Chapters Sixteen and Seventeen

 Living in the modern age, 
death for virtue is the wage. 
So it seems in darker hours.  
Evil wins, kindness cowers.  
Ruled by violence and vice 
We all stand upon thin ice.  
Are we brave or are we mice, 
here upon such thin, thin ice?  
Dare we linger, dare we skate? 
Dare we laugh or celebrate,
knowing we may strain the ice? 
Preserve the ice at any price?  
- Dean Koontz - The Book of Counted Sorrows
 
"It's easy to look into another man's misery and do
nothing." -- Reuther -- The Final Exit --
Tales From The Empire

    Jonnic stepped out of the Ice Fire and followed his
father down five levels of rooms and entered into
a brightly lit room.  Jonnic had never been on Santruan
before, and could have cared less if he had
never been able to come. 
  It was a desolate planet, with only five large
communities located on the one habital continent. The sky
was continuously grey with clouds or without, and the
people that lived there were poor and haggard.
The main reason that the colonies were made was the
seasonal and successful export of the fruits that
had been planted years ago in small gardens. Now the
smallest 'garden' was larger than one thousand
meters long and one hundred meters wide.
  From the gauntly look of the people, Jonnic was able to
tell that they were given barely any of the
money that was made from the exotic fruit, and none of
what they planted and harvested.  The buildings
were small and falling apart except for the few like the
one they had just entered.
  They had walked into a tall, magnificent white stone
building with windows circling around it.  Even the
most beautiful of buildings were still falling apart, the
ancient writing of the long gone beings that had
been the first to ever plant the fruit was fading from
days of heavy wind and rain.
  Inside the room was one desk with a stormtrooper on each
side. Sitting at the rectangular desk was a
young black haired, black-eyed man. He was handsome, and
as he stood up, Jonnic saw that he was
tall and well built, also.  The man was obviously in his
early twenties.
  The man shook Dain's, then Jonnic's hands and offered
them to be seated in the two chairs that had
been set before his desk. They sat down, and Jonnic met
the young man's cold black eyes, which sent a
chill down his back.
  "Ahhh, Stenner, how nice to see you again." Dain smiled
generously at Stenner.
 Stenner sat back down and gave Dain a cold smile back.
"Oh, please, call me Darien."
  "Darien it is. Now, I and my son have no time for
gossip, though it might seem rude, but we must get
to the point."
  Darien opened his hands, his cold smile falling away
into a smirk. "That must be the money I owe
you?"
  "Yes, even though Jonnic and I heard the distressing
news of Kayro's death, we still believe that he
owes us the money; we did give him the information that he
wanted, after all."
  Darien nodded his head and some of his long black bangs
fell into his eyes. "It was thirteen-
thousand?"
  "Fourteen-thousand," Jonnic corrected.
  Darien swept his cold eyes across Jonnic's face. "Of
course, my mistake."
  Stenner reached for a data pad. "I will send it to one
of your accounts immediately."
  "Which one?" Dain asked, "I have many accounts on many
different worlds."
  Stenner gave Dain an annoyed look. "Which one would you
like?"
  Jonnic rolled his eyes. It really didn't matter which
one; they were all empty except for the eighteen
thousand in their account on Hander.  
  Dain shrugged. "The one on Hander will be fine."
  "All right." Stenner tapped some keys in on his data
pad. "It's done. You are now fourteen thousand
credits richer. Is there anything else?"
  Dain gave Darien a smug smile. "Well, since you
mentioned it, there is. Though, it is to your
advantage."
  Darien gave Dain a curious look and arched a thin, black
eyebrow. "And that is?"
  "Even though Kayro is dead, I have the belief that you
still have what is left of his forces. If that is true,
I can assume you have enough power to take over. If you
want to, that is. If you would like, my son
and I would gladly do anything possible to help you in
your mission to destroy the New Republic."
  Stenner raised an eyebrow. "As long as the money keeps
coming, correct?"
  Dain nodded, "Correct."
  "Well, it's nice to hear that. If I ever do need you,
you will be contacted. Except for one small thing."
  Dain nodded his head. "And that is?"
  "Shal'lyindraa Ta'ao is a Jedi, no?" Stenner asked
raising his left eyebrow.
  Jonnic's face darkened. "She is, why?"
  Darien leaned back in his chair. "Jonnic, you and she
are fond of each other, are you not?"
  Jonnic narrowed his green eyes. "Yeah, so? How did you
know that?"
  The young black haired, black-eyed man waved his right
hand in the air. "It doesn't matter where I get
my information.  It's, just, if you are close, with a
little coaxing you could lead her to me.  Jedi do come
in handy at the oddest of times."
  Jonnic angrily stood up and leaned over Darien's desk
looking him straight in the eye. "I don't think
so. Shal'lyindraa is of no importance to you or anyone. If
you even look at my cousin the wrong way I
swear I will kill you with my bare hands."
  "Fine, fine. I won't even think of her if it will make
you happy. But," Darien's onyx black eyes
narrowed," but if I want her, she's mine, there's no way
you or anyone can stop me from getting what I
want." Stenner and Dain stood up at the same time. 
Stenner nodded to the stormtrooper to his right,
and the one standing at the door. 
  "My men will lead you out."
  Dain nodded, and stepped out of the brightly-lit room
with Jonnic behind him.
  Darien waited and watched as the two men left his
office. He looked at the other stormtrooper to his
left, "Get my secretary in here."
  A comm unit crackled, then, "Yes, sir." 
  The stormtrooper walked out of the room, and moments
later returned with an older woman in front
of him. The woman stood in front of Stenner's desk.
  "Yes, sir?" she asked.
  "I'll need to meet with Dain and his son in exactly
twelve months from today.  Let's say, at Utopian
Paradise. Make reservations for us."
  The older woman nodded as she gave Darien a curious
look. Here the Empire was falling apart, and
her boss was planning a vacation at Utopian Paradise.  
  "As you wish, sir. I shall make a note of it."

