Convergence/Chapter 20

20
                 Corian watched as the aft ramp lowered gradually on Whisper’s ship to reveal Yanibar’s rocky landscape. To his relief, the others were still waiting by the speeder where he’d left them, huddled behind rocks in an attempt at cover as the backwash from the repulsors kicked up mud and water from the myriad puddles pockmarking the landscape. Whisper and Jhiranae were in the cockpit—Whisper was flying and Jhiranae was still holding him at lightsaber point.

             “Come on out,” Corian called, waving at them.

             The surprised archaeologists emerged from their hiding places.

             “Grab your things and let’s get going,” Corian told them. “This isn’t a great place to stick around.”

             “Lieutenant, this is a welcome surprise,” Doctor Ostrada told him as she headed for the speeder. “Where did you get the ship?”

             Corian smirked.

             “Its owner stopped by looking for me. . . it’s a long story. Jhiranae got the drop on him with that lightsaber of hers and we decided to hitch a ride.”

             He bounded down the ramp and helped load the rest of their gear.

             “What about the speeder?” Doctor Ostrada asked. “Should we bring it?”

             “If you can fit it into the cargo bay,” Corian told her. “I think Whisper disabled all of the traps.”

             “Traps?” Plaspek asked nervously.

             “Bounty hunter ship,” Corian explained. “Counted at least three that had to be disarmed. Flash mine, blaster rigs, and. . . that’s right, there was a stun field.”

             “Oh. . .”

             “Let me know if you find any more,” Corian said glibly. “If you do, Jhiranae will deal with Whisper.”

             “Who’s Whisper?” Doctor Ostrada asked.

