Chapter 19

Oliso could now feel Jesbra, her fatigue, sickness and some strange thoughts that she had right before her collapse, but she still couldn't feel Lexoc. This bewildered and alarmed Oliso deeply. How could Jesbra have left Lexoc? Surely that was what had happened…

The trees snatched at Oliso's hair as she ran; the roots grabbed at her boots and the mud tried to soak her in completely. Even if they couldn't get to Lexoc yet, they could get to Jesbra and help her.

Oliso leaped and flipped over a root, drawing her lightsaber as the Force warned her. She landed on smooth ground and sliced out with the green blade to carve through a creature that had leapt out of the forest to attack them. She flicked off the blade with her thumb and continued running through the brush to catch up with Nerca and Keldu who had gained more distance as Oliso had stopped to sever the creature in two.

It was now mid-morning and the Jedi had tracked all night. The light still held a bit of that fuchsia colored night but blended with the blue of morning and dawn. Early morning mists still surrounded the forest, moistening everything… making it slippery. Oliso was glad she had the Force to balance herself out, for a normal person could not have handled it at all…

She felt Jesbra as she got nearer, and she quickened her pace to one that no ordinary human, going without sleep for two days or otherwise, would have been able to make. But, of course, Oliso, like her peers, was no ordinary human, nor had she ever been. She was Jedi.

Keldu and Nerca were both kneeling down to lift Jesbra up off of the ground next to a giant tree. Oliso leapt out to help them drag her up, seeing with her trained Jedi healer's eye that it wasn't just ordinary fatigue that had caused Jesbra to go out.

She'd been drugged.

Oliso knew by experience the look on Jesbra's face. And she wouldn't be able to help Jesbra after she'd been drugged without the medical kit that had been left on board the Cosmic Dragon what seemed like eternities ago.

But she did have a stimulant to help wake Jesbra and a mild reverser for the drug that should help until they could retrieve the full medical kit.

Nerca and Keldu dragged Jesbra to lean against a tree while Oliso removed the necessary medicines from her belt.

She worked quickly taking the needle from her belt pouch, assembling and loading it then injecting a fair sized amount of stimulant into Jesbra's blood. Oliso began to prepare another needle for the drug reverser when Jesbra stirred.

She moaned slightly, then opened her eyes. Her eyes held the look of one just awakening from a long sleep for just a moment then urgency flared into her eyes. "How long have I been out?" Her eyes darted quickly around her.

"We don't know," Oliso replied injecting the dose of reverser. "Can you walk?"

"Sure."

"Let's get going then," Keldu said, standing to leave.

Jesbra frowned. "Going?" she asked. "Where? You don't know the way."

"I don't know where you're wanting to go, but we're heading back to the Dragon," Nerca said rising and pulling Jesbra with her. "You need more medical attention."

"No. We have to go for Lexoc." Jesbra began walking away quickly, heading in the opposite direction of the Kindred Knights' ship. "Now."

Nerca stopped her just a little roughly with a hand. "You need attention," she repeated, an edge starting to creep into her voice.

"Not more than Lexoc. A Jedi must put themselves aside for others." She turned to face them, her face serious. "I have to go back. Even if it's without you."

"Don't be stupid," Oliso said, rising. "We'll go with you, but I have to warn you. If we don't go back to the Dragon and get you full help," she grimaced, "there'll most likely be side effects."

Jesbra seemingly considered that for a moment, then shook her head adamantly. "No. We have to go for Lexoc now." She turned and resumed her walking. "Right now I'm not too worried about my side effects."

They all sighed and continued to follow Jesbra.

Nerca seemed very troubled by Jesbra's insistence on going without caring for her side effects. Oliso couldn't decide if it was just natural worry for her friend or something else.

Oliso decided that she'd better ask.

"Nerca?" she asked laying a hand softly on her shoulder. "What is it?"

"Jesbra," she replied shortly.

"I know that, but what about Jesbra?"

Nerca's gaze drifted forward and rested almost dreamily on Jesbra. "I don't want her to have the same problems I do."

"She'll heal."

Nerca's eyes came lightly to Oliso. "Can you guarantee that?"

"No," Oliso replied softly. "Of course I can't. No one can really ever guarantee anything. It is the course of Life. But I know Jesbra, and she has more Jedi healing than you did when you were seventeen, and us to help her."

Nerca shook her head. "I don't know. I just don't know."

"Nerca, how long where you held prisoner?"

"About a week."

"How long was Jesbra there?"

"Not quite a day. But it's not just her health that I'm worried about. Oliso, being with those liars, and their evil experiments…" she paused and her eyes gained a far off distant look to them. "It does things to you, Oliso. It makes you feel worthless, and even when you get over that part, you're changed. It changed me, and I don't want Jesbra to wind up changed like I was. And I want to get Lexoc out of there as soon as possible, but I don't think it's a good idea to take Jesbra back."