Chapter 6 - RUGAR'S ARRIVAL

Aria lay in bed in the darkness of her father's former room on The Tusk, reflecting on the evening before.  All this newness made her mind race, so when she had woken up earlier than she had intended, she couldn't get back to sleep. 

The Aqualish captain hadn't come back yet, so the ship was still in standard orbit.  He must have found that rare ale on the Black Market, mused Aria.  The crew stayed up late into the night, some of them playing Sabacc with Aria.  The rest watched with growing amusement as her opponents seemed to win heavily for a while, but then later they desparately trying to win back their credits from her as her pile of acquisitions grew.  Eventually, they wised up, and she admitted that she may have had one or two card games with her father before, and that he might have given her a few pointers.

She learned that the captain was so suspicious and paranoid about anyone finding out the source of his favourite ale that he hired bodyguards from the surface rather than taking someone from his longtime crew. Probably some Hutt Lord, who killed several beings just to possess it.  She took the time she had to learn all she could about the beings she was going to be spending an indefinite amount of time with.  Some of the crew was displaced by the Empire and had no other place to go.  Others originally appeared to have been hired by Rugar as body guards or mercenaries, and then decided to stick it out a bit longer, take their chances and gather some pirate treasure.  For some of the crew, like the Wookiee and the Trandoshan, and possibly Cale, they seemed to have no where else to go as they seemed to be wanted all over the galaxy from various authorities. From the other tales they told her about their captain, she knew she should prepare herself for anything. 

"You best be on your worssst behaviour when he comes back, young missss," Karnic had hissed.  "He seems to hate humans the mossst of all the species because he believes them to be weak, but he will put up with them if he thinksss they can be of use to him.  You will be no used to him if he thinksss you can be pushed around."

The Verpine leaned in toward her as well, "You should be fine, if you are anything like Reissem. Just remember...  Whatever your strategy, never act meek," she suggested. "Although he and his kind prefer everyone to do what he wants, he detests signs of weakness.  Hold his gaze when he is addressing you.  If you feel he is about to attack you, the best way to disarm him is to pander to his ego."

Aria had revelled in this show of comaraderie.  It meant that the crew had accepted her and they wanted the captain to keep her aboard.

Aria knew Lebbie's story, and she knew that Trandoshans and Wookiees typically do NOT get along, especially because of their past histories.  In the past Trandoshans hunted down Wookiees like game for Imperial bounty.  Lebbie didn't seem to hold any ill will toward this particular fellow, so she tried to glean some information from him.  Karnic told her little, other than that he chose not to be present during the Shryywook massacres, and that he had other business that got him into plenty of other kinds of trouble.  He would not disclose much else, unless it was about his present role on The Tusk. 

Cale, sporting a small cut on his eyebrow and a black eye, with guaze up his nose, seemed not to take offence at his bruises.  He said the pirate-brewed still-flavoured alcohol he and his mates manufactured was numbing the pain.  She wondered if that was the only pain he was trying to dull, as he seemed to need a lot of it. He did seem to feel better when he wasn't losing his credits to her in Sibacc, and others were.  Instead of congratulating the winner of the Togorian wrestling matches, Cale tended to laugh and make fun of the loser.  Aria wasn't sure if she really liked him, as his mood seemed to lean toward sadistic joy when someone else was doing worse than he was.

She learned the names of the Togorians.  All three of the huge cats were siblings, and had similar grey coats with black stripes.  Purrn was the largest, standing at least ten feet tall, and had a tuft of white fur on his forehead, whereas Scrahg did not.  Schrag had a slightly darker coat and was wider in the shoulders than his brother, but stood perhaps nine feet tall, whereas Shask'rr, the female, was a "mere" eight feet tall and somewhat smaller in build, and also didn't have as much facial fur or a mane, but Aria supposed she was just as lithe and deadly. 

Purrn and Scrahg's method of arm wrestling wasn't one Aria was familiar with. They stood, rather than sat, at a heavy-looking table which was bolted down to the floor.  They hunched over it with their claws retracted. They stood on their sides of the table, staring at each other without a flicker of whisker or twitch of ear. Their sister would give a signal and they would, with sudden movement, attempt to pin the other's forearms against the table top. The object of the match was to pin the other's arms down.  It got quite spirited sometimes, and in some cases one or the other would end up twisted around with his back on the table, feet off the ground, pinned to the table. Shask'rr explained, as Aria watched them, that they restricted themselves to arm wrestling instead of an all-out match. For Togorians, like Wookiees, to use claws and teeth when not fighting for food or in defense was considered dishonourable. The point was to see who was the fastest, most cunning, and strongest -- not who could inflict the most lethal wounds.

