JAINA
CHAPTER 11
"Choose."
"What?" Jaina felt stunned at the demand placed upon her. "Choose what?"
"You are in control, Jaina Solo. Who will be next?"
Jaina shut her eyes tightly, wishing she were anywhere but here. When she opened them she was still in the chamber; the two shadowy figures were still huddled against the wall, their backs to her making them indistinguishable. She thought they seemed familiar, but it was hard to be sure, the shadows obscured everything.
"Your choice," the voice demanded.
"You can't ask that," Jaina said. She glanced down. "I don't know."
Jaina felt the pinch of long, sharp nails digging into her neck as the ominous voice returned, the accompanying breath reeking of death as it rolled unseen past her cheek in a twisted caress. "Choose, Jaina."
She shut her eyes in disgust. Another familiar voice offered her support. "Jaina, you can choose."
Opening her eyes to seek out the new voice, Jaina called out in a whisper. "Jag?"
"You can choose me." Jag's answer came from the figure to her left. He was standing now, facing her. His eyes were filled with sorrow, but also a silent plea.
Jaina could not bear to look at him, so she turned her gaze to the other. Unlike Jag, he had nothing to say. He had risen as well. Free of his shackles, he stood in the shadows, hidden in plain sight. She could barely make out the outline of lanky shoulders hunched over to mask a still-developing frame.
"Who are you?"
"Don't you know?" The hissed taunt from behind reminded Jaina of the terrible predicament she was facing. She must know. Why else would her gut be a twisted mess of indecision? Her mind reeled, and a numbing white noise harassed her senses in some horrific moment of reckoning.
"Maybe I can shed some light on the situation." No sooner had her captor spoken than a streak of force lightning blasted from his free hand while the other tightened its paralyzing grip on her neck.
The young man stumbled forward as if the tendril of energy had some yanked him from the shadows. The blast of light highlighted his brown hair that fell all around in careless disarray. He tripped and fell at Jaina's feet, overcome by the pain. The lightning stopped, and with down-turned eyes, she watched the heaving shoulders sob in pain.
"Please. Make it stop." The prostrate form begged, then he lifted his face so big brown eyes stared back at her.
Jaina wanted to reach out, to offer some comfort, but a powerful grip ripped her away. Pinchers dug into her neck, commanding her to do their master's bidding. Jaina fell into some invisible shield, transfixed in place. The master of her dream spun Jaina in place, his beady yellowish eyes boring into her.
Jaina gasped at the sight.
"You will choose, Jaina." Zekk spat at her.
She tried to fight him, to summon the Force to no avail. She felt abandoned and helpless, hopeless and desperate. She was alone. She had no choice, and all around her was darkness. It was trying to envelop her very being.
"Choose or I will choose for you."
Jaina slammed her eyes shut and resisted. "No."
"You have chosen."
She heard the bolt of energy crackle in the air. Jaina's eyes flew open. She was in a meadow of tall green grass. Volleys of Force lightning flew past. This time the young man rolled and twisted as the immeasurable power of the Dark Side battered his body. She heard a scream – no – screams – more than one to be certain, only later realizing one of the voices was her own.
Jaina and Jag cried out in unison. "NOOOOO!!!"
Jaina was powerless to move, but Jag was running for the other man. Before he reached the writhing body, a powerful shock wave rolled across the meadow to pick Jag forcefully off his feet. He never reached his destination. Instead, he flew helplessly through the air and disappeared over a nearby precipice. Jaina felt Jag plummeting, growing farther and farther away until he crashed into oblivion and was lost to her.
Overcome by the awful truth, Jaina struggled against Zekk's grip, and a sudden surge of power afforded her the strength to break free. Her first steps were off-balance, and she fell to her knees. Pushed up on her hands, she was greeted by the sightless brown-eyed gaze of the young man lying lifeless on the grass beside her.
With bile rising in her gut, Jaina fought her sickened body, forcing it to stand, all the while holding herself with one hand. Her fingers found the rising swell of her stomach, and she started to remember. In that instant, the pain was so overwhelming; Jaina thought her world was turning inside out. Her sight began to disappear like a hood closing in from all sides, darkening the world. She tried to fight it, to summon the Force to no avail. The bliss of the darkness was all-consuming; it took away the pain.
A new voice called out. "Jaina, don't give in."
Jaina spun, seeking the comforting voice. Everywhere there was darkness, like a heavy obsidian fog encasing her in a cold cloak. She felt it seep into her pores and begin to consume her. A brilliant flash of light pierced the aphotic web as a cry echoed from everywhere and nowhere, pleading to be heeded.
"Jaina! Jaina!"
"Jaina?"
A firm hand shook her shoulder, and Jaina bolted upright in her seat. She blinked a couple times before getting her bearings. Seated at the helm of the nondescript freighter commandeered by Twin Suns several missions before, she stared out at the ever-changing lines of hyperspace, using the moment to quiet her racing heart. Out of the corner of her eye, Jaina saw Valin slip into the co-pilot's chair.
"What did you call me?" Jaina focused her brown discerning gaze on her apprentice, watching for the certain blush.
"Sorry, Master. You weren't answering to anything else." To the young man's credit the hint of rising scarlet only made it to his ears.
"Please, anything but Master." Jaina tapped the port sub-light engine light until it blinked on to reveal a positive green color. "You know I hate that. It makes me feel old."
"As opposed to Colonel or sir?"
Jaina snorted. "All right. Point taken, Fly Boy." She shook her head, glad for the distraction from her troubled thoughts. "I will admit, I don't know why that bothers me so much, but it does. So do it for my sake."
"I'll try."
Ignoring her apprentice's attempt to get Jaina to say something Masterly, she worked casually on running checks to all vital systems. A strained silence hung in the air between the two Jedi for over a minute. Valin slowly spun his chair to stare at Jaina. She braced for the inevitable question.
