Welcome to the Jungle

[Kairon Rees]

The Perlemian trade route was a difficult prospect these days. It bisected the peninsula the One Sith had carved out of the Republic. Some threats were best staved off through the firepower of the Warden, some were best dealt with quietly with the Grace.

Sometimes Malia liked to do these runs alone. This time he'd convinced her to let him come along for a chance at peace and quiet, not because he didn't like her taking the risky jobs solo. In reality it was both. The Warden had become a busy place and the Gracie almost felt spacious for just the two of them, even if they had a much large cabin on the frigate sized vessel.

Kairon had long learned to appreciate peace and quiet. Only recently had he learned to enjoy sharing it. He was splayed out across the pilot's chair, hands behind his head and legs crossed. They were through Sith space and he was feeling quite relaxed. Mal was taking a sonic but would be back up here soon. What he didn't know was that it was the destination, not the journey, that posed the greatest threat.

[member="Malia Afredane"]

 

[Malia Afredane]

It was nice to be alone for a bit. She couldn't blame him for wanting to come along on these smaller runs. On the Warden, it was all "aye, captain" but on Gracie, it was much more relaxed. There was no formality between them for the sake of the crew. Just a guy and a gal, and her old freighter sailing through the distant stars and hauling goods.

Felucia wasn't much of an inhabited planet. In fact, they were only heading out there because they had been contracted to deliver a piece of equipment to an outpost there. Little independent carriers were sometimes cheaper for the movement of single shipments to a unique destination. The job sounded easy enough: drop a new generator to the small settlement on Felucia which sat in the quiet and protected corner of the galaxy that the Silver Sanctum Coalition called home.

Mal walked back into the cockpit to find Kairon all stretched out in her chair, looking deeply contented with himself.

"Comfy?" She mused, leaning on the bulkhead.

[member="Kairon Rees"]

 

[Kairon Rees]

[member="Malia Afredane"]

"It appears, my good captain, that you have caught my relaxing at the helm. I expect you to rescind a tenth of my rum portion," he said with a wry grin over shoulder. Kairon was genuinely feeling quite relaxed right now. As much as he had been since their last break and frankly their breaks seemed to end badly. No interruptions, peace and quiet, just the pair of them. Of course it didn't keep his mind entirely from matters on the Warden, when he returned there were questions he had to answer. It was all very new to him, but actually he liked being delegated some responsibility by Mal. He was used to being in charge of something.

"What your chair back?" he asked, "I might put a caf on."



At that very moment, not far from them in hyperspace, a smaller ship was rushing past them. With a slightly faster hyperdrive module, the occupant was hoping to beat them to Felucia to set his trap. Keenst had fallen on hard times recently, the Rodian falling out of favour with his previous beneficiaries. Fortunately this Rees had riled up Kanjiklub recently and Keenst was on their good side at least. They hadn't posted a public bounty, they'd trusted him to get the job done based on his past reputation. Last roll of the dice to restore what he'd once had and get back in the game. No public bounty meant his customers were not fussed about whether this smuggler was breathing or not on return.

 

[Malia Afredane]

Mal shook her head as she dropped into the co-pilot's seat, looking over to see how much longer the trip would take. She pulled her feet up and perched them on the side of his leg.

"If I'm taking things away, it's not going to be rum. I can think of far more persuasive things to withhold."

She chuckled a moment, at his feigned shock but the wide grin slid into a small contemplative smile. She regarded him carefully a moment, the swirls of blue hiding the green of her eyes.

"Are you happy?" She posed the question rather open ended, a small bit of cowardice in her holding her from adding a qualifier on the end. She was a good captain, a good gambler, a good boss, but she was still wretched about gauging his feelings.

[member="Kairon Rees"]

 

[Kairon Rees]

[member="Malia Afredane"]

That seemed an entirely unfair punishment to Kairon, especially as they had the whole ship to themselves on the way back. Their cabin might have been small, but when they had freedom of the ship that was hardly a problem. He might have said as much had her next question not been so direct.

"Hmm?" he replied absent mindedly, but her expression gave him pause. He cocked his head to the side as he regarded her with a pensive look. He smiled and reached for her nearest hand, grapsing it gently.

"Yes. Yes I am," he said. "Things are busy on the Warden but it's a good busy you know? But I'll come on a few more of these ventures, if you'll have me," he said not knowing if she needed the odd bit of breathing room. "Nice to get a bit of time just for us."

He turned to the display for a moment, just over an hour before they arrived.

