Elis sat in the cockpit of the Midsummer Comet trying not to stare into the dark abyss that felt like it could pull him into nothingness at any moment, distracting himself by guessing what the different switches on the control panel were expected to do. Brin and Kai hadn’t been gone for very long, surely there was no reason to panic regardless of how long Elis felt like it had been. He was safe on the ship like they had agreed. If one thought about it, he was doing a fine job with his assigned task of sitting in a corner doing nothing. The only problem with this particular corner was that you couldn’t quite see if someone were to, let’s say, sneak up on you and bash you in the head. There had to be a better corner.

   Leaving the cockpit, Elis made his way towards the door connecting the Comet to the Scarlet Eclipse cruiser. If he positioned himself right at the corner edge of the corridor that led to the door, that would most definitely offer a better vantage point to warn of any approaching danger. Ultimately, it meant that he was safer being closer to the potential danger, in a sort of be close to your friends but closer to your enemies sort of situation, he supposed, although he had never quite grasped why someone would want to be close to their enemies.

   Elis scarcely had time to settle into his newly found spot when the dreaded sound of alarms made its way through the connecting doors.

 

   Brin had steadily been going through his bag of detonite charges, concealing them next to apparent fuel lines or cooling pipes. He had made his way around the ship relatively smoothly with a mix of stealth and impersonation, sometimes having to noticeably pass a group of mercenaries at a slow pace and nonchalant demeanour as though he absolutely belonged there and knew perfectly well where he was going. Brin was just about to place another charge when alarms sounded throughout the ship.

  “Damn it,” Brin had time to mutter, quickly followed by the fierce shouts and stomping of boots firmly hitting the floor from the mercenaries hurriedly approaching his location. He ran in the opposite direction, all attempts at going unnoticed cast aside. He had to get back to the Comet and set off those bombs before they were inactivated or this little operation would have been for nothing. Making his way through the ship on alert was remarkably easier than on his way in, a quick shout of “I’ll check this way” doing a satisfying job at convincing the mercenaries he came across that he was one of them. Brin was making good way towards the airlock docking hatch when he heard blaster shots coming from dead ahead. He bolted towards the sound, worried that the mercenaries had breached the door to the Comet or worse, that Kai would decide to get out while she still could and leave him for dead.

   Brin reached the ship’s entrance not a moment too soon to find Kai fending off a group of mercenaries that were almost through the door. Quick on his feet, Brin took a grenade from his belt and pulled the pin.

   “Get back!” Brin yelled at Kai as he threw the grenade towards the group.

   He just had the time to see Kai lunge inside the ship as he scampered behind a corner wall, placing his hands over his ears. A large blast erupted that was shortly followed by screams as the mercenaries were knocked back, signalling that his path was clear. Brin sprinted from behind cover towards the door. Right after he made it through, a grenade rolled to his feet from inside the Comet, accompanied by a desperate sounding shout.

   “Look out!” Elis yelled.

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   Elis hadn’t had to wait long with only the alarms and his utter dread as company. Kai had rapidly made her way back, opening the airlock to the Comet to let in a fury of blaster shots that sped past her as she jumped behind a large metal case in the ship’s corridor for cover. Kai started returning fire as best she could but she was clearly outnumbered. Elis watched the action unfold as though it was happening far away, like he had been transported into another nightmare. Suddenly, a blaster shot ventured further inside the ship to hit the wall right above him, making Elis jolt and scurry backwards, breathing hard, eyes wide. The alarms and blaster shots were blaring in his ears as if he was just starting to hear them. Shaking, he dared a peak behind the corner. It looked as though the mercenaries were getting closer. If they got past Kai, that meant that they would soon be getting to him too.

   Elis’ mind was submerged with images of the falling debris and crushed bodies that had surrounded him only days ago on Coruscant. He started to sweat, his throat tightening to the extent that it was becoming hard to breath. He had to do something, anything, or this would be the end. He placed a quivering hand on his chest, hoping it would somehow help relieve the tension and let in more air into his lungs, when he felt the strap of the small messenger bag he was carrying.

