Operation Arrakis: Regroup
By Josh Cochran

As soon as his foot hit the Red Home's deck, Josh set about the business of 
moving his mission forward again. He could feel the anxiety and fear that 
had settled over his team in his absence before he even reached the ship, 
and he knew it was up to him to give them a new focus. He barely took a 
moment to meet Cheriss, the woman who was one-half of his mission goals, 
before briskly informing her and his commanding officer that he wanted to 
meet with them both right away. Neither one had a chance to respond before 
he was off in search of the other person he wanted in the meeting. He 
barely noticed Kristy dodging out of his way as he nearly walked right into 
her.

Finding Becki wasn't difficult. Her presence in the Force was strong and 
allowed him to go straight to her. As he came down the hallway toward the 
crew lounge he expanded his awareness and discovered that Becki wasn't 
alone. Thayer was with her, and happiness radiated from the two of them 
like sunshine. Thank God, he thought. He closed his eyes for a moment to do 
just that. His friends were happy once more, even if they might no longer 
be his friends.

Neither seemed to notice when he came into the room. He paused just inside 
the door and for a split second debated not bothering them, but he knew 
that wasn't really an option. They'd soon have all the time they needed, 
but there was work to be done first.

"Becki," he called. She looked up in surprise at his voice, and Thayer 
immediately looked annoyed. "I need to see you for a few minutes." Josh 
turned to leave but he could feel Thayer's hostility burning into the back 
of his head, so he turned back to the Mendellian ruler. "Thayer, you're 
welcome to come along." This time he didn't wait to see the look of 
surprise the couple traded.

The group that gathered around a table in one of the Red Home's smaller 
rooms was an eclectic group. There was Sci, who looked patient as always, 
if a little tired. Then there were two people whose joining the group Josh 
was unaware of until very recently: Cheriss ke Hanadi, the long-lost Agent 
Blade, and Thayer Atner, whose suspicious look was still firmly fixed upon 
his face. Next to him - very closely next to him - was Becki, who seemed to 
be occupying herself with studying Josh's wounds in great detail. They all 
looked just a bit impatient, which was no great surprise, really, since he 
hadn't told any of them what this was all about.

Josh understood their feeling; most people returning to the ship in his 
condition would have gone straight to the shower or the medbay. He was 
still caked in the blood and dirt that covered him when he first came to, 
and the fight with Sahhar had added a liberal amount of sweat to the 
mixture. His clothes were filthy and torn, and had a very interesting smell 
after soaking up a good amount of the blood and sweat. Occasionally he 
caught a strong whiff of the smell himself, and at those times he 
understand why the rest of the group was clustered around the opposite side 
of the table.

"Before we get started," he began, "how is Lenka? I sense she's alive, 
but." His words trailed off, revealing his doubts about how it was possible 
that she lived.

"Had you not run off on a personal vendetta last night you would not need 
to ask," Thayer said. The hostility in the remark surprised Josh, but he 
accepted it knowing he deserved it.

"She's alive, but barely," Becki said. "Syl did all she could for her, but 
some of her inuries were just too severe. The bacta is stabilizing her, for 
now."

"For now? Then what?" Josh asked.

"Then we must hope our doctors will be able to do the rest," Thayer said.

Josh nodded. "Okay, everyone, I'll make this brief," he said. "I know where 
we need to go to put an end to this thing."

Over the next few minutes he explained quickly but in detail what had 
happened to him since he left the group in the alleyway during the 
firefight. He told them about being captured by Wells and why there was 
such animosity between them. Leaving out no details, he told them about his 
conversation with Wells. With an apologetic look he told Becki that they 
were spotted in Paris after all, and she responded by looking vaguely ill. 
Thayer's jaw clenched at the mention of it, but Becki decided it wasn't the 
time to tell Josh that Wells wasn't the only one. He went on, relating how 
his sense of the Force had returned and he escaped from Wells. Then he told 
them all about his encounter with Sahhar, including the Force-vision that 
distracted him while Sahhar escaped, and meeting Sci shortly thereafter.

"So, the most important thing is that know who our enemy is and we know we 
can find them in Baghdad," he said. "Also, a secondary point of interest is 
that American intelligence knows about Terra Group, even if they don't know 
exactly what we do."

"Who does Wells work for exactly?" Becki asked. "There are several 
intelligence agencies..."

"He was in the Air Force the last I knew, but that was years ago. He could 
have gone anywhere by now," Josh said.

