"Has the thought crossed your mind that we're probably too far away from wherever Brodey is to help him?" She gasped, following breathlessly behind the sprinting jedi master.
"It has," Kyp admitted with annoyance, risking a glance back in her
direction and narrowly missing a tree because of it. "But think about it this
way. They couldn't have gone very far before the sun set last night. It was
getting fairly dark by the time they left."
"I'm impressed," Anja scoffed with a quirky smile. "You actually
remembered something from last night."
"Yeah, only the unimportant stuff," He snorted, looking back at her
forebodingly.
"Don't get started on that again, I'm warning you!" Anja groaned in
frustration. "I'll kick your head in if you keep it up!"
Kyp stopped suddenly, scuffing his boots on the ground as he skidded
to a halt and turned on his heel to face her. His dark, murderous eyes
penetrated deeply into her skull in a manner that was almost physically painful.
She suddenly wanted nothing more than to look away but he held her attention on
him.
"I'd love to see you try," He whispered chillingly as he forced her
back with his gaze until she stood with her back to a tree, her wrists clenched
in his hands.
Anja's eyes opened wide as terror filled her and constricted her
throat. Everybody knew about Carida and Kyp's dark-side potential. Anybody who
knew Jaina Solo also knew of his mind-manipulating skills. She was absolutely
petrified that he might use both on her and her unborn child. An epiphany
occurred to Anja and she finally realized the magnitude of her situation. She
was no longer just looking out for herself. She was truly responsible for the
life another human being, or whatever it was, and that scared her more than any
damage Kyp might inflict.
"You still there?" He asked, bewildered by her distant expression.
He'd held her gaze but that was all. Her mind was traversing the far reaches of
the Unknown Regions, apparently immune to his nudging. Kyp chided himself,
making a mental note to brush up on his techniques.
"Please don't," She begged in a sorrowful voice, her tear-filled
eyes shimmering like two large reflecting pools in the midday sun.
"Don't what?" Kyp questioned, confused by her hasty change in mood.
Surely she didn't think he'd really hurt her, did she?
"Hurt my baby," She whimpered helplessly as a lone tear trickled
down her cheek.
"I would never do that," He said adamantly, his tone softer. He
dropped both of her wrists and brought one hand up to her cheek, grazing a thumb
along its contours and wiping away her tears. "I'd never hurt you either."
"You promise?" She asked in a quiet voice, still looking up into his
dark eyes. This time, however, he didn't sense fear when he brushed his mind
against hers. All he could feel was confidence, and something more.
He didn't know why, or how, but something compelled him to embrace
her tightly. Kyp pulled her in close, picking her up off the ground entirely to
capture her lips in a fierce kiss. When he finally released her, more confounded
than ever, he vowed to discover the source of the mind control powers she had
over him.
"Well, that was unexpected!" She laughed, thumping her hand against
his chest.
"You're telling me," He exclaimed with a sigh. There would be no end
to the questions running through his head, and no sleep for him tonight, for he
could no longer take solace in her reassuring words. She was pregnant, and the
chances of him being the father were growing to magnificent proportions inside
his head. Definitely no sleep tonight.
~*~*~
"Wake up," A strong female voice commanded, and Brodey's eyelids stirred and slowly lifted. "Now!"
He felt a sharp sting as she brought her open palm in contact with
his jaw, jarring him fully awake from his force-induced sleep.
"Jeez, lady, I was gettin' there!" He said sourly, wishing he could
move his still-paralyzed hand up to rub his throbbing cheek. "You don't have to
be such a daa'rata about it."
He felt her anger level increase, as impossible as it seemed with
how angry she was previously, from his comment about her being a female,
four-legged mammal native to his home world.
'It seems I've struck a nerve,' He thought to himself with a smile.
Definitely a N'aanwarian female. He just had to figure out why she hated him so
much. It didn't make sense that anybody would hate him. After all, his uncle was
the horrible tyrant ruler responsible for the economic and political downfall of
his planet. He hadn't done anything.
