Hearts Are Meant To: Chapter 13
Disclaimers: All of the usual disclaimers apply.
A big "Thank You" goes out to all of you reviewers and readers out there! For those of you that have read this story before, I've made some serious changes to the previous version that I hope you will enjoy. And now, on with the show:
"NO!"
Luke bolted awake at the sound of his own hoarse cry. Gasping for breath, he struggled to get a complete grasp on consciousness. He was sitting up on his bunk, panting and bathed in a cold sweat. Something had terrified him and pulled him back to wakefulness abruptly. But whatever it had been, he couldn't identify it.
A sound broke into his puzzlement. Someone was pounding on the door.
Trying to pull himself together, he strode to the door. He took a deep breath and tried to slow his racing heart. Standing in front of the door, he palmed it open with a deliberate calm, trying to appear steadier than he felt.
Genna's concerned face appeared in the doorway. "You okay?" she asked worriedly. "I was on my way here, and I heard you cry out. Mynock-spit, you look like hell!"
Luke self-consciously ran a hand through his hair, and it came away damp. He could feel the cool air against his sweat-soaked skin and he shivered. "I'm okay," he replied dismissively, knowing full well that only a dewback-brain would believe him.
"Nightmare?" Genna pressed.
Luke shook his head. "I'm not sure. Probably. It's nothing."
Genna continued to eye him dubiously. "You sure?"
"Yeah," he answered, trying to give her his most reassuring smile. He knew she probably didn't buy it.
Whether she did or not became irrelevant as she blurted, "Well, never mind that. 'Cause we're late."
"What?"
"I overslept," she explained, an apologetic look crossing her face. "Apparently, I was more sleepy than I initially thought, and I slept right through my alarm."
Luke groaned, looking around the room for his helmet and gear. He'd slept in his flightsuit, practically falling asleep before he even reached the bunk, so he didn't have that to worry about. Still, "How late?"
"We're set to pull out of hyperspace in fifteen minutes," she replied.
"Shavit!" Luke quickly grabbed his things and hustled her out the door. "Let's run."
The two of them sprinted quickly down the corridor, Luke clutching his gear tightly as he ran. The exercise burned off whatever lingering effects had remained from the dream he'd had, and he felt fully alert and ready for action when they entered the hangar. Of course, that didn't stop him from colliding with an officer in his hurry.
The impact sent the officer and Luke's helmet tumbling to the floor. Luke quickly swore and moved to help the officer back up. "I'm terribly sorry," he apologized. "You all right?"
The officer nodded, obviously in a bit of discomfort. He wheezed, "Just got the wind knocked out of me."
"I'm so sorry," Luke repeated, helping him up. "I wasn't looking where I was going."
"That's okay," the officer grunted with an expression that rested somewhere between a smile and a grimace.
Luke heard Genna's sharp intake of breath the moment the officer looked up at them, and he glanced back at her.
"Well, I guess we just keep running into each other, don't we?" she asked.
Luke was puzzled. "You know him?" He looked back at the officer, but he couldn't place the face anywhere in his memory.
"He helped me get you to the medcenter during your little allergy spell," Genna explained. "Luke, this is uh . . .Grey, was it?"
"Yes," the man answered with a smile. He gave Luke a salute. "Commander Skywalker, it's good to see you conscious."
Luke forced a weak grin. "Yeah, well, thanks," he muttered, trying to be polite but really not feeling it. Something was wrong. There was a nagging feeling he couldn't put his finger on. "Uh, as much as I'd like to talk, I've really got to start up the pre-flight sequence on the Headhunter. You know how temperamental they can be." He knew it was a lame excuse, but it was also the truth. With a nod to Grey, Luke headed toward the docked ships and the group of Rogues standing nearby.
"Ah, he decided to show up!" Wedge cried, seeing his approach.
"And notice, he does not come alone," added Wes with a sly wink.
A series of whistles greeted Wes's comment, and Luke groaned.
"Ease up, guys," Genna laughed from behind him. "Your esteemed leader doesn't know how to work a chrono alarm, so I had to wake him up for you. Didn't want you boys flyin' alone out there."
