AN: Friendly reminder about the warnings at the front of this story.

Hours later and with no more visits from strange ghosts, Caleb finished his meditation. With the insights he'd gained during his trance state, he found himself unable to sleep. He did a quick calculation, and understood the time change between this area of Ryloth and the Jedi Temple on Coruscant meant he'd usually be sitting down to an evening meal now.

He dialed in Depa's private line and waited for her to respond. Her tired face smiled at him from the blue hologram. Maybe he'd misjudged the math after all. "Did I catch you at bedtime?"

"No. It's been a long day. Did you need something? Was Master Tano mean to you again?" The teasing was harsher than usual. Caleb watched her face again, worried. "Sorry," Depa said, catching his frown. "What did you need?"

"You said to ask Ahsoka why she hated me. She was under the impression I was sent by the Council to watch her every move. We talked, and she no longer thinks I'm a spy reporting back to you on her movements."

"There you go. It was a misunderstanding."

"Was it?"

"What are you asking?"

"You always said you liked when I asked questions. I'm asking now. Was I given Leia as a Padawan because you wanted me to keep an eye on Ahsoka and the twins?"

She didn't reply, and his breath caught as hard as hers so often did.

"Depa?"

"The answer you're seeking is more complicated than a yes or no. Yes, the reason you were chosen for the task was because I trust you, and so does Mace. We wanted someone we could trust completely when dealing with two such powerful children. No, we didn't intend for you to report Master Tano's activities. I assumed if she acted in a manner that concerned you, you'd bring it up to me on your own. Which you did." The blue hologram flickered.

The tightness in his chest didn't loosen. "I don't like being lied to."

"I have never lied to you, Caleb. It was well past time for you to take on an apprentice. An opportunity presented herself in the middle of the Council chamber."

Depa could have taken Leia on as her own Padawan. Any of the other Masters could have, and Ahsoka would have known for certain they didn't trust her. Better to choose a trustworthy pawn, one everyone knew wasn't clever enough to be a real spy, who would run home to Mother at the first sign of trouble.

"I need some time to think because for the first time in fifteen years, I believe you are lying to me," was what he wanted to tell her. Instead, Caleb said, "Thanks for the explanation. Get some rest. I'll see you in a few days."

"Have a safe journey. I'll see you soon." She flickered again and was gone.

As soon as Depa disappeared from his view, second thoughts ate at him. He was overreacting. He'd let Ahsoka's suspicions and Leia's off-hand insult sting his pride, and pride was one of many things a Jedi ought lose attachment to. Depa said she trusted him. Master Windu trusted him. His brief encounter with the shadows of the other timeline was making him jump at his own shadows.

He should have asked Depa about that instead.

The communications room boasted several computer terminals. He soon managed to look up a recent history of this planet. He knew about their part in the Clone Wars, subject to multiple blockades and near-starvation conditions. He hadn't seen anything in the HoloNews about the disease which had ravished the population five years ago. That should have made headlines everywhere, but he found few references outside of Ryloth's own media. The virus had spread like fire through the Twi'lek population before strict quarantines had allowed it to extinguish along with the dead. No wonder their host didn't grieve her father as visibly as Caleb expected. What was one more death among one hundred million?

He stepped out from the room, a confusion of questions leaving him more muddled than he'd been when he'd stepped inside.

"Making more calls?" Hera stood at the far end of the hallway. He heard the kids in another room: Luke's chatter indistinct but excited, and his sister's answering amusement.

"Yes. I should have asked."

"It's fine. I need to put the communications system into lockdown before we leave tomorrow. I've got most of the other functions going into hibernate."

"No one watching the house while you're away?" He saw the flash of emotion cross her face before she covered it, and he remembered his searches. "Sorry. I didn't realize how many people had died here a few years ago. It didn't make the news back home."

"Most of the galaxy doesn't care what happens to Ryloth as long as the spice exports aren't affected. The spice miners weren't afflicted, and the refineries weren't touched."

"Were you here?" He'd stepped down the hallway so as not to shout their conversation, and realized he was standing much closer than he'd intended. As she shook her head, he felt the movement of the air.

"I was off-world. My mother died. So did a lot of our friends. My father spent the rest of his life convinced it was some kind of biological attack." She smiled fondly and sadly. "I think blaming someone else helped him through his grief. He talked the ear off anyone who would listen. He would have spent his entire Senate term spouting his conspiracy theories."

