Crosscurrent

by Paul Kemp

  Jaden backflipped high into the air to avoid the intruder’s reverse backslash and landed on the other side of the corridor, three meters away, trapping the intruder between Jaden on the one side and Khedryn on the other.

  Jaden could not quite place the man’s fighting style. He had seen nothing like it before.

  Khedryn, now with another clear shot, leveled his blaster to fire but the intruder, his eyes on Jaden all the while, gestured with the stump of his left arm and the weapon flew from Khedryn’s hand and skittered along the floor until it reached the man’s feet.

  Jaden and the man stared at each other, eyes narrow, blades held before them. The intruder’s breath came hard, and his hunched posture indicated that Jaden’s kick had done lasting damage to his ribs. His eyes moved alternately between Jaden’s face and his blade.

  Surprisingly, Jaden felt no additional pressure against his mind from the dark side. He would have expected a more acute thrust in the presence of a Sith.

  Khedryn smashed the glass on an emergency tool bin and removed a hand sledge and ax. Jaden gave him credit for courage if not sense.

  The intruder held his ground, breathing heavily, favoring his side. Seconds passed and no one moved to attack.

  “How’s this going to go, then?” Khedryn said, hefting hammer and ax.

  The rhythm of the alarm kept time with Jaden’s heartbeat, his breath. He felt the man testing his Force presence, as Jaden did the same to him.

  Instead of the bitter tang of a Sith, he felt the kindred nature of an advanced light-side user, perhaps polluted a bit by anger, but definitely a light-side user. No doubt the intruder felt something similar from Jaden, though Jaden knew it was doubt and not anger that infected him.

  “Who are you?” Jaden and the man asked simultaneously.

  Both lowered their blades, puzzled looks in their eyes. The man touched a button on the control pad on his chest and threw back his helmet. Long black hair streaked with gray contrasted markedly with pallid skin. Dark circles under his eyes tried to bridge the hues of hair and skin.

  “You are a Jedi,” Jaden said, the words only half question.

  “As are you,” the man said, his voice a thickly accented dialect.

  “Now it’s a party,” Khedryn said, lowering the hammer and ax.

  Jaden deactivated his saber. “Did Grand Master Skywalker send you?”

  Perhaps R6 had contacted the Order without Jaden’s orders—

  “I know no Grand Master Skywalker.” The man glanced around the ship. “Where am I? What system? I do not know this make of ship and you both speak oddly.”

  “We speak oddly?” Khedryn said.

  “You do not know the name of Grand Master Skywalker?” Jaden asked, incredulous.

  “I have been away from Coruscant and the Order for some time, on a mission for Master Nadill.”

  “Master who?” The name bounced around in Jaden’s mind, seeking purchase in his memory. He felt as if he should have known it.

  “There is no time for this,” the man said. “My name is Relin Druur. I need to get back aboard Harbinger.”

  Khedryn stepped forward. “Back aboard? That damaged cruiser, you mean?”

  “Sith dreadnought,” Relin said, nodding. “I tried to bring it down with my Padawan and managed only to damage its hyperdrive. I was caught in its draft when it misjumped. We ended up here.”

  “Your Padawan?” Jaden asked, and wished he had not.

  Relin’s jaw tightened. Pain stained his eyes. “He’s dead.”

  “Sorry,” Khedryn said awkwardly. “And sorry about shooting at you, but you did ram my ship and—”

  “What are your names?” Relin asked.

  “Jaden Korr. This is Khedryn Faal and this is his vessel.”

  Relin took a deep breath, wincing with pain as he did so. “Listen to me, Jaden and Khedryn. Harbinger cannot be allowed to jump away. The cargo it bears, a special ore, enhances the power of those who use the dark side and could turn the battle for Kirrek into a rout. Unless you wish the galaxy to fall under Sith dominion, you will assist me.”

  “Ore? What are you talking about?” Khedryn said. “You need medical attention, man. Look at you.”

  Relin’s eyes flared and he advanced a step on Khedryn. “There is no time! If Naga Sadow is victorious on Kirrek, we may not be able to stop the Sith at all.”

  Jaden’s mind tried to make sense of Relin’s words. Some kind of ore on the cruiser enhanced the power of a dark side user. The presence of the ore explained the free-floating dark side energy that had caused Jaden such unease as the cruiser had approached.

