...The hum of many voices faded somewhere under the dome of the shopping center, the aroma of freshly ground coffee and local pastries with melted cheese hung in the air, and advertisements for clothing and shoe boutiques flashed before their eyes, making Day and Sher slow their pace. In addition, a small child in a funny hat, with a face painted like a cute animal, grabbed Day's dress with a cry:
"Mom!"
But the real mother immediately ran up, scooped up her miracle in the ear-flapped hat, and carried it away, laughing and hugging it. Sher watched them until they disappeared into the crowd.
"What are our plans?" she asked, holding her breath, and looking around.
"And how much time do we have?" Day clarified, unsuccessfully trying to erase the admiringly happy smile from her face.
"I don't know exactly, but as always – barely enough," Sher said, with a longing look at the SPA salon advertisement, which tantalizingly promised the best aromatic procedures in the Galaxy. Gods of Coruscant... She just wanted a bath. Not even with ocean water, not even with flower petals... Four years... And now – it won't happen.
"But we have about two hours until the medication is delivered to 'Chance'."
And time was already ticking, there was no time to think. Sher looked up at the information board.
"So, holofilms and music – second level, groceries – first level, clothes and shoes – third... What else do we need, do you think, Day?"
"It wouldn't be bad to get some aromatherapy oils, what do you think? And... Sher, how about we switch to 'you'? And we also need flower petals for Bus, and maybe he should also get knitting needles and yarn?"
"Then let's start with the third level and gradually descend to the first?" Sher asked with a questioning smile.
"And we'll be on 'you', Day, I'll try," her eyes lit up at the planetologist, and they, without a word, almost ran to the elevator, not forgetting to look around.
...Clothes were not easy. Dresses, trousers, skirts, jackets, overalls, accessories for every discerning taste... But there was too much of everything. A whole gallery that couldn't even be viewed in four hours... And what if they tried them on? Scarlet spots appeared on Sher's cheeks. She was close to despair. And then, in the middle of these endless rows of rags, a very tall and dry male figure with tattoos and horns appeared.
"Excuse me, please, can I ask you?" Sher implored, secretly glancing at Day, who was examining something on a hanger, her head tilted.
The Zabrak was surprised but approached.
"What is it, miss?" he clearly didn't understand what a stranger of another race could possibly need from him.
"Would you be so kind as to try on this jacket?"
It was a very beautiful gray color, natural, with many pockets and little pockets; it would have suited her gray-haired navigator so well. But the size...
"Miss?" the Zabrak raised an eyebrow so high that even his tattoo stretched. "I don't understand..."
"Excuse me, it's very simple: I don't know if this jacket will fit my boyfriend," she explained quietly. "And I beg you to help me," and Sher again glanced at Day.
The Zabrak thought and nodded, grinning. He deftly pulled the jacket onto his shoulders and stood before Sher, posing like a model on a runway.
"It will suit the navigator very well, his size," Day whispered to her friend. "Shall we take it?"
Sher flushed a deep crimson from the words she heard, from her cheekbones to her chin. Even Day, who had only been on the ship for a short time, seemed to read her thoughts...
"Ye-e-es," she thanked the Zabrak with a weak smile, taking the jacket from him. "And we'll take this too," now knowing the size, she picked out from the green sea of shades the exact color of a thin and very soft turtleneck that would accentuate Nick's eyes.
"And did you find anything for yourself?" Sher asked, having already overcome her embarrassment, but still blushing at the sight of the planetologist.
"Yes, here," and Day showed Sher the spacious black trousers and a loose shirt. "There are no problems with AT-AT covers here," she laughed.
"Please, no, okay?" Sher gave the Corellian a reproachful look. "Day, you are very beautiful and feminine. And I've seen an AT-AT in action. It's terrifying... As for your choice, for some reason, no matter what I go to buy, it always turns out to be trousers and a t-shirt..." Sher changed the subject and at the same time put back two packages, precisely with these items. But a dark blue, simple dress with some kind of sparkle took their place. There was no time to try anything on anyway.
"It's time to break the system," Sher declared, pulling cash from her pocket.
"Thank you," Day smiled, "I'm very pleased, let's go pay. I can't stand clothing stores, you always end up spending longer in them than you plan."
"Yes," Sher agreed. "Uniforms are what you need. They eliminate the problem of choice and the need to visit these stores. The colorful rags are still swimming before my eyes," Sher complained, and then immediately laughed: "What kind of women are we after this?"
However... Aromatic oils, petals, scented candles... This boutique, perhaps, refuted what Sher had said, because she and Day immediately turned in that direction, drawn by the fragrance that wafted with the breeze.
Shelves, shelves, counters were lined with jars, bottles, canisters of the most diverse aromas.
"Oh, this is what we need!" Day pointed to two sets of aromas for Sher: one for invigoration and one for calming. "Shall we take more? Look, here's the bark of the phi tree, the fruits of fragrant cloves, and a Hapes apple, and here's a baby's lullaby, grass that smells of wood, and a Corellian fruit of the year's meeting."
The women had almost reached the salesperson. And then, on the very top shelf, Day saw aromas for healing in canisters:
"Look, Sher, this is more your area," she said quietly.
