CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

Jagged Fel was not a man who could be impressed easily. Sitting in the cockpit of the Jade Shadow, admiring the console in front of him, Jag was very impressed indeed.

From this single seat he could control the entire vessel. Fifty-five meters of heavily modified SoroSuub star yacht. Superior ion drives and a hyperdrive as fast as the Millenium Falcon's, courtesy of improvements made by Han Solo himself. Concealed laser cannons and concussion missile launchers. Tractor beam projector. Unparalleled communications array, sensor suite, and jamming devices.

"I could get used to this."

Jag swiveled the pilot's seat and confirmed the hyperspace route on the nav-computer one more time. He checked the hyperdrive's output readings and the sublight engines' readiness levels. The life support systems were running smoothly, and the weapons were maintaining standby. Everything was operating at peak efficiency.

Not that he had expected otherwise from Mara Jade Skywalker's personal starship. If there was anyone in the galaxy as meticulous about starship maintenance as Jag, it was Jaina's aunt.

Which reminded him… The starboard repulsor on his clawcraft was acting up. The Chiss technicians had repaired his fighter with remarkable speed after the battle. Despite his orders to allocate repair time to all damaged clawcraft equally, he suspected his subordinates had respectfully ignored him and restored his ship first and fastest. He'd only had a few minutes to inspect and test the repairs during Jacen's transmission back to Mon Calamari to request the Shadow for a few days longer, and everything on his clawcraft had checked out. Everything except that pesky repulsor. As long as he was careful during –

"Ktah!"

Jag spun to the communications console. "You stupid… intoxicated… fair-haired…" Rapidly he added a comlink code to the transmission coordinates. "Polar Wind, Polar Wind, Polar Wind."

TRANSMISSION DENIED, the Shadow replied. COMM SILENCE IN EFFECT.

"Don't even…" He repeated his entry.

TRANSMISSION DENIED AGAIN. COMM SILENCE STILL IN EFFECT. OR DID YOU NOT NOTICE THE LAST TIME?

"What the –" Jag hissed out a sigh. "Right, right. Try the override code, genius."

OVERRIDE DENIED.

"Oh, come on!" Jag spun back to the small screen where the codes from the datacard Jacen had given him were displayed. "All right, all right…"

OVERRIDE DENIED. GUESS AGAIN, FARMBOY.

"Farmboy! Don't talk about my father that way you – Oh. Right." Jag glanced over the list of operating codes again. He had no idea which one was the correct override code, and he had a nagging suspicion that a third failure would be… unpleasant.

"Think… think…" There had to be some way to contact Jacen and warn him about the malfunctioning repulsor. Not that there was really much chance Jacen would crash – he was quite a fine pilot whatever he might think. Probably he'd be able to compensate for the defect in plenty of time. And besides, his Jedi intuitions would give him lots of warning before anything really bad could happen.

Wouldn't they?

"Well, Jagged Fel, this is certainly off to a promising start," he said to the empty cockpit, and he was mildly surprised when the Shadow's communications console didn't respond. "Derogation of duty. Starship theft. Kidnapping. Might as well crash-land her twin while I'm at it."

Her twin! Of course!

Jaina could contact Jacen through the Force. Even if she couldn't tell him about the repulsor specifically, she could at least let him know to be extra careful for landing. That would be more than enough with all the skills Jacen had at his disposal. All Jag had to do was –

"Oh…"

New plan. Jacen would be fine. He was a Solo, after all. He'd be just fine.

So maybe Jacen wouldn't think that plan was so great, but he wasn't here to argue, was he? Plus, right now Jag had bigger problems than whether his soon-to-be brother-in-law –

Soon-to-be brother-in-law! Jag grinned. He grinned until he thought about telling the woman he wanted to marry that her brother had lost control of the clawcraft on landing and had crashed into the Vikovan spaceport.

"Much, much bigger problems," Jag said with a frown.

