The ship was filled with the hustle and bustle of the crew as they prepared for departure. Though Brinna felt that the one day's respite they'd taken on Dantooine had been necessary and well-deserved, she was anxious to be off and to continue on with the mission. She had a sense that she'd set something very large into motion and that things were moving more and more quickly and might soon spin out of control. She could not ignore the faint anxiety that this belief inspired in her and she found that she was growing more and more impatient to get the mission done, to ensure that they would find out whatever it was they needed to know before Malak could see any more of his plans come to fruition.

Brinna had assigned a task to every member of the crew, save for Bastila, who had slipped out of the ship early in the morning, presumably to meet with the Jedi Council once more before they left. Juhani had been the one to inform her of Bastila's absence and Brinna had done her best to suppress a rush of annoyance. She had asked Juhani to see if she could find out when Bastila was to return and the Cathari had nodded, her eyes sweeping over Brinna with an understanding gaze. Juhani knew the true source of Brinna's impatience, that much was obvious.

Swiftly, the ship cleared out until only she and Carth were left. The two of them were heading to the shop to replenish their supplies. Carth had been a bit hesitant around her all morning and she knew it was because of what had happened the previous day. She sensed that he wanted to be sure that he didn't push her outside of her comfort zone and for that she was immensely grateful to him. It seemed that he was the one member of her crew who worried about that; everyone else seemed more than happy to push her whenever they had half a chance.

"Ready to go?" he asked her as she attached her lightsabers to her belt.

"Yep," she replied, leading the way off the Hawk.

Outside, it was a bright and sunny day and Brinna lifted her face up toward the light, closing her eyes and letting it warm her skin. She took a deep breath and found that she was actually relieved to be getting off the ship, even for a little while. Though it was a well-proportioned vessel, she'd felt trapped inside its hull, another byproduct of her anxiety, she supposed.

"So did you talk to Mission?" Brinna asked Carth at last.

He glanced over at her. "Yeah. She found me earlier this morning. She said you told her it was okay…"

"I did," Brinna said, laying a reassuring hand on Carth's arm to quell the slight nervousness she'd heard in his tone. "Did you tell her everything?"

"Everything you told me."

"Thank you. I…I don't think I could have told that story again. Yesterday was the first time in a very long time that I talked about it. It…it brought it all back to me. I wanted Mission to know but I couldn't go through that again. Not this soon."

"I know," Carth said, his voice solemn.

Of course he knew. That was just one of many reasons why she'd told Mission to ask Carth to tell the story. Brinna had known that his retelling would be faithful and sensitive. She had also known that he would understand why she couldn't bear the retelling herself.

"What was her reaction?" Brinna asked, looking over at him.

"She was surprised and upset to hear about it. She wants to talk to you but she's afraid of saying the wrong thing. I told her that shouldn't stop her, since it's something you never seem to worry about yourself."

Brinna felt a rush of relief at the jest and she looked over at Carth with a smile. He looked rather apprehensive, as if he was afraid that he'd said something that would upset her but when he saw her smile, he smiled in response.

"Thanks, Carth. I'll talk to her."

She wanted to say more but they had arrived at the shop and for a while she forgot about her own sad story as she and Carth haggled with the shopkeeper and traded their unnecessary items. They were heading back toward the ship, chatting idly, when they heard a voice calling out.

"Carth! Carth Onasi is that you?"

His entire body went rigid and Brinna looked at him with concern. His face had gone white and he turned toward the voice very, very slowly, as if he could hardly believe what he was hearing.

"Jordo?" he asked, looking at the dark skinned man in the tunic who had called out.

"It is you, isn't it?" the man named Jordo asked. His voice was warm and jovial. "I knew it when I laid eyes on you! You old spacedog, how have you been? I thought for sure you'd be fighting on some ship out there."

"I was. I crashed," Carth said, rather lamely.

He seemed almost shell-shocked and Brinna was surprised that Jordo had apparently not noticed his friend's discomfort. She could tell from the rigid set of Carth's shoulders that Jordo was a part of the past that Carth had tried so desperately to ignore by redirecting his grief to his quest for vengeance against Saul. With sudden clarity, she realized just how much Carth had insulated himself against his past, for now that he was faced with someone from it, he did not seem to know what to do with himself.

