Aboard the black wave

"Ah, Master Skywalker," Sarasu Taalon said. He leaned back in his command chair and smiled. It was an elegant, if predatory smile, for Taalon's pale purple face was ideally proportioned. His features were sharp but strong, epitomizing masculine beauty. The tone of his skin was considered particularly attractive among the Keshiri and humans as well, even, with no unsightly irregular pigmentation. His strong hands, fingers steepled in front of him at the moment, showed calluses from years of using weapons, but had no disfiguring marks such as scars or misshapen fingers, which indicated that from a young age he usually won what sparring he engaged in. He kept his dark purple hair short, a departure from current fashion, but one he found convenient. Taalon's eyes were large, expressive, and missed nothing as he gazed at the small holographic image of Grand Master Luke Skywalker, the hated enemy with whom he was currently allied.

"Any further word from your friend?"

Luke Skywalker smiled back with what was easily discernible as forced courtesy. "Yes, as a matter of fact. He reports that he is on schedule to join us within ten to twelve days."

"Pity he cannot work faster to update this…tug?" Taalon did not sneer; not quite.

"You'll have no reason to regret the delay, I assure you. Lando's Work is excellent. And since you've not navigated the Maw, you don't appreciate quite yet how useful it will be to us."

Taalon gritted his teeth, both at the delay and the utterly unsubtle jibe. He already had reason to regret having to spend more than five minutes in orbit of the planet turning slowly beneath the vessel. Taalon, like most of the Sith Tribe, burned with ambition and chafed at anything that stood in his way. He had no interest in wasting time orbiting a backwater world. Or back sand world, as a cursory glance at the information on Klatooine had revealed. Brown and yellow and ugly.

"Well, then. Let us hope the vessel proves as useful as you say it will," he said, pouring sincerity into the Force to mask his irritation. "I am anxious to take the fight to Abeloth."

"It is my hope that it will not be a fight," said Luke. "Like I said earlier, the goal is not to destroy her, it's to try to understand her and reason with her. Make her understand what she is doing, if possible. She's an alarming being, that much is certain, but I'll need more time to assess the situation before I'm willing to fight her."

Taalon deftly covered his annoyance and forced himself to smile in an indulgent manner, stretching his lips thinly across even white teeth. "Of course, but remember, she is damaging our younglings. She must release them."

"Of course," Luke said, "but killing a sentient being should always be a last resort. Also, her death might mean our young Jedi and your apprentices would never be released. We have far too little information on her nature to know exactly what is going on."

"You raise a good point," Taalon agreed. "Is there anything further?" Taalon intensely disliked Luke Skywalker. He itched to blast the Jedi with Force lightning, to choke him, to cleave him in two with his lightsaber. With a little luck, and the blessings of the dark side, he would have the opportunity to indulge his desire once Abeloth had been forced to cooperate with the Sith. He allowed himself to fantasize briefly about the moment.

"No, nothing more. Will you be visiting the surface?"

"Doubtful," said Taalon. He did not elaborate.

"Me neither. I'm not very fond of sand. Jade Shadow out."

"Captain?" It was Leeha Faal, his second in command, a slender female and fellow Keshiri who stood rigidly at attention. Following her commander's example, she, too, had cut her hair short. Soft bangs, however, fell over her high forehead.

"Yes, what is it?"

"We have been researching Klatooine, and—"

"There cannot possibly be anything remotely interesting in that ball of dirt," Taalon snapped.

"Well, sir…there is one thing you might want to see. With your permission?" She indicated the computer. He regarded her for a moment. This had better be good, otherwise her impertinence would not be overlooked.

"Go ahead, impress me," he said.

She didn't flinch, but her resolution in the Force wavered, just for an instant. Then she leaned over him and tapped in something.