Jag rose from the pilot's seat, spun on his heel, and marched off to face his destiny. His insane, ridiculous, absurd, crazy, red-ale-inspired destiny.

He paused outside the sealed door to the cargo hold. From the deep shadows of the dimly lit corridor a small pair of eyes glistened down at him.

"Hello, my little friend," Jag said. The ysalamir blinked, and Jag heard a rustling as the creature readjusted itself on its nutrient cage. He peered more closely into the shadows. "I don't see why you're so creepy. I think you're rather cute."

The ysalamir blinked again, and turned away.

Jag reached for the control panel to the door, then let his hand fall back to his side. He stood there for a long moment, staring at the smooth gray metal surface of the door.

"Get over yourself, Fel," he finally said. "What's done is done. You have to face her eventually."

Actually…

Jag shook his head. He reached up and tapped in the access code. The door swished upward. He took a slow, deep breath and strode inside.

The cargo hold was small, about six meters square. It was dark, illuminated only by a single glowdisc on the ceiling. Jag paced slowly to the crashcouch he and Jacen had hurriedly bolted to the floor, and found Jaina's limp body still sitting there peacefully. She was gagged with a silken scarf and bound on the wrists and ankles in stuncuffs – precautions against a premature awakening from the inhaled sedative they had drugged her with when they'd snatched her from her room. Her lightsaber and blaster were stowed with Jag's gear in the stateroom – a safe distance from here. For good measure her comlink was smashed to bits – to prevent any possibility of her working her way around the comm silence. And thanks to the ysalamiri strategically placed outside and throughout the ship, her powers in the Force were all but gone.

Jaina was defenseless. Jag would never have thought that concept could be so wonderful.

He gazed down on his slumbering lover. She was so beautiful. So serene. Like the most gorgeous icons in ancient Corellian paintings and statues, her perfect features seemed to possess the divine splendor of nature itself. The infinite possibilities of the Force could not create a woman lovelier than Jaina. Her eyes were closed. Her chest rose and fell to the rhythm of her slow, steady breathing. Jag was utterly entranced.

Finally Jag simply couldn't help himself. He leaned down to kiss her tenderly on the lips. His face drew within a hairsbreadth of hers –

Jaina's eyes shot open.

He froze.

Then her forehead flew upward, ending with a devastating thwap into Jag's.

"Aaaaah!" Jag stumbled backward from the strength of the unexpected blow. He squeezed his eyes shut and pressed a palm to his head. After a long moment he opened his eyes – but left his hand where it was. "Jaina!"

When he saw the fire in her eyes, he was even more grateful for the ysalamiri.

"Jaina, that hurt!"

"Udd," she said. "Udd! Duskrrgnumrd."

Jag staggered backward a few more steps and stopped. He pulled his hand away from his head long enough to make sure there wasn't blood on it – he was almost surprised to see none – then returned to massaging the impact point. All the while Jaina never left his sight.

She didn't try to rise from the crashcouch. Instead she sat in place and struggled mightily against the bindings. Her muscles tensed beneath her flightsuit, and her eyes closed for a long moment. The stuncuffs were unrelenting, though. Jaina opened her eyes and met Jag's gaze with a stare that sent a chill down his spine. She tried to scream, but the gag stifled her rage and her face grew bright red from the effort.

When she seemed to have calmed, if only a bit, Jag took a step forward.

"All right," he said, holding his hands out defensively. "I'll take off the gag. Only the gag."

"Rnndrvg."

Jag took another step closer. "But you have to promise not to hit me." She nodded. "Or kick me." Nod. "Or headbutt me again." Nod. "Or attack me in anyway."

"Vudbrdjrpnt, Ggg."

"All right, then." Jag slowly walked the last few steps to the crashcouch. He reached around her head and untied the gag, and gently drew it out of her mouth.

"You're dead."

