Project Boussh: Past, Present, or Future?
by Vickie Boyd

Vickie groaned. Every day Corran had asked her to meditate for hours at
a time. Anytime it took her longer than a minute to empty her mind, he
would add fifteen minutes for each minute over. She was getting better,
but still not good enough. She dropped down onto the couch and pulled
her legs up under her. Closing her eyes, she imagined the bubble.

Like a lightning strike, her mind was clear. She nearly gasped aloud as
she realized the emptiness. She floated in the void, not concentrating
on anything. A line from ESB suddenly came to mind. "Through the Force,
things you will see. Other places. The future...the past. Old friends
long gone."

Visions of Toronto and New Orleans came to her mind. She saw her friends
from her high school band and the Wind Ensemble at UNCG (University of
North Carolina at Greensboro). Then she had visions of a place she had
only seen on television or in movies. A vast deserted place spotted with
hills. It was the outback of Australia. Somehow she knew this was not
somewhere she had seen on TV or in a book. She flew over the ground like
a bird in flight. It was beautiful.

She flew over a ridge and saw an unusual sight. There was an encampment
in the middle of nowhere. She went in closer to what looked like
airplane hangars. Inside she found something she never thought she would
see in her entire lifetime. A B-Wing rested comfortably on its side with
an A-Wing right beside it. Who could it be, she thought to herself.

Passing through walls like a ghost, she homed in on the pilots. Both
were agitated. The female wore a New Republic uniform. On the sleeve was
a patch that depicted the crest of Polearm Squadron. She felt as if she
should know this woman, but her name escaped her.

The male paced around the room, throwing his hands in the air in
disgust. She could see tears in his eyes. It bothered her that she could
not hear what was being said. Were they tears of sadness or anger? She
couldn't tell.

She watched the woman stand and say something to the man. The female
pilot began to move towards the man as he spoke. She could now read the
patch on the uniform's left breast. KONNAIR, it said. That name is
familiar, she thought. She then saw the blue tattoo over her right eye.

Like a flash of light, the woman ran forward and slammed the man against
the wall. Vickie could feel the imact of his head against the sheetrock.
Stars clouded her vision as the images faded.


Vickie gasped and rubbed the back of her head as her eyes fluttered
open. Three shapes stood over her. "Are you alright," asked Corran.

She blinked everyone into focus. "Yeah. That was strange. It was just
like Yoda said to Luke. I saw the past and then... I'm not sure if it
was the future or the present."

"Well, what did you see," asked Pash. "Perhaps we can discern if it is
present or future."

"I saw the outback of Australia."

"That's where Ooryl is," Corran added.

She nodded. "Yes, with Piggy, Nick and Josh. And Brad..." Her voice
trailed off. She remembered Brad's normal sig mentioned something about
being the Australian High Priest of the Crossed Strike Foils and he
always talked about flying a B-Wing. She never thought that he meant an
*actual* B-Wing. Then again, she never thought she could ever have Force
powers.

"What next?"

"I saw a B-Wing and an A-Wing in a hangar at what looked to be some sort
of encampment or airfield."

"A B-Wing," Pash said questioningly. "Who would have a B-Wing down here?
You said that there was an A-Wing also. Did you see the pilot?"

She nodded. "It's a Polearm ship. I don't know if you have heard of her
or not. Lieutenant Dorset Konnair."

"Konnair? Why the hell would she be here?"

"Dunno, but she's with Brad and the B is his."

"A Terran owns his own B-Wing," stated Corran. "How can that be?"

"How can it be that each of you are here. Maybe, being from Australia
where weird stuff seems to happen all the time, he was able to contact
someone from the fringe and was able to purchase it. I don't know." She
shrugged. "What I do know is that something was wrong. Both he and
Dorset were acting agitated."

"Could you hear what they were saying?"

She shook her head then clasped it when she began to feel dizzy. "No,
but for some reason, I could _feel_ their emotions."

Corran cocked his head, "What do you mean _feel_?"

"Maybe sense would be a better word. They both were upset, but for
different reasons. Dorset was more, how to put this, disappointed. I
thought Brad might be angry or sad, but now that I've thought about it,
it seemed more like he was afraid." She paused and looked thoughtful.
"Why would he be afraid?"

"Maybe he is our traitor and he was caught," offered Pash.

"No," Vickie said emphatically. "There is no way. That is not why he was
frightened."

"Are you sure," questioned Corran.

She closed her eyes. "Not completely, no." Breathing deeply, she
continued, "I'm sorry I can't say for certain that Brad is innocent. My
heart tells me that he is. This whole *Force* thing is new to me. I'm
trying my best to cope and understand. You know what I'm feeling." She
looked up at Corran.

He actually looked sympathetic. "Yes," he said quietly and laid a hand
on her shoulder. He felt the tension she was feeling flow from her as he
sent relaxing thoughts.

"Thank you."

After a few moments of silence, Pash spoke. "So now what?"

The Jedi and the Jedi-wannabe just shrugged in response.