This story takes place when Wedge Antilles is seven years old, and is intended to be the first in a series of stories about his life.
If you'd like to comment on my story, please feel free to e-mail me at Iris Bailey cbailey@zebra.net I hope you enjoy the story.
THE PARTING
By Iris Bailey
From his hiding place behind the stack of packing crates, the child watched as the crew of the battered space cruiser went about their business. He saw most of them leave the docking bay and head toward the interior of Gus Treta.
They were probably going to visit the shops and tapcafes that could be found there. His dad had told him that the spacers like to "unwind between flights." He wasn't quite sure what that meant, but he knew that his mom disapproved of some of those places; and that he was forbidden to go near them.
He felt the prickle of his conscience and looked around guiltily. I'm really not s'posed to be here either. At least not without Dad, or crew chief Nolfe. But his sister had pointed the ship out when it was making its approach, and had told him that it was a pirate ship. He'd never seen a real pirate ship before. He just had to have a closer look.
Eventually, all of the crew was gone, and he looked around the docking bay carefully. There was no one else around, and they had left the boarding ramp down.
Taking a deep breath he eased out from behind the crates and then made a run for the foot of the ramp. When he reached it, he ducked underneath and lay there panting. His heart pounded in his chest, as he waited for the pirates to come back and catch him.
Finally, he decided that he hadn't been seen and, crawling out very carefully, he tiptoed up the ramp and peeked into the ship's interior. Emboldened by success, he eased into the ship and began to look around.
Moving as quietly as he could, he made his way down the corridor from the hatchway. He'd been on lots of different ships before, (his dad almost always let him go with him to meet arriving ships,) so he had no trouble finding the place he wanted to see. The main cargo hold.
He knew that if the pirates had any treasure with them, that that's where it would probably be. He'd been to the holos with his sister, and the pirate ships always had treasure hidden onboard.
After walking what felt like a hundred kilometers, he found the hatch he'd been looking for, and he couldn't believe his good luck. The hatch was wide open.
One more time, he got very still and listened for sounds that would mean he'd been caught. Hearing nothing, he stepped through the hatch.
The hold was dimly lit and nearly empty, but over in one corner he could see a large crate.
I'll bet that's where the treasure is.
He made his way through the hold toward the crate, only to find that it was taller than he was. Even standing on tiptoe, he couldn't reach the lid.
There's got to be some way I can get a look at the treasure. He looked around hopefully, and then a slow smile lit his face.
Off to one side, several smaller packing boxes lay in an untidy pile. Carefully, he began to stack the boxes next to the crate, building a makeshift set of steps.
I just need to get far enough up to see inside the crate…
As he lifted the last box to put it in place, there was scratching and loud squeal from the box's interior. The box began to jerk in his hand, and suddenly a small scurrier clawed its way out of the box. The startled child dropped the box and fell backward, as the frightened animal leapt onto his shoulder and then bounded into the darkness, snorting and squeaking angrily.
The boy sat on the deck trembling from the fright he'd just had, his breathing rasping loudly in the relative quiet of the hold. In the darkness around him, he could hear the squeaks of the scurrier, and what sounded like several more. Two big tears trickled down his cheeks as he stubbornly fought not to cry.
I'm not a baby. It's just a scurrier…I'm bigger that him. He won't hurt me.
Finally, getting his breathing under control, he stood up and dusted the seat of his britches off. Then he picked up the last box, and added it to the stack he'd already created.
Carefully, he climbed up on the first box, and tested its stability. It felt fairly solid, so he went up another level. That one too felt steady enough to hold him. Finally he crawled up onto the third and last level.
His waist was now even with the top of the crate. Taking hold of the lid, he lifted with all of his strength.
Wincing at the creak of its rusty hinges, he opened the lid slowly until, finally, he could look inside. Just as he leaned over to get a better look, somewhere in the darkness, another scurrier squealed and skittered noisily across the trash-laden deck.
The child jumped in fright and lost his footing, tumbling headlong into the crate. Landing hard, his head hitting the side of the crate, the last thing he remembered was darkness closing about him.
* * * * * * * * * *
The Jump Point was a noisy, brightly lit tapcafe, on the station's main deck, that catered to the wide variety of beings from all over the galaxy that passed through Gus Treta's busy docking bays. The room was filled with dozens of different sights, smells and sounds, all competing with the noise suppression and air filtration systems, as the customers talked, ate, drank, danced and conducted business, each in their own manner.
Among the crowd, at a table near the viewport that made up one wall of the tapcafe, sat a group of five young people. There were three young men; two dressed in the jumpsuits of maintenance workers on the station, the other in the typical clothes of a Corellian spacer, and two girls. One, a tall, animated redhead with a cynical air about her, and the other, a stunningly beautiful blond, who was the object of attention and surreptitious glances from two-thirds of the males in the room, including several of the non-human ones.
