Chapter Five
Plans for departure
Laden with their gear, Terell and Lana followed the others through the storm back to Stilmon's tavern. Keirdan, Bailen and Freya led them down to a large open drainage system. Lana paused and yelled over the storm to Terell.
"Are they crazy! Going down into the sewer system in this storm!"
"It's alright Lana," said Freya, who had stopped for them, looking thoroughly put out by the rain. "It's not a drain that's used anymore."
"Except by those who know what it really is," said Keirdan as he led the way inside.
"You're not worried by a little water are you?" Terell asked Lana.
"It's not the water that worries me. It's the thought of drowning," she replied, somewhat flippantly. "I'm rather fond of breathing."
"I won't let you drown," Terell chuckled. He took her hand and they followed after Keirdan.
"Famous last words my love," she mused dryly as they passed Bailen.
Creature peeked out from under the Corellian teen's jacket to see where they were and then shrieked in complaint and shook his head briskly when it was hit with the rain.
"Well, keep your head inside if you don't like getting wet," Bailen chuckled. Creature sneezed the rain from his nares and pulled his dampened head back under the jacket. The teen pulled it closer to his body as he brought up the rear of the group into the large drain.
The storm echoed off the empty drainage walls. Except for a little water, running down the center, it was fairly dry and easy to navigate in the darkness. Lightning momentarily lit the passageway, which seemed endless.
"Can you see anything?" Lana asked Freya over an echoing thunder clap when the light faded away.
"I'm as blind as you are," she said in answer, her echoing voice fading into the vast darkness.
"I've got it," said Terell and he pulled out the holosphere from his pack. With a touch from his remote it rose into the air and then hovered just ahead of them and emitted enough light for them to see where they were going.
"That's better, at least now we can see when we're going to drown," Lana smirked sarcastically. "How far into this mess do we have to go?"
"It's a little confusing at first," answered Keirdan, who pointed out the scatter of faintly lit guide lights they were coming up on along the bottom of the left wall just on the edge of the spheres illumination. "But if you look closely you'll see the way is marked."
"I see," said Lana and she followed after Terell along the maze of tunnels.
It would definitely be confusing for someone who didn't know their way to become lost in the drains network. Thanks to a map, that Keirdan kept checking, they found their way back through a small, barely noticeable unlocked door and into a separate underground access tunnel. The way was lit by very dim lights and from that point Keirdan stopped referring to his map. He followed instead the piping that spidered down the long damp hall until they came to another unlocked door. Keirdan held it open while Freya led the way next, down a dry tunnel system.
"It's a pretty good path," Terell commented as they came to a stop at a connecting junction.
"So far, but I'm not sure I like the idea that the doors are unlocked," said Lana, while Keirdan caught up to them and began examining the piping, apparently trying to remember which way they'd come when they first walked it. "Anyone could find their way in here and we'd never know it."
"Yeah I kind of had that same thought," replied Freya. "But then they'd really have to know these tunnels wouldn't they?"
"If there's one map then it stands to reason that there might be others," Lana wisely returned. "I'd feel safer if we had some kind of early warning system in place just in case."
If anyone, her comment made an impression on Bailen. He looked back down the tunnel at the door and a plan of defense formed in his head.
Creature once again poked his head out of Bailen's jacket and trilled at Lana. She reached over and tickled behind his damp ears, while waiting for Keirdan to decide which way was the right way back to Stilmon's tavern.
"Easy Creach, we'll be out of this soon," she soothed.
"It's this way," Keirdan finally said. He led the way about twenty paces and then turned left. The way was long and dark, but after passing several unassuming doors they finally stopped at the rungs of a ladder that led up thirty feet. "This is it," he announced and then started climbing.
They came out through a concealed trap door in the floor of Stilmon's secret room.
Terell pulled himself through the door after Keirdan and then turned to help Lana. "Well this doesn't look so bad," he said when he saw the hard look on her face.
She didn't give a reply, she just took his hand up, then walked around the spacious room and set her pack on the bed. She set her instrument down and started checking her things to make sure the rain hadn't damaged any of it. Terell followed after her, pulling the strap of his instrument over his head to prop it up against the bed.
The trap door closed with a hiss, which covered the sound of the false wall opening behind them.
"Relax, this place looks pretty secure and well hidden," Terell told her, putting his pack beside hers to do a visual check of his things.
