Journey from Hoth

Kelly Antilles exited hyperspace and scanned the area. "This feels too familiar," she said aloud. She had come out close to the asteroid belt and headed towards the ball of ice the Rebels called home in the Hoth system. What seemed most familiar was the belt. She remembered about two years ago when she flew in a simulator through this same asteroid belt. She was just as nervous now as she was then.

Winger locked onto the homing signal coming from the base and led them down towards the planet. There was nothing but snow and ice as far as the eye could see. Kelly began to shiver and realized the cold from the planet was already affecting her systems. She got up and went to change into something warmer. The droid tooted happily as he piloted the ship.

Once she reached the cockpit again, she saw the opening that was the landing bay for the base. She sat down and took the controls from the droid. "Echo Station, this is the Zena’s Revenge with supplies for the base requesting a landing pad."

"This is Echo Station. You are cleared to land on pad seventeen. Welcome to Hoth, Captain."

Kelly groaned and shut off the comm. Nudging the stick forward, she cautiously edged the Revenge into the bay. She saw the lights that marked pad seventeen and brought her ship in for a soft landing. "Shut down all systems except life support," she told Winger. "I want you to stay here and watch them unload that cargo. Don’t let them touch anything else."

The green and silver R2 unit beeped affirmatively and began shutting systems down. Kelly stood and headed for the exit ramp. She walked down and looked about. There were hundreds of ships around hers. She saw X-Wings and Y-Wings. There were also some airspeeders being modified for the harsh terrain. She also saw a rather beat up YT-1300 sitting in a corner.

"Good morning, Captain," said the officer on duty.

"Hi."

"We’re so glad you got here today. We were beginning to run low on heating fuel. The nights are quite frigid."

"Why am I not surprised," she asked sarcastically. "Tell those guys to be careful with that stuff. I like my ship the way it is, not in thousands of pieces."

The officer grinned. "Yes ma’am. I’ll watch them personally."

"Well, my droid will be watching too. He’s got a temper, so be careful with the ship."

"We will. Oh, General Rieekan wanted to see you once you landed."

"Thanks," she said as she began walking off. She walked past several fighters and looked up at them smiling. One day she would be able to fly one herself full time.

"Hey Shorty," a voice yelled from under an X-Wing.

Recognizing the voice, she turned to see Wes Janson jogging up to her. "Hey Janson. How’s it going?"

"Boring," he said with a grin. "And cold as hell."

She chuckled, "I thought hell was supposed to be warmer than this."

"Well..." Another pilot stepped up behind him and tapped him on the shoulder. Wes looked over his shoulder. "Oh, Hobbie, this is Kelly Antilles. Remember her?"

"How could I forget a woman so beautiful," Derek "Hobbie" Klivian said with a smile and a bow.

"Watch it Hobbie, flattery will get you everywhere," she said with a grin.

"I sure hope so," he replied with an equally wide grin.

"So what brings you here," asked Wes.

"Just dropping off some supplies and such. Actually, I was on my way to see General Rieekan to hopefully get my next mission."

"Wow, getting your call from the big guy, huh?"

She winked. "Yeah, I have connections... which I better get to. Any idea where I may be able to find the General?"

"He’s been spending a lot of time in the comms room," answered Hobbie. "He’s been really nervous since we got here."

"Understandable. So, how do I get to the communications room?"

Hobbie pointed, "follow that hallway. You can’t miss it."

"Thanks guys. I hope to see you before I leave."

"You better! We’ll let Wedge know you’re here. Have fun!"

Kelly swore to herself never to ask a pilot for directions ever again. She had been walking down this hall for what seemed like forever. There had been no sign of a communications room anywhere.

She continued on, checking each room as she went.

"May I help you," asked a young woman. She looked to be about Kelly’s age.

"Oh thank you. I’m trying to find General Rieekan. I was told he would be in the comms room, but I can’t find it."

The other woman smiled. "This place is quite a maze. Who gave you directions?"

"Wes Janson and Hobbie Klivian. I will never ask a pilot for directions ever again."

"Good idea," she chuckled. "I’ll take you to find the General."

"I really appreciate this." Kelly looked at her guide. She was shorter than her with long braided brown hair. The braids encircled her head. She had a bright smile and was very pretty.

"It’s no problem. Why do you need to see the General," she asked.

"I was told he wanted to see me as soon as I landed."

"So you’re a pilot?"

"Yeah, you could say that. I brought a cargo hold full of supplies."

"Oh! You’re the one who brought the heating fuel."

Kelly grinned. "Yeah. I hear that my timing was perfect. I do hope the General will give me some time to visit with my brother before having to leave."

"Brother?"

"Oh, gosh, where are my manners. My brother is Wedge Antilles. My name is Kelly."

"I have heard stories about you. My name is Leia."

"It’s a pleasure to meet you Leia."

They stepped into a huge cavernous area with equipment everywhere. Leia led her over to a tall man who was looking over someone’s shoulder at a computer terminal. "General Rieekan."

Rieekan stood and turned towards the women. "Ah, Princess Leia. What can I do for you?"

"This is Kelly Antilles. She was told you wanted to see her."

He turned his head to look at the other young lady. Her mouth was open and she had a look of shock on her face. "Is there a problem Captain Antilles?"

Kelly closed her mouth. "No sir. I just... I am so sorry Princess. I had no idea..."

Leia waved off her apology. "Please stop. It was nice to talk to someone who didn’t know who I was. Anonymity is hard to come by around here."

She nodded. "I understand. Thanks for getting me here Prin... Leia." She grinned.

Leia smiled warmly. "You’re welcome. Good luck and may the Force be with you."

The General leaned over and spoke to the person at the terminal then turned to Kelly. "Come, let’s find someplace more private to talk."

He led her through many more halls and finally came to a storage room. There was just one person in the room, a tall red haired man whom Kelly immediately recognized. "Ah Captain, you are already here. Good, we can get started."

General Rieekan moved to prop himself on several boxes. "Captain Antilles, I’d like you to meet Captain Pash Cracken."

"We’ve met before," she said with a soft smile. "It was about two years ago, however. Hello Pash."

"Hello Kelly," he responded rather humbly.

The General looked at both and smiled. "Ah. Now we can discuss your next mission."

Kelly watched Pash nimbly jump up on top of a rather large crate as she pulled herself upon another. She was quite curious as to why he was here and why she was getting her mission objective directly from General Rieekan.

"I’m sure you’re wondering why Captain Cracken is here for your mission briefing. That is because he is your mission."

"Sir?"

"We have scheduled a meeting with an underground Rebellion group on a planet that has remained neutral throughout the fighting. We hope to be able to help them persuade their governments to side with the Rebellion."

Kelly nodded and thought about the planets it could be. There were dozens that had remained neutral. She wondered which one this could be. "So my job is escort duty?"

"In a sense, yes."

"Why me?"

The General nodded to Pash, who cleared his throat before speaking. "I chose you because I felt that you would be the best pilot available who could get me in and out safely."

She raised an eyebrow at him. "Are you so sure about that?"

"Yes."

She held his gaze for a moment more then turned back to the General. "How much am I getting paid?"

Pash’s eyes widened. He thought she did this to help the Rebellion, not to break it. They were low on funds to begin with!

She looked over and saw the expression on his face. "Is that a problem, flyboy?"

"I warned you about that, Captain," General Rieekan interrupted. "We have to hire mercenaries to get jobs done." He returned his attention to Kelly. "We can give your usual up front and fifteen percent on top of that."

She mentally calculated the numbers. "How about my usual and then some ship repairs when I get back with my cargo."

"What kind of repairs?"

"Nothing big. Just an upgrade on the shields or hyperdrive and a few minor details."

Rieekan narrowed his eyes at her then chuckled, a grin spreading across his face. "It’s a deal then," he said.

"Ok, when do we leave?" She moved her gaze to her new companion.

He looked over at her, the shock still evident on his face. "Uh, I guess after your ship is unloaded. I know that should take awhile. I’m sure you would probably like to talk to your brother before you leave."

"I’d appreciate that. How should I contact you when they’re finished with my ship?"

He slipped off the crate and handed her a comlink. "Just call me on this."

She nodded and jumped down. "Done. Thank you General, Captain. If you will excuse me, I’m going to go find Wedge." She turned crisply and walked out, shoving the comlink into her pocket.

Kelly was grumbling to herself as she walked back down the corridors, promptly getting herself lost. She didn’t realize this until she finally ran into someone, literally. She looked up into the bright blue eyes of a sandy-brown haired young man. Something seemed familiar about him. "Gosh, I’m sorry," she said after plowing into him. "I wasn’t paying attention to where I was going."

"That’s ok," he said. "You look a little lost."

Looking around herself, she realized that she was definitely lost. "Well, I think ‘little’ is an understatement."

"Maybe I can help you. What were you looking for?"

"Well, actually, I was looking for my brother, Wedge Antilles."

"Oh! You must be Kelly. He talks about you a lot."

Kelly looked at him skeptically. "And you are?"

He smiled. "Luke. Luke Skywalker."

She blinked. No way was this THE Luke Skywalker. He was supposed to be some awesome pilot who made the incredible shot to take down the Death Star. This guy was too young.

He waved his hand before her eyes. "Are you ok?"

"I’m sorry. I just find it hard to believe that you are Luke Skywalker." Her eyes dropped to his hip and saw the distinct shape of a lightsaber hanging there. Instinctively, she reached for her own and then remembered that she had left it with Winger.

"I get that a lot, but believe it. Let’s see if I can help you find my XO." Luke offered his arm to her and led her away.

They moved down several corridors until they came to one close to the hangar. They stepped into a large cavern that served as headquarters for Rogue Squadron. Kelly saw Wedge seated at a table near the back of the cavern. "Ah, there he is," Luke said, "working hard, as usual. Wedge, I brought you a present."

Wedge looked up from his terminal and smiled. "Hi Luke. I had heard that someone was here to see me. I wondered how long it was going to take her to get here." He stood and came to hug his sister. "It’s so great to see you, princess."

"I missed you too. Answer me a question."

"Go ahead."

"Is he really Luke Skywalker?"

Luke and Wedge both laughed heartily. Kelly felt so embarrassed. "Yes he is," her brother replied.

She then turned to Luke. "Thanks for getting me here so quickly."

"It was no problem," he replied with the same smile he had since they had met.

"One thing before you leave."

"Of course."

Kelly pointed to Luke’s waist. "May I?"

He looked down to see that she was pointing to his lightsaber. "Uh, that’s a dangerous weapon, you know."

"I know. Call them a hobby of mine. Please?"

With a curious glance, he unhooked the hilt from his belt and handed it to her. She looked over the casing and tested the balance. When she ignited the blade, both men jumped. Kelly grinned inwardly as she spun the blade around several times. She finally brought it back before her in a defensive posture and shut it down. She smiled and handed the hilt back to the young man.

Luke stood there with a dumbfound look. "That was amazing. You’ve used a lightsaber before?"

"Once or twice," she said with a smirk. "That is a well made blade. Did you make it yourself?"

"No, it was my father’s."

"Oh," she said as her brow creased slightly. "Well, I bet when you make your own it will be even more brilliant."

Luke and Wedge glanced at each other and shrugged. "Well, I, uh, better go so you two can talk," Luke said as he moved out of the cavern. "I’ve got taun-taun duty in about an hour. It was nice to meet you Kelly."

She smiled, "Nice meeting you too. Good luck and may the Force be with you."

He smiled and turned back startled. Waving, he left.

After he cleared the hallway, Kelly burst out laughing. Wedge watched her, the confusion evident on his face. "What the hell is that all about," he asked.

"Oh, I’m sorry," she said slowly regaining her composure. "I just couldn’t resist."

"Why didn’t you tell him you use the Force too?"

"Because," she said in all seriousness, "the less people who know, the safer we all are. The Empire is still out there searching for and killing Jedi. I don’t want to become a statistic." She let a grin cross her face. "And besides, he should have known, trained or not."

He shook his head, exasperated. "You’re incredible sometimes."

