Bad Blood

Chapter 14 - Remember the People We Lost

"Are you still trying to fix that nav computer? You've been at it for at least three days now."

Boba twisted around in his seat as Astéri climbed through the hatch to the cockpit. Smirking, he shook his head. "Actually, I'm not. Repairs are almost finished and we should be able to leave soon, so I'm programming in the co-ordinates for the rendezvous point."

"Repairs are almost done? I thought it was going to take much longer."

Boba furrowed his brow and ran a hand through his hair, perplexed. "No. What idiot told you that?"

Astéri folded her arms. "You did. Yesterday."

Boba winced. He had been working on Slave I for a few days now, patching up ventilation systems and restocking supplies. He had estimated that it would be quite a while before his work would be finished, but he hadn't anticipated the input from his comrade. Mandalorians were not people to shy away from a workload, and sure enough, Astéri had chipped in to help whenever she could, making repairs go a lot faster.

Yet another excuse to keep her around, Boba thought. He could use some extra help with Slave I, and there were worse people than Astéri for the job. He liked her company, in fact, he now couldn't imagine what would happen if she left. She had become an integral part of his life.

"Well, I still need to pick up Taskelli from where I left him with Jabba. That'll take a while; the trip isn't exactly short. But after that, we're ready to leave for the rendezvous point."

"Where are we going, exactly?"

Boba checked his datapad. "An imperial base in orbit of Geonosis. Shit."

"Something wrong?"

"I really hate Geonosis. The whole damn place is crawling with bugs, and on top of that..." he trailed off. How could he finish his sentence? How could he put into words how he felt at having to return to the place where his father had died?

Astéri had never had any reason to return to Kamino, but Boba had been to Geonosis once since the fateful day. Everywhere he had gone, every step he had taken, he had heard the screams of the battle in his mind. The roar of the flames. The clanking of the droids. Most of all, he had remembered the buzz of that purple blade as it had-

"Boba? Are you alright?"

Shaking himself out of his thoughts, Boba looked up at Astéri and gave her a brief smile. "Yeah. I just... bad memories."

Her face had been tense with worry, but now her eyes widened with understanding. "Oh- I'm sorry. You know, we don't have to go to Geonosis if-"

"It's fine. We're not even going to the surface, the rendezvous point is the Imperial space station, remember? I'm fine. It'll be fine."

Perhaps he could even convince himself of that if he tried hard enough.

Boba sat back in his chair and folded his arms as he watched the glowing lights of hyperspace fly past the window. They really were mesmerising; he had almost forgotten what they looked like without having to stare through a visor. Now, with his helmet planted firmly on the floor, Boba had another chance to appreciate the sights.

Astéri was staring out of the window on the other side. Catching her gaze in the reflection, Boba threw her a smile, which she cheerfully returned.

"Not long now, right?"

Boba nodded. "We'll be coming out of hyperspace in a few-"

A red light blinked. Astéri reached across and flipped it off, bringing them out of hyperspace. "In a few minutes? Liar."