I slowly made my way towards the hangar bay. I had asked the entire crew to assemble there for an announcement.
I could have simply had the traitor put under arrest and thrown in the brig, but having a crowd would make it easier to keep from throwing him through a wall.
Perhaps I have a slight problem with traitors.
Looking down at the pad I walked into the hangar bay before I looked around, finding my crew gathered close to shuttle B.
"Captain, what's going on?" my second in command asked as she walked up to meet me.
I shook my head "I found out who leaked the cargo list, Commander." I answered her quietly.
Swan blinked and surprised. "You did? Who was it?"
Sighing I moved past her "Some of you wonder why I asked you to gather. The reason is that I have found the traitor that was selling our job list."
That got everyone's attention as the group quieted down.
I looked between them all before I turned to my zabrak cargo master. "Mr.Mekak. Explain yourself."
"What!?" he asked, his eyes widening "I would never do anything like that, Captain!"
Shaking my head I hissed in annoyance, tossing the pad over to him as everyone stared at him "You accessed the cargo list and minutes later you sent a message. You made a mistake... I changed the policy for the home office, they now filter jobs and only send a third of the jobs each freighter can do to each freighter. We only get large cargoes... which means only somebody here had access to the list. When you sold the last batch of locations, I wrote a small snooping program. It saved your last transmission."
Mekak swallowed. "Please, Captain." he said, sounding increasingly nervous "I had to, I have gambling debts... I-I could handle them on my paycheck, but then my sister got sick. I couldn't pay both, we got so many jobs, we could only take some. I-I didn't think it would hurt."
As he admitted his guilt something snapped and I saw red.
Snarling I extended my hand, clenching my hand into a claw and lifting it as my glamor flared. "Traitor!".
The zabrak gasped as he was lifted into the air, clawing at his throat as he struggles to breathe.
"You steal from me, betray my trust." I growled as he struggled, trying to gasp for breath. "I took you into my flock and you do this... You will pay!" I snarled, lifting him higher with the force, absolutely furious.
Suddenly I felt like I was hit in the side by a pillow the side of a cargo shuttle, it knocked the air out of my lungs, throwing me to the side and causing me to slide across the deck plates. Losing focus my glamour collapsed and the traitor dropped back onto the deck with a thud gasping for air.
I snarled and struggled back onto my feet as I turned to see Nicole stand with both arms extended towards me, her eyes closed tight to protect her from the worst of the glamor. The rest of the crew was on the floor or struggling to stay up having been hit by the full brunt of the illusion.
She dared to attack me. After everything, I did for her!
I raised my arm to lash out at her. She would pay for what she ha-...
I paused, my arm half raised.
What the hell was I doing? Was I just about to throw somebody across the hangar bay for stopping me from choking a former crew member to death?
Oh. Oh crap.
Lowering my arm I took a slow deep breath. What the hell did I just do?
I shook my head before I opened my eyes again "I... I apologize. Commander Swan, place the prisoner in the brig and bring the medical droid to him. Make sure he will be okay. Then meet me in my quarters." I said before I turned to leave.
Mekak was not the biggest traitor here.
I was. To myself.
I used the Dark Side. If Nicole had not stopped me...
"Captain?" I heard behind me as I moved through the corridor and I turned to see the ex-Jedi catch up to me.
I gave her a small nod "Thank you, Nicole. You stopped me from committing a horrible mistake."
She frowned "Captain, what happened back there..." she started before I interrupted her.
"I know. I am going to deal with it...our next destination is Coruscant?."
XXXXXXXXXX
Back in the shuttle bay, Swan ordered Jack to take Mekak to the brig before she crossed her arms with a small frown in thought.
Tel'te walked up next to her. "I- I can't believe Mekak really betrayed us." she said.
Swan sighed "That's why they call it a betrayal. You almost never see it coming."
The twi'lek nodded. "Yeah, I guess. I've never seen the Captain like that before though either. I thought he would kill him."
Samantha slowly shook her head with a slightly deeper frown. "I have. Once... not quite as bad though. Our Captain has a serious problem with traitors." Then she uncrossed her arms "I'm going to go talk to him. Meanwhile, get us docked. We still have a cargo to deliver."
XXXXXXXXXXXXXX
I was laying on my pillows when I heard my door beep at me.
"Come in." I said without opening my eyes.
"Captain." Swan said, "You wished to see me?"
Opening my eyes I nodded "Yes. As soon as we have unloaded the cargo, set a course for Coruscant. Until we arrive there, I'm going to need you to take command of the ship."
She frowned "Captain... if this is about the hangar bay... I checked your evidence and I feel like taking a swing at him myself. It is no wonder you lost your temper."
"The thing, Commander." I started with a small sigh, my feathers flattened unhappily. "Is that I can not afford to lose my temper like that. I am a force user. You do not want to know what happens if I suddenly feel like giving megalomaniac speeches and wear a lot of black. I need to handle this."
Swan sighed and then nodded "Yes, Captain. How long will we stay at Coruscant?" she asked.
I shook my head. "You won't. We turn Mekak over to the authorities for industrial espionage and I leave for the Jedi temple. I can not afford to simply have the ship sitting around for what could possibly be months. Until I return, you will be running things, Commander."
She frowned but finally nodded "I... can do that, Captain."
I nodded and laid down, closing my eyes again. "Dismissed, Commander." I then said.
It was only a moment before I heard my door close again and I just laid there for a long time. Peace.
I thought I could stay on the light side on my own. Maybe there was a reason for the Jedi rules.
Maybe I can find a balance between living and being a force user without starting to shop around for a shuttle sized piece of leather. But I didn't think I could do it on my own.
After an hour I opened my eyes again. Enough sulking... there was something I needed to do while we were still connected to the holonet.
I got up from my pillows and climbed onto my pillar and coiled around it before I accessed Mekaks personnel file, looking up his sisters address and location.
I would never rehire him. Not after what he did.
But I could not let his sister die due to not being able to afford medicine and medical procedures. The sad thing was that if he asked me, I would have offered to pay in the first place.
But first I need to make sure she is actually sick and that it wasn't another lie.