The three conscious members of Terra Group stood at the base of the ramp of the Red Home. Josh had made Brad stay on board so that he could get some rest. Raymond Bordeaux stood just before them looking around at the clearing in which he had chosen for them to land. They were going to have to walk a bit to get to his home.
"Take care," Noreh said from the top of the ramp.
"You take care of my wingmate," Becki replied with a smile.
She nodded and turned back into the ship. After they had walked away, Noreh activated the cloak and the ship shimmered into nothingness.
Raymond led the way as they exited the small forest. They crossed the street and headed into town. Agen looked like a typical small European town. The three non-French took in all the sights, sounds and smells for different reasons.
Becki was enjoying the small town ambience. The typical French houses, the people saying "bonjour" and waving as they passed, the smell of bread baking, all spoke to her.
Vickie used her senses in many ways. She enjoyed the smell of fresh bread and the sound of a bicycle bell, but she was also keeping her eyes open for anything out of the ordinary, besides themselves.
Josh was divided. He kept one eye on Raymond so he wouldn't get lost. The other watched Becki. Her smile made him feel warm inside. Yet, whenever she caught sight of him, her smile disappeared.
With a frustrated sigh, he shoved his hands in his pockets and followed slightly behind the others. He noticed a small flower cart at the corner ahead. Hey, maybe flowers would be a good way to apologize to Becki, he thought.
He stopped and began looking over the selection. Hm. I wonder what her favorite flower is.
"Bon matin," the woman behind the cart said to him. "Are you looking for something in particular?
He looked up to see a woman in a heavy cloak with the hood pulled over her head. Something nagged at the back of his mind. He felt he should know this woman. Waving it off, he looked over the multicolored carnations. "Yeah, I suppose so. For a friend."
She raised her head slightly to look down the street. "I see. Perhaps I could suggest something." She reached over and pulled out a long stemmed bright orange lily. "This may be to her liking."
He took the flower. It was as orange as a flightsuit. He had to chuckle to himself that he thought of the color being that bright. "Yes, this will do well." He handed her several coins and turned to catch up with the others.
The flower lady watched him go. When he was out of sight, she disappeared from the street.
Them?! Here?! she thought. And Raymond with them. To think she'd run from Paris to avoid getting caught up in this planet's affairs.
She sighed. Life had been so much simpler before she joined the New Republic. Sometimes she dreamt of her former life, revered and honoured among the nobles of her world.
Her whole life, she'd been seeking acceptance. Running from the warrens below Adumar's surface, she'd found a superficial happiness fighting for honour. But four very special men had changed the way she'd looked at life.
For the longest time, she'd kept a holo of the five of them together on her person. But now she only had her memories. That image had served as her guide and her guard, and now it guided her friend, and guarded...
She shook her head, the movement hidden by the cloak that swathed and swaddled her. The faint movement caused a reaction low against her stomach, as an echoing twitch made its way up her body, causing a brief smile on her face.
The second half of the image, she thought, was guarding what she held most precious. The reason for her absence from the New Republic network, her failure to complete the mission, and her determination to make up for it.
She made her way along Agen's back streets, a small scanner seated unobtrusively in her hand. Occasionally, she pulled at her sleeve, a seemingly unconscious movement that allowed her a glimpse of the device. No one was likely to be watching, but Face and Shalla had drilled into her that you had to treat every moment of a mission like you were under the strictest surveillance. That way you never slipped up, never lost your focus.
So, even with a spaceship sitting apparently unguarded just a few hundred metres away, and even with her baby, not even a month old, fidgeting restlessly in its sling under her deceptively lightweight cloak, Cheriss ke Hanadi maintained an outward appearance of serene calm as she walked through the streets of a hometown not her own.
Josh caught up with them just as they were stopping in front of a quaint little house. Raymond opened the gate and led the way up the walk. Before Becki could follow, she felt a hand on her elbow. Turning, she saw the tall Jedi standing behind her. "Yes?" she questioned in a rather short tone.
Josh looked chagrined. Calling on all his courage, he pulled his hand from behind his back and presented her with the flower. "For you. So you know how truly sorry I am for... everything. Things haven't been going well since we got to France, and..."
"It's pilot orange!" she exclaimed as she interrupted him. "How on Earth did you find a pilot orange lily?"
