Kyle Katarn: The Rise & Fall
Book 1: Rise of a Hero
Part 2
Chapter 4: Finding Jan
A/N: Okay, I admit it. Making the Kyle/Blaze encounter a dream was kinda of a cop out, but I sure had fun with it! But what is going on now? Kyle ordered to be kept alive by Lord Jerec, along with Jan and Blaze? A mysterious figure helping him to beat the Krayt dragon? And where the heck did Blaze come from? Read on and we'll see!
As the grapnel pulled him the last few inches, Kyle reached out a hand. Still cradling her broken left arm, Blaze used her right to grab his outstretched hand. With her help, Kyle was able to get his chest over the lip of the rim. Leaning forward, he reached out, using his fingers to pull himself forward until his feet touch the tiled surface.
Drawing his knees up, Kyle rose to his feet, facing Blaze.
"Thanks."
"You're welcome. Are you all right?
"Ol' Gruesome down smacked me around a little," he replied, indicating the body of the Krayt dragon, "but I'll live."
"I've got some medpacks with me. Here."
Reaching down to her belt, Blaze produced a slender tube. She held it up to the light for a moment. Then, with a nod, she extended it towards him.
He held up both hands. "Whoa, I don't think so. I don't like needles."
"It won't hurt that much."
"I don't care. You aren't using that thing on me. I'll be fine."
Kyle crossed his arms on his arms, instantly regretting the move as fresh pain blossomed in his chest.
"Oh yeah," Blaze said sarcastically, "You're fine all right. Now hold still, you big baby."
Before he could utter another protest, she took a quick towards him, jamming the needle into his arm just above the bicep.
"Ouch!"
"Oh hush," Blaze said, "it can't hurt that bad."
She pressed a recessed button on the device, watching as the contents were injected into him.
"Says you."
Pulling the needle free, she shook her head at him. "Oh quit whining. It's over now. Just give the mixture a minute to work."
"I was objecting, not whining."
She said nothing.
"I don't whine."
Still silent.
"I don't!"
Just then, Kyle felt something. It was as if something had reached inside him and covered nearly all of the pain he felt. He took a deep breath. His chest ached slightly with the motion, but nothing like the pain just moments ago.
"I think it's working," he said to Blaze, "I feel better."
"See? Now, next time, don't be such a whiner."
"Hey!"
She caught his gaze. "All right then, don't be such a complainer next time. Now, if you're fit to travel, let's go. We still have to find the ships."
Kyle started to nod, then remembered. "Wait a minute, what about Jan?"
Having taken a step away from him, Blaze stopped, looked over her shoulder. "The guards must've separated us. After I escaped from my cell, I tried looking for her, but found you first."
"We've got to find her."
"Kyle, she could be anywhere."
"We can split up. With both of us looking, we're sure to find her."
"Kyle," Blaze said, shaking her head, "this ship is immense. I saw it as we were being brought aboard. We could search for hours and still not find her. And if the guards find us, we're in no shape to fight."
Annoyance creeping into his tone, he replied, "I don't care. We have to find her."
Blaze stepped back over to him, put her hand on his shoulder. "Kyle, for all we know, they may have killed her."
She saw his eyes darken with anger even as Kyle saw a vision of a broken and bleeding Jan in his mind.
With a sudden surge of anger, he reached up and pushed Blaze's hand away.
"We are going to find her."
"Kyle…"
"No Blaze, you listen to me. Jan is my friend. She's been there for me when no else was and pulled my tail out of the fire more than once. I won't abandon her. So with you or not, I'm going to find Jan."
Blaze studied his face, seeing solid conviction in it. "All right," she said, giving in, "let's go."
Without a word, Kyle turned around and stepped to the door, which slid open at his approach.
The corridor beyond branched in three directions. Turning left, he started down one, Blaze trailing behind.
After a short walk, the corridor dead-ended. They tried the right hand fork, finding another dead end.
"Kyle?"
He turned around, brows lifted in question.
"I still think this is a bad idea. But if we're going to continue, we should try to find some weapons. If we encounter guards, we'll need them."
"Good idea," he replied, glancing down the corridor, "Let's start checking doors."
"I'm still waiting for an answer."
