DWF7

Rela caught her breath and held it as she watched Kason make a headlong dive and scrabble across the hangar floor, trying to reach his master in time. From her vantage point next to Mermil, she could see Kason’s shoulders moving quickly back and forth as he lay on his belly next to the gaping chasm in the granite surface. <What’s happening?> Rela screamed inwardly, <where is Charsa? I can’t see anything from here dammit! What’s…>

A cold knot of fear cramped her stomach as she noticed that Kason’s shoulders were no longer moving, he was just lying there…staring into the pit. "K-Kason?" she managed to choke out, "is…where’s…is Charsa ok?" Her voice trailed off uncertainly.

Kason moved slowly, too slowly as far as Rela was concerned. He inched backwards from the edge of the chasm and Rela gasped when she realized that his hands were empty. The young Jedi rolled onto his back and sat up, his gaze moving immediately to meet Rela’s.

When she saw the heartbreaking grief in Kason’s emerald eyes, the cold knot in her stomach exploded as if someone had physically punched her in the stomach. <Oh Force…oh Force, no>, she thought, <Charsa’s gone…> She felt the pinpricks of unshed tears sting her eyes as she imagined the sense of loss that the padawan was feeling right now.

Rela watched as Kason stumbled his way to where she stood, his face revealed no emotion whatsoever although she could see the dried tear tracks running through the dust and grime that coated his face.

"Kason, I’m so sorry," she stammered when he was close enough to hear, "I’ll miss her too…"

"Later," he almost growled, obviously trying to keep his emotions under control, "there will be time for mourning later. We need to get out of here. She…she would want that."

"I would have to agree," Rela replied softly as she reached out to take Kason’s hand in sympathy, she got the hint when he snatched his hands behind his back before her’s was even close, "let’s get to the ship and make tracks, I’m starting to really not like this place."

Without another word she bent down to grab Mermil’s left arm and motioned for Kason to take the right. They hoisted the Vicetta between them and started to make their way to the ship that sat only a short distance away. "Did the pilot stay on board for the whole time you were here?" Rela asked, panting again from the exertion of carrying Mermil.

"I…I dunno…" Kason gasped in reply, "Charsa always…I guess I didn’t pay too much attention to that…"

Rela glanced sharply at the young padawan and was not pleased with what she saw. < He’s too pale,> she thought, <and my trouble bump is itching like crazy again. He’s exhausted and he’s totally freaked out about losing Charsa, we’re going to need some help.>

Kason stumbled to the right and his legs gave out beneath him, causing Mermil to thunk unceremoniously to the floor when Rela released her grip to avoid being pulled to the floor herself.

<POODOO!> Rela shrieked to herself, <only twenty meters to the ship and I’m going to have to find some way to get an unconscious man and an exhausted padawan the rest of the way…waitaminnit…is that who I think it is?>

"Sorry," Kason mumbled as he strained to stand up and failed, falling to the ground again.

"Stay down cat boy," Rela muttered absently, staring into the distance, "at least for now. I think I see a helping hand." She hoped fervently that the tall shaggy figure in the gloom-enshrouded distance was who she thought it was.

Kason watched in dumbfounded amazement as Rela began to jump into the air over and over again for no apparent reason, waving her arms and shouting at the top of her voice.

"Hrruggla, Hrruggla, over here!" Rela yelled, her voice cracking with the volume that she tried to project. The shaggy figure made no motion of having heard her and continued to move slowly in the opposite direction, picking it’s way carefully amidst the jagged debris that littered the cavern floor.

<Fine,> Rela thought to herself, <if she can’t hear me, I’ll have to get her attention another way.>

She took the blaster from her right hip and tuned it’s setting to the finest pinpoint possible, brought it up before her and trained the sighting scope roughly a half meter above the Wookiee’s head. Rela took a deep breath…released half of it, and slowly squeezed the trigger.

The Wookiee’s howl of anger was clearly audible as the blaster bolt screamed by its head {WHO DARES?!?!}. It turned to trace the source of the unwelcome fire and began to lope angrily in Rela’s direction, leaping over the jumbled piles of rock and twisted shards of destroyed spacecraft.

