10: Death Egg

"That was awesome," Kagura said, watching hyperspace smear by outside of the lounge area's viewport. "No, it was more than awesome, it… it was… damn, was that ever awesome!"

"Wasn't it?" Tomo agreed proudly. "The Red Spirit breaks .4 past lightspeed! Or was it .3? Well, it's something up there."

"I mean…" the soldier leaned to the side so that she could look back along their path. "Can you imagine the look on those gunners' faces? They were even warned and we just shot right by them!"

"Not bad for a pink ship, huh?"

"Not bad at all. Hey, rival?" Sakaki was sitting on the floor with her back against the couch, turning the letter from Kaori over and over in her hands absently. She still hadn't opened it. Though she didn't give any sign that she had heard, Kagura got the sudden sense that she was listening. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing," Sakaki said softly, pocketing the letter. Chiyo sat next to her, flipping through one of Yomi's books. Either she really didn't like what she was seeing or her mind was elsewhere.

Yomi entered with two trays of food, casting an apologetic glance at the customers. "Oh, have you guys eaten?"

"I'm fine," Kagura assured and Sakaki gestured to that effect as well. Her new apprentice didn't respond. The First Mate set the trays down and Tomo sat across from her, tucking a napkin into her collar. "Wow," the Kagura asked, "Are you gonna eat all of that?"

"That's my aim, yes," Yomi answered testily, snapping her chopsticks with one hand.

"That's… wow, you must be a Valerian," Kagura sat next to Tomo. "I mean, I could never manage all of that food. Or even half!"

"Isn't it crazy?" Tomo said. "If I ate a third of that, I'd be huge! You'd have to roll me out of here!"

"Well, isn't that nice for you?" Yomi growled.

"Not really…"

Sakaki finally slit the envelope open with her thumb and read the short letter dispassionately. Well, at least, that's what it would look like. Her poker face held in spite of whatever feeling the letter brought out in her, just as it concealed the fact that she was still rattled by the "disturbance in the Force" and ached terribly for little Chiyo. Far from the Jedi ideal, her serenity was far from complete.

The delicate paper crumpled in her hand as she slid it into the envelope and pocketed them with an inaudible sigh. She should have known… it was especially sad since she was starting to get the feeling that she wouldn't get to see Kaori again. Was that Jedi intuition or just groundless foreboding? The difference was subtle; even a Master could have a hard time telling.

"So…" Chiyo said finally, still looking into the book. "Can we start my training soon?"

"Yes," Sakaki replied, softly enough that the others couldn't hear. "We'll start with your reaction to Ms. Kagura."

"Huh?" That wasn't what Chiyo was expected. It sounded more like the start of a therapy session than anything. "My reaction?"

"You tense up around her. You avoid her eyes."

"I… because she…"

"I saw too, Chiyo-chan."

"Didn't even try to get out of it or talk to them," Chiyo said in a small voice, "Just…" she held out a hand and mimed the recoil of a blaster twice. "And… and now here she is, talking and laughing like it's no big deal."

"How would you have her act?"

"I… I don't know…"

"Holy shit!" Kagura suddenly yelled, whirling towards the viewport. "We've gone plaid!"

"What?" Chiyo yelped, "We broke Klein's Barrier?"

"Klein's what?"

"Klein's Barrier? You know, where the ship folds space so far in on itself that the…" Chiyo gestured lamely, realizing that she'd have to encapsulate a year and a half of classes to explain it, "…well, so that hyperspace looks like that? I didn't think that a ship this big could do it." Sakaki noted that she forgot her discomfort when she was trying to explain something… that could be useful. And just how smart was this kid?

"Are you calling me a liar?" Tomo asked.

"Of course not! I'm just surprised."

Yomi looked up at her. She was poking the last remains of her food; it didn't look like she would be able to get it all in this time. "Whoa, you understand about Klein's Barrier?"

"Yeah."

"Where did you learn about that?"

"I, uh, I don't remember. It was either Hyperspatial Mechanics 203 or 204…"

"You're already in college?"

"Well, corresponding," Chiyo said modestly.

Sakaki couldn't ask for a better student, really. But there was always the possibility of screwing up, and the thought of losing Chiyo to the Dark Side was already more than she could bear. Even Master Kenobi had made his mistakes… in spite of herself, Sakaki felt an uncontrolled thread of anxiety twist through her, slowly blooming into genuine fear.

