Head down and reading the datapad in her hand, Major Siavonna stepped into the General's office to deliver the overnight reports and stopped dead in her tracks only a meter from the desk that faced her. Dropping her hands to her side, the datapad gripped tightly in one hand, she stood prone and saluted stiffly with the other while staring intently on some distant point beyond the far wall.
"I wasn't aware the General had arrived yet."
Solasta looked over-top of the datapad she held in her hand and said, "At ease, Major. When we are alone you may address me directly."
"Yes, Ma'am," replied the young Nautolan, dropping her salute and adopting a relaxed stance as her gaze drifted to Solasta at her desk. "I was going to organize the morning reports for your first day back, but I didn't expect you in the office for another hour yet, Ma'am."
Sitting back in her chair and pointing to the corner of the office where the playpen was setup, Solasta said, "My daughter decided that 'oh four-hundred was an acceptable hour to start our day."
Siavonna's smooth brow raised and she turned to look at the small bright-eyed cathar child who peered over the playpen's edge, canting her head left then right, curiously trying to understand who or what this strange new person was.
"Ma'am, my apologies if I've woken- "
"No apologies needed. She's been awake this whole time," said Solasta before chuffing softly to herself.
Approaching and placing datapad on the desk, Major Siavonna asked, "Is there anything else, Ma'am?"
Solasta studied the young and confident Nautolan woman standing before her. The large black eyes, long head tentacles wrapped with brown and red ceremonial leatheris bands, pleasant green skin with a mottling of brown spots on her cheeks - freckles Solasta supposed, and dressed in a black and green Alliance uniform that was squared away to exact specifications.
"Colonel Boleme recommended you highly before he retired and I've reviewed your records, Major. You have an exemplary record from CorSec and were decorated several times for keeping your head during different bombings on Corellia," said Solasta as she stood and held the other woman's gaze.
"Yes, Ma'am. Thank-you, Ma'am."
"Major Athoe Siavonna," said Solasta with a formality that made Siavonna snap crisply to attention, "I hereby promote you to the rank of Colonel and assign you the portfolio of Civil Security Services," and handed a pair of gold pips to her.
"Thank-you. I will not fail you, Ma'am" said Colonel Siavonna, saluting with a broad grin across her face.
Solasta returned the salute before sitting back on her chair. Pushing the datapad that she had been reading across her desk with the tips of her fingers, she asked, "Now then, can you explain to me why a number of these Ops have not been be updated in the daily briefings I've receive on my terminal at home - the plans to send an operative to infiltrate Zakuul and search for Theron Shan? Commander Riggs making an unscheduled trip to Zakuul, then mysteriously being returned to us? the details of interrogation of our would-be caffa poisoner?"
"Major Jorgan's order, Ma'am. Specific details for those, and a half-dozen more operations, were confined to the base terminals as a precaution."
Solasta's expression turned to stone, her upper lip curled and displayed flashes of fangs as she said, "In the future, you will ensure that I am notified when any classified information is being buffered or you will download it to an encrypted datapad and personally deliver it to me. Understood, Colonel?"
"Yes, General Dinn."
Turning to pick-up the datapad that she shoved across the desk, Solasta said, "Dismissed and close the door on your way out."
Sitting down, Solasta switched on the datapad and resumed reading the details on Missy's upcoming mission to infiltrate Zakuul and find Theron. The few sightings of Theron on the planet didn't provide any concrete proof that he was there, but Missy's records, what little there was left to recover from the SIS databases, were impressive enough that Solasta was confident that the younger cathar was more than capable to flush him out if he was there. Closing the briefing and leaning back in her chair, she bit her lower lip and began working her mind through all the details of Theron's betrayal - firing his blaster at the Commander on Umbara, his involvement with the Chiss on Copero, and now his presence on Zakuul. Her mind was of a military mold, not political, and she was struggling to build a tactical profile of where all this was leading when the familiar mewls of a hungry kitling broke her concentration.
"La'e. La'e. La'e. [mother]" said the small voice.
Solasta softly sung, "Ja? Ta ri rend? [Yes? Are you hungry?]" as she looked at Aissa hanging on the inside of the playpen wall.
