Chapter 5

Kirena Q'erra wrapped her arms tight around legs and rested her head on her knees. Her shoulder length auburn hair trickled down into her eyes, in a futile attempt to hide her tears. Just months ago she had been just a regular teenager with parents and home to live in and food to eat. After the rebellion everything had changed so fast, her father and her mother had been slaughtered by the Empire for suspicion of treason. They would have killed her too, she was sure, but she had hidden herself. She was surprