Chapter Seven
Tahiri padded through the halls Shelter. She glanced down at Ani, who was skipping beside her. Ani's hair hung in two braids that bounced off her back. She wore a small Jedi robe that trailed on the floor.
"Gramma Leia's leaving," Ani said. "Grandpa Han doesn't like Bespin."
"No, probably not," Tahiri said with a chuckle.
"Why did you color your arm?" Ani asked, looking at Tahiri's tattoo on her wrist and arm.
"To express my personality," Tahiri responded simply. She had picked up several quirks from the implanted personality of the Yuuzhan Vong identity Riina. While she hadn't gone so far as to mutilate herself, she had taken to tattooing. In addition to the one on her arm, she had one on her right calf, upper back and left foot.
"I get in twouble if I color my arm," Ani mumbled.
Tahiri chuckled, "This won't come off. It's not that same as when you color."
Ani looked perplexed by this. Tahiri smiled at the girl, and then said, "We're here."
Ani made a face at the door in front of her, "I don't wanna go."
Tahiri knelt down to the girl's level. She rested a hand on her shoulder, "You have to go to class, Ani. Your Mommy and Daddy want you to learn how to use your Force skills."
Ani crossed her arms over her chest and furrowed her brow, "No. Don't wanna."
Tahiri sighed. She'd promised Jaina that she would help keep an eye on Ani and Davin. That morning she had picked up Ani from Tionne and Kam's rooms. She was too young to attend the more advanced lessons.
"Why don't you want to go?" Tahiri asked gently.
"Boring," she mumbled.
"Ani, tell the truth," Tahiri said sternly.
Ani bit her lower lip as it began to tremble. Her eyes filled with tears, "Miss Mama."
"Oh Ani," Tahiri pulled Ani into her arms. "Sweetie, your Mama misses you, too, but she needs you to learn how to be a Jedi. It will keep you safe. She has to do important work so you and Davin can live with your parents again."
"But she stayed before," Ani cried in confusion.
Tahiri pursed her lips. She had no idea how she could explain the situation to a three-year-old. "Sometimes adults have to do things they don't like to do. Your Mom and Dad wish they could be here with you, but they have to stop the bad guys. Once the bad guys are gone, you can live with them again."
Tahiri swiped the tears from the girl's cheeks with her thumbs, "Do you understand?"
Ani nodded, sniffling, "Okay."
"Are you ready to go into class now? Davin and Ben are waiting for you."
"Okay," Ani said again. Tahiri opened the door. Ani slipped inside the room and sat down next to Davin. Tahiri waited a few moments to make sure Ani was okay, and then left the room.
"Tahiri, good, here you are," Kam said breathlessly. He was rushing down the corridor. "I need you to come to the docking bay."
"What's going on?" she asked as she walked quickly with him.
"The Starflare, Baron Fel's ship, arrived. It's seen some action. Soontir said they have some injured aboard," Kam explained. "I'm not sure why he brought them here."
Tahiri and Kam halted as the shuttle entered the docking bay. Battle scoring and dents marred it's once gleaming surface. It landed gracefully in the docking bay.
Tahiri and Kam stood quietly, waiting for the ramp to lower. Metallic clangs ran from inside the shuttle. Gradually, the ramp began to drop, struts groaning. Tahiri could see a large black mark on the right of the ramp, probably the cause of the ramp's problems.
The ramp fell to the ground with a clang. Syal and Soontir Fel rushed down the warped ramp. Smoke billowed from behind them. Soontir coughed as he waved the smoke from his face.
"We've got wounded aboard!" Soontir shouted. A medical team had met Kam and Tahiri at the docking bay. Soontir waved them into the ship. Tahiri turned to assist the team, but a grip on her arm stopped her.
"Where are my grandchildren?" Syal demanded, almost desperately. Her blond hair was singed and matted. Soot colored her face, over her left eye and cheek. Her lavender blouse was torn at the right shoulder. Dried blood clung to her forehead.
Tahiri could sense fear, apprehension and exhaustion racing through the woman as she asked, "Do you want to get cleaned up first?"
"I need to see them. I have to know they are safe," Syal responded in a tone that demanded no argument.
Tahiri suddenly understood. "Come with me."
Tahiri led Syal to the Jedi classroom she had just left minutes before. She motioned for Syal to wait outside and stepped in the room. She asked permission to pull Ani and Davin out, which was immediately granted. Both children squealed excitedly as they saw Syal. She held them close, showering them with affection.
"Are you staying?" Davin asked.
"Imagine so," Syal responded as she sat on the floor.
"Can we live with you?" Davin asked. "Please?"
"Of course, darling," Syal responded, smoothing his hair. Ani curled up on her lap, considerably happier than she had been.
"Syal, we need have you checked out," Soontir's voiced called from down the hallway.
"Grandpa!" Davin yelled and he and Ani wormed their way out of Syal's grasp to tackle their grandfather.
Soontir gave Tahiri a slight nod. She reached down and helped Syal stand. "I'll walk you to the medical bay."
Syal shook her head as she pulled away from Tahiri. She placed a kiss on Ani's forehead. "You need to go back to class, children. We'll come see you later."
