Elsewhere in the system…


With just the slightest amount of pressure Jag depressed the hand-sized control pad on the arm of his chair and the engines hummed to life with a purr rather than a roar. Everything about this alien ship was subtle and refined and Jag should have been very pleased that he now had a functional ship instead of the wreck of a 302 he’d barely managed to not crash land on this planet.

Yeah, just great…except for one little thing. Too bad the Ancients or Celestials or whoever they were didn’t think to put a hyperdrive engine in these ships.

Jag pressed down on the control pad with his fingers, the engines went offline and he sat back in his chair and rubbed his eyes. He’d promised Kiera he’d get back as soon as he could and as soon as he could was looking more and more like a pretty long time from now. He had enough data from the 302 to know his blind jump had put him far into the Rishi Maze. And though it was only a dwarf galaxy that was big enough to make a journey on sublights a long slow one. He was a long ways from Reesh. He wouldn’t be an old man by the time he got there in this ship, but he would be a mature one.

Jag sat there for a couple more minutes feeling a little despondent and then he jumped out of the pilot’s chair and exited the ship.

“Spectre!” He yelled. “Where the blazes are you? We need to get the com array working so we can contact Reesh to come and get us.”

“I’m busy!” The droid fired back from somewhere below and that snapped Jag’s patience in two.

“Unless you want to be obsolete by the time we get to anything approximating civilization, you’ll get your metal can up here!”

Spectre was a droid and as such could process and correlate faster than any sentient brain could ever hope to. Moreover, despite the personality he regularly manifested he was programmed to serve his master and right now the data was telling him that his customary personality was not in his master’s best interests. There was no doubt about it; three months frustrated isolation on this outpost was having a deleterious effect on Jagged’s personality. The sooner Spectre got him out of here and reunited with Kiera (who had a definite positive effect on Jagged’s personality) the better. Abandoning the console he’d plugged himself into, Spectre rolled out into the middle of the control room and projected his voice upwards.

“I can either come up there and help you fix the com array or you can come down here and I’ll show you how to get back to Reesh in what in my estimation would be a few seconds.”

Dead silence, followed by the sound of approaching footsteps.

“Coming down now.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Are you saying this is a network of Infinity gates within the Rishi Maze?” Jag asked as he stared at the display Spectre had pulled up on the computer.

“Yes. Apparently they used these ships to travel between gates.”

“That’s why they only have sublight engines.” Jag mused. “They didn’t need FTL drives on all their ships. They only needed one – Destiny.” Jag peered more closely at the script on the screen and frowned. He still couldn’t really read any of this with anything approaching proficiency. “Spectre, what does this say?”

“There are codes here, Jag, for all the gates. I’ve isolated the main gate on Reesh.” The droid replied. “We could activate it and just walk through, but I think it would be a lot more fun to fly back.”

Jag turned to his droid with a grin in place. “Oh, I absolutely agree.” He looked up through the opening to the hanger bays. “They dropped them down through there and then it was just a fast cruise through a wormhole; ingenious.”

“Jag, could we maybe admire their ingenuity from Reesh?”

Alex Skywalker had just disconnected from his holocom call with Nial Barris and was already sensing the rising alarm emanating from somewhere inside headquarters when his comlink chimed. Snatching it up he answered with a terse, “Skywalker here.”

“Grandmaster, the Infinity gate in the main control room just activated by itself.” A tense paladin voice informed him.

“On my way.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Any explanation?” Alex Skywalker asked Kol Keshyr, the lead Paladin scientist on the Infinity Gate project. Together they watched the event horizon of the wormhole form up.

“Someone somewhere dialed the correct access code to open our gate. Not only that, they shut down the shield and we can’t override and put the shield up. Since the only known gates outside the Maze no longer exist, my best guess is that this is coming from inside the Maze.” Kol explained.

“Which means this isn’t the GA.” Alex remarked. “The question remains though is this friend or foe?” Alex looked back over his shoulder at the line of Jedi forming up.
All eyes were riveted on the gate, Paladins with lightsabers in hand were not tense, but they were ready for whatever was about to walk through the gate. And that’s just what they expected, beings or machines to come walking through. What they didn’t expect was a sleek cylinder of a ship flying through and hovering over them. Alex Skywalker looked up into the ship’s cockpit and just shook his head.