"Ja! Ja!" was the response and Aissa began shaking, impatiently waiting to be told she could come out and Solasta could only grin at the sight.
"Sana a' ra. [Come to me.]" she called out and watched as Aissa scaled over the wall before she could finish her words.
Hevarl poured some sweetener into his caffa, stirred it, and tapped the spoon on the lip of the mug before reaching across the counter to grab the plate of toast that had just been buttered. Grabbing his breakfast, he walked through the small bungalow he had begun to call home and stepped into the sunroom and sat in his favourite chair, one of the few belongings he brought from the apartment.
He took a sip of his hot caffa and put the mug down on the table before half-turning in his chair to call out for Merrique to join him and watch the morning sunrise when the words fell short in his throat, remembering he was alone.
Settling back in his seat to watch the streaks of golden light creep along the ground outside, his thoughts turned to how much he anticipated the change in seasons. The new growth and budding life that was easily encouraged with a little sunlight and warmth would be upon Odessen soon. Merrique on the other hand, despised this time of year with the plant pollen assailing her allergies or the unpredictable changes between rain, snow, heat, or sometimes all in the same day, and preferring the heat of summer. It was another one of those odd things that set them far apart, yet made their love all the stronger.
The silent reverie of another day dawning in the settlement was interrupted by the soft chirrup of the holo. Picking up the remote from the table, Hevarl pointed it at the small table-top emitter that sat next to his caffa mug and answered the call he had been expecting. The holo-projector took a few seconds to cycle up before the blue ghostly image of a young chiseled-jawed Imperial soldier with carefully manicured hair appeared.
"Good Morning, Uncle Hevarl. Sorry to have woken you so early but I just wanted to be sure you were still coming," said Merrique's nephew with a cold Imperial efficiency that Hevarl did not miss.
"Good morning, Captain Dobran. I was already up - still running on military time here, and yes I will be there."
"Excellent, we have taken care of all the arrangements," said the young officer without looking up from the console he was working at, "There will be a shuttle waiting at the spaceport to bring you to Kaas City when you arrive on Dromund Kaas,"
"You shouldn't have. I could have easily caught a ground transport into the city."
"Nonsense. It is the least we could do, Uncle. We will see in three days then." Glancing up briefly and giving a curt nod before disconnecting, Captain Dobran was gone.
Sitting back and relaxing, Hevarl couldn't help but wonder why Merrique's family felt the need to have a gathering for her when they never seemed to be able to make time for her in life. Although he did not relish any thoughts of returning to Imperial space, even with Emperor Vowran's act of clemency for any soldiers who left Imperial forces to join the Alliance, he was willing to do this as a gesture to show respect to her family.
Solasta refastened the clasps on the military blouse that had been tailored with panels on either side that opened to accommodate nursing mothers. When she was done, she carefully swaddled Aissa in a blanket, even though it wasn't necessary since the kitling was drunk with sleep, and laid her down in the portable crib that sat next to the playpen when she heard Aric enter her office. Pulling up a chair, Aric sat and waited until Solasta turned her attention to him, a soft smile was on her face as she canted her head forward in greeting.
"What's up?" she asked as she returned to her desk.
"I wanted to update you with some intel," said Aric as he returned the gesture.
"Aric, it seems there's been quite a bit of intel omitted from my reports."
"It seemed a necessary precaution to limit the sensitive details on some operations to only authorized base personnel. I suppose the message may have gotten lost with Boleme's sudden retirement - understandable given the circumstances. Everything is available to you here in the base, but there's one item you won't find. I've deployed a detail of troopers to Zakuul to locate any information on who tranq'd Miriah and sent her back to Odessen on auto-pilot."
Sitting back, Solasta thought about Aric's words for a few moments. "And Miriah knows of this?"
Aric didn't need to answer, the shrug of his shoulders told Solasta that he had not.
"Don't you think she should know? Things have settled down enough that I'm sure she would be fine with knowing what's going on. Besides, if they find something, she'll learn of it then, and I'm not sure she will be so understanding at that point."
"You're right," murmured Aric as he stood and the slight vibration from the datapad in his hand made him look down, the notification of a message from Miriah herself. "By the way, anytime you need a sitter, we'd be happy to stand in," he said as he started towards the door.
