Favors and Negotiations (Aiden)

[Melanctha Dallamoor]

Melanctha was not one to turn away from a challenge, or in this case the darkness. The stairs lit in an eerie kind of light to her eyes. Perhaps it was often overlooked but many Hapans suffer from night blindness and now as they moved into the darkness the very little light that was there was leaving Melanctha without the ability to see, she held tightly to the railing on her right as they descended.

Her hearing began to increase to compensate for the loss of the sight, even the tips of her fingers felt more alive as her sense of touch began to feel irregularities in the wood, years of age had created the inconsistent ups and downs. She reached out with her feet tentatively feeling for the edge of the step. She knew it was there, just as she knew from the small light moving in front of her Aiden was there.

Her ears pricked she could hear something but what was that? "Aiden" she whispered the small hitch in her voice that might tell him she was in distress, "there's an odd noise I don't recognize it" She took another step lifting her left hand she reached for Aiden's shoulder in need of him to steady her.

Everything went dark when he turned out the light. She swallowed hard, wanting to assure him she was ok when in truth she felt vulnerable and unsure standing as a lost child in the darkness.

Her trembling fingers finally found him in the darkness. She breathed a sigh of relief. She might as well be wearing a blindfold right now.

"Can you hear it?" she asked. Her mind could play tricks with her she wondered now was there ghosts waiting in the corners to come out and grab them?

[member="Aiden Merritt"]

 

[Aiden Merritt]

[member="Melanctha Dallamoor"]


[SIZE=12pt]Aiden kicked himself mentally when he realized Melanctha was having difficulties. It was thoughtless of him not to think of her night vision issues. Aiden was only half Hapan and grew up on Arbra so his sight wasn’t limited as hers and he was having problems of his own. When her hand found his shoulder he placed his on top of it for a moment and said, “You keep that right there and I’ll lead us.”[/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt]He heard what she was asking about and couldn’t identify it either; although, it was very easy to let his imagination answer that question. Despite that, he couldn’t help but tease, “I hear it but if you don’t talk to them maybe they won’t bother us.”[/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt]He felt the shocked stiffening of her hand on his shoulder and patted it reassuringly. “Hang on there and I’ll work our way over to that light I saw.”[/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt]Aiden decided discretion wasn’t as important as getting Mel back to the light safely. He used the force to clear a path of debris and other things that could cause a misstep as he guided her slowly to their destination. Eerily, the sound they heard stopped when he began using the force as if the ghosts of the house’s past stopped their chatter and were watching them intently. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt]Their path took them from the vast basement chamber to a small tunnel hewn from the stone. The light was more evident and the floor less littered so they made better time the last part of the walk. Even so, the distance was greater than it appeared. Finally they stepped into a new partially lit chamber. Aiden gasped in awe at the site beheld them. Finally, he asked, “Well, was this worth the trip?”[/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt]

[/SIZE]​

 

[Jon Burke]

[member="Melanctha Dallamoor"]
[member="Aiden Merritt"]


[SIZE=12pt]After a few seconds of that blank expression men have when they are listening to a conversation through ear buds Taylor explained, “Mr. Burke! They have reached the columns!”[/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt]Jon had hoped he would have longer. He wanted to see the doorway his crew cleared. He had a feeling this was the room he had been searching for.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt]“All right. Have everyone fall back outside the rear entrance out of sight. Stand ready to move in quickly if I call.”[/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt]Calling the others back, Taylor and the team retreated back outside near the landing pad. Jon moved deeper into the warren of passageways on an intercept course for Aiden. Finding the place he had in mind, he used the force and leapt to the top of a broken column. He sat there quietly waiting for the two explorers to reach this section of the caves. Dressed in all black, they wouldn't see him until he wanted them to.[/SIZE]

 

[Melanctha Dallamoor]

Melanctha laughed at his attempt to ease her mind over her loss of vision it would slowly come back as they moved. One of her shortcoming revealed, well he was a Jedi and she was blind in the dark. Guess that would mean the lights would have to be on when......let your mind do the rest for you with that thought.

She could hear the rocks moving but did not ask how it was being done what she could not see could not hurt her, she stepped carefully her toe tapping the ground before her as they walked. She had no doubt that Aiden would guide her, but she should have not been so head strong in thinking she could handle this, she should have reminded him, and herself.

"I'm sorry Aiden I forgot to tell you about the nightblindness. Even when at school I would always have someone near that could help when the light becomes too dim. I didn't think, it was poorly planned." A hapan with a poor plan, that was not to be shouted from the mountain tops either.

Slowly the darkness began to drift away light filtered through and Mel began to focus on their surroundings, where they were at. And then as if a present had been revealed they stood within a room full of columns.

