Mergirl: Callista's Story
by Ambassador Cara Jade
Part 9: The Call of Thunder
"Callie, are you okay?" Geith asked.
I groaned, tried my legs. They were bound together with engine tape. "Where's Evin?"
"Ah, awake are you?" Evin sauntered over and knelt in front of me, with his knees on either side of my legs. "The welcoming party has already been arranged. We'll be there tomorrow, and you'll be dead.
But I'd tuned him out by the time he'd said 'party.' My lightsaber, fortunately was still under my father's bed. I summoned the Force and lifted it off the floor. As Evin was talking, I carried it over and let it hover behid his back.
"—aren't you looking at me?!" Evin shouted. He saw me staring over his shoulder and turned around. I hastily activated it but he rolled away. Growling, I reached out with my bound hands and grabbed it, cutting my legs free and standing up. Evin fired his blaster at me. In the flow of the Force the bolts moved slowly enough for me to deflect them.
"Callista!" Geith yelled from the closet. His voice startled me and broke my concentration. Evin found the hole in my focus and fired.
"Ah!" I screamed when the bolt buried itself into my shoulder. The power of it knocked me back against the wall.
"Damn it, Evin!" Geith shouted. "You're dead! I'll kill you!"
"Doesn't your new religion discourage revenge?" Evin said blandly. He knelt in front of me and held me down. "Anyway, he wants Jedi like this alive."
I took a deep breath, smoothing the Force over my wound like a balm. "Who?"
Evin wagged his finger at me. "Ah, ah, ah. Can't spoil the surprise."
A slight movement behind him caught my eye. Papa. Papa had crept up behind Evin. He had a bottle in his hand.
Shattering glass, spraying liquid, and then Evin's unconscious head in my lap. After a moment, everything resumed movement. Papa lifted Evin off of me and too his place in front of me.
"Are you all right?" he asked as he reipped the engine tape from my wrists. He checked my shoulder. My burned flesh stunk in my nostrils as he touched it gingerly.
"I'm fine. Geith—"
"Behind you!" Claine cried, too late, and Papa grunted in pain. Evin laughed and stood up, ripping his dagger from Papa's back.
"No!" I cried and lurched to my feet. I tackled Evin and yanked the knife from his hand. Without even thinking, I plunged the blade through his throat. His eyes widened, his fingers slackened on my own throat. I held him firmly, almost gently, until he was still and dead.
"Papa…papa," I whispered, kneeling next to him and sliding my hands beneath his shoulders. They slipped on his blood-soaked tunic. "Oh," I breathed.
I grabbed Evin's knift again and used it to cut Geith and Claine free. "Get the medkit. Call a medic. Something!" I cried. Claine got up and staggered out of the room. "Hurry!" I called after him.
Papa's eyes were fading in and out of focus, dilating in and out. "Lissy…" he muttered.
"I'm here, Papa." I held his hand, reaching through the Force to stay his blood. I suddenly had an image of Momma in this same position twelve years ago. "It's okay. You're going to be okay."
"No," he muttered. Lissy, listen to me." He squeezed his eyes shut. "I was wrong. I never should have—ahhh!"
"Shhhh…don't talk. It's okay. I understand.
"I love you, Lissy. I always have. I didn't show it, but I did."
I sniffed, swallowed. "Stop it, Papa."
"He shook his head. "I'm proud of you, Lissy. My angel."
I felt a stirring in the Force, a ripple as two levels merged. I looked up and saw Josef standing a few feet away. He was looking at Papa.
"Josef's here," I said. "Look."
As Papa turned his head, his last breath escaped. I looked up again in time to see two figures fade out of sight.
When Momma died in my arms, I had thrown her to the floor in fear. But many people I'd known had died since then. I wasn't afraid. I cradled Papa's body close to me. "I'm sorry, Papa…I'm so sorry."
The room returned to my awareness. Claine stood in the doorway, the medkit useless in his hands. Geith knelt behind me, afraid to touch me. Finally, he took my arm. "Callie," he said gently.
"You need to get out of here," Claine said. "No doubt he's isn't working alone."
"Claine—" I started to protest.
"Don't argue, Callista. Just go!"
"They'll kill you!"
"I'll handle it. Don't worry about me. I'll contact you soon, okay? If you haven't heard form me in a month, I'm dead. Do you understand?"
I sighed resignedly. "Yes." I threw my arms around him, ignoring my wounded shoulder. "I'm sorry about all this, Claine." I said. "I didn't want this to happen."
"I know, I know," he said. He wiped my eyes. "Now go. We'll meet again."