"That's the problem, Narundi. You haven't done anything. You ran off
like a coward the instant things got too hot to handle, leaving the big problems
for us to deal with," She hissed, pulling him up by the shirt collar until he
could feel her hot breath on his face.
"Leave him alone," Commanded a male voice from somewhere beyond
Brodey's range of vision. "Let me handle this."
"Can't you let me rough him up a bit before you start in with him?"
She asked in a husky, threatening tone.
"Na ta'rian to biryan'aa sci, Siri!" He responded in an
equally harsh voice.
"As you wish," She said with a bow of her head, retreating
reluctantly. "Once you're done with him, he's mine."
"Once I'm done with him? I'm not sure there will be much to deal
with, once I'm done with him," He said solemnly, sounding frighteningly
convincing.
"Hello, I'm still sitting right here, and I can hear every single
word that you two are saying," Brodey said loudly over their discussion. "If you
want to talk about my fate, do it in a way so I can't listen in, eh?"
"Please let me put him out of his misery!" The young woman squealed
in a strained voice as she stomped one foot on the metal floor of the ship.
Brodey watched helplessly as her fingers reached down to brush against the metal
cylinder clipped to her belt.
"Siri, you're going to go into the back of the ship and take a nap,"
The hooded man ordered, waving a hand at her to manipulate her thoughts. The
young woman nodded slowly before disappearing through a door in the back of the
cabin.
"I've been waiting for this moment, for a very long time," The
hooded man said benignly as he paced back and forth in front of his powerless
audience.
"Have you now?" Brodey asked defiantly, feeling a sense of déjà vu.
This was playing out almost exactly like his dream, which wasn't too promising.
"When's the party going to start?"
"There is no party," The man said sharply, sounding a tad angry.
"There's just you and me. We have a lot to discuss, you know."
The hooded man stooped down, reaching out with his hand to engulf
Brodey's face. He scrunched up his face, waiting for the hand to clamp down on
his face and suffocate him. However, instead of feeling a final blackness
surround him, he came to the stunning realization that he now had control of his
arms and legs. He opened his eyes, watching in amazement as the man pulled his
hand away.
"I didn't expect that," Brodey said, forcing out the air that was
caught in his lungs in one strong exhalation.
"Get used to it," The man replied grimly as his hands reached up to
remove his hood.
Brodey gaped
at his grandfather for an eternal, heart-stopping moment. When he finally
attempted to speak he discovered that his mouth had gone dry.
"I definitely didn't expect that!" He rasped.
"Nice to see you again, too," R'aa'nlan commented dryly. "Now that
the greeting period is over, let's get on to business."
"Business?" Brodey echoed, a hint of mistrust in his voice. "What kind of business do you have in mind?
"You'll see," His grandfather taunted. "But right now I have a
question for you."
"Shoot," Brodey answered casually, cocking his finger like a one
would with a rudimentary blaster.
"When was the last time I read you a bedtime story?" R'aa'nlan asked
capriciously.
"A bedtime story?" The young jedi repeated, his eyebrows lifting
with surprise. "God, it had to have been over a decade ago. Why do you ask?"
"I think you're long overdue," The older man drawled, motioning over
to a couch in the corner of the cabin. "Have a seat."
"So," Brodey chuckled, feeling slightly foolish because he was
twenty years old and about to be told a bedtime story. "What kind of story do
you have in mind?"
"Oh, the usual," R'aa'nlan said, his voice changing to the pleasant
storyteller's voice from Brodey's childhood. "Once upon a time there was this
handsome prince. He was out on a valiant quest. But this wasn't your ordinary
quest. Oh no, this prince wasn't looking to smite the evil Ten'aaha or rescue
the beautiful princess. He was looking to make a difference in the universe. He
wanted to do something that would set him apart from the stale despots that came
before him. So he did the only logical thing that any handsome young prince
would do. He drank and smoked and drugged and partied his way through his
adolescence. He used his negative behavior as a tool with which to inflict
change, but he only ended up inflicting pain and suffering on those around him."