"Hmm." Sci thought a moment, then sighed. "I can think of a few agencies 
that might be responsible. It might very well be Air Force Intel, given 
their focus on weaponry and technology and flight, but something tells me 
no. If it's a more traditional agency, it's either the CIA, which is not so 
likely, or the National Security Agency or Defense Intelligence Agency. 
They both have, traditionally, a low enough profile to pull something like 
this off. I have a few sources there I can check in with if I have the 
time. Of course, it could be an agency we don't know about, and thoughts 
like that are what keep me up nights."

Thayer leaned forward in his chair to fix Josh with a hard, cold stare. 
"When this Wells made his proposal, were you not tempted to accept?" he 
asked.

Josh shrugged. "Very briefly, yes. I think anyone would be when they're 
offered the best of both worlds." Seeing the concerned looks he was 
getting, he waved his hand dismissively and gave them his friendliest 
smile. "But hey, guys, I'm here. I didn't take him up on it."

"It's not this very moment that concerns me," Thayer said, not relaxing a 
bit. "Obviously betrayal is not always immediate."

Silence hung in the air for a few seconds while Thayer continued to glare 
at Josh, his gaze demanding an answer. Josh tried to wait him out, but the 
reason behind the question was not lost on him. "Thayer, this group is my 
family now. I would never turn my back on them for my personal comfort."

Thayer snorted and said in a voice so low Josh barely caught it, "It is a 
comfort, then, that you do have <i>some </i>standards."

Sci cleared his throat. "Gentlemen, I think perhaps now is not the time."

"How can you be certain the vision Sahhar showed you was the truth?" 
Cheriss asked. "Sith lords are masters of deception. He may have been 
trying to lure you - and the rest of us - into a trap. If his plan is a war 
of conquest, you will be the people he most needs to get out of the way."

"Well... He wanted me to become his apprentice." He looked down at the top 
of the table. "The vision was his way of telling me where I would find him 
if I changed my mind."

"And you turned him down as well?" she asked.

"Obviously. I'm here, aren't I?"

Silence fell over the group for several moments, until it was broken by 
Thayer. "It is rather convenient that you've had to turn down so many 
chances to betray us today, isn't it? Might you be feeling the need to 
prove yourself? But to whom, I wonder."

"What are you-" Josh sputtered before Becki held up a hand to cut him off.

"Josh, Thayer," she said softly, "this isn't helping right now."

"Lieutenant, what happened between you and Wells? I don't mean today. I 
have my own problems with him, but it doesn't take a Jedi to see that you 
hate him, and he obviously feels the same way about you. Feelings that 
strong must come from somewhere," Cheriss said.

"Oh, they certainly did. Let's just say there's enough bad blood between us 
to last several lifetimes."

"I think we deserve more than that. So far he's put his mission ahead of 
his vendetta against you, but we can't count on that lasting. Your personal 
problems with one another may well put the rest of your team in danger, and 
they have a right to know why."

He started to refuse, but when he looked up the other three were staring at 
him just as intently as Cheriss. Even Becki, who already knew the story. 
"Tell them," she said. "What you did was right, and it will help if they 
know that."

Seeing there was no good way around it, Josh sighed and launched into his 
story. "We were friends, at least for a while. Wells helped me get through 
the physical fitness test in the spring of my freshman year of ROTC after I 
failed it miserably in the fall. Two years later we were both instructors 
at a school for high school cadets. Because I had previous experience in 
these camps, I was placed in a position of authority over him, and he 
resented it because he was an upperclassman.

"On the last night of the camp one of our trainees went missing. She was a 
good friend of mine, a girl I knew from high school. I was scared to death 
because it wasn't like her to wander off.

"I found them in the woods. He got her drunk and was trying to take 
advantage of her. I tried to talk sense to him, but he just wouldn't stop  
<i>touching </i> her. So I hit him." He stopped for a second and his eyes 
seemed to look straight back into the past. Anger and hatred passed across 
his face before he choked it back and continued. "Anyway, when it was all 
over we both filed complaints against each other. He denied everything, of 
course. There was a board of inquiry to try to find out who was telling the 
truth. Sydney was the key to the whole thing, but... I don't know. Maybe 
she was ashamed. Maybe he got to her. Either way, she refused to talk to 
them. Without her it was just my word against his. It nearly ended both our 
careers, but in the end they had to drop it. Everyone knew  <i>something </
i> had happened, but there was no way for them to find out exactly what. 
Nobody wanted to believe I was telling the complete truth, but they also 
knew I'd never punch him for no reason the way he said."

