Chapter 7
Solstice felt as if she was being dipped in molten lava.
Everything felt stiff and sore, and she was completely drenched in sweat. At one point, Solstice was teetering on the edge of consciousness and unconsciousness. She could vaguely hear and sense somethings, but then she would fall back into the darkness of unconsciousness. The point between consciousness and unconsciousness was a very thin line, as she was unable to pick when she was either or. There were voices that spoke orders, that whispered, and she felt something cool being placed on her forehead from time to time. It felt strange, the cool sent a shock wave through her system, but as soon as the shock passed, it soothed her very high fever. It reminded Solstice of snow.
Snow pelted her face, numbing it. The world was white and cold, and every breath she took burned her lungs and throat. But Solstice didn't mind. She enjoyed the cold, rather than the heat.
Another burst of heat made her whimper. Whatever was going on with her, it was getting worse. The voices that sounded vaguely familiar turned into the voices of those who Solstice thought had perished years ago.
Fox, the platoon leader for the squadron Solstice was a part of….
Lexus, a Senator's son with a strange fascination with her….
Master Jai'Kar, the one who took her under his wing….
They all spoke to her, telling her that she failed to save them, to keep them safe. Solstice muttered back that it wasn't her fault that they died, it was the Sith's, specifically Palpatine. Nothing could keep the voices out, but eventually they died down.
That's when Solstice opened her eyes. Everything was hazy, and sort of blurry. She stood on shaky legs and made her way out of the room she was in. Why was she in the infirmary? The young girl didn't feel like she was injured and her most recent memories were of her hanging out in her quarters in the Jedi Temple. Perhaps she came down with a fever; that would explain why she was burning up like she was being dipped in the lava of Mustafaar. She struggled to move, bumping her legs painfully on desks. When the young Jedi opened the door, Solstice groaned in shock when blinding cold and snow hit her.
How in the Force did she wind up on Hoth?! Or maybe it was the icy moon of Pantora with the Tals?
Solstice stumbled on, her vision blinded by the snow that continued to fall. Her face was numb, from the cold that suddenly embraced her feverish body. It felt good and yet, uncomfortable. Finally, her foot got caught on something and she went down. Solstice didn't have enough energy to catch herself, so she crashed into the ground. A moment later, her clothes were soaking wet, and she was shivering on the ground. Solstice started to pray, something that she didn't do often before she slid back into unconsciousness.
Back at the infirmary, Carter fought through the snow storm with Lebeau to carry some soup to Solstice. The brunette wasn't really doing well. Her fever had reached its peak, and though the men had tried everything in their power to bring it down, it just didn't budge. Hogan had suggested that they'd bathe her in ice water which they would do later that night when Hilda returned from a visit with her sister in the near by town. None of the men wanted to violate the trust Solstice had given them.
Carter shook his head as he brought himself back to the present. He froze, figuratively, when he saw the door cracked open barely. Heart thundering in his chest, Carter threw the door open, only to find an empty medical building. The bed where Solstice was supposed to be laying was empty, the covers strewn over the floor. Lebeau quickly put the soup down and started to search the room, finding nothing. The blond sergeant didn't hesitate to turn around and head straight towards Barracks 2. It took him a while because of the storm but eventually, he burst through the door, scaring everyone half to death. Hogan and Newkirk had their pistols out and pointed at him, Kinch and the others picked up the heaviest thing they could find and pulled it back. But they all relaxed when they saw it was only Carter. The small Frenchman came second, pushing the younger, yet taller man into the relatively warm barracks.
"Jesus Ca'ter." Newkirk breathed as he lowered his pistols. "Way to give a man a hear' attack."
"Sorry Newkirk," Carter breathed. The blond man turned towards his superior, his cheeks pink but not from embarrassment. "Something's wrong."
"What happened?" Hogan questioned. "What happened to Solstice?"
"That's just the thing, mon Colonel." Lebeau spoke up. With a shrug, he added, "She's missing."
"What do you mean 'she's missing'?" Kinchloe demanded. He, like Carter, turned towards Hogan, his dark eyes glistening with worry. "You don't think the Gestapo kidnapped her?"
"No." Hogan answered immediately. "If they did, Klink and Schultz both would've been blabbing about it. That and the weather's been too bad for anyone to travel."
