Four
years later...
"Ensign Lou, power down
the engines and raise our deflector shields," Captain Kane
Lindsey ordered the newest member of his crew.
The blue-skinned female's
hands flew across the control panels in front of her much faster than
any of Lindsey's more experienced crewmen. "It's done, Captain,"
she informed him, turning soft, orange eyes on him.
"Are you sure you're an
ensign, Lou?" Kane always ribbed her about her rank.
"Until the Academy
decides that I've had enough experience, Sir," Lou gave her
Captain the same answer she always had.
"Well, when I rule the
galaxy, I'll make you a commander on my private frigate."
This was a new one. "Frigate,
Sir?"
"I have great plans for
an Alliance frigate," Lindsey grinned at her. "I'll have to
show you my blueprints sometime."
"Not while I'm serving
under you, Lindsey." Lou went back to monitoring her station.
Lindsey
smiled at the back of her head. Lou had only been serving on his
ship, the Angel, for a little
over a month. He had liked her immediately upon meeting her, not just
because of her strong work ethic as demonstrated in her marks in the
Alliance's Officer Training Academy, but because of her warm smile
and friendly manner. Most of the young ensigns Lindsey had
encountered over his four years as captain of the Angel
had been stuck-up due to their heightened sense of importance. Lou
was different, though. She accepted that she was now an official
working officer onboard a starship, but it did not go to her head.
"Captain Lindsey!"
Lieutenant-Commander Mortimer Park exclaimed suddenly from his
communications station. "Our presence is requested immediately,"
he paused waiting for the rest of the transmission. Everyone on the
bridge waited for Park to continue, tension in the air. "In the
Nairn system." He looked up. "That's all it says."
"Park, send Lou the
coordinates. Lou, set course, and get us into Hyperspace."
Lindsey stepped down from his Captain's Platform, and strode over to
Park's station. "Does the transmission say why?"
"No, Sir." Park
shook his head. "Seems like an emergency, though."
"Jenkens, get the next
shift up here before we reach Nairn."
"Yes, Sir." Jenkens
began typing in a wake up call for the next bridge shift.
"Captain," Lou rose
from her station, and turned to face Lindsey as he returned to his
Platform.
"What is it, Ensign?"
"I would like to stay on
for the next shift. You may need me up here."
Lindsey looked at her for a
long time. Breckin, her relief, was a good officer, but did not
possess her skills. At last he nodded, saying, "If you think you
can make it through the next shift, I'd be happy to have you on the
bridge."
Lou smiled, then reclaimed her
seat.
"Lucky duck,"
Jenkens grumbled in Lou's ear.
"Have you been to the
Nairn system before?" she asked him, orange eyes shining.
"Only one, to Nairn
Prime. It was beautiful. That's where I picked up Stoof."
Jenkens grinned at the mention of the strange furry creature he kept
as a pet. "Maybe you should pick one up, too. It could ward off
evil-doers, people you don't want to talk to, and," he chuckled,
"Captain Lindsey."
Lou
laughed. That was an ongoing joke among the crewmen that shared her
shift. "There is nothing
between me and the good Captain."
"Oh, yeah? How good?"
"Drop it, Jenkens. Drop
it, now," she shook her head, still smiling. Lou liked Lindsey,
but she didn't want a relationship other than friendship with her
Captain.
"Who were you thinking
about just now?" Jenkens broke into her thoughts.
"No one," Lou
answered, staring out the forward window that took up the entire
wall. The stars were moving past in streaks.
"Of course not," he
said quietly with an undertone that made Lou's eyebrows go up.
She
did not say anything. Instead, she waited for the green light to come
on, signaling when she should return the Angel
to normal space. The light came on, and Lou pressed the button below
it. The stars gradually returned to their familiar dot-shape from the
stream lines of Hyperspace.
"Incoming transmission,"
Park stated. "It's from Admiral Zucre." He stopped to read
over the message, then started laughing uncontrollably.
"Share the cause of your
laughter with the rest of us, Park," Lindsey told him. "And
then, Jenkens, you can get the next shift up here."
"They're already on their
way," Jenkens replied.
Park tried to calm himself
down enough to read the message aloud. "Surprise," he
managed, then keeled over laughing again.
"He's in on it,"
Jenkens whispered to Lou.
"I thought we all were,"
Lou whispered back.
"He wasn't supposed to
know."
"Well, then I guess he
found out from someone." Jenkens gave her a quizzical look. "It
sure as hell wasn't me," her voice was harsh.
