Chapter 37

Space opened up. It started with nothing more than a ripple, barely noticeable in the infinite blackness. Then a tiny crack formed – if anyone had looked directly into it they would have felt like they were looking at the whole universe at once, all contained in one speck.

And then that space was filled. A ship appeared – tiny, like it was so far away that it was barely visible. In a moment it grew, and grew, until the crack in space was overtaken by the ship. This is what happened when something came out of hyperspace.

The two Rebel cruisers appeared several hundred thousand kilometres away from the planet, flanked by fourteen smaller battle ships from the Grey Order. Jordan sat in his command chair. He felt most comfortable there – he felt as though he was in control of any situation as long as he was in that chair. But on this occasion he was nervous. The instant they had entered the vicinity of the planet the ship's alarms had sounded. Sensors had picked up what could only be described as a fleet of Jedi battle ships, similar in design to those of the Grey Order.

The smaller ships did not worry him, however. It was the Endor's presence that worried him. It had positioned itself in a geosynchronous orbit above the planet, between it and the Rebel ships. Jordan knew that they would have to get past it before they could make any attempt at landing on the planet.

"Admiral", a voice said. It was a young crew member – they're all young, Jordan thought bitterly – who handled communication. Jordan nodded. "We're being contacted by one of the Grey Jedi ships, sir".

Jordan sniffed. "Put them through", he sighed. They would probably want to discuss how they were going to deal with the Endor. Jordan knew that they would most likely not be able to.

A hologram appeared on the bridge – it was the female Grey Jedi that he had met earlier. She looked nervous. "Admiral Jordan", she said – her voice came through fuzzy, and difficult to understand. The Endor must have been sending out interference. "How are we going to deal with this situation? Our ships are not equipped to deal with a Star Destroyer".

Jordan was silent, contemplating his answer. What he wanted to do was turn around and leave – the Endor was far too powerful for them to overcome it. But he knew they couldn't retreat without at least attempting to get past – the potential prize was much too valuable. Which left one option – attack.

He breathed in deeply. "OK", he said. "Here's what we need to d-".

He was interrupted by one of his crew. "Sir!" he shouted. "I'm getting readings through on our sensors. Impossible readings".

I don't have time for this, Jordan thought. "What sort of readings?" he asked.

There was a slight pause. "It… it's a massive burst of energy", he said. "Like a massive explosion, only it's all contained in a single spot on the planet. Hold on, I'll put it on screen". He tapped several buttons and an image of the planet appeared on the view screen.

Jordan looked wide eyed at the image. At first he couldn't see anything, but then he caught sight of a purple glow. It was tiny at first but it quickly grew and grew until it enveloped the whole planet, and the ships around it. It was… so bright. Jordan covered his eyes, but the brightness still hurt them.

It lasted for just a few moments, but it took a full minute before anyone could regain their composure.

"Readings", Jordan said, almost absent mindedly. When there was no response, he looked to the side. "Readings!" he shouted.

This snapped the crew out of their daze. Several of them started to hurriedly tap away at their consoles. After a while, one of them answered. "The energy surge has dissipated", the girl said. "But there's still a fluctuation on the planet… I don't… It reads like a hyperspace opening".

"…what?" Jordan asked, dumfounded.

"Sorry sir", the girl said. "That's the only way I can describe it. It looks like something has ripped a hole in space, like the hyperspace drive does when it activates. Only, when the go into hyperspace the rip is opened and closed in an instant to prevent damage to the fabric of space. Whatever is happening on the planet, the rip is not closing".

Jordan considered this for a while. He knew the basics of what hyperspace was about – when activated, the hyperspace engines opened up a… gateway of sorts, and pushed the ships through that hole. "What sort of damage could it cause?" he asked.

"Unknown, sir", the girl answered. "It appears to be of a fixed size – a hole about six inches in diameter. As long as it remains stable it shouldn't cause any damage. But if it starts to increase in size there's no telling what sort of damage it could do".

Jordan looked around. In all the excitement he had forgotten that he had been in the middle of a conversation with one of the Greys. The line of communication was still open, but the hologram was not showing anyone. She must have moved away from her console.

Jordan sat back in his chair. "Hello", he said into the communicator. "Is anyone there".

An ominous silence followed, lasting far too long. Jordan knew that it was too quiet out there. No one was moving – not them or the Endor, or any of the Jedi. That worried him.

Suddenly a man – unfamiliar, but young – appeared in the holographic projection on the bridge. His eyes were wide and frightened, and Jordan saw what he thought was blood dripping from his head.

"You have to get out of here!" he screamed, his voice sounding hysterical. "Get away from here now! They… they've all gone mad!"

Jordan started to speak – to ask the man what he was talking about – but hands appeared around the man, from either side. He was grabbed from all sides – a dozen hands gripping at him. The man started to scream – to plead for them to let him go. The sound pierced through to Jordan's soul, terrifying him.

Then faces appeared – the faces of the Grey Jedi. Jordan recognised some of them, but now they were twisted in rage and madness. They started to bite the man, to tear away his flesh and his bone. All the while he screamed and screamed.

The screaming lasted until another face appeared. It was the woman – the female Grey who had boarded the Sholank, who had seemed to level headed and calm. She was bleeding from her eye – the socket was empty, as though something had ripped the eye out of its socket – and her face was twisted in the same rage that the others were. She leant in close to the screaming man – towards his neck – and then she sunk her teeth into the front of his neck and ripped it open.

The man gurgled momentarily, and then he fell to the floor. The hands quickly dragged him away, and Jordan was left staring – stunned – at empty space.

No one moved. No one spoke. No one even blinked.

The ship shook suddenly, shaking people – some people – out of their shocked daze. Jordan shook his head. "Wh…" he started, and then swallowed. "Report!" he shouted.

The girl – who was the only person to move – tapped her console. "One of the Grey Jedi ships has opened fire on us, sir", she shouted back.

"Bring it upon the screen", Jordan ordered. A moment later, the view screen was filled with images of the ships surrounding the Sholank. The Grey Jedi ships were mostly drifting, out of control. One of them had turned towards the Sholank and had fired on it, but now it made no signs that it was going to continue. Three of the Grey ships had opened fire on each other – one of them was destroyed as the stunned Rebel crew looked on.

Further past the Grey ships, Jordan could see that the Jedi Order ships were in a similar state. Whatever had affected the Greys, he realised, had also affected the Jedi. They had all lost their minds. And in the middle of it all, the Endor sat, still and silent.

What is going on? Jordan thought.