XXXXXXXX

A very confused Obi-Wan stood next to an equally perplexed Qui-Gon Jinn within the domed council chamber in the capital building of Osiris. While they had not exactly been greeted with open arms, the natives of the jungle world were surprisingly tolerant of the Jedi’s presence here.

After some semblance of order had been regained on the ruined tarmac and Lemur’s body had been bundled up and taken away, the two Jedi had been led here by the members of what had once been Lemur’s council of advisors. The woman in blue, Countess Neila, had immediately taken charge of the proceedings and had politely asked first Obi-Wan, then Qui-Gon to address the council and give their reason for being here, as well as to relate the details of their journey to the city.

While each of the Jedi in turn told of the events that had led them here, the Council listened patiently with very few interruptions. When they were finished, Countess Neila again took charge and asked them to stand by in case there were any further questions for them. Qui-Gon bowed formally and led his Padawan off to the side of the chamber to stand in the cool shadows of the enormous room.

Countess Neila stood alone on the raised dais that had formerly held Lemur’s seat of power, the silence in the room lengthened until several of the assembled members shifted uncomfortably. Neila raised her gaze and stared out over the group of advisors. "My esteemed colleagues," she began in a strong, clear voice, "for many years the majority of us have fought together to lessen the damage that has been caused by Lemur and his tyrannical ways. All of us have suffered the loss of family and friends at Lemur’s hands, but our memories of loved ones lost did not weaken us, those memories served to make us fight even harder against what that madman would have us do. Alas, none of us found the courage to oppose him openly…if we had, perhaps today’s terrible events would never have transpired, but that is in the past. Now we must move forward I say, we must put Lemur’s ways behind us and strive for a future in which we and our families can live without fear for doing what we feel is right." She paused, scanning the faces of the assembled nobles to gauge their reaction to her words.

"Master," Obi-Wan whispered, his lips barely moving, "doesn’t this seem a bit odd?"

"Perhaps the reports of their maniacal hatred of outworlders was somewhat exaggerated," Qui Gon replied just as softly, "for the meantime, we will wait and listen. Be patient Padawan."

After noting several approving nods from the council members before her, Neila continued.

"As these two Jedi have stated here, our reputation among other worlds is not the best, and we are considered to be ignorant xenophobes by many other cultures. You are all well aware of Lemur’s hatred of outworlders, a mindset that he inherited from his father…and his father before him, that family’s short-sightedness has almost brought our civilization to it’s knees. I say it is time to change that. Here is what I propose: We now have the ability to rule this world as a committee…a Congress if you will, with no one person holding absolute power. And to keep us all honest, no one will be guaranteed a lifelong position here if they do not discharge their duties as befits their station." Neila paused again to take a deep breath, she opened her mouth to speak again, but instead jumped in startled surprise as every member of the Council rose to their feet, erupting in thunderous applause and cheering wildly.

Countess Neila stood as if dumbstruck by the standing ovation of her peers, her eyes welling with unshed tears of relief. The nobles continued to applaud wildly, the entire group milling around as handshakes and hugs were exchanged. The emotion of the moment reached a fevered pitch and only the two Jedi standing in the shadows noticed the chamber door banging open as a young woman wearing a technician uniform raced into the room with a panic stricken expression on her face.

Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan watched on in silence as the young tech officer waved her arms about and shouted into the cacophony raised by the nobles. The sheer volume of the cheering around her drowned her words out and the panic evident on her face seemed to grow even more.

"It looks as if we’ll have to take steps here Padawan," Qui-Gon murmured to Obi-Wan, "follow my lead."

Without waiting for a response, Qui-Gon rushed forward and leaped onto the raised dais in the center of the room and stood next to Countess Neila. He could see Obi-Wan leap up next to him and nodded to his Padawan.

Both Jedi simultaneously ignited their lightsabers and raised the thrumming weapons above their heads, demanding the attention of the milling throng of nobles. "SILENCE!! Qui-Gon’s voice lashed out like a crack of thunder within the marble domed council chamber.