"You miss him a lot."

"I do."

Caleb had no words of comfort or wisdom. On the other side of the coin, not everyone wanted sage advice. Some just wanted an ear, and as someone who'd spent his life asking questions, Caleb had also developed the much rarer skill of listening.

"Why don't you tell me about him?"

Her mouth quirked. "I thought you were headed to bed a while ago."

"I haven't had the chance to travel in a long time, and I forgot how bad space lag is. I won't be able to sleep for hours. I'm all ears."

Morning found them in the manor's kitchen, sitting at a comfortable table shoved up against one corner. The surface boasted the remains between them of a much simpler meal than dinner had been, and the last of the pot of caf they'd brewed two hours ago. The kitchen robots sat idly in their charging docks against the wall, already darkened in their low power modes where they'd stay for the next several months while the cleaning robots hummed in their own eternal rounds.

As the sunlight crept in through the kitchen windows, Caleb felt belated guilt at keeping Hera up all night, considering the journey they were taking today. He could sleep on his ship, but she had planned on piloting hers. The night had flown by, deep in the sort of conversation that at the time seemed profound.

She'd been flying since she was old enough to sneak into ships at the spaceport, and now she ran her own private chartered supply and delivery service. Caleb had taken as many piloting lessons as he could back when he'd been out in the galaxy, but once the Order had retreated within the walls of the Temple, those lessons had ended. She read technical manuals, fictional dramas, and philosophical texts with equal voracity to pass the time during her long cargo hauls. Caleb found it fascinating to talk with someone who wasn't coming at the same texts from the perspective of a Jedi. She had rebuilt her irritating astromech from the ruined husk she'd found inside the wrecked ship, part as a personal engineering project and part to cobble together a friend. Caleb had been around droids his entire life, but had never before last night had to ask one to stop poking him, he really meant it, quit it! She'd agreed to be listed on the Senatorial ballot under her father's name to keep her end of the bargain that if she showed more interest in politics, he'd stop pressuring her to get married. Caleb had known since he was five years old that he would never marry. It had not occurred to him until about half a pot of caf ago that some people might choose to marry solely for the opportunity to have rambling conversations like this with the same person all the time.

The lack of sleep was worth every minute, even if all he had after they cleared off the breakfast dishes was a wistful curiosity at those other timelines pressing in with hints of different paths and other lives.

He reminded himself she'd be living on Coruscant for some time. She'd have Senate duties, and he'd have his own work back at the Temple, but if Depa was right, the Order would be working with the Senate going forward. Opportunities might present themselves for further diplomatic missions or even the occasional friendly chat.

He found it difficult to prevent the smile that formed when he considered splinters of a future where they worked together from time to time.

Despite their typical mornings back on Coruscant when Caleb had to rouse Leia from her bed over her protests, both kids were up with the sunrise, ready for today's visit to their own home. The kitchen filled with their chatter over the last of the warm bread. Ahsoka dragged in not long after, gazing longingly at the empty caf pot, her own space lag very apparent.

"When did you wake up?" she asked Caleb, as Hera took pity on her and set another pot to brew. "You're never out of bed this early."

"Couldn't sleep."

She glanced at Hera. "He didn't keep you up all night, did he?"

"I've flown on a lot less sleep than this. Besides, Caleb helped me get the house systems into hibernation mode. My things are already aboard my ship. We can leave as soon as you're ready."

Part of him was glad they would soon be on their way. Another part thought back to the delight in Hera's laugh as they'd chatted about Eldorn's Logical Paradox, and wished they were staying one more day.

Ahsoka joined Hera aboard her ship, leaving Caleb to accompany the twins on theirs before their rendezvous on Naboo. He chose to take it as a sign Ahsoka had decided to trust him, and if she was willing to let bygones fade into the past, he'd do the same.

He stayed in the cockpit with the kids as they lifted off, enjoying the excited energy radiating from both. Attachment was strongly discouraged. It compromised clarity and led to impossible decisions such as the one their father had faced. Going forward, Caleb and Ahsoka would have to teach their apprentices to let go of the strong emotions that bound them to their family, even to each other. Today, they were headed home to see their mother, and whatever lessons they still had to learn, he wouldn't begrudge them that happiness. The Council had already relented far more than usual by allowing the pair to train together. Caleb wasn't sure what their full reasoning might be, had never been given cause to doubt their judgement prior to this point, and intended to ask far more questions when they finally returned to the Temple.

