CHAPTER 14
Twisted, gnarled trees rose from the misty swamps of Naboo. Captain Anatida of the Gungans surveyed the swamp from his kaadu, a domesticated, duck-faced animal that resembled a cross between a cow and an ostrich. Like his kaadu, Anatida also sported a bill, and his eyes garnished the top of his head like mushrooms.
Anatida uttered a sharp clicking sound and five other Gungans emerged from the mist, riding their kaadu to their Captain’s side. Anatida and his patrol looked skyward as a starship roared overhead.
The captain decided that he and his patrol should investigate this "skeebeetle" that was landing nearby. He was worried that it may belong to the Naboo, and was being used for aggressive purposes. Anatida regarded the Naboo as pacifistic cowards, who had stereotyped his people as savages. The Naboo may have been peace-loving up to now, but he could never risk the safety of the Gungans by taking things for granted.
Anatida knew the swamps like the back of his hand. He had taken part in patrols of Gungan territory for decades, so it took little time to lead his troops to the position of the invading ship.
The skeebeetle, the Gungan name for a starship, was visible as a sleek, red cone perched upon a patch of high ground. Anatida and his patrol hid in the undergrowth, surrounding the ship. They were ready.
Ayo Verna and Yarua sat in the sickbay of the Red Planet watching the wounded Zephoid Zez they had rescued from Despayre. The creature’s condition seemed to have stabilised since they had landed, but he was still very weak. The Zez was awake, and Ayo went over to a small sink and filled a bottle with water from the tap. He crouched down at the bedside and handed the bottle to Yarua, cradling the Zez’s head as the Wookiee poured a few drops into its mouth.
The Zez whimpered and licked its lips.
"You liked that, didn’t you, little’un?" said Ayo gently. Ayo was certain that the creature was sentient, and he was interested in finding out its name, but names had to wait. His and Yarua’s first priority was obtaining parts for the ship and medical aid for the Zez.
"We’d better go outside and have a look around." Yarua barked in agreement as they headed for the hatch.
"Looks like we’re miles from anywhere," said Ayo as they descended the ramp. Yarua grunted as a bird chattered above.
"Nothing but muck and slime. Looks like we’re stuck in some dingy mudhole miles from anywhere!"
Just as Ayo finished his sentence, the undergrowth rustled and a Gungan soldier atop a kaadu rose from the ferns. The warrior pointed his spear at Ayo and Yarua.
"Yousa Naboo!" barked the Gungan. "Stoppa dare!"
Ayo and Yarua, who were unarmed, froze at the foot of the ramp. Other mounted Gungans appeared from behind and closed in on the crew. The Gungan leader jumped efficiently from his kaadu and strode up close to Ayo and Yarua.
"Mesa Cappatain Anatida o’ da Gungans, an’ yousen is under arrest!"
Yarua growled threateningly.
"It’s all right, Yarua," said Ayo, trying to pacify his companion. "Don’t make things worse."
Captain Anatida thrust his spear up to Ayo’s nose. "Yousa comin wit ussen," he barked, expressing a distinct distaste at the term Naboo.
The other Gungans pushed the two prisoners away from the ship with their spears, frogmarching them from the comfort of their mounts. As Ayo and Yarua were herded through the swamp by their amphibious captors, it occurred to them that they were not as stranded as they had thought. By the look of their weapons and their ability to speak Basic, Ayo felt hopeful that they stood a chance of winning these strange aliens over to their side.
"Yousen Naboo a-goin’ ta da Bosses," said Anatida as he prodded Ayo. "Yousen landin yousa skeebeetle in da land o’ da Gungans! Naboo a-banned from da Gungan land!"
After a short while, the party arrived at a wide lake. Floating near the water’s edge was a long, multi-finned submarine, quite unlike anything Ayo and Yarua had ever seen. The vessel looked like it had been grown, rather than built, such was its elegant design.
"They’re more advanced than we thought,"’ whispered Ayo in astonishment.
Captain Anatida poked Ayo and shoved Yarua with his spear. "Shudduppa you faces an stoppa da gassin," he barked as he and his patrol frogmarched their prisoners through the water to the submarine. Yarua roared angrily.
"In ta da bongo!" snapped Anatida as he bundled Ayo and Yarua through the hatchway, pushing them into a small holding-cell. Ayo and Yarua sat down on a crude bench, wet dirty and dejected as four Gungan guards surrounded them, offering no opportunity for escape. They sat in silence, staring as the scuffs and scratches in the floor.
Yarua turned from his study of the floor and grunted a question at Ayo.
"I don’t know where we could end up,"’ answered Ayo with resignation. "Probably prison."
One of the guards overheard Ayo’s comment. The creature turned his pop-eyed face and wrinkled his bill in disgust.
"Yousa Naboo’s in big dudu," snarled the guard. "All o’ da Naboo is bombad. When da Big Boss hears about a dis, dey’s gonna be puneished."
