"No!"
The room went silent as everyone turned their eyes to the tall, broad shouldered Mantellian. He stood with his hands on his hips, his dark eyes flashing, and anger radiating from his whole body. No one spoke, too surprised by the normally mild mannered, agreeable man clearly showing his feelings. They'd been debating at the large table in the hangar for an hour, no closer to forming a plan, and now they all sat, expressions of shock on their faces. After several minutes, his wife touched his arm, and he jerked away.
"No, Mir. No more. You do everything. Every. Little. Thing. You've been banged up, knocked out, taken away for days with no word. Now, they want you to go steal a fortune right out from under Arcann's nose. It's ridiculous. Why would we risk the leader of the Alliance on something like this? No. Tell you what, I'll go." Corso paced away from her, knowing that if she wanted, he'd knuckle under and be miserable, watching her stick her pretty neck out, again. He just didn't know if he could stand it, but if it was what she wanted, he'd give in.
Miriah forced her face to stay calm. "Okay," she finally replied, and Corso stopped, turning to look at her. "You do the mission, but I'll fly one of the ships. Hylo, get the coordinates and my freighter ready to leave. Lana, you've got the other ship?" At the blonde Sith's nod, Miriah continued. "Aric, you're with Cor. Maura, you with me. Theron with Lana. All set?" she asked, and looking around, saw that everyone was on board. "We leave first thing tomorrow." She turned then and looked out as dusk enveloped the base. "I need to let Mom and Mags know." She felt Corso approach her, but didn't turn.
"Darlin', I'm sorry. I just couldn't see you..." Her fingers on his lips stopped him, and he merely looked deep into her silver eyes.
"I love that you would put yourself in my place," she whispered to him, and he merely nodded, knowing that any words would have them both emotional. They stood in each others arms for a few minutes, seeing the hangar start to empty out, and the night falling quickly. When they moved, Corso put his arm around her, and they made their way out into the main base.
Once at Sarai's apartment, they stayed for dinner, and enjoyed being with family. Miriah had grown in her force use, and could feel the currents of force power around the room. Amazing, she thought, that this has been all around me, everywhere, all my life, and until now, I never knew. Calypso hung on her father, and he laughed with her, their smiles contagious. Later, while she slept, he lay awake, thinking about how he'd spoken out, how much he hated that everyone took Miriah for granted. He must have been messing with the force, he thought, when he saw Miriah blink awake in his arms. "Shh," he whispered. "Didn't mean to wake you, darlin'."
"Nightmare?" she asked, but he only pulled her closer, placing a kiss on her head and closing his eyes. He said nothing more, and after a bit he felt her relax in sleep again, but couldn't get the disturbing images from his mind, the ones that had prompted his outburst earlier. The ones of her being maimed or killed on some foolish errand or scheme or plan that this group came up with. He sighed and tried to get comfortable. He'd been having the same or similar dream for a few weeks, but the past few nights had been the worst. He finally fell into fitful slumber, his arms tight around his wife.
Aric and Maura had gathered their gear and went to bed early, a little excited to be taking part in a mission so bold. "Never would have gotten a chance to steal a whole treasury with Havoc," Aric smirked.
"And Corso, bless him. I know he's sick of Miriah always being the one who takes the biggest risk," Maura replied. "I'm proud of him for saying something. He's right, you know. Arcann himself doesn't take risks like she does." Aric murmured agreement, and pulled his wife to him.
"You and Mir will have a little time together, which I know you'll both enjoy. And Cor and I can feel useful." He ran his hands under Maura's nightshirt. "So we need to stock up a little loving before we're on separate ships." She giggled, but turned in his arms.
"I know, you poor, poor thing," she said, his mouth on hers stopping her laugh.
Miriah woke shivering, and reached for the soft throw that usually covered them. When she didn't feel it, she stood and pulled the rumpled bedding from the floor at the foot of the bed, and that's when she saw Corso more clearly. He had dried tears on his face, and he was in a crunched ball, facing away from her. What's going on here, she wondered. She gently shook out the fluffy comforter and placed it over him, crawling in bed behind him, snuggling into the hard planes of his back. Usually, whenever she did this, he would turn and embrace her, but not tonight. With no idea what was troubling him, she pulled on the force and covered them with a warm, sparkling aura. She felt him relax then, and at least stretch from his curled position, and put her head on his shoulder. At least, she thought, he'll know I love him.
They were boarding the ships before Miriah had a moment alone with Corso. They'd been running since the chrono alarm had gone off, trying to steal a few moments with the kids before taking off. When Miriah slid into the familiar pilot's seat of her own ship, she sighed and wiggled her butt happily. Corso laughed when he saw her. "That seat looks pretty good on you, darlin'," he told her. "Bet you've missed it."
"I have," she confessed. "But, sugar, I'm worried about you." They'd danced around it all day, but she couldn't hold her questions in any longer. "Want to talk?"
