Miriah was having difficulty hearing anything else Tanno said, all she could hear was the buzzing in her ears. Rachel has him, I know it. And I'll kill her slowly, she thought. She did what she always does when all she can see is red, she roared and took off to her quarters on the ship, grabbing her old faithful shotgun and both her regular blaster and her hold out blaster, snatching armor and quickly dressing. Miriah was running to the hatch when Aric caught her from behind.
"Slow down, Spitfire. Let's figure this out before we run off."
"I can't, Aric. She's got him, I know she does. She killed her husband, what will she do to mine?" She stalked around the hold, waiting for Aric to speak. "Where would she have taken him? To the estate?" She paced some more, then stopped. "His weapon! We have trackers in our blasters. Torchy never leaves him, wherever Torchy is, that's where Corso is." She ran to the bridge to find the master list of trackers and activated his, then turned in triumph to her sister and brother in law. "The estate! I knew it! Let's go!"
She burst out of the hatch, but her forward progress was impeded by strong Cathar arms holding her in place. She struggled, then turned her furious face to Aric.
"Let me go, dammit. I have to get to him." He could feel her panic in her rapid heartbeat and her frantic struggle to free herself, but he just couldn't let her go off without a plan and some back up. He felt her slow her movements and the tears start, and he slowly lowered her feet to the ramp of the ship, still hugging her to him, certain that if he let her go, she'd be gone. Maura ran to them, followed by a limping Tanno. They surrounded her, and only then did Aric release his hold on her.
"We do this together, Mir," Maura said, putting her hand on her sister's shoulder, seeing the tears of rage and frustration on her face.
"Then let's get to it, we can't let her keep him any longer than absolutely necessary," Miriah said, anxious to be moving. They stopped her once again, and her temper was fraying rapidly. "Let's GO!" she cried, "he's hurt or he'd be here now!" They struggled with the tiny woman, whose temper was making her strong. "Okay, okay, let's figure out what to do, but make it quick, I won't wait around for Garza to help or anything. I'm giving you two minutes, then I'm jetting." She glared at her family, clenching and unclenching her fists, itching to punch something or someone.
Aric took both her shoulders in his hands. "Miriah, listen. Corso is smart and has already probably figured out what's going on and how to get out of it. Rushing in will only cause him to get hurt."
"You don't know that. Tanno said he was passed out, he was probably drugged somehow. He may still be unconscious for all we know, and we're standing here talking."
"No," Maura said, we're standing here planning. Let's do this, we go out to the estate, but we get C2 and the kids here first. At least locked up here, Rachel can't circle back to the house for them. Agreed?"
"I'll go get them now, " Tanno said, limping toward the large passenger speeder. He was sick with worry, and his heart went out to the little woman who was now giving his former boss hell. He'd do whatever was necessary to get Corso back, but wounded, he was more of a liability than an asset, so he'd keep the children safe instead.
"Now," Maura said, let's see what weapons we have and which direction we can approach from and not be seen. Surely she has some surveillance equipment. And Miriah, if I have to, I'll shoot you in the leg if I think you're not being careful." Miriah stared her sister down, daring her to shoot her with her eyes. Maura blinked first; Miriah had gone beyond any reasoning at this point. They started toward the speeders, the late afternoon sun providing a little cover for their journey.
When they got close to the estate, they went for the treeline and followed it around to the back of the large house. Miriah triggered her stealth generator and went to see how many guards there were and where they were. She tapped her relay twice- two guards. They watched as Miriah gleefully took them down, her kicks aimed precisely and her blaster glowing. When they both lay smoking on the ground, she hit the generator again, just as two more guards rounded the corner of the house. Miriah stunned one, and quickly killed the second with a muffled shotgun blast. She pistol whipped the first guy and got a kill shot with her blaster. She stood there looking back at Aric and Maura, more centered than she'd been since she realized Corso was gone.
"She's a weapon in her own right," Aric said, admiration creeping into his voice. Maura looked at her little sister and saw that while she was scared, she wasn't letting her fear control her. Good, she thought, I can work with that. They joined Miriah at the back door to the estate, and looked at the tracker screen on the portable datapad she had in her hand.
"He's here," Miriah said, "looks like either upstairs or down." Her head came up, remembering the basement and the body they'd seen there this morning. Maura nodded, and pushed open the back door slowly.
Corso opened both eyes this time when Rachel slid the vibroknife across his thigh. "That's it, little Corso. Poor little Corso, whose parents were brutally killed. Wakey up!" She gave him an evil grin. "Now, since I know you, I'll give you a choice. I can kill you first, or wait til your little wifey shows up and kill her first. Of course, I'll make you watch if I do her first." She giggled. "I thought you might like me with black hair, what do you think? Do I remind you of her?" Corso just watched her, swallowing hard against the knot in his throat and the drug he'd ingested.