  “I need to commandeer this ship,” Relin said. “I am sorry but—”

  “You aren’t commandeering so much as a caf pot, Jedi,” Khedryn said, his fists bloodless around hammer and ax. “This is my ship.”

  More of Relin’s words registered with Jaden, but he could not shape them into anything coherent.

  “Did you say Naga Sadow?” he asked distantly.

  Sadow’s name triggered memories of ancient history lessons from Jaden’s time in the Jedi academy.

  “Yes, Sadow,” Relin said. “His forces marshal at Primus Goluud even now while we debate trivialities. Hear me, Jaden. I need your help and I need it now.”

  The pieces of Relin’s story started to fall into place—Kirrek, Nadill, Sadow, his ignorance of Grand Master Skywalker, his obsolete lightsaber, the oddly made blaster he bore.

  Jaden’s suspicion hit him like an unexpected punch in the stomach. How could this be? How?

  “This is not possible,” he whispered.

  Relin mistook his meaning. “It is not only possible, it is essential. I need to get back onto Harbinger.” He looked at Khedryn. “Unless this ship can bring it down?”

  Khedryn scoffed, put the hammer and ax back into their wall mounts. “This is a freighter, not a warship. I don’t have ship-to-ship weapons. Jaden, are you all right?”

  “Nothing at all?” Relin asked.

  “Nothing,” Khedryn said to Relin. “Jaden? Are you all right?”

  Jaden swallowed through a throat gone dry. When he spoke, his voice sounded as mechanical as that of a protocol droid. “The Battle of Kirrek was fought more than five thousand years ago. Naga Sadow has been dead for centuries. If what you’ve told us is correct, your misjump didn’t just move you through space.” He let the moment hang there for a moment, allowing Relin to brace himself, before he said, “It moved you through time.”

  “You are mad,” Relin said, but he took half a step back. His eyes flicked to Jaden’s lightsaber, his blaster, the ship, to Khedryn, his blaster.

  “Seconded,” Khedryn said to Jaden, his lazy eye and good eye seemingly split between Relin and Jaden. “That cannot be right. Can it?”

  “Look at my lightsaber,” Jaden said, and held up the hilt of his blade. “Lightsaber technology left the power pack behind long ago.”

  Relin took another step back, resisting the evidence before his eyes. “You have a more advanced lightsaber, but it means noth—”

  “Look at this ship, Relin,” Jaden said. “His blaster. Mine.” He held up his own DL-44.

  Relin’s eyes widened, his pale skin growing a shade more pallid. “This is … a mistake. I …”

  He visibly concentrated, once more testing Jaden’s Force presence.

  “I am a Jedi,” Jaden said, understanding his purpose. “You are not being misled.”

  Relin sagged and Khedryn stepped forward as if to help Relin keep his feet, but the Jedi waved him off.

  Jaden continued: “The galaxy just endured a civil war caused by a Sith Lord named Caedus, but he was defeated by the Order and its allies. My Jedi Order. Before that, the Jedi were instrumental in overthrowing a galaxywide Empire ruled by a Sith Lord named Palpatine.”

  “Jaden …,” Khedryn said, holding out a hand to Relin as if to steady him. “Come on, let’s tend to those ribs. We can work this out later. I am sure there’s an explanation.”
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  “I just gave it,” Jaden said, more convinced than ever.

  Relin stared at Jaden, started to speak, and then stopped. He shook his head.

  “How can this be?”

  Jaden had no idea. It seemed impossible, yet he sensed no lie in Relin, and the facts he had were the facts he had. “Get Marr,” he said to Khedryn, thinking the Cerean, with his mathematical gifts, might be able to explain what had happened.

  Khedryn licked his lips. “Just so I know what to tell him: you’re saying I have an old Imperial distress call coming from a moon no one’s charted before, a five-thousand-year-old Jedi aboard my ship, and a five-thousand-year-old Sith dreadnought with some evil ore aboard flying through my sky?”

  Neither Jaden nor Relin said anything. Jaden understood Khedryn’s need to make light. That was how he coped.

  “If this is work to you, Jaden,” Khedryn said, “I’d love to see what you do for excitement.” He activated his communicator. “Marr, you will not believe this.”