             “A bounty hunter. This is his ship. He’s only alive because we need him to fly it—unless any of you can fly a ship.”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt">             To his dismay—but not surprise—none of the archaeologists indicated they could.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt">             “Too bad,” he said. “We could have left him here otherwise.”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt">             In a few minutes, the remainder of their gear was loaded and the archaeologists were aboard. Somehow they even managed to accommodate the speeder, wedging it between cargo cylinders in the hold. Corian supervised for a few minutes, then headed back to the cockpit.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt">             “We’re all set,” he told Jhiranae. “Now we go back and pick up our weapons.”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt">             “Agreed,” she replied. “Whisper, take us back to where you captured us. Quietly.”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt">             The bounty hunter complied wordlessly, and it was a simple matter for Corian to head down the ramp and collect the weapons.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt">             “I missed this,” Corian said, cradling his blaster rifle as he returned to the cockpit. “Let’s get to space.”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt">             “Actually, I have one more request,” Jhiranae spoke up. “You see, we did leave a number of things back at our camp inside the basin.”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt">             Corian had an inkling on what she was after, but he could afford to be gracious now that there was a real chance of them getting offworld. Unbelievably, they were going to escape.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt">             “And all of your archaeological collection. I get it,” he said. “Fine. Just make it quick.”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt">             Mercifully, none of the other archaeologists came into the cockpit—no doubt too intimidated by Whisper’s presence. Loading the rest of their various tools and relic containers also was uneventful. The weather in the basin was less turbulent, and while Corian supervised the archaeologists to make sure there was no danger, they had everything loaded in fairly short order. Satisfied, he returned to the cockpit.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt">             “Now for space?” Jhiranae asked.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt">             “Not yet,” Corian told her. “There’s one more thing I’ve noticed about this ship.”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt">             He turned to Whisper.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt">             “How good is the life-signs detection on this ship?”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt">             Whisper was motionless.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt">             “Look, I get it. You hate us because we messed up your plan and took your ship. I for one am willing to overlook that. If you help us, we’ll leave you alive and put in a good word for you on Corellia. The government would probably be willing to reward you on top of whatever fee my grandfather arranged. That’s a pretty good deal.”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt">             Whisper didn’t move, but Corian was undeterred.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt">             “Let me ask again—how good is the life-signs detection on this ship?”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt">             “I can detect individual humanoids from thirty kilometers up,” Whisper replied begrudgingly.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt">             Corian whistled.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt">             “That’s better than mil-spec. Some kind of custom job. Kind of like these weapon switches here. . . concussion missiles?”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt">             “Correct.”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt">             “Even better,” Corian said. “I want you to scan the Grasp position for life-signs.”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt">             Whisper complied and Corian peered closely at the screen.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt">             “Not many infrared signatures. I see one rather clearly, but the others are more muted.”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt">             “There is only one humanoid there,” Whisper told him. “There are no hostages.”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt">             “How do you know that?” Jhiranae asked.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt">             “Because I intercepted Grasp communications that indicated as much,” Whisper replied. “Combined with the lack of heat signatures, I am certain.”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt">             “This better not be a trick,” Corian warned.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt">             “On my honor as a hunter, it is no trick,” Whisper said. “I have no love for the Grasp.”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt">             “I think he’s telling the truth,” Jhiranae added.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt">             Corian frowned.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt">             “I was hoping you’d say that,” he said, tapping a control on the sensor board.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt">             Before anyone else could stop him, he flipped a pair of arming switches on the weapons rack and depressed the firing buttons. The ship shuddered as two concussion missiles rocketed away from the ship on trails of argent fire.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt">             “What did you do?” Jhiranae asked in shock.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt">             “A little payback,” Corian said. “Bastards had it coming.”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt">             “And you’re going to just kill that person?”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt">             Corian considered for just a second.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt">             “Yep, pretty much. That’s called war, Jhiranae. She’s the enemy. It’s my job to kill her. Hell, I probably saved the relief force a lot of trouble.”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt">             That silenced Jhiranae for a long moment. Corian watched on the sensor board as the two missiles closed in on the camp.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt">             “What about our things? Our research?” Jhiranae asked.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt">             Her question caught Corian off guard. Truth be told, he hadn’t given the matter any thought. His mission had been to protect the archaeologists, which he’d done to the best of his ability. Their equipment and findings. . . that was mostly superfluous. He suddenly found it hard to meet her eyes. Even though he didn’t care about their archaeology stuff, his willingness to inflict such violence without concern for collateral damage was discomfiting, however justified it might be. He cleared his throat and summoned his snappiest answer.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt">             “Uh. . . well, I hope you had insurance.”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt">             It didn’t sound nearly as witty out loud as it had in his head. In fact, he felt vaguely ashamed of the words as soon as they were spoken. Jhiranae laid a hand on his shoulder, turning him to look at her reluctantly.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt">             “You’re better than that,” she said.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt">             The ship throbbed and hummed as the shockwave from a pair of distant detonations reached it.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt">             “They killed my unit, and most of your team,” Corian told her, a wave of cold anger seeping into his voice.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt">             “They are droids, Corian,” she replied. “Priceless, invaluable artifacts gone forever because you wanted to destroy droids and one person leading them''. ''Is your sense of justice satisfied now, knowing that their makers aren’t harmed in the slightest by your act of destruction? You may have almost completely set back our expedition’s work here.”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt">             He knew she was right, but her rebuke stung and he didn’t want to show it.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt">             “At least you’re still alive to do it,” Corian retorted, then turned on his heel and stalked off.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt">             Jhiranae watched him go, her own anger rising within her. Corian was a brave and capable man, but she was aghast at how quickly he could turn to violence. That was not a part of him she felt was safe or healthy, and she wondered if it was partially because she knew there was an element of that same nature within her.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt">             “He was justified in what he did,” Whisper told her, as if reading her mind.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt">             “That doesn’t make it right. He destroyed valuable artifacts for the sake of revenge,” Jhiranae answered curtly.