"What is the meaning of this?" Neila’s voice rang out with her anger, "why do you attack now?"

"This is not an attack, Countess," Qui-Gon replied in his ‘teaching’ voice as he and Obi-Wan extinguished their blades, "this is a reminder. The first rule of governing well, is to listen to the people that you govern." He moved his right hand to indicate the technician who was staring open mouthed at the two Jedi. "I believe you had something important to say," Qui-Gon queried softly.

Countess Neila at least had the courtesy to look embarrassed. "Please technician…"

"Sylvia," the tech stammered, "my name is Sylvia."

"Good then, technician Sylvia," Neila asked in a soothing voice, "you look as if you have a dzur on your trail, tell us, what do you have to report?" Qui-Gon saw Obi-Wan wince slightly upon hearing that particular turn of phrase.

"Emergency beacons, Countess," Sylvia gasped out, "emergency beacons, the likes of which we’ve never seen before…swarms of them. The main communications consoles are locked up cold from the sheer number of transmissions."

"That many ships?" Neila asked in surprise, "all at one time, where are they coming from?"

"The moon Countess," Sylvia replied, her expression still panicked, "something catastrophic has happened there, we don’t know exactly what, but it’s bad."

The members of the council continued to mill around, hushed whispers passing to and fro among them. Many of them were shuffling around indecisively.

"Members of the New Osiris Congress, hear me!" Countess Neila’s voice rang out and echoed from the tallest vaults of the domed chamber, "the first challenge of our new ruling body has arrived. Cast off the shackles that Lemur placed upon you, for now is the time for action! Contact all of your administrators, we need medical teams and relief personnel on the landing field NOW!! Call in anyone you know who can help."

Neila turned to the still obviously nervous technician and spoke gently, "Sylvia, go back to the communications center and turn everything off. Wait…listen to me," she said as the tech started to shake her head, "leave the equipment off for about thirty seconds then re-activate it, that should clear out the overload. When you re-activate the system, set it for ‘send’ only, if we receive any more messages, the system will lock up again."

"But, what message should we transmit Countess? Lemur always said to let them find some other planet to land on." Sylvia asked, confusion written plainly on her face.

Countess Neila looked over her shoulder at the two silent Jedi standing there, thought for a moment and turned back to technician Sylvia, Neila then spoke the phrase that she had memorized from one of the most ancient text that she owned, "We welcome you to Osiris, we are here to help…you may land without fear."

XXXXXXXX

Rela watched the wookie’s progress across the cavern floor and noticed that its path had gone somewhat astray. <What is the galaxy coming to when a Wookiee can’t track?> she wondered silently, <kind of a chilling thought, that. Oh well, time for a course correction.>

She once again fired a micro bolt from her blaster, aiming just above the wookie’s left ear.

"RRRROOOOWWWR!!!", a scream of primal rage echoed across the cavern as the shaggy figure turned its path slightly and finally spotted Rela standing stock still, with her blaster still in her hand.

The Wookiee’s speed increased as it approached, bounding over the scattered piles of debris, its angry growling that punctuated its strides could be heard even at Rela’s distance.

When the approaching figure was close enough to be seen from his vantage-point on the ground, Kason’s eyes widened slightly in surprise and concern. "Um…Rela, you do know what you’re doing…don’t you?" he asked, his voice more than a little bit strained, "I really don’t think that I’m in any kind of condition to fight off an angry Wookiee."

The tall shaggy form was bounding even closer, both youngsters could hear its deep, guttural growling and occasional howl of anger.

<It’s definitely headed directly for Rela,> Kason thought to himself, almost in panic, <I’ve got to help her, that Wookiee’s gonna tear her apart, what could she be thinking?> He pushed himself up off the cavern floor and slowly stood up, his legs quivering with fatigue. He took on agonizing step forward and his knees buckled beneath him, sending him sprawling to the floor once again.