“Stand down.” He ordered his Paladins and managed to not quite glare at Jag. Jag grinned back and pointed upward as his ship rose.

Beside Alex, Kol Keshyr’s gaze followed the ship. “Well that answers that. I rather suspected something like this.”

“You did. And you never thought to mention it to me.” Alex was beginning to really understand why the grandmasters he’d known seemed to have such a limited supply of patience. Kol just spread his arms and shrugged.

“No ships, no codes. It was only a theory. Wonder where he got the ships and the codes.”

“Why don’t we go find out.”

Jag was not one to show how relieved he felt, but then he remembered he was in the presence of a Jedi grandmaster and gave it up as a lost cause. Still he was one for putting up a certain bravado.

“Kiera around?” He asked as he exited the “gate jumper”, practically walking straight into Alex Skywalker’s arms. Evidently it was exactly the right thing to say for Alex’s annoyance dissipated.

“I’m sorry, Jag, she’s away on a mission.” The grandmaster replied and almost shifted his feet in guilt. “In fact, she’s not in the Maze at the moment.”

“She’s not off in that little delta of hers, is she?” Jag asked, and that did evoke the hint of a guilty shift.

“Noooo.” Alex strung out the word. “She’s off in the Phoenix.”

“Great, just great. I nearly get killed, do get stranded and what do I find when I finally manage to rescue myself? My girl and my ship are both gone.” He plaintively hung his head, then looked up at Alex. “So, what’s for dinner? I’m starving. I’ve been eating rations left over from the Mandolorian Wars for the last three months – and I don’t mean the recent Mandolorian Wars either. And Spectre really needs an oil bath.”

“You’ve already talked to Kiera.” Alex wearily replied. There were days…

“OF course I’ve already talked to Kiera. I knew I only had one shot at a com call. You didn’t think I was going to waste it on you, did you?”

Reminding himself that Jag was not a Paladin but had more than proved himself to the Paladin Order, Alex smiled. “I wouldn’t expect anything less. Come on and let’s find you a decent meal. And just to show you how grateful I am for your timely return I’m going to allow you to accompany me on an important mission.”

“You’re not serious, are you?”

“Oh, I’m very serious. I think you’re just the man I need when I go parlay with Saul the Hutt.”

As he trailed Alex Skywalker out of the hanger bay, Jag reminded himself to never again try and one-up a Jedi grandmaster. It just didn’t pay.

Daniel Solo had no friends. He had little family interaction at all. In short, he had become a loner and liked it that way. It had been just over three months since the death of his estranged brother Daven, and Daniel had reacted in a way that had distanced himself from his family and friends. Daniel had always been to himself, having spent years undercover as a Jedi during the Mandalorian Wars, and upon his brother's death during the attack on the Jedi Temple, Daniel's isolation was complete.

People grieved differently, and Daniel knew it was hard to reconcile with people who grieved in a way you could not accept. While Daniel had become depressive and angry, Jena had begun her path of acceptance, and that was something Daniel could not respect or understand. How could she just...move on? Daven deserved better than that. Alex Skywalker had been too busy to grieve with the split of the Jedi Order and now the Civil War, and that was also something Daniel took issue with.

With three months gone, Daniel had become slightly more open to other people's reactions to Daven's death, as well as his alleged killing of Grand Master Ahdar Grae, which started this whole mess. However, he wasn't willing to forgive and forget, nor did he think he could. He had said some terrible things to his family, had few friends to begin with before he closed himself off in his quarters, and had done little to help in the war against the Galactic Alliance.

Throughout his time on Reesh, Daniel had spent most of his time in his quarters dwelling and studying various aspects of the Galaxy. Most importantly, Daniel had spent countless hours going over the events that shaped his life in his head. His parents' deaths, the murder of Ziara Skywalker and Sarin Mehn on Hapes, and then the deaths of Ahdar Grae and Daven Solo. The events all seemed linked to him, to the point where he believed it was all orchestrated.

His vision just before the attack on Reesh three months ago of a very much alive but evil Daven had greatly added to his paranoia. Daniel would often crash when he thought about some of his conspiracies- that Daven was alive, that Ahdar Grae was alive, that someone, somewhere was covering up something. Mandalorians. Sith. Loyalists. Daniel didn't know nor care. As long as it meant Daven alive or trigger some outcome to end this war that was tearing apart the life Daniel had grown up in.