"Why thank you. I am an Antilles, after all."

Kelly was able to pull Wedge away from his work for a little while and got him to show her around the base. They chatted about what each had been doing since the last time they had spoken. As they continued around the base, Kelly started having an uneasy feeling about the place. She couldn’t figure out why and brushed them aside as just being an overactive imagination.

"So when are you leaving," Wedge finally asked as they rounded back to the Rogue Squadron offices.

"As soon as my ship is unloaded." She paused and looked at him. "Please be careful after I leave."

He looked at her curiously and wondered why she had requested that. "Why?"

Her eyes clouded a moment and her brow creased. "I don’t know. I just have a bad feeling about this place. I know it’s unwarranted. There is no way the Empire would suspect the Rebels to be on such a desolate planet in the middle of nowhere. And besides, the asteroid belt would scramble any transmissions sent out."

He knew she was just trying to convince herself. But, if she really was having one of her premonitions, maybe he should let someone know. "Do you think the Empire knows we’re here?"

"No." She paused to think. "No, I don’t. At least not yet." She began walking out towards the landing pads. "There’s no need to alarm anyone."

He grinned abashedly. She had known what he was thinking. "Ok. If you think that’s best."

She stopped and turned to look him in the eyes. "I do, big brother. And don’t tell anyone about me being Force sensitive either."

That hurt. "I’d never do such a thing."

"I know," she said as she hugged him. "I know you wouldn’t. I just have to say those things sometimes to convince myself that what I’m doing is right. I love you Wedge. You’re my only family and I want to be around for you."

He returned the hug with force. "Ok. I’ll be careful."

The siblings parted and walked out into the busy hangar and moved towards the Zena’s Revenge. Kelly saw that Winger was pacing at the bottom of the loading ramp. He whistled and beeped agitatedly when he saw them approaching.

"Wait a second," Kelly said to him. "Slow down. You’re going too fast. I can’t understand you."

If a droid could glare, this one would have. He slowed down and told her exactly what had happened.

She listened and started getting angry. "What? Why are you so upset? Everything went as planned."

He continued on, telling her that they not only unloaded her cargo bays, but also loaded them with something else. He was unable to tell what exactly it was, but he was sure it was dangerous.

She sighed. Wedge waved to the deck officer. "Excuse me, but was there a problem with the cargo on this ship?"

"Not at all, Captain."

Kelly turned to the officer, "Then what did you put ON my ship? My droid is going ballistic because he can’t scan it."

"Oh, I’m sorry Captain Antilles. We were requested to load the equipment for Captain Cracken. It’s communication equipment for your mission. I thought you were aware."

"No, I haven’t been told much about this mission." She sighed once again. "So why is it that my droid can’t scan the equipment?"

"Because they have devices on them to prevent detection. If any Imperials scan your ship, your cargo hold will show empty."

Kelly looked impressed. "Wow, that’s pretty technological." She looked down at the green and silver droid. "Are you satisfied now?"

He blatted at her and turned to roll up the loading ramp.

"I’m sorry about that," she said to the deck officer. "He’s very protective of his ship."

"That’s ok. At least he’s not a Wookie or something." The officer’s eyes cut across the bay towards the YT-1300.

Wedge chuckled, catching the joke. "Yeah, Chewbacca can get a bit riled when someone even tries to touch the Falcon."

"Falcon," Kelly questioned. "As in Han Solo’s Millennium Falcon? As in Chewbacca the Wookie, first mate of the galaxy’s most sought after ship?"

Both men grinned and nodded. "One and the same," replied Wedge. "Han and Luke have become really close. In fact, I think they are going on scouting duty together. I could introduce you, if you want."

She shook her head. "No way. The bounty on their heads is too big for me to even know where they are. Remember, I have friends in low places." She turned and looked back at her ship. "Well, I guess I better find Cracken and get out of here before something happens."

"Do you need anything before you leave, Captain," asked the deck officer.

"No. Thanks for getting everything unloaded and loaded so quickly."

"You’re welcome. Now, if you will excuse me, I have lots of work to do." The man turned and walked away.

Wedge looked at her. "I’m glad I got to see you, even though it was only for a short time."

"Me too, big brother. I miss you."

"I miss you too, little princess." He gave her a hug and jogged off towards the Rogue Squadron offices.

She watched him leave with a sad smile on her face. Reaching a hand into her pocket, she pulled out the comlink and turned it on.

"Cracken here."

"Time to go, Red. Your stuff is loaded and we’re getting the ship prepped for takeoff."

"I’ll be right there."

The comm clicked off. She sighed and moved up the boarding ramp.

"Permission to come aboard, Captain."

Kelly nearly jumped from her seat as Pash spoke from the cockpit doorway. She turned and glared at him. "Don’t ever do that again."

"Aye, ma’am." He stayed in the doorway.

She rolled her eyes. "Permission granted. And don’t call me ‘ma’am’, please. That’s something you would call Princess Leia or Mon Mothma. I’m an equal, or close to it."

He wandered over to the navigation seat and sat. "Sure thing, Kelly."

She continued to prep the ship in silence. "How long have you been a mercenary," he asked breaking the quiet.

"Do you really think I can support myself by just working for the Rebellion?"

That stung. He was working for the Rebels and doing ok. Why couldn’t she?

"I can’t because I have a ship to pay for," she said while looking at the console. Reading his mind had been easy. She knew it was wrong for her to do it, but curiosity had finally gotten the best of her.

"Oh." This was one person he was having a hard time figuring out.

"I’m sorry you don’t understand why I do what I do. You have had it easy most of your life."

"Not always," he responded quietly.

She inhaled deeply. "I ran away from home when I was fourteen and a half. I’ve been on my own ever since. You do whatever it takes to live in a situation like that. The Rebellion is my support now. I’m not unreasonable in my requests. If you noticed, I didn’t take the extra money Rieekan."

"You asked for something rarer."

"No, I asked for a little time with some techs. All I want is a little help tweaking the Revenge so she performs better."

"So you say." He turned his attention to the navigation controls.

She closed her eyes and focused on the Force to calm herself. Reaching over, she turned on the ship comm. "This is the Zena’s Revenge requesting clearance to leave."

There was a short silence, and then the tower responded. "We have a freighter coming in at the moment. There’s not enough clearance to get two through at the same time. It shouldn’t take but a few minutes."

"Roger control. Just let me know when the skies are open." She sat back and put her arms behind her head. "Now we wait," she said mostly to herself.

Winger wailed and started chittering. Kelly turned to see what was wrong. It seemed the Pash had moved his hand towards the navigation computer and Winger had seen. The droid was scolding the human. Pash had his arms up in defense. "I didn’t do anything," he said.

"He doesn’t want you touching the nav computer," she told him.

"I was only going to check our trajectory out of system."

"I haven’t even done that yet. Hell, you haven’t even told me where we’re going anyway!"

"I have the coordinates for the first jump."

"And they are?" Her patience was growing short.

"Um, first jump is to Sullust. Here are the coordinates." He handed her a datapad.

She took the pad and looked over the numbers. "Are these the only ones I get to know?"

"After Sullust, we’ll need to take several more jumps before we get there."

"And where is there?"

The comm came to life as the control tower signaled the ship. "Zena’s Revenge, you are clear to depart. May the Force be with you."

Kelly sat up and began the takeoff sequence. "Thank you control. Have fun!" She lifted the ship from the ground and took off towards the sky.

As she was breaking across the white wastes of ice, she saw two tauntaun’s with riders leaving from another exit from the base. "There goes Luke and Han," she said.

Pash looked out the viewport. "You know them?"

She shrugged. "Not really. I just met Luke today." She veered the ship upwards and headed for open space. As she broke through the atmosphere, a small tingle tickled her neck. She visually scanned the area and saw nothing but asteroids and meteorites. The tingle intensified as she looked at one specific chunk of rock.

Winger beeped that the nav computer was ready and she pulled herself back into the ship.

Pash looked at her with worry. "Are you ok?"

"Yeah," she said as she began to put the ship into hyperspace. "There was just something," she paused to find the right word, "odd about that meteorite." She shrugged as the stars elongated around them.

Problem Abroad

Kelly was nearly going cross-eyed from staring at the controls. It was going to take a few more hours to get to Sullust, but she wasn’t in the mood to talk to Pash now, unless he was planning to tell her where they were going. She stood and stretched. Her muscles ached from not being exercised in several days. Mentally, she chided herself for falling down on her training. She decided to go back to the part of the cargo bay that served as her training room and work on her muscles.

Pash was seated at a terminal looking over something. He looked up as she entered. "How long until we get to Sullust," he asked.

"About another three and a half hours. Winger is good at holochess if you’re bored." She continued through to the back of the ship.

He winced at her shortness and sighed. There were so many things he wanted to tell her, but this wasn’t the time. He knew he needed to tell her where they were going. The problem was, he wasn’t quite sure how she would react when he told her they were going to Corellia.

Pash had talked to Wedge before she arrived. Her brother was certain to be curious after all the questions about Corellia he had asked. He just wanted to make sure that she wouldn’t kill him when he told her. Wedge had said he didn’t think she had anything against going there, but then again, they hadn’t seen each other much in the last few years.

Sighing again, he turned his attention back to the terminal.

Three hours later, Winger rolled past Pash. He watched the droid until it disappeared down the hall. Moments later he heard footsteps coming back his way. Kelly passed him without a word. Her clothes were drenched with sweat. He wondered what she had been doing. She continued on to the bridge, her faithful droid behind her.

"Hey Cracken," she yelled as she walked. "We’re about to revert. You may want to get strapped in."

Pash stood and moved to the bridge. He quietly sat in the navigation seat and watched the stars reform before the ship. Sullust came into view before them. It was a beautiful sight.

"Now where are we going?" Kelly moved over to the nav station and had to reach over him to get to the keyboard.

He swallowed hard as he inhaled her aroma. Her breathing was deep and steady. "Kashyyyk. After that will be Ithor, then on into Corellia."

"And from there?" She looked down and saw how uncomfortable he was. She grinned inwardly.

"That’s it. Corellia is our last stop."

She quickly stood and looked at him. "What?! You must be kidding."

He had been afraid of that response.

"You could have told me before we left Hoth."

"You would have refused to take me, wouldn’t you?"

Probably so, she thought. But, her loyalty was to the Rebellion, not just to herself. "No," she said quietly.

The shock was evident in his eyes. That was something he wasn’t expecting. "No?"

"I would have taken you, but on a different path than this."

"Which way would you have gone?"

"I could have gone straight in."

"We can’t. What if the Empire really did have someone on Hoth?"

"Point. Ok, we’ll go your way." She leaned back over and punched in the coordinates for Kashyyyk. Then she moved to her chair and prepared for the jump. "Ready," she asked.

"Let’s go."

The trip to Kashyyyk was going to take a bit longer than the first jump. Kelly decided to freshen up and get some much needed rest. Her sleep was restless. Constant nightmares hampered her. She wasn’t sure why she was having them. Finally, she gave up and went back into the bridge.

Pash was still in the nav chair asleep. He didn’t even awaken when she entered. Flopping down in the captain’s chair, she studied the man. He looked so innocent and fragile when he was asleep, much more boyish than the strong man he tried to be. She wondered if his strength was just a cover up for how fragile he really was.

She stood and walked over to his sleeping form. There was some stubble on his chin. The red matched his hair. Reaching a hand out, she brushed a lock of hair away from his face... and fell into his lap.

Pash woke up and realized he was being smothered by Kelly’s chest. Not that it was a bad position, but he had no idea how she had gotten there. He reached up and pushed her off as she scrambled to regain her feet.

"What the hell was that," she screamed as she stumbled back to her chair. Looking out into the vastness of space, she spotted what had caused her ship to come out of hyperspace early. "An Interdictor Cruiser," she said softly.

"What is it doing out here," questioned Pash

She calculated quickly where the edge of the gravity field should be and turned the ship towards it. "Push the engines to a hundred percent," she yelled at Winger. "I want out of this field NOW!"

Pash leaned over the nav computer and tried calculating a jump. "I can’t get a good read on any coordinates."

