5
Anakin Solo exhilarated in the freedom of flying. He put his X-Wing through a myriad of high speed, high g maneuvers. He closed his eyes and let the Force flood through him. He flew as he had rarely flown before. No lives were at stake, no one needed to be rescued. He just flew for the joy of flying. Anakin laughed happily, all his worries erased for the moment. Finally, Anakin opened his eyes. He found himself amidst a multitude of long dead and broken ships. They were the small remnant of thousands of ships that had been destroyed in the liberation of Coruscant from the Empire. Most of them had been removed from orbit, but no one had ever gotten around to moving these. Anakin shut himself off from the Force, deciding to practice without the aid of the Force. He was determined not to have the Force become a crutch for him.
He immediately came upon the graveyard of ships. He wrenched the stick down and sent his X-Wing into a spinning dive to avoid a piece of debris whirling at him. He immediately had to pull up into a sharp rise to get out of the path of another piece of debris. Then he was in the midst of the dead ships. He flew the clearest path, but even that was cluttered with pieces of shrapnel. Anakin threw his snubfighter through rolls and dives, reverses and violent turns. Several times, small metal or transparisteel chunks broke through his shields and hit the hull of his ship, but none did any serious damage.
Finally, Anakin emerged on the other side of the graveyard. He wiped sweat off of his forehead and out of his eyes. He cut his thrust and looked back, smiling. He still had the skill it took to navigate the graveyard at high speeds and survive. Without the Force. Anakin laid his head back and took a few deep breaths, the glanced down at his chronometer. He had been gone for three hours. The rest of the squadron would probably be missing him by now.
He powered his X-Wing back up and started back towards the city-planet of Coruscant. He put in a request to land, and when it was confirmed entered the atmosphere. Suddenly, his comm picked up a distress signal. Without thinking, he pulled up and back out into the vacuum of space, then followed the distress signal to its source. He slowed as a beat up old freighter came into view. It had massive carbon scoring and a large hole towards the rear of the ship showed where the hyperdrive had blown. Anakin switched on his comm to the same frequency as the signal, but before he could send a message, his comm light flickered. He answered the incoming call.
"X-Wing," a hoarse voice whispered over the comm, "Firre requesting assistance. I have ten injured and six dead. We were ambushed..." The voice trailed off into a fit of coughing.
"Firre," Anakin immediately answered, "hold on. I'll get help right away." He switched to one of the many New Republic military frequencies. He was surprised to be answered by a somewhat familiar Bothan voice.
"Kre'fey here."
"Admiral Kre'fey," Anakin wasted no time. "An injured freighter has reverted to realspace at these coordinates." Anakin recited a list of numbers. "They are requesting assistance. They claim to have been ambushed and are not in good shape."
"It's good to talk to you too, Solo." Kre'fey smiled. "I'll get my people on it right away."
Anakin acknowledged and reached for the comm switch, but the bass rumble of the Admiral stopped him. "Sir?"
"I need to speak to you as soon as possible."
Anakin wondered why the Bothan Admiral would want to talk to him. "Yes sir. Solo out."
He switched the comm back over to Firre's frequency. "Firre," he said, "Help is on the way."
The voice answered fainter than before. "Hurry."
Anakin slowly brought his X-Wing around and up to the derelict freighter. "Do you have docking capabilities?"
"Yes," the voice came back, this time sharp with pain. "I'll meet you at the hatch."
Anakin slid his X-Wing up to the hatch and waited for the link tube to extend and settle over the X-Wing's hatch. A tone sounded, telling Anakin that it was safe to enter the other ship though the tube. Anakin pulled out an oxygen tank from the emergency kit behind his seat, just in case, then pulled off his helmet and opened the hatch. He climbed into the tube and clamored up to the now open hatch of the other ship. As he emerged into the Firre, acrid smoke bit at his eyes and nose. He guessed it came from burning circuitry. He took a deep breath, and immediately felt lightheaded. He started coughing and almost collapsed, but strong arms were suddenly supporting him.
"Use your oxygen." The same voice Anakin had heard over the comm now instructed him to use the tank he had forgotten. One hand released him and helped him settle the tank's mask over his nose and mouth. "A coolant line ruptured. It's now in the air and it's what making you ill."
As Anakin drew deeply of the oxygen, the hands finally released him. He turned to face the man who had helped him. There was something vaguely familiar about him, but Anakin couldn't pinpoint it. There was no time to ponder on it now, though.
Anakin gave him a grateful smile, then said, "There are injured people on board?"
The man nodded. "Yes, this way."
He quickly led Anakin to the cargo bay. Here the air was still fairly clear. Sixteen forms were laid out on the floor. Six of those forms were covered with standard military issue brown blankets. Anakin glanced down at the floor, then back up at the still moving forms across the room. He ran over to them, taking a quick look at each.
He stopped when he came to a violently coughing woman. Her chocolate, silver-striped hair was dirty and singed. The right side of her face was scraped and bleeding, as was a deep gash on her thigh. Anakin knelt by her and opened himself to the Force. He was glad he had knelt down. If he hadn't the agony that suddenly assaulted him would have knocked him off his feet. He pushed the pain away and placed his hands on her chest. He channeled the Force into her body, and started its healing energies to work. He never had much talent as a healer, but because of her coughing he knew she must have breathed a large quantity of the corrosive coolant gas. Her lungs had probably been abraded and eaten at by the gas. He channeled the Force to that general section of her body, also easing some of her pain. When the woman stopped coughing, Anakin took his hands away from her chest and used the Force to refresh himself. He looked up at the man, who was staring intently at Anakin. A strange light sparked in the man's eyes.
"Who are you?" Anakin was surprised at the low, threatening tone of the man's voice.
"I'm Anakin Solo." He stopped, amazed as pure shock crossed the man's face. "Who are you?" Anakin was suddenly very curious. "And why do you care who I am?"
"I...I'm Tigris." All emotion drained from his face. "I guess you don't remember me."
Anakin shook his head. "You seem familiar, but.." he trailed off, then shrugged helplessly at the hurt look in the man's eyes.
"Well, it's been a long time." Tigris hurried away as a man nearby groaned in pain. Anakin got to his feet and followed Tigris. A man, this one also had striped hair, had a deep gash down the front of a chest and across his stomach. He had scratches over his whole face and down the front of his arms. Anakin helped Tigris strip the blood soaked shirt from the man. Anakin unzipped his flightsuit down to his waist, pulled off his own shirt, then zipped his flightsuit back up. He wadded up his shirt and pressed it against the man's chest and stomach wounds, which were bleeding profusely.
"Tear his shirt into strips," Anakin instructed Tigris.
Tigris did as he was told, then slid them under the man's back when Anakin lifted the man's torso slightly off the ground. Anakin laid him back down and tied the strips over his own shirt.
"I hope this will work as a bandage until help gets here." Tigris gave him a tight nod, then moved to another injured man. Anakin watched him for a moment, then started as one of the wounded began coughing.
Tigris gave Anakin a concerned glance. "The coolant is starting to get in here." Anakin nodded, then placed his own oxygen mask over the coughing man's face. After a few breaths, the man's coughing subsided. Anakin shivered, the cold of space had started to penetrate the hull as life support began to fail.
"I'm gonna' get the rest of the emergency equipment out of my X-Wing. I'll be back in a minute." As Anakin ran back to his fighter, he almost laughed at what the so-called 'emergency equipment' consisted of. He slid down the access tube and into the cockpit. He pulled a kit out from behind the seat, and also a thermal blanket he had stashed there when he first started flying with the Sabers. There were also two more oxygen tanks. He gathered up the stuff and used the Force to boost himself up the tube. Anakin ran back to the cargo bay and skidded to a halt by the wounded people. He dropped the kit, blanket and oxygen tanks and helped move the injured closer together. He and Tigris spread the blanket over them, it was just large enough to cover them all. Then Anakin sat back on his heels and tried to fight off a fit of coughing. He was only partially successful. He was able to stop coughing long enough to pull out his comm link and get in touch with his astromech.
"Patch me through to Kre'fey." Anakin took a deep breath, then erupted in a fit of coughing. Tigris was there in a second with the oxygen, but Anakin refused it. Instead he opened himself completely to the Force and used it to quell the coughs and to start healing in his lungs. The air in the cargo hold was not saturated enough to cause his coughs. When he had ran to and from his X-Wing, he had gotten several lungfuls of the gas. Hopefully his lungs would heal enough to enable him to talk to the Admiral without having to use the oxygen.
"Solo?" The Bothan's grave voice came over the comm link. "I see your X-Wing and the ship. Where are you?"
"I'm in the ship." His voice was rough, like Tigris's had been. "There are eleven injured and six dead." Anakin shot a glance a Tigris, who was about to protest that he was not injured. "There is a coolant leak and life support has failed. I need you here as soon as possible."
"We can dock as soon as you move your X-Wing, Solo." Kre'fey's voice was calm and in control, as it always was.
"Will do, Admiral." Anakin glanced at Tigris. "Solo out." He switched off his comm link and clipped it to his belt.
"I remember I liked you." Anakin said to Tigris, then sprinted to his X-Wing and cycled the air through to purify it. He disengaged from the link tube and accelerated toward the shuttle coming from the Ralroost, the Bothan Assault Cruiser currently patrolling Coruscant space. He passed it, then swung his X-Wing around and escorted the shuttle to the freighter.