Hobbie gave her a skeptical look. "And where were you, Cage, while he was asleep?"
Luke turned a sharp glance at Genna, wondering what her possible response would be. It was as bad as he'd feared.
With a coy smile she replied, "Wouldn't you boys love to know?"
Luke could feel his cheeks redden as a series of hoots, hollers, and whistles responded to her comment. He knew this wouldn't die down quickly.
Tycho yawned. "You know, I'm kinda sleepy myself. Mind waking me up in ten minutes, Cage?" he laughed.
"All right, boys," Luke broke in, an uncharacteristic and annoying squeak entering his voice as he spoke, "that's enough. In case you haven't noticed, we're supposed to be flyin' a mission in less than ten minutes."
"Sure thing, boss," Wedge nodded with a grin. "But, don't think you're getting out of this that easily."
Luke laughed, easing his embarrassment a little. "Is that a threat?"
"Just wait 'til we get docked again, Boss Wanna-Be!" he crowed as he moved toward his ship.
Suddenly the ground seemed to shift beneath his feet as Luke felt a tingling sensation at the back of his neck. His stomach lurched and he seemed to be watching Wedge's departure in slow motion. His vision blurred, and he almost swore he suddenly saw his friend lying dead at his feet. In response, his stomach rolled and his knees started to tremble, threatening to pitch him to the ground in short order. Suddenly, there was a vice-like grip on his forearms.
"Luke! Luke! Snap out of it!" a voice was shouting.
Luke brought his vision back into focus to see Genna standing in front of him, a look of sheer terror on her face as she held onto him. He blinked at her, reality-bound once more. He didn't know what had just happened. Whatever it was, it wasn't good.
"Something's wrong," he croaked. His voice wasn't cooperating.
"No kidding," Genna responded tensely. "I thought you were gonna pass out on me. What the blazes is wrong with you?"
Luke looked away from her, glancing around at the hangar. The rest of the Rogues were climbing into their ships, while he and Genna just stood there. For some strange reason, he inexplicably felt that he was doing the right thing by standing there, instead of getting into his own craft. Something was terribly wrong about the mission.
"I've got to stop them," he whispered.
"Stop who?" Genna demanded. "Luke, you're scaring me."
He looked back at her, sudden desperation coursing through him. "The mission," he blurted. "It's all wrong. Something's going to happen. We can't go out there."
She paled. "The Force?" she whispered hoarsely, the words seemingly uttered in reluctance.
"I don't know," Luke answered truthfully. He looked around frantically. He spotted Grey a few feet away looking puzzled. Desperate to do something, he ran over to him.
"Contact Commander Laire," he ordered the man. "We have to abort."
"What?" Grey's puzzlement seemed to double.
Genna was beside him in a heartbeat, grabbing his arm. "Luke, are you out of your mind?"
Luke's heart was pounding, as he knew time was running out. He had to convince her. "The dream. Maybe it wasn't a dream. Maybe it was a vision. I don't know. It's just . . ." he faltered, realizing how crazy his sounded. "Something is going to happen." His gaze shifted to fall on Grey, and Luke thought he saw a glint of something strange in the man's eye. In a flash it was gone, leaving Luke to wonder if he actually was going insane. He looked back at Genna. "Genna, please. Believe me."
For a pregnant moment, Genna only stared back at him, doubt written across her features. Then she spoke, "I have an idea. Luke, take my ship, and I'll take yours."
This time, it was Luke's turn to be puzzled. "What?"
"The established scenario has been that I take my X-wing into the battle with you and the Rogues flying the Headhunters. If you take my ship, maybe the scenario will be shifted enough to prevent your vision from happening. Or something like that." She finished, staring at him expectantly.
Luke shook his head. "Genna, I don't know how these things work. I don't know . . ."
She narrowed her eyes and spoke sharply, "Well, it's either that or a court martial! 'Cause you've got no way of explaining this whole 'feeling' of yours, do you? And if you refuse to fly, that's what you'll be looking at! And we don't have time to mess around!"
