The Bacquins?

[Liir Oldin]

Liir looked around the disheveled and burned out ship. Charred bodies lay here and there lucky for her she was in space suit and didn't have to smell it. The site alone was unsettling to her causing her to occasionally have to close her eyes and take a deep breath. Telling herself this was like any other salvage job.

Except for this wasn't just a half hour ago her and her crew saw this ship and another fighting it out. First rule of salvage was to find any survivor's that could lay claim to the wreckage. Her and five of her men took this ship and six others took the other to look for survivors. If there were none the salvage was free claim since the ship had no Imperial markings or designation.

"Captain Oldin we have reached the bridge, so far nothing. Looks like they were boarded and one hell of a fire fight broke out."

Liir took a deep breath before responding. "For the last time Miles call me Liir, I'm no longer part of the Kuati Navy so there is no need to call me captain."

"You know it's just a respect thing that and you still are captain, of are salvage ship."

"Ha, that's me captain of Salvage." She gave herself a little smile. "I think we can call this ship ours, I'm going to check their holding cell area and that should be it."

"I told you hunting along the edge of the unknown region would be easy pickings. Good luck in the hold cell, maybe you find the man of dreams in there." Miles chuckled over the comm.

Liir in a sarcastic tone answered back. "Thanks Miles, you may have been right on the area but there ain't a man in the Galaxy that can handle me."

Liir moved into the holding area of the ship the light on top of her helmet giving her a very limited view of the smoky room. She panned the room; she could make six cells on each side of the room. There was a charred body in the center of the room leaned over a console. She moved towards the body and the console when she heard a hacking cough. Her light and eyes quickly panned to one of the holding cells.

Under the bunk she could just barely make out the silhouette of someone hiding under the bunk. She reached for her weapon and slowly and cautiously moved towards the cell. As she got closer she could see a man possible in his mid to later thirties. He looked human; his clothing was torn in several places and covered with black soot from the smoke. The man appeared to have a blaster wound to his abdomen.

Quickly she got on the comm. "We have a man down here, he is going to need Doc."

Miles replied knowing by the sound in her voice she was serious. "Frak, there goes are prize! Doc is on his way, frakking A I hate this job some days!"

Liir just ignored Miles cursing as she slowly moved in to kneel down by the wounded man. The man shied away from her, he hadn't distinguished her as friend or foe yet. She spoke out to the man in a calm sympathetic tone.

"My name is Liir Oldin of the salvage ship Flea." At that moment she had really wished she hadn't let Mile's name the ship. "What is your name?"

[Caleb Bacquin]

Caleb slid his body back as far as he could as he saw the person in the space suit approach him. As he did so he coughed up some more blood onto the black stained floor. He was holding his stomach where he had been shot by one of the aliens that had boarded the ship earlier.

The space suited person came to kneel next to the bed he was under. If this was going to be his last breath at least this life had been something of an adventure he thought. Hopefully his next life would be a little more relaxing with lots of beautiful women. The space suit spoke and for a moment Caleb thought he was hearing an angel.

As she asked him his name in her sweet tone, he had to admit this was probably the best death he ever had. Maybe this was what real death was like Caleb had to wonder. Yet since his energy wasn't being slowly ripped apart and scattered across the Galaxy he knew it would only be a matter of time before he would return. Mortals where so lucky sometimes having to only feel the grip of death once in their life time. He looked at the angel speaking to him.

"Na..." He hacked up some more blood. "Caleb." The man passed out as he finished his name.

[Liir Oldin]

Four hours later.

"How is are patient Doc?" Liir looked up from here data pad at a Bothan in his sixties. No one could pronounce his real name so they just called him Doc.

"Oh! He lost a lot of blood and we don't have anything compatible in stock. We are all out of Bacta, but I stitched him up as best I could and put some Bothan medical paste on the wound. If he survives he will have to heal the old fashioned way."

Liir looked over her shoulder at the patient with a sigh. That would delay things; since he was a survivor he had the right to the salvage. Even if he was a prisoner on the ship by the imperial rules of salvage he still had the right to claim it. The dam rules state any survivor had the right to it before a salvage unit.

"Did you try synthesis his blood?"