  Saes hurried through Harbinger’s corridors, bays, and lifts. Damage-control teams saluted him as they hurried by.

  The bone rings holding his hair in a long tail bounced against his back with each stride. He still felt a joyous light-headedness, an aftereffect from his use of the Lignan.

  When he reached the secondary bridge, he found the night watch already taking their stations. The viewscreen remained dark. Harbinger was blind. All of them, males and females, human and nonhuman, stood and raised a fist in a salute. They smelled of stale fear.

  “Captain on the bridge,” said Lieutenant Llerd, standing at attention and sticking out his barrel chest.

  “As you were,” Saes said to the crew, and they returned to work. “You are acting executive officer, Colonel Llerd.”

  “Thank you, sir,” said the human.

  “Status?”

  “Most of our instrumentation is down, so I’ve ordered a full stop,” Llerd said. “Repair teams are trying to repair blown bulkheads. The primary bridge has been sealed off.”

  “Get our instrumentation operational and get a scan under way. I want to know where we are. And get the viewscreen up.”

  “Copy, sir,” the human answered.

  Someone activated the bridge’s communications system. Static crackled for a moment; then the damage reports started pouring in. Saes noted them absently, but his mind was on Relin. He recalled the mirth in Relin’s eyes in the moment before the charges on the hyperdrive had blown. The recollection summoned anger. He put a finger to the tip of the horn jutting from his jaw, pressed until the finger bled and he had his anger controlled.

  His onetime Master had probably escaped before the jump, though Saes figured it was possible that he could still be aboard.

  Saes reached out with the Force and tried to feel Relin’s presence, but picked up nothing. Of course, he knew Relin could mask his presence when he wished. Saes tapped his bleeding finger against his jaw horn. Llerd watched him, frozen, as if hypnotized by the motion.

  “Colonel Llerd?”

  Llerd came back to himself. “Sir?”

  “Have security perform a room-by-room sweep of the ship. We may still have a Jedi aboard.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  Saes sat in the command chair, issuing orders and letting his surviving crew do the work of resurrecting Harbinger. One by one its systems came back online.

  “Scanners operational,” said Llerd at last. His tone sharpened. “Picking up a ship, sir. Odd signature. Viewscreen coming online.”

  A white line formed in the center of the screen, expanded to show the black of space and stars, a nearby ringed gas giant, and a small ship shimmering in the glow of the system’s orange sun.

  “Magnify the ship,” Saes said.

  The image centered on the ship and expanded. A flattened disk, with an ancillary vessel attached to it side. He saw no obvious weapons. Not a warship, then. Saes had never seen a ship of its make before.

  “That is one of our escape pods,” Llerd said, pointing. “There, aft.”

  Saes rose from his seat, understanding instantly what it meant. Relin had escaped Harbinger in a pod right after the jump and was now rendezvousing with his Jedi allies.

  “Close on that ship and fire main batteries, Colonel. Bring it down.”

  “Weapons are still offline, sir.”

  Saes clutched the edge of his seat, unable to take his eyes from the ship and the pod. He would not let Relin escape again, not again.

  “Scramble two squadrons of Blades. I want that ship on fire.”

  * * *

  As Khedryn, Relin, and Jaden hurried toward the bridge, Marr’s voice rang out from Khedryn’s comlink.

  “Incoming, Captain. Sixteen fighters have launched from the cruiser.”

  “You must be kidding me!” Khedryn said. He looked at Jaden and Relin as if it were their fault, and Jaden supposed it was. “This started as a kriffing sabacc game!”

  “Saes must suspect I am here,” Relin said matter-of-factly.

  “Then leave,” Khedryn said, but recovered himself almost instantly. “I do not mean that. Sorry. I’ve no love for Sith. Especially really old ones.” He spoke into his communicator. “Plot a jump, Marr. This is unsafe sky for rascals.”

  “No!” Jaden and Relin said as one.

  That stopped Khedryn in his steps, and he turned to face them. “No?”

  “I have to get down to that moon, Khedryn,” Jaden said.

  “And I need to stop Harbinger,” Relin said.

  Kheydrn looked at them as if they were crazed. “You heard sixteen, yes?” To Relin he said, “The Battle of Kirrek already happened.” To Jaden he added, “And that moon isn’t going anywhere.”