As the true weight behind her words settled in his mind, Luke could only nod in acceptance. She was right, he knew. He didn't feel better about it, but she was right. And if anything did happen, he'd be better able to help matters out there than alone in the hangar. In resignation, he squeezed her shoulder and spoke to Grey, "Inform Commander Laire of the change." Without waiting for the other man's response, he gave one last look at Genna before heading toward her X-wing.
"She's all ready to go, sir," a waiting tech informed him."
Luke only nodded, looking at the astromech with the green dome peeking out of the top of the ship. How he wished to be in his own X-wing, with Artoo. Shaking his head to dismiss the thoughts and his feelings of apprehension, he climbed aboard. He quickly ran through his pre-flight checks, glancing out the canopy as he did so. He saw Genna give him a slight salute as she climbed aboard his Z-95, and he forced a smile and a wave, not knowing if she could see him.
As he prepared to launch, all he could do was pray that the feelings of dread that were now coursing through him were unfounded. He knew, however, that the chances of that were highly unlikely.
*********
"There's nothing out here," Wedge's voice spoke through the comm.
Genna had to agree. Since they'd dropped out of hyperspace, the only thing that had been there to greet them was the "nothing" that Wedge had mentioned. Although unexpected, it was reassuring. After all, with all of Luke's carrying on, Genna had been more than a little tense and anxious about this mission herself. Although she hated getting worked up over nothing, it certainly beat the alternative.
"I say we wait a few more minutes, and then we head back to the cruiser and get out of here," Luke instructed.
"I'll second that," Genna remarked staring out at the stars that twinkled through the transparisteel canopy. Her eyes darted to the X-wing floating above her. She smiled. Maybe her plan had worked.
"I hate waiting," she heard one of the Rogues grumble.
Luke's laugh rippled through the comm. Even without seeing him, Genna could hear the slight tension in that laugh. It wasn't his usual. She stiffened and shook her head. Since when had she become so interested in what his laugh sounded like? And why had she even noticed? His voice brought her out of her irritating line of questions.
"Have a little patience, boys."
This time it was Zev's turn to laugh. "You're certainly one to talk. Eh, Boss?"
"Since when have you ever been patient, Luke?" Wes agreed.
"Since right now," Luke replied. "I'd rather be waiting here than fighting Imperial ships at the moment."
"Whoa," gasped Wedge in mock alarm. "Where's Luke and what have you done to our Boss?"
Luke gave another tense laugh, one that made Genna feel more worried. Was he anticipating something? Had he somehow managed to sense something through the Force? She shuddered involuntarily. The whole idea of the Force still made her horribly uneasy. It just wasn't right, not when you saw how dangerous it could become. And Luke, well, Luke was so honest, so kind, so . . . so good. What if his power somehow corrupted him? She shook her head, trying not to think about it. She didn't need to be distracted right now.
She kept eyeing her scopes, making sure something wasn't sneaking up on them from somewhere unexpected. But each time she checked, it was the same. Nothing.
"Looks like we got a no-show, Boss," Tycho said.
Silence followed for several seconds, as Genna waited for Luke's orders.
At last, he sighed. "I agree, Celchu. But something doesn't feel right about this."
"Yeah," agreed Wes. "Like why we're out here in the first place."
Genna nodded silently. Sitting out in space like this, she had to agree that something seemed terribly wrong about this whole situation. Her experience with the Empire only heightened the sense of impending danger. After all, Imperial jumps were well-organized endeavors. Unless they had prior knowledge of the Rebel's plan to intercept, they should be here. Glancing back up at her X-wing, another possibility came to mind; the whole thing felt like someone had thrown a hydrospanner into a well-oiled machine. She shivered at the thought, for it would mean only one thing.
"Rogues, Cage," Luke's voice broke into her thoughts, "take your ships back to the cruiser."
"What about you?" Genna asked, a bit too abruptly.
"I'll follow you in after one last sweep," he replied. "That way, Laire can't say I didn't do my job."
"You want any of us to stay behind with you?" she heard Wedge ask.
"No," was Luke's answer. "Your ships don't have hyperdrives, and I want you all aboard the cruiser in case we have to make a quick jump."