But Syal Antilles' attention was not on the inhabitants of the tapcafe. Instead, she watched out of the viewport, as the Tinta Lines' pleasure cruiser Idahlia Dreamer maneuvered into one of Gus Treta's external fueling bays.
It wasn't the pilot's skill, or the ship's sleek lines that attracted her. Nor was it the activities of the hose crew, in pressurized suits, who moved efficiently into place, and had the ship connected to the station's fueling system in mere moments. Her mind was on the thousand plus passengers who were on board, and the sights and pleasures that they were no doubt enjoying.
One of these days, I'll be a passenger on a ship like that. I'll go to places like Commenor and Coruscant, where there's more to life than housework, babysitting and fueling depots. I'll be waited on, and catered to…
"Hey. I said 'Here's your sunfruit fizz.'" Eddis's voice broke through her daydream and brought her back to reality.
"Oh. Sorry." She gave him one of her dazzling smiles and took the drink from him, as he sat down next to her. "I was just thinking."
"No problem. Where were you this time?" He grinned back at her, a look of smitten tolerance in his gray-green eyes.
"She was probably somewhere between Alderaan and Hapes. Or was it Coruscant this time?" Tissa Vonne laughed and leaned against Eddis's shoulder.
"That's why I think you picked the wrong girl, Eddis. You need someone like me, who doesn't mind being 'stuck' on this station."
"Shut up, Tissa." Olen Greare scowled at the redhead sitting next to him. "I swear, if there wasn't a shortage of girls up here, I'd find someone else to date. You can be a real pain."
"Now Olen, she can't help it. She's just incurably competitive, and a shameless flirt." Syal shook her head and laughed. In the year and a half since Syal and her family had moved to Gus Treta, Tissa had tried to steal every boy that showed even the slightest interest in her.
"Yeah. But she could at least wait until I wasn't around." He took a sip of his drink and shook his head. "It'd save me a lot of fights."
"Don't worry too much about it, Olen." The fifth member of the troupe, Severn Derks nudged his friend and smirked at Tissa. "It hasn't worked on anyone else, yet. Has it Tiss'?"
"Only because you males are all so shallow. You don't want someone who is intelligent and witty. You prefer more cosmetically attractive companions."
Despite the words they were exchanging, the five were good friends. This was the way they spent their free time. There wasn't much else to do on Gus Treta, except for the Holo Theater. That, and daydreaming about getting off the station.
Syal's attention strayed back out to the Idahlia Dreamer, as the friends' conversation continued, and the old familiar feeling of sadness edged its way back into her heart.
She hated living on Gus Treta. At least, when they had lived on Corellia, there had been places to go and things to do. Gus Treta was never anyone's final destination. It was only a stop along the way to somewhere else.
Since she'd completed her upper level schooling, the year before, she divided her time between working at the fueling depot with her parents and helping with the housework, cooking, and babysitting. This was not the life she wanted for herself. She had bigger more exciting dreams.
Out there, in the rest of the galaxy, things were happening. Interesting things. The most interesting thing that happened on Gus Treta was the occasional confrontation between CorSec and some pirate or smuggler.
"Hey." Eddis slipped his arm around her, drew her closer, and spoke softly in her ear. "You're a million parsecs away again. Is anything wrong?"
"No." She smiled at him and snuggled closer. "I was just daydreaming again. I'm sorry."
"You and you folks fighting again, huh?" He brushed a strand of hair back form her cheek.
"Not again. Still." She sighed and shook her head sadly. "They just don't understand why I don't want to spend my life working on a fueling station, or as a pilot or married to a pilot, or…"
She stopped short and looked at him guiltily. "I'm sorry, Eddis. That didn't come out the way I meant it." She caught the look of hurt in his eyes, but it disappeared quickly.
"Hey. It's all right. I understand. My parents were the same way. They wanted me to take over the family farm, and that was the last thing I wanted. And…I know that you're not interested in getting married…right now. But I can hope, can't I?" He smiled fondly at her, and she nodded.
"Yes. We both can." She gave him a quick kiss, and caressed his cheek with one hand. He was such a sweet honest young man, always gentle, always hopeful. She really cared for him. But she knew that she wasn't ready to settle down. And she also knew that she'd probably wind up hurting his feelings one-day.
She looked at her chrono. "Right now though, I'd better be going. Mom and Dad won't be getting home until late, but I have to get home and check on my little brother. He's there by himself, and I'm not supposed to be here." She stood and Eddis stood with her. "Will I see you guys tomorrow?"
"Yeah, sure."
"Uhh huh."
"See ya Syal."
"I'll see that you get home safely. There were some pretty rough looking characters hanging around out there, earlier." Eddis took her hand and they made their exit.
have to make a run to Drall tomorrow, so I guess this will be goodbye for a while. You take care of yourself and I'll see you when I get back."
"All right. You be careful." She kissed him gently on the lips, and they held it for long moment. When it was over, she smiled up at him. "I'll see you in a few days."