What appeared on the screen was a vision of beauty. It looked like a geyser at the moment of eruption, captured forever in time, each finger of water, each splash, each droplet, frozen so that one could admire its power and grace. Swirling, turning, it was vibrant, creative motion somehow paused, and Taalon's heart leapt. Like all the Sith Tribe, he put a great value on beauty, whether it be in the lines of a being's face, the drape of a handmade garment, or the curve of a shikkar handle.

This moved him to his core.

He had to have it.

"It is…exquisite," breathed Taalon, "Is it a statue?"

Pleased at his response, Leeha smiled. "No, sir. It is a natural formation. It's a type of glass."

He turned his head sharply to look at her, but she was serious. Glass…glass more lovely, more dramatic, than any piece he had ever owned. Ever seen constructed for any building in Tahv.

"How is this possible? What is it?"

"It is called the Fountain of the Hutt Ancients. The planet produces deep in its core a substance called wintrium. Back before recorded time—and that's a long time here, sir, tens of thousands of years—there was some kind of fissure in the planet's crust. The wintrium erupted. There was a chemical change when it came into contact With the air. Rather like water freezing instantly, except it was transformed into glass rather than ice."

If it had been a statue, Taalon mused, he would have abducted the artist on the spot and forced him or her to create a piece of equal or superior beauty for Taalon's private collection. But as it was a natural formation…

"I imagine this Fountain is highly regarded among the Klatooinians?"

"Oh, definitely. It's a sacred object to them. Time is very important to their mind-set and culture," Leeha continued, warming to the subject. Clearly, she'd done a lot of research before bringing the Fountain to her captain's attention. "The wintrium continues to harden through the centuries, becoming stronger instead of more fragile."

Interesting, thought Taalon. A material that grows stronger over time. Weapons…that grow stronger over time…

He pulled thoughtfully on his neatly trimmed goatee, his eyes never leaving the image of the Fountain as Leeha spoke.

"The Klatooinians, too, believe they grow stronger over time. One of the reasons they agreed to become servants of the Hutts twenty-five thousand years ago was because the Hutts promised to always keep the Fountain safe."

He shot her a quick glance. "Hutts? As in the name of the Fountain Hutts?"

"Well, yes, although it was originally just called the Fountain of the Ancients."

"What are Hutts?"

Leeha didn't miss a beat. She leaned over, not bothering to ask his permission a second time—he liked that, it showed initiative and confidence—and called up another image. This was of a large wormlike creature, with a large head, grinning mouth, and two small arm-like appendages. It was most certainly not beautiful.

"Hutts can live to be a thousand years old, which was why when they descended upon Klatooine they were revered as being connected to the mythological ancients. The Hutts are intelligent, self-serving, and manipulative, and they took advantage of the Klatooinian belief that they were akin to gods. They tricked the Klatooinians into signing over their younglings to be sent to work for the Hutts wherever they saw fit. In dangerous mines, as trades people, as soldiers in an army for whatever the Hutts needed, they used the Klatooinians."

Ugly they might be, but Taalon felt a new respect for the giant worm things.

"For how long?"

Leeha smiled openly. "Forever."

"My, my. I think we can learn a thing or two from these Hutts."

"The Tribe is always learning, always improving itself, in preparation for our eventual control of the galaxy," Leeha said, very correctly. Smart girl, Leeha. She'd advance far.

He changed the picture back to the Fountain and regarded it for a long moment.

"Are nonnatives permitted to approach it?"

"Oh yes, sir. It's apparently something of a tourist attraction. There are a few rules, though. Because the Klatooinians look at it as sacred, and frozen in time, they don't want anyone bringing anything technological within a one-kilometer radius. They would find that terribly offensive."

"I see. Frankly, I had not intended that any of us land on the planet's surface while waiting for Master Skywalker's little friend," Taalon said. "However, I find I am feeling a need to visit this exquisite, unique natural phenomenon. I think it will do my soul good to gaze upon its beauty with my own eyes."

Leeha's smile widened, making her lovely Keshiri features even more attractive.

"Oh yes, sir, I think that would be an excellent idea."

Taalon grinned.