Kason could only watch in horror as the Wookiee ran past him as if he wasn’t even there.

It reached out for Rela’s slight form and grabbed her in its huge, powerful hands. It swept her high up into the air with its massive arms, then brought her close in to it’s own body and…planted a big kiss right on the center of Rela’s forehead.

<HUH?!?!?!> Kason thought as his mouth dropped open in surprise. His confusion only increased as he saw Rela wrap her arms around the Wookiee’s neck and give it, <her> Kason’s mind told him, a heartfelt hug.

{Little Rela}, the Wookiee growled at the young human woman she held in her arms like a child, {how you’ve grown! I haven’t seen you in a gundark’s age. What are you doing so far out on the rim?}

"Oh, a little of this…a little of that," Rela replied in her usual evasive manner. She gave a close approximation of her usual impish smile, but evidently the Wookiee knew her too well to be deceived.

{My dear child}, crooned the Wookie, concern evident in her dark brown eyes, {whatever has happened to you?}

"Too much to tell right now," Rela almost sobbed, her eyes brimming with tears again, "I’ll tell you later, but for now we need to get out of here. We have a ship, but don’t know if we have a pilot. I’ve got one unconscious friend, and an exhausted Jedi apprentice who can barely hold his own head up. Will you help?"

{Of course, dear child}, the Wookiee replied softly, {truth to tell, I was looking for a way out of here myself. And besides, your friend Qui-Gon would ship my scalp to Mandalore himself if I refused you.} The Wookiee gave a deep grumbling chuckle.

"Ummm, S’cuse me," Kason interrupted from his place on the floor, "could someone tell me what’s going on here?"

"Oh! Sorry," Rela replied hurriedly as the Wookiee placed her gently back on her own feet, "Kason, this is Hrruggla. Hrruggla, this is Kason. And the unconscious guy over there is Vicetta Mermil. Hrruggla and her family took care of me for a while, um…when for a while I was unable to take care of myself."

{You travel in auspicious company these days little Rela}, Hrruggla whuffed gently, {do apprentice Jedi no longer travel in the company of a teacher?}

Kason’s quick intake of breath belied his calm exterior and Hrruggla quickly fixed him with her penetrating gaze. {Ahh, young Jedi. I think I understand what has gone on here. My apologies for waking your pain anew.}

"I…I just don’t want to talk about it," Kason replied shortly, his voice muffled and his emerald eyes shining with new tears, "I just want to forget…no, I want to remember, but just not now."

{Young Jedi}, Hrruggla spoke softly to him, her furred hand cupping his chin gently and forcing him to look into her caring brown eyes, {memories are not glass treasures to be kept locked within a box…they are bright ribbons to be hung in the wind. I do not think that what your master left behind was meant to be kept secret or hidden. It was meant to be shared.}

Kason closed his eyes against further tears as he pictured his master. A flawless, silver-haired vision as ephemeral as smoke. He knew the memory would always be there, just at the edges of his thinking.

{Now then}, the Wookiee said with vigor as she stood up and looked again at Rela, {time for us to get to this ship of yours, where is it?}

"It’s not really mine," Rela replied softly, she too had been touched by Hrruggla’s statements, "it’s a courier vessel, just over there." She raised her right hand and pointed at the scarlet colored vessel standing barely twenty meters away.

{Nice}, Hrruggla murmured, then turned her attention back to Kason, {young Jedi, can you walk?}

"I think…" Kason made an attempt to stand and fell again.

{Not.}

Hrruggla stooped low and picked up the still unconscious form of Mermil and draped him over her left shoulders like a sack of chaffa, then reached down for Kason with her right hand and pulled him into a firm embrace as if she were carrying an infant. {Off we go then}, she growled, {Rela, you lead the way.}

They made their way unchallenged to the hatch of the courier vessel, whether due to Hrruggla’s imposing presence or the continuing sound of falling debris, Rela wasn’t sure.

"Kason," Rela called over her shoulder, "what’s the code to open the hatch?"

"Huh?" Kason replied, rousing from his half doze in the Wookiee’s arms, "I’m not sure…Charsa always took care of that."