"It's well hidden, I'll give it that," was Lana's skeptical reply.
"Well now that's the key to any good security system," said the gruff voice of the tavern owner from behind them. "Keep it hidden and then no one knows what to look for."
Both Lana and Terell spun around holding blasters that they'd pulled from their packs. Creature let out a savage hiss in alarm and tried to get out of Bailen's jacket to protect Lana. His cries were quickly stifled by both Bailen and Freya.
The Corellian teen gave a painful grimace when, in his struggles to get free, Creature's talon's raked across his stomach.
"Take him Freya," Bailen groaned, opening his jacket.
She grabbed Creature and held his beak securely closed, while Bailen checked his stomach. Much to the animal's great protests Freya would not let him go. "Calm down ya little terror, she doesn't need your protection right now."
"You need a hand with him Freya?" Keirdan casually asked as he went over and set his things against the far wall.
"I've got him," she told him. "But could you get my pack?"
Keirdan took her pack and moved to set it next to his. "You two can relax, he only looks mean," he said in passing to Terell and Lana as he walked behind them.
"I'm sorry, I forgot you guys are jumpy," Stilmon apologized while standing in the open concealed doorway of the wall. He showed Terell and Lana his empty hands and smiled, the effect greatly softened his normally hard features. "I'm not armed."
"Who are you?" questioned Terell suspiciously.
"Stilmon Tavers, this is my place," he answered, stepping into the room. "And you're Terell and Lana."
"Freya?" Lana called to her empathic friend for confirmation.
"It's okay guys he's the Stilmon that Ehker spoke of in his hologram," she assured.
"And where is your wife Maybs?" questioned Lana, glancing out the secret opening behind him.
As if on cue Maybs stepped in without looking, carrying a tray filled with drinks for them. Lana trained her blaster on her.
"I brought the drinks you asked for Stilmon," she said and then she froze when her eyes looked up and saw yet another weapon pointed at her. The surprise slid from her face and she looked angrily at her husband with an accusing inquiry, "Stilmon is this going to happen every time I come in here?"
"That depends on who you are," said Lana quite plainly.
"I-," began Maybs, bringing herself up to her full height, which was just at Lana's eye line, "-am his wife! And if you don't mind I'd really rather not be assaulted in my own place. We don't allow weapons in our tavern for a reason."
"If everyone will just relax we can get you all settled in here," said Stilmon, giving his wife a hard look.
She ignored him as she moved around Lana's blaster.
"They're nervous Maybs so you'll have to cut them some slack," he whispered seriously.
"They're nervous! " she echoed back in an infuriated whisper. She was highly annoyed with him for placing them in this new, very dangerous situation, "They're the ones who have the guns." She thrust the tray of drinks into his hands and snapped much louder, "Guns Stilmon, in our tavern!"
Lana finally lowered her weapon, disengaged the power cartridge and, to Maybs' great surprise, handed it over to her. "Here, I'll collect it before we leave."
Maybs held it as though she didn't know what to do with it. Stilmon set the drinks on the table in the room and then took the cartridge from her and handed it back to Lana.
"No, I wouldn't be doing right by Ehker to deprive you of your own protection. Besides you might need this before you leave."
"Heavens lets hope not!" Maybs exclaimed.
Lana smiled faintly, replaced the cartridge with a swift fluid motion and than placed the blaster back in her pack.
Terell too put his weapon away.
"Uh guys--" Bailen's worried voice captured the room. His face was very serious while he held his stomach. "Need a little help here."
Keirdan hastened to his brother's side and helped him to sit on the bed then took off his pack and removed his jacket. Terell, Lana and Freya all gathered round the brothers. Keirdan lifted Bailen's hands away from his injury and discovered three quick slashes in his shirt.
"And I just bought this shirt," Bailen complained, trying to cover his concern.
"How is he?" asked Lana worried.
"It doesn't look too bad," Keirdan calmly assured, then his face fell some when he pulled the bloodied shirt open. Two of the marks on Bailen's stomach were not very serious. It was the center slash that was cut deep enough to freely saturate the fabric of Bailen's shirt with blood.
"Creature you idiot!" Freya exclaimed when she saw the damage his struggles had fraught on the teen. She handed the animal off to Lana and called the small hand towel draped over Maybs' shoulder to her outstretched hand. Stilmon smiled at this, but it faded when he saw his wife flashed him an anxious furious look.