"Okay, okay. You don't
have to bite my ear off." Then Jenkens grinned at her. "I
guess you need a 'Stoof' to keep Park away."
"I don't know who started
that rumour, but when I find out, I'll kill them," Lou shook her
head.
"What, you mean it's not
true?"
"Of course it's not true!
He's an utter fruitcake."
Jenkens' grin widened, a
twinkle in his eyes, but he did not give his thought a voice.
Lou mumbled to herself, trying
to ignore Jenkens.
"Alpha shift, you're all
free," Lindsey informed his crew as the second shift arrived on
the bridge. "Except Lou. You are permitted to remain."
"Then what do I do?"
Breckin whined.
"I'll figure something
out for you to do," the Captain shrugged.
Breckin shot Lou a look that
could only be read as a threat on her life, but she ignored him.
Breckin always seemed to wish death upon someone, he was that kind of
person.
"Whiny jerk," Lou
muttered, as Raine Taggart sat down in Jenkens' place.
"You've got him pegged,"
Taggart chuckled.
"Everyone seems to,"
Lou shrugged.
"I'm surprised he's even
still onboard, Kane can't stand the guy. I don't think anyone can."
Taggart watched as Breckin talked to their captain. "Kane looks
pretty pissed," he observed.
"You know, you're the
only officer onboard who calls the Captain by his first name."
"We went through the
academy together."
"Oh really?"
Taggart nodded as he logged
onto the Alliance's Communication Center. "Oh no," he
breathed.
Lou turned intent orange eyes
on him. "What is it?"
His eyes were glassy as he
typed in a name into the officer's search engine. Lou watched
quietly, allowing him the liberty to find out what he needed to know.
Taggart swore under his breath, unhappy with his finding. He re-typed
the same name, and this time Lou read it: Helena Taggart.
She furrowed her eyebrows as
he repeated the search a third time. "Raine-"
"No." Taggart's
voice gradually increased in volume. "No, no, no!" He got
up suddenly, knocking the chair that he had been sitting on
backwards. He punched the monitor, cracking it.
Lou stood up, and backed away
from her enraged crewmate. "Raine," she tried again.
"God
damn you, Kane! Why
didn't you tell me?" Taggart whirled around, and strode towards
the Captain with wild eyes.
"Tell you what, Raine?"
"About the attack on
Léonna VI. About the complete obliteration of the Alliance
base there." He had tears streaming down his cheeks. "About
Helena," his voice broke, and he collapsed to his knees on the
floor.
Lindsey's eyes were wide as he
watched his friend take out his grief on the floor. He logged onto
the A.C.C. himself to check the validity behind Taggart's words,
mentally crossing his fingers that he was wrong.
Lou was using Taggart's
station to read about the attack on the small planet the Alliance had
had a secret base set up on. It was now believed that there had been
a spy, and that this spy may not have even been at the base. All of
the ninety-four occupants had been killed, and the base was now being
used by Darth Sidious' growing Empire.
A hand on her shoulder made
her jump, but as she looked over her shoulder, she saw that it was
Taggart, his eyes bloodshot. He tried to force a reassuring smile at
her, but it faltered immediately.
Lou wrapped her arms around
his neck. She had experienced enough loss in her life to know exactly
how he felt. "It'll be okay," she told him, although she
supposed that at this point in time her statement must sound corny.
"Thank you," he
whispered, disengaging himself.
Lou waited for Taggart to sit
in front of his computer before doing the same.
"Captain Lindsey,
incoming transmission from Admiral Zucre," Park's replacement,
Clarissa Nordat, announced.
"I'll take it in my
office," Lindsey growled. "I have some words for him that
will probably cause me to lose my rank." He stormed off to his
office that was attached to the bridge.
"This is an informal
communiqué between the two of us, Captain Lindsey,"
Admiral Zucre began pleasantly.
"I'm
glad to hear that, Gerald,"
Lindsey was fuming. "That means that I can say anything I want
to, and you have to listen without stripping me of my captaincy."
Zucre furrowed his eyebrows.
"What seems to be the issue?"
"The
issue is that one of
my officers-and
friends-just found out
fifteen minutes ago that his wife
was killed almost a week ago!" Lindsey roared. "How could
the Hierarchy allow such a-" Lindsey started pacing, trying to
think of a word. "Mistake?"
"I'm sure they had no
idea that-"
"They should have made
sure that everyone related to those poor souls knew the minute those
bungling-"
"Careful, Captain. That's
the Hierarchy you're about to slur," Zucre interrupted.
