In spite of Carth's best efforts, he did nod off for a bit. Brinna knew it for a fact; she had peeked at him several times while he was still awake and then had flat-out stared at him for a while as he slept. She told herself she really shouldn't do it but she couldn't tear her eyes away and, after a while, she stopped trying. There was just something compelling about looking at his sleeping face.

Even in sleep he didn't look completely peaceful. He frequently tossed and turned, murmuring and flinching, and Brinna found she was having a hard time controlling the urge to go over to him, perch herself on the side of his bed, and brush those errant strands of hair off his forehead.

This is crazy. You should know better than to have thoughts like that, she told herself. Since when do you let a simple attraction get out of control?

But it didn't matter, this logical voice in her head. She was attracted to Carth and she was reaching a point where it was impossible to deny that attraction any longer. She had always prided herself on being a smart and independent woman and though she'd had a couple relationships she'd never had anything really lasting. Of course, she'd never met anyone with whom she wanted to have something lasting. Any man who could ever have any hope of being with her would have to respect and admire her for what she was. She was not about to change for any man, no matter how special. Because of this, she was very picky about men. She never allowed herself to be lured in by a gorgeous face alone and though Carth certainly fit that bill, it was only a part of her attraction to him. What she was drawn to was the small glimpses she got of the man she was positive he really was; the funny, skilled, and caring man that was buried somewhere inside all the bitterness and animosity.

And that was why she wanted to go and smooth the hair back from his head. He didn't have to be like he was, she was certain of that. Though she was positive that he would always have something of a serious intensity about him, she was also positive that he could be playful, that he could be relaxed, that he could be happy.

And now you care about his happiness? a small voice in her head asked.

"Yes, I do," she whispered, startling herself by speaking out loud.

She glanced over at Carth and Canderous but luckily neither one of them seemed to have heard her talking to herself. Carth continued to look troubled in his sleep while Canderous looked as if he was sleeping like the dead.

Brinna knew she probably should have woken either Carth or Canderous at some point and tried to get some rest herself but her mind was so filled with confused thoughts that she probably would never have been able to sleep anyway. Aside from her thoughts of Carth, Brinna kept thinking about her weird experiences with Bastila and the assertion that she had some aptitude with the Force. She chewed at her thumbnail as she considered everything that had happened to her so far. She wasn't sure that she really believed in luck but it did seem like she had experienced an awful lot of it. Could it really be that what she had been experiencing was the guidance of the Force?

That's ridiculous. You're twenty-eight years old. Have you ever found yourself questioning your fortunes before now? Have you ever once in all those years thought that maybe, possibly something might be out there guiding you along your way?

The answer to that question was no. Until she had stepped aboard the Endar Spire, she had never once wondered if maybe there was more to herself than she realized. Until she had stepped aboard the Endar Spire, she had always been certain that she knew exactly who she was. Now, all of a sudden, her ordered, familiar world was being turned upside down and she didn't know why. Somehow, she couldn't shake the feeling that it had to do with something other than being attacked by Sith and meeting Carth, Bastila, Canderous, Mission, and Zaalbar. She was uneasy about something but she didn't know what and that only made her all the more uneasy.

Finally, after six hours of exhaustive reflection, Brinna stood up from her seat and stretched, deciding that it was high time to break their way off Taris. That doing so would also distract her from the thoughts that were beginning to make her feel a little crazy was just an added bonus.

She only managed a single step away from her chair before both Carth and Canderous sat bolt upright, weapons at the ready. Brinna shook her head as she looked at the two of them. She hadn't even had a chance to wonder what would be the best way of going about waking them when they had both snapped to attention, as if they hadn't been sleeping at all.

"Remind me to tread carefully around the two of you when you're sleeping," Brinna said softly, shaking her head in amazement. "Maybe someone should have warned me about soldier reflexes."

Canderous grinned at her. "You think that's impressive? Had you been an enemy, you would have been long dead by now."

"I don't doubt it," Brinna said, eyeing the vibroblades that Canderous had somehow made appear out of thin air.

Carth was already out of bed and suiting up. "Let's get going," he said.

"We should head down the corridor to the right first. There are slave quarters there. They may be able to tell us something," Canderous suggested.

"Davik keeps slaves?" Carth asked, his tone clearly expressing his disgust.

"Does that surprise you?" Canderous snorted.

"Of course not. He's such a charming guy after all," Brinna said, sarcastically.

"I'm no thief but I'm really beginning to think that our taking his ship would just be dealing Davik what's due to him," Carth said.

