Chapter 5: Departure

"Will she be alright?" Jaina asked Jacen.

"Yeah," he said, still smiling. "What's your name, by the way?"

"Jaina. Draygo."

"That's… weird."

"I know."

The healer nodded to her and turned to Saber.

"What happened, Saber?"

"We were at a meeting. CIS found us. Jacen, I'm going to be leaving for a while."

"How long?"

"I'm really not sure. I'm going to leave the system."

Jacen stared at him. "I'm coming with you," he finally said.

"I'm sorry Mr. Draygo," Jaq broke in before Saber could reply, "but I've only contracted Captain Draygo and Ms. Djo for the transport of myself and the four others."

Jacen turned back to Jaina. "You're from out-of-system, then?"

She nodded. "I was actually born here, but I grew up on Nar Shaada. My foster parents managed to get us off planet the year after the uprising."

"There has to be some way to convince you to let me come with you. I need to get out of this system. There's no one here who knows anything about my power, no one who can teach me to use it better, tell me what it is. I have to get out of here."

"You can come."

"He can?" said Jaq, confused.

"He just saved my first mate's life, Mr. Antillies. He can come, though he'd better not expect any other payment."

"YES!" Jacen ran out of the room, calling back: "I'll be ready in just a minute!"

"He's … a bit immature," said Jaq.

"Yeah. A bit. How old is he anyway?"

"Twenty-four," said Saber, holding his face in his hands.

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When Jacen came back out of his room, carrying a stuffed but reasonably sized duffle, everyone except the Captain was gathered in the main room, talking quietly.

Hal waved him over.

"Jacen, are you sure about this? You'll be completely on your own if you leave."

"I'll find my way. They use the same monetary system out there, right? I've got a little saved up. I'll go to Obra-Skai, or some other place, find a job and start researching. I'll be fine. I know it."

"If you're sure, Jacen."

Captain Draygo came in at this point, followed by her still slightly pale first mate, who was staring at Jacen as though he had grown an extra head. Hal stood up.

"If you're able," he said, "we need to leave now."

Tenel Ka nodded and the eight of them went outside.

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The speeder was designed for six, tops. As it was, Corria was outright sitting in Drebble's lap.

Jaina had taken the wheel and, with directions from Saber, was driving them out of the city and towards Corwin's Rest.

They left the road a few klicks from the town, checking first to make sure there was no one there to see them, and journeyed into the mountains, keeping out of sight of the road.

They arrived at the ship after dark, about six hours after they left Jacen's house. Tenel Ka had fallen into an exhausted sleep along the way, and Jaina was hesitant to wake her. All she'd be doing on the flight out was simple engine routines and shooting. She helped Jaq put the redhead in her small cabin.

"You have three cabins," he noted.

Jaina nodded. "When the ship was being built, we originally thought there'd be three people crewing her."

Jaq was good enough at reading people to know he shouldn't enquire further.

"Can you co-pilot for me?" Jaina asked.

"If you show me the control lay out a couple times."

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They took off about an hour later, their passengers strapped into the common room seats and Tenel Ka secured in her bunk with a sheet taped to the frame and wall. Almost immediately Corellian Defense was on them. This time there were no warnings other than those the sensors gave. The firing began immediately.

Jaq was, Jaina quickly determined as good a shot in the air as he was on the ground. He picked off two of the six X-wings on their tail before they were even out of the atmosphere, a third as they escaped the gravity-well. Jaina, for her part, flew like a madwoman.

When they'd jumped out and it was all over they sat in silence for moment staring at each other.

"You're good," said Jaq. "Very good. I've been meaning to tell you that since our flight in."

Jaina nodded. "You're not so bad yourself."

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The flight to Duros was less than 24 hours long, but, after a dinner far inferior to those available when Tenel Ka was conscious, it felt like nearly midnight for the Corellians. Jaina obtained Jaq's assistance in setting up some sleeping pads in the cargo hold, and they all went to bed, Jaq surrendering his cabin to Saber, who was apparently the leader of the new – presumably rebel – passengers.

They all went to bed, except Jaina.

She sat in the cockpit, staring out at the shining panorama of hyperspace and thinking about the last week.

She was sure that Jaq was a rebel. She was sure that Saber, Corria, Drebble and Jys were rebels as well, members of the Corellian Resistance. Jacen appeared to have functioned as a healer for those who couldn't afford – or risk – professional care. But how the hell did he do it?

It was like the stories they'd told in the refugee camp on Nar Shaada, the ancient tails of Jedi and Sith that she now realized must only have survived the Empire's twisting among those people who couldn't afford exposure to the mass media.

Saber had said that Jacen was no Jedi, and he'd said it with conviction, and – Jaina thought – a touch of sadness. But how could Saber know?

And yet, Jacen seemed ignorant about his powers. What was he?

Whatever he was, he was calling into question a whole hell of a lot. If Jedi, in some form, existed, then why not Tenel Ka's witches? TK claimed that the reason she'd never seen any dramatic magic (meaning, in Jaina's view, something that was provably not coincidence) was that such spells were hidden from those not of the clan. But there had been coincidences, so many coincidences, and then their was the way Kev had died…

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Jacen Draygo lay awake, thinking about the woman from out of system who was really from Corellia, and who had his name, and about finding someone to help him understand his powers.

Jagged Fel lay awake, thinking of the strange circumstances that seemed to surround Jaina Draygo, and regretting, for some reason, that he and the smuggler would soon part ways, undoubtedly for ever. He would go back to his lawful world, she would go back to the realm of chaos and backstabbing that was the galactic underworld, and they would never see each other again. That bothered him more than it should have.

Much more.

Hal Horn lay awake in a cabin when others slept on camping gear in the cargo hold, a cabin he had earned by turning against the law and the maintenance of order, and thought about the young man he'd kept hidden for twenty-two years, about the young woman who had escaped his sight, and about the on he hadn't seen in twenty two years, but whose presence he could still feel distantly in the Force.

And, resting in each other's arms, Tendra and Lando Calrissian slept.