"Evin? Evin! Come on, man. Pick up! Are you there?" a new voice crackled from Evin's comm. I walked over and stamped on it, crushing it under the heel of my boot. I turned back to Geith and Claine. "Help me carry Papa's body. Claine, you're coming with us."
We carried Papa's body to the shuttle. As we were lifting off, Geith pointed out the viewport. "Another ship." He squinted. "Damn. It's Evin's people."
"How do you know?" Claine asked.
Geith gunned the engines. "I sold him that ship."
Jeebie whined in my lap and buried his muzzle beneath his paws. I installed the weapons on that ship," I said.
Geith nodded. He accellerated the shiop up into the sky, keeping the lights out to hide us from the Jedi hunters.
But it wasn't enough.
"They've got a lock on us!" Geith snarled. He swung around and fired the turbolasers. At the same time, they fired on us, rocking the ship.
"What kind of guns did you put in that thing?"
Another shot hit our shields, sending Jeebie across the cabin with a yelp.
"Big ones," Geith replied. He negotiated a ninety-degree turn upwards out of the shuttle, firing the back lasers. "But one more shot should—"
He scored a shot to the cockpit, and our pursuer exploded.
"Yes!" Geith pounded the console. "Looks like we're clear," he said.
I nodded. "Claine, we're going to take you to Coruscant. You'll be sage there."
"And…why, exatcly, are we doing this? Who's the guy you killed?"
I took a deep breath. "Someone has hired bounty hunters to kill Jedi. That man—"
"—a former friend of mine—" Geith added.
"—is one of those bounty hunters. He's been tracking us for almost two months now. He killed Josef, too. If word gets out—and believe me, it will—more bounty hunters will be looking for us, and you, too. There are enough people on Coruscant for you to disappear."
"Take an alias, though, just to be careful," Geith added.
I stroked Jeebie's fur silently, thinking about Papa. He was dead; I was an orphan.
You were an orphan a long time ago…
Oh, don't be brainless. Of course you weren't.
Abruptly, I stood and walked out of the cockpit, leaving Jeebie on my chair. I felt Geith and Claine's eyes on me, but I didn't really care. I walked to the cabin, where we'd laid Papa's bosy.
He lay on the bed, shrouded in a sheet, the blanket stirring around him like breaking waves. I sat beside him carefully, as if he was sleeping and I didn't want to wake him. I knew I couldn't.
I unwrapped the shroud from around his head and looked at his face. Every scar, every wrinkle, every line was clear on his white face. I traced my fingers over each one. Physical contact between us brought new tears to my eyes.
"Callie."
I turned around, wiping my eyes. Geith stood in the doorway, his hand on the jamb. He came in and sat behind me. "I'm sorry," he said, wrapping me up in a comforting embrace.
"I didn't want this to happen," I said. "He didn't—he didn't have to…"
"Shhhh…" Geith turned me around, pulling me onto his lap and hugging me fiercely. "What's done is done. You resolved everything with him. He knows you love him."
I pulled away and looked at Papa. Tucking stray hairs behind my ear, I leaned down and kissed his cheek. "Good-bye, Papa."
Geith squeezed my hand. "Let's get him to the airlock."
Ten minutes later, I stood with Geith and Claine, looking out the viewport as vaccuum carried my father's body away forever. Claine turned away and turned on the holonet. Chancellor Palpatine was speaking.
"These Jedi Knights are very powerful, very influential…and very dangerous."
"Geith! Callista!" Claine called us over.
"People of the Republic, I assure you that you are in no danger. I have specially trained operatives in all corners of the galaxy, searching for these menaces. However, they cannot do it alone. They need your help. If you have any information regarding any Jedi Knight, Jedi Master, even someone who makes an arbitrary prediction that comes true, let us know." Palpatine dipped his head. "These fanatics are a menace, and must be exterminated—"
Claine turned it off. Silence.
"Chancellor Palpatine," Geith said.
I nodded, remembering one single word spoken two months earlier. I spoke it out loud, confirming it. "Chan."
Palpatine had thrown the galaxy into chaos. As his clone armies marched over his realm during the Clone Wars, more still hunted the Jedi like animals. Everyone they found was savagely, brutally murdered. The murders that had been going on for over two years, beginning with Kasidy and Zara, exploded exponentially now that they didn't have to be done covertly. Every week, we heard news of new deaths, every week our numbers grew fewer. Because we had our cloaking devices and could not be found, we took on thousands of refugees. A few months after Palpatine's address, the Masters of the Chu'unthor called for volunteers to help smuggle refugees to our ship. Geith, Soonta and I were among the first to volunteer. We travelled the galaxy, searching for survivors. I was shocked at the number of children we found: toddlers crying for their parents who would never hold them again, babies who, by their gifts knew something was wrong but didn't exactly know what.