"Okay. Bye." He turned and she watched as he walked away.
Opening the door, she went into the apartment and headed back toward the bedrooms. "Veggies…You better be doing your homework!"
Knocking on the door of her little brother's room and getting no answer, she opened the door. "All right Veggies, what are you…up to?"
The room was empty. Wedge's datapad and school supplies lay on his desk, and his toys were undisturbed. His comlink lay next to the data pad.
"Wedge Antilles. You'd better not be hiding from me. This is not funny." She opened his closet then looked in the storage chest beneath the room's small view port.
"Now where did he go? He promised me he'd stay here." She checked the apartment comm unit, to see if he'd left a message, then made a search of the rest of the apartment. He was nowhere to be found. She returned to the comm unit.
Keying in the number of one of their neighbors, she activated the call signal. The voice that answered had a heavy Durese accent, and gave the customary Duros greeting.
"A pleasant journey to you. Oda Hyweeda here. "
"Mistress Hyweeda, this is Syal Antilles. I was wondering if Wedge is over there playing with Uhn?"
"No. Uhn is in his room studying. I'm sorry."
"That's alright. If Wedge should show up, please send him home."
"I will child."
"Thanks. Bye." She keyed in several other numbers, and got a similar response from each. She was beginning to get really worried.
It wasn't like Wedge to just run off without leaving some kind of message. He really was pretty thoughtful for a seven-year-old. Finally, she sighed and made the call she knew she'd regret. If she was lucky, her dad would answer.
"Fuel Depot. Zena Antilles here." The one-quarter size image of her mother smiled at her from the holopad. Her dark hair and eyes were the same as Wedge's
"Hi Mom." Syal's hopes fell.
"Hi honey. What's for supper?" She could see her mother concentrating over her datapad as she talked.
"I don't know. I haven't started it yet."
"It's getting kind of late, don't you think. Dad and I will…"
"Mom." Syal cut her off. "I'm calling to see if Wedge is there with you and Dad?" She braced herself for what was coming.
"No he isn't. He's supposed to be there with you. Why isn't he? Did you meet him at school?"
"Yes, ma'am. And I walked him home. But…we met Eddis and the others on the way, and they invited me to the Jump Point, so I left him doing his homework. He promised me that he'd behave and stay here. But when I got back, he was gone."
"Have you called his friends?"
"Yes ma'am. None of them have seen him. And he didn't take his comlink with him. I didn't know what else to do but call you. I'm sorry. I…"
"I don't want to hear another excuse, Syal. You should have done what you were told. He's only a child and it was your responsibility to watch out for him. This is a big station, and there is no telling what could happen to him. Your dad and I are on our way home. Stay there just incase he comes back. Do you think you can manage that?"
"Yes ma'am." The image of her mother faded, and she returned the comm unit to stand by. She went back to the living room and dropped heavily onto the sofa.
"Veggies you brat. Why couldn't you stay home where you belonged? Mom and Dad are going to kill me."
Immediately Syal felt a stab of guilt for her words. Even though he could sometimes be a pain like most little brothers, she really loved him, and the thought of what could happen to a very small boy, alone somewhere on the very big space station, sent a shiver down her spine.
* * * * * * * * * *
"Alright. Continue looking. He has to be on the station somewhere. There haven't been any departures since he disappeared, and the temporary lock down will stay in place until we find him. Check back later, and let me know the minute you find anything."
Jatko Treva, Chief Security Officer for the Gus Treta Station, and good friend of the Antilles family, stood in the living room of their apartment and directed the search via comlink. After the brief report from one of his men, her turned back to Jagged and Zena, who stood by the view port. Zena's face showed that she'd been crying.
"How are you two holding up?"
"We'll be fine. No word yet?" Jagged Antilles' voice was calm and quiet, as he stood there with his arm around his wife.
"No. But it's only been a few hours. I've got every available man on it. He'll turn up."
"We know you're doing everything you can, Jatko. It's just that it's not like him to run off this way. That's why we're so worried."
"If Syal had been here like she was supposed to, he'd still be here." Zena looked between the two men. Her dark eyes were red with the effects of crying but also showed hurt and anger.
"That's enough Zena. Syal didn't mean for this to happen. She feels bad enough as it is." Jagged looked down at his wife, who remained silent.
"Jagged is right. She's punishing herself a lot more than you could right now." He rubbed his jaw and then put a hand on Zena's shoulder.
"I think I'll go talk to her again. Maybe she'll think of something that could help." Treva gave the woman a comforting pat and went to find Syal.
She was sitting on Wedge's bed, hugging a battered stuffed bantha, tears rolling down both of her cheeks. When Treva entered the room, she looked up hopefully.
"Have they found him?"
"No. Not yet." He shook his head and sat down on the bed by her. "Are you okay?"
