Chapter 21

About a week later, I was on the flight deck doing some simple maintenance on my ship, officially recognized as Red Nine, now. I had made it a point to learn how to do as many of the simple things as possible in case I should ever be on a mission where there was little or no technical assistance.

I felt Wedge's mental signature coming. While Wedge may not have been Force Sensitive, he did have a unique life signature all his own in the Force. Every living being has one. It's just that some of us have a deeper connection than others.

At that moment, I was on my back inside the access tube working to replace my S-foil actuators. They had been threatening to seize up on me for a while now. If that happened in flight, I might end up stuck in fully deployed wing status, cruise mode or something in-between. Any one of those possibilities was not a preferred one. I was on the last actuator as I felt Wedge's presence stop at my feet, which were still visible and tap one.

I called out: "Just a moment Wedge, I'm almost done." I had finished tightening the last fastener with the hydrospanner in my hand as I called out to Warbler who was in his socket: "Okay Warbler, run the diagnostic." A minute later, Warbler called to me: "I've got four lit and in the green, all systems are well within normal parameters." I said: "That's great Warbler. Shut it down and take a nap or something." He said: "You got it boss."

Between all the training flights and wargames we had been conducting, my ship's computer had molded itself around Warbler's personality. Because of this, no one but Warbler could talk to it and our overall efficiency ratings were topping all the charts. A strange turn of events, but it worked for me.

I pulled myself out of the access tube, throwing the last of the old actuators in the recycle bin and wiped my hands off on a rag that Wedge handed me as he spoke: "The same thing happened to me just after I had my ship assigned. One of those little design flaws that engineers only catch when they spend long periods of time actually working with one of the things they build."

I was silent. He had come to me. He would speak in his own time. Finally he said: "Listen Ronin, I'm sorry about my outburst last week. I was out of line. You have a power that I don't understand and don't have so I had no place to call it a 'platitude'. Also, you were right, I should have let my anger go a long time ago. Senior Lieutenant Shase is a good officer and an even better pilot. What happened happened and I'm working my way past it now. It just seemed easier to hold onto it is all."

He was silent after that. He had given and now I had to. I stuck out my still-dirty hand and said: "Apology accepted Wedge. What can I do for you?" He accepted my hand, dirt and all and shook it vigorously and said: "Actually, I think I can do something for you." My interest was piqued.

He said: "If you want to meet her, she's on the midwatch tonight. It's a twelve hour rotation with two scheduled patrols. One at the start of the night cycle one at the end. You can have all that time in between for conversation." I said: "I'd love to Wedge but I'm leading one of those patrols as you well know so no can do. Wedge looked at his datapad and said: "Negative Lieutenant. According to my listing you're on midwatch tonight. Patrol lead is next week. I'm on deck for this patrol."

I smiled and said in a voice that was ⅓ serious and ⅔ mocking: Commander Antilles that is a breech of Command Authority." He gave me a wounded look and said innocently: "Me? Not at all. Rank hath its privileges. When you get some more yourself, you'll understand."

He stood there looking as innocent as a gundark in a glass shop, waiting for my answer. There was only one I could give. His methodology was questionable, but his results weren't. I said with another smile: "As ordered Lead." He said: "Excellent Lieutenant. Have a nice watch."

Three hours later, after a shower, nap and dinner, I walked into the Command and Control Center (C.C.C.). I arrived only a minute ahead of Lt. Shase. I started the turnover with the offgoing Officer of the Day (O.O.D) as she walked in.

She logged onto the central computer to start her shift as I finished with the OOD. After he left, there were just we two in the CCC. I logged in after her and then stood by her chosen work station. When she got tired of deliberately ignoring me, she looked overat me as I stuck out my hand and said: "Lt. Shase? I'm Lt. Jayks. I'll be your watch partner tonight." She icily took my hand and said: "I know who you are Lt. Jayks. Even if I didn't know your face or name, the weapon on your hip would tell me all I need to know."

I knew she was referring to my lightsaber because I didn't carry a blaster anymore. I hadn't carried one since flight and officer training. As I sat down I said: "Have I done something to offend you Lieutenant? This is the first time we've met yet you act as if I've caused you some harm." She took a breath and said: "Not you so much as your commanding officer." I felt another wave of attraction from her as well as too her. I said: "Actually, I was supposed to be on patrol tonight but Wedge felt he needed to apologize to me. This was his idea at the last minute. He traded with me without my knowledge."

She said: "Not the best pick-up line I've ever heard. Besides, this kind of stunt has "Wedge Antilles" written all over it." Blushing a little, I said: "It wasn't meant as one but I do want to get to know you . . . if you'll allow it." It was her turn to blush a little as she said: "Why me?" I answered: "I want to. Besides, I think you and I might very well have a great deal to discuss."

She asked: "I am forced to assume that Commander Antilles told you what happened the last time some of his pilots tried to get to know me?" As I looked into her pale gray eyes I said: "You assume correctly, but I can tell right now that you don't know how you did it, and couldn't do it again if you wanted to."

She had fire; I have to admit because she took up the implied challenge. She said: "Sorry, but I don't feel like being busted again for assault, even one you asked for." I smiled and said: "Go ahead. I won't move. Tell you what, if I do get thrown, I won't mention a word of it to anyone."

The fire in her eyes flickered a moment. Then her brow creased in concentration. I could feel what she was trying to do but she was already defeating herself simply because she was trying. Master Yoda's oft repeated mantra of "Do or do not. There is no try." came to mind. If she would allow herself to do versus try, I would have left a sizable hole in the wall.

