Chapter Twenty-one
Blood poured from the wound in Jacen's gut. His eyes were open wide with shock. He watched as Tahiri knocked the woman backwards and pinned her down. Tahiri slammed her head into the ground and knocked her unconscious. She snatched the fiber cord on her belt and tied the woman's wrists behind her back. She cut the cord with her lightsaber.

"Jacen," Tahiri said worriedly as she ran over to him. His vision was wavering. Tahiri peeled his hand away from the hole in his side.

"Let me see it," she urged. Jacen couldn't fight even if he wanted to. He was vaguely aware of her cutting around the wound and dressing it with a field bandage. Her hands framed his face as she spoke to him, "I've cleaned it up and dressed it the best I can for now. Can you go into a healing trance?"

Jacen shook his head, "We have to-" he coughed, "Take care of her first."

"What are you going to do? Bleed on her?" Tahiri said with a weak smile. "She's unconscious. I'll deal with her. You concentrate on healing yourself."

"That was stupid," he mumbled. "I should have paid more attention to her."

Tahiri shrugged, "We'll make it sound more impressive when we retell the story. You were fighting off a field of amphistaffs while I was fighting off a carnivorous beast or something."

Jacen chuckled despite the pain, "Sounds good."

Tahiri rested a palm on his forehead as she instructed, "Healing trance. Now."

"Yes, ma'am," he responded and closed his eyes. He fell into the Force, encouraging it to heal his injured body. The world quickly became black.

Sharp words broke through the haze of Jacen's mind as he awoke from the trance. He knew he hadn't been out as long as he needed, but he had little choice. He didn't want to leave Tahiri alone with the strange woman, especially if she was angry.

Jacen sat up slowly. Tahiri was seated about a meter away from him. The woman, still bound at the wrists and ankles, was shouting threats to Tahiri. Tahiri turned and smiled at him, "Good. You're up. Jacen, I would like you to meet our prisoner, Araneya Rev."

Araneya growled at Jacen. Her eyes were wild with hate. She thrashed against her restraints and fell onto the ground. He was impressed that Tahiri had managed to discover her name. Jacen reached out with the Force and felt the same dark emotions as before. This time he was able to scan her more thoroughly. He sensed confusion and helplessness.

"What have you found out?" he asked Tahiri as he sat next to her. She broke off a piece of a ration bar and handed it to him. He gave her a quick smile in thanks.
"Not much. She was a slave. She either escaped or got lost."

"The death of the dhuryam confused her," Jacen theorized. Araneya was covered in implants. She must have been a slave for at least four years. Her mind felt primal, almost animalistic. Whatever the Shapers had done to her, it had taken away her ability of independent thought. Her reactions were that of an animal trying to survive.

"That's what I thought, too," Tahiri agreed. She glanced at Jacen, "Do you think you can calm her?"

Jacen pursed his lips. He didn't like messing with another person's mind. He knew he had to, though. Her mind was more like one of the life forms he used to collect than his or Tahiri's. He sent calming waves to her brain, just as he would a scared animal. Her mental shields were almost non-existent. The implants had caused her mind to weaken.

Araneya's breathing began to slow to a calmer rate. Her heart rate decreased. As her survival instincts receded, he caught fuzzy flashes of her thoughts. She was confused and hungry. A teenage boy with sandy brown hair flashed through her mind. A gunship raining turbolaser fire on a sandy path caused her to feel scared. Jacen reinforced the sense of calm to try to quell her thoughts. Araneya finally began to relax her hands and shoulders. Her eyes grew calmer and she gave Tahiri a curious look.

"Who are you?" she rasped out.

"My name is Tahiri and this is Jacen. We're on your side," Tahiri said slowly. "Are you hurt?"

Araneya shook her head. Her eyes darted around the cave and she asked, "Where's Master?"

"Your Masters are dead. We are going to take you someplace to recover," Jacen told her. "The Jedi will help you."

Araneya's body began to shake. Her eyes rolled toward the back of her head. She fell back to onto her side as she twisted. She suddenly sat up and began screaming in a Yuuzhan Vong dialect. Her hands clawed at the implant next to her hands as if she was trying to rip it out of her body. Tahiri and Jacen gave each horrified glances as they approached her. Tahiri pulled her hand from the implant while Jacen tried to calm her again. It took much longer to calm her than before and Jacen eventually encouraged her to sleep before he hurt her.

