I jerked awake and lay gasping for several minutes. I was at home, on the Chu'unthor, in bed. By some miracle, my sudden jerk hadn't woken Geith, asleep beside me. After a moment, I sighed. It had been a dream, all of it. There was no Eye of Palpatine, no Jedi purge.
Suddenly, I heard a baby's cry from the next room.
Kara was alive.
Biting my lip, I held back my tears and slipped out of bed. I walked slowly, every one of my breaths coming as a shallow gasp. It's going to be a dream, I thought. I'll go in there and she'll disappear...
Brimming with trepidation, I stepped into the parlor. The bassinet was there, against the opposite wall. Kara was still there, crying.
Just before I could see into the bassinet, I stopped and closed my eyes. A few tears trickled down my cheeks. Please...By the Force, let her be there...I summoned my courage, and reached for the edge of the bassinet and peered in.
Kara's sobs quieted as she saw my face. I covered my mouth and quickly picked her up. "It's okay," I whispered, so unspeakably happy I could barely form the words. I sat down and began racking her back and forth. "What's wrong, little one?" I muttered. "Did you have a bad dream?"
"Yes."
I froze, and lowered Kara off my shoulder. I stared at her tiny baby's face, her gray eyes, smoldering with knowledge. She glared at me, hateful. I swallowed, and stammered. "W-what did you dream, love?"
Kara crawled off my lap and stood in the center of the room. As she spoke, she began to change, grow. "I dreamed that my Mama and Daddy abandoned me when they realized I wasn't what they wanted. They left me to die in a dark alley, food for the vermin."
She slowly grew taller and her hair longer. He body slimmed and curved, her breasts filled out. But her hateful stare never left my eyes, never changed. "Then I dreamed that someone found me and raised me. An old, dark man, and dark women. They gave me power, and made me strong."
She held out a hand and used that power to lift me to my feet and bring me to stand before her "And when I found my mommy to show her, she was angry and she killed me."
She and I stood face to face, she now fully grown. She was beautiful. Dark, lustrous hair ran down her back, and she was wrapped in black silk. She took one step close, pressing her face close to mine. "You'd never do that, would you, Mommy?"
I bit my lip. "Kara..."
Furiously, she shrieked and rose off the ground and raised a dagger over my head. I screamed.
"Kara!"
Then I sat up with a scream. Geith grabbed me and held me tight against his chest. "Shhh...shhh...it's okay, baby. It's okay."
I was trembling violently, terrified. I couldn't move. I was frozen with shock and fear. I took three deep breaths, and relaxed.
"Oh, Geith..." I whispered.
"What happened, love?" he whispered into my hair.
"A nightmare, I answered, exhaling again. "Kara-fully grown and turned to the dark side. It was so real, Geith---"
"This place I getting to you," Geith said, and I looked around. The Eye of Palpatine. We were still there. We'd moved from the quartermaster's office to some other nondescript room. All our supplies were gone-neither of us had eaten since before we'd left and we were exhausted. Geith had suggested we sleep in shifts.
"How long was I asleep?"
"Not long," he replied. "Maybe fifteen minutes."
I sat up and ran my hands over my face. "We won't accomplish anything this way."
Geith nodded. "I think it's time we go for help."
I shook my head. "We don't have time," I said. "We have to do it. Geith, I can help you levitate up the shaft, and make that enclision grid misfire. And anyway, how are we supposed to get out of here-and back in again, with the defense system outside?"
"I can get us past that, Callie. I got us in, right?"
I didn't reply.
"Trust me, Callie. We can do it. This thing won't go before we get back."
If this thing does beat us, I thought, we'll all die...
"Come on, Callie. This place is a nightmare. We have to get out of here."
I sighed, and nodded. I was sick of this place already. "Okay."
We found our way back to the docking bays. Our battered Y-wing was still there, surrounded by landers and Blastboats, just as we had left it.
Geith checked the Y-wing over, and shook his head. This thing's not gonna fly," he said. He looked at the nearest Blastboat. "We can use this."
As he checked over the Skipray, I hung back, my arms wrapped around myself. I knew I wasn't going to leave. I knew it. We would never have enough time. "Geith," I whispered, but he didn't hear me.
"Why they chose Skipray Blastboats, I don't know. They're so cumbersome," he fumbled with the keypad for a moment, and the hatch hissed open. "And they're easier than hell to break into."
"Geith," I said again, and this time he turned around.
"Yeah?"
I licked my lips and shook my head. "We can't do this."
His face fell. "What? Callista, we can do it." He hooked his fingers through his belt and walked closer to me. "The station lays its defensive fire in a double ellipse pattern, that's all. We got in, didn't we?"
I shook my head. "The Force was with us or we'd never have made it."
His lips twisted in a wry smile. "I'd like to think I had something to do with that."
Did he really think I was trying to insult his abilities? He could fly; I knew no one better at it. He knew that. "You did. Of course you did, Geith. The Force-"
"I know," he said with a wave of his hand. "The point is, there's other ways of doing this than getting ourselves killed."
I bit my lip. I didn't want him to be angry. That hadn't solved our last argument. I started to tell him that, but that would only make him more angry. I knew he didn't want to be the one to go up the shaft. Really, the idea of being at the mercy of an enclision grid with only a girl that was 10 meters down protecting him wouldn't be appealing to anyone.
"Geith, if there was any way for me to go up that shaft, you know I-"
His eyes flared with anger. That didn't work either. "And I'm telling you neither of us has to do it, Callie. It's not going to take us that long to get clear of the Nebula's interference and back to where we can signal for help. Help in dealing with this hunk of junk-" he waved his arm around the hangar. "-and at least let Plett know what's coming at him. As it is, if we try to be heroes and fail, they won't know zip until they catch a lapful of smoking plasma."
I sighed. "They won't know if we make a run for it get nailed, either."
"It's a double ellipse with one randomized turn. I've got it scoped, Callie. It'll be tougher in that tub than in the Y-wing, but it can be done."
I started to protest, but he put his hand on my shoulder and one finger on my lips. "You don't have to be such a hero, baby. There's always ways of doing things without getting killed."
Don't you see? If you go, you'll be killed anyway...That's the last thing I want.
"Geith," I said instead. "Sometimes there's not."
With a sigh of frustration, he threw up his hands. "Now you're starting to sound like old Djinn!"
I closed my eyes. "That doesn't make what I'm saying less true."
"The old boy's too damn ready to tell other people how they should die for a guy who hasn't been off that festering gasball of his for a hundred years! Callie, I've been around. I know what I'm talking about."
"And I know that we have no idea how long we've got until this thing goes into hyperspace. None. If we destroy it, it's gone. Dead. If we leave it, run for it-"
"There's nothing wrong with jumping clear and getting help!"
"Except that it'll lose us our one sure chance."
"It'll lose us our chance of getting the hell blown up along with this thing, you mean!"
"Yes," I said, frustrated. "That's what I mean. Will you help me or not?"
He put his hands on his hips and looked down at me with a hint of a smile. "You stubborn fish rider," he said. His smile faded, and he averted his eyes for just a moment. "This won't bring her back, you know."
I nodded, and swallowed. "Don't leave me, Geith. I can't do it alone."
Something changed, ever so subtly, in his eyes.
"You promised," I added, quietly. Trying desperately to control my tears of fear.
Geith sighed. "I know. I promise I'll be back."
My heart sank. He was going to leave me again. Slowly, I bowed my head and nodded.
"Hey," he said, touching my chin. He kissed me gently. "I'll be back." I put my hands on his cheeks and kissed him back.
"Please-" I said, and he broke away and walked over to the Blastboat. Before disappearing inside, he waved at me one more time. I didn't wave back, but just watched him lift off and head back out to the asteroid field.
The shots began, firing in the double ellipse pattern, just like he'd said. The Blastboat bucked and pitched in every direction, avoiding every shot. I held my breath, praying that the random shot wouldn't catch him...
He dodged it. He was out.
I breathed a sigh of relief. A laugh may have escaped on it.
Then, out of nowhere, a second shot destroyed his stabilizer. The Blastboat wheeled out of control, smashing headlong into an asteroid. The debris dragged the ship around until, to my horror, the Blastboat exploded.
I turned away, squeezing my eyes shut and clenching my teeth. It was over. Geith was gone. Very slowly, the tears came.
I was on my own now.