"We’ll have to jump blind." The ship bucked in the Interdictor’s field. "Get ready, we’re almost out."

The assault on the ship ceased momentarily and Kelly kicked in the hyperdrive. Stars disappeared as they jumped out of the system.

The bridge was silent. Kelly could hear her blood pulsing through her veins. She tried to focus herself, but found it hard. The adrenaline was preventing her from connecting with the Force. She closed her eyes and kept them in hyperspace as long as possible.

Something tickled the back of her neck and she pulled the ship out of hyperspace.

BANG!

The ship hit the asteroid with such force that Kelly was thrown from her seat. She flew across the bridge and landed hard against the wall.

Pash stood after being dumped on the floor. Warning lights and sirens were going off all over the ship. He looked for Kelly and saw her crumpled form. There was a small puddle of blood beside her head.  He dove first for the controls. With Winger’s help, he was able to bring the ship under control. They turned off the warning klaxons. "Get a list of all the ship damage," Pash told the droid. "I’m going to take Kelly to the med bay and check her head."

The droid didn’t bother to respond as he plugged into the ship and assessed the damage.

Pash moved beside her and gently raised her head. She had a large gash from where she had hit the corner of one of the stations. He picked her up and carried her to the med bay. Once he had her on the table, he grabbed some sterilization fluid and cleaned the wound. He then found a bacta patch and carefully placed it over the wound. Putting a pillow under her head and strapping her in so she wouldn’t fall, he made sure she was comfortable before going back to the bridge.

The last thing she remembered was the large brown object appearing before the ship when she brought it out of hyperspace. After that, everything went black. She must have hit her head. The pain was worse than any hangover she had ever had. She tried to sit up and found herself strapped to the table. She reached out with the Force and undid the latches. The straps fell beside her as she sat up. The room began spinning when she shifted her legs off the table.

Once her equilibrium returned, she slowly got up. The pain was still there, but she found she could walk. Holding on to the wall, she made her way to the bridge. She grabbed the doorway and looked in. Lights were flashing and Winger was tooting at the computer. "What the hell happened?"

Pash turned away from the controls. "How did you..."

"I can use the Force, remember," she said with a weak grin. She tried to walk to the captain’s chair, but stumbled.

Pash jumped up and caught her. "Careful. You have a nasty bump on your head."

"Yeah, well, I’ve always had one of those. It’s called my face." She sat down and grabbed her head. "Ow. Make it stop."

He looked at her helplessly. "Maybe you should go rest."

"Not until you tell me what happened."

"We came out of hyperspace and bounced off an asteroid."

"How much damage to the ship?"

"The life support and hyperdrive took the biggest hits. If you hadn’t pulled us out when you did, we would have crashed into that asteroid."

"I should have done it sooner. What’s the damage like?"

"Winger says the life support has a few blown power cells. He’s not quite sure what’s wrong with the hyperdrive."

The little droid rolled up beside he. She put a hand on his domed head. "It’s ok, little guy. Do we have any spare power cells?"

Winger moaned woefully. No, there were no cells. They had used the last ones as they were traveling to Hoth. Both of them had forgotten to get some spares while they were there.

"Well, I guess we’re going to have to figure out something to do. Where are we?"

Pash looked at the nav computer. "Somewhere in the Expansion Region."

"Heading towards or away from the Mid Rim?"

"Well, away, I guess. We’re kinda drifting at the moment."

"How close are we to Gyndine?"

He punched a few buttons. "About a day if we keep up this pace."

"Head directly towards Corellia. If we’re that close to Gyndine, then Corellia can’t be but a day more than that."

He made the adjustments and saw that she was right. "Ok, now what do we do?"

"Wait and see if anyone happens to be out in this area. Winger, begin broadcasting a distress message on all frequencies. Pull power from the shields to the life support. How long will we have if we drain the shields?"

The droid did some calculations. If the two of them didn’t move around, it might hold out up to three days. That was calculating in minimal oxygen intake for both.

Kelly’s brow wrinkled. "I can do a Jedi hibernation trance which will cut my intake down to below human minimal. But what about him," she asked as she pointed at Pash.

"You do realize how cold it may get, right?"

She looked over and nodded. "I plan on covering up before I go into the trance." She suddenly got an idea. "This is going to sound rather stupid, but it’s probably going to be our only choice."

"What?"

She took a deep breath, which made her head spin again. Closing her eyes, she chose her words carefully. "Our body temperatures would help keep us warm. I could go into the trance and you could sleep. During sleep, the human body uses the least oxygen. We could sedate you somehow."

His eyes went wide. "Are you suggesting that we sleep together?"

"In a sense, yes. It seems to be the most logical solution to our situation."

"I," he began then stopped. Thinking her plan over, he realized she was right. Now his chivalric traits were getting in the way. "Ok," he said with a sigh. "You’re right about it being the best chance we’ll have."

"We have plenty of sedatives. You can pick which you want to use." She turned to the droid, "Winger, if you get a response to our signal, come wake Pash up first. He’ll be easier to rouse than me."

"What about you," asked Pash. "How will you know when to come out of the trance?"

She thought for a moment. "Normally I have Winger wake me with a specific sound. This time I’d rather have you awaken me after checking on whoever has responded to our distress call."

"What would I have to do?"

"A phrase should do it. Tell me ‘we have company’ and I will wake up. If you say ‘we have a problem’, I will also wake up."

Pash nodded. "Ok. That sounds easy enough."

"Right. I’ll go get the bed ready in my room. I’m pretty sure I have a pile of extra blankets somewhere. Just meet me there when you’re ready." She stood slowly and walked off the bridge.

About ten minutes later, Pash walked into Kelly’s quarters. They were sparsely decorated, a few pictures here and there and her Jedi robe and lightsaber on a special hanger. It really reminded him of Wedge’s room. In fact, several of the pictures were the same as ones he had.

Kelly was finishing spreading out a few more blankets. "Think that will be enough," she asked without turning.

He smiled. She had sensed him come in. At least that meant her head was getting better. "It should be. Winger is giving us about fifteen minutes before he readjusts the life support."

"Good. Did you bring the sedative?"

He placed the bottle on the table along with another bacta patch. "Yes, and I brought a new bandage for your head."

She turned and smiled warmly. "Thanks. If I wasn’t immune to Force healing, I wouldn’t need the thing." She reached up and removed the old patch. She winced as she pulled the skin.

Pash moved over to help. Taking the used bandage from her, he examined the wound. "It’s looking better. The bacta is really taking affect."

"The good thing is that bacta works wonders on me." She giggled then moaned as the room began to spin.

He placed the new patch over the wound. "That should do it. Now I guess I should take this sedative." He opened the bottle and dumped a couple of pills into his hand. He threw them into his mouth and swallowed.

Kelly climbed into the bed and covered up. She turned on her side and faced the wall. Pulling all her focus on the Force, she began to slow down all her organs. Steadily her breathing and heart began to get slower. Within moments, she was fully under.

Pash blinked a few times, the pills were already working. He climbed up behind Kelly and looked down at her. She was so beautiful. He wanted so much to get to know her a lot better. His vision grew fuzzy so he laid his head beside her and drifted to sleep.

Winger rolled into Kelly’s room to check on them. The two humans were asleep on the bed with a pile of blankets over them. He monitored their heartbeats and was happy to find two distinct rhythms. Satisfied, he turned and rolled back down the hall to a storage room.

Going inside, he made four chirping sounds. Four sets of glowing eyes responded. The small droids walked towards Winger. He gave them orders and they lumbered off to do his bidding.

Winger was glad that Kelly had picked up the little droids on one of their stops. They were called pit droids and looked like small versions of the protocol droid, without the outer casing. They were used mostly to repair podracer engines, but knew ship engines also. He had programmed these with the specifics of the TL-1800 engine. Every time Kelly made an adjustment however, he had to add that knowledge to their database.

The pit droids were able to get into places on the ship that Winger couldn’t. They opened the hatch and jumped down into the engine compartment. Winger told them to check on the hyperdrive engine and the life support system. Two went to each.

The two that went to the life support system reported first. Winger’s assessment had been correct. Three blown power cells were preventing the system from working at 100%. The other two seemed to be arguing. Winger sent the first two to find out what was going on.

An alarm sounded from the bridge. Winger told the droids to stop and not do anything while he went to check it out. Upon entering, the R2 unit saw a larger vessel floating outside. It identified itself as The Red Dream. He blatted, never having understood why humanoids named their ships such silly names. He answered the ship’s hail.

ONE MOMENT PLEASE. I MUST GET THE CAPTAIN.

Winger rolled down the hall, checking to see how long the humans had been asleep. Fourteen hours, twenty-three minutes and fifty-four seconds. He should be able to wake them. Entering the room, he went over to the bed and whistled to get Pash’s attention. He also bumped the bed as he did so.

Pash awoke with a start, sitting straight up and throwing blankets everywhere. It took him a moment to realize where he was and that there was a droid beside him beeping loudly. He covered Kelly and climbed out of the bed. "Ok, I’m up," he told Winger. "I take it we have a response."

Winger confirmed his observation as he rolled ahead of the groggy man. Pash rubbed the sleep from his eyes and yawned. Checking his chrono, he found that they had been asleep for about fourteen and a half hours. He shivered and grabbed a coat lying on an acceleration couch in the hall.

Once on the bridge, he stepped over to the comm station. "Red Dream, this is the," he paused and waited for Winger to bring up the name that Kelly used during situations like this. "This is the Jagged Edge. We are in need of assistance. Our life support system has been damaged."

"Jagged Edge, prepare to dock. We will provide any assistance needed. Our captain would like you to come have dinner with him. How long have you been damaged?"

"We’ve been like this for about fifteen hours."

There was a pause. "You must be hungry," said another voice. "Please, come join me for a feast."

"Thank you for the offer. We’ll prepare for docking. Jagged Edge out." Pash switched off the comm. There was something wrong, but he couldn’t place his finger on it. "Winger, go by the dock and watch them carefully. I’ll go wake Kelly."

Something penetrated her dream. We have company, said a mysterious voice. Her brain clicked and she inhaled deeply. Her eyes flickered open and she looked for Pash. "Who is it? How long have I been under?"

"Wait, one question at a time. How is your head?"

"Still there. How long have I been in the trance?"

"Just over fourteen and a half hours. The ship that is getting ready to," a thump against the ship stopped him. "Ok, the ship that just docked with us is called The Red Dream. Ever heard of it?"

"Doesn’t sound familiar." She closed her eyes and scanned the ship through the Force. "I don’t detect any false intentions. They could be covering them, however. I’m not very strong at intent detection."

He smiled. "That’s ok. Let’s go change your bandage before going over to that other ship."

They only needed a small patch on her cut, it had healed greatly already. Kelly changed into some workers coveralls so she could hide her lightsaber in one of the pockets. She had told Pash that he was going to have to play captain on this one.

Once at the docking lock, Kelly stooped beside her droid. "Close the lock and don’t let anyone in. I’ll use our normal signal if we need to get on. Let us know if anyone tries to break into the ship, ok?"

OF COURSE. BE CAREFUL. THERE IS SOMETHING ODD ABOUT THAT SHIP.

She looked at him and smiled. "We will." She stood and straightened her coveralls. "Let’s get this over with. Maybe we can just get this guy to give us a few power cells and be through with it."

Together the two humans stepped through the docking lock. There was a Twi’lek on the other side. "Ah, welcome aboard. Please follow me. I will lead you to the captain." He led them through several halls and then into a dining area.

The large table had food piled high upon it. Kelly blushed as her stomach growled in hunger. They were lead to the furthest end. The large high-backed chair turned to face them. Both flinched as they saw the face of the captain. He was handsome except for the squid-like creature that was attached to the left side of his face.

"Welcome captain," he said with a flourish. "Please be seated and join me in this feast."

"Thank you," said Pash. He sat next to the captain and Kelly beside him. She was eerily quite, which worried him. "My name is Torren, Airen Torren, and this is my mechanic, Kaylen."