"The point is that Raine
shouldn't have found out about his wife's death from an emotionless
computer."
"You'd rather have told
him yourself?"
Lindsey stopped pacing, and
looked up at the admiral. "It should have been you."
Zucre averted his eyes. "I'll
do what I can to make sure it doesn't happen again."
Lindsey sighed, finally
allowing himself to calm down. His hand kept shaking, but it always
did that when he was upset.
"Now, for the real reason
I wanted to talk to you," Zucre began smiling again. "Today
is your birthday."
A slight smile parted the
Captain's lips. "Yeah, I know." He met the Admiral's gaze.
"It's not very happy so far, though."
"No, I suppose it's not,"
Zucre conceded. "But you should make the best of it anyway."
"Right," he nodded.
"Any advice?"
"Are we still going to do
this?" Jenkens asked Lou from the Dining Hall over the small
intercomm on her station.
"Yes. We have to lift the
mood everyone is now in."
"Well, it's
understandable, Lou. Everyone onboard pretty much knew someone who
was on Léonna VI. And I doubt they want to party hearty."
Taggart shot Lou a quizzical
look. "I'm going to tell Raine, and see what he thinks,"
she was looking at Taggart as she spoke.
"Yeah, okay."
Lou left the intercomm on as
she explained about the surprise party Alpha shift had planned for
their Captain's birthday.
Taggart laughed, though Lou
was sure that he had not meant to. "He's gonna have a bird."
"Do you think we should
still have the party?" Jenkens asked him.
"Absolutely. I agree with
what Lou said earlier, about needing to lift the depressing mood
everyone is in," Taggart replied. "Besides, they'd want us
to carry on." His eyes fell on the picture of Helena sitting on
the desk. 'They' being the people from Léonna VI.
Lou squeezed his hand.
"Alright, Jenkens?"
"Yeah. I wish you hadn't
volunteered to stay on up there. We could use your help down here
decorating." Jenkens paused, then muttered, "Park's going
crazy with the streamers."
Lou laughed. "TTFN."
She switched off the intercomm.
"I'll make them pay,"
Taggart's voice was almost inaudible, and Lou decided to pretend that
she hadn't heard him.
"Carry on, people,"
Lindsey announced his return to the bridge.
Lou smiled to herself, then
set the alarm on her watch.
* * *
"Captain!" Lou
exclaimed suddenly, startling everyone on the bridge. "I've lost
sensor readings in the dining hall. There's-" she pretended to
tap a bunch of buttons, as Taggart tried to conceal his smirk.
"There's a hull breach." The alarms began to sound as she
finished her sentence.
"Caused by what?"
Lindsey demanded, striding over to her station.
"I
don't know," she intercepted him, grabbing his sleeve. "But
we have to check it
out."
"I'll come, too,"
Taggart decided. He was not necessarily supposed to do that, but Lou
was not going to stop him.
"Breckin, take over for
them," Lindsey ordered, as the three of them headed to the
dining hall. "The dining hall," he shook his head. "Why
the dining hall? We never use the dining hall."
"Maybe it's protesting
that fact that it's never used," Taggart shrugged.
"Look, Raine, I'm really
sorry. I wish I had known sooner."
"There was nothing anyone
could have done. We thought it was a secret base, and no one worried
about its well-being."
"That doesn't make it
okay. In fact, that makes it worse."
"Let's just drop it. I
don't want to talk about it."
Lindsey nodded, and Taggart
took the lead. He waited for us to catch up outside the double doors.
Lindsey drew his blaster, and allowed Lou to open the doors.
They entered the pitch black
room, the light from the hallway barely illuminating the first eighth
of it.
"It sure doesn't seem
like there's much of a hull breach," Taggart said, a little more
loudly than Lindsey thought he needed to.
"No, no it doesn't,"
Lou remarked.
As Lindsey holstered his
blaster, the lights in the Hall came on, and there was a loud chorus
of "Surprise!"
Lindsey's eyebrows went up,
and his lips curled into a grin. "Aww, you shouldn't have!"
he exclaimed sarcastically.
"We know," Jenkens
faked irritation as he spoke into his mic.
"Are you M.C. tonight,
Jenkens?" Lindsey chuckled.
"Who else would volunteer
for the job?" he grinned back.
"You volunteered?"
Lindsey continued his charade of being shocked and amazed, but
really, he knew how his crew felt about him.
"It was him or me,
Cap'n," Park threw his arm around Lindsey's shoulders.
Everyone within earshot
laughed. Everyone but Park, that it. He just looked confused.
