A Life Twice Lived

Disclaimer: I do not own KOTOR and make no money from the writing of this fiction.


Day 8 (continued)


We made it to the medical facility and met a very kind man, Zelka Forn, who was the healer in charge. He was able to rid me of my headache with a modified Kolto solution. I decided to speak further with him as he seemed a fair and generous sort.

Carth and I asked the usual questions regarding the Sith and Taris. Zelka seemed genuinely afraid of the Sith, worried that they would shut him down out of spite. So far, the Sith had only questioned him. As for Taris, Zelka seemed to carry more liberal views than the rest of the Upper City residents. In fact, he described the people of the Upper City as selfish, greedy, arrogant and prejudiced.

As far as the Lower City went, he gave us the same warnings about the swoop gangs and Davik's men, recommending we go armed if we went down there. He really felt angry toward Davik, though Davik left him alone and didn't make him pay a 'protection' fee like Keebla Yurt and the other shop owners. His medical facility didn't make any profits, so Davik wasn't interested.

The Under City, he explained were where the criminals were put. They were called the Outcasts and no one ever leaves once they become an Outcast. Even the children of the criminals must stay down there permanently. It was obvious that Zelka felt most of them did not deserve to be down there. He explained how he tried to send them medical supplies whenever he was able. He only felt bad that he had no cure for the Rakghoul disease. It was with great sorrow that Zelka explained how the scientists at the military base were perfecting an antidote for the disease just before the Sith swooped down and took over. The Sith refuse anyone access to the laboratories and are keeping all the serum for their patrols they send into the Under City.

I told Zelka that perhaps I could get a hold of a sample for him. Carth looked at me in surprise and Zelka said that it would be impossible and even foolish to attempt such a thing as it would require going down into the Under City and attacking a Sith patrol.

Obviously Zelka thought that it was beyond me. As foolish as it did sound, somehow, inside, I felt I could do it. Carth looked at me as if I were an over-confident fool, but I wasn't going to take my words back. We did have to go into the Under City if we wanted to find Bastila's pod, so what would it hurt to take down a few Sith and obtain some serum for Zelka?

And speaking of escape pods, I asked Zelka what he knew of them. The man became very defensive, angry even. It was obvious he knew something but feared to tell us. It was then something strange happened to me, something that flowed so easily from within me. I heard myself speaking and yet it came so effortlessly, as if I didn't have to put any thought into my words. I said, "Don't worry, I'm not with the Sith. I won't betray your secret if you tell me."

Zelka looked at me in confusion for a moment, before his whole demeanor changed. He went from defensive to understanding. He said, "I guess… I guess I can tell you my secret." It was as if he was repeating the words I had wanted him to say.

Carth was speechless as he observed Zelka's sudden change and I could tell that he found it quite odd.

Zelka led us into a back room where there were two Republic soldiers floating in Kolto tanks. He told us that they were too badly injured and wouldn't survive long. He had been hiding them because of his fear of the Sith. Carth was very pleased that Zelka was kind enough to show compassion for those men by making their last days more comfortable.

We promised Zelka we wouldn't tell and went on our way. Unfortunately, Zelka's assistant, Gurney, stopped us, offering us a 'deal.' He heard us tell Zelka we'd get his Rakghoul serum and Gurney said if we brought the serum to Davik Kang instead, we could make some very good credits.

"What would Davik want with the serum?" I asked.

Gurney explained that Davik would sell it at a profit, whereas Zelka would practically give it away for free.

"That way only the rich would be able to afford it," Carth said, angrily.

Basically, we told Gurney what he could do with his 'deal', and went on our way.

As Carth and I walked out the door, we were facing some thugs shaking down an old man. From the conversation we heard, it appeared that the old man owed money to Davik and couldn't pay. These thugs obviously were collecting for Davik and it appeared that they intended to kill the unarmed man as a result.

Carth was quick to respond. He pulled out his blaster and said, "Leave the man alone."

The thugs looked at us and laughed, obviously feeling that we were no threat to them.