"Hapes apple," Sher repeated thoughtfully. "Invigorating, you say? Our captain can invigorate better than any apples," she joked in a low voice, because the salesperson with two small retractable antennae on his head was already hurrying towards them. "Let's take one for healing too, this one, for example, a tart, resinous woody one..."
"And also an aroma lamp with a deck input, please, and this too," she addressed the young, sickly-looking Besalisk. The sets, the lamp, the massage stones, the canister disappeared into a bag, accompanied by the trembling of the short antennae in the seller's disheveled, stiff hair.
"Do you think, Day, that's enough?" Sher took out credits, looking doubtfully at the half-empty bag.
"For a while, yes, but we're not going to spend the rest of our lives in space," Day smiled, paying. "Let's go to the florist now, I saw it at the beginning of the gallery, I want to choose a bouquet for Bus. A big and tasty one."
The Besalisk melancholically swept the credits into the cash register, watched the two women with his gaze, and sat down with a bored expression. And Day and Sher were already hurrying to the very beginning of the second tier.
Flowers grown under the gentle sun of Amma delighted the eye with their juiciness and depth of shades, from immaculate white to a fantastic color reproduced by bright, multicolored veins on the petals. The slightly bitter, spicy scents of greenery, the delicate aromas of buds, the passionate scents of pollen from intricately twisted orange funnels hung in a light cloud in the air, and amidst all this splendor, the girl was intently weaving a piercingly white bouquet with ribbons in a dark green setting of leaves.
"One more second, please," she flashed a smile from under her ultramarine-dyed bangs. "A bouquet for the bride, they'll be here for it soon."
"Sher, to be honest, I have no idea what from all this magnificence won't harm Bus," Day whispered, "Oh, maybe this..." and she pointed to a bouquet of small white flowers. "This is a thorny beauty; on our Corellia, they make sweets from its petals. Oh, and here's the large-flowered one too..."
With a smooth gesture of her hand, Day pointed to a pot containing large golden flowers with red edges, on thin but also prickly stems.
"You're right, no lily-like flowers, no funnel-shaped ones. They usually contain alkaloids or glycosides that cause severe poisoning at best," Sher confirmed, examining the flowers.
The girl with the ultramarine bangs, tying the ribbon, listened to them with surprise, but as a professional, she didn't show it.
"And look, here's another one," Sher rejoiced, tugging at the Corellian's sleeve. "From these long-petaled, multicolored baskets, they make an amazing salad on Naboo!" she nodded towards the fluffy heads of the most incredible colors. "I think our first mate could use some variety. Shall we take both?"
"So, we're taking both the small and large beauties and your ones for the salad! Let's throw a party for the first mate!"
The saleswoman, finally catching the normal words of normal clients, placed the finished bouquet for the bride in a vase and rushed to serve the strange women who were buying flowers for food. But in any case, it wasn't her business. Therefore, the bouquets were assembled quickly, the ultramarine bangs nodded, accepting the credits, and gave a toothy smile as a farewell.
Bouquets were added to the bags, and two hours had passed unnoticed.
"Well, I don't think they'll fly away without us..." Sher sighed, looking at the chronometer hologram. "The captain will always find a way to make up for this lateness... And we still have holodisks and the supermarket. Shall we run?"
"Let's go!" Day grabbed the bags, handed the bouquets to Sher, and the ladies galloped to the holodisk section.
Choosing spiritual food requires no less care than ordinary food. You might not get poisoned, but the aftertaste will remain in your memory for a long time. Galactic collections of the best holofilms, 66 stories of love, thrilling adventures, Xar awards, holodisks of nature from different planets with stunning realistic effects - all this lay before the clients and awaited their verdict. For herself, Sher took an informational holocrystal about her favorite artist, so she would always have the opportunity to look at all his paintings. Almost all of them.
Day chose several films about love and several more with fairy tales.
"And what does the crew like to watch?" she asked Sher.
"You know," Sher replied hesitantly, not immediately. "But I can't even answer you... We've never watched anything together, and to ask... There was no occasion, and no time... All conversations are on the run, between one task and the next," she said thoughtfully. "This needs to be changed somehow."
And you don't need to wait for everything to settle down to get to know those you love better. Because such a day may never come. No day at all...
"I think everyone loves films for the soul," she sighed, chasing away sad thoughts with a smile, "about friendship, about love, about honor... Well, and adventures, and comedies. Everything that warms you in Space. Let's take that."
"Right! Choose, I rarely watch anything, to be honest."
Easy to say - choose... Choosing is the hardest part. And when time is pressing... But there was no other way, the verdict was made, holodisks with music collections replenished the purchase, the salesperson received his payment, and they parted ways.
Credits were melting away quickly...
The last thing before them was the grocery supermarket. And this was perhaps the most terrifying. It was horrifyingly huge, with the aromas of all sorts of delicacies and freshly ground kafa wafting through it. In huge aquariums, real live fish swam, opening their thick lips and looking through the transparisteel at the commotion around, even the Naboo rainbow fish from freshwater bodies lay in a row on ice. True, it cost almost as much as the entire aquarium with local fish... And then there were whole mountains of vegetables and fruits. And cheeses... Hard, soft, with herbs, brine, smoked. dessert, with Corellian nuts, grated, with a tear... And the one Nick ordered.