"Uh, yeah. Well, um, I just want to know I haven't completely screwed things up between us. Friends?"
She took the flower almost reluctantly. "Friends," she acquiesced. Despite how she felt inside, she wanted to be friends with him.
Josh finally exhaled the breath he'd been holding in. "Good." He looked up to see Raymond and Vickie waiting at the door. "We better catch up."
She nodded and turned, enjoying the flower. Together, they wandered up to join the others.
As Cheriss approached the clearing where her scanner said the ship was, she scowled. Clearly, the ship was possessed of at least a rudimentary cloaking device, as a visual scan of the area revealed nothing. Sighing, she slipped one hand under the bulky cloak and pulled out a pair of NRI issue binoculars. She was taking a chance using them so near a piece of GFFA tech like the ship somewhere in front of her, but if she hadn't been spotted approaching...
...and there it was, her binoculars cutting through the visual-only cloak. The owners -presumably the members of Terra Group who'd 'convinced' Raymond to lead them to her- had even left the hatch down. Very helpful of them.
She continued staring at the image of the craft on her binoculars until she had it fixed in her mind. Stowing the binoculars back in their pouch, she strode confidently out from under the cover of the trees and across the clearing. Reaching the place where the craft's ramp rested invisibly on the ground, Cheriss took a deep breath and stepped upwards, preparing herself for a fall if she misjudged.
But her foot found solid ferroceramic, and she walked calmly up the ramp, ignoring the senses that told her she was standing in mid air. One sense she did pay attention to was the one that noted a slight change in air pressure as she approached what her memory said was the hatchway. Taking a deep breath, and knowing she'd been a target for anyone inside the ship looking out for a good twenty seconds, she stepped through the cloaking field and into the ship. [1]
Vickie looked like she was having a battle inside her head. She reached up and rubbed her temples.
"Are you alright?" Raymond asked.
"Yeah," she replied. "Just feel a headache coming on." Called my subconscious!
"Shall we?" Josh said as they climbed the steps.
Raymond unlocked the door and the four stepped inside. He led them directly into the living room. "This is odd," he said.
"What?"
"Her things are not here." He checked under the couch and behind the drapes, but his search was futile. "Gone."
Vickie closed her eyes and took a deep, cleansing breath. As she exhaled, she reached out with the Force. An image came to her mind. She saw a woman gathering several bags, one she treated with extra care. Vickie recognized Cheriss from the holo on Raymond's necklace.
Cheriss pulled a heavy cloak on and put the hood over her head. She looked back into the room and whispered something before turning and exiting the house. The image faded and Vickie opened her eyes. "She hasn't been gone long."
Josh looked at her curiously. "How can you be sure?"
"I just am, ok?" She stood up. "There's nothing left here. Let's get back to the ship."
"I'm coming with you," Raymond said sternly.
"I don't think so," Josh retorted.
He stood and began to go upstairs. "She was my responsibility. If she is in danger, I must go help her."
Vickie put a hand on Josh's arm before he could retaliate. "He is the only one we know who has actually seen Cheriss. He would be a great help."
He looked down at his fellow Jedi with a frown. "Crispy is gone. Mike is hurt and Brad, well, is Brad. I don't want the responsibility of a civilian."
"He's not a civi', Josh. He is one of Cheriss's contacts. Do you really think the NRI would give her a civi' as a contact?"
"She's right," Becki finally chimed in. "He will be a lot of help."
He growled as he conceded their point. Raymond nodded and went upstairs to pack. "I am not going to be responsible if he gets hurt."
"Fine," Vickie said. "I will. I've had several strong feelings that he will be significant in finding Cheriss."
"The Force?" Becki asked.
She nodded. "Very strong feelings, Josh."
"I want concrete evidence, not feelings." Josh was getting very frustrated over this whole mission. At least they had been able to find one thing in relation to the shield and Cheriss.
It was almost like being home again. She recognised the craft as having been used in the Admonitor assault that the Wraiths had been a part of. Elassar had even been the pilot on that day, something he never tired of boasting of. The ship reminded her of the Wraiths, which felt good, even if she did miss being with the squadron.
