Chapter Fifteen – Connections

Adra watched the holodisplay, not really watching the playing holovid but more like hoping that if she concentrated on something, she wouldn't throw up. It wasn't quite working. With a lurch, her hand dropped to her stomach and her eyes fell shut as she hoped to the ends of the universe that she wasn't going to be sick. Instead of waiting to find out if her hoping would pay off, Adra removed herself from the comforter she had bunched up in on the couch in the living quarters of her room. Next stop: 'fresher, she thought dismally. Five sithing weeks pregnant and she was already doused in 'morning' sickness. So much for living through nine months of it. Of course, Iella had been so kind as to enlighten her that it usually quit about two and a half to three months in. With that thought in mind, she felt the contents of her brunch lurch from her stomach.

* * * * *

Bror Afyon rubbed a hand over his wife's back as she emptied the contents of her stomach into the 'fresher toilet. The look of distaste on her face set him to grab the cup of water behind him on the sink rim. Nicola carefully pushed herself off the floor and he offered her the cup. Her silver eyes glared at him at the same time she took the drink and swashed some of it around her mouth. He moved aside as she spit the water into the sink then downed the rest of it. The empty glass was put to rest on the sink rim once more and Nicola shuffled to the other room. Bror followed her out into the living quarters and watched silently as Nicola slumped in a chair by the table. He walked over behind her and rubbed her shoulders, working out the tense knots there, even as Nicola began to give him the usual verbal beheading.

"Sithin' koochoo... vapin' worthless nerfherder..."

The usual names whirled around the room, turning to curses in other languages, but slowly decreased. Without muttering a word of reply, he continued rubbing his wife's shoulders, waiting until she was finished. When he thought she was, he lowered his head to kiss the crown of her head. As he pulled away and went to pull out another table chair, Nicola added a new flourish to her midday complaints.

"This is all your doing," she said as she glared at him.

How had he known that one would show up eventually? Perhaps because Adra Loran was his wife's best friend and the other Jedi had already told Face that about a hundred times. Whatever the reason, Bror just sat through it all, knowing it would pass eventually.

* * * * *

Walking back from the 'fresher to the couch, Adra debated finding medicine for her head. True, she'd had headaches much worse than this before, but that didn't stop her from wanting to do away with as many of the uncomfortable aspects of this wonderful happening as she could. She cast a glance out in the Force just as she settled back to her spot on the couch. Nicola was busy cursing, Bror was busy being cursed at, and the rest of the Jedi were having their lunch meals. Cursing their ability to keep food down, Adra let her head rest on the arm of the couch, hoping that if she closed her eyes and just stared into blackness her headache would pass. Unfortunately, she didn't seem to be having that much luck on the 'hoping' level recently.

A probe was set out in the Force to shut off the holovid and the sounds coming from the display were immediately silenced. She settled back into the silence only to be disturbed once more by the sounds of her door sliding back. Without looking over, she stretched out her Force sense to touch that of the person who had entered. A smile played on her features, even though her eyes remained closed, as she found that the person entering was Face. Face himself was in a fairly good mood as he walked over to the couch. The pilot sat down next to her and Adra opened her eyes long enough to see what she was doing as she snuggled into his side. Face's arm pulled her closer and Adra released a sigh as she brought her knees to her chest. The arm around her shoulder faded away to a hand rubbing her back. After a while, Face decided to break the silence.

"Up all night again?"

Though it was phrased as a question, Adra was sure he knew the answer. However, since he had been good enough to inquire, she gave a slow nod of her head in response. The hand on her back disappeared and she was pulled into a loose hug. Adra sighed softly once more as she rested her forehead just above his heart.

"Jade figured it out. That doesn't mean much, but it's just another person who knows," Adra offered at last. She wasn't exactly trying to start a conversation, but she didn't want to sit in silence either.

"I see. That was sort of the reason I came, except not specifically Jade, other than to see you."

Adra looked up to catch a glimpse of his face. "What do you mean?"

It was Face's turn to sigh. He glanced down at Adra's face once before speaking. "So far, you say that Bror, Nicola, Tyria, Gaeriel, Jade and I know in this squadron. Adra, that's half the people. Kell and Cloud and Ryok may be overloaded with ideas on explosives most of the time, but I don't think that they're as stupid as you're trying to believe they are. Elix has already been asking me as to the reason your hardly ever around in the mornings." Face paused, his eyes boring into hers, seeming to be search for any feelings on the subject. "How long do you honestly think it will be before it shows? Even if you do wear loose clothes, and don't deny you are, they'll figure it out once Nicola and you aren't allowed to sim anymore."

As Face finished, Adra remained silent, taking in what he had said. There was definite truth in it, considering. Everyone knew why Nicola was, more often than not, absent in the mornings. The excuse that Adra was there to give her friend moral support wouldn't last forever, especially if Nicola showed up on a day Adra didn't. Half Wraith squadron knew, but there was a reason to her madness in letting that many know. If Kell or Cloud or Elix or Ryok found out, they'd team up with Janson and Hobbie and then Sith Lords knew where it would stop. Wedge didn't have that much power in the line of keeping pranksters under control. The question was...do you keep quiet and wait for them to find out when you show or do you tell them and risk the comments. Adra didn't realize she was taking so long until she found herself staring into her fiancé's eyes.

"You okay?" He asked tentatively.

Adra nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine, considering. I'm just trying to figure out if it's worth saying anything to the rest of the squad."

Face nodded, opened his mouth to reply, and then was promptly cut off by the sound of a comm. That would be his comm, Adra thought. Instead of waiting to hear one side of Face's conversation, Adra reached out in the Force once more to talk with Nicola.