Freya bent down and held the towel to the young man's injury. "Keep pressure on it," she told him.
Bailen blushed and smiled at her concern. "It's not that bad Freya, he only nicked me," he said trying to play down his injury.
"Shut up kid and do as she says," Keirdan snapped. He looked urgently at Stilmon, "Do you have a medi kit in this place?"
"Maybs go fetch my old kit, it's upstairs, in the back of the bedroom closet," Stilmon said. Then he approached the Corellian teen to examine his wound. Freya looked suspiciously at him and did not move from her spot until he assured her. "It's okay, I used to do triage with the medical droids on the front lines during the last weeks of clone wars, course I was a lot younger then."
Freya moved to Bailen's right, while Stilmon assessed the three slashes.
"It's not bad, but this middle ones going to need liquid stitching," Stilmon informed them. "Take off your shirt son."
Terell put his arm around Lana when she leaned against him with a heavily relieved sigh.
"Creature don't you ever do that again," she scolded angrily.
The animal whined as though truly sorry for what he had done and then buried his head against her.
"Go easy on him," said Terell, reaching over and scratching the animal's head, "It's in his nature to want to protect you Lana, you know that."
She nodded but still gave Creature a hard look when he peered up at her.
Freya reassuringly took Bailen's hand and told him, "Don't look at this, look at me," after Maybs returned with the medi kit and Stilmon began cleaning his wounds.
Bailen for once did not blush while he stared into Freya eyes. She felt his interest in her building while she purposely held his attention away from his injury. He gripped her hand tight, squeezed his eyes shut and gritted his teeth when Stilmon applied the liquid stitches to the deep center slash. Bailen breathed hard through the brunt of the stinging, biting pain of his liquid bandage. When it passed he smiled at Freya with a sly grin that was more characteristic of his older brother.
"What?" she asked him curiously.
"Don't I get a kiss for being brave?" he inquired, charismatically bobbing his brow.
Freya gave him an appraising look. Her eyes traveled over his bare chest and a faint approving grin appeared at the corner of her pretty mouth. The eighteen year old's physique was indeed very appealing to her, still, though she didn't look it she was several years his senior. Bailen didn't blush under her inspection this time, at least not until after she leaned in and kissed the corner of his mouth with friendly affection.
"I'm beginning to feel left out here," Keirdan complained, feigning injury. He turned to Lana with a sly grin and leaned in, "Give us a kiss and make it even all around?"
"I don't think so, Slick," Lana returned, casually pushing him away. She then set Creature on the bed with a stern warning. "Now, you behave yourself."
"Well so what are we going to do now?" Freya asked, holding some bandages for Stilmon while he wrapped up a happily dazed Bailen. "I don't know if I can stand being sequestered in this room for ten days until someone comes for us."
Lana took a deep breath and then finally brought up something that none of her team members had picked up in their late captain's message. "Ehker said that his death automatically set off a prerecorded message for a pick up at this place and that if no one shows up in ten days, destroy the disc and disband." They all nodded. "Ehker died over three and a half weeks ago, so his ten day time limit has already passed us by."
"I'm sure he understood that it would take us time to reach Zirus five Lana," Terell suggested wisely then looked around at the others. "He most likely meant ten days from the time that we heard his message."
Keirdan turned to Stilmon with a question, "Did anyone come around asking for us before we showed up?" Stilmon shook his head as he finished up with Bailen. Keirdan looked back at Lana. "I think Terell's got a point."
"Okay, lets just say that you're right and we count the ten days from this day. That still leaves us with the problem of how to get back to the Alliance without our escorts ride if no one shows up." She looked around at her team. "I don't know about any of you but I don't know where the Alliance is right now. That information died with Ehker. So I'm open to suggestions."
"I'll work on getting us a ship," Keirdan said.
"And I'll look into charting passage off this rock just in case there is no ship to be had," Terell volunteered.
Stilmon stepped away from their conversation after seeing his wife's worried expression. "Maybs hun, you don't have to be in here for this if it makes you nervous." He kissed her sweetly and walked her to the door. "Go up front and make sure Philks isn't making a mess with his cleaning."
Maybs didn't like being ushered out but she didn't complain as it got her away from the reality of the danger that had landed in their laps.