Her sensor beeped, quietly, and she swung it up to look at it. The sudden movement made the baby twitch again, and she paused in her prowling to stroke the low-slung lump soothingly. Glancing at her sensor, she blinked owlishly at the device as she realised that even inside the ship, the cloaking field was still interfering with its readings.
She wasn't even sure what she was doing here. She'd never been one to refrain from jumping into a dangerous situation -something that General Cracken had said marked her as a prospect for this Terra assignment- but she should have been out searching for the shield, not prowling some half-decrepit freighter in search of who only knew what.
It had all been so much more simple before baby made... two.
She couldn't risk General Cracken finding out about her child. And now Raymond was compromised, she couldn't trust him with the child, as she'd intended. If he suddenly became a father, Terra Group would be bound to notice. How had they found him so early on?
She looked at the sensor again. The life signs indicated were weak, but the direction was firming up. She tracked through the corridor, and eased around a corner, her sharp hearing picking up a single voice, her mind absently noting the pink-tinged glow of a bacta tank shining out of one of the doors.
"...in the bacta tank. Careless, charging in... nder who got you... find them and put them in bacta..."
Cheriss smiled. The woman speaking clearly cared a great deal for the person in bacta. Then she sighed, before turning away and heading away from the med-area. She remembered feeling cared for like that...
Raymond returned with a small duffel bag and grabbed a jacket from the hall closet. "I do hope Cheriss had followed the shield to wherever it has gone."
"I'm sure she has," Becki said in a comforting tone.
"Let's go so we can find out." Josh tapped his foot, waiting for everyone to go out the door.
Eventually, Cheriss decided to try opening one of the doors. The scanner, which had been reliable so far, said there were no life signs beyond the door, just lots of machinery. While Cheriss wasn't entirely sure, she was willing to take a chance on it being the cockpit. Maybe she could find where Terra Group was going next, pick up some hints for her next step. Pressing the button beside the door, she was surprised to find a bead curtain rattling beyond it as it hissed open with hydraulic swiftness.
"Oh my goodness!"
Cheriss blinked. The scanner couldn't be wrong, could it?
"Hello there, ma'am. My name is Z-3PO, human-cyborg relations. May I ask if you are a member of Terra Group?"
Cheriss breathed again, and an idea began to form in her mind.
They retraced their steps through the city. Josh was surprised that the flower cart had disappeared. He was hoping to get another flower to take home with him.
Vickie took a deep breath as they passed a bakery. Her stomach growled in protest at the wonderful smells. "Hey, guys. Do you mind if we stop in here for a moment? I didn't get breakfast this morning."
Becki's face lit up with a smile. "Oh yes, the bread does smell wonderful."
Even Josh had to admit he was hungry. "Ok, but we eat as we walk." Everyone nodded and they entered the small storefront.
"But Mistress, even if you are a member of New Republic Intelligence, childcare is quite outside my paramet-"
The door hissed shut on Zee. Cheriss leaned against it, praying she'd done the right thing. In one hand was the mission log of the so called 'Team Paris', which detailed their investigation and next targets.
Her other hand wiped across her face, swiping at the tears streaming down her cheeks. Her last view of her baby had been of it sleeping peacefully in Zee's uneasy arms. As the door shut on the two of them, the last ray of light had glinted off the necklace which Cheriss hoped would serve as the baby's guard in her absence.
Cheriss had an appointment in the Middle East.
They walked in silence back to the clearing. Josh commed Noreh to drop the cloak for them to get on board. The Home shimmered back into existence and the four walked up the ramp.
Vickie stopped just at the bottom of the ramp. She had a prickling sensation just as she got there. "Josh," she called softly ahead.
He turned around, ducking under the hull of the ship. "What is it?"
She looked around. "Someone was here. I can feel it."
"Do you detect any malicious intent?"
Shaking her head she continued, "No, nothing. Maybe it was just a deer."
"I wouldn't be surprised if a few birds and squirrels got on board either." He smiled. He actually smiled at his own joke despite the fact that his senses were going off as well. "Come on, let's get back to Mendellia with our evidence. Maybe something else will turn up."
She nodded as she boarded the ship. "I have a feeling a lot of things are going to 'turn up' in Mendellia." She patted his shoulder as she passed and headed for the bridge.
Josh hit the switch to raise the ramp. "You have no idea," he whispered to himself.