed. No one knows who her father is,” the Periplaneta spoke, peaking around her head. “Her grandmother had stage four cancer, terminal, but her step grandfather couldn’t bear to let her go, so he encased her in that. He sold it on the fact he would find a cure in the galaxy, but in his depression, he couldn’t leave his home. You can see evidence of his sickness all around you.”
“How much of his sickness was due to the Periplaneta?” G asked. “We stabilized him,” the Periplaneta.
“Yeah, he seemed really stable,” G said, surprised by his own sarcasm. He was angry. He heard Corissa’s tone in his statement. Fuck, he thought, I am not even stable. Love, compassion, the Force…
“We are not magicians, Waycaster,” Kelsey’s body spoke. “We operate on a fringe and we do the best we can. There is only so much we can do for people without exposing ourselves, or those we serve. Take Papa, for example. He was a tool of the empire. What court of opinion would serve him? He was as much victim as those who were simply slaughtered by blasters or bombs. People submit to all sorts of horrors, especially if they believe it will help their loved ones.”
G nodded. “How is it you can speak to me now?”
“There is a small window, during hypnogogic sleep, where we can hijack our host’s control center and utilize the body to accomplish tasks, to negotiate. We cannot always rely on the good will of a bartender,” the Periplaneta said. “I hope you will reconsider and allow Kelsey to be our representative, allow her to serve you. She likes you. As evidence that what I speak is true, notice she only used half a death stick. Her optimum health will result from our sharing her.”
G shivered. “I don’t know why that creeps me out so,” G said. He rubbed the bridge of his nose. “But I have been making all sorts of deals lately. I find you guys revolting, but you have been helpful. And consistent. Not evil for the sake of evil, but definitely dark.”
A vehicle hovered over the landing pad, orientating the back end towards the balcony. A ramp lowered, and Freya was the first to emerge and walk down the ramp and over to the glass door and enter the apartment.
“I am going to take all of this stuff. I will give Kelsey a fair price for it all,” G said to the Periplaneta. “And, I will keep her on payroll. Can you make her understand this?”
“She will understand, but she won’t remember the way you and I will remember,” the Periplaneta said. “Continue to patiently engage her and she will serve with love. It is all she has ever wanted, someone to serve.”
G turned to Freya. “I want all of this crap loaded up and taken back to the Fortress,” G instructed. “Some of it is ancient tech, so be cautious. Take the human remains in the carbonite, too, and treat it with respect. Leave the furniture, but inspect everything. You’re looking for any artifacts that may be hidden. Check the floors, ceiling, and walls for hidden compartments. I would be surprised if you don’t find a small arsenal in here.”
“Of course, Boss,” Freya said. “Not you, too,” G said.
Freya laughed. G caught a glimmer of the diamonds he had made the previous night, and picked them up. Interestingly, the two intimately shaped so that they went together. He pocketed them.
“If this continues, you will need another belt,” Freya said.
“Yeah. If you find a currier bag in this mess, let me know,” G said.
Freya laughed.
“I will let you know if I find you a matching purse,” she said, clucking.
“I am going for a walk,” G said, pouting. He wasn’t quite sure why he was emoting, but he was definitely out of sync with the Force.
Axxila, an ecumenopolis, a planet that evolved into a world city so interconnected and dense, no one walked upon its surface. If it weren’t for the fact that it had a surface, underground oceans and aquifers, a mantle, a spinning iron core, it might have been construed as a space station so large it could hold its own atmosphere. There were thoroughfares and parks and wildlife habitats and zoos that wound across the surface to make life a little more green and bearable for the living, but the world had become more barren than a desert, and if it weren’t for BioEnc and their atmosphere scrubbers, Axxila’s atmosphere would have been long exhausted and stale, and the population would have decreased to the bar minimum. No ecumenopolis had ever fallen and been reclaimed by nature, so no one knew what would happen if the people were gone.
G’s feelings of melancholy seemed to be growing. Or was it discontent? The people on the streets seemed happy. No, not happy. Engaged, distracted, or flying on autopilot. There were kids playing in the park, but parents heard them not, as they continued to conduct business or interface with their communications devices. There was indeed happiness to be found. Couples came together. A mother put down her device and hugged her son. A street vendor gave food, refusing pay. So, there was kindness here, too. And if he looked, he could find the opposites.