                    *    *    *


  "Serena?" Kyp knocked on her door, and then opened it.
The small room was empty, very empty.
Her clothes were gone.  She was gone. The robe Serena used
to wear was lying neatly across the cot.
  Kyp frowned.    
  Kyp had woken up early that morning to find himself
alone. The sun had just risen and she was gone. 
At first he had thought that she had just risen early and
had gone to her room to meditate.  But, her
room was empty and Kyp had the worst feeling that
Shal'lyindraa's would be empty, too.  Kyp walked
up to Shal'lyindraa's room and knocked on the door. After
a moment he opened it. Her room was
empty, too, completely empty.  The robe she had once worn
was lying neatly across the cot. 
  Serena and Shal'lyindraa had to be somewhere outside.
  Kyp walked to the outside of the temple on Yavin Four
and smiled as he saw Serena, Shal'lyindraa,
Luke, Han, and Mara Jade.
  Serena hugged Han, and Kyp's smile dropped from his face. 
  Serena saw him and slowly walked towards him.  "Hey,"
she said, not able to look straight into his
eyes. 
  Kyp watched Serena approach him.  "You're leaving." he
said bluntly.
  "Yeah.  So is," Serena paused unwillingly, "Shal."
  "Great." Kyp remarked sarcastically so as to ignore the
feeling of his stomach flipping over.
  "Kyp, I'm sorry, but --"
  "You gotta go, your destiny."
  "Yes, don't be mad, I don't want to leave with you being
mad."
  "I'm not, I love you, Serena."
  Serena looked Kyp straight in the face, smiling. "I love
you, too, and I promise I'll be back."
  Kyp kissed Serena, long and hard, for he knew he might
not ever see her again. He held her in his
arms until he reluctantly pulled himself away.
  "Bye."
  "For now." Serena turned around and walked to Mara Jade.
  Shal'lyindraa quickly walked to Kyp and pecked him on
the cheek happily. "Bye, Kyp."
  "See you later, Shal."  Kyp hugged his younger friend.
  "You've been like a big brother to me, of course we'll
see each other later." Shal'lyindraa smiled up at
Kyp and placidly walked off.
  "Bye, Master Skywalker." 
  "Bye, Serena.  I hope to see you here again to complete
your training."
  "I'll be back. I don't think I could stay away from here
for too long."
  Luke nodded his head to Shal'lyindraa. "You, too,
Shal'lyindraa."
  "Yes, sir, of course."
  Mara Jade smiled softly, betraying her dangerous self,
and her green eyes lit up as she studied first
Serena, then Shal'lyindraa.  "These two look promising,
Skywalker."  she said, turning to Luke after
looking over the two girls.
  Han smiled. "Yeah, they'll be great Mara. Two Jedi
smugglers, what more could you want?"
  "I don't know, give me a few minutes and I'll make a
list,"  Mara said sweetly.
  "Don't get all sarcastic on me, Mara Jade." 
  The smile fell from Mara's face and she smirked.  "So
long, Solo; Skywalker.  It'll probably be a
while until I see you two again, but then I'm not
complaining.  Business calls, bye."  Mara Jade pushed
back her reddish-gold hair and turned from Luke and Han
who were exchanging She-could-be-nicer-
to-us looks.    
  Serena, Shal'lyindraa, and Mara Jade boarded her ship,
the _Jade's Fire_. The ramp closed up
sealing them in, and Kyp walked inside the temple,
blinking away the unwanted tears that were
beginning to form.
  Han shook his head sadly. "I'm gonna miss those kids."
  "Yes, I just wish that they could complete their
training."
  "They'll be back, Luke."
   Luke agreed with Han's remark. "Yes, they meant it when
they said it."
  "Kyp'll be okay?"
  "I'm going to go talk to him, but I'm sure in a while,
yes, he will be."


