Some People Change:

A SW:KOTOR Novelization

By Elina Trevisan

Author’s note: Well, looks like I made it. I’m going up tomorrow, and this counts as an update for next week. I finally got that chapter that was eaten by my computer rebuilt and completed. It’s… a bit longer than most. As in about a thousand words longer. But there was no good place to stop it! It still doesn’t end very well, actually. I just had to cut it off. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this normal-length chapter. And I might remind you that some inconsistencies that show up in this chapter and later ones are intended. Please enjoy!

Chapter 10

“Are you sure?” Catra asked, looking over the man carefully.

“Positive.”

“Is something wrong?” Dr. Forn asked. He looked at the two of them curiously. If he recognized either of them, he wasn’t doing anything to show it.

“No,” Catra said with a small smile. “Nothing’s wrong.” She followed him into the examination room, Carth close behind her. The doctor closed the door behind them.

“Take a seat here,” he said, indicating a bed that sat in the middle of the room. Catra did as he asked and he removed the scarf. She winced slightly as he peeled it away.

“The blood congealed,” he said, examining the wound, “attaching the cloth to the cut. Let me clean this up.” He began wiping it with something, and Catra tried hard not to make any noise. “Well, this doesn’t look too bad. Some kolto, a bandage, and some antibiotics should take care of it.” He gave her a small injection of kolto and began working on the wound.

He had given no indication that he recognized them, and probably wasn’t going to. Catra decided to take things into her own hands.

“So do you treat many blaster wounds?” she asked.

“Around here? Heavens, yes. I know better than to ask how my patients got them.”

“I guess that’s important being a doctor in this area. Never ask too many questions.”

“That’s right.”

“Yeah, you never know who your patient might be. Could be an Exchange operative or even a Republic fugitive.” He hesitated slightly at her words. It was only a momentary pause, but Catra noticed it. “Do you treat many Republic fugitives?”

“I don’t know.”

“I’ll bet you do. Seeing as how a pod landed around here, one of them was bound to be injured. I’ll bet they came to you. Of course, they wouldn’t advertise that fact.” Her voice was casual, but the air was tense.

“If you’re insinuating something,” he began, no longer even pretending to be working on her wound. By now, she doubted that he recognized her. The fact that he wasn’t giving her away was a good sign. He obviously wasn’t willing to betray her to anyone.

“I’m not insinuating anything. I’m thanking you.” He looked at her in confusion for a moment. He looked back at Carth, and he finally seemed to comprehend.

“I see…”

“If it weren’t for you, then I could be dead.”

“Don’t mention it. To anyone.”

“Don’t worry,” Catra said. “We want attention for this even less than you do.”

“So long as I’m working on you, I might as well check on those stitches,” he sighed. She leaned her head forward and he looked at the stitches on the back of her head. “You seem to be healing quite fast, even with the kolto. I’d better remove these.” He retrieved some scissors and began to cut them out. “Please tell me that this blaster shot wasn’t from a Sith.”

“Nah,” Catra said dismissively. “Nothing that dramatic. I’m participating in the dueling ring, and a guy got off a lucky shot.”

“Oh,” Dr. Forn said with interest. “So you’re the Mysterious Stranger. I was watching the duel in my office. I’d have thought that you’d want to be a little more careful about drawing attention.”

“That’s what I thought,” Carth said smugly.

“What’s with you people?” Catra said, starting to sit up. A firm hand from Dr. Forn held her back down. “No one knows that it’s me!”

“Dr. Forn,” Carth said, ignoring her outburst. The doctor held up one hand.

“Please, call me Zelka.”

“Zelka, then. Do you know anything about any other survivors from the battle?”

Zelka bit his lip for a moment. “Yes, somewhat. Let me finish here and I’ll show you.” He finished with the sutures in silence, and then fastened a bandage on Catra’s arm. “Very well. Come with me.”

He led them to one of the doors in the room. “KOLTO TANKS, AUTHORIZED PERSONNEL ONLY,” was written in large letters on the door. He entered a code in a number pad that sat next to the door, and it swished open.