Ayo kept his thoughts to himself. Things seemed pretty fragile between the two cultures, and he did not wish to become involved. If he and Yarua were to gain aid from these Gungans, then they would have to befriend them. They were all on the same side.
* * *
In was dawn in the Coruscant’s Senate District. In his quarters, Senator Thraurrallgisc slept soundly, his body sprawled across his Wookiee-sized bed. He had retired worried that night, worried because he had heard nothing from Ayo and Yarua since they had departed for Despayre all those days ago.
Had they been caught by Mandalore’s thugs? What would happen to him if they had been captured? Thraurrallgisc had lain in bed, unable to sleep as he considered his possible fate should his and Dessk’s plan to expose Mandalore fail. They could all end up in prison; mining for Mandalore on Sorensia, or at best, sued to bankruptcy by Mandalore’s allegedly corrupt lawyers. He would certainly lose his seat in the Senate.
Thraurrallgisc had eventually drifted off to sleep, and he lay upon crumpled bedclothes, evidence of his disturbed rest. Ralrracheen was asleep in his own room. The tall, burly translator knew nothing of his employer’s secret mission.
An explosion shattered the peace. Ralrra rose in a panic and ran through to the lounge to be greeted by thirty MHG shocktroopers and a plain-clothed, human detective. Ralrra studied the detective with distaste. He was balding, overweight and obviously neglected his health.
"Detective Superintendent Fitje," said the man as he waved his warrant card at Ralrra. "Is your employer at home?"
[I will get the senatorr forr you,] said Ralrra coldly as he turned and left the room.
Fitje had never before heard of Ralrracheen and his speaking abilities. "It can talk," he sneered at his shocktroopers as he poked his way through the personal effects in the lounge. Fitje straightened his posture as he heard an angry roar coming from an adjoining room and the sound of a heavy object being thrown. The shocktroopers braced themselves for action.
Fitje turned to his sergeant. "Set your weapons for stun."
Thraurrallgisc stormed into the lounge and roared at the police. He had barely got to sleep and a tired, angry Wookiee was a dangerous Wookiee. The police knew this full well.
The detective straightened his food-stained tunic and looked up at Thraurrallgisc. "Detective Inspector Fitje of MHG Police Services, Sorensia Division," he repeated, waggling his warrant card. "I’d like to have a little chat with you,"
Thraurrallgisc snarled.
"There’s no need to take that tone, sir," said the detective officiously as the troops moved to surround the senator. Fitje paced around the lounge, studying every object within sight as if he were a dog in the park.
"Do you enjoy snooping on other people, sir?" said Fitje as he examined a small statue on the shelf. "Do you get some, er, perverted thrill from it?"
Thraurrallgisc growled.
Fitje rubbed his chin and frowned at the senator as a cracktrooper’s radio crackled with garbled speech. "You own a space vehicle, sir," stated the detective
.
Thraurrallgisc nodded.
"According to our records, your mode of transport is one Sienar GS known as the Red Planet. Could you tell me its present whereabouts?"
Thraurrallgisc hesitated. He had not planned for a visit from the authorities so soon. His heart sank. Something had happened to his ship and his crew. Thraurrallgisc grunted, stating that his ship was here on Coruscant.
Fitje could understand Shyriiwook perfectly. "Is it now?" he said with a hint of irony. "We happened to have checked every landing platform on the planet, and it seems that your space vehicle’s gone walkies."
The detective continued to pace up and down the lounge amid the crackles of his troops’ helmet radios. Thraurrallgisc stood in silence.
"Can you explain to me," asked Fitje, "how your ship can go missing along with its crew?" His voice took on a sarcastic tone. "Surely you must’ve noticed?"
Thraurrallgisc growled quietly.
"However," continued Fitje in his patronising voice, "we’ve been very kind chappies and found it for you."
The old senator eyed Fitje with suspicion.
"It’s on Naboo, having arrived there via the remote world of Despayre, and we’ve been reliably informed that your crew were flying it. The strange thing is," puzzled Fitje, "is that the Red Planet managed to leave Coruscant without flight clearance."
Fitje stopped pacing and strode up to Thraurrallgisc. "We know about your little exploits, sunshine. Since finding your ship, we’ve done a few checks."
The detective smiled in triumph, ready to play his trump card. Lady Fett would be pleased with him. "Senator Thraurrallgisc of Sorensia, I’m arresting you on suspicion of falsifying the I.D. profile of your starship. You don’t have to say anything, but it may harm your defence if- "
Fitje’s speech was curtailed by a sharp cuff around the head. The shocktrooper sergeant fired at Thraurrallgisc, who collapsed to the floor as a column of blue light slammed into him. As Fitje picked himself up, he painfully motioned to his troops.
"Take him away, and add 'assaulting a Police Officer' to the Charge Sheet."
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