Author: Chaos
Rating: PG
Disclaimer: Qui-gon and Obi-wan and the universe they come from, along with their vehicle and all their luggage belong to George Lucas exclusively. They are respectfully borrowed with no intent to profit thereby or infringe on the copyright thereof.



Section 14

�Hey, Lisa. Mind if I borrow the car to go into town for an hour or so?�

�Naw, go ahead.�

��Kay. I�m taking Jim with me. Be nice to Ben while I�m gone. Don�t embarrass him too much.�

�Who? Me?� The brunette stuck her head out of her workroom to smile at Debrah. �I�ll be the very soul of propriety,� she promised.

Debrah chuckled and waved as she grabbed her wallet and sunglasses and headed out the door, Qui-gon right behind her. They climbed into the car and pulled out of the driveway.

�I should be able to get all the parts I need for the replacement circuit at a single store.� Debrah told the Jedi as they pulled onto the highway. �There are several stores that cater to those of us who like to build everything from scratch or modify anything we buy so that it�s more efficient or will do more, or whatever.�

�Are there many people here like that?�

�A few, more than I originally thought. For quite some time I thought I was hopelessly unique in the way I looked at things. Oh, I knew that there were other engineers out there in the world, after all, I had classes with a lot of them, but that�s not quite the same thing as seeing proof. And we engineers like proof. It wasn�t until my second to last year that one of my teachers mentioned something he did that bothered his wife and I said something like, �Oh, so I�m not the only one who does that.� We discussed it a bit and I found out that quite a few of what I had always thought were just quirks of mine were attributes that could be applied to most any engineer.� She half-smiled wryly at her passenger. �It made me feel quite a bit better.�

�And what is wrong with being different?�

�Oh, nothing. Don�t get me wrong, I�m still quite weird as far as most people are concerned and that doesn�t bother me. I�m used to it, seeing as how I�ve been that way all my life. But there�s a comfort in knowing that somewhere out there is someone who thinks like I do and sees the world the way I do.� she shrugged. �Keeps me from feeling so alone.�

�And if you didn�t know this?�

�I�d still be weird.� She tossed a wry smile at him and pulled around a slow moving Buick. �Ain�t nothing gonna change that. But, I imagine it would be a great deal harder to make myself be civil to all those pathetically normal people that inhabit this planet.� Debrah�s eyes twinkled merrily and Qui-gon smiled in reply. �As it is, I don�t understand how they can live their neat, tidy, normal little lives and not notice that they�re missing something.�

�And what are they missing?� But Debrah could tell that the Jedi Master already knew what they were missing, he just wanted to hear her say it.

�The elves that are hiding under that tree,� she pointed out the window, �and that man up there, in the blue Volvo, he�s a werewolf. He�s one of the best stockbrokers on the west coast, mind you, but watch out when the moon is full. And see that bridge they�re building there? It�s being built to five times the safety tolerance so that no one will get hurt from it collapsing, but the concrete they�re using is heat sensitive. It will expand and contract and expand and contract until one day, it will crack and fall.

�My life is both more and less sure than most people�s because I can see the possibilities, good and bad.� She paused a moment to think before continuing. �And I don�t believe that I would have it any other way.�

�Many people go their entire lives without coming to such peace with themselves. It is a rare gift,� Qui-gon remarked.

�Probably about as rare as people like me are,� Debrah laughed.

�Something tells me that you would have been a great Jedi had you been born in the Republic, Debrah.�

�Perhaps, but the stodgy types who are always in charge of such organizations would have very often been disapproving of my attitude, I think.� Qui-gon smiled again, forcing back a chuckle at the thought of Master Windu�s reaction to being called �stodgy,� and silently agreed with Debrah�s evaluation.

*******

The trip was a long one because Debrah drove three towns over before she would stop to buy anything. She blamed it on her growing paranoia. But the trip was also quiet and uneventful, and Qui-gon enjoyed watching Debrah dash back and forth across the store she�d finally settled on, snatching this and that from the shelves of electronic parts. The pile on the counter grew steadily with the ebb and flow of a rising tide. He stopped fighting the urge to smile at her antics as she caved in again and again to her more practical side and put back things she wanted but did not need. She�d caught him smiling several times and had grinned back, unembarrassed. She would shrug and mouth �I�m an engineer,� as if that explained everything.

After consulting her list several times to insure that she had everything she needed, Debrah fished her wallet out of her back pocket and produced her credit card.