"I agree," Brinna told him.

They fell silent as they stepped through the door. The corridor was well-lit, even in the wee hours, but that didn't surprise Brinna. Fortunately, there didn't seem to be any guards about and they made it into the slave quarters without incident.

What Canderous had failed to tell them and what Brinna quickly learned was that Davik's slaves weren't there just for menial labor, they were pleasure slaves. She studied the room about her with raised eyebrows and actually felt herself blush as Davik's male Twi'lek slave told her of the "sumptuous" baths and "soothing" massages he could offer her.

"Uh…no thanks," she said, very aware of Carth's rather amused gaze on her. "I'm really just looking for some information and I thought maybe you could help me."
The slave was understandably reluctant to share much for fear of punishment at Davik's hands. Through gentle coaxing, Brinna was finally able to get him to tell her about Hudrow, Davik's captive pilot, who might be able to help them bypass the security system that held the ship on Davik's estate. Brinna thanked the Twi'lek and promised to praise him highly to Davik.

"I feel dirty now," Brinna moaned quietly to Carth as Canderous walked a bit ahead of them to scout the corridors.

"I thought you handled the situation very well," he told her diplomatically, but she could see a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth.

"Go ahead, laugh at me if you must," she said, exasperated. "I didn't exactly see you chatting up the female slaves in exchange for information."

"Why would I do that when you're so much more persuasive than me?" he asked her, quirking an eyebrow at her as his smile slowly spread over his face.

"Yeah, well, maybe next time I should use my persuasiveness to persuade you to do the dirty work for once," she grumbled but she smiled in return.

They made their way through the estate, bribing bounty hunters along the way to prevent them from sounding the alarm. They stumbled into the room of a most displeased Tarisian noble. Though it killed Brinna to do it, she posed as one of Davik's lackeys and did her best to soothe the noble so that he wouldn't call for the guards. When they finally left the room, Brinna just knew that Carth was laughing at her once again but she wouldn't give him the satisfaction of looking at him and allowing him to do it to her face.

Time moved by and Brinna was just getting nervous about how long it was taking when they finally found the room where Hudrow was imprisoned. He was enclosed in some sort of shield and it was clear to see that he was in agonizing pain from the way he clutched his head and did his best to cower away from the torture droids that were circulating the room.

As they entered, the droids sensed their presence and Brinna got her own taste of the torture that poor Hudrow had suffered. She gasped and bit her lip as one of the droids hit her. She really wanted to scream but didn't dare make that much noise. Carth saw her take the hit and he sprang at the droid, hitting it hard and diverting its attention from her to him. He was prepared for it, though, and was able to dodge the shot it took at him. The pain had stunned her for a moment but Brinna gritted her teeth and sprang to help Carth. On the other side of the room, Canderous was dealing with the other droid with a zeal and skill that was both impressive and frightening. Carth was just dealing the final blow to the droid he and Brinna were fighting when Canderous moved over to the console that controlled the torture field.

"Are you all right?" Carth asked Brinna, who was clutching her injured side.

"I'll survive," she said, cringing.

Carth gently moved her hands aside and he too winced at her charred flesh. Without another word, he pulled a medpac out and used it on her and in a few seconds she felt the fog lifting as the pain cleared away.

"Thanks," she told him, her eyes meeting his.

"Don't mention it," he said, dropping her gaze as he fiddled with his pack.

Canderous had disabled the torture field, to the obvious relief of Hudrow, who thanked them profusely. He confirmed that he had once been Davik's pilot and was more than happy to give them the security codes they needed before fleeing the estate as quickly as he could.

"We got what we came for. We should get going," Canderous told them.

Brinna nodded her agreement and they picked up their pace, moving as swiftly and quietly through the estate as they were able. Even so, they frequently caught the attention of the guards wandering the corridors and watching over the rooms and Brinna began to get the sinking feeling that they were not possibly going to be able to escape without attracting Davik's notice.

Suddenly, there was a loud explosion that rocked the whole estate. Brinna, Carth, and Canderous were all thrown against the wall of the corridor they'd been jogging down and all three of them exchanged looks.

"What was that?" Brinna asked.

"I don't know but it sure didn't sound good," Canderous said. "We'd better hurry it up. That was no blaster we heard."

"It wasn't a grenade either," Carth said, looking confused. "In fact, it sounded more like a laser cannon."

Brinna's eyes widened. "A laser cannon? Well, that can't be good. Come on, let's move!"

