The blood that had been rushing up into his eardrums, making his head pound each time he felt his heart thrumming inside his chest like a piledriver, had finally receded back through his veins following the “altercation” that had taken place outside. He barely remembered Aellyn’s hand on his shoulder as she passed him by on her way into the ship, but it was enough of a jolt to remind him to breathe and finally release the tension in his arms that held the E-11. The walk back inside the ship hardly even registered in his mind. He found himself sitting back at the dejarik table, sliding the rifle across its scratched surface, before nearly collapsing in a slump in the middle of the bench seat.
He replayed the firefight outside in his head a dozen times over in a few short seconds. The young scrapper had no real tactical understanding of anything, just a good memory. Several of Abilene’s “citizens”, all spread out across the dusty, cracked surface of her little world, all of them just waiting to put Fel and the rest of the crew into an early grave. The kid didn’t even take a single shot the entire time, just held his position at the top of the ramp and made sure no one else made it inside until the ceasefire occurred. Zane reasoned that he would want to get more comfortable with the rifle if he was expected to be of any use in a firefight again.
Now that the adrenaline in his system was leaving him, he began to feel the weight of everything in his body. He was tired. Too tired. He needed to find a place to hole up and try to get some rest. Turning in the bench seat toward the galley floor, he slid off to make himself stand, and suddenly felt his legs turn into lead. He shuffled across the deck, looking about the ship to try and locate a place where he could bed down. Turning to the right toward the cockpit, he started to head towards the one starboard cabin when he began to hear the shouting match going on in the other room. Ducking back behind the galley wall, he tried to wait out the awkward and heated conversation, unable to keep himself from eavesdropping.
Their banter was anything but friendly. Apparently, Aellyn had gone off and used the holonet to contact that ship that had shown up in the nick of time; and Fel wasn’t too keen on it. True, if the Imperials were fishing the holonet looking for any leads about their stolen cargo, it would be all too easy for them to skim info about the U.A. when those keywords popped up. But the lady was supposed to be some kind of tech guru, wasn’t she? One of the ones working for the Imps at some point, too, from what Zane could glean. So what was it that Fel was worried about? That the Imps would be smarter than her, and root them out? It would likely be for the best that they laid low for the time being, but the kid was actually going to ask her if she had the means to get a message back to Lotho – to Marcus. It was a long shot, sure, but he wasn’t about to give up on the idea of getting his brother to safety and a better life. Not now, not ever.
Zane was lost in the moment when he realized that the two of them had finished their discourse. He heard the expletives that Aellyn yelled at him before hitting the switch to slide her door shut as angrily as possible. When Fel crossed his vision, he stood there at the end of the galley, frozen with his eyes open wide like an idiot, and began stammering as he tried to find somewhere to put his hands.
”U-u-u-uhhhh, h-hey…you…” He said, trying to sound emphatic and as if he was just able to find the man, ”So, uhm…I was wonderin’...whe-where can a guy bed down at in this joint–I mean, this fantastic, uh, ship o’ yours? Whaaat? No! I didn’t hear anything, what the kriff are you talkin’ about? No way…” He let his voice trail off as he looked away from Fel, finally settling on folding his arms in front of him uneasily; his right foot rolling back and forth on its heel, the toe of his boot pointed upward.