"You had one of those dreams again."
Getting braver. Just a simple stating of the facts, not even a question this time. Her apprentice deserved no less than an honest reply, so Jaina spun her own seat to face him. "Yes."
"Are you going to record your memories like Master Skywalker suggested?" Sometimes Valin was like looking into a mirror. He could be as bold as Jaina ever was.
"Later, we have more pressing concerns, like extracting Fee without making a debacle of the whole thing like we did on Yonson." Jaina winced inwardly as Valin did the same outwardly. It was thoughtless of her to bring up the last mission where the young man's miscalculation nearly cost the entire squadron their lives. "Sorry, you know I don't hold that against you," she reassured her apprentice. "It's just that we have been chasing leads on the Circle of Retribution for two years. I am tired of feeling them slip through our fingers at every turn. When we find them, we find Zekk."
"And only then will your dreams stop."
Jaina nodded her agreement to Valin's analysis.
Rapid keystrokes flew from Fee's fingers as she kept one eye trained on the screen and the other on the burly captain of the decrepit hauler. He was winding his way along the various stations on the bridge, looking over shoulders, making sure all his charges were working hard to ensure more credits fell into his tight fist. In a matter of seconds, he would be close enough to see that her display screen was not churning out navigational data but rather finishing the run on a detailed encryption program.
She forced her eyes to focus on the task at hand during the last critical keystrokes, just as the clinking of his thick-soled boots plodded the last couple of steps to her station. With a deft flip of her fifth finger, she closed the primary screen just as the program spit out its final result.
As the warm noxious breath of the aged spacer floated a little too close to her ear, Fee fought the urge to wince. The edges of the man's beard tickled her ear as Captain Dozier inspected her work. Pretending like she had been checking the next rendezvous coordinates all along, the auburn-haired woman kept up a confident rhythm to her movements, ignoring his obvious advances as always. There was some satisfaction in knowing this would be the last time she would have to endure such treatment and Dozier would get his just reward.
"Time to the next drop from hyperspace, Tia," he purred into her ear.
Rolling her unseen eyes, Fee imagined backhanding the lecherous forever-groping fool into the next station, then stifled the impulse just as quickly with a well-schooled calming technique. It would not do for her to lose her cool at this critical juncture in her mission.
"We are on schedule, sir. Reversion to hyperspace in a little over five minutes," she spoke in modulated, professional tone.
"Hmmpf," was the extent of the reply. Her casual rebuff, as always, had sullied his mood. Dozier straightened, then traipsed toward the front of the bridge without another thought.
When he was out of earshot, Fee muttered, "Rude monkey lizard."
A snicker from the next station reminded Fee she was still not alone. She turned and managed a smile to Garreth, the payload expert at the next station over. They had spent many hours holed up in the bowels of the bridge, working side by side since Fee had joined the crew a few weeks earlier when the navigation officer had fallen mysteriously ill. In, that time, Garreth had proven a harmless fellow, completely happy to count inventory and totally unaware that he was working for a captain who operated well outside the law.
"Gets to you sometimes, he does," the yellow-skinned humanoid whispered.
Fee tipped her head and raised her eyebrows in an affirmative. She glanced at her wristchrono and realized Garreth's attention could not have come at a worse time. She reviewed her options quickly then leaned closer to stare into his wide obsidian eyes.
"I'm going to run out to the refresher. That meal chef made really did a number on me today. I'll be back before we revert."
She figured this was a safe enough excuse, and it fell in line with her frequent trips in and out of the bridge all day. Fee never even waited for a response, slipping out of her chair in a hasty rush for the door.
"Don't take too long. Captain Dozier won't take too kindly to you missing…" Garreth called after her, but Fee lost most of his scolding as she ducked out the back door of the bridge before anyone else noticed.
Moving efficiently down the long corridor that ran from the bridge along the entire length of the elongated freight hauler, Fee did her best to not call attention to herself. Her internal clock told her there was less than a minute until the hyperspace drop, barely enough time for her to hotwire an escape pod and get inside.
She dropped her head to shuffle past one crewmember. Thankfully, the Rodian was in too big of a hurry to take notice. Slowing as he past, Fee timed her duck down the access way to the escape pods so he was well beyond her location. She continued past the first two pods drawing to a halt before the third pod's access panel.
Whipping out a tiny multitool, Fee managed to remove the panel's cover plate in a matter of seconds. She fished the dataport out of her jumpsuit pocket and plugged it into the exposed innards. With the clock ticking precariously close to the drop time, Fee could feel the pounding of her heart increasing with each beat. The sound of it echoed in her ears louder and louder.
"Kriff, hurry up already," she admonished the Intel dataport designed to break any passcodes without calling attention to the effort. She was sure a blaster would have opened the door quicker, but that would surely have sounded the alarm.
Ten. Nine. Eight. No time.
Fee reached for her blaster.
"What are you doing back here, Tia?"
Spinning to face the voice, Fee dropped her hand casually to her side. The captain's henchman Jonkin, a rangy Corellian, was framed in the opening to the pod access way, his long legs spread shoulder width apart, fists planted on his hips. The ship shuddered violently and both of them had to grab hold of the nearest solid object to stay upright. Just as the hauler finished the reversion to realspace, the dataport emitted a low beep.
Fee winced.
"What was that?"
"Oh, that. Just running a check on the escape pods' nav systems." Dismissing Jonkin, Fee turned back to face the dataport, which indicated with a steady blinking light that the passcode had been successfully overridden. She raised her right hand hoping she could punch the opening mechanism and make a break for freedom. "This one seems to be…"
"Hold it right there!"