They abandoned all pretense of stealth and began to flat-out run through the corridors, racing toward the hangar where Davik kept his ship. They ran into some more of Davik's guards in his spice works but they too were distracted by the rumblings of explosions that could be heard in the distance and didn't prove to be much of a challenge because of it. Brinna's heart was pounding as she slammed the pass card they'd lifted from a dead guard into the security console they found in the room before the hangar. She quickly punched the buttons necessary to disable the hangar door lock and then the three of them ran straight for the hangar.

Unfortunately, it seemed Davik and Calo Nord had the same idea. The two men had entered from a door across the hangar and Davik was babbling to Nord about how they'd better hurry and get off the planet before the Sith bombed it into oblivion.

The Sith are bombing the planet? But why? Brinna wondered, confused. She glanced quickly over at Carth.

"Bastila," he said, quietly.

For a split second she had no idea what he was talking about and then she understood. Somehow, the Sith had discovered for a fact that Bastila had crashed on the planet and they had begun the bombardment to see to it that she would not make it off Taris alive. Brinna felt a cold fear descend over her at the realization that the Sith would callously destroy millions, perhaps billions, of innocent lives in order to stop one single person.

She didn't have long to think of that at the moment, though, as Davik had noticed their presence. He and Calo Nord stopped in their tracks and Brinna, Carth, and Canderous followed suit. Explosions rocked through the estate as the bounty hunter and the crime lord faced the three would-be ship thieves.

"Thieves in the hangar," Davik sneered. "Were you really stupid enough to think that you could get away with my ship?"

"Oh, I don't know. Why don't you let me know once we're onboard and you're watching us fly away," Canderous suggested.

"I knew there was something funny about you, Mandalorian," Nord said to him.

"You were a fool to cross me, Nord. You should have realized that from the very start," Canderous said, in a dangerous tone of voice.

"Enough!" Davik cried. "I am not going to stand here and let the Sith blast me into pieces. I'm going to show you three just how deadly serious I was when I warned you not to even think about taking my ship."

Brinna instinctively dodged to the side as Davik and Nord pulled their blasters and began firing away at her, Carth, and Canderous. She enabled her energy shield, which allowed her to at least ignore the blaster bolts that were being sent her way in rapid succession. She suspected that it would be suicide for her to rush Davik and Nord with her vibroblades so she hastily pulled a couple of random grenades from her pack and lobbed them at Davik. Canderous and Carth had made for Nord but when Carth saw that Brinna had stunned Davik with a concussion grenade, he changed direction and headed for Davik instead. Canderous, however, had his own agenda, and continued after Nord.

Cursing under her breath, Brinna abandoned her plan to stay back and launch the crime lord and the bounty hunter into the afterlife courtesy of her explosives. She rushed over to Carth and helped him out with Davik. Thanks to her well-aimed grenade, they were able to finish him off before he recovered and Davik slumped to the ground with a low gurgle.

Carth and Brinna turned to go help Canderous but at that moment a tremendous explosion rocked through the hangar, nearly knocking everyone off their feet. Brinna was still struggling to regain her footing when she looked up and saw that Nord had managed to get away from Canderous and was now brandishing an explosive. She went stock still and, glancing at her two companions, could see that they had done the same.

"You may have me outnumbered and outgunned but if I'm going down, I'm taking you with me," Nord announced.

Positive that this moment was to be her last, Brinna closed her eyes and turned her head. There was another loud explosion and then a cry of pain from Calo Nord but, miraculously, Brinna did not seem to be dead. She opened her eyes and glanced around her in stunned amazement.

"The Sith!" Canderous shouted, running over toward them.

Behind him, Brinna could see a mound of rubble that was covering whatever was left of Calo Nord. She couldn't help but shudder as she turned back toward Carth.

"Look out!" Canderous shouted.

There wasn't even time for Brinna to turn and look at the Mandalorian. Carth, who was still facing Canderous, suddenly sprang, knocking Brinna several feet back. The air rushed out of her lungs as she hit the ground hard and her vision went black for a second. Gasping loudly as air entered her lungs once more, she realized that Carth was crouched protectively over her, using his body to shield hers as debris rained down on them. Fortunately for them, the bulk of it was dust. However, the spot where she had been standing not thirty seconds ago was obscured by a large, metal beam.

"Are you all right?" Carth panted, looking down at her.

She found that she was speechless and so she nodded instead. Carth's hair was coated in dust and she realized that she was staring at him stupidly, causing him to look down at her in concern.

"MOVE!" Canderous screamed, yanking Carth to his feet and then doing the same with Brinna.