  Kyp stood on top of the temple, watching as the _Jade's
Fire_ lifted up off Yavin. A slight breeze
blew his dark hair back from his face. Kyp squinted his
midnight blue eyes against the early morning
sun.  Serena and Shal'lyindraa would be back. He could
tell it in their eyes. 
  Luke came up behind Kyp and patted his shoulder, leaving
his hand on it.  "You'll see them again,
trust me," Luke reassured Kyp, "but right now you're about
to become a Jedi Knight."
  Kyp nodded his head as the _Jade's Fire_ slowly flew
upwards towards an unknown destination.
"It'll be a new beginning, won't it Master Skywalker?"
  "Yes, Kyp.  For us and the entire galaxy."
  Kyp let out the breath he had been holding
unintentionally and watched as the _Jade's Fire_
disappeared into the clouds covering the fourth moon of
Yavin. Kyp took his eyes off the sky and
turned around facing his teacher.  Serena may have been
gone, but he had a future before him, spread
out like an open map. A future that would lead him towards
a knew life, a life worth living.  A life where
he would be a Jedi Knight and fight for what he believed
in.  He would be able to fight for the right to
be free, so that no one would ever have to endure what he
had been put through as a child.  So that no
one would have to endure the unneeded hardships that the
Empire had left as it flew from system to
system killing and destroying lives.  
  'It will be a new beginning, for me,' Kyp thought to
himself.  He smiled at Luke, because Luke had
been the one to open the doors of this life to him.  He
owed everything to Luke Skywalker and Han
Solo.  The two men had changed his life for the better,
and that was a debt he would never be able to
repay.  
  Kyp and Luke walked towards the turbolift that would
take them back to the lower levels of the
temple, but before the doors could slide open, Kyp took
one last glance at the sky, knowing that the
_Jade's Fire_ was long gone.  Serena's warm, intoxicating
voice flew through his mind saying, "Kyp,
you are the first, and you are the last.  I promise you
that.  Always and forever we will be
together."
  Kyp turned back to the older man, the Jedi Master, _his_
teacher, mentor, and _friend_.   "For an
entire new line of Jedi Knights,"  Kyp said as the doors
to the turbolift slid open and he and Luke
stepped in.  
  The doors of the turbolift slowly slid shut, blocking
Kyp's view of the sky, and the lingering vision he
had of Serena Inin.