Jordo continued on, seemingly oblivious. He slapped his knee and laughed at Carth's comment. "That's pretty rich. I can't imagine what it would take to keep you on the ground. Must have something to do with your pretty friend here, hey? How do you do, miss?"

Brinna could feel herself turn red from head to toe at the remark. She was done with denying her own attraction to Carth but after listening to him pour his heart out about what had happened to his family and his need to avenge their deaths, she had decided that there was likely no place for her in Carth's life, even if he was remotely attracted to her in any way. The thought had hurt her more than she cared to admit and Jordo's innocent comment brought that hurt back to the forefront of her mind.

"Nice to meet you, Jordo," Brinna said lamely.

"So what are you doing here, Jordo?" Carth asked, as if he hadn't heard his friend's last comment. Was it too much for her to hope he hadn't? "The last time I saw you was on, um…well, Telos, actually."

Her suspicions were confirmed. She turned to look at Jordo and saw that the smile he'd been wearing the entire conversation was immediately wiped off his face. Brinna watched as Jordo suddenly eyed Carth, as if he had finally realized to whom he was talking. Discomfort was clear on Jordo's face and he seemed to be considering his words carefully before he spoke again.

"Yeah…it's a shame about home. Telos still hasn't recovered. The family and I moved on and I'm working for Czerka now. I didn't see you after…er, what I mean is, my condolences on your wife. I heard what happened. At least your boy made it through alright."

Brinna eyes went wide at this information and she snapped her head around to look at Carth. For a moment, he looked completely dumbfounded and then Jordo's words began to penetrate. She could see the torrent of emotions in his eyes as he tried to comprehend what he'd just learned.

"My…boy? You mean…Dustil?"

His face was whiter than ever and she took an involuntary step toward him. She wanted to take his hand but she forced herself to be still. The last time she'd seen such shock on another human being's face was when she'd first laid eyes on her mother when she returned home after Amara's death. It had been excruciating then and it was now. Brinna wanted nothing more than to comfort him, just as she'd wanted to comfort her mother, but she wasn't sure he'd accept that comfort.

"Yes, of course," Jordo replied. Brinna reluctantly tore her eyes away from Carth to look at his friend once more. She watched anxiously as the expression of discomfort on Jordo's face deepened. All of the assurance that had been present in his voice at the start of the conversation had dissipated by the time he continued. "I saw him at my last stop, on Korriban, though he didn't recognize me. You…didn't know he was there?"

"No! Jordo, Dustil has been missing since the attack on Telos! Are you…are you absolutely certain it was him?" She could hear the mixture of desperation and disbelief in his voice and it made her heart ache.

"Yeah. I'd recognize Dustil anywhere. Positive. He's, uh…he's joined the Sith, Carth…"

Brinna winced as Jordo delivered this piece of news and there was a second of silence. She looked over at Carth, who looked as though Jordo had suddenly started speaking to him in an unknown language.

"What do you mean he's joined the Sith?" Carth asked.

"There's an Academy for the Sith on Korriban. He's a student there. I saw him suited up in their outfit and everything. Sorry…I thought you knew."

Jordo looked like he'd like nothing better than to run away and never look back and Brinna found herself feeling sorry for him. She couldn't imagine what could be much worse than delivering such a devastating piece of news to a friend that he hadn't seen for the last four years.

"No…no, I…I didn't. Well, thanks for telling me, Jordo," Carth replied.

"Sure, no problem. Good to see you again, Carth. Hope everything works out with Dustil."

With those words, poor Jordo scrambled off as if he was being pursued by a pack of ravenous kath hounds. Brinna turned her attention to Carth once more. The look on his face spoke of renewed hope mixed with a healthy does of fear.

"Dustil…Dustil is alive! We have to go to the Korriban Academy and find him!"

"I understand. We'll go as soon as possible," Brinna told him.