In his isolation, Daniel had become restless and decided after three months that it was his time to do something. He knew he couldn't face his fellow Jedi, couldn't throw himself into the war lightsaber in hand. It, first of all, had never been his style. He much preferred helping from behind the scenes. But he also couldn't deal with the beings who had either known Daven, or were there when he died.

And so as Daniel exited his quarters near midnight, he walked purposefully and with a brisk pace to the Jedi Council Chambers, where Alex Skywalker was waiting for him. He had contacted Alex via comlink a few hours previously, to set up the meeting. His uncle had been surprised to hear from Daniel after his nephew had ignored any attempts, whether by comm or personal visit, to reconcile their family.

Daniel was dressed in a simple dark tunic, his hair tousled and he hadn't shaved in months. Alex smiled, rather awkwardly, as Daniel entered the Chambers, and rose from his seat and outstretched his arms to signal a hug. Daniel walked awkwardly up to Alex and hugged him briefly, but the small gesture seemed to brighten up Alex, who had a lively look in his eye.

This saddened Daniel, for he knew his uncle was thinking this would lead to his long awaited reconcile. And Daniel knew he was only going to have to disappoint him. "Hi, Master Skywalker."

"Please Daniel, no need for titles," Alex said and sat back down in his chair, then motioning for Daniel to do the same. "I'm your uncle. Not your master."

Daniel accepted the seat and sat down to Alex's right and said, "Ok, Uncle. It is...good, to see you again."

"With both of us living in the same temple, it is rather sad that we haven't seen each other in a while," Alex said slowly, carefully. "Especially with everything that has happened. We need to stand together."

Daniel paused, not responding right away. He wanted desparatly to leave. He couldn't talk about this. Finally, he breathed deeply and said, "I didn't come here for that. I have a mission I'd like you to sanction for me."

Alex seemed genuinly surprised, "A mission?"

"Daven is alive, and I know it," Daniel said, and when Alex's face contorted into a 'knowing parent' look, he said quickly, "I do not care if you don't believe me. I had a vision where my brother was alive. I believe there has been a cover up. Everything that has happened in the past four months...it's been almost storybook. You cannot deny that. I want to go search for him and I need you to sanction my leave."

This time it was Alex's turn to pause. Finally, after a few moments, he said, "Daniel, your brother is dead. We can't bring him back. There is no point in this. We need you here."

"I can't stay here. Not when I have this sinking suspicion that Daven is alive, albeit in trouble. I need this, for him, for me. Uncle- please. I'm not asking you to believe me, I'm asking you to trust me. To understand me," Daniel said.

Alex frowned, clearly in thought. Finally, he placed his left hand on Daniel's shoulder and looked him in the eyes. "I trust that you believe your brother is alive. I also trust you to not waste your time, even in this fragile state you are in. And I also trust that you need this...journey, to help you heal. So yes, you have my permission to leave for this mission. I'll sanction it."

Daniel smiled, and both uncle and nephew stared awkwardly at each other. Daniel broke the silence by saying, "Thank you...for understanding. I'm going to go now."

"Ok, if you must, "Alex said. Daniel rose to leave and Alex said as he was leaving, "Oh, and Daniel. Be careful and may the Force be with you. I love you."

Daniel took this in and said, "May the Force be with you as well. Good-bye."

"She's finally coming around."ť Frau Kloryn motioned for Jag to step in and take her place a Kiera's bedside. Kiera looked up at him, confused and befuddled.

"Hello, Sweetheart."ť Jag spoke softly. "How are you feeling?"ť

Kiera looked around, trying to get her bearings. Her mind was so foggy and clouded. "What happened?"

"You went EV over Taanab."ť Jag explained.

"Taanab? Oh yes, I remember Taanab." Kiera's voice trailed away in confusion. Events were so jumbled up in her mind. "How long have I been out of things?"ť

"About a week." Jag replied. "You were pretty banged up; head injury, some broken bones. Master Kloryn put you in a deep healing trance. You're all healed up now." He sat down on the bed facing Kiera and took her hand. "What's wrong?"

