"Yes, yes, I zhink she will do just fine."

Cordira watched her son Jake's expression bloom in an instant, smiling from ear to ear as if he had just won the Corellian lottery himself. She shook her head with an amused expression of her own, silently wondering how long he'd be able to contain his excitement.

"She's in really good condition, Liaa," Ethan agreed with her, standing shoulder to shoulder with the rutian Twi'lek before the grand yacht she had finally decided to buy. "Excellent choice. This model is a little older, but I have a few guys in Dalon who would keep her in perfect condition for you. I'll introduce you when we get back."

Shooting her husband a stern look from behind him, Cordira's face fell. "You will do no such thing."

Ethan feigned insult, barely masking a grin as he looked to her. "What? Why not?"

"You know exactly why not. The Kafriel Brothers are crude and crass and all manner of unsightly - "

"But they're the best mechanics in Dalon, maybe even on the whole of Paneau." Returning to Liaa, Ethan resumed his charm. "Trust me, you'll want these two working on this beauty. If I had stayed in a Paneau squadron instead of joining the New Republic, I'd have demanded they be on our Royal Navy maintenance crew."

"She's...regal," Jake breathed with wonder, still mesmerized by the ship's grand size and style. "Reminds me of the Rys'tihn's Celestia."

"Same SoroSuub make," Ethan answered his son with pride. "Just an older version. Good eye!"

"You're sure it's not going to get us...blacklisted for buying this ship and not a Corellian-made one? In Coronet City?"

The elder Redgrave, still flashing his signature charming smile, shook his head in full confidence. "Relax, Cor. It's not as big of a deal as it used to be. Ships of all kinds are bought and sold all over Corellia every day. It's just as common to find some other build as it is to find ships made here."

Liaa's smile matched Ethan's, just as happy to make her purchase. "I will make it final, zhen." She looked to Jake behind her, excited to extend her offer to him. "Do you want to come wizh me to zhe office to buy 'er?"

Cordira answered Jake's ecstatic glance for her permission with a swift, amiable nod, sending the two of them off toward the shipyard's business center, but her expression fell as a heavy, unsettled feeling took hold in her head and in her heart. As always, her intuitive husband was immediately sensitive to it.

"I wasn't going to mention the similarity," he soothed, gently rubbing her arms as he stood before her. "I know it's a tender subject. I'm sorry."

She shook her head. "It's not your fault. I'm glad Jake is as engaged as he is. Part of the reason I allowed him to come on this trip, to keep him...to keep his mind occupied."

"His," Ethan asked her gently, a hint of a knowing smile tugging at the corner of his mouth, "...or yours?"

It wasn't fair how easily he was able to read her, she mused with a wary sigh, but perhaps she needed someone to be honest with her, when she couldn't, or wouldn't, be honest with herself. Agreeing with his subtle accusation, she nodded and cast her gaze toward the yacht, her mind already assaulting her with a cascade of decades-old memories.

"I spent so much time aboard that ship as a child. I don't even think my parents ever owned a ship of their own, we were always on the Celestia. I remember some good things, but most of it was...not."

"I understand." He wrapped his arm around her shoulders, facing and studying the yacht with her. "But think about it this way: we are probably going to spend a lot of time with the Sheridans for a while. Jewel and Amalia are joined at the hip, and I'm sure Wil and Embrey will appreciate some help with their girls from time to time. So we are going to have so many opportunities to create new and better memories from here on out, and they'll soon outshine the bad. You won't always look at this ship and feel like this. It'll get better."

More appreciative of his support than she could express, Cordira let go of a long, anxious breath, resting her head on Ethan's shoulder and reaching her arm around his back as they stood together in a brief, fleetingly silent moment. She could have passed the time just so until Liaa and Jake returned, but Ethan again spoke up after a pause, worried for her once more.

"You're still upset."

She was cognizant of it, she agreed with a small nod, but she couldn't quite explain what it was she felt.

