Part Two added on 21 Dec 2001
Disclaimers are in part 1.
Rating: NC17
Part Two: The Cleansing.
Some Notes For Part 2:
1: There are some similarities in races with that off the StarTrek Universe. Like the Sassins are kind of like the Klingons, and the Tarpa match the Vulcan pretty well.
2: Neutrino's are uncharged elementary particles that are believed to have very little or no mass at all. They are fictional in my story and stand for the ability for a Mossarian to absorb sunlight as well as any artificial light.
Jaylin looked at the unconscious figure of the Mossarian female lying on a small couch in a corner of the main hall, which was called that because it was in the center of the ship. She was still amazed at the vessel that she owned, although she ended up pulling a lot of strings before finally getting permission to call this her property. Officially it was a battle-ship, unofficially it was her home.
The place she had grown up at had changed over the years, and she no longer recognized it, and no longer visited it. She hadn't seen her parents for years, not since she first joined the Mercenary faction. Which was now about 6 years ago. So much had changed in such a small period of time and sometimes Jaylin wished she could turn back time, and relive her teenage years which had been full of happiness and love. At least until the Mercenary Independency Wars had broken loose.
Sighing Jaylin watched out of a window and looked down at the planet surface getting smaller with the second. She never got tired of watching her ship lift off with such ease, it made her feel proud and yet amazed at the technological aspects of such a simple thing as taking off and flying. Some things looked simple from the outside but were in reality much more complicated then anyone thought.
Like the mystery-woman that was bunking on her couch right now. For some reason Jaylin knew the Mossarian female was probably very beautiful behind the layer of dirt that covered her body.Which was the reason she had called one of the female servants on the ship to prepare a bath.
"Ma'Tok?"
"Yes?"
"The bath is ready as you requested ma'am."
"Good," Jaylin turned her head towards the window again when she realized that her servant wouldn't be able to lift the Mossarian female on her own. "Let me give you a hand with her Nissa, she's heavier then she looks trust me."
Jaylin and Nissa, her servant went back many years, as Jaylin had once saved Nissa from slave-traders. Even though Jaylin was a slavetrader herself she frowned upon people who treated their property bad, which had been the case with Nissa. At first she considered fighting the slave traders, but she realized she only made enemies that way, and she had plenty of those already. So instead they decided on a deal, and Jaylin bought Nissa.
Although Nissa was officially a slave girl, as her parents had died young leaving her with a debt she would never be able to pay, Jaylin considered her as a close friend more so then a servant. Although she and Nissa never really talked about it, Jaylin confided in her servant a lot, even though her other crewmembers frowned upon it and had tried to make it a point of discussion. Jaylin had told them off however, telling them the discussion was closed. The fact that she was their superior effectively took care of any protests that could have been made.
There had been speculations as to the nature of their relation. But even though Jaylin did love Nissa, it was more a sisterly kind of love. And other then that Jaylin really preferred the male gender, although she couldn't recollect when she had last pursued a relation with one. Her one fling with a member of the female gender had resulted into a broken heart and a vow to never have that happen again.
So besides for her crew, which she considered her only and closest family, she was pretty lonely. But she managed to adapt to that situation pretty well over the years, as her work as a mercenary kept her too busy to think over her life. Maybe one day she could settle down, and perhaps find somebody to love her.
Jaylin did live for her job, but secretly she longed for more. Looking at the small in dirt covered woman across the room she realized that others were more limited in their choices of how to lead their lives.
She grabbed the woman once again by the legs as Nissa helped by pulling the Mossarian female up by the arms. Jaylin wondered what would happen after they scraped off all the dirt and gave her a little haircut. She smirked as she realized the latter was really necessary as the female's hair was one long string of blackish hair with all kinds of filth attached to it. They would never be able to get all the knots out or remove the dirt that had practically grown into the female's hair over the years, the only option was to cut off most of the hair, and start the rinsing closer to the woman's scalp.
Walking inside a smaller room, which served as Jaylin's quarters, the scent of Kaspan blossom tickled her nose. She grinned at Nissa as she realized her friend had grabbed the strongest shampoo she could find. It was the only way to wash away the foul smell that permitted the air around the Mossarian female. Jaylin knew it wasn't the woman's fault she stank, but if it wasn't for the Kaspan blossom scent she would probably have thrown up by now.
As Jaylin was about to walk towards the bath she realized that Nissa had stopped dead in her tracks.
"Nissa?"
"Shouldn't we undress her first?"
"I don't see how really," Jaylin replied shaking her head slowly. "I know we can try to cut off those clothes, but I think the best way to get them off is soak them loose first."
"You're right, Ma'Tok," Nissa replied and started moving towards the bath again.
"What do you know about Mossarians Nissa?"
"Not much really, I did meet one, but that was when I was very little," a sad look passed over her face as she spoke the words but it was gone quickly. "He was a traveler who wanted to trade with our village on the Tarpa homeworld. I think I remember he was very kind towards everybody."
"Hmmm," Jaylin said moving the legs of the Mossarian inside the bath slowly.
"Why do you ask, Ma'Tok?"