* * *
The
party had gone on for three hours already, and by now the ship was
being piloted by a skeleton crew. They were in safe space, awaiting a
mission, but as long as there was none forthcoming, the crew of the
Angel was content to
dance, eat, and just relax.
Lou finally gave in to
Lindsey's constant requests for a dance, and he led her out onto the
floor.
Lance Breckin watched the
surprise birthday party on the video screen from the bridge. He was
bitter that he had not been invited, but did not want to be down
there, anyway. Having a good time was not Breckin's idea of
projecting a strong image.
"Hey, Breckman,"
Corrina Simpson broke into his thoughts.
"Breckin,"
he corrected her, though he did not really care. No one on the Angel
liked him, why should they get his name right? "Why aren't you
down there partying with the animals?"
Simpson flashed him a smile.
"Maybe I'd rather party with you."
Breckin did not get the hint.
"Well, I wasn't...um, I have to-what are you doing?" She
sat on his lap, and he strained his neck to see the monitor over her
shoulder. "Corrina, I can't see the-"
She silenced him with a kiss,
undoing the zipper on his uniform. The meaning behind her statement
about wanting to party with him was beginning to come together in his
head. He mentally kicked himself for being to ignorant, but decided
to continue playing dumb. He wanted to know what she would do to get
him in the mood.
Simpson gave Breckin a devious
grin as she peeled off her uniform.
"Listen, Lindsey, it's
the age-old excuse of it's not you, it's me," Lou was explaining
as they danced.
"Please, call me Kane.
Just for now." He paused, a clouded expression coming over his
face. "You know, I don't even think I know your first name,"
he arched his eyebrow at her, hoping she would get the hint and tell
him.
Lou made sure her expression
did not falter as she tried to remember what she had been using as a
first name. "Mira," she tried not to smile at him. Not many
people had asked her that over the past few years. She was just
Ensign to many of her superior officers, and Lou to her crewmates and
teachers.
"That's pretty,"
Lindsey smiled. "What planet do you hail from?"
"I-" she stopped
herself. What should she tell him? She did not want to lie to him, he
was just being friendly-and that was because he liked her. "My
parents were from D'Nayr, but I was raised on Coruscant, mostly."
"I see. Why did they
decide to take you there? Coruscant's pretty boring, unless you're a
politician."
So, he wanted to know
everything about her. Lou's own memory of the event's of her early
childhood were fuzzy, so there wasn't much for her to tell him. "My
mother was in the Senate. Until being assassinated by my father, who
later died in prison," she recited. "That's what I read
years later, anyway."
"Who took you in after
that?" the expression of concern on his face made her smile
again.
"No one in particular. I
decided I could take care of myself."
"How old were you?"
Lou
had to think about that. "I think I was twelve." It was ten
that she realized that the song had ended. She tried to disengage
from Lindsey, but he held on as the next song started. She was a
little annoyed, but tried not to let it show. "What about you?
Tell me about your
childhood."
"Oh, man. Well, my father
was a smuggler, so mostly I didn't see him," he shrugged.
"What about you mother?"
"She," Lindsey
leaned in closer, as if what he was about to tell Lou a secret.
"Trained pilots at the Academy."
"Did she train you?"
"Not at the Academy. I've
been flying since I was in my teens. She always said I'd make a hell
of a captain one day," his smile was sad.
"What happened to her?"
"She was killed in a
training accident. A freak one, really. The Flight Simulator was
sucking electricity out of the base, and she was electrocuted."
"I'm sorry to hear that,"
and she was. Bad luck was something easily identified with for her.
"When life hands you
lemons, make orange juice," Lindsey said. "That's what she
used to tell me."
"I see. That's very
optimistic of her," Lou nodded, sarcasm in her voice. "At
least now I know where you get it from."
"Mind if I cut in?"
Jenkens inquired, eyes twinkling.
Lindsey kissed the back of her
hand softly. "Thank you."
"No problem," Lou
shrugged suspiciously.
Jenkens took her in his arms
abruptly, making Lou laugh. "I bet I know who you'll be dreaming
about tonight," he teased.
"My,
my, Jenkens. That's very
egotistical of you," she remarked.
The mischievous expression
disappeared. "I didn't mean me."
"Oh," Lou acted
surprised. "Who, then?"
The grin returned to his face.
"Why, our dear Captain, of course."
"Oh God, no," Lou
shook her head.
"You two looked quite
involved in conversation."
"He was prying," she
snapped.
"Maybe he was just trying
to get to know you better."
"No, he was prying."
"Hmm."