"It is a pleasure to meet you both. My name is Loka Hask."

Kelly froze. She recognized the name. Forcing herself, she kept her face blank.

Pash tried not to look at her. He felt the spike of emotion that fled from her. Why did she get so upset when he mentioned his name? "We thank you for your hospitality." He lifted his glass and drained the liquid. It was sweet and syrupy and tasted of berries. He detected nothing unusual about it.

Loka raised his fork to his lips. "You need repairs to your ship, yes?"

"Actually, if you had some spare power cells, we could do the repairs ourselves." He tasted the nerf tips. They were succulent. Kelly just pushed her food around on the plate with her fork.

"We have very competent engineers. I am sure they could fix your problem even quicker than your mechanic could."

Kelly laid her fork down and stared at the man. "Nobody touches my ship but me."

"Well," he said, his voice dripping with ire. "That is your choice. Please, finish eating and then we will see about getting you some power cells."

Dinner was finished in silence. Hask rose and went to see if they had any spare power cells. The Twi’lek led them to a small antechamber to wait for the parts. Kelly paced the floor.

"What happened in there," asked Pash.

"What do you mean?"

"You got upset. I don’t mean when he was talking about the ship. I mean before then, when he said his name."

She looked right at him, her eyes boring holes in his head. He’s the one who killed my parents.

His eyes widened in shock. He heard what she had said, but he knew she didn’t say it aloud.

I can use projective telepathy. That means I can talk to you telepathically, but I haven’t learned how to receive your projections.

"So, can you explain?"

My brother told me that he had shot down Hask’s ship. There was no way there could have been survivors. We are not safe here.

Kelly’s comlink beeped. She clicked it on and listened. Shit! They’re trying to cut their way into my ship! We have to go now. She clicked code back to Winger that they were on their way.

Pash tried the door and found it locked. "They want us to stay."

She frowned and stretched out with the Force. There was one guard on the door. Surprising him should be easy. With a telekinetic twitch, she unlocked the door. She motioned Pash to stand to the side as she opened the door.

The guard nearly jumped through the ceiling. Kelly smiled and grabbed him, throwing him into the room. Pash followed his body and got his blaster. He was unconscious. "Nice move," Pash told her.

"Thanks," she finally said. Pulling her lightsaber from its pocket, she moved into the hall. "It’s clear. Come on." They moved towards the docking area. Kelly kept them away from most of the crew, at least until the alarm sounded.

They were being chased. Kelly turned the final corner and saw the docking ring. There were two bodies trying to light a torch to cut through the door. Pash snapped off a few shots to scatter them.

With a snap-hiss, the purple-bladed lightsaber came to life. She sliced through both blasters in one swipe. Then, she turned and began to block blaster shots. Both hallways were full of The Red Dream’s crew. They fired and she returned the shots. "Master Aulduin rules," she screamed into her comlink.

Behind her, the doors began to grind open. "Get in there," she yelled at Pash. "Then close the door. I’ll let you know when I’m finished here!"

"I’m not leaving you," he replied as he dropped another of the crew.

"Listen to me! You’re the one who needs the most protection. I can take care of myself." She intentionally let a blaster bolt get past her lightsaber. It dissipated on her Force shield. "See? I have the Force. I am fine!"

He hesitated a moment longer then dove through the doors. They began closing as soon as his feet broke the hatchway. Kelly searched the hall for something to distract her foes.

Right above Loka’s head, he heard the groan of metal. He looked up in time to see a pipe pull from the wall and split in two. Steam and the sound of warning klaxons filled the hallway. Loka screamed and backpedaled.

Kelly grinned as she blocked a few more stray shots. She tapped on the hatch with her lightsaber hilt and they began to open. Turning off her weapon, she turned and walked through the door. She dropped her shield thinking that she was in no danger. Suddenly, she felt searing heat as two shots caught her, one in the shoulder and one across the hip. The force of the shots pushed her through into Pash’s arms. He reached up to seal the hatch. "Go Winger. Get us out of here!"

"That hurt," she said as she regained her balance. The ship jolted forward and pitched her back into his arms. "Man, this is making me dizzier than my head ever did."

He helped her this time and the two ran to the bridge. "Do we have enough power to give us a small jump," she asked the droid.

I HAVE ALREADY MADE CALCULATIONS. THERE IS ENOUGH TO GET US JUST INTO CORELLIA’S SYSTEM.

"Good," she said as she strapped herself in. "Let’s go then." The small ship pulled away from the larger one and disappeared.

"Ouch!" Kelly flinched as Pash cleaned the burn on her shoulder.

"Sorry. You knew it was going to hurt."

"I know," she hissed, "but it still stings!" She was able to pull her coveralls down past where she had been shot without flashing him. He was being so gentle with her and she wondered how he was going to handle it when she had to nearly strip for him to get to the one on her hip.

He placed the bacta patch over the burn and looked down at where the other shot had hit her. "Uh," he stammered.

"Have you never seen a woman’s body before," she asked teasingly.

"Yes, but..." He cursed his gentleman ways.

"It’s ok. I’m not shy." She began to take the coveralls off. "Can’t afford to be with the kind of people I hang around with and the situations we get into. I’ve come out of the shower hearing warning signals and run to the bridge in only a towel."

He turned his head and blushed. "I’m sure that was a beautiful sight," he said quietly.

"Was that a compliment I just heard?" She leaned against the bed, "ok, it’s all yours."

Swallowing hard, he turned to face her back. Her beauty stunned him. "I..."

"Hey," she said looking over her shoulder. "It’s kinda cold in here. Do you mind hurrying?"

He took a deep breath and reached for the sterile swab. He didn’t waste any time cleaning and bandaging this wound. "Ok," he said when he was finished. "You can put your clothes back on." He turned and faced the other way.

She pulled the coveralls up carefully and zipped them. Laying a hand on his shoulder, she turned him around. "You can look now," she said with a grin.

His face was as red as his hair. She giggled and touched his nose. "You are so cute when you blush."

That made him redder. "I’m too much of a gentleman, ok?"

She moved her hand to his cheek and stroked it gently. "You know, you are really very handsome." She moved her face closer to his.

Wait a second, his brain screamed. You can’t do this. Not yet. He pulled away from her. "We should go check and see if we’ve reached Corellia yet." His voice cracked as he spoke.

She blinked several times as she looked at him. Hadn’t he wanted this too? She must have imagined that. "Sure," she said dejectedly and turned away.

"Look, it’s not that..."

"Not what? Not that you don’t like me? You consider me more a sister or a friend? I thought you were different." Her shoulders shuddered as she tried to hold back the tears threatening to spill.

He stood directly behind her and whispered in her ear. "I am different. I respect you."

She stood for a moment quietly. That had confused her and she didn’t know how to answer. Thinking silence was best, she walked out.

He watched her leave and wondered to himself if he had done the wrong thing. Sighing, he decided that it was right and he would live with the consequences.

Arrival Home

Kelly flopped down in the pilot seat and stared outside. There was a familiarity to the stars. "We’re in the Corellian system."

Winger beeped a confirmation and said that they should make it to the outer stations in an hour or so. Kelly’s gut tightened as she remembered the names of the outer stations. One of them was Gus Treta, the place where she had grown up. The tickle at the back of her neck resumed.

"I’m sorry," Pash said from the doorway.

She waved off his apology. "We’re close to the outer stations. Where are you supposed to meet your contact?"

"Um, on one of the stations." He pulled out his datapad and checked. "Gus Treta."

She stiffened and the tickle grew more intense. "I have a bad feeling about this," she whispered.

"Is there a problem?"

"No, I’ll set a course for Gus Treta." She leaned over the controls and steered the ship towards the stations. She tried to ignore the tickle, but it grew more intense the close they got. The funniest thing was it wasn’t the type of signal she got when something was wrong. This was different. .  It wasn’t even the kind she got when she felt someone using the Force. She couldn’t tell what the difference was

They rode in silence until they reached Gus Treta.

"This is Gus Treta control. Please identify yourself and your purpose."

"This is the Jagged Edge. We have a malfunction in our hyperdrive and life support. We were hoping to find some assistance here before moving on towards Corellia."

"Jagged Edge, you are cleared to land. I will send you the name of the best mechanic here along with the landing instructions. He should be able to help you on your repairs. Welcome to Gus Treta, captain."

"Acknowledged, control, and thanks." Kelly pulled up the instructions she had been sent and began her landing. She passed the name of the mechanic to Pash so he could contact him and have him meet them when they landed.

It was late afternoon when they arrived. "When are you supposed to meet your contact," Kelly asked as she began the shutdown sequence.

He checked the date and time, "in about two hours at a little bar called The Scruffy Nerfherder. You got us here in perfect time."

"Of course I did. Did you expect less?" She grinned and moved towards the exit ramp. "Nice to know some things haven’t changed. The Nerf has been here for a long time."

"Oh, so you’ll know how to get there then."

"Yeah, but I’ve got to stay here and help fix the ship."

Pash frowned. "I’d rather have backup with me."

She hit the switch to lower the ramp and sighed. "Depends on how good this mechanic is. If I deem him ok, then I’ll go with you."

"Ok, that’s a deal." He gestured for her to exit first then followed. "This is a really nice place," he said as he came down the ramp. "Very clean compared to some places I’ve been."

"Probably would be better if the fuel station was still here," she mumbled. Her mood suddenly shifted as she looked around at the familiar sights. The tingling had grown even more intense and was constant now. It had to do with this place she knew, but why?

A gray-haired gentleman greeted them as they exited. "Welcome to Gus Treta. My name is Cortan Lysane. I believe it was you who requested someone to help fix your ship, yes?"

There was something familiar about this man, but Kelly couldn’t put her finger on it. "Yeah, ever worked on a TL-1800?"

"Of course. When you are a repairman on a trade route, you see every size, shape and model of ships. What seems to be the problem?"

"We had to make an unscheduled jump and fried the life support and hyperdrive when we came out."

"Ah yes, a common occurrence when escaping danger. If you would care to show me your ship, I can get started immediately."

Now how did he know they were in trouble when she jumped? "Hey Red," she said to Pash. "Go find us some rooms for the evening while I show him the engine. By the time you get back, I should be ready to go with you for your meeting." Why had she just said that? She had felt compelled to do so.

Pash looked at her strangely but nodded and left. "One or two rooms," he yelled with a grin as he was leaving. He didn’t wait for an answer.

She just shook her head and smiled. "Come on," she said as she went back up the ramp into the ship. She moved to lift the floor plate and found it already open. Shrugging, she jumped in and went to move the ladder so that Cortan could climb down. Before she could turn, a thump beside her told her that he was already down. She got a familiar tingle that time. He had used the Force. She didn’t say anything but kept a closer eye on him.

Right beside the hyperdrive was four little droids. Kelly looked at them curiously. Tapping one on the nose, it popped up and to attention. "What are you guys doing down here," she asked.

The little droid squeaked and squawked about how he knew what was wrong with the hyperdrive but the other droids wouldn’t listen to him. He went on and on until she interrupted him. "Who sent you down here," the human asked.

WINGER, he replied.

She sighed. "Ok, now all four of you need to go back to your storage bin." She kicked the other three on the nose to activate them. "Now go." The four little droids skittered off.

"Where did you pick those things up," asked Cortan.

"Malastere. My droid and I run the ship together. They’re great for extra hands and can get into spaces neither one of us can get to."

The older man nodded. "Makes sense."

She showed him where the burned out power cells and other damage was and he made a list of all the parts and equipment he would need. She noted that he had a rather concise list that should cover all the repairs.

They started up the ladder to retrieve the parts when Cortan asked, "Tell me about the name of your ship."

A shiver went down her spine. He was trying to make her answer him. The ripple in the Force made her miss a step and stumble. "What did you ask," she said as she caught herself on the wall.

He reached out a hand to steady her and asked again, "I was just wondering about the name of your ship, Jagged Edge. Most pilots have a story of how they named their ships. I just wanted to know what yours was."

There was no Force used that time. "It’s from a memory," she said quietly.

"Of your father," he asked softly.