"Witnesses," one of them grumbled. "Davik doesn't like witnesses."

As soon as they moved to fire at us, I had already advanced my vibroblade, slicing the head clean off of one of the thugs, while Carth blasted at the other two. I aided him in taking down the third before I noticed that Carth had been hit in the leg a few times. "Go back to Zelka and get healed, I'll take care of this," I told him.

But Carth stayed and waited, looking at the Sith patrolling the streets. It surprised us both that the Sith did nothing. Why did they even bother patrolling if they weren't going to keep law and order?

I walked up to the old man, who was thanking us profusely. He went on to tell us about his debt to Davik and he feared that Davik would be sending more men.

"How much do you owe?" I asked.

"One hundred credits," he said.

His eyes opened in surprise as I pulled out my pouch and transferred one hundred credits to him. "You're giving me the credits?" he asked in surprise. Then he thanked me over and over before going on his way to pay Davik back.

I turned and saw Carth, who was looking at me in appreciation. "That was very generous of you," he said. "Not many people would hand over one hundred credits to a stranger like that."

"They are only credits, Carth," I replied. "It's not healthy to form attachments to anything, and that includes credits." I don't know why I said that. It seemed to just come out of me.

"That's very philosophical for a smuggler," he replied, looking me over curiously. "It sounds like something a Jedi would say."

I looked at him with amusement and laughed. "Well, I'm far from a Jedi. Come on, let's get Zelka to tend to your leg. Then we can find out where the entrance to the Lower City is. I don't think anyone in the Upper City knows much about the escape pods. We have to question those who actually saw something."

OOOOOO

That afternoon, we finally found the Lower City entrance near the now occupied Sith Military Base. As expected, it was guarded by the Sith. The Sith guard turned us away, saying that we needed the proper authorization papers to get down there.

Carth and I walked away, finding a place to sit and form our plan. "How about the uniforms?" I said. "That guard is letting the Sith patrols go down there."

Carth nodded, "It's a good thing those uniforms cover everything so completely. It just might work."

We went back to retrieve the uniforms, slipping them on in a secluded place outside our apartment as we didn't want to frighten our alien neighbors. The other Sith patrols nodded at us as we passed, easily accepting us as one of their own.

When we reached the entrance lift to the Lower City, the guard waved us through. We were surprised to find that no guard stood at the exit into the Lower City. Like some hellish, lawless dream, the hall was full of gang members hassling each other.

Immediately, before our eyes, we witnessed an execution and when the executioners saw us, we figured out quickly that they had no love for the Sith. We jumped into the fray with little choice but to kill all present. The bloody mess on the ground, when we were through, gained little sympathy from me.

Carth pulled off his helmet and said, "I think it would be safer if we weren't Sith."

"I don't think it will make a difference to the scum down here," I replied. I removed my uniform all the same and we stashed them away from view.

"You all right?" Carth asked, concerned.

I looked at him, questioningly. "Yeah, why do you ask?"

"I don't know. It's just that… you seem more skilled than a common smuggler would be," he replied. "Where did you learn to handle a vibroblade like that?"

I stared at him for a moment, thinking. "I really don't know," I said in all honesty.

We began to walk down the hall, looking for people to question. Hopefully not everyone down here would attack us before even bothering to speak. Carth, however, wasn't satisfied with my answer.

"What do you mean? How can you not know?" he probed.

I sighed heavily. "Listen, I just… don't," I replied. I looked at his face and saw that previous look of mistrust come over him. I knew he wouldn't accept that answer.

"Carth…, this is the wrong time to stop and talk about it. I promise I'll tell you more later. Let's just do what we came here to do - for now."

What would it hurt to tell him the truth? To tell him that I have no memories of most of my life? A part of me wanted to share that with him, yet another part of me felt guarded, as if admitting my deficiency would make me seem weak. Weakness - just the thought of it made me sick. I would not, no, I could not accept being thought of as weak. That much I did know about myself.

