Chapter Eleven: So you think you can tell

"So, so you think you can tell
Heaven from Hell,
Blue skies from pain.
Can you tell a green field
From a cold steel rail?
A smile from a veil?
Do you think you can tell?"

Pink Floyd, "Wish you were here"

Yavin IV, Sith Temple Remains

"So I see you again. Finally." Atris' face broke into a terrifying smile. "And I am delighted, Exile."

"I do have a name, you know.", the woman before her said, trying to sound casual. But it came out as a groan. Which was not very surprising, since she was bent on her knees, with her hands bound to a cane on her shoulders. It also made it impossible for her to look Atris in the eye, but that wasn't necessary. She could feel the disdain and hate radiating from her perfectly well.

"Oh yes, I know. But that name belonged to a friend of mine. You are not a friend. You are a traitor. A liar. You are not worthy of any other name than Exile." A drop hit the ground before Né. Atris had obviously sunken so low that she wasn't above spitting anymore. How fortunate., Né thought with an inner smirk. That made it easier for her to snap back at the woman she had once considered a very close friend.

"And you have taken all the trouble upon you to tell me that? Really, a simple hyper commlink message would have done the trick.", Né said and dared to add a "Tsk, tsk.". Atris' answer was nothing short of a Force choke, but Né managed to counter with a skilled Breath Control, even though she had felt suffocated all along by the dark energies that had penetrated the whole complex. When Atris seemed to have enough revenge for her insolence for now, the invisible hold on her throat vanished.

Instead Atris chose to talk. "Here I was about to offer you a way out of your miserable existence, and all you do is pay me insults. You claim to be no Jedi, yet you bear their insufferable arrogance all along."

"Right back at you, Atris.", Né snapped and was presented with another punishment this time: Force lightening, in a dose high enough to hurt severely but low enough to be non-lethal. You've always been a fast learner, Atris., Né thought, but tried to keep her mind shielded from the Dark Jedi, but it became harder and harder. She would never admit it, but Né felt her strength slipping through her fingers.

Since her arrival at Yavin IV, she had been tied up like a package, beaten several times, been threatened to be raped another several times, not to mention the occasional Force chokes, Force lightening and whatever else opportunities of non-lethal torturing methods the Dark Side had to offer. Or so she thought. There wasn't much left of the Jedi that had left her crew on Dantooine. Somehow she was just happy, Atton and the others couldn't see her like this.

"Oh, the murderer that accompanied you… and the Miraluka. And the huntress… my, my, you haven't lost your touch since your time with Revan. Still a natural leader through and through. And attracting Force sensitives toward you like kinraths that flock to the light." Squeezing her eyes shut, Né desperately tried to shield her thoughts from Atris' prying. The last thing she wanted was Atris finding her one true weakness.

"Oh, I will come to them later. For the time being we will take care of you. You wanted to know why I summoned you here, didn't you? Well, I'll show you."

More feeling than seeing it Né noticed Atris making a grant gesture towards the portal behind her, and the creaking noises told her that it was opened. Then the sound of three powerful steps echoed through the hall. But what was more important: the dark aura Né had felt on Korriban suddenly had tripled, and she knew to whom these footsteps belonged: the three Sith ghosts that had taken over the three masters' bodies. She shuddered involuntarily.

"These are my faithful companions who will aid me in my quest to purge the galaxy of everything rotten and dirty. And these…" Another set of footsteps echoed through the room, a lot lighter and agile than the first. "are my faithful servants who have already assisted me in my first harvests."

"Harvests? Atris, you've sunken so low that even bantha droppings are above you.", Né stated coldly. Yes, Atris had always been a little detached from the galaxy outside the Jedi enclaves on Dantooine and Coruscant, but more in scholarly way of life. She'd been living in her archives, perfectly content with tending to the holocrons and studying the past. But she had never before let herself so down as to call the slaughtering of billions of beings a "harvest". Né had to admit that up to know she still somehow had had the hope that Atris was just misguided, and could turn her back on everything with a little persuasion, but the deep rooted friendship toward the woman had clouded her judgment. The combined Force lightening from four powerful Sith collided with her body, and she jerked, too paralyzed to cry out.

"I will manage what the council could never achieve: I will teach you obedience, Exile. And when I'm done with you, you will be my finest weapon. What an irony that the bodies of Kavar, Vrook and Zez-Kai Ell will be the ones helping me with it." A piercing laugh penetrated the air on the room and echoed from the walls, multiplying itself until it sounded like a whole cacophony of shrieking sounds. Atris turned her back and motioned for the Sith Lords and her Handmaidens to come behind her, leaving behind a panting Né.

Telos, Atris' former stronghold

"What exactly are we looking for again?"

The mocking in Mical's voice was impossible to miss, but Atton chose to ignore it after a quick glance from Mira. "We are looking for any hints as to where Atris might be hiding. That should be simple even for you."

"And you are trying to find this out exactly how?" Why can't pretty boy just listen for once?

