Will crouched in the cramped engine room of the tiny star ship, helping Obi-Wan to replace a spart for the impulse drive - he knew no more about it than that. He watched the boy meticulously replace the disconnected wiring, attaching it to the new metal housing.
"Obi-Wan, what did you do to that young crewman?"
"I made a suggestion that he should answer me. The weak-minded can be influenced that way."
"So you chose the youngest to ask."
"The most easily influenced."
"Which is also how you got the Offworld guard on Enterprise to open our cell."
"Yes." Obi-Wan looked up from his work, then. "What's bothering you, Will?"
Will sat against the wall of the hyperdrive behind him, drawing up his legs in front of him, since there was no room to stretch. "I had thought, at the time, that you had the authority to give her orders. That you had the cell opened so you could -" he found he couldn't say it.
"So I could kill Wesley."
"Yes." Will looked into the boy's sad eyes. "I was angry with you, angrier than I had any right to be, with the situation so uncertain. I let my anger blind me. I used it to hurt you." He grimaced. "Of all my acts of the past days, I am most ashamed that I pushed you away: when you were trying to help, and when you needed me. I am so sorry, Obi-Wan."
"I know," the boy answered seriously. "And I've long since forgiven you. I understand." Obi-Wan sighed, then sat beside the tall officer, drawing up his own knees in unconscious imitation. "Will," he said, "I owe you an apology."
"You don't owe me anything, Obi-Wan -"
"Hear me out," the boy interrupted. "I betrayed your trust, breaking into your things, taking your padd. Of everything that has happened in the past few days, that act shames me most. I hurt you. It was my own fear that you would find out that led me to run from you in the Jefferies tubes. I am sorry. I hope you can forgive me."
"Why did you do it?" Will asked quietly.
"I feared from what I had seen that Enterprise would have no defense against the ion cannons I knew Xanatos would bring. I did not believe you would allow me to study your systems in more depth to confirm it. I took your padd to study your defense systems, and to develop a protocol using one of the sensor arrays to create a deflection pattern. I had hoped," he sighed, "that my actions would remain undiscovered until I had time to implement my program. I was wrong."
"Only because Xanatos turned us against you."
"It was a reckless act regardless, and an untrusting and untrustworthy way to try to help. I played right into Xanatos's hands," the boy said wryly.
"That may be so," Will answered. "But I have to admit that in your position, I most likely would have done exactly the same. Of course I forgive you." He touched the boy's arm and chuckled. "Who knew that the rescue of a slave boy would lead me to the belly of an alien ship, on an alien world? What was that battle about, Obi-Wan, in Xanatos' quarters?" He was surprised when the boy glanced quickly away.
"Nothing worth discussing now." Obi-Wan leaned forward, sorting the wires and fibers he had yet to finish connecting. "I need to finish these repairs."
Will's heart sank with foreboding. "A human went to Sitaris, claiming to be your master. That was Qui-Gon, wasn't it? Another Jedi. And after you disappeared, so did he - lost in the fighting, looking for you."
"Will, I don't want to talk about it."
"You had already been rescued. That's why the collar was missing. And the robe wrapped around you was his."
"Will, stop!" Obi-Wan whispered.
"I took you away by transporter - and I got him killed."
Obi-Wan made a noise of protest, and leaned his head against the panel in front of him. He took three deep breaths. "Qui-Gon is not dead. He can't be. I would know if he were dead."
"Dear God, what have I done?"
"Stop it!" the boy shouted, and pounded both fists on the metal plating.
Will sucked his breath, and stared at Obi-Wan. "I've done it again," Will whispered. "Here you are grieving, with never a word against me, and all I could think of - No. It stops here." He put an arm around the boy, and drew him close.
"Will, please -" the boy protested, but did not pull away.
"Your Qui-Gon must be very special indeed, to earn the love of such an amazing boy."
"Don't -" he gasped. "I'll start crying or something-"
"Oh, horrors," Will teased gently. "Do Jedi never cry?"
Obi-Wan gulped down a half-sob, half laugh. He relaxed against Will, his breathing slowly steadying.
"Qui-Gon is my master, my teacher," he said finally, softly. He shuddered. "I have so much still to learn from him."
"We'll find him, Obi-Wan," Will promised.
They heard commotion outside the door. Wesley poked his head through. "Do you have the servo- oh, I'm sorry." He withdrew quickly.
Obi-Wan scrambled up. "It's right here, Wesley. Do you have that repulsor field assembly fixed?"
"Got it here," they heard him say, muffled by the door. They heard a thump. "Ow! Damn, it's heavy."
"I'll help," called Will.