Corso took her small hand in his, turned it over so that he could lace his fingers between hers. "I do, but not right now." He smiled up at her, and she could see the pure love shining from his eyes, and she nodded. They'd have some flight time, she figured, and they could work on it then. Corso brought her hand to his lips and then let her have it back, since she was working on preflight.
Maura and Aric stowed their gear in their usual spacious quarters aboard the Dreamweaver, and Maura lay back on the bed, stretching. "This might be a really quick and easy mission, but I have a feeling you two better be ready for anything," she said, rolling on her side to watch Aric as he went through the packs on his utility belt. He hummed his agreement, pulling out cold weather gloves and shoving them aside for kolto packs and ration bars. He'd gone through each compartment, and when he was satisfied that he'd optimized his gear, he saw that Maura was napping, and went out into galley. Once the caffa was in progress, his nose told him there were Miriah's cookies somewhere on board, and only a minimal search found them. He settled at the table, hot caffa and a snack, and was perfectly content.
When the two ships were ready, they were given clearance for take off. Finally, Miriah thought, and lifted the freighter off the deck smoothly. She giggled, and when she looked over at Corso, saw that he'd fallen asleep. Poor sweetie, she thought. I really want to know what's got him all wound up. Once they'd cleared Odessen and she'd engaged the hyperdrive, she stood over him, but he'd not moved. She could tell he was resting, though, and with a soft kiss to his cheek, left him. When she entered the lounge area and smelled caffa, she knew at least Aric was there, and joined him. "Found the cookies, I see," she laughed, and he grinned.
"Feline nose, did you really think I wouldn't?" he asked, rising to make Miriah a cup of cocoa. "What's got Corso so edgy?" he asked, never one to talk around something when directness would do.
"I wish I knew," Miriah replied. "He's been a little more protective since the memorial service. We all know that we're at risk, every time we leave Odessen. I think it just hit home for him how great that risk is." She accepted the mug Aric handed her with thanks. "He didn't sleep much last night, so I left him in the right seat, snoozing."
Aric nodded. "Maura didn't either. She's trying to not be nervous, but I know her too well." He looked at the table, then up into her eyes. "Mir, he's right. What would happen to the Alliance without you? I mean, not to mention the personal devastation, but the whole thing would probably dissolve." Miriah tried to downplay her importance, but Aric insisted. "No, I mean it. You are the glue, the catalyst. They all believe in you, me included. Corso is absolutely right, you shouldn't be putting yourself in situations where you are more likely to be injured or killed."
"Well, it's about damn time somebody else saw it," Corso said from the doorway, his voice sleep roughened. "It's been driving me crazy for weeks now." He crossed and sat across from Aric, gently putting his head on Miriah's shoulder. She reached up and stroked his face before getting him a mug of the hot caffa. When he'd had a sip, he slumped back in the padded booth. "I know I'm biased, so I've been trying to just work it out on my own. Thank you, Aric, for adding your voice."
"It's been bothering all of us, Cor. Even Calypso is worried." They sat in silence for a few minutes before Miriah spoke.
"So, what do I do? I can't just do nothing," she said, pulling a cookie from the open container.
"You let us do more," Corso said. "Let others have some ownership in this. Give them goals and projects. And most of all, delegate some of the crazier missions." He leaned over to kiss her cheek. "Help me keep you safe, darlin'. For all of us." She grinned at him before he kissed her lips.
"If this job is everything Hylo says, we shouldn't have to do this crazy again," she said, making Aric and Corso both break out laughing.
"There will always be a crazy mission," Aric said when he caught his breath. True, Miriah thought.
Lana and Theron used the hyperspace time to stretch out in each others arms, watching a movie. They'd been quiet, but not uncomfortably so. Theron reached for the controls and turned down the volume. "Lana, we're meeting Senya and Gault, and he has a plan for this?" He'd tried to figure out the specifics without asking, but now his curiosity was too much.
Lana nodded. "Apparently, he has an idea for a disguise to get us on board that treasury ship. What do you know about this Gault Renow?"
Theron shook his head. "Not a lot, but then he operated more on the Empire side of things than the Republic. Long dealings with the underworld, seems to know our Hylo quite well."
"Yes, I thought so, too." She settled back against him, wondering what it was that was hiding in her subconscious that she couldn't bring forward. "I guess we'll see soon enough. I was more in shock over Corso finally putting his foot down about sending the Commander out so often."
"Yeah, but it was due. And he's right, too. We need to figure out how to do some of these things without putting her at risk." He adjusted his arm under Lana's head. "At least, as much as she will allow. I have a feeling that, very soon, we won't be able to protect her. I think, if we pull this off, that Arcann will come after her himself." Lana remained silent, knowing that he was right, but not how to keep her friend safe.