Brinna's hair had escaped its tie during the scuffle and she had to push it out of her eyes with trembling fingers as the three of them ran for the Ebon Hawk. Carth sprinted for the cockpit, Brinna and Canderous on his heels. He threw himself into the pilot seat and immediately began punching the controls. Brinna was reassured by the calm that seemed to come over him as he operated the ship.

"We need to hurry and get your friends and get out of here before there's nothing left of this planet," Canderous told them.

Carth nodded curtly. Canderous ran from the cockpit to see to the ship's engines and Brinna sank into the co-pilot's chair in something of a daze. Carth's face was furrowed with concentration as he flew around the crumbling buildings with impressive skill. Brinna tried not to watch the buildings falling, tried not to think about all the innocent people that were dying. They reached the rendezvous point and Brinna ran from the cockpit to the loading bay, watching with relief as T-3, Mission, Zaalbar, and Bastila raced onto the ship. Mission's young face was marred by a lock of abject horror and Brinna found herself taking the Twi'lek teen into her arms and giving her a brief hug before she turned and ran, following Bastila into the cockpit.

"Plot a course for Dantooine! There's a Jedi Enclave there," Bastila shouted, dropping into the co-pilot seat and accessing the ship's navigational systems.

Brinna grabbed for the back of Bastila's seat, nearly knocked off her feet by yet another explosion. She watched with growing horror as Carth flew them through the destruction. They left the planet's atmosphere and Brinna saw a huge ship looming before them, its laser cannons sending out beam after beam toward the planet's surface. Their escape did not go unnoticed, however, and Bastila shouted for Brinna to get to the gun turrets to destroy the fighters that were pursuing them.

Her heart was now beating so fast that Brinna worried it might explode. She found herself in the gun turret so quickly that she was amazed at her own speed. Shoving her hair out of her way, she dropped into the seat and jammed the headset over her head before turning and focusing on the fighters that were in pursuit.

Never in her life had Brinna sat in a ship's gun turret. She'd had to outrun other ships during her scouting career but she'd never been involved in a space battle. Yet she seemed to instinctively adapt to the controls of the turret and in the space of mere seconds she'd managed to dispatch three of the six ships.

How do I know how to do this? she wondered incredulously as she hit and destroyed a fourth ship.

She pushed the thought away. There was no time to think about it now; she needed to get rid of the other two fighters that were tailing them before they reduced the Ebon Hawk to interstellar rubble. She was shaking as she gave the shot that destroyed the final fighter and she staggered out of the turret and back down to the cockpit.

"Well done," Bastila said, in a controlled voice.

Brinna said nothing in response, staring blankly into space as Bastila and Carth began arguing about whether or not they should make for Dantooine. After a moment, she roused herself and voiced her agreement with Carth. Bastila's voice softened as she told them that they couldn't run forever, that they'd need to rest. Brinna and Carth relented and a course for Dantooine was plotted. Their talk turned to the destruction of Taris and Carth's voice was very sympathetic as he spoke of Mission and what she must be feeling.

"How long will it take to get to Dantooine?" Brinna asked.

"About twelve hours," Carth told her.

"Fine. I'm going to talk to Mission and then rest. I'll be back in six hours to relieve you two."

She left the cockpit before either of them could have a chance to reply. She walked into the main crew room of the ship and saw Zaalbar standing there morosely, T-3 stationed nearby and emitting a series of low beeps.

"Where is Mission?" Brinna asked Zaalbar.

"The bunkroom to the left. She wouldn't talk to me," he said mournfully.

Brinna laid a sympathetic hand on the Wookie's arm as she passed by him. She walked down the corridor he had indicated and found the bunkroom at the end of it. A dazed-looking Mission was standing inside and Brinna felt her heart breaking for the girl. She embraced Mission and then gently led her over to the bunks, coaxing her to sit down on one of them.

Mission was suffering from shock and couldn't say much but she seemed reassured by Brinna's presence. Brinna sat with her until Mission was asleep and then she rose and scrubbed her hands over her face, wanting to rub her eyes until the images of destruction burned in her brain were wiped away. She sighed and ran a shaky hand through her hair as she decided that she'd best at least attempt to get some sleep.

Sleep eluded her, just as she'd expected, and she lay in the bunk for the next several hours, her mind racing as it tried to process everything that had happened to her since the Endar Spire had gone down. She finally gave up on sleep and went to the cockpit a little early, ordering Carth and Bastila out of it and instructing them to rest.