Over all, if he took in a total sum, he suspected it was good, but the tone and flavor was off, because of the absence of life. More specifically, the absence of the abundant planet life he was accustomed to. Unlike the moon he grew up on, unlike Dathomir, there was an emptiness here. This emptiness mirrored the longing he felt from Sorbus. Would she feel less lonely on a planet that had an abundance of plants? Would the loneliness that drove Kelsey be softened if there were trees? Could watching their daily praise to sky and sun make that much difference in the lives of human beings?
G turned, thinking he was being followed. He saw nothing. He assumed it was one of his inner council members trying to get his attention, but the noise of the population was too loud to hear properly. Even Windu hadn’t tried yelling at him in a while.
Teens flew by on hover boards, descending down ramps, and over rails. An elderly man was knocked off his feet. G helped him up.
“Would you like healing?” G asked him.
“No, I am fine,” he said, pushing G’s helping hands away. He coughed.
“I don’t believe you’re fine,” G said.
“It’s call age, son, of course it’s not fine,” the man said, and went on his way.
G sat down at a park bench, watching. There was an unusual number of toilet droids in the area, with a new one arriving and plugging into the necessary sewer and water lines. Other service droids were placing chairs, so clearly someone was going to be holding a rally here.
There were people directing Droids and talking with each other, but too softly to interpret without ‘Forcing’ himself into the conversation, and he doubted it was worth the effort.
G was hungry for a piece of fruit from the orchards of the Three Sister, and without thinking he simply reached out and took it, folding his hand around empty air like a pantomime, only when he brought his hand back, it was in hand. He smelled the fruit, closing his eyes, wondering how Corissa was. Jordeen was in mind, briefly, and it was unclear if it was a future or present vision. It was fleeting and gone. He wanted to return to his cave and the quiet rush of the water fall. He bit into the fruit, tasting it, feeling the texture as it changed with chewing. He opened his eyes.
The alien was practically in his face. “Are you a magician?” she asked.
“I don’t understand,” G said.
“How did you do that?” she asked. “It smells fresh. It is not of this world. How is this possible?”
G blinked. She was female, simply dressed, but she was of a species he had never seen before. He was extremely interested in the way her legs articulated, and he wondered if she was engineered for someone’s fantasy, or perhaps she altered herself. So many people were altering themselves these days, wanting to be other. He decided this was the real her. She had a musky smell, not unlike a Wookie. She had skin and fur and he was tempted to reach out and touch her. She cocked her head, retreating a little. Her eyebrow went up.
G noticed something else and smiled.
“You know how I did it,” G said. She smiled.
“You are a Jedi,” she said.
“As are you,” G said. He could see the shimmer of the Force around her.
“I am not so great. My master grew weary of me. He told me to come here and I would find the one who would take me the rest of the way,” she said. “Until I saw your trick, I doubted there was anyone here. I was sure the Jedi light was fully extinguished.”
“It’s hard to put out a fire when one can’t cap the source,” G said.
“Ah, a Jedi-ism!” she laughed. “I wish to learn from you.”
“I am busy,” G said.
She looked around at the park and back at him.
“Holding the park together?” she asked.
She smiled as if understanding. “Do you intend to speak at the rally?”
“I do not,” G said. He continued eating.
She looked around, watching the people and the work. “I don’t like speeches,” she said. “Or the news. Or even the media. It stirs the surface emotions, resulting in fight or flight, creating mass hysteria. Few people speak with the intention of drawing deep water.” She turned her attention back to G. “Just your presence stirs the movement of deep water.”
“Tell me about your master,” G said.
She sunk a little, looking away. The sun was behind the tallest building in the area, and there was enough glass walls that it shone through. People were silhouetted against the sun. A terrace around the center of the building contained shrubberies and a camera crew was setting up to record the event from their angle.
“I don’t know how to speak about him without disparaging him,” she said, chewing on her lower lip. She seemed to be deliberating. “He isn’t really a master. He is knowledgeable, about a good many things.” She folded her hands together. “He knows how to use people to get his needs met. He encourages people to be honest, and he makes it easy to be honest, but he also uses that knowledge to control and further his agenda. I believe I am more his property than his student, and my task is as much of a loyalty test as it is genuine quest for learning.”
She returned her full attention to G, purposely meeting his eyes and holding it. “I want to learn from you, but if you are a real Jedi, you will send me away and I will find another to teach me,” she said.
“I like you,” he said, chewing the last good bite. “There is an innate goodness. I fear if you were to stay with me, I might corrupt this.”
“Perhaps we could corrupt each other, and both rise above,” she said.
“What is your name?” G asked.
“Cheeka,” she said. “Do we need to negotiate terms for my education?”
