"Jaden… " Khedryn said, holding out a hand to Relin as if to steady him. "Come on, let's tend to those ribs. We can work this out later. I am sure there's an explanation."
"I just gave it," Jaden said, more convinced than ever.
Relin stared at Jaden, started to speak, and then stopped. He shook his head.
"How can this be?"
Jaden had no idea. It seemed impossible, yet he sensed no lie in Relin, and the facts he had were the facts he had. "Get Marr," he said to Khedryn, thinking the Cerean, with his mathematical gifts, might be able to explain what had happened.
Khedryn licked his lips. "Just so I know what to tell him: you're saying I have an old Imperial distress call coming from a moon no one's charted before, a five-thousand-year-old Jedi aboard my ship, and a five-thousand-year-old Sith dreadnought with some evil ore aboard flying through my sky?"
Neither Jaden nor Relin said anything. Jaden understood Khedryn's need to make light. That was how he coped.
"If this is work to you, Jaden," Khedryn said, "I'd love to see what you do for excitement." He activated his communicator. "Marr, you will not believe this."
Saes hurried through Harbinger's corridors, bays, and lifts. Damage-control teams saluted him as they hurried by.
The bone rings holding his hair in a long tail bounced against his back with each stride. He still felt a joyous light-headedness, an after-effect from his use of the Lignan.
When he reached the secondary bridge, he found the night watch already taking their stations. The viewscreen remained dark. Harbinger was blind. All of them, males and females, human and nonhuman, stood and raised a fist in a salute. They smelled of stale fear.
"Captain on the bridge," said Lieutenant Llerd, standing at attention and sticking out his barrel chest.
"As you were," Saes said to the crew, and they returned to work. "You are acting executive officer, Colonel Llerd."
"Thank you, sir," said the human.
"Status?"
"Most of our instrumentation is down, so I've ordered a full stop," Llerd said. "Repair teams are trying to repair blown bulkheads. The primary bridge has been sealed off."
"Get our instrumentation operational and get a scan under way. I want to know where we are. And get the viewscreen up."
"Copy, sir," the human answered.
Someone activated the bridge's communications system. Static crackled for a moment; then the damage reports started pouring in. Saes noted them absently, but his mind was on Relin. He recalled the mirth in Relin's eyes in the moment before the charges on the hyperdrive had blown. The recollection summoned anger. He put a finger to the tip of the horn jutting from his jaw, pressed until the finger bled and he had his anger controlled.
His one-time Master had probably escaped before the jump, though Saes figured it was possible that he could still be aboard.
Saes reached out with the Force and tried to feel Relin's presence, but picked up nothing. Of course, he knew Relin could mask his presence when he wished. Saes tapped his bleeding finger against his jaw horn. Llerd watched him, frozen, as if hypnotized by the motion.
"Colonel Llerd?"
Llerd came back to himself. "Sir?"
"Have security perform a room-by-room sweep of the ship. We may still have a Jedi aboard."
"Yes, sir."
Saes sat in the command chair, issuing orders and letting his surviving crew do the work of resurrecting Harbinger. One by one its systems came back online.
"Scanners operational," said Llerd at last. His tone sharpened. "Picking up a ship, sir. Odd signature. Viewscreen coming online."
A white line formed in the center of the screen, expanded to show the black of space and stars, a nearby ringed gas giant, and a small ship shimmering in the glow of the system's orange sun.
"Magnify the ship," Saes said.
The image centered on the ship and expanded. A flattened disk, with an ancillary vessel attached to it side. He saw no obvious weapons. Not a warship, then. Saes had never seen a ship of its make before.
"That is one of our escape pods," Llerd said, pointing. "There, aft."
Saes rose from his seat, understanding instantly what it meant. Relin had escaped Harbinger in a pod right after the jump and was now rendezvousing with his Jedi allies.
"Close on that ship and fire main batteries, Colonel. Bring it down."
"Weapons are still offline, sir."
Saes clutched the edge of his seat, unable to take his eyes from the ship and the pod. He would not let Relin escape again, not again.
"Scramble two squadrons of Blades. I want that ship on fire."
As Khedryn, Relin, and Jaden hurried toward the bridge, Marr's voice rang out from Khedryn's comlink.
"Incoming, Captain. Sixteen fighters have launched from the cruiser."
"You must be kidding me!" Khedryn said. He looked at Jaden and Relin as if it were their fault, and Jaden supposed it was. "This started as a kriffing sabacc game!"
"Saes must suspect I am here," Relin said matter-of-factly.
"Then leave," Khedryn said, but recovered himself almost instantly. "I do not mean that. Sorry. I've no love for Sith. Especially really old ones." He spoke into his communicator. "Plot a jump, Marr. This is unsafe sky for rascals."
"No!" Jaden and Relin said as one.
That stopped Khedryn in his steps, and he turned to face them. "No?"
"I have to get down to that moon, Khedryn," Jaden said.
"And I need to stop Harbinger," Relin said.
Khedryn looked at them as if they were crazed. "You heard sixteen, yes?" To Relin he said, "The Battle of Kirrek already happened." To Jaden he added, "And that moon isn't going anywhere."
"Cruiser's on the move, too," Marr said.
"You hear?" Khedryn asked, eyebrows raised.
Jaden heard desperation in his own voice and made no effort to hide it. "The Force directed me here. I cannot leave until I see what's on that moon."
"Maybe you were sent here just to find Relin," Khedryn said, obviously hoping that would convince him. "Maybe you've both already done what you're supposed to do."
Jaden shook his head. Relin joined him.
"This is incidental," Jaden said.
"Incidental?" Khedryn responded. "That's what you call this? You are both madmen. Worse than fanatics. Those haunted eyes." He shook his head, paced a few steps, snapped into his comlink. "Marr, can we outrun them without jumping?"
"Outrun them to where, Captain?"
"Good question," Khedryn mumbled to himself. He looked to Jaden and Relin. "Ideas?"
Jaden did not hesitate. "We use the rings for cover. Scanners will never find us and the fighters will not follow."
"That's because we'll be space dust," Khedryn said. "Last time I tried, I wasn't able to walk between raindrops. So unless you can-"
"I can," Jaden said. "And I'll pilot Junker." Seeing Khedryn's hesitation, he said, "I can do it, Captain."
"Force-piloting?" Relin asked, one eyebrow raised.
Jaden nodded.
"Stang, man," Khedryn said, shifting on his feet. "Stang."
"Still closing," Marr said, his voice somehow staying placid. "Orders, Captain? Sitting still seems unwise."
"You think?" Khedryn snapped. He stared at Jaden. Finally he said, "Head into the rings, Marr. Ahead full until we hit them, then Jaden gets the stick."