"But, Boss," Wes started to protest.
"That's an order, Janson," Luke said sharply, cutting him off. "There was supposed to be one Imperial ship out here, and instead there's nothing. That means, we have no idea what could pop out of hyperspace, if anything at all. I don't think it's a good idea for a handful of Headhunters to take on a couple squadrons of TIEs without a chance of escape."
"So then why should you stay behind?" Genna argued.
"Because Laire ordered us out here, and I'm not about to disobey orders, Cage."
She swallowed hard. She knew he was reminding her of her little speech about the possible repercussions of such actions, and she didn't like her own arguments tossed back at her. "But aren't you sending us back to she ship?"
"I am," he countered, tension evident in his voice. "It's not disobedience. I'd like to think of it as a loose interpretation."
"Laire will have your hide, Luke!" Wedge warned.
"Better that than a dead squadron," Luke countered with a growl. "Now go!"
Silence followed, while the Rogues pondered the situation. Genna's heartbeat thudded in her ears as she bit her lip, struggling to decide which way to go.
Tycho broke in. "You heard the man," he said grimly. "Let's head on in, Rogues."
Genna watched as the Rogues reluctantly turned their ships around one by one and headed back to the cruiser.
"And Renegade," Tycho added, seeing Genna's hesitation.
Feeling torn, but knowing she had no choice, Genna turned her ship around headed for the hangar bay. As the flew, she tried to keep an eye on her scopes, making sure nothing entered realspace while she wasn't looking. She wasn't sure why she was so apprehensive. "Must be Luke's jumpiness rubbing off," she mused as she guided her ship into the hangar, splitting her concentration between the maneuver and her readouts. As soon as she was docked, she ran through the shutdown sequence as quickly as possible, and hopped out of the ship. She noticed that Wedge was leaving the hangar at a sprint, and she followed him.
"Antilles, wait up!" she called. When he didn't slow down, she quickened her pace and panted, "Where are you going?"
"The bridge," he replied without looking back. "I've got a very bad feeling about this."
Disclaimers: All of the usual disclaimers apply.
A big "Thank You" goes out to all of you reviewers and readers out there! For those of you that have read this story before, I've made some serious changes to the previous version that I hope you will enjoy. And now, on with the show:
"NO!"
Luke bolted awake at the sound of his own hoarse cry. Gasping for breath, he struggled to get a complete grasp on consciousness. He was sitting up on his bunk, panting and bathed in a cold sweat. Something had terrified him and pulled him back to wakefulness abruptly. But whatever it had been, he couldn't identify it.
A sound broke into his puzzlement. Someone was pounding on the door.
Trying to pull himself together, he strode to the door. He took a deep breath and tried to slow his racing heart. Standing in front of the door, he palmed it open with a deliberate calm, trying to appear steadier than he felt.
Genna's concerned face appeared in the doorway. "You okay?" she asked worriedly. "I was on my way here, and I heard you cry out. Mynock-spit, you look like hell!"
Luke self-consciously ran a hand through his hair, and it came away damp. He could feel the cool air against his sweat-soaked skin and he shivered. "I'm okay," he replied dismissively, knowing full well that only a dewback-brain would believe him.
"Nightmare?" Genna pressed.
Luke shook his head. "I'm not sure. Probably. It's nothing."
Genna continued to eye him dubiously. "You sure?"
"Yeah," he answered, trying to give her his most reassuring smile. He knew she probably didn't buy it.
Whether she did or not became irrelevant as she blurted, "Well, never mind that. 'Cause we're late."
"What?"
"I overslept," she explained, an apologetic look crossing her face. "Apparently, I was more sleepy than I initially thought, and I slept right through my alarm."
Luke groaned, looking around the room for his helmet and gear. He'd slept in his flightsuit, practically falling asleep before he even reached the bunk, so he didn't have that to worry about. Still, "How late?"
"We're set to pull out of hyperspace in fifteen minutes," she replied.
"Shavit!" Luke quickly grabbed his things and hustled her out the door. "Let's run."