"Fair enough," Carth answered, stiffly. "But we will talk about it."

We found a Rodian standing outside a cantina. He reminded us to behave and not use weapons inside. This was ironic considering the moment we walked in, three aliens had blasters pointed at a very tough looking man. Carth put up his arm as if to hold me back from interfering. "I really don't think that man needs our help," Carth whispered. "Let's just stay out of this."

The aliens were taunting the man, telling him they were going to kill him. Then the man began to count, which peaked my curiosity. The aliens became even more amused, but not for long. The man quickly set down an explosive that went off and blinded the aliens, and us too for that matter. Blaster fire went off and when our eyesight returned, we saw the tough man with his blaster out. He casually walked out of the cantina.

A Twi'lek man, who introduced himself as Uriah, was standing nearby us. He told us that the man that had just walked out was Calo Nord, the most dangerous bounty hunter. He currently is working for Davik Kang.

"Davik Kang?" I asked. "Do you know where we might find Davik?"

Uriah opened his eyes in fear. "He's well protected on his estate. He rarely leaves. Zax is who you want to see about any business you might have with Davik."

"Zax?"

"He's in the bounty office, down the hall," Uriah explained. "He can tell you anything you want to know about the Lower City and Davik. I really can't tell you anything."

I turned to Carth. "Well, I guess Zax is our man." But man he was not. It came as no surprise that Zax was a Hutt. Nevertheless, we needed information and I knew that it would not be free. I bargained with the Hutt, getting him to accept 50 credits instead of the one hundred that he wanted for information. We found out that he actually had two jobs, running the bounty office for the government and hiring thugs to kill Davik's marks.

He wasn't able to tell us much that we didn't already hear from someone else. He told us about the swoop gang war between the Black Vulkars and the Hidden Beks. He claimed that if there was anything left of the escape pods, the Black Vulkars had it, probably in their base.

"How can we get into their base?" I asked.

Zax laughed and said that no one could get through that door, but if there was a way in, then Gadon Thek, the leader of the Hidden Beks, might be able to tell us. That was one lead Carth and I would need to follow up on.

I asked Zax about the bounties he had, thinking that it might be a good way to earn a few extra credits. There were currently two government bounties and three bounties for Davik. Carth expressed his displeasure at Davik's bounties, muttering that Davik can do his own dirty work. But he didn't seem to have anything against the government bounties.

When Zax mentioned Dia's bounty, I asked him for more information. He told me what Dia already had and said if I needed more information, I should talk to Holdan, the man who had the bounty placed on Dia in the first place.

"Oh, you can be sure I'll talk to Holdan," I promised, disgusted. "Where can I find him?"

"Holdan likes to watch the Twi'lek dancers in the music room," Zax replied.

"Come on, Carth," I said, "let's find Holdan." But when I turned about, I saw that Carth was already watching a Twi'lek dancer in the corner of the room. She was doing a private dance for a Twi'lek man.

"Not you, too," I grumbled.

"What?" he replied, absently.

"Men!" I exclaimed. I stopped and watched a moment as well, wondering what the big fascination was. The dancer began to cry and I heard the male Twi'lek say. "I'm sorry. But without a partner, I cannot tell if you will be good enough." This gave me an idea.

I turned to Carth and said. "You think only Twi'leks can dance?"

"Huh?" he asked, confused.

"Watch this," I replied, walking up to the Twi'leks. "I'll be her partner."

The Twi'lek woman said, "No, thank you, I can't risk my audition with an amateur."

"What choice do you have?" I replied. "He obviously won't hire you without one."

She thought about it for a moment before agreeing, telling me to keep it simple and just copy every move that she did. I took off my jacket, hoping that Carth would see that my figure was just as becoming as any Twi'lek's. He looked at me with a small grin, thinking that I'd probably screw this up. Oh, how I love a challenge.