After six months the Chu'unthor was full, and it was clear that we couldn't keep everyone in the stars. We started a project to hide the Jedi in pockets throughout the galaxy. There were some planets that still sympathized with the Jedi: Corellia, Alderaan, Chandrila, and a handful of others. After clandestine negotiatons with the leaders of each planet, hidden bunkers were erected in the wild, unexplored forests, under seas.
I had left home to live the exciting and adventurous life that that life would become what it had, or that I wouldn't be afraid to continue living this way.
The project consumed my time. Geith and I saw little of each other. We were separated for weeks at a time, but no matter what he was doing, Geith always found time to call me every night.
Now Geith was staying at the Corellian bunker. Papa had been dead for a year and a half, and I'd been running refugees for about two-thirds that. I was flying with Jana Coquet, an old friend, and now Soont'as girlfriend. We were carrying nine young children from Ord Mantell, all under ten years old. Most of their parents were still alive, but they'd sent them away to protect them. Only two of the children had lost their parents—a six-year-old girl and her baby sister, not even a year. Reports had said that their mother, a non-Jedi, had betrayed her husband to Palpatine's genocide armies. In the crossfire that followed, their parents had killed each other. The older sister had carried the baby out the nursery window and disappeared, until we found them trembling in a neighbor's deserted garage.
"We're coming up on the sentries," Jana reported. As if I needed verification, the com surged to life.
"Unidentified shuttle state your business."
"This is ST-179, rewuesting landing clearance," I replied.
"179, what is your cargo?"
"Schoolkids coming off of vacation." The phrase was code, a password. Even if the sentry was a spy, he'd never know that his quarry was passing him by. Still, just as every time before, trepidation iced my stomach as my imagination got the better of me.
"Clearance granted, 179. Follow your present course."
Jana breathed as I switched off the comm and sat back. "Easy riding from here," I said.
Jana reached into a sealed console and produced our radio. It had a sirect connection to the bunker. She pressed a button and spoke. "Home one, this is Prodigal Daughter on our way in, cargo of nine, over."
Crackle. "Copy that, Daughter. We look forward to seeing you, over."
"Copy that. Out."
"Have you talked to Soonta?" I asked.
"Last week," she said. "He should still be here." Her blue eyes sparkled at the thought of seeing her lover, and I knew the same look was mirrored in my eyes.
It had been a months since I last saw Geith. I was itching to touch him, to kiss him again.
We touched down in the bunker and powered down. Jana keyed the hatch open as I went to the hold to get the kids. They were sitting quiely against the walls, and only looked up when I walked in. The two little orphan girls sat closest to the doors, the elder cradling the baby as she slept. The sight of all of them together, all the innocence lost because of our folly…none of it was their fault, and yet they suffered.
I shook myself. I couldn't let my emotions show. That would only frighten them more. "We're here," I said. "Everyone follow me."
Outside, Jana and Soonta were already busy greeting each other. I looked around expectantly, but Geith was no-where to be seen. My heart sank. Soonta walked over, arm in arm with Jana. He smiled his white teeth and hugged me. "It is a gift to see you well," he said.
"And you, as well," I replied. "Is Geith here?"
Soonta shook his head. "Sadly, no. He was called on a top secret mission. He left this morning." My face must have fallen significantly, because he added, "He did ask me to give you this, though. He handed me a tri-folded piece of flimsi. I looked at Geith's handwriting, spelling my name on the outside, then stuffed it in my back pocket.
"Uh, thanks," I said.
Even before they'd arrived, a place had been made for the children. Their beds wee set up and ready, and probisions had been made for their training. Soonta and Jana and I reported their arrival to the Master in charge, Nia Freu. After that, I retired to a pilot's cabin and pulled Geith's letter out of my pocket. His writing was small, square, in green ink:
My dearest Callista,
I am so sorry that I'm not there to greet you in person. I'm sure Soonta told you that Master Altis called me to join him on a very important mission, one so secret I can't tell even you. Where we'll be going there is no possibility of radio contact, so you won't hear from me for several weeks. Don't worry, though. I'll be back as soon as I can. I miss you terribly—sleeping alone reminds me of life before I met you. I'll see you soon.
All my love,
I quietly folded the letter back and sighed. "A few more weeks," I repeated. Weeks were so long. I laid down on my bunk and stretched my legs, exhausted. I would stay here a while, I thought. A few days. At least until those new kids were settled. It was safe here. The chaotic universe circled around this calm, peaceful eye.
The rhythm of the storm lulled me to sleep.