Fee froze in place. The hairs standing up on the back of her neck were enough indication for her to know he had a blaster aimed directly at her head. She turned slowly, taking care to not make any hasty moves. "Is there a problem," she queried in her sweetest voice.
"I don't know what you are up to…" He eyed the dataport plugged into the exposed panel, then looked back to Fee as he eased closer. "…but I suspect….UMMMMPF!"
Fee's booted foot hooked Jonkin's leg right at the knee, sending him crashing into the wall. As the man tumbled forward, her knee connected with his nose to drive him backward with a splash of blood.
"Sorry, gotta go," she quipped while punching the button to release the seals on the door.
As the seldom-used door hissed open with a rush of stale air, Fee yanked the dataport out of the panel before ducking down to squeeze through the tiny door. She stepped over the bulkhead with her right foot, then followed with her left. An unseen hand clamped down on her calf and suddenly the ground was rushing up to meet Fee.
Her right shoulder hit the ground with a thud while her legs crashed painfully into the thin lip of the threshold. Fee kicked her free leg desperately, as Jonkin yanked her across the opening. The durasteel edge raked across every bony part of her body. Reaching blindly, she managed to find a handhold and braced against pull. Finally with some purchase, she spun onto her back to get a better view of her opponent.
At some point the muscle-bound thug had released Fee's leg. She realized too late this was because he was halfway to standing. Fee blindly searched for her blaster hidden in the utility pocket on her leg. At the same time, she scrambled back into the pod as Jonkin leveled his own. Fee yanked her tiny blaster, not even taking time to aim before squeezing the trigger.
Slipping through the undergrowth, Tahiri stretched her fledgling senses that recognized Yuuzhan Vong life in the Force. Ahead she felt her quarry stumbling through the brush. There were four of them in all, each brimming with anxious determination. Tahiri stepped over the fallen branch of a Ronyon tree before breaking into a jog.
"Do you sense them now?" Jacen's voice reflected no signs of the stress resulting from their two-hour long trek across the Hiana Forest Preserve located in the southern hemisphere of Coruscant.
She grunted a reply, "Uh-huh." Any more would have distracted her from the task of tracking the latest group of hold-outs resisting the Naboo Treaty, which mandated the relocation of all Yuuzhan Vong settlers from Coruscant before the ultimate relocation of the Galactic Government seat to its former home. Throughout the new wilderness, which covered most of Coruscant now, were still hidden pockets of Yuuzhan Vong who balked at being reintegrated with their domains settled on any number of planets throughout the galaxy.
"Your lessons have been paying off. There aren't many Jedi who have been able to tap into the part of the Force where Yuuzhan Vong life can be felt."
Tahiri decided no answer was better than the sharp retort balancing on the tip of her tongue. Instead she ducked silently under the next low branch without breaking stride. In her mind, the task of learning to feel the Yuuzhan Vong had been dreadfully slow, too slow. All the Jedi had struggled to break past barriers they could not see. It was true she was one of a limited group who had any mastery of the skill at all, but still she could not help the disappointment that rose up as she recalled too many lessons with no progress whatsoever.
Ahead, one of the Yuuzhan Vong separated from the rest. Jacen surely sensed it as well. Like Jaina, he had no trouble detecting the foreign vibrations in the Force. Without a word he indicated a shift in their path toward the solitary life sign that had broken off from the pack.
Tahiri glanced over her shoulder as she angled her direction to an intercept vector with their prey. "What are you thinking?"
"If we can catch one of them, maybe he will lead us to the rest."
"You still don't understand the Yuuzhan Vong, my dear friend," she snorted.
The pair of the Jedi reached a small clearing, and Jacen caught Tahiri easily with Force-assisted strides. Sparing a sideways glance, he flashed the infamous Solo half-grin at her, bringing back powerful memories of Anakin. "Maybe not, but I understand the Force."
"I'm not the one you need to impress with your mastery of the Force," Tahiri countered playfully. For a moment she wondered if perhaps taking a jab at the fact that his twin had been named a Jedi Master before him was more of a cruel dig than good-natured fun. Yet Tahiri detected no surge of jealousy or any other negative emotions from Jacen. Those petty feelings tended to be beneath him; this instance proved no exception.
"No, today it's just one scared Yuuzhan Vong child who is about to discover the perils of Hiana Forest," he replied. Then he broke sharply to the left and blasted away into the dense cluster of trees in an effort to close a net on their victim.
Tahiri did not even try to fathom what Jacen was talking about. She simply stepped her pace up a notch as well. Plunging into the undergrowth, Tahiri determined she was closing the distance with every step. Allowing the rhythm of her stride and the pattern of her breathing to draw her into a semi-meditative state, the blonde Jedi tapped into the vast wealth of information available in the Force, waiting to be read like an open book.
The Yuuzhan Vong's movements were erratic and unpracticed. There was no logic or sense to them. Additionally, proximity allowed her to begin to take measure and form a mental picture as the target dodged among the trees directly ahead. He, Tahiri sensed the gender instinctively, was smaller than she was. Combining this knowledge with the sporadic flight, she realized Jacen had been right on one count. They were definitely chasing a child.
Tahiri had little time to relish in her personal growth for she could now hear the fast-paced patter of feet on the leaf-covered ground not more than a few meters ahead. A quick check told her that Jacen had circled around and was closing from the opposite direction. Capture of the troublesome child was imminent.
A flash of color was her first impression of the Yuuzhan Vong boy, a trailing piece of living cloth glimpsed through the foliage of the forest. Tahiri jumped a log, then ducked a branch before making a quick turn to the right in pursuit. A blast of sunlight momentarily blinded her as the dense cover opened to the banks of a wide river. She blinked, never faltering in her chase, using the Force to guide her footsteps. The harsh white of the light melted slowly into a flurry of sights.