Her shoulders stiffened and she turned to face him. "What makes you say that?"

He sighed and suddenly he looked much older. "I knew your father. And your mother." He looked into her eyes. "You are Kelly Antilles, right?"

She was shocked. There was no way anyone around here would know who she was or looked like. Yeah, she favored her brother, but it had been five years since... She didn’t want to think about that. Then again, she knew this man was strong in the Force.

"I knew your grandmother as well," he said.

"How?"

He smiled. "Through the Jedi. I was an apprentice at the time and only learned a little since the Jedi were being sought after and killed. Since then, I have picked up a few tricks and use them sparingly."

"Like you tried on me. It didn’t work because I’ve been an apprentice for just over a year now."

"That is wonderful. Your family would be proud."

"Yeah, but they weren’t around long enough," she stopped and choked back the tears. "Tell me, how come I can use the Force but my brother can’t?"

Cortan stalled. He did not know how to answer her question. Surely, he knew things she didn’t. She was young when her parents died, and even younger when her grandmother had died.

"Are you finished yet?" Pash’s voice floated up the corridor.

"Yeah, we’re back here." She took a deep breath and looked at Cortan. "This conversation goes nowhere, understand?"

"More than you’ll ever know, young lady."

"Do you need money to get the parts," she asked as Pash came into the hall.

"No, I think I have everything I’ll need."

"Ok, my droid Winger will help in any way he can. If you need us for any reason, he can get in touch with me." She whistled and the little green and silver R2 unit rolled up to her side. "Winger, you are to help Cortan out while he fixes the ship. Don’t worry, he is to be trusted. I would trust him with my life."

The droid turned its dome towards the newcomer and beeped a greeting. When the man just stood and smiled, he popped open a slot and his translator screen appeared. HELLO.

Cortan looked at the screen and grinned. "That’s a very useful object, especially for those of us who don’t understand droid-speak."

Kelly chuckled, "Winger and I have been together for so long that I’ve learned his language. Well, we have somewhere we have to be. Just call us if you need anything."

"Will do." He looked down to the droid and said, "Come on, Winger. You can help me get all the equipment I need to fix your engines."

The rotund droid beeped happily and followed Cortan off the ship. Pash looked astonished. "From your first impression, I didn’t think you cared for him much."

She turned to move off the ship. "Let’s just say that he knows what he’s doing."

The sign above the door proclaimed the establishment as The Scruffy Nerfherder. Kelly sighed at the familiar sight. "This place really hasn’t changed." As they entered, she was amazed at how much the place really hadn’t changed. The only difference was that there weren’t many people in there. "Where’s the crowd that’s usually here," she remarked to herself.

"Gone," said the bartender. "After the accident, everyone stopped coming to Gus Treta. No fuel station, no business. Can I get you something to drink?"

She turned to look at the gentleman she knew would be there. "Do you still make those cherry spritzers?"

He smiled, "You haven’t been here in a while, have you?"

"No, it’s been about four years."

"Tell ya what, I’ll make one special for you. What about you, young man?"

"Corellian ale, please," replied Pash.

"Easy enough. Have a seat anywhere, I’ll bring the drinks to you."

They turned and found a booth near the door. Kelly sat facing the door to watch those who came in. Pash looked around cautiously before sitting. It wasn’t long before the bartender brought their drinks, along with a small piece of paper for Pash. "The young lady in the booth over there told me to give this to you," he said pointing towards the rear of The Nerf.

"Thank you," said Pash. He picked up the paper and studied it. Laying it back on the table, he rose. "I’ll be right back."

Kelly shrugged. "Ok." After he left, she picked up the paper and looked at it. It was a circular image that looked rather unassuming until you tilted the paper in the right direction. Ever so subtly, you could see the Rebel emblem. She smiled. Very tricky, she thought, yet also ingenious.

It wasn’t long before Pash came back. He sat a few credits down on the table, "Come on, we’ve got to go."

She looked up startled, "Why?"

"We have a meeting elsewhere." He picked up the ale and downed it in one swallow.

She did the same with hers and nearly choked. The fizzyness of the drink tickled her throat unexpectedly. He patted her on the back and she regained her breath. "Whoops," she said with a grin. "That was a little fast." She stood and followed her partner.

She realized he was heading back towards the port. "Where the hell are we going?"

He handed her a slip of paper. "We’re supposed to meet my contact at that address in an hour with the equipment. Supposedly, she’s going to get me down to Corellia for my meeting."

"Who is this person?"

"I don’t know. I guess we’ll find out when we get to that address."

She looked down at the paper. "This is in the warehouse district."

He stopped short. "How come you know so much about this place?"

She took several more steps before realizing he wasn’t beside her. She turned to face him. "Because I grew up here." There, she had said it. No more secrets. "You know why there isn’t a fuel depot on this station? It’s because my mom and dad sacrificed their lives to save this gods awful place. That idiot Loka Hask and his crew took off while they were still refueling and caught the tanks on fire. Jagged and Zena Antilles did the only thing they could. They separated the depot from the station. Wedge saw it blow. I should have been there to die too." The weight lifted from her soul caused the tears she had been holding back for years to flow.

Not knowing what to do, Pash just pulled her into his arms. She sank into them, burying her head in his chest. She cried so hard. He could feel the anxiety flow off her like water. They stood like that for several minutes. Her cries eventually became sobs. She pushed herself away from him and wiped her eyes with her sleeve. "I’m sorry," she said in a husky voice.

"It’s ok," he replied. "I didn’t know. I’m sorry."

She sniffed and her Corellian grin crossed her face. "Hey, it’s no problem. We better get moving. It’s going to take a while to get to where you need to be."

They walked on in silence again. "Thank you," she said.

"For what?"

"For just being here... and letting me cry on your shoulder. I don’t do that often."

"Cry on a man’s shoulder," he asked with a smirk.

She grinned. "Cry at all. I try to keep things in perspective where I won’t need to cry."

"That’s logical." He walked up the ramp onto the ship. Walking towards the cargo bay, he heard Winger beeping ahead. "What’s he chattering about?"

She listened for a moment. "He’s... oh no you don’t." She pushed past him and ran ahead.

Pash stood bewildered in her wake.

"Don’t you EVEN tell him about that," she scolded as she rounded the corner. Winger and Cortan were sitting at a workbench reworking a power cell. The droid blatted at her. "That is not something you tell a complete stranger about."

Cortan chuckled. "Not to worry. I’ve just been asking about your..." he paused as he saw Pash come around the corner.

"Enough about that. We just came by to pick up some things." She turned and moved on to the cargo hold.

She opened the hatch and her jaw dropped. "All that fuss was over two little boxes?"

Pash moved past her to pick up one of the cases. "These are highly sensitive communication devices."

"Whatever. I want to change before we leave."

"Sure," he said absently.

Moments later, they met at the loading ramp. Kelly had changed into a dark green blouse with black trousers and her black boots. She wore a nerf-skin coat over the ensemble. Pash had to admit that she looked great. "Ready," he asked.

"Yep, lets go." She took one of the boxes from him.

They walked most of the way in silence. Kelly had to stop and ask directions twice. They arrived with minutes to spare.

Pash knocked on the door while Kelly watched behind them.

"You made it," said a voice when the door opened.

Kelly froze. She knew that voice. Turning, she saw exactly whom she was expecting. The other’s eyes glimmered with recognition only for a moment. She pushed Pash in the back. "Move it Red," she said while guiding him inside.

His jaw was also slack. "You’re Wynssa Starflare."

The woman who answered the door grinned. "I get that reaction a lot. Yes, that is the name I go by."

"I’m Pash Cracken and this is my partner..."

"Karyn Allstone," Kelly interrupted. "I’m just his pilot."

Wynssa looked at her curiously. "It’s a pleasure to meet you both. Do you have everything you need," she asked Pash.

"Yes. When do I leave?"

"Immediately. Your meeting is in the morning, but it will take several hours to get down to the planet. You may sleep on the shuttle. The pilot is most trustworthy."

"Where do I meet this shuttle?"

Wynssa handed him a datapad. "The information is there. Your pilot must stay here, however."

He took it and nodded. "One question before I go, if I may."

She nodded. "Go ahead."

"How did you end up working for the Rebellion? You have done propaganda films for the Empire."

"I am ashamed of those, but eating was more of a priority than my dignity at that time. I have been working secretly for the Rebels for a few years now. No one knows of my connection with the Rebellion."

He nodded, understanding her situation. Turning, he looked at Kelly. "I’ll be back soon, hopefully."

She smiled, "I know. I hope everything goes ok." Leaning towards him, she kissed his cheek. "For luck," she explained. "May the Force be with you."

He took the box she was carrying and left.

Kelly stood looking at the door as it closed behind him. Her mind was reeling. She knew this person very well, but had no idea how to begin a conversation.

Wynssa didn’t feel much different. She decided to try something. Hello little princess.

She jumped and turned around. You know projective telepathy?

Yes. That and a little telekinesis. I’ve learned most everything on my own.

"Then why haven’t you tried to contact me or Wedge? Did you not think that maybe we might have the same abilities as you? Syal, you are our sister after all."

"Because I was afraid. I’ve seen holos the Emperor took of him killing Jedi. I didn’t want that to happen to me, or anyone else."

She nodded. "Understandable. I’ve heard all about it from my Jedi master."

"You’re training for real?"

"Yeah," she said blushing. She pulled her lightsaber from inside her jacket and held it out to Syal. "I’ve even made my own lightsaber."

Trepidatiously, Syal reached for it. It was made from part of a fuel line from some kind of ship. The weight was minimal and felt very comfortable in her hand. "It’s incredible," she said quietly.

"Want to know something weird? It seems that Wedge can’t use the Force. I thought I was the only fluke in the family. But here you are, using the Force yourself."

She handed back the cylinder. "Why is that strange?"

"Master Aulduin said that Force sensitivity runs in families. He found it odd that Wedge was so blind, yet I am so strong. I guess you’re pretty strong too."

"I wouldn’t go that far." Syal turned and went to sit on the couch. "Sit down. I think we have a lot to talk about."

Bad News

They talked for hours, both telling what they had done since leaving Gus Treta. Each realized how much they had missed the other. Syal finally asked the question she had wanted to since they began. "So, what’s going on between you and that Cracken fellow?"

Kelly’s eyes widened. "Nothing! I honestly am just his pilot."

"Yeah, but what about that kiss?"

"Well, um," she stuttered as she blushed. "Ok, so maybe we’ve gotten a little close on this trip. We’ve been through hell just getting here."

Syal was about to reply when a silver protocol droid entered the room. "Mistress Wynssa, pardon my interruption, but there is an emergency message coming through on the Rebel channel."

Both women jumped up. "Emergency? Oh no, that does not sound good," she said as she moved through the doorway with Kelly fast on her heels.

They reached the communication station located in a back room in record time. Syal slid into the chair and immediately began to decode the message. Her brow furrowed. "There’s more than one encoding on this message."

"What do you mean," Kelly asked looking over her shoulder.

Syal pointed to two blank places in the message. "These are a different encryption than what I can decode."

"Show them to me." She watched as her sister pulled up the codes. The first one looked very familiar. "That one is my personal code," she said pointing.

Syal looked up at her in astonishment. "You have your own personal code?"

"Yeah, Winger created it. And he’s the one with my decoder too. Sheesh, I better call him here." She pulled a comlink from her pocket.

"You still have that rust bucket?"

Kelly chuckled, "Yeah, he’s got a new body but the same brains. Winger, I need you to get here immediately."

WHERE IS HERE, came the reply.

She gave him directions to the warehouse and shut off the comlink. "He should be here pretty quickly." She turned back to the message. "I wonder if that other code is Pash’s."

Syal nodded. "You’re correct. My part of the message says for me to deliver this to you and him as soon as possible. Something about an emergency evacuation or something."

Kelly’s heart dropped into her stomach. The tingle she had felt as they were leaving Hoth was what she had thought. "I was right," she murmured.

"About what?"

She shook her head. "Nothing. I’m not going to say anything until we decode that message."

