Galaxy's Edge

by Delilah S. Dawson

  Gol’s shoulders tensed, and he turned to face her, his features twisted with disgust and rage. It was a look she’d seen a hundred times on dozens of planets: the loathing of someone who’s accustomed to being in charge momentarily realizing that they’re not calling the shots.

  “Oh, and what? You’re going to beat me? Oga Garra will hear about this.”

  “You say that like I care.”

  He snorted and looked like he would’ve spit on the floor if he weren’t surrounded by his own goods. “You’re not going to hurt me. I know all about you—I can see right through your pathetic disguise. Rebel trash. People in the market talk, you know. Some of us think it would be better if the First Order got rid of you.”

  Vi sighed deeply and rolled her eyes. “It’s so funny how you keep lecturing me as if you can’t even comprehend not being the one with the power,” she said. “As if I couldn’t beat the actual crap out of you in a fight. And, yes, I’m well aware that some of you would rather kiss the First Order’s tight, black-clad behind than stand up for your way of life, but that hasn’t stopped me from doing what’s right so far. So my next question is for Kriki: How would you like to work for someone who treats you like a person?”

  The Chadra-Fan lowered her arms, her mouth open in shock. “Work for you? Doing what?”

  “Duties are negotiable. I can promise room, board, and the chance to do good work for a boss who believes in you and an organization that’s fighting against guys like this. And no one will ever talk down to you or strike you, or they’ll answer to me.”

  Kriki looked from Gol to Vi, eyes darting back and forth as she thought about it.

  “How dare you even consider—” Gol began.

  “I accept.” Kriki scurried over to Gol’s table and slung a crocheted bag over her shoulder. “And I’ll take my back pay now, please, Mr. Gol.”

  Vi tapped her baton on a nearby droid casing. “If you owe her, you’d better make good.”

  She was a second from pulling her blaster and shooting the ground at his feet to get him moving when he lumbered over to the table and tossed some spira on the old wood.

  “You won’t get a good reference from me,” he warned.

  “As if you ever would’ve given me a good reference anyway,” Kriki said. Her earlier crouch and timidity were gone, replaced by a jaunty step and broad grin.

  “You’re going to regret this. Both of you.” Gol pointed to Kriki. “You, because I treated you well and you’re going to find out that the rest of the world is cruel. And you.” He pointed at Vi. “Because I’m going to tell everyone I know that you’re bad for Black Spire. I can’t wait to see what that First Order officer will pay me for this intel.”

  “I’d be doing the galaxy a favor if I shot you,” Vi said, slamming her tactical baton back in its holster and showing him her blaster. “But that’s not how good people operate. I help the Resistance because freedom matters to me, even when it’s freedom to let slimy little mynocks like you spread their hate. C’mon, Kriki. If you’re ready?”

  Kriki nodded. “Ready for anything!”

  Vi gave Gol one last nod. “Till the spire,” she said, mentally adding, falls on you, crushing all your bones to mush. She turned her back on him and walked away, and Kriki followed her.

  “We should probably run,” the Chadra-Fan said apologetically. “He’ll make good on that promise. If he doesn’t have a comm channel open for the First Order already—”

  Proving her point, Gol screamed, “Oi, First Order! Here’s that Resistance spy you’re looking for!”

  AT LEAST KRIKI WASN’T THE SORT to say I told you so. She just murmured, “Follow me!” and darted down an alley. Vi pulled her wrap more firmly over her face and followed. They were soon out of sight of Gol’s shop, but she could still hear his shouting. Kriki seemed to know the small spaces around the market well, and she led Vi through shops, out back doors, past garbage yards, and even through a private home with a lovely courtyard with its own sparkling blue fountain and an angry Toydarian who shook her fist and shouted, “Hey! Get out of here, you!”

  Vi realized she had no idea where they were, as she’d only seen the fronts of the businesses so far and had never ventured into the less public spaces of the outpost. If it turned out that Kriki was less than scrupulous or fell more in line with her ex-boss’s morals, Vi knew the Chadra-Fan could’ve easily led her directly to the First Order for a tidy reward. And yet she knew in her heart of hearts that Kriki was a good person—she’d felt it, the moment she’d met her. So she kept following and didn’t ask any questions, just ducked or froze or ran, as she was directed.

