Another chapter and it did not take a month! Thanks to all my readers and reviewers. I hope you continue to enjoy the story.
"What did you say?" Carth asked, his rage suddenly evaporating at hearing Dodonna's words. "Admiral? But I was just awarded captain right after the Star Forge," Carth rambled as he remembered the surprise announcement at the first ceremonial dinner they attended.
"A promotion that was long over-due, to be sure," Forn smiled. "This also is too long in coming; you are more than worth this to the Republic."
Carth studied her as he considered the flattering words. His anger began to rise again. "I won't be bought off," he responded stiffly. "Are you authorized to offer me anything I want just so I keep silent and don't quit?"
"No, Captain, this was a scheduled event," she sighed as she reached into a lower drawer of her desk. She produced an elegant velvet box and placed it in front of Carth. "We were going to give this to you at the dinner last night." He took it with suspicion and opened it; a glimmering Republic cluster denoting the admiral rank was within, with his name engraved on a small plate just below it. "In the history of the Republic, no one has risen so dramatically in the ranks. This was unanimous, Captain, not a single dissenting voice. Welcome to the A-list, Carth," she said with a slight smile.
Carth was motionless as he looked at the insignia. It was all he had worked for, what he had hoped to achieve in his life….no, not this, he quickly realized. Jolee's words returned to him, of medals and honors and their worth. He did not join the fleet to gain pins and ribbons. He was fighting for a way of life, a peaceful galaxy for…his wife and son. He snapped the lid over the cluster and placed the box on the desk next to his discarded medals.
"I can't accept this," he said softly with forced control. "It means nothing to me now. I gave everything, my whole life, even what wasn't mine to give," he breathed as he remembered her last moments in his arms amid the smoldering remains of his home. "For what? To be betrayed in an instant. Last night you lead me into a trap; no wonder you were so quick to give up on Jiara—you don't even protect your own," he said with great sadness, resentment and disappointment. "After all I have done, all I have given and all I have sacrificed in service to the Republic, you have the audacity to sit there and place demands on my personal life as well. I'll be damned if I give up on her—she's all I have left now." Numbness settled in him, preventing him from lashing out in the rage he felt swelling inside. "So, no, I will not play the game any more, I won't be your smiling hero poster boy. Whatever problem that creates, you brought it on yourselves. I don't care."
"Actually, Carth, your leaving would solve a great many problems," Dodonna said with an edge in her voice. Carth looked up with shock at her callous dismissal. "I will not deny you have given more to the Republic than was ever asked, but you have become…a liability now, Captain. This commission is not so much a reward as it is a reassignment, to remove you from the spotlight. The…civilian command…is uneasy with your notoriety," she explained with obvious distaste at the mention of the non-military leaders.
"How so?" he asked, his anger finding its way out.
"Carth, have you ever stopped to consider how heroes, true legends, seem to have only one defining moment, one event that puts them above the rest? Why do you think that is? Should they survive their pinnacle of achievement, they become too well known, too famous to continue on. You have reached that rarified status: there is nowhere in this galaxy you can go without being recognized, for good or ill. Your presence on any mission will compromise its success. There will be those gunning for you specifically and others too fawning to dispute a bad order. Forget any recon or undercover work. Beyond inspiring new recruits, you have become too good for us, Carth: we have no purpose for you any longer."
Carth stared at her blankly; even though he was just at the point of leaving, being fired was a whole other issue…especially for being useless? "So last night was an attempt to be rid of me: my best role yet, a champion and martyr," he spat. "It seems I could serve at least one purpose for you."
"Carth, you do realize that was not the first attempt on your life, don't you?" It was a statement more than a question. "It was just the first one we were unable to stop. It was bound to happen, I consider us damn lucky it wasn't worse."
"What do you mean, not the first?" he asked, confusion rippling across his features.