But before dreams had a chance to take hold, screeching alarms woke me. I sat bolt upright, instinctively reaching for the lightsaber at my hip.
ATTENTION: ENEMY SHIPS HAVE BEEN SEEN APPROACHING FROM THE SOUTH. ALL KNIGHTS REPORT TO CENTRAL FOR DEFENSE LAYOUT. CODE RED; REPEAT, CODE RED!
I swung my legs over the side and sprinted to the Control Center.
The hallways were bathed with blood red light. The children were sticking their heads curiously out the doors, their eyes wild and wide with fear.
"Get back in your rooms!" I yelled as I ran past them. Doors slammed shut in rapid succession. An explosion racked the hall, slamming me against the wall.
"Callista!" a voice called through the coiling smoke. It was Soonta. He grabbed my wrist and pulled me with him. "Master Freu needs us in the docking bay!"
As we ran, I shouted to him, "How did they find us?"
"I don't know!" he yelled. By the time we reached the bay, the battle had already begun. Clone soldiers advanced steadily, firing blasters on the Jedi defenders. In spite of the disconcerting Force signature of the clones, the defenders were holding their own.
Soonta narrowed his eyes and scanned the battles, then he pointed. "There," he said. "The defense is weakening."
We ran to the other end of the hangar, where the concentration of clones was overpowering the Jedi defenders—which included Soonta's fiancee. I sprang to the wing of the a fighter and leapt off of it, flipping once and landing in the midst of the soldiers. One swing of my lightsaber took out three of them. A roundhouse kick dispatched another. Jana, not yet a full Jedi, didn't have a lightsaber. She was an expert of hand-to-hand combat, though. Ilios had taught her, too. She was better, now, than Ilios ever was. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see her leaping high in the air and kicking, twirling, punching. Soonta was fully grounded, using his lightsaber like the master of the weapon that he was.
Still the clones pressed on. Around us, Jedi fell. There were too many of them, and ultimately, we were forced to retreat. Jana, Soonta and I ran towards the nurseries to help evacuate the children. Explosions rocked the tunnels. The walls quaked and crumbled with the impacts. Jana tripped and fell, but Soonta dragged her to her feet.
"Keep going!" I yelled, deflecting a shot over my shoulder.
Finally, we reached the nursery.
But we were ot the first.
A blaster bolt scorched past Jana's ear. She screamed and Soonta hauled her back. We barricaded ourselves behind a twisted slag of metal that used to be a blast door.
"We've got to get in there!" Soonta yelled. We huddled down farther. The blasts stopped.
"Jedi!" The clone yelled. "Jedi whore! Show yourself!"
Jana drew a shuddering breath. "They didn't see either of you, did they?"
Soonta knew what she was thinking right away. "Jana, no—"
Jana grasped my hand. "Keep him here. Hold him back."
I nodded, my stomach fluttering. Jana was sacrificing herself. "I will."
Jana nodded. "There are some children still alive in there. Feel them?"
"Yes," I said.
"Get them. I'll hold the soldiers off."
"Jana, Jana, please! Don't do—" Soonta reached for her.
Jana shushed him, put a finger on his lips. "It's all right. Don't worry.
"Jedi!"
Jana stood up, put her hands up. "Okay!" she said. I'm unarmed! I'm alone! I surrender!" She screamed as the soldier threw her to the ground.
Soonta winced. I put an arm around him. He squeezed my hands.
"Please…" Jana pleaded. "Don't—"
"The other bases!" he demanded. "Where are they?"
"I don't know! I don't know!" She was crying. I didn't think she was acting anymore. I could feel her manipulating the Force, knew she'd succeeded when I heard the soldier's cries of surprises that ended when he slammed heavily against the stone walls.
"Come on!" she yelled. "Go! Go!"
Soonta and I bolted for the nursery. Inside, it was just as Jana said. Most of the babies were dead, murdered in horrific ways that would haunt my dreams forever. But a few were still a live—including the baby orphan I'd just brought. "Let's get them out of here," I said, lifting the baby up. As we turned to escape we stopped short.
The soldier was on his feet, his blaster pointed at the three of us.
Then he fired.
His shot hit Jana in her chest and she crumbled to the floor, dropping the dead baby she was holding.
"NO!" Soonta screamed, stretching out his hand. The blaster flew from the soldier's hand and into Soonta's. He fired one killing shot into the soldier's face. Then he sank to the ground and crawled to Jana's body. Weeping, he picked her up and cradled her, rocking her back and forth.