"Why just arm wrestling?" asked Aria.  She watched their fierce expressions.  "They sure look like they would prefer full body contact!"

"Do you think it would be wise to use our full strength, pouncing abilities, and weight in this tin can?" Shask'rr made an odd sound between a snort and a purr.  "We save that for when we are on solid ground.  They did try actual wrestling...  Once."

"Yes," said Sishik, irritably clacking her mandibles together.  "And it took me forever to repair the damage."

"What do you mean 'you'?" laughed the Phindian, nearly spitting out of the ship's brand of vile brew.  "It took every one of us a standard week to knock the dents out of things, re-wire, weld, re-program, replace...  You," he said pointing one of his right index fingers at the insectoid, "Stood there and told us all what to do, if I recall!  Kept pointing in all directions with all your limbs!"

The Phindian, of course, was himself.   He seemed quite the jolly fellow, loud and boisterous.  He boasted that having four arms allowed him to shoot to kill while he could, at the same time, perform life-saving surgery on someone, and then launched into several stories wherein he had done very nearly that.  Some of his mates who were listening grinned wickedly and nodded, while others laughed and rolled their eyes.  

A knock on her door startled her out of her thoughts.  She smiled when she heard Charlebbekka growling a morning greeting.

"Yeah, I'm up," Aria said, and wrapped herself in her blanket to answer the door.  She let her friend in.  "I suppose it's not exactly one hundred percent safe to change clothing unless I am under the covers?"  She smirked and motioned her head toward a small hole high up on the wall, just below the ceiling.  She had done a thorough search of the premisis before coming to that conclusion.  "I took down that camera, but I may have missed another one somewhere."

Charlebbekka snorted in disgust and suddenly disappeared from the room.  "NO Lebbie! It's okay!" she hollered to down the hallway.  "I don't care!" She shook her head and gave chase to the galley.  Already Shask'rr and Woro were attempting to hold back and calm down the giant forest dweller, who looked terrifying with her fur all bristling and teeth bared at Cale. He was wearing his breakfast and was just getting up off the floor.  He had a hand over his eye, the same one that Aria had left a fist print in the night before.

"Couldn't you have at least hit the OTHER eye??" He whined.  Charlebbekka made as if to grant him his wish.  The Togorian and the Phindian, although under intense strain, seemed to just barely manage to hold her back.

"Lebbie!  Lebbie, look at me!" demanded Aria.  The Wookiee, with great will power, tore her concentration from the man getting up off the floor and turned to look at Aria. "Stop it, will you?!" Aria tried to look as mean as possible, and although she had never witnessed her friend in that much of a fury, she risked going as close up to her face as possible.  Since the Wookiee was leaning forward, she was almost at eye level, so Aria yanked over a chair and stood on it.  "Settle down, right NOW, lady!"

Charlebbekka reluctantly untensed her muscles and stood up, and Woro and Shask'rr tentatively let go. "Thanks Charlebbekka," sighed Aria, "But if you don't mind, I would like to at least try to deal with these things my way first."  She lent a hand out to Cale who grasped it, and helped him up. "Sorry about that Cale."

"What in the Core was that all about?" he said, sitting down again.

"Cale," said Aria, sitting down next to him.  "Did you hide the camera I found in my room?"

Cale looked annoyed and yet somewhat sheepish, "Ur... Ummm... You see, that is...." He faltered even more when he saw Shask'rr narrowing her eyes.  She flattened her ears back against her skull and crossed her arms. He shrugged and then threw up his hands. "Look, I had to try!"

"So, you admit that you did install a camera? In my private quarters? To spy on me? And you didn't think I would be smart enough to figure that out?" said Aria, her tone getting more and more poisonous.  Cale's eyes swivelled from the Wookiee glaring at him back to the stern young lady beside him and nodded slowly, shoulders hunched.  "Don't do it again," she said.  She pointed a finger in his face, and lips a in a single tight line, she moved her face closer as well.  He winced as she snapped, "Don't...."

"Well, well, well!" a heavy voice that rasped with gravel suddenly made everyone's do an about-face toward the ship's hold.  It was Rugar who had come from the ship's hold, swaying slightly against the support of Sishik and Purrn.

Everyone hastily stood and saluted,  Aria following suit.  Rugar seemed to be at a point somewhere between just waking up or going to sleep after a long 24-36 hours of drinking and intense partying.  Aria wondered if he looked hung over, or if he always looked the way he appeared now.  His eyes seemed very glassy and it was difficult to tell if he was annoyed or amused by the scene he had walked in on.

"I see we have a stowaway," he growled and pointed a wavering finger at Aria. "Who in the System are you?"