She shook her head silently and hugged the toy closer. "This is my fault. I should have stayed home, like I was supposed to. If something bad has happened to him, I couldn't stand it. Mom and Dad won't ever forgive me for this." The tears came harder.
Putting his arm around her he let her cry on his shoulder until the tears subsided a bit. "Syal, if I know anything for sure, it's that Jagged and Zena Antilles love both their children. Parents, who love their children, forgive them when they make mistakes. And I don't think that anything bad has happened to Wedge. He's just lost, right now."
He handed her a handkerchief and raised her chin. "Okay?" She nodded.
"I know we've been over this before, but let's go over it again. Maybe we'll come up with something that we didn't cover before."
"Okay." She sniffed and wiped her eyes.
"Now tell me again, exactly what happened after you picked Wedge up from the school."
"We took our time and walked home."
"Which way? Through the main level, or another way?"
"Well, we started through the main level, and then we stopped at the viewport to watch some of the ships as they made their approaches. Veggies…Wedge loves to try and identify what class and model they are. He's really pretty good at it."
"How long did you stay there?"
"Maybe ten minutes."
"Then what?"
"We started home again."
"Still through the main level?"
"Yes. He wanted to go through the docking bays and see one of the ships, but I told him no."
"What ship?"
"The Aldruda's Ghost. It came in while we were watching. Wedge spotted the painting on the side of the ghost holding a blaster and wanted to know all about it."
"Aldruda's Ghost. That Xiytiar-Class Transport that came in today. That's Geskar Bruhl and his bunch of pirates."
"Yes. I told Wedge it was a pirate ship, and he got really interested. A couple of weeks ago, I took him to the Holos. It was a story about pirates, and he's been playing pirate ever since." Suddenly the light dawned on her and she looked up at Treva.
"Syal. You may have just solved the mystery."
"You think he went down there to see the ship?"
"I'd bet on it. He's got a big imagination for a little boy, and I'll bet he wanted to see that ship close up."
He stood and smiled. "C'mon. Let's go get your little brother."
* * * * * * * * * *
Wedge sat with his back against the side of the cargo box, hugging his knees to his chest. He'd been sitting like that for quite a while. The thick darkness around him made it impossible to see anything, and when he moved around too much, it made his head hurt.
Ever since he'd awakened, after his tumble into the box, he'd been trying to decide what to do. At first he'd tried to climb out, but he couldn't reach the top, and there was nothing he could climb on.
Then he'd thought about calling for help, but decided that might not be the best idea. Since he'd sneaked on board the ship, and the ship he was on was a pirate ship, he knew that he'd be in real trouble if the crew heard him. Still, he knew that if her were going to get out, he'd have to get someone's attention.
He had no idea of how long he'd been there. And he hadn't heard any noise that meant the crew had come back from "unwinding." All he knew was that he was cold and hungry and his head hurt. And he hated being alone in the musty darkness.
A sharp scratching and squeaking next to him scattered his thoughts, and set his heart pounding.
The scurrier! He must smell the blood from where I got all scratched up.
He edged away from the sound and tried to bring his panic under control. Then he felt around on the box's trash covered bottom for something to use as a weapon.
The scratching became more frenzied, and a cracking noise accompanied it, as the small hole in the plastoid crate gave way to the scurrier's efforts.
At the same time, Wedge's hand felt something hard and cold. Running his fingers along the length of it, he recognized the shape of a hydrospanner. A very rusty, hydrospanner. He picked it up and hefted it, then smacked it against the side of the crate.
"Get away!" The sound was deafening as it broke the silence, but the scratching had stopped, and Wedge gave a sigh of relief.
He knelt in the middle of the crate and listened. The only sound was a rustling of trash outside his prison. Then, suddenly, the clawing returned, and he heard the plastoid crack even more. He heard the scurrier trying to chew his way through the hole he'd made.
He's gonna get in. Where is he? He concentrated on the sound and turned back toward where he'd been sitting. At that moment, the plastoid gave way, and the scurrier squeezed through the hole.
Listening carefully, even though it was hard to hear over the sound of his own heart pounding in his ears, he raised the hydrospanner and waited for the animal to move. Then he heard the rustle of the trash to his right.
"Leave me alone!" Bringing the spanner down as hard as he could, he was rewarded by a dull thud, and the surprised squeal of the now injured scurrier. He listened as the animal thrashed around in the trash, and gave a yelp of his own when it collided with him during its struggles, its claws leaving a long rip in his pants and a deep, painful scratch in his leg.
He swung the spanner and connected again. The scurrier squealed and charged him, clawing wildly, the pain and the smell of blood, both Wedge's and its own, driving its frenzy.
Wedge raised the spanner once more and struck. This time the scurrier didn't get up. Its only movement was its dying twitches.
Suddenly Wedge heard human voices and light flooded the cargo box.
"Here he is! We've found him!"
The pirates!
But as his vision cleared, he saw that the faces looking down at him weren't only those of the pirates. He recognized the faces of Chief Treva, some of the station's other security officers and his father.