"Thank you. I…I just have to see him. I have to know what happened to him. All this time I thought he was…he must be a man by now…"

As she listened to him speak, as she watched the myriad of emotions he was feeling play across his face, Brinna instantly resolved that Korriban would be their next stop. She had been thinking about going on to Tatooine but those thoughts were swept aside. Carth had gone four long years thinking his son was dead and now that he'd discovered that Dustil was still alive, Brinna was not going to deny him one more moment with his son. Still, she was apprehensive about what they would find on Korriban, even more so when she allowed herself to focus on Carth's emotions and she felt his determination. After all he'd suffered, after everything he'd been through, she frantically hoped that his reunion with his son would give him some relief from his pain but she feared that it might only cause an increase in that pain, especially considering that Dustil had joined the Sith.

The Sith! How could he join the Sith? she wondered in disbelief as she and Carth hastily made their way back to the ship. She thought of everything Carth had told her and her sense of uneasiness grew. Is it that easy for them to snare someone? Can they really go around destroying worlds with the result that the people from those worlds end up joining them in the destruction of other worlds?

She thought about Taris, about what she'd felt as those laser canons had obliterated its surface. Revulsion made her throat feel so thick that for a moment it was difficult to breathe. She had seen first hand the destruction that the Sith were capable of and it frankly frightened her to think that someone else who'd witnessed it could end up joining in their cause.

The rest of the crew was in the common room and they looked up as Brinna and Carth entered. Even the non-Jedi were able to sense that something monumental had occurred. She glanced over at Carth and saw that he was still as white as a sheet, though his eyes burned with determination and she could see from the way the others were eyeing her that she must not have looked anything short of shell-shocked herself.

"We're heading to Korriban," Brinna found herself saying, her voice somewhat shaky.

Just as she was trying to decide how to explain her decision, Carth dropped the supplies he'd been carrying and hurried off for the cockpit. Everyone turned to watch him go, surprise written clearly on their faces. When he was gone, they turned their gazes back on her and she found herself squirming a bit. She knew she needed to tell them what was going on but she was unsure of how to do it without giving away more of Carth's past than what he'd want known.

"Carth…" she began, taking a deep breath and gathering what composure she could. "Carth's just learned that his son is at the Sith Academy on Korriban."

"His son?" Mission asked, staring at Brinna in confusion.

"Carth had a son on Telos when it was attacked. He thought Dustil was dead but we just ran into an old friend of Carth's who says he saw Dustil at the Academy."

Everyone exchanged looks with everyone else but no one said anything for a long moment.

"Wow," Mission breathed, finally breaking the silence.

That response seemed to sum up the thoughts of the other crew members and they all nodded. She could see Canderous looking off toward the cockpit with thoughtful eyes and she wondered how this new information about Carth would color Canderous's perception of the other man.

"Were you all able to get everything done that you needed to get done?" Brinna asked, calling their attention back to her. Everyone nodded. "Good. Then we can take off as soon as we've run through the preflight checklist. Canderous, Zaalbar, Mission, can you see to these supplies? Jolee, Juhani, Bastila, can you do a sweep of the ship and prepare everything for takeoff? I'll be up in the cockpit."

Everyone scurried off to carry out their tasks and Brinna turned and headed for the cockpit. Carth was bent over the controls, concentration written on his face as he ran through the preflight check.

"Do you want to talk?" Brinna asked hesitantly as she slid into the co-pilot's seat and began calculating their course to Korriban. She tried to concentrate on her task but she was so distracted that she had to start over twice.

"Talk about what?" Carth asked in a brusque voice. He didn't even glance up at her as he continued with his tasks. "The only thing I want to do right now is find Dustil. If he's alive…well there's just nothing else I want to think about."

"I understand," she said.

He didn't acknowledge the statement and she tried her best to ignore the pang it caused her. She knew he wasn't brushing her off to be rude. She could only imagine what it would be like to be in his shoes. Still, the brush off hurt her, even though she told herself that she was being selfish by focusing on her own hurts just when he needed her most.

Brinna and Carth took first shift and there was no further conversation between them. It was clear that he was deep in thought and she had learned earlier that day that it would be best to leave him to it. She only hoped that their trip to Korriban would prove a success. The more she thought about it, the more apprehensive she grew.

