1Fear was driving the boy through the darkness. Fear of the intangible nothing that still made breathing an agony. Keep going! He had to keep going, but the more he tried, the tougher the resistance became. Trembling, the boy stopped and tried to penetrate the darkness with his gaze.
Did his eyes play tricks on him? Shrouded in grey veils of mist, the outlines of a person stood out in the distance. The silhouette became more defined, as if some aura emanated from it, outshining the fog.
"Father?"
The figure turned around. The boy didn't know if he heard the voice from afar with his ears or in his head:
"...I must go, my son. Promise me you'll take good care of your mother."
"Father, wait! Don't leave me alone!" But the child wasn't sure if his words reached the shadow before it shattered into tiny splinters.
"Father..."
Loneliness. Cold, black loneliness enveloped him. Panic drove him to flee, if only he knew where to go. Each direction was as threatening as the other. The staccato of his heartbeats and the murmur of his blood stunned him, so he didn't notice the soft voice calling out for him at first.
"...lan, my darling, I am with you."
The kid spun around. Another apparition that wasn't there... couldn't be there. His mother's loving face radiated a warmth that pushed back the fog and darkness.
"Mother! ... where did-?"
"Don't be afraid, my son. I'm always here for you!" The boy closed his eyes, feeling the soft touch that wiped away his tears. Everything was fine, he was saved and secure; this moment would last forever, the feeling of comfort would never go away.
But when he opened his eyes, he saw the face swallowed up by the depth of darkness. Gloom and cold fell upon the child, who desperately stretched out his arms towards the shade. A sadness had crept into his mother's gaze, taking the boy's courage.
"Mother! Don't go!"
"Be strong." The words could hardly be understood anymore. "I love you so much..." Blackness overwhelmed the lonely child, who lost the ground under its feet. Screaming, the boy plunged into nothingness.
Aslan Zala Taranus jumped up. He gasped for breath, eyes wide open, his heart racing. Artificial light blinded him. His posture revealed how violently he had moved in his sleep.
"Oh, my goodness." A familiar female voice brought him back to reality. "I thought you were going to have a heart attack." The emphatically composed words came from Kaliyo Djannis. The Rattataki enjoyed watching others suffer - and had plenty of opportunity to indulge that passion.
"Again," muttered Aslan, waiting for his cycle to return to human values. At first, he didn't recognize where he was, until he realized he was in a transport shuttle with Kaliyo, taking him to Dromund Kaas by order of Imperial Intelligence.
Luckily they were in their own private compartment! Showing weakness could quickly prove fatal within the Empire. Bad enough that Kaliyo had seen him like that; even if she didn't seem to take advantage of it for the moment, you could never be sure with her. He looked around when he realized that his companion was watching him.
"Consider," he growled, "how much time has passed since the first piloted flight. But they still haven't invented seats that don't resemble medieval torture instruments!"
Kaliyo let her mocking look speak for itself.
Even Aslan's clothes had suffered. Like most Imperial uniforms, his was in plain gray, identifying him as a representative of the Empire throughout the galaxy. The agent adjusted his appearance, which Kaliyo observed in amusement, not for the first time.
"You don't have to dress up every quarter of an hour for me!"
"Doesn't occur to me, either," came back right away. "But don't forget that I'm a representative of the Empire!"
"I won't forget that. You'll see to that."
"When do we arrive?" Aslan took a look at his chronometer.
"Shouldn't be long now. I think I can already sense the presence of your Sith Lords.
"Better not say it too loud, or they'll make you feel something else than just their presence. Besides, I highly doubt you're force-sensitive."
"Oh, yeah? Well, maybe I do have hidden powers. Then just bring 'em on, your Lords!"
"It would be good if you could find out soon," the agent returned dry. " This might at least facilitate our mission."
Kaliyo was about to reply when she was cut by an announcement indicating the landing on Dromund Kaas. But this didn't silence the Rattataki at all.
"There, you see... ...sometimes time flies like in a dream, don't you think?"
Aslan sent her a telling look.
That's easy for her to say.
Those bloody nightmares had been on the increase lately. And with his companion probably set off another trigger.
The shuttle hatch had barely opened when the stream of passengers poured over the ramp. In the arrivals terminal, Aslan observed how routine tasks - cleaning, maintenance, surveillance, baggage transport - were performed by droids as subtly as precisely. The huge facility had been designed with order and efficiency in mind, giving arriving passengers an impression of the Empire from the very first moment.
"Surprises me how clean you people keep ypur speceports. If this were Hutta, I'd be scraping alien gunk off my boots. Of course, if this were Hutta, I couldn't be thrown in prison for spitting the wrong way."
Ignoring the last sentence, Aslan answered not without pride:
"Unlike the Hutts, we are dedicated to order and discipline. And I'm glad about that - after all, I don't want to mess up my boots while travelling!"
"Well, if you say so..."
But Kaliyo did not cease to be amazed when she saw the queues in front of the customs office. Quietly, almost without motion, the humans and the few travelers of other races waited, no one complained. There were places in the galaxy where such waiting communities were a welcome source of turmoil and rioting, but on an Imperial spaceport, no one dared to violate order.
"Tell me, do you actually drug people to make them into good zombies?"
Little poison witch!, it shot through Aslan's head. Keep your cool now!
The enforcer obviously had a flair for hitting sore spots. For many, life in the Empire was only bearable under the influence of various substances not even Aslan could resist.
"It is merely a matter of education, if that term means anything to you." With a frown Kaliyo noticed the change of mood. "By the way, some peoples look like zombies even without drugs!"
This in turn made Kaliyo grin; the agent was not wrong, for with their white skin, bald head and eye rings, the Rattataki did indeed resemble the undead.
"But at least they don't behave like that," she smiled, "But apart from that, do you expect us to reach one of these good-humored, friendly smiling customs officers today? And without getting bitten by the zombies?"
"Don't worry, zombies are looking for brains. So you don't have to worry at all!" Now the enforcer even had her mouth open for a moment. "That being said, I figure we'll be through customs in two minutes. Follow me." Perhaps a bit more important than necessary, he marched past the sluggishly advancing mass to a checkpoint that hardly anyone passed. Agents of the Imperial Intelligence Service enjoyed several advantages, including preferred treatment when travelling. After all, their time was too valuable to have them wait in queues.
Kaliyo looked flirtatiously at the inspector as she passed, grinning boldly. The Imperial's face darkened a little, but he didn't let himself be disturbed.
"So come on, agent." Unfortunately, customs had not confiscated Kaliyo's loose mouth, and the Rattataki shamelessly took advantage of this. "you going to welcome me to the Imperial homeworld?"
It wasn't the first time Aslan didn't know whether she was teasing or just making fun of him. And he didn't have the nerve to think about it.
"Welcome to Dromund Kaas, Kaliyo," he replied dryly.
"So glad you said it... I was starting to feel like I wouldn't fit in."
Aslan's look would not have been difficult to put into words, but instead he remarked
"I'm surprised you've never been here before."
"I avoid Imperial space. I wanna die in a cantina fight, not ticking off some bureaucrat. I'm rather surprised this is your first visit, too."
"That's true. I was supposed to come here after I finished my training on Alderaan, but Hutta got in the way."
"Well, when duty calls...
"I see you understand me. Speaking of duty, we should get going. The Keeper is waiting for us at Dromund Kaas Citadel."
"No sightseeing tour or window shopping? How I don't envy you... well, I bet the citadel won't be hard to find."
"Probably. And try to behave yourself. We have a job to do and we can live without unpleasant incidents!"
"Don't worry, my charm brought me to the heart of the Empire. Let's not keep poor Keeper waiting."