Ahead, the milky-skinned Yuuzhan Vong veered off, forced in one direction by the impassable river. At the same time, Jacen emerged from a thicket, blocking the youngster's path. Stumbling to a halt, arms flailing, the child vacillated between several possible decisions, eyeing the river, the forest, and the two Jedi boxing him in.
Inexplicably, he angled for the river. Tahiri could sense the overwhelming panic rolling off the youngster in waves. Only sheer terror would drive him to make this choice. In a burst of speed, she veered sharply in order to intercept the child and made a diving grab before he reached the water.
Tumbling in a mass of thrashing arms, they rolled down the bank to land on the exposed riverbed, where low rains had depleted the water level enough to uncover the loamy edges. Their energy dissipated, drawn into the sand as Tahiri struggled to keep clear of tiny, but powerful, fists and bony heels all aimed in her direction.
Finally, stopped on her back with the Yuuzhan Vong child in her arms, Tahiri tried to rise. The effort produced no upward movement, only a sudden sense of foreboding. A cool feeling began to envelop Tahiri at the same time she realized she was sinking. Jacen's call from the bank above was lost in the melee as the child reacted with even greater resistance once realizing their fate.
Drifting farther and farther into the waterlogged sands of the riverbed, Tahiri refused to panic. She was a Jedi; she was better than that. Unfortunately, her captive was only making matters worse with his frantic movements. Tahiri opened her mouth to offer some comforting words in his language only to be met with a mouthful of mud. She spit it out in disgust just as her arms and shoulders were devoured in the thick oozy soil.
Tahiri knew enough about quickbogs to understand the importance of remaining still. Any action would only increase her descent. For this reason her Jedi reflexes caused her to begin to relax, and the child broke free. Suddenly, she had become his stepping stone and in a matter of seconds, Tahiri was completely immersed in the sand.
As she continued down, the struggles above, kicking feet and clawing hands, only increased as the child lost any purchase, and they both were submerged. It would have been a simple matter to will herself out of the bog, but Tahiri had to think of another life as well. She was unsure she could manage to grasp the Yuuzhan Vong with her limited perceptions in the Force. Even Jacen still had trouble levitating Yuuzhan Vong life. She had to be able to grab onto the child and hoist them out by levitating her body.
Above Jacen was already working the tendrils of the Force, reaching for them both and struggling with the boy. Tahiri focused one simple thought in her mind and projected it across the distance. Wait!
Then she took a moment to relax and slow her bodily functions to preserve the air in her lungs. The struggling child was sinking faster, so Tahiri knew she would have to act quickly. She tried to open the part of her mind that was now learning to recognize the Yuuzhan Vong; she tried to bridge the gap between their minds. Jaina had succeeded in creating a mental link with the Supreme Overlord once, and Jacen had learned to speak to the world brain. Tahiri had tried and failed to duplicate this feat in her time spent with Jacen on Coruscant, so she held little hope of making a connection.
Do or do not. There is no try.
Jacen supported her from above, and Tahiri felt the sting of the admonishment. Her lungs demanded to be fed, and her brain protested the claustrophobia of her predicament. She had to save this scared child; she had to find some common ground. A realization hit Tahiri in a moment she could only describe as an epiphany. There was a scared Yuuzhan Vong child trapped inside her who could relate to this boy. Years ago, Anakin had banished Riina to the back of her mind, but she was there still. Fleeting memories and occasional nightmares left little doubt of that.
Everyone, Jedi and Yuuzhan Vong alike, had held such hopes that the One-who-was-shaped would bridge the gap in the Force much like Jaina had. Tahiri suddenly realized why she had failed until now. She had not permitted herself to release Riina from her prison. Just like this innocent child, Riina was another victim of the general misunderstandings that had initially plagued Yuuzhan Vong relations with the rest of the galaxy. Perhaps she was not so much an unwanted invader but a potential ally. If Tahiri could accept Riina then maybe she could accept all Yuuzhan Vong in the Force.
Trying to open a long sealed door, Tahiri pounded the gilded barrier she had erected between herself and her alter ego until it burst open with a flourish. In that moment, a whole new world opened up to the young Jedi. She recognized the child next to her as plainly as she could have felt Jacen or Rane. His thoughts sang across the suffocating mud in a clearly readable script. Tahiri used the instant wave of relief washing over her to placate the boy in their newly formed bond, and she whispered soothing Yuuzhan Vong words in his mind. Seconds later, the child relaxed and fell into her arms.
Instantly Tahiri felt herself rising out of the sand, she and the Yuuzhan Vong child clinging to each other. With Jacen's aid, it was a matter of a few heartbeats before the rush of life-giving air burst into two sets of satisfied lungs. Dragging each other to the solid bank, Tahiri and the child ended face up, gasping for air.
"Are you all right?"
Tahiri opened her eyes to greet Jacen's concerned brown-eyed gaze. She could only manage a nod. Then a faint pressure on her hand gave Tahiri enough energy to raise her head. Staring down, she smiled at the sight of the child's hand clutching hers. Without hesitation, she squeezed the boy's hand back. Today, a miscreant child had taught Tahiri more about the Force than she had learned in two years of painstaking study. For that, she would be eternally grateful.
The swirling lines of hyperspace dissolved into the bright pinpoints of light recognizable as realspace. Looming ahead, an elongated freight hauler hung in the viewport. Several other smaller cargo ships like the one Jaina was piloting were beginning their initial approaches to the respective containers being detached systematically by automated mechanical arms. Freight haulers were simplistic in design with a long string of open structured sections. Each segment held standard-sized containers that could be rotated in and out easily to facilitate efficient on and off-loading at any number of points along the hauler's route.