Instead of answering him, Kiera pressed her other hand to her abdomen as if searching inward. A fleeting look of pain crossed her face.

"Jag, this may sound a little crazy, but did you disappear during the Rishi Maze battle, get lost in the Maze for awhile?"

Jag had no idea where Kiera was going with this but with a reassuring nod from the Jedi healer he answered her truthfully.

"It got a little hairy during that battle, but I was right by your side for every minute of it. Don't you remember the two of us landing in Destiny's hanger bay?"

Evidently she didn't, but judging by her expression Kiera was trying to sort things out. "I had the strangest dream." She murmured.

Master Kloryn bent down and touched Kiera's forehead. With the master's touch Kiera's face smoothed out. "You had a head injury; coupled with a deep healing trance, I not surprised you've had some strange dreams. Things will right themselves soon enough." The healer reassured her. "A few more days' rest and you'll be fine. Now I think I will leave the two of you alone."

Jag and Kiera watched the healer leave and then Jag turned back to Kiera. "Tell me about your dream."ť He said.

After a moment Kiera began to talk. She told Jag the whole strange dream episode. Telling him seemed to divest her of the emotions she'd felt over something that had never happened. But still her expression was a little sad when all was said and done. Jag leaned forward, kissed her and pressed his cheek against hers.

"We'll have a baby, someday, when it's right. I promise. But first things first."

"First we need to give him or her a better galaxy to live in." Kiera agreed. Then her arms went around her husband and she held him close to her. She'd only lost him in her dreams, but that was enough.

As Kiera yawned and stretched Jag came out of the refresher, crossed over to the window and changed the privacy curtain setting to "see out", filtering in the early morning light. As always the view from the quarters uplifted Kiera. It was just so beautiful on this pristine planet. She was glad that Frau Kloryn had consented to her leaving the infirmary for the privacy of their room, and she was dutifully resting as ordered. More than the healer knew, Kiera herself realized she needed that rest. But as much as she could hide from a Jedi healer, she couldn't hide from her husband. For someone who had zero Force sensitivity he read her like a holobook. He was looking at her now, frowning.

"You've got that look on your face again." Jag sighed. "You really don't remember anything from the Battle over Reesh to coming out of the healing trance, do you?"

"No, not really." Kiera admitted. "And I'm not sure that what's real isn't jumbled together with the dream. Did we go to Corellia?"

"Yes, but it's just as well you don't remember that part." Jag was back to frowning.

"Okay." Kiera said as she slid out of bed and headed for the refresher and the real, steamy, running-water shower.

"By the way, I have an idea for when you're a little stronger. I'm going to pitch it to Skywalker when he returns." Jag said.

"What is it?" Kiera called over the noise of the shower.

"I'll give you a hint; infinity gate."

On board the Destiny, safely floating through space above Rishi, Raza was uncomfortably sitting in a chair not designed for species with a tail. Raza never much liked sitting to begin with, but this was truly trying his patience, and for a Jedi, that was something.

Then the door to the room opened with a swoosh as the diagonally split doors instantaneously receded into the walls. Master Alex Skywalker walked in looking somewhat tired, no doubt having stayed up late to go over the recent reports of the war. However, the resilient Jedi Master still found the energy and resolve to break a smile to those in the room.

"Sorry to keep you waiting."

Raza flicked his tongue and blinked his slitted eyes. Hopefully this wouldn't take long. Tula was waiting for him in his den...room...and it had been quite some time since the two had been able to share some time alone, no small feat with a brood of eighteen hatchlings.

"So Jag, please enlighten us on this idea you've had. I believe Kiera mentioned infinity gates."

Raza's eyes narrowed as he turned his attention toward Jag and Kiera, both of whom were also sitting down at the meeting table. Meanwhile his brain flickered like a bee hive that had just been hit with a stick. Slowly thoughts began wandering out to probe for the knowledge he was seeking for.

Infinity gates...ahhh, yes.

One of the bees stung the memory and now the swarm was on as the memory flooded back to him. Infinity gates were an ancient invention that allowed instantaneous travel between two points, both requiring a gate. He couldn't remember the name of the species that invented them, but he was fairly certainly they started with a 'K'. Regardless, he recalled that they ended up in a war with the Gree who had developed a similar technology. Eventually the Rakatan Empire came along and conquered the 'K', and the infinity gates were more or less lost afterwards. Even the Gree lost their gates due to conflicts and turmoils within their own empire.

