Miriah could feel sun on her still closed eyes, and felt wetness on her face. She'd been dreaming, that she was on her ship and something terrible had happened. She startled awake at that, and saw Aric pushing the hatch of the escape pod open to blue skies. It wasn't a dream, she thought, and where is Corso? She struggled to sit, every muscle hurting, and her movement caught Aric's attention.
"Easy there, Spitfire. You've got some bleeding from your nose. I was trying to protect you from impact but think maybe I squeezed you too hard." He hauled himself out of the pod and looked back through the opening at her. "You with me, Miriah?"
"Yeah," she said, hearing the shock in her own voice. "The pods are fully stocked, gear in the top cargo, supplies in both sides." She reached above her and pulled a gear bag down. "I'll dress and be out there in a sec. Did you see where Corso and Jurin landed?" She was pulling out a set of leather armor, digging for a blaster, when he answered.
"I did, they're about a klik away, to the east." He reached in, back turned in case she was exposed, and pulled a large supply bag out of the cargo area, pulling out a set of macrobinoculars. "I can see the dust plume still, but not the pod. Too many trees."
"There should be flares and subspace beacons in the pack, as well as rations and water."
"Yes, I found it," he told her, handing her a bottle of water. "You need to stay hydrated. I'm guessing Logan is okay?" She heard the worry in his voice and quickly reassured him.
"Everything is fine, Aric, at least physically." Her tone was subdued, almost listless.
"We'll set up camp here, wait on Corso and Jurin to join us. I don't want you stressed," Aric said, turning to see her climb out of the pod and putting both hands on her waist to help her descent. "The subspace beacon is already on, and from what I can tell from the pod's nav system, we landed on one of the moons of Tython. Beautiful place, do you know anything about it?"
She watched her brother in law, but the shock was still so great she was having trouble clearing the mental fog that enveloped her. "As I remember it, Tython has seven that are habitable. I have no idea which one this is," she told him, slowly looking around her, the bottle of water forgotten in her hands. Aric noticed and pointed to it.
"Drink, Miriah," he told her, then crossed the small, flat place they'd landed to hug her hard against him. "He's gonna be fine, Logan is okay. We're okay." He placed a chaste kiss on her head. "So sorry about your ship, hon."
"It was just a thing." Her voice still had that hollow, uncertain sound. "I know in my heart that Corso is okay, it's Devin I'm most worried about. How much can he tell in the force? He'll be distraught if he can feel this." She moved to sit on one of the tree trunks they'd taken down under the force of the pod's impact, inspecting the beacon of red light that would guide Corso to her, and finally drank the water.
Aric looked relieved to see her sitting and resting. Maura, he thought, please know I'll be home soon. He watched his wife's youngest sister as she tried to make sense of their situation, and spoke softly. "Devin is safe, and being loved by everyone around him. I'm sure that by now they're wondering why we haven't holoed them and are trying to find out what's going on. We'll be home soon, Mir." He stood and looked toward Corso's pod with the binoculars again, seeing movement. "I see someone heading this way." She smiled slightly at that.
Corso had pulled as much gear and supplies as he could reasonably tote and started toward the beacon. At least they're okay, he told himself as he trudged along. It would take him longer to reach them fully loaded down like this, but they'd have the combined resources of the pods to last them until they could be picked up. He had covered about a quarter of the distance to them when he realized there was someone, or someones, between himself and the other pod, and stopped. He pulled out the binoculars from the supply pack and tried to see who else might have been alerted to their crash, but the trees were so thick he couldn't see anything, only hear footsteps. He stared forward again, but cautiously. He knew the others would be armed, and at least this way they'd have whoever or whatever was steadily making its way to the beacon between them. He stopped long enough to put his rifle where he could easily get to it around the packs, and started forward again.
Halfway there, he had to stop and rest. He'd noticed some pain when he first landed, and now, breathing heavily, he felt it again. Maybe a busted rib, he thought, and shifted the packs to put more pressure on the other side of his body. He drank some water, took deep breaths of the cool, clean air, and felt grateful for the shade of the tall trees even as he cursed their foliage from keeping him from seeing . When he felt somewhat normal again, he glanced at his wrist chrono and realized he'd given the others out there a twenty minute lead on him, and hauled the heavy packs onto his back again, setting off toward the beacon and Miriah.
Aric ran the scanner over Miriah, and grinned when he clicked it off. "Baby is doing fine, your nose is broken, again, and that kolto pack should fix you right up." He stood from where he'd been crouched beside her and helped her stand from where he'd had her lie down for the scan. "How are you feeling, Mir?"
"Anxious, tired, slightly nauseous," she responded, her pallor unchanged from earlier. "Why did this happen, Aric? Because we had Jurin? Trying to get him some help, would we have figured out what had happened and who did this to him? Maybe reversed the damage the Castellan restraints had caused?" She stared to pace but rapidly turned the peculiar shade of green he'd seen on her face lately, and sank down on the tree trunk, reaching for the crackers she'd unearthed from the depths of the ration pack earlier.
"I just don't know, Mir. Possibly all of those reasons. If we'd been able to get the damage reversed, he'd have been able to tell us all about his handlers. That seems the most likely scenario." He sat beside her on the tree. "We may be delayed in getting those answers now, but we will get them," he assured the tiny woman, whose green face was slowly turning back to normal.
Magdalane held her newborn, the bottle almost empty, when her daughter joined them on the bed. "Michi, this is Ian, your little brother," she told the little girl. Michi slowly reached out and patted the baby's leg, smiling. Felix came into the room, picked up his daughter and sat with her, admiring Ian.
"How are you feeling, sweetheart?" he asked Mags, seeing her moving rather well after the ordeal of childbirth. "You were able to get a nap?"
"I did, and it was wonderful. I'm feeling good, thanks to Devin. How is he?"