She gasped lightly "its beautiful, look at the crossing arches, the load bearing points," She smiled her sight not completely restored she looked around. "You did not know this was here?"

[member="Aiden Merritt"] [member="Jon Burke"]

 

[Aiden Merritt]

[member="Melanctha Dallamoor"]


Aiden confessed, “I had no idea.”

He walked around several of the columns, looking at the line and shape of the roof of the cave. “This chamber wasn’t open to the outside when it was constructed.” He pointed to a pile of fallen rocks and added, “That’s from the ceiling.
There must have been a major quake to bring that down.”

He ran his fingers down the side of one of the columns and remarked, “This is old, Mel. Very old. I’d say this predates the Lake House by many centuries. In fact, I’d say that originally there was no connection between the two. I doubt that you noticed in the darkness of that connecting tunnel, but, that was new construction – within the last few years. It makes me wonder if this site has already been plundered.”

Aiden was oddly relieved. The house wasn’t the source of the darkness he sensed; it was just a conduit to it. Aiden could tell that encounter was further in the caves.

“I guess we need to decide. Since we don’t have a good light source, do we climb out here and return to the house, or, do we keep going?”

Aiden knew what he would vote, but, he didn’t want Melanctha to be in an uncomfortable situation any longer than necessary.

 

[Melanctha Dallamoor]

Mel looked at each area as Aiden pointed, she listened to his words and in her own mind tried to form a plan, a direction, what would she do?

"If that" a single elegantly manicured finger pointed over to the pile of rocks, "happened within the last three years and if this is as old as you say it might be" She took another deep breath. She didn't like being blind not in the dark where anything and everything can grab you, or trip you up and fall.

"Does your light work real well?" She couldn't have it go dead in the middle of their walk in the dark for them she'd be more of a liability. A very vulnerable position for her, she sighed and tried to think.

"If the light you carry will keep burning, then it would seem we should keep going." Just don't let me be left down here please she thought. Not in the darkness.

[member="Aiden Merritt"].

 

[Aiden Merritt]

[member="Melanctha Dallamoor"]


“The rock fall isn’t nearly that recent,” Aiden corrected – “It’s hard to tell but it’s probably a couple of centuries old based on the sediment and the weathering. That tunnel,” he added pointing back the way they had come, “is the new construction.”

"If the light you carry will keep burning, then it would seem we should keep going."

Aiden grinned; pleased at how game she was to keep exploring when she was obviously uncomfortable with the darkness. He looked at his light and reported, “We still have 80% power left. Why don’t we go forward until we reach 50%. That way we should be able to get back here, if not to the house, before we lose our light.”

Forays into unknown underground ruins always had hazards involved. Aiden suspected that they would find whoever dug the tunnel either cleared the way ahead of them, or, blocked it. Either way, they would find out long before they reached the 50% power level on the light.

Leading her forward, he commented, “I expect that we are at the very foot of the mountain range behind the house. Everything forward should be into the mountain.”

“Wait! Look at this!” Aiden used the light to point out some irregularities in the ceiling. “I was wrong, Mel. The rockslide didn’t open this up to the outside, it covered it up. The columnated area was the grand entry way into whatever we are going to find inside the mountain.” He groaned with frustration. “I wish I knew more about ancient Hapan religions. Perhaps this was a Ly’Dian Temple. All the old texts are locked away in the archives on Hapes and a direct intervention by the Queen Mother would be the easiest way to get in there. The Fel’da of antiquities certainly wasn’t any help.”

Aiden realized he’d been babbling on excitedly and Mel had been unusually quiet. He could tell the prospect of exploring a dark, old temple – while exciting – was a bit daunting for her. He stopped and pulled her close, smiled at her and said, “No matter what we find in here, I will never leave your side.”

 

[Jon Burke]

[member="Melanctha Dallamoor"]


Jon heard them approaching long before before he saw their small light bobbing its way towards him. He knew Aiden would never turn back if he were alone or with one of his excavation teams, but, he hoped because of the presence of the Duch’a he would go back to the house to return later when better equipped.

He rolled his eyes when Aiden stopped her just below his perch and began to whisper sweet assurances into her ear.

Well, the time for avoidance was past. The time for managing the situation was now at hand.

He pushed himself off his seat and, with the assistance of the force, landed gracefully right in front of the two startled explorers.

 

[Aiden Merritt]

[member="Melanctha Dallamoor"]




Aiden felt the minimal use of the force nearby before he saw the dark object dropping down towards them. Since he’d been using force push to clear their path, using it as a first defense was near automatic and immediate. The only difference being the intensity was some orders of magnitude greater.