"Aria Gunnir, sir," she replied smartly, stepping forward from the others.  "I'm filling in for my father, captain.  I'm here to take over his duties."

He appeared to mull this over, and swayed a bit from side to side, as though he might also tip over.  "Well, then," he snarled, "I will consider what to do with you," he said grabbing hold of one of Sishik's limbs. "That is, after... I have some time... to think it over."

"Aye, captain," she said, saluting again.

On his way to his quarters, as he passed the bruised male human, he did a double-take.  "What happened to you, Cale?" he demanded. "Getting into trouble with the Wookiee?"

"Uh..." Cale hastily cast a sideways glance at Aria, who narrowed her eyes at him, but said nothing.

"Nevermind," he snorted.  "I will have a talk with you two, after I deal with... this..." he looked back at Aria with what may have been a distasteful look on his face, but it was hard to tell as he already looked distasteful.  "Come with me, Sishik."

"Yes, Captain," the Verpine said, holding out one of her four arms.  The other three were laden with baggage.  All the baggage, including the Quaran Aqualish, were led away.

After he had been led to his quarters, the tension in the room deflated.  Everyone exhaled and either sat down or leaned against something.  Some appeared slightly disappointed.  Cale, at least, appeared grateful that Aria hadn't mentioned their disagreement, she guessed because it would have made him look bad.

"Well, what's to eat?" asked Aria.  "I would prefer a full stomach when I'm learning what to do around here."

Lebbie responded with a nod and a grunt and disappeared into the kitchen area, reappearing a moment later with a full plate for each of them of what appeared to be eggs and some kind of toasted bread.  Aria stifled a chuckle when she saw the huge heap of food on her friend's plate, but knew that the Wookiee more than likely was holding back.  Aria tucked into the fare herself, "Hey, this is good," she said. "Who's the cook?"

Cale raised a hand half-heartedly, the other hand still nursing his eye.  "We take turns."

"I see," said Aria, surprised.  "I guess I better learn how to cook, too."

The Verpine came back shortly.  "Aria, I see you are almost finished," she bowed.  "I suggest that you at least familiarize yourself - and perhaps rather quickly - with anything on this ship that you might be able to assist with.  Rugar is sleeping now, but I thought I best warn you that when he wakes up, he will want to have some idea of your usefulness on this ship, besides using up valuable space and eating valuable supplies."

"Got it, Sishik," said Aria, finishing off her breakfast. "You ready Lebbie?"  The Wookiee had taken the trouble to tip the contents of the plate into her mouth, and therefore it appeared as though she was done about the same time.  Aria followed her mentor to the engine room and wasn't surprised when Sishik arrived a moment later.   The giant insect looked startled to see them there.

"We meet again? So soon," she said rattling her antennae.  Sishik continued in a tone that Aria was sure was meant to be sarcastic, "To what or whom do I owe this pleasure?"

"Well, Sishik," said Aria, keeping an even tone. "I'm fairly talented with fixing things.  Us farm girls need to know how to weld and solder; fix components of systems - both software and gears and such; plus maintenence, tune-ups, and upgrades...  And sometimes if something breaks or runs down it can be days, weeks or months before the correct parts come in from somewhere, so I know a bit about jury-rigging, cross-referencing, rewiring, substituting parts, reconfig-"

"Enough!" said Sishik, putting all four hands up.  "I see you have plenty of experience.  Perhaps I can ask for your assistance with fixing the wiring that leads from the engine to the regulator.  There appears to be some damage from our last...  hm.... mission, wherein we just managed to hyperspace out of target range of a missile.  We missed most of the explosion, but something still breached our hull and some parts fell down onto the wiring, and if you look in a few places along the wires, such as here..."  She pointed with a hair claw at some areas to illustrate her point.  "And here...  Anyway, you seem bright for a being of your species so I'll let you have a look."

Charlebbekka indicated that she would be in the ship's hold for the time being, so she parted.  Aria got to work.  She located some gloves that fit her human hands, and, with tools from Sishik's supply, she did some wire-stripping so she could twist some wiring together.  She even did some sautering to reconnect the wires to one of the motherboards. When that was done, she asked for approval from the insectoid, who carefully inspected.  From that point she was asked to see what was wrong with the venting system, which Aria discovered turned out to be a filter needing replacement.

"Very well done," commented Sishik.  "These were simple tasks: we haven't fully tested you out in the engine room or other ship repairs, but you definitely have proven to me that you have an aptitude for it.  If need be, I will be happy to make Captain Rugar aware of this."

"That would be greatly appreciated," grinned Aria.  She took off her gloves and headed toward the ship's hold to see what Lebbie was up to.  

(under construction)

  

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