               Chapter Seventeen

A friend may well be reckoned the masterpiece of Nature.  
--Ralph Waldo Emerson


  Serena let her breath out slowly as she sat down beside
Shal'lyindraa in the _Jade's Fire_.  "Got the
_Moon_ in all right?" she asked nonchalantly.
  "Yeah, Mara'll be back in a sec., she wanted to get
someone."
  Serena slightly narrowed her eyes. "Who?" she asked,
studying the miniature room around them. In
the far corner, a few steps from the table where she and
Shal'lyindraa sat was a small bar set up with
no one behind it.
  Except for the small bar and table, the room was empty,
not counting the winding staircase that came
down from the level above them.
  Shal'lyindraa shrugged. "I dunno."
  Serena snorted. "Figures." She leaned back and crossed
her legs.  Shal'lyindraa watched Serena.
"You okay?"
  Serena uncrossed her legs. "No," she said crossly.
  Serena replayed across her mind what had happened the
day before so as to get her mind off of Kyp
Durron.
 Mara Jade had reached the Academy late that night, waking
up Serena. She went to Shal'lyindraa's
room and had gotten her up, somehow sensing that this
person had arrived for them both. They ran into
Luke Skywalker and had followed him out to meet the female
smuggler. Han was already there talking
to her.
  Mara had looked Shal'lyindraa and herself carefully over
-- Talon Karrde had had some important
business to take care of and had not been able to make it -
- asking Luke and Han questions about
them.  She had then watched as Serena and Shal'lyindraa
had showed her what they could do with a
lightsaber, blaster, heavy blaster pistol, and sporting
blaster. She had literally been surprised to see how
well they could use them.  As soon as she was told from
their point of view all that they had done
aboard the Star Destroyer-- she had been told everything--
she had agreed to hire them.  Mara was
sure that Karrde would love to have them working for him.
   Mara had also agreed to have Serena just use her first
name and not to worry about a last name until
she was able to have some people make up an entirely new
identity for her.  It would be better, she had
said, so her name would not attract much attention.  The
rest of the night Serena had gotten into the files
on her ship and put in a new name and number.  She had
renamed the ship _Silver Moon_.
  Serena had only heard various things about Mara Jade,
Kyp had mostly told her what he knew, and it
wasn't much.  Serena knew that Mara Jade had once been the
Emperor's Hand, she had tried
numerous times to kill Luke, but she hadn't been able to. 
Serena also knew that she worked for Talon
Karrde, was second in command, and had sometimes been
totally in charge of his operations.  That
was all Serena knew, but from the looks of her Mara Jade
could easily have any guy she wanted -- she
was beautiful --but she wasn't taking advantage of it. 
Mara was obviously brilliant and dedicated all
her spare time to her job, no room for guys.  And, Mara
Jade also obviously did not mind not having a
guy.  She was a strong, independent woman.  Serena liked
her.
  A few minutes later Serena was pulled out of her
thoughts as she watched Mara Jade's well-built and
well-proportioned figure appear on the spiral, rought-iron
staircase, followed by a young man. The man
had golden brown hair, and gold eyes. He was clothed in
black pants with a white shirt and knee high
boots. Around his waist he had strapped on a belt and had
tied the lower end of the blaster holster
around his left thigh. He was tall and slender, rather
attractive.
  Serena and Shal'lyindraa stood up at the same time
taking a few steps forward. Mara stopped in front
of Shal'lyindraa,with a hint of what seemed to be a smile
spreading across her face. The young man,
Serena figured, seemed to be around twenty. He stopped in
front of Serena and slowly let his eyes drift
from her to Shal'lyindraa, and back to Jade.  He rubbed
his thumb thoughtfully across his small goattee
three times.
  "Serena, Shal'lyindraa," Mara nodded slightly to each of
them, her emerald green eyes sparkling as if
she were playing a joke on them. "This," she motioned to
the young man beside her, "is Gregory Cjurn.
Gregory, this is Serena, and Shal'lyindraa Ta'ao."
  Gregory smiled lightly. "Doesn't Serena have a last
name?" 
  Jade shook her head. "Not yet, give us a couple of days." 
  Cjurn nodded his head understandingly. "I see, well
then, nice to meet you Serena; Ta'ao" He held his
hand out to each of them and they shook.
  Serena rested her hands on her hips. "Cjurn's our
partner--right?"
  Mara nodded, "Yes."
  "All right, then." Serena smiled.
  Mara started back up the steps, her brown boots making
clanging noises on them that echoed through
the small room below.  She stopped in the middle of the
staircase and looked down at the three. 
"Talon has a job waiting for you three as soon as we
arrive back at base.  Better to get aquainted now."
Mara disappeared up the staircase.
  Cjurn let his eyes follow Mara up the stairs, and then
brought it down to the two younger girls. He
walked over to the small bar in the back.