-
With help from the two adults, Obi-Wan and Wesley soon had the repulsorlift engines and impulse drive repaired. Will and Deanna left the final reassembly and tuning to the two boys, and went to watch the sunset. A soft, warm breeze brushed their faces, tangling Deanna's hair. As a rule, Will disliked hot climates, preferring the bracing chill of his native Alaska. But the setting sun had painted the sky harvest gold and orange, setting the formations of standing stone aflame: a cadre of fiery sentinels forever at attention upon the molten plain. Riding high, a tiny red moon shone against the sparkle of stars in the gathering velvet of night. Will brushed an errant curl from Deanna's face. She smiled at him.
Behind them a rising whine signaled the boys' success. They turned. Wesley stood framed in the hatch. "She's up!" he called. "You coming?"
The two adults strolled back to the ship. Wes fidgeted with impatience. "Who's in charge, here?" Will demanded, half-serious, as they ascended the entrance ramp.
"I contacted Viden," Obi-Wan told them from the pilot's chair. "He has no news, but he's cleared our signal with Lansar defense. We can fly her -"
"We haven't decided to take this path," Will interrupted. "I would prefer to leave both of you boys here, in relative safety."
The teens exchanged glances, but said nothing. They didn't have to. They all knew time was running out.
Will sighed and looked to Deanna.
They're confident. They're not afraid.
"That's part of what worries me," Will answered aloud. "All right, you two, I want your promise that if we do go, you will follow my orders. And you will keep yourselves safe, both of you."
"Yes, sir," said Wesley.
Obi-Wan nodded. "You're in charge."
"Let's see you fly," Will told Obi-Wan.
The boy smiled. "Take the co-pilot's seat. I'll show you how to work the shields and weapons. Deanna and Wesley have port and ventral lasers, and starboard and dorsal lasers, respectively," he continued as everyone settled in their seats.
"Three weapons stations?" asked Deanna.
"This is a pirate ship," Obi-Wan answered. They all strapped in, listening while he showed them how to use the basic display and controls.
Then, with the ease of a veteran, Obi-Wan checked the ship's systems, flipping switches and dials whose function Will could only guess. They rose smoothly into the air. Through the wide front window they watched stone and sand disappear in shadow below. Then Obi-Wan pushed forward on the stick, and they sped on, banking towards the setting sun.
Will checked his viewscreen. It showed the rear view by default, the landscape they were leaving behind. The scene glowed blue with light from the rear engines - the impulse drive, Obi-Wan had called it. Will reviewed the controls, scrolling through views around all sides of the ship as well as above and below, checking shield status, rotating laser turrets. The small craft was rapidly gaining speed and altitude. Even with the sun visible they soon saw stars through the thinning atmosphere.
"Where did you learn to pilot, Obi-Wan?" Deanna asked.
"It was part of my early training. Also I've had some experience this past year -"
The comm crackled to life. "Terin, what happened down there?" a male voice demanded. "We thought you were done for!"
Obi-Wan looked to Will, eyes anxious. Will flipped his display to the rear screen. Behind flew another well-armed craft, slightly larger than theirs, of similar design.
"Can you fob them off? Technical problems?" Will suggested.
"I'll try." He clicked the comm a few times.
"What's wrong?" the voice asked. "Use your comlink."
"It's no good," Obi-Wan said. He waggled their wings in a last-ditch effort.
"Who are you?" the voice asked, growing suspicious. The ship behind pressed closer.
Obi-Wan looked helplessly to Will.
"Run for it," he ordered.
The boy threw them into a sharp dive. Their pursuer, momentarily shaken, soon banked to follow. Obi-Wan aimed them south. He sheered sideways, successfully avoiding a series of laser blasts.
"You'd better up the rear deflectors," Obi-Wan told Will.
"Right. Aft shields seventy percent." He brought the targeting computer on line, hoping it wouldn't be difficult to learn. Wesley, sitting behind him, got off the first shots. He missed.
The ship behind fired again, this time barely strafing their side as Obi-Wan shed altitude once more.
"Shields down ten percent," Will announced, then wondered if it were better not to: he didn't want to rattle their young pilot. He squeezed off a series of shots from his own station, catching the nose of the following craft. Answering fire just missed them.
"Shee-it!" yelled Wes.
"Don't panic," said Obi-Wan. "We're not in trouble yet. I want to dip into that canyon below. We'll have the advantage, being a smaller craft."
"Can you handle it?" Will asked.
"Yes," the boy answered shortly.
Another stream of laser fire caught them on the dorsal shields. Will grimaced. "Go ahead," he told the boy. They wouldn't last much longer, outgunned and overpowered, in the open air.
Immediately the boy rolled their craft into a tightly controlled spin and dropped. Their pursuer followed, losing ground at first but soon gaining once more.