"Damnedest thing when I tried Liir. By all account's he is human, every test I run says he is human. Yet every try at cloning his blood fails, it should be simple only taking a matter of minutes. His body seems to produce a not so human enzyme. It would seem are patient isn't exactly human, his species can't be cloned in any manner."

"You ever seen a species like that before?"

"Can't say that I have at least not in the human variety. There a few non humanoid species that prove to be difficult but if you knew there genetic code well enough it would be possible. This one isn't even a possibility, which just perplexes me."

"Yet there was nothing else out of the ordinary with him?"

"Nothing other than that he seems to be a plan old generic human. Then again I couldn't get a good look at his genetic code do to that enzyme. There might be more than meets the eye here."

[Caleb Bacquin]

He could hear them speaking about him but he didn't open his eyes. One was male and the other female. The Female was inquiring about and the male seemed to be the medical expert. Caleb smelled the air around him, the individuals speaking where human and bothan.

The male seemed frustrated with his attempts to synthesis Caleb's blood. If Caleb wasn't playing dead at that moment he might have chuckled. He knew long ago his people couldn't be cloned in any manner, even something as simple as their blood was impossible to replicate.

If cloning had worked his race would be more abundant then it was. There were not many of his kind left, at best guess less than fifty of them had survived this long. Even that was an optimistic guess; sense there was no real way to tell. His kind had been scattered across the Galaxy for a long time now.

Finally he opened his eyes to light right above his head shining in them. He squinted at its brightness as he turned his head away. His first thought after opening his eyes was dam still stuck in this life. Oh well I guess the adventure wouldn't end this day. As he turned his head he noted the female was human and the Bothan the male.

From behind the short haired redhead had a nice butt. Her red jumpsuit fit to her curves nicely. He had only glanced at the bothan once keeping his sights on the woman. He was to say the least intrigued by her at least from what he had seen so far.

"How does a fella like me get a drink in this joint?"

[Liir Oldin]

Both Liir and Doc looked at the man as he asked how he could get a drink. Doc went wide eyed because the patient shouldn't have been awake yet. With as much blood as he lost he was lucky to even still be alive. Doc was just in plain shock and had no idea what to say. Liir turned to him and he just shrugged confusingly.

Liir turned around fully to face Caleb who was lying in the medical bed. She thought about looking back to Doc for some advice but he was being quite which only meant he had nothing to offer for the moment. Who was this guy? No better question what was this guy? Yet only one question escaped her lips.

"What would you like?"

[Caleb Bacquin]

"Well now that what I call first class service. Better then that jail cell I was in, that's for sure."

He gave the duo a grin as he spoke. He noted the doctor was flabbergasted by his recovery. Truthfully it wasn't any miracle of science; his people sadly in most cases had a will to live. A will to live on level with what some superstitious people would call supernatural. Even if there body died it would only be a matter of time before they would return to the land of the living with a new body.

"I guess for now I will settle for some water, even though I could go for some Corellian whiskey. I don't think the doctor there would approve of hard alcohol at this point and time."

[Liir Oldin]

"Wa..." She was quickly cut off by Doc interrupting her.

"You shouldn't be awake; at best you should be in well I don't know Coma. This is just truly amazing; I have never seen a human species like you before. I want to know everything about you, your people there culture."

Liir moved to water dispenser unit shaking her head and grabbing a glass. As the doctor spoke she filled the glass to just short of the rim.

"That's enough Doc the man just woke up. Perhaps you should give him some time."

"Yes, yes Liir you are right. I'm just curious from the medical and scientific stand point. The more I know the better I can assist his kind should we ever come across another one."

Liir walked over to Caleb and handed him the glass of water.

"Of course Doc I understand but for now we let him rest." She gave Caleb a caring smile. "I'm Liir Oldin, and that is Doc." With her thumb she pointed back at the Bothan.

"Names Yaqall'pohaz Haz'xun." The Bothan bowed slightly. "But everyone around here calls me Doc."

[Caleb Bacquin]

He took the glass of water as he sat up with a grunt of pain. He looked at the Bothan for a moment who couldn't seem to stop staring at him. For a moment Caleb thought he might have traded being a prisoner for being a lab rat. He knocked back the water as the woman and the bothan told them their names.