"Sithspawn!"
"Would you look at that." One of the pirates pointed at the dead scurrier.
One of the officers climbed into the crate and knelt down by Wedge.
"How ya doin', kid?" He took the spanner from the child's hand and lay it down.
"O…Okay. Are you going to arrest me?"
"Me? No. I just want to see how bad you're hurt before we get you outta this box."
"I got a bump on my head when I fell."
there. Did the scurrier bite you?"
"No, sir."
"Well. I think you'll survive. C'mon. Let's get you outta here."
The man stood and picked Wedge up easily. "Here you go, Chief. One lost pirate hunter coming at you," He lifted the child over the side of the crate and into Treva's waiting arms.
Treva, in turn, handed the child to his waiting father and mother who were weak with relief.
"Oh Veggies. Are you all right?" Zena hugged him close and looked him over frantically, while Jagged held his arms around both of them. Syal stood off to the side, a look of sad relief on her face.
"You had us so worried. We didn't know what had happened to you."
"I'm sorry. But I'm okay Mom, honest. I only got scratched a little. But the scurrier tore my pants."
He turned to his father and looked down at the floor. "I'm sorry I broke the rule about not coming here without you or Nolfe."
"Well son, we'll talk about that later. Right now, I think we need to get you to the medstation and have that bump and those scratches looked at."
"Wait a minute!" The gruff voice of Geskar Bruhl broke into the reunion, and everyone turned to look at him.
He stood with arms crossed and a scowl on his face. His men formed a semi-circle behind him. "C'mere kid. You got some explaining to do."
"Now wait a minute…" Zena grabbed Wedge's shoulder and stood to defend her son.
"Zena. It's all right." Jagged put his hand on her arm and removed her hand from Wedge's shoulder. "Go on, Son." He propelled the boy forward. "You have to face your mistakes."
Wedge gulped and took a deep breath, then walked over to where the grizzled pirate stood.
"Yes sir?"
"I wanna know what you was poking around my ship for?"
"I was looking for your pirate treasure." Wedge met the man's look evenly. "I saw it in the holos and I just wanted to see what a real treasure looked like."
Snorting grumpily, to cover the laugh that almost escaped him, Bruhl went down on one knee before the boy.
"And what did you find?"
"Nothing. Just an empty box." Wedge looked down at his boots. "And that mean old scurrier." Then the brown eyes met Bruhl's again.
"Well let that be a lesson to ya', ya' little mynock, not to go sneakin' around in places where you don't belong. Besides, real pirates don't keep their treasure out in the open like that, where anybody can stumble across it. They got secret hid'n places for it.
"And next time you wanna look around somebody else's ship, ya' better ask first. Why me and my men liable to have shot ya' or somethin'."
"Yes sir. I'm really sorry."
"Well, I'll accept your apology this time. But don't let it happen again. Now tell me one more thing. Was you scared when that scurrier came after ya'?"
The child looked around at the faces of the pirates and clamped his lips together as if he didn't want to answer. Then he nodded slowly.
"Yes sir. Really scared." His cheeks colored slightly at the admission.
Bruhl smiled and put his hand on the boy's shoulder.
"Well, don't be ashamed of it boy. I know grown men who wouldn't admit that. But everybody's scared sometime in their life. The important thing is that you didn't let it stop you from tryin'. You did what you had to do, even though you was scared. And that's pretty brave."
"Really?"
"Yep. Really." He patted the boy's shoulder.
"Now. Since you went to all that trouble and all you got was a bump on the head to show for it…here." He reached in his pocket and handed Wedge a coin.
Wedge took it and turned it over in his hands. It was intricately carved on one side with the likeness of a strikingly beautiful woman. On the other side was a map of a star system. The words on it were in a language he didn't recognize.
"That's a Hapan Royal Credit. It's part of our treasure. You keep it for luck."
"Wow! Thanks." He turned and looked at his folks. "Look, Mom, Dad." He hesitated and then asked, "Can I keep it?"
Jagged and Zena exchanged a look, then looked at Bruhl, then at Wedge. Jagged nodded.
Wedge turned back to Bruhl. "Thanks Captain. I'll take real good care of it."
"Good. Now, let your folks take you up to the medstation and get those scratches cleaned up."
"Okay."
Bruhl turned to his men, and frowned. "What are you sorry mynocks lookin' at. We got work to do. And which one of you bums left the main hatch open to begin with?" The men bickered until they were out of earshot.
Wedge turned back to his parents and then saw Syal standing behind them. Rushing to her, he threw his arms around her neck when she bent to hug him.
He drew back and showed her the coin. "Look Syal. I got real treasure."
"I see that." She smiled and hugged him harder. "I'm sorry you got hurt, though."
"I'm okay, honest." He looked at her closely and saw the tears on her face.
"Uh oh. You got in trouble didn't you?" He turned to his parents again. "It's not her fault, Mom, Dad. I broke my promise. I told her I'd stay home and study. Please don't be mad at her."