Solemnly, I closed the nursery door and sealed it. Throughout the bunker, I felt clones and Jedi dying. I knew we had lost the battle.
by Ambassador Cara Jade
Part 9: The Call of Thunder
"Callie, are you okay?" Geith asked.
I groaned, tried my legs. They were bound together with engine tape. "Where's Evin?"
"Ah, awake are you?" Evin sauntered over and knelt in front of me, with his knees on either side of my legs. "The welcoming party has already been arranged. We'll be there tomorrow, and you'll be dead.
But I'd tuned him out by the time he'd said 'party.' My lightsaber, fortunately was still under my father's bed. I summoned the Force and lifted it off the floor. As Evin was talking, I carried it over and let it hover behid his back.
"—aren't you looking at me?!" Evin shouted. He saw me staring over his shoulder and turned around. I hastily activated it but he rolled away. Growling, I reached out with my bound hands and grabbed it, cutting my legs free and standing up. Evin fired his blaster at me. In the flow of the Force the bolts moved slowly enough for me to deflect them.
"Callista!" Geith yelled from the closet. His voice startled me and broke my concentration. Evin found the hole in my focus and fired.
"Ah!" I screamed when the bolt buried itself into my shoulder. The power of it knocked me back against the wall.
"Damn it, Evin!" Geith shouted. "You're dead! I'll kill you!"
"Doesn't your new religion discourage revenge?" Evin said blandly. He knelt in front of me and held me down. "Anyway, he wants Jedi like this alive."
I took a deep breath, smoothing the Force over my wound like a balm. "Who?"
Evin wagged his finger at me. "Ah, ah, ah. Can't spoil the surprise."
A slight movement behind him caught my eye. Papa. Papa had crept up behind Evin. He had a bottle in his hand.
Shattering glass, spraying liquid, and then Evin's unconscious head in my lap. After a moment, everything resumed movement. Papa lifted Evin off of me and too his place in front of me.
"Are you all right?" he asked as he reipped the engine tape from my wrists. He checked my shoulder. My burned flesh stunk in my nostrils as he touched it gingerly.
"I'm fine. Geith—"
"Behind you!" Claine cried, too late, and Papa grunted in pain. Evin laughed and stood up, ripping his dagger from Papa's back.
"No!" I cried and lurched to my feet. I tackled Evin and yanked the knife from his hand. Without even thinking, I plunged the blade through his throat. His eyes widened, his fingers slackened on my own throat. I held him firmly, almost gently, until he was still and dead.
"Papa…papa," I whispered, kneeling next to him and sliding my hands beneath his shoulders. They slipped on his blood-soaked tunic. "Oh," I breathed.
I grabbed Evin's knift again and used it to cut Geith and Claine free. "Get the medkit. Call a medic. Something!" I cried. Claine got up and staggered out of the room. "Hurry!" I called after him.
Papa's eyes were fading in and out of focus, dilating in and out. "Lissy…" he muttered.
"I'm here, Papa." I held his hand, reaching through the Force to stay his blood. I suddenly had an image of Momma in this same position twelve years ago. "It's okay. You're going to be okay."
"No," he muttered. Lissy, listen to me." He squeezed his eyes shut. "I was wrong. I never should have—ahhh!"
"Shhhh…don't talk. It's okay. I understand.
"I love you, Lissy. I always have. I didn't show it, but I did."
I sniffed, swallowed. "Stop it, Papa."
"He shook his head. "I'm proud of you, Lissy. My angel."
I felt a stirring in the Force, a ripple as two levels merged. I looked up and saw Josef standing a few feet away. He was looking at Papa.
"Josef's here," I said. "Look."
As Papa turned his head, his last breath escaped. I looked up again in time to see two figures fade out of sight.
When Momma died in my arms, I had thrown her to the floor in fear. But many people I'd known had died since then. I wasn't afraid. I cradled Papa's body close to me. "I'm sorry, Papa…I'm so sorry."
The room returned to my awareness. Claine stood in the doorway, the medkit useless in his hands. Geith knelt behind me, afraid to touch me. Finally, he took my arm. "Callie," he said gently.
"You need to get out of here," Claine said. "No doubt he's isn't working alone."
"Claine—" I started to protest.
"Don't argue, Callista. Just go!"
"They'll kill you!"
"I'll handle it. Don't worry about me. I'll contact you soon, okay? If you haven't heard form me in a month, I'm dead. Do you understand?"
I sighed resignedly. "Yes." I threw my arms around him, ignoring my wounded shoulder. "I'm sorry about all this, Claine." I said. "I didn't want this to happen."
"I know, I know," he said. He wiped my eyes. "Now go. We'll meet again."
