Maul was seated in the pilot’s chair fiercely punching in coordinates. He had traced the whereabouts of the stolen escape pod. His Force was weaker than he’d first suspected and knew he wouldn’t be able to contact Dirae through their mindlink. This saddened him to the point of frustration; a day didn’t pass without his hearing her thoughts in his mind. It would be awhile before his Force was back to the way it was.
The coordinates set, Maul pushed the ship into lightspeed and raced in the direction the pod had taken.
* * *
“We’ll have to land,” Damek told Dirae, who was curled up in the corner of the pod. “The pod’s engine is failing. There’s a planet down there, uncharted but I can handle anything. And if you die it’s no matter to me. I’ll just keep something of yours to get my credits from the family wh hired me. They don’t need to see your body.” He smiled evilly and shifted the pod towards the planet.
Dirae tried her mindlink again. “Khameir! Help! He’s taking me to this unknown planet! I could die!”
Maul jerked abruptly. He heard Diare! Frantically, he responded: “Dirae! I’m coming, hold on as long as you can. Even if you don’t live..I’ll take Damek out for you. E laa yo, Diare..”
Diare’s eyes filled with tears. “E laa yo, Khameir,” she thought back then severed the connection lest Damek sensed something. The planet’s surface began clearer as the pod neared it. Dirae gazed out the circular window and noted that the place resembled a swampland. Tall gangly trees stretched their thin limbs out to snag on the pod as it breezed by them. Flying creatures shrieked their protests at the invading machine and avoided it skillfully. What was this place? she wondered. Damek brought the pod to a halt and opened the hatch. Damp humid air rushed into the pod’s interior, followed by the stench of the swamp. Dirae wrinkled her nose against the smell and plodded out after Damek. Their footsteps created squishy sounds in the damp earth below them as they trudged along the ground.
They walked in silence. Damek cursed lightly when a twig snagged one of his larger horns, causing him to whip his head away fiercely. Dirae, for once, thanked her small height and easily avoided the branches. She took perverse pleasure in seeing the tall bounty hunter plagued by annoyances.
“There,” Damek said, pointing towards a clearing the swamps. “We’ll settle there until morning. Then I’ll have you fix the pod and we can return to Iridonia as planned.” Dirae scowled his way.
“Fix it yourself!” she retorted. Damek lowered his hand, clenched it into a loose fist, and turned towards her.
“You are the prisoner and you do as I order,” he explained slowly. “If I say you are to fix the ship, you fix the ship.” A wad of saliva splattering against his cheek was hs answer. His patience snapped as he ruthlessly grabbed Diare by the throat and held her there. “I will not tolerate this!” he roared, shaking her as he did so. Diare glared him down but didn’t speak. Her hatred flowed freely from her mind and threatened to envelope them both.
“If you kill me, Maul will see that you die a slow agonizing death, bounty hunter,” she hissed quietly. “A very, very slow and agonizing death.” Damek threw her to the ground.
“Your Sith Lord cannot help you now! He couldn’t harm me if his life depended on it!” Damek spat viciously. “I beat him before and I shall again if he dares challenge me!” Diare didn’t move from her place in the mud. Her eyes met with Damek’s in a battle of wills. She had undying faith in Maul and knew he’d have tracked them down by now. It had been Diare’s suggestion to have a tracer on every single escape pod on the ship. She only hoped the pod’s malfunctions hadn’t shorted the tracer out.
* * *
Maul banged on the control panel fiercely. The tracer signal from the pod had vanished. Obviously, something had gone terribly wrong with the pod and the signal wouldn’t resume until after the corrections had been made. He growled impatiently and slammed his fist down onto the panel once more. It could be days before they realized the malfunction.
Maul growled in frustration, angered by the fact he could do nothing at this point. Dirae was in danger and in the hands of the most powerful Zabrakian known to the galaxy. Maul himself had underestimated Damek’s powers and had gotten badly beaten because of it. Next time he had to enforce a little more of the famed patience Sidious had instilled in him during his training. Unfortunately, when it came to Dirae all of his former lessons seemed to dissapate and he was no more than an animal bent on killing his opponent.
He sighed and got up to return to the large quarters they shared. He had set the ship on orbit around a small moon. There was nothing more to do except wait for the signal to return. Maul laid back on the bed, hands crossed behind his horned head, and stared up at the metal ceiling. Waiting was something he didn’t enjoy one bit. He knew he had no choice except to just sit idly by and wait for everything to resume.
“I hate waiting, “ he muttered to himself sulkily.
* * *
Back on the swamp planet, Dirae snuck away from the snoozing bounty hunter to inspect the ship’s controls. The pod’s panel appeared normal on the outside but when she opened it she gasped. The tracer wires had been cut! She snarled and threw the panel’s lid to the floor of the pod. It clattered for a few moments before settling.
“That bastard must’ve seen the tracer while he was adjusting the pod’s course!” she whispered to herself angrily. Her last resort was to send Maul a dream message telling him how to find them. She breathed evenly to calm herself down and perched on the nearest chair. Her mind cleared as she searched for Maul’s Force with her own.
Back on Seduction V, Maul’s closed eyelids twitched as Diare’s message began it’s transferral. He saw her image wave in his mind’s eye, her green eyes wide with fear even as they glistened with her dark love for him. Her mouth opened and she began speaking.
“Mi laa, Damek has landed the pod on a swamp planet. He’ll be taking me back to Iridonia for trial. Go there and get the upper hand. I won’t let them kill me until you come for me. I’ll use my Force to keep my body alive as long as possible if they decide to slaughter me after the trials. “
Maul’s own wavering image formed beside her and he impulsively pulled her into his arms. Diare’s image started briefly at his sudden show of emotion and responded. He bowed his head against her shoulder and replied,
”I will kill him before he allows you to die, Dirae. You have to come back.” The impassioned plea touched Diare’s heart and she held onto his strong form tighter. How she had missed his touch, the feel of his muscled arms around her body. She kissed his head softly, allowing her lips to linger there for a moment before speaking again.
”Just go to Iridonia, mi laa. I have faith in you and your powers. I know together we’ll send Damek to a most fitting hell.” Reluctantly, Diare’s vision parted from Maul’s and vanished, mouthing the words “E laa yo.”.
* * *
Maul’s eyes opened sharply and he was met with the familiar expanse of the quarter’s ceiling. The feel of Diare’s lips on his head remained for many moments afterward. He touched the spot delicately and suddenly curled up on his side, silent sobs wracking his body. Damek would die for this!, he vowed to himself, his teeth clenched against themselves as choked sounds escaped his throat. He would die!