"Can we continue?" Chiyo asked when the others had returned to their conversation.

"Sorry, I need to meditate for a while," Sakaki replied, voice as mild as ever. "I'm too emotional just now."

Chiyo looked at her in disbelief.


Being the ranking Intelligence officer on the Death Star, Matsuyama was expected to report personally to all of the station's "brass," and there was a lot of brass here. He had to deal with an endless parade of narcissistic, pinheaded nobles and officers, all with their own interests, hidden agendas and hair-trigger tempers. Needless to say, it was quite stressful.

Still, he would have taken twice as many narcissistic pinheads if it would get him out of dealing with just one in particular. Matsuyama came to a halt outside an armored door flanked by two stormtroopers wearing short black capes. Here goes… "I'm here to see Lord Nochichi," he said.

"Lord Nochichi is meditating," one of the guards said imperiously. "Come back later."

Matsuyama wondered sourly if these grunts thought they were anything special because of their capes. He also wondered how fast the Sith Lord went through door guards if they were this obnoxious. "I'm here by his orders. Let me through."

"We shouldn't…" the second guard said, but his fellow interrupted him. "Hey, it's this guy's funeral." The door slid open silently and Matsuyama advanced into the dim brown light of Darth Nochichi's lair. The air was cool and musty-smelling, warming slightly nearer to what Matsuyama secretly thought of as the Death Egg.

The great black ovoid opened slowly as he approached, giving him a fleeting glimpse of something red-orange before Nochichi's armor closed over him and he drifted from the confines of his egg. A heavy, reeking green mist rolled out of it and rushed coldly across Matsuyama's feet. "What do you want, Commander?"

"I, uh…" the sound of Nochichi's voice made him forget himself for a moment. "You told me to report if anything strange happened on Tatooine…" The Sith Lord drifted silently. After an uncomfortable second or two, the Matsuyama produced a folder and started flipping through it, more to avoid looking at his superior than anything else. "Three hours ago the owners of a private freighter shot their way out of Mos Eisley and ran the Implacable's blockade. Neither had a significant criminal record or any known motive for leaving in such a hurry."

"You think they have the plans?"

"It's very likely, my lord. Surveillance shows that they had three passengers; one of them could be this Captain Kagura we're missing, though the image quality's too low to tell for sure."

"Were there any casualties?"

"A civilian bounty hunter was injured and two stormtroopers were killed."

The Sith Lord seemed to turn green, even though his armor didn't actually change hue. "That doesn't sound like you, Nanashi…" he said contemplatively. "Thank you Commander, you are dismissed."

"Should we mount a search?"

"I will deal with this personally… after dinner." Nochichi started drifting back into his Egg. "On your way out, tell the guards that I do not want any red stuff this time."

"Er… no red stuff. Got it." Matsuyama saluted and left as the Sith Lord resumed his meditation.


Sakaki drifted. As she meditated, her awareness spread, passively and objectively taking in everything around her. She felt Chiyo's hidden fear and confusion, Kagura's steadfast determination and observed that Tomo and Yomi did in fact care for each other, though it seemed even they didn't realize how deeply.

Her ken expanded even further, taking in the endless leagues of empty space around the Red Spirit. Sakaki felt as if she was becoming one with the void; there was nothing quite so calming. Farther and farther out her mind roved, even seeing glimpses of nearby stars and other vessels.

But suddenly, she was struck with the icy, horrifying feeling that something was looking back! With a strangled gasp, she snapped out of her trance and surged to her feet. She was alone except for Chiyo, who'd evidently fallen asleep on her arm and was now looking around in bleary confusion. "Master Sakaki, wha's wrong?"

"Where are we?" Sakaki asked sharply.

"I, um…" Chiyo checked her chronometer, "We should be coming up on Alderaan now."

"Oh, no…" though tightly controlled, the unflappable Jedi's voice held something that was very close to panic. Chiyo watched her apprehensively. What could possibly frighten her so?

Meanwhile, swathed in the poisonous atmosphere of his meditation chamber, Darth Nochichi's thin lips curved up into a predatory grin. "I have you now."