"Jaina, I can expl-"

"You're dead, you spineless monkeylizard, kriffin' son of a –"

"Jaina, calm –"

"Dead, Jag! Dead!" Jaina clearly wasn't about to stop her rant and rave, and Jag was inclined to let her stew for a minute. "You're only lucky Lowie isn't here or I'd get him to – Oh, wait! I'd get Kyp to – No, he'd be too kind…" She grinned with such diabolical intent, Jag actually felt his skin crawl. "No, I definitely think my grandfather –"

"Darth Vader! Jaina, now really."

"You're right. Too painless. A thousand years of digestion in the Sarlacc's belly."

"But if you'd just let me explain –"

"Shut it, Jag!"

Laser beam eyes and the potential for further eruptions more powerful than the strongest supernovae forced Jag to think better of a reply, even to agree. He simply nodded. Better to let her go first.

"I waited for you. I waited for you all night." The fire in her eyes only grew as she spoke. "Every minute, every hour that passed thinking the next moment there'd be that knock on the door. And it never came. It never came. Finally I got so tired, I cried myself to sleep. I cried myself to sleep, Jag! Do you know when the last time I did that was?"

Rhetorical question, he thought.

"I don't even remember the last time! But it was a long time ago, I can tell you that. I never thought I'd cry myself to sleep over you. Never. And you… you… Gah!"

"Jaina, I –"

"You left me there, all alone. Worried. Did something happen to you? Crying. Where are you? You left me there, until I finally cried myself to sleep. And then when I woke up… There's stuncuffs and a gag. My weapons are gone. I don't know where I am, although it feels like a starship's artificial gravity, I guess. And then I realize… I realize I can't touch the Force."

"I –"

"And I was afraid, Jag. So afraid. Because then I knew I'd been kidnapped. By someone who came prepared and ready to grab a Jedi, no less. Everything was perfect. Exactly the way I'd have done it myself. Perfect."

Jag couldn't help himself. He smiled.

"It's not funny, Jag! You can't even imagine what was going through my head. Who took me? What do they want? Are they going to kill me? How can I get out of this? Does anyone even know I'm gone yet? Will I… will I ever see you again? And then… then… it was you."

"Jaina, please –"

"It was you. You! I can't even… I just… Gah!" She looked away for a long moment and took a few deep breaths. When she looked back at him again her eyes were slits of fury. "You. Are. So. Unbelievably. Truly. Dead."

He waited until he was sure she was done. "In the ballroom… I thought you were just brushing me away again, Jaina. I showed you how I felt, what I wanted."

She grinned. "Oh, I read you loud and clear, Tongue Boy."

"Then why did you abandon me there with her? Why did you just walk away?"

"I didn't!"

"You did!"

"I did not!" Jaina rolled her eyes. She actually rolled her eyes! "I told you – you know how to find me later."

"You never said that!"

"Yes, I did."

"No."

"Yes."

"Well, I never heard it."

"Well, maybe you should've been thinking less about ravishing me and more about, oh, I don't know, maybe listening to what I was saying?"

Jag sighed. "You really said that?"

"Yes."

"I see." He ran his fingers through his hair. "Then I apologize."

"How generous of you. Now untie me."

"No."

"What?"

"No."

"That's some apology, Jagged Fel."

He met her gaze. "I apologize for not having listened closely enough in the ballroom."

"And?"

"And what?"

"And you apologize for…"

"For the rest of this?" He shook his head. "No, Jaina. I may not have listened closely enough in the ballroom, but that's not our problem. Our problem is that we haven't been talking. Really talking. We need time alone and we need it now. So I'm sticking to my plan."

"You're joking."

"No." He crossed his arms over his chest. "I am… dead-ly serious."

"Jag, this really isn't funny."

"I did not say it was."

"Fine, I'll play along with your little mind games." Jaina slumped back into the crashcouch. "So tell me your brilliant and amazing plan."

"It is very simple, actually. I have set course for Dathomir, and we are not leaving there until you agree to marry me."