Canderous and Jolee came to relieve Carth and Brinna several hours later. Carth was off the instant they arrived.

"Has he talked at all?" Jolee asked her as he settled himself in the captain's chair.

Brinna sighed wearily. "No. He didn't want to talk. He said the only thing he wanted to do was find his son."

Jolee nodded gravely. "I just hope for his sake that all will go well."

"Don't count on it, old man," Canderous said. "Soldier's son is Sith now. I can't imagine he'll be too thrilled when his Republic daddy shows up."

"That's what I'm afraid of," Brinna said with a sigh.

"Then I at least hope that this boy won't betray our purpose," Jolee said.

"That's why I'm only taking Carth and Canderous into that academy with me," Brinna informed him. "If anything happens to us, the rest of you have to leave us behind and carry on with this mission."

Jolee opened his mouth to object but Canderous beat him to the punch. "If anything happens to us?" he asked. "You disappoint me, Jedi. You may intend to sacrifice yourself nobly but I intend to get off that planet alive."

"Thanks, Canderous, it's good to know where your priorities lie," Brinna said dryly.

"Oh, don't you worry. I'll drag your sorry butt off that planet and Soldier's too, if necessary."

"I'd say it's a good thing you're taking the Mandalorian with you," Jolee said casually. "Personally, I'd just leave the dead weight behind."

Brinna laughed, relieved that Jolee had managed to bring some levity to the situation. "Dead weight? If it weren't for me you'd still be climbing trees on Kashyyyk."

"We should have just left him to deal with those poachers on his own," Canderous said, still sounding aggrieved that Jolee had asked them to deal with such a petty task.

"If I'd known it was going to be such a challenge for you, sonny, I would have found someone more capable," Jolee replied.

Canderous turned to Jolee with a challenging smile and Brinna cuffed Jolee on the shoulder. "He's blood-thirsty enough without you provoking him," she told Jolee.

"No provocation is necessary. Breathing makes a Mandalorian blood-thirsty," Jolee grumbled.

"I don't think I trust you two up here alone," Brinna said, rolling her eyes. "Maybe I should send Bastila up here to keep an eye on you?"

"She'll make good on that threat," Canderous informed Jolee.

"Listen to the Mandalorian. He knows me better than you do," Brinna advised.

"Don't think you can order me around, missy," Jolee sniffed. "I was wielding a lightsaber before you were even a twinkle in your mother's eye. I was off saving the universe while you were still in diapers."

"Spoken like someone who envies youth," Brinna said, waving him off. "I'll leave you two old men to it, then."

Their indignant protests followed her down the corridor and she couldn't help but smile again. Some instinct made her reach out to Bastila through their bond and what she felt made her frown. Bastila was disturbed about something and whatever it was, it was pretty serious. Though Brinna already knew that Bastila was not nearly as serene as she tried to appear, Brinna had never before sensed such distress from the other Jedi.

Juhani, Mission, and Zaalbar were in the common room as Brinna passed through on her way to the bunkrooms. Mission was listening raptly as Juhani told her about her early days as a Jedi. The Cathari looked up at Brinna as she entered, sensing her presence before she walked into the room.

"I'll be in the bunkroom," she said and Juhani nodded, instantly understanding what Brinna left unspoken. She knew that Juhani would have sensed Bastila's distress as well and she was willing to bet that even if Juhani had tried to question Bastila about it, the outcome had been unsuccessful.

"Bastila? It's Brinna," Brinna said softly as she entered the room.

"I knew you were coming. There was no need for you to announce yourself," Bastila told her. She was sitting on her bunk pretending to study a datapad but Brinna knew that she'd been staring at the same information for the last half hour without processing any of it.

"I know that," Brinna said, making a sour face. "I thought I would at least feign politeness."

"I apologize. I have received some…disturbing news today," Bastila confessed with a sigh. She set her datapad aside and looked up at Brinna.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Brinna asked.