Tahiri sank back on her heels, breathing heavily. Jacen wiped sweat off his brow. They moved away from the woman.

"Did you understand her?" Jacen asked. Araneya had been speaking far too fast for him.

Tahiri nodded, "Yes. She was cursing the infidels of the galaxy and swearing that she would grind our bones into dust."

"Ah, anything else?" he asked.

"Yes," Tahiri said, voice lowering, "She said that the seeder will devour the galaxy, bringing death to all."

"The seeder?"

"I think it's our friend out there," Tahiri responded. "I don't think the dhuryam was her master. I think that thing out there is."

"So she's its caretaker."

"Yes."

"We just walked into a trap, didn't we?" Jacen said wryly.

"Looks like it."

"Something else is controlling her."

"Most likely."

"What's a seeder?" he asked.

Tahiri pursed her lips in thought before speaking, "That's a loose translation. It's something that is bred for the sole purpose of destroying planets and life. It's something in old Yuuzhan Vong lore that was created by Yun Yuuzhan to destroy his opponents. It's said that it causes a slow, agonizing death to whatever it meets. To die by it is to be a scourge to the gods."

Jacen groaned. Their situation was just getting better and better, he thought. He asked, "Anything else I need to know?"

Tahiri shook her head, "Her last words were 'It's coming.'"

"Fantastic," Jacen mumbled. He ran a hand through his hair. He winced as the action caused his side to hurt. He pushed the pain away and asked, "Any ideas?"

"I say we kill that thing out there."

"We'll anger whoever planted it there."

"No doubt. I'm sure they'll try to kill us."

"Probably," Jacen replied. He paused as he could feel his uncle and sister reaching out to him. He removed his comlink from his belt and tried to call, but all he received was static. "I think the fire is messing with the signal."

"It's slowing down. All we can do is wait," Tahiri replied as she settled against a wall in the cave.

Jacen sighed in frustration. He and Tahiri had stumbled upon something. He didn't know how bad it was. What Araneya had said made it sound horrible, but he wasn't sure if they could believe everything she said. She was, after all, brain damaged. He didn't want others joining in the mess. He would have to try to make his feelings on that clear through the Force.

Not likely, he thought to himself as he closed his eyes. Even if his uncle did understand, he knew nothing short of a legion of Death Stars would keep him away.

The datapad clattered onto the desk as Jag collapsed back into the chair. He had exactly sixteen minutes before he had to be at a meeting with a group of operatives before they left that evening. There were three going on the mission. They were flying a cheap, old shuttle to Barab I. Jag had heard from Iella that the Vong had decreased their numbers on the planet. There were five large slave areas. The shuttle was going to break down and "crash land" on the planet's surface in one of them. They would then locate the dhuryam and administer a toxin in an attempt to free the slaves. Before that, though, they had to convince the others to revolt. He hoped it worked. One team died when trying to infiltrate Wayland a month ago.

This mission was the boldest undertaking his project had taken so far. In four days, Jag would send another team as back-up. He felt he should go with them, but he had to obtain clearance to leave from his uncle first. He also didn't want to leave Ani and Davin until Jaina returned. As of last night, she was on her way back.

Jag was fairly confident that they would succeed. In the end, he didn't have much choice. He had concocted this plan and he had yet to participate in it. He would find a way off the planet, no matter what. He knew that if his group succeeded, not only would the Alliance gain another planet, but also it would be a massive morale booster. Yavin IV had been a Jedi victory. They needed a military one.

Jag was exhausted. He'd left before the children awoke. His mother had agreed to come over and stay with them. She had also been up early. It was Wyn's first day as a communications officer. Jag himself had started early on programming the Dozen's sims for that morning. He'd spent the rest of the morning taking care of the final details the Barab I mission. He'd run the simulators and then finished finalizing the shuttle preparations.

Kyp walked into the office. He went over to the computer terminal on the wall and inserted a date disc. "I'm going to wring their necks."

"What for this time?" Jag asked.

"After you left, the Rogues came in. One thing led to another and they ended up slaughtering us," Kyp stated with a frown.