"All right, I think I see where this is going," Brodey sighed,
suddenly becoming weary.
"Pipe down, you little twit! I'm not finished yet," R'aa'nlan hissed
threateningly, then continued. "Finally things got to be too painful for those
around him. Their pain started reflecting back at him, and he sank deeper into
depression. That depression opened the door for the dark side, and he began to
experiment with new philosophies, deeming his previous instructors unfit and
biased. His new instructor, the young prince's uncle, had more sinister plans
for the boy. The prince was to act as a rift that would break apart the royal
family and give him ample opportunity to stage a military coup. All he had to do
was convince the prince that his father and brother were the enemies. So he did,
sewing the seeds of contempt and suspicion in the young man. And he succeeded.
The family was torn apart and the corrupt uncle assumed the throne, but not
before he told the prince to flee if he valued his life. And the prince fled. He
fled far away, to a distant galaxy out in the middle of East-bumble-kriff! There
he stayed, for many years, and he helped the people of that galaxy deal with
their own tribulations. He flew with one of the most elite squadrons in the
galaxy, forged close friendships with many influential individuals, saved the
lives of thousands, and even continued his jedi training under a new teacher.
The prince had finally made a difference in the universe. And they all lived
happily ever after."
Brodey scowled, his grandfather's mocking recount of the past few
years of his life leaving him with a sick feeling in his stomach.
"Or did they?" R'aa'nlan asked, his voice returning to normal and
taking on a sharp edge. "Do you think that the prince ever thought about the
people, the family that he left behind?"
"All the time," Brodey croaked, tears beginning to creep into the
corners of his vision. "He just realized that he couldn't help anybody by going
back and getting himself killed."
"Is that so? Did he ever stop to consider that there might be others
who would help him, should he return?" His grandfather challenged sternly.
"He might have, if he didn't think that everyone who could help him
was dead!" Brodey cried, the tears finally springing forth from his eyes.
"Well, as you can see, I'm not dead," R'aa'nlan whispered, reaching
out to place a hand on top of Brodey's head. The young man felt the numbness
crawl back into his limbs as he fell limply onto his side. Through his
tear-filled eyes he could still see his grandfather's hand as it patted the top
of his head. "Here's your chance to really make a difference. Think about it."
R'aa'nlan pulled his hand away, making a slight twisting motion with
his fingers. That was the last sight that Brodey saw as he plunged into
blackness with only his inner monologue to keep him company.
~*~*~
"Just our luck," Jaina groaned, massaging her temples with her forefingers. She'd spent the past half hour interrogating the Shamed Yuuzhan Vong, and the only information she could extract was that he was a decoy, put there to distract Brodey from the real danger of the situation. It didn't take long before she got fed up enough to stun him. "We aren't any closer to finding Brodey and we're stuck out here unless we happen upon a miracle."
"Well, I'm currently still hungry," Jag suggested, trying to sound cheerful. It turned out to be the wrong tone to take when talking about hunger. As Jaina glanced suspiciously over her shoulder at him he recognized the ambiguity of his statement.
"No, I'm talking about food," He answered briskly. "Unless you're looking to sate a different hunger."
"Don't even think about it, Fel," A sardonic voice boomed warningly. Jag couldn't help but smile, in spite of the disappointment of yet another interruption, as he heard Kyp Durron's voice. Having Kyp and Anja there to help would make the task of staying alive much simpler. He could tell from the expression on Jaina's face that she was relieved to see them as well.
"Enough talk, more searching!" Anja ordered, clearly out of patience at this point.
"I've got bad news for you, Anja," Jaina sighed, trying to think about the best way to break the news of Brodey's capture to her friend. "It's no use searching for Brodey. He's been abducted clear off this planet."