Anakin cut power to his engines and hung suspended in space. He pushed his awareness in the Force out towards the Firre. His thoughts sought out one mind among the seventeen there. He touched Tigris's mind, trying to remember where he knew him from. An image of a boy holding an even younger boy came to his mind. Then another of the same boy sitting on a path, crying. The younger boy tugged on his arm, urging him to follow. The boy, Anakin though, was Tigris, and the little one was me. I remember when my mother told me about a boy with striped hair. She wouldn't say his name, because his people believed to own ones name was to gain power over him. She told me that when I was young, I was kidnapped. The boy took care of me. I remember his face. It was different back then. He had the soft look of innocence, of youth, back then. But I suppose I did too. Anakin shook his head. That was a long time ago, so long that he barely remembered Tigris at all.
Anakin watched the shuttle through the viewport of his X-Wing. Every few minutes, he saw a flash of color in the link tube. He assumed those flashed were the injured being moved into the shuttle. Finally, the link tube disengaged from the shuttle. Anakin waited until the shuttle was safely away from the Firre, then powered his fighter up and sped towards the Ralroost.
"Ralroost," Anakin said, "Saber Two requesting permission to land."
"Permission granted, Two," a voice promptly answered him. "Landing bay three."
"Acknowledged." Anakin resisted the urge to cough again. He dove under the Cruiser and followed the curve of the ship until Bay Three came into view. He decelerated until he had just enough forward momentum to bring him slowly into the bay. He drifted toward an empty landing slot and gently set his X-Wing down.
When it had settled onto the durasteel floor, he switched off the repulsorlifts and did a quick post-flight check on its systems. When his astromech whistled an okay, he powered down his fighter and popped the hatch. He climbed out and sat on the cold metal side, dangling his feet over the floor. He pulled off his helmet and threw it back into the cockpit, along with his sweaty gloves.
A door hissed open, admitting a snow white Bothan along with a complement of pilots. They immediately hastened to their B-Wings and prepped them for flight. Anakin gazed after them in confusion. As the Bothan came nearer, Anakin slid off his X-Wing and landed softly on the deck.
"Admiral?" he said questioningly. "Where are they going?"
"They are going to destroy the Firre. There is too much danger of the Yuuzhan Vong gaining any information that ship might have contained." From the tones in Kre'fey's voice, Anakin surmised that the Admiral must have know about the ship and its occupants, and that there must be important information on the ship.
The shuttle that had rescued the people off of the Firre entered the magnetically shielded bay and set down slowly on its repulsorlifts. Anakin and Kre'fey scrambled back to avoid the repulsorlifts energy field. As the shuttle powered down, Anakin ran toward it. He jumped on the half-lowered ramp and hurried to the hold. He opened himself to the Force and immediately felt a blast of pain. Tigris met him halfway and hurried back to the wounded. He immediately went to the woman Anakin had first helped.
"She needs medical attention badly." He gestured to the man whose wounds Anakin had dressed. "So does he." Anakin nodded and commed the medical bay for emergency assistance. Tigris gave him a grateful smile and turned to the woman, who had just regained consciousness.
"Everything's okay mother," he said softly. "The medics are on the way."
The woman smiled weakly at the grimy young man standing over her. "Thank him for me." Her voice was barely audible. Tigris looked up at Anakin.
Anakin, understanding that this woman and her son had been through a very tough time, knelt down beside the woman and gently took her hand. "Thank your son. Without his quick thinking and strength, I could have done nothing to help you. If he hadn't turned on the distress signal and been conscious to dock with my X-Wing, I would have never know you were out here." Anakin touched the woman's hair. Its gold on chocolate striping sparked some deeply buried memory from his youth. He looked back down at her dirty face, but only knew her from his mother's stories. "Rillao."
"Thank you anyway, Solo." Rillao smirked weakly at Anakin's surprise. "You are much like your mother. You have her strength and fire."
Anakin gave her a grateful smile and stood to leave.
"Wait," she coughed. Weakly, she reached into a deep pocket in her loose fitting, torn jumpsuit and pulled out a battered datacard. "Keep this for me. Don't let anyone, not even your family, know what you will find on it."
"No one?"
She shook her head. "My son, if possible, will confide with you about its contents. Don't let it be taken from you."
Anakin shoved the datacard in a pocket, a bad feeling settling in the pit of his stomach. This card, he thought, will only lead to more trouble. Anakin rose and moved away. He avoided the influx of medics and other emergency workers. The young Jedi made his way out of the shuttle and over to his X-Wing.
Kre'fey hurried over to him. "Would you like to stay for the fireworks, or do you need to return to the skyhook?" Anakin frowned, considering his options. He would be most comfortable leaving right away. He had a feeling that the sooner he was away from the MonCal cruiser, the better. Also, Ashta-Mei would undoubtedly be looking for him by now.
"I think I should probably be getting back. Commander Rlgah will probably have my skin when she finds me."
Kre'fey gave him a puzzled glance. "Why?"
Anakin shifted uncomfortably. "I sort of didn't get her permission to leave the base."
The snowy Bothan smiled, showing even whiter fangs. "I see. In that case, you probably should hurry back."
The Bothan turned abruptly. Anakin watched his receding back for several seconds, his unease growing. Anakin shrugged it off, then climbed back into his X-Wing. He powered it up, ran through a quick pre-flight, and then lifted off.
As the Ralroost shrunk behind him, the datacard came back to Anakin's thoughts. He pulled it out and studied its battered surface. In one of the corners, partly covered in hardened dirt, was an inscribed symbol and some words in a language Anakin didn't know, but it was vaguely familiar. He chipped off the dirt with a fingernail and studied the inscriptions more closely. The sweeping and graceful marks instilled a strange sense of peace in him. Anakin took one last look at the datacard, then put it back in his pocket and pointed his X-Wing at the now visible skyhook. He quickly obtained permission to land, then took his craft down to the hangar and gently set it down in the midst of Saber Squadron's other X-Wings.
Quickly powering down, Anakin shucked his helmet and gloves then climbed out of the cockpit and slid down the cold metal side of his X-Wing. The cool air of the hangar felt good against his sweaty face. Anakin jogged out of the hangar after calling a tech over to take his astromech out of his X-Wing. He dropped to a quick walk down several halls and made his way to his room without being spotted by any of the Sabers.
Entering his room, Anakin pulled off his sweat soaked, dirty flightsuit and stepped into his 'fresher's shower. After a quick wash, he toweled off and pulled on some clean clothes. Digging the datacard out of his flightsuit pocket, he took a cloth and carefully cleaned the dirt off of it.
Anakin set the card down on his and Ayen's desk and started searching for his datapad. He rummaged through his desk and the various items on the floor and chairs. He didn't find it. With a frustrated sigh, Anakin put the datacard in one of the desk drawers and locked it. He pocketed the key and went off in search of a datapad he could borrow. His first choice was Valin Horn. Anakin stopped by the younger Jedi's room, but only found Valin's roommate, Alex, was in the room.
"Do you know where Valin is?" Anakin asked the young man, who was reclining on his bed.
Alex raised an eyebrow. "Not here, obviously. He supposed to be here, and you supposed to be in your room, but he isn't and you aren't." The tall youth shrugged. "Don't ask me what's going on."
Anakin gave him a quizzical look. "Why am I supposed to be in my room?"
Alex regarded him skeptically, then a flash of insight crossed his eyes. "You weren't in the fight were you?"
"Fight?" Anakin was somewhat glad he hadn't been at the base all day long.
Alex's face brightened. "Yeah, it was great! Okay, we got these two new squadrons based here today. The Commander had a briefing to introduce us all. After that, most of us went to the mess hall to get a drink and discuss the new squadrons. They are a bunch of jerks, by the way. Then the other two squadrons came in. The atmosphere got a little tense, but everything was okay until two of the Razors came in and started bad-mouthing Jarred."
Anakin frowned. He wasn't too happy about the two new squadrons being assigned to their skyhook, but there wasn't a lot he could do about it. "So what happened?"
"Dera exploded." Alex gave Anakin an evil grin. "She pounded the losers� faces in. Then the whole room joined the fight. The Commander finally came in and broke it up, but not before a few good punches were thrown and some people were hurt."
"I'm glad I wasn't there." Anakin shook his head. He probably would have fought too, and that wasn't what he should have done. "So what's your punishment?"
Alex rolled his eyes and recited a few phrases that he had read off of the datacard at the foot of his bed. "We are confined to our quarters until further notice. We have alternating kitchen duty for the next month. We cannot ingest any alcoholic beverages. We must log twenty hours of extra simm practice each week, not counting the regular squadron simm time."
When Alex paused for air, Anakin cut in. "Your kidding!"
The younger man shook his head vigorously. "I'm not. We just got the orders half and hour ago."
He tossed Anakin the datacard. "Take a look at it yourself if you don't believe me." Anakin gave the card a hard glare, then dropped it back on the end of the bed. "I believe you. After all, it is the Commander we're dealing with."
Alex grinned. "Oh well. I guess it's not so bad. At least we weren't banned from eating or sleeping, or something like that."
Anakin shook his head, then remember the original reason for his visit. "You have a datapad?"
"Yup."
