Chapter 16

Tay's eyes fluttered open. She was startled at first, but she quickly remembered where she was. Tay sat up in the chair in which she had dozed and looked around the room. Salah slept not far away in another chair. The room was dark except for the light from the bacta tank and several diagnostic displays. Tay drowsily glanced at the readouts before yawning and nodding off once more. Had she checked the information on mental activity, she would have found disturbing amounts of activity -- almost as if Denz was having a nightmare.

Denz had never been more frustrated. He had made considerable distance and was closer to the strange light than ever, but he had reached a point, it seemed, where every time he got closer, his objective moved further away. "This is just great!" He huffed. Denz stared at the bright spot. "Does this mean I'm not supposed to reach it yet or something?"

From out of nowhere, a voice spoke: Clever deduction Denz Solo.

Denz knew this voice. He had only heard the low, nasally tone once before. "It's you! The one from the woods!"

Correct again, came the sound again. And you may call me Pan.

The voice sounded so close, so vivid, unlike listening to the voices of those outside his bacta tank. He must me communicating with me straight through the Force, Denz thought.

My! You are perceptive.

"You can even hear the thoughts of my subconscious! Why am I not surprised?"

You surprise me Denz. Your ability to analyze the situation and come to quick, accurate conclusions is impressive. You are truly one with the Force in your current state. If you were to become conscious while in this mind-set, your strength as a Jedi would multiply tenfold.

"Then could you explain to me why the only evident way out of this limbo is beyond my grasp?"

Come now. Surely you must have realized the consequences of regaining consciousness so soon after such a severe injury.

Denz thought for a moment. "My body is not yet strong enough for my mind to return to it yet. So to speak."

Yes.

"How much longer then?"

You will know when the time is right. Until then, to keep your mind focused, think about what is going on right now. Make a plan for what you are going to do when you do regain consciousness.

"You're going to leave now aren't you?"

No answer.

"Hmph! Typical."

Denz relaxed and began to contemplate what he was going to do, and how he was going to do it once he "came back to life." Immediately ideas began to flood his mind. He discarded many, saved a few, and eliminated a couple more. Soon Denz had a general layout of what he would do. There were always variables, so he left room for their possibility.

Denz decided to take a break and think of something else for a while. He would dwell on the details later. Denz found himself thinking about his trek through the forest. Particularly, his meeting with the strange creature that called itself "Pan". Denz suddenly remembered something he had missed before. "That changes a few things," he said.

A lone Jedi Starfighter hung motionless just outside the orbit of a dank planet. This planet was called Myrkyr. It was once the breeding ground of voxyn, monsters that hunted Jedi. It was the death place of Anakin Solo. A role model for all Jedi, Anakin had been selfless, brave, and responsible. Although still very young when he met his demise, Anakin had surpassed many older Jedi. In the end, however, to allow his comrades to escape, Anakin took his life with a thermal detonator -- along with several dozen Vong.

Cordell longed to be like Anakin in every sense except for the dead part. Anakin was remembered as a great hero for what he did on the planet Myrkyr. Maybe I can become a great hero here, and make up for what I've done, Cordell thought as he sat in the cockpit of the stolen Jedi Starfighter. He took a deep breath and set a course for the planet. He was determined not to fail.

Jyo had just finished explaining their predicament to Kam. As he sat back on the acceleration couch, Jyo prompted. "Well?"

Before Kam could answer, a transmission came through to his radio from the planet. He shut the radio off, folded his arms across his chest, and replied, "Count me in."

"Now before you say no, I…. Wait a minute! Did you just say, 'count me in'?"

Kam nodded, "I'm tired of this stinkin' cargo haulin' business. I wanna have some fun; go on an adventure. So wherever youse guys need to go, you can count on me."

"Wow! This couldn't have gone better if we had brainwashed you!" Todan exclaimed.

"What was that?"

Todan yelped as Zeek clocked him on the head. "Nothing, Kam. Just an annoying sound no one listens to."

Todan rubbed his head and grumbled something. "Be quiet for a second guys," Jyo said. "Let me concentrate." Jyo closed his eyes and searched for Cordell. He was surprised at how difficult it was to find him. Cordell was trying to hide himself, Jyo knew. After finding and losing him several times, Jyo pinpointed a location. He opened his eyes and told Kam, "Okay. I know where we need to go."

Kam smiled, "Just one second." He turned back to the controls for the radio and switched them on. Immediately he received a transmission from Jedron trying to hail him. "Tower, this is the Twilight Trekker," Kam answered. "I've decided to take a vacation. See y'all later!" Before the Tower could respond, Kam turned the radio back off. He rubbed his hands together as he turned back to the young Jedi and asked, "So! Where are we going?"

Cordell sat in the stolen Jedi Starfighter on the outskirts of Dryknar, a city on Myrkyr. He opened his eyes and smiled to himself. That ought to keep Jyo busy for a while. Cordell popped the hatch and climbed out of the ship. Hopefully long enough for me to make a name for myself on this planet.

As Cordell approached the rather dingy-looking city, he felt his shoulder holster again for his lightsaber. He breathed a sigh of relief to know he had it. He would be making good use of it very soon.

"Tatooine!"

Jyo nodded, "That's where I found him."

"Is your brother looking for trouble?" Kam asked incredulous.

"We don't know what he's looking for," Jyo shrugged.

"Are you thinking of backing out?" Zeek asked.

Kam shook his head fiercely, "No way! I'm still in. Hey, if you wanted me to take you to a Hutt planet, I would."

"So, can we go already?" Todan prodded.

"He's right." Kam agreed. "Time's awaistin'!" He turned to the controls and punched in the coordinates for their first hyperspace jump. While he did, Kam told the young Jedi to strap in. "Ready?" he asked, his hand poised over the throttle.

