Chapter Eleven
A piercing scream echoed through the small apartment. Syal rolled out of bed and rushed to Davin and Ani's room. She smacked the control on the door and rushed through before it could open fully. Ani was sitting on her bed, hair tangled and tears rolling down her cheeks. Davin was sitting next to her with his arm around her shoulders.
"Ani? What is it?" Syal asked worriedly as she sat next to her on the bed. Ani threw her arms around Syal and she pulled the girl into her arms. Davin scooted closer to his sister, his face a blank mask. Ani shook with sobs. Syal rubbed her back and asked Davin, "Davin, do you know what's wrong?"
Davin's eyes looked at her solemnly, "Something happened to Uncle Jacen."
Syal's heart leapt to her throat. She prayed that he wasn't dead. She wouldn't ask a child that question. She heard the front door open and footsteps race into the room. Seconds later, Tahiri, Cem and Wyn crowded at the doorway. Tahiri squeezed past and knelt in front of the bed.
"Ani," she called gently. Ani turned her head to face her. Tahiri caressed her cheek. With the other hand, she took one of Davin's. "Your Uncle Jacen is okay."
Ani shook her head, "Uh uh. Something bad has him."
Syal looked to Tahiri for help. Tahiri took the girl into her arms, "Ani, what did you feel?"
Ani rubbed her eyes, "I was sleeping and there was a lady sitting in the dirt with rocks on her back. It was all wet out and scary. It hurt, Tahiri. Then Uncle Jasa was there and he fell down. Something mean and scary and mad ate him."
"Did you see anything else?" Tahiri asked.
Ani's lip trembled as she responded, "It got all dark and scary. It tried to eat me and the lady."
Tahiri hugged her tightly, and then handed her back to Syal. She turned to Davin, "Did you see anything?"
Davin shook his head, "No."
The pinging of a comlink startled Syal. Wyn ducked out of the room to find it. She walked back into the room a second later, "Jaina's calling. She wants to talk to the children. Jysella has her on hold down in the communication center."
Syal nodded. She stood up off the bed, carrying Ani. Davin grabbed a pair of shoes and put them on, refusing to be carried. He did take Tahiri's hand, however, as they walked to the communication center.
Jaina and Jag's worried faces stared from the comm unit. Jysella hopped off the chair and moved to the side of the room. Davin broke away from Tahiri and rushed forward to climb into the chair. Syal placed Ani next to Davin.
Jaina began asking the children questions. Ani repeated what she saw and felt, with Davin's input. Syal watched as Jaina and Jag exchanged worried looks and proceeded to calm the children down.
"Gramma?" Davin called. "Mommy and Daddy want you."
Syal walked up to the image. She stroked Ani's hair as Jag began to speak, "Mother, can you take the children back to bed? We need to talk to Tahiri."
"Of course," Syal answered, and then waited for Ani and Davin to tell their parents goodbye. She offered her own goodbye, and then took the children from the room. Ani rested her head on Syal's shoulder. Davin walked next to her, staring at the floor. Davin reached up and opened the door to their quarters once they approached. Syal gently lay Ani on her bed. She had already fallen asleep.
"Davin?" Syal said, stepping out of the room. "Do you feel something else?"
"Something bad is coming."
He was lying flat on his stomach, hands pressed to the hard floor. A booted foot in the middle of his back prevented him from moving. He slowly tilted his head upwards so he could rest his chin on the floor. His brown eyes stared forward as he clenched his teeth.
He counted to three and then twisted his body to the left. One hand grabbed the attacker's ankle and yanked it down. The man stumbled backwards as Jacen stood up. He pinned him to the ground, ending the match.
Jacen gave Valin a sharp nod as Luke walked up. Luke pulled Valin aside and began to talk to him about the match. Jacen turned and began to walk out of the room.
"Jacen!" Jaina's voice called. He turned to see Jaina entering the training room from the back door. She jogged to catch up with him. "I need to talk to you. Now."
