Black Knight Crisis: Hyperspace

Lirah was sitting on the bridge of the Daft Venture, which is what the twins had jokingly named their ship. Master Shal had seemed vaguely displeased, but since the twins had been the ones who had ensured that they would even have a ship he had kept his mouth shut.

It had been weeks of flying around in circles. The Daft Venture's comm signal had to display a certain bearing, or some such. Lirah wasn't interested in the details, just the fact that she was stuck on a heavy freighter with nine other people, two of whom were overly hyper (the twins), one was increasingly getting more depressed (Zhed) and the only other one who she had met before was proving to everyone why he had been a solo act.

She still hadn't used Nou's comm. She would sit in her room for hours, perfectly aware that the others were curious, and stare at the comm. Once she even turned it on, but hadn't pressed call.

Not even Zhed knew about it. It was her secret and her burden. Everyone else was too focused on their individual jobs to care that the short girl's emotions felt more complicated than the Kylos knot.

She was currently sitting in the navigator's chair. She had shown some small skill at the job and was given it for the trip. It was a consolation prize for the fact that she was a fighter and there was no one to fight.

"Miss Norn," came an electronic voice. "More caf?"

The shipboard droid, an old protocol droid from before all of the droids became HRDs, was standing there with a tray.

Lirah turned her head. "Yes, please."

As the droid walked off with its strange mechanical gait to offer caf to the twins, she stood. "You guys don't need me, right?"

The older of the twins--Cor--turned his head her direction. "Nah. You can go rest or whatever."

She nodded at him. The twins had always been so laidback compared to other Jedi that she was amazed they were chosen at first. She quickly realized that they were better actors than any of the other Jedi by far and that they were essentially the frontmen.

That, and they could fly like no one else.

She walked calmly into the refresher room and locked the door before turning on the device.

Her finger hovered over the button that would connect her instantly to Nou'torn.

After an agonizing ten seconds, she pressed it.

A tiny holo of her friend appeared. It was just his head and shoulders and far too grainy to make out more than general shapes, but it was a relief.

"Hey, Lirah. Took you long enough to call," he said. She could imagine the mocking grin on his face that had used to irritate her, but not anymore.

"I was occupied," she said defensively.

"Sure you were."

"You know, I could hang up on you," she threatened. It came out more playfully than she meant it to. Unfortunately, she couldn't see his expression well enough to tell if he had noticed.

"That you could, but you won't," Nou'torn said with another grin.

Lirah nodded. "So, how's Coruscant?"

Nou adjusted the holo for a quick moment before replying.

"It's going well. I've set up a network of friends already. Oona--the Twi'lek from the diner--has really helped me set up my system. There's so much world outside the Temple, Lirah. You would love it here."

Lirah felt like she was being slowly choked. So many conflicting emotions.

"Seen anything else in your meditations that I might need to know?"

He took a deep breath. "Not that you need to know." His voice was thick and full of pain."

Lirah blinked. "Whatever you say. Zhed misses you, you know. The Trio isn't complete without its brainiac."

The holo wasn't clear, but Lirah thought he might have smiled.

"Just a Duo, huh? I'm sure you guys will be fine."

He's lying... she thought.

Suddenly there was a loud crash and the sound of blasters set to stun outside. At least three.

"I've got to go," Lirah whispered.

"I understand," Nou'torn said, then grimaced. "Leave your lightsaber in the refresher. Trust me."

She obeyed. "Good bye." She shut off the comm and slipped it into her pocket. She tried to use her meditation techniques to sense what was on the other side of the door but failed. Seeing no other course of action, she unlocked the door and opened it.

A blaster was shoved in her face from either side. "Hands up, girlie," hissed an Amani to her right.

Her hands were in the air by the time the Amani had finished speaking.

They led her to the bridge. The twins were both on their knees beside the pilot's station. Zhed was looking around frantically but when he saw her he relaxed. The other five were all in being led in by various aliens. There wasn't a single human in the group.

A tall Devaronian stepped onto the bridge right behind Master Shal.

"Relax," he said in a smoother voice than Lirah had expected. "I don't want to hurt anyone. I am merely curious. Why would a freighter fly into this part of space? In fact, there's a rumor going around that the Black Knights are in charge of this area."

"How'd you get into our ship?" Shal asked.

The Devaronian grinned at him. "That's my little secret."

Lirah looked over at the pilot's station and realized with a shock that they were still in hyperspace.

"What do you want?"

The Devaronian grinned again, wider this time. "Why, your cargo of course. But I must say, you made it too easy to find you. I was tempted the first time a ship passed this way, but when they came by again and again? It's too good to be true, methinks. No sane captain takes his ship in circles in the most dangerous part of space unless he's trying to be noticed."

Lirah reached out to sense Shal's mind. She hadn't known that that was the plan. As soon as she stretched out, though, she felt another presence in the room, one much stronger in the Force than she was but raw and untrained. She immediately shielded herself.

The Devaronian glanced her way but said nothing. "Here's my theory, gents. You're Jedi and you're hoping to join the Black Knights."

The statement brought both irritation and relief. True, he had discovered their identity. But at least he didn't know why they were trying to join the Black Knights...

The Devaronian flicked his hand and a Shistavanen reached over and pulled the ship out of hyperspace. A small planet was in view then.

"My name is Captain Batemus," he said with another grin. "And you Jedi are my prisoners."