"Seven to Red Home. Seven to Red Home. We have a code alpha thirteen. I repeat. We have a code alpha thirteen. Please stand by for coordinates."
Noreh had sat by the comlink since receiving the call. She hadn't had time to reply, had barely even begun to increase the volume on the message when it ended. Now she sat in the Red Home's cockpit, glancing occasionally at the comm unit as she scanned the ship's instruments.
An alpha thirteen meant a serious injury to a team member. Not just that, though, it meant that the contact point could be 'hot'. So Noreh wanted the Red Home in full working order. No minor fluctuations, no blips, nothing that on a better day would be overlooked. The ship had to be perfect. Just as she'd had drilled into her head since day one of flight school.
Something else she'd had drilled into her. In an emotional situation, training could just take over. Sitting alone in the Home, waiting to hear which of her friends was so badly hurt, was definitely an emotional situation.
The Red Home skimmed low over the Parisian rooftops. A few days beforehand, Noreh had flown the same route to leave Mike in the French capital. Now she was wondering how the mission had gone so badly wrong that her friends needed an emergency medivac.
The Home's cloak hummed lightly in the background. Noreh had tweaked the settings to avoid detection by the air traffic control radar at Beauvais airport, and hoped she had it dialed in correctly. It would be embarrassing to have French Air Force jets trying to trace her.
The navicomp chimed lightly, and Noreh corrected her course to bring the ship directly on target for the co-ordinates Josh had sent, encrypted, to her. Evidently the mission leader was feeling paranoid. Wondering what it was that had caused the new attitude in the American didn't fill Noreh with hope.
There. The apartment had a fine view of the Eiffel Tower, if you liked that sort of thing. Noreh transmitted a brief message to Josh, and then smoothly transferred power from the engines to the repulsorlifts as she brought the ship in to hover over the apartment roof. Fortunately or otherwise, the apartment building was taller than its surrounding neighbours. This meant that transferring equipment and passengers to and from the ship could be accomplished with minimal risk of detection.
Noreh locked the auto-pilot to hover fifteen centimeters above the building's roof. A horror story about a Harrier crashing through an unstable building roof on a display flight had figured in Noreh's training, and she silently blessed the invention of repulsorlifts.
Walking back to the hold, she keyed the ramp to let itself down, slowly. As she out into the cool Parisian night, she found herself face to face with a worried looking Vickie. "You have the bacta tank up and running?" the older woman asked.
"Yes," Noreh replied. She had heard from Josh and now saw Vickie. Who was hurt?
Vickie moved closer to her and put a hand on her arm. "I want to prepare you for this before they bring him out."
Him?! "What happened to Mike?"
She drew a deep breath. "He's hurt pretty bad. I was supposed to be with him." Silently she cursed herself. "I'm sorry. He got into some fight or something."
Noreh's eyes grew wide. "Oh my..." She stood in shock for a moment before running back up the ramp. It didn't take her long to find the hoverstretcher. She ran back down to where the Jedi was waiting.
The two walked down the stairs from the roof to the apartment. Josh and Raymond passed carrying a large crate that contained all of the computer equipment. The two Jedi nodded to each other.
Noreh ran to the couch as soon as she entered the apartment. "Oh Mike," she said sadly looking at his badly beaten body.
Beside him, Hyper beeped. Vickie nodded, "Thanks Hyper. We'll take it from here." The droid backed away and trundled to the Joshes' room to retrieve boxes.
Noreh opened the stretcher and set it up. She put her hands under his shoulders as Vickie picked up his legs. On three, they lifted him and laid him on the stretcher. "You go on and take him," Vickie said. "I'll be there shortly to help you get him tanked."
She nodded and began pushing the hoverstretcher out. The stretcher bumped slightly as she pushed it up the stairs. Mike moved and groaned. Noreh gasped and checked him. He was still unconscious, luckily. She continued on, glad he was okay.
Vickie arrived in the medbay of the Red Home shortly after Noreh. She looked up at the tank, remembering the time she spent in there just over a year ago. She had broken her leg in a fall into an abandoned well. The pain had been excruciating. She could only imagine the kind of pain Mike was feeling.
Noreh had begun removing Mike's clothes. She had removed his boots, jacket and shirt, but she hesitated when she got to his pants. Granted, it wasn't something she hadn't seen before, but it was Mike, her friend and comrade.
Vickie noted the tension in the other woman and smiled. "We can get Josh to do it, if you're uncomfortable."
"I think that would be best," she replied blushing.
A moment later, Josh entered the room. "It will only take a moment," he said.
The two women moved just outside the room. "He's going to be fine, Noreh," Vickie said.
"I know that," she replied nervously. "It's just... I haven't seen him like that before. It seems so long ago since we retook Mendellia from Eugor." She stopped and shook her head. So much time had passed. She'd grown so much.
Josh broke her reminiscence as he stepped out. "I need your help to get him in," he said to Vickie.
She nodded and followed him in. Josh had dressed him in the usual "diaper" and placed the breather over his mouth. "Just back me up," she told him.
He nodded and concentrated on steadying Mike's body.
Mike began to rise from the table slowly. Vickie's eyes were closed and she held her hands out before her as if she were picking him up. "Easy now," she whispered to herself. His limp form rose up towards the top of the tank. "How much higher?" she asked, her voice slightly strained.
"A couple of feet," Josh replied. "Do you need help?"
"No, I've got him." She risked a peek to get an idea how much further she had. "Keep him steady."
Noreh watched in amazement. She'd never really seen either of the Jedi perform their tricks before. It was incredible. Never had she thought a mere human could telekinetically lift another.
Moments later, Mike was finally submerged in the pink liquid. Vickie sat down hard in a chair. Josh nodded and moved out to finish loading the rest of the equipment.
Noreh moved over to check Mike's vitals. Everything looked fine, his bones were knitting back together and the puncture in his lung had already repaired itself. She breathed a sigh of relief.
"Good thing bacta heals him as quickly as it does me," Vickie said with a smile. She squeezed Noreh's shoulder. "I've got to help finish loading up. You can stay here."
She looked up. "No, if I stay, I'll only keep being worried. I'll help."
It wasn't but a half an hour later that the Red Home was fully loaded. Becki and Josh stood together, yet slightly apart, at the base of the ramp. "Go on to Bertie's. We'll meet you there when we get finished."
Vickie looked at both of them and nodded. "Be safe."
"Take care of my wingmate," Becki said. She looked nervous, but Vickie couldn't tell if it was for Mike or towards Josh.
"I am more than positive Noreh will do that." She actually smiled. "May the Force be with you."
"And you," Josh said as she turned back up the ramp.
Slowly, the Red Home lifted into the sky, leaving Terras Three and Seven behind.