Vodo couldn't help but laugh.

He was now in the vessel of an unknown, and possibly very dangerous enemy, with the freedom to do what he pleased. It was all very... absurd.

Vodo imagined that he could make it to the engine room, destroy or shut down the hyperdrive and sublight engines, and send a distress call before his "captor" could stop him.

But in all seriousness, Vodo was troubled. This person obviously knew something of Vodo's capiblities... so why do all these things?

He shrugged to himself. It didn't matter. He had been bogged down for the last few months running the whole Jedi Order. He could take a few days vacation.

If anything, he had earned it.

The Barloz-class freighter did not handle well in the atmosphere, but Qive's steady hand kept the ship fairly steady as it shot upward through Naboo's atmosphere. Qive had decided to handle the most difficult part of the pcoming journey manually, as this ship's autopilot was osmewhat finnickey. Unfortunatly that left his "guest" to roam free throughout the vessel. Qive didn't like that part of the plan, but he had his orders, and they were explicit in one crucial regard. Qive was not to make the Jedi feel like a prisioner.

So for now, Qive was forced to rely on trust, and hope that the Jedi were as "honorable" as they were always described. Qive wouldn't be suprised if they were; they seemed to take the ideas of morality and honor much more seriously than Qive did himself. Still, if he happened to have found a Jedi who wasn't too enamored with those principles...

Then he would deal with it. In a manner that he preferred much more than the way he was forced to act now.

It only took a few more minutes to make it past the layers of gases surrounding Naboo, and none of the famous yellow starfighters had come swooping up to intercept him. Qive engaged the autopilot, and put in the set of hyper-coordinates he had been given at the beginning of his mission. He pressed a button to activate the ships inter-comm.

"We will be entering hyperspace in three minutes."

He didn't waste time explain any flight procedures. If the Jedi couldn't manage a jump to hyperspace what good was he.

Satisfied that everything was in order in the cockpit, Qive began making his way to the back of the vessel.

In the common area of the ship, used primarily as place for the ship's crew to kick back and take a break, Vodo sat with his eyes closed, meditating on the Force.

The small Jedi Master did not open his eyes as Qive walked in. In fact, he did not even register his presence (or existance, for that matter).

Through the eyes of the Force, he could feel Qive staring at him and he allowed a slow smile to creep onto his face from under the cowl of his hood. He probably looked ridiculously unthreatening, and there was no doubt in eather mind that the Gen'Dai could crush Vodo with a single movement.

Still, Vodo sensed a wary respect from the other. He himself kept a aura of mild disinterest about him, not wanting to reveal any of his real power or capabilities to anyone yet.

Vodo had been very studious with the Jedi Holocrons, studying ancient Jedi Masters and their various techniques. One that especially interested him was Jedi Master Yoda, the greatest Jedi of the Old Republic era. In Vodo's studies, long before becoming a Jedi Apprentice, he had realized that Yoda often feigned weakness in order to gain the element of suprise. The diminutive Jedi Master was often (sometimes fatally) underestimated.

Vodo knew that this was a very useful tool, and went to great lengths to appear as a frail, little, being incapable of defending itself. Already, many people had made the mistake of underestimating him. With Vodo Baas, appearances were most certainly not everything.

A jolt ran through the ship, casuing Vodo to bring his mind back to the matter at hand.


"In hyperspace are we?" He asked, his voice excruciatingly conversational.

Qive was just about to leave the ship's common area when the Jedi spoke.

He stopped, returning his gaze to Vodo.

The Jedi was in the middle of the common area, and seemed as if he had been in a trance. Qive, reaching into his somewhat limited knowledge of the Jedi Order determined that the smallish Jedi had been meditating, but what that meant was beyond his level of understanding.

The Jedi had spoke in the same, calm voice, though he now spoke as if he knew Qive as a longtime friend.

"I've put the ship on autopilot. We won't spend too long in hyperspace... the jump is actually relativly short."

Seated on the floor, Vodo only magnified the size disparity between him an Qive. Noticing the walking stick laid beside the Jedi, Qive found himself engaging his "guest" in conversation.

"I thought Jedi carried lightsabers... not canes."

The question had irked Qive, as he, like most not very familar with the Jedi, put an emphasis on the Jedi's weapon as opposed to the Jedi himself. Vodo had been ready to engage Qive in combat, but had not once drawn the weapon for which Qive had been preparing to face.

Still, it was unlike him to ask this type of question, especially to a potential enemy. Wondering if perhaps the Jedi was using his force powers to influence his decisions, Qive started to turn and make his way to the door leading out of the common area.

"I thought Jedi carried lightsabers... not canes."


Vodo almost smiled as he glanced up at Qive, who was heading out of the common area, "And I thought all Gen'Dai were peaceful nomads."

What Qive did not know was Vodo Baas was alot older than he looked. In fact, Vodo had worked for the Grand Army of the Republic during the Clone Wars.