When the wall closed back up Stilmon returned to the conversation in time to catch Freya saying, "I think we can risk sending a message to the Alliance at their last known position just to get a location and let them know that we're here."
Lana shook her head, in disagreement. "Zirus Five may be an out of the way little moon, but it's still close enough to the interior of the Empire to warrant a look in this direction if they pick up any suspicious signals."
"I already sent out a short blip, on a coded channel," Stilmon interrupted. He then pulled out an old scrap of folded up paper and handed it to Lana. "It's the coordinates to one section of the Alliance. This is their last known whereabouts."
Lana looked at it and thought that he must have made a mistake. No human could survive on such a cold planet.
Terell read over her shoulder and then shook his head.
"Hoth base was destroyed over six months ago by the Empire."
Lana and everyone looked at him in surprise. "This is real?" she asked him dubiously.
"I didn't know we had a base on Hoth," said Keirdan. "How did you know about it?"
Terell gave the Corellian a knowledgeable look, placed his arm pointedly around Lana again and replied quite simply, "Do you really think that I'm not going to know where Alderaan's last surviving royal is?"
"Point taken," said Keirdan, fully understanding his meaning. "Well--so where is this Princess of yours now?"
Terell frowned some, "Ehker only told me that someone got her off Hoth."
Lana sighed in disappointment. "Okay so that still leaves us with a problem."
"I've got a ship you can use," Stilmon interjected. Everyone's focus fell on the old tavern owner and he hastily added, "I'd really rather not lose her, but if no one comes or you're discovered then she's yours."
"What's the condition of your ship?" Terell asked, "Can she attain hyperspace?"
"She's an old girl but she'll get you back to the Alliance," he answered then gestured from him to Keirdan, "I can take you two to her hanger whenever you like."
Keirdan turned to Lana, "If there's anything that needs work we'll take care of it."
She gave an agreeing nod, then looked at Bailen when he and Freya stood. "How are you doing?"
"I'm alright, Boss," he answered. "What do you want Freya and me to do?"
"That passageway leading here needs some patrolling, just to make sure no one sneaks up on us," she said. "You and Freya can take it in turns--"
"That passageway is quite safe from outside detection," Stilmon interrupted again. "No one currently on Zirus Five even knows it exists outside of you five, myself and Maybs."
"That may be the case, but we still need to walk it a couple of times until everyone remembers it," said Lana matter-of-factly. "As for me, I've got a few of Ehker's belongings, maybe there's something in them that will tell us where to find the Alliance."
Lana took a pregnant pause here as though the idea of going through their deceased Captain's things was not something she was looking forward to.
Terell addressed the group next.
"Alright we have ten days to prepare for and we all have something to do in the meantime so let's get to it. And let's not forget that someone out there knows what we have. Stay sharp and don't take any unnecessary chances, Freya this means you most of all. No more using your gifts unless there is no other way."
"I hope that you plan on following that same advice," said Freya in pointed return.
Terell smiled faintly, "I'll do the same."
Keirdan gave a yawn and glanced at the timepiece on the wall. "It's too late to do anything right now. We'll get a fresh start in the morning. Hopefully the storm will have passed by then."
"Yeah I don't fancy going back out in that downpour," Bailen agreed. "I call the shower first."
On this the others began moving to get settled in.
Stilmon pointed to an unassuming side door as he turned to depart. "There's a secondary room through that door with a few more beds." He paused in the wall exit. "I'll wake you up early."
Keirdan, Bailen and Terell naturally all picked up their gear and headed for the other room, but to everyone's surprise Lana called the Alderaanian back to her. She looked at Freya, who understood and picked up her own pack and followed the brothers into the other room to bunk with them.
Terell heard the door to the room close behind him while he looked with concern at Lana. He dropped his pack and held her close when she stepped forward and wrapped her arms around him. Her body was trembling.
"What is it?" he asked apprehensively.
"You know I haven't been sleeping well," she said, holding him tight. "I'm no good to this team if I can't get some rest so I can think straight."
He silently agreed with her. "What do you want me to do?"
Lana took a long pause before she told him. "I want you to stay with me tonight. I want you to hold me in your arms so I know that this is real and not a dream."
"You want me to keep the man in your nightmares away," Terell wisely guessed.