"Look, I already told you. We find a security console, me or Mira hack into it, we download as much data as we can, we analyze it on the Hawk. Should be a piece of ryshcate, really." Atton's tone matched that of an adult explaining something to a child, and it already had an edge of impatience to it. Mira was sure that he wasn't very far away from exploding again and somehow hoped they would have to take their time, because getting done fast meant getting back to being cramped with those two on the Ebon Hawk for an infinite amount of time. And Mira knew a lot more ways to pass her time pleasantly.

She cleared her throat. "Uh, yeah, and that's exactly why flyboy, Mandalore and me are going and you, Bao-Dur and Visas stay on the ship. Now, let's move it, huh?" Grudgingly Mical obeyed her, throwing Atton one last dark look. The pilot only smirked and gestured for Mira and Mandalore to follow him.

And then everything around him exploded in a cloud of white hot pain. Clutching his head he went down to the ground, oblivious of the fact that Mical and Mira were gasping, too. A woman was crying out, and he was enveloped in the searing pain that only Force lightning could cause, and he thought he was going to be trapped in it forever, but as suddenly as it had begun it was over again.

Blinking, Atton found himself sitting on the ground and panting. Mira and Disciple were standing, but panting, too, although not as heavy as he was. "What the…", Mandalore uttered but was interrupted by a cry that was suddenly piercing through the chilly quiet of the hangar bay. As fast as he could, Atton scrambled up and ran into the Ebon Hawk, closely followed by Mira and Mical.

After they hadn't discovered anything in the cargo hold and the main hold, they charged for the women's dormitory where Visas had withdrawn herself to meditate before they had left the ship.

The sight that greeted them there made them all speechless for a moment. Visas was holding a blond-haired girl in her arms a little helplessly, and beside her was an open smuggler's compartment. Atton was the first one to regain his senses. "Well, look who disobeyed her guardian's order."

The girl looked up from Visas' embrace, with her face tear-stained, and her nose running, saying with a certainty that was a little frightening: "No one's going to make me stay behind."

"Uh, kid, sometimes the words "for your own good" do make sense, you know?", Atton said.

It was followed by a murmur from Mira: "And the words "for our own good" make even more sense."

Adana didn't let herself being intimidated the least. She raised her chin and said totally convinced of herself: "I'm the only one who can bring you to Né."

Now Mical also had found his speech again. "What makes you think that, child?"

She huffed a little. "I'm not a child anymore."

Next was Mira to chime in. "Yeah, well, that's not the point here. Why do you think that it's you of all people who can find her?"

"I just know. I can see her dreams, and sometimes I can see what she sees, even when she's awake. Trust me on this."

Before anyone could say anything, Visas spoke up: "She is right. This child is a powerful empath, and she also seems to have an ability to form force bonds almost equal to that of Né. It seems as if there is a very strong and special bond between the two which allows them to see each others' dreams or communicate more intensely than with anyone else of us. Logically we do need her, but I do not think it would be wise to take her along. She would be in grave danger."

Now Atton remembered what Adana had said to him at their first encounter: "You are the one I saw in her dreams." Wonder what kind of dreams those were., he thought and smirked a little.

"I agree.", a deep voice came from behind them. Mandalore had found his way to the dormitory as well. "And I think we should return this child as soon as we can. She already cost us a lot of time, and we can't afford any more. I say we fly to Citadel Station and dump her straight into Onasi's lap. Maybe bound and gagged to make sure she can't follow us a second time."

If there ever was a look that could meld transpari steel or fry the very air, it was the glower that Adana sent the Mandalorian. A wave of anger hit Atton, and suddenly he had the feeling that it was better not to mess with the kid. Visas must have felt it too, as she put a hand on Adana's shoulder and said: "Adana, please try to center yourself. Hurting Mandalore will not help you, and he is right. You will see it yourself once you find your focus."

Strangely enough the glower softened and the waves of anger dissipated just as soon as Visas was talking to the child, and Atton and everyone with him grew even more confused. "Look, kid…"

Before he could finish his sentence, another wave of pain exploded in his head, making him fall to the ground. For what seemed like an eternity to him, there was nothing but hot, searing pain. He felt like every bone and every fiber in his body was on fire and being frozen stiff at the same time. And then, as suddenly as it had begun it ended. Suddenly he was back on the Ebon Hawk, in the dormitory, surrounded by his crew, with the worried face of Mical looming over him. Fainting really was the only possible action in that moment.

"… still don't know what caused it."

"… something with the bond…"

"… much stronger reaction than us…"

"Could you stop talking as if I wasn't there?", Atton said. Well, thought he said. What came out of his mouth was a sound somewhere between a groan and a croak. But at least it stopped the others' talking. He closed his eyes with a satisfied sigh. Maybe now the splitting headache would start to dissipate.

"Ah, you're awake. How are you feeling?" He was trying to get back at him, right? Disciple really wanted to punish him for all the times he had been the loser in their arguments, right?

"Like hell.", Atton managed to croak out and was surprised that it was even understandable.

