My Brother's Keeper

[Arla Ordo]

hmm that was an interesting turn around. Arla stepped back and began to wonder a few things, maybe she should stay here and watch the other prisoners give the Shukalar his time with the young girl, who knows maybe he had other plans as well. She did not think on that, it was none of her business.

She didn't know, but one thing was for certain anything she said had no impact, she felt sorry for the girl and was trying to help but sometimes words don't mean anything and she wasn't as influential as Alor Vereen.

If Calina was truly innocent had done nothing wrong other than exist, well then she didn't belong in the prison, and surely Alor Vereen could see that.

"I'll be along shortly" She didn't need to eat dinner with them, she had her own, and her clansmen to eat with.

[member="Draco Vereen"] [member="Calina Ovmar"]

 

[Lina Djo]

Calina stepped cautiously out into the corridor, half expecting to find herself looking down the barrel of a gun or three. But there was none. No over zealous guard. No Ra, whine she expected to jump out from a corner and yell 'just kidding!'.

Her eyes lingered for a moment on the wall opposite her, a nutrient tank set within the stone, a ysalamir sat within. For something so capable of disabling her, it was surprisingly small.

Much to her annoyance, Draco was still talking. "I don't want to talk with you" she said pointedly, not bothering to look at him. She glanced up the corridor where another mandalorian was stood, deep in conversation on a comms link.

"Nor do I want your money." She continued, finally letting her feet carry her towards the other mandalorian. Maybe he would be the one to laugh at her, point out the hoax and cast her back in her cell. This was, after all, way too easy.

[member="Draco Vereen"] [member="Arla Balor"] [member="Davon Karr"] [member="Velok the Younger"]

 

[Laira Darkhold]

"By all means then." Draco said, ushering her forward. "Davon, she wants to be your problem. I've got thirteen years of not having to deal with that kind of hot mess, so I'm heading home to make the best of that time."

Ramaanar's conversation seemed to be dwindling down, and he wasn't hearing shouting and anger from the old veteran about it, so it must have been some kind of personal call. Whatever it was, the old man had thought it to be more important than dealing with the young woman. He had been spared, and now he would take his turn of dealing with Calina.

Draco turned and waved at his two men. "Let's go." The two Mandalorians shrugged and shouldered the stun guns they carried, following Shukalar as he made his way towards the shuttle in the hangar that was his own. "If you change your mind, I'll be having some kind of steak and seafood in the mess."

He could already taste the flavor of seared red meat and buttery seafood he would be feasting on soon.

[member="Calina Ovmar"] [member="Davon Karr"]

 

[Davon Karr]

[member="Calina Ovmar"] @Velok

"I'm sure if I wanted to find a way to fool sensors and send something unpleasant we could." There was a pause as he considered this.

"Hmm. I'll load the girl up front with a view and you can send a shuttle to pick her up. If she wants to come. Hold please," Davon said before muting his comms.

There was a choice to be made now. On one hand he'd already had the tracker put in her meals. The one they'd picked up from some underground black ops group. cutting edge. If he cut her loose then they would pick up her trail and hopefully she would lead them back to the nest.

If he traded her with Velok then it would be prudent to remove the tracker. It only worked in areas with public comm signals and there was a greater chance of the sith finding the tracker and taking offence than finding the girl in a public area any time soon. He doubted it would cause much offence, professional courtesy to remove the thing, but the chance of getting anything useful was also low. Well there was only one way out in that case. Poor girl would be glues to the 'fresher for the next few days.

Recent events swayed his opinion. This Velok and his people had evicted the Silver Jedi from a region of space and then vanished. Going to war with a dangerous opponent was to be expected, but not without any information to plan an attack.

“You!” Davon called down the corridor. “Do you know a Velok?”

 

[Velok the Younger]

[member="Davon Karr"]

"Yes, that's amenab-"

A cough, as if in surprise.

"Something wrong, Grandpa?"

"Not at all, Gharruk. He put me on hold. I believe it's a positive sign."

"What are you going to do?"

"I'm not hearing muzak, so I'll wait. A Shaman of Toola waits, Gharruk. Waits as long as he must."

"If you say so. I don't get why you don't just take the Jedi deal. Why is waiting beneficial there?"

"Is this thing still on?"

"Ah-"

"Circumspection, Gharruk."

 

[Lina Djo]

Calina's brow furrowed into a frown at the older mandalorian as he called down the corridor to her. Velok? Yes she knew one, but what did it matter to him? For a moment she teetered on the edge of continuing her petulant act and refusing an answer simply because they deserved nothing from her, but curiosity got the better of her.

"I do." she responded, moving towards him. "There are few sith who do not know that name. Why?"