"I know that!" Anja snapped back. "I've been traveling with Kyp all this time, haven't I? You honestly think that he wouldn't have been able to feel it when Brodey was taken? No, I'm talking about searching for food and shelter on this rock! If any of you are opposed to that idea then, by all means, stay here!"
"We're coming with you," Jaina answered tiredly, pushing herself to her feet as Kyp walked by. The jedi master made a face that all but screamed 'help me!' Anja Gallandro must have been driving him crazy all the way from the ship. As she watched him follow behind Anja into the woods she noticed something peculiar about him. For the past few months she'd been in the company of a strange, new Kyp Durron. This Kyp was more serene than before and lacked some of the inner turmoil she'd sensed in him ever since the war began. She'd grown used to the calmer Kyp, even enjoyed having him around. Now, however, the old Kyp was back. His thoughts were pure chaos. She had to figure out why.
Jaina moved to walk briskly at Kyp's side, trying desperately to match the anxious man's stride.
"What's the matter, Kyp?" She whispered suspiciously.
"Nothing," He grunted, his eyes flickering with annoyance.
"Don't give me that," She hissed. "I've been getting strange vibes
from you ever since we met back up. It feels like. . ."
"Go on," Kyp snapped sarcastically, grinning as she hesitated to
respond. "What 'vibes' am I giving you?"
"It feels like you're a little kid, who just got caught with his
hand in the cookie jar," She said, suppressing a giggle at the imagery. "Is
there something you did that you're guilty about?"
Kyp's mind whirled as he remembered the passionate kisses that he'd
shared with Anja. Anja, who was his apprentice's girlfriend. Anja, who was
pregnant with someone's child, perhaps his own.
"Nope, sorry," He muttered briskly, shaking his head.
'You're not going to shake me off that easily, Kyp Durron,' Jaina thought, biting her lip. She would have to test the waters a bit with him.
~*~*~
It had been many hours, an eternity, and he still was floating around in the middle of nothingness. He couldn't determine which direction was up, or how long he'd been there, but the blackness was excruciating and he longed for a way out.
The sound of his grandfather's words seemed to ring on forever in
his mind, forcing him to ruminate silently to himself. At first he fought it,
conjuring up music or memories to keep himself occupied, but everything always
led back to the same haunting point.
"It's not like you've been sitting around drinking and doing spice
for the past couple of years," A voice commented from behind him. He twisted his
neck around, flinching as he recognized the figure's face and voice as his own.
He floated, facing the mirror image of himself, and stared as the robed figure
grinned back at him. "Now, if it was all up to me you would have been doing all
that and then some. Maybe you could have found yourself a girl a little sooner,
eh?"
"I should have known better. Then I might have never listened to
you," Brodey answered scornfully.
"It would have been your loss," His other self scoffed. "I gave you
so many years of continuous fun! You wouldn't have even found love if it wasn't
for me!"
"My, I guess I forgot how much of a compulsive liar you were,"
Brodey growled, wishing he could get up and leave. "The only thing you brought
me was a whole lot of misery."
"Misery? You call anonymity and the freedom to choose your own path
misery?"
"If the price to pay is losing your family and falling to the dark
side, then yes. I am miserable," Brodey confirmed.
"Would you rather be stuck in a role as a figurehead, the puppet of
your father and grandfather? At least now you have some influence over your own
actions," The other Brodey exclaimed in outrage.
"People would have trusted me with power if it wasn't for you and
your bright kriffing ideas!" Brodey yelled back.
"So quick to blame, are we? Remember, I am you. There really aren't
two of us. This is just some crazy vision that your sensory-deprived mind cooked
up," His twin claimed, looking smug again.
"I don't think so. You think in a way that I haven't touched in
years."
"Think again. You and I aren't that much different. We both do
what's most convenient for ourselves, not caring about what others think," The
other said.
"That's a lie!" Brodey cried adamantly. "I'm doing all that I can
for anybody I can reach."