"One question." Todan spoke up.

Kam froze, his hand now on the lever.

"Do you have any cookies?" Todan finished.

"Todan!" Jyo and Zeek yelled in unison.

"What?"

"Enough!" Kam exclaimed, and he punched the throttle.

Stars became streaks of light, and streaks became a blanket of white that surrounded them as they shot into hyperspace.

Tay Norat'k awoke the next morning to find herself on the floor of the medical ward. She climbed slowly to her feet, but still got dizzy from the effort. Tay approached Salah, still perched in her chair, and tapped her on the shoulder.

Salah yawned as her eyes opened. "Good morning," Salah said drowsily.

Tay gave her a confused look.

Salah realized what she had said and tried to clarify, "Okay, under the circumstances, it may not be a very good morning."

Tay smiled, "You should head back to the Jome."

"Stupid question, but are you sure I can't help you with anything?"

The Twi'lek shook her head, causing her headtails to sway, "No, that's alright. Go and come back later. Let me know what's going on with everyone, okay?"

Salah grinned back at her, "You got it!"

After Salah had left, Tay went about performing menial tasks and checking readout after readout. Tay was so thorough that when she came across brain wave analyzer, she discovered something odd. The log that kept track of brain wave flux showed bursts of activity at regular intervals. Her curiosity aroused, Tay checked further back in the log. The same pattern continued for a ways before becoming one constant stream of activity.

Tay stepped back from the readout and looked at Denz, who still floated motionless in the bacta tank. What does this mean? She asked herself. Tay sat down to steady herself. "The mind should have been in a stasis," she said to herself. "It should have been resting; ready to go as soon as the body was."

Tay studied the brain wave readout again and decided that there was about ten minutes between each period of activity. She waited patiently until another such period appeared on the readout. When it did, she noted the time, and nine minutes from that time she stood about a foot away from the bacta tank, looking closely at Denz's face for any type of reaction that acted in coordination with the anomalies. Even the slightest twitch would prove that something was up. Tay waited; not taking her eyes off of Denz for a second for fear that she would miss the telltale sign.

After what Tay had estimated to be at least two minutes, she glanced at her chronometer. It had indeed been over a minute. Tay walked over to the brain wave analyzer, and, just like dozens of times before, there was an anomaly at the same time interval.

Tay came to two conclusions: either the equipment was malfunctioning, or something was going on so deep inside Denz's mind that it did not even reciprocate through his body.

Tay was determined to solve this herself. If she was to become a Jedi healer, she had to be able to figure things out on her own. Wait a minute! Jedi! The Force! That's it! She had been looking at this from a purely scientific point of view. Tay now realized that Denz's mind was somewhere beyond his body, operating through the Force. But for what purpose? Tay wondered.

Denz sat meditating. Having nothing better to do, he focused on Tay and what she was doing. She finally seemed to realize what was going on. Denz and she shared no Force connection, and he didn't even know her that well; otherwise he would have tried communicating with her.

He looked up. There, in the same spot, was the bright light, the point of escape. It was time again for him to try and reach it. He concentrated and urged himself forward. At first it did not seem like he was making any progress, but soon it became apparent that Denz was quickly approaching the light. Denz did not know what to expect when he reached it, so he closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Then he hit it and everything turned white.

The white became streaks and then stars as the Twilight Trekker dropped out of hyperspace above Tatooine.

"This should be some fun!" Kam hooted. "Ready boys?"

"Wait!" Jyo warned. "Something doesn't feel right." He closed his eyes for a moment, "Just as I feared. This was a diversion. Cordell isn't here at all."

"Great! Now what?" Todan wanted to know.

Jyo held up a finger and said with certainty, "We need to go to Duro." Jyo then held up his hands so no one would respond. He nodded to himself and lowered his hands.

"What was that all about?" Zeek asked.

"Yeah. Spill it guy." Kam agreed.

"Well, Cordell and I are so closely linked that we can pretty much tell what the other is thinking. All I had to do was convince Cordell that I thought he was somewhere he wasn't."

"So that means he's not really on Duro?"

"Bingo."

"Then where?" Todan said exasperated.

Jyo smiled. "Fortunately, Cordell isn't clever enough to make sure I really took the bait. Once he thought he convinced me, he stopped hiding himself."

"Enough with the suspense already!" Kam said. "So where is he?"

"It's actually quite obvious. He's gone to the grave of his hero."

"You don't mean…" Zeek started.

Jyo nodded, "Myrkyr."

Tay gasped and backed up against a wall of the medical ward. Denz's body had suddenly started to shake violently. He can't be waking up already! It's only been twenty-eight hours! She nervously told herself.

Tay was just about to call for assistance, when Denz just as suddenly became still again. The fright had knocked the wind out of her, and Tay found herself bent over, gasping for air. When she looked up, Tay noticed something different about Denz. More color had suddenly returned to his skin. She moved her gaze up to his face, and almost passed out when she saw him looking back at her.

"Let me out."

The request was muffled due to the breath mask, but it was still clear enough for Tay to hear and understand; but she could not move. She sat there on the floor gaping at what should have been an unconscious Jedi student in a bacta tank.

Denz's brow creased when she did not move. He frowned, and the bacta tank cracked and shattered, causing bacta to spill out and drench tables, chairs, equipment, and Tay. Denz stepped out of the ruined bacta tank, ripping off the breath mask as he did, and throwing on a robe. He stepped over to Tay and asked, "Where are my garments?"

Tay, still on the floor, did not respond. She merely pointed a shaking finger at a drawer. Denz rummaged around in the shredded clothing for a moment, and, without another word, left the medical ward.

Tay could handle no more. She finally gave in to her weak body and fainted. The last thing she remembered seeing was the serious look that seemed to have embedded itself on Denz's face.