"Can I borrow it? I can't seem to find mine."
Alex raised a skeptical eyebrow. "If you lose your own datapad, how am I supposed to know you won't lose my datapad?"
"Sabers' honor." Anakin said.
"Honor?" Alex tilted his head to the side and put on a mask of mock confusion. "What's honor?"
"Ha-ha." Anakin scooped up the datapad off of Alex's desk and started for the door, calling over his shoulder, "Thanks! I owe you one!" As the door closed behind him, he heard Alex's shouted protests. Anakin shook his head and hurried down the hall to his own quarters.
Ashta-Mei Rlgah sat regally behind her desk, staring down at the insubordinate Suhlak. His breezy answers to her questions were frustrating. It seemed as if he considered the Saber's a joke, and himself too good for the squadron. Finally, after one smart remark too many, Ashta stood up.
"Suhlak, I have decided not to let you join my squadron." She gave the man a curious look. "I'm sure you are a very good pilot, but I don't understand why someone with your skill is so obstinate and boisterous."
Suhlak gave the Commander a shrug. "I guess it was all those years of building myself up as a hunter saboteur." He turned a threw a cocky, self-satisfied grin over at the surprised Valin, who was sitting a chair on one side of the room. Then the man left, swaggering as usual.
When the door had whooshed shut, Valin turned to the Commander. "He was a hunt saboteur?"
Ashta shrugged. "I guess. He's got the ego for it." She shook her head. "I'll admit that I never believed the tales of the hunt saboteurs. It always seemed to me that anyone who was stupid enough to mess around with bounty hunters wouldn't last too long."
Valin nodded in agreement. "The few left would have to have been the best."
Ashta shook her head. "One more good pilot falls victim to his ego." She shook her head again, then sighed. "Time for the next candidate. Ke'arn Ne�orka has a great record. Hopefully he has a better attitude than Suhlak."
Valin barked a sharp laugh. "Anyone has a better attitude than Suhlak."
Ashta snickered. "Yeah. Well, let's get this interview over with."
Valin walked over to the door and let the pale skinned Twi'lek in. After escorting Ne'orka to the Commander's desk, Valin took a seat by the far wall again.
Ne'orka, one of the steel-spined, strictly by-the-rules type of military man, gave Commander Rlgah a quick, tight salute and remained standing. Ashta shot Valin a doubtful glance, then gestured warmly to the Twi'lek to sit. She took her own seat, but wasn't particularly surprised when Ne'orka remained standing. Let the questioning begin, she thought sarcastically, then looked up at the Twi'lek, instinctively knowing this would take a while.
"No." Ashta shook her head vigorously. "No, no, no. I don't want someone that strictly military in my unit."
Valin raised an eyebrow. "It might do us some good. Someone like him might be the persuasive force to prevent mess hall fights."
Ashta shook her head again. "No. He would disrupt my unit because of his strictness. All of the other Sabers would most likely criticize him non-stop."
Valin shrugged. "You're the boss." He gave her a quick smile. "I can't wait to meet this Noghri, though, and see him fly."
"I'd like to see him fly too, but there's no guarantee we'll ever get the chance." Ashta sighed. "He may just be another jerk or a tight, strict military man like the Twi'lek."
Valin smiled. "I have a feeling he'll be just right for the squadron."
Ashta pulled out a datapad and started filing denial reports for the first two candidates. Her holocomm beeped, and she quickly stood and hurried over to it, sliding into the seat in front of it. Seeing that it was a secure military channel, she quickly keyed it on.
An image of Admiral Kre'fey materialized immediately.
"Good to see you alive and well, Admiral," Ashta said pleasantly.
"And you." He frowned at the Commander, his violet eyes burned intensely. "Are you aware of where one of your pilots, a one Anakin Solo, is at the moment? Or where he was half an hour ago?"
Ashta opened her mouth to reply, but her breath came out in a loud sigh and she shook her head. "I have no idea."
Kre'fey gave her a hard glare. "Why not?"
Ashta shrugged. "I would give you an excuse, but I don't think it would do any good. He disappeared a couple of hours ago and I've been too busy to look for him."
"Too busy or too careless?" Kre'fey smiled ferally when Ashta refused to meet his gaze. "It is too your credit that you did not find him. He has been a great service to me in the past hour."
Ashta looked up quickly. "He has?"
Kre'fey gave a slight nod. "Apparently a freighter was attacked out-system by the Yuuzhan Vong. It made the last journey it will ever make here to Coruscant and arrived a burnt out hulk with barely functioning life support and leaking coolant gases inside.
"It seems Solo received a distress signal from the ship and of course, being a Solo, he raced to the rescue. He contacted me with a request for aid, and upon my arrival I saw and sent aid to this ship.
"According to reports, your Solo was quite the hero. Apparently he saved the lives of nearly all on board."
Ashta saw a spark of something she couldn't quite identify flash across the white Bothan's eyes. "So why do you look so harried?"
"That freighter was carrying some classified information." His eyes narrowed dangerously.
"Was carrying?" Ashta echoed cautiously.
"The datacard is nowhere to be found. Either on the freighter or on the passengers."
Ashta closed her eyes and dropped her head to her desk. Oh, no. This can't be happening.
After a moment, Kre'fey's suddenly sympathetic voice sounded softly over the holocomm. "You get down to the bottom of this and nothing will be said." The Bothan's hard eyes left no room for argument.
Ashta raised her head and nodded. "Yes sir." The image of the commanding figure faded from sight. For several minutes, Ashta sat motionless, then became aware that she was not alone.
Valin! He heard everything! She stood and walked over to him.
The young Jedi glanced down. "My lips are sealed." His voice was low, almost scared but with a hint of anger towards anyone who could steal information from the New Republic.
Ashta caught Valin's arm as he stood. "Don't make any rash presumptions. We know nothing for certain."
Valin gave her a sidelong glance, then nodded. "Yes ma'am. With your permission, I'd like to return to my quarters now." His voice was angry, and Ashta knew nothing she said could prevent him from taking the Admiral's words as she had. She released her hold on him and gave a curt nod.
"Very well. You're dismissed."
After the boy had retreated, Ashta slowly made her way to a chair and collapsed into it. I can't believe it. I just can't... Ashta leaned her head on the wall and started trying to think of a way to prove Anakin didn't have the datacard.
Valin quickly retreated from Commander Rlgah's office. The only thing he wanted more than to strangle Anakin was to get some sleep. He was very tired, worn out from the day's events. Several of his minor injuries from the fight hurt, and his muscles were sore from the workout and from the hits he had received.
Sleep was denied him, though. Valin rounded a corner and saw his father leaning on a wall, eyes closed and a look of peace on his face that Valin rarely saw from his father. When Valin stopped, the look of peace vanished. Corran opened his eyes and looked up at his son. Disappointment etched his features. Valin opened his mouth to defend himself from the verbal assault he knew was coming, but his father cut him off with a gesture. "You set a very bad example today, Valin." The voice was drained of all emotion, but Corran's eyes were very much alive.
Valin shook his head and raised his hands in front of him, as if to ward off a physical attack. "I was trying to help out my squadron, dad. They needed all the help they could get."
Corran's cold eyes bored into Valin's. "Is that true?"
Valin nodded vigorously. "Yes, dad. Yes it is."
Corran held his son's gaze for a moment longer, then nodded. "I trust you did what you though was right, but for all those people in your squadron who look up to you because you're a Jedi, even those who look down on the Jedi, you gave them a bad example. The people who resent Jedi now have an excuse to criticize the Jedi even more for not keeping the peace. Those who admire Jedi now have an excuse to jump in a fight and beat people up because they think that is what a Jedi would do."
Valin, suddenly feeling very ashamed of himself, looked down at his feet. "Yes sir."
Corran eyed Valin. "You need to be more careful," his father said softly. "We have more than our own reputations to uphold. We must show the galaxy the best side of the Jedi. We must restore their confidence in us."
"What will happen if we fail?"
Corran shook his head. "I hope we never have to find out."
Anakin punched the wall in frustration, and instantly regretted it. He drew his fist back and bit back a curse.
"Well that was real smart," a woman's voice, dripping with sarcasm sounded from Anakin's doorway.
Anakin hastily grabbed the datacard and shoved it into his shirt pocket. He twisted around to face the woman. His eyes widened when he saw Kysal Naydys's form outlined in the light pouring into the room from the brighter hallway. For a moment, Anakin's mind went blank. He just started at her for a moment. Finally, he snapped back into reality.
"Uh, hi Kysal," he stammered.
"Hey Anakin." She looked him up and down. "What have you been doing for the past three hours?"
"I went out flying," he said truthfully.
The woman posted her fists on her hips. "Wha'd you do after you flew for two hours?"
Anakin's eyes widened in surprise, then he quickly narrowed them. "What do you mean? I flew for three hours, then came back here.�
Kysal smirked. "You're such a bad liar. You know exactly what I mean."
Anakin�s eyes narrowed even more. �Hey, aren�t you still supposed to be in med-bay?�
Kysal glared. �Don�t change the subject. I know you were out doing something.�
Anakin shrugged uneasily and turned back to his desk. "I have no idea what you're talking about, Kysal. You can believe what ever you want, but you obviously don't know what you're talking about."
