AFTER THE FIRE
Chapter 1
The three speeders were in flight, one transporting Jacen and Tenel Ka, one with Jaina and Jag, and one containing Han, Leia and Anakin. A tense silence permeated all three vehicles as they raced towards Okemo Point, where Jarik had been forced to eject from his rocket sled.
Jaina was sucking in deep breaths as Jag piloted their vehicle.
"You know, hon, if you need to cry, you can do it. You don't have to be a rock," he said gently to his wife.
"I'm supposed to be strong, like my parents. Like a Jedi."
"You are strong. But you can cry and it won't compromise your strength."
Jaina tried to hold it together for a little while longer. Finally, the tears came out like water from a broken dam.
Jag hoped that there'd be some good news once they arrived.
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"I'm glad we didn't bring Allana and the boys," Tenel Ka said to Jacen.
"You aren't kidding." He piloted the small speeder as carefully as one could while flying as fast as possible.
"I don't think your brother's dead," Tenel Ka said.
"I can't tell. My own emotions, they're like jumbled, I can't think straight, I just need to drive."
"Let me know if you need me to take over," Tenel Ka said softly, touching him with the prosthetic hand she'd at long last decided to acquire. Raising a young girl and twin sons had been the deciding factor.
"I will."
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Anakin was in total pain. He knew that the fault of Jarik's rocket sled lay not in him, but it was agonizing for him to know that he hadn't seen the exact problem sooner.
He knew that sometimes, the Force just wasn't there to call on for clarity. Sometimes, you could control it, but it wasn't always convenient.
If he'd been able to see the exact problem sooner, he could have warned Jarik. They could have gone and repaired the problem. Jarik would still be in the race instead of being raced to a medcenter in a sparsely populated part of Coruscant.
Leia turned to her middle son. "Anakin, you can't blame yourself for this," she said quietly.
"I should have tuned in harder to the Force. It just hit me when I was on my way in, and I wasn't getting enough detail. I just had that really bad feeling..."
"We've all had that, son," Han told him. "You tried to warn him off this morning."
"I know, but I didn't have specifics, and neither did Jaina or Jacen or Tenel Ka."
"You can only work with what you have," Han told him matter of factly. "What matters now is what we do next."
"Uncle Luke called me this morning while you were in the kitchen," Leia told Anakin. "Even he couldn't give me more detail."
"Doesn't make it better," Anakin said sadly.
"I'm not in tune with the Force, buddy," Han told him, "but let's go forward. It's the only way we're gonna help Jarik now.
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The medcenter at Okemo Point was small and less comprehensive than the large, gleaming ones that populated the Capital City, but the atmosphere was one of calm, and calm was what the entire family needed at this point.
Medical droids were programmed to have soft, gentle voices, and the ones here fit that profile entirely.
"My name is 3B28," the medic spoke in a melodious, feminine tone. "You must be Jarik Solo's family. Please have a seat and we'll talk. I am sure you will have many questions, and I will answer them all to the best of my ability."
"How is he?" Han demanded.
"He is in critical condition. Fortunately, the inflatable crash suit he wore kept him from dying, but at this moment, that still remains a possibility. He does have some burns. The most severe problem is that he has suffered several skull fractures. They are not large, but there is some accumulation of blood, and we have induced a temporary coma so that his brain is at rest and is allowed to heal."
"Is he going to wake up?" Leia asked, trying to maintain the composure
"We induced the coma, so we are hopeful, but I cannot say with certainty that he will recover completely. He was well protected, but he has many, many fractures throughout his body. We are giving him pain medication so that he will be comfortable. I would say that 48 to 72 hours will be sufficient so that we may perform surgeries, and after that, if all goes well, he will be given several bacta treatments. He is a very strong young man."
"How soon can we move him to Coruscant?" Han asked. "We're pretty far from home out here."
"Once it is safe to wake him from the coma, we will know better. I realize that while we are a small facility, we are state of the art, and we will provide the best care for him. You are very fortunate in that he has a chance of recovery. Most of the time, when we receive racers who have ejected and or crashed, it is much too late. If you will forgive me, I am intrigued by the design of the inflatable crash suit. I am surprised that it is not standard."
"My brother and I designed it together," Anakin explained, his voice barely audible.
"It is all that kept him from burning or being crushed to death."
"I'd like to see my son," Leia said, her voice strangled.
"Of course, Madam."