Chapter 2: The Twi’lek Conundrum

Leave the comatose girl.

Or

Take her to my ship.

That was the conundrum that was placed before me as I looked at what was inside the cryo-square. Inside was the small form of a Twi'lek, the foremost slave race of the galaxy.

'Because of course there is'

My weapon now holstered, I felt a migraine coming on.

The girl didn't look old, maybe 9-10 years old, of course not young enough to become a slave, a fact that still disgusted me, but this was the Outer rim.

With white skin, something that was actually a bit unusual for one of her race, she was asleep.

For how long?

I had no clue, but I hoped I had enough time to make a decision.

Though what decision did I really have?

The 'Spark' was blearing in my ear to take the girl back to my ship and there was no reason I wouldn't.

I abhorred the slave trade, it was one 'product' I wasn't willing to smuggle, though it did bring in the big creds. If I were to leave the girl here it wouldn't take too much time for whatever pirate force owned this base to come back to recoup their losses or worse the people that attacked came back looking to scavenge some rewards.

And what would bring a better pay day than a prepubescent Twi'lek, I heard some of the Hutts spent a lot of creds for the young ones... they are molded easier... smaller....

'Sith spit!'

I just held myself back from spitting to the side in disgust as my stomach churned. But this was the life I had signed up to; I had been on my own long enough to have glimpsed some of the dirtier parts of the galaxy.

Didn't stop me from feeling repulsed though. Calming down quickly after the thought passed, I started to truly think. If my previous guess was right, I didn't have much time. Someone would be looking for the base sooner or later.

I needed to think about what to do next.

Obviously, I was going to have to take the girl. But what was I going to do with her?

Being so young it wouldn't take long for her to become a slave if left alone. Based on the fact I got a bloody contract to come out here from Ryloth it was more likely than not, that her parents were willingly putting her into the slave trade to make some money.

I felt dirty just standing in this hanger as the thought lingered.

'Come on Jack, stop being an idiot.'

It was an easy toss up.

Take the girl and keep her, (What the fuck was he supposed to do with a Twi'lek child? Raise them???)

Take the girl and leave her to her own devises when you reach the next habitable world. (Leave her to the wolves where she will no doubt become a slave, probably hooked on spice and some Hutts Plaything later down the track if she's pretty enough.)

I lashed out in anger and kicked a crate to the side, of course hurting me more than the Durasteel bloody thing.

I was sparsely making enough credits to pay for fuel.

I was 15 I didn't know how to raise jack shit, other than a boner.

Smuggling was no life for a child... which I can personally attest to.

I let out a small sigh as my eyes caught sight of the defenseless child before me. Looking around as if I could find something in the hanger that could solve all my problems, I finally realized that it was a futile effort and resigned myself to do what was right.

Bending down I lifted the light body into a princess carry. Her skin was bare from any clothes, probably because of the cryo-square... I hoped it was because of the cryo-square and not some other sick reason… that my mind couldn't help but move to.

The skin was clammy, cold. I think I can understand why people started using the more popular method of carbon freezing.

As I started to make my way back to the ship, the 'spark' ringing in my ear in approval, I could only roll my eyes and lament the fact that I had landed so far away.

Sure, she was light, but damn she would get heavy after a while.

'I'm getting to old for this shit'.

The irony of that thought wasn't lost as I made it back to my ship and quickly got my new guest settled in the side bedroom. Something I didn't think I would have to use, but was always nice to keep relatively clean.

Though it had been a few months....

I was busy, Ok!

Coming back out to the base my mind whirled with thoughts and ideas as I quickly came to a conclusion.

I couldn't leave any evidence.

Plausible deniability was better than being suspected.

The contractor would want some proof when I got back of any story I decided to make up; I need to make sure he thought there was no reason to come looking for his... product.

Quickly moving around the base, I got to one of the terminals and used the small number of slicing skills I had to get to work.

This was one of the areas that the 'spark' really shone through. Though I was a novice, with the help of the 'spark' I was able to navigate the system half guided by sub-par knowledge, half by instinct.

Within a few minutes of looking, I had located the self-destruct button, or prompt. Every good pirate base should have one in case someone came snooping around and they needed to get rid of the evidence.

Well, that's if they could afford the loss, but sometimes having a good self-destruct was the difference between being locked away for life and getting away scot-free.

I didn't set it off right away though, I quickly made my way back to the hanger and started to look through everything that I could quickly move.

I figured I had about 1 day, maybe 2 to move all I needed to my ship. I wasn't coming out of this shit show with a loss. I was making my money back Damnit!

I mainly took the stims, medical equipment and rations, leaving most of the guns. I may have taken one or two so as to defend myself in the future, but the less evidence that I was there the better. Weapons where harder to explain where exactly they came from, compared to rations and stims.

The only downside of my new plan was the amount of room I had on board.

Thankfully I didn't have any side contracts or deliveries, that would take some space, but I couldn't move everything on the base, onto the ship.

The girl didn't wake up over the full day I spent loading up the ship.

It was on the second that that I finally finished with my moving and quickly started the self-destruct sequence. There was a small quiver in the 'spark' that was telling me that I had to get out of there soon. I was inclined to listen to it.

Setting a 10-minute timer, enough for me to get back to my ship and also plot a jump, I quickly made my way out and made myself scarce.

I only started to relax when the hum of blue hyperspace appeared in front of me.

I relaxed back in my chair and let out a breath of air I didn't know I had been holding.

Did I regret my decision....

Not right now, I would have to see what happened in the future to see if it was the right choice.

*Bang*

Looking over my shoulder at the noise further in the ship I let out another sigh.

Of course, the guest finally woke up.

Now how do you explain to a kid her parents sold her into slavery.

She now didn't have a home to go to.

I was her only hope....

Sith Spit.