 

[Malia Afredane]

"You don't miss the Quin? Miss your freedom?"

It was being rather vague on her part as what she really wanted to know was if he was happy with her. Being with her all the time but taking a step away from calling the shots. It was hard for previous captains to take lesser roles on new ships but he was effectively her first mate, puns aside. She trusted him to make the decisions in her absence, and the crew respected him.

But the gnawing rat in her mind was the one that wanted to make sure he didn't feel as if he was missing something by giving up the Quin. That faced with waking up next to her, ratty hair and dog breath every morning wasn't taking the shine off of his love for her. It certainly hadn't dulled hers. She stroked the back of his hand as he looked at her curiously.

[member="Kairon Rees"]

 

[Kairon Rees]

[member="Malia Afredane"]

Kairon tilted his head from side to side as he considered the question. He knew her well enough to see when she was skirting around the topic and gently poking at it. Force knew that was how they’d spend their first time together.

“Hmm,” he went quietly, a clear indication that the question had given him pause. A smile slowly broke out on his face as he started to respond. “I mean, of course I miss the Quin a bit. She was home for a long time.” Another pause followed. He wasn’t like his nephew, he couldn’t go from thought to mouth in an instant.

“People move house and I still get to see the ship from time to time,” he reasoned. “A lot of times we were on the last handful of credits and had to go where the work went, that wasn’t really freedom.” Another short pause, a gentle squeeze of the hand.

“I’m happier now,” he said firmly. “It was a big change,” he admitted in a slightly higher pitched tone. “I kind of lived alone and happened to have some strays inhabiting my ship. I kind of didn’t imagine meeting someone like you.”

Kairon looked at her with a deep fondness in his eyes. That look was suddenly crossed with concern and the corners of his eyes were lined with crow’s feet. “You are happy as well aren’t you?” he asked, just a slight waver in his voice.

 

[Malia Afredane]

Her feet plopped down to the decking and she stood up to pivot down on his lap, snaking her arms around his neck as she looked into his eyes. There was so much uncertainty and worry that there were unknown rules to relationships she didn't know, she felt as if she needed to make sure she wasn't missing something she should have known when it came to what it meant to be in love with someone else.

"Kai, I've never been happier. I just want to make sure you're not feeling like you're missing something or that you settled for this when you could be on the Quin and doing whatever."

There was maybe a slight childlike pout to her, and it was obvious that her love of trashy soaps did influence the way she saw relationships. Judging by how things went in those shows, they were downright boring. Except for the occasional fight for their lives.

[member="Kairon Rees"]

 

[Kairon Rees]

[member="Malia Afredane"]

One arm went around her back to hold her tight as he held her gaze. “Good, I’m glad you are. Not that I was worried…I was a little bit worried,” he added quickly bringing up his free hand and mimicking holding something tiny between index finger and thumb.

His expression softened as he let the misplaced attempt at humour go. “I still wake each morning amazed that you’re mine, that I’m yours.” Kairon sighed as he brought that free hand back up, this time the fingers gently curving around her neck whilst his thumb idly stroked her cheek. He wanted to express that he didn’t miss being lonely, to explain how she made him feel. Perhaps he could write it down later if he put his mind to it, he was failing at saying anything right now, lost in her eyes.

 

[Malia Afredane]

Behind the closed doors of the Warden, she let her guard down but it seemed like the tension in her shoulders never seemed to lessen as she took the command of the freighter very seriously. The lives of the crew were in her hands and her decisions had consequences she would never forget. She could not or would not let herself take off the Captain roles as long as she was on the Warden.

The quiet moments on Gracie were where Mal truly felt at ease. There was no one here but her and Kairon and after having their minds ripped open by the Techno Union, there was nothing left to hide between. They had seen each other at the worst. Or at least Mal felt Kairon had seen her at her worst. She laid a tender kiss on him as she relaxed into his arms. The chair was a little tight to have both of them sitting in the pilot's seat but there was nothing on Gracie that wasn't small and cramped and ... intimate.

"So what's Felucia like? Anything to do besides drop off the equipment and bounce?"

[member="Kairon Rees"]

 

[Kairon Rees]

[member="Malia Afredane"]

Kairon was aware that taking on a fully crewed vessel was another big step for Mal, as if having him move in wasn't enough of a change on its own. She'd flown alone for a long while, then just with Rusty. She was doing a great job. On that, at least, he was frequently forthcoming with his opinion. He generally had the head of engineering report up to him, and kept his eye on both maintenance and cargo issues. Kairon made a content little noise at the back of his throat as she curled up against his chest. With her close in his arm slid up such that he could cradle the back of her head to him.