"Shields?" Obi-Wan asked.
"Down eighteen percent."
"Equalize."
Will complied, nervously watching the ground approach. Tumbled rocks loomed ahead, with a dry streambed meandering among them.
"Ben -" Wes squeaked, reverting to the usename they'd given the boy.
"Trust me." At what must have been the last possible moment, Obi-Wan pulled their nose up and rocketed northwest along the floor of the gully. The ship behind pulled up as well, not so smoothly, and skidded on the gully's rock wall.
"That must have hurt," Will commented as Deanna let off another string of laser bursts, catching their attacker's side. The following craft's shields shimmered red. "You do fly well," Will commented.
"Say that after we get away," the boy replied. "Hold on." He careened around a tight bend, then increased speed.
"Uh -" Will stammered. Ahead, a sheer wall loomed - they had no way to see what lay beyond, or whether the canyon turned or ended. But Obi-Wan, cool as ever, banked them sharply to port. The gully opened ahead of them. Behind, their pursuer again was not so fortunate; once more skidding off her shields. Will drew a bead and fired, scoring a hit. Answering fire caught their tail. There wasn't sufficient room to maneuver.
"Shields down thirty-two -"
"I know," the boy answered, his voice cool, detached. If anything he seemed calmer, now, than Will had ever seen him.
Will glanced up from his viewscreen, looking ahead, and wished he hadn't. They turned another sharp bend. Directly ahead of them the walls of the canyon yearned together, leaving only a narrow passage between.
With a flick of the stick, Obi-Wan flipped them completely sideways. They slid into the narrow space. Will could have sworn they had less than a meter clearance to either side. Behind them, their attacker crashed, exploding into a fireball that pursued them down the fissure.
Smoothly Obi-Wan negotiated two more bends. They emerged into open air once more, and dimming sunlight. Obi-Wan pulled them up, once more up into the upper reaches of the atmosphere.
Will released a breath he hadn't realized he had been holding. "I hope Terin doesn't have any more friends waiting."
"Shit. Shit. Shit," Wes quietly intoned.
"I can safely say that was the best flying I've ever seen." He turned on the boy "How in hell did you know, with those blind corners -"
"The Force was with us," Obi-Wan answered enigmatically, checking their systems for damage.
Will stared at Obi-Wan until he looked up. The boy flushed. "I… when I'm deep in the Force, I… it guides me. I don't need to know."
"You didn't know what you were doing?" Wesley's voice rose in disbelief.
"I trust in the Force. I don't know how else to explain." Obi-Wan returned his attention to piloting.
"Deanna." Will twisted in his seat.
"Does it matter, Will?" He closed his eyes in frustration. She sighed. "All the while we were being chased, I felt him changing. Growing more whole, more - more than just himself. If he can't explain it, how do you expect me to?"
"There's Enterprise," Obi-Wan told them. Will looked forward. They great ship was tiny in the distance. "You should all change into something less conspicuous," the boy continued. "There's a locker across from the hatch with unisuits, shirts, and trousers; I think everyone will find something that fits, given the body types of the former crew."
"I'll change after we land," Will answered. He watched Enterprise grow larger as they approached. She was dark, dead in space. Alien ships soared to and from her shuttle bays. Will suppressed a shiver. It hurt to see their beloved ship violated.
"The others -"
"I'm sure your mother and everyone else are fine, Wesley," Deanna said, standing. "They're too stubborn to give in." She made her way aft to find a change of clothing.
"She's more magnificent than I had imagined," said Obi-Wan, staring out the front viewport. Will glanced at him. Of course: he had never seen Enterprise from the outside.
"Your turn, Wes," Deanna said, returning. She wore a dark blue jumper, adorned with many pockets.
"Yeah," Wes said, and left his seat.
Obi-Wan aimed for the shuttlebay in the Engineering hull, the one with the most traffic. When they were only a few minutes from arrival, they were hailed by comm. "Entrance code," said a bored voice.
Will clicked on the response channel. "Ionite clocking."
"You're cleared for landing, Terin's Dream."
Obi-Wan steered them carefully into the bay, settling to the floor near the inner wall, close to the innermost doors. Five minutes later, with all but Obi-Wan changed into clothing from the ship's stores, they gathered by the hatch. Obi-Wan leaned against the hull, eyes closed.
"What do you sense?" Deanna asked quietly.
"Nothing certain." He straightened.
"Maybe you should stay here, Obi-Wan," Will said.
"No," he answered, "I should keep moving. If Xanatos senses me here, I'll be trapped."
"Then let's go," Will said. "To the nearest exit, and into the Jefferies tubes. We need to make contact with any other crew that are free."
Obi-Wan lowered the hatch. Silently they left the ship.