Barris shifted his stance to attention and bowed as the Inquisitor approached, glad to notice that Weatherbanks was doing the same. “Lady Inquisitor Kara.” He smiled slightly as he straightened. “Welcome to the Cassowary.”
“Captain,” Lady Kara said dismissively. She would not look directly at him at first, deigning instead to sweep her brown eyed gaze over the assembly of troops and officers. It was a calculated way to insult someone, Barrin surmised. When she did look directly at him, Barrin fought to keep his indignation from showing at the sight of the sardonic grin and raised eyebrow. “I was given to understand that this ship was used to playing host to high-level functionaries of the Empire, and yet there is such a small turnout for my arrival.”
“Ah,” Barrin said, bowing again, but only as a lowering of his head. “My apologies, Lady. We were informed to welcome you aboard, but the information did not state a requirement of fanfare. Nor did it provide an exact time of arrival.” He glanced about himself, his gaze taking in those Imperials present. “I’m afraid that this is what we could spare, given the many tasks a Victory-class Star Destroyer has for its crew.”
Lady Kara held the expression on her face, but her eyes sharpened as she silently stared at the captain. At first, Barrin was not sure what she was doing, but an odd sensation in his head caught his attention: a sort of pressure behind his ears.
He shook his head once, as he understood. Lord Oblivion and Telasa might very well have done the same trick, but they were subtle about the act, not bluntly attempting to grab at his thoughts. The nerve of this woman…
“Please, Lady Kara,” Barrin said aloud. “I would ask that you refrain from using your Jedi training on me and my staff.” He returned the sharp stare and put steel into his voice. “I have experienced it before and I must say, I’m not comfortable with my private thoughts being not so. It’s insulting to my people and myself.”
Lady Kara’s sardonic grin changed to a smile of genuine pleasure. “I’m impressed, Captain. Not many have noticed my attempts at mind-reading, and even those who have never tried a reprimand.” She nodded once at him, a jerky motion that looked out of practice on her. “You must be made of sterner stuff than I’ve seen from other captains.”
“Thank you, Lady,” Barrin said, though he had the impression that she was not paying him a compliment, but rather delivering a subtle threat. He tilted his head to one side, indicating the young man beside him. “Allow me to introduce my executive officer, Lieutenant Haytham Weatherbanks. Would you like for my technicians and repair crew to go over your shuttle?”
Lady Kara glanced over at Weatherbanks, her eyes scanning the young man as she considered his level of social importance, then waved a negligent hand back toward the shuttle. “That would be most helpful, Captain, but only if there are maintenance issues that your crews can handle within the next twenty hours.”
“Of course, Lady,” Barrin said, his own eyebrows rising in question. Weatherbanks had made a small sound of greeting, but the Lady had pointedly ignored it. “You will not be staying with us long, then?”
Lady Kara shook her head as she turned back to the yacht and gestured for her shipboard companions to descend the ramp. “My mission is top priority,” she said whimsically, watching her escort march down the ramp, though Barrin noticed her gaze was scanning the hangar bay. “A fugitive that has eluded capture for nearly twelve years. I intend to correct that mistake.”
“Ahh.” Barrin looked at the newcomers as they emerged from the shuttle. A few bureaucratic functionaries, as was expected to accompany someone from Imperial Court. There was also a six-man team of stormtroopers with the Inquisitorious symbol etched onto shoulder pauldrons marching in two rows, their boots striking the ramp in thunderous unison. “I see that this ‘hunt’ of yours is potentially dangerous,” he continued, nodding at the newcomers, “to be permitted armored personnel. If you require additional resources, I can speak with my Troop Commander about assigning a squad or—”
“That will not be necessary, Captain,” Lady Kara interrupted, her eyes still searching. “These men and women were handpicked by the Inquisitorious for my mission; I doubt your own troopers would be able to keep pace with them.”