By all appearances, it seemed to Jaina she had timed the reversion to mere seconds after the freight hauler had arrived. Jaina visually scanned the surrounding blackness of space, trying to detect any anomalous escape pods floating away from the ship. At the same time, she augmented her senses by reading the various levels of the Force. "Keep your distance, Fly Boy, but don't look like you're trying to keep your distance."
"How exactly do you suggest I do that," Valin quipped from the copilot's chair.
"I don't know, fly casual. I am sure they will start hailing us momentarily. Hopefully, Fee is punching out in that escape pod as we speak…"
The plan was so simple. Fee, after spending several weeks onboard Hum Dozier's ship gathering intel, would skim a large sum of profits and funnel them to untraceable accounts in order to appear as if she were some sort of con-artist. At the designated rendezvous point, she would commandeer an escape pod, then blast out of the freighter. Jaina and Valin would scoop up the errant pod before jumping to hyperspace. For all appearances, the crooked spacer would think he had been swindled by a small time operation. Dozier, a known sympathizer with the Circle of Retribution, would never realize he had been picked clean of vital intelligence at the same time. For some reason, simple was not the feeling to describe the twisting in Jaina's gut at the moment.
Fee's Force abilities had improved considerably over the last two years. Jaina had instructed the woman on basic skills when time permitted, but the demands of family, Twin Suns, her own apprentice, and teaching at the Praxeum always seemed to take precedence. The one latent skill Jaina had managed to hone successfully was Fee's telepathic abilities. The auburn-haired woman had the potent ability to enter people's thoughts, and it had been easy for Jaina to form a telepathic connection with her wingman. At this moment, Fee was utterly silent in Jaina's mind.
"I have a real bad feeling about this."
Valin shot his Master a concerned glance, brows furrowed indignantly. "Where is she?"
Jaina shut out the pounding of her heart that usually went along with sudden and imminent doom. "I don't know…" Just then the hail button began to beep on the console between the two Jedi. "Put on that headset and deal with them," she ordered curtly.
Valin grabbed the equipment as instructed, whipping it onto his head hurriedly. "What do you want me to say?"
"You'll think of something." Jaina dismissed him with a wave of her hand. She had faith in his ability; he was a Horn after all. "Oh, and while you're at it, fly this thing closer."
Valin opened his mouth to protest, then shut it just as quickly with a loud clack of his teeth. Jaina ignored him, shutting her eyes and falling into the Force. She could not make any decisions without knowing exactly what they were up against. Fee's mind was quiet in the Force, but after careful searching Jaina was able to locate her onboard the freight hauler.
There seemed to be some residual panic surrounding the woman, but from Fee Jaina got no real sense at all, only a fuzzy haze of distorted thoughts and images. Digging deep within herself, Jaina drew on the connection to her wingman. Jaina was not inherently proficient at telepathic linking, but it was not beyond the realm of possibility for her to burrow past the woman's hazy senses. She simply had to reverse the line of exchange that Fee usually initiated. Jaina visualized a mental strand connecting her mind to Fee; she wrapped herself around it. Then, without uttering a sound, Jaina shouted into the Force, sending a mental summons. Fee!
Jaina? A faint flicker of consciousness answered back, then fell silent.
Once more, Jaina called out through the connection in her mind. Fee, wake up!
This time Jaina recognized the startled alertness as Fee jolted back to reality. In her waking confusion, the operative managed to pass along several fleeting images and thoughts. Jaina witnessed a struggle followed by a stun blast. She felt varying degrees of muted pain and a grim resolve. Leave me, was the plaintive cry.
Ignoring the desperate demand, Jaina instilled a confident air in her next thoughts. Hold tight. We're coming. She sent a reassuring brush through their connection after sensing a momentary rush of panic from the other woman, then snapped her eyes open.
"Give me the controls, Valin."
The young man released his copilot's yoke immediately and reverted the piloting controls to Jaina's station with the flip of a switch on the console. "Something's up. They're really jumpy over there. I managed to convince the controller we are picking up a shipment for the Senji Consortium."
"Plucking thoughts from the controller's mind, my young apprentice," Jaina scolded playfully.
"I did the best I could," he countered.
"I'm sure you did." Jaina did not struggle with the toying of minds when it was a matter of her squadmate's life or the enemy's. Valin had not resolved that issue in his mind quite yet, so it was easy to harass the young Jedi into finding his way to a decision. "I don't think, however, they are going to buy that line in a moment." Jaina slammed the yoke forward, kicking the aged freighter forward with a sudden lurch of acceleration.
Valin's shoulders slammed into the back of his chair at the unexpected move. He caught his breath and hesitantly asked the question troubling him. "So what's the plan?"
"Fee is in trouble. I can't tell exactly what happened, but she is hurt pretty bad. Picking up cargo won't get us on that ship, which is where we need to be." Jaina concentrated intently on the gaping hangar that yawned before them like a hungry maw. "So we are going to crash the party."
Valin eyed the closing distance between their freighter and the hauler, then cinched his crash harness tighter. "You aren't planning on dropping into the main hangar unannounced, are you?"
Jaina grinned mischievously. "Have you got a better suggestion," she asked while dialing the shields to protect the front of the ship.
"Uh, no. But dropping in unannounced on a ship of money-grubbing thugs is not my idea of brilliant either." Valin threw off his headset as the hauler's controller squawked in his ear. He studied his Master for a moment before proceeding. "You know, when Mara did this a few years back in order to rescue you, she had the Shadow, not a bucket of bolts loaded down with three X-wings. As it is, we'll be a tight fit in there." The male Jedi indicated the approaching hangar with a tip of his head.
Jaina leaned back into her seat reflexively as the first blasts of canon fire ricocheted off the shields. "Uh-huh."
"So, do you still think this is a good plan?" Valin's voice reflected the agitation leaking into his mental composure.