Anakin had barely caught a hint of movement behind him through the Force when Kysal darted forward and deftly snatched the datacard from his breast shirt pocket. She quickly retreated to the doorway, studying the symbols in the corner of the datacard. "Hey!" Anakin yelped in surprise. "That's mine!" He jumped up and gathered the Force around him to snatch it back, but the look of surprise on Kysal's face made him hesitate.
She looked up at him, her eyes suddenly shining. "Do you know what type of writing this is?"
The sudden surge of excitement from Kysal assaulted Anakin, so he cut himself off partly from the Force. He shook his head, wondering what disturbed Kysal so much about the symbols. He had gone through all of the archives available to him, searching for this particular symbol, but his searches had come up with nothing. The thought that someone in the squadron might know what it said hadn't occurred to him.
Kysal stared at Anakin, her eyes half closed. He could feel conflict within her, trying to decide whether or not to reveal what she knew to him. Finally, she opened her eyes fully and shook her head.
"Tell me what is on it," she said. "I might be able to help you with whatever it is the card will tell you to do."
Anakin wanted to say no to her, but the sense of excitement pouring off of her, her sudden eagerness to help him made him reconsider. The Firrereo had told him not to let anyone but Tigris see it, but the Force now told him differently. He knew suddenly that this woman needed to know, that she could help him.
"I haven't looked at it yet," he said hesitantly. "Whenever I try to open it, a passage in that language comes up. I think I need a password."
"Let me see." Kysal quickly slid into the seat Anakin had vacated and inserted the datacard into the datapad. She keyed it on and immediately the message popped up. Kysal studied it for a moment, then hooked it to a keypad and typed in a response. Before Anakin could see what she had typed, the message vanished to be replaced by a list of names. Kysal scanned them quickly, then shook her head.
"I thought we had all either been killed or been discharged."
"Who are they?" Anakin leaned over her shoulder and gazed at the listing. "There's so many."
Kysal leaned back in the chair and scrolled back to the top of the list. "Yes, there are many, but they may not all still be alive." She closed her eyes and sighed. When she opened them, her expression steeled of all feeling and she pulled the datacard out of the datapad.
"You see these markings?" She ran her hand over the symbols in the lower corner. "They are of a code my unit made. We worked a long time to make this one, and no one that we knew of had ever broken it."
She looked up at Anakin. "Either we were wrong, or one of our unit inscribed this message." She looked up, waiting for Anakin to ask the questions she knew where coming. It didn't take him long. He pulled up a chair over and settled himself before asking her his first question.
"I know this probably isn't the most comfortable subject for you, but if you're going to work with me, I need to know." Kysal nodded.
Anakin could sense the turmoil rolling off of her, and he wanted to say something, but he held his silence and waited for her to reply on her own time. Finally, Anakin could see her steel herself.
"My unit was a little known unit, actually we were known by no one except the higher-ups of the New Republic and the highest military leaders. We were a reconnaissance unit with Intelligence when the Bothans were accused of destroying the Camassi homeworld. We did quite a bit of infiltration back then." Her brows knitted in concentration. "I was only fifteen, but I knew what to do and I did it well."
"And your unit came up with this code." Anakin was intrigued by this woman's past history. He hadn't know anyone in Saber Squadron had done anything notable in the past, except for the obvious exceptions that were the Commander, her sister, and himself. He wasn't exactly sure what most of those other people had done, but he picked up hints of respect fairly easily from the Commander's voice when she spoke to them.
Kysal nodded. "There was a young man in our unit who seemed different to me. He was never very outgoing, always reserved. He was always careful to avoid killing when he could." She reflected silently on her past for a moment. "He was more of a scholar than anything else. He was about half a year younger than me, but he seemed like he was twenty years older than me. He must have been through a lot when he was younger."
Anakin canted his head in interest, but held his silence.
"He had this funny striped hair. I always thought he had it dyed, but he insisted that it was real. He also had sharp canines. But he almost never smiled, so I rarely saw them." Kysal shrugged. "I always thought he was a human, but he told me he wasn't. Said he was a...Firrereo, I think." She paused at the Anakin's sudden inhaled breath.
"What was his name?' Anakin demanded.
"Tigris," she said guardedly.
Anakin closed his eyes and sighed. If Tigris had been with Intelligence all these years, it made sense that he and his mother would have been carrying a datacard full of classified information.
"I got this datacard from Tigris."
Kysal's brows arrowed together. "He's still alive?"
Anakin nodded. "I probably shouldn't be telling you this, but the last hour I was flying, I received a distress signal from a battered freighter. I boarded it and helped with some of the injured passengers, then sent a signal to the Ralroost to come get them. Before they pulled the Firre, that was the name of the freighter, Tigris's mother gave me the card. She didn't want anyone but myself and Tigris to see it. I think she wanted me to do something with the contents, but I'm not sure what."
Kysal nodded thoughtfully, then turned to the datapad again. She punched in a command, and the names vanished. In its place, a list of planets and cities appeared. Each had a name attached to it. Kysal looked up at Anakin.
"Is that where each of the people is?" he asked.
"Or was, yes."
"What am I supposed to do with this?" he asked. "Rillao probably wouldn't have given it to me if she wanted the military or government to have it."
Kysal shook her head. "No, she didn't want the government to get it. If she gave it directly to the military, Fey'lya would have his hands on it in no time. By giving it to you, she ensures that the Fey'lya doesn't see it but the military does get it."
Anakin nodded, then hurried over to the holocomm. He punched in a frequency and waited for an answer.
"Who are you going to talk to?" Kysal asked in alarm. She got her answer when the silver-haired holo of Commander Rlgah materialized. Even in miniature, Anakin could tell she was very upset about something.
When she saw him, her eyes hardened and she frowned. "Anakin, I'm glad you called." Her voice was cold. "I need to talk to you about the consequences of stealing classified and very valuable information from the New Republic."
Anakin smiled. "I didn't steal it, Commander." He held up a hand to forestall the explosion he saw coming from the Commander. "It was given to me by the mission commander aboard the Firre."
Ashta-Mei sneered at him. "Oh, I'm so sorry. I wasn't aware anyone had the right to make a gift of classified information." Her voice was rising with anger, and Anakin knew he was going to have to talk fast to get himself out of this mess.
"Listen, Commander," he started. "The mission commander gave it to me for safe keeping. She didn't want Fey'lya to get it."
"Why not?" Ashta demanded. Anakin shrugged. "I'm not sure, but you know if he gets it, the military will never get a look at it."
Ashta shifted uneasily. "Be that as it may, you had no right to take that datacard from the ship."
Anakin raised an eyebrow. "I suppose Admiral Kre'fey has been in contact with you?"
Ashta glared at him. "What was the purpose of your call?"
"I want to talk to him."
Ashta sighed and looked down. "Then the Admiral was right. You do have it."
Anakin nodded. "Yes, I do. And I need to talk to the Admiral about it." Anakin injected a commanding tone into his voice. He waited.
For a split second, Ashta shrunk back from the demand, but then she felt a slight push of the Force behind the words. She angrily leaned forward to glare at the holo-image of the young pilot on the screen before her.
�You�ve certainly shown your capabilities or lack thereof of making important decisions regarding important Republic information issues. I want you in my office, now.� Her face had turned expressionless, but her eyes glinted with an angry layer underneath the calm. She turned away from the screen. �Naydys, you too. You were better off out of this.�
Kysal, invisible to the Commander from the screen, widened her eyes slightly at Anakin. �How�?� she began.
�Now, I said!�
Anakin cut the transmission, and with a quick glance at each other, they hurried out of his quarters.
Jarred groaned, barely conscious, and rolled over on the hard surface that he was lying on. He forced his eyes to open, but quickly squeezed them shut again when a bright light assaulted him. He moved his hand to cover his eyes, and opened them again. White walls went on for as far as he could see in his current position. Curious about his surroundings, he attempted to lift his head to see better. He immediately regretted the action, as an explosive pain erupted inside his skull. He moaned and his hands both flew over his face. Light footsteps sounded and grew closer, and a pair of hands pulled his away from his face. Jarred tightly closed his eyes against the attacking light. He tried vainly to work his leaden tongue.
�Too bright�� he managed to get out. The light was quickly dimmed. A slight cold sensation on his right temple told him that a pain patch had been applied. He opened his eyes once more, to see who was helping him.
A pair of piercing gray eyes underneath a shock of blue hair met his gaze for a moment, and then their attention was directed to the bandages covering his chest.
Jarred lifted his head to look around. His bed was off to the side of a small room adjoining to another. Jarred couldn�t see much through the doorway, except for more tables. The cleansing smell of bacta hung heavily in the air. Jarred looked back at the blue-haired man.
He glanced at Jarred, and then turned away from the bed. �You should get more rest. That�s the most important factor right now.�
Jarred shook his head. ��Not tired.� He forced his tongue to move. �I�m�lonely.�
The gray eyes turned back to study him. �I can�t stay here. I have other work to do.� He began to walk away, satisfied that the conversation was ended. Jarred craned his head to watch him go.
�Please, call someone in.�
The blue-haired man stopped, but did not turn. �If I do, will you get some rest?� Jarred nodded weakly.
�Yes,� he said.
�Alright.� The man strode out of Jarred�s view, and Jarred let his head fall back to the pillow.