   Elis abruptly remembered the blaster that Vee had given him and that he had placed inside the bag, which incidentally had also been provided by the Duros who hadn’t trusted that he would’t hurt himself with a holster. His hands were trembling to such an extent that he had trouble opening the bag. Another blaster shot hit the wall above him, making Elis jump and nearly drop the bag. He reached in for the blaster but instead grabbed something almost round, something he had added to his stash that morning and had utterly forgotten about. Elis lifted the plasma grenade up towards his face, breathing increasingly quickly. The relentless blaster sounds were inexplicably replaced by a sharp explosion that made the wall he was hiding behind tremble. The mercenaries were going to get in at any moment. He knew he had to do something. As quickly as he could before he had the chance to change his mind, Elis pulled the pin and threw the grenade as hard as he could at the open door, yelling a warning at Kai.

 

   Kai could only watch as the grenade made its way across the floor past her to Brin’s feet, lying to rest while still inside the Comet. Too far for her to reach, she just had the time to wonder if Elis had been serious about wanting to blow a hole in her ship when Brin grabbed the grenade and threw it backward towards the cruiser as fast as he could. The grenade exploded in the air, hardly giving Brin the time to turn around to shelter himself from the blast, sending him flying forward to crash land against the closest wall.

   Kai had evaded most of the blast by ducking back behind cover. She got up and threw herself at the airlock connecting the two ships, closing it. They had to move before their hosts forced their way through, which she guessed would’t take long. She ran past Brin and Elis, tightly holding on to the small black case she had been keeping close, not taking the time to see if Brin was alright or to give Elis the scolding of a lifetime, debatably both equally important.

   Kai reached the cockpit and quickly placed the small black case into the hatch in the corner. Jumping into the pilot’s seat and disconnecting the Comet from the docking ring, she started manoeuvring them away. Kai was soon nearly thrown out of her chair by what she guessed were the cruiser’s laser cannons. The Revelatory had started firing at them. She launched into evasive manoeuvres, hoping that the direct hit they had just suffered hadn’t done too much damage to the Comet’s shields. Trying to avoid the shots from the cannons meant that it was taking her longer to make her way towards the surface but she was almost out of range according to the blast radius Brin had indicated.

   “Right about now would be a good time to detonate those bombs,” she yelled back towards the corridor, hoping that Brin would be able enough to finish the job.

   “You don’t have to tell me twice,” he said from behind her, flipping the safety of the detonator and squeezing the button hard.

   Almost instantly, the firing stopped. Several small blasts could be seen going off on the Scarlet Eclipse cruiser.

   Kai and Brin both let out a cry of joy, turning towards each other and each raising a hand to slap them together in a victorious high-five.

   “Let’s get out of here,” Kai said with an equal amount of delight and relief, her heart still pounding like it had never before.

 

   Kai landed the Midsummer Comet safely back on the ground and Brin made the call to Vee.

   “Mission accomplished,” Brin said.

   “Roger that. The cruiser was seen leaving the system, good job. Make your way back when you’re ready,” Vee answered through Brin’s coms device and disconnected.

Silence fell in the cockpit as Kai took a moment to settle back into reality after what had felt like something out of an old story she enjoyed hearing about so much from explorers and veterans back on Coruscant.

   “Nice going with the alarms,” Kai accused once she had gathered herself.

   “That wasn’t me!” Brin exclaimed, a hand on his chest as though to emphasise his innocence.

   “Then I guess we have the commotion from the ground team to thank,” Kai concluded.

   “Well whatever it was, I was deep inside the cruiser when those alarms went off. I have to admit that I was a bit worried you would take off without me,” Brin said, surprising Kai with what sounded like a small piece of sincerity.

   “Maybe I considered it,” Kai answered with a hint of a tease, not fully knowing if she would have left Brin on the cruiser had the situation gotten worse. She hoped not, decently confident that she would have found a creative way of fending off the attackers. Perhaps time would help her find out the answer.

   “Can’t blame you for watching your own back,” Brin said, bringing Kai out of her thoughts. The Brin she had come to know was back.