"Don't do this to me, Geith...don't do this."
I sat with my back against the wall, alone with the darkness. The central computer gaped above me like a mocking threat, laughing at me, daring me to take it on.
I was still reeling. Geith, the love of my life, had deserted me, and died in his flight. Never before had I felt so alone. I'd lost everyone, every person that I'd ever loved, or had ever loved me. I was going to die here; if I was lucky, I would fulfill our mission first.
The mission had to be completed.
Shakily, I stood up and crossed to one of the many terminals in the room and brought up the security recordings. At least the Will will let me do that, I thought bitterly.
VISUAL REPLAY
The entire scene played out again before my eyes, the explosion so bright that it lit up my face.
That was it.
I closed my eyes, and cried.
The mission had to be completed.
I looked up the shaft. Even though I was alone, the Eye of Palpatine had to be destroyed. I was the one who had to destroy it.
I took a deep breath and held on to it.















































Epilogue

I can't breathe. It feels like someone is pressing against my lungs, suffocating me. I think I've stopped falling, but my head is reeling and I can't be sure. The back of my skull is flaring with sharp, intense pain. Something is spreading in a puddle around me, soaking my skin and hair.
Why hasn't the ship blown up yet? By the Force, don't say it didn't work...
Then, all around me, lights go dark and I can hear systems shutting down.
No...I try to say, but I lack the strength to more than whisper. No...
With the Eye of Palpatine simply disabled, anyone can come and resurrect it. The mission will continue, and the Jedi will die.
I will not let that happen.
The guns...
The guns remain intact.
If I stay...
The pain is gone. I don't feel anything anymore. As I leave my body, I stand up, and I feel my strength returning, more powerful than ever before.
I'm sorry, Mama. Once, when I was little, I promised you that when my time came, I would join you, your life seeping through my little-girl fingers and there was nothing I could do to stop it. I hope you can understand why I can't keep that promise. I am a Jedi, and I must fulfill my duty.
I must stay here; I cannot cross over. As long as I am here, no one will use this ship for evil. Perhaps another Knight will find it, one day, if they survive, and finish what I have started.
But until that day I will wait, the guardian of a forgotten battlefield.
Perhaps I will be forgotten, too.
Life so many before more, I pledge my support to the light side of the Force.
Long live the Jedi.