"I've had enough of
this," she pulled away from Jenkens. "I thought you knew me
better than that, but apparently you just like having your nose in my
business."
"Ouch. I think I've been
dissed."
"Grow up, Jenkens."
Lou walked away from him, leaving him gaping after her.
Park brought drinks over to
the table where Lou was sitting alone. "Mind if I sit?"
"Are you going to hit on
me too, Morty?" she sighed, orange eyes pleading with him to say
no.
"No."
"Alright, I guess you can
sit, then." She turned so she was facing him.
"I saw you and Lindsey."
"I
think everyone videoed
me and Lindsey."
"I didn't. And I
wouldn't've even if I could've."
Lou smiled curtly. "Well,
then you're the only one."
"You only did it so he'd
leave you alone," Park shrugged. "I got that."
"Again, you're the only
one."
The two of them sat in silence
for several minutes watching the other members of the crew enjoying
themselves.
"Nice streamers,"
Lou finally broke in, taking a sip of her drink.
Park's face brightened into a
toothy smile. "Thank you. It was a lot of fun hanging from the
rafters to attach them all."
Lou laughed, almost choking on
her drink. "I see you're trying to kill me," she managed
between coughs.
A devious expression came over
his face. "If I were, my method would be much more creative."
Lou couldn't help laughing
again. Everyone else thought Park was crazy, but she knew that he
just had a strange sense of humour. He was one of three people
onboard that she considered a friend, Jenkens and Taggart being the
other two. The others either weren't friendly towards her, despite
her efforts, of they were the captain and harbouring an unrequited
love for her. Park was friendly, and if he was in love with her, he
hid it well.
"Alright everyone,"
Jenkens spoke into the mic. "It's time for everyone to head back
to their quarters. Don't worry about cleaning up. We'll leave
everything as is for next year."
The crowd laughed as it
dispersed.
"No rush, however,"
Park murmured at Lou, who had not moved.
"Wait till the jam around
the door dies down some."
"Sounds like a plan,"
Park agreed. "If you need me to fight anyone off, don't hesitate
to-"
"Morty, someone started a
rumour about us." She watched his reaction closely, trying to
see if it had been him.
He arched his eyebrow. "What
kind of rumour?"
"You really don't know?"
Lou did not hide her surprise. Park shook his head slowly, not taking
his eyes off of hers. "Well...Jenkens told me that we
are...seeing each other, according to some members of our shift."
Park's
other eyebrow went up. "We are? Damn it, where have I been
during this
relationship?"
"I hope you're being
sarcastic. With you, it's hard to tell, sometimes."
He laughed at this statement.
"Mira, I love you like a sister. That's all. I don't know who
said that about us, it's not like either of us has ever even seen the
other's quarters."
"You
don't have to tell me
that. I just-" she cut herself off.
"You
just thought it was me, didn't you? You thought I
started the rumour?"
"Well," Lou
shrugged. "I did at first. I realize now that I was wrong."
She got up. "I think we can muscle out way out of here, now."
Park got up, too, then
followed her out into the hall. "Well, I'll see ya," he
waved, heading in the opposite direction from her.
"Yup," Lou waved
back, heading to her quarters.
"Goodnight, Lou,"
Jenkens grinned at her from farther down the hall. "I hope that
when you wake up for your next shift, you will have forgiven me for
my insolence."
"We'll see. Goodnight,"
she called after him. As she held her keycard above the lock, her
memory flashed back to a house she had occupied four years earlier.
She heard his voice in her head, then pushed the thoughts to the back
of her mind.
Lou entered the main room of
her quarters. After the door had closed, she began peeling off her
clothes, leaving a trail to the bathroom where she intended to have a
shower.
*
* *
Lou sat on her bed, a portrait
of Darth Maul in her hands that she had done herself years earlier.
There had been much joy throughout the Galaxy when the Jedi Knight,
Obi-Wan Kenobi had slain him, except for her.
She hadn't known Maul all that
well, but she now sat, wondering as was her habit, what things would
have been like if she had stayed with him. She realized that she
would be fighting for the other side of the war, and she did not like
that idea. For awhile after her departure from Maul's apartment, she
had thought about going back and asking him to leave with her, but
had never gotten up the courage to return. Lou knew now that she
could not have changed Maul, anyway. She had built up her knowledge
about the Force, the Jedi, and the Sith. Maul would not have swayed
to join the Rebellion.
Lou replaced the sketch in the
drawer of the night stand, and lay back on the pillows. She closed
her eyes, willing herself to sleep.