"Evin? Evin! Come on, man. Pick up! Are you there?" a new voice crackled from Evin's comm. I walked over and stamped on it, crushing it under the heel of my boot. I turned back to Geith and Claine. "Help me carry Papa's body. Claine, you're coming with us."
We carried Papa's body to the shuttle. As we were lifting off, Geith pointed out the viewport. "Another ship." He squinted. "Damn. It's Evin's people."
"How do you know?" Claine asked.
Geith gunned the engines. "I sold him that ship."
Jeebie whined in my lap and buried his muzzle beneath his paws. I installed the weapons on that ship," I said.
Geith nodded. He accellerated the shiop up into the sky, keeping the lights out to hide us from the Jedi hunters.
But it wasn't enough.
"They've got a lock on us!" Geith snarled. He swung around and fired the turbolasers. At the same time, they fired on us, rocking the ship.
"What kind of guns did you put in that thing?"
Another shot hit our shields, sending Jeebie across the cabin with a yelp.
"Big ones," Geith replied. He negotiated a ninety-degree turn upwards out of the shuttle, firing the back lasers. "But one more shot should—"
He scored a shot to the cockpit, and our pursuer exploded.
"Yes!" Geith pounded the console. "Looks like we're clear," he said.
I nodded. "Claine, we're going to take you to Coruscant. You'll be sage there."
"And…why, exatcly, are we doing this? Who's the guy you killed?"
I took a deep breath. "Someone has hired bounty hunters to kill Jedi. That man—"
"—a former friend of mine—" Geith added.
"—is one of those bounty hunters. He's been tracking us for almost two months now. He killed Josef, too. If word gets out—and believe me, it will—more bounty hunters will be looking for us, and you, too. There are enough people on Coruscant for you to disappear."
"Take an alias, though, just to be careful," Geith added.
I stroked Jeebie's fur silently, thinking about Papa. He was dead; I was an orphan.
You were an orphan a long time ago…
Oh, don't be brainless. Of course you weren't.
Abruptly, I stood and walked out of the cockpit, leaving Jeebie on my chair. I felt Geith and Claine's eyes on me, but I didn't really care. I walked to the cabin, where we'd laid Papa's bosy.
He lay on the bed, shrouded in a sheet, the blanket stirring around him like breaking waves. I sat beside him carefully, as if he was sleeping and I didn't want to wake him. I knew I couldn't.
I unwrapped the shroud from around his head and looked at his face. Every scar, every wrinkle, every line was clear on his white face. I traced my fingers over each one. Physical contact between us brought new tears to my eyes.
"Callie."
I turned around, wiping my eyes. Geith stood in the doorway, his hand on the jamb. He came in and sat behind me. "I'm sorry," he said, wrapping me up in a comforting embrace.
"I didn't want this to happen," I said. "He didn't—he didn't have to…"
"Shhhh…" Geith turned me around, pulling me onto his lap and hugging me fiercely. "What's done is done. You resolved everything with him. He knows you love him."
I pulled away and looked at Papa. Tucking stray hairs behind my ear, I leaned down and kissed his cheek. "Good-bye, Papa."
Geith squeezed my hand. "Let's get him to the airlock."
Ten minutes later, I stood with Geith and Claine, looking out the viewport as vaccuum carried my father's body away forever. Claine turned away and turned on the holonet. Chancellor Palpatine was speaking.
"These Jedi Knights are very powerful, very influential…and very dangerous."
"Geith! Callista!" Claine called us over.
"People of the Republic, I assure you that you are in no danger. I have specially trained operatives in all corners of the galaxy, searching for these menaces. However, they cannot do it alone. They need your help. If you have any information regarding any Jedi Knight, Jedi Master, even someone who makes an arbitrary prediction that comes true, let us know." Palpatine dipped his head. "These fanatics are a menace, and must be exterminated—"
Claine turned it off. Silence.
"Chancellor Palpatine," Geith said.
I nodded, remembering one single word spoken two months earlier. I spoke it out loud, confirming it. "Chan."
Palpatine had thrown the galaxy into chaos. As his clone armies marched over his realm during the Clone Wars, more still hunted the Jedi like animals. Everyone they found was savagely, brutally murdered. The murders that had been going on for over two years, beginning with Kasidy and Zara, exploded exponentially now that they didn't have to be done covertly. Every week, we heard news of new deaths, every week our numbers grew fewer. Because we had our cloaking devices and could not be found, we took on thousands of refugees. A few months after Palpatine's address, the Masters of the Chu'unthor called for volunteers to help smuggle refugees to our ship. Geith, Soonta and I were among the first to volunteer. We travelled the galaxy, searching for survivors. I was shocked at the number of children we found: toddlers crying for their parents who would never hold them again, babies who, by their gifts knew something was wrong but didn't exactly know what.
