Star Wars: Shadows of Darkness

((Just a reminder, Padmé is still alone in her chamber, while Chewie and Tayell are now in the lounge talking.))

Padmé finally unfastened her harness and stood, moving over to the window, looking out into the utter blackness of hyperspace. Her fingers touched lightly the reinforced glass of the pane, feeling the icey chill seep through. Even with the ability to travel beyond the speed of light, they still couldn't keep out the frigidness. Her eyes closed and she leaned her forehead against the freezing glass, trying to fool herself into thinking that the near pain from the cold was calming in some way.

"What am I doing here?" she whispered to herself, thinking again on how unfitting it was that she was in a place like this when war was going on. "I need to be back on Coruscant, or return to Naboo, or . . . something." She sighed, turning away, knowing that the pointless reflection was meant only to distract herself from a growingly pointed discomfort.

After trying unsuccessfully to get into one of the latest novel she pulled form the hollonet Tayell pushed back from the lounge table with a sigh. "I ought to check on her highnesss" she said to herself, remembering Padmé had seemed to be having a hard time adjusting to life on the Nova Hawk.


A moment later she stood outside the cabin door, knocking softly "Eh, you highness, mind if barge in for a minute?" she said with light hearted overtone to mask the aprehensive fatigue.

Padmé turned sharply at the noise at the door, proving to herself just how tightly her nerves were wound. At the sound of Tayell's voice she was immediately calmed, however. This dark feeling had not come to her when she first stepped onto the ship, and she was certain that the source was not the pilot or the Wookie, and so she gave them marginal trust. The thing that troubled her was that there shouldn't be anyone else or anything else on the ship that would cause her discomfort. They had made a cargo dropped, and had not picked up anything additional, so what was the source. Her stomach twisted as she walked over to the heavy door, unlatching it as it slowly hissed open, allowing Tayell into the chamber.

"It's your ship," she said, attempting to sound conversational and polite. "I can't refuse you admitance to any part of it." She fell back into one of the small chairs which had been crammed into the corner, somewhat unecessarily. "Not that I would want to," she said after a moment, deciding that perhaps her comment had been taken in the wrong way.

She wondered for a moment if Tayell had overheard the comments made to herself, and thought there was someone else in the chamber. They had been whispered, secret thoughts, not meant for any ears but her own. Not that they were of a particularly delicate or revealing nature -- those thoughts were never spoken, for the risk was too great. But she was frightened to think that perhaps the Captian was beginning to notice a consistency in Padmé's unusual behavior. Her tension, apprehension, and hesitation in many cases might be enough to cause suspicion. But still, she played the part of the fool, slouching slightly in her chair in an attempt to show that she did not find herself superior to Tayell.

As Tayell entered the room she leaned back against the wall "Ohh perkup 'malady'" she says with a sarcastic bow. "do you really find the accomadations here that lacking?"

Cocking her head to the side a little as she spoke "I know its no pallace, but its my home, maybee you could help me perk it up a little. I'm sure I could use someone with an actual sense of style." she says with a smile.

"Also I was thinking of offering you a chance to actualy train for jobs on the ship basic ten percent training wage while you learn then full shares."

Tann laid quietly in the duct and just listened to the two women. Some type of royalty, she thought, hiding away on a smuggling ship. She wondered what price she could get for the woman, and maybe even the others.

Slowly the plan began to form in her mind.

<<Padmé's player will be outa conact alot for the imediate future so I when I figure what else to do with myself I will move forward>>

((sorry that was me up there, forgot that one of my spyware scanners purges the cookies that alow me login on auto))

At first Padmé moved to correct the mistake. If anything, she had been excessively gracious in her accepting of this ship's appearance. She had not breathed a word concerning its derelict passageways and drafty chambers. But then she realized that her quiet frustration with the political and social situations of the galaxy had been misread. Her constant distraction was being taken as evidense of her displeasure. Upon realizing this, she stopped before saying a word. To explain the truth was far more difficult and emotional than to allow a false assumption to be maintained.

"As for training for a position," she said, choosing to speak on the latter subject rather than the first, "although I'm flattered by your faith in my ability to learn, I doubt the time would be adequate. I have been assured that this condition is very temporary, only until my safety can be secured. The Jedi are tracking the Sith, and it is unlikely that I will be a target of theirs for much longer. I would not have you wasting your energies attempting to teach me the complex workings of the ship when I will have little to no application for them later. However, I would be more than willing to help in . . . asthetic renovations." She smiled slightly, showing her true desire to help with things which were more instinctive to her.

"Well a litle help decorating would be appreciated." she said nodding "I know I've been putting most of my energy into keeping her running not prettying her up." she says.

"As for not havgin much use later, never know when something will come in handy, might even be nice to be the only senetor who could hold a real job if she wanted. Or if her staff was unavailable for a while." Tayell adds with a playfull smirk.

Tann listened and just grinned. Jedi are hunting Sith hm? Not that that has ever changed. But here she was, hiding only feet away from a majour Sith target. Tann closed her eyes and began to meditate to conserve her energy, keeping her senses well attuned to those on the ship as she continued to listen.

((I'm here for about .5 minutes! It's a miracle!))

"A real job?" Padmé attempting to keep the edge out of her voice. "Senators conduct policy for the entire galaxy, ensure that laws are equitable and carried out, and balance the power of the Supreme Chancellor. We conduct trials for other political officials and ensure that matters throughout the galaxy run and smoothly as possible. Simply because there is no manual labor involved does not mean that it is not a valid occupation." She had kept the insulted tone that she inwardly felt from her words, and tried to sound as though she was simply presenting her with information. So few people understood the countless obligations of political officials, or the work entailed in the position. It was fursterating that despite the fact that most had to struggle for their positions, most beings still did not understand the complexity of it all. "Besides," she continued after a pause, "I already am capable. I can fly a ship well enough for basic transportation, and can set coordinates for light speed. I often cooked for my family before I became Queen, and sewed play-clothes for my siblings. I believe I am more diversified than many of the other Senators. But to claim that all of them are less skilled than myself -- it's unfair, and untrue."

She was tired of this, all of these backhanded insults to herself and her entire profession. Why was she even aiding the Republic if she found it so detestable? Clearly she had some deeply founded animosity toward politics, and Padmé tired of hearing her complaints, however covert.

And still, that strange and sickening feeling would not go away.

"Hey down senetor down." she said with a genuinely playfull tone. "Manual labor is perfectly respectabel, but not the only measure of a real job. Besides all I'm really getting at is that maybee if some of you got a look at how the rest of the Galaxy really lives you'll get some priorities straight and maybee we wouln't have to skirt around the trade federation, maybee the hutts wouldn't run open slave markets on the rimm and maybee people like me would be able to run a fair share of legal cargo and still pay for a ship without having to turn to hutts and syndicates to do it." she she spoke the playfull tone cracked and the frustrations of a life on the fringe began to show through.

It wasn't so much that she detested the republic, it was more that within her own experience, they interfeared far more then they solved problems. And that if you were'nt a group large enough to have your own representative you got ignored or stepped on.

((Are we goignto try to move forward or keep waiting for Padmé's player??))

what can we do without her?