The room was, as to be expected, lined with kolto tanks, most of them occupied.

“Recognize anyone?” Zelka asked, leading them inside.

Carth and Catra looked around, checking each person’s face carefully. Some of them looked vaguely familiar to Catra, but she couldn’t place any of them.

“They’re Republic soldiers,” Carth said quietly. “I didn’t know any of them personally, but I recognize them.” He turned back to Zelka in confusion. “But what are they doing here? I thought that everyone but us in this area had been caught.”

“In the Upper and Lower city, yes. However, I’ve got an arrangement with one of the Lower City gangs. They’ve brought these people in from the Undercity.” He sighed and placed one hand on one of the kolto tanks. “Unfortunately, there’s not much that I can do for these people. Most of them are too far gone. The ones that still have a chance… well… I’m not holding my breath.”

“Thank you,” Carth said, turning to the doctor. “At least you’re giving them a chance.”

“It was the least I could do.”

“At least these guys aren’t ending up with the Sith,” Catra said. She turned and left the small room. Carth and Zelka followed her, only lingering slightly to look at the injured soldiers. “So how much do we owe ya, doc?”

“Don’t worry about it. It was really just a patch job. Just don’t get in any more fights for at least a week.”

“No promises,” Catra said. She hopped back up on the bed. “So is there anything we could help you with? It’s the least we could do.”

“Not really,” the doctor said, putting away the scissors that he’d used on Catra’s sutures. “The clinic isn’t in need of anything right now. I know where to find you if I need something, though. Unless you’ve changed apartments?”

“No,” Carth said. “We’re still in the one you showed me.”

“You might want to consider moving. It would probably be safer.”

“We’ll be fine,” Catra said. “We’ve already had to deal with some minor Sithy issues, but we’re fine.”

“The Sith have come for you?” Zelka said, staring at them in shock.

“Not really. We just got caught up in a random inspection, that’s all.” She hopped off the bed. “We’d better be going. We’ll come and see you if we have any more problems.” She opened the door and the two Republic fugitives walked out.

- - - - -

“So,” Catra said, flexing her wounded arm carefully. “Where to?”

“I was thinking of going back to the apartment,” Carth said. “We probably shouldn’t do too much more today.”

“Why not?” Catra asked. She walked over to a nearby railing and looked down into the lower city. “You know, the Lower City is pretty hard to get to, even though it’s so close. Too bad we can’t just jump down there.” She frowned as a Sith patrol vehicle ambled into view. “Stupid patrols,” she muttered.

“Why not?” Carth repeated. “Doesn’t your arm hurt?”

Catra shrugged. “Not really. It wasn’t that bad. The doctor said so, too. I’m ready to keep working. Let’s go do something!”

Carth took her good arm and pulled her away from the railing. “Sorry, but I’m vetoing that idea. We can do a planning session back at the apartment.”

Catra pulled her arm away. “I’ve got a burn, but I can still walk. But fine, so long as we’re not just sitting around.” With that, they started off back towards the apartment.

They stayed in companionable silence for most of the walk, until just before they had reached the building, when a loud whistle caused them to turn around. Out of pure reflex, they had their hands on their weapons before they knew what it was. They let their hands fall to their sides when they saw that it was only a couple of drunks.

“Hey, lady,” one of the men called. Catra groaned. He approached her and placed one arm around her neck. She quickly brought her vibroblade handle up, crashing it into his groin. He collapsed, barely able to take in a breath. His companions didn’t notice. Carth, on the other hand, winced and made an audible squeak at the cracking sound that was issued with the attack.

“Y’wanna come haf some fun?” one of the men slurred.

“No thank you,” she said briskly. She started forward to enter the apartment building, but found her way blocked by one of the men. Her hand was still on her blade.

“C’mon,” he said. He was close enough to Catra that she could smell the alcohol on his breath. She recoiled in disgust. “Don’ be like dat!”

