I sat at the controls of the Home. Noreh, being a trained field medic, was tending to Mike. After having to go help her check on him and still not getting through, I was exhausted. Luckily, Hyper was there to help out. Raymond had been thoroughly entranced by the ship. He had me telling him what everything was soon after we had lifted from the rooftop. I was glad when Zee came in and distracted him.
I tried reaching out through the Force for Mike. No luck. I couldn't tell if he was just a blind spot in the Force now, or if he was really shutting me out. It was annoying as hell not knowing. I really wanted to know how I could regain his trust.
Ok, so I know how to regain Mike's trust.
I just have to get Thayer and Becki together. When they were in the same room, they were always happy. Yet, when Becki went back to school, he became listless. I always felt sorry for him. The pain he must have been feeling. For a while, I was really angry with Becki.
But, then I remembered what it was to be so young. She has her whole life ahead of her. The times we had talked, I found her to be quite smart and very likeable. She really wanted to finish her teaching degree before doing anything else. I envied her. Perhaps that's the whole thing. She had the drive to actually finish her degree.
No, it was because I realized just how much the long distance was hurting them both. Thayer doesn't deserve the pain. Becki deserves to follow her dreams. I'm only trying to make sure they both get what they deserve.
Liar!
Not you again, I thought.
You lying little bitch! You did it so you could get in good with Llessur and never have to worry about anything again.
Maybe I did. But the ultimate goal was to make Becki and Thayer happy.
Did you ever once think that maybe the way to make them happy was for them to actually BE TOGETHER?!
I sighed and mentally rolled my eyes. You really are the keeper of good will, aren't you? I have no good angel, only a demon.
*Thwap*
What the hell was that for?!
I AM your good angel, doofus. I'm trying to make you realize what is right.
Great, my subconscious has a worse attitude than I do.
*THWAP*
Would you stop that! It hurts!
Not until you get it through your THICK skull that you need to change your thinking. Llessur isn't going to do anything for you if you break Thayer and Becki up. It will only break Thayer's heart, which will only upset Llessur.
I considered what she was telling me. It's too late.
It's never too late. Apologize to Llessur. Tell her you can't continue to help her break Thayer and Becki up because it weighs too heavily on your conscience. And that's the truth.
No, I mean it's really too late.
My hands flew across the controls as I made a soft landing in Bertie's field. My subconscious retreated as I stood and stretched. A look at my watch told me it was almost three in the morning. I needed some fresh air. And besides, I had to get Hyper into Josh's X-Wing to get it loaded.
As I was descending the ramp towards the ground, something seemed odd, out of place, to me. I couldn't begin to figure it out before I was attacked. I heard bleating, barking and beeping around my legs.
I stooped and was immediately bombarded. Agneau and Renoir tackled me to the ground and began licking my face. I giggled and tried to push them away. "I missed you too!"
I could hear Twitch beeping, relaying to me everything he'd done since I'd left him there. I could tell he was happy and that brightened my spirits somewhat. Still, my subconscious brewed in the back of my mind. I was finally able to push the lamb and the sheltie off of me and stand.
Hyper had rolled down the ramp and was listening intently to Twitch, not quite understanding why the other droid was so happy to be around animals. He hated having hairs in his gears.
I smiled and brushed myself off. "Come on Hyper, let's get you loaded." We walked over to the X and I finally figured out what was bothering me. "Where's Brad's ship?"
IT UP AND LEFT A FEW DAYS AGO, Twitch explained. WE DID NOT SEE THE LIEUTENANT ANYWHERE.
I sighed. Obviously, Brad had gotten himself into trouble again. Where did I go wrong? I thought. If only... I shook off any further thoughts as Hyper beeped at me. "Ok, hold your horses."
I HAVE NO HORSES, he replied.
"It's a Terran expression, Hyper. Just give me a moment. I'm still a little drained after tk'ing Mike three times tonight." I took a few deep breaths, glad for the cool, crisp night air of the farm. Focusing on the Force, I could feel everyone, every animal, every thing. I was amazed at how strong the Force was here. The first thing to come to mind were Robert Aspirin's Myth books. It was as if there was a net of Force lines running across the earth. I tapped into one of these lines and immediately felt refreshed. Reaching out, I took Hyper into my grasp and lifted him into the ship.
Unlike most other times I used telekinesis, I had my eyes open. Putting a droid into a ship was something I'd done many times over the past year. It was something I was very proud that I could do. It had also been the first thing I'd done with telekinesis when I found out I had Force powers.
Hyper settled into the droid slot and began the startup sequence. I commed Noreh to open the bay doors. I watched as the droid slowly repulsored the ship into the bay. Agneau huddled behind me and Renoir barked at the noisy ship.