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt">             “They weren’t important,” Whisper told her, turning the ship on a course for space.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt">             “Neither was killing that woman and destroying a bunch of stupid droids,” Jhiranae retorted, then she stopped. “Wait, how do you know that?”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt">             “This place. . . it is. . . familiar to me,” Whisper answered. “I have seen it before, once upon a time.”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt">             “This planet?” Jhiranae asked, the hair rising on the back of her neck.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt">             “Yes. . .” Whisper answered slowly. “But I do not remember much. . . other than that I’ve been here before.”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt">             “When? What did you see?” Jhiranae asked.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt">             Whisper was silent for a moment, his attention focused on the controls. He entered in a series of computations, then waited until the computer screen hummed and displayed a golden graphic that Jhiranae had no ability to decipher.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt">             “Brace for lightspeed,” he said, throwing a lever.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt">             Outside, the starlines elongated and twisted as the ship achieved superluminal velocities. Whisper pushed a button and shades retracted over the canopy to protect them from the maddening view of hyperspace.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt">             “Please, tell me more about what you saw,” Jhiranae pleaded.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt">             “I cannot,” Whisper answered flatly. “Only this: it was inside the basin where we recovered your artifacts. That was the point of significance.”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt">             “Fascinating,” Jhiranae breathed. “If you think of anything else, please let me know.”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt">             “That will be difficult,” Whisper told her. “You will be dead.”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt">             With surprising speed, he ducked under the lightsaber blade and lunged, striking her in the stomach. Caught offguard, she dropped the weapon, which clattered to the ground, blade retracting into the hilt. Whisper sprang to his feet, drawing a hidden vibroblade. With the wind knocked out of her, Jhiranae could not even muster the breath to cry out.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt">             “A real Jedi would not be so easily defeated,” he told her. “You are a pretender. How disappointing.”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt">             He started to stab downward, but suddenly a whirr-chirp-BOOM sounded from behind him. Something slammed into the bounty hunter, knocking him into the control console. Jhiranae quickly sprang to her feet, grabbing for the lightsaber and igniting it. Unsteadily, she leveled the weapon at Whisper, but he made no attempt to move. A spatter of blood coated his armor and the deck around him. Backing up a step, Jhiranae looked over her shoulder to see Corian standing a few meters away with his salvaged slugthrower trained on Whisper.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt">             “Not bad,” he said. “You okay?”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt">             Jhiranae nodded slowly.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt">             “Is he dead?” she asked.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt">             “I don’t think so,” Corian replied.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt">             He walked over and tried to unlock Whisper’s helmet, but nothing happened.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt">             “Well, short of cutting it off of him, he’s stuck in there.”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt">             The sound of flowing liquid caught Corian by surprise. He looked down to see some kind of metallic fluid spilling out around the entry and exit wounds on Whisper’s armor. The metal slug had punched through at an oblique angle that had no doubt left severe internal damage. Yet he couldn’t tell whether it was an autonomous feature of the armor or a system activated by Whisper. The metal beaded and congealed into a hardened surface, enclosing the wound. An idea came to Corian and he activated the ship’s internal sensors, training them on Whisper. Despite their sophistication and a fair amount of fiddling, there was little he could tell. Whisper’s armor was apparently well-shielded against scans.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt">             “Anything?” Jhiranae asked.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt">             “He’s alive, but probably unconscious,” Corian said. “I saw a pulse. Beyond that, I can’t tell. I don’t think he’s even close to Human, and removing his armor might kill him. Best thing we can do is drag him down to one of the cabins and lock him in there, then shoot the control. If he survives, great. If he doesn’t, well, he had it coming.”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt">             Once that unpleasant and heavy task was done, Corian and Jhiranae returned to the cockpit.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt">             “Ah, kriff,” Corian said. “That’s not good.”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt">             He pointed out a sparking panel.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt">             “What’s that?” Jhiranae asked.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt">             “Looks like my shot punched through Whisper and into the ship,” Corian pointed out. “We’re lucky it didn’t go all the way through.”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt">             “What did it hit?” Jhiranae asked.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt">             “I dunno, I’m not a pilot,” Corian said. “Maybe get the ship to run a diagnostic?”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt">             Jhiranae sat down and did her best, but the computer would only let her access limited functions. Whisper was apparently quite the paranoid type when it came to his ship’s security.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt">             “Hard to say,” she admitted. “From what I can tell, maybe the primary navicomputer?”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt">             “  Fierfek,  ” Corian swore. “We’re still in hyperspace?”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt">             “It looks that way,” Jhiranae answered, consulting the computer. “The hyperdrive itself seems intact, but even if we could figure out how to use it, I think the navicomputer, for lack of a better word, is shot. Wherever we come out is where we come out.”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt">             “Well, that’s just great,” Corian remarked, leaning heavily against a bulkhead.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt">             “You saved my life,” Jhiranae said. “It’s not your fault. You didn’t know the weapon was that powerful!”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt">             “I didn’t,” Corian admitted. “I just turned it up to maximum power and fired. Figured it might work better against that armor than a blaster.”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt">             “How did you know he would try something?”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt">             “I knew I couldn’t trust him and that you were distracted,” Corian said. “Seemed like a bad look.”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt">             He surveyed the blood spatter on the deck.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt">             “That’ll have to be cleaned up if the others are going to come up here. I’ll do it.”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt">             Jhiranae was silent. Corian regarded her for a moment, then it was his turn to ask a question.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt">             “How did you know to jump Whisper back on Yanibar?”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt">             “You set me up,” Jhiranae said. “Didn’t you, with that distraction?”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt">             “Yes, but how did you know it was a set up?”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt">             She was quiet for a moment, then shook her head as if to clear it.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt">             “I just knew,” she said. “I felt you bump into the lightsaber earlier and something about you. . . changed. I’d almost forgotten that I had it in the first place.”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt">             “That’s when I knew we had a chance,” Corian agreed. “I wasn’t sure at first if you would take it.”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt">             “What changed your mind?”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt">             His reply was slow in coming.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt">             “I guess I trusted you would do the right thing. I hope someday you can say the same thing about me.”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt">             Before she could get another word off, he turned and shambled away.