  Finally, Kriki stopped in a shadowy spot under a balcony, hidden by a rug vendor’s hanging wares.

  “We’re out of range and safe here,” Kriki said. “But I guess I should’ve asked: Where are we going?”

  Vi pulled up her goggles and recalled her original mental tally of errands. “Well, I guess we won’t be shopping for long-range comm equipment tonight, so that’s off the list. If circumstances were better, I’d pick up another one of these shawls from Arta in a different color, plus enough food to feed you, me, and two hungry human men. And I’d hoped for some nice-smelling soap and a brush. But I imagine Gol brought the stormtroopers running, so I can’t be seen here tonight. Guess I’ll have to stink and let my wig get tangled.”

  Kriki grinned and puffed out her chest. “I can do all that. Probably get better prices than you, too. Anything I need to know about food preferences, boss?”

  Vi fluffed her bangs, which were suffering under the goggles and making her forehead sweat. The afternoon had quickly gone off the rails, and now she inexplicably had an employee despite the fact that she barely had enough money to keep Archex and Dolin fed. At least she hadn’t promised Kriki pay. No one in the Resistance got paid—at least not in credits. How much did Chadra-Fan eat anyway? It couldn’t be more than the boys did.

  Vi held out a handful of spira and smiled. “No real preferences, although we’re all pretty big on meat, so I wouldn’t go in for too much Ithorian Garden Loaf. Just remember that I’m cut off from the Resistance just now, and I’m short on credits, so everything we do…”

  “Has to be frugal. I’m great at frugal. I’m the frugalest!” With a wink, Kriki shimmied up a wooden post and disappeared.

  It was a longer wait than Vi would’ve liked, and more than once she wondered if she’d guessed wrong about Kriki and her new employee had taken her hard-won spira and split. A spy’s job was to see through masks and disguises, but she hadn’t had much experience with Chadra-Fan and didn’t know how to read their expressions. What would Ylena say about Kriki? she wondered. Did Kriki have that “gleam” Ylena had mentioned? She didn’t even know if her new recruit was any good with tech. She’d said she was fixing up a comm unit for Gol, but maybe she meant she was polishing it or scraping old gunk out of the keyboard.

  Amazing, how doubt could creep in if a person was left alone in a dark place for long enough. Vi decided that if Kriki didn’t come back—or worse, betrayed her—she would just sell all her cargo and use the credits to buy passage for Archex, Pook, and herself back to a busy Mid Rim world where she could contact Leia and apologize before disappearing in a cloud of shame. Somehow, having her trust demolished like that would be the straw that broke the ronto’s back. She could keep pushing here despite the impossible odds as long as she had people she trusted, people she could believe in who also believed in her, but she was almost looking for a sign that she should give up on Black Spire and move on. Everything had gone wrong.

  And, yes, the First Order showing up could’ve been that sign—for someone else, maybe. But to Vi, that was just a reminder of why she had to keep going.

  A soft thump drew Vi’s thoughts back to the present, and her hand went immediately to her blaster.

  “I think you’re going to be pleased,” Kri
ki said with a little trill in her voice. “All the vendors are glad to get rid of the ugly and bruised fruit and veg this late at night, and Arta had just priced some resell tunics. I think the green will really bring out your eyes. The soap is made with hand-grown Batuuan jasmine and the vibrobrush should be perfect for your wig.” Kriki put a rough, heavy sack into Vi’s hands. “Oh, and your change is in there, too.”

  It was so dark now that Vi couldn’t see well, but she figured that whatever Kriki had brought, it would do. Just knowing that she would smell better tomorrow immeasurably improved her mood. “Green works,” she said. “All that works. Thank you! Now, can you get us out to the ancient ruins without being seen?”

  “The ruins? You mean the old post? I’ve heard tales that it’s haunted.”

  Vi nodded, pleased. “Good. Let’s hope those tales are still making the rounds. They’re not haunted, they’re just booby-trapped, and we’re working on that part.”