He noted Liir's ear piercing and the ornaments that dangled from them. On them was a seal of Kuati nobility. However Caleb didn't recognize the house symbol but then again it had been ten year's at least since he last was on Kuat.

"Names Caleb." He gave a head bow to both Doc and Liir respectably. "Thanks for the water." He gave Liir a wink with his smile.

"As for Doc's questions I doubt he will ever see one of my kind again in his lifetime. There aren't many of us left."

His thoughts drifted slightly back to his people and sadness could be heard in his voice when he spoke of them. In a way Caleb felt responsible for his people.

[Liir Oldin]

Doc was about to speak when Liir lifted her hand up to stop him. His questions could wait for another time. Even her own questions about Caleb's right to claim the salvage could wait for now.

"You get some rest we will talk later."

She moved away from the bed making her way for the door. Her and her team could wait and make sure everything was ready for the salvage operation. She stopped at the door way looking back at Caleb.

"No last name?"

[Caleb Bacquin]

He finished off his water and set it down on a nearby tray. He laid back down on the bed as the woman walked away. He watched her for a moment before closing his eyes. Then he heard that voice of the angel again ask him if he had a last name.

"Not one that I wish to share right now."

His eyes remained closed as he heard Liir tell the Doc to let the patient rest. Caleb smiled to himself as he finally heard Liir walk out of the room. Then Doc came over and shut off the light above his head and patted him on the shoulder. Caleb drifted off to sleep a few moments later.

[Liir Oldin]

Eight hours later...

Liir came walking into the medical area of the ship again she was looking over a data pad. Everything was ready to start the salvage operation but all they need was Caleb's okay. Liir looked over to the bed seeing Caleb sitting up staring back at her. She smiled lightly at man she barely knew and was even more of mystery since he was unwilling to share his last name.

"Did you sleep well?"

She asked politely holding off on the business end of this until she knew for sure he was ready and well rested. The Doc was being quit off in the corner going over some medical data. No doubt data that involved his latest patient Doc was OCD like that. Once he found a mystery he wouldn't stop until he solved it.

[Caleb Bacquin]

"Well enough, I guess."

He had been awake for about half an hour now sitting in silence. Doc seemed preoccupied with some medical stuff and Caleb didn't feel the need to bother him. That and for the moment he really didn't want to answer any of the Doctor's questions.

"So what brings you around this time? Not that I mind the bedside manner in this place."

He knew she wanted something after twenty five thousand years one had a tendency to learn body language.

"I can tell you want something from me?"

[Liir Oldin]

"Well um..."

She didn't know what to say at that moment. Was she really that transparent that he could see right through her? He knew with out a second thought that she wanted something from him.

"Well you see there are two ships out there and Imperial law states you have the right to it as sole survivor."

She paused for a moment Caleb was looking at her right in the eyes as she spoke. She wasn't exactly sure if he was even listening to what she was saying.

"So you have a choice. We can leave you with the wreckage and it's all yours. Or you can sign this..." She stepped forward to hand her data pad to Caleb. "And we take the salvage off your hands."

[Caleb Bacquin]

Caleb looked at the pad for second before putting his eyes back on Liir. He didn't even reach for the pad leaving her holding it out towards him. He didn't want the salvage but he certainly wasn't going to sign the document. If he did his name would send off alarms once it reached imperial filing office.

"I'm not going to sign that but you can have the Salvage. Those ships hold no value to me."

Caleb didn't want the inquisition to know he was of his existence. He had once been a member of a secret group called the emperor's hand. They were assigned various jobs’ that usually meant doing the emperor's dirty work as quietly as possible. However Caleb was a fugitive of that order, his name wouldn't show up on any official list. Yet there were still lists and records of him that would never be public knowledge.

"As far as I'm concerned there were no survivors on that ship. Me I'm a ghost who will disappear at the next port you put into."

[Liir Oldin]

She looked at Caleb curiously for a moment as she kept held the data pad out. This man certainly had a mystery surrounding him. Clearly he was something of a criminal type that didn't want to found. It explained why he didn't want to share his last name.

