Miriah woke with a start and wasn't sure where she was. The dream she'd been having echoed in her mind, and she wiped her face with a shaking hand. Valkorion had come to her, showed her a few seconds of Vaylin's life as a child, what Miriah interpreted as her first experience with using force power. She was trying to piece together what she'd seen when Corso sat up beside her. She turned and put her head on his chest, and his arms went around her. "Nightmare?" he murmured, and felt her nod. He eased back down onto the pillows and held her close, hoping she could sleep. After feeling her shift and turn, then turn back again, he realized she needed to talk. "Tell me," he said softly. When she was silent, he pressed a kiss to the exposed back of her neck. I love her so much, he thought as she turned toward him. "Was it Valkorion?" he asked.
"Yes...no," she whispered. "It was a very young Vaylin. I think Valk was the one showing me, but I'm not sure, I never saw or heard him." She snuggled against his bare chest and sighed. "It was confusing."
Corso pushed a few strands of ebony hair from her face and kissed her forehead. "Maybe it meant nothing, seems like a very vague thing. Try to sleep, darlin'." He watched as she closed her eyes. She seems a little more settled, he thought, just before he closed his own. Miriah lay there motionless, but couldn't get the images out of her mind. They brought up the feelings she'd had so long ago, the ones where she felt like she shouldn't have been born, that she was only a mistake. She'd buried those feelings years earlier, but they rushed back now, as clear as day, and they still had the power to make her ache. She took a deep breath and pushed those thoughts away, trying to relax. She knew so much more now than she had then, she reminded herself, and after a few minutes, found her eyes closing again. Corso's warm body against her own reminded her that she was loved, cherished even, and she rested her cheek against his chest.
The early gray of morning told Aric that there was rain in the forecast, and he hit the button on the caffa machine. With any luck, he thought, I can get over to the apartment and check on the video without anyone having to be disturbed. He was pouring his morning sustenance into a mug when he felt Maura's arms around his waist and turned to hug her. "I was hoping everyone could rest," he said quietly.
"I know, it's early, but I missed you yesterday," Maura told him, her head against his shoulder. "What are we learning?"
"Not a lot, not yet. That's why I wanted to go early, so that I could give Miriah some info." He kissed her head and shifted to sip from his mug. "I'll cook when I get back, just wanted to run over and check on things." Maura nodded against him and lifted her face for a kiss. She walked with him to the door, and jumped when she saw the HK units. Aric merely grinned and kissed her again before moving to the elevator. Maura watched him leave, then turned back to the living area. She stretched out on the sofa to wait, closing her eyes as she draped a throw over her legs, content.
Aric entered the Commander's apartment and was drawn to the video feed. He could see Vaylin pacing and gesturing wildly at Scorpio, who stood with her arms crossed over her chest. The emotions on Vaylin's face were plainly frustration and anger, and Aric could see one of the analysts transcribing the conversation that he could see. Finally, he thought, something to at least study. After ten minutes of conversation, in which Vaylin finally stomped out of the throne room, Aric moved to read the datapad. "Hmm," he said. "Looks like Vay is more interested in finding Senya, and Scorpio just wants the Prime units to be autonomous." He turned to the three Intel officers. "Any scuttlebutt on where Arcann and Senya might be?"
"None, sir," the one Aric knew, Sam, told him. "We've got ears all over both known and wild space, and we've heard nothing. Not even rumors." Aric figured as much, if anything had been relayed, they'd have been informed, but he figured it didn't hurt to ask. After a few more minutes, in which he made caffa for the analysts and made a quick note of the appearance of the apartment, he made his way back across the war room.
Lana saw Aric as he was heading toward the elevator and quickly crossed to him. "The Commander is with you?" she asked, and saw him nod. "Good, I was a little worried. I knew she would hate having everyone in her personal space." She smiled, and Aric did as well.
"She got some rest last night, and I'm going back now to cook for everyone," Aric explained. "She'll probably be back over here in a bit."
"I'll look forward to seeing her then," Lana said, and turned toward her office. She'd spent the evening with Theron, but they were going slowly, spending time with each other that didn't include being more physical than a kiss. So far, she thought, it was going well. Theron had said little about what the video was showing them, but she knew he was enjoying being part of the team that was working on it. She had left him sleeping on her sofa, both of them unwilling to be in separate apartments overnight. She was still smiling when she sat at her desk, datapad in one hand and logging into her terminal with the other. It's good to be back, she mused, and set to work.
Aric was humming as he approached his own door, and waited for the HK units to run his bioscan before entering. He saw that Maura was on the sofa and proceeded into the kitchen, almost bowling Corso over as he stood at the caffa machine. "Whoa," he said in a soft voice. "Sorry, man. Figured you'd still be sleeping."
