Chapter 1
Carenen
Fiscan woke covered in sweat, trembling viciously. The last bits of
her dream, one of a shining figure and perpetual darkness, fled as
she clamored her way back to full consciousness. The dream has
become more frequent again, she though, then dismissed it. She
heard a knock on the door, and Meteryn admitted herself, and stood at
the end of the bed, hands folded. "I'm sorry to have woken you,
Caren, but there's been an emergency. I'll give you five minutes.
We're in ME-17." With that, she left, leaving Caren to stare
after her. She sighed, but she knew she had to go. Living on a Med
ship meant constant work. Med-Station 1 was always in motion, popping
out of Hyperspace here and there. She had to be on her toes.
Through
with her musing, she quickly dressed, and ran to the operating room,
grabbing a med-droid along the way. "Shrapnel and Debris, but an
unexplainable ailment as well..." it said, rambling and paying
no attention to her. She made her way down the main hall, and when
she turned the corner, a nurse ran up beside her, undoubtedly heading
to ME-17 as well. "His name is Jardin, he's badly injured, he
needs your help immediately! He hasn't accepted help from anyone
else. We're hoping he'll answer to you."
Caren ran faster, and upon reaching the room, took one look at the unfortunate man, and set to work applying bacta patches. With the skill of a medical droid, she extracted shrapnel from his body, applying adhesive to keep the gaping wounds shut. It was a miracle he had even survived, and she didn't know how he had managed even to come out in one piece. Falling into the usual trance that came over her when she was healing, she heard muttered voices close to her ear. Although she was in a trance, they knew she would hear them. She could remember afterwards, and that was about the only clear detail she ever could recall. "It's truly amazing. His X-wing had been badly crippled, so he took refuge in the docking bay, when the bay was hit by a dead ship, which exploded on impact, causing everyone in the bay to be either killed immediately or badly injured. This man is one of the five survivors. He's in the worst shape, I'd say.
Caren, in a fuzzy haze of movement, suddenly registered another ailment no one had seen. His mind felt… she couldn't explain it. Dim, almost. Like a comm when it had been partially jammed. Her body still working, unknowingly she entered his mind, and felt a darkness all around. With a healer's instincts, and a nurse's protectiveness for her patient, she unconsciously attacked the darkness, banishing it from the body. Suddenly she felt completely exhausted, like she'd ran the length of the ship five times, equivalent to about 20 kilometers. Opening her eyes, she let out her breath, not realizing she had held it. Now she became aware that everyone was clustered about her, yelling out her name. "Caren!" Broodan cried, shaking her.
"What?" she cried, exasperated at being interrupted, and glaring at him.
"Sithspawn, Caren! We thought you were going to die! You weren't responding to any of us, and your blood pressure was dropping."
"I wasn't in any harm. I always go into a trance,"
"No, this was different. You've never been in so deep that we couldn't get you out." But before Caren could get a reply out, she heard a moan from the bed, and turned as her patient struggled to sit up.
"What are you doing!" She cried, shocked that he would even attempt. "You shouldn't be trying to sit up, not after the injuries you've sustained!"
"The physical injuries weren't what was putting me in such great pain. Considering how you fixed the mental one, I'm surprised you haven't figured that out," he said, grimacing as he lay back down, succumbing to the pain. Out of the corner of her eye, Caren saw another man, a pilot by his outfit, come up and put his hand on Jardin's shoulder. "There's something about you, healer…" he said, waiting for her name.
"Carenen Fiscan."
"Carenen. I tried to banish that darkness from his mind, but it didn't work."
"Who are you, and who authorized you to be in here?" Caren said, increasingly worried about this man. If he was one of those people obsessed with martyrdom, he could possibly blow up the entire ship on some vendetta.
"My name is Orril Dystop. I'm a Jedi Knight, I fly with this squadron. Jardin here is my wing-mate. As for who authorized me, it was the pilot of the ship, who contacted the necessary officials."
"A Jedi Knight, huh?" Caren said, skeptical. What were the chances a Jedi would be this far away from Coruscant, or Yavin, where the academy was?
"You don't believe me?" He said, making a motion with his hand, and Caren saw his lightsaber, if that's what it was, float in the air, unclipping itself from his belt. Caren, still skeptical, raised her eyebrow. Orril in turn gave her a significant look, making a chill go down her spine.
"Fine. I believe you. That good enough?"
"Very."
Caren returned her attention to her patient, who had fallen asleep. Already she could see that the bruises were fading, and that the wounds were looking diminished. Everytime she healed someone in a trance, they healed at least two times as fast as a normal wound would. She couldn't explain it. She just hoped it wasn't why the Jedi were here. If they had heard of her ability, maybe more people had. That would bring more people here. She couldn't heal everyone. And it would kill her to have to choose.
Turning away from the Jedi without another word, she walked out of the room, going back to her chamber. Musing, she assumed that it was just chance that the squadron was here, even if it did have two Jedi Knights in it. She didn't put any faith in the Force. After all, it took her parents 16 years ago, didn't it?
ëëë
Orril Dystop, newly made Jedi Knight, watched as the young healer left. There was something about her, that was obvious. He had observed that so-called trance, but knew it was not. Somehow, without even knowing it, she had become so concentrated that she lost track of everything else. According to everyone he'd asked, that was what normally happened. But this time she had gone into a Force-trance. For someone with untrained Force-potential, it was almost un-heard of. Although Orril had never heard of it before, others before him had proved it could be done.
Using to force to follow her, he quickly made his way to her room. He paused outside, not wanting to scare her. Although he could feel her exhaustion, she was still awake. Easing her into sleep with the Force, she responded immediately and feel into a deep sleep. Orril entered her room, and looked around. It was small, with white everywhere. Typical, he thought, for someone working in those horrid rooms all day. He moved closer to her head, where her auburn hair lay disgruntled on her face. He moved it aside, and recalled something Master Skywalker had lectured about three years ago…
Orril was 15, in a group of his peers outside of the main Massassi Temple. He and his friends sat in the jungle forage, Master Skywalker seated as well, talking about something he had discovered around the time when he had opened the academy.
"This technique is the same technique I used on each of you to see if you had Force potential. I first used it on Leia, by accident. There is a place in the back of a human's mind, at least, that serves as an involuntary 'Force reaction' when touched by another's Force touch. Only a Force senser will have a reaction. Observe as I demonstrate on…
and Orril's memory faded, leaving him at the present. He reached out with the Force, touching the back of Caren's mind, searching for the place. It seemed like an eternity before he knew he had to have found it. A force slammed into him as he prodded a small spot, knocking him back a few meters, where he crumpled and fell. It was unusual to have that strong a reaction. The only people he'd ever met with one like that were Master Skywalker and his nephew, Anakin Solo. This one is strong, he thought. It may explain that gift she has for speeding up the body's natural healing processes.
He got to his feet, and watcher her as she slept. Was it the Force that brought me here, to find you?