�Will this be all for you today, ma�am?� the man behind the counter asked politely. Qui-gon had watched him too, and it was obvious that the man had seen people like Debrah before and liked having them come into his store.

�If that doesn�t do it, nothing will.�

The man began ringing up the purchases and Debrah occupied herself by staring longingly through the window of the counter�s display at several advanced diagnostic tools. �If I might ask, ma�am, what are you making?�

�Oh, just a lightspeed engine.� She glanced up idly from the display as Qui-gon suppressed a violent start. Why had she told that man the truth after spending so long lying to protect himself and his apprentice?

�Well, more accurately, a replacement part for one that got blown crossing the galactic barrier,� she corrected herself, turning to lean back casually against the counter.

�School project, huh?� The store attendant inquired, as if he heard things like that everyday. �Classes get out in a couple of weeks?� Debrah had explained to the Jedi that her school got out as much as a month earlier than most schools, so the man�s mistake was quite understandable, even if his nonchalance wasn�t.

�Yup.�

�Well,� he placed the last item in the bag and handed her the receipt, �Good luck on finals. And I hope you get your engine fixed up in time for vacation.�

Debrah smiled, thanked him politely, scooped up the bag and sauntered out of the store toward the car. Qui-gon hurried after her and caught up in the parking lot.

�Why did you tell that man the truth?� he asked, more curious now than alarmed. �Wasn�t that a terrible risk?�

�Please understand, Qui-gon. I�ve been dying to say that for close to a week now. And besides, who�d believe me?�

She unlocked the car and tossed the bag in the back seat. �There.� She smiled brightly over the top of the car at him. �Now all I have to do is solder it all together and you�re back in business.�

*******

�That was a long trip, Deb. Where�d you go?� Lisa was out front playing with her dogs when the blond pulled back into the driveway.

�Just to get some parts for a project of mine. Took me a while to find what I wanted is all.�

�You planning on making lunch soon?�

Debrah shook her head in mock severity. �You�re gonna starve when I leave, Lisa. That or die of malnutrition.�

�Is that a �yes� or a �no�?�

Debrah just chuckled and took her bag to loot into the house. It looked like soldering would wait a while and from the way the rest of the week had gone, it would take a long pause for dinner as well. She shrugged dismissively to herself. They had time. Tomorrow morning would be soon enough to install the replacement and test it.

*******

�Sir?� Bradley stood in the doorway of the suited man�s office, a sheet of paper in his hands.

�What is it?� The reply was harsh and irritated, but Bradley stubbornly refused to be intimidated.

�She�s used her card again, sir. We�re narrowing the search even now. I should have a positive location for you in the next twelve hours.�

�Make it eight. I want her and I want those two men, intact.�

�Yes, sir.�

*******

�Are you sure?�

�Of course I�m sure. The detailed scans are accurate up to twenty kilometers.�

�Okay, let me see what you�ve got. Maybe I can tell what they�ve sent.� Debrah leaned over Obi-wan�s shoulder and watched the readout display the data it was scanning from the vehicles speeding toward Lisa�s property.

�There�s four air vehicles, traveling at close to the speed of sound.� Obi-wan began explaining.

�We call it mach speed,� Debrah corrected absently. �Can you bring up an approximate picture of the jets?�

�Yes, here.�

�Those are F-16s from the look of it. Standard military fighter jets. They are atmosphere craft only.� She glanced at Obi-wan�s face. �They won�t be able to follow us into space.�

�And the ground vehicles?�

�Ground vehicles? Let me see.� The young man tapped the command into the computer and three cars and two large trucks that registered as full of warm, Human bodies could now be seen moving toward the house. The blond pointed out the cars. �Those will hold the agent in charge and the other important people. The trucks will hold soldiers. They�re expecting resistence.�

�They appear prepared to deal with any they might encounter.�

�Yeah, and I gotta go get Qui-gon. You warm up the engines and make what preparations you can. I�ll go get Qui and our stuff. Hopefully Lisa won�t take the rap for this. I don�t want to see her hurt.�

�Hurry. They will be here in only a few minutes.�

�I�m going.� She ducked out of the cockpit and pounded down the ramp and was gone.

Debrah raced back through the trees to the house as fast as her legs would carry her, thankful for all the time she�d spent on treadmills and jogging around the neighborhood, both here and at school. She should have known it was tempting fate to stay any longer at Lisa�s home, but she missed the easy comradery the two had shared at school and leaving it any earlier than absolutely necessary was something she just couldn�t force herself to do. She realized then that she should have bought all the supplies by check. They would have taken longer to go through than her card and it would have given them at least another day, maybe three because of the weekend.