And so, another great technology was lost.

Until perhaps now.

Raza listened carefully.

“We really need to go planet-side to thoroughly explain. Some demonstration is required.” Jag answered Alex Skywalker.

Alex rose and followed the Antilles couple, noting that Raza was tagging along. When they got to where the corridor forked off in two different directions, Jag and Kiera turned to go right while Alex turned to go left.

“Where are you going?” He asked. “The hangers are this way.”

“The gateroom is this way.” Jag replied.

Alex Skywalker frowned slightly and shrugged it off. “Very well, but I think I’ll take my fighter down to Reesh. I’ll meet you…?”

“In the gateroom at Paladin headquarters.” Jag’s tone was carefully bland. Kiera was suddenly interested in some Celestial design on the wall above Alex Skywalker’s head. She was staring at it as if the fate of the galaxy depended on her deciphering it.

“Thiz one will accompany Jag and Kiera through the gate.” Raza’s tail gave a single thump as his eyes slitted with anticipation.

“I’ll meet you there then.” Alex agreed.

“We’ll be waiting.” Jag couldn’t resist a parting shot.

Raza couldn't help from bubbling with laughter as they walked down the corridor toward the gateway and out of ear shot of the Paladin Grandmaster. "Thiz one findz it rather funny that the leader of Paladin Jedi iz afraid of going through an infinity portal." A long string of sissing laughter followed.

Jag smiled and cocked his head. "I didn't know Jedi Masters feared anything."

Raza bobbed his head. "Oh yez, they do indeed. Don't let them fool you with their fear leadz to the darkside rhetoric. There are some thingz that are innately fuzed into uz from hatching- I mean birth. Some beingz are afraid of small places, some going through dimensional warping tunnelz, otherz spiderz-"

Jag shivered. "Don't even mention those."

A big smile ripped across the Barabel's face. "See? Everyone has fearz. It'z only logical to fear a eight legged furry fanged creature with multiple beady black eyez scurrying toward you..."

"Stop!" Jag cried.

Raza just sissed uncontrollably, tail thumping as they continued toward the portal.

Jag threw a wicked glance back at the Barabel. "It's not wise to upset the person who controls whether your tail will make it through the gate intact."

Unphased, Raza shot back, "Thousandz of creeping little-"

"Okay okay! I give up. Tail stays."

Standing before the gateway now, Raza thumped his tail in triumph. He looked up at the odd ring standing in the air covered in strange Celestial markings. "So Kiera, how does it feel going through?"

Jag looked up as he was beginning to manipulate the controls. "Not really a big difference. Nothing worse than flying a starfighter in maneuvers."

Raza let one eye linger on Jag while he looked over at Kiera. "That'z why I'm asking Kiera. Thiz one doez not much care for flying inzane pilot maneuverz."

Kiera laughed, not at Raza’s twisting Jag over his spider fears but for being a starfighter jockey. She kind of had the same opinion about Jag’s tactics. She thought some of his maneuvers bordered on the insane – and she just wasn’t a pilot at heart; not a combat one at any rate.

“Master Raza, it’s nothing.” Kiera reassured the barabel. “You step through the gate, and in seconds you step through the destination gate. Of course, you are going to be demolecularized, transported through a wormhole and rematerialized on the other side – but you won’t feel a thing.”

Raza’s expression didn’t change an iota, although his tail gave an involuntarily twitch. In the best interests of preserving her arm Kiera refrained from touching the Barabel, but she did smile at him as she said in a sweetly benign voice. “Knowing Jag however I’m sure there’ll be some kind of ship involved.”
-----------------------------------------------


Just as Kiera said, there was a ship involved. Master Kol Keshyr was busy extolling its virtues to Alex Skywalker, actually walking around the thing and patting it like a favorite child every so often. Alex wore a bemused expression and wondered about his choice of master for the infinity gate research. Kol was definitely attached.

“…and we fitted it with the crystal interface.” Kol proudly finished up.

“Did you give it a name too?” Alex asked. Kol totally missed the mild sarcasm.

“Ilum Bond II. That wasn’t my choice, but there are plenty of other ships to name.”

