Chapter 2

STARSHIP VENGEANCE'S BITE DISPLAYING FALSE TRANSPONDER CODE OLDEN DAYS, HANGER 6, PAHLLY'S SHIPSHAPE DOCKING SERVICE, LEVEL 13-11, CORUSCANT

Ten years ago, Tyo Svea had been a bright-eyed, supposedly normal kid growing up in a farming community in rural Jaemus raring to start his schooling as opposed to spending all his days planting crops. He'd gone to class that first day and enjoyed himself making crafts and learning his alphabet. The next day he'd returned expecting more fun, but what he got was the first inklings of his curse.

His Kindergarten teacher didn't remember him.

It wasn't that she didn't remember his name; she didn't remember him at all. She'd even gone as far as to introduce him to the class. Tyo had told her he'd been in class the day before and she hadn't believed him. She'd asked the other students if they remembered Tyo but none of them had.

The same thing happened the next day, and the next.

It was a week before the teacher remembered Tyo from day to day and that was only because she made the connection between him and one or two of his six older siblings, who she'd had previous years. It was another few weeks before she remembered his first name. Even after that was straightened out there were problems. It wasn't uncommon for her to forget whether she'd listened to him read or if he'd had his chance at an activity.

It wasn't just the teacher, though, the same thing happened to his classmates. Once Tyo and another boy spent recess playing a totally awesome game of Drive out the Yuuzhan Vong! On the way home from school, the boy had come up and started to tell Tyo all about the game they'd played together. After some questioning, Tyo realized the boy remembered playing the game but didn't remember he'd been playing with Tyo.

Tyo couldn't figure it out. Humans were the most common species on Jaemus, so Tyo, being Pantoran, stood out. He would have thought it would make him easier to remember, not harder. Besides, everyone in their small community knew his parents and older siblings by name, but he was always Koe's kid or Jarry's little brother, even the family friends who'd known him all his life had trouble remembering his name.

It didn't make sense, but Tyo's five-year-old self had been determined to figure it out. His quest went on for several years until he realized that even his family wasn't immune to his strange curse. They didn't forget his name but they'd forget when they told him things or they'd forget if he'd been at meal when a really funny joke had been told.

At age eight, Tyo became resided to his fate. There was something wrong with him, something that caused everyone around him to forget about him. He couldn't make friends or really socialize because people always forgot him the instant they left. He would always be alone.

He tried to ignore it. He worked hard on the farm and hard on his schoolwork, people still forgot him.

The years passed, his siblings grew up. Jarry got married. So did Te and Bik. Then Zhay joined the Imperial military, which meant he had to go off world for training. That left just Tyo and Kii on the farm with their parents. But Kii had a boyfriend and there was talk of her marrying as soon as she graduated school, so then it would be just Tyo and his parents.

One night, Tyo went to the bathroom for a drink of water and heard his parents talking downstairs.

"I'm just worried, Koe." His mother was saying. "What's going to happen to him when we get to old to run the farm? He can't ever get a real job; no one will remember giving it to him."

"Jarry and her husband will have to take him in, when they take the farm." his father said. "Or maybe Te and hers or Bik and his wife. Maybe Zhay will be out of the military and be able to take him in."

They never said Tyo's name, but he knew they were talking about him.

"Is that really what his life is going to be like?" his mother asked. "Sent from family member to family member, never having a life of his own?"

"There's nothing more we can do, Yli." His father said. "You said it yourself. He can never have a real job, not with the way he is."

His mother started to cry. "I just don't understand it." She sobbed. "What's wrong with him? Why don't people remember him? Why did this happen to us?"

Tyo had heard enough, he went to the loft room where the children had always slept. Careful not to wake Kii, he packed a few meager possessions and climbed out the loft window. He shimmied along the roof until he reached the place where a straw stack was leaning against the house. There he jumped to the ground, using the straw to break his fall. Then he'd headed for the road and never looked back.

He made it to the capitol several weeks later through a combination of walking and hitchhiking. He never worried about leaving a trail for someone to follow; he knew he would quickly vanish from the minds of anyone he came across.

He didn't know exactly how long he'd spent wandering the capitol before Grichman Rog had found him, but it was enough time that his clothes were ragged and his face was dirty and he looked like just another street orphan. Rog had bought him new clothes and took him out to eat. Tyo had felt kind of bad, knowing Rog would forget him and be wondering where his money had gone tomorrow, but the next day Rog found him again and he remembered everything about their interaction the day before.

This went on for a week or two. They set up a place where they'd meet. Some days Rog didn't come, but most days he did. They'd go out to eat or go for walks or talk. Tyo had never had a real friend before, even an adult friend, so he treasured every minute of it.

Then Rog didn't come for several days. Those days had been torture. Tyo hadn't realized how much he relied on Rog's companionship. He became increasingly convinced he'd go crazy if he had to live without ever seeing Rog again.