"Yes," she answered in a quivering whisper.
"What is it about him that scares you so much? What happens in your dream?"
"He comes after us," she fearfully admitted. "And when he does. . . I don't want to lose you."
Terell sighed and then moved her to the bed to sit down with her. He wiped away the fearful tears that had formed in her eyes. He'd only ever seen her openly cry once before, after she'd killed Ehker. Wanting to relieve her worried mind he gently soothed. "Lana perhaps your misreading this man in your dreams. Whoever he is, maybe he's coming to help us."
"I don't know if he's real," she said remembering the presence that had woken her up earlier in the day. She shivered and could not keep the subtle foreboding from her eyes as she met her loves concerned gaze. "All I know is that he's dangerous."
Her fearful warning was not lost on Terell. He was struck with the sudden thought that whoever he was, good or bad, his arrival, if real, would bring an end to their life in Rogue's Gambit. Terell gently brushed Lana's long bangs behind her ear and soothed, "Don't think about it anymore."
He pulled her into his arms and kissed her forehead. "Let's talk about something else."
"I love you," Lana whispered.
Terell smiled. "That's a much better subject."
He moved her dark brown hair off her shoulder and softly kissed the nape of her neck. She leaned her head to the side soliciting more from him. He indulged her and gently pulled back her shirt collar. His lips slowly grazed her sensitive flesh, raising goose bumps along the path.
Carried away by his tender advance Lana's hands began working the buttons on his shirt. She pulled it open and then drew away to caress his bare chest and follow the path with her own soft kisses.
Glorious anticipation capture Terell when Lana drew herself away to the center of the bed with a come hither glint in her eyes and an captivating bob of her brow. He happily followed her lead and leaned over her. His body shivered as he met her passionate kiss and lowered her to the bed. He felt like he never wanted to be anywhere else but where he was right now, engrossed in her affectionate encouraging embrace. By the look in Lana's enticing gaze he knew that she felt his desire for her as his body press down on her. Color lightly touched his face when she smiled at him and raised her hips up to press against his desire.
Wild butterflies took flight once more in Lana's heart when Terell's calloused fingers turned to velvet in a touch as they tenderly glided over her curves. The love she felt in his devoted caresses made her forget every worry and think of nothing but him. She wanted no one else but him.
Her emotions for him and his for her filled the room with a warmth that radiated outward. The two were losing themselves to their rising passion for one another and forgetting all else. Until a mild disruption washed over Terell and he remembered the empath in the other room. He stiffened some. Knowing that Freya could feel what he and Lana were involved in right at that moment was more than a little disconcerting.
"What?" Lana asked when he pulled back from her kiss.
"Freya," was all he had to say for her to understand.
"Forget her." Lana smiled and sweetly assured him, "She only told me to pull back my guard."
Terell shook his head and told her, "I don't want you to have to hold anything back when your with me."
"I don't plan on holding anything back," she replied, pulling him to her grinning lips.
"She can sense what were doing," he said after parting from her kiss.
Lana stiffened ever so slightly under him, understanding his sudden disconcerted mood. Still she did not want his advance to stall completely. "So," she said casually, "she knows how we feel about each other."
Terell removed his hand from her breast and moved off her to lay beside her. He carefully studied her while he caressed her cheek and expressed a heartfelt confession. "The things I want to do with you Lana, I don't want to share with anyone else. I can wait a little longer, when Freya isn't in the next room."
Lana was touched by his honesty, which took her voice from her. All she could do was kiss the palm of his hand in response.
He smiled at her and then he told her of his dreams and wishes for their future. They discussed where they might go after delivering their precious coded plans to the Alliance. The topic came to a close when a deep yawn captured Lana.
"We can talk about this later," Terell soothed after she insisted that she wasn't tired.
"I don't want to loose this time with you Terell."
"You asked me to help you sleep," he reminded her gently. He continued to caress her face, relaxing her with his caring touch. "Close your eyes."
She did and then complained, "I can't sleep."
"Shh," he whispered and then set a finger to her lips, stopping her from speaking. She looked up at him as he soothed, "Just relax."
She closed her eyes and felt contentment just lying next to him.
Terell was happy watching her while he lightly ran his fingertips over the contours of her face and arm. He laid his head down on the pillow next to hers and began softly singing in her ear. The sound of his tender voice and the feel of his soothing caress along her arm helped to relax her.