It took Debrah a good eight minutes to run the mile distance from the hidden transport to Lisa�s house. She arrived panting heavily, but the engineer hardly slowed as she opened the back door and raced through the house shouting at the top of her considerable lungs. Being a martial arts instructor for over a year had taught her how to get a lot of volume with a little breath.

�Jim!�

�He�s out in the garden, Deb.� Lisa hurried out of her workroom to see what was going on.

�Garden or Maze?�

�Maze, I think. What�s wrong?�

�I�m sorry, Lisa.� Debrah stopped and leaned on her knees, fighting to control her breathing. �They found us. I gotta get Jim and get us out of here as fast as possible. I don�t want to get you in trouble.�

She gave her friend a quick hug. �Thank you so much. You don�t know what this last week of relative calm has meant to us.� Debrah flashed an apologetic glance at her shorter friend as she straightened up and raced back outside to find Qui-gon. Lisa just stared after her friend and hoped that there was enough time for them to get away.

As soon as she was out the door, Debrah was joined by the three dogs, who jumped and played around her as she ran. �Jim! Jim, where are you?� A wave of Force splashed against her senses and she turned right instead of left at the next hedgerow splashed with roses.

�Here, Debrah. What is wrong? I sense a great deal of anxiety from both you and Ben.�

The blond skidded to a halt next to him and immediately began tugging him in the direction of the house, explaining breathlessly as they moved. �We only have a little time. Just enough to clear our stuff out of the house if we�re quick, but that�s it. Obi-wan ran a sensor check before powering up the engines and there�s a flight of Air Force jets heading right for us. There�s also a convoy of ground vehicles coming up the road from the highway.� She began to jog back to the house and the tall man beside her matched her pace. �I want to be out of here before they arrive to spare Lisa as much blame as possible.�

�Then let us hurry.� he replied. �Your friend has been of invaluable help to us in our time of need and we must do what we can to keep her from being sorry for it.�

The two hurried through the house, gathering up all their belongings. They�d left most of their stuff in the transport, so packing didn�t take long. Lisa hovered in the background as they worked and fretted. What should she do? It wasn�t until Debrah answered her that she realized that she�d spoken out loud.

�Tell them the truth. They can�t arrest you for doing something that�s not illegal. You let your friend and her cousins stay at your house for a week. You aren�t aware of anything we might have done wrong, so you can�t be held accountable for it. Not that we have, mind you, but think CYA. Answer any question they ask as correctly and fully as you can.� Debrah smiled sadly at the brunette. �I am terribly sorry about bringing them here. I thought we would have a little more time before they tracked us down.�

�Go then, and don�t worry about me. I�ll be alright. I�ve got plenty of money with which to hire a good lawyer. You just get out of here before they catch you for good. If you wait till they park here, you can drive your car around on the service road you�ll find over to the east. It�ll get you back to the main road to the highway and can�t be seen from the house. Now go.�

�Thank you, Lisa. Thank you.�

Debrah hugged her friend one last time and then she and the Jedi rushed out of the house.

*******

As soon as Debrah and her uncle were out the door Lisa told herself sternly to calm down. She ran her hands through her long curly hair to arrange it more to her liking and walked slowly back to her workroom and her waiting novel. If her pace was unsteady and her movements a little jerky, no one was there to notice it.

Okay, I gotta calm down. I can�t let the INS see me nervous, she thought, gulping air in deep breaths.

Lisa sat down in front of her computer and forced herself to concentrate on the words on her screen. Fingers moving slowly at first, she resumed typing, knowing that she would probably have to re-write all of it when she had managed to truly calm down.

When her front door slammed open, the brunette jumped violently, adrenaline bursting into her veins. She ran to the doorway of her workroom in time to see hard faced men in army fatigues rushing through her house, guns at the ready.

�Hey! What�s this all about?� Lisa shouted at the group in general. Two of the soldiers immediately changed course and moved towards her. They grabbed her by the arms and hustled the woman into her living room and forcibly sat her on the couch.

�What are you doing here? Who are you?� she demanded once again. Her three dogs gathered around her, growling deep in their throats. Lisa ordered them to sit, and they obeyed, though reluctantly.