The comforting blue of hyperspace washed over them. Caleb covered a yawn. "I'll be in the back. Come get me when we land."

"Sure," Luke said, but Leia watched him with an amused smirk. Caleb chose to ignore this and went to take a quick nap. Naboo was only a short hop from Ryloth, just enough for him to recharge.

The moment his head touched the bunk, he was overcome with a wave of nausea and a palm-sweating sense of unease. For a moment, he lay there, wondering if something he'd eaten was disagreeing with him. No. This wasn't illness.

He sat up, dizzy and gasping in a pain that had nothing to do with his limbs.

Fear clenched around his heart until he dragged himself from the bunk back to the cockpit of the small ship. Luke had gone very pale. Leia sat beside him in her own seat, face drawn into an unhappy mask. "You guys felt that, too?"

"What was it?" Luke asked.

"I don't know." Caleb reached out with his powers into the void. He sensed the brush of the two bright minds beside him, sensed nearby in the same hyperspace lane the minds of the two women aboard the other ship, one in turmoil. He pushed past and out, seeking some kind of answer, finding worlds full of life, but so many also filled with chaos and terror. "Contact the other ship."

Leia sent a quick message over. Hera appeared, just the top half of her body in a flickering blue hologram. "Your girlfriend just fainted."

He nearly snapped at her for the joke, then reconsidered. If Hera felt safe teasing him now, she'd already checked that Ahsoka was all right. Nonetheless, he asked, "How is she?"

"Resting. She says she feels like she was hit by a freighter. I take it she wasn't the only one?"

"No."

"Our ETA for Naboo is two hours. Unless you're really worried, let's regroup there. I'll keep an eye on your friend."

"Thanks."

"My long-range comms are out again." She glanced over her shoulder with a glare where he was sure her astromech worked on the problem. "When we arrive, you'll have to contact them for both of us."

The hologram vanished. Caleb watched the kids, who looked back at him as if expecting him to explain what was happening. He was the adult. Now there was a terrible thought. "Leia, can you please put in a call to the Jedi Temple on Coruscant?" He gave her the contact information, then stood in growing worry as the communicator refused to connect. Perhaps everyone had felt the same disturbance in the Force, and the Council had called a mandatory emergency meeting. When it became clear there would be no answer, Caleb closed the channel.

He looked at his Padawan. Her usual confidence covered the deep concern he sensed in her. "All right. We'll go about this a different way. Tell me what you felt. Maybe we can sort out what happened."

"You know how it feels to be in the Temple, with everyone around you, and you can sense all the minds in the building, and out to the city? It felt like that, only everyone was scared."

Luke said, "People died. I felt them wink out like stars. It's still happening. Can't you feel it?"

He could. With the initial surge no longer overloading his senses, Caleb felt a wave unrolling over planet after planet, minds calling out in fear as they perished. He could put an arm's distance between himself and the pain, had done so without thinking. No wonder Ahsoka had fainted. Her own powers were much stronger than his, and far better trained than Luke's or Leia's. The other Masters must be just as bad off.

What kind of catastrophe had occurred? Caleb could wrap his mind around a whole planet's death. A star might go supernova, although usually there was plenty of warning first. A large meteor might strike, destroying a biome in a day. There had even been rumors back during the Clone War that the Separatists planned some kind of terrible doomsday weapon that, once built, would have the capacity to wipe out a world. Depa had dismissed the rumor as a scare tactic designed to create confusion and panic. She'd reassured her anxious young apprentice that no one could destroy a planet, then she'd told him to go get some sleep.

Caleb would feel a lot better if he could get that same reassurance from her now. He tried dialing in her personal number. Nothing.

Just yesterday, he'd read up on the disaster on Ryloth. Mass deaths didn't always mean mass destruction. Not willing to say what was on his mind yet, Caleb went to another terminal. The HoloNews feeds were all inactive, which worried him even more. Instead, he sent a search out within the static library web, looking for other instances of high-mortality disease. If one world could be devastated without a peep from the wider galaxy, had there been others?