"Gavin goaded you into it," Jag stated as he gestured for Kyp to continue.

He glared. "Anyway, they won and now the Dozen has to take half their morning patrol."

It was Jag's turn to glare, "Whose bright idea was that?"

"Gavin's, of course. Behind that farm boy innocence lurks a devious monster," Kyp muttered.

"You agreed," Jag accused.

"Yeah, yeah," Kyp mumbled. "Sorry."

Jag groaned, "You're killing me, Durron."

"What did you have planned for tomorrow?" Kyp asked as he copied the disc.

"Don't worry about it," Jag stated. "We'll use patrol to whip the others back into shape. Increase their drills, too. We'll tell them if they don't get it right, they will run two hours of sims after the patrol. If they still can't master it, another two hours."

"You're evil," Kyp commented.

Jag stood up from the desk. Before he walked out the door, he responded, "Next time they won't lose."

"Bite down to activate it," Telma said to Kit Nyle, one of the members of the first Barab I team. She handed him a canister containing a clear tube with glowing green liquid. "Let it mix with your salvia for ten seconds, and then spit it onto the structure. It takes five to seven seconds to soak in."

"Okay, what next?" Kit asked. He was sitting on her examination table.

Telma tugged on a pair of gloves. "Next I need to cut a slit in your wrist and insert the toxin that will weaken the slave seeds. I'll leave a small part poking out from your skin to remove it. It will hurt, but the Vong won't notice it hidden there."

Kit flinched as Telma injected a mild anesthesia into his arm. He asked, "How do I activate it?"

"Just break off the top portion. There's a powder inside. Sprinkle it over the implants. It's quickest if applied to the base, but anywhere is fine," Telma explained as she inserted the tube into his skin.

"How many implants will it work on?"

"Six to ten, size depending," she responded. She began to sew the incision closed.

"How many do I get?"

"The most we've done is four," Telma said. "There's a risk of infection if the tubes burst with some species. I hate to more than that without furthering testing."
"I'll take four then," he said.

Telma smiled at him as she said, "I figured as much."

Telma finished inserting the rest of the toxin tubes. She kept the conversation light; she didn't want to stress out Kit or any of the others before they left. He was the last one she was seeing today. She would see the next group in two days. She was glad that she could contribute to the war effort in a field she was comfortable with. Her former career as a surgeon had benefited her greatly. Many of the practices had transitioned well into the scientific research she helped Danni with.

After Kit left the room, she cleaned up the area. She had enough supplies for the next group, but needed to go to the lab and create more. She and Danni had been able to draft a few younger scientists to aid with the project. It freed up their time to work on the mystery of Csilla. They hadn't made any breakthroughs yet, but Danni kept saying she had a feeling they were close. Telma believed her.

There was a knock at the door. "Come in!" Telma called. Britna was standing in the doorway.

"Hello, Britna," she greeted.

"Hi, Telma. Are you busy? I didn't mean to interrupt," she said quickly.

"No, I'm all finished here. What did you need?" Telma asked as she threw away her gloves.

"I think I'm ready to help," she said quietly. "I should have gone before, but…"

"No one is making you do anything, Britna," Telma reassured. "I'm not sure why you are telling me, though. You should talk to Jag."

"I can't find him," Britna admitted with a shrug. "He's impossible to hunt down."

Telma chuckled, "I'll give you that. I'm meeting with him this evening. I'll tell him for you."

"Thank you," she said gratefully. "Do you need any help?"

Telma shook her head, "Not right now. What have you been up to?"

"I've been helping out the new refugees," Britna answered. Telma gestured for her to walk out the door and followed her.

"Oh really?"

"Yes, so many pass through here. I know it's not as helpful as everyone else," she said. "It doesn't feel like I'm doing enough, though."

"Helping the refugees is just as important," Telma reassured.

Britna didn't respond. She walked out of the medical center with Telma. Telma said, "I'll find you with the refugees after I speak to Jag."

"Thank you," Britna said. She waved goodbye and walked off. Telma hurried through the halls to the lab. She was anxious to finish preparing the toxins before she met with Jag. She didn't know why, but she had a feeling something big was coming. She planned to do everything possible to guarantee she was ready.