Rela came very close to losing her composure just then, but she closed her eyes and slowly counted to ten, then did it again for good measure. "Do you mean to tell me," she said in a soft, dangerously measured voice, "that we are finally on the doorstep of the ship that will get us out of here…and you have no flippin’ clue of how to get inside?"

"I didn’t really ever pay that much attention to…"Kason stammered, "wait…" In a small part of his mind he could hear Charsa’s voice whispering to him, speaking letters and numerals, he repeated all of what he ‘heard’ out loud and could see Rela punching in the code as he spoke. He closed his eyes in relief when the hatch irised open to allow them entry.

Rela darted into the softly illuminated interior of the ship with Hrruggla one step behind.

{Rela}, the Wookiee said sharply, {get to the bridge and warm up the engines while I put these two someplace safe.}

Kason could feel the soothing, thrumming sound of the ships engines warming up through the surface of the deeply padded shock couch as Hrruggla strapped him in. {Just in case we have to make any sudden maneuvers}, she warned as she turned and strapped Mermil’s still body in as well, {just try to relax.} He closed his eyes in hopes that the engines would cooperate as he sensed the Wookiee leave the cabin on her way to the bridge.

Kason smiled to himself when he heard Rela’s cheer of delight as the deep roar of the ship’s engines coming online and the repulsor lifts activated. {We’re outa here!}, Hrruggla roared in triumph.

<We’re going to make it,> Kason thought as he felt the ship’s bulk rise around him, and begin to move forward.

The last thing he felt before lapsing into an exhausted sleep was the slight, shivery feeling of static as the ship passed through the forcefield of the landing cavern. <Oh, Charsa…what have I done?> he thought as blessed sleep overtook him.

"Wow," Rela muttered as she stared at the tactical viewscreen in front of her, "looks like a whole lot more ships than we thought made it out in one piece."

The tiny pinpoints of light that indicated ships on the instrument panel looked almost like a swarm of insects as it rolled across the screen.

{I’m pretty sure Mermil had a couple of dozen secret hangars besides the main one}, Hrruggla grunted beside her, {it’d make sense for someone of such a devious nature as him.}

"What now?" Rela mused out loud, "Mermil really needs medical attention and Kason mentioned that some mutual friends of ours are on Osiris, doing some poking around down there."

{Osiris is not the friendliest place in the quadrant toward outworlders from what I hear}, the Wookiee replied, {but we may have to take that chance. Mermil doesn’t seem to be recovering at all; in fact I think he may be somewhat worse.}

"I’ve always heard that too," Rela said, staring perplexedly at the data screen in front of her, "but according to this message we’re receiving, things just changed down there."

The Wookiee stared at the transmission for a moment, then looked again at Rela, {Let’s give it a try}, she said as she shrugged her furry shoulders, {if it turns out to be a trick, we can always take off again.}

Twin ion engines spurted blue plasma flames as the courier vessel arrowed towards the distant atmospheric glow of the planet Osiris.

XXXXXXXX

The sun was sinking slowly past the distant horizon as Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan stood on a high balcony with Countess Neila gazing upwards at the approaching ships that glided through the air in a corkscrew pattern, coming in to land on the tarmac before the city gates. There were easily a hundred airborne ships visible, their proximity beacons blinking amid the slowly emerging stars of the early evening.

"A beautiful sight, don’t you think?" the Countess commented, her gaze still following the graceful paths of the descending ships, "but I guess this sort of thing is pretty common to you."

"The beginning of a new future is never a common thing," Qui-Gon answered in a deep, soothing voice, "and I think you’ve began a good one here."

The three of them, standing on the balcony of one of the tallest towers of the city continued to watch the downward spiraling pattern of the approaching spacecraft. Neila occasionally murmured aloud with appreciation of the airborne maneuvers, while Obi-Wan and his Master scanned the multitude of ships with their minds trying to find some hint of presence from their fellow Jedi.

