We sent the Princess and Jasper back to their quarters then I return to mine with Commander Swan following closely. As soon as the door close and I start to climb up around my pillar, she cleared her throat.
"Captain, permission to speak freely?"
I snorted. "We are not a military vessel, commander. If I'm being an idiot, tell me I'm an idiot. That is part of your job description."
She shook her head. "You are being an idiot. The Hapes cluster is in the middle of a region of ionized space. You can't travel in hyperspace there and the place is flooded with Hapan raiders, keeping their isolation from the rest of the galaxy possible."
I nodded. "I have read that much..."
She continued, "Never mind that even IF we actually manage to make the run through some kind of secret passage or route, we are as likely to be executed for knowing a way in as rewarded! Sir, you are my commanding officer, but taking this job is stupid."
Nodding, I sighed, "I know, Commander. I'm new, not stupid. Which is why I didn't say yes, yet. I said we would think about it. To give us time to come up with a plan."
She frowned. "So...what's the plan?"
I shrugged my wings. "The same plan as every time something gets too polin-shaped for royalty to handle. You call in the Knights."
With that, I sent a message to the Jedi temple, explaining the situation. Intergalactic communication in real-time was possible but required a more powerful transmitter than was on the ship. So, it was a matter of a holographic email tag.
Still, it only took a couple of hours to get a plan going.
We were to take her to Coruscant where the Jedi will meet us and take her to the temple for now. Other accommodations and protections could be planned later, now we just needed to keep her alive.
Shaking my head, I climbed off the command pillar and headed to the bridge.
"Anything to report?" I asked Melton, the one keeping watch and he shook his head, looking up from his book
"Nothing, Captain. We are still in hyper."
I nodded before continuing. Some of them thought it a bit silly to have a constant watch on the bridge even in hyper, where nothing changes until you dropped out, but if we, for some reason dropped out, I wanted someone to be there to react to it. Commander Swan backed me on this.
I slowly made my way back through the ship through the crew sections and into the passenger section. More than half had already informed us that they planned to get off on Dantoonie and I expected more to do the same before we lifted off from there.
Turned out lawless space and adventure of a lifetime was a bit too much lawless and a bit too much adventure for some.
I hesitated for a moment outside Ni'Korish cabin. The least I could do was to tell her my decision in person. I glanced both ways before spending a few quick moments grooming my feathers while feeling silly before I pressed the announcement button.
Nobody answered so I pressed it again. Nothing this time either so I pressed the com button next to it instead. "Captain to bridge, Override door lock 341-A."
Seconds later, it unlocked and hit the button to open it.
As it slid open, I saw Jasper, her bodyguard kneeling on the bed next to her, holding a pillow over her head as she flailed around.
I saw red. Somebody was trying to murder one of my passengers, one of my flock (if only temporary). Even worse, that victim was a female.
My glamour slammed up to full strength in less than a second and I roared at him. My rage flowed through me and I just wanted him away from her and suddenly he was flying through the air and I pounced.
Now, male Morrigi were not as strong as their size made them look, nor as heavy due to hollow bones. But against an unarmored human, that didn't matter. I slammed into him like a cargo shuttle as I trapped him against the wall.
He gasped and tried to struggle as I struck and caught his small head in my beak. My lower beak slammed shut around his neck and I twisted and pulled until it came off.
Hissing in disgust, I dropped it on the floor, trying to get his blood out of my beak. Slowly, I took a deep breath, pulling my glamour down before turning to check on the princess.
"Your Highness, are you hurt?" I asked as I found her watching me with wide eyes.
She panted and shook her head. "N-no...H-he...H-he tried...to.."
"Yes," I nodded and looked down at the human bleeding on the floor before I walked over to the wall and pressed the intercom. "Icri, please report to cabin 41-A. The princess requires new quarters."
I turned my attention back to her and moved so I blocked the sight. I asked, "Do you know why, Princess?"
She shook her head. "N-no..I-i have known..."
I nodded, "I understand. Please come with me, we need to get you somewhere more peaceful for you to recover."
She shivered and nodded as I helped her out of bed and out the door to meet Icri, who led her to an empty cabin before I ordered the medical droid to come and give her a once over. Then I went to give the bad news to Commander Swan.
I couldn't but help think that this sodding mess just kept getting better as I walked past a window, seeing my own reflection. My breast feathers and beak were covered with blood and I made a detour into my cabin to clean off first.
No use looking like a dragon that killed a knight to protect a princess...