Alex rolled his eyes, but not so Kol could see him. “So let me get this straight: you think this ship was designed to travel through the infinity gates.”

“We know it was.” Kol replied as he crossed over to the gate control console and punched in a series of commands. What scrolled up was gibberish to Alex, but he had no doubt Kol knew exactly what it was and would soon enlighten him.

“Gate addresses; viable gate addresses. We sent probe droids…but so far we haven’t sent a team.”

Ah, so that’s what this was all about. Alex turned to face Jag and Kiera and say absolutely not, but then he saw the look on Kiera’s face, sensed what she was feeling and he couldn’t do it. She was not a warrior and she would never be one. To force her in a direction so diametrically opposed to her path was not only wrong, it was callous. And it could be disastrously harmful. What exactly her path was, Alex didn’t know, but he had to let her find it. Besides she had discovered Destiny, Sanctuary and this infinity gate. If that wasn’t a sign, Alex didn’t know what was. Who was he to go against the Force?

And where Kiera went, Jag went.

“Alright, I’ll sign off on this, but I don’t want the two of you just disappearing. Work something out with Master Keshyr; a viable arrangement. You’re military, Jag, you know what I mean.”

Jag nodded and then broke into a grin, and it came to Alex that Jag really didn’t want any part of another war either. As time passed Alex wondered less and less about the strange connection between Jag and Kiera; a connection that shouldn’t exist but did. It was what it was.

On that philosophical note, Alex made to depart and turn his attention to the little problem of being at war with the GA (and now he was losing two good personal he could sorely afford to lose). He gestured for Raza to join him and found his fellow council member staring raptly at the gate ship.

With a sinking feeling, Alex knew he was going to lose not two but three compatriots.

Raza sensed the Grandmasters trepidation. "Thiz one is going too."

Alex opened his mouth to retort, but Raza cut him off. "I've given you eighteen of my hatchlingz, Master Skywalker. And the Paladinz no longer have to bear the responsibility of this war alone. You have the Coaliton now. Besidz." The Barabel darted his tongue at the gate. "A Jedi Master should go along on thiz journey."

Alex still looked like a nexu whose lunch had just been taken away, but Raza could feel his insides turning into surrender. "Alright, you can go. I would feel better with a Jedi Master being with them where ever it is that they're going. The Force be with you, Raza."

"Thank you, Master Skywalker."

As Alex stepped away, Raza turned toward Kiera and Jag. "Shall we get started?"

“You heard Master Skywalker; we need a plan.” Jag solemnly replied. “However, Master Kashyr and I have been tossing around a few ideas.”

“A Jedi is always prepared.” Kol piously pronounced while Jag whipped out his datapad and sent – whatever he was sending to Kiera and Raza’s datapads.

“This is a few ideas?” Kiera responded as she scrolled through the information.

“Thiz is a detailed plan. Thiz one approves.”

“It certainly looks complete.” Kiera agreed and looked suspiciously at her husband. “So you started planning the minute Spectre discovered all the gate addresses, didn’t you?”

“Pretty much.”

Jag grinned at her. Then Master Keshyr grinned at her. Kiera thought any minute the two of them would start slapping each other on the back and high-fiving.

“I’m thrilled for you two. But do you think you could give me five minutes to…”

Whatever else Kiera was going to say was interrupted by the chiming of her wrist-holo.

“Excuse me.” She said, stepping away. “I need to take this privately.”
----------------------------

Kiera could feel Tamaryn’s nerves right through the transmission. All things considered Kiera didn’t blame her.

“I know this Jedi. He and I have history, and once he gets fixated on something he’s tenacious. Dumping him off on the nearest neutral planet won’t work.”

Kiera took a deep breath and accepted the inevitable.

“You’d better bring him here. I just don’t see a more viable alternative.”

Kiera ended the transmission and braced herself. She was going to have to inform Master Skywalker that the Paladins were now in the business of housing Loyalist pows.

It was interesting how a few minutes could change one’s entire point of view. Kiera was now definitely looking forward to going through the infinity gate to wherever Jag wanted to go.

Alex just stared at Kiera wondering if he’d heard her right. They were getting a Jedi pow dropped on their doorstep? Seriously? What was Kiera thinking? She was thinking that she was going to dump this in his lap and run. That’s what she was thinking as she was already edging her way to the door.