Fel considered just continuing on, toward the bridge, toward his safe place. Where he could let all of that go. Where he felt most at home, and where nothing, or nobody, could touch him. But there was Zane. Poor kid’s head was about to split open from everything he’d experienced in the past couple days. Fel stopped, mid-stride, and exhaled, turning toward the young man. His mouth opened, as if contemplating a course of action, and changing mid-breath. He swallowed whatever it might have been, and spoke softly, as if he’d actually given it some thought. (he had.) ”Ship’s got an empty bunk, starboard side… but it ain’t made up, not even sure it’s got a proper mattress… mostly been used as a medbay last several months. I’ll get it squared away for you soon enough.” He thought a moment, brightening a little. “Best sleep I ever got, early in my time out in the Black, was in a hammock in the cargo hold on my first tramp freighter flight. Might be a good idea for you, too. Get you over your first voyage. Might decide you like it alright, too.” He frowned, mouth curling into a sour distasteful line. “But I ain’t got that rigged up, neither… How ‘bout you bed down in my bunk, kid? ‘Least for the night, till we can get you fixed up. I’m not going to be doing much sleepin’ tonight anyhow…” he pointed toward the open cabin door, the centre of the door scraped of most of its once vibrant orange paint, as if some mechanical part of the mechanism had failed and rubbed the door raw. Fact was, the whole ship was a little threadbare. Maybe Aellyn was right. Maybe it was a bit of a scow. “Make yerself at home, kid. What’s mine is yours.” Fel clapped Zane on the shoulder, and hobbled into the flight deck…
Zane’s eyes followed Fel’s gesturing hand as he indicated the cabin, and nodded succinctly, ”Uhh, yeah! Okay.” He turned back toward Fel with a sheepish grin, ”I’ll just, uh…head that way now.” With the spacer already moving toward the cockpit area, Zane realized he was talking to the man’s back, and thus decided to press onward. Approaching the door, he looked at the small panel next to it, noting the worn letters in Aurebesh that said “OPEN” and “CLOSE”. Depressing the switch, the door hesitated for a moment before slowly pressurizing the hydraulic mechanisms and hissing their way open. He then made his way inside, looking around at the captain’s chosen quarters with a bit of bewilderment. It wasn’t especially tidy, but the kid was used to that level of mess and far worse.
Removing his tool belt and pulling it off of him, he rebuckled it and hung it from the corner of the bunk along with the E-11 on its sling. Noticing that the lower bunk was a little disheveled and lived-in, he decided that the top bunk was likely the best option for him. After climbing into it, he rolled his tired body onto its padded surface. It was the first real bed he’d laid in for years. Back on Lotho Minor, all he had was a pallet in the corner of their ramshackle compartment, which he shared with Marcus so he could keep an eye on him. Thinking of his kid brother saddened him quite a bit, so he did his best to remind himself of why he was doing this before allowing his body to finally relax. The bunk may not have been the most comfortable thing in the ‘verse, but it was a far cry from the rough metal floor of his old home. And it smelled exceptionally better, too.
After several minutes of staring at the close ceiling of the captain’s cabin, he found that his body felt very heavy, all the way up to his eyelids. Within moments, he was out, dreaming of the possibilities that could present themselves now that he was on this whole new adventure.
He replayed the firefight outside in his head a dozen times over in a few short seconds. The young scrapper had no real tactical understanding of anything, just a good memory. Several of Abilene’s “citizens”, all spread out across the dusty, cracked surface of her little world, all of them just waiting to put Fel and the rest of the crew into an early grave. The kid didn’t even take a single shot the entire time, just held his position at the top of the ramp and made sure no one else made it inside until the ceasefire occurred. Zane reasoned that he would want to get more comfortable with the rifle if he was expected to be of any use in a firefight again.
Now that the adrenaline in his system was leaving him, he began to feel the weight of everything in his body. He was tired. Too tired. He needed to find a place to hole up and try to get some rest. Turning in the bench seat toward the galley floor, he slid off to make himself stand, and suddenly felt his legs turn into lead. He shuffled across the deck, looking about the ship to try and locate a place where he could bed down. Turning to the right toward the cockpit, he started to head towards the one starboard cabin when he began to hear the shouting match going on in the other room. Ducking back behind the galley wall, he tried to wait out the awkward and heated conversation, unable to keep himself from eavesdropping.
Their banter was anything but friendly. Apparently, Aellyn had gone off and used the holonet to contact that ship that had shown up in the nick of time; and Fel wasn’t too keen on it. True, if the Imperials were fishing the holonet looking for any leads about their stolen cargo, it would be all too easy for them to skim info about the U.A. when those keywords popped up. But the lady was supposed to be some kind of tech guru, wasn’t she? One of the ones working for the Imps at some point, too, from what Zane could glean. So what was it that Fel was worried about? That the Imps would be smarter than her, and root them out? It would likely be for the best that they laid low for the time being, but the kid was actually going to ask her if she had the means to get a message back to Lotho – to Marcus. It was a long shot, sure, but he wasn’t about to give up on the idea of getting his brother to safety and a better life. Not now, not ever.