You're starting to sound like Bastila, she told herself but, for the moment, she couldn't muster enough effort to care. She needed a little time to herself.

Shedding her armor and welcoming the cool air against the arms bared by her sleeveless top, Brinna sank down into the pilot's seat. Calm gradually returned to her as she examined its controls and stared out into the black depths of space. She kicked her boots off and pulled her legs to her chest, resting her chin on her knees, her hair spilling around her face.

The destruction of Taris had dredged up old memories for her, memories that she usually tried to avoid. She closed her eyes and a single tear slipped down her cheek as she began to sing softly to herself. The song was as familiar as her own name and even though it had been years since she had sung it, her voice did not falter. When she was finished, she opened her eyes once more and suddenly sensed that she was not alone.

She turned to see Carth standing at the entrance to the cockpit, studying her with a serious expression. Wordlessly, he moved into the room and sat down in the co-pilot's seat. Brinna sighed and turned her attention back to the view of space, hugging her knees even more closely to her chest.

"What was that you were singing?" Carth finally asked, after a long silence.

"Were you eavesdropping on me?" Brinna asked, with a faint smile.

She could feel his gaze on her but she continued to stare out at the stars speeding by. "Maybe," he said.

"My father used to sing it, back when he took me with him on his scouting expeditions," Brinna told him.

"You learned to scout from your father?"

She nodded. "It was pretty much a way of life for me. From the time I was a little girl, he'd take me along with him. My mother hated it."

There was another silence, this one shorter than the last, and then Carth said, "You have a really nice voice."

Brinna smiled and finally turned to look at him. "Thanks," she said. "If you're going to be complimentary about it, I suppose you can eavesdrop whenever you want."

"Thank you," he said, smiling faintly at her. He was studying her with those intense brown eyes of his and Brinna felt herself blushing slightly. "You look different with your hair down."

Self-consciously, she reached a hand to her disheveled hair. "I'm not sure that's a compliment," she told him.

"It is," he said, quietly.

She blushed once more and put her feet back on the floor, turning slightly to see him better. "Listen," she said. "I wanted to thank you for saving my life once again."

"And I'll tell you again that you don't need to thank me," he responded, turning to look out at space himself. His face had taken on a hard look and as Brinna studied him, a shock of realization came over her.

"That…that large ship. It was…" she began, her voice faltering.

"Saul's," Carth finished for her, his tone steely.

Brinna closed her eyes briefly as Carth's pain radiated outward and washed over her. "Carth, I'm sorry. I know…"

"Look, I understand," he said, cutting in on her speech. "We had to get away from Taris, there's no question about it. Bastila has to get back to the Jedi."

Brinna didn't know what to say and so she didn't say anything for a long time. She felt this was an inadequate response but then it was Carth who had come into the cockpit so he had presumably been looking for her. Though Brinna was less than impressed with her own skill, it seemed that he derived some sort of comfort from being around her and she found that she was glad of it.

"Was that…was that how it was when Telos was destroyed?" she asked, hesitantly. She didn't want to open old wounds but she was truly convinced that he needed to talk about it.

"Yeah," he said. She looked over at him again and could see a muscle in his jaw working as he bit the word off.

"It was horrible," Brinna said, quietly.

Carth turned to look at her with a grim smile. "And it was my old mentor's ship that did it, just like Telos."

Brinna shuddered at the coldness of the words and at the horrifying truth behind them. "How could anyone do something like that?" she whispered.

"I don't know. But if I see him again, I'll be sure he pays for it."

"Carth…" she began, but he shook his head.

"I don't want to talk about it," he said, his voice tense.

"Don't you think you need to?" she asked, gently.

"No, I don't. I definitely think I don't need to talk about it right now," he responded, turning his head and looking at her, his eyes blazing with anger.

"Fine, fine," she said, holding her hands up.

"Look, I know you mean well. It's just… It's just better if you let it drop," he told her.

"I can't do that," she said, softly, looking directly at him. "I'm sorry if you don't like it, but I can't let it drop. I can see that it's eating you up inside and that bothers me."

He turned away from her, clearly struggling with his emotions. Brinna's heart ached for him and she wished he'd open up to her, wished he'd tell her the whole story and let her help him get through his pain.

But it was not to be, not that she was really surprised. "Well don't let it bother you," he said softly, rising from his seat and leaving the cockpit.

Brinna sighed quietly and drew her legs back up to her chest. This time, though, instead of resting her chin on her knees, she buried her face in them. Her voice was muffled as she started singing again.