Just when Tyo was certain he couldn't take another day alone, Rog had shown up at their meeting spot with bad news. He was leaving Jaemus for Coruscant.

Tyo had wanted to die, but then Rog had offered to take him along. Tyo explained that he had no money, but Rog had said that was fine as long as Tyo did some work for him once they got to Coruscant. Tyo had readily agreed, and hadn't bothered asking what kind of work. As long as he wasn't alone, he didn't care. Plus, he trusted Rog, the man wouldn't ask him to do anything bad.

Rog hadn't mentioned they would be traveling with a bruiser and an assassin but Tyo could get over that. Rog had introduced Tyo to Gorran and Vína when they'd first boarded the ship, but they'd unsurprisingly forgotten him before the jump to hyperspace. Tyo was, quite honestly, shocked Vína hadn't just blasted him when she found him in the crew compartment.

But she hadn't and now they were on Coruscant, a place Tyo had never imagined he'd see.

Granted, level 13-11 wasn't the pretty, touristy Coruscant one saw in holos but it was good enough for Tyo, he sat in the cockpit staring out the viewport, soaking it all in.

Footsteps sounded on the deck. "Come on, Tyo." Rog said. "I need your help carrying some things."

"Coming." Tyo stood up and followed him into the ship's cargo bay.

Gorran and Vína were already there, loading a bunch of heavy metal boxes onto repulsor sleds. Gorran looked up, saw Tyo and did a double take.

"What's that runt doing here?" Gorran shouted. "Stowaway! I'll wring your little neck!"

Tyo slid back, but Rog put himself in the way of Gorran's charge. "Gorran, I'm ashamed of you!" He snarled. "This is Tyo. He's traveling with us! I've had to introduce him to you twice already on this trip! Do you need your head examined?" Tyo couldn't help but shiver, Rog sounded so mean.

Gorran fell back. "No." and he turned back to the boxes.

Rog turned around. "Are you alright, Tyo?" his voice was back to calm and soothing, the Rog Tyo knew.

"I'm fine." Tyo said, quietly.

"Good." Rog clapped him on the shoulders, and then pointed at several fabric duffel bags. "Can you carry those for a couple blocks? We need to take to all this stuff to the hotel we found. Are you strong enough?"

"I'm strong." Tyo said. "My family runs a farm."

Rog's smile got even bigger. "Good man." He said, then gave Tyo another clap on the shoulders and walked off to help Gorran and Vína.

OUTSIDE FILIX'S INN AND TAVERN, LEVEL 13-11, CORUSCANT

Filix's Inn and Tavern was a run-down, hole-in-the-wall joint; the kind of place that tried to pass off the weird Yuuzhan Vong weeds growing up the walls as exotic. However, it was good enough for the purposes Rog needed it for.

He peaked into the front window. "Male bartender." He said. "Most likely the person you see for rooms too. Vína, you're on."

Vína shot Rog a flirty smile and walked into the tavern.

Rog watched through the window as Vína walked up to the bar and engaged the bartender in conversation. Tyo peaked under Rog's arm.

"What's she doing?" he asked.

"Getting us a room…" Gorran said then paused frowning, probably searching his mind for Tyo's name. "Kid."

Gorran was still having trouble remembering Tyo. Frankly, Rog was shocked Vína had remembered him in the cargo bay. He was pretty sure Vína didn't remember the kid's name any more than Gorran did, but the Twi'lek was remembered the kid himself.

Vína was much smarter than she appeared, Rog would have to remember that.

Vína came out of the tavern five minutes later, dangling a room key from one finger and smiling quietly. "Room 301." She said.

"Just one room?" Rog asked.

"There's only so much I can do with charm." She said. "I got a room by a fire escape and got the bartender to keep us off the inn records, I'd say you should be thanking me."

Tyo blinked. "Huh?" Everyone ignored him.

"Probably." Rog answered Vína. "You did good enough."

Vína rolled her eyes. "Men. Come on, there's an entrance around the back."

ROOM 301, FILIX'S INN AND TAVERN, LEVEL 13-11, CORUSCANT

The room Vína had gotten had only one bed and a couch. Vína took the couch and made the executive decision Rog and Tyo would share the bed, Tyo because he was "just a kid" and Rog because he was older than the others by several decades. Rog put up a fuss but eventually gave in; though he'd never admit it, he wasn't getting any younger and the couch or the floor would kill his back.

Rog and Vína hid the metal cases while Tyo looked out the window at the rapidly darkening Coruscant and Gorran called in an order to a nearby restaurant.

"What's in these things?" Vína asked as they shoved one of the larger cases under the bed.

"Anything and everything we might need." Rog murmured. "I've been gathering this stuff for years."

Vína pulled the next box closer and looked it over. "They don't have keypads, how do you unlock them?"

"They're programed to my biosigns." Rog said. "I'm the only one who can open them."

Vína rolled her eyes. "Oh, that's helpful. What if you get captured or killed?"

"I'm not going to get captured or killed." Rog said. "And keep your voice down."