"He's still sleeping. Who would have thought that he'd save the day?" Felix was still unsure about how the little boy's force sense would be so potent.
"Often, the very young are the most powerful," Mags explained, swinging her legs over the bed to put Ian in his cradle. "They act as a conduit of the force, there's no preconception of what they can or can't do, no restraints put there by themselves or others. They are simply open, wonderfully free, in the force. I could feel that he had no idea why this was happening, but he'd felt compelled to come to me. He was the vessel, but I sense a great and strong connection in him, that many would be envious of should he decide to train." She smiled down at her son. "He and Ian, they will both be very powerful, should they choose to be." She glanced over at Michi, and held her arms out to her. "My sweet girl. Need a snack, Michi?" She laughed at the vigorous nod Michi gave her and started to carry her to the kitchen, but was stopped by Felix.
"No, love. I'll carry her," he said, bending to give his wife a kiss. He'd never seen anything like what he'd witnessed here today. Michi's birth had been quiet, with Satele Shan there along with Nadia Grell, there had been more than enough force power present. Also, since Ian weighed in at almost eight pounds, Michi had been considerably easier, at a little under six. He strolled into the living area, where the twins were having cookies with Sarai, and Michi almost leapt from his arms to join them, making him smile. He turned and took Mag's arm, helping her sit on the sofa. She wasn't in pain, but he could tell she was depleted, tired, and shaky. "I'll get you a snack, too, sweetheart." When she gave him a grateful smile, he couldn't help but kiss her again.
"Okay, that's how we got to this place to begin with," Maura joked. She sat beside her sister, noting her fatigue but otherwise saw she was doing well. "So, Devin. Who knew he'd be the key?" Maura mused. "Poor little guy was so confused at first, he'd walked to the hallway and back about ten times before he went to you."
"He was simply perfect," Mags replied. "We still haven't heard anything, have we?"
"No," Maura sighed. "Grandmaster Shan felt the jolt in the force, so they must have been near Tython when whatever happened, happened. The orbital station is doing subspace searches now. If they had to eject from the ship, they would have put up the beacons. I don't even want to think about that." She stood to pace, her worry evident on her face. Suddenly she turned to Sarai.
"Mom, can you see if you can feel Miriah? Like you did when she'd been kidnapped?" Hope shown on Maura's face, at the thought of maybe seeing if they were alive, and where they might be.
Sarai smiled and nodded, and since she was already kneeling, went into a trance, her aura shimmering. She felt her youngest daughter, her anxiety and shock, immediately.
Miriah felt the familiar sliver of cool light enter her mind, and figured her mother was trying to communicate. She looked around her, at Aric, at the pod, and knew her mom would relay the info to the others. She relaxed and tried to tell her mom that Corso was in the other pod, but wasn't sure if the message went through.
Sarai stood, babbling. "They're okay! She's alive, they all are. I could see the pod they'd ejected in, Aric was with her, and if I'm not mistaken, she was trying to tell me that Corso and Jurin were in the other pod." Blessing and Elara had run over to them when they heard Sarai's excited voice, and Blessing spoke.
"Any idea where they may be?" he asked, holding Elara's hand in his. Garza needs to know all this, but she's not answering comms today, he thought. I may need to go to HQ after this and find her.
"No, only the planet they landed on is forested, the atmosphere compatible, and that they're alive, " she beamed. "Alive. That's what counts right now. I'm guessing one of Tython's moons, and I'm going now to let Satele know where to look." The older woman made her way to the holo, while the rest of the group let out a collective sigh of relief.
Corso made his way to the beacon, his breathing labored. He should have known he wouldn't escape the harsh descent and impact without some trauma, he thought. Should have at least scanned myself. Just wanted to be by Miriah's side so badly it didn't matter. He shook the spots out of his vision and trudged on, the knowledge that every step took him closer to her was enough to keep him going.
Aric could see the movement through the brush, getting closer. He turned to say something to Miriah about it, only to see her sleeping, her head on her outstretched arms. Not even an ejection pod escape could surmount the physical demands of pregnancy, he thought. Just as he turned back to the brush, he saw the blue-white blade of a lightsaber precede the small woman who burst through the trees. A Miralukan, he noted, then saw the fierce expression on her face. Her partner, a tall human built like a large tree himself, his saber also drawn, stepped out behind her.
"Who are you, and what is your business here?" the woman demanded.
"We were on our way to Tython, taking someone to be healed there," Aric told her, seeing Miriah wake beside him. "We had ship trouble, ended up having to eject. We landed here, not long ago."
"Yes we saw. Both pods, in fact. How do we know you're not here as spies?" she spit out, the man behind her looking around.
"Joslin, look, they had no intention of coming here in the first place. Here is their ship's registry, on the pod." The man walked around the wreckage, seeing the damage and the traces of debris that had hit the small vessel on its way out of danger. "Your ship exploded?" he asked Aric.
Aric nodded, watching the pair and moving slowly to help Miriah stand, feeling her tremble. The looked on as the tall man moved around the pod, and rejoined the woman.
"Joslin, stand down," he said quietly, his force aura flaring then. "He is truthful, and she is with child. There's no other reason for them to be here other than what he stated."
Joslin looked at Miriah, her stare penetrating. "So she is. She looks like someone I knew, long ago."
"Joslin? Joslin Avan'je?" Mirah said, wonder in her voice. "It is you! I thought I recognized you!"
"Miriah? Oh my stars, I haven't seen you in forty forevers," Joslin said, rushing to Miriah, hugging her close. "How in the force did you get into this much trouble?" she laughed.
Corso burst through the underbrush just then, his rifle trained on the woman. "Let go of her and step back!" he demanded, just before he lost consciousness and fell to the ground, his lung finally collapsing.