Balls.
"Three types of cheese... The one that's in balls - get more, fruits, all sorts of sweets for the female part of the crew..." Sher listed, and her eyes were already swimming from the bright packaging, and she already wanted to go back... To the "Chance" and into Space. There was no time to examine and choose anything else, and frankly, no strength.
"Listen, Day, we didn't buy anything for the captain..." she remembered. "Maybe some good ale? I heard something about Corellian lomine. You're from Corellia, you probably know better?"
"They say dark varieties are very good. Let's get the captain a bottle. Oh, look here, 'Old Q', our guys respected it."
"We'll take it! Your guys must have known their stuff, otherwise, you could end up with such a Mandalorian narcoleptic that the captain would disembark you on a nameless planet without regret." Sher wanted to make a cheerful joke to distract Day's attention from the loss of her group, but the irreversible loss struck a sharp pain in her as well. She squeezed Day's hand.
"I'm very sorry, Day..." The gray watercolors of the girl's eyes looked at the planetologist with sympathy.
"Sher, it's okay," Day's voice was calm, only her cheekbones seemed to harden, and her gaze became distant, "they were good guys. And they will remain so. As long as I live. And remember. Let's get a couple more bottles, we'll sit down together. We have a custom."
"Of course. Day... We will definitely remember them," Sher said quietly, releasing the Corellian's hand.
And as she stepped across the threshold of the shopping center, Sher thought that she hadn't really had a chance to have a heart-to-heart talk with Day during their entire trip.
And outside the center, the sun was already beginning to set. After the hum of the store, after its stuffy aromas, to find yourself in the fresh summer breeze, under the whisper of leaves, under the chirping of some living creatures in the grass - was bliss.
Sher sighed with pleasure. It was good that she visited shopping centers extremely rarely. And it was no pleasure at all. And on top of everything, she and Day were laden with bags, packages, and bouquets from head to toe, like a sacrificial tree, and they still had to somehow get to the Spaceport, and from there to the "Chance"...
"Sometimes I regret not being born a Besalisk, another pair of hands would be useful today," Day grumbled jokingly. "Sher, free up a hand and call a car, and give me the bags."
A car to the port was found without a problem. As soon as the women settled in, the taxi sped off, gaining speed. The driver turned on the music, quiet and pleasant.
But on the outskirts of the city, the melody was interrupted by the heavy sound of metal hitting metal. Two cars collided ahead, flew apart, one straightened its flight, the second went down, noticeably swaying from side to side.
The impact broke into a dissonance with the quiet melody, with the day leaning towards sunset on this peaceful planet, with Sher's own thoughts, so unusually calm.
"Faster, after him," Sher commanded the driver in Lieutenant Carrada's voice, intently tracking the trajectory of the falling machine, "Will he be able to land?"
"Good if the generator doesn't blow..." the driver obeyed without question. "He's trying, miss. If the repulsors don't fail..."
The repulsors failed near the ground. The machine crashed heavily down from a height of several meters. A cloud of dust rose, from which the first timid wisps of smoke began to emerge.
"Faster," she urged. "How much time do we have?" Sher asked abruptly, crouching for a jump like a felinx, as the car hovered near the ground.
"Take this, ma'am," the driver shoved an first-aid kit at her, and himself crouched down, pulling a universal key from under the seat. "I don't know, ma'am," he looked back at the second passenger, handing her a comlink, "call rescue services. Let them follow the beacon's bearing."
Jumping out of the car, he rushed to the damaged vehicle.
Sher, catching the first-aid kit, jumped out of the car, ran up, and yanked the car door open. A pungent smell and smoke hit her face, her eyes quickly filled with tears, but she groped for the almost lifeless body and took this burden onto her shoulders, dragging it out of the car.
"I didn't see if there was anyone else there," she shouted to her driver, coughing, and with all her might pulled the victim further away from the dangerous spot.
"Get out of the way!" he roared from behind the car. The door on his side was jammed, he pried it open with a universal key and pushed. The door opened with a screech.
A few seconds later, he was already dragging another victim away from the car.
"Sher, do you need help?" Day only asked when both victims were carefully laid on a blanket the driver had found.
Sher didn't respond immediately. Of course, she felt with that subconscious intuition that notes the slightest details and is called experience, that invisible difference between someone who can still be brought back and someone who is lost to life forever. But she hoped until the last...
The scanner was more impassive. Life-incompatible injuries, organ ruptures, internal bleeding, fractures, craniocerebral... Biological death.
"He's dead," the doc said briefly in a faded voice. The end of the blanket was lowered over the man's face.
There was something monstrous about the fact that on a peaceful planet, amidst tall blooming grass swaying in the summer breeze, a man who had been full of strength so recently had died...
And, rushing to the other, to do everything possible and impossible for him, Sher still couldn't shake off the feeling of guilt for the impossibility of correcting what had happened.