Bondmates and Soulmates
Chapter 6: Turmoil
That was what, ultimately, war did to you. It was not the physical dangers--the mines at sea, the bombs from the air, the crisp ping of a rifle bullet as you drove over a desert track. No, it was the spiritual danger of learning how much easier life was if you ceased to think. -Agatha Christie
Coruscant
Jaina paced nervously outside the office. She had rushed off to headquarters seconds after getting off the comm. with Jag's mother. The woman had told her what the Home Fleet commander wouldn't. Jag was missing in action and presumed dead. She had even gone on to tell Jaina that all those who had disappeared this far were presumed dead. The alternative was not thought to be pleasant. When Jaina had asked her to elaborate on that, she just shook her head and signed off.
"I've never known you to need to pace a hole in the floor." Came the familiar and welcome voice of her Aunt. "What has you so wound Jaina? We could feel you clear across the planet."
Jaina did something that she hadn't done since she was a little girl. She ran over and hugged Mara as if she were the only stable object in the galaxy. Her ragged whisper went almost unheard. "He's MIA. Presumed dead."
Mara hugged her niece tight. "Hold on to the good times, J. He'll be found." The elder Jedi soothed. Mentally she said, "Compose yourself, General, the boss man cometh."
Jaina pulled back from her Aunt with a half-hearted smile. She turned and met the gaze of a man that she hadn't seen in years. "Wedge, didn't you retire?"
"That isn't all it's cracked up to be and the official answer is no. I cannot allow you to take leave knowing that you'll end up searching for Fel." But he gave he that look that said I know you'll do it anyway so don't get caught.
It was then that she did the unexpected. "Then I quit." She shot over her shoulder as she exited his office.
He sat across from Tahiri now in the mess. He had long since tuned out her ranting about his lack of responsibility. Jacen ran the curiosity of exactly who would have sent a swarm of beetle like creatures after the child they were carrying. Catching the blonde in a lull he suddenly asked. "Just who is the child we are carrying Tahiri?"
When she stopped to take a deep breath, he knew he'd hit a nervous subject. "SheistheonethatMasterSkywalersentmehereformynewapprentice."
"What about Condra?" he asked knowing full well that his Uncle had been up to secretive sidebars with some of the older council members. None of who would tell him what was going on.
She didn't meet his eyes. "She was assigned another Master."
"What makes this child so important that she would need to have a specific Master?" He challenged, knowing already where this was headed.
Tahiri's eyes narrowed, she picked up on his suspicions. "Not like you need me to confirm what you already believe." She lowered her voice to a heated whisper at the end. It was then that she pulled the small device from under the table. Placing it atop she looked pointedly at him. "We had better make sure all the luggage is stowed properly before we revert."
Ben sat with the selected data pad in front of him. He did not care for the history lesson in front of him, but his parents deemed it a necessary piece of his curriculum. The colored histories of his Grandfather held no appeal to him. The man is karking dead, let him rest.
It was at that moment that Ben felt it. Like the fluttering of a moth's wing, there and gone. He shivered unconsciously. The darkness is coming for me.