"Just curious I think. I met a few myself a long time ago. They also have some weird abbilities I always wanted to learn more about," Jaylin said moving the rest of the female inside the hot bath which was partly covered in pinkish foam.
Her quarters were sparsely decorated. In the middle of the room there was the bath, which she cherished a lot, it was much more relaxing then the showers on all the other ships she had served on. Blue and green were the dominating colors, although there were some things that were colored brown, for instance the hard-wooden chairs in a corner of the room. A big globe hanging almost above the bath dominated Jaylin's quarters, and it was the only source of light. There were a few pictures of her family on one wall adjacent to her big king-sized metallic bed, on the other wall there were some medals and papers she had collected throughout the years.
The bathtub, was round and exactly in the middle of the room. Jaylin had spend many evenings and even afternoons just soaking in her bath while reading reports or new orders from her headquarters. She was glad the bath wasn't too deep though, there was no telling what the Mossarian would do when she woke up. Which she did the moment her hands hit the water.
"NIMWA," the female screamed looking around the room frantically. A second later she had hopped out of the bath and run to a corner of the room where she rolled herself to a protecting ball.
Nissa had sprung backwards the moment she had heard the female's yell and her eyes were as big as dishes as she stared at the Mossarian female. "Look at her eyes Ma'Tok," the said pointing, her jaw practically dropping on the floor.
"Damn...that was what I was afraid of," Jaylin responded and walked towards her desk next to the big bed. Grabbing the sponder, a measuring device, she walked back over to where the now half-soaked female was sitting quivering. "No wonder they locked her up in the deepest recesses of that prison," she muttered keying in some commands on the sponder and closing her eyes for a moment. She was just astonished at what the device had just revealed about their yet un-named guest.
"What's wrong?" Nissa asked, as curiosity got the better of her she walked over to Jaylin to get a peak at the sponder herself.
"The level of neutrino absorbtion by her skin is well above average, even for a Mossarian, I can't even begin to explain this," Jaylin answered, closing the device and going to her knees in front of their guest.
"Yes I remember my teacher used to tell tales about the alien races that inhabit this galaxy, the Mossarians are a remarkable species. I think in the case of the Mossarians he told me something like they can absorb light and feed on it."
Jaylin nodded and looked at the Mossarian who had now closed her eyes and was hugging herself tightly. "We really should give her a name."
"Hmm, I don't know about any Mossarian names," Nissa shrugged.
Jaylin studied the woman sitting just inches away from her. "We won't harm you, I promise. You're safe here," she said on a soft soothing tone, although she wasn't sure if the female understood her.
The woman moved her head up a little, and opened her eyes again, which were shining bright yellow. She opened her mouth to speak, but then closed it again, and titled her head slightly. Her eyes watered and soon tears were cascading down her face, but she made no movement to wipe them away.
Jaylin looked at Nissa for help and the servant nodded in response. Without another word Nissa moved her hand towards the terrified Mossarian's forehead and closed her eyes in concentration.
Nissa was a Tarpa, who were known for their telepathic abilities. Although she couldn't read somebody's mind, or influence a person's thinking process, she was able to convey her feelings or her thoughts by putting her hand on another person's head. Likewise she was also able to read some of the person's own thoughts, although such an action was usually strictly forbidden without the person's permission.
For a moment both Nissa and the unknown female froze, their eyes glazing over as their minds seemed to become one, then Nissa removed her hand and fell over backwards. Jaylin was just in time to catch her servant's limp body, realizing that the unnamed female probably had drawn upon some of Nissa's energy, as that was another of the Mossarian abilities. She knew that normally Mossarians would never draw anybody's energy, as they controlled that ability very well, but the female they were dealing with had probably never learned to control that ability.
"Nissa, can you hear me?"
The female looked at the fallen servant's body, her head tilting slightly again. It reminded Jaylin of how a animal approached something unfamiliar. Without a word the female leaned over slightly and put her hand back on Nissa's forehead. The servant woke up a split second later.
Jaylin looked from her servant to the still dirty female and grinned. "Well that was unexpected," she mumbled and moved a few hairs out of Nissa's face. "You okay?"
"Yeah, just give me a few moments to compose myself. Oh and she knows what were saying, but she's afraid to talk, Ma'Tok," Nissa said moving out of Jaylin's grasp and standing up.
"I already said we won't harm her," Jaylin said, but she looked at the female while she spoke. "What are you so afraid of?"
Nissa tilted her own head and looked the Mossarian straight in the eyes, and for a moment their wills were battling. Nissa won, and she stretched out her hand towards the female. Without a word, the female accepted and was hoisted upright by Jaylin's servant.
"She's not ready to talk yet, apparantly. Think about it Jaylin," Nissa said aware that she was using her friend and master's first name. "She's been alone for 8 Cessau years, heck I would be afraid to hear my own voice, it would probably even drive me nuts only having myself for company for so long."
Jaylin nodded although she was still surprised at the way Nissa was handling their guest. "You seem to go at this pretty well. I think I will leave you two alone for the moment, just tell me when you're done washing her. There's still questions that need to be answered."