Hey, you down sick too?

Yeah, that's about right. I'm feeling a bit better now. You? Nicola's voice was quick to answer the inquiry.

I threw up, if that's what you're asking. Adra paused, wondering what to say next. A new presence in the Force caught her attention, however. You feel that?

Nicola didn't reply for a minute, obviously probing the Force. Yes, I do. You recognize it at all?

Nope. Alright, let me go put on a jumpsuit and I'll meet you in the lounge. Sound good?

Good enough to me, if I can get Bror to let me leave the room. Adra grinned at her friend's remark, fully understanding what she meant.

She broke off the connection and made to get out of Face's half-embrace. Face put down his comm, obviously finished, and raised an eyebrow at her. He wasn't going to let her get away easily, it seemed. Adra felt the tug on her wrist as she made to walk towards the other room. Turning to look at Face and demand that he let her go, she was surprised to find him a breath away. Her mind reminded her that she wasn't feeling so great, that she really needed to go find out who was entering Wraith headquarters, simply that she needed to change. Adra shoved the thoughts away as she put a hand behind Face's head to draw his lips down to hers. A moment passed as they explored the realms of the other's mouths, but Adra pulled back before long. Face's eyes locked on hers and she smiled slightly.

"Uh-uh, flyboy. I'm going to get changed and you're going to go about being the commander of Wraith squadron. Nicola and I are going to investigate a new person in who's come to visit, okay?" Adra said this very simply, as if she were speaking to a child. Face put on a well-practiced pout, one that usually made her change her mind, but she shook her head, extracting his hands from her waist.

Face seemed to give in, knowing it would be pointless to disagree with what Adra was saying. Smirking, Adra gave him a peck on the cheek then went off to change.

* * * * *

Nicola tugged at the neck of her flightsuit in slight agitation before she saw Adra walking down the hallway. With a smile, she walked towards her friend. Though she had spent the night awake, as Adra probably had, she wasn't in the least tired.

"Let's go. The person we're looking for should be in the lounge. Or that's where their Force presence is."

And with that, Nicola led the way down the hallway towards the lounge, her friend walking next to her. While everyone else thought it would be something close to murder to disagree with her, she and Adra always seemed to find a way to deal with it. That was the wonderful thing about mutual respect. Adra stopped short and Nicola looked back at her friend, the other's expression darkening. Something was obviously bothering the other Jedi, but she didn't say anything. A grin appeared on Adra's face after a few seconds and she looked over at Nicola. Raising an eyebrow at her friend she gestured down the hall, sure she would hear about whatever had happened later that day.

The pair of them walked through the door only to find Asyr and Gaeriel talking animatedly to another person. The person they had felt in the Force to be exact. Nicola watched the girl, wondering about why she was here. She couldn't be more than sixteen years old. Vaguely she couldn't help wondering what a girl so young would be doing here. It wasn't impossible for her to be a New Republic pilot, considering Vana Sage was 17 and Ari Solo was 9, but merely the way the girl was acting made her doubt it. The option with higher probability, at least in Nicola's eyes, was that Kell or Elix or Ryok had hooked up with the girl at some bar and she was ready to pound them to a pulp. With a glance out the window, she was surprised to see a carbon-scored X-Wing that belonged to none of the Wraiths. Through the distance, she thought she could make out Rogue squadron crest on one side. Mildly impressed, she looked back at the girl, wondering just who she was. At that moment, Cloud, Tyria, Ryok and Kell walked into the lounge, obviously just back from the demolition range. The questions beginning to form in her mind were answered instantly, or so she thought, by the look on Ryok's face at the sight of the girl. With a quick glance at the sixteen year old, Nicola realized that her presumptions had been terribly wrong. The look of hatred resting on the girl's face, and the emotion racing through the Force, was enough to tell her that.

* * * * *

Shock blossomed on his face as he stared into that of his sister. How could that be possible? She wasn't alive...was she? If it was, in fact, Aerolin standing in front of him, hands on her hips, then he and his parents had been absolutely wrong these past four years. They had been told that she died in a skirmish with an Imperial Star Destroyer... That he had thought she had died at the age of twelve to defend Mon Calamari was the entire reason he had joined the New Republic's military. Realizing he was staring at her, he felt the color rise in his cheeks, very aware that everyone in the room was staring at him. He opened his mouth to say something, but Adra's voice cut him off.

"Not meaning to jump to sounding rude or anything," the sarcastic pilot began, "but who the Sith are you? I think it might be useful to know before we allow you to stare daggers at one of our pilots."

His sister glanced over at Adra once, her expression remaining the same, and Ryok instantly had the foreboding worry that she was going to be in a lot of pain for giving Adra Loran that look. However, no one moved, other than Cloud and Tyria to sit on a couch. Aerolin was staring at him once more, her eyes boring into his. At last she spoke.

"Aerolin Kast. And believe me, I'm positive it's not outside protocol to glare daggers at your sibling."

Ryok barely registered the shocked looks going flying between his sister and him by the rest of the squad. He was too shocked by her first statement to read anything else into her words. Kast? When did she become Aerolin Kast? Both of them had always taken their mother's name, considering their father had left about the time his sister was a year old. Whatever her reasoning, Ryok didn't have a chance to hear it. Aerolin had begun to walk towards him while everyone else watched.

Next second, Ryok was seeing stars, and the only thing keeping him on his feet was the fact that he had grabbed the arm of the nearest chair. Aerolin shook out her fist just once then turned on her heel, stalking out of the lounge and towards the hanger bay.