"Big humid jungle, mostly uninhabited. Pretty dangerous flora and fauna, but we could hire a couple of guides to take a look if you want. Suppose to be quite beautiful. No real civilisation, but I'm quite enjoying the peace and quiet right now."

As if to accentuate his point he fell silent suddenly and tilted his head a fraction. Nothing but the background drone of Gracie.

 

[Malia Afredane]

Mal wasn't exactly in a roughing it kind of mood so the prospect of striking out into an uninhabited and dangerous area that required guides was pretty much out of the question. That was fine with her, she wasn't looking for a vacation anyway, just wondering if there was anything they could do to stretch their legs and not be confined to Gracie. Although there were worse things than being shut in on the ship with him. Once the cargo bay was clear, they could play handball or something else that required a little more space.

She eventually got off his lap when her legs started to go numb and he growled again about a pot of caf. In order to make the haul out and back, they had left in what amounted to the middle of their night. It would allow them to drop off the equipment and not have to wait around for someone to be awake at their local time. It made for a hellish trip though.

Mal reclaimed her seat as they dropped from hyperspace on the edge of the system and she took them in, looking at the sstrange color the planet below seemed to have. Even from space it looked wild.

She sent their vector to the outpost and she heard a grumbling answer from the other side. Looked like they were grouchy in the morning too. She pushed in on the yoke and Gracie dipped through the clouds, the fluffy condensation streaming off her like strands of gossamer silk. Mal headed for the coordinates, but as the surface loomed into view, she was astounded by the sights below.

"This place looks nuts."

[member="Kairon Rees"]

 

[Kairon Rees]

[member="Malia Afredane"]

"Wow," he said, getting half to his feet to look out of the window. Wasn't often that something caught Kairon by surprise. "You see a lot of green marbles in space you know, but not seen any looked as...alive as this up close. "Can you bring us down lower and come in slow?" he asked. There was a faint smile on his face as he watched the vista race below. Bright turquoise oversized petals reached through a lingering mist for the sun. He caught flashes of orange and purple as they soared overhead.

"Everything looks sort of...oversized. Bet there are some nasty beasties hiding down there," he said. He got fully to his feet to look down below and grabbed his mug of caf off the counter.

 

[Malia Afredane]

Mal adjusted the throttle and thrusters and took a wide arc towards the LZ, skimming the treetops, if you could call them trees. They looked like oversized tropical house plants with stalks and flowers larger than most houses. She kept the ship in a lazy hover as it meandered towards the small settlement on the edge of the mego-flora beneath them.

"I've never even dreamed stuff like this exists. This place is amazing but yeah, if the plants are that big, I don't want to see the beast living in them."

She tilted the yoke and Gracie responded by heading down towards the outpost. Gear down and cleared by the security, she opened the cargo bay to the 3-Z and headed down the ramp where the grumbling voice who answered her on the coms directed them to a cafe where they could wait while the equipment was unloaded.

Mal stretched looking around at the little town, breathing in a deeply fragrant air from the humid tropics.

"Breakfast?" She asked, a thumb pointed at the cafe.

[member="Kairon Rees"]

 

[Kairon Rees]

[member="Malia Afredane"]

Kairon was walking backwards when she made her request. The canopy stretched up above the town which made him feel like they were in a giant fishbowl. A little patch of land where they were safe, hemmed in on all sides by great walls.

"Yeah breakfast sounds good," he said, pivoting on one heel to walk beside her again. "Weird place," he reflected again, quietly.

They found a booth in the cafe and a Felucian came to take their order. A look of mild annoyance crossed his face for a moment as he realised he'd brought not credits with him. Instant victory for Mal on this round of the never-ending game it seemed. He'd just had a caf so he just ordered some juice with his bacon and eggs.

"We should book a proper holiday soon," he announced suddenly. They had more disposable income now, it made sense to him to take a decent bit of time off when they could.

 

[Malia Afredane]

Sweet cakes and some kind of meat sounded good so she politely ordered whatever the local favorite was. She cast him a strange glance as they were left alone to wait for their food.

"A proper holiday? Like the few days we spent together on Naboo when we got together last year? Or the week of partying and hospital time on Zeltros when I got stabbed? Or the long weekend on Eriadu when we were ambushed by my father at a Merchant Ball?"