"Revan may have been pardoned by the Senate and the Jedi Council," Dodonna began, "deals made, bribes paid, favors traded, tricks played…one or maybe all of those caused this to be swept under the rug," she said, her voice drenched in bitterness. "But the court of public opinion is not as easily swayed. Is there a life in this entire galaxy she has not touched? Mothers, sons, sisters, grandfathers…ordinary people otherwise, but we have picked up so many of them in security sweeps at your award venues…. all with Revan in their crosshairs. And there are still a great many Sith and sympathizers out there with a grudge against you and your team. Every function has had at least one plot, one assassin, one bomb planted somewhere with your team's name on it. Remember when your submersible was switched at the last minute on Manaan? Not because it lost a stabilizer. There was a cache of grenades with a timer discovered on it. Or the delay before the parade on Alderaan? Three sniper assassins were arrested along the route. Three separate, independent snipers, Carth, not a single unit sent for you. I can go on…. but I don't need to."
"Then why these parties and dinners, pompous ceremonies putting us all in one spot? Easier to kill us all," Carth grumbled.
"And easier to keep you all safe," Dodonna returned with a dismissive wave of her hand. "If we know where you are, we know where they are trying to get to you. Brass considers that pretty handy."
Carth could only stare, his mouth slightly agape. He had been so wrapped up in the glory of defeating Malak, bringing down the Star Forge, and starting his new life, he hadn't realized the old one was still all around him. He berated himself for not realizing the danger on his own; but he was a hero, dammit, and so was she. They shouldn't have to think about things like that. At least not away from the war, from the fighting, from the frontlines. A pit formed in his stomach as the words formed in his mind: they were on the frontlines, still fighting. There was no place away from the war…just ask Telos, Taris and Dantooine.
"These damn parades are all publicity, Carth, you know how it works," Forn continued. "We won the battle, not the war. We need to put on a brave front: we need heroes, even fallen ones. Not too many know the truth about Revan, and even fewer about Bastila. But we know, Carth, don't we? Command is jittery and they want to know where those two are at all times. You know all too well not everyone welcomes Jedi with open arms: a couple of unstable former Dark Sith especially. Well, no sense trying to hide you, is there? The senate and the brass see this as a win-win all the way around: they watch you, we catch the bad guys, the public gets their morale boosted and hopefully the Sith fall further apart. All in one neat little package wrapped with a bow." Dodonna looked away then down at her desk. "I am sorry, Carth. You deserve better, you all do," she said barely above a whisper. "I protested, but I take orders, just like you. The only good thing about it was we were protecting you, or at least doing our damnedest."
"Why keep this from us?" he asked in complete disbelief. He would process the details later. Right now he needed to know why last night came all undone, why everything went to hell in the blink of an eye. The plans had been good enough to keep even him in the dark: why suddenly did they fail?
"I am surprised at you Carth, really, not realizing this on your own. But I suppose you have been…preoccupied," she said with a mixture of disappointment and amusement. "Would you have gone along with this stunt? Put yourself and the rest…her…in danger, even if it was the best solution? And what good would it have done to tell you of the attempts so far taken on your lives? Why bother you with them? Publicizing the attempts would have only served to embolden others, teach them of the mistakes and what to avoid the next time."
"Smart tactics," Carth conceded. "So what changed about last night?"
"Not our decision," she sighed. "The Senate was confident of success based on all the other foiled plots. They wanted to send a message to the Sith and let the rest of the populous know it this time. But it backfired."
"No, I don't think it did," Carth intoned flatly. "We know of seven senate spies: there could be more still undercover. The message that got out was the one intended all along." Carth slumped into the chair, defeated. He had been blindsided by both allies and enemies.
"I cannot dispute that, but I can tell you investigations are…" Dodonna began, but a chirp from Carth's personal comm interrupted her. She looked at him quizzically as he bolted from his chair and moved to the far corner of the office.
"Report," he said quickly. "Bastila, what happened?"
"Something is wrong, Carth," her voice was urgent. "We have been tracking the signal and it is moving erratically and further from the capitol. This is a complete departure from his previous behavior."
"I take it you have not been able to confirm visual?" Carth responded.