"And I told you, you can stick it up your…"
"So vulgar," the man interrupted, "one wonders how Mon Mothma can stand your company."
"Speaking of standing someone's company," Jan Ors said with a sly grin, "you should really think about showering regularly. Whew!"
She waved a hand in front of her face.
The interrogator's face clouded in anger for a moment, then cleared just as quickly.
"A good try, Miss Ors. But your opinion means little to me. So, let's get back to my questions. Tell me the position of the New Hope."
"Gee," Jan said, assuming a thoughtful expression, "It's uh…. Oh wow…. I can't….." She snapped her fingers. "That's it! I remember now!"
"Yes?"
"Nunofya."
"Where?"
"Nunofya," she replied earnestly.
The man consulted his datapad. "There's no such system in the Galactic database."
"Sure there is," Jan replied, "Nunofya. As in none of your business!"
The interrogator's blank expression was all Jan needed as she dissolved into laughter. A second later, however, her jaw exploded in pain as the Imperial dealt her a vicious backhand. She tasted blood, blinking back the tears that threatened to come.
"I have had enough of your sarcasm and insults, Miss Ors. You will tell me what I want to know."
"Or what?" Jan said defiantly, cradling her jaw in one hand, "you'll kill me?"
The interrogator looked thoughtful for a moment. "Eventually, yes. But until then, you might be surprised to learn what you can live through."
Jan felt renewed fear at the man's expression. She could see he wasn't kidding.
After finding nearly a dozen empty rooms, Kyle and Blaze made their way down the central corridor. Both were wary, eyes casting about in all directions. So far, they had encountered no guards or patrols.
"This is too easy," Blaze had said, to which Kyle nodded.
As the central corridor ended, they found themselves in small atriums, with four more corridors branching off from it.
"This is hopeless, Kyle," Blaze said, "There could be another hundred corridors in this ship."
"Then we'll search them all," he said, "I already told you, I'm not leaving here without Jan."
Picking a corridor at random, he started down, pausing at the first door. Hitting the door, Kyle waited as the door slid open. He stepped inside, finding another room just like all the others. But as he gazed upwards, his eyes locked on a new sight. There, hanging from the ceiling on a long, thick chain was a mesh net holding his blaster, missile launcher, detonators and weapons belt.
"Blaze!" he called, "over here!"
A moment later, she entered the room.
"What is it?"
He pointed.
Blaze looked upwards, eyes locking on the cache of weapons.
"Well, I'll be a Trellian Wind Chaser."
He tried reaching up to it, but the mesh was just out reach. "We've got to get it down somehow."
Blaze nodded.
"Wait a minute," Kyle said, "you got another of those medpacks?"
"Yes."
"Let me see it."
Blaze pulled the squarish box from her belt, handing it to Kyle.
"What are you going to do?"
"See if I can knock something loose," he replied.
Taking aim, Kyle hurled the medpack at the mesh. It struck, jostling the collection of weapons. But nothing came free.
Retrieving the medpack, he moved to another spot and threw it again. This time, the blaster rifle jerked slightly, its barrel sliding out over the edge of the mesh.
Moving to stand directly under the net, Kyle hurled the medpack into it again. The blaster jerked again, slid further and fell out of the net.
"Look out!" cried Blaze.
"Wha…" Kyle started to say as the blaster struck the floor and discharged.
The bolt flashed out of the muzzle even as he ducked down. It burned past, missing him by inches, ricocheting off the wall instead. Continuing on, it struck the opposite wall, ricocheting again. With a flash and shower of sparks, the bolt of energy expended itself against the chain holding the mesh, severing it. A cacophony of crashing noises ensued as the collections of weapons and gear struck the floor. Fortunately, no more weapons went off.
When the last item had come to rest, Kyle came out of his crouch, seeing Blaze in a similar posture on the opposite side. She gave him a look.
Shrugging, he said, "Oops."
"Yeah," she replied with a sarcastic glare at him, "oops."
"Well, at least I got them down." Kyle said, stepping forward to collect his gear. The armor was gone, probably still in the med bay he had woken up in, but in a matter of minutes, he had the weapons belt in place, thermal detonators and missile launcher holstered and his blaster held at the ready.
"The rest of this must be Jan's."
"I suppose so," Blaze said, "you think she'd mind, given the circumstances?"
