Then reality reasserted itself, along with the words she was tossing in my direction. I opened my eyes, still smiling but now that smile was tinged with the tiniest touch of regret. If not also wariness: a wariness not aimed at Thea although it was toward her that my smile was still directed.

"That's good to hear, hon, I mean that you are stronger now. I'm sure there are some classrooms here on Hornett that you could attend, as far as regular schooling goes, that is. Maybe your friend here would like to join you as well in this."

I turned toward Link, smiled at her, and laughed to myself to see the look of near horror which briefly skittered across her features. Then I turned back to Thea, reached out with both hands now and cupped her face between them. My smile disappeared; I wanted her to know that the words I was about to say were not to be taken in jest.

"Honey, look. I know you want to be a jedi, I know you're meant to be one, or else you never would have been admitted to the Praxeum to begin with. But I just can't see now how this can be done."

I drew in a deep breath, flinching inwardly to see the lightness of her features beginning to cloud. Still cupping her face, I ran my thumb along her cheekbone before releasing her entirely to then run a hand through my hair.

"I don't think there are many Jedi left, hon, and I haven't a clue where to find any. It's not as simple as you seem to think it is, I mean, I just can't up and enroll you in some handy-dandy Jedi school.

"And as for the crystal..."

I paused again, shaking my head.

"I don't know where to find these. If I did, I'd get you the biggest and the brightest one. But this is something Jedi know about, and I'm no Jedi."

Now a thundercloud threatened to erupt in Thea's eye; I couldn't stand that.

"Maybe Captain Barnes knows something that might help," I hurried on before she could say anything.

"Let me go talk a bit with him; in the meanwhile, why don't you and Link just keep on playing your game here, and you get some rest.

"Thank you, Link, for being here," I finished, reaching out to give the Ryn a quick little hug. Then I rose to my feet, took Aaron by the arm and dragged him at a stately run from the medical bay.

"I don't know what to do with that kid," I broke out with as we moved on down the corridor without the med-bay.

"She's not only got her heart set on being a Jedi, she's got a mindset about it that's stronger than durasteel. I really hate to disappoint the kid; maybe we might find something at this Valley of the Jedi that you mentioned back there?

"Dammit, I wish Shawn was available..."

But if wishes were opees then Gungans would ride... well, more so than they already did. Shaking my head, I finally noticed the lines of worry creasing Aaron's face, and remembered his earlier words.

"Map? Fiere?" I stated in somewhat of a non sequiteur as, my worries about Thea finally set to one side, I began at last to digest not only those earlier spoken words of his but the dark nuances they carried with them upon their backs.

--------------------

"He doesn't understand, Link. I can do it. I've been teaching myself pretty much since I left the Praxeum. I borrowed a couple books from the library there right before leaving. I still have them in this bag. The librarian said they were good technique references for students who might be having trouble. I've been reading them and practicing. And I have kept up the exercises I was taught by my first Masters. I can lift things now without too much trouble and move things and I made one lightsaber. I just need some scrap metal and something for a switch and a safety turnoff. I can find all that on the ship. I'll just ask a tech for whatever cast offs they have lying around. I can at least get that done before we find a new crystal. I will be a Jedi, Link. Even if I have to learn it all on my own."

Thea stared off at the door, refusing to believe any of what Yaoksi said.

--------------------

...and I've never even heard of it." He frowned. "As for Thea, I think she's clueless as to what the state of affairs of the universe are...

...and I don't think she's too young to know any longer, especially not if she wants to become a Jedi."

He paused, then a thought struck him. "Hey, didn't that Thoran say Shawn was with everyone on K'eel Doba? I wonder if he knows what the Valley of the Jedi is..."

He trailed, his look growing vague for a moment as they came up on a small engineering wing nearby the captain's office. In the center of it was a row of computer consols, and in front of one of those consols was a group of men, some standing, some sitting...

...and all looking fairly wide-eyed. As Aaron and Yaoksi approached, several of the men parted so that Aaron could get a good look at the terminal. "What am I looking at?" he asked.

"A map described by the files as the Rebuilt Fierre. It looks very similar to Coruscant...

...but according to our databases, there was a planet by the name of Fierre."

Aaron cocked a brow. "There was? It's no longer in existence?"

"Well, not exactly. It's still around, but it's uninhabitable. Apparently a native from the planet named Hethrir, who was a student of Darth Vader, unleashed a virus on the planet and destroyed it. Whoever had these plans made up...

...feels Fierre deserves much more than that. They've marked their rebuilt plans as the galactic capital...

...have placed all the other planets on the map...

...except one. Coruscant isn't even there."

--------------------

I took out my blaster and set it down in front of me and stared at it for a moment.

"For the past 14 years that has been my only friend..."

After staring at it for a moment longer I slowly raised my head to look at Thea.

"Now I have you and Yaoksi. I don't know what is so special about this crystal that you need and what makes it so hard to find, but I'm sure with my skills that it shouldn't be to hard to do... righy?"