"We'll talk about that later too, Veggies. Right now, we're taking you to the medstation." Jagged picked his son up, and everyone vacated the hold.
* * * * * * * * * *
"Mom, I said I was sorry, and that it won't happen again. I don't know what else to say." Syal sat across from the sofa where her mother and father sat. "I'm really sorry."
"Syal that's not enough…Your brother could have been seriously hurt, or worse and it would have been your fault. You've got to take your responsibilities more seriously. Why can't you understand that?"
"I do. I honestly do. I just wanted to spend a little time with my friends."
"But Syal," Jagged's voice was calmer and his look stern as he met his daughter's blue eyes. "We're depending on you to help us here. You know your mother and I are working hard to establish ourselves at this station. Our family's whole future depends on what we do here.
"If this works out well, then eventually we'll be able to go into business for ourselves. We'll have a whole chain of stations, that'll offer us some real security."
"But Dad. That's your dream. Not mine. I don't want to live my life on a fueling station. There is a whole galaxy out there, and I want to see some of it. I want to do other things with my life."
"Like what? Be an actress?" The derision in Zena's voice was almost palpable. "The work your father and I do isn't good enough for you? Even though it's kept you fed and clothed for seventeen years."
"No, Mom. There's nothing wrong with what you do. It's just not what I want to do. Why can't you understand that?" She stood suddenly and started to leave the room.
"Where are you going? We're not through yet."
"I said I was sorry, and I said that it won't happen again. But you won't listen. To that, or anything else I say. So there's no point in going over it again. I'm going to bed. I have to work at the station in the morning. You can tell me then what you've decided on as my punishment."
She walked out of the room and down the hall toward her room.
Jagged scrubbed his face with his hands, then looked at his wife. "Maybe we are being too hard on her. I don't know…Maybe we have been so wrapped up in the station and everything that we aren't paying attention to what is going on…"
"I can't accept that. She's got to understand that when you have responsibilities, they come first. She's got to grow up and realize that getting through life takes hard work…Just because she's done well in a couple of school plays and spends most of her free time at the holodramas, doesn't mean she needs to be an actress."
Her parents' quiet voices drifted after Syal as she went. She knew that the strain of getting the business going was a big part of the problem between her and them. But their refusal to consider her side still hurt. And the same battle had been fought over and over for months.
When she reached Wedge's room she paused and listened, then opened the door and peeked in.
The light was on, and he lay in bed eyes closed, hugging the same toy bantha she'd held several hours ago. That was something he hadn't done in a very long time because he wasn't "a baby anymore."
Syal went over to him and straightened the covers, and he opened his serious brown eyes.
"Hi Veggies. Are you okay?"
"Uh huh." He nodded.
"You sure?"
"Uh huh. I…I just turned the light on 'cause I…'cause it was really dark in here and …I thought I heard a scurrier."
"There aren't any scurriers here." She patted his dark hair. "But if you want to sleep with the light on, that's okay." She petted the toy bantha. "I see you've got 'Bamfa' with you."
When Wedge had first been given the toy, as a toddler, he'd had trouble pronouncing the 'th' sound in bantha. The closest he could manage had been "Bamfa" and the name had stuck.
"Uh huh." He eyed her a bit suspiciously. "You won't tell Uhn and the other kids will you?"
"No. I won't."
"Promise?"
"I promise."
"Good. 'Cause they'll think that I'm a baby."
"Oh, I don't think so. Most babies don't have real pirate treasure. That was given to them by a real pirate." She tucked the covers around him and ruffled his hair. "Now go to sleep. You have school in the morning, remember?"
"Uh huh."
"Good night."
"Good night."
She closed the door behind her and went on to her room, where she took her time getting ready for bed. Even after she turned the lights out, she sat silently in the dark for a very long time.
* * * * * * * * * *
The next morning, Syal reported early for her job at the fuel depot, causing Zena and Jagged to exchange surprised glances when she arrived. She hadn't joined the family for breakfast. Nor had they seen her before they'd left for work.
Once at work, she went straight to the docking controller's room where, along with two other people, she was responsible for assigning fueling berths to incoming ships, and dispatching fuel crews to those berths. Except for her lunch break, she stayed there until her shift ended.
When she'd finished, she went to the main office, where her mother sat at her data terminal, busily tallying up what each ship owed, and handling the financial transactions with each ship.
Zena looked up from the terminal. Glancing at her chrono, she looked surprised. "Is it shift change already?"
"Yes ma'am."
"I need to go get Wedge…" She turned to look for Jagged through the viewport that overlooked the repair bays.
"I…I could go get him. You're busy and Dad's tied up with that ship in bay eight."
She looked at her daughter as if reluctant to accept the offer and Syal's cheeks burned at the silent accusation.
"Very well. But I expect you two to go straight home and stay there."