Jacen tipped his head in consent and motioned for Jaina to lead the way. It was pointless to argue when she used that tone. The tone demanded obedience and cooperation. He could remember Leia using it with several politicians through the years. He followed his twin through the recreational area to the residential area to her quarters. He sat down at a table and she sat across from him.
"What were you doing around 2000 hours last night?" she asked with preamble.
"Meditating. Why?" Jacen responded curiously.
Jaina took a deep breath, and then began to tell Jacen about Ani. She had felt a rush of terror from her daughter last night. Jacen sat in silence as Jaina described what Ani said she saw and felt. His blood ran cold upon hearing such a similar description to his own vision. After she finished, Jacen then told Jaina what he had seen.
"I can't believe I didn't feel her. How did Tahiri know?" Jacen mused.
"I asked Tahiri to keep an eye on the children," Jaina responded. "What do you think this means? Why did she see what you saw?"
"I don't know," Jacen murmured, and then asked, "Is she okay?"
Jaina sighed, "I don't know. Jag and I were able to calm her down. I haven't felt anything else from her."
"What about Davin?"
"He's worried about her, but didn't see anything," Jaina stated.
"Are you going to go to them?"
Her cheek twitched in agitation as she responded, "I've been denied permission to leave."
Jacen knew better than to ask questions. "I'm sure Syal can handle it."
"Yes."
"I don't know why Ani and I saw a similar vision," he said in an attempt to somewhat divert the conversation and her focus.
"Did you see her there?" Jaina asked, leaning forward.
Jacen shook his head, "No, just the blond woman. I've never seen her before."
Jaina was silent for a moment, and then asked, "Jacen, what does this mean?"
He shook his head, "I don't know, Jaina. I just don't know."
Jag rubbed his eyes with a hand while he waited for Wedge to finish reading the detailed outline of his idea. After he and Jaina had talked to Tahiri and the children last night, Jaina sat in an almost trance-like state as she focused on Ani and Davin. Jag sat next to her until she was sure that the children were fast asleep. They lay in bed for hours worrying about what was going on. Jaina had wanted to find Jacen immediately, but had been unable to reach him.
Wedge placed the datapad on his desk and said, "You realize how long this will take."
"Yes," Jag said with a tip of his head.
"We'll need more Intelligence staff than can be spared."
"I was thinking we could train some of the captives."
"How likely are they to join? We've already tried recruiting them. Most don't want to have anything to do with the military. They harbor resentment that we couldn't save their worlds," Wedge explained.
"Not the refugees, the former captives. Most of them lack military experience, but that can be remedied," Jag said, leaning forward. "Each being I met in captivity was forced to find their strengths to survive. Military operations are effective, but this is a different kind of war. If we can infiltrate the slave camps with beings strong enough to carry out this plan, we can win from the inside."
Wedge leaned forward, elbows resting on his desk and chin cupped in his hands. He stared in thought at his nephew. He sat for several minutes before answering.
"I will run this by Intel and get back with you," Wedge told him. "Based on what you have here, it's definitely probable."
"Thank you, sir," Jag said and left the office, feeling slightly more hopeful than he had when the day started.
An explosion rocked the northwest side of Shelter. The group of younglings walking with Jysella stumbled in the hallway. Jysella reached out and caught a young Rodian boy before he crashed into the floor. An alarm began to sound through the hallways. She snatched her comlink from her belt and called the communication center.
"What's going on?" she snapped.
"We're under attack," Tionne's voice called over the speaker. "Bring the younglings to the central bunker."
"Understood," Jysella said, and then turned to the younglings, "Come on, we need to hurry."
The children nodded and followed her. She led the eight younglings down the hallways and towards the bunker. Next to the hanger bay, there was a fortified room in Shelter that was built specifically to keep the occupants safe should someone invade.
Jysella ushered them into the room. Tahiri walked up to Jysella and said, "The training quadrant has been breached. Kam has issued an evacuation order. We've got a couple fighters launching to cover the escape. Take this group into the hanger bay and load them on one of the shuttles. Can you take a fighter?"