  "Drink?" he asked, turning to look at them.
  "R'alla mineral water?" Shal'lyindraa asked.
  "Sure. Serena?"
  Serena shrugged. "Doesn't matter, anything . . . Except
Corellian whiskey."
 Cjurn nodded and turned his back on them for a moment as
he poured the drinks.  Serena and
Shal'lyindraa sat back down at the round table. Cjurn
followed them momentarily, setting down their
drinks on the metal table.
  Shal'lyindraa caught Serena's gaze and widened her eyes,
smiling. Shal'lyindraa mouthed, _Hottie_.
  Serena smiled and bit her lower lip to keep herself from
laughing.
  Serena gazed down at the clear glasses, hers and
Gregory's were filled to the brim with a dark
burgundy liquid. Serena waited until Cjurn had drunk some
himself, then she took a sip. The thick liquid
tasted tangy in her mouth and stung her throat all the way
down, yet it seemed to have a sweet after-
taste that made it bearable.
  "So," Cjurn leaned his chair back. His relaxed posture
slightly reminded Serena of Han. "You two are
new at this thing, huh?"
  Shal'lyindraa nodded, drawing his attention away from
Serena. "Yes, we are."
  "Well, little lady, tell me: what makes you think you
have what it takes to be a smuggler?"
  Shal'lyindraa smiled sweetly, ignoring his sarcastic
tone. "I happen to be able to break encrypted
codes and computer security systems.  I can hack into any
computer, and I'm a Jedi."
  "Oh. _Oh_.  Big bad Jedi, huh?" Cjurn smiled.
  Serena stared coldly at him. Cjurn turned back to her,
ignoring the icy stare she shot at him.  "And
you, I can already tell, have a temper.  What else you got?"
  "A lightsaber that'll cut you in half," Serena bit out
sarcastically.
  "And?" Gregory Cjurn waved his hand in the air.
  Serena's eyes narrowed for a moment, then her face
cleared up, but she was just able to keep her
anger under control. "I'm very good with _any_ kind of
weapon you put in my hand, I can fly _any_
ship you'll let me, and _I'm_ a Jedi."
 "Oh, I get it. You sassy little Jedi are gonna take over
smuggling business, huh?" Cjurn shook his head.
"What a shame."
  Serena rolled her eyes, not wanting to say anything. 
Already she was beginning to tire of this brazen
man who thought he was the king of the galaxy.  It was
easy to sense his brashness without the Force.
  "And what's so bad about Jedi?" asked Shal'lyindraa.
  Cjurn smiled, showing his dimples. "You got those little
freaky powers that can read minds and lift
pebbles. You think that nothin' can hurt you.  You are all
arrogant.  Should I use the word ego here . .
.shouldn't you be fighting for the New Republic?"
  "We are.  If the New Republic needs help, they can call
on us." Serena said, looking into Gregory's
gold eyes.  "And we're not the ones who seem to be
contemptuous."
  "Contempt   what?"
  Serena rolled her eyes again, this time Gregory Cjurn
saw her.  "Arrogant," she whispered to him.
  Cjurn turned his head from her, and gulped down the rest
of his drink. Changing the subject he said, "I
know all about your little mind tricks, babe, and neither
of ya'll are ever gonna read mine." Gregory
grabbed his heavy blaster pistol out of its holster and
began to closely examine it as if he had nothing
better to do. His cheeks, just slightly, turned a light
pink. He smiled, showing his dimples, again. "No
way a girlie-girl is gonna find out what I'm thinkin'."
  Serena began to ignore Cjurn as he gallantly started
finding pet names for her and Shal'lyindraa.
Something was bothering her. She began to replay in her
mind all that had happened once she had
confronted her father, attacked Shal'lyindraa and then . . .
  She had shot Kayro in both his legs; he had been
helpless. The_Evening Death_had been destroyed;
her father had died. Or had he?  Deep down inside Serena
had the worst feeling that Kayro wasn't
dead.
  Serena shook the feeling off as she shook her head. It
was impossible. Her father was dead. Yet, she
could not ignore the cold feeling in the pit of her
stomach. 'Shouldn't I have felt him die? Because, I
didn't,'Serena thought slowly to herself.
  Cjurn grinned at Shal'lyindraa. "Legs?" He burst out
laughing.
  Shal'lyindraa rolled her eyes like Serena had. "I'm
tougher than you think."
  Cjurn's dimples deepened. "I'm sure you are, little lady."
  Shal'lyindraa studied Gregory for a moment.
"Where_are_you from?"
 "Alderaan." Gregory's smile froze, then fell away.
  Shal'lyindraa's eyes widened innocently. "I'm sorry,
really I am."
  Cjurn shrugged. "You learn to live with it."
  "Where were you when it happened?"
  "Snuck away on a transport."
  "Why?"
 "I wanted to be a smuggler, an eleven year old smuggler.
Luckily, Karrde found me."
  Shal'lyindraa nodded. "I see, CJ"
  "What did you say?" Cjurn asked, staring at her.
  "CJ"
  Cjurn laughed. "Great, now I'm CJ."
  Shal'lyindraa smiled brightly, then she glanced at
Serena and frowned. "He's not dead?"
  "Huh?" Cjurn asked, looking at Shal'lyindraa confused.
   Serena ignored Gregory's confused look. "I don't know,
at least, not anymore . . ." 'Red eternity,
black lightening.' 

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