He gave her a confused look that cleared as he figured it out. He nodded.
After she collected the remaining gear, Blaze noticed Kyle studying his mapper, pressing button on its surface.
"You don't think that's going to help you here?"
He looked at her briefly, returning his attention to the mapper.
"Maybe not, but the mapper uses bio-signals to track me and Jan. If I can reprogram it to locate her bio-sign, then…"
The device let off three beeps.
"Got it. It's scanning."
Blaze walked over, watching as the device searched for Jan Ors' bio-signal. A minute passed, two, then three.
The mapper's display flashed once, then resolved into a display showing a single, green, pulsating dot.
"It's got her signal," Kyle said, smiling.
"Where?" Blaze said, hope in her voice.
"Not sure," he replied, "but we can follow the signal right to her. C'mon."
Jan screamed again, every nerve ending on fire.
"I think that's enough," the interrogator said.
The torture droid complied, backing away from her. Jan crumpled, falling back into the chair, and nearly out of it. The interrogator reached over, steadying her.
"Now, now, be careful. We don't want you to hurt yourself now, do we?"
Jan didn't answer, couldn't answer even if she had wanted to. The electric shock administered by the droid was still playing havoc with her insides. Her teeth were locked together and she couldn't get them to release.
"I know that wasn't pleasant," the interrogator said, "but your lack of cooperation has made it necessary. I'll give you a few minutes, and then we'll try again. Remember, it's all up to you. Tell me what I what to know, and this will all stop. Resist and it will only get worse."
In her mind, Jan knew there was no way she was going to give in, even if it cost her life. I just wish I could see Kyle one last time, she thought.
"I believe it's been long enough," the interrogator said, "now, once again, Miss Ors, tell me the location of your Rebel forces."
Jan shook her head.
"Ah, I see. Well, then, you've made your choice. Droid, continue."
The teardrop shaped device floated towards her, its electrical arm stretching out.
KA-BLAM!
The interrogator whirled around, covering his face as the door to the cell exploded, sending sections of plasteel flying. The man drew his blaster only to have a red beam flash out of nowhere through the swirling smoke and strike his hand. Crying out in pain, he dropped the blaster as two figures emerged from the smoke, a man and a woman, both holding weapons.
"Stay right there, Imperial!"
The interrogator hesitated for only a moment. Weaponless, he still he one advantage. In three quick steps, he reached the prisoner. Reaching down, he put his hands around the slender neck and began to squeeze.
After the trio of thermal detonators had vaporized the door, Kyle was waiting for the smoke to clear when he caught sight of the black uniform of an Imperial officer.
He was about to call a warning to Blaze when she drew her blaster and fired.
There was a cry, followed the sound of an object hitting the floor.
He gave her a quick smile, then stepped into the room, calling for the Imperial to hold his ground.
Instead, the man stepped away, moving deeper into the room. Finally clearing the smoke, Kyle saw the man stepped towards a figure seated in a chair. It was Jan. The man reached down, encircling her neck with his hands and start to squeeze.
His vision going red, Kyle felt a sudden rage.
"Get your filthy hands off of her!" he cried, dashing forward.
The Imperial, seeing him coming, squeezed harder. Already, Jan's eyes were losing focus.
Teeth bared like a predator, Kyle drew his gun back, then slashed it forward in a vicious blow that struck the Imperial in the side of head.
The man's grip loosened, but did not release. Bringing the gun back around, Kyle grabbed his right wrist with his left hand, leveling the blaster. Finger stabbing down on the trigger, he loosed three shots at point blank range.
A moment later, what was left of the Imperial fell away from Jan, crashing to the deck. Kyle stood over the body, breathing hard, his face a mask of blind rage.
Behind him, Blaze watched mutely. She hadn't seen rage like that in a while. Uncontrolled, it was clearly lethal.
To his left, Jan coughed weakly. The sound brought his head around.
As his eyes took her in, the rage drained from Kyle as quickly as it had come. He let go of the blaster, letting it drop the deck as he knelt beside her, hands gripping one of the chair's rails.
"Jan?"
He reached, took her hand in his, gave it a gentle squeeze.
"Jan, it's Kyle. Can you hear me?"