"Yes ma'am. What would you like me to fix for supper?"
"Whatever you like. Your dad and I will be home a bit later. If we get held up, I'll call."
Syal nodded, then looked at her mother. "Have you decided on my punishment yet?"
"No. We'll talk about that later."
"All right." She turned to go. "I'll have supper ready when you and Dad get home." She left the way she'd come in, and Zena watched her retreating back as she went.
On the way to the school, Syal made one quick stop, then arrived a moment after the classes had been dismissed.
She looked around for her little brother in the crowd of milling children, and finally spotted him in the middle of several of his friends, showing them his "pirate treasure." They were all in awe.
Looking up, he saw his sister and reluctantly told the others goodbye, then he hurried over to where she waited for him.
"Hi, squirt. How's it going?"
"Fine. Everybody was really surprised about my treasure. Except Baff Vanek. He says I made the whole story up."
"Oh? Well we know better. If he's too dumb to know the truth when he hears it, too bad." She ruffled his hair. "How's the bump?"
"Sore. But Dad says Antilles heads are hard enough to survive even worse bumps."
"Well, he's probably right, but let's don't try to prove that. Okay?"
"Okay." He looked over at the package she carried. "What'cha got?"
"I'll show you later. We need to get home so you can do your homework and I can fix supper."
"Okay. I'll race you!" He took off at a run.
"Veggies! All right you. Just wait till I catch you!" She took off after him.
* * * * * * * * * *
That night the atmosphere at supper was strained and quiet. For the most part, Syal and Wedge were silent, while their parents talked about the day's activities. After the dishes were cleared, the family had held a family meeting.
It was decided that, even though he'd gotten hurt as a result of breaking his promise to Syal, which was a punishment in itself, Wedge would be grounded for a week. No playing with friends, no holo games or shows, and he had to go to bed early.
After his sentence was pronounced, he was sent directly off to bed.
Then, it was Syal's turn.
She sat there; listening quietly as her parents gave her the lecture about responsibility and making something of herself. Then they gave her their decision about her punishment.
There would be no dating, no holos, and no Jump Point for a full month. She was to continue to come to work on her regular schedule and to pick Wedge up after school each day. At the end of that time, she was to enroll in some type of training for a legitimate job, if she still didn't want to work with her parents. And, she would still be required to help out around home as her classes allowed.
"But the only classes available here are technical and business classes!"
"That's right." Zena stood and faced her daughter. "You need to forget this nonsense about acting, or being rich and famous and traveling the galaxy. We're average people Syal. We have to work for a living. You need to grow up and realize that."
"So I'm not supposed to have any dreams of anything other than what you do? Did your parents tell you what you should be? Didn't you ever want to be anything else?"
"I grew up knowing that to get anywhere, you have to work hard. Your father and I have known each other since we were kids. We fell in love in school. And no, I never wanted anything but to be with him and build a life together."
"All right. I know that you and Daddy love each other very much, and that you two both have this dream of owning a string of fueling stations. And that's wonderful. But you can't make me want the same things."
"Syal, don't you understand that we are just concerned for you." Jagged's voice was tired. "The galaxy is a big place. And right now, some pretty unsettling things are going on out there. You're young and inexperienced. We just don't want to lose you to some dream that you might never realize."
"But that's my choice. It's my life."
"Not until you reach majority, at eighteen. You still have a year to go. And while you live under our roof, you will abide by the rules that we set. Is that understood?"
She stood there, looking at them with anger and sadness in her eyes. "Yes sir. I understand."
"Fine. Now that's the end of it. No more discussion."
"Yes sir. That's the end of it." She turned and headed for her room, defeated. She felt as if she were carrying an enormous weight on her shoulders.
"Good night."
"Good night, Syal."
She walked to her room and sat down heavily on the bed. Tears welled up in her eyes and she swiped at them with her sleeve, then took a deep breath.
"That's the end of it." She stared ahead, seeing nothing. Struggling against more tears, and the dull ache that had started in her chest.
Finally, after a very long time staring at nothing, she stood, and taking the package that she'd bought earlier, went to Wedge's room. When she opened the door, she saw the quick movement of the covers as he ducked under them and pretended to be asleep.
Walking over, she sat on the edge of the bed and put her hand on his small shoulder.
"Veggies?"
He rolled over and came from beneath the covers. His serious brown eyes filled with tears as he looked at her sadly.
"What's wrong?"
"Syal, I'm sorry I got you in trouble with Mom and Dad. I didn't mean to… Honest…I just wanted to see the pirate treasure." Two large tears trickled down his cheeks, and the sadness in his voice made her put her arms around him.
"Veggies, you didn't get me in trouble. I got me in trouble, okay?"
"But I was supposed to stay home…I broke my promise."
"I know. But that got you in trouble. And it got you a bump on the head and scurrier scratches. I got in trouble because I didn't do what I was supposed to. So don't go blaming yourself for my problem. Okay?"