There was a thick ribbon of sarcasm in her words, an arched eyebrow and a purse of her lips that teased him at his want for more time off. However, it was almost time for the Warden's yearly inspection and overhaul. The ship would be drydocked for a couple weeks while it was meticulously examined and repaired. However considering their hard work, Mal had given the crew a month of shore leave to do with as they pleased. Taking a proper holiday with Kairon was perfectly doable in that time frame. Provided there was a side stop they could make.

"How do you feel about Gyndine?" She asked pulling out her datapad and calling up a ship auction. She laid it in front of him, a YZ-775 medium freighter in decent condition was coming up within a month.

She waited for his reaction, curious to see if he would be on board with expanding her business.

[member="Kairon Rees"]

 

[Kairon Rees]

[member="Malia Afredane"]

"Yeah just like those, but with less horrible, horrible pain," he replied, the corner of his mouth twitching upwards. "So I supposed what I'm asking for is not a proper us holiday, but one of those odd types where no one gets physically or psychologically injured"

Kairon turned the datapad around and had a skim through. "Says here they replaced the hyperdrive intake with an HKD part. Will have to see which as some of those are dicey. Would probably like to get in the guts of the ship, but it looks a reasonable option." Kairon looked thoughtful for a moment. He looked down the list.

"Oh look a Washburne class on the same world. Heard they're really low maintenance. Asmus said something about some software or other to try and track maintenance costs across the ships and predict future outgoings, I told him he should probably talk to you about that," Kairon reasoned. He had a fantastic memory for the value of goods and knew his way around and engine bay. But doing spreadsheets and software was really outside of his comfort zone. "Should probably get him to estimate running costs over a few years or something before making a call. We're going to need a better way to track your ships and assign them jobs too. We've got more work than we can handle at the moment, but we'll need to keep on top of it."

There drinks and some toast were brought to the table. Kairon stated to spread some butter across a slice.

 

[Malia Afredane]

"A nice, quiet, boring holiday sounds splendid. Where do you want to go?"

She sipped her juice as she wheeled the datapad back around to look at the Washburne class ship. She scrunched her nose up, looking at it.

"It's newer so that could translate into less operating costs. But I'm a snob for old Corellians. They made a ton of them and there are replacement parts everywhere. I suppose I could look at Asmus' numbers. Though that takes the fun right out of ship shopping with you."

She powered it down and put it away to pay more attention to her breakfast which was surprisingly delicious for a tiny little town on the wildest planet in the galaxy. She had wanted to talk about whether or not she should expand and incorporate but he seemed to treat it as a given. Perhaps it was coming from a family where that was what they did. For her, it was always going it alone. Izzy had her bar, Mal had her ship. More than 2 ships, or let's be honest now, three ships meant that she needed to rely on other people to help run the business. That was what she had hoped showing him the auction would trigger a conversation of.

Resigned that she was awful at this communication thing, she continued eating her breakfast in silence.

[member="Kairon Rees"]

 

[Kairon Rees]

[member="Malia Afredane"]

"Boring? Who said boring?" he replied with a wry smile. There was a mischievous look in his eyes before he turned them down to his cup of juice. His plate of hot food was brought out and he immediately sliced into his nuna eggs and sprinkled them with pepper, how he liked them.

"Yeah, reckon you're write. There's no fun if you let a spreadsheet determine the ship. Gotta get up close and get a feel for them. We know the ones that aren't worth a look on reputation, he can do his spreadsheets so the budget can be sorted once we've picked." Kaironed paused for a moment. Was he presumptuous in assuming they'd pick together? No, she'd say if that was the case, he decided.

"Actually even if we didn't pick nothing out, would be a fun day of going round the lot checking out ships. There's always a good mix of classic and new isn't there? I er...didn't buy my last one..."

 

[Malia Afredane]

"I won my first one in a sabacc game. The Warden is the only one I've bought." Another mouthful of some kinda bacon, and a sip of juice to wash it down. "It depends on what auction house you go to. This one is attached to the shipyards at Gyndine so you're likely looking at ones that were traded in for a newer one or salvage ships."

She continued on in silence thinking about how much work it would be to get another ship flying. Another crew to hire. Finding another captain she could trust. Numbers and spreadsheets and overhead and she breathed out a sigh.

One thing at a time.

She wasn't sure she wanted to move into more ships. That was the real crux of the problem. Maybe she needed more time with the Warden to be sure. Start farming short runs to the courier ship and see how it fared. Gracie was another matter. That was hers. It would never be included in a future enterprise.

[member="Kairon Rees"]