Solasta let out a soft trill of laughter. "You would have to lock up her grandparents somewhere to get a chance," she answered as he left her office.
Sitting back in her chair, she let out a deep contented sigh. It was good to be back in the thick of things.
Falling.
Not from some great height or at breakneck speeds that would whip her hair around or flail her limbs uncontrollably, just simply falling as one might imagine falling through space if they stepped outside their ship in an evac suit. Her body jerked at the feeling of consciousness seeping into her mind, and Uldisa felt her descent slow until the sensation of floating became very real.
Opening her eyes, the viscous green fluid rushing in and blurred her vision, she gasped sharply and her body instinctively spasmed as her mind registered the fact she was submersed. Taking a few deep breaths from the oxygen mask affixed over her nose and mouth, she calmed herself and let her body catch up to what her mind already reasoned.
Blinking several times to adjust her eyes to the warm itch that the that bacta evoked, she turned her head to examine the bruises that ran down the length of her arm; the break above the elbow was set and mending, the heavy binding around her wrist that served to hold her and the tubes that feed her medicines in place, the swollen and bruised fingers on her left hand throbbed as she repeatedly balled her fist and stretched them out straight. Turning from her hand, she tried to locate the source of the low thick mumbling sounds of voices deadened through the dense liquid and Kaliyo's face came into focus first. The grey-skinned Rattataki's facial tattoos looked inky black instead of wine through the fluid and her piercings shining bright as the med-bay lights and the bacta created the illusion a silver-white glow around them. Her expression uncharacteristically soft and warm and in her arms she held Della.
"Oh look, your mommy is awake," cooed Kaliyo as she pointed at Uldisa floating inside the tank in just her trunks, her arms bound and outstretched beside her while her body floated limply. Uldisa watched as Kaliyo flashed her wicked smile and pointed at her.
Uldisa refocused her eyes on Della and noticed her daughter's hair was no longer a light tawny fuzz from having been shaved tight to the scalp and was now long enough to hide her pale scalp beneath a short blanket of hair a few centimeters long. "I... I've been in here weeks, if not another month," thought Uldisa, and her rage swelled. "You bitch! I'm going to kill you once I get out of here!" she screamed into the mask as she tried to thrash her body around, the bacta slowing her movement.
The smile faded from Kaliyo's face and a second later a deep resounding pong reached Uldisa's ears before the med-center went dark as the generators failed, again. The fail-over system for the tank kicked in immediately and the lights flickered momentarily before Uldisa was left looking at her reflection in the side of the tank, her ice-blue eyes the only thing left that she recognized of herself. The sounds of a raised voice mumbling outside could be felt through the tank and moments later the emergency lighting took over and the dimly lit room reappeared again. Beyond the transparisteel wall, Kaliyo had put Della down and was furiously yelling into the control panel at the foot of her tank.
"Why the kark is it so difficult to keep those karking generators running?"
"Mistress Djannis, the equipment is old and the wiring keeps shorting out from the constant rain. We just lost two more tech's from electrical arcs," said the anxious voice at the other end.
The sly wicked grin resurfaced and Kaliyo said, "Well, as long as someone's died for this inconvenience."
Uldisa watched as Della stood on her toes and struggled to look over the panel at her mother, the top of her head and blue eyes the only thing visible. Holding up one arm and stretching herself, Della's fingers opened and closed in a child's clumsy wave, and Uldisa wiggled her fingers in response and thought, "Why did I leave Zakuul? Life with my parents would have gotten better or I could have tried to go back to Odessen for that matter. Anything would have been better than ending up here."
Punching at the panel with a finger, Kaliyo ended her call and looked at Della. "Say goodnight to Mommy and we'll go find something to eat."
Pressing a quick series of buttons on the control panel, the soft whirl of a motor could be heard from somewhere behind the tank and droplets of an orange fluid began a gentle free-fall through the clear liquid inside the tube connected to Uldisa's wrist.
Blinking slowly, Uldisa tried to fight the sedative that coursed through her as she watched Kaliyo scoop Della up into her arms and walk into the shadows of the poorly lit room before her eyelids became too heavy and closed.