"Well then, where did she go?" Carter demanded, in a fit of panic.
"She might be wandering around the compound," Hogan theorized. When all eyes turned on him, he elaborated, "Her fever was high enough that she maybe having some delusions."
"And she was muttering apologizes under her breath to someone named Jai'Kar," Kinchloe spoke up. The dark-skinned man couldn't get the sight of the strongest woman he had ever seen shiver and whimper, tears falling from her face as she sobbed out an apology. It broke his heart when he heard her plead to whoever this man was that she couldn't save him and 'it' wasn't her fault (whatever 'it' was).
"We better go and find her." Carter announced, throwing the door opened. All the men winced as a strong wind blew inwards, with large snowflakes following. Andrew tucked his chin down, while pushing himself out the door. Hogan ordered his men to stay there while following the youngest member of the group. He latched his hand around Carter's arm and directed the blond sergeant towards the Kommadant's personal quarters. Neither American knocked; they didn't want to freeze their butts off waiting for Klink to answer the door and then close it on their faces.
They found the Kommadant reclining on his sofa, a fire roaring and a glass of schnapps in one hand and a book in the other. The old man gave a start at the sudden interruption, his face going bright red at the sight of two of his POWs in his personal barracks, dripping snow everywhere, in the middle of a blizzard.
"What is the meaning of this?!" He demanded.
"Solstice is missing." Was all Hogan said. Klink raised an eyebrow, waiting for the man to continue but he didn't.
"Solstice? The woman who had a hundred-degree fever? The woman who didn't even know where she was?" Hogan nodded at all the questions. "And you said she was missing. HOW ON EARTH CAN SHE BE MISSING?"
"We think she's having delusions." Carter spoke up. "Her fever's high enough."
"Look, all we need is a couple of men to help search the grounds." Hogan stated, tersely. "I know for a fact that she's still inside the camp but all the guards here are trigger happy and I don't want to be the one to tell her family that she got shot because she had a fever and was wondering around the compound."
Klink sighed, rubbing his temple. Couldn't he go one day without having to day with Hogan or anything connected with the man? Apparently not. Sighing again, Klink stood and tied his robe tighter around his waist. "Okay. Okay. Schultz! I need you now!"
"Coming Herr Kommadant!" the fat barracks guard's voice echoed from the other room. A moment later, the guard came through, carrying a silver tray loaded down with cakes and small pastries. The guard had a large, goofy grin plastered on his face that dropped when he spotted the two POWs in the middle of his superior's personal barracks. All of the blood drained from his face at the sight and he started to sweat. He had one job: keep the prisoners in their barracks. But what do they do? They come out in the middle of a blizzard, probably to kill the Kommadant and escape. While Schultz stuttered, the tray in his hand shaking, Klink halted him.
"Schultz, shut up and listen!" The Kommadant's harsh order shuts the larger guard up quickly. "I need you and Hogan's men to search the compound for Solstice."
"What happened to Solstice?" Schultz questioned, fear hidden in his whispered voice.
"She's wandering the compound!" Carter's voice betrayed his irritation. "She's sick and she might be dying because we're standing here talking!"
The other three men stared at the younger man with both fear and slight awe. Not once did Carter lose his temper, but when he did, you didn't want to be on the receiving end of his anger. This apparently one of those times. Hogan placed a hand on Carter's shoulder, to calm him down. It worked. The young man's breathing slowed and reason returned to his eyes. His cheeks burned with embarrassment as he lowered his head. Hogan saw his mouth move, and he assumed that the younger man was apologizing for his sudden outburst. Klink and Schultz just looked on with slight confusion but soon they roused themselves as time was of the essence. The Kommadant of Stalag 13 clapped his hands together, startling the two Americans, who chatted softly.
"Hogan! Rally your men and search the entire compound top and down." Klink ordered. "Your men will search the North half; my men will search the South half. Ja?"
"Sure." Hogan nodded. "Let's go, Carter."
The two left. Carter prayed that they would find Solstice in time….