Valin�s comlink beeped, and he swiped it quickly from his belt. �Horn here.�
A smooth voice answered him. �Flight Officer Horn, if you would report to med-bay.� Valin�s heart sunk into his boots. Jarred, he thought with a pang of fear.
�Is there something wrong?� He glanced at Alex, who was lying unconcernedly on his bunk, tossing a stylus into the air and catching it.
�Everything is fine. Flight Officer Fain has requested company for the moment, and you were the first that came to mind. If it�s not possible, I can contact��
Valin cut him off. �I�ll be there shortly.� He flipped his comlink to another channel.
�Donos.� The voice sounded slightly irritated.
�Dera, Jarred�s awake. I�m on my way now to see him. Meet me in med-bay. Horn out.� He switched the comlink off, not waiting to hear Dera�s protests. He sensed that she needed this, to see Jarred right now.
Surprisingly, Dera was waiting impatiently for him outside med-bay when he finally arrived. She glared at him.
�I was busy.� She stated.
Valin gave her a half-smile. �Well, I�m glad that you found time for your friend.�
Dera gave Valin an annoyed look. �If the Commander catches us, we�ll be in for it big time.�
Valin cocked his head. �Then we best not let her catch us out here, huh?" He gestured to the med-bay door. �Shall we?�
Valin strode behind Dera into the med-bay, and steered her into Jarred�s small room. Dera slightly resisted when she saw Jarred�s still form on the bed, but then became almost limp, submissive. Valin pulled her all the way up to Jarred�s side. They stood, staring quietly at their friend for a moment.
�Is he alright?� Dera weakly asked. Her hand reached out and touched Jarred�s unmoving arm. Jarred�s eyes slowly opened, and blinking, he turned his head and saw them. He gave a faint smile, and tried to pull himself up into a sitting position, but stopped quickly and grimaced.
�I�m still hurting a little.� Jarred admitted. He pulled a brave look onto his face. �It�s nothin� big.�
Valin pulled two chairs from a side of the room and placed one behind Dera, and sat in the other. Dera sat down as if in a trance, staring with a half-worried, half-frightened look on her face at Jarred. Valin raised an eyebrow. This was the first time that he had ever seen Dera look this way. Jarred didn�t seem to notice. He looked at Valin and smiled.
�So, what have I missed?�
Valin shrugged non-chalantly. �Not much. We�ve been confined to quarters, have extra sim time to put in, and the mess hall bar is now closed.�
Jarred gave a grimace. �What happened?�
Valin shrugged. �Little accident.�
The pilot lying on the bed smiled knowingly.
�There�re a couple new squadrons here.� Valin gave a wry smile.
Jarred rolled his eyes. �Not the arrogant cocky type that think that they know everything?� He waved his hand dramatically.
Valin nodded. �How did you know?�
Jarred shrugged. �After awhile you get used to it.� He glanced at Dera, who was scowling, not at him, but into the distance, with a far-away look in her eyes. A long moment of tense silence filled the room. Finally Dera broke the silence.
�How�are you doing?� She asked, hesitating.
Jarred shrugged. �Better. I�ll be out of here soon. I�m ready to jump back into my X-wing.� He gave a wry smile. �Or, what�s left of it.�
Valin grinned. �They�ve already been working on it. You should have seen it. One sorry mess.�
Jarred shook his head. �I didn�t need to see it. Being inside was enough. When I fired the lasers, they just�exploded. It was like flying right into a supernova. It was so bright, and so hot, then everything just went black.� He ran his hand through his unkempt red hair.
Dera confusedly sat stiffly in the chair, staring at her friend. Jarred sat, smiling, and talking as if nothing was wrong. She wondered at his mettle. He didn�t act as if he was embarrassed, or insulted. In fact, he seemed almost�happy. She shook her head slightly, as if to clear it. She didn�t quite understand how this man could stand two of his fellow pilots to see him with all of his weaknesses displayed. She felt almost ashamed to look at him, but her eyes wouldn�t turn away. Her eyes took in the scars not covered by bandages on his chest. Her stomach churned slightly as she heard Jarred describing his last memories of the flight, and the pang of pain that she had felt before echoed once more in her chest.
She shut her eyes briefly, and wished the feeling would go away. She opened her eyes and stood up. Both pilots looked at her. Dera suddenly felt nervous. She wanted to leave.
�I�have some things I need to finish.� She said, trying to sound normal. She nodded at Jarred, and felt a little foolish. �I�ll see you later.� She turned and hurried out of the med-bay, away from her confusion and doubt.
Jarred watched the retreating form of Dera as she left. The look on his face suggested disappointment. �How has she been?� Jarred asked, almost so quietly that Valin didn�t hear him.
Valin looked up at his friend. �Worried.�
Jarred nodded thoughtfully.
Anakin and Kysal hurried down the corridor toward the Commander�s office. Neither spoke, both knew the trouble they were in. Kysal wore a grim look on her face, while Anakin�s features were blank. The corridor was oddly quiet, devoid of the normal pilot life that normally roamed it. The only sound was the clacking of their boots on the durasteel floor.
A movement out of the corner of Anakin�s eye caught his attention. He turned his head slightly, and saw the form of Dera Donos, shrinking back into the shadows of a small hallway covey. She saw his attention directed toward him, and raised a finger to her lips, signaling for him to keep quiet about her. He gave a slight nod, and then diverted his eyes back to the hallway in front of him. A quick glance at the grim-faced pilot flanking him showed that she was oblivious to the silent exchange. Both pilots stopped in front of the door to the Commander�s office, and looked at each other.
By silent agreement, Kysal hit the buzzer, and Anakin went into the room first. Kysal followed Anakin closely. The door slid shut behind them. The two pilots silently stood at attention in front of Commander Rlgah�s desk.
Anakin studied the silver eyed woman�s face. Her corners of her mouth were turned down in a disappointed scowl. Her eyes were focused on the bulge in Anakin�s flightsuit pocket, were Anakin had shoved the datapad before he had left his room. He slowly reached his hand into his pocket and pulled the datapad out.
The Commander�s eyes shifted to Anakin�s face. The intense anger in her gaze shocked him. He froze as Ashta�s eyes bored into his own. Finally, he could no longer hold her gaze. His eyes flicked down to the floor, then back up to a spot on the wall behind Ashta�s head.
�Please, be seated.� Commander Rlgah gestured to the seats in front of her desk. Her voice was slightly chilled, but very much in control considering the intense anger Anakin could feel radiating from her.
The two pilots sat obediently, but Anakin could not extinguish a persistent spark of defiance. Ashta must have sensed it, for she gave him another icy look. He clamped down on his feelings, and schooled his features into submission. Ashta leaned back in her chair, suddenly calm. Anakin felt a chill of dread run down his spine, and knew he and Kysal were in for a intense dressing down.
Ashta�s eyes narrowed, then she leaned back in her chair and calmed herself.
�Why are you here?� Her voice was calm, totally in control.
Anakin�s eyes narrowed in confusion. �Because you ordered us to come here, to you office.�
�And why did I tell you to come to my office?� Ashta watched several conflicting emotions cross the younger Saber�s face.
Anakin chose his words carefully. �Because you discovered a certain datapad that has fallen into my possession is legally property of the New Republic Intelligence.�
Ashta nodded, putting an impressed expression on her face. Anakin caught her sarcasm and frowned angrily. �And who, pray tell, is this X-Wing unit serving under?�
Anger struggled to make its way onto Anakin�s face, but he fought it down to a scowl. �We serve under the New Republic Starfighter Command.�
�And tell me again why you think you have any claim to Intelligence property?� Ashta kept her tone light, inquiring.
Anakin glowered at her, but didn�t answer.
�And please expand on this notion of yours that you should be the deciding official on whose hands that datapad should fall into. Please. I would really like to know.� Ashta kept her tone light, almost unconcerned. �And since you are under my command, I�m ordering you to tell me.�
Kysal Naydys took a deep breath, as if to speak, but the Commander cut her off with a harsh glare. �Naydys, keep your mouth shut. I�ll deal with you later.� Kysal exhaled slowly and nodded, her expression also sour.
She turned back to Anakin. �You were saying?�
Indecision suddenly ripped through Anakin�s Force sense. Several times, he began to speak, but each time he fell silent. Finally he gave Ashta a helpless look and leaned forward, resting his head in his hands.
�I don�t know what to tell you, Commander.�
Ashta softened her voice and also leaned forward. �Why don�t you start from the beginning?�
Anakin was silent for a moment, the asked, �What did Kre�fey tell you?�
Ashta shook her head. �That�s not important right now. I want to hear it from you?�
Anakin lifted his head and sat back, almost lifelessly. �I suppose you know the majority of the story,� he began slowly. �I got a distress call from the Firre and went to help them. I got there, sent a call to Kre�fey, and helped out where I could while we waited.� Anakin stopped. His eyes closed and he took a deep breath. �Two of the people on the Firre were old friends of mine. After Kre�fey�s shuttle rescued the passenger, one of them gave me the card and told me not to let anyone see it.�
Ashta raised an eyebrow.
�That�s all there is.� Anakin shrugged, a little of his confidence returning.
