XIII: Downbound

Downbound

Star Cruiser Nonmaleficence, Null Zone, Mid Rim

General Bardan Jusik's hologram crackled. "Volunteering?" He snorted and took out his datapad. "General, you've just come out of a nasty Republic defeat. And you're injured."

He wasn't going to tell her "no." But he was going to try and convince her not to go--that wasn't happening. Another gust of wind whisked past Jusik, causing him to glare at her. He seemed annoyed. That would mean this would be a short conversation, or a tiresome and loud one.

Signe hesitated throwing out the "rank" card. Commandos were Jusik's jurisdiction and she didn't want to undermine whatever operations he had going. "My Padawan and I are fully prepared for this mission. We've done a rescue before."

"Mmhmm." He seemed to be thinking what she was thinking--yeah, with four commandos and a whole legion as a distraction.

Signe squinted at him. Sometimes she had to remind herself that the tiny, funny-looking blue person in the hologram was an actual person with an actual rank that she couldn't turn off and shove in her pocket. New tactic. "General, my Padawan is nearing the end of her trials. This last one may mean Knighthood for her."

General Jusik sighed, causing some static to go through the audio. "All right. You'll lead the rescue mission, General Amrun. Good luck. Jusik out."

Pocketing her com, Signe looked over at Amiel and shielded her mind. She didn't know if Amiel was ready for Knighthood yet. Had she used her Padawan as an excuse to rescue her lover and his brothers?

Exotic Getaways Cruise Liner, Dorumaa, Mid Rim

Jatne learned that normal people spent their free time watching the migration of brightly colored fish on their expensive cruise vacations. He also learned that he would never have children.

Ever.

It all started when Gev won two out of three games of rock, paper, scissors, and Gev took it upon himself to accompany Governor Fach to the fish migration watch deck. As they left, Gev had explained to the Governor that the fish had been known to breach the water and hit the ship so hard that it wobbled. While Gev earned uj cake points, Jatne was left in the suite with four children under the age of ten.

"Your ear is weird! Why is it weird?"

"Mimie took my game and she won't give it back!"

"I'm talking to Mr Jatne!" Rolan snapped, shoving his younger sister Elina out of the way.

"Hey!" Jatne snapped. He reached out and steadied Elina, then held her back from retaliating against Rolan. It was the only assertion of control he had managed since the Governor left. "Don't push your sister, Rolan."

Rolan huffed and folded his arms. "Okay. So what's with your ear?"

"It got shot," Jatne said. He didn't remember how. Supposedly he was unconscious when it happened.

"Cool! Did it hurt?"

"I don't remember."

"Mr Jatne! My game!" Elina whined.

"All right, all right!" Jatne followed Elina into the bedroom that the girls were sharing. Plum, the youngest, was asleep with a plush animal in her arms and her thumb in her mouth. Mimie was sitting next to Plum with a device in her hand. When she looked at the approaching clone, whose kind eyes couldn't make up for his huge frame, she went rigid and held the device close.

"It's mine!" Mimie insisted.

"It belonged to Mom!" Elina snapped. "Dad gave it to me!"

"He said we were supposed to share it!"

Jatne looked over at Rolan in hopes of getting an explanation. Rolan shrugged. "Mom was programming a game before--well--"

Jatne nodded to show he understood.

"So Dad gave it to the girls to play with. Maybe one day they'll finish it."

While Jatne had his attention on the eldest son, Elina and Mimie had become tangled up in a quarrel. Jatne tried to get them apart, but then Rolan jumped in and Jatne stood helplessly with his hands hovering near the wrestling pile of children. Plum was roused by the ruckus and started whimpering.

"I got it!" Rolan jumped up and ran out, followed by his two sisters. Jatne heard the door leading outside slide open.

"Fierfek." Jatne scooped the drowsy Plum into his arms and hurried out of the room.

Outside, the sun was bright and made Jatne squint. His head whipped from side to side until he saw that Rolan had run several paces away and was standing with his arm outstretched over the railing. His blond hair reflecting sunrays gave the illusion of a messy halo around his head. Elina and Mimie were frozen in front of him.