A man in an expensive suit stepped through an opening in the wall of gun-toting camouflage and Lisa had a sudden, fleeting image of the Cigarette Smoking Man from the X-Files. This man was much younger than the CSM and he wasn�t holding a lit Marley, but his manner and attitude were remarkably similar. �Ms. Hilton,� the Suited Man addressed her in a soft, cultured voice that did nothing to hide the threat of violence that lurked there. �Please forgive the intrusion.�

Ambrosious, the largest of Lisa�s dogs, came to his feet, growling even deeper and louder than before. �I don�t think that I will, unless you can produce a warrant of some kind.� She placed a restraining hand on Ambrosious� head. �Even the INS needs warrants last I checked.�

�The INS? Is that what she told you?� The Suited Man smiled indulgently.

Lisa tried not to begin worrying. When she thought of the INS she thought maybe a few suits, maybe a couple of police officers, but not military, and not two trucks of them. Even if the Suited Man wasn�t with the INS, the law was probably on her side, but he was so confident, so in control. And the military operated under a different set of rules. Well, Debrah had told her to tell the truth and now was as good a time as any. �No, she never said, but that�s what I assumed.�

The Suited Man glanced up as someone hurried forward. �Sir, they�re not here,� a soldier reported suddenly, �They don�t appear to have left anything behind, either.�

The Suited Man�s head whipped back around to pin Lisa in her seat. �Where are they?�

�Out back.� Every instinct told her to lie to them, to stall them and give Debrah and her relatives every chance to get away. But Debrah herself had counseled otherwise. �They stashed their car back in the forest so that no one would see it.�

�When did they leave?� His voice was low and the threat in them had been completely unveiled.

Lisa glanced down at her watch and was surprised by what she saw there. It had seemed longer than that to her. �About eight minutes.�

�Go!� Half of the soldiers pounded out to their truck and piled in. Lisa could hear the motor gun, then gravel flew as the truck pulled around the house and headed through the woods.

The Suited Man turned his attention back to Lisa, and she felt a distinct chill shiver down her spine. �Your friends are in a lot of trouble, Ms. Hilton. It would be better for all concerned if they came quietly.�

�I�ve told you everything I know. They came to spend the week with me and were planning on leaving in the next day or so anyway.� She glanced down at her dogs, uncertain, but unable to hold the question back. �What do you want them for? They haven�t done anything wrong.�

�Ms. Reimers didn�t tell you?� he asked curiously.

�I didn�t ask, and they didn�t say.�

�Hmm, interesting. I do believe you are telling the truth, Ms. Hilton. From what I�ve heard she strikes me as the type to drag as few people as possible down with her.� He tugged on the hem of his jacket to straighten it and motioned at his people, but his eyes remained on the scared author. �We�re leaving. Radio the truck and tell them not to come back to the house when they�ve caught the fugitives. Once they have those three in custody, spread out and search for any vehicles in the vicinity. I want everything they�ve got.�

Lisa watched, riveted, as everyone marched out of her house. In the sudden silence that descended upon them, one of her dogs whimpered, and Lisa found that she could not get the Suited Man�s final expression out of her mind. It promised terrible things to anyone who defied him, and she was suddenly very afraid for her friend.

*******

The two fugitives raced through the woods behind the house and dodged through the trees. Qui-gon pulled his comlink off his belt and began asking questions and issuing orders to his apprentice, running easily. Debrah concentrated on where she was putting her feet, trying to avoid being tripped by jutting roots or otherwise slowing down the evacuation any more than she already was. She was terribly winded from the race to the house and that combined with the bags they both carried transformed their desperate flight back toward the transport to more of a labored jog. The cars were most likely reaching the house even now, but the jets were coming up fast and would overfly the transport�s hiding place before the two could reach it. They could only hope that the stealth equipment would hold up at that close a proximity and that Lisa could stall the government men for a few minutes more.

The jets screamed past overhead and Debrah instinctively winced. The odds were against the pilots being able to see anything while moving at that speed, but she did it all the same. Eyes on the ground, concentrating on placing one foot in front of the other in as rapid a succession as she could manage, it was several moments before the newest sound finally impinged on her consciousness. A truck, maybe more than one, was coming through the forest behind them. It was only a matter of time now.

�Qui-gon.�

�I hear them, Debrah,� the tall man assured her.