Bastila looked away from Brinna, fixing her gaze on the wall on the other side of the room. "I told you about my family. When I was on my way to see the Masters today, I ran into a woman who knew my mother. She told me that my mother is on Tatooine and that she is ill. Apparently, my mother is looking for me."

Brinna was startled. "I'm sorry, Bastila."
"Thank you," the other Jedi said quietly. "I know I said that my mother and I never got on well but I feel that it's my…responsibility to go see her, though I am not certain what it is she wants with me."

"We'll go to Tatooine after Korriban," Brinna promised her.

"I believe that would be for the best."

Brinna wanted to say something more about Bastila's mother but she could sense Bastila's reluctance to discuss the issue any further and so she changed the subject. "Bastila, there may be some people on Korriban who would recognize you. I think it best if you stay on the ship."

"You may be right. It would be in our best interests if I remained on the ship. You intend to take Carth and Canderous with you?"

"Yes," Brinna said.

Damn the bond, she thought, wishing there was some way for her to lock Bastila out of her head for good. Here comes the lecture.

Fortunately for Brinna, she seemed to have managed to keep that thought from her companion as she saw no hint of the annoyance she was sure Bastila would have felt if she'd sensed Brinna's thought. Instead, Bastila wore a careful expression on her face.

"Are you certain that's wise? The presence of the dark side is very…heavy on Korriban. It will be difficult for you. It would be difficult for any Jedi who set foot on the planet. Perhaps it would be best if you were to take Jolee along with you?"

Brinna sighed. "I appreciate your concern and I understand it. The truth is, I would have as few of us as possible exposed to the power of the dark side on Korriban. I know that if you stay on the ship, you will still feel it but not nearly as strongly as you would in the academy."

"It is admirable that you wish to protect your Jedi kin but you will need to protect yourself as well."

"I need to fight this battle, Bastila. If I am to complete this mission, I need to face Korriban head on. I'm not saying it will be easy, but I know I can do it. Besides, I can't run from the dark side forever."

Bastila frowned and Brinna once more sensed the strange wall that Bastila erected on occasion. There was something Bastila wasn't telling her, she was certain of it. She didn't appreciate Bastila keeping things from her but, at the same time, she could hardly blame her. Brinna herself did her best to keep what she could from Bastila.

"If you begin to fall…" Bastila began, speaking carefully.

"Carth won't let me," Brinna interrupted. "You know that. If he sees me slipping, he'll stop me."

"Carth is preoccupied with thoughts of his son. Moreover, he is no Jedi. Great Masters have failed to protect themselves against the dark side. There is nothing that someone like Carth can do to protect you."

"Then you'll have to trust me," Brinna said, trying to keep her temper in check.

"It is not about trusting or not trusting."

"You'll know, won't you?" Brinna asked. She was tired of the argument. She was not about to change her mind about who she was taking with her and she didn't feel like discussing it any further with Bastila.

"Yes, I will know," Bastila reluctantly admitted.

"Well, if you sense me falling, you can send Jolee and Juhani after me."

"Very well," Bastila said, pressing her lips into a tight line. She had turned back into the ice princess and Brinna knew there'd be no further conversation between the two of them at present.

Why do I always do that? Brinna asked herself. Why do I always insist on fighting with her?

Because she tries to tell you what to do, a small voice answered. She wants to control you. The Council wants to control you. You have to show them that you can't be controlled.

No, she's just trying to protect me, she insisted to herself, trying her best to ignore the insidious small voice. So why do I keep rejecting her protection?

Because she's keeping something from you, the faint voice said. How can you trust her when you know she's holding something back? Why should you trust her…

Don't listen. It's trying to tempt me…

Disconcerted, Brinna glanced over at Bastila. Though the other Jedi was trying to pretend to take no notice of Brinna's presence, Brinna could see something flicker in Bastila's eye and she knew that the other Jedi had sensed something of the conflict within her.

It will only get more difficult…

Brinna didn't want to think about that. Things were complicated enough. She pushed the thought out of her mind and closed herself off to the insidious little voice as best she could. She was going to prove to Bastila that the dark side would not find a willing servant in her. More importantly, she was going to prove it to herself.