KGWrites

3983 BBY, Pyrshak System, Ahto City, Manaan

Drejek Thek

Customs was taking forever.

Drejek wanted nothing more than to get out of the spaceport and explore the city that he was now to call home.

Home.

The word felt strange to Drejek, home to him had always been wherever his mother and father had been. It had been bunks on ships, rooms rented in back alley cantinas, an apartment or two now and again if the family had gotten really lucky. But it had never given Drejek a chance to see what was beyond it. Now though, home was actually going to stay in one place and Drejek would get a chance to really explore this new world.

He didn’t know all that much about the planet. Manaan, his mother had called it. He knew that most of the planet was ocean and that Ahto city was the planet’s only city. He’d looked out over Ahto from a viewport on the shuttle as it had come in for landing, the city looked like a massive shining metal star, floating on a vibrant blue ocean that stretched out in every direction without breaks. He also knew that his mother, Allana, had been born here.

Allana herself was talking quickly to the alien customs officer while Gredun kept a tight grip on Drejek’s shoulder, ensuring the boy didn’t run off as he was so often prone to doing whenever the family arrived on a new world. It was hardly Drejek’s fault that there were so many new things to explore.

The customs officer stepped over to Drejek and his father and crouched down in front of him. He had smooth, grey-blue skin and a long, flat head, the front of which held a mouth. To either side of this mouth were short fleshy tendrils. His eyes were further back and on the sides of his head, and they were pure black. He extended a hand to Drejek and the boy counted only three fingers, which each had webbing between them.

“Welcome to Ahto City, what is your name little one?” He asked, his voice was bubbly, like he was gargling water, but it was definitely friendly. Drejek thought long and hard about the right response.

“I’m Drejek, Drejek Thek.” He took the creature’s hand and shook it. He’d been expecting the skin to be slick and wet feeling, but was surprised to find that it was rough, like it was made of lots of little spiky scales. Then he added.

“And you look funny.”

Drejek heard his mother take a sharp breath and he instantly knew he had said something wrong. He looked at the alien as it began to make a strange bubbling noise, its shoulders heaving and feared it was about to leap forwards and attack him. When it didn’t, he realised that the sound that the creature was making was in fact laughter.

“First time seeing a Selkath then? I know the feeling; I remembered seeing my first human. I thought you looked very strange with no scales and that stuff coming out your heads.” He said in that strange bubbly voice and he ruffled Drejek’s hair. Drejek made a harrumph sound, adults only ever messed his hair up when they thought he’d been like a kid. Drejek didn’t want to be treated like a little kid. He was nearly five after all.

The Selkath straightened up and turned to Gredun. He asked Drejek’s father lots of questions, which gave Drejek himself more time to study this new alien more intently. He could see that its grey-blue skin was in fact covered by a coating of scales and that it had a strange sheen. He looked more closely at its hands and saw that its three fingers had slightly sharpened tips, like it had claws retracted inside them.

Then the Selkath turned again to face Allana, who smiled at him.

“Well then, this all looks in order. You’re free to pass.” Then he looked down at Drejek.

“Try not to cause too much trouble.” Drejek laughed and nodded. The Selkath made that bubbly laughter once more and spread his arms wide, gesturing to the city, and the family’s new life, behind him.

“Welcome to Manaan!”

—–

Three Months Later

The ocean breeze brought a chill to Drejek’s face as he broke the water’s surface, his lungs filling with sweet, fresh air. He had learned the basics of swimming long before while the family had been on the run but only now that they had settled down to stay on the ocean world was he able to truly swim. Over the last three months he had learned quickly, as was his way, and now he was able to outswim most of the other children in Ahto city. Indeed, it was only the native Selkath children who were able to swim with more speed and finesse than Drejek was. He could stay underwater longer too, his mother had started teaching him the basics of using the Force, one of the first lessons had been ways to make the air in his lungs last longer.

He looked down into the water he was gently treading, seeing nothing but deep, dark blue. The ocean floor of Manaan couldn’t be seen from the surface, it was nearly two miles down. When the family had first arrived on Manaan, the seemingly bottomless water had terrified Drejek, there was no way of telling what sort of monsters could rise up from the deep and claim him. Now though, he knew that the only monsters in the water were the Firaxan sharks and that the sonic emitters built around the city’s perimeter kept them away for a mile in every direction.

“Drejek!” He heard his mother call for him from her place sat on the water’s access ramp. Turning himself towards her he kicked out and darted through the water to the ramp, clambering out and walking over to her.

“Your father was looking for you, time for your lessons again?” She asked reaching out towards him, a towel in her arms. He nodded and stepped up to her, allowing her to towel him dry. He pulled his shirt and jacket back on and sighed. It wasn’t that he disliked Gredun’s lessons as such, it was just that they cut into the time he wanted to himself. For as long as he could remember Gredun had been teaching Drejek how to handle himself as a Mandalorian warrior would. He was teaching him how to handle a blaster, wield a vibroblade and speak Mando’a and the boy was learning well. He looked back out to the ocean, longing for his time in the water.

“Kaysh mirsh’kyramud.” He said in near perfectly accented Mando’a, folding his arms and scowling. What he had said was “he’s a brain assassin” or more effectively “he’s boring me senseless.” Allana chuckled.

“Very good Drejek, and I know that you might not want to, but your father means well for you with his lessons.” She told him, hugging him. Drejek nodded at this but still stared out at the water.

“It’s calming, isn’t it? Being in the water.” Allana said, her voice wistful and her eyes slightly glazed over with memory.

“Yes, it’s like I’m flying.” He replied. She laughed softly.

“It used to do the same for me too. I used to come here and swim when I was a little girl whenever I wanted to relax and forget every problem and every little worry I had. I could say whatever I wanted to the ocean, and it would always keep my secrets.” She smiled at her son.

“I always thought that the Mando’a for ocean was a beautiful word.” She said, almost wistfully.

“Dad never taught me that one.” Drejek said, looking at his mother with curiosity. She made a face at this.

“That’s because your father still teaches you as he did when we were running, all combat words and no time for beauty or light.” She told him, almost snapping the words out. Her face was frustrated and Drejek knew why. Gredun still trained and acted like the family was still on the run, and his mother had often argued with him that they should finally relax.

“What is it?”

“What is what?”

“The Mando’a for ocean?”

“Oh, of course, sorry. It’s Sho’cye.” She told him, slipping away from whatever had been bothering her. Drejek repeated the word to himself a couple of times before smiling and nodding.

“Sho’cye. I like it.”