Author: IrishRavenX
Title: Connections
Disclaimer: Bet you already know what I'm going to say!
A/N: Sorry about spacing. Having some issues with my computer, and the computer is winning.
Feedback: Of course! I want to know what you think about this story!!! Be honest now…just don't totally destroy my self-esteem. Unless you know me personally and I can beat you up for what demoralizing things you said. Hell. Even if I can't beat you up. (cough)Erin(cough)
Chapter II
Karen rolled over, getting a look at her attacker, who turned out to be a giant of a man. To make matters more interesting, he was packing a vibro-ax. In her opinion, the guy was deadly enough without it. The pirate sneered at her and brought the ax above his head.
"Pity to waste such a good lookin' body," he snarled, "But you're to risky to keep around."
"Damn straight,"
Karen leapt up as the ax came down, avoiding the sharp blade, and coming up behind the man. The gauntlet had come to life again, forming quicker than the eye could see on her wrist. The pirate spun around, his ax coming directly at her midsection. The blade slid from the gauntlet, and held the ax inches away from her skin.
"What do we have here?" the pirate murmured.
"Something that gets pissed easily, and manages to destroy almost anything it comes across." Karen replied, pulling the blade to the side, causing the ax to loosen from the man's grasp, and cut down a huge piece of metal that was over their heads.
Karen ducked out from under the path of the falling portion of metal, and hurried past the struggling man, not particularly caring whether he lived or died, just wanting to find the ambassador.
She looked down at the gauntlet, which was trying to lead her towards the back of the hangar.
"What? You've got to stop this subtle psychological crap!"
"Agent Xaven?" a panicked voice called.
Karen looked around, trying to see who had called her, and from where. The voice was that of a girl…which meant…
"Mereian, where are you?"
"I'm back here, behind the durasteel boxes. Please hurry, my father got shot!"
Karen heard the voice coming from behind a large wall of durasteel containers, usually used to transport weapons or spice freight.
"Can you climb up?" Karen asked. There was no way that she could move all those containers on her own.
"I don't think so." Mereian said, "Please help! Daddy's hurt really badly…gods, this is all my fault……."
"No it's not." Karen said forcefully, "Now back away from the sound of my voice. I'm going to try and cut through."
"Okay," she replied nervously.
Karen activated the blade, and thrust it through the durasteel, cutting a hole big enough for a person to get through.
Mereian's face appeared, very worried, and tears forming in her eyes.
"Please help," Mere pleaded.
"Mr. Josefski?" Karen asked, looking though the opening.
"Yeah?" he groaned.
"I need you to get over to where it am. I can help you from there."
Karen heard the sound of dragging, and when Josefski appeared, she helped pull him through, and Mere followed. There was a gaping blaster wound on the ambassador's midsection.
"Follow me," Karen instructed Mereian. She draped the ambassador's arm over her shoulder, half-carrying, half-dragging him as they made their way towards the upper hangar.
Karen guided Mereian towards the way to the upper hangar, which involved going up a ladder and over a catwalk over the Main hangar that the battle was going on it. They didn't have many problems till they got to the catwalk.
"Uh-uh," Mere muttered.
"Mereian, we need to go, now!" Karen exclaimed.
"I can't," Mereian said, backing away.
It became quite obvious to Karen that Mere had a great fear of heights. Unfortunately, there was no time for it.
"You're going to have to," Karen said, "I'm not going to be able to help you, you're going to have to make it on you own."
Karen had to balance the ambassador, and herself walking across the narrow catwalk, so Mereian was on her own.
"I can't," Mere said again.
"You can do it, just believe in your self, and no matter what, don't look down."
Karen knew how corny it sounded, but she wasn't one for inspirational speeches. Though she did know how hard it would be not to look down, especially with all the blaster fire going on below. And the fact that she had just told her not to look down. It was inevitable. Once you say that, they're bound to look down. They just didn't listen to common sense. Karen made it across with Mr. Josefski, though she came very close to falling off. Obi-Wan came to her side, and took the ambassador's weight off Karen's shoulders.