The children nodded and complied. Tahiri took them back into the room, gave Zekk a reassuring smile and then went to ask Soontir exactly what was going on. She wasn't going to take no for an answer.
"Csilla has been destroyed."
Stunned silence filled the large meeting room. The weekly meeting had been interrupted by an emergency transmission. Wedge had left the room to listen to it. When he came back, the look of despair on his face set everyone on edge.
Jaina gasped, clutching Jag's hand. His face had become an unreadable mask. Only his eyes showed his inner torment. Her eyes flicked from Jag to Wedge; waiting. Were Syal, Soontir, Wyn and Cem okay? She felt slightly guilty that she was relieved Davin and Ani weren't on planet at the time of the attack.
"We know that two of the Four Families were off planet," he went on. He continued discussing the attack, but Jaina tuned it out. She turned to Jag.
"I'm sure they're okay," she whispered, not believing the statement. She squeezed his hand.
"Yeah," Jag murmured.
The meeting was dismissed ten minutes later. Jag dropped Jaina's hand and rushed to his uncle, almost knocking over several beings.
"They're okay, Jag," Wedge said as soon as Jag approached him. Relief was obvious in Wedge's eyes. "I received a message from your father. They are at Shelter right now."
"They could have been followed," Jaina said, instantly regretting it.
"I'm sure Soontir took every precaution," Wedge said. "He said he'd be here in a few days."
Jag murmured his thanks. He turned from the room to leave. Jaina followed him to the communication center. She watched as Jag keyed in several long encryption codes. She recognized them as the codes used for Shelter. They waited in silence for a response. He pulled out a chair and motioned for Jaina to sit down. He rested his hands on her shoulders while they stared at the screen.
Jag let out a sigh of relief as Soontir's face finally appeared.
"We're all fine," Soontir said immediately. "The children are fine too. They've already talked your mother into allowing them to stay in her room."
"Wedge said you're coming here," Jag stated.
"Yes, I'll tell you more when I arrive. Your mother, Cem and Wyn are staying here."
"How bad was it?"' Jaina asked quietly.
"The planet's gone."
-
"Crux, Dozen and Red squadrons, take the right. Rogues and Blackmoon, go left. Red, cover the Rogues as they take out the frigate. Everyone else, take out the coralskippers."
Jaina clicked the comm in response. She looked at the holo taped to the console of her X-Wing. Ani and Davin's faces looked back at her. Jaina could remember that day. Davin was pointing to an animal out of view of the holo. Ani had asked if she could go out and see it, but it was too cold out. Wyn had been playing with her new holocam and snapped the picture.
Jaina shoved away the temptation to reach out to the children. She had to focus on the battle or she was going to get her and her squadmates killed. She looked at her targeting computer. The Vong vessels were highlighted with green marks; allies were white.
Coralskippers soared through space, shooting plasma at the Alliance ships. X-Wings, Y-Wings, A-Wings and E-Wings danced around skips, blasting off pieces of hot coral. A large frigate was trying to escape Bespin space.
"Another battleship!" Command shouted over the comm. "Crux, take it out."
Jaina's brow furrowed in frustration as more coralskippers appeared. This wasn't going well. As she spun around and dodged another skip, she began shooting at the larger one. The dovin basal absorbed the first two shots, but the third one damaged the ship. Another set of lasers appeared. The dovin basal shifted to meet the lasers while Jaina's own cannons thundered to split the coralskipper into pieces.
Jaina chewed on her bottom lip as she thought about a way to change the odds. She glanced at the tactical display, noting the heavy losses on both sides. She watched as both of the large Vong vessels twisted through space. The Alliance needed an edge, an advantage. She maneuvered her X-Wing away from the planet.
The planet…
That was it! Bespin's red-orange atmosphere caused visibility problems for many pilots. From what she'd be told, the Vong hadn't had much experience with the atmosphere. She had to try.
Jaina began provoking closet frigate by doing flybys. She called out to her wingmates to join her. Quickly, the rest of the squadron figured out what she was doing and joined in. Following Jaina's lead, they drew the frigate to the planet.
"Watch out for those gravity wells," Jaina warned. She gritted her teeth. It was working, but not fast enough.
"Kyp," she said as she called into her comm.,"Do (you have minute?"
"What do you need?" he answered.
Jaina commed Corran as well and then explained her plan. The two men agreed and followed her lead. She called off the rest of the squadron, and then the three Jedi began. Jaina moved to cover Kyp and Corran as they released shadow bombs. The damage from Corran's bomb caused the frigate to veer toward the gases of Bespin. The frigate entered Bespin's atmosphere. Jaina, Corran and Kyp fought the planet's gravity as they junked and jinked around the frigate as only Jedi could.
"It's coming apart!" Corran shouted into the comm. "Get out of there!"
"Kyp! Look out!" Jaina screeched as a chunk of yorik coral blasted off the frigate and shot towards the X-Wing. She pushed the accelerator and shot the yorik coral off course.
"Jaina!" Corran yelled, but it was too late.