-Line break-
Still lying feverish in the snow, Solstice dreamed of a time when she and her Master, Jai'Kar, were allowed a short amount of pause from the war (what actually happened was Solstice had crashed the ship they were flying to escape the Separatists). Their hyperdrive had been hit and they were forced into hyperspace, practically crash landing in the middle of nowhere on a dust ball of a planet. Thankfully, however, the communications still worked. As soon as they were able to, the two Jedi contacted the Jedi Council, informing them of the situation. And since Solstice's master was hurt, that took top priority. It helped that the Jedi Council didn't give them a deadline on when to return.
It had taken a month before their ship was flyable and her master was healed again. Seeing how it was going to be the two's last day on the planet, Solstice decided to take a walk. Jai'Kar, allowing his young apprentice to enjoy one last sliver of peace before returning to the fighting, agreed, telling her to be home before it got dark. Leaving everything except her communicator, Solstice strolled into town.
Bullfrog, North Dakota wasn't exactly on Solstice's top twenty places to revisit in the galaxy. It was small, and there was nothing exciting to do, nothing to pass the time. Of course, Solstice was too busy keeping her fighting skills up, helping Master Jai'Kar heal, and help him repair the ship to notice the lack of things to do. There were times that Solstice stayed out a little bit past curfew or she snuck out just to feel the adrenaline of breaking the rules to watch the stars. It was amazing how clear it was in the area where they were staying was. The abandoned little shack that they were staying in wasn't much, but the nighttime sky was so clear, it was absolutely breathtaking. But unfortunately, the town wasn't much. All it had was a movie theater, where grey-toned movies would be shown, a general store, several boutiques, and a bar. It was a pretty simple layout of a town if Solstice ever saw one.
Because of the secret the two shared, Jai'Kar and Solstice tried to stay out of town as much as possible. They grew most of their food on the plot of land they had acquired but whenever they needed something or parts that they didn't have, they would go into town. Because of this behavior, the two Jedi received the reputation of being recluses and very strange. But Solstice didn't care. She just enjoyed town.
However, this time was completely different. Snow fell softly on the town, while women, men and children in heavy coats strolled around. Apparently, it was around a planet-wide holiday (more or less) called Christmas. Festive decorations hung about, connecting the light posts with bright green streamers. Solstice took a deep breath, letting the cold air fill her lungs. Snow pelted her face, numbing it. The world was white and cold, and every breath she took burned her lungs and throat. But Solstice didn't mind. She enjoyed the cold, rather than the heat. The brunette teen was a native to a world where it was always a little cooler than most planets.
As she approached the middle of town where a giant tree sat, decorated with ornaments and something called tinsel, she picked up sounds of a scuffle. She turned, and found herself directly in front of an alleyway where the scuffle was coming from. A little farther away from the mouth of the alley was what looked a bunch of boys hitting a lump on the ground.
A lump that looked almost like another boy….
Suddenly, Solstice was in action. Before she even knew what was going on, the young Padawan had marched up to the boys and shoved them off. There was another boy underneath the pile of bullies, his face bruised, eye swollen, and nose bloodied. He uncurled himself from the fetal position he had curled himself into, and glanced up at Solstice like she was an angel that had swooped down and saved him. The Jedi Padawan scowled at the bullies, her sharp blue eyes gleaming with barely controlled rage.
If there was one thing the Padawan hated the most, it was bullies…
"Leave him alone!" She ordered, her tone sharp and used to being obeyed. The oldest looking boy amongst the group (who was probably around fourteen, or fifteen) stood, his brown eyes glittering evilly.
"Well, well, well." He cooed. His gang of boys gathered around him, while the blond boy on the ground quickly, taking cover behind her. "Looks like the little recluse has finally crawled out of her hole."
"Your insults don't bother me." Solstice stated defiantly. Being a Jedi, she had been called worse, so 'little recluse' wasn't that much of a big deal. "I'll tell you what does bother me though: bullies who think they're strong just because they pick on other people."
"And, what? You think you, a girl, is going to fight us?"
Solstice smirked. "You better believe it."
A moment later, three boys were attempting to bring her down, but Solstice wouldn't let them. She dodged the hits, the kicks and the words. But eventually, one of them struck a lucky blow and she went to the ground. But Solstice didn't let them tackle her. With one punch, the brunette Jedi was off the ground, grabbing the boy by the hand and running away. The boys in the alley fought to catch up as Solstice and the other boy ran as fast as they could through town, dodging pedestrians and automobiles. Solstice made sure to run in the direction of the general store, seeing how the cashier liked her. She barged in, almost ripping the door off its hinges. The old man gave a start, fixing his glasses.