After six months the Chu'unthor was full, and it was clear that we couldn't keep everyone in the stars. We started a project to hide the Jedi in pockets throughout the galaxy. There were some planets that still sympathized with the Jedi: Corellia, Alderaan, Chandrila, and a handful of others. After clandestine negotiatons with the leaders of each planet, hidden bunkers were erected in the wild, unexplored forests, under seas.
I had left home to live the exciting and adventurous life that that life would become what it had, or that I wouldn't be afraid to continue living this way.
The project consumed my time. Geith and I saw little of each other. We were separated for weeks at a time, but no matter what he was doing, Geith always found time to call me every night.
Now Geith was staying at the Corellian bunker. Papa had been dead for a year and a half, and I'd been running refugees for about two-thirds that. I was flying with Jana Coquet, an old friend, and now Soont'as girlfriend. We were carrying nine young children from Ord Mantell, all under ten years old. Most of their parents were still alive, but they'd sent them away to protect them. Only two of the children had lost their parents—a six-year-old girl and her baby sister, not even a year. Reports had said that their mother, a non-Jedi, had betrayed her husband to Palpatine's genocide armies. In the crossfire that followed, their parents had killed each other. The older sister had carried the baby out the nursery window and disappeared, until we found them trembling in a neighbor's deserted garage.
"We're coming up on the sentries," Jana reported. As if I needed verification, the com surged to life.
"Unidentified shuttle state your business."
"This is ST-179, rewuesting landing clearance," I replied.
"179, what is your cargo?"
"Schoolkids coming off of vacation." The phrase was code, a password. Even if the sentry was a spy, he'd never know that his quarry was passing him by. Still, just as every time before, trepidation iced my stomach as my imagination got the better of me.
"Clearance granted, 179. Follow your present course."
Jana breathed as I switched off the comm and sat back. "Easy riding from here," I said.
Jana reached into a sealed console and produced our radio. It had a sirect connection to the bunker. She pressed a button and spoke. "Home one, this is Prodigal Daughter on our way in, cargo of nine, over."
Crackle. "Copy that, Daughter. We look forward to seeing you, over."
"Copy that. Out."
"Have you talked to Soonta?" I asked.
"Last week," she said. "He should still be here." Her blue eyes sparkled at the thought of seeing her lover, and I knew the same look was mirrored in my eyes.
It had been a months since I last saw Geith. I was itching to touch him, to kiss him again.
We touched down in the bunker and powered down. Jana keyed the hatch open as I went to the hold to get the kids. They were sitting quiely against the walls, and only looked up when I walked in. The two little orphan girls sat closest to the doors, the elder cradling the baby as she slept. The sight of all of them together, all the innocence lost because of our folly…none of it was their fault, and yet they suffered.
I shook myself. I couldn't let my emotions show. That would only frighten them more. "We're here," I said. "Everyone follow me."
Outside, Jana and Soonta were already busy greeting each other. I looked around expectantly, but Geith was no-where to be seen. My heart sank. Soonta walked over, arm in arm with Jana. He smiled his white teeth and hugged me. "It is a gift to see you well," he said.
"And you, as well," I replied. "Is Geith here?"
Soonta shook his head. "Sadly, no. He was called on a top secret mission. He left this morning." My face must have fallen significantly, because he added, "He did ask me to give you this, though. He handed me a tri-folded piece of flimsi. I looked at Geith's handwriting, spelling my name on the outside, then stuffed it in my back pocket.
"Uh, thanks," I said.
Even before they'd arrived, a place had been made for the children. Their beds wee set up and ready, and probisions had been made for their training. Soonta and Jana and I reported their arrival to the Master in charge, Nia Freu. After that, I retired to a pilot's cabin and pulled Geith's letter out of my pocket. His writing was small, square, in green ink:
My dearest Callista,
I am so sorry that I'm not there to greet you in person. I'm sure Soonta told you that Master Altis called me to join him on a very important mission, one so secret I can't tell even you. Where we'll be going there is no possibility of radio contact, so you won't hear from me for several weeks. Don't worry, though. I'll be back as soon as I can. I miss you terribly—sleeping alone reminds me of life before I met you. I'll see you soon.
All my love,
I quietly folded the letter back and sighed. "A few more weeks," I repeated. Weeks were so long. I laid down on my bunk and stretched my legs, exhausted. I would stay here a while, I thought. A few days. At least until those new kids were settled. It was safe here. The chaotic universe circled around this calm, peaceful eye.
The rhythm of the storm lulled me to sleep.