But Carth didn't know what a fast learner I was. He couldn't possibly know how intuitively things came to me. Lynn, the Twi'lek woman, was amazed that I could keep up with her. Watching Lynn dance in front of me, it felt as if I already knew what she would be doing next, and everything flowed so smoothly. I looked at Carth with a smile of triumph as I moved sensuously around the floor. Carth's expression turned from doubtful to impressed, and maybe something else.

When I had managed to land Lynn the spot with the dance troop she so wanted to belong to, she gratefully thanked me and went off to get ready for fame and fortune.

Carth came up to me and said, "Very impressive. Is there anything that you can't do?"

"Well," I grinned, "I can't seem to get a certain man to completely trust me."

Carth lost some of his smile and answered, "Completely trusting anyone is a foolish mistake. Let's go find Holdan. Then we can visit Gadon Thek and see what he knows about the escape pods."

There were many men in the music room gazing at the dancers. I had only to look for the slimiest one and I knew we had our man. "Are you Holdan?" I asked.

He looked at my body, his gaze lingering a bit too long on my chest. "Who wants to know, baby," he gushed.

"I was told that I could find you here," I answered, stepping away from his leaning torso.

"Well, you found me," he answered. "I usually come to watch the Twi'lek dancers, but I'd much prefer a woman of my own species, if you know what I mean. Come on, baby, I'll by you a drink."

Carth now loomed up behind me. "I don't think so, pal."

Holdan glared at Carth, angrily. "She wants to be with me, so you better get way from us if you know what's good for you. I work for Davik Kang!"

I stepped between them. "Just stop!" I looked at Carth and said, "Carth, let me speak to him."

"Speak? Baby, I'm a man of action, not words," Holdan answered, leering at her body again. It was obvious that the man had one too many drinks.

I pushed back on his chest. "Keep your hormones in check. I'm just here about Dia."

"Dia?" Holdan spat. "What about her? You a bounty hunter?"

"Not in particular," I replied. "But I will hunt you if you don't take that bounty off her head."

"What! I can't do that! The bitch cut me with her vibroblade," he replied, vehemently. "I can't let her get away with that."

"You deserved it," Carth replied.

"I just tried to get a little fresh with her," Holdan defended. "I wasn't going to hurt her. I didn't deserve to get cut for that."

"And she doesn't deserve to die for defending her virtue," I stated.

It was lucky for Holdan that he appeared remorseful in that moment as I was about to take this conversation to the next level.

"I do feel bad about what happened," he said. "But if I back down, it would make me look bad."

"What will it take for you to back down?" I asked, straightforward.

"Not less than two hundred credits," he replied, assuming that I wouldn't give him that much.

I glanced back at Carth and he looked in my eyes. I made a decision.

I turned back to Holdan and said, "I'll be back with your two hundred credits. When I do, you'll go straight to Zax and remove that bounty." I leaned forward and whispered, "Or I will remove your head."

Holdan looked at me with a smirk, "Baby, for two hundred credits I'll even throw in an hour in my room. Just you and I, of course."

"That won't be necessary," I stated, turning about and leading Carth out of there.

"So where are we going to get two hundred credits?" Carth asked as we left the cantina.

"I'll win it in the duel ring tonight," I answered. I felt a hand on my shoulder, stopping me. I turned about to see Carth looking at me, amused.

"Before you go storming off to the duel ring, aren't you forgetting something?" Carth asked. "Gadon Thek…"

"Oh… yeah…" I grinned.

"I do admire you for helping people like this," Carth said. "But maybe I should be the one in the duel ring."

"Are you saying I'm incapable of winning?" I asked.

Carth shook his head. "No, I would never say that. It's just…"

"What?" I wondered.

He shook his head and frowned. "Nothing. Let's just get to the Hidden Bek base and find out what we can." He strode off down the hall, letting me wonder what the heck he meant by his words.

OOOOO

Sorry for the wait on this chapter! I wasn't sure anyone was reading it, so I focused on my other fictions. Thank you to the review who sent me a reminder - it brought me back to the keyboard. So, you see, reviews are important and encourage me to go on. Please let me know your thoughts - it only takes a moment. Thanks