“Get back in that chair.” Alex snapped. To his surprise Kiera stood her ground.

“Grandmaster, we have to allow this; we promised to protect them when they allowed us to use the moon for an outpost. No matter what you think of them, she saved a Jedi’s life. She could have left him there to die – or at the mercy of the Saul and the Hapans – which would probably have amounted to the same thing.”

Besides, did you think you weren’t going to have deal with this kind of thing…Jedi pows?

Kiera didn’t say it, but it was hanging right there between them. The problem with this war was that there were twists in it that no one had experienced before. Some of the rules had to be made up as they went along. Alex couldn’t think of one single example in Jedi history that covered the taking of Jedi prisoners by other Jedi. They weren’t Sith, they weren’t dark, but they were – now – the enemy.

“You know,” Kiera ventured “Master Dryfus does have the detention center up and running. He says the energy shields are rather unusual – and very strong.”

“You just want to get out of here before Jedi Hetzer arrives.”

“Oh, you’d better believe it.” Kiera readily agreed.

Alex grimaced and made a shooing motion with his hand. Kiera’s face fell into lines of relief. At the door she hesitated and turned back.

“May the Force be with you, Grandmaster.”

Alex's face softened. She had, after all, faced him in person with this dilemma.

“With you too, Kiera. Good luck.”

Otto shuffled out of Tamaryn's ship and onto the deck of the landing pad. He had to be careful moving in stun cuffs, they didn't allow a whole lot of movement, and sudden moves could set them off. He didn't feel like being hit with a jolt of stunning electricity.

He'd never been on the planet Reesh before. Concentrating in the Force, he tried to perceive the colors of the bland shapes around him, but Force sight seemed to be limited in its ability. He could tell were the floor was and distant walls, but he wasn't sure what color they were.

And then he felt the presence.

Snapping all of his attention forward, he could see the powerful Force glow of Alex Skywalker walking onto the hanger platform.

Tamaryn was standing behind Otto, so he decided to wait and let Alex come to them.

"That's Jedi Hetzer alright."

"Master Skywalker." Otto bowed his head in greeting.

Alex breathed out a sigh. "What are we going to do with you?"

Before anyone else could reply, Otto spoke up. "I've been thinking about that, Master Skywalker. I know I'm your prisoner, and that keeping a Jedi captive is a very risky and difficult affair. I've wondered what is that I should do." Otto paused, the decision he was about to make was a heavy one. "There is no right and wrong in this conflict. I no longer want to chose sides." He looked up with his dilated eyes. "I give you my word as a Jedi that I will not try to escape, that I will not try to harm you or anyone associated with the Paladins or the Coalition. I will not try to sabotage your efforts or leak information to your enemies. I surrender myself fully to your command."

To emphasize the point, Otto slowly bent down to his knees in submission, head tilted forward.

Alex looked down at the Jedi Knight, a man who once a boy, a padawan who had attended his classes at the temple. A Jedi Knight who had served under Master Graf during the Five Year War with distinction. A man who had once been sent by the Jedi Council to stop a Jedi who went rogue. A Dark Jedi. A woman, though Otto probably thought it was secret, who had been romantically involved with that very same Jedi Knight who was kneeling before him in submission.

Alex didn't want this war.

And he certainly didn't want Jedi prisoners.

He laid a hand on Otto's shoulder and carefully looked inside the troubled Jedi. There was not one drop of deceit inside of him.

Alex looked over at Tamaryn. "Take the stun cuffs off...and Otto, get off your knees. You're making me feel silly."

The Grandmaster flashed a quick smile, one that Otto couldn't see, but he felt it. In that one moment, his burden felt immensely lighter.

"Thank you, master."

Tamaryn motioned with her hand and the cuffs fell off. She looked from Otto who was getting to his feet to Alex Skywalker.

“A couple of things here, Skywalker. First off, Otto here was pretty banged up when I rescued him. I healed him, but I’m sure you know the drill. Second, before I leave we need to talk.” There was no insubordination in Tamaryn’s tone, but there wasn’t any subordination either. Alex Skywalker was not her boss.