"Nope. Just don't have time to come up with another one. If we don't get in there fast, Fee is as good as dead." And a year's worth of work is down the tubes, she added silently. Jaina lined up her approach, then calmly spared a moment to glance over at Valin, whose wide-eyed stare revealed the true extent of his concern. Usually, Valin was right there beside her, game for any task. The fact that the young man was visibly nervous gave her insight to the risk that was at hand.
"It will be fine, Valin." He turned to meet her stare. "I promise."
Those words, in and of themselves, were enough to quiet his fears. He nodded before turning back to make preparations for what possibly could be a suicidal task. There was no time to dwell on eventualities or probable outcomes. They had a mission to complete – to extract Fee safely. Jaina pushed all extraneous thoughts from her mind, disregarding the buffeting of the ship and the blinding flashes of canon fire, only partially dimmed by the darkened transparisteel. She drew on the Force, allowing it to fill her and center her. With one last thought, she sent a mental summons halfway across the system to Tyria before turning her entire being's focus on getting Valin and Fee out of this alive.
Not a second later, the fragile freighter burst across the magcon barrier that kept atmosphere within the large hangar and the cold vacuum of space at bay. Jaina had held her insane speed on the approach, knowing too much time exposed to the laser canons would only hurt their chances of coming out unscathed and allow the crew too much time to prepare. Instinctively connecting with Valin, Jaina silently instructed her apprentice to activate the repulsors at the same time she reversed the engines and fired the maneuvering thrusters.
The weathered durasteel members within the ship groaned their protest to the excessive tensile and torsional stresses exerted along their lengths. The engines whined a high-pitched wail as they heeded Jaina's urgent demand for power. At the same time, the repulsors popped and fired while accepting loads well beyond their capacity.
Despite the inhuman reflexes of two determined Jedi, the large craft plummeted to the smooth floor, landing with a deafening crash as the landing skids screeched in vain until they broke off. Jaina and Valin jerked hard against their restraints, twice – once on the landing and second as the freighter dropped onto its belly. Still firing off maneuvering jets in series to slow the sliding freighter, Jaina's white-knuckled grip was the only outward sign of strain amid sparking cockpit controls. A couple of parked shuttles and fighters bounced out of their way, hastening their deceleration somewhat. A handful of support crew dove for cover to escape the chaos that filled the bay.
Not until the far wall of the hangar drew ominously close did Jaina even mutter a sound. "Uh, this is going to hurt…"
Side by side, Tahiri and Jacen followed several paces behind the Yuuzhan Vong boy, who slipped silently through the forest. Following his near-death experience, the child had shown a startling turn-around in his demeanor. His unfounded fear had been replaced by newfound respect for the Jedi. Unexpectedly, he had beckoned for them to follow him into the forest as if he had some secret to reveal.
Tahiri absent-mindedly tried to bat away the drying dirt from her ears and golden hair. Solid clumps crumbled beneath her grime-covered fingers resulting in an exasperated groan. Tahiri felt Jacen's amused gaze before she even spared him an annoyed glance.
"Did I tell you that look suits you?"
Tahiri glowered from beneath her lashes. "Shut up." Tahiri held her arms out from her side and lowered her eyes to study the mud-plastered Jedi robes caked to her body. "There is absolutely nothing funny about my current state."
"Sorry." Jacen tried to affect a sincere tone and simultaneously wipe the smirk from his face. He failed miserably on both counts.
Tahiri tried to maintain her penetrating scowl, but the raging duel on Jacen's features were enough to crack a hint of a smile. Seconds later, snickers erupted and grew until the two Jedi were holding their sides, fighting off fits of laughter. The Yuuzhan Vong boy glanced over his shoulder curiously to study his two companions. His scrutinizing gaze caused Tahiri and Jacen to stifle their guffaws in unison.
"I am curious exactly what he is thinking," Jacen wondered out loud.
Tahiri watched in amazement as their ward stopped where he was and affected a twisted semblance of a human smile before pointing at her. "Do'at tun nog," he stated simply, then snorted as if to emphasize the point.
Slowly a smile grew across her face. She never broke her silent exchange with the child as Jacen queried her hesitantly. "What's he saying?"
Tahiri momentarily cast her gaze at Jacen. "That he agrees with you. He said this is a good look for me. I can't be sure, but I think he just made a joke."
She turned and addressed the boy, using the opening he provided to start up a conversation in a language she understood better than she could speak it. The child obliged, cautiously answering all her questions, but insisted they continue on their journey. Jacen fell into step behind the pair, unable to do more than make out an occasional familiar Yuuzhan Vong word here or there.
So engrossed in learning anything she could about the boy, Tahiri was surprised when he stopped just as they stepped into a clearing. He extended a hand out in an inviting sweep, forcing her gaze across the flat meadow surrounded on all sides by trees. Jacen emanated the same sense of wonder as the two Jedi took in the site before them.
Filling the plain were twenty or more makeshift structures, most hobbled out of whatever material the forest offered. Smoke of tended fires billowed out of many as Yuuzhan Vong of every age and type scurried about their every day lives. As the Jedi observed the secret community silently, one of the villagers and then another noticed the unexpected guests. Slowly, a united congregation moved their way. The boy stood bravely by the Jedi's side, but Tahiri sensed a gnawing doubt enter his determined aura as the crowd closed in.
As the pack of Yuuzhan Vong neared, it was plainly obvious most of the adults were identifiable as what their people called the Shamed Ones. Odd, malformed attachments and misshaped tattoos riddled their bodies. The children, on the other hand, all appeared unaffected by any abnormalities. A larger male, marked by a claw-shaped implant crudely attached to one arm at the base of the elbow, stepped forward and addressed the boy. He had at one point, no doubt, been a highly ranked warrior. Now, he was nothing more than the apparent leader of a ragtag assembly of exiles.