Zane was lost in the moment when he realized that the two of them had finished their discourse. He heard the expletives that Aellyn yelled at him before hitting the switch to slide her door shut as angrily as possible. When Fel crossed his vision, he stood there at the end of the galley, frozen with his eyes open wide like an idiot, and began stammering as he tried to find somewhere to put his hands.
”U-u-u-uhhhh, h-hey…you…” He said, trying to sound emphatic and as if he was just able to find the man, ”So, uhm…I was wonderin’...whe-where can a guy bed down at in this joint–I mean, this fantastic, uh, ship o’ yours? Whaaat? No! I didn’t hear anything, what the kriff are you talkin’ about? No way…” He let his voice trail off as he looked away from Fel, finally settling on folding his arms in front of him uneasily; his right foot rolling back and forth on its heel, the toe of his boot pointed upward.
Fel considered just continuing on, toward the bridge, toward his safe place. Where he could let all of that go. Where he felt most at home, and where nothing, or nobody, could touch him. But there was Zane. Poor kid’s head was about to split open from everything he’d experienced in the past couple days. Fel stopped, mid-stride, and exhaled, turning toward the young man. His mouth opened, as if contemplating a course of action, and changing mid-breath. He swallowed whatever it might have been, and spoke softly, as if he’d actually given it some thought. (he had.) ”Ship’s got an empty bunk, starboard side… but it ain’t made up, not even sure it’s got a proper mattress… mostly been used as a medbay last several months. I’ll get it squared away for you soon enough.” He thought a moment, brightening a little. “Best sleep I ever got, early in my time out in the Black, was in a hammock in the cargo hold on my first tramp freighter flight. Might be a good idea for you, too. Get you over your first voyage. Might decide you like it alright, too.” He frowned, mouth curling into a sour distasteful line. “But I ain’t got that rigged up, neither… How ‘bout you bed down in my bunk, kid? ‘Least for the night, till we can get you fixed up. I’m not going to be doing much sleepin’ tonight anyhow…” he pointed toward the open cabin door, the centre of the door scraped of most of its once vibrant orange paint, as if some mechanical part of the mechanism had failed and rubbed the door raw. Fact was, the whole ship was a little threadbare. Maybe Aellyn was right. Maybe it was a bit of a scow. “Make yerself at home, kid. What’s mine is yours.” Fel clapped Zane on the shoulder, and hobbled into the flight deck…
Zane’s eyes followed Fel’s gesturing hand as he indicated the cabin, and nodded succinctly, ”Uhh, yeah! Okay.” He turned back toward Fel with a sheepish grin, ”I’ll just, uh…head that way now.” With the spacer already moving toward the cockpit area, Zane realized he was talking to the man’s back, and thus decided to press onward. Approaching the door, he looked at the small panel next to it, noting the worn letters in Aurebesh that said “OPEN” and “CLOSE”. Depressing the switch, the door hesitated for a moment before slowly pressurizing the hydraulic mechanisms and hissing their way open. He then made his way inside, looking around at the captain’s chosen quarters with a bit of bewilderment. It wasn’t especially tidy, but the kid was used to that level of mess and far worse.
Removing his tool belt and pulling it off of him, he rebuckled it and hung it from the corner of the bunk along with the E-11 on its sling. Noticing that the lower bunk was a little disheveled and lived-in, he decided that the top bunk was likely the best option for him. After climbing into it, he rolled his tired body onto its padded surface. It was the first real bed he’d laid in for years. Back on Lotho Minor, all he had was a pallet in the corner of their ramshackle compartment, which he shared with Marcus so he could keep an eye on him. Thinking of his kid brother saddened him quite a bit, so he did his best to remind himself of why he was doing this before allowing his body to finally relax. The bunk may not have been the most comfortable thing in the ‘verse, but it was a far cry from the rough metal floor of his old home. And it smelled exceptionally better, too.
After several minutes of staring at the close ceiling of the captain’s cabin, he found that his body felt very heavy, all the way up to his eyelids. Within moments, he was out, dreaming of the possibilities that could present themselves now that he was on this whole new adventure.