Her chin was on her chest, eyes half-closed. She didn't squeeze back.
Concern mounting, Kyle reached out with his free hand. Part of mind said, what are you doing? He touched her face. The skin was warm; she was still alive!
Moving with extreme care, he maneuvered himself so he faced her. Delicately, he grasped her chin, pushed it up until he could into her eyes. The pupils were unfocused, gazing nowhere.
"Jan, please," he said, "don't leave."
She still sat in the chair, but the room was dark, except for a single light overhead. The interrogator was gone. In fact, other than the chair and area illuminated by the light, Jan could see nothing else.
She felt her neck, where the Imperial had so mercilessly squeezed, cutting of her air. But she felt only smooth, unvarnished skin.
Am I dreaming? One way to find out.
OUCH!
She had felt that, the skin had reacted to the pinch with momentary pain.
So, I'm not dreaming, but something's happened.
"Jan?"
A voice. It seemed to come from everywhere.
"Jan, it's Kyle. Can you hear me?
It was Kyle! She recognized the voice now, but where was it coming from? Why couldn't she see him?
As if responding to her silent question, the overhead light brightened, and a beam emanated from it, piercing part of the darkness. At first, Jan couldn't make out what she was seeing, but as the light intensified even more, she could see Kyle. He was… kneeling in front of her? Holding her hand? Touching her face?
What in the nine hells of Corellia is going on here? Why was Katarn touching her? Why couldn't she feel it? What…?
"Jan, please don't leave."
The answer came in a flash. I'm dying? She thought about it for a moment, the Imperial's hands, the last gasp of air leaving her body. Kyle had come to the rescue, but too late. She was dying.
His voice came to her again. "Jan please don't leave."
She didn't want to leave. While death was something was something every Rebel faced every day, Jan had given it little thought other than acknowledging that it would eventually happen. But no, not this way, not now, not… Part of her rebelled against the thought. Not with him watching. He doesn't deserve this. I don't want to leave.
"Then don't leave."
Another voice, not Kyle's she realized immediately, but another.
"Do you want to go back?"
The voice was familiar and unfamiliar at the same time. It was low, strong and kindly. And for some reason, Jan knew she could trust it.
"What is your answer? Do you want to go back?"
She looked out at Kyle's face. She could see him trying to be strong, to not give up. He cares, she realized, he really does. Then there was only one thing to do.
"Yes," she sad firmly, "I want to go back."
At once the lights winked out. A weight seemed to press on her chest. Her brain screamed for oxygen.
Suddenly, her eyes losing the unfocused look, Jan's whole body moved, the gasp turning into a deep, deep intake of air. As she exhaled, the coughing resumed, a harsh and bitter sound.
"Easy, Jan," he said, "easy."
With one last violent spasm of coughing, Jan fell back into the chair, eyes closed, head down. Her breathing became rapid and shallow as her oxygen-starved body worked to fill her lungs with air. Gradually, her breathing slowed. Kyle watched, not moving. She opened her eyes, blinking several times as the pupils focused.
"Jan, can you hear me?"
She raised her head slightly, looked into his eyes. He gazed back with such emotion, but she couldn't help herself.
"Yes, Katarn, I can hear you. A deaf Frezzian could hear you."
His smile was wide and genuine.
"Jan!" he cried.
Before either of them knew what was happening, they reached for each other, embraced.
Blinking back tears, arms tight about her, Kyle said, "You're alive! You're all right! When you didn't answer me, I…"
Jan said nothing; her mind was a jumble. Besides, it felt…good, she realized. Yes, it felt good to be held by Kyle Katarn. She drew her own arms tighter about him.
"Jeez, get a room, will ya?"
Heads turning, they saw Blaze standing near the door, nonchalantly leaning against the frame, one eyebrow raised, a smirk on her lips as she stared at the two operatives.
They looked to each and, as if a current had been snapped off, let go of each other quickly, Kyle taking two quick steps away from Jan.
"Oh now, don't let me interrupt," Blaze said, gesturing, "continue."
"Look, it wasn't…." Kyle began.
"I was about to…" Jan started to say.
Running over each other words, they looked to each other again.
"Yes?" Blaze prompted.
Suddenly, the few remaining lights in the brig went red. Somewhere, an alarm began to sound.