The boy and the leader conversed in a rapid-fire exchange. The two Jedi waited silently, sensing some underlying tension. Tahiri could feel Jacen rise up on the balls of his feet and reached out with her hand, placing it gently on his forearm. The conversation was over quickly, and the male turned to his visitors. He bowed his head, then proceeded with a flourish of words as the boy sidled closer to Tahiri. Silent murmuring rippled through the gathering as he finished until at last the leader fell silent.
Tahiri felt Jacen's inquisitive stare. She swung her blonde ponytail aside to meet his wide-eyed curiosity, emphasized by the high arch of his right eyebrow. "So?" he asked.
Tahiri glanced from Jacen to the boy, then back to her friend. "It seems we have rescued the village leader's son. He is now in our debt."
"Let's hope he still feels that way when we tell him that his village can't stay here," Jacen reminded the younger Jedi of their duty. "It is fortunate for us that the boy…"
"Klint," she interrupted. "His name is Klint."
"As I was saying, it's fortunate for us that Klint led us to his village…" The leader beckoned with a swipe of his deformed claw, and Tahiri walked away from Jacen in mid-sentence. "Hey…where are you going?"
Tahiri glanced over her shoulder flippantly at Jacen, standing with his legs parted and his hands propped on his hips. "To have some lunch."
"What about getting back so we can arrange to get all these Yuuzhan Vong moved?" He was addressing her backside now. "We have a tight schedule to meet…"
Tahiri never looked back as she called out. "Then we'll just have to make time." She stopped and spun in place so Jacen could see the sincerity on her eyes. "Jacen, this is important. We are going to rip these people from their homes. We owe them the courtesy of simple respect. Don't you think?"
The male Solo twin remained silent for several breaths, only blinking his eyelids thoughtfully. Finally, he tipped his head and trotted over to join his fellow Jedi for a meal.
Repositioning his long legs for the fifth time in a little more than an hour, Kell realized Twin Suns had been floating among the lifeless chunks of asteroids for entirely too long. Every part of his body screamed in protest over the forced confinement as the nine X-wings waited dutifully for a sign that Fee had been extracted successfully. Then, it would be a simple matter of assembling and jumping out of the system the same way they came. The squadron was only supposed to be halfway across the system from the rendezvous point as a precautionary measure, a short jump away if something were to go awry.
"Five, I have got something."
It was Tyria's disembodied voice trickling into the cockpit. He keyed the comm with his index finger. "Go ahead."
"We need to go." His wife sounded concerned.
"Standby." Kell flipped to the squadron's main frequency. "Twin Suns, it's time for a new dawn. Lifting in five." A series of klicks confirmed his orders before Kell isolated his communication back to Tyria alone. "What's up?"
He powered up the repulsors before easing up on the stick. Rising gracefully from the lumbering asteroid, Kell's fighter led the way out of the daunting debris field toward the open expanse of space. "It's not Lead or Nine, but there seems to be trouble with Two. That's the sense I got. Everything was hurried and confused. Lead isn't quite the telepath Two can be."
Eight snubfighters were arranged behind him now, four angling back to either side. In practiced unison, the depleted squadron accelerated forward, away from the gravitational field of the planet the asteroids ringed. Kell ran the jump coordinates one last time through the computer before transmitting them to the entire squadron.
"Anything else, Six?" he queried his wife hurriedly. "Direction from Lead? Brilliant insight from the Force?"
"Yes, but you aren't going to like it," Tyria whispered across the vacuum of space separating them.
Kell inhaled sharply. "Let me have it."
"I got two clear words through all that…" Tyria paused.
"Now I know I am not going to like this," he said without bothering to trigger the comm button.
"…Saber Strike."
Kell muttered a curse before answering. "Tell me why it is that Lead always has to do everything the hard way?" There was no response, but Kell could plainly make out his wife's glower as clearly as if she were there in the cockpit with him. "Never mind. Forget I said anything."
His astromech, Thirteen-Too, beeped, indicating Twin Suns had cleared all gravitational wells. Inhaling sharply, Kell flipped the comm back to address the squadron. "This is Five. Jump coordinates have been confirmed and forwarded to your nav computers. We'll jump on my mark. Saber Strike protocol has been established. Everyone knows the drill. Six and Twelve will assist Lead as required. The rest of us will provide cover as instructed. Eleven?"
"Go ahead," Tanner Kale, Three Flight's leader, responded.
"You're down two now, so you'll take Three and Four."
"Copy that, Five."
Nodding to himself silently, the temporary commander prepared to give the final order. "Twin Suns. Three. Two. One. Mark."
Kell engaged his hyperdrive engines a fraction of a second after the rest of Twin Suns disappeared into a vortex of light. The usual tension he felt before a furball was exacerbated by the protesting of his cramped muscles. Rolling his shoulders and cracking his knuckles, Kell tried to reenergize his body so he did not land in the middle of the fight flat-footed. The worst part of these types of situations was the not knowing. Was Jaina's ship under attack from the freight hauler? Had they successfully grabbed Fee? Or were any number of alternative scenarios they simulated being played out? In two minutes, he would have all the answers he sought and probably even more questions.
Hissing from the fire prevention system was the first sound Jaina could hear once the ringing in her ears subsided. Slouched against her restraints, she straightened slowly, waiting for the inevitable protest of bruised or broken body parts. Remarkably, she did not feel anything beyond mild discomfort. A wet trickle over her eyebrow drew her hand up. She fingered the warm blood, tracing it to a gash in her hairline.