�Not quite.� Ashta turned to Kysal. �This is where you come in.�
Kysal seemed to shrink back into her chair. She held up her hands as if to defend a physical blow. �I just happened to walk in on Anakin when he was looking at the datacard, and my curiosity was piqued.� She shrugged. �I looked at it and helped Anakin get into it, but that�s all we did.�
Ashta nodded. �I know you two didn�t mean anything by all of this, but you do realize that this is a federal offense. Stealing government property is definitely against the law.�
The two nodded glumly.
�Yes, but I wasn�t really thinking about that when all of this was happening.� Anakin shook his head mournfully. �And because I wasn�t thinking, I�m in trouble, Kysal is in trouble, and you are in trouble.�
Ashta laid her hands on her desk and leaned even farther forward. Something had been bugging her on and off for the past hour or so. What could be on that datacard that made it so important for one of the members of the Intel team that was transporting it went to extreme lengths to make sure Intelligence didn�t get it?
�What is on the datapad?�
Ashta�s question took the Anakin and Kysal by surprise. Kysal�s eyes widened and immediately Ashta could see the intelligence working behind them. Anakin just started at her.
�I thought you were eager for this to get back to Kre�fey.� Anakin�s tone was flat.
�I never said that. But I need to know what is on it. Why is it so important to Intelligence?� The earnestness in Ashta�s voice must have changed something in Anakin�s mind, because he suddenly sat forward and dropped the datacard onto the desk.
�See for yourself.�
Ashta gave the card a suspicious glare, then picked it up and inserted it into her datapad. Immediately a query in a foreign language appeared in the air above the pad. Ashta looked up at Anakin questioningly. Anakin, in turn, looked to Kysal, who stood and moved around behind the desk. She typed in an answer on the keypad, then moved through several more queries, which Ashta assumed were passwords. How Kysal knew them puzzled her.
After Kysal entered one last password, a screen popped up with a long list of names. Ashta scanned them quickly, finding a few she knew, but many she had never heard of. She looked up at Kysal.
�Who are all of these people?�
Kysal scowled. �I�d rather not say. To many people knowing could endanger their safety.�
Ashta canted her head to the side. �Kysal, do you really think I�m going to tell anyone?�
Kysal shook her head, expression more serious than Ashta had ever seen it, except for once. That was when Kysal had been angry with Ashta for not having had them fly simms against the Yuuzhan Vong. �They are all Special Intelligence operatives.� She pointed at the small print below each name. The print was small glyphs that Ashta didn�t recognize. �That is were they are stationed.�
Ashta blinked in surprise. �Can you read this?�
Kysal nodded glumly. She must have committed herself to telling Ashta all she knew. �I helped come up with it.�
�You what?� Ashta�s jaw dropped. She had no idea that any of her pilots were ex-Intelligence people.
Kysal nodded again. �It�s true.�
Ashta listened in amazement as Kysal spilled her story.
Jaysaan Aarymer sat glumly on his bed. He was bored. There was nothing to do. He stood abruptly and started pacing. Back and forth and back and forth. Pacing got really old after several minutes. He sat back down on his bed, thinking furiously. What to do, what to do? Jaysaan shrugged and dropped to the floor and started doing pushups.
After about an hour of exercise, Jaysaan finally stood up and went to his �fresher. He shucked out of his sweaty clothes and stepped gratefully into the warm water.
Twenty minutes later, Jaysaan finished toweling off and pulled on a pair of khakis and a white sleeveless muscle shirt. Then he dropped onto his bed, finally ready for a good sleep. Half a minute later, his comm started beeping insistently.
Jaysaan ignored it. He tried dropping off to sleep, but the annoying beep just would not let him. Finally, he pushed himself off of the bed and grabbed his comlink off of his desk.
�What?� His voice emerged much more irritated than he had intended.
�Aarymer,� the Commander�s voice came strictly over the comm. �Get down to my office. Now!�
Jaysaan sighed theatrically. �Alright. I guess I�ll be there in a minute.�
Commander Rlgah bit off a laugh, then said in a much stricter tone, �Now, Aarymer.�
�Yes ma�am.� Jaysaan switched off his comm and reached to clip it to his belt. The comm clattered to the floor, and Jaysaan realized he hadn�t put on a belt. He sighed again and pulled a belt off of his floor. Then, picking up his comlink, he left his room and headed off toward the Commander�s office.
When he reached her door, he stopped and took a moment to compose himself. He put on the carefree expression and manner that most people had come to expect of him. Then he just stood there, finger poised over the buzzer. For some odd reason, he did not want to go in. Finally, he took a deep breath and pushed the buzzer. Almost immediately, the door opened.
Jaysaan was surprised to suddenly be face to face with Kysal. She grabbed him by the arm and pulled him inside, hissing softly, �You�re late.�
Jaysaan smiled and nodded. �I know.�
Kysal rolled her eyes and pulled him over to the Commander�s desk. �He�s here.�
Commander Rlgah smiled wryly. �Fashionably late, I see.�
Jaysaan bowed deeply. �Of course. It�s me!�
Rlgah�s smile curved down slightly. �Which is exactly why you are here.�
Jaysaan�s confident manner faltered slightly, but he recovered quickly. And why is that, Commander? Jaysaan looked at the still standing Kysal, then slid quickly into her seat, laughing silently at the glare she gave him. He held up his hands in an inviting gesture.
�Go on, Commander.�
She shook her head at Jaysaan�s antics, then leaned forward on her elbows. �What do you know about your partner here�s history since the time you left the Corellian Security Force?�
Jaysaan shrugged and looked at Kysal. �I know a descent amount, but not everything. I know she was with Intelligence for a couple years, but I don�t know much about her time there, of course.�
�And what do you know about her assignments while she was with Intel?�
Jaysaan shrugged. �Not much.�
Rlgah raised an eyebrow, fixing an unsettling gaze on him. For a moment, Jaysaan imagined she could see right through his smooth exterior to his very thoughts. With a start, he realized she probably could. She was a Jedi after all.
�Well, maybe a little more than not much, but Kysal never told me anything that would compromise missions.� Jaysaan was becoming unnerved by the Commander�s gaze. He averted his eyes and looked down at his booted feet.
He looked up to see the Commander nodding silently. �That�s what I thought.� Rlgah shot a look over at Kysal. �Since you two are so close, Kysal might mention something about this to you later on. I am going to bring you in on this right now so that it spreads no farther than this office.�
Anakin let out a small sound of dismay. �Commander, are you sure that is wise?�
Rlgah gave him a cool glare. �Are you so sure taking that datacard from Rillao was wise?�
Anakin scowled and sat back in his chair. He seemed rather sullen at being rebuked in such a round-about manner. �Whatever you say, Commander.�
Rlgah gave him another pointed look, then turned back to Jaysaan. �We have a lot to discuss in a very short time period, so I�ll have to give you the abbreviated version of the story.�
Jaysaan grinned, finding his cocky side again. �I can�t wait.�
Jarred Fain stared at the blank white ceiling of his ward room. He had been staring at it for hours now. He had been out of the bacta tank for almost half a day now, and he had gotten only about an hour of sleep. Jarred wanted desperately to get out of his sterile prison and do something. After hours of surgery and days of floating motionless in a bacta tank, every fiber in Jarred�s body was aching to jump in an X-Wing, in any fighter for that matter, and fly. Flying was as much a part of him as his very heart, and it was nearly impossible to keep living without it.
Finally he struggled into a sitting position. Even that small task was exhausting. Swinging his legs over the side of his cot, Jarred prepared to put weight on his still weakened legs.
�I wouldn�t do that if I were you.�
Startled, Jarred nearly slipped off of the cot. The blue-haired medic was leaning leisurely on the door frame. Jarred had no idea how long Lihos had been standing there watching him. He didn�t ask. Instead, Jarred just raised a questioning eyebrow at him.
Lihos straightened, and entered the room. �Your legs aren�t fully recovered yet. In fact, I�m not sure if they will ever fully recover. I know in the report they sent to Commander Rlgah the head doctor said you would probably make a full recovery, but I�m not so sure.
�We had to do intense reconstructive surgery on them, and that often leaves the victim debilitated for life. Even with bacta treatments.�
Jarred straightened. �First of all, I do not consider myself a victim, and secondly, I will regain full use of my legs. Whether you like it or not.�
Lihos� concerned expression lightened considerably. �I was hoping you�d say that. You know, you�ll have to learn to walk all over again.�
Jarred just gave the man a cool look. �When do we start?�
�Now.�
Alex Vanner gazed uncertainly at his sleeping roommate. Valin had came in to the room about an hour ago, angry and tense. He had said nothing at all to Alex, but had showered and immediately slipped off to sleep on his cot. Now he was still sleeping, albeit fitfully, and Alex stood over him with datacard in hand, fighting an internal battle.
The datacard he held contained passwords and system bypass codes that would allow him to get into the hangar bay and complete his newest set of orders. But he didn�t want to. He desperately wished he had never gotten mixed up with the Peace Brigade. Earlier, he had had no problem carrying out his first set of orders, the destruction of Saber Ten. But back then, Jarred had been a stranger-one Alex had not been too fond of either.
Now everything was different. Alex had gotten to know all of the Sabers. And while he still didn�t care too much for Fain, he hated to see the effects of his earlier actions on the rest of the Squadron. Dera, whom he had come to know and even like, had been torn up by Jarred�s injuries. The others who had been injured in the fray that day might have been hurt because Jarred was not there to protect them-because of when Alex had done.