"Rolan!" Jatne shouted as he hurried over. "What are you doing?"

"I'm trying to teach them a lesson!" Rolan insisted. "If you two can't share Mom's game, maybe you don't deserve it!"

"Stop being stupid!" Elina snapped.

"We weren't going to break it!" Mimie shouted.

There was a loud thud and the ship creaked and teetered. Rolan's elbow hit the railing with a resonant clang and his hand let go of the device, dropping it down the side of the ship and into the ocean.

"You're stupid!" Plum told Rolan.

Jatne handed Plum to Mimie and hoisted himself over the railing, plummeting feet first into the water. His hand closed around the device. The water was warm and salty and flooded in through his nose and ears. He couldn't find the surface. His lungs started to burn and his arms and legs flailed to propel his head above the water, but he seemed to continue sinking.

Jatne's heart began to race. Was he panicking? He had felt panicked once before when the rock was crushing his leg and Oni was staring down at him. It was the second time in his life he really thought he was going to die.

En Route to Bakura

Message received from Commander Avan Kaden, Jedi Knight, 0100 Hours

SIG,

BEEN TRYING FOR A YEAR AND A HALF TO GET A SWEET BATTLE SCAR. ASKED HARSH TO CUT ME. HE WOULDN'T. THEN YOU GO AND GET BURNED. NICE, SIG.

HARSH IS WAITING FOR YOU WITH SOME DATA THAT SHOULD BE USEFUL. PLEASE TAKE CARE OF HIM.

HUGS,
AVAN

OK to delete message?
Message deleted

"Master?"

Signe placed her datapad aside on the ship's control panel. Stars zoomed by in bright streaks across the cockpit's viewing windows. She looked over at her Padawan and was met with a searching gaze. "Yes?"

"I killed a man yesterday."

Signe leaned forward and tried not to let on that she was surprised, disturbed, or proud. "Who? What happened?"

"The bounty hunter that had the flamethrower. He was right there when I came outside and you were already on the ground. So I killed him."

Her Padawan looked down at her hands in her lap. Signe let out a long breath. She had never killed anyone, and it was a strange feeling knowing that her Padawan had done something she hadn't. "I should be thanking you."

"I felt him--becoming one with the Force. It was really weird." Amiel looked up and squinted. Her up-turned nose seemed to be evening out now that she was getting older, and she was growing into her large front teeth.

"I remember my first kill."

The two Jedi turned and saw Captain Harsh standing with his hands on either side of the door to the cockpit. His helmet was off and he had spiky, bleached-red hair.

"I was four years old when it happened. Live rounds. Shot a brother." One of his eyebrows arched as he stared down Amiel. "Commander, just be glad you slotted a bad guy and don't think about it any more."

"Okay," she said, embarrassment welling around her.

"General, I think there's a piece of the cargo hold that requires some Jedi attention, lest we get sucked into space and freeze to death."

"All right, Captain." Signe suppressed a grin because she wasn't sure if Harsh was being facetious or not. "Amiel, you're in charge of the cockpit."

Signe left her Padawan sitting in her seat, staring at her lightsaber hilt in her hands.

Unknown Facility, Bakura, Outer Rim

"Hey! Sprocket! Stay with me!"

"Huh?"

"Concentrate on what I'm saying!"

"Okay."

"Don't fall asleep. You might not wake up."

"Okay."

Morj sucked in a hesitant breath. He knew his shoulder was dislocated and there were growing contusions on his chest and side. He was in a cell chained up and he could see through the energy shield that Sprocket was in a separate cell across from him, slumped back against the wall where the interrogators left him.

"What did they do to you?" Morj asked.

"They hurt me."

Morj chewed on the inside of his lip. He had to assume that because they took Oni away, Sprocket didn't tell them anything. And neither would Oni. Morj groped for something to talk about. "What's the most interesting thing in the galaxy?"

"That you're so ugly and you have a girlfriend," Sprocket said. His words were slow and belabored.

Morj smirked. "You'd be even more surprised at how pretty she is."

"Got a picture?"

"I don't like incriminating myself."

"Oh. What's it like?"