"He's moving too fast, too much, too unpredictably. Mission started out once, but the signal doubled back suddenly and she pulled away before being discovered," she explained. "It was her choice to do it, we could not talk her out of it," Bastila added hastily.
"Understood: I know you can't tell that kid anything," he sighed. "Sounds like the track-patch was discovered and replanted on a decoy," he said with aggravation. "Damn it!"
"Should we return to the last place where we know for sure he was wearing it?" Bastila asked. "It was just a run-down cantina, but things are not always as they seem."
"No, he isn't there, I guarantee it; the whole reason for the decoy was to misdirect and divert you from his real direction, which I am sure is the total opposite of where you have been headed."
"Carth, that can be anywhere!" Bastila yelled back. "I'm afraid the trail has gone cold."
"Then we pick up a new trail," he said with a slight smile. "Switch to the blue frequency on the receiver and reset the range to maximum."
"You placed a second patch?" Bastila asked with relief and astonishment. "But how do we know that one wasn't found as well?"
"It's not on Canderous; it is on one of HK's replacement parts. I placed that one first when I met them on the Hawk," he smiled remembering how he had slipped the tracker on the repair kit he had kicked, then handed it back to Canderous. As Carth had hoped, he put the kit right next to the droid; it was probably one of the first parts used. "The one on Canderous was the back up."
"We have a signal: across town, as you surmised," she answered back. "Are we certain this one is not also a decoy?"
"Can't be certain, but I am pretty sure. That patch is designed specifically to avoid detection from droids. It emits a low ion field that disrupts sensors, making a blind spot around it. Besides, it is inside him—won't be seen or accidentally knocked off. You know how touchy that droid is about anyone repairing him," Carth said with a laugh.
"We are on our way towards the new signal; I will update you when we have news," Bastila reported before cutting the link. Carth lowered his comm, then suddenly remembered he was in the middle of a meeting with the admiral. He quickly turned to see her staring at him.
"I should have known you would have had a plan and a failsafe in place," Forn chuckled. "And it is already in motion and producing results."
"This is a rescue operation, Admiral. I won't give you any information just to have the troops and Jedi make an assassination attempt," Carth warned. "This is my personal time, my personal life. The Republic can stay out of it."
"And that is a top military tracker and ion patch," she casually mentioned. "I noticed your name on the requisition manifest from last night, guess I know why now," she said raising an eyebrow. "Carth, the problem with your personal relationship is commonly known as fraternizing with the enemy. Jiara is Revan, a traitor to the Republic. You may not want to divulge any secrets, but a Jedi of her caliber could take them right out of your mind, or even plant false orders, force you to betray the fleet in any number of ways. You can understand why this would make the brass uneasy."
Carth hung his head; it had never occurred to him to think of the situation that way. Faced now with the apparent evidence that Revan had returned and joined the Sith, he wondered if something like this hadn't already happened. He remembered how she looked at him, as if she were feeding from his soul the last time he saw her…when he tried to propose just over a day ago. That seemed so long ago now, so much had changed. But one thing remained constant: he vowed to protect her, and he intended to do whatever it took to keep that promise.
"Just give me a little time," he pleaded. "Let me try, you have to let me try to get her back. Then I will take the commission and sit behind a desk out of your way for as long as you want."
"This is a fool's errand, Captain," Forn continued "but no matter how it turns out, one problem or another will be solved: you will find her and bring her back or you will die in the attempt. I wish for the former and dread the latter. Is there no way I can keep you from this?" Carth remained silent. "What if I told you the commission was to oversee the revitalization of Telos?" Carth now looked at her with interest. Forn smiled, thinking she had discovered his weakness. "Yes, the plans are finalized; we need someone of rank to head the project. This is non-combat, you will have no authority or even access to any other information dealing with the fleet; it is perfect for you. Will this change your mind?"
"No," he breathed. "I think this hero has one last mission in him."
Forn sighed. She had played her final card. She studied the man before her; what made him such a damn fine soldier also made him a damn fool; she knew all along he would never change his mind, and deep inside, she was glad he didn't.
"You have 24 standard hours," Dodonna said sternly.