Jedi Adept: A Path in the Dark Ch. 10

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The traveled in the open cargo bed of a wheeled ground car. The wind pulled at her long blond hair as they sped through the tunnels, headed ever lower and deeper into the planet's crust. Noelani knew that they had been near the bedrock level of Coruscant before, and she had the distinct feeling that they were going down yet further; descending deeper and deeper into the massive city.

Yet for the first time the undercity did not feel oppressive and claustrophobic. It did not feel constrained.

Noelani looked down at where her hand still clasped Chase's and couldn't help but grin. She allowed her eyes to trace up his arm, and finally settled onto his face.

His eyes were closed as he slept, his lips parted slightly. She felt her grin growing larger, forming into a full fledged smile even as she started to blush. Quickly she averted her eyes before he woke up to find her watching him. Instead she looked around at the children that cuddled close to them. Of the ten that she had defended, four had decided to stay by her side, while the other six had decided to try to survive on their own.

It was an eclectic mixture that had stayed with her: two human little girls, both as blond as she was; one red-skinned Twi'lek girl; and finally a Bothan male. The human girls appeared to be sisters; at least they had given the same surname when asked. The smaller one was five standard years old, and named Prilla Geet, while the elder girl was eight and named Jena. The Twi'lek gave her name as Asyra'mata and was the oldest of the four children that had stayed with her at eleven years old. The Bothan refused to speak, and Noelani had to guess his age at six. She had decided to call him Huff after her father, and he answered to it readily enough; at least as much as he answered to anything.

Three of the four children clung to her side, a blanket wrapped around them as they dozed. Noelani found herself smiling at them, warmth seeped into her heart at the thought that she had helped them. That she had found a way to help these four survive.

After a moment, she allowed her eyes to flicker over towards the fourth of the children—the one closest to her own age. She blinked as she realized that Asyra'mata was staring at her. Her eyes were locked on her, steady, staring. Slowly, sinuously, the young Twi'lek blinked; the simple movement enough to jar Noelani from her reverie.

"Why?" the girl asked.

"Why what?" Noelani responded.

"Why did you help us? What do you want with us that you would risk yourself for us?"

Noelani shook her head. "I… I don't want anything. I just wanted to help you, all of you."

The girl barred her teeth and laughed, a short, sharp, bitter, adult laugh, as her lekku twitched around her. "You want to help us? I've been helped in the past."

Noelani shook her head again. "I'm not asking you to trust me implicitly, but I promise; I'll do everything in my power to help you."

Asyra'mata's lekku twitched and twined around one another and her eyes turned cold and hard as she stared at Noelani. For her part, Noelani just met the stare, keeping her face blank and calm.

After a few moments, the Twi'lek looked away, and out at the blurred scenery. "Are you a Jedi?"

Noelani sighed. "Why do you ask that?"

"You used a lightsaber. I don't know if any of the others knew what it was, but I did, and Threll might have as well. It would explain why he didn't come with us." She paused for a moment. "So, are you?"

Noelani shook her head. "No. I'm not. I was going to be… but they…"

She felt tears sting her eyes, and with her free hand rubbed the tears away. Asrya'mata leaned forward slightly. "What did they do?"

Noelani looked down at where her hand was clasped with Chase's, and sighed. "I was raised on Tatooine as an orphan, and about 3 years ago, came to the Jedi to be trained. After a while, I was assigned a Master for some one-on-one training, she was smart, beautiful, a cunning warrior and everything that I had ever dreamed a Jedi was supposed to be. Last month, I was told the truth about my parentage. I had been taken away from my mother by Jedi Master Luke Skywalker and taken to the man who I called 'dad' on Tatooine. I learned that my Master was my mother, and then the Council took me away from her again. So I left. I came down here to find Chase."

She felt the pressure on her hand tightening, and turned to look over at Chase. He was staring at her, his brown eyes expressive and shone with sympathy. "Noelani… I'm sorry, I…"

She smiled for him, and shook her head. "It's all right. You didn't know. None of us did." Then she turned back to Asyra'mata. "So, now you know my story. You know why I'm not a Jedi, though I still hold to the ideals which the Jedi claim to espouse. That's why I'll do everything in my power to help you."

Asyra'mata stared at her for a moment longer, and then needed her head. She turned her back to Noelani, and pulled the blanket up over her shoulders. "I'll give you a chance. But if you betray me or any of the others, I'll kill you."