“No,” G said. “Just follow me.”
Cheeka’s posture sunk and her legs bent, as if she were getting ready to spring. Her eyes fell to his eye level. “But if you don’t move, how might I follow?”
G was amused but didn’t want to explain why. He stood and was going to throw the core of his fruit away but Cheeka caught it. She took a bite. She then acted as if she was embarrassed.
“I am sorry. I do not like waste, and this is all good,” Cheeka said.
“I can fetch you a full one, if you like,” G said.
“If you teach me, I will never go hungry again,” Cheeka said.
“If I teach you this, you will never sleep, for this world is hungry, and it will seek to consume you, and will, if you let it,” G said.
“How do you sleep at night?” Cheeka asked.
“I sleep because I know the hunger is an illusion,” G said.
“And yet, you seem tired,” Cheeka said.
“So, how do you sleep at night?”
“Lately, not well,” G said.
“Then, perhaps I can help you,” Cheeka said.
“I have ways to make a man sleep.”
“Oh, I would definitely be interested in that,” G said, not catching the sexual nuisance that she had delivered with.
Lestelle was studying a document on her reader, drinking brew, while Nolasco was doing word search through all the files he had obtained. Heli drank a brew, quietly waiting for some way to serve. Lestelle set the device on the table.
“There is nothing definitive here that might reveal other players,” Lestelle said.
“There a financial thread that consistently goes to Edusa,” Nolasco observed.
“I am confident this is the Kushnir family.”
“And you want to just walk in and ask for their bank records?” Lestelle asked. “This isn’t going to be in regular database,” Nolasco said.
Lestelle pouted. “I suppose I could find a corporate reason to audit their accounts,” she said.
“We aren’t going to get anywhere going direct,” Nolasco said.
“What would you like to do, throw a party and invite them to dinner?” Lestelle asked. “Sasha Kushnir is too old school for that game,” Nolasco said. “He is used to dealing with crime lords and mafia, so he will see through us unless we can come up with a better game.”
“Does he have children?” Heli asked.
“What the hell?! We don’t harm children,” Lestelle snapped.
Heli lowered her gaze. “I wasn’t suggesting that. I was just thinking, if he is as well off as he sounds, he will have adult children. And adult children of wealthy tend to not share in the same work ethic. They can be easily drawn into get rich schemes, which they do to try and impress their parents that they are just as good as they, but also because they want to have their own income separate from parents, because they frequently want to spend in ways the parent doesn’t approve.”
“So, maybe throwing a party isn’t a bad idea,” Nolasco said. “Bogdan Kushnir is known to be a bit of a playboy. G kind of has a reputation for being a playboy. We could sell this.”
“So, you want a throw a party and invite Bogdan on board my ship and apply pressure?” Lestelle asked.
“Or drop hints that we’re looking for investors, or perhaps subtly hint that Waycaster is the next big deal and let him make his own assumptions. Make the party seem like a party, but also make it seem like a recruiting operation, to anyone who has eyes to get the hints. It’s all I got,” Nolasco said.
“But you don’t send Bogdan an invite,” Heli said.
“You want us to throw a party and hope he comes?” Lestelle said.
“No,” Heli said.
“You go to his social media file, select key friends and family and invite them.”
“You’ve done this before?” Lestelle asked.
“That’s how the traffickers found me,” Heli said. “They troll the net looking for hot young women, they befriend their friends, and then when they have you, they lure you in by using your wants, or they threaten to kill your friends and family, which they can name. And if you post your rants about family, they use that, too. They get in your head and use your own beliefs, your own words, to manipulate you into believing what they offer is more genuine. They get in your head to get in your body.”
“Fuck,” Lestelle said. “I am so sorry, Heli. I didn’t know.” Heli met her eyes. “My past is past.”
“The past has a way of not staying past,” Nolasco said.
“I serve you to pay a debt, and I will honor that,” Heli said.
“I know how these parties go. I can get you what you want, which is access to more.”
“No,” Lestelle said. “You are not property and you’re not a chess piece. If we do this, you will be sitting this one out.”
“I am suddenly very tired,” Heli said.
“May I be excused?”
“Of course,” Lestelle said.
Nolasco stood as she stood, bowing slightly to her. Heli departed and Nolasco sat back down. Lestelle had tears in her eyes.
“You okay?” Nolasco said.
“I keep forgetting,” Lestelle said, her voice trailed off. “What?” Nolasco asked.