“To the first, you do have a point.” Alex replied and addressed the young Paladin who’d accompanied him. “Escort Jedi Hetzer to an available room and send for Master Klo’ryn to check him out. As to the second, I suppose I must talk to you.” He sighed in mock resignation.

“Funny guy.” Tamaryn shot back. “No wonder they made you the leader.”

Alex’s mouth twitched with amusement but he said nothing until Otto was well out of sight.

“Your secrets are safe. Otto Hetzer gave his word. He’ll keep it.” He stated rather emphatically. “He knew what he was doing when he bargained to stay here.”

“I’m not following you.” Tamaryn readily admitted, wondering why Jedi always had to make things more mysterious than they were.

“He’s a Jedi. He can’t return to the Loyalists and not support the GA. His only choice would be to leave the Order. At least here he can still be a Jedi.” Alex explained to her.

Tamaryn looked up at Alex in a reflective manner. “A prisoner of his conscience.”

In spite of what Kiera had told him – the Farlanders weren’t what he would assume they were – Alex had taken exactly that route and assumed they were basically a small crime family with a Force advantage. Now one of the Farlanders was right before him and maybe giving something of a lie to his assumption.

"I’d like to talk with you further. Would you come with me to my, ah, office?” Alex asked and it was a genuine request. He was well aware that this woman would bolt at the first signs of anything approaching authority over her on his part.

“Why your office?”

“Because this is a hanger and I don’t want to be yelling to make myself heard over the noise of every ship landing or taking off.”

Tamaryn put her hand to her mouth, but it was too late; Alex had already caught her smile.

“You know it occurs to me that you and Otto have something in common.” He said as they walked to the room he hated referring to as his office. It made him feel like an accountant or something bureaucratic.

“I know I’m going to regret asking, but what?”

“Neither of you wants to take sides.”

He left her to reflect on that while he seated himself, not at a desk. The desk was shoved off to the side, and a comfortable conversation area took predominance in the room. Tamaryn chose a chair across from Alex, lounged back with one foot on the opposite thigh, making herself quite comfortable.

“Alright, what did you want to talk about?”

For some reason just about everything about this young woman amused Alex. Almost everything; the extreme grayness didn’t amuse him, but she wasn’t outright dark. He sensed no evil in her whatsoever. Otherwise he would never have considered what he was about to propose.

“The fact is that Kiera isn’t available to liaise anymore between your family and my order. Someone needs to fill that position.”

“What’s happened to Kiera?” Tamaryn asked with rising alarm.

“Nothing at all. She’s exploring the Rishi Maze with Jag and a Paladin master. The point is that her focus is now on something entirely outside of the galactic situation. And her contact may be infrequent and spotty. From what I understand, you owe Kiera some kind of family loyalty, but the situation is changed by Kiera's absence. The Paladin’s, however, still need your services.”

“You’ll have to pay for them just like everyone else.” Tamaryn matter-of-factly stated.

“That won’t be a problem.” Alex replied without explanation. Only the Paladin Council knew the sizable amount of credits that had been place in Alex Skywalker's discreet hands.

“Then I would suggest contacting…”

Tamaryn was interrupted in mid-sentence by the sudden appearance of a Bothan who immediately began to apologize and back out of the room. Alex Skywalker motioned her in.

“Did you come to report on Otto Hetzer, Fra Klo’ryn? This is the young woman, Tamaryn Farlander, who brought Otto to us. She also healed him.”

“You have a healer’s touch.” Master Klo’ryn smiled at Tamaryn.

“So he will be fine?” Alex asked.

“All he needs is rest. Too bad though that his droid isn’t with him.” At the puzzled looks on Alex and Tamaryn’s faces Fra Klo’ryn elaborated. “He has a hover droid programmed to his needs. The droid, Boz, is in his quarters at the temple on Coruscant.”

“I don’t suppose they’d just send that droid along here? No? Didn’t think so.” Tamaryn remarked.

As the Bothan healer left, Tamaryn frowned, thinking hard. After a long moment she looked at Alex Skywalker.

"I'll give my family your message, but I can't promise anything besides paid-for services. And we decided what services we provide."

That settled, Tamaryn got up and left.

Alex watched her until she was out of sight. He had to be satisfied with what he'd gotten, but he hadn't gotten what he wanted. Still, he didn't think he'd seen the last of Tamaryn Farlander.