Soon Lana was falling into a light doze. The last thing she remembered hearing before sleep took her completely away was Terell humming the tune that he had been playing with in their abandoned hotel room.
Terell continued to hum the song he was writing for her after he realized that she had finally fallen asleep. He glanced down, to the end of the bed, to where Creature sat preening himself. Lana's little guardian had witnessed everything and had not a care in the world for their closeness. Terell wrapped his arm around Lana and held her close and was glad that for once he did not have to sleep alone. He lay awake listening to his girlfriend's peaceful breathing. A part of him hoped that her nightmare was just that and not a possible vision of what was to come for them.
Morning on Zirus five came faster than anyone in Rogue's Gambit had expected. It seemed that Terell and Lana had only just closed there eyes when Creature's growling hiss woke them to the arrival of Stilmon's promised wake up call.
The man stood against the wall, holding a tray full of breakfast pastries and a large tankard of a hot drink. He remained very still, against the closed wall entrance, looking down at Creature who was in front of him growling protectively. Terell's eyes sprang open when he heard this and he lifted up on an elbow to look over Lana at the animal.
"Creature come-by," he ordered sharply.
The animal backed down a step, but then as soon as Stilmon tried to move he went back on the defensive.
"Don't move Stilmon," Terell cautioned, then he called to Creature again.
The animal ignored him this time. His wings were spread out in a wide menacing display, his head held low with his piercing light blue stare focused predatorily on the old tavern owner. He snapped and then hissed in warning.
"Easy boy," Stilmon soothed, trying to keep his voice calm. "I'm not here to hurt anyone. I just brought breakfast."
Lana laid on her right side in the bed, leaning against Terell and did not want to open her eyes. For once in a long time, since just before Ehker's death, she had a pleasantly wonderful sleep. Terell's comforting arms had indeed kept the nightmarish images of the man in black at bay. For a moment she pretended that they were an ordinary couple, ignorant of the struggle between the Empire and the Rebel Alliance, that they were newly married and Stilmon was only a bellhop bringing them their meal so that they wouldn't have to leave the comfort of their bed. Lana only had one wish, that she and Terell could have finished what their friends had interrupted the day before.
"Call him off Lana," Terell told her, knowing that she was awake.
She frowned slightly, her pleasant fantasy had been interrupted.
"Come-by Creach," she groaned in a sleepy voice.
The animal turned and flew back to the end of the bed, where he resumed his defensive posturing. His challenging focus never left Stilmon as the man relaxed and stepped forward. Creature's low warning growls followed the man's every move.
Terell leaned over and kissed Lana, who smiled, before he got up from the bed and stretched. "It's okay Creach," he tickled the animal behind the ears, "She's awake now, you can relax."
Lana took Terell's pillow and breathed in his lingering scent. She hugged it and threw out a muffled complaint. "She doesn't want to be."
Only then did Creature revert to a more docile mood. He trilled at Lana and rubbed his head on her leg before he plopped himself down in front of her, purring contentedly.
Terell rebuttoned his shirt with a small grin.
The door to the other room opened and Keirdan and Bailen came out, fully prepared for the day.
"Freya still asleep?" Terell asked.
"She's in the shower," answered Keirdan as he selected a pastry off the tray that Stilmon had brought with him. He took the mug that the old man offered him and then glanced at Lana, still in the clothes she'd been wearing the day before. Keirdan turned his inspection on Terell and realized that the two had both fallen asleep without changing out of their clothing. "You spent the night with her fully dressed?" he teased. After a second, he glanced back at Lana and then seriously whispered, "How could you pass that up?"
The Alderanian gave him a mild look. "Because I, unlike you, think with this head," he replied, tapping his temple. Terell selected some food from Stilmon's tray and took it back to the night stand next to the bed.
Bailen, who'd heard Terell's comment, actually blushed. He turned away to select a pastry while trying to keep from laughing at his brother's expense.
"What are you snickering at?" Keirdan asked when Bailen looked at him and partially lost his composure.
"Nothing," he replied, straining not to laugh openly. The teen elbowed his brother in the ribs with a jeering, "He gotcha again."
"What's so amusing?" asked Freya when she came out of the other room, fully dressed.
Bailen snickered. "Keirdan's pride just went down another notch."