"Yes," Jysella responded.
"Good. Take them and go," Tahiri ordered. Jysella nodded and waved the younglings along. They ran to the hanger bay. Jysella led them to the first shuttle and rushed them up the ramp. She nodded to the Jedi trainees in the hold, and then raced down to locate a flightsuit and helmet.
Fifteen minutes later, Jysella was in the cockpit of an X-Wing. She toggled on her comm to wait instructions.
"Jedi Four and Five, escort the Skyrider out," Zekk's voice called. He was leading the defense. He'd been put in charge of training various Jedi for space battle.
"Got it, Lead," Jysella said. She glanced at her scopes to locate her wingmate, and then veered toward the shuttle. She muttered a curse as one of the attacking ships raced after the Skyrider. She pushed the throttle down quickly to approach from behind and began a succession of stutter fire. She succeeded in hitting one of the engines, but it didn't cause enough damage to stop its pursuit. Her wingmate scored a hit on one of the two gun turrets. Jysella hoped it breached the atmosphere in the gun well. Jysella took a deep breath, enveloping herself in the Force and concentrated on the ship. She flipped her X-Wing to the right as laser fire surrounded her. She sped up and moved so she was once again behind the ship. She squeezed the trigger on her stick and scored a hit on the ship's engines.
"Skyrider, jump!" she instructed. A few moments later, the shuttle disappeared into the first hyperspace jump out of the Maw.
Jysella breathed heavily, staring out the viewport. The enemy ship was leaking something, probably coolant. It was no longer a threat.
"Four and Five, your assistance is needed at Quadrant Three," Zekk ordered.
"Copy that, Lead," Jysella responded and jumped back into the fight.
"Four, tighten up," Kyp instructed over the airwaves. The Dozen were running patrol. Kyp was leading them through various maneuvers.
"Yes, sir," a clipped male voice responded. The X-Wing leveled out.
"All right, let's try maneuver 827. Flight Three and Four go forty degrees starboard," Kyp instructed. The six fighters moved as instructed and then the entire squadron began the maneuver.
"Lead, three vessels exited hyperspace at 275 degrees," Jag's voice cut through the comm waves.
"Got it," Kyp responded. He relayed the information to the base, which then instructed the squadron to investigate. "Dozen attack pattern Delta. Flights Two and Four, sweep around from the right. Our visitors are unknown. Play nice."
Eleven clicks acknowledged the instructions. The fighters moved quickly into formation and turned to investigate. The transition was seamless. Between Kyp and Jag's discipline, the squadron had become a strong, united group.
"No skips," Five announced.
"Unidentified vessels, you are in restricted Galactic Alliance territory. Identity yourself and state your intentions," Kyp demanded over the comm.
"This is the Skyrider, out from Shelter. We have Jedi trainees aboard. Longshot has wounded aboard," a voice called over the comm.
"Skyrider, what happened?" Kyp asked. He could feel several Force-sensitives aboard, along with Streen and Kirana Ti.
"An attack," Kirana Ti's voice said, taking over for the original speaker. "Durron, can we land or not?"
"Skyrider and Longshot, go to docking bay 345," a voice from the Command Center called over the comm.
"Acknowledged," Kirana's voice called.
Kyp flipped over to a private channel, "Jag, escort them down and land. You're excused from patrol."
"Thank you, Kyp," he responded gratefully.
Kyp switched back to the squadron channel, "Three and Four, assist Two in escorting the shuttle down."
Clicks rang over the comm as the two X-Wings moved to join Jag by the two shuttles.
"Skyrider, are others expected?" Kyp asked.
After a moment, Kirana's voice responded, "We don't know."
Kyp gritted his teeth in frustration and anger. Someone had gone after the Jedi. It could be the Vong. It could be the Peace Brigade. It could be mercenaries. He let out a breath. He wasn't going to get any answers sitting around. He looped his X-Wing around. He had a feeling something was coming. He wasn't going to be caught unprepared.