"I think we should get back to the Shadow Nova soon."

"Is something wrong?"

"I don't know," she sighed, struggling to wade through the source of the distressing warning she sensed. "I don't like how long we've been apart from Horatio and Wil. Without any word from either of them."

"Well, we won't be taking off with this ship today, anyway; it's too late into the evening. I'd be surprised if CorSec allows it to leave before morning. You know, new owner, registration number, code approvals, and all that. As soon as Liaa and Jake are back, we'll head back to the spaceport."

Ethan lightly kissed the top of her head for reassurance, and though the thought of soon rejoining the Sheridan men eased her anxiety somewhat, she still struggled with a dark, harrowing feeling in the back of her mind.

With Jake excitedly bounding far ahead of the group and walking backwards to continue shouting ship names back and forth with them, Cordira maintained a wary eye about the alleys and the beings they passed, thankful they were finally no longer far from the spaceport.

"I know, I know! Mr. Sheridan always calls Jewel his 'Gem', so what about 'Gem of Paneau'?"

Amused by his ongoing suggestions, Liaa laughed and shrugged. "Well, what if we don't stay on Paneau? What zhen?"

"You can change the name later, can't you?"

"We can," Liaa agreed amiably. "Or, did you know zhat Jewel was born 'ere, on Corellia? Why not 'Gem of Corellia'?"

Jake smiled broadly. "I like that, too!"

Ethan laughed heartily, though he answered under his breath beside his wife. "Oh, the Sullustans will hate that."

Their banter continued, but Cordira had already blocked most of it out, her senses on high alert as they entered the spaceport and returned to their landing bay. Nothing about the security presence or other spacers around them seemed out of the ordinary, and no one paid them any mind despite Liaa and Jake's ongoing animated conversation. Still, she felt...restless, tense, though nothing about their surroundings gave her any reason to be...

"'Oratio!"

Liaa had already begun to cross the space between them when Cordira had looked over to the secondary entrance to their landing bay, seeing Horatio stopped on his way toward the Shadow Nova. He stood alone until Liaa embraced him and shared their good news, and as they all stepped closer together, Cordira couldn't help but notice that Wil was still nowhere to be seen.

"...where's Wil?"

"Still on the ship, with our 'friend'," Horatio answered shortly. "I had to leave to...clear my head."

Liaa gave him another comforting hug, but Cordira's stomach fell to her feet instantly as ice shot through her veins. She could hardly breathe.

"...he's not on the ship."

Standing closest beside her, Ethan looked to her with alarm. "What?"

She met her husband's gaze with a haunted one of her own, realization settling in. Her fears had been substantiated. "He's not here... There's no one on the ship anymore."

Reacting immediately, Horatio left Liaa's embrace and sprinted for the Shadow Nova, and Cordira was just a step behind him, stretching her hand back towards the others as a warning.

"Stay there!" she ordered firmly, pulling her blaster from her hip as Horatio lowered the rear ramp. She was able to see that the hold was empty as Horatio ascended before the ramp had even touched the ground, clearly surprising him. As she followed him in and scanned all around, finding everything just as they had seen it hours ago, Horatio became angrier the more he spoke.

"I left them here, they were talking. I told him to not let Baxer out of sight for a second - "

"I don't even think Wil's on Corellia anymore. Would they have gone somewhere together? Would Wil have left with him willingly?"

Horatio seemed blinded by rage, more focused on further searching the ship instead of answering her questions. She had to follow him to the cabin hallway and raise her voice at him to finally earn his attention.

"Horatio! Would Wil have left with Baxer willingly?"

He eventually looked to her with a mix of guilt, fury, and pain in his eyes, unable to find words for a tense moment as he struggled to function. She could appreciate his state to a degree, but time was precious and she needed to know.

"Mom," Jake's timid voice echoed up to them from the main hold, so reluctantly interrupting them, "...there's blood on the floor back here."