One of Count Dooku's most feared lieutenants was a bounty hunter... named Durge, who was also a Gen'Dai. Throughout the old Republic, rumors of his ruthlessness spread, and with those rumors came whispers of what Durge really was.

Vodo had never met a Gen'Dai, but he had seen holos of them. And Qive fit the bill.

"And I thought all Gen'Dai were peaceful nomads."

Qive stopped, his body freezing at the first sound of the statement by the Jedi. He made a slow, almost menacing about-face, and looked down at Vodo.

It had been a long time since anyone had recognized his species. Though he did not know it, Qive was similar to Vodo in one interesting respect: both we members of species whose life spans was much greater than the average sentient. Qive had travelled across the galaxy at a time when it was not uncommon for someone to know what race he was a member of. Usually those people, for a number of reasons, knew of Durge. Often they mistook him for the very same..... but those times had long since past. Not even the members of the Union had known at first (though once he proved his effectivness they had not cared) and he had only told a few of the highest ranking members of the Committee.

His thoughts drifted momentarily to his homeworld, bringing back faded and fragmented memories. He had not been there in a long time. A long, long time. He knew of course that his brothers there were as Vodo described. He might have been too... would have been.... if not for....

Durge

As his thoughts drifted toward the galaxies most famous Gen'Dai, he felt a lingering pain. He stopped himself to prevent the torrent of mixed emotions and thoughts he had about Durge from enveloping him. Summoning all his willpower, he subdued the rising tide.

"I guess there are exceptions to every rule."

With that, he turned and quickly left the common area.

Vodo smiled at the retreating back of the Gen'Dai, who turned just for a second to say, "I guess there are exceptions to every rule."

He then marched brisquely out, leaving Vodo alone in the common area.

He had obviously hit a nerve, and Vodo was a little surprised the Gen'Dai hadn't attacked him, out of anger or perhaps revenge. There were obviously alot of mixed emotions from Qive about his own kind.

Vodo closed his eyes, again meditating on the Force. Back during the Clone Wars, he had seen (classified) intelligence documents on Durge. The bounty hunter was notoriously difficult to kill, due to him having no central nervous system.

If Vodo remembered correctly, Durge had been "killed" three times, the third having been the final time. He remembered that Skywalker had to send the ship Durge was on into a star to get rid of him.

No matter. I don't have to kill the Gen'Dai.



At least not yet.

The rest of the short trip passed uneventfully. Qive spent most of it resting in his cabin, though he only allowed himself short intervals of sleep. When he was awake, he watched several small holo-vids, allowing himself to be distracted by the mindless (and rather poor) attempts at drama.

Holo-vids had nothing on real life.

He also spent some time doing some research on Jedi, using his Union datapad. His employer's organization had extensive information and research on and about the Jedi, of which he had only limited access to from the datapad, but some of the reading was pertinent to his current situation.

Once again, nothing in the data-pad compared to real life.

A long time ago..... a long, long time... Qive had fought Jedi. If he had to, he would do so again. Reading about such combat was primarily an exercise to rekindle reflexes dulled by a great passage of time.

He was still in his cabin when the ship alerted him that hyperspace revision was imminent. Deciding it would be best to make his way to the cockpit, he returned to the common area to find Vodo. He wasn't surprised to find the Jedi was still there. His reading had reminded him of some Jedi's penchant for meditation.

"We' be reverting to realspace very soon. Please follow me."

And Qive turned, stooping to make it through a door that led toward the cockpit.

Vodo spent almost the entire trip in the common room. He passed the time by staying in a deep meditative trance, interuppted only by eating a few food capsules at a time.

His eyes were half-closed, unfocused, and to some he looked like he was asleep. But they would be wrong.

Vodo had learned how to tap directly into the Force, which gave him extraordinary perception. He could sense everything going on within the ship, including the restless Gen'Dai.


Who in fact was heading his way, "We'll be reverting to realspace very soon. Please follow me."

Vodo stood up and followed without a word.

The cockpit of the Barloz class freighter was not designed for sightseeing. The designers of the ship had not intended her to be a pleasure vessel. She hauled valuable cargo from point A to point B. Everything else was secondary. However, by pure chance, when the battered old freighter exited hyperspace, the cockpit's frontal viewport framed the imposing wedge of an Imperial class star destroyer perfectly.

The solitary ship sat in space, partially camouflaged by the vacuum colored paint job that had recently been applied. The space behind the huge capital vessel was empty. Only a few pinpricks of light were visible off to the ships right, a bright cluster of distant stars. Far to the left a patch of haze represented the majesty of the galactic core.

Qive looked at Vodo but saw no immediate reaction as the Jedi took in the sight.

"My employer is aboard that vessel. We shall dock shortly."

Qive's giant hands began working several instrument panels, transmitting codes and powering down most of the freighter’s systems. A slight jolt signified that the Star Destroyer had locked the freighter in its tractor beam.

Qive stood in silence as the freighter was slowly drawn closer to the belly of the ISD.