The two of them sprinted quickly down the corridor, Luke clutching his gear tightly as he ran. The exercise burned off whatever lingering effects had remained from the dream he'd had, and he felt fully alert and ready for action when they entered the hangar. Of course, that didn't stop him from colliding with an officer in his hurry.
The impact sent the officer and Luke's helmet tumbling to the floor. Luke quickly swore and moved to help the officer back up. "I'm terribly sorry," he apologized. "You all right?"
The officer nodded, obviously in a bit of discomfort. He wheezed, "Just got the wind knocked out of me."
"I'm so sorry," Luke repeated, helping him up. "I wasn't looking where I was going."
"That's okay," the officer grunted with an expression that rested somewhere between a smile and a grimace.
Luke heard Genna's sharp intake of breath the moment the officer looked up at them, and he glanced back at her.
"Well, I guess we just keep running into each other, don't we?" she asked.
Luke was puzzled. "You know him?" He looked back at the officer, but he couldn't place the face anywhere in his memory.
"He helped me get you to the medcenter during your little allergy spell," Genna explained. "Luke, this is uh . . .Grey, was it?"
"Yes," the man answered with a smile. He gave Luke a salute. "Commander Skywalker, it's good to see you conscious."
Luke forced a weak grin. "Yeah, well, thanks," he muttered, trying to be polite but really not feeling it. Something was wrong. There was a nagging feeling he couldn't put his finger on. "Uh, as much as I'd like to talk, I've really got to start up the pre-flight sequence on the Headhunter. You know how temperamental they can be." He knew it was a lame excuse, but it was also the truth. With a nod to Grey, Luke headed toward the docked ships and the group of Rogues standing nearby.
"Ah, he decided to show up!" Wedge cried, seeing his approach.
"And notice, he does not come alone," added Wes with a sly wink.
A series of whistles greeted Wes's comment, and Luke groaned.
"Ease up, guys," Genna laughed from behind him. "Your esteemed leader doesn't know how to work a chrono alarm, so I had to wake him up for you. Didn't want you boys flyin' alone out there."
Hobbie gave her a skeptical look. "And where were you, Cage, while he was asleep?"
Luke turned a sharp glance at Genna, wondering what her possible response would be. It was as bad as he'd feared.
With a coy smile she replied, "Wouldn't you boys love to know?"
Luke could feel his cheeks redden as a series of hoots, hollers, and whistles responded to her comment. He knew this wouldn't die down quickly.
Tycho yawned. "You know, I'm kinda sleepy myself. Mind waking me up in ten minutes, Cage?" he laughed.
"All right, boys," Luke broke in, an uncharacteristic and annoying squeak entering his voice as he spoke, "that's enough. In case you haven't noticed, we're supposed to be flyin' a mission in less than ten minutes."
"Sure thing, boss," Wedge nodded with a grin. "But, don't think you're getting out of this that easily."
Luke laughed, easing his embarrassment a little. "Is that a threat?"
"Just wait 'til we get docked again, Boss Wanna-Be!" he crowed as he moved toward his ship.
Suddenly the ground seemed to shift beneath his feet as Luke felt a tingling sensation at the back of his neck. His stomach lurched and he seemed to be watching Wedge's departure in slow motion. His vision blurred, and he almost swore he suddenly saw his friend lying dead at his feet. In response, his stomach rolled and his knees started to tremble, threatening to pitch him to the ground in short order. Suddenly, there was a vice-like grip on his forearms.
"Luke! Luke! Snap out of it!" a voice was shouting.
Luke brought his vision back into focus to see Genna standing in front of him, a look of sheer terror on her face as she held onto him. He blinked at her, reality-bound once more. He didn't know what had just happened. Whatever it was, it wasn't good.
"Something's wrong," he croaked. His voice wasn't cooperating.
"No kidding," Genna responded tensely. "I thought you were gonna pass out on me. What the blazes is wrong with you?"
Luke looked away from her, glancing around at the hangar. The rest of the Rogues were climbing into their ships, while he and Genna just stood there. For some strange reason, he inexplicably felt that he was doing the right thing by standing there, instead of getting into his own craft. Something was terribly wrong about the mission.