Ten minutes later, Winger rolled in. He was shocked to see Syal, but greeted her warmly. They were surprised he remembered her. He quickly decoded the message.

Captain Antilles,

Please follow any instructions Captain Cracken gives you regarding this message. You will be aptly reimbursed upon your return. Cracken will have all the information you may need. The Rebellion is forever in your debt.

General Carlist Rieekan

Sister looked at sister. Syal was impressed to see Rieekan’s name. Kelly was worried about the message. "I’ve got to get to Pash immediately."

"I agree. We have a Z-95 Headhunter you can fly to Corellia. That will be the quickest mode of travel."

"But where do I find him?"

Syal handed her a datapad. "All the information is there. Just tell Iella that Wynssa sent you."

Kelly slipped the pad into a pocket and the three left for the Headhunter. She and the droid got aboard and quickly took off towards the central planet of the system.

Kelly followed the directions. They led her to the tall municipal building. She began to really wonder about this contact. She climbed the three floors and went to the door with 324 above it. "CorSec! She has to be kidding. My sister has lost her mind."

She debated for several minutes whether to go in or not. Her dedication to Wedge and the Rebellion won out. Taking a deep breath, she opened the door.

Inside the outer office were several desks. At the back, a hall led to several offices. A dark-haired young man stood up as she entered. He looked somewhat familiar. "May I help you?"

"Yes, I’m looking for an Iella Wessiri."

He raised an eyebrow. "And you are?"

"A friend of a friend. Wynssa told me that Iella could help me with something."

As he stared at her, she felt the familiar tingle of the Force being used. Her face remained blank. He finally spoke. "I’ll go let her know you are here Ms..."

"Kayla. That’s all you need to know."

He gave her a hard glare as he turned back down the hallway. Where did she get off talking to him like that? He was fuming by the time he got to Iella’s office. He tapped on the door lightly then entered. "Iella, there is a girl out front asking for you. She said someone named Wynssa told her to come see you."

The woman looked up from her desk. "Wynssa? Bring her right back."

"What," the young man asked indignantly. "You must be kidding."

"Corran, do I look like I’m kidding. Bring the girl back here."

"I want it on the record that I’m against this."

"Duly noted. Now go." She shooed Corran out of her office.

Kelly was staring out the window when Corran came back. "She’ll see you now. Please, follow me." He showed her back to the office he had just left.

"Ms. Wessiri," Kelly questioned as she entered the room.

"Please, call me Iella," she answered as she stood and offered her hand.

Kelly shook her hand firmly. "Wynssa told me that you might be able to help me with something." She had noticed that the young man was still standing by the door.

"Ah yes. Please have a seat." Iella turned her attention to Corran. "That will be all, Corran."

"I will be right outside if you need anything. Anything at all," he said with emphasis.

"Thank you Corran." She waited until his footsteps faded down the hall. "I apologize," she said as she sat. "He’s a bit cocky at times."

"He’s a Corellian male," Kelly replied with a grin.

Iella returned the smile. "So true. Now, how can I help you... what did you say your name was?"

"I haven’t. You can call me Kayla. I’m the pilot for the young man who came to talk to someone here."

Iella’s eyes lit up. "You’re the Rebel pilot? Oh my, if you’re here, that can’t be a good sign."

"Not really. Wynssa received an emergency encoded message. The message then had two more encryptions, Captain Cracken’s and mine. Our messages didn’t tell us anything. They just alluded to some kind of danger. I need to get the message to him so he can decode his part."

"Of course. I will have Corran take you to the meeting site. It is his father who your Captain Cracken is meeting with."

"Corran, as in Corran Horn?"

"Yes. Do you know him?"

"I know his father a bit better. I don’t think Corran remembers me. I am pretty sure Hal will."

Iella grinned knowingly and pressed a button on the intercom. "Corran, would you come in here please?"

Several heartbeats later, Corran opened the door. "You called for me Iella?"

She rolled her eyes. "I need you to escort this young lady to where your father is having his meeting. She has an urgent message for the man with whom he is meeting."

He gave her a questioning look. "You’re serious?"

"Are you questioning my judgment, Mr. Horn?"

"Uh, no, I just..."

"You will just do your job."

His jaw opened and closed. He knew he had been beaten. "Of course." He turned and gave Kelly a hard look. She felt it through the Force and realized how close he was to the dark side. "Follow me," he said to her as he walked from the office.

She looked back to Iella. "I really appreciate this. Thank you."

"You’re quite welcome. Good luck."

Kelly nodded and turned to follow Corran.

They drove through the city streets in silence. Kelly looked out the window and recognized many places. It made her remember times during her youth fondly.

"You’re Corellian," Corran asked, breaking the silence.

"Yes," she answered without turning her head. "I haven’t been here in a while, though."

"I thought so. You look rather familiar."

She grinned. "I just have one of those faces I guess."

Silence once again loomed over them. Neither one spoke the rest of the journey. Corran steered the speeder off the main road and onto a beaten path. They traveled several miles then stopped.

Kelly thought she recognized the area. Corran led her through some trees and to a cave she knew would be there. They entered and stopped at a metal door just inside. Corran knocked twice, then three times and opened the door.

The two men seated in the room looked up as they entered. "What is it Corran," asked the older man.

"His pilot is here," he said nodding towards Pash. "She has an urgent message for him."

She pushed past Corran and went to Pash. "I apologize for the interruption, but I need you to decrypt this message Pash. We received it marked urgent. I’m afraid something has happened."

Pash’s eyes went wide as he hurriedly pulled out his personal datapad. He took the data chip from her and slipped it into his pad. The decryption software started immediately.

Kelly looked directly at Hal Horn. A flash of recognition crossed his eyes but quickly disappeared.  She turned her attention back to Pash’s datapad.

"Oh no," he said quietly.

"What is it?"

He handed her the pad. She skimmed the short letter. "Oh my god, I was right," she whispered. The meteoroid she had seen entering the atmosphere as they had left really wasn’t one. It had to have been an Imperial probe droid. The message told of an emergency evacuation of Hoth because the Empire had found them. There were some coordinates after that and the message ended.

Pash looked up at her. "We need to leave as soon as possible."

She ran a hand through her hair as she thought. "I guess Cortan is about finished with the repairs on the Revenge. We should be able to get out of here quickly."

"Is there anything we can do to help," asked Hal.

Pash turned to him. "Just keep in touch with that communication center. There may not be an immediate response right now, but I’m sure that will be the first thing up after they find a new base."

The older man nodded. "Good enough. I guess we should get you to your ship."

"We have a problem there. I came down in a Headhunter. How are we going to get you back?"

"You may use my son’s X-Wing. We will follow to retrieve it."

"Dad," Corran grimaced. "Why my ship?"

"Because they need to get back as quickly as possible. You take Mr. Cracken to your ship and I will escort the lady here to hers. Radio me when you are ready to take off."

The young men nodded and left. Hal turned to look at Kelly. "You certainly favor your mother."

She swallowed hard. "You do remember me," she said slightly flabbergasted.

He had a fatherly grin on his face. "Of course I do. I’m surprised Corran didn’t recognize you."

"Well, I wasn’t going to remind him. It’s better that he doesn’t know who I am."

"Yes, that may be for the best. Come on, let’s get you to your Headhunter."

Both were quiet during the ride until Kelly finally spoke. "Why are you getting involved with the Rebellion?"

"Because the Empire is taking too much of a notice of what is going on here. There is talk of them sending a liaison to work with CorSec."

"A liaison means they plan on getting Corellia under their control." Kelly frowned. "So that’s why."

"Yes, that’s why."

The silence resumed until they entered the spaceport. Kelly looked at Hal seriously. "Sir, there is something I need to tell you. I’m telling you this because I trust you and I think you should know."

He pulled the speeder up next to the Headhunter and cut the engine. "Go right ahead."

She took a deep breath and gathered her courage. "This is very hard for me. I’ve told only a few people about this. You must promise me that you will tell no one."

"Don’t worry Kelly, you can trust me."

"I... I can use the Force. From what I’m told, I’m pretty strong. For the past two years, I have been training with a Jedi Master and have learned a lot. Well, when I was in the CorSec office earlier I noticed something about Corran. Being as sensitive to the Force as I am, I detected that he had used the Force. I just thought you might like to know."

Hal sat thoughtfully for a moment. "I already knew."

"Sir?"

"Don’t say anything to him. He should find out on his own. Just be patient with him."

"Yes sir," she said watching his eyes. She saw something deep within him. It was as if he knew what was going to happen but couldn’t tell anyone. She knew that feeling well. "I better..."

"Yes. Corran will be calling soon. You need to be ready to leave."

She got out of the speeder and walked towards the Headhunter. "Winger, get the start sequence going." She looked back at Hal Horn. "Thank you sir."

"Good luck Antilles. And may the Force be with you."

She smiled and climbed into the ship. She saw him pull something from his pocket. After a few moments, he waved her to lift off.

Kelly settled in the cockpit and lifted off. "Winger, check for any CorSec frequencies. Pash may be trying to hail us."

CORSEC? YOU MUST BE JOKING.

"No, I’m not. He’s flying a CorSec X-Wing. We have to get back soon. Hoth had to be evacuated."

ANY WORD ON WEDGE?

"No," she sighed. "The message was quick and to the point. I’m guessing they did it as they were evacuating."

SOMEONE IS HAILING US ON OUR FREQUENCY.

"Cracken to Antilles, do you read," Pash’s voice crackled over the comm.

"Antilles here. Why are you using my name?"

"I didn’t think it would matter on a secure frequency."

"Yeah, but that droid behind you is probably recording everything that happens."

"Oh." Pash looked down at the translator and saw that the droid was indeed making a copy of everything. "Oops."

"That’s ok. I think it will be settled by Winger."

Jumbled letters scrolled across the screen. He couldn’t decipher them at all. "What are they saying?"

"Ouch. Winger just threatened him with more than just bodily damage if Whistler told Corran anything about this."

"Whistler?"

"The R2 unit. His name is Whistler. Oh, ok. He’s agreed. Thank you, Whistler. And besides, I think you know something I do and can’t say anything about it."

"What?"

"Not you, Pash. I’m speaking with Whistler."

"Oh."

"Sorry. Well, let’s get back to Gus Treta on the double." She turned the ship and sped towards the station.

Hal Horn had already alerted the station that they were on the way. They landed side by side. Jumping out of the ship, Kelly noted the bay was empty and lifted Winger from the ship telekinetically. She started running, but not towards her ship. "Where are you going," asked Pash.

"I promised Syal I’d tell her what was in the message."

"Who?"

"Wynssa," she said stopping for him to catch up. "Did you not hear me?"

"Yes, but you said Syal."

"No I didn’t. You must not have heard me." She turned and started walking off.

Pash shook his head in exasperation. "There’s something you’re not telling me."

"Maybe, but I don’t have time to explain right now. Come on."

Intentions Known

On the way to the warehouse, Kelly called Cortan. Unfortunately, the ship wasn’t ready yet. It was still a few hours away from being able to go. She told him to let them know when it was ready and sent Winger to help.

Wynssa greeted them at the door. "Well?"

"Hoth had to be evacuated," Kelly said as she entered.

"Oh no. Was there anything about casualties?"

"No," replied Pash. "The message seemed to have been sent during the evacuation."

The three Rebels sat down. Kelly rubbed her eyes. "My ship isn’t even ready yet. This is definitely a ‘what can go wrong, will’ mission."

"No it isn’t. You’re just tired. Remember, you didn’t get any sleep last night."

"Oh yeah, that’s right. In fact, I haven’t truly slept in about three days."

"You didn’t sleep last night," asked Pash. "What were you doing?"

Wynssa defended her. "We were chatting until the message came in. She left immediately afterwards."

Kelly noticed the unsure look on his face. "We’re both from around here, Pash. We were talking about the way things used to be."

"Oh. Well then, you need to get some sleep so you can get us to the rendezvous in one piece."

"Right now, I’m about to starve. I’d rather eat first."