"Why, Rachel? We haven't hurt you. You said the Ulgo's killed your husband, but we figured that out. You did, didn't you?" She laughed harder, slapping her knees.
"You never did see beyond the obvious, Corso. You never thought your little girlfriend, way back when, was anything other than a pretty girl to talk to and look at. I was into things, even then, that you wouldn't have believed." She moved to the table by the wall, and picked up a larger blade. His pants leg was already stiff with dried blood, but he'd rather it be him than Miriah, he thought.
"Look, if it's me you need revenge on, kill me. Just do it. Leave Miriah alone. You better do me quick though, and run, because if she catches you, she will make sure you don't go easily." He looked up as a shadow passed from the doorway, hoping Rachel hadn't seen it. She appeared oblivious, reading something on the computer terminal on the table. Her head snapped up suddenly, and she slowly smiled at him.
"Revenge? No, little Corso, this is much bigger than revenge. This is an atoning for atrocities that your army has ravaged on the people here for far too long. Let me ask you, did you ever kill the seps that got your parents? Would you believe me if I told you, that I'd been paid a hundred thousand credits for the info that led the seps to your parent's house? Told them who was inside, and that they were Republic sympathizers? Yes, I see you're beginning to understand now. I was the one who led the seps there, Corso. I'd have died if I'd had to marry you." She hummed as she activated the vibroblade, watching him struggle with his bonds. "So, I'd have to say, this is quite a tasty little morsel of retribution." She'd put the blade down on the table when the shotgun blast went off, and it knocked her backward over it. Miriah advanced on the downed woman, her blaster in one hand and shotgun, still smoking, in the other.
Maura sneaked in under the generator and unlatched Corso's wrists from the chair, dragging him out of the door. "NO!" he cried, I can't leave Miriah in there."
"Trust me, Cor, she's got this." Aric felt him trembling with blood loss and adrenaline, and whatever stim Rachel had used to wake him. Miriah stood over her target, watching Rachel try to weasel her way out of the situation. She could hear nothing over the roar of rage in her head. She would have killed the woman slowly, inch by inch, but just as she started to fire her blaster into Rachel's knee, she heard Corso say her name, and she stopped.
"You okay, sugar?" She'd seen the blood pooling around the feet of the chair he'd been restrained in.
"Miriah, do you really want to do this?" he asked.
"Oh I really do, sugar. I really, really do." Grace charged up, the whine both familiar and dreaded, and discharged into the woman's leg. When Rachel screamed, Miriah shot her again. "I heard her say she was the one who set the seps on your parents. " Rachel had started to babble, half begging for her life and half denying the things she'd just sneered over. "I'd think you'd want her dead, too."
"I wouldn't mind it, love, just want to get out of here." He inched closer to Miriah, not wanting to startle her, seeing she was being driven by anger and fear.
"Maybe I should just leave her here to bleed?" Miriah turned and started toward him, when Corso saw Rachel reach for a blade that had fallen off the table in the shotgun blast. He grabbed Aric's sidearm and fired. Rachel slumped against the wall, a neat round blaster bolt hole in the center of her forehead.
Miriah sighed with relief when she reached him, crouching to touch his face, her hands shaking. He could see she was still enraged but the adrenaline was dropping. "Is Dev safe?" he asked her, and the mention of their son's name penetrated the rage she felt. She nodded.
"Tanno has them on board the ship," she told him softly, her hands feeling the injuries that didn't show. She'd begun to shake again, and he knew the anger was almost played out. He cupped her face with his bloodied hands and kissed her, feeling the hot tears hit his fingers before he was done.
Aric and Maura helped him to the speeder, and he climbed on behind Miriah, the kolto Aric had applied already working on the wound. She could feel him shaking as he wrapped his arms around her. "No, guys, this won't work. You two go back and get a bigger speeder. We'll wait in the trees. He's too weak to ride like this." Maura nodded, she was afraid that was the case when she'd seen him. They hobbled over to the trees, and Maura put a sleeping bag that was in her cargo area down for Corso to lie on. He was beginning to shiver now, shock not far away. Miriah took her jacket off and put it under his head, and she found a large rock to elevate his feet. Lying down, he felt okay. She sat beside him, keeping his attention and not letting him fall asleep. The stim Rachel had used was wearing off, though, and it was harder and harder to keep his eyes open. Aric's care had stopped the bleeding, but he'd lost so much before it. She stroked his face and talked to him about little things, like Devin's birthday. He was so cold! She lay her body gently on his chest, trying to keep him warm, and he wrapped his arms around her.
"All I could think about was keeping her away from you and Dev," he told her, his words halting, the fatigue hitting him hard now. "And how much I love you. When I was drugged, I even dreamed about you," he told her. "Don't cry, my love, I'm going to be fine." She heard his words trail off and saw that he'd passed out again, just as she heard the speeder barreling toward them.