"No, THAT'S a lie. You've been cruising around in a fighter with
your cushy job, romping around with your girlfriend, even going out on dates
while the rest of the galaxy suffers. I'm not even talking about the people of
your own galaxy!" His other self accused loudly.
"Why are you doing this? What is your goal in yelling at me like
this? One minute you're talking about how good it is to have freedom and the
next you're telling me how horrible I am for not helping others? Make up your
mind!"
"My goal is to help YOU make up your mind. You've made a few little
steps in the right direction but you need to figure out which way you're going
to go from here. You can either stand up for what you believe to be right and
help both sides, or you can wallow in your own complacency. The choice is
totally up to you," The other said, fading away with his words.
"Wait! Ah dammit," Brodey cursed, hanging his head as he went back
to thinking.
~*~*~
"He's scaring me," Sir'tesé grumbled, biting her lower lip nervously, glancing at her great-uncle as he sat behind the controls.
"I beg your pardon?"
"Him!" She said venomously, glaring as she pointed an accusing finger back into the cabin where Brodey lay motionless on the couch. "His eyes are staring blankly back at me each time I turn to look at him. It's very unsettling!"
"He's not going anywhere," R'aa'nlan said casually, chuckling a little. "I don't see what's so scary about an incapacitated man on a sleep couch. It's not like he's going to jump up off the couch and strangle you."
Sir'tesé turned the finger of accusation at her uncle, her eyes growing wider. "Don't joke about things like that! I'd practically wet myself if that happened."
"I won't, as long as you keep the 'I hate my cousin' chatter to a minimum," He replied. "And that includes the chatter that might be going on in your head."
"I can't help it. He's such a tremendous arse!" She cried indignantly, then continued with a mutter. "Simply infuriating!"
"Be wary of your anger, Siri. You knew he was infuriating when you agreed to come along with me on this mission, but you decided then that the benefits outweighed the disadvantages," R'aa'nlan reminded solemnly. "Just think hard about the benefits and breathe deeply."
Sir'tesé breathed as she was told but she couldn't clear her mind of a single, nagging question: "Why?"
"Why what?" He countered with a sigh, sensing her conflict.
"Why are we out here, thousands of light years away from home, forcing a young man who seems quite content with his current situation to come with us and solve all our problems?" She challenged, praying for concurrence.
"Because he is floundering and he needs guidance," The old man answered tiredly.
"Floundering, eh? Seems like he's doing fine to me! And what's the matter with the guidance that the jedi master gives him?" She said, her voice increasing in both volume and urgency.
"Jedi Master Durron has incomplete knowledge of the force. While Brodey may learn some things from the man he is more often the true teacher, with Durron as the padawan learner." R'aa'nlan explained. "An infant cub has a better chance of dancing the Ishnakai than Durron has of teaching Brodey the necessary techniques for defeating Kahl'aan in battle."
"Wonderful analogy," She groaned wryly. "So you figured that you, the amazing Narundi Academy Head Boy, could impart with him the knowledge that could save both him and us from eternal damnation?"
"Now who's being melodramatic?" He laughed. "I know what you're trying to say. You think we're being selfish because we realized he was the only one who could fix things back home and we kind of took advantage of his current situation and abducted him. All of this just for our own personal gain, right?"
"Something like that," She mumbled with a nod.
"Well, my dear, don't try and wear the mask of morality and expect me to ignore what's underneath. You're motivated by selfish reasons as well. You would just love it if we'd dump his body somewhere, preferably somewhere very warm and uninhabitable."
Sir'tesé flushed as the truth of his words came crashing down on her head.
"My plan has everyone's best interest in mind. You'll see," R'aa'nlan reassured her.
"Oh yeah? What about the four friends of his that we left behind on the occupied planet? Did you have their best interest in mind?" She asked, her words falling on deaf ears.
"I've been watching them. They're a resourceful lot. They'll be able to take care of themselves," He said unblinkingly.