   “Are you alright?” Kai asked Brin in response, having just realised that blood was trickling down the right side of his face and that he was covered in soot from the blast.    “You have a little something there,” she said, pointing towards his bleeding forehead.

   “I hit my head after that grenade blast but otherwise I’m fine,” Brin assured, whipping an arm across his face to remove some of the blood.

   “Alright then,” Kai said with a nod. “Let’s go get paid.”

Kai and Brin found Elis sitting in the kitchen. Now that they were all back safely on the ground, there wasn’t much to discuss.

   “Please don’t actually blow a hole in my ship,” Kai said to Elis who was looking at her with defeated eyes. “Come on,” she added, gesturing for him to join them.

Elis got up and walked up to Brin. “Sorry about the, you know,” Elis said vaguely gesturing towards Brin’s overall demeanour to which he got no response.

 

The three associates arrived at Vee’s house to be greeted by a true feast; the large dining table was covered in different dishes and drinks, and a group of humans and different beings were crowding around it, enjoying the day’s well earned rewards.

   “You did it,” Vee exclaimed as she gave a napkin to Brin, waving in the direction of his face. “I knew you could do it. You were always good for this kind of work.”

Brin grabbed the napkin and started wiping more of the blood and grit off. “It’s always a pleasure doing business with you,” he responded with a side smile.

   “And look at that,” Vee said to Elis. “You’re alive.”

   “Yes, I suppose I am, aren’t I?” Elis relied with what Kai could only describe as a blend of sarcasm and exhaustion.

   The festivities were a delightful respite from the previous couple of days and Kai took some time to test a number of culinary delights. She decided that her favourite was the eggplant mezze, with a strongly agreeable association of garlic, lemon and tahini, the latter an ingredient she had started to notice was particularly popular on Jakku. She enjoyed another bite and resolved that it was time for her to conclude her business on this planet. She made her way through the crowd towards Vee who was more than happy to give her both her share of the payment as well as 60 percent of both Brin and Elis’ as Kai had informed her had been agreed when they had arrived, with solemn nods from the two men in confirmation.

   “Keep that up and you’ll be buying yourself another ship before you know it,” Vee told Kai as she handed her the credits. “You’ve got what it takes, I can tell,” she added, nodding insistently as though conveying a universal truth, revealing a hint of tipsiness as she swirled around, going back to entertaining her guests.

Kai then found Brin who was enthusiastically relating his adventure on the Revelatory to a captivated small group, probably not for the first time already.

   “Hold on, one moment,” Brin said to his audience when he saw Kai approaching and went to meet her. “Did you get your fair share?” He asked, glancing at the small metal case she was carrying. In Brin’s honor, his question didn’t hold a hint of hostility or grudge.

   “I did indeed,” Kai confirmed. “It’s been…” Kai started, unable to find the right way to describe everything they’d been through in the last few days.

   “An adventure,” Brin finished, extending his hand. “I trust yours comes to a satisfying resolution.”

   Kai extended her hand in turn and shook his firmly with a reserved smile.

   “Give my best to the ardennian,” Brin added as he let go of Kai’s hand. “Don’t get into too much trouble.”

  Kai gave a small wave to Brin as she made her way back through the crowd with a frown. Did Brin suspect that she had been on a double assignment? She could only hope that he didn’t know too much and feel grateful that he seemed to be letting her off easy. She found Elis hovering over the table as if trying to decide what to be gloomy about next.

   “Take care of yourself,” Kai said to Elis when she reached him.

   “That’s become my sole task, it would seem,” Elis responded. “I’ll do my best to at least become better at it.”

   Kai had to smile at that. At least he was trying. She found herself hoping that Elis would be alright, despite whatever he had gotten himself into.

 

   Kai left the festivities behind with a surprisingly heavy heart and made her way back to the Comet. She was undoubtedly glad to be rid of Brin’s scamming and Elis’ protesting, and to almost be off Jakku, but would it be terrible if she admitted that what she’d just experienced had been one of the most exciting times of her life? In any case, it was time she upheld her end of the bargain with Aine and went back to Coruscant where she belonged. Regardless of whether she had picked the right case on the cruiser or not, there wasn't much she could do about it now.

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