Lestelle shook it off. “I forget that my life has actually been a great life,” Lestelle said. “Compared to others.”
“You really didn’t see that?” Nolasco asked. “See what?” Lestelle said.
“Heli is the face of porn,” Nolasco said. “Do an image search and you will see people have used her image in a variety of ways to draw in customers, pretty much all across the galaxy. I suspect, her image has been stolen and reworked and reused by a billion hackers across the galaxy.”
“But she’s not that beautiful,” Lestelle said.
“Compared to where you come from, no, probably not, but porn is rarely about true beauty,” Nolasco said. “Her present dress style intentionally conceals her femininity, which indicates she is clearly hiding.”
“I thought all those sites were simply digitally enhanced people or flat out digital art,” Lestelle said.
“The lay public can’t afford that or don’t have the artistic abilities, and so they recruit from what they got,” Nolasco said. “That, and if you advertise, you have to have a product to offer. Of course, the pimps these days don’t have to groom subjects or work too hard to find product. There are literally millions of people who voluntarily put themselves out there on media thinking it’s a fast way to get credit and live the luxurious life they see on the holos. A life they assume is happening to all their friends, because no one posts reality on media. Everyone is competing to show that their world is better than the other world, creating envy and lust, and I dare say epidemic levels of depression. And this is the unexplored, but fundamental problem of society that made it possible for the Emperor to take the galaxy. The masses are hungry and lonely and desperate, and they don’t know even know what for.”
Lestelle drank from her brew. “Very well. We’ll land and get supplies and then head to Edusa,” Lestelle said. “I’ll stop by the office and get some files on the family so we can start our research.”
“And I will hire a full crew,” Nolasco said.
“We don’t need a full crew,” Lestelle said.
“If we are going to look like a party yacht, we need a crew, and they need to look like they enjoy the lifestyle,” Nolasco said.
“I can pull off the look,” Lestelle said.
Nolasco laughed, and then realized she was not equally amused. He explained: “You’re almost as socially awkward as G. The difference being, I would put G on the autism spectrum, whereas I would place you on the homeschooled spectrum.”
“I was educated in an academy,” Lestelle said.
“Yep, I believe you. I am not picking on you. You’re beautiful. You own the wealth, you direct the wealth, and you’re nerdy enough to pull of the smart dilettante, a person more likely to appeal to Bog’s father than him.”
“Eww, his father is like your age,” Lestelle said.
“Yeah, your reaction kind of proves my point,” Nolasco said.
“I can hide my disgust when I want to,” Lestelle assured him. “And you’re single because?” Nolasco asked.
“Because most men are disgusting,” Lestelle said. “When I am on Axxila, I get ten to twenty random offers a day for a hook up. ‘Baby, want to play.’ And hook ups are the only thing I get offered at home, and they offer it as if I need a sympathy fuck for not meeting their standards, and of those, they’re mostly older men who say they aren’t getting it at home, but maybe that’s because they’re spending too much energy chasing others, and not spending that energy at home. I may have daddy issues, but I am certainly not looking for a daddy to date. And the reason is, eventually daddy’s little girl is going to grow up and leave. That’s the nature of that relationship. It’s doomed to fail. I want something that is going to last. If I ever date older, I want someone like you, old school, disciplined, stable, loyal, who would cherish me and not simply make me a trophy to show off when he wants to look good and ignore me the rest of the time.”
The alarm went off, indicating they were arriving back at Hapes. Nolasco stood. “Let me hire the crew,” he said.
Lestelle offered him a gesture, telling him to go ahead. He left his drink on the table.
When she finished hers, she gathered his and Heli’s cups and returned them to their place. The light came on indicating they were in the process of being cleaned. She went to change into something more suitable for the office, aware that the ship was now descending down into the atmosphere. She paused by a port, watching as the flames of re-entry dissipated and her home world filled the view. She wondered if everything would be easier if the window just gave way and she was blown out. She would likely go unconscious and freeze long before impact did her in. Her hand was touching the port intimately, as if it were possible to just push and be gone.
“What the hell,” Lestelle said out loud. She hadn’t thought about ending her life since she was a teenager.
Lestelle put the thought out of her head, grabbed hose, and sat down on the bed to slip into them. She stood, discarding her present garment for a skirt and blouse, allowing the blouse to remain outside the skirt, informal. She found a matching jacket, and rotated the bin until the shoes she wanted came available. By the time she had them on, her ship was landing.
She proceeded down the ramp to find her secretary, Aidan. There was a woman next to him who was so red that her first reaction was to recoil in sympathy pain, thinking she was a tourist who stayed out in the sun way too long, but then realize she was a different species.