"Well, you did have quite a strong reaction, you know." Yes, Mical was enjoying causing him discomfort. Greatly. So much for being a selfless healer., Atton thought sardonically.

"Go away.", was all Atton could manage, and he hoped that he had sounded menacing enough.

"No, I think I should monitor you for a while. Just making sure you won't have a relapse, huh?" Nope, he obviously hadn't.

"Mical, quit being a badass. Doesn't become you." Atton had never been so glad in his life as when he now heard Mira's voice. Even if that didn't help his headache either.

"I'm not a badass, I'm doing my job, Mira." Goawaygoawaygoaway!, went on in Atton's head in endless rotation.

"Yeah, as if you don't get a kick out of Atton writhing on the bed every time one of us so much as breaths." Mira was right about the writhing thing, but that didn't help his current situation one iota. And if those two were going to have a lover's spat right in front of him when he felt like a vibro ax was driven into his head every time one of them opened their mouth, then so help him…

"Out. Both of you." It was the first time he had Visas use such an authoritative tone. Something big must have happened.

Not surprisingly Mical and Mira both obeyed Visas and left the med-bay. If she had talked to Atton in that tone he was pretty sure he'd done about everything just to not to have to find out what happened if he didn't.

She was coming over to him as the rustling of her robes came nearer. Then a cool hand was placed on his forehead, and after some more seconds he felt the relief that always accompanied a Force heal. His headache vanished, and his body didn't feel like a whole herd of rontos had stampeded over him anymore. Slowly he sat up again.

He was surprised to see Adana lying on the second cot. Turning back to Visas he said: "Alright, now that that's settled: what the hell just happened? And what's the kid doing here?"

"You… collapsed. All of the other Force sensitives felt a wave of pain, too, but you two were affected the hardest. It took you three hours to wake up again, and Adana is still unconscious."

He rubbed his forehead. "You said, you felt it, too… what do you think was it?"

Visas wandered over to the unconscious girl and lightly touched her forehead. "Seeing that all we Force sensitives were affected, but you and Adana took the most, I would say that it has something to do with the bond we all share with Neeneá."

Atton had expected Adana to wake up again after Visas had touched her but the girl stayed asleep. He was confused. "You… you don't think she's… she…"

Visas turned back to him. "No, but I fear that she is… in grave danger. Atton, I think we need to meditate. And I think we need Adana now more than ever. I fear she might be the only one being able to tell us what happened to Neeneá. I have the distinct feeling that she did find Atris indeed."

"But we can't take a child with us. We just can't."

He was surprised to find a note of genuine deep sadness in her voice when she answered: "But I am afraid that we must. Atton… in the end it is your decision, but keep in mind that we might need everyone bonded to Neeneá to find her."

His decision. Great. Just fracking great. He, Atton Rand – smuggler, scoundrel, former Sith assasin – had to make the decision whether to take a child with them or not. Whether to bring her into imminent and great danger or give her the chance to live a life far away from Dark Jedi, Force lightening and Force bonds. Somehow he knew that if he decided to have Adana tag along, that he would most probably get the beating up of his life by Né, but he also knew – deep down – that maybe Visas was right. That the girl was their only way to find Né.

And he also knew that – even if he wished it was different – that she would never be free of the bond she had formed with Né, unless one of the two died. And that was something he absolutely didn't want. Well, that and the fact that obviously his bond to Né had been strengthened significally since their parting.

"Visas… what would happen if one of us – Né or me – would die?"

The Miraluka turned towards him, and he had the strange feeling that her eyes were burning through him, even with the veil. "I think, you know the answer quite well."

He shuddered. But he continued asking. He just had to know. "And if… one of us would fall to the dark side?"

Visas turned away again. Almost as if she didn't want to look at him. Atton was surprised to find her voice decreasing several volumes "You know it as well as I, Atton."

And he did. He had known for quite some time, but he hadn't let himself even think about that possibility. But if she was now in the hands of Atris, and that fracking Jedi Ice Queen was torturing her… He squeezed his eyes shut. Yes, he had a decision to make. And decide he did.

"We're taking her with us. But we need to keep her away from any imminent danger. Né would kill me if I let something happen to the girl, light side or not." He hated himself for that decision, as it felt egoistical through and through but he tried to tell himself that he wasn't rescuing Né only for his sake, but for the sake of the galaxy. Maybe, one day, he could forgive himself for that. But most probably not.

Visas juts nodded. "Very well. While I take care of Adana, you should talk to the rest of the crew, do you not think?"

He nodded, but before leaving he addressed her for a last time. "Visas?"

"Yes?"

"Could you do me a favor? Have an eye on her, train her, make her control her emotions better. That wave of anger we got from her… really didn't feel nice, you know?"

Visas nodded. "I know what you mean. I will try to take care of the child."

He hopped off his cot. "Thanks, Vi."

A/N: See, I promised you more than one new chapter once I find a possibility to upload something :) And I just hope that the next chapters won't take so long now because it's starting to get ugly for the Ebon Hawk's crew, and we all know how we hate cliffies, don't we ;)