She laughed. "Cute."

Jag waited.

"No, really. Might as well tell me the truth at this point, anyway. What's your plan?"

"That is the plan."

She kept laughing, then suddenly stopped. "You're not messing with me?"

"No."

"Oh." She frowned thoughtfully. "Well, I have to admit I didn't see this one coming."

"That's exactly what Jacen thought."

"Jacen?"

"Um… what I meant was –"

"Jacen? He put you up to this?" Jaina nearly bounded off the crashcouch, but at the last second she looked down at the stuncuffs and stayed where she was. "Didn't he?"

"I wouldn't say he –"

"But he helped you?"

"Yes."

Jaina shook her head and smacked an elbow into the crashcouch. "Well, that explains a lot."

"Such as?"

"Such as how you could be so unfathomably stupid!"

"Ah."

She looked up at him. "So the best you can do is copy my father?"

"It worked for him." Jag shrugged. "A good plan is a good plan."

"It's not a good plan. It's a completely moronic, thickheaded, very, very bad plan."

"Of course. I forgot. It is a Solo plan."

"Jag, just give it a –" Abruptly she stopped and looked away. For a long moment she was silent. "You… you just don't get it, do you?"

"Perhaps I do not."

Jaina took a lingering, ragged breath. "Forget it."

"No," Jag said. "This has been our whole problem. Tell me."

"Jag…" She turned to face him again, and tears were running down her cheeks. "You're my rock. You're the stable one. You keep me grounded. I need to know that whatever happens, no matter what life throws at me, I can count on you to be there. That no matter how crazy things get, you will always be that immovable anchor in the storm."

Jag nodded.

"And then you go and do something like this!" Her tears flowed even harder. "You're supposed to be the one keeping me from doing crazy things. You're not supposed to be the crazy one yourself."

"You need me to be the Fel, so you can be the Solo."

"Exactly!"

"Then I am sorry." Jag met her bloodshot gaze. "For everything."

Jaina nodded, and she smiled just a little. "You were really that desperate, huh?"

"Yes."

"Wow."

He chuckled, and handed her the silken scarf. "I will confess there may have been some red ale involved as well."

She clutched it in her cuffed hands and wiped off her wet cheeks. "That would explain the paranoia."

"Paranoia?"

"Ysalamiri, Jag?" More tears poured from her eyes. "Were they really necessary?"

"It's not what you –"

"You have no idea how horrible they are," she said, her body wracking with sobs. "You can't even understand."

"I'm sorry. But I have to know if our love can truly withstand –"

"Imagine if… if I used the Force to make you blind. Or deaf." She wiped her cheeks and eyes with the scarf again. "Taking the Force from me is like that. It's a shock. It's disorienting. And really… it hurts."

"I had not thought of it quite that way," he said. "But I am sure I can find a way to contain the ysalamiri to only part of the ship."

"That'd be great."

"All right." He took a step back from the crashcouch. "Let me deal with that first, and then we can talk some more when you are feeling better."

"Okay."

He turned away and headed for the door. Just before he got there she called out to him.

"Jag?"

He glanced back over his shoulder. "Yes?"

"Thank you."

"You're welcome."

Amazed at how agreeable Jaina had become, he entered the code on the panel and the door swished upward. He was about to stride through when something told him to look back – to see a triumphant grin spread wide across Jaina's face.

Stepping into the starship's corridor, Jag shut the door. His body was taut with fury. She'd tricked him! And he'd almost fallen for it…

"So," he whispered, "it's a Fel plan you want, is that it? Then it's a Fel plan you'll get."

He took off straight for the cockpit. "You can forget about sweet old Dathomir, my darling. Oh, no. I have somewhere much better in mind. Somewhere that will make Dathomir look positively cosmopolitan." He clapped his hands together. "I always said I'd get you to the Unknown Regions one way or another. Well, my dearest Jaina, that time has come."