"I've got to stop them," he whispered.
"Stop who?" Genna demanded. "Luke, you're scaring me."
He looked back at her, sudden desperation coursing through him. "The mission," he blurted. "It's all wrong. Something's going to happen. We can't go out there."
She paled. "The Force?" she whispered hoarsely, the words seemingly uttered in reluctance.
"I don't know," Luke answered truthfully. He looked around frantically. He spotted Grey a few feet away looking puzzled. Desperate to do something, he ran over to him.
"Contact Commander Laire," he ordered the man. "We have to abort."
"What?" Grey's puzzlement seemed to double.
Genna was beside him in a heartbeat, grabbing his arm. "Luke, are you out of your mind?"
Luke's heart was pounding, as he knew time was running out. He had to convince her. "The dream. Maybe it wasn't a dream. Maybe it was a vision. I don't know. It's just . . ." he faltered, realizing how crazy his sounded. "Something is going to happen." His gaze shifted to fall on Grey, and Luke thought he saw a glint of something strange in the man's eye. In a flash it was gone, leaving Luke to wonder if he actually was going insane. He looked back at Genna. "Genna, please. Believe me."
For a pregnant moment, Genna only stared back at him, doubt written across her features. Then she spoke, "I have an idea. Luke, take my ship, and I'll take yours."
This time, it was Luke's turn to be puzzled. "What?"
"The established scenario has been that I take my X-wing into the battle with you and the Rogues flying the Headhunters. If you take my ship, maybe the scenario will be shifted enough to prevent your vision from happening. Or something like that." She finished, staring at him expectantly.
Luke shook his head. "Genna, I don't know how these things work. I don't know . . ."
She narrowed her eyes and spoke sharply, "Well, it's either that or a court martial! 'Cause you've got no way of explaining this whole 'feeling' of yours, do you? And if you refuse to fly, that's what you'll be looking at! And we don't have time to mess around!"
As the true weight behind her words settled in his mind, Luke could only nod in acceptance. She was right, he knew. He didn't feel better about it, but she was right. And if anything did happen, he'd be better able to help matters out there than alone in the hangar. In resignation, he squeezed her shoulder and spoke to Grey, "Inform Commander Laire of the change." Without waiting for the other man's response, he gave one last look at Genna before heading toward her X-wing.
"She's all ready to go, sir," a waiting tech informed him."
Luke only nodded, looking at the astromech with the green dome peeking out of the top of the ship. How he wished to be in his own X-wing, with Artoo. Shaking his head to dismiss the thoughts and his feelings of apprehension, he climbed aboard. He quickly ran through his pre-flight checks, glancing out the canopy as he did so. He saw Genna give him a slight salute as she climbed aboard his Z-95, and he forced a smile and a wave, not knowing if she could see him.
As he prepared to launch, all he could do was pray that the feelings of dread that were now coursing through him were unfounded. He knew, however, that the chances of that were highly unlikely.
*********
"There's nothing out here," Wedge's voice spoke through the comm.
Genna had to agree. Since they'd dropped out of hyperspace, the only thing that had been there to greet them was the "nothing" that Wedge had mentioned. Although unexpected, it was reassuring. After all, with all of Luke's carrying on, Genna had been more than a little tense and anxious about this mission herself. Although she hated getting worked up over nothing, it certainly beat the alternative.
"I say we wait a few more minutes, and then we head back to the cruiser and get out of here," Luke instructed.
"I'll second that," Genna remarked staring out at the stars that twinkled through the transparisteel canopy. Her eyes darted to the X-wing floating above her. She smiled. Maybe her plan had worked.
"I hate waiting," she heard one of the Rogues grumble.
Luke's laugh rippled through the comm. Even without seeing him, Genna could hear the slight tension in that laugh. It wasn't his usual. She stiffened and shook her head. Since when had she become so interested in what his laugh sounded like? And why had she even noticed? His voice brought her out of her irritating line of questions.
"Have a little patience, boys."