Simultaneously, he snatched his light saber out from its sheath on the inside of his jacket and snapped it on. The blue-green brilliance of it lit the chamber in an eerie light as if they were underwater, but, it provided more light in the darkness than he thought possible. Something to remember for later perhaps.

 

[Jon Burke]

[member="Melanctha Dallamoor"]


Jon expected a shocked reaction but not this; however, he would never allow a Burke to appear nonplussed.

Aiden’s force push was impressive. Jon was lifted and thrown 20 feet before he adeptly shifted and used the force himself to land feet-first on the wall he was being sent to crash into. That momentum quelled, he once again lightly dropped to the floor.

Turning back to the couple, he chuckled and said, “My apologies. I should know better than to startle a nervous Jedi who is protecting a beautiful lady. Aiden, you won’t be needing that weapon.”

Stepping closer he gave Melanctha an appreciative look and asked, “Aren’t you going to introduce me to the Duch’a?”

 

[Melanctha Dallamoor]

[member="Aiden Merritt"] [member="Jon Burke"]

She was looking in awe of what open up before them she had enough knowledge of history and architecture to have a deep appreciation for it, to hear the excitement in Aiden's voice made her smile.

"Perhaps we can petition the royal family directly" She was trying her best to keep up with the conversation that he was having, she walked closer back into the mountains that meant this could go on for miles. There could be other entrances in and out. There could be...she stopped thinking for the moment, someone could be using this system still.

"Aiden" and before she could say anything he had produced what she could only assume was a light saber, and them a dark shadow. She stepped back and yet tried to see. What was now the most intriguing part of this was the next person who seemed as skilled as Aiden, seemed to know Aiden.

Mel gave him a half smile oh she had seen far too many of his kind with their flowery words there had been a line of them all ready to court her. She drew closer to Aiden, "Aiden, who is this?" And what was another force user doing here, was the world ridden with them? Or was there something more here, something. Oh please...she thought. What could be here.

 

[Aiden Merritt]

[member="Melanctha Dallamoor"]


Aiden almost reluctantly extinguished his light saber and replaced it in his jacket. He remembered the Baudo passing over when they were in the courtyard and ruefully realized he should have been expecting this meeting.

“Melanctha, this is Jon Burke.”

“Jon, this is the Lady Melanctha Dallamoor, Duch’a of Cheruba. My guest while she’s here on the Gray Moon.”

Aiden wasn’t sure why he added that last part or why he might have emphasized “my.” Saying it was purely reflexive.

“But enough with the pleasantries, Jon. Why are you here? You’re certainly making yourself at home on our little rock.”

 

[Jon Burke]

[member="Melanctha Dallamoor"]


Jon smiled when he saw the Duch’a step closer to Aiden more for the flicker of curiosity he sensed in her reaction than her seeking protection from her jedi. Ignoring Aiden for the moment, he lightly clasped her right hand and, bowing, kissed it gently.”

“Duch’a Dallamoor, it’s an honor to meet you. This underground darkness must be quite an ordeal for you. Please let me remedy that as best I can.”

Jon pulled a small remote control from a pocket and pressed one of the buttons. A seemingly endless succession of portable halogen work lights blinked to life bathing the hallway before them in a vivid white light.

Turning back to Aiden, He responded, “I’m “making myself home” with your mother’s permission. If you happened to read the contract between House AlGray and Burke Enterprises, there a stipulation that Burke Enterprises make use up to 100 hectares of unused space as a forward staging base for the asteroid mining operation.” He arched a challenging brow at Aiden and added, “The blind canyon behind this range seemed imminently unused.”

“As for what I’m doing here… we were calibrating our low orbit, ground penetrating radar preparing it for use in processing the asteroids when we discovered these chambers. Some of the shapes revealed seemed more likely man-made than natural so I decided to investigate.”

“Aiden, it’s amazing! There are natural caverns but, oh, so much more!”

Jon realized his excitement over the find was showing probably more than he wished, so, he toned it back best he could.

“I’ve detached a small crew to work on clearing debris. I haven’t let them touch any of the artifacts to prevent damage. Now that you’re here, I know you’ll want to take over the project, but, I really would like to be involved with opening the last chamber we found.”