Barrin let out a sigh as quietly as he could manage, studying the Lady. Something had obviously caught her attention and she was just as obviously working to not be obvious about it. But it was something in this bay…
Barrin looked around again, but the setting had not changed. The team set aside for Oblivion’s field mission had nearly finished loading and prepping their own ship, though Barrin could see that they were surreptitiously watching the new arrivals. The technician among them—Scarn, he identified—was watching the proceedings with a curious look on his face…
“By ‘handpicked’, Captain,” a new voice sounded into his observation, “she means ‘given to after pleading’.” Barrin turned to see Telasa approaching the delegation, staring directly at the Lady Inquisitor with a predatory half-grin on her face. She was attired similarly to the Lady, Barrin noted, and included a cylindrical device on her own belt. A quick glance between the two women gave Barrin the impression that Telasa was more comfortable with the item than Kara, as though the Lady’s was more decorative than functional. The basket hilt welded onto the device made this impression gain strength in Barrin’s mind.
Telasa stopped in her approach as she reached Barrin’s side, flanking him with Weatherbanks. Rather than their relaxed and attentive stances, she stood with her legs spread wide and knees loose, her arms crossed in an arrogantly belligerent posture. “It would not do for the Lady to accept more help from you than minimally necessary, Captain,” Telasa said. The half-smile she still wore showed the slightest flash of white teeth as it deepened. “After her own High Lady’s recent fall from grace in the Court, she has plenty to prove so the Grand Inquisitor doesn’t decide that she should follow High Lady Donovan. Hello, Kara.”
“Telasa,” Lady Kara replied, her gaze no longer amusedly arrogant. Barrin saw her shift her body to mirror Telasa’s. “I thought I smelled something foul when I descended from the shuttle.”
Telasa laughed, the sound short and scornful. “Judging from the apparent state of your shuttle there, Kara, I’m surprised you haven’t noticed such a scent ever since your departure from Imperial Center.” She leaned slightly toward Barrin and lowered her voice in a mock-whisper. “She’s been in bad odor with the Court ever since her High Lady was dismissed from the Inquisitorious.” She straightened, her eyes still on the Lady. “When was that, Kara? Six months ago? I’m surprised you weren’t cast off the skyhook on the very same day.”
Spots of color showed in Kara’s cheeks as she seethed under Telasa’s scorn, and…
Barrin felt a moment’s panic. No, the lighting of the hangar bay had not played a trick on his vision; the Lady’s eyes had begun shifting in their color, becoming more vibrant as yellow and gold slowly appeared in her irises. The temperature between the two women seemed to suddenly jump two or three degrees.
“The fate of High Lady Donovan holds no bearing on my own stature as a Lady, Telasa,” Lady Kara said, hissing the woman’s name and giving weight to her lacking a title. She straightened her back in order to look down her aristocratic nose, resuming a haughty expression. “She was found to have sympathies for an insurgent group, judged by the Grand Inquisitor, and executed. I, however,” she paused to rest a hand on her chest, “was given the opportunity to prove myself; to show that I can be trusted.”
Telasa barked another scornful laugh. “‘Trusted’, you say?” she asked. She indicated the shuttle with a tilt of her head. “I can see just how far they trust you.”
Lady Kara leaned forward slightly, as if to shift her weight and step forward. “This coming from someone who betrayed their first Master, only to be brought in as the apprentice of an equally traitorous Master.”
Telasa was silent for a long moment, the tension mounting with each heartbeat. Barrin glanced over to Weatherbanks, but he was just as stunned by the exchange.
“And just how was High Lady Donovan found out, Kara?” Telasa asked, her voice a near whisper. She smirked at the noble. “The view must be gorgeous from that glass house of yours.”
The tension broke between the two women at that. Barrin saw their hands move to those cylinders and heard Weatherbanks let out a startled breath.
“Those look like the lightfoils our nobles carry,” he said, referring to the Lords and Dukes of his native Tapani Sector. But Barrin recognized them for what they really were, and his time with the Jedi Counselor taught him that, should a Jedi ever go for their weapons, he would have to end a fight then. Despite his immediate misgivings, stepped in between the pair.
“Enough!” he barked, holding a hand palm outward in front of each combatant. “That is enough! I will not have such violence within my ship. Remove your hands from those.” He stared hard at Telasa, then at Lady Kara, before putting parade-ground steel in his voice. “Please.”
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