But before dreams had a chance to take hold, screeching alarms woke me. I sat bolt upright, instinctively reaching for the lightsaber at my hip.
ATTENTION: ENEMY SHIPS HAVE BEEN SEEN APPROACHING FROM THE SOUTH. ALL KNIGHTS REPORT TO CENTRAL FOR DEFENSE LAYOUT. CODE RED; REPEAT, CODE RED!
I swung my legs over the side and sprinted to the Control Center.
The hallways were bathed with blood red light. The children were sticking their heads curiously out the doors, their eyes wild and wide with fear.
"Get back in your rooms!" I yelled as I ran past them. Doors slammed shut in rapid succession. An explosion racked the hall, slamming me against the wall.
"Callista!" a voice called through the coiling smoke. It was Soonta. He grabbed my wrist and pulled me with him. "Master Freu needs us in the docking bay!"
As we ran, I shouted to him, "How did they find us?"
"I don't know!" he yelled. By the time we reached the bay, the battle had already begun. Clone soldiers advanced steadily, firing blasters on the Jedi defenders. In spite of the disconcerting Force signature of the clones, the defenders were holding their own.
Soonta narrowed his eyes and scanned the battles, then he pointed. "There," he said. "The defense is weakening."
We ran to the other end of the hangar, where the concentration of clones was overpowering the Jedi defenders—which included Soonta's fiancee. I sprang to the wing of the a fighter and leapt off of it, flipping once and landing in the midst of the soldiers. One swing of my lightsaber took out three of them. A roundhouse kick dispatched another. Jana, not yet a full Jedi, didn't have a lightsaber. She was an expert of hand-to-hand combat, though. Ilios had taught her, too. She was better, now, than Ilios ever was. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see her leaping high in the air and kicking, twirling, punching. Soonta was fully grounded, using his lightsaber like the master of the weapon that he was.
Still the clones pressed on. Around us, Jedi fell. There were too many of them, and ultimately, we were forced to retreat. Jana, Soonta and I ran towards the nurseries to help evacuate the children. Explosions rocked the tunnels. The walls quaked and crumbled with the impacts. Jana tripped and fell, but Soonta dragged her to her feet.
"Keep going!" I yelled, deflecting a shot over my shoulder.
Finally, we reached the nursery.
But we were ot the first.
A blaster bolt scorched past Jana's ear. She screamed and Soonta hauled her back. We barricaded ourselves behind a twisted slag of metal that used to be a blast door.
"We've got to get in there!" Soonta yelled. We huddled down farther. The blasts stopped.
"Jedi!" The clone yelled. "Jedi whore! Show yourself!"
Jana drew a shuddering breath. "They didn't see either of you, did they?"
Soonta knew what she was thinking right away. "Jana, no—"
Jana grasped my hand. "Keep him here. Hold him back."
I nodded, my stomach fluttering. Jana was sacrificing herself. "I will."
Jana nodded. "There are some children still alive in there. Feel them?"
"Yes," I said.
"Get them. I'll hold the soldiers off."
"Jana, Jana, please! Don't do—" Soonta reached for her.
Jana shushed him, put a finger on his lips. "It's all right. Don't worry.
"Jedi!"
Jana stood up, put her hands up. "Okay!" she said. I'm unarmed! I'm alone! I surrender!" She screamed as the soldier threw her to the ground.
Soonta winced. I put an arm around him. He squeezed my hands.
"Please…" Jana pleaded. "Don't—"
"The other bases!" he demanded. "Where are they?"
"I don't know! I don't know!" She was crying. I didn't think she was acting anymore. I could feel her manipulating the Force, knew she'd succeeded when I heard the soldier's cries of surprises that ended when he slammed heavily against the stone walls.
"Come on!" she yelled. "Go! Go!"
Soonta and I bolted for the nursery. Inside, it was just as Jana said. Most of the babies were dead, murdered in horrific ways that would haunt my dreams forever. But a few were still a live—including the baby orphan I'd just brought. "Let's get them out of here," I said, lifting the baby up. As we turned to escape we stopped short.
The soldier was on his feet, his blaster pointed at the three of us.
Then he fired.
His shot hit Jana in her chest and she crumbled to the floor, dropping the dead baby she was holding.
"NO!" Soonta screamed, stretching out his hand. The blaster flew from the soldier's hand and into Soonta's. He fired one killing shot into the soldier's face. Then he sank to the ground and crawled to Jana's body. Weeping, he picked her up and cradled her, rocking her back and forth.
Solemnly, I closed the nursery door and sealed it. Throughout the bunker, I felt clones and Jedi dying. I knew we had lost the battle.