A weird pit opened inside him as his exploration continued. The Temple was a sanctuary, but he'd always believed they paid attention to current events. Jedi were healers and teachers. Why hadn't he heard about the high death count on Kashyyyk from a quick-acting and deadly bacteria eight years ago, or how a tenth of Rodia's home population had perished within a few months, or that Lasan had been utterly wiped out by a disease that had never even been identified? Why was the complete annihilation of species not shouted from every console? Many Jedi were originally from some of these worlds. Why hadn't they stormed the Council Room demanding answers?

He closed the terminal after another abortive attempt to check the news.

"What's happened?" Leia asked.

"I wish I knew."

They emerged from hyperspace not far from the planet, and were immediately hailed. Caleb let Leia answer, assuming Naboo security would have a much better disposition towards Naboo royalty. "Identify yourself."

"This is the Morning Star," Leia said. "We're on your roster for expected arrivals today."

"Negative, Morning Star. This planet is under quarantine. You may not land."

The word thudded home. Caleb spoke, "This is Master Caleb Dume of the Jedi Order." A mild lie. He could argue about the title later if Ahsoka cared. "Why can't we land? What's going on?"

"No ships carrying humans or human-related cargo is permitted to land on Naboo soil. Any attempted violators will be destroyed upon entering the atmosphere."

He took in the frightened looks on both young faces, and stilled them with a quick hand. "Are you ill? Has there been an outbreak on your world?"

The voice hesitated. Whoever he was, he sounded very young himself. "No. We've been spared. Reports have come in from hundreds of other worlds. Naboo cannot allow anyone to land who might be infected. You have been warned."

Luke spoke into the communicator, voice much more firm than usual. "This is the pilot of the Morning Star. Please check your records for our crew and manifest."

"I don't..."

"Check it," Luke snapped.

A moment later, the voice said, "I'm sorry. I still cannot allow you to land, your grace."

Leia said, "We understand. We also understand this situation just got far more complicated than you were expecting. You should pass this problem up to your supervisor, and I suggest you also contact our mother."

"I will. There's another ship with yours that isn't on our expected arrivals."

Caleb said, "There are no humans aboard the other ship. There are two women, one Togruta and one Twi'lek. We came in from Ryloth."

The other voice swore very quietly, and Caleb caught a mumbled, "Her again?" Louder, he said, "Understood."

They were directed to an abandoned dock far outside Theed. Caleb chose to be grateful that both ships had been permitted to land rather than shot out of the sky. He had the terrible feeling he wouldn't find much to feel gratitude about in the coming days. To no one's surprise, they were greeted by armed Gungan guards as soon as they disembarked. He held his hands free and raised. Luke made loose fists which he kept at his sides. Leia folded her arms and glared at the lead guard.

"What is the meaning of this?" she demanded.

"With respect, you may carry the contagion. You will remain in quarantine here for two days." Odd. Caleb had heard people mock the Gungan accent, and he'd expected to hear the thick, folksy sound as the guard spoke. This Gungan spoke Basic better than Caleb did. He felt embarrassed for not even having considered that as a possibility.

"We most certainly will not," Leia said. Caleb placed a calming hand on her shoulder.

He nodded at the guard. "We understand. What will happen in two days?"

"You will be dead. If not, you may come to Theed."

"Our companions aren't human."

"Your companions," Hera said, as she and Ahsoka joined them, "have little reason to stay here, especially after that nonsense. I'll be happy to leave for Coruscant on my own."

The Gungan tilted his head. "Coruscant is dead."

Ahsoka frowned. Her face was lined with the recent pain. "What do you mean, 'dead?'"

"Everyone is gone." This was a new voice. At the far end of the hangar, a woman stood in the doorway. From the instant joy on the twins' faces, there was no mistaking her identity.

One of the guards turned to her as she walked towards them. "You must not come closer, Governor."

She didn't pause her steps. "I do not need your permission to hug my children." Her voice cut with the same steely threat Caleb had learned in a somewhat younger warble. Padmé Amidala had ruled the humans of this world as Queen when she'd been her daughter's age. Even now, Caleb fought the urge to drop to a knee. Instead, he offered her a courteous bow, which she accepted with a kind nod. Hera followed his lead, clearly uncertain of what had just transpired. Ahsoka stood still, watching her.

She turned back to the guards. "You may stand guard outside. These people are under my protection. If the quarantine must be held, I will stay in here with them. Please send in the food and supplies I requested."

"If you must."