"What's what like?" Morj asked darkly.

"Being in love. You do love her, right?"

"Yes." Morj thought about it. He wasn't exactly sure what love felt like outside of physical contact. He supposed taking the time to find Lyda a plant and sending her messages when they were apart had something to do with it. "It's--rewarding."

Sprocket snorted. "I'm talking to the wrong guy." He lazily reached his hand up to his face and rubbed his cheek. "Oni's the sap, isn't he?"

"He's a shabuir."

"Come on. He's your vod."

"He cares more about the General than us. It's going to get us k--"

"He's with a General?"

Morj swore to himself.

"What's she like?"

"She was fun until she met Oni and became a Master."

"So she is a Jedi!" Sprocket was as excited as one could be after an interrogation. "What do you mean she was 'fun?' I never met a fun Jedi."

"I don't know. She liked to joke around and play games with soldiers when she had the time. Her Master was the same way. But then she and Oni started--doing whatever--and suddenly she got all serious."

"Huh," Sprocket said. "Is she pretty?"

"I guess so."

The conversation hung still in the air for several seconds. Then a high-pitched beeping started echoing into the holding chamber.

"What's happening?" Sprocket asked.

"I don't know." Morj tried to conjure the energy to panic.

Morj looked up at the ceiling at squinted. It was hard to see clearly through the energy shield in his containment cell, but it looked like something was poking out of the ceiling. Then there were three loud bangs, a clank as a circular piece of metal hit the floor, and suddenly Amiel Kurr was standing in front of him. "Morj!"

His jaw dropped.

Amiel stabbed her lightsaber into the control panel, causing the energy fields in the containment shields to short out. She rushed over to Morj and did away with his bindings.

"I've got a dislocated--"

"Shoulder. I know. And bruises. This is going to hurt." Amiel picked up his arm and shut her eyes. She didn't move--but something popped his humerus into the glenoid fossa of his shoulder. He shouted in pain, then her hands were on his shoulder, and he felt a cooling sensation under his skin.

"Can you walk?" she asked as she got him to his feet.

"Yeah," he said tightly.

Amiel got up and tended to Sprocket, who stared at her as she touched his chest. "Hi," he said dreamily.

"You have--electrical burns," she said with a frown.

"I'm okay. Oh--that feels good." Sprocket slid down the wall a little and shut his eyes as Amiel applied a Force heal to his chest. Her cheeks were turning a little red.

"Can you walk?"

"I might need a little help."

Amiel folded in her lips and helped Sprocket to his feet, and he slung his arm around her shoulder. She led Sprocket to the hole in the ceiling where she had entered. Captain Harsh was waiting, and he lowered a harness for Morj. He strapped himself in and looked at Amiel before Harsh started pulling him up. "I thought it was ladies first," he muttered.

"Nope." Amiel patted his shin as he was lifted into the air. When he made it out, Harsh lowered the harness for Sprocket. Amiel helped him put it on without injuring himself, then he, too, was lifted.

Signe poked her head over the edge of the hole. "Where's Oni?"

"Not here, Master." Amiel clenched and unclenched her fists.

"Take Morj and Sprocket to the ship, Harsh. We'll be back with Oni."

"Yes, ma'am."

Signe dropped down the ceiling and started walking toward the door, drawing her lightsabers. Amiel scurried after her. "Master, something--"

"I know. Someone's coming. Maybe you should go with the Captain."

"No, Master! This is my trial!"

Signe looked over at Amiel. She grappled between the danger of the situation and letting on to her lie about Amiel's readiness.

"I'm going!" Amiel said resolutely. She activated her lightsaber and opened the door with a Force push.

"Amiel, wait!"

But her Padawan had disappeared out the door and around the corner. "Oh, fierfek," Signe swore as she switched on her lightsabers and followed. The corridor was dark, but she could see that her Padawan had waited a moment in an intersection at the end of the hallway.

No. She was in a fighting stance.

"Amiel!" Signe screamed as she watched her Padawan get thrown off of her feet. Signe took two long Force-enhanced strides to the end of the hallway, turned to the left, and found her lightsabers locked with a red blade.