Corso gave him a half smile. "I must be programmed to wake up early, seems like I do it every morning now." They sat together and drank, comfortable with their silence. Finally Corso asked, "Did they learn anything overnight?"
"They were getting some good stuff as I arrived," Aric confirmed, "but I wanted to wait and tell Mir at the same time."
"Tell me what?" Miriah asked from the doorway. Her face was sleepy and she still wore the soft pajamas, covered loosely by a robe the same color as her eyes. She moved to the cooler for a glass of juice before she sat beside Corso. Instead of speaking, Aric handed her the datapad with the email of the video transcript, and she read it through twice before speaking.
"So, apparently, Vaylin isn't planning an assault on Odessen," she said thoughtfully, handing the datapad to Corso.
"Looks that way to me," Aric said, standing to start breakfast. "At least there's a measure of comfort in that. Not a squeak about where Arcann and Senya are, either."
"I would have thought they'd at least need supplies by this point," Miriah said. "I know the shuttle would have some things, but Arcann needed medical attention, and Senya was not well versed in healing." She sipped her juice and drew closer to Corso with a slight shiver. Immediately his arm went around her and pulled her into his body, warming her. "Want some help?" she asked Aric.
"Nope, Commander," he grinned at her. "I've got this under control. Just putting it in the oven now, and we wait." She saw that he'd put together the breakfast casserole they all knew by heart, and smiled at him as he sat across from them. "Now, where do we start looking for Arcann, assuming you want to find them before Vaylin does?"
Miriah hesitated. She really wasn't sure that she wanted to get between the siblings and their mother, even though Senya had been a valued member of the Alliance. "The way I see it, we can either wait for one of them to launch against us, or we can wait to see who finds who, Vaylin or Arcann. I'm leaning toward just training and preparing, because whoever wins the battle between them will surely come gunning for us." She finished the juice and shoved her hands into her sleeves, waiting for the men to voice their opinions. She didn't have to wait long.
"Maybe, we decide who we're backing, and work along those lines," Corso offered. He knew that Miriah had a deep grudge against Arcann, but he also knew she wanted the galaxies freed from Eternal Throne rule. "You know Vaylin is looking for her brother and mother, and if we find them first, we can use their powers and influence." He was prepared for the sharp look he received from his wife, and gently kissed her nose. "Now, darlin', I know you hate Arcann, truth be told I hate him, too. But just consider that you already defeated him, and see if you can look past that and see the merit." She shrugged and turned to Aric.
Aric toyed with his mug that was now empty. "I would like to just wait and see, but it's not in me to do so. I would find Arcann, if only to know where he and Senya were rather than not know and be blindsided by them." The oven timer dinged loudly, and they all heard Maura as she tumbled off the sofa with a muffled curse. She found them all hiding smiles, and had to laugh at herself.
Breakfast was done and cleaned, and Miriah and Maura remained at the table as the men went to their daily duties. Miriah was glad for the girl time, and told Maura about the dream she'd had. When they'd gone over every detail, Maura put her hand over her sister's. "Mir, you know that children in a bad way is a huge trigger for you. What if this is just Valkorion's way of messing with your head again? I mean, he did show you once that Corso was dead, and laughed about it."
"I know," Miriah sighed, "you're right. It just seemed so, I don't know, foreboding."
"I think you were overtired, and more than a little stressed with the video feed. If you have it or something like it again, maybe it's more than just stress. For now, let it go and let's go see Mom." They dressed and visited with Sarai, who was glad to see them together, and then saw Elara and little James. They visited Lana in her office, and she was delighted to see them both, offering tea. By afternoon, they made their way to the training hall, and met Calypso as she left school for the day. The HK units were with them the entire time, and Caly had a good laugh seeing her classmates as they were routed around Miriah by the huge droids. As they approached the apartment, Miriah turned to her daughter.
"Caly, the holo has a video feed of Vaylin. She can't see us, of course, but there are lots of people in here working to figure out what's going on, so we'll need to be quiet and go right to the kitchen." Calypso nodded and threaded her arm through her mother's as they entered.
Corso and Aric looked up when they approached, and Corso hugged his daughter. Miriah went to gather a few more clothes, and met them in the kitchen. They were chatting quietly when they heard a shout go up from the living area, and they all ran to see what had happened.
The video feed was gone. Forty seven hours, fifty six minutes and forty seven seconds from the time the strange signal had started, it had gone dark. Miriah merely looked at the blank space and sighed before turning to the group. "We need to go back over every second and see if we missed anything," she said, but they already knew that the recording of the feed would be the main focus for the base for the foreseeable future. She watched as everyone gathered equipment, thanked her for having them, and returned to their terminals to work. Corso put his arms around her as she stood watching the exodus.
"At least we have our own bed tonight," he growled, and she blushed. It would be good to be home, she thought. But I need to know what we were supposed to learn from this.