She gave up with a gasp of held breath and a faint sheen of sweat on her graceful forehead and said: "I don't get it. I did it then but I couldn't just now." I let her ponder a moment longer and then said: "You were able to do it before because you acted at an instinctual level, not a conscious one. If you will allow me, I can start your path in the Force." She said: "Let me think on it okay?" I said: "Take all the time you want. You have to freely choose, I won't make you do it if you don't want to."

Chapter 22

The rest of the watch was uneventful. We spoke of our pasts and our past experiences. As it turned out, we had just as many things in common as not. I liked music as did she. She liked physical workouts; I loved the martial arts, she respected them but didn't follow them as I did.

We exchanged basic information like that until the watch was over and the last patrol in. After turnover to the oncoming dayshift, I asked if I could walk her back to her quarters. She said: "Would you like to stop by the mess hall for breakfast?" I said: "I'd love to, I'm starving."

Her smile was sweet as she laughed and said: "Then you're in the wrong place. Mealtime in the mess hall is more out of survival than enjoyment." I laughed at the joke as she said: "Besides, all the stories of Jedi state that the human ones at least, are invincible and immortal and that they don't need to eat."

I was used to these myths by now. I said: "Well, I can go a little longer without food than the average person but by and large, I'm still only human, with a human's needs." We sat down and had our breakfast. It was far from the best thing I'd ever eaten but it was still palatable. I walked her back to her quarters and stopped at her door. As the door opened, I looked her square in her pale gray eyes and like a forcefield being turned off, I was suddenly very much aware of her femininity. She said: "You forgot to mention that you are a man with a man's needs."

I said: "Yes. I am a man, but the need you speak of is somewhere at the bottom of my priorities." I could sense her gauging the truth of my words. She was able to do that at least just as I knew that she could feel the truth in my words. I took her hand in mine, gently kissed it and let it go. As I walked away she said: "You may call me Gabrielle." I answered: "And you may call me Ronin."

I slept for a solid eight hours. SOP required that the midwatch have the day off afterwards. From there I went to the gym and worked out for a time. Truth be told, tried to would be a more accurate statement. Gabriel's face kept jumping into my head. I gave up after my fourth or fifth attempt at kata. From there I logged a couple of hours in the simulation room, getting a better feel for the various fighter craft that I might be called on to operate at any time.

If the simulators could be believed, the B-wing which at this time was in the final stages of testing was quite agile for the weapons payload it carried. As well as the regular cannons, it also sported ion cannon and multiple proton torpedo launchers. No room for an astromech though so it was dependent on its power source for shield energy.

The A-wing, which like the B-wing was in its final stages of testing, was too fast for my comfort. Some shielding and like the B-wing, no astromech. It relied on its speed more than its hardware for long term survival. The most interesting feature was that the cannons could be either singly or jointly swiveled a few degrees in the vertical arc allowing for a slightly better kill-rate in ship to ship combat scenarios.

If I had to choose between the various fighters, the old but still gold Y-wing fighter/bomber would be my second choice. It was a workhorse of a ship. Because its primary mission was as a bomber, it had a tremendous shielding capacity but it could be reconfigured for fighter-only duties. Since bombers have to be able to cruise slowly enough for an accurate bombing run, it wasn't very fast.

Thankfully, I was assigned the X-wing. In my opinion, it's the best ship of all the ones the Alliance has had, does have or will ever hope to have. A pleasant compromise between speed, maneuverability and firepower, with a tough shielding system. Mind you, that's just my opinion.

After I left the simulators, my personal comlink indicated I had an incoming call. I took it from my belt, thumbed it on and said: "Lieutenant Jayks speaking." Gabrielle's voice answered: "Ronin, I'm glad I found you. Can you meet me next week in the square where we first saw each other? About 1800?" I said: "Next week I'll be on deep patrol. How about the week after that?" She said: "Okay. I go on deep patrol starting tonight so that will be great." I said: "Will you do me one little favor while you're out there?"

She said: "Sure. What?" I said: "While your flying, listen to your instinct, don't think. Just feel the moment." She answered in a slightly confused tone: "Okay. Anything else?" I answered: "Yes. May the Force be with you." She said: "Thanks. You too," and signed off.

That night at the Downtime, Wedge, myself and the new squadron XO, Lieutenant Commander Dutch Hadley, sat down to plan out our deep patrol of the next week. Jansen had transferred to another squadron, the Tierfon Yellow Aces, six months after my graduation.

The plan was simple enough; Wedge would take himself and five others in one direction and Lt. CDR. Hadley, would take the other five, myself included in the other direction. We would scout out to a predetermined point and then come back. As the meeting broke up, I caught up with the new XO. Wedge had already introduced us at the start of our meeting but I wanted to speak with him on my own so that I could better gauge what kind of person he was. As I put my hand out, I felt a wave of pure unfocused rage suddenly focus on me as a target.

He said: "I don't need friends like you freak! I give orders, you obey them. I know how you like to 'hang' out here with everyone, officer or enlisted. An officer does not need the approval of his subordinates. He commands, they obey. That is the way of things."

I had dropped my hand by then and stood in attention. He continued: "This unit is sloppy and undisciplined. If I were in charge, things would be different and you wouldn't even be wearing that uniform right now. The Jedi brought this war down on our heads. The Jedi and their little 'order' of magicians were nothing more than parasites that fed on the Republic, the greatest government that ever existed. They caused its downfall and if I had any say in the matter, I would gladly have surrendered you or any other 'self-proclaimed' Jedi over to the Empire. Dismissed."

I made an abrupt about face and got out of the vicinity. But it was too late. I felt like I had committed a crime when all I did was try to make a friend. For the rest of the week, I was on the top of the XO's personal poodoo list. The Force warned me that the XO and I would go rounds of some sort before too long. How little I knew that I would be right.