“Get out of my way,” she said calmly. He remained standing where he was.

“We jus’ wanna haf some-“ He was interrupted by another groin hit, and collapsed instantly.

Catra turned to the remaining man. “Would you like to leave me alone?” she asked calmly.

“Uhh…” he looked at the body of his friend, collapsed in pain. “No fanks. I’ma go… somewhere.” With that, he stumbled off, only to collapse in a drunken stupor several feet away.

“Let’s go,” Catra muttered, walking into the building. She turned back to look at Carth when she didn’t hear any response. “What is… oh.”

Carth was staring at the men on the ground, en expression of abject horror on his face. He likely hadn’t noticed it, but his legs had drawn together tightly, and he was beginning to lean forward slightly.

“Oh, come on,” she said impatiently, grabbing his arm and pulling him out of his stupor.

“What did you do?” he asked faintly.

“I took care of some drunks.”

“You could have hit them on the head!”

“Nah, too much of a chance of brain damage. Besides, if they get drunk this early in the day, then it’s probably best that they don’t have any children. Let’s go!”

She pulled him away from the scene and into the building, all while he was gibbering slightly. She pushed him into a chair when they entered the apartment and looked at him expectantly.

“What?” he asked, still shielding his vital areas.

“What did you expect me to do?”

“I don’t know! Let them off easy or something…”

“How was I supposed to do that?”

“I don’t know,” Carth said with a shrug. “What have you done before?”

Catra only seemed confused. “What do you mean?”

“What do you usually do when men hit on you?”

“Doesn’t come up often enough.”

“Really?” Carth studied her carefully. She wasn’t really beautiful, but she was at least pretty. She seemed to exude a strange aura, which might have turned some men away. It was like a combination of strength, exotic, and ‘piss off’. Still, she couldn’t have always been like that. It must have come up some time. “Never?”

“Well, a couple of times. Whenever I go to Nar Shadaa I’ll run into a drunk or two.” She took a seat on the couch beside him. “That’s pretty much it. To tell you the truth, most men that I met have always been more interested in my best friend.” There was no bitterness in her voice, only a calm statement of fact.

“What was she like?”

“Interested?” Catra asked, raising a brow. “You might want to give up on her, though.”

“I’m not interested, just curious. I don’t date.”

“Of course,” she said patronizingly. “Well, she was beautiful. Tall, good figure. She had this great thick blonde hair and these bright blue eyes. She looked so… delicate. Everyone noticed her. She was kind, too. She was always the one holding me back, keeping me out of trouble. She could still kick back and have fun, but she knew when to stop.”

Carth watched her give this story with interest. She seemed almost… sad. “What happened to her?” he asked.

“It doesn’t matter,” she said distantly.

“It does to you.”

“But it doesn’t to you.” She seemed irritated.

“What makes you think that?”

“Because you’re just curious. You don’t know her, and you hardly know me.” Carth was a little hurt by that. Admittedly, he’d only known her for a few days, but he had gotten to know her fairly well in that time.

“What happened?” he asked again.

“She left, alright?” Catra snapped. “That’s it. She’s gone. She could be dead for all I know. Are you happy?” Without waiting for a response, she headed to their bedroom and slammed the door.

- - - - -

Catra didn’t come out all evening, and Carth snuck in late at night to find her asleep in her bed. He went to his own bed and fell asleep. In the morning, he woke up to find her bed empty. He could hear the holo on in the other room and went out to see her.

He found her sitting on the couch, her legs drawn up into her chest. An empty food package sat next to her.

“Caffa’s in the kitchen,” she said, not looking up at him.

“Thanks,” he said. He retrieved the mug that had been poured for him and returned to sit next to her. She remained silent. After a few moments, the silence was becoming unbearable. Carth opened his mouth to speak, but was interrupted by Catra.

“Do you still want to know?”

“I-what?”

“My friend. Do you still want to know what happened between us?”

“Uh… sure.”