"Really," she threw a conspicuous inspection at the zipper of Keirdan's Corellian pants, "Well now I can hear the ladies lamenting their loss."
Keirdan looked completely stunned by Freya's casual comment, it was so unlike her. Bailen, struck by surprise, crammed the pastry in his hand into his mouth. He started coughing, feigning choking to cover his mirth. Keirdan was automatically distracted by this and started patting his brother on the back to help him.
"I'm sure it won't disappoint them too much," Terell casually teased as he returned to get drinks for himself and Lana.
"Hey, I've left many a lady singing my praises," Keirdan said somewhat defensively, patting Bailen a little harder than he had intended.
Bailen stumbled forward, swallowed the piece in his mouth whole and then gasped for real.
"Yeah and how many children have you sired as a result?" Freya asked, taking a pointed little dig.
Keirdan opened his mouth to answer and then paused as he did a quick run through in his head of the women he'd been with and then confidently said, "None."
Stilmon smiled to himself. He liked Ehker's little five band team very much and would be sorry to see them leave in ten days time.
Terell chuckled at his friend and sat on the bed next to Lana with her breakfast. "Come on sweetheart, it's time to get up."
Lana frowned, she really did not want to face the day. She was enjoying listening to her friends playful bantering. Still there was work to be done. She rolled onto her back and stretched, then gazed up at him with a pleasant smile, which he returned.
"How'd you sleep?" he asked her tenderly.
"Good," she answered sweetly, then sat up and kissed him with deep affection. He stared at her when she drew away with a playful grin and whispered, "It would have been a hundred times better though without our clothes on."
"Maybe next time," he grinned, with a mild flush on his face. "I still have to go with Keirdan to look over Stilmon's ship."
Lana, suddenly struck by a feeling of foreboding, took a hold of his arm. "I want you to stay here. . ." She nodded when he gave her a disagreeable look. ". . With me."
"I can't," he said, almost apologetically, "I have things to do."
She shook her head and told him in a low whisper, "Keirdan can do the assessment on Stilmon's ship on his own."
"It'll go faster with two--" Terell started, but Lana cut him off.
"Freya you go with Keirdan this morning," she said, changing her previous plans for the team.
"What? Lana--" Terell protested, but she continued to speak over him.
"If there's a problem with the ship that need's Terell's attention, then you can let me know and I'll send him along."
"I thought you wanted me to patrol the passageway with Bailen?" said Freya, curiously questioning her friend's sudden mood swing to nervousness. She openly frowned when Lana pulled back her emotional shield, which effectively blocked her out.
"I can do it on my own," Bailen insisted at once.
"You can't walk it alone, you might get lost," Keirdan said with a shake of his head.
"I'll take Creature with me, he can follow our scent from yesterday," Bailen suggested. "And he can protect me from those sewer rats we saw running around in there."
"It's settled then," Lana agreed, finally looking at Terell, who's expression was not happy. "You can help me go through Ehker's things."
"Lana, I know you're worried bu--" Terell started.
She looked deep into his eyes with a simple heartfelt request. "Please---for me."
"Alright," he finally agreed. Her relieved smile eased his unhappy mood. Still he sat back, after she kissed him again and curiously watched her get up to go visit the bathroom.
When she disappeared in the other room, Freya turned a hard inspection on him.
"What was that all about?" Keirdan asked, naturally looking to the empath for the answer.
Freya shrugged. "She just blocked me again," she replied, then folded her arms and threw out a suspicious inquiry, "You want to tell me why she keeps doing that, Terell?"
He looked at them and considered explaining about Lana's nightmares. Though the Corellian had not been visited by the man in her dreams, he felt sure that he had.
Terell's sleep had been filled with disturbing images of his friends in peril. Amid the chaos was the faint presence that he had felt in their room at the Binary. It hovered around an injured Lana as it did in their room and then finally faintly appeared behind her dressed in black while she stood beaten and alone. The mysterious man pulled her out of deaths way and draped her arm over his shoulder for support. She looked at him in angry surprise and then quite unexpectedly kissed him. Terell found his heart pounding in his chest with concern over what that dream might mean. He wondered if Lana had had similar dreams of the man.
Freya cleared her throat and regained his attention.