It wasn't long before the front porch light of the house turned on. A rather sleepy looking Bertrand stepped out wrapped in a blanket to see what all the noise was. His eyes widened when he saw me. "Ah, Madame Boyd! That is right, is it not?"
"Sorry to wake you, Bertie," I said with a smile and a nod. "We will be leaving as soon as Becki and Josh get here."
"Oh, Becki. Such a nice young woman. You just missed Thayer. Did he find you?"
My jaw dropped open of its own freewill. I stood there dumbfounded. That's when my brain kicked in and noticed one of the shuttles near the barn. Oh Hoth.
Bertie chuckled. "Ah, I suppose he did not from that look."
I finally regained my senses enough to close my mouth. "Uh, why was Thayer looking for us?"
"Oh they were wanting to find Becki. Someone had contacted them and..." He waved the whole conversation off. "Why don't you go get Noreh whilst I get some water on for cocoa?"
I nodded, deep in thought. Shit! ShitShitShitShitShit!
My subconscious laughed. Well, well, well. What have we here?
Shut up, I thought. Just... shut up. I know what I'm doin'.
Right, and I'm Mother Teresa.
Pleased to meet you. I just hope he never did find us. If he even saw Josh and Becki together...
Oooh, she's finally getting it.
With a growl, I stomped up the hatch and went to find Noreh. I passed Raymond and Zee who were standing near the hatch discussing verb conjugation in French. Luckily, that was enough to shut my subconscious up for a while. She was too busy trying to figure out what they were saying.
I walked into the medbay to see Noreh checking Mike's progress. "How's he doing?" I asked.
She jumped slightly and turned around. "You walk as silently as he does," she said nodding towards the tank.
I grinned. "He is a good teacher." I moved over to stand beside her. "Bertie is awake and fixing us something warm to drink."
"I'd rather stay here," she said, the worry evident not only in her face but in the tone of her voice.
"I'll bring you something then. However, Bertie will probably be very upset if you don't come and say hello."
She sighed. "Please, Jedi Boyd..."
"Call me Vickie, okay? I'd like to hope that you and I are friends." I smiled. "Stay with Mike. I'll let Bertie know you're watching over him."
She let out a sigh of relief. "Thanks."
I squeezed her shoulder a moment before turning to leave. As I passed Raymond, I said, "I will be in the house with M. du Corbeau. If you need anything, Noreh knows how to contact me. She is going to stay with Mike and make sure he's ok."
Raymond nodded. "I will stay here. I am enjoying speaking with your android here."
"I'm sure she is enjoying your company as well." Shaking my head slightly with a chuckle, I left the ship.
I had three shadows follow me into the house. Bertie looked up and smiled. "The animals seem to like you quite a bit."
I smiled. "And I like them as well. I've always wanted to live on a farm. It must be from my father's genes. He lived on a farm when he was young."
"Emulating a father is the greatest compliment."
"I wish he was around to compliment." I frowned sadly.
"Oh dear, I'm so sorry." He moved over to hug me. "It is always hardest to lose a parent."
I sat down at the table as he went back to pour the hot water into two cups. I watched the steam roll over the lip of the cups. It held my attention as he brought a tray to the table and sit down. "Bertie? Do you know why Thayer came all the way here?"
He handed me a cup and sat down with his own. "Let me think. I remember him speaking of young Becki. Oh, what a gem she is."
I took a sip and realized he'd forgotten the cocoa. Without missing a beat, I stood and went to add it to my cup. "When did he arrive?"
He watched me curiously. "Very early this morning. He and that charming woman he was with caught a cab for the city after we had a wonderful breakfast." He took a sip from his cup and his face scrunched up. "Oh dear. I did forget something."
I brought the cocoa over to the table and sat down. "He brought someone with him?"
"Ah yes, one of my sister's ladies, I believe. Um, Lenore? Linda?"
"Lenka," I offered.
"Yes! You are so smart, young lady," he beamed.
I muddled over this information. Thayer had come to Paris with Lenka in search of us. Why? The only answer I had was to find Becki. But why did he leave Mendellia so quickly? Llessur had not mentioned anything in her last email about him having left the castle.
I dropped my head into my hands and rubbed my temples. This whole thing was starting to give me a headache. Of course, that was probably my subconscious's doing.
"Are you all right?"
"Just tired," I lied to the worried looking gentleman. "We've been quite busy since we've been in Paris."
"You are more than welcome to stay the night," he offered with a smile as he began to stand. "However, I do think I should get back to bed."