  “Cruiser’s on the move, too,” Marr said.

  “You hear?” Khedryn asked, eyebrows raised.

  Jaden heard desperation in his own voice and made no effort to hide it. “The Force directed me here. I cannot leave until I see what’s on that moon.”

  “Maybe you were sent here just to find Relin,” Khedryn said, obviously hoping that would convince him. “Maybe you’ve both already done what you’re supposed to do.”

  Jaden shook his head. Relin joined him.

  “This is incidental,” Jaden said.

  “Incidental?” Khedryn responded. “That’s what you call this? You are both madmen. Worse than fanatics. Those haunted eyes.” He shook his head, paced a few steps, snapped into his comlink. “Marr, can we outrun them without jumping?”

  “Outrun them to where, Captain?”

  “Good question,” Khedryn mumbled to himself. He looked to Jaden and Relin. “Ideas?”

  Jaden did not hesitate. “We use the rings for cover. Scanners will never find us and the fighters will not follow.”

  “That’s because we’ll be space dust,” Khedryn said. “Last time I tried, I wasn’t able to walk between raindrops. So unless you can—”

  “I can,” Jaden said. “And I’ll pilot Junker.” Seeing Khedryn’s hesitation, he said, “I can do it, Captain.”

  “Force-piloting?” Relin asked, one eyebrow raised.

  Jaden nodded.

  “Stang, man,” Khedryn said, shifting on his feet. “Stang.”

  “Still closing,” Marr said, his voice somehow staying placid. “Orders, Captain? Sitting still seems unwise.”

  “You think?” Khedryn snapped. He stared at Jaden. Finally he said, “Head into the rings, Marr. Ahead full until we hit them, then Jaden gets the stick.”

  A long hesitation. “Flying into the rings is madness, Captain.”

  “Yes. It seems to be going around. Just do it.”

  Jaden thumped Khedryn on the shoulder. “I appreciate the trust.”

  Relin said, “You said you have no weapons, but what do you have?”

  “Nothing. A tractor beam mount on the rear. We use it for towing derelicts.”

  “Take me to it.”

  “What do you have in mind?” Jaden asked him.

>   “Perhaps nothing. But perhaps something. Jaden … Harbinger’s captain and I have a personal connection. The fighters will follow you into the rings.”

  “Understood.”

  “Nearing the rings,” Marr said. “The fighters are fast, Captain.”

  “They’re kriffin’ antiques! How can they be fast?”

  “Antiques? I don’t under—”

  “Never mind, Marr. Jaden is on his way up.”

  Jaden thumped Khedryn on the shoulder again. “I’ll be sure to get a piece of Marr’s chewstim.”

  “Get two.”

  The Blades poured out of Harbinger’s belly and swooped into view on the viewscreen, streaking toward the Jedi ship. The ship turned, its engines flared blue, and it accelerated toward the gas giant’s rings.

  “Where is he running to? The rings?” Llerd asked. “There’s not much room to fly in there.”

  Saes watched the Blades bear down on the ship. “If he goes into the rings, order the Blades to pursue. I want that ship destroyed. He will try to jump if we allow him to clear the planet’s gravity well. The Blades are not to allow that.”

  Llerd did not hesitate. “Yes, sir.”

  Saes turned to 8L6, the replacement science droid. “I want a course back to Primus Goluud as soon as possible. And I want a subspace transmission on the ship-to-ship frequency. See if you can raise Omen.”

  He doubted he was anywhere near Omen, but he needed to confirm.

  “Captain, I am getting very odd readings,” said 8L6.

  Saes leaned forward in his chair. “Specify.”

  “Astronavigation is unconnected to Harbinger’s base chrono.”

  The words pulled Saes away from his chair to 8L6’s side. He made sure Llerd was occupied before continuing the conversation. “How can that be?”

  “Unknown, but standard astronavigational markers are not where they should be given the time.”

  Saes studied the readings for himself. Everything was out of place. “Something fouled the ship’s chrono. Double-check it.”

  “I ran several diagnostics before bringing this to your attention. The chrono is functioning correctly.”

  A nervous tingle moved up Saes’s spine. “Then you have mislocated us in space. Astronavigation was damaged.”