�Go. I know you can get there if you leave me behind. I�m slowing you down too much. Get to the ship and leave.�

�I will not leave you behind.�

�Damn it! Go.�

�I am going,� the Jedi responded calmly, but his pace didn�t alter in the slightest.

Debrah shook her head at the injustice of it all. Sometimes being a good guy is a serious handicap, she thought.

Behind them the truck slammed to a halt where the trees had become too close together for it to go any farther and the soldiers vacated it faster than rats from a burning ship. The shouted demands for them to stop running were ignored. Debrah ducked her head and forced her tired muscles to move faster, despite the added weight. Dropping her backpack and Obi�s bag never even occurred to her.

A bullet whistled past her head and impacted with an ugly whap in a tree just to her left. They�re shooting at us!! Adrenaline flooded through her system in a fresh wave, though she�d thought herself well dry of it by now, and lent its strength to her legs. Faintly, above the wheezing sound of her labored breathing, Debrah could make out thumping footsteps in the leaves. Footsteps that did not match her stride or Qui-gon�s.

�They�re fresh, Qui-gon, and I�m not. They�re going to catch us before we make it to the transport.�

�Run on. I will slow them down.�

�But-�

�Run on. I will be fine.�

The blond stuck her hand out and took Qui-gon�s bag from him. As soon as it had been handed off, the Jedi fell behind her as she continued on, despite her ardent wish to stay and help him. Debrah�d seen some of what he could do, and she didn�t doubt that he�d make it to the transport, no matter what.

Gun reports cracked out in the stillness of the woods, but the engineer knew that they were not aimed at her. Doggedly she pressed on, relieved to hear the buzzing hum of the Jedi Master�s lightsabre fading away even as she caught sight of the transport. I�m going to run three miles every day from now on, she promised herself. No way am I gonna get caught like this again!

�Obi-wan! Obi-wan, get the engines going!� she shouted. Debrah raced up the ramp, dropping the bags against the nearest bulkhead and staggered forward to the cockpit. �Qui-gon stopped to stall them, we have to go get him.�

The young man started flipping switches on the console, but didn�t look up. �He�s already on his way.�

�How do- oh.� Debrah rolled her eyes at her own panic and needless fear. Of course the tall Jedi would be fine. He could use the Force, but none of his opponents could. She went back to the entry and collected the bags. She stowed them and her pack in a room and then hurried to the rear to the repair site. She wanted to double check everything.

Even as she dropped into a crouch at the open bulkhead, light steps sounded on the ramp, and the gears to close it went into action. The transport began to rise on its repulsorlifts, and she could faintly hear the sharp spang of bullets ricocheting off the armorplast hull. The blond wondered how Lisa would react when she saw the manpower that had been sent against her guests. Either way, Debrah was glad that they were out of the house before the men arrived. Even that small detail might be enough to keep Lisa out of harm�s way.

Lisa might be safe, but the three of them were another story altogether. Not being up in the cockpit where the exciting stuff was going on, Debrah could only guess what the soldiers outside were doing. No doubt the jets had already turned around and were getting ready to make another pass overhead. She prayed that the stealth equipment the transport had onboard would be enough to fool even a close range radar scan.

Grabbing up her hand drawn schematic, the engineer peered at the cobbled together components that crowded into the space right in front of the bulkhead. Carefully she checked and double checked all the leads and wires that snaked in and out of the opening. Everything was color-coded, which made it easier to track, but it still took time. Satisfied that there was nothing else that she could do back there, Debrah made her way to the front of the ship and took a seat behind to the two Jedi.

She asked no questions, but sat quietly and watched everything that the men were doing. The ship was skimming along under the canopy of the forest, weaving in and out between the redwood and madrone trunks. Obi-wan was piloting and Qui-gon was calmly navigating, softly calling out direction changes to correct drifts required by the positioning of the trees.

�Obi-wan take us up into orbit.� Qui-gon spoke quietly within the cockpit, but his voice was the only sound. The whistling of the wind past the ship�s hull, the whip-snap crack of the branches and the rustle of the leaves in the trees could not be heard, though Debrah could see it all through the viewport.

The ship suddenly shot through the overhanging branches, leaves and shattered tree limbs raining down behind them. Debrah pressed her face to the viewport and searched the sky around them for the jet-fighters. She spotted the silvery specks off to the left. She couldn�t tell which way the craft were headed, but there was no way any Earth-made machine was going to be able to catch her and the Jedi now. The transport angled steeply upward and all three passengers were pressed back into their seats by the force of the climb. Then, all at once, the sky around them wasn�t pale blue anymore, but navy blue, then midnight black, and the stars blazed with a color and intensity that Debrah had never before witnessed. She could somehow feel the absolute peace of it, the calm, the quiet, and it overwhelmed her.