A low groan from beside her banished all thought of her personal discomfort. Jaina turned to her apprentice as he, too, roused from having been momentarily knocked senseless. Her hands quickly discarded her crash belts, and Jaina knelt before Valin as his mind fought to clarify his situation. Her senses now alert and adrenaline flowing through her veins, Jaina was battle ready in the passing of a couple heartbeats.
A gentle but firm hand guided Valin back against his seat. "Are you okay?"
Valin squeezed his eyelids and inhaled one deep breath. "I…" The rest was lost in painful coughs.
Jaina swore softly as she quickly released the young man's restraints. She nudged away his hand where it had instinctively covered a tender spot on his side. He grimaced as Jaina's gently-placed fingertips probed over the fourth and fifth ribs. She could feel his body drawing on the healing tendrils of the Force already, pushing aside pain at the same time that it worked to mend unseen injuries.
"I'm fine. Just a bruise," he gritted through his teeth.
Laser fire blasting off the transparisteel viewport drew Jaina's disapproving frown away. Unfortunately, she was not in a situation to pamper Valin, nor was he accustomed to it. In her heart, Jaina knew Valin would be fine. She just did not like the fact that her actions had caused him pain.
Turning back to Valin, Jaina touched him briefly in their bond, providing whatever strength and reassurance she could offer. She formulated a plan while helping him rise. Thankfully, Fee was now alert and ready to offer any assistance. In her mind's eye, images of a bridge appeared, plus a detailed mental map of the ship's layout. Jaina knew instantly what had to be done.
Ignoring the repeated blaster fire bouncing harmlessly off the ship's hull, Jaina addressed her apprentice over the din. "The others should be here any second now. We'll go out and secure the hangar so Alema and Tyria can land." She powered down whatever systems were left running while Valin reached for their small utility packs stored behind the copilot's seat. "I want you to stay behind in the hangar and keep it clear until they arrive. After that, I'll let you know where I need assistance."
Jaina grabbed her pack from Valin's outstretched hand. She scrutinized him with a sharp eye. "And don't go changing the plan without contacting me first."
"But…" He grabbed the back of his head with one hand as Jaina popped him silently with her patented Force-slap. "Owww!"
Jaina spun on her heel and snapped the silver lightsaber hilt from the utility belt on her non-descript uniform. "Now is not the time, kiddo."
Valin dropped into step behind her, hushed by his Master's rebuke. He fingered his lightsaber as they passed quickly down the narrow passage to the exit. Jaina stopped at the control panel and faced Valin. "Ready?"
He nodded.
"Watch your weakside with those ribs…" Valin's glare stopped any further instructions. She simply placed a cool palm on his cheek for a moment and stared into his brown eyes. "Sorry." The statement was seemingly simple, but it meant so much more.
Jaina tore her gaze away and activated the ramp. As it lowered, she continued with her last-minute instructions. "The doors to the storage bay should be angled correctly to get the X-wings out." Jaina snapped her lightsaber to life and casually deflected a stray bolt of laser fire that sneaked through the ever-widening opening. "This freighter is history, so I need you to get the fighters ready."
"Got it," Valin answered without any hint of dissent at the same time as his lightsaber elongated in a snap-hiss.
"Listen to Tyria and Alema. Do what they say." Sensing his consternation at always being the bottom rung on the ladder, Jaina had to stifle a laugh. "Just think," she started before rapidly rerouting two red bolts, "you are the envy of male Jedi across the galaxy. I doubt others would complain about working with three gorgeous female Jedi."
Valin snorted. "Except that two are married to men who would rip me apart for looking sideways at their wives. That leaves Alema, and she scares me."
With Jaina in the lead, the Jedi started down the ramp, as it reached level and continued on its path to the hangar floor. They deflected shots easily. In unison, they switched their lightsabers to their left hands. With the right hand, Jaina and Valin each activated implanted personal communication devices by touching a small piece of cartilage at the front of the right ear.
"Good of you to join us, Five." Jaina spoke to her unseen comrade while closing in on the nearest aggressor, who was taking wild shots from behind the fuselage of a destroyed Y-wing.
Kell's reply activated the auditory nerve in her ear. "Couldn't let you have all the fun, Lead."
Time passed all too slowly in the isolated void of hyperspace. There was no one to share hidden fears, only the vacuum of deep space, which seemed to suck off any sense of comforting warmth at times like these. Two minutes felt like two hours, but finally the nav computer began counting down to their arrival. The anticipation was always the worst part of commanding for Kell. Only when he finally allowed instinct and adrenaline to take over in the heat of battle, his cool control had a way of balancing his sensibilities.
Three. Two. One.
The usual jolt that accompanied the drop from hyperspace bounced Kell's massive body against his restraints. Instinctively, he scanned the tactical board, counting nine X-wings still in formation, but found no transponder signal matching Jaina's vessel. A disorganized scattering of smaller freighters hurtling away from the massive snake-like hauler filled his transparisteel canopy.
"Good of you to join us, Five." Jaina's voice sounding in the darkness of Kell's cockpit immediately squashed one fear.
"Couldn't let you have all the fun, Lead."
"You mean glory," she jibed back.
Kell found some comfort that she was still throwing verbal jabs. It meant things were tense but not out of control, at least not yet. "That, too."
A noticeable grunt crossed the comm line before Jaina continued. "No time to talk, Five. You need to keep this space slug from jumping, and I need Sabers here with me now."
"Here? Where exactly is here?" Kell guided the squadron on an intercept course with the cargo hauler.
"The main hangar. Where else?" Jaina's reply sounded as if she were answering the most simple of questions.
Of course. Where else would Jaina end up but in the thick of it?
"We already took out their complement of support fighters, so you should have little resistance. Tell Six and Twelve to fly straight on in, but to watch out for those laser turrets. Valin will be here to back them up."
He exhaled sharply. "I'm on it."
"Thanks, Five. Got company; got to go. Lead out."