--------------------

Sure as shootin' there was no Coruscant.

"Now that's just impossible!" I burst out with as I straightened to look everyone in their collective eyes. All I got in return were various and sundry looks that all had one thing in common: they were very worried.

Aaron's most of all.

"Well it is!" I went on, albeit in a bit less of an intense manner than before.

"This has to be wishful thinking or something on the part of someone who is very sick; there's no way in the creation of all that is that anyone is going to take Coruscant out and supplant it with-- with-- well, with whatever place that is supposed to be."

I waved a hand toward the map, continued staring at the eyes all around me. They in turn continued to stare back, the degree of consternation within them not lessening one whit.

"Well... isn't it?" I ended, turning to pin Aaron with my own look of rising concern and doubt.

--------------------

--------------------

Looking over to Yaoksi, Aaron's look only darkened further. "I might not be entirely thrilled with the Empire, but I certainly am not thrilled with whomever this lady is. We need to have discussions with the New Empire...

...and we need to present those files..."

He paused, looking over to the main technician. "Right after we have our own copies of it."

The technician nodded. "Already done, sir," he replied.

Aaron nodded, his eyes vague. Glancing at his chrono a bit nervously, he counted the hours to reversion in his head. "We've got eight standard hours of hyperspace travel left," he observed out loud, turning once more to Yaoksi. "You may want to get some rest, and I probably should do the same...

...but at the moment, with the events upcoming, I think all I really want is a good drink. This is a load of dangerous information we're going to try to use for entrance into Khar Delban space. If I didn't have friends down there in who knows what kind of straights, I don't know that the best option wouldn't be to simply hand this information over as is, because of what it is."

He paused then, another thought occurring. He turned back to the technician. "What about that stuff about the coordinates to a Valley of the Jedi? Did anyone find out what that was?"

"Well, we're not exactly sure what it is sir," the technician replied. "But we do know one thing. Some guy, who was involved with this Hethrir person according to our records, used it to create some powerful Dark Jedi known as the...

...the Reborn."

The technician's final word fell into dead silence.

--------------------

He paused, wondering why Lord Thoran hadn't noticed this for himself; hyperspace could be seen from every duraplast window on the ship.

"Do you need something else, Sir?"

--------------------

Thoran ran his hand through his hair, then blew out a long breath.

“Is the captain available?” he asked.

--------------------

I knew I could trust Yaoksi and Aaron they are more or less in the same boat as me on the lines of legality, and I knew I could trust Thea but any jedi we ran into might be a different story.

"If you want to know where to find the parts you need for a lightsaber you might want to ask Aaron, this is his ship. Then we can do find them, it may be good for you to walk around."

--------------------

Thea looked cautiously at Link. She wasn't sure what her friend was going to think of her ideas. She glanced briefly towards the door. Thea was ready to get out of the medical wing and go exploring but she was unsure whether or not she would be allowed to yet.

"Link, do you think they'll let me leave here? No one has told me I can get out of bed yet. I don't really want to go if it would worry anyone, but I don't want to stay here either."

--------------------

"I don't think you understand what exactly slicing is and what I do but that can wait for another time."

I stood up and gently grabbed Thea's hand.

"If your worried about things like if you can leave lets just ask Aaron if its ok."

I took a comm unit and handed it to Thea.

"Go ahead and ask him."

--------------------

Heistantly she pushed the comlink on and called, "Aaron, umm it's Thea. I was... wondering... if I can ... go ... somewhere. Umm out of bed."

Thea glanced at Link and waited for a response.

--------------------

So much so that Aaron was completely oblivious to the quiet meeping of his commlink.

I waited a moment or two longer before finally deciding to break the odd, crystalline silence.

"Umm, Aaron--?" I said, nodding toward his wrist.

--------------------

"I guess I was caught up in the moment, and some thoughts of rumors I've heard of the New Empire utilizing some people known as Reborn for troops or something. Might be a coincidence...

...but I don't know."

He shrugged it off, albeit only momentarily. "Let's see what this is," he then commented, pushing his commlink.

Immediately Thea's message came through the wristcomm's small speaker. Aaron raised an eyebrow, and glanced towards Yaoksi, his eyes all but asking him what he thought they should do about Thea's peculiar request.

In the meantime, he sent out a reply, however. "What is it you want to do, Thea?" he queried, falling silent at that.

--------------------

--------------------

"Well I really just want to move." She thought a minute more. "And clean up. I haven't washed or changed my clothes since before that explosion in the hangar. I feel kind of dirty and restless that's all."
She hoped Aaron would think that this little bit of activity was ok. Now that she was thinking about it she noticed a slight odor coming from her shirt.

--------------------

"Sure you can get cleaned up," Aaron responded simply. "in fact, I'd imagine you might be a bit hungry too. I'll tell the head medical technician to take you to some quarters where you can clean up, then you and Cel can go for some food. If you wait just a minute, let me talk to the med tech."