Both Kyle and Jan exhaled mightily, grateful for the interruption.
"Saved by the bell," Blaze said, gazing at the lights, "we should probably go."
"Good idea," Jan said, rising to her feet. She wobbled, her knees shaking, nearly collapsing before she was able to grab onto the chair.
"What's wrong?" Kyle asked, a concerned look on his face.
"Torture droid," Jan muttered, "guess the electrical shocks still have my system messed up."
"That complicates things," Blaze said, "how are we going to get out of here if you can't walk?"
"One way," Kyle said, an idea coming to him. He stepped behind Jan, placing one hand against her back. Crouching slightly, Kyle scooped his arms under Jan's knees, lifting her.
"Hey!" she said, struggling, "what do you're think you're doing, Katarn? Put me down or you'll be sorry."
"Look," he said, "We've got to go and I'm not leaving you here. Besides, you have a better idea?"
Jan glared at him coldly. "No," she was forced to admit.
"Fine," he replied, then to Blaze. "Let's go."
With Blaze in the lead, they emerged from the room, checking left, then right.
"Which way?" he asked.
Blaze turned too look over her shoulder at him. "You think I know? This little expedition was your idea, Kyle. I have no idea where we are, much less where the ships are."
Surprise quickly changing to anger, Kyle was about to speak when Jan beat him to it.
"Back off the thrusters, Blaze. Blaming Kyle is not going to solve anything. Besides, had it been you that was in there, don't you think Kyle and I would have come to rescue you?"
The other woman, turned away, not saying anything. After a moment, she muttered, "Probably."
"Okay," Jan said, "now, how did you and Kyle find me?"
It took a moment, then the two of them looked at each other as they chorused, "The mapper!"
He started to reach for it, then remembered he had two handfuls of Jan Ors. "Blaze, could you…?"
"Sure," she said, moving towards them, "and Kyle…"
"Save it for when we're back on the New Hope, okay?"
"Okay," Blaze said, reaching down to his belt and pulling the mapper free.
"Check the preprogrammed locations," Jan said, "We should be able to home in on the Crow."
Blaze started to key the mapper when Kyle interrupted. "Um, there might be a problem with that."
Jan turned her face up to his, seeing the guilty look. "What did you do, Katarn?"
"Well," he said, "when I was re-programming the mapper to home in on your bio-signature, I think I dumped the memory."
Jan turned to face Blaze, a silent question on her face. When the other woman nodded, Jan forced herself to count to 10. Face coloring with annoyance, she glared at Kyle, who was trying to look anywhere but at her.
"Look at me, Katarn."
Reluctantly, he turned his face to hers.
"What do you have to say for yourself?"
He cast about for a moment. "Sorry?" he offered.
"And?" she pressed.
"I won't do it again?"
"Close," she said, lightly thumping him on the chest with her free hand, "how about making sure the mapper's memory is downloaded to secondary storage before trying to reprogram it. Like I've shown you how to."
He winced at the blow. "Sorry, Jan."
"Wait a minute," called Blaze, as she studied the mapper's display. "I think we might still be able to use this thing. If I can tune it to Black Gold's transponder frequency…"
"But Jabba's men would have shut it down," Kyle said.
"Not necessarily," Jan replied, "they seemed more interested in capturing us."
"Got it!" Blaze cried, "The ships are two decks below and slightly north of our current position."
Jan and Kyle echoed her smile. Together, they headed down the corridor with Blaze in the lead.
As she moved ahead to check an intersection, Jan caught Kyle looking at her.
"Problem, Katarn?"
"No," he said quickly, "no problem."
"Sure," she said sarcastically, "listen Katarn, I know how men think. You must be loving this."
He considered that for a moment. "Not necessarily."
That took her aback. "What do you mean?"
"Well," he said, shifting her a bit in his arms, "this isn't exactly easy for me, you know?"
"Not easy?" she said, "What does that mean? Is it a crack about my weight?"
"No," he said, "not at all. I just wanted to explain that this about necessity, not pleasure."
"Oh, I see," she replied, enjoying his discomfort, "So you don't like holding me?"
"No," Kyle said, feeling trapped, "I…"
She whacked in the chest again, harder this time.
"Shut up, Katarn."
"Yes Jan."