Wynssa jumped up. "Oh, where are my manners. Let me get you both some dinner." She moved off towards the kitchen.

Kelly stretched out on the couch. Her muscles ached, as did her heart. She was worried about Wedge and the rest of the Rogues. Something told her that Wedge, Wes and Hobbie were ok, but she didn’t quite believe that. She also was beating herself up for saying Syal’s name. Now Pash was suspicious. Breaking her sister’s cover was the last thing she wanted to do. However, she felt at ease around Pash. He did let her cry on his shoulder earlier. She had grown close to him in the last few days. They seemed to share a bond.

As if sensing her mood, Pash asked, "Are you ok?"

"Yeah, just tired and hungry. And worried."

"That’s understandable." He looked at her and wondered what her connection was to Wynssa. Both were quite beautiful. Both had pretty much the same hair color. He wasn’t sure about eye color, but he thought that they were very similar.

Wynssa came back in the room with her protocol droid trailing her with a cart. A feast was piled on the cart. Pash’s mouth drooled at the sight. He smiled at Wynssa. They sure did look rather similar. Not identical, but there was something familiar about how Wynssa looked.

Kelly sat up as soon as she smelled the food. "Oh wow, that smells terrific." Her stomach growled and she blushed. "Excuse me." She loaded a plate with a little of everything.

"Don’t eat so fast Kel," said Wynssa. "You’ll get sick."

Kel, Pash thought. I didn’t know she knew her name?

"No I won’t," she mumbled through a mouth full of food. "I’m starved. This tastes wonderful."

She just shook her head. "You will never change."

Kelly grinned then shot a glance at Pash. The grin vanished. He was suspicious. She could tell by the look on his face. Careful, she told Syal telepathically. He’s starting to wonder.

The other woman frowned slightly. I know you don’t want to break my cover, but you and he seem so close. You can tell him.

No, I can’t! Her eyes got wide. There’s nothing between us. He’s my mission.

You can’t lie to me, Kelly Antilles. I am your sister. You really like him!

Pash cleared his throat. "Excuse me, but am I missing something here?"

Kelly swallowed. "No. Not a thing."

"If you say so."

The rest of the evening was spent making small talk, mostly about the Rebellion. Kelly finally fell asleep on the couch. She was so exhausted.

"I should get her to a bed," Wynssa said.

"Might be a good idea," replied Pash. "I’ll carry her."

"No need," she said waving him away. She reached over and shook Kelly’s shoulder gently. "Kel, it’s time to go to bed."

"But I don’t want to go to bed, mom," she said sleepily. "I want to stay up and wait on Wedge."

Wynssa looked at Pash and grinned uneasily. "She must be having a dream." She turned back to Kelly. "You have to go to bed. You have to leave tomorrow."

"I’m going to flight school?"

"Sure. You can go to flight school."

"Ok." She got up and stumbled along with Wynssa as she took her back to a room.

Pash watched them leave. He tried to figure out why he thought Wynssa looked so familiar. It wasn’t because she was a holostar. It was something else. He still couldn’t put his finger on it.

Wynssa came back and sat down, curling her legs up under her. "She was exhausted. I don’t think she even woke up the entire time."

"I wonder why she thought you were her mom?"

She shrugged. "I don’t know. Maybe she was dreaming."

"Or maybe there’s something neither one of you are willing to tell me."

She looked at him. No, through him. He could feel her eyes boring holes into his skin. He shivered uncontrollably. "What intentions do you have with Kelly," she asked quietly.

He blinked. "Intentions?" He was completely off-guard. Why would she ask a question like that?

"Intentions. Do you plan on trying to win her affections or just use her for a cheap thrill?"

"No," he said, eyes widening. "I..." He blushed.

"You really like her," she asked smiling. "Don’t you?"

"Am I that obvious?"

"No, I’m a woman who knows these things."

He looked at her for a moment. "Why are you so interested in my feelings for Kelly?"

"I asked first. I promise I’ll tell you after you answer me."

"I met Kelly about two years ago when she came to visit Wedge."

She nodded. "She told me about that."

"Well, we talked and got to know each other a little and... well, I felt at ease with her. More than I really have with anyone before, male or female."

"Yes, she does have that effect on some people. She may seem abrasive at times, but she’s actually very kind and considerate."

"Yeah. That’s a perfect description of her."

"Are you sure you don’t just like her because she’s exactly what your father doesn’t want you to get involved with?"

He looked hard at her. "My father has nothing to do with this. He no longer controls my life."

She nodded approvingly. "Good answer. Anything else?"

"I just want to get to know her a lot better."

Wynssa smiled. "Ok, I guess it’s my turn now. First I had to see what exactly your intentions were for my sister."

His jaw dropped. "Sister?" Everything suddenly fell into place. "Yes, I see now. You both have the same hair color, yet you favor your father and she and Wedge favor your mother."

"Your insight serves you well. Yes, Kelly is my sister. My true name is Syal Antilles. I’m telling you this because she trusts you. And I trust that you will tell no one."

"Of course. But why?"

"Everyone is safer if they don’t know who I really am. I believe Kelly has deep feelings for you, but is afraid to show it. I’m not sure why. Perhaps something happened at some time that I don’t know about. Please don’t tell her I told you. This is really something she should tell you. I think she will when she feels that she can trust you implicitly."

"I understand. And I appreciate your honesty. You don’t get much of that anymore."

"So true. Well, I believe we both should get to bed now. She’ll have us up at the break of dawn."

Kelly rolled over and pulled the pillow over her head. She groaned at the light seeping in through the window. The smell of cooking eggs assaulted her senses and caused her stomach to growl. Mom’s cooking always made her hungry. She finally opened her eyes and looked around. Everything was in place, her desk with the computer on top, her dresser under the window. The only thing missing was the green and silver droid that should have been in the corner. Where’s Winger, she thought as she got up.

She looked down at herself. She was wearing a green blouse and black pants. That wasn’t right. She didn’t have any clothes this nice. Opening the closet, she found it empty. Then her mind clicked back into the present. She wasn’t at home. She was in Syal’s warehouse.

Opening the door, she saw a light down the hall. She moved in that direction and turned a corner. Syal’s protocol droid stood in front of her. "Good morning, Mistress Kelly."

"Good morning TC. Where’s Syal, I mean Wynssa?"

"She is in the living area having breakfast. I was on my way to awaken you."

"What about Pash? Is he up yet?"

"I am not sure. Would you like for me to go check on him?"

"If you would."

"Why of course, Mistress Kelly." The droid teetered off down the hall.

Kelly grinned and moved on into the living area. Syal sat at a table drinking a caf. "Good morning, Sis. How are you?"

"I feel much better," she said pouring her a cup. "A good night’s sleep always helps. How are you this morning?"

"I am well." She looked up as TC-22 entered. "What is it, TC?"

"I am sorry Mistress Wynssa, but I can’t seem to locate Master Pash. He is not in his room, nor anywhere else."

"What do you mean ‘anywhere else’," asked Kelly.

"Nowhere in the warehouse, Mistress Kelly. I cannot detect his presence."

"Oh great. What did I do last night? You don’t think he’s hijacked my ship and left without me, do you?"

"Yeah right," answered Syal. "Get your ship away from that little droid of yours? No way."

"You have a point. I wonder where he went."

As if on cue, Pash entered. "Where who went," he asked rather innocently.

She turned and relief washed over her face. "Where you went. Where have you been?"

"Sorry to worry you," he said as he sat beside Syal. "I just had to do some thinking."

Kelly just stood there watching him, a hand on her hip. "You could have told someone where you were going."

He looked up at her with a sly grin. "Yes mother."

Her jaw slackened and her hand fell from her hip. She sat the cup in her hand on the table and turned away. "I’m going to check on the ship. You can meet me there when you’re ready to leave." She moved towards the door.

His face fell and he looked to Syal for help. Her eyes were throwing daggers at Kelly’s back. She stood suddenly and marched up behind the younger woman. Neither spoke a word aloud. Syal put a hand on her shoulder, which she promptly shrugged off. She turned and looked her sister in the eye. Still nothing verbal was spoken. Both walked out and closed the door behind them leaving the poor young man in dismay.

"He was just teasing," Syal said sternly after the door closed.

"I am not getting involved with a guy who thinks I’m his mother," she responded, arms flailing to emphasize her point.

"He doesn’t think that! Geez, Kel. You were ACTING like a mother. You were acting like OUR mother."

She stared at her sister, her eyes filling with tears. "Great, now tell the whole galaxy. You weren’t there. I wasn’t there either! I should have been, but no, I had to go and be like my big sister."

Syal was stung by her words. "Don’t do this Kel." She wrapped her arms around her to try to warm herself from the chill she was feeling.

"Why? How different would it have been if you had been there for my birthday? You didn’t even send a card." She started crying. The tears she had held back for years were pouring forth.

"I couldn’t. You know that. It’s the same reason it took you over a year to come back here the first time. I couldn’t face mom or dad knowing that I was wrong. I couldn’t face you either."

"Why?"

"Because I love you, princess. You are my only sister and Wedge is my only brother. I love you both. I have hated not knowing what happened to either of you. Yes, I could have tried to get in touch with Wedge, but then where would I be?" Her tears began to fall. "I’ve already put all the blame on myself. I didn’t think you would do it too."

She watched her sister helplessly. She had no idea that Syal had felt that way. Selfish is what she was. Too selfish to think about anyone else’s feelings. She hung her head in shame. "I’m sorry Syal," she whispered.

A familiar tickle at the back of her neck made her turn quickly and pull her lightsaber from its hiding place. She came face to face with a man. His mouth was spread in a ruthless grin. The dark side of the Force flowed off him like a waterfall. She cringed from the fear he projected. Quickly, she checked behind her and saw Syal backing towards the door slowly.

Sudden Dealings

Pash suddenly stood. He had felt the fear flow from Kelly. It was worse than on the Red Dream. "TC, does Wynssa have any weapons here?"

The droid looked at him almost perplexed. "Why yes Master Pash."

"I need something now. Show me where they are."

"Of course," she said as she teetered off down a hall. He followed close on her heels. They entered a room that was literally overflowing with weapons and ammunition.

"Wow," was all Pash could think to say. He dug through and found a blaster rifle and several clips of ammunition. Turning back towards the front, he went upstairs and looked out a window. He shivered when he saw the man. Actually, it was more a large bulk in a coal black cloak. The shape was humanoid, so he deemed it a man.

"There will be none of that," he said with a wave of his arm. Syal bumped into an invisible wall and was suddenly surrounded by it. "You’re the one I want in the first place."

Kelly wondered if he hadn’t noticed her. "Excuse me, but is there some way we can help you?" She held the hilt of her saber lightly in her hand. Igniting it first would mean a quick death.

The menacing eyes turned to her. "You can’t, but this one can. She is untouched. You have already been fouled, you miserable little whelp."

"What did you call me," she asked in shock.

"Come now, you don’t think one as untrained as you could defeat me?"

"I don’t care if I defeat you or not. You are not taking my sister anywhere." Using the Force, she opened the door behind Syal and pushed the shield around her until she was inside. The shield collapsed and she closed the door.

Pash ran down the stairs. "Syal, are you ok?"

She looked up. Her cheeks were tearstained. "I think so. What did Kel do?"

"She pushed you inside." He held out a hand to help her up. They went to the window to watch.

"That was the wrong answer," he said through gritted teeth. "And it will be the last answer you ever give." He pulled his cloak aside and lit his lightsaber. Its blood red blade gave the street an eerie glow. She now had a better look at the man. He was tall and muscular. His dark hair contrasted his pale skin. She didn’t know who he was, but she was taking no chances.

With a snap-hiss, she ignited her own blade, the violet light a strict contrast to the red. Even though she felt she had no chance at winning, she had to try. She was not going to let that thing get its claws on her sister.

Pash took a step back from the window. "I can’t do that," he said.

"Do what," asked Syal.

"She just told me to get out of here. She wants me to get you to safety. That guy out there is after you."

"I can’t leave her. I’m the one who’s supposed the be protecting her!" She looked out the window helplessly. "But, there’s nothing I can do."