“We were raised together. We worked together for most of our lives. A couple of years ago, she said that she didn’t think that we were doing the right things anymore. That we’d lost our values. She said that she was leaving to do her own thing. I didn’t try to stop her or convince her otherwise.”

“Oh.” Carth was unsure of what to say next. She’d shared something immensely personal with him, something that she’d never done before. “What’s her name?”

“It’s…” she trailed off, straining to remember. “I don’t remember.” She chuckled. “I don’t remember! I met the girl when I was nine, and she only left a few years ago. Why can’t I remember?” She strained for a few moments before she winced slightly. “Ow. Well, so much for that.” She raised one hand to her head. “We got any painkillers?”

“Why?”

“Headache. I think that I might have some leftover head trauma.”

“From the escape pod crash?”

“That. Or the accident I was in before.”

“You’re just a walking trouble magnet, aren’t you?” he said, getting up to find the painkillers.

“Oh, yeah.” He tossed a bottle to her, and she immediately pulled out two pills and downed them dry. “So, we’ve got some time before Yun gets off shift. What should we do?”

“Zelka.”

“No, Catra. Try again.”

“We’re going to see Zelka. If this headache is from either of your little accidents, then it could be something more serious.”

“It’s a frelling headache! I’m fine!”

“Let Zelka tell me that.”

“Fine, but he’ll say that it’s just a headache.”

- - - - -

“I don’t think it’s just a headache.”

“What?” Catra shouted from inside the large diagnostic machine that she was encased in.

“Hold still!”

She ceased squirming. “What do you mean? What’s wrong?”

“You have massive brain damage.”

“That’s frelling kung!”

“Take a look,” he said. Catra clambered out of the machine and ran over to the computer. “This is an image of your brain.” He pointed at the display. Most of the areas of the brain were shown in black, red, or blue. Some areas were white, however.

“I know that, di’kute.”

He ignored her and pointed to one of the white areas of the brain. “And this is one of the damaged portions of your brain.”

“It is not!”

“It is. This is probably what was causing your headache.”

“Is this from the escape pod?” Carth asked, staring at the computer in horror.

“No, that injury wasn’t this severe. There might have been some minor brain damage from that, but it couldn’t be this much. You said that you were in another accident a few months ago?”

“Well… yeah,” Catra said. “But that was months ago! The worst that I’ve been getting is headaches when I try to think too hard!”

“What happened in that accident?”

“My ship blew up as I was entering orbit. I was in a kolto tank for a while, but they said I was fine!”

“And you seem to be. I don’t know how, but it seems like your brain has… routed around the damaged areas.”

“Is that even possible?” Carth asked.

“This is the first time that I’ve seen it. I’ve heard about it, though. What were you thinking about when you got your headache?”

“I was just trying to remember something,” Catra said. She still couldn’t think of the name of her friend.

“Well, that knowledge might be stored in the damaged areas. When you tried to force yourself to remember, it caused the damaged areas to try anyway.”

“So now I’ve got amnesia?” This day was getting better and better.

“I wouldn’t say that. You probably still remember most things, right?”

“I haven’t noticed any other gaps, no.”

“Then it’s probably only a few things. Your brain might even repair itself!”

“Wonderful,” Catra grumbled. “Is there anything I can do about it?”

“Just don’t try to strain yourself. If you find another one of these blocks, ignore it. You aren’t doing yourself any good trying to remember.”

“Isn’t there anything you can give me to fix my brain?”

“I’m afraid not.”

“What about kolto? Kolto fixes everything, right?”

“Kolto is capable of speeding up cellular regeneration,” Zelka said patiently, as if explaining these concepts to a small child. “But I don’t think it’ll make a difference here. Your brain seems to be taking its time healing, if it’s healing at all. Besides, you would have to be on constant high doses of kolto for weeks. I doubt that would be very convenient for your… current situation.”

“Fine,” Catra growled. “Can I go now?”

“Yes. This time you’ll have to pay a little. Operating the machinery costs a lot more than bandages.”

“Carth brought me here,” Catra said, leaving the room without giving them a chance to stop her.