Chapter Three: Well-made Plans
Later that night Jagged Fel was sitting silently in his cabin, trying to concentrate on writing the report to his father, but finding the task hard to focus on. He had a variety of emotions swirling around inside of him and ignoring them didn't seem to work. His mouth set in a serious line, his short black hair ruffled, his eyes kept wandering to the door and wondering about the girl across from him in the hall. He worried about her; of course, he was concerned for all the Jedi at the moment, with the unfair resentment of the galaxy against them. But for some reason, he found Jaina Solo's safety took a slightly higher priority.
Come on Jagged, he said to himself, It's just because she's the one you met first, and you can feel a comradeship towards her because she's a pilot too.
And a good one at that, he added to himself.
Before he could devout any further thought to the matter, his comlink beeped and he was summoned to Booster Terrik's main office.
Quickly reaching it, he walked in to find Jaina already sitting there, fiddling with her chrono and leaning back in her chair. Giving him a dazzling smile, she motioned to the chair next to her. He immediately sat down, then chastised himself for seeming so eager.
Jaina didn't seem to notice, she was absorbed in winding something on the back of her chrono.
"Booster said he'd be here in a moment," she said to him absentmindedly.
"Ah, I see. What are you doing?" Jag asked curiously.
Jaina moved her hands towards him and into his own so he could see what she was doing. The back of the chrono had been pulled off and Jaina was rearranging the wires to make space for a small metal box she held with a delicate tool.
"It's just an experiment I'm working on. I'm not sure whether it works or not yet," Jaina commented, sounding embarrassed.
Before Jag could ask her anything more about her project, Booster walked into the room and Jaina quickly pulled her hands away. A part of Jag gravely regretted that.
"Well, Luke and Mara are coming," said Booster as he sat down across from them at his desk. "The bad news is that they got into some trouble."
"Trouble?" asked Jaina worriedly, sitting bolt upright. "Serious trouble?"
Booster shook his head reassuringly at her fear.
"No, just some minor trouble with the Vong, but they have to set down on this planet to make repairs. They thought it might be better if you met up with them there to talk things over."
Jaina and Jag looked at each other.
"Is that okay with you Colonel?" Jaina asked, and Jag wondered why she suddenly chose to use the term.
"It would be fine," Jag replied smoothly and nodding his head for emphasis.
"Which planet?" Jaina asked, "How far is it?"
Booster brought up a holomap from a device in front of him on the desk. He pointed to a place by Hutt space, and said, "Gobi. That's the name of the planet. Mostly desert from what I hear. They'll meet you there the day after tomorrow. I can take you to the edge of the system and you can launch in your fighters and then I'll be back there in a week, depending on our schedule."
"Sounds good," Jaina agreed.
"I concur," said Jag.
"Well, that's settled then. I wish you both the best of luck," Booster said with a finality that let them know the meeting was over.
As Jaina and Jag both got up to leave and Booster started for the door that led into his own quarters, he turned around suddenly.
"Oh yes, Colonel Fel," Booster said, "I was to inform you that your Uncle Wedge will be paying a visit tomorrow morning."
Jag's face lit up and he smiled, "Thank-you sir," before exiting the room.
"So," Jaina said, looking up at him, "Want to grab something to eat?"
"With you?" Jag asked, surprised for the second time that day by the amiability Jaina was displaying, "Where?"
"No, not with me, with Booster," Jaina said sarcastically, and shrugged, "And it's the Errant Venture, there's bound to be plenty of places to eat."
"Well, in that case, yes, and you pick the place," Jag offered. He tried to suppress the absolute pleasure he felt that Jaina had invited him alone to accompany her.
"Let's find some place Corellian," she decided, with emphasis on the word Corellian. "We'll find out how much of one you really are."
Jag laughed, "Well, in the military there's not a lot of variety, but my mom starts shoving it down my throat the moment I get home."
"Yeah, my Dad likes to cook it at home sometimes, though he's not much of a chef," she paused, "I kind of inherited that trait too. Don't put me anywhere near a kitchen. You'll know when dinner's ready when the smoke alarm goes off."
"Thanks for the warning," Jag said with a smirk.
"Have you ever visited Corellia Jag?" Jaina asked, "Recently?"
Jag thought about all the training, competition and strife that the past five years of his life had been filled with. There hadn't been much time for fun, but his father had taken his family to Corellia when he was only nine years old. It was hard to remember the vacation.
"No," he answered solemnly, "Not since I was little, and I don't remember much."
The corners of Jaina's mouth turned down a little momentarily.
"Too bad," she said, "It's good the Vong haven't gotten there yet."
At that point they found what they were looking for and the conversation was cut off. The Errant Venture was not like any other Star Destroyer. In fact, it had almost eased to be a Star Destroyer and now resembled something like a large, ritzy hotel in space. Beasue of the lavish ness of it, Jaina and Jag had no problems finding a good Corellian restaurant.
They walked in and were seated by a waiter, who lead them past a table where Jaina's brother Anakin was sitting with a beautiful blond haired girl. Jag noticed she didn't have any shoes on and no reasonable explanation for such behaviour sprang to mind. As he and Jaina walked by, Anakin saw them and smiled and winked.
"Who is the girl with your brother?" asked Jag as they sat down and Jaina brought up a menu.
"That's Tahiri," Jaina answered immediately, her eyes scanning across the text of the hologram, "She and Anakin have been best friends sine they were at the Jedi Academy together. When the Peace Brigade Attacked Yavin IV, she got captured and experimented on by the Vong. Anakin rescued her all by himself."
"So they've become pretty close I suppose," Jag guessed.
"Yes. Their master, Ikrit had a prophecy about them. He said that they were stronger together. Obviously, Ikrit was right," explained Jaina as she looked at them, and when see turned her head and saw Jag's confused look, she added, "It has to do with a bond in the Force, something deeper than common Jedi bonds. It's a connection ordained by the Force."
Jag was silent for a moment, pondering this, and Jaina, eyes intent and serious, leaned forward and asked softly, "Do you believe in destiny?"
Jag looked wary and carefully replied, "I don't devout time to thinking about it. Philosophy wasn't a required study at the academy."
Jaina looked annoyed, "It isn't philosophy Jag, or mysticism. It's choices, emotions, and the consequences of both. It's people's lives entwined and mingled, combined with a power that no one really understands."
"I thought that the Jedi understood everything about the Force," Jag questioned, rebuffed.
"Actually no, no one does, and if they think they do, they're fooling themselves," Jaina scoffed, "The Jedi Code itself is so generalizing for the exact purpose of not being so pompous, and to provoke thought."
"Well, you can think what you want," Jag replied, "But I think people forge their own fate through adherence to duty and hard work."
Jaina tilted her head to one side, considering. She seemed to think carefully about her next words.
"I guess you think it's kind of silly," she said disappointedly.
"What do I think is silly?" Jag pressed, feeling lost.
"The Force," she answered.
Jag felt like he'd been slapped. He had his own ideas about the way life worked, he'd just never really shared them before, because no one he had ever known had been this open to him before. He had couldn't remember the last time he'd had a conversation like this, let alone with a girl like Jaina.
"No, I believe Jaina," Jag assured her, "I've just never met someone who could use it before."
Understanding collected in Jaina's eyes, "Oh I see."
"Are you angry?" Jag asked dreading the answer.
Jaina shook her head, "No. Think about it Jag, we both agree that people help to shape their own future. Just because of the way you are, you're just not sure about the Force influencing it."
Jag breathed a sigh of relief, "I'm glad you're not mad at me."
Jaina's face broke into a grin.
"Just wait until you've spent a week with me. You'll either love me or hate me."