"Yes you can," he said holding a hand out to her. "You can get to safety. I’m not leaving her either."

WOULD YOU BOTH JUST LEAVE, Kelly screamed into their heads. This is my fight!

They watched for a moment more, then turned away.

The two blades clashed and hissed. The man pummeled her with a quick flurry of attacks. She blocked them effortlessly, having had to block two blades at once when practicing with Master Aulduin. They crossed blades and both pushed forward. "So, what’s your name," she asked rather casually.

He finally got the upper hand and pushed her away. She stumbled slightly but quickly regained her balance. "Why should I tell you? You will not be able to let anyone know who killed you. And your friends can’t get out of the house to warn anyone." He grinned menacingly.

Kelly kept her lightsaber up in a defensive position and stole a glance at the warehouse. She could feel Syal’s panic. They couldn’t get the back door open. She looked back at the man and shrugged. "Oh well, I guess I’ll just have to try harder to defeat you."

"It’s locked," Pash said as he tried the door again. "I can’t get it to open."

Syal turned to her droid. "TC, override the commands and get the door open."

The protocol droid spoke with the computer that controlled the door. "I am sorry ma’am, but it is being quite stubborn. It says that the door is unlocked and we keep trying to lock it."

"Make him change it!" Syal was getting desperate. She wanted out to get help for her sister.

"I am very sorry."

Pash looked at the pain in her face. There had to be some way to get out. He shifted the blaster rifle from his back and looked at it. "That’s it!"

"What’s it," asked Syal.

"I’ll be right back," he said as he dashed down the hall.

The battle raged outside. Kelly only parried the blows. She could not find an opening to attack. The constant movement was beginning to wear her down.

Her opponent gleefully took note of this. "See how weak you are? You should come to the dark side. It gives you unlimited strength."

"I doubt it’s unlimited," she scoffed. Inwardly she thought he may be right, but she wasn’t going to let him know that. She vaulted herself back out of the dark Jedi’s reach. Pulling in everything she knew of the Force, she regained her focus.

Cortan! I need your help!

Cortan jumped up from where he was cleaning the terminals on a power coupling. He knew she wasn’t here, but as loud as the telepathic message had been, he couldn’t be sure.

Make Winger give you Master Aulduin’s spare lightsaber. I need your help.

His eyes widened and he reached out with the Force. He found her. She was fighting something dark and sinister. "Winger, my friend, we have an emergency." He put down his tools and exited the ship.

KABOOM!

The door was blown off its hinges. TC-22 led the way through the debris. Pash and Syal followed close behind. Luckily, Pash had noticed some thermal detonators in the armory. They had gotten armor and weapons and were now skirting the edge of the warehouse.

The explosion nearly knocked Kelly off her feet. She looked over and saw that her opponent had not been as lucky. She took that opportunity to charge forward. She swung her blade down at him and he rolled under it. Her vertical swipe was blocked. She flipped over his body and landed behind him as he stood.

She tried to thrust forward with her blade, but he countered, spinning his own behind him. Her blows came quick and furious, but still he blocked each one. However, she was able to push him back towards the warehouse. A flash of light to the side caught her eye.

Her opponent flinched as the red bolt hit his arm. Kelly looked over and saw Pash and Syal firing blasters. They must have caused the explosion. She was glad they were ok, but wished that had left as she had asked.

The dark Jedi switched his concentration to the new threat. A high-pitched whine could be heard and Kelly saw Syal drop her blaster and Pash throw his. Within seconds, both exploded. She used this distraction to come down and cut into his leg. He hissed in pain and returned his attention to her.

Syal looked down at the smoldering blaster. "Damn. What are we going to do now?"

"Wait, I guess," replied Pash. He was frustrated. There was nothing he could do to help her now. Anything else he might try would only get them killed.

Syal looked past him. "I think the cavalry is on its way."

He turned and looked in the direction she was and saw Kelly’s hopeful savior approaching.

They both were getting tired. The blows were fewer and not as powerful. They crossed blades and pushed in to each other. "I think this is going to be a draw," she said with a smile.

"There is no way I would allow that to happen," he snarled in her face. "You will die, young one."

"Not today, old one." Kelly pushed forward with all her remaining strength.

The man stumbled back and right into Cortan. He was shocked to see a bright white blade protruding from his chest. "This... can’t... be... happening." The blade shut off and his body dropped to the ground.

Kelly looked down and shook her head. "It pays to have friends." She saw his last breath escape.

"Nice timing, don’t you think," asked Cortan with a smile.

She smiled and wiped sweat from her brow. "The Force controls everything. You were destined to do that. Like you are destined to teach my sister about the Force."

He looked at her stunned. "I can’t do that. I don’t know enough myself."

"I can’t do it, so I want you to."

Any further arguments were cut off as Syal and Pash ran up to them. Syal threw her arms around her sister. "That was wonderful! You truly are strong in the Force."

"Yeah, well," she said blushing.

Pash shook Cortan’s hand. "How did you know to come?"

"A little bird told me," he grinned looking at Kelly.

Kelly finally squirmed out of Syal’s grasp. "I think we better get this thing off the street." She looked down at the body and saw that all that was left was the cloak and lightsaber. "Strange."

"Not really," said Cortan. "He must have prepared himself for death."

"Or some kind of contingency. Let’s go inside anyway."

Good-byes

Kelly collapsed on the couch. "I haven’t worked that hard in a while."

"You were great," said Pash as he sat beside her. He reached his hand out to take hers. She didn’t pull away.

"I’m glad you heard me, Cortan."

"I am too," he replied. "That actually felt very satisfying."

"You’ll find that defeating evil does that." She grinned at the man. Even though he was old enough to be her father, she was giving him advice. "You should try it more often."

"Who was he anyway," asked Syal.

Her sister shrugged. "I have no idea. I’ll have to remember to ask Master Aulduin about him. Maybe he knows something."

The group sat in reflective silence until Pash patted Kelly’s leg and stood. "I think we better get moving. We need to get to the rendezvous point."

"You’re right," Kelly said as she pushed herself up. "Thanks for letting us stay here, Wynssa."

"The pleasure was all mine, Kelly. I hope to see you again."

"I’m sure you will," she said knowingly. Turning to Cortan, she embraced the man. "Thanks for fixing up my ship. I’m sure it runs even better than before." She handed him the mystery Jedi’s blade. "Keep this. You may need it one day."

"I hope not," he said with a chuckle and handed her Aulduin’s lightsaber. "Good luck to you both, and may the Force be with you."

And remember, she said to him telepathically. You’re supposed to train my sister.

He just smiled in response.

Pash gave Syal a hug and shook Cortan’s hand. "And with you also, friend." He turned with Kelly and they left for the spaceport.

Cortan turned to Syal after the couple was gone. "Well, young lady, I think you and I have something we need to talk about."

The ship did fly better. Kelly was amazed at how well the Revenge performed. She had made sure to test it thoroughly before leaving the system. Pash said he thought he was in a snubfighter and not a freighter. She merely grinned.

Finally, she keyed in the coordinates for the jump and went into hyperspace. It was going to take a few hours, so she decided she needed a little meditation time. She went in her room to change and found something in her pocket. It was a data chip. She slipped it into her pad and turned it on.

There was a note and an attachment for her from Syal. The letter gave her a mail address where she and Wedge could keep in touch with her. The attachment was Syal’s own personal code. She smiled and put the chip in a safe place, right behind the picture of Mom, Dad, and Wedge.

She stopped by where Pash was playing holochess with Winger on her way to the cargo bay. "I’m going to go meditate for a while."

"Ok," he said not looking up from the board.

She stood uneasily for a moment. "There’s something I need to tell you before I go back there."

That caught his attention. "What?"

"You’ve probably guessed this already, but," she paused. This was something that had to be done, but she just didn’t know how to say it. Just give it to him straight, she thought. "Well, Wynssa is actually Syal Antilles, my sister."

He looked her in the eyes. "You’re right."

"About what?"

"I did figure it out. I am glad you told me, though. At least I know you trust me."

She smiled. "Yes, I do trust you."

Kelly sat at the controls and began the reversion into realspace. She felt refreshed after meditating for three hours, so she was only mildly surprised when they arrived in a desolate system. "Ok, where is everyone?"

Pash checked the radar. "Nothing. And I don’t detect anything that shows anyone being here in the past day or so."

This was getting curious. "Winger, scan all known Rebel frequencies. See if somebody left a note."

The droid did as he was told and quickly found a signal being continually rebroadcast. He pulled the message up on Kelly’s screen.

"It’s got another set of coordinates. The first one must be a decoy."

"Let’s put them in and go," Pash said with a smile.

She looked at him, smiled and winked. "As you wish, boss."

The stars soon expanded as they dove into hyperspace once again.

Warning klaxons blasted as they emerged from hyperspace. "What the...?" Kelly jumped up and saw that several ships had automatic weapons locks on her ship. "Whoa! Wait a minute."

The comm beeped. "Unknown ship, please identify yourself."

"This is the Zena’s Revenge. I have Captain Pash Cracken aboard. We need to see General Rieekan and find Rogue Squadron." Please don’t shoot, she thought.

Looking down the throats of three Mon Calamari warships was not fun. Time seemed to creep by until the comm lit up again. "Zena’s Revenge, you have permission to land aboard the Home One. Both the General and Rogue Squadron are stationed there. An X-Wing escort will be along shortly. Welcome home, Captains."

Kelly saw two X-Wings moving to flank her ship. One of the birds hailed them. "Good evening, we are your escorts. Please follow us to your desired destination."

She immediately recognized the pilot’s voice. "Wes Janson, is that you?"

"Well, well," he replied with a chuckle. "If it isn’t Shorty. Welcome back!"

"I’m glad you’re ok. How are Wedge and Hobbie?"

"Hobbie is on your other wing." She looked out and waved to the pilot to her port side. "Now Wedge, well..."

"Janson," she said sternly.

"He’s fine. You should have seen the shot I made to take down an AT-AT. It was beautiful."

Wes continued his story as they approached Home One. Once there, he had to stop. "Hey, we have more duties to get to. Stay around long enough for me to finish that story, ok?"

"Will do, Wes. Good luck." The two X-Wings peeled off and circled under the Mon Calamari cruiser they were approaching.

She put the Revenge down softly on the deck and began shutting down. She stole a glance at Pash. He was gathering his things and preparing to leave. She sighed and went about her own business.

About ten minutes later, Pash returned to the bridge. "I have all my things. I better go give my report to General Rieekan."

"Ok," she replied quietly without looking up.

"Are you planning to stay around for a while?"

Her shoulders rose in a shrug. "I don’t know. It depends on if they have a job for me already."

He nodded. "Well then, I guess I should say goodbye now."

She didn’t respond.

His shoulders dropped. He had hoped that she wouldn’t want him to leave. Shaking his head in exasperation, he turned to leave.

"Hey Red."

He looked over his shoulder. "Yeah?"

She turned around to face him. "It was really nice getting to work with you. I hope we can do it again sometime."

"We make a pretty good team, don’t we," he said with a smile.

"We do." She looked him in the eyes. "Good luck."

"Thanks. You too." His eyes lingered on hers for a moment more before he walked out.

"Red?"

He stopped and turned around. She had gotten up and was walking towards him.

"You were about to leave without getting a ‘good-bye’ kiss." She grabbed him by the front of his jacket and pulled him to her. Their lips met and she was pleasantly surprised when he returned the kiss.

His mind reeled at the sensation. It something he had never felt before. The whole galaxy seemed insignificant for the few moments of their embrace. He wrapped his arms around her and wished the moment to never end.

Reluctantly, she pulled away from him. "You better go," she said softly as she straightened his jacket. "I’m sure the General is waiting on you."

"You’re probably right," he said. He looked down uncomfortably.

She pulled his chin up to look in his eyes. "Don’t worry. I won’t forget about you. After that kiss, I can’t forget you." She grinned.

He smiled. "Good. Keep in touch, ok?"

"That’s a promise."

The End