"Master," Obi-Wan commented quietly to Qui-Gon, "I can feel nothing of their presence. Do you think Master Charsa and Kason may have not…"

"Patience, Obi-Wan," Qui-Gon interrupted his padawan in mid-sentence, "there are too many distraught life forms within the arriving ships to sort all of the life signatures out. Emotions and fear are running rampant among the refugees of Llakret. For the meantime, we must wait."

"Am I to understand that you had ‘friends’ present on Llakret?" Neila asked, one of her eyebrows arched elegantly in suspicious inquiry, "could they have possibly caused this situation. It certainly sounds like a rather convenient plan to take control of both the moon Llakret and Osiris at the same time."

"I assure you Madame," Qui-Gon replied with a slight chill in the tone of his voice, "we Jedi do not seek personal gain. We are protectors and peacekeepers, nothing more."

Neila raised her hands before her with palms up, and smiled slightly, "I believe you Master Jedi," she said softly, "I only ask the question because I am sure the subject will come up again when the Congress next meets. I must warn you that there will be questions asked that may not be comfortable, especially about the young woman who attacked Lemur using one of your weapons." She sighed softly, and looked again at the spacecraft that were spiraling in to land on her once isolated planet, then returned her gaze to Qui-Gon’s, "most of us despised Lemur, and hated his tyrannical ways. But, there are some among the Council who became very rich because of his reign, they will be the ones who challenge you…and those of us who believe in this new beginning."

"I understand," Qui-Gon replied, "we will be wary. My thanks for your warning, Obi-Wan and I will be especially vigilant…"

"MASTER!" Obi Wan interrupted with a shout, his voice filled with joy as he pointed at one of the uppermost of the ships in the procession, "there it is!! They must be okay!"

Qui-Gon’s gaze followed the direction indicated by his padawan. Indeed, in the high reaches of the atmosphere of Osiris he saw the unmistakable scarlet colored needle-like bulk of a courier vessel. <Is it ours though?>, he thought as he tried to scan it for any familiar presence, <too far away and too much interference to tell for sure.>

XXXXXXXX

{Looks from here as if the message was genuine}, Hrruggla grunted softly to Rela, who was staring intently at the data screen in front of her, {I’m interested to see what kind of reception we’ll get when we touch down}.

"I could easily go all day without finding that out," Rela replied, momentarily taking her eyes from her screen where she was monitoring the distance between them and the ship in front of them, "I’m still trying to figure out how to fade away gracefully after we land."

{After all you’ve been through, you mean to desert your friends back there?} The Wookiee’s thumb jabbed over her shoulder indicating their two passengers ensconced in the ship’s tiny med bay, {not to mention leaving me alone to try to explain their condition, as well as why I’m piloting a republic courier vessel that doesn’t even belong to me!} Hrruggla’s expressive brown eyes were full of concern as she imagined the probable outcome of being stuck in such a situation.

"No, you’re right," Rela responded with a grimace and turned her gaze back to the data screen, "we’ve got to get Kason and Mermil taken care of first. With their presence I don’t think we’ll be questioned too much about the ship. But what worries me even more is the all too real possibility of running into Qui-Gon while we’re there."

{The two of you have always been close friends}, Hrruggla stated a little too loudly in surprise, {did something happen between you to change that?} The concern in the Wookie’s eyes caused Rela to feel a momentary surge of guilt.

"No, no," she replied hurriedly, "nothing like that! It’s just that…well…you see…He really probably doesn’t expect me to be anywhere else except Coruscant just now."

Hrruggla’s dark shaggy eyebrows rose and arched questioningly, {and why would he think that?}

"Weeeeeeelll…I guess because that’s kinda what I told him," Rela answered, a sheepish grin hovering about her lips.

{Kinda?!?}

"Ok, fine, so I told him I’d be on Coruscant," Rela exclaimed, throwing her hands up in exasperation, "but classes haven’t started yet, and I figured that some time spent out here on the rim could be considered research…kinda."

{My, my}, Hrruggla whuffed in soft laughter, {you do like to use that word don’t you?}

"It has its uses," Rela sniffed haughtily, her eyes dancing with suppressed mirth.