Jaina was gone.
The Yuuzhan Vong Biological Studies lab was a bustle of activity. Technicians rushed around, carrying test tubes, crates and datapads. They paid no attention to Telma as she walked through the lab to the table in the back of the room.
Danni Quee turned to greet her, "Hi, you must be Telma. I've looked over your report and integrated it with our information."
"Danni Quee, I presume?" Telma said with a smile. She shook Danni's hand. "Jacen told me you found a way to block yammosks earlier in the war."
"Well, I had help," Danni responded. She pushed a lock of hair behind her ear, and snatched a datapad off the table behind her. "I wanted to talk to you about the slave seeds, if you don't mind."
"Of course," Telma responded, tipping her head. Danni turned away from her. She rummaged around the table until she found a clear-lidded dish.
"Jacen managed to swipe this from the medics. He wasn't sure who it was in," Danni said, turning to show Telma to dead slave seed. "I read in your report that you were able to slightly alter the seed."
"I had some Force-sensitivity, but not formal training. I'm honestly not sure how I managed to do it. I concentrated on the seeds on a small level," Telma replied with a shrug.
Danni nodded, undiscouraged, "That's fine. We've been able to capture live slave seeds, but they don't last long. I'll unthaw a few for you to experiment with."
"You freeze them?"
"Carbon freezing. One of the old scientists, Draygo, suggested it. His logic was that if it works on living beings, it should work on slave seeds. It keeps them stable for storage. Not all survive the freezing, but enough do to make it worthwhile."
"How do you obtain the seeds?"
Danni shrugged, "The military does all the work. I'm afraid I'm not kept up to speed on the campaigns."
Danni walked away from the table over to a large steel cabinet against the far wall. She pulled out a small metal cube and brought it to the table. "Whenever you're ready, there it is."
"I suppose I may as well try it now," Telma said slowly.
"You can work in my office. It's quieter in there," Danni told her, picking up the cube and leading Telma to a small door by the table. She ushered Telma through. "Just press the red switch to unfreeze it. Stand back. Once it's free, you have to work quickly. It only lasts about two hours. Call me if you need anything."
Telma nodded as Danni left and closed the door. She gave the metal cube a dubious gaze. She reached inside of her jacket and pulled out a small case containing a scalpel, tweezers and scissors. She didn't know if they would do her any good in this situation, but the items gave her confidence.
Telma reached out and pressed the switch. She watched as the carbonite melted away.
Here goes nothing, she thought and began to work.
Jag jumped out of the cockpit of his X-Wing and ran to the medward. Kyp had asked him to take the lead hours ago when he had gone after one of the frigates. When Corran had called for a medical shuttle to come pick up a pilot, he panicked. He was already worried about his family, ; that Jaina could be injured only increased his anxiety astronomically. His stomach fell to his ankles when he heard Kyp issue an order. Jag wanted nothing more than to follow the shuttle back to the base, but he couldn't. Gavin Darklighter's order for him to stay caused his military training to supersede his desires. Hours later, he was able to land.
Jag skidded to a halt when he saw Jaina sitting on a medbunk in the main ward. She had her back to him and a medic was examining her eyes.
"Colonel Fel," the medic greeted with a nod. Jaina glanced over her shoulder and gave him a small smile.
"The bacta bandages should clear up your burns within the next 72 hours. That concussion shouldn't keep you out of commission for long," the medic said. "Come back tomorrow so we can check your progress."
Jaina nodded her thanks and he walked away. She hopped off the bed and faced Jag.
"I'm fine. Let's go."
Jag nodded, relieved. He followed her out of the medward and to their quarters. As they walked, Jag's thoughts jumped from relief to frustration to anger. Kyp had told him exactly had happened. He couldn't believe Jaina had taken such a rash risk.
As soon as the door closed, Jaina turned to him and said, "A chunk of yorik coral knocked into my ship. I blacked out for a couple minutes, but I'm fine. Just a slight concussion and burns on my arm. You heard the medic. I'm fine."
Jag ran a hand through his hair, "Kyp told me what happened. What were you thinking? You could have been killed!"
"But I wasn't," Jaina said. "I couldn't let him die."
"You don't know that that would have happened."
"I wasn't going to chance it. Too many people have died from stupid mistakes I've made. I'm not adding Kyp to that count," Jaina snapped, stepping closer to him.
"You can't save everyone, Jaina," Jag replied. "He said he was fine."
"He didn't know. Don't tell me what I can and can't do, Jagged," she growled, crossing her arms.
"It's not all about you or me, Jaina," he ground out. They were standing toe-to-toe, breathing heavily. Jag's eyes locked on to hers. He could see her steely determination and passion flashing through her eyes.
Jaina's eyes narrowed and she started to turn away from him. Jag gently grabbed her wrist and pulled her to him. Suddenly her lips were on his. The frustration, pain, relief, stress, fear and need erupted from them. He wasn't sure who moved first. Jag released her wrist and moved his hand to her waist as he plundered her mouth. She tugged on his belt, pulling him with her as she moved. The back of her knees hit the bed and she tumbled backwards, taking him with her.