46 Chapter

"What's her condition?" I asked MD-31 as it exits the ship's small medical bay, looking down on the human sized droid.

It looked up back at me. "Her condition is stable. The damage was limited to lacerations along her limbs and back."

I slowly nodded. "Anything else?" I ask, and the droid shifted slightly before continuing.

"Yes. She has suffered abuse under a long period of time and has a significant number of scars, also focused on her back and limbs, as well has had ten broken bones in the past. The bones have however healed well and been professionally treated when they occured. The oldest break is just over seven years old."

I growled softly and ruffled my feathers. "Is she awake?" I asked and the droid shakes its head.

"No, Captain. I sedated her to properly treat the damaged skin. She should wake up in a couple of hours" it answers, and I sighed.

"Inform me when she is awake." I ordered the droid before turning to make my way down to engineering.

I was about halfway there when I ran into a Sullustan male clad in clothes colorful enough to cause eyestrain. "Captain! I DEMAND you tell me what is going on! Why are we in the middle of nowhere!? And what was that poppycock about battlestations! I was locked in my quarters for almost half a hour! This is outrageous!"

I looked down at the small creature and moved to get past him "Mr Clemor, I'm sure Miss Icri would be more than happy to handle your concerns as I am afraid I am horribly busy right now..."

He steeped to block my path "No sir, I am asking you! You are the captain of this thing, I DEMAND you tell me what are going on!"

I raised a eyebrow while looking down at the the cretin in front of me. "The situation is a pirate attack. It was handled. Now I am handling the aftermath. Now, Sir, if you would please get out of my way and let me get on with my job, or do I have to lock you in the brig?"

"W-well I never!" he blustered as he scrambled out of the way and I made my way past him.

I shake my head and continue my trek to engineering. Whatever I pay Icri, it's too little. When we get back to civilization I need to give her a significant raise.

"How bad is it?" I asked as I sticked my head into engineering. While technically it's scaled so I can work there, I try to avoid getting in the way of my two technowitches if I can help it.

Sarah, the chief engineer shakes her head and crawls out from the casing of the hyperdrive. "Well, we got good news, bad news and worse news."

I flattened by feathers and then nodded "Very well. Hit me."

She nodded and leaned against the hyperdrive, crossing her arms. "Well, bad news is that the hyperdrive motivator is completely fried and the one on the pirates ship isn't compatible" she said and I sighed, guessing where this was going.

"Well, that was expected. I trust the backup drive is still working?" I ask and she shrugs.

"Sure, we are just like two weeks from the closest place that can get us a new motivator" before she continues. "Worse news is that the motivator frying caused a feedback loop when the safeties tripped due to unseen consequences. Meaning that the main hyperdrive itself fried. We need a complete replacement, Captain."

I slowly blink "What?" and she shrugs with a unhappy sigh before answering.

"Don't blame me, that's not meant to be possible. The reason is over there" and points a thumb over her shoulder at her sister, so I shift my look to Padme instead.

She quickly shake her head "No, not me! This thing...or rather, its mate" and holds up a small cage containing a small rodent, one with long tail and equally long back legs, before she continues. "I'm not sure when they snuck on board, but it must have been during the last three stops as we checked the hyperdrive a couple of weeks ago and they weren't there."

Sarah nodded. "Yeah, no sign of a nest back then. Its companion was in the wrong place at the wrong time and managed to close the circuit when the motivator blew."

I sighed and rubbed my beak. "Well, I guess there isn't really much you can do about that. Nature is nature...So how much exactly is the new hyperdrive going to cost me?" I asked and my chief engineer gave me a unhappy look.

"At least five thousand for the drive itself and a couple of weeks of work."

I shake my head. "Oh well...nothing to do about it I guess" before I blink and give her a curious look. "So what's the good news?"

Padme grins happily and holds up the cage. "I got a new pet!" as her sister facepalms.