With that, Aaron changed his comm frequency, and requested that the medical techician take Thea to some suites nearby the infirmary. Certain that this would be done, Aaron returned to Cel's commlink frequency.

"Thea, Cel, the medical technician will walk you to some suites in a moment, ok? If you need anything else, let me know."

--------------------

"I find myself unable to sleep further," he said. "If he should require me, he should find himself free to call upon me. I will be-- well, doing something anyway until then."

Thoran released the button and walked to the video unit on the wall.

"Show me the location of Erik Kartan," he said.

Nothing happened.

Thoran puzzled.

"Show me the location of Aelvedaar."

Still nothing.

He went back to the com on the wall and pressed the button.

"By the way," he said. "I think your revealer is broken... oh, wait."

He released the button and sat on the bed.

"Maybe a tad little bit more rest would be nice, and give me something to do while waiting for that captain."

--------------------

Turning to Link she said, "So are you hungry too? Should we eat something and go back to our game?"

--------------------

It actually didn't take that long to clean it all but took forever to brush her tail so that the fur didn't have anymore knots. While Thea sported a new dress Cel just donned her old cloths again.
A dress on a warship... thats going to stickout.

"Some food would be good. As for our game, this ship most likely has some sabac players as well, since the best way to learn is by playing the real thing we should try to find some. Its a great way to kill time, but mostly earn credits."

--------------------

--------------------

He shook his head and redressed into his black tunic.

“Well,” he said to the empty shadows. “If I’m going to pace then I’m going somewhere with a better view.”

He picked up the pass card, stuck it in his pocket, and left the room. Closing the door, he attempted to retrace his steps to the lounge. After wandering for a bit, he finally found himself standing once again in the doorway of the Blue Asteroid.

“Hello!” he called in. “I believe that you still owe me a meal. Is it ready yet?”

[ 11-21-2006 11:20 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Thoran ]

--------------------

Blinked.

Yaoksi, this is an SSD, not the understories on Coruscant. It's Eagle Enterprises, not the wilds of Dagobah.

What harm can come to Thea in this environment? Let her stretch her wings a little...

I blinked again, and quietly closed my mouth.

There's more to being a jedi than flashing a lightsaber around, after all. The kid needs to grow up.

My former thought reminded me of Aaron's earlier dire revelations; now all outlandish worry about anything happening to Thea while she was on the Hornett disappeared into the mists and was promptly replaced with a newer and more realistic one.

What in blazes was that file about, the one which showed Coruscant replaced by... by...

...well, by something new and unknown and more than likely something the majority of the galaxy was not going to like very much.

I let a puff of air escape my lips then, one with another directly on its heels.

Who the hell are the Reborn? Or, what?

Shaking my head, I ran my hand through my hair.

"I need a drink," I announced in something of a non sequiteur.

"I'm going to the Blue Asteroid, have a couple nightcaps, and then get a good eight hours. THEN I might be able to come up with some kind of idea as to how I'm going to react to what you just told me, pal; but as for now, it's too much for this ol' spacer to even begin thinking about."

Nodding to Aaron I finished by inviting him to come join me when he finished whatever it was he was busy with at the moment. Then turning on my heel, I retraced my steps to the posh little space lounge the Hornett boasted of:

The Blue Asteroid...

Pausing only fractionally at the doorway into the lounge, I took a quick gander around. Nothing looked scary, no one looked deadly.

Yaoksi ol' pirate, quit looking for ghosts. Just because you've been made privy to what was in the file Cel hacked into...

I shot a furtive glance around again, my gut wobbling between trying to tell me to keep on my toes, and yammering loudly for me to fill it with something tall and cool that bit. Nothing looked untoward; sniffing little, I stuck my hands in my pockets and bellied up to the bar where I ordered a Whyrene's Reserve on ice.

[ 11-21-2006 11:43 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Yaoksi Joao ]

--------------------

Reborn, evil ladies, Jedi at risk, a Sith on his ship...

...and Terrin, Galen, and the guys alive and well in the Sith worlds. Kriffing hell, this trip wasn't moving fast enough...

...and this was all a bit more than he was used to dealing with. A drink sounded REALLY good...

"Find out more about these Reborn," Aaron then said to the head technician, "And about this Fierre planet, and about its people. I'd love to know why someone would be so interested in making it the center of our galaxy. Give me a comm when you get finished...

...because in the meantime, I sure need a drink too."

As the technician nodded then, Aaron gracefully bowed out of the room, heading for the Blue Asteroid. It didn't take him long to make his way the entrance...

...only to find n Lord Thoran standing at the door about to go in himself, calling in about some sort of meal someone owed him.

Aaron paused, cocking a brow as he looked at the Sith. "They have some wonderful nerfsteak on the menu," he opened with, "And it goes well with a good mug or two of Whyrene's Reserve. Care to join my buddy and I for some?"

--------------------