"Ms. Winters?" He asked, taking in her and the boy's out of breath and ragged appearance. "Is everything okay?"
"No Mr. Harper!" Solstice shouted. "We're being chased by bullies!"
"Who exactly?"
When Solstice didn't provide an answer, the boy next to her suddenly cried, "Thomas Markus and the Fulsy boys!"
The man immediately went into action. He gestured for the two to go into the back. Solstice and the boy quickly darted into the place where they stored their things. The door behind them closed a moment as the boys entered the store. While Mr. Harper took care of the situation, Solstice sat on the floor, trying to catch her breath. The boy did the same, though he kept looking at her with those big blue eyes.
"What?" She asked.
"My name's Andrew. Andrew Carter." He said suddenly. Before Solstice could answer, Mr. Harper appeared. When he said the boys were taken care of, the two left. The brown-haired girl bid the boy goodbye before racing all the way back to the shack where her master was, barely making it before the last rays of the sun faded.
Solstice smiled drowsily, the fever taking hold her once again. She had somehow rolled on her back, staring up at the darkening sky. It was weird that she remembered that. The brunette bounty hunter allowed darkness to take hold of her once more.
"Forgive me, Ma-master…." She whispered before darkness surrounded her on all sides.
-Line break-
Kinchloe and Schultz shivered as they searched the back part of the barracks. They were about to give up when the dark-skinned man heard something. It sounded like someone whispering. Kinchloe turned around and scanned the area. Underneath a large pile of snow, it looked like…a hand!
"Schultz! Over here!" Kinch called. The German guard turned around, and seeing the hand too, helped the radio man dig the unconscious and feverish brunette out of the pile. Kinch pressed his half-frozen fingers against the woman's neck, breathing a sigh of relief when he found a steady (yet slow) pulse.
"Well?" Schultz asked.
"She's still alive." Kinchloe breathed in relief. "Barely. We need to take her back to the infirmary and warm her up. Quick. Schultz, go tell the others. I'll get her back."
"Jawhol!" Schultz said without thinking before dashing off. Kinch slid his arms underneath the woman's neck and legs and with a groan, picked her up. She wasn't that heavy, but Kinch could feel his bones getting old. The movement must've jolted Solstice from her unconsciousness. Her eyes flittered open, starkly dark compared to her drastically pale skin.
"Ma-master…...?" she whispered.
"How ya feeling Sol?" Kinch asked as he made his way towards the infirmary as quickly as he could.
"Cold…." She muttered. Her head twisted inward, taking in Kinch's scent before her face twisted and she started to fight him. "You're not him. You're not Jai'Kar…"
"No, I'm not." He soothed, holding on to Solstice a little tighter. "But I'm not an enemy either. It's me, Sergeant Kinchloe."
"I'm sorry…. I couldn't save you…." The woman muttered before she fell back into unconsciousness.
After three more heart stopping moments, the infirmary appeared in sight. The door opened as he reached it, allowing him easy entry. Hogan, Carter, Schultz and Olsen were there, waiting. Kinch placed the freezing woman back on the bed. Blankets were immediately thrown onto her, and soon it looked like she was buried underneath the pile, her head barely sticking out. Hogan, Schultz, and Kinch waited patiently (yet anxiously) for Olsen's diagnostics.
"She'll be fine." He announced. "If she stays here."
Everyone let loose a collective breath at the doctor's diagnostic. Hogan rubbed his head before rubbing his stubble. His heart could not take much more of this. Kinchloe, who found the young girl muttering, turned to his superior, telling him that he needed to talk about something with his eyes. Carter looked like he was about to faint from relief but managed to lean against the walls very heavily. Schultz, being Schultz, tipped his helmet to the prisoners of war, warning them to be back in their barracks by nighttime before leaving. The others followed the man soon after, making sure that a guard was on duty to keep Solstice from going anywhere. When they got back to the barracks, Hogan, who had seen Kinch's insistence back in the infirmary, immediately rounded on the dark-skinned radioman.
"What's wrong?" Hogan asked.