The expectant look on the empath's face told Terell that she was waiting for an answer. He gave a casual shrug after remembering his promise to Lana, not to tell the others of her nightmare. "Your guess is as good as mine," he finally said.
"Mm-hmm," Freya replied skeptically, clearly unconvinced by his answer. She glanced at Bailen, who was apparently unconcerned with the new arrangements. In fact he, out of everyone, seemed quite happy with the change of plans. "You don't have a problem with this?"
"Nope," he smiled, finishing his second pastry. "Well, I'm full. Come on Creach we might as well get right on it."
Creature perked up and trilled at him questioningly. Bailen went to the trap door and hit the switch that opened it. He climbed in and then stuck his head back out to call to the animal again. "Come on Creach I don't have all day."
With a quick jump and a flash of wings, Creature flew into the trap door after the young man. Keirdan bent down, grabbed Bailen by his shirt collar and dragged his upper body back out of the opening.
"Keirdan what are you doing?" Bailen complained. "Get off me!"
"Shut up and listen to me," he said and this time there was no humor in his voice. Bailen met his serious gaze. "You remember what Terell said and don't do anything crazy while you're down there. If you see anything suspious-- anything, you come back here immediately, understood?"
"Yeah, but nothing's going to--"
"I mean it little bro," said Keirdan interrupting Bailen's comment with a deadpan expression, "No taking chances."
"I gotcha," Bailen assured him. "Ya know, it's not like I've ever done anything like this without you before."
"Yeah I know," he said on a much lighter note, after he realized his softer side was showing again. He released his brother's collar and tried to play it off. "It's just that Mom'll kill me if anythings happens to you."
"Gee thanks Keirdan," Bailen teased, with a dry grin, "do you want to wipe my nose while your at it?" He quickly ducked his head back into the opening, letting his body slide down the ladder a bit.
"I'll kick your tail," Keirdan promised, grabbing for him again. "You're not too big for that you know."
"Yeah, yeah, you can change my diaper when I get back," was Bailen's carelessly reply as he descended the ladder.
Keirdan looked back at Stilmon with a worried inquiry, "What's down there?"
"Just the sewer rats," answered the tavern owner honestly, "And with Creature down there with him, well I'm feeling sorry for the rats, if you know what I mean."
"He'll be alright," Freya assured, bending down next to him, after feeling his worried concern for his brother.
"I know, it's just that I've got a real bad feeling about him being down there alone," he replied earnestly.
Freya, suddenly touched by his confession, did something that took both Keirdan and Terell by surprise. She yelled a warning of her own down to the youth.
Her serious caution of, 'watch your back,' echoed eerily off the tunnel walls and followed Bailen down the ladder to ground level. It was followed by another call to Creature, who answered her with a cry of acknowledgment. 'Bring him back safe, Creach.'
The Corellian teen looked up at her concerned face and smiled. "I'll be fine and I'll be back before you are," he told her confidently, then shouted a warning of his own to his brother as the trap door began to close. "Take care of her Keirdan."
Bailen stood for a while, in almost complete darkness, letting his eyes get accustomed to the dimness. He whistled for Creature and it echoed off the walls from every direction, as did the animal's answering reply.
"Hey, come back here," he yelled and then listened to his bouncing echo dissipate into the darkness. Creature returned with such stealth that Bailen jumped and flattened himself against the wall when the animal rubbed against his leg and trilled up at him.
"Don't do that Creach," he said after his heart started again. He bent down and offered his arm to the animal as a perch. With his eyes finally adjusted to the dark he started down the passage talking softly to Creature so his voice wouldn't echo. "We'll just keep that to ourselves shell we?"
Creature gave a clearly questioning trill and tapped Bailen's bandaged stomach with his prehensile tail.
The young man's casual smile was lost in the darkness while he answered as though he understood the animal. "I'm alright ya little pest. You didn't hurt me that much."
In relief Creature climbed onto his shoulders and draped himself casually across them.
"Hey, no sleeping," Bailen told him. "I can hardly see anything and I have no idea where I'm going. So you're going to have to show me the way out and then back in again, understand?"
Creature nodded and then tapped the Corellian's right shoulder with his tail, indicating a change in direction.
Bailen turned right and kept going, watching and following the pipes and then the dimmed lights on the ground. He counted his steps from one unlocked door to the next and walked them a couple of times until his got the number of his steps down in his head, even at a fast walk.