This time it was Zev's turn to laugh. "You're certainly one to talk. Eh, Boss?"
"Since when have you ever been patient, Luke?" Wes agreed.
"Since right now," Luke replied. "I'd rather be waiting here than fighting Imperial ships at the moment."
"Whoa," gasped Wedge in mock alarm. "Where's Luke and what have you done to our Boss?"
Luke gave another tense laugh, one that made Genna feel more worried. Was he anticipating something? Had he somehow managed to sense something through the Force? She shuddered involuntarily. The whole idea of the Force still made her horribly uneasy. It just wasn't right, not when you saw how dangerous it could become. And Luke, well, Luke was so honest, so kind, so . . . so good. What if his power somehow corrupted him? She shook her head, trying not to think about it. She didn't need to be distracted right now.
She kept eyeing her scopes, making sure something wasn't sneaking up on them from somewhere unexpected. But each time she checked, it was the same. Nothing.
"Looks like we got a no-show, Boss," Tycho said.
Silence followed for several seconds, as Genna waited for Luke's orders.
At last, he sighed. "I agree, Celchu. But something doesn't feel right about this."
"Yeah," agreed Wes. "Like why we're out here in the first place."
Genna nodded silently. Sitting out in space like this, she had to agree that something seemed terribly wrong about this whole situation. Her experience with the Empire only heightened the sense of impending danger. After all, Imperial jumps were well-organized endeavors. Unless they had prior knowledge of the Rebel's plan to intercept, they should be here. Glancing back up at her X-wing, another possibility came to mind; the whole thing felt like someone had thrown a hydrospanner into a well-oiled machine. She shivered at the thought, for it would mean only one thing.
"Rogues, Cage," Luke's voice broke into her thoughts, "take your ships back to the cruiser."
"What about you?" Genna asked, a bit too abruptly.
"I'll follow you in after one last sweep," he replied. "That way, Laire can't say I didn't do my job."
"You want any of us to stay behind with you?" she heard Wedge ask.
"No," was Luke's answer. "Your ships don't have hyperdrives, and I want you all aboard the cruiser in case we have to make a quick jump."
"But, Boss," Wes started to protest.
"That's an order, Janson," Luke said sharply, cutting him off. "There was supposed to be one Imperial ship out here, and instead there's nothing. That means, we have no idea what could pop out of hyperspace, if anything at all. I don't think it's a good idea for a handful of Headhunters to take on a couple squadrons of TIEs without a chance of escape."
"So then why should you stay behind?" Genna argued.
"Because Laire ordered us out here, and I'm not about to disobey orders, Cage."
She swallowed hard. She knew he was reminding her of her little speech about the possible repercussions of such actions, and she didn't like her own arguments tossed back at her. "But aren't you sending us back to she ship?"
"I am," he countered, tension evident in his voice. "It's not disobedience. I'd like to think of it as a loose interpretation."
"Laire will have your hide, Luke!" Wedge warned.
"Better that than a dead squadron," Luke countered with a growl. "Now go!"
Silence followed, while the Rogues pondered the situation. Genna's heartbeat thudded in her ears as she bit her lip, struggling to decide which way to go.
Tycho broke in. "You heard the man," he said grimly. "Let's head on in, Rogues."
Genna watched as the Rogues reluctantly turned their ships around one by one and headed back to the cruiser.
"And Renegade," Tycho added, seeing Genna's hesitation.
Feeling torn, but knowing she had no choice, Genna turned her ship around headed for the hangar bay. As the flew, she tried to keep an eye on her scopes, making sure nothing entered realspace while she wasn't looking. She wasn't sure why she was so apprehensive. "Must be Luke's jumpiness rubbing off," she mused as she guided her ship into the hangar, splitting her concentration between the maneuver and her readouts. As soon as she was docked, she ran through the shutdown sequence as quickly as possible, and hopped out of the ship. She noticed that Wedge was leaving the hangar at a sprint, and she followed him.
"Antilles, wait up!" she called. When he didn't slow down, she quickened her pace and panted, "Where are you going?"
"The bridge," he replied without looking back. "I've got a very bad feeling about this."