Now he was again being asked to inflict more damage on his squadron. He might have considered it, but this action was directed against Valin. The two had almost instantly became friends when they had met, and the fact that they were roommates strengthened that bond. And Alex just couldn�t bring himself to hurt his best friend.
Alex shook his head and slumped to the floor, struggling with his own conscience.
�What am I gonna� do?� he moaned out loud, wishing desperately that there was someone he could tell, someone who could tell him how to get out of this mess.
�The right thing.�
Startled, Alex jumped up and backed away from Valin. He was still laying on his cot, now propped up on one elbow. A stern look on his face that betrayed no anger, the young man swung his legs over the edge of the cot and just sat there.
�Valin!�
Alex had never seen such an intense look on his friends face, and he thought that this must be the expression Valin wore in combat.
�Alex.� Valin�s voice was a dead calm.
�I�uh�I thought you were asleep.� Alex floundered for words. He had no idea if Valin knew anything about his involvement with the Peace Brigade, but from the look on his face, Alex guessed he knew everything he needed to.
Valin raised an eyebrow. �I�m sure you did.�
Alex turned away from his friend and covered his face with a hand. He had no idea what to do now. He was fairly certain that Valin knew. And if Valin knew, the Commander knew. So why hadn�t anyone come to arrest him yet?
Looking back up, Alex said, �Why haven�t you told anyone?�
Valin�s expression turned sad. �I was hoping that I had guessed wrong. I didn�t want to throw any suspicion on you if I was wrong. But I was right.�
Alex nodded. He couldn�t lie to Valin. �You did.� He grabbed a comlink and tossed in to Valin. �Might as well call in security now. I won�t run.�
Valin shook his head. �I know.� He looked at the comlink, then tucked it into is belt. �Not yet.�
Alex took a step back in surprise. �What? But I tried to kill Jarred!�
Valin nodded. �I know. I also know you regret it now. I can feel your guilt.�
Alex couldn�t keep a expression of dismay off of his face. �But I deserve to be locked away! I deserve worse!�
�I suppose some people might say that. But you didn�t kill him, and you regret even trying, so I�d say you�re worthy of a second chance.�
Suddenly the impact of what Valin was saying finally hit him. Valin was not going to turn him in. Valin was not going to tell anyone what Alex had done. And Alex swore to himself that Valin would not regret it.
Alex dropped the datacard on the floor and crushed it with his heel. When he finally worked up the courage to speak again, his voice emerged as an emotion choked whisper. �Thank you.�
Valin smiled sadly, then laid back on his cot. Alex didn�t know if his friend was sleeping, but he wasn�t going to stick around to find out. He fled the room and Valin�s sad presence.
Hours later, he stood in the space station�s main workout room, sweat dripping from his face and arms. His shirt was soaked, as was his hair. He had taken out his frustrations on the punching dummy that was standing in front of him. It resisted all of his punches, momentarily conforming to the shape of his fist or foot as he struck it, then reverting back to its natural shape.
Which is about how my conscience is right about now. No matter what angle he approached it from, he just couldn�t get around his gut feeling that the New Republic was not going to get out of the battle with the Yuuzhan Vong intact. That feeling is what got me involved with the Peace Brigade in the first place.
Alex had gotten in touch with the Brigadiers to find out if there was any way to accomplish some sort of peace with the Vong. And they had given him his first assignment. The attack on the space station was a direct result of intelligence he had given the Peace Brigade. Then, he accepted his second assignment against his better judgment. He had not really wanted to kill Jarred, but if it would help accomplish peace, he had no qualms.
But he had bungled that operation horribly. Alex knew he had covered his tracks, but nothing could blind a Jedi�s intuition. Valin had figured out what Alex was up to, and Alex had confirmed it. Yet Valin had not turned him it, had given him a second chance to straighten up. Alex shook his head in frustration. I�m not worth Valin�s trust, not worth his mercy. And when I do what I know I must, Valin will see how wrong he was to trust me. He will blame himself for whatever I do next-all because he didn�t turn me in.
�No!� Alex lashed out in fury at the dummy. But despite the ferocity of his blows, the dummy always came out of it without a scratch. Finally, Alex sighed and gave up his attack. He slumped to the floor and just sat there, drained physically and emotionally.
Alex looked up as a pair of booted feet stopped in front of him. He looked up to see Zana standing over him. She smiled at him, then looked pointedly over at the dummy.
�I�m glad I�m not that dummy,� she said cheerily.
Alex forced a smile, then pushed himself off of the floor. He looked at the dummy. It just sat there. He shrugged, wishing his life was as simple as the dummy�s.
�Why the glum face?� Zana asked.
�It�s nothing. I was just thinking.�
�You?� she asked in credulously. �Think?�
�Haha.� Alex shook his head. There was always a wit around when you needed one. �Seriously, I was wondering if the New Republic is going to get out of this alive.�
Zana�s face turned serious, and she took a moment to answer. �I don�t know, but I do know we�ll do anything and everything possible to make that a definite possibility.�
Alex looked down at the floor, deciding to risk asking the woman several questions. He really needed to straighten things out in his head. �Why don�t we just try for peace with the Vong? Like the Peace Brigade are?�
Zana barked out a harsh laugh. �Peace? With the Yuuzhan Vong? They don�t want peace. All they want is to take over this galaxy, and rid it of all of the �infidels� that inhabit it. Sure, they�d be glad to take the few that are left after the war and make them into slaves, but the Vong have no interest in peace.�
Alex thought furiously. That seemed to fit in with everything that he had seen of the Yuuzhan Vong, but somehow Zana telling him what he already knew seemed to straighten things out for him.
�And anyways,� Zana said haughtily, �The only thing the Peace Brigade wants to do is get in good with the Vong so maybe they can gain a little latitude when the Vong have taken over. They care about peace as much as the Yuuzhan Vong do!�
Alex bit his lip, realizing what a fool he had been to even think there was a chance of peace. And to act on that thought could have killed a good man.
Alex was startled out of his reverie when Zana laid a gentle hand on his shoulder. Her compassionate gaze bored into his. �Why do you ask?�
Alex�s expression turned tortured. �I�� Alex had a crazy urge to tell the woman what he had done, but he reminded himself that this woman was the Commander�s sister. �I just wanted to clear a few things up.�
�Are you sure?� Her voice was understanding and open, and Alex knew she was not trying any Jedi trick on him. He also knew he could trust her with his life, and with his secret.
�I�I don�t know. I�m not sure of much of anything lately.� Alex sank back to the floor and rested his face in his hands. �I�I did something I shouldn�t have, and someone was almost killed because of it.�
Zana nodded, and sat down beside him. She wrapped her arm around his shoulder. �I see. And now you find that you were wrong, and that someone who was almost killed didn�t deserve to be killed. And that you were a fool to ever be swayed by the Peace Brigade�s empty promises of peace.�
Alex gave a tormented nod. �Yes,� he said. �That�s about how it is. I�m a fool and I know it. And so do you and Valin.�
That surprised Zana. �Valin knows!?�
Alex nodded and could not suppress a sob. He looked up at Zana, tears streaming down his cheeks. �Zana, I almost killed him! If he died, it would have been my fault and I wouldn�t have even been sorry! And now, as it is, he is hurt really bad and they aren�t even sure if he�ll recover the use of his legs!� Alex dropped his head to his knees. �All because I�m a stupid fool who can�t think for himself.�
Zana sat in silence, pulling Alex closer. Alex shuddered as she put her forefinger and thumb gently underneath his chin and turned his head so that he could see her. �I don�t care what you did a week ago, even a day ago. All I care about is what you do today. If you walk out of here changed, and devote yourself to the people who love you, and who you love, nothing will leave this room. If you leave here and do the same thing, well, my sister can be a very hard woman when she wants to be.�
Alex sniffed and nodded. He wiped his face with his sleeve, and picked himself up. When Zana also stood, Alex held out his hand. She took it, and pulled him into a hug. He gratefully fell into it, burying his face in her shoulder and trying to suppress more tears of guilt. He could not. Soon sobs wracked his chest and shoulders. The understanding and compassion which Zana showed to him completely undid him.
And the two stood there for long minutes, the younger ridding himself of a great guilt, and the older showing a softer side of herself she had forgotten she had.
Two days later, Ashta and three of her pilots were seated in a conference room, going over some of the data they had discovered while going through the information on the stolen datacard. They had found out that all of the names and locations on the list were current. There was also information about much of the Vong biotechnology on it.
They had not had time to go through everything on the card of course, so Ashta had made a copy of it, then introduced a virus into it that destroyed the majority of the information on it. Some of the juicy bits of information, the bits that would intrigue but not lead anywhere, were left untampered with. Now Ashta had Kysal working on it to make it appear as if they had tried to get past the card�s passwords, but had not been able to.
v
And they had formulated a story that would hopefully throw any blame for the stealing of the card off of Anakin and Rillao. Ashta would return the card, claiming that one of the Intel operatives aboard the Firre other than Rillao had given the card to Anakin, who had accepted it without knowing it was the property of the New Republic. Of course her story would be checked out, so Ashta had taken the necessary steps to avoid being caught in the act of deceiving a superior officer and being punished herself. She had used the Force to wipe the few minutes of interaction from the minds of those she had spoken with, and done business with. Any machines, recording devices, or anything else that might have held evidence that this was anything but a legitimate claim had it�s memory purged or overwritten.