"I must." She waited for him to leave before sweeping both her children into her arms with a relieved embrace. "Thank the stars you're safe. I've been terrified."

"Padmé," Ahsoka said.

Padmé looked up from the children, her face settling into a different expression. She gave each another squeeze, then stood. "I wish you'd contacted me."

"Our communicator aboard the ship was faulty. I couldn't send word long-distance. I'm sorry." Her own face was a mask.

Padmé wrapped her into another hug, just as deep and long and sad as the hug she'd given her children. After a moment, Ahsoka hugged her back, closing her eyes. She rarely smiled around Caleb, or anyone else he'd seen, but now the wave of affection he felt from her overwhelmed even the intense pain.

Ahsoka broke the hug, holding onto the other woman's arms. "Tell me."

"The cries for help started a few hours ago but it was already too late. The communications towers have been overloaded with messages, all saying the same thing. The contagion has hit hundreds of worlds at once. It's just as we feared."

"Humans this time?"

"Not just humans. Gungans haven't been targeted, not yet, but dozens of other species are dying. They've perfected the disease. We're too late."

Caleb felt the spillover emotions, the last cries of billions, crowding his throat, choking out the words as his own breath was cut off. The scale of destruction was beyond comprehension. He clutched onto Padmé's words the same way Ahsoka held her hands. "They who? What do you mean, targeted?" The guard had said Coruscant was dead. That made no sense.

Padmé looked at him with a quick irritation mirroring the expression her daughter had given him every day since they'd met. Then her face smoothed out, and he saw the weight of a thousand large and small griefs written there. "Ahsoka?"

"I've told you about Caleb." The sharp glance Padmé gave him hinted at what Ahsoka said. She added, "He's not a spy. Even if he was, it doesn't matter now." Her own grief lay heavy in her voice. "We need to contact the Council."

There was a series of beeps. Hera asked her droid if he was sure. "My long-range comm is working again. You can use it."

Ahsoka gave Padmé's hands a squeeze. "Luke, Leia, stay here. Tell your mother about your training." She nodded to Caleb to follow her aboard Hera's ship. Any other day, he was sure he'd be more impressed with this little freighter, based on the quick look he had as they made their way to the cockpit. Any other day, he wouldn't be calling home to find out if everyone he'd ever known was dead.

Hera flipped the switch and handed the communications system over to Ahsoka. As they waited, Caleb said, "I tried calling while we were in flight. I didn't get through."

Hera said, "If the comms are as overloaded as that woman said, it could be your signal never reached its destination." A scrap of hope floated in her voice.

Ahsoka said nothing, waiting as the signal went out. Minutes passed. Outside, just at the edge of the transparisteel bubble viewscreen, Caleb saw the kids talking with their mother though he couldn't hear what they said. Luke was already as tall as she was. The way she moved was very familiar. Tiny mannerisms he'd learned to see in her children showed their beginning in each touch of her hand to an arm, each fleeting expression she made as she listened to them.

There was a crackle. The empty transmitter pad flickered into a blue hologram of Master Yoda. The look on his face said enough.

"Master?" asked Ahsoka, then stopped, as though speaking any more words might kill her.

Yoda looked at her, with a quiet glance to Caleb. "Thirty-six there are."

"Dead?"

"Survivors. All that are left of the Jedi. Give you their names I will. Missions away from here, away from the dying worlds, each of you undertook. Do not land. Your Padawans must be kept safe. The last they are. The last you all are."

"We've taken refuge on Naboo."

Yoda shook his head sadly. "Then thirty-two there will be."

"We're not dead yet," said Caleb. "Master Yoda, is anyone left at the Temple?" He couldn't speak his own worst fear.

Yoda tilted his wizened head. Caleb remembered when he was not much taller than the Master himself, remembered how kindly he seemed. Great power, and great kindness. These were why he was so often given the watch over the youngest Jedi. The Temple had been full of younglings when they'd left just a few cycles ago. Speaking as he might to one of his smallest charges, Yoda said, "The Force is rich in companionship today. Young and old, friends and strangers. From the Temple. From the city." His eyes focused elsewhere, perhaps communing with spirits where the three aboard the ship couldn't see. "A grave is this planet now, and far more worlds than this. Come near you must not."

Caleb looked to Ahsoka, but her face was stony, and the depth of her grief cut through the numb haze growing in his own thoughts.

All were lost.

to be continued