Chapter 7

I awakened the next morning as Julian came into the room. I was still only wearing the towel.

"Good morning," my husband greeted. "I suggest you get dressed. You and I are going for a morning walk."

I nodded and began getting dressed. Julian inquired, "Did you have a good night's sleep?"

"Yes," I answered. I teased, "You're getting too good at that, you know."

"I've had two years to learn how to manipulate you," Julian replied. "Maybe you'll manipulate me tonight."

I grinned at the thought and quickly finished dressing. "Did Garak come back last night?"

"About three hours after you fell asleep. He didn't tell us any details of course."

"Did you expect him too?"

"Of course not."

"And you won't try to pry into his relationship with Ayaka," I suggested.

"I won't," my husband agreed, linking his arm through mine and leading me through the door.

"Where are we going?" I asked as soon as we exited the hotel.

"We'll just wander around, and pick up some breakfast. Jasta gave us a card to use for money."

We walked in silence, hand-in-hand, until we reached an outdoor stand selling breakfast foods. We ordered three fresh fruited pastries, but didn't open the bag until we sat down on a bench near a field.

Julian swallowed the first bite of his pastry. "What happened last night?"

I ate half of my pastry before saying, "You are aware that I have been repressing memories of being Death's Shadow. The thing is, I'm not aware of which ones I repress. Julian, I have seen Jasta before now."

"While you were Death's Shadow?"

"Yes." I proceeded to describe what had happened and the memory Death's Shadow had pulled from the dark recesses of my mind. By the end, I was nearly in tears.

"Tengu," my husband addressed after a silent moment. "Are you sure that was a real memory? Maybe this darker side of you, Death's Shadow, was trying to trick you."

"I don't have dual personalities. If I did, you'd be the first to know. The memory was real. Julian, I left Jasta and Gackti there to suffer for twenty-nine more days."

"Even if you had the emotional capacity to feel repulsed by the experimentation, you wouldn't have done anything to help them. Because doing so would have resulted in your execution."

I let out a deep sigh. "You're right. But I still can't help but feel guilt. I wonder if she remembers when a fellow Skonian refused to help her…"

"She might have passed it off as a hallucination. She was in extreme pain and under sedation."

"Perhaps… thank you, Julian."

"You know it isn't a problem," he replied before kissing my forehead. "I love you. I'd journey across the universe for you."

"I hope it doesn't come to that, lest I never see you again," I responded with a half-smile.

Julian grinned and kissed me again.

The three days before the Federation cloaking device arrived seemed to pass by too quickly. I didn't see Jasta or Gackti during that time, which put me at ease. But, little did any of us know what fate would befall Jasta, Tholme, and me the day we received the cloaking device…

I waited in the military headquarters lobby as the Starfleet officer, Julian, and Commander Iko discussed the terms of taking the cloaking device. I overheard the conversation through the open door of a nearby office between two young officers.

"…there's nothing on the two missing Humans yet?" asked one officer.

"Nothing at all yet," answered the other.

"Did their friends tell us exactly how they arrived on this planet?"

"Nope. They still prefer to be mysterious. I'm surprised the Commander hasn't had them officially brought in."

"He's got the camp issue to solve first. This two mysterious people say that they arrived in-"

"You ready to go now?" Jasta asked, followed by Tholme with the cloaking device wrapped in his arms.

I listened to the two young officers, but was dismayed when they had started talking about a different topic. I stood and answered, "Let's go." Julian and Garak were decided to stay and help Iko with strategy.

On our way to Isaku's home, rain began to fall. Distant claps of thunder boomed. "It's about time for a storm," remarked Jasta. She parked the speeder and we hurried across the field into the dryness of Isaku's house.

"Here it is," I said, putting the cloaking device on the table.

Jasta asked, "What have you done so far?"

"I have put together the basic components. The rest will probably take me two weeks."

"You can't have it done any sooner?" inquired Jasta.

"You can't rush a scientist," was Isaku's answer. "If you will leave me to my work…" she prompted.

We bowed out and back into the growing storm. The wind was picking up and the rain was coming down harder and faster. We hurried to the parking area. Tholme and I halted at a disorienting feeling. We couldn't feel the Force, and had a bad feeling about what that meant.

"Jasta, stop!" I called.

Jasta stopped a few steps after and turned to us. "Do you enjoy standing in storms?"

"There's something wrong here," Tholme told her.

The lieutenant extended her claws and glanced around, wary of every shadow flicker. Tholme and I felt strangely helpless, cut of from our source of power.

There was no warning when the military speeder behind Jasta exploded. I was lifted from my feet and slammed into a building.

I was the first to my feet. Tholme and I helped Jasta up. She commented, "I'm glad you told me to stop," before we started running. Once she was coherent, she took out her communicator and contacted the military headquarters.

"Lieutenant Jasta to Commander Iko," she addressed once we stopped between two buildings to catch our breath.

"Iko here. What is it?"

"Someone rigged our speeder to explode. Its in pieces now. And we believe we are being pursued."

"The package?"

"Safely delivered."

"I'll send back-up. Keep the line open."

"Will do, sir."

The three of us shrank back further into the alley at the sound of warning phaser shots. Tholme and I were still powerless. Tholme unclipped his lightsaber from his belt and activated the green blade. I raised my hands and extended my claws, read for battle.

Jasta stared wide-eyed at my metal claws and asked, "Where and how did you get those?"

"Now is not the time," was my answer.

In a short moment, a group of Orions armed to the teeth rushed into the alleyway from both ends. Tholme, Jasta, and I engaged them head on.

Tholme and I were unnaturally clumsy without the Force to aid us. Some way through the fight, I head a voice from Jasta's communicator, "ETA: five minutes." Unfortunately, we didn't last that long.

Jasta went down first, dazed by a blow to her chin before being stunned into unconsciousness by a phaser shot. The last thing I saw as I felt a sudden pain in my back was an Orion about to strike Tholme with the butt of a phaser rifle.