“I am sorry, but she insisted I bring her straight to you,” Aidan said.
“My name is Bryony, and Master Waycaster has hired me to serve you,” Bryony said, bowing slightly.
“I don’t keep slaves,” Lestelle said.
“And he knows that.”
“I am not a slave. I am well paid for. He said you would balk at my services, and suggested I remind you that you don’t like him popping in unannounced, and that I am a viable alternative to communicating with him at a distance,” Bryony said.
“You’re a telepath!” Lestelle said.
“I assure you, I will keep all unsolicited thoughts and feeling confidential,” Bryony said.
“Can he hear you now?” Lestelle said.
“It doesn’t quite work like that,” Bryony said. “I have bonded with others. Specially, five of us have entered a love bond to increase receptivity over distance and heighten privacy amongst ourselves. We serve Master Waycaster. My love and sister, Lexi, is with Jordeen. She was rejected by Corissa, which was expected, but Jordeen accepted her, and Lexi has already broadcasted her appreciation. She also sends her love and hopes you are well. If you would like to respond with a feeling, I can relay. If you want me to respond with thoughts, the clearer the message, the easier it is to transmit over distance. You’re wondering why, and I don’t have an explanation, I just know the greater the distance, the more challenging it is to send complex thoughts and sentences. Just as it is possible to miscommunicate in person during conversations, it happens to us, too. We are professionals, though, and we will endeavor for clarity at all times.”
Nolasco came down the ramp. And smiled. “Maybe I should let you hire the party crew,” Nolasco said.
“Men,” Lestelle said, walking away. “Aidan, pack a bag. You’re going with us.”
“I am?” he asked.
Cheeka seemed apprehensive. Her concerned grew the further down they went. She drew closer to G, instinctually. The lift numbers ticked off so fast they were a blur, and there was the lightness in her stomach that came from the fact they were practically free falling.
“How deep are we going?” Cheeka asked. “Pretty deep,” G said.
“To the center of the planet?” Cheeka asked, taking his hand.
“Not that deep,” G assured her. “Are you okay?”
“I prefer sky,” Cheeka said, rising on her legs so that she was at eye level with him. “Sky and open plains and lots of vegetation.”
“Do you wish to return the surface?” G asked.
Cheeka was torn. There was nowhere to run and she was feeling trapped. G brought the lift to a halt. Cheeka embraced him before he could even change the directions.
“I am sorry,” Cheeka cried. “I thought I could do anything. Being in a cave isn’t much different than a ship, but I just can’t.”
“Shh,” G said, patting her shoulder. She was shivering from fright, on the verge of being hysterical. With the Force, he activated the controls for up, indicating top floor. “It’s okay.”
When she felt the floor pushing on her, she looked to confirm they were actually ascending.
“You’re really taking me back up?” Cheeka asked. “Of course,” G said.
Cheeka swallowed. “You’re not going to make me face my fear?”
“You will face your fears when you’re ready, not when I am ready,” G said.
Cheeka pulled back, turning her head. She lightly reached out with her mind. “You’re genuine. You care.”
“You seem confused about something,” G said.
“I don’t understand. I feel you are curious and wanting, which is consistent with what I have experience with the males of your species. Your kind only project want or disgust, and sometimes strangely both. And I would surrender to your wanting, as I crave the closeness of others, but you’re not quite like the others. You actually care. You’re more like what my species refers to as dominant, not to be confused with superior, but just a tangible recognition of energy that is guiding and clear, like a river moving over the land. I am sorry, clearly my fear as moved me to rambling,” Cheeka said.
“You are safe, Cheeka. I hear you and will not use your words or your fears to control you,” G said.
“Acceptance. Again, I get the sense of water, embracing, neutral, and yet, life affirming,” Cheeka said.
“Are you an elemental?”
“Umm, no. I am just human,” G assured her.
“You’re not ‘just’ anything,” Cheeka said. She looked at the numbers, still climbing out of the negatives. She looked at the floor. “You need to know, I am a true submissive, not to be confused with subservient, or weaker. In a crowd, I will always end up next to the dominant energy. Your kind tend to take advantage of this natural desire to move towards safety. In fact, your kind is confusing, because it’s not in your nature to care for the followers. I don’t know how to say this. You must think I am mad.”
“Cheeka, all of us are both dominant and submissive,” G assured her. “What I hear you saying is that any dick can issue orders, but not every dick can co