"Okay." He nodded; his expression was still serious.
"Now. I brought you something." She retrieved the package from where she'd set it on the floor and placed it on his lap.
"What is it?"
"Open it, and find out."
He untied the string, then carefully removed the paper and threw it on the floor, leaving him holding a clear plastine box. Inside the box was what looked like a fuzzy green moss covered rock, and crawling all over the rock were hundreds of small insects. Little round, silver and gold beetles, no bigger that grains of Agamarian rice.
"What are they?" He looked at the tiny creatures suspiciously. "Where did you get 'em?"
"I bought them at Drungo's. They're called stardust beetles. They come from Ralltiir and that rock is their home. They live, eat, sleep, reproduce and die on the rock. They eat the moss blossoms, and the moss uses their waste and their bodies when they die as its food. All you have to do is make sure the little reservoir at the bottom stays full of water, and they'll live a long, long time.
"But the best part is what they do at night. Watch. Lights off."
The lights in the room switched off, and immediately the beetles began to flutter around in the box. As they did, bioluminescence caused each beetle to shine like a tiny star and the box was filled with a fine dust that glowed softly. The more the beetles flew, the brighter the light got, casting enough light so that Wedge could see Syal sitting next to him.
"Wow! That's great! How do they do that?"
"That's something for you to study and find out. They'll do that as long as it's dark. I thought that you might like them. They'll make plenty of light, as long as the room lights are off."
He looked up at her and smiled. "Thanks, Syal. I really like 'em." He set the box on his bedside table and put his arms around his sister. "I love you."
A lump formed in her throat, as she hugged him to her. "I love you too Veggies." She hugged him tightly for a long moment.
"I want you to remember that. No matter how far apart we are, or how old we are, or what direction our lives take. You're my little brother and I'll always love you. No matter what!"
He drew back and met her look. "I know. I promise, I'll remember."
"Good. Now you need to get some sleep." She sniffed, and dabbed at the corner of her eye. "You have school in the morning."
"Okay." He slid back under the covers, and she tucked them around his shoulders. "Do you want me to turn the lights back on?"
"No…that's okay. I think I'll leave 'em off for a while."
"All right…" She leaned down and kissed him on the cheek. "Good night Veggies."
"Good night, Syal."
* * * * * * * * * *
Syal stood in the middle of her room and took one last look around the place that had been her home for the past year and a half. She was surprised to feel a sharp twinge of sadness as she did. There was also a twinge of fear.
Even though she hated almost every thing about Gus Treta, this had still been her home, and now she was leaving it. She found herself trembling slightly, whether in anticipation or fear, she wasn't sure.
What she did know was that she would miss her family and friends terribly. And in a way, she'd even miss the dull routine that she disliked so much. There was safety in the familiarity of that routine. Now, uncertainty had replaced that familiarity, and with that uncertainty came fear.
Stop it, Syal! You cannot allow yourself to back down now. You've thought this through very carefully, and you have no other choice. If you don't leave tonight, you might never get the chance to reach for your dream.
She forced herself to ignore her fears and busily straightened the cover on her bed. Then she lay her datapad there where it was sure to be seen and began her mental checklist.
All right now, let's see. I've got my clothes and personal items. I have my money, and my ticket. She checked in her small shoulder bag, making sure the ticket was where she had put it.
I've left messages for Eddis and Tissa…and the holo for Mom and Dad…The thought of Eddis caused a new surge of sadness to overtake her.
Taking a deep breath she picked up her travel bag and cloak and moved quickly to the door. That's enough of that. It's time to get moving.
"Lights off." The room plunged into darkness and she opened the door slowly, listening intently before stepping through.
The apartment was dark, silent and still, but she waited for a long moment anyway, just to make sure. Then she stepped into the hall.
Moving as quietly as she could, she tiptoed past her parent's room, and felt a twinge of guilt for what she was about to do.
They're going to be so angry and hurt. Tears welled up in her eyes and she fought to ignore them. I just wish that they would try to understand. I hope they can forgive me.
She hurried on and came to Wedge's door. She hesitated briefly, touching the door as if that would help her see the child sleeping behind it.
Goodbye Veggies. I'm going to miss you. I hope when you grow up that your dreams all come true. She resisted the urge to open the door and peek in. I'll see you again someday.
The lump in her throat was back, and she felt as if her heart was pounding so loudly that everyone would hear it.
Hurriedly, she moved on through the apartment and out into the dimly lit corridor. Once the door slid shut behind her, she felt as if she had just run five kilometers. She paused briefly to get her breathing under control.
"All right Syal," She set her luggage down and draped her cloak around her, pulling the hood up to hide her blond hair. Then she smoothed her clothes and squared her shoulders.
"Let's go. That is a big galaxy out there. Let's just see how much of it you can conquer."
She picked up her bag and headed for the main docking bay…
* * * * * The End. Or maybe, just the beginning… * * * * *