"Well, when we found Solstice she was rambling." Kinch explained. When he caught his superior's worried look, he quickly pressed on, "Not about our operation. But about something else, something that might've happened years ago."
Hogan was silent for a moment before turning to Carter. "Did Solstice say anything about her past?"
Carter thought for a moment, rubbing his hands together as he did so. "I think…. she said something about being a part of an order that was massacred or something fifteen years ago."
"Whatca talkin' abou', gov'nor?" Newkirk asked, coming from the other room with an armful of wood.
"Nothing." Carter immediately said, laying down on his cot. They watched as his breathing leveled out, before they heard light snoring. Hogan decided to take a nap too seeing how there wasn't a whole lot of stuff to do with the snowstorm. But for some reason, he couldn't seem to close his eyes. Speculations about Solstice's past kept him awake.
The young woman was an enigma wrapped in a riddle swaddled in a mystery. Everything about her was strange. It didn't make sense that someone like her could come from the sky, in a ship that even the Underground doesn't know about, with a power that she has yet to explain. Hopefully, though, whenever the woman woke up, Hogan would have to corner her and question her.
Finally, after another thirty minutes of waiting, Robert's coffee-brown eyes closed shut in an uneasy sleep.
-Line break-
"Are you sure of this?" A man dressed in all dark leather asked a kneeling figure.
"Yes sir." The kneeling figure, an amphibian, assured. "I will take care of these rebels myself and report back to you, Grand Inquisitor."
"Very good." The Pau'an cooed. "The Fleet will await your arrival. Contact me when you have taken care of the Jedi and Rebels."
"Of course, sir." The amphibian lowered himself further until the communications ended. He sighed, rubbing his back with his webbed hands when he placed his personal communication device in his pocket. But he gave a start when the door swished open, revealing a tanned boy with electric blue eyes and hair that was dark enough to give it a blue tint. "Oh, Ezra. It's only you."
"Are you okay, Bonga?" the kid asked.
"Yeah. You just startled me."
"Oh, okay." Ezra paused for a moment before asking, "You wanna get some food? Kanan cooked some breakfast in the kitchen."
"Sure. I'll be there in a minute." When the young human disappeared, Bonga's smile dropped, and he moved back into his room, menacingly. Trying to be nice to these people was hard. He, of all people, should've taken a job as a higher up. There was nothing more demeaning as something as trying to gain people's trust by being nice to them. If it was up to him, the moment a person says that they were in support of the Rebellion or worked for it, he would immediately execute them on sight. But then, he would be targeted by the rebellion itself.
After putting on a mask for the people in the gulley, Bonga walked out towards the kitchen on the ship, where a smell of something cooking emanated from. It smelled good. Bonga's stomach, seemingly unaware that they were eating with the enemy, growled loudly. If the Mon Calamari could blush, he would. All eyes were staring at him as he walked in. Kanan seemed to be cooking a steak of some type, and by the smell of it, it was almost done.
Rex was at the galley table, going through a datapad. The old clone was deep into reading whatever was on the datapad. While the older males were busy, Ezra sighed, emphasizing his boredom. The blue-haired boy's face screwed up in thought before he dashed into the other room. A moment later, he came back with a handful of metal balls. He tossed them onto the table, Bonga interested in what he was going to do. Ezra concentrated on the metal balls, and Bonga watched fascinated as the metal balls rose into the air. The blue-eyed boy wiggled his fingers, the balls moving into a different position. The Mon Calamar's eyes went wide at the sight of the symbol of the Rebellion in the with the metal balls.
"Ezra!" Kanan's shout broke the young boy's concentration. The balls clattered to the ground. The brown-haired man didn't even look back as he asked, "What did we say about Force abilities at the dinner table?"
"Uh, don't do it?" The young boy answered with a smile.
"Atta boy." Kanan congratulated as he turned around. Bonga had to stifle a laugh. The man sounded more like a father. Rex placed his datapad down on the table, scooting his plate closer to him after the brown-haired Jedi put his food on it. The four of them started to eat in silence, each contemplating their objective.
"How much longer till we get to Earth?" Bonga asked, after a moment of silence.
"Not much," Kanan answered. "We need to talk about what we're gonna do when we land."
"Well, what do you have in mind, Commander?" Rex asked as everyone leaned in.