�Where would you like us to drop you off, Debrah?� Qui-gon asked suddenly and it took the woman a moment to shake off the effects of her surroundings to respond.

�Oh, no.� She shook her head at him when he turned to regard her. �I have to stay until we know for sure that my replacement works properly.� Green eyes bored stubbornly into blue. �I�m not getting off this ship till I know that you are going to get home.�

The tall Jedi�s hand started to rise. �Debrah-�

Her green eyes narrowed and she cut him off. �Don�t even try it, Qui-gon Jinn,� her voice was hard and as uncompromising as any mother catching an errant child with his hand in the cookie jar. �It won�t work. We both know that.� She nodded toward the control panel. �Now, set up whatever it is you need to do to test this thing out.�

Qui-gon stared at her a moment more, as if testing her resolve. That man is entirely too worried about protecting other people, she thought. Even if it�s from themselves. Finally he nodded to her and turned back to Obi-wan.

�Power up the hyperdrive, Padawan. Let us see if the new circuit can handle the energy flow first.� Debrah snorted in a miffed manner. She knew what the power requirements for the circuit were and had designed it with that in mind. Her replacement part was not going to blow from the normal load. Earth technology might not be up to their standards, but it could handle that much at least. It might not stand up to much more than that--an overload would most likely fry it outright--but it would do what she had designed it to do.

�Powering up, Master.� Obi-wan kept a sharp eye on the readouts. �Power at full, all readings normal.�

�Very well. How do you suggest we test the circuit, Obi-wan?�

�Master, we don�t know the coordinates for any other systems in this galaxy. The navicomputer would not be able to give us proper calculations for the jump.�

�How did you guys plan on getting out of here when you got this thing fixed?� Debrah asked, confused.

�The computer will know how far we came and on what trajectory. We will simply reverse the course to return home,� Obi-wan explained.

Debrah�s mind spun as she realized the implications of what he�d just said. They couldn�t hyper within her galaxy to test the circuit since they didn�t have the knowledge to properly compute whatever it was they needed computed. And so the only way to test the circuit was to go right back the way they had come.

Back to their galaxy.

Debrah let her eyes close and took a few deep breaths to try and center herself. There was really only one solution, no matter how she looked at it. And the more she turned the problem this way and that, the more firmly convinced she became that it was what was best for all of them, what everything had been pointing toward for a long time now.

�Then do it.� When the men looked at her she clarified. �Reverse your course and let�s see if I really do know what I�m doing.�

�Are you sure, Debrah?� Qui-gon asked quietly. �It may be some time before we can return you to your home, if indeed we ever can.�

�You know this is the right thing to do, Qui-gon. We both can feel it. I�m in the right place at the right time, the right time being now and the right place being with you.� She settled back into her seat. �Let�s get you boys back home.�

The Jedi accepted her words without argument and Obi-wan immediately began punching commands into the computer. The ship turned and began to speed along the solar elliptic. Qui-gon and Obi-wan began to strap themselves in, and the older man suggested that Debrah should do the same.

�It was a very rough transition between the galactic rims. I assure you that you do not want to be unprepared, as we were, for the turbulence we will encounter.�

�I hate turbulence,� the engineer muttered to herself as she fumbled with the unfamiliar safety harness design. Airplane turbulence had always reminded her a little too sharply of how rollercoasters felt, and she�d always been afraid of falling, always hated the sensation of the bottom dropping out of her stomach, which probably explained her fear of heights as well.

�I�m going to turn off the artificial gravity, Master,� Obi-wan said. �That might make the passage a little less rough.�

�Good thinking, Obi-wan.� Debrah suddenly was floating gently over her seat, held in place by her safety harness. It was a unique sensation, but she didn�t have a whole lot of time to ponder it.

�Get ready for the jump to light speed. Three . . . two . . . one.� The young man pulled back on the hyperdrive levers and there was a tense pause. Debrah could feel Obi-wan�s desire to turn and look at her, to ask if maybe she had made a mistake somewhere, but then the stars smeared in their tracks, becoming streaks of light that rushed toward the transport, then the streaks blurred into the mottled grey of hyperspace, and they left the Sol system far behind.

�I told you it would work.�




The End