Both of them snapped their attention back to the ship’s controls when one of the proximity alarms began shrieking a warning. The vessel in front of them had deviated significantly from the flight path that had been ordered by the landing officials and was now creating a hazard for several other craft in the procession by lurching it’s bulk back and forth with no apparent regard for the other refugee ships.

Hrruggla’s furry hands danced nimbly across the piloting console as she tried to direct the courier vessel on a course that would avoid collision with the other ship. She slammed one hand brutally on the communications switch, denting the console slightly and bringing the transmitter online. {Watch your descent path, you slobbering nerf herder!} she roared into the microphone, her eyes blazing with barely controlled fury, {wait in line like the rest of us!}

The Wookiee’s hands continued in their dance manipulating the ship’s controls and Rela suddenly heard the front thrusters fire at maximum power, causing the ship to shudder in protest as its forward momentum was almost eliminated.

Rela’s heart seemed to leap up into her throat as the courier vessel suddenly dropped like a stone through the surrounding atmosphere of the planet and she shrieked uncontrollably, "Hrruggla, what are you…" Her cry went unfinished as she was slammed violently backwards in her seat when the main rear engines came to life with a bone numbing roar and the ship leapt forward.

Responding to the Wookiee’s expert piloting skills, the courier vessel skimmed just beneath the offending craft’s belly and rose smoothly back into formation, though now in front of the other.

{Now that that’s taken care of}, Hrruggla growled as if their conversation had not been interrupted, {Back up just a little bit. What classes are you talking about and what would they have to do with Qui-Gon?}

The young human didn’t trust herself to answer in her current state and spent several silent moments attempting to pry her white knuckled fingers from the arms of the co-pilot’s chair she was seated in.

"What are you two doing up there?!" Kason’s sleep muddled voice echoed hollowly through the ship’s corridor.

"Keeping us alive, cat boy," Rela called back.

"Oh," came the muffled reply.

"Anyway, to make a long story short," Rela replied in a somewhat subdued voice as she returned her attention to the conversation at hand, "Qui-Gon and I made a deal a while back and part of it involves me taking some business classes. I want to own my own shipping business one of these days, and Qui-Gon said he’d help me get it started if I promised to learn as much as I could before hand. Although," she winked conspiratorially to the Wookiee, "I’m more inclined to believe that he made the deal with me to keep me in one place and out of trouble."

{In that case,} Hrruggla replied, her growling speech tinged with wookiee laughter, {I would have to agree that running into him on Osiris would probably not be a pleasant thing to experience.}

Rela’s grimace only increased, "that’s the understatement of the year."

{Perhaps I have an idea}, Hrruggla mused out loud, her brown eyes taking on a speculative look as she continued to pilot the craft towards the planet surface, {I recognize a few of the ships in our little trail of follow the leader. And most of the ones that I recognize belong to friends of mine, I’m pretty sure I can get us passage on one of them once they get repaired and refueled on the planet surface.}

Another warning light twinkled on the console and she paused for a moment as she leaned forward to make a course correction, her strong hands moving the control stick with finesse and skill.

{Once we land}, Hrruggla continued again, {we get Kason and Mermil taken care of. You stay in the background and try to blend in with the crowd. I’ll go contact my friends and see who can take us on for a trip out of here, hopefully to get you to Coruscant and we’ll be gone. Qui-Gon will be none the wiser.} Hrruggla looked at Rela and grinned with confidence.

"There’s a whole lot of ‘ifs’ I could bring up about that plan," Rela replied dubiously, "but I guess we can give it a try."

{We’ll get our chance sooner than you thought}, the Wookiee stated as she leaned forward to work the controls of the courier vessel, {we’ve just been given landing clearance.}

Rela sighed in resignation as she felt, rather than heard, the landing gear deploying and the deceleration of the ship. She heard the familiar hum as the repulsorlifts engaged, and the Wookiee brought their borrowed ship to rest on the surface of Osiris.