"He was always a bastard," Cheriss said softly.

Josh looked directly into her eyes. "Some things never change," he said.

"No, they don't," she agreed.

If anyone else took any particular note of the exchange Josh didn't notice. 
They certainly could never have grasped its meaning. He leaned back in his 
chair and took a deep breath  before he changed the subject. "Did everyone 
else make it back okay?" He paused briefly, then quietly added, "Other than 
Lenka."

Sci quickly filled him in on what happened to the team in his absence; 
Sylvana and Josh Nolan wounding each other and Nick taking them off for 
treatment, Becki and Thayer bringing back prisoners from Bethlehem, and 
Vickie's pursuit of Sahhar and Mike's pursuit of Vickie.

"So, what you're telling me is that we're down a medic and four combat 
veterans?" Josh asked when he was done.

"That's about the size of it," Sci admitted. "Mike and Vickie should be 
back soon."

"Okay, let's get everything set, and as soon as they're back we'll leave 
for Baghdad."

His pronouncement was met with four surprised faces. "Hold on a minute, 
Josh. I'm not convinced that's the best plan," Sci said.

"We know that's where Sahhar is. Trust me, he's the key to ending this 
whole mess. We've been picking up clues all along that Saddam was involved 
in this. Who better to ally with a Sith lord and strike out with impunity 
at the rest of the world? It fits!"

"It may be too convenient," said Cheriss. "How can we be sure this Sith 
lord of yours is involved with the shield?"

"What are the chances he's not?" Josh demanded. "And if he isn't I think a 
Sith lord running around free on our planet really has to jump to the top 
of our priority list."

"Josh, I understand how you feel. But shouldn't we consider this a little 
more? Go back to the evidence and see how this fits in with the rest of 
what we have, and make a carefully considered decision? There's no need to 
be in a hurry," Becki said.

"Becki, every moment we wait gives them more time. We need to move quickly 
and decisively <i>now </i>before this situation can get any worse. We can 
wait and wait and talk and consider all we want, but we have all the 
information we need. It's time for us to actually <i>do </i>something."

"At least let me contact Master Skywalker and request more Jedi to help us. 
If the Sith really have returned it's a theat to the entire galaxy, not 
just Terra," Cheriss said.

"Yes, I seem to recall another Jedi who was anxious to rush off and face a 
Sith lord alone. We know what happened to him," said Sci.

Josh slammed his fist down on the table. "What's wrong with you guys!?" He 
sighed in exasperation before continuing. "It'll take more Jedi at least a 
week to get here," he said to Cheriss. "What happens if they manage to get 
the shield working before that?" Then, turning to glare at Sci, he said, 
"Sci, I am still in command of this mission until you relieve me. I've had 
it with all this discussion. The decision is made. My team is going to 
Baghdad. Now either relieve me or get out of the way."

Sci met Josh's angry stare evenly. A long moment passed in silence before 
he finally nodded. "Okay, Josh, we do it your way. This time."

Josh nodded an acknowledgement. "Thank you." Turning to the rest of the 
group, he said, "I want the ship ready to go the moment Mike and Vickie get 
back. Sci, will you go talk to our new friends and see if they have any 
useful information for us? Becki, Thayer, if y'all wouldn't mind, go find 
Noreh and get her to get the Home ready to go. She's the only one besides 
Mike who's flown her through takeoff and landing." He turned to Cheriss and 
gave her a frosty glare. "I can handle Sahhar just fine. I won't need any 
help." She said nothing, and he turned the glare on each of the others as 
if daring them to challenge him too. "Okay, let's get to it."

The meeting broke and the group filed out. As Josh turned to leave, Sci 
stopped him. "Josh, wait a moment."

Josh turned back to face his commanding officer. "Yes, Chief?"

"About Wells' offer. You said you were briefly tempted to accept it. How 
long did you feel that temptation, exactly?"

"Zero point six eight seconds, sir," Josh deadpanned. "For a Jedi, that is 
nearly an eternity."

He ducked the datapad Sci threw at him and headed off down the corridor. 
Sci went the opposite direction and quickly found Cheriss. "Pretty 
confident, isn't he?" he asked her.

"That's one word for it," she said.

"He may be right. But he may not. Send your message anyway."