"Why?" Vína asked. "Do you think there's a security cam in here?"

"No." Rog said. "I don't want him to know about our mission yet." He jerked his head at Tyo.

Vína frowned at Tyo over the top of the bed, then looked back at Rog. "Why is he here, Rog?"

"I can't tell you everything yet." Rog said he didn't trust Vína enough for that. Plus, the less people knew the truth about Tyo the better. "But I can tell you he's got an ability that will allow us to get close to the Jedi."

"But he doesn't know why we're here." Vína said. "When are you going to tell him?"

"The kid's straight as a rod." Rog said. "He wouldn't dream of stealing something much less committing murder. We need to get him so mixed up in this thing that he can't get out when we tell him the truth."

"When will that be?" Vína asked.

"Probably after our first assassination." He said.

Vína looked over the bed at Tyo again. "Yeah." She said. "That's probably about right."

"Of course it is." Rog said. "Now get back to work."

JACEN SOLO'S NEW APARTMENT, ROTUNDA ZONE, CORUSCANT

Allana was laughing, her red hair flowing in the cool Hapan breeze as she ran through of field of soft grass. In her hands she carried a small red flower. She stopped and turned around, her smile big and playful.

"Daddy!" she grinned even larger and held out the flower. "Look!"

Somehow, though he had no memory of moving, Jacen reached her side. He took the flower from her. "It's beautiful, Sweetheart."

She beamed up at him.

Then a scream floated across the dreamscape. Allana gaped. Jacen leapt to his feet, alert for danger.

And then he was sitting upright in bed in his new apartment.

Jacen gasped, one hand pressed to his chest, and stared blindly around the dark bedroom. His heart was racing and his stomach was twisted with frightened nausea.

Panting, he leaned against the wall and took a deep breath, casting out his Force-senses to feel for the source of the scream. He found nothing. No child anywhere near him was in any danger.

It had been a nightmare.

That offered Jacen some comfort, but didn't completely relieve his worries. Was the scream just a metaphor or was it a taste of the future?

Jacen didn't know. He'd been flow-walking regularly for years now, to the point that he walked a little ways into the future every night just to make sure everything was safe. After so long, he was beginning to notice a change in the way the future spoke to him. It filtered into his dreams more than it ever had before, coloring everything so he was never quite sure if that "weird dream he'd had last night" was just the result of eating heavy Corellian food for dinner or if it was the future.

Right now, he hoped the scream had been a result of the former.

Sitting up straighter, Jacen crossed his legs and took a deep breath. He held it for a minute, then released it and stared at the far corner of his new bedroom. He let his gaze defocus until the room turned into a dark blur then let himself sink into the tides of the future.

Hundreds of possibilities flashed by him lightning speed, almost too fast to comprehend. Some were just images: Tenel Ka's worried eyes, a tumbler like the kind that were used as low-end bars and taverns, Jaina snatching away a lit candle, a tear rolling down a blue cheek. Others were coherent scenes, a deranged woman pacing in a sewer, Luke and Han trying to hold back a murderous-looking Mara, hands wiring something into the electrical systems of an apartment, Leia wringing her hands in worry.

There was so much more than that, far more than Jacen could process, even after years of practice. There was no sound. Jacen could have focused on one future and heard what was happening, but he resisted the urge. The odds of any one thing he saw happening were slim to none, it was best not to be drawn into any of them.

He kept searching, but couldn't find the scream.

That didn't mean there wasn't a screaming child somewhere in future; it just meant that particular event wasn't showing up in his flow-walking. Any number of the things he was seeing could lead to that screaming child, but the Force wasn't willing to show him the actual event.

Not for the first time, Jacen found himself frustrated about how uncertain flow-walking was.

Slowly, he pulled himself back into the real world. Everything had a dull, surreal quality to it, like it normally did when he meditated for long periods of time. He glanced at the chrono by the bed and realized he'd been flow-walking for almost two hours. With a sigh, he stretched and padded quietly into the kitchen area for a glass of water. When he was finished drinking, he leaned against the counter trying to shake himself out of his meditative state. The real world still felt like a dream; he wasn't quite sure he was awake.

Giving up, he headed back to his room and collapsed face-down onto the bed.

He was asleep before he could form another thought.

Don't expect all updates to be this fast. You're getting chapters as I write them for this one, so you're subject to my inspiration (or, in some cases, lack thereof).

The information on how you flow-walk is from Star Wars: Fate of the Jedi: Omen. My personal opinion about Jacen's flow-walking is that, especially in the first couple LOTF books, he's actually addicted to it. Therefore he'll probably be getting a lot of flow-walking time in this book. I'm not sure if anyone ever pinned down exactly what flow-walking to the future is like, but I imagine its a matter of watching everything and looking for patterns. The stuff about the future being in Jacen's dreams more than it used to be was never confirmed, that's just influenced by me thinking that massive use of any Force ability must have some affect on a person.

So please favorite, review and follow!

Emjen