Noelani smiled. "Fair enough."

Then the truck slammed over a bump, jostling them all; waking the other children. Noelani lifted her head, and looked forward as the truck began to slow down. Before here was a set of massive doors. The truck pulled to a stop outside them and a few moments later, there was a creak.

Then with a rumbling roar, the doors began to slide open. Dirt and dust rained down on them as Noelani stared at the opening doors. A shaft of light erupted from the door seams, nearly blinding in its brilliance.

She had been in the dim light of the undercity so long that the bright light almost burned her eyes. Once the doors were fully opened, the truck started up again, and rumbled forward. As they passed through the doors, they began to close once more with a rumble.

Noelani looked around, and discovered that they were in a massive underground cavern. Strips of lighting ran across the ceiling, simulating natural sunlight. Small buildings, the tallest appearing about four stories, dotted the area, with a number of parks and gardens all around them.

The drove through the underground town, until they stopped at one of the smaller buildings; gold numbers were affixed over the front door, detailing that this was building 7-Aleph-85. Neolani looked it over, simple permacrete in an earthy, reddish-brown color; similar to every other building on Coruscant. The main difference between this building and those that stretched to the sky on the surface was that this one was only two stories tall. To Noelani, it looked more like the houses on Ambria or Lorrd than a building on Coruscant.

Evir got out of the truck and gestured towards the building. "This will be your home here."

Noelani blinked at the building. It appeared even larger than her home on Tatooine. "Ours?"

Evir laughed. "Well, I'm not giving everyone in your little group a building to themselves; we'd run out of buildings sooner or later. Besides, you wanted these kids taken care of, so that's part of your responsibilities; it just makes sense then that they should live with you two."

Noelani frowned for a minute, but could not fault the older man's logic. She sighed, and glanced over at Chase just as he jumped out of the truck. He landed on the hard rocky ground, and began to help the smaller children from the truck. Noelani picked up her satchel, slung it over her shoulder and then jumped out of the truck herself. A moment later, Asyra'mata dropped onto the ground next to her.

Evir climbed back up into the truck, and looked out at Noelani. "Someone will be back to pick you and Chase up for your first meeting with my team in a couple of hours. Get settled in for now."

Still feeling stunned, Noelani nodded her head, and then walked up the walk path towards the front door. Hesitantly, she pushed on the door, and despite being told that the building was hers, was surprised when it swung open. She entered, followed by Chase and the children.

The first room she came too had no decorations, but did contain a few couches and a holonet terminal. Through doorways on the far side she could make out a kitchen unit and a dining area. She turned away from those and went into the next room. It was a wide open area, set up like some type of workout room. Springy mats made up the floor, and there were a variety of melee weapons on the walls, the only ones which she recognized were the vibroswords.

She returned to the hallway and went up the stairs where she could hear the children laughing. Once there she found that there were eight bedrooms, each containing a dresser, a writing desk, a double sized bed and a simple refresher.

She chose the one closest to the stairs, and walked into it. It reminded her of the room she had in the apartment she used to share with Tahiri in the Jedi Temple. She tossed her satchel onto the bed and then sat down beside it.

A knock on the door drew her out of her reverie, and she looked over to see Chase leaning against the jamb, a smile touching his lips.

"So," he began. "It looks like we've managed to get ourselves a family."

Noelani shook her head. "Looks it. Did you see the training salle downstairs? Lots of pretty weapons, wish I could have brought the gaffi stick my Mast… my mother made me."

Chase entered the room, and sat down beside her, taking her hand. "You want to talk about it?"

Frowning, she looked away from him. "Well, it was about a meter or so in length, made out of titanium, so it was strong and light, and…"

He snorted in amusement, interrupting her. "Not the gaffi stick, your mother and the Jedi. I got the feeling that the story you told Asyra'mata wasn't quite everything."

Noelani sighed and then shook her head. "No, it wasn't, and no, I don't; at least not right now."

Chase squeezed her hand and then stood up. "All right, but when you do, I'll be here to listen."

He then disappeared, leaving her alone with just her thoughts and the pain of her memories.

She sighed, and then closed the door and quickly stripped out of her dirty clothes; determined to scrub the sludge and slim off of her, and out of her hair. She hoped that she would feel better once she had gotten cleaned up.

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