Jaina leapt down from the cockpit of her X-Wing and ran across the docking bay. She threw open the door of a stairwell and raced down the steps. She'd been out escorting a supply ship from a nearby system when the she had felt indescribable terror from Davin and Ani, along with flashes of pain. When the Crux Squadron arrived in system, she heard Kirana Ti tell Kyp there had been an attack at Shelter. She hadn't felt her children on either the Skyrider or Longshot. She hadn't waited for instructions; she'd landed as soon as possible.
Jaina turned from the stairwell landing and slid through the door to the proper level. She ran to the shuttles, and stopped when she saw Jag standing at the ramp of the first one.
"What happened?" she demanded as she stopped next to him. Streen was also standing outside the ramp. A medical team was pulling children from the shuttles.
Streen gave Jaina a brief explanation, but it was lost on her as two more ships broke the magbarrier and landed in the bay. She touched Jag's shoulder and said as she pointed to the closer of the two, "They're in that one."
Jaina and Jag ran to the ship. It was covered in carbon scoring and the side gun well was gone. He took her hand in his as they waited for the shutdown process to end and the ramp to lower.
"Are they okay?" Jag asked anxiously.
"I can't tell. They're in there, but they're unconscious," Jaina told him. She squeezed his hand tightly. "Earlier they were scared and in pain."
Jag's jaw clenched as a dark fury filled his eyes. Jaina glanced at him with concern, but any comment she would have made was halted when the ramp lowered. Before they could make it halfway up the ramp, Tahiri bound down with an unconscious Ani in her arms. She handed the girl to Jag and said, "Get her to a medward."
Jag nodded, cradling Ani to his chest. Jaina touched Ani's forehead and said, "Go. I'll get Davin."
Jaina turned and went the rest of the way up the ramp as Jag took Ani away. She could hear children crying. She was focused on one presence: her son. She weaved her way through the ship, vaguely aware of Tahiri barking instructions to the medical team that had arrived after Jaina. She twisted through the hold.
"Jaina!" Ben's voice cried as he tackled her legs. She bent down to check him. He had a cut on his forehead but other than that, he was fine. She hugged him tightly, "Are you okay?"
Ben nodded, "Yeah. Is my mom here?"
"I don't know, Ben. Go wait outside," Jaina told him as she stood up. "Where's Davin?"
"The crew cabin," he said. Jaina then rushed down the hall. She stabbed the door control with her finger and shoved through the door. She froze. She wasn't prepared for the sight inside.
Davin was lying on a bunk, legs covered with a blanket. He was unconscious. A blood-soaked bandage covered one side of his head. His arm was in a temporary sling. Syal was seated on the floor next to his bunk, one hand on his small shoulder. Jaina stumbled in the room. Syal moved out of the way as Jaina bent over the bed.
"Davin?" she said weakly, lower lip trembling. Her fingers caressed his cheek.
"Tahiri put him in a healing trance," Syal explained. Her cheeks were tear-stained. If she had any injuries, they were hidden. Jaina gently scooped up her son in her arms and turned to leave.
She didn't remember walking through the ship. She didn't remember laying him on one of the hover gunrays. She didn't remember walking into the medward. All she could focus on was her injured son. She cursed her lack of proficiently with healing. She felt completely helpless.
"Colonel Solo-Fel, we need you to wait out here," one of the medics told her. Jaina nodded numbly. She was vaguely aware of a hand gripping her elbow and guiding her to a chair in the waiting room. She stood up immediately as Jag walked through a different set of doors and into the waiting room. Jaina rushed over to him and he pulled her to him.
"Where's Ani?" she asked, clutching his forearms.
"She has a mild concussion, but she'll be okay. She's sleeping," he told her, relief in his eyes, "What about Davin?"
A sob escaped her throat as she started to speak, "I-I don't know."