Mereian was halfway across, when a huge explosion erupted from the lower hangar, causing a burst of fire and heat to surge upwards. The girl's foot slipped, and in the blink of an eye, she was dangling over the hangar, hanging onto the catwalk for dear life.
"Mere!" Janine yelled from Obi-Wan's side. Obi-Wan closed his eyes, and Karen looked up at him in curiosity. She was poised to go after the girl, but something in her mind told her not to move. When she looked back to Mereian, she was back on her feet on the platform, looking around in amazement.
"Mere!" Obi-Wan called, snapping her out of her daze.
She hurried across the platform, so stunned that she was oblivious to her altitude, and the five of them hurried to the ship. Obi-Wan easily picked up the ambassador and carried him onto the ship. Karen shook her head as she hurried the girls onto the ship. The weight that took most of her strength to drag didn't even seem to bother the Jedi. She made a mental note not to get in a wrestling match with him, though the vision was appealing…
She shook off the thought, He's a Jedi, Xaven, get over it. Everyone knows the Jedi Order has rules...
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Obi-Wan glanced over at Karen and suppressed a smile. He seemed to get that reaction from many of the women he met and some men. Though most weren't as good at blocking their thoughts as the Xaven woman was. But at that moment, he did not have time to let his thoughts dwell on that. Obi-Wan turned to the bridge to start the lift-off count down. He looked in on the medical bay, where he had left the two staff members he had found among the chaos, but both were badly wounded.
Karen left the ambassador in the small medical bay, the 21-B medical droid doing the best it could. She hurried down the corridor, and into the cockpit.
"Time to get the fuck outta here, Mi'lady?" Obi-Wan asked humorously from the pilot's seat.
"Sounds good to me," Karen replied, slumping down beside him in the in the co-pilot's seat.
A few moments later, the ship flashed into hyperspace, leaving the desolated ship to the pirates.
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"You're going to pay for that bitch," the large man snarled, advancing on Sara again.
She had hit him over the head with the gauntlet on her arm, in an attempt to stop him from getting away. Her gun had long since been lost in this hand to hand combat, and she decided not to use the her blade, wishing to bring in a live perp. The amount of unidentifiable stab wounds involved with her cases was beginning to look pretty odd in the files.
"I doubt it," Sara replied, ducking the on-coming fist. She came up behind Spaulding and grabbed his arm and twisted it behind his back, then pinned him against the wall.
Taking out the handcuffs, she began to read him his rights. She looked over her shoulder. Jake was across the room, talking to the newly arrived back up. The others in the bar were under control, and being escorted to the awaiting police cars.
"Burgess, please find someone to bring Mr. Spauld to his new abode at the station." Sara said, after going through the spiel that Spauld had no doubt heard many times before.
"No prob, Pezzini." Burgess hauled the man off, leaving Sara to find her gun.
"I got a question for you, Pez," Jake said, noticing his partner and walking over to her.
"Fine, if you can help me find my gun, you can ask away." Sara replied, scouring the floor for the firearm.
"You lost your gun during the fight, right?"
"Yeah," Sara replied, "Why else would I be looking for it?"
She was wondering what the hell he was getting at.
"Then how the hell did you bring down all those guys? Some of them are bleeding from deep wounds. If it wasn't your gun, what was it?"
"It must have been something I found around the bar." Sara replied, "I was just trying to get us out of that shootout alive."
"Whatever, Sara," Jake replied, then walked out the door into the blue and red luminosity of the street. He was obviously doubting what she had said, but she was his partner. He'd back her up. Right? He always did…why did she feel that something was different this time? Jake was changing, but Sara couldn't tell how. He wasn't what he appeared to be.
Appearances can be deceiving
Sara glanced down at the bracelet with look that could freeze fire.
Oh shut-up
She found her gun under a fortress of chairs and walked out onto the street, going after her partner.
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End Chapter II