[member="Velok the Younger"] [member="Davon Karr"]

 

[Davon Karr]

[member="Calina Ovmar"] [member="Velok the Younger"]

Davon eyed the woman very carefully. To a mandalorian she was a long way from childhood, but to his old eyes she was still very young. It had seemed she was on the verge of saying something foolish. After all, she could always walk out of the prison. Only a few hundred miles to the nearest space port at well below freezing temperatures.

"He would like a word."

Davon tapped two buttons on the wrist console and the comm was set over loud speakers.

"She's here Velok."

 

[Velok the Younger]

[member="Davon Karr"] [member="Calina Ovmar"]

"Calina? This is Velok. I am in the final stages of negotiating your release. Before we proceed, I have three questions for you.

"First, I gave you an object at a certain meeting. Please tell me what that was, so I can verify your identity. I admit all humans sound the same to me.

"Second, have you been well treated? If not, when you tell me about the object I gave you, please change the substance from which it was made. If it was wood, for example, say pearl instead.

"Third, if you believe the Mandalorians will not act in good faith while returning you, please change the size of the object. If it was palm-sized, please say it was the size of a speeder or larger. And vice versa."

 

[Lina Djo]

Calina blinked, surprise etched across her face. She had not expected this, not even a little bit. Velok and Calina weren't exactly close, so what did he gain by getting her out? There was bound to be a catch at the end of this. She glanced over her shoulder at the retreating backs of Arla and Draco, pondering for a moment as to whether they were the better option for getting out.

Swivelling her gaze back to look at comm on the old mans arm, she listened carefully to Veloks list of questions. She knew sith, she understood, or so she believed, how they thought and, despite their natural desire to kill each other, she felt far safer among them, than she ever would among these warriors.

Her eyebrows rose high at the second question. Had she been treated well? She met the old warriors eyes and held them as she pondered this question. She had been fed twice a day, they hadn't beaten her in an attempt to gain information, they had simply left her alone...literally.

And then the last question. Oh, how she wanted to say they wouldn't, how she wanted to punish them for locking her up for no damn good reason. The fact of the matter was simple. They would honour whatever word they had given, because honour was something the couldn't turn their cheek away from.

"It was a svolten rhyolite whetstone, sits nicely in the palm of my hand." she replied, still holding the old man's gaze. "Velok..." she paused, a hundred questions ran through her mind. Had he seen Anaya? Was she the reason he was negotiating? If not, why was he helping her? What news of the Sith that had gathered...what news of the galaxy?She found her vision blurring at the thought of getting out, and dropped her gaze. She would feel the force again and extend her mind as far as she could, simply because she could. She would build a forge and let her hands create all she had imagined here. She licked her lips. "I'm pleased to hear from you." she said finally, lifting her gaze again.

"How soon can I get out of this freezer?"

[member="Velok the Younger"] [member="Davon Karr"]

 

[Davon Karr]

[member="Calina Ovmar"] [member="Velok the Younger"]

Davon allowed a touch of guilt to cross his weathered features. "It'll take about a week to arrange things on my end."

Of course, it would probably take a few days to flush the tracking device out of the woman's insides, but Davon saw no reason to go into that with Velok still on the line. "And I do hope the whetstone was made of svolten...whatever. If you think this is bad treatment I'd almost feel compelled to take you to a different location just to give you a bit of perspective before letting you go."

 

[Velok the Younger]

[member="Calina Ovmar"] [member="Davon Karr"]

She hadn't sounded like she was under duress, but there was no mistaking the emotion in her voice.

"There'll be no need for that, Alor Karr. She described the object accurately. I'm not fond of the timetable you propose, but I don't object to it. One week, then. Calina, you should also know that I haven't involved your mother in this operation, and have no intention of doing so. As I told the nice man in the tin can, I prefer to work alone."

 

[Lina Djo]

A week was reasonable. What was a week in comparison to the months she had already spent here? She relaxed, a smile beginning to form on her face. It faltered at the mention of her mother. So her fears were confirmed. Anaya Fen had abandoned her, left her own daughter to rot, or rather, freeze to death on Mandalore. She said nothing, her hands balling into fists to hide the fact that they had begun to tremble.

"Very well," she replied, voice trembling slightly. "Thank you, Velok. I am in your debt."

She looked up at the mandalorian. "Am I required to remain in my cell?"

[member="Velok the Younger"] [member="Davon Karr"]

 

[Davon Karr]

[member="Calina Ovmar"] [member="Velok the Younger"]

Davon pointedly ignored the question. Velok had been on world already, possibly part of the first assault. He wasn't about to talk security detail in front of someone who might be tempted to make another run at the facility. Even if he considered the risk small.

"I'll have a subordinate call during the week to arrange the details. She will be returned unharmed." He could have added a promise or a vow on his honour, but those would have always been such empty things.