Finally, when Ashta had been certain all evidence of Anakin�s guilt had been taken care of, she commed Admiral Kre�fey with the news that she had found the datacard, and would be promptly returning it to him. She had met with Kre�fey and told him Anakin�s story. After an hour long wait, in which she believed that the Admiral was checking up on her story, he seemed to be satisfied that she was telling the truth. He had let her go with a warning about over-zealous pilots, and their commanders.
Now she was back in the conference room with her pilots, studying the contents of the copied datacard, hoping she could figure out what was so important about this card. She knew something was, the Force told her that much. So she settled down to work.
Miah Kassin crawled out of bed wearily as a persistent alarm rang out throughout the station. Kale, his roommate, was already up and dressed. He was just now fastening his gun belt in place.
�Get up, get up!�
�Why?� Miah groaned. �It�s just another drill. I don�t care if I get a bad score, I�m tired. I want to sleep.�
�Miah, it�s not�� Kale was cut off as the space station shook. �It�s not a drill!�
Miah was instantly off his bed and climbing into his jumpsuit. �I�m up, I�m up!� He grabbed is gloves and helmet, and the two teens exited their room and sprinted toward the hangar.
They arrived panting, just in time to brace themselves in the doorway as the station shook again. Then the two jogged across the deck and both vaulted up the ladders in place against the sides of their X-Wings. Miah dropped into his cockpit and shut the hatch, pulling on his gloves and helmet as he did so.
His hands flew over his ship�s controls as he did a pre-flight, then started the X-Wing�s engines. They roared to life, and Miah settled into his seat as their familiar thrum permeated the cockpit.
�Sabers, call in when ready.� The Commander�s voice was tense, as if she too had been caught off guard.
�Two, four lit and in the green.� Anakin was the first to call in, as usual, and was all business.
�Eleven, all engines at full power.�
�Six, four lit, and ready to kick Vong butt!�
The rest of the Sabers called in, including Miah when his power readings came up. Then the squadron took off. They were the second squadron to go up, Miah saw as they emerged from the hangar to find a brawl already beginning between a squadron of A-Wings and their adversaries.
At first, Miah had a hard time distinguishing between the two groups, but then he spotted several capital ships with the symbol of the Peace Brigade painted on their hulls. He shuddered in revulsion. Any creature who allied themselves with the Yuuzhan Vong were traitors and fools.
Then the Sabers were in the mix. Friends and foes flashed by in all directions. Miah swung onto Valin�s tail.
�Seven,� he said. �You�ve got lead.�
�Sounds good to me,� Valin�s voice came back. �Stick tight with me, if you can.�
Miah laughed, and took up Valin�s challenge. He hung with the Jedi through all of his maneuvers, clipping off shots at whatever enemies came within his sights. I like these enemies. They might have shields, but at least they don�t have those cursed void shields. I can actually shoot one of these and kill it. Miah smiled as an enemy Z-95 headhunter dropped into his sights. He flipped his trigger over to proton torpedoes and didn�t wait for his crosshairs to turn red. He fired a single torpedo and inverted, following Valin into a steep dive. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the headhunter explode.
A predatory grin spread across his face. I can actually kill these people with a single proton torpedo. I don�t care who they are, I like �em better than the Vong!
Alex Vanner glanced at his X-Wing�s sensor console. He and Ayen had three TIE Interceptors on their tail. His shield had gone from in the green, to yellow, and were now fast approaching the red zone. If he didn�t get shake TIEs off his tail now, he wouldn�t be around much longer.
�Twelve, cut your throttle down to half speed on my mark, then bring it back up to full speed on my mark again.� Alex�s voice was tense, but he had a handle on himself.
�As ordered, Eleven.�
�Mark.� Ayen�s X-Wing dropped from sight. Alex almost immediately called out, �Mark!�
And suddenly one of the TIEs trailing him was gone, falling victim to Ayen�s lasers. Alex inverted his X-Wing, pulling it into a half roll. He held it for a split second, then rolled down and right. Pulling the X-Wing out of the roll, he saw a TIE shoot past him. Its pilot had not anticipated the second roll. Alex tracked laser fire in its wake, his third set of bolts striking home in the TIEs twin ion engines.
It exploded brilliantly.
�Eleven, I really need some help here!�
Alex found Ayen again on his sensors and immediately headed for his coordinates. When he finally saw him, Ayen was engaged with an Ugly, the remaining TIE on his tail. Ayen vaped the Ugly with a proton torp, but took several hits from the TIE.
Then Alex was there. He fell in behind the TIE, maneuvering recklessly to stay with it. He flipped his firing controls over to the proton torpedo setting and let fly as soon as the TIE drifted into his targets. It exploded. Alex was too close to the TIE to fly around the explosion, so he increased his forward shields and flew strait through the center.
He emerged from the other side with multiple damage alarms blaring.
Ashta-Mei Rlgah glared at her sensor board, as if the force of her gaze was enough to make the sensor blip that was one of her pilots reappear.
�Is Kysal EV or gone?� she called over the comm.
Kysal�s wingman, Kale answered her. �Six is EV, repeat extravehicular. Her coordinates are�� he rattled off a string of numbers. �Requesting immediate pickup.�
Ashta sagged in relief. They had only been in the fight for two minutes, and already she was down one pilot. The Peace Brigade had obviously done their homework. They had caught the station in the middle of its regular sleep cycle. Many of the New Republic pilots were still groggy and sleep deprived, definitely not at their best.
Then a huge explosion nearby caught her eye. An X-Wing flew silhouetted from the center of the fireball. It was trailing smoke and sparks, but it was still at full speed.
Ashta glanced down at her sensor board again. Alex, if she guessed correctly, would be number two to leave the fight.
Alex coughed violently. Acrid smoke filled the X-Wing�s cockpit. He throttled down to zero thrust, then reached behind his pilot�s couch and dug through his emergency pack. He pulled out an oxygen tank and hooked it up to a small air tube and mouth piece. Putting it to his face, he turned back around and flipped on his comm.
�Can anyone see where this smoke is coming from? I can hardly see a thing in my cockpit!�
He waited a moment in silence, then the comm crackled to life. �Eleven, this is Lead. You have smoke issuing form your R5 unit and your left engines. I recommend you head out several klicks and put out a call for pickup. Then either shut down your engines or run on low power.�
�As ordered, Commander.� Alex waved futilely at the smoke obstructing his vision, then shrugged and throttled back up to half speed.
Suddenly Alex�s snubfighter shuddered, and his forward movement stopped. His engines, straining, rose higher in pitch and whined in protest. Alex brushed grime from his console and confirmed his first thought.
Cursing, he reduced his thrust to zero to keep his two remaining engines from burning out. The tractor beam he was caught in was a strong one, and he doubted he could break it, especially with only two engines. Instead, he twisted in his seat to see out of the top of his cockpit canopy. He was quickly being drawn towards a large Corellian Corvette.
He shuddered in dread when he saw the clasped hand insignia of the Peace Brigade scrawled on the side.
By the time his snubfighter had been pulled into one of the corvette�s belly hangars, Alex had rigged his four remaining proton torpedoes to blow two minutes after he set the countdown clock into motion. By the time a squad of Peace Brigade troops had stationed themselves around his X-Wing, he had resigned himself to whatever fate awaited him.
One of the troops signaled for Alex to open his cockpit, which he promptly did. As it slid back, one of the troops yelled for him to throw out his blaster. Alex obediently tossed it out.
�Come out with your hands up!�
Alex pulled himself over the lip of his cockpit and stepped out onto its nose, holding his hands in front of him. One of the troops ran over and motioned to him with her blaster carbine.
�Come on down, and don�t try anything funny.�
Alex nodded and sat down on the nose, then slid off the side. He landed on the hangar deck in a crouch. Immediately, a blaster was shoved into his back. He slowly straightened and stood.
�Take off your helmet.�
Alex took it off, sliding a finger inside and triggering the helmet comm switch. It would send a message to the X-Wing that would begin the countdown. He took one last look at his helmet, then dropped it on the floor. He held still as the woman fastened his wrists behind his back in a pair of stun cuffs.
The blaster was again shoved into his back, and he glanced over his shoulder in annoyance. A grizzled man grinned back at him.
�Stop gawking and start moving,� the woman said. She led the group of troops from the hangar, then she and two Brigadiers escorted Alex into a turbolift. It moved swiftly upward for what must have been a minute before grinding to a halt. As they moved out of the hangar and down a short corridor, Alex�s mental countdown was nearing an end.
The woman keyed in a clearance code at a door, and the trio of Brigadiers and their prisoner entered a small compound of cells. A prison, Alex thought. Most likely with reinforced walls. Nothing in here will be harmed by my explosion!
Almost immediately, the corvette rocked as an explosion ripped through her lower decks. The explosive force of four proton torpedo detonations was very deadly. Especially if it came from within the ship.
Alex smiled.
The woman turned on her prisoner, glaring. �How dare you harm my ship!� She thumbed the blast setting on her blaster carbine to stun and fired as shot. Alex�s body was wreathed in blue energy, and he collapsed onto the prison deck.
Chapter 6