I stood and gave him a hug. "Thank you for everything, Bertie."
He was taken aback by my assertiveness. "Well! You are most welcome. Sleep well."
"You too. Good night." I waited until he left before sitting back down heavily, letting the day's worries flow over me.
I fixed cups of cocoa for Raymond and Noreh, taking them out under pretense of finding out how Mike was doing. The real reason was to check my email. Sure enough, there was a short message from Llessur.
Captain,
Things are going well. Thayer left at some time suddenly with Lenka. I believe he has finally made his choice. Congratulations.
Llessur Atner, Queen Mother
I blinked and read the message again. She doesn't know. Well, that's one thing in my favor.
If all you want is Llessur's favor, my subconscious taunted.
I decided to ignore her this time as I pulled up the GPS on the Red Home. Picking out Josh's and Becki's signal was easy for the GFFA technology. They were still at the warehouse. Maybe they had actually found something.
I switched off the computer and decided to go back inside to await their arrival. Curling up on the couch, I pushed the curtain to the side a bit so I could see out. Renoir jumped up and curled up beside me. It wasn't long before all of the Force-use and stress finally made my eyes close. I fell into a deep, restless sleep.
I was awakened to the sound of Josh calling to me through the Force. Vickie, wake up, it's time to go. Hearing him so clearly caught me by surprise. In all the time we trained together he hadn't mastered such fine control before. I could usually understand the meaning of his message, but not individual words. It seemed as though he'd grown a lot in the Force just in the last week.
I looked at my watch as I stretched sleepily, disturbing Renoir in the process, then bolted upright on the couch. It was almost 5:30 in the morning! I had been asleep for quite a while. When I rushed outside, I found Josh and Becki standing side by side talking to Noreh. There was already a soft orange glow in the eastern sky.
"Where on Earth have you two been?" I demanded.
Becki flashed an annoyed look at Josh before answering. "I dozed off on a bench in the subway station and he let me sleep there half the night."
"Seems to be a lot of that going around," Josh said as he gave me a bemused look.
I couldn't help noticing that despite her apparent irritation with him, Becki was standing fairly close to the young Jedi. Hm, this is an interesting twist, I thought. "Well, if you'd actually gotten here last night, I wouldn't have slept so long," I said to Josh. I knew I was probably taking out a lot of my internal frustration on him, but at the moment he was an easy target. "And what's that about the subway station? I thought they were off limits."
"Um, well..." he stammered, a slight blush creeping onto his face. "It was either that or we walked all the way back out here."
I raised an eyebrow as I heard Becki grumble, "We might as well have. As long as you let me sleep, we would have been here at the same time if we'd walked."
Josh apparently decided he couldn't win this one. Instead of replying to Becki he turned back to me and asked, "Are we ready to go?"
"Yeah," I replied. "Your X-Wing is loaded in the cargo bay and all the equipment is put away. Brad's ship wasn't here when we got here."
"Whose ship is that?" he asked, pointing to the strange ship near the barn.
"Oh, that's Thayer's," I said, trying to keep my voice casual. My subconscious was happy to see the momentary look of panic on my companions' faces. "Bertie said he and Lenka got here sometime yesterday."
"Oh. That's odd," was all Josh managed to say as he carefully tried to push the fear and guilt out of his eyes.
"Should we stay and wait for them?" I asked.
"No," Josh said much too quickly. Then more carefully, "Unless Raymond's information turns out to be more reliable than I think it is, we'll be home by tonight. We'll see them there."
A look of disappointment crossed Becki's face and she shuffled slightly further away from him. Much better, my subconscious said with satisfaction. "All right. Let's get going. The sooner we get to Agen, the sooner we'll be home." And I can get out of this little deal.
Within moments we were on the bridge with Noreh back at the controls. Just as she was about to lift the Home off the ground, a figure came walking across the field towards the ship. It was too tall to be Bertie or even Thayer and stood too much upright to be M. Agneau or Renoir. "Who the hell is that?" I asked.
Josh flipped a switch on a cockpit panel and a floodlight shone on the figure. "Jesus, it's Brad!" he breathed.
Noreh lowered the personnel ramp as Josh and I rushed down to the main hold to meet the long lost agent. "Thanks for blinding me," Brad growled at us.
"You're welcome," Josh said as he closed the ramp behind Brad. "Where have you been?" he demanded.
"Long story," he replied curtly.
I watched him carefully as he walked and spoke. Something seemed familiar. "And your B-Wing?" I asked.
"Long. Fucking. Story," he ground out through gritted teeth. He sat down on a bench and closed his eyes. Not another word was spoken as the ship lifted off and headed south toward the next phase of our mission.