  Again she followed Kriki through the dark, clinging to the shadows around buildings and darting around hanging laundry and crumbling walls. Kriki knew a way out of the outpost besides the main gateway, and Vi would have to remember this route in the daytime. They didn’t see Kath or any of his stormtroopers, and no one they passed seemed to even register their existence. The moons were fat and full, and it was easy enough to see as Kriki navigated the forest on the way to Savi’s Path, stopping every now and then to check her route, ears and nostrils twitching.

  They arrived at the cenote without incident. There was no fire outside, and at first Vi was alarmed, thinking that the men might’ve come to harm in the caves. But then she heard the metallic thunk of Pook’s feet, followed by the heavy crash of stone hitting the ground.

  “I have had it with stalactites and stalagmites,” the droid said. “Honestly. How many colloid deposits does one extensive underground cavern system need?”

  “Hey, Pook!” Vi called.

  His flat black face swiveled to face her. “Oh. It’s you.”

  “Rising moons to you, too. Where are Archex and Dolin?”

  “Archex is within, building a fire in a natural chimney in one of the caverns. Dolin returned home to fetch bedding. Apparently humans do not enjoy sleeping on shelves of solid rock. Is that a Chadra-Fan?”

  “Yes. This is Kriki. She’s one of us now.”

  “One of us?” Kriki asked, her ears flattening a little with worry.

  Vi winced. “Oh. Maybe I didn’t make that part clear. We’re with the Resistance. I’m recruiting for the cause, and we’re building our Batuu headquarters here. That’s what I was offering you. Not so much a job as a…calling. I’m sorry if I misled you.”

  Kriki was frozen, ears and nose twitching furiously. Vi recognized this as a sign that the Chadra-Fan was thinking hard, so she bumbled on, feeling like she might’ve royally mucked up again.

  “You’re certainly free to return to the outpost, if you’d prefer. And if so, I apologize for destroying your relationship with your former boss. I just can’t stand a bully, and—”

  “Okay.”

  “Okay?”

  “I mean, as long as you meant what you said about room and board. Oga charged too much for her apartments, and my room was barely a closet, and the neighbors were awfully loud.” She turned this way and that, eyes blinking bright. “I like it out here. It’s quiet.”

  “It won’t be quiet once the fleet starts using it as a waypoint,” Vi warned. “Ships coming and going, the pound of boots, dozens of people talking at once during meetings.”

  Kriki looked down. “You said no one would hit me or yell at me. You were kind to me. That’s not something I’ve seen much since leaving Chad. I wanted adventure, but no one seems to take me seriously.”

  “It is probably because you are diminutive and furry, and you have a high voice,” Pook observed. “These traits combine to trick the human mind into thinking you are a child or a pet because humans are of lesser intellect.”

  “I mean, rude!” Kriki squeaked. “The part about me, I mean.”

  Vi shot the droid a dirty look. “Okay, so maybe that’s all a little true. But I take you seriously, Kriki, and the Resistance will take you seriously. Everyone has something valuable to contribute in the fight against the First Order.”

  Kriki looked down and fidgeted with the main bead on her necklace, a rough gray rock. “And…well, I don’t like to talk about it, but my sister Reelka was on Hosnian Prime when it…when…” She hiccuped a sob and turned away.

  “I’m so sorry,” Vi said gently. “I had friends there, too. Once you’ve seen the damage the First Order can do, it’s hard to go back to normal life, knowing that you could always be a heartbeat away from another tragedy. The Resistance has become my family, and I hope it’ll feel that way for you, too.”

  She had more to say on the topic, but her stomach grumbled loudly, and Kriki turned back around, wiped her eyes, and giggled.

  Vi did, too. “Enough speeches. Let’s go eat. I’m beat.”

  Pook led them into the ruins, under the overhang and along the same route through the caves that Vi had taken when she’d come here to find Oga’s artifact, and Vi wasn’t a bit ashamed that she flinched when they entered the first chamber.

  “Dolin and Archex have removed every trap,” Pook said. “With a great deal of my help, I might add. Hence the dents in my chassis and the large pile of unnecessary stones outside.”