"What did you do?"

In the back of her mind she wondered if this man had a bounty on his head. If he did maybe she could collect on that as well as the Salvage. She finally set the data pad on the bed the man was on.

[Caleb Bacquin]

"It's not what I did, it's what I know."

Caleb laughed lightly but stopped as it started to hurt his abdomen and ribs. The empire didn't want him for doing anything wrong except maybe going AWOL. No they wanted him because of the secret's he had in his head and that was why publicly there were no bounties on his head.

"Trust me it's better for both me and you if there were no survivors on that ship. The people who are after me there the worst of the empire. If they found out I was on this ship, let's just say you and your crew would never get to go home again."

He could have told her more or everything but then he would be putting her and her men in harm’s way. It wasn't Caleb's way; most of his kind would probably turn on a mortal in a second. It was an arrogance that came with knowing you wouldn't die. It gave his kind a way to reason there actions, if people died because of their action it wasn't there responsibility.

"How about you tell me why a Noble Kuati is working on a Salvage ship?"

[Liir Oldin]

"Intelligence operative gone rogue then?"

It wasn't her first run in with Imperial inner workings. Having been a former Captain in the Kuati Navy she had deal allot with jurisdictional issues. Not mention her noble blood that fell from grace for opposing Imperial rule wanting Kuat be independent.

Imperial propaganda stripped her family of there noble birth rights. In the end they where able to keep a hold of there scrap industry but lost everything else. They where no longer consider a noble house there status reduced to commoners with extra privileges. It even got to the point they where almost striped of those things but Kira's mother took what they had left and moved to Tepasi. So the once noble house Oldin of Kuat even lost it's home in the end.

[Caleb Bacquin]

"You could say that but it's a little more complicated."

Caleb watched the woman as she seemed to go into her own thoughts. Her pretty eyes hit the floor and sadness was the expression that came across her face.

"Families all have their tragedies. Falls from grace can land you hard on your face but all you can do is pick yourself up and go on with what you have left."

Over a thousand life times you learned to read face and expressions really well. He knew when he had asked of her nobility it had triggered family tragedies. It was written all over her face telling him she wanted to talk about it but couldn't bring herself to do it.

"We all have families even me the strange enigma in your infirmary. I had three younger brothers once."

Caleb sat up in his bed and slid his body so he could let his legs hang over the edge. The Doc who had been silent almost spoke up but Caleb gave him a reassuring nod that he would be alright.

[Liir Oldin]

"What?"

Liir had been lost in her thoughts not listening to what Caleb was saying. Her Families fall was something that pained her and often left her contemplative. She hadn't meant to drift away like that but she had been thinking allot lately about who she use to be. The day her family left Kuat was the hardest day she had ever faced.

"I'm sorry what where you saying?"

[Caleb Bacquin]

Caleb gave a little smile to tell her it was alright and he understood. He himself could get lost in his thoughts of the past. Since he had been alive for a long time if he wasn't careful he could lost in it for a couple thousand more lifetimes.

"I was saying I had three younger brothers once."

He paused for a moment to adjust the uncomfortable gown the Doc insisted he where. Caleb would rather have gone naked then where the ridicules thing.

"The twins Bladious and Cadious. In my native tongue there names mean the spirit of the warrior and the spirit of the battle. Together they where a force to be reckoned with nearly unstoppable."

Caleb missed them it was clear on his face. They where both warrior's and scholar's in the art of war. They both had wisdom beyond there years but it was often stunted or overlooked do to there childish rebellious streaks. Both bullheaded and stubborn in there way of thinking. If the fought together nothing could stop them. If they fought against each other there duals could go on for days before they gave up or got tired out.

"My youngest brother Sethrom. In my native tongue his name meant the appointed one, the one that can bridge the divide. A warrior in his own right but more of diplomat. Always looking for a compromise to make every side equal."

Seth was always the one that seemed to be able to hold the family together. He was the one that kept Bladious and Cadious from killing each other when they fought. He was usually silent or soft spoken if he didn't have a cause to fight for. Yet when he had a cause or purpose his words where sharper and truer to the point then a sword ever could be. Even thought the youngest he was the voice of the house of Bacquin.