 

[Melanctha Dallamoor]

[SIZE=12pt]Melanctha nodded as he took her hand oh he was sly little devil wasn’t he, and quite well mannered too, “Mr. Burke the pleasure is mine to meet a friend of Aiden’s” It was a simple to the point greeting to a man who was a complete stranger to her and even though Aiden seemed quite comfortable, she was curious about this strange man.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt]As if all the tension had been forgotten, once [member="Jon Burke"] had brought up the lights, Mel felt better she could see so much further now, and that sensation of unease began to wane but knowing what Mr. Burke was up to down here in the tunnels doing his practicing.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt]Man-made objects, “Mr. Burke how many Hapans do you have working for you?” She asked him this question as it would seem if one is studying what could be Hapan relics one might need someone schooled in Hapan history.[/SIZE]


[SIZE=12pt]As much as Aiden knew he himself had said his knowledge of Hapan History was not complete. Mel was not an authoritarian on it either, she knew enough to pass classes and impress her parents when needed.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt]Mel stayed close to [member="Aiden Merritt"] . Both men were quite excited over everything, “Can we see what it was that has brought you so far underground?” She smiled as she asked.[/SIZE]

 

[Jon Burke]

[member="Melanctha Dallamoor"]


[SIZE=12pt]Jon hesitated for a fraction of a second, then said, “I have a half dozen men working here. They are Hapan but not archeologists or historians. They are just basic labor.”[/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt]He scowled slightly and admitted, “What I’m hoping to find are more significant as force artifacts rather than Hapan.”[/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt]“I have to warn you, Duch’a Dallamoor, there are some rather gruesome areas deeper inside. If you will be distressed to see… dark things… Aiden and I can take you back to the AlGray Estate to wait there while I show him the temple.[/SIZE]

 

[Aiden Merritt]

[member="Melanctha Dallamoor"]


[SIZE=12pt]“Force artifacts? Jon is this a Ni’Korish cult temple?”[/SIZE]
[SIZE=12pt] [/SIZE]
[SIZE=12pt]Aiden felt nauseous but forced it aside. He couldn’t imagine what other reason there would be for force artifacts here on the Gray Moon.[/SIZE]

 

[Melanctha Dallamoor]

Melanctha would not be leaving to go and wait for the men to do their analysis, "I will stay Mr. Burke, I do not chose to have my day with Aiden interupted by the unexpected" Unexpected was a very weak description of what was happening.

She had thought about ghosts and bumps in the darkness this, her gaze went around the room, this was a bit more than bumps.

"I would like to see this temple" A temple within Hapan borders that was a very interesting development.

[member="Aiden Merritt"] [member="Jon Burke"]

 

[Jon Burke]

[member="Melanctha Dallamoor"]


[SIZE=12pt]“I can’t answer that, Aiden. I’ll have to leave that to you scholars to determine. I can tell you there are two periods represented in the construction. One is very old and the other is much newer. Even at that it’s at least several hundred years old.”[/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt]Jon gave Melanctha a small smirk when she said she wouldn’t have her day with Aiden interrupted.[/SIZE]


[SIZE=12pt]“Very well. I’ll give you two a look at some of the main areas as we head back into the newer areas.”[/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt]Jon took point and led them through the narrow passageway that connected the Hall of Columns with the outer sections of the Temple. First they came to a large stonework passage.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt]“This is some of the older stonework as far as I can tell,” Jon told them. “It’s a short connector to this next chamber which is a major intersection. This looks slightly newer to me and a little bit better stonework. [/SIZE]Watch your step. This area is flooded.[SIZE=12pt]”[/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt]“Now, let me show you a side cavern off this hallway to the right. It may have been their source of fresh water. Our preliminary analysis indicates the water in this pool is absolutely pure. I think this chamber is beautiful. It’s definitely my favorite.”[/SIZE]

 

[Melanctha Dallamoor]

"Stunning work" Melanctha whispered as they walked, she reached out and tugged on the edge of Aiden's shirt. Their day alone was now shot to pieces and they were now exploring but with company.

"There must be something in the water that makes it look that blue, I do not know of any planet that boasts of water of such a blue" Mel looked again at the chamber, Mr. Burke could be right that it was the water for not so much the house but for everything within the passage.

But still this place was giving her the chills, her eyes were well focused now the darkness had finally disappeared into the light.

[member="Jon Burke"] [member="Aiden Merritt"]

 

[Aiden Merritt]

[member="Melanctha Dallamoor"]

Aiden took in all in, mostly silently. He was stunned by how extensive the underground complex was turning out to be; but, maintained his trepidation knowing that Burke was holding something back. Especially after his warning to Mel about things she might not want to see.

When she touched his side taking hold of his shirt he thrilled to her touch and was distracted, thinking about how nice it felt – and wanting more contact from her. He scowled at himself, wondering at his distraction and thought it might be a reaction to Burke’s presence. He knew how persuasive Jon could be and really didn’t want Melanctha around him. Was he feeling possessive? It was a new emotion to him.

“Amazing,” he admitted when Jon showed them the pool. “It’s marble!” Jon gave an odd smile as he nodded his confirmation. Water eroded marble like that must really be ancient.