Nissa nodded. She was well aware that Jaylin was kind of embarrassed at the situation, because she had no idea how to handle it. Nissa herself had met other slaves when she was captured, and learned how she could win somebody's trust. Even though her slave-days were black pages in her book, she knew that the experience from her past proved useful right now.
Without another word, Jaylin left her quarters and went to the bridge of her vessel. Her team had captured 23 slaves, and the other ship that had accompanied her to Cessau II had captured another 20 or so slaves. She was kind of disappointed at the news that some of the prisoners had escaped. But Jaylin knew that her Lieutenants were very competent and she heard that the prisoners had escaped in the chaos that had ensued during the firefights with the Sassin guards. According to unwritten mercenary rules, she was supposed to punish her men for allowing valuable goods to escape, but really it wasn't their fault. Her crew in return was very glad to hear the news that they would not be punished.
Rubbing her eyes through the blue mask that she still wore, Jaylin allowed her shoulders to slump slightly. On her way to the bridge that was on the same deck as her quarters, she passed by the armory to deposit her bodyarmor as well as her mask. She made no secret of the fact that she disliked to wear masks in battle, as they really itched and distracted her from what was happening. Yet she knew that it was still forbidden to enter a battle without wearing a mask, especially for such a high ranking Asaytan as herself.
Jaylin's mind drifted off to the mysterious female they had captured. All the other prisoners that had been captured were much better taken care off then the female, and Jaylin couldn't help frown at that thought. There was something strange about the Mossarian, something out of the ordinary. When the sponder had told her the female's skin was highly absorbing it hadn't surprised Jaylin the least.
The Sassin were a proud race of butt-ugly creatures, but ugly as they were, tales of their superior skill in battle had reached far. They had the reputation to fear nothing, not even dead itself. So what was the reason they had locked the Mossarian female, who was no match to even the most cowardly Sassin, away and forget about her all together?
Jaylin hoped that Nissa would be able to pry some valuable information loose out of their captive. If anybody was good at getting people to trust her it was Nissa, and Jaylin was still surprised at her servant's ability to understand people, even if they were of an entire different species.
"Let's hope she has some luck with Miss No-Name," Jaylin said out loud to herself and opened the doors to the bridge.
~~~~~~~~~~~
But Nissa didn't have much luck, though she had been able to get the female to sit in the bath and soak the layers of dirt off her body. The servant knew that the woman sitting a few feet away had to be handled very delicately, and she was going over different approaches to the situation.
"I know you're kind of afraid of her. Maybe it's the mask, they all wear those damn masks in battle, don't ask me why," Nissa started babbling as she grabbed a sponge from a rack next to the bath.
"But really once you get to know her, she can be friendly, although she has her foul moods. Jaylin's mostly all talk and no action," Nissa grinned as she said that, knowing that if Jaylin caught her talking like that she was never going to hear the end of it.
"In any case, I still have no name for you. We can't just keep you calling you or she or whatever you know?" Nissa mumbled rubbing the sponge over the female's underarms and hands. As she moved over the left arm her eyes found some strange marks that were imprinted on the female's skin. "What are those?" she asked looking in the Mossarian's eyes, but she got no response.
At first she couldn't read what it said, but when she moved the arm around a bit, she could make it out it was the Sassin symbol for: seven. "Seven huh? Any idea what it means?" Nissa asked, although she received no answer from the female who was just sitting there, staring forward to a non-existent point in the far off distance.
Nissa cupped the female's chin and moved her head so she was facing the servant. "Come on, I wanna hear you say something. Just one word? You screamed something earlier. Nimwa? What does that mean?"
"Help," the female whispered averting her eyes. "It...means...help," she mumbled her voice foreign to her own ears.
Nissa smiled as she realized she made some progress. "A-ha. So what is your name mysterious woman?"
"Do not know," the woman mumbled again. She moved her hands towards the pink foam surrounding her body. The water felt weird to her body, she couldn't remember when she had last felt something fluid, besides for the dirty water she got from the hands everyday in her cell.
"It's okay, we'll find you a name, although I don't know any Mossarian names," Nissa said grabbing some scissors from the rack. She hated to cut off the long hair, but there was no other option. Grabbing hold of the tangled mess she cut off as much as she dared to, until she reached the female's shoulders.
The woman had noticed that her hair was cut off, but she hadn't moved or said a thing in response. She just let it happen, too confused to understand what was happening around her really.
"It will grow," Nissa mumbled, tossing the cut off hair in a bucket next to her feet. She grabbed a small bottle with scented oil and poured some on the female's head. Slowly she moved her small but delicate hands through the dirty mess of hairs, removing the dirt with each stroke. After a few minutes Nissa saw the hair returning to it's original color, which was white/blondish.
"You know that Sassin symbol for the number Seven gave me an idea. Maybe we could give you the Asaytan name for Seven, just temporarily until we found a more suitable name. How does Lae'la sound for now?"
"Lae'la..." the female echoed, but said nothing else.
Nissa shrugged. She heard no complaints, so Lae'la it would be, for now.
To be continued....