  She was pleased to see that a string of lights had been added to the cavern hallway, and as Pook stumped ahead, she likewise approved of the way their cargo had already been distributed among the various rooms in a logical manner. Pook had even used their vibrosaw to cut passages between some of the rooms, giving them more routes in and out so they wouldn’t feel trapped. She’d hoped to bring home a long-range comm, or at least secure one that Pook could retrieve later, but she was beginning to think that having Kriki around was going to be more useful than anticipated—maybe even better than a long-range comm. Finally, they had someone on their team who could navigate the outpost and get good deals, not to mention someone that other people consistently underestimated. What’s more, Vi just liked her plucky attitude.

  “So this is the old outpost,” the Chadra-Fan said in awe. “I’ve been in BSO for five years and heard so many stories about this place. Looks like they were all wrong, unless I somehow missed the vengeful ghosts.”

  “Ghosts do not exist,” Pook said. “And don’t get me started on the Force. Ridiculous tomfoolery.”

  “Oh, Ylena’s gonna love you,” Vi murmured.

  Pook stopped in front of the next open doorway, and there was Archex, feeding twigs to a fire in a wide fireplace carved from the stone in the room that had once held the screaming maggots. It smelled noticeably better without them and their foul bin of rotten soil. Archex looked up and did a double take when he saw Kriki.

  “Kriki, this is Archex. Archex, this is Kriki.”

  Kriki bobbed her head. “Rising moons, Archex!”

  Archex flicked his eyes at Vi in question. “You too.”

  “Kriki is joining us,” Vi said.

  Archex looked like he wanted to know more details—of course he did. He was accustomed to being a leader, and even way out here on the edge of the galaxy, he would be thinking about building and leading teams. Fortunately, just then they heard the roar of Dolin’s crankbike, and soon they were all helping him carry heavy sacks of wool into the big chamber that had the rudimentary bunks hacked out of the walls.

  “It’s not much, and it’s not been felted,” he apologized. “But I reckon gruffin wool is softer than stone. Grana didn’t want to let me leave again, I can tell you that much!” He blushed a little and looked away. “Said you were a devil woman, seducing me away.” He brightened. “But I brought some eggs and jerky, so there’s that.” He spotted Kriki, and his jaw dropped. “What�
�s that?”

  Kriki bristled, her fur puffing up and her teeth bared. “What’s that? Did you mean who’s that? I’m a who, not a what!”

  Dolin’s eyes flew wide, and he blushed an even brighter red. “Oh, by the spires. I’m so sorry! I’ve never met a person like you.”

  “You’ve never seen a Chadra-Fan before?”

  He looked down. “I’ve never met anyone who wasn’t human. Never saw the outpost until today—and just a bit of it, I swear! The matriarchs of our settlement tell us that even the Surabat vicinity is too modern. Grana said it was dangerous, outside the valley.”

  The idea of an insular community that shunned tech and the greater galaxy was fascinating, but Vi was putting the pieces together and had questions. “If you haven’t been to town before today, and you can’t go to the filling station, then how do you get fuel for your crankbike?”

  He looked at her like she was dim. “Brew it from grain, of course. Our settlement doesn’t need anything from the town. We were here first.” He extended a hand to Kriki, and she slipped her much smaller hand into it and held her own in the handshake. “Nice to meet you. I’m Dolin. Sorry if I’ve offended. I’m still learning.”

  “I’m Kriki. And I suppose it’s okay. Probably best not to call anyone a ‘what’ if they look like they might be sentient, though. There are stranger beings than me in the galaxy.”

  “Yeah, just wait until the Resistance stops by and you meet Fossil,” Vi said. “She’s a Martigrade, and…well…I think you’re going to be surprised.”

  For a moment, the four of them just stood there, until Pook said, “Well, my programming suggests that this is sufficiently awkward. Give me a job to perform, I beg you.”

  Vi looked around the room, which was very familiar, as it resembled Oga’s lair behind the cantina, with the same sort of stone cut into the same sorts of shapes. She wondered what the ancients had been like, if they’d been human or a species that did best underground. Perhaps as they explored further into the ruins, they’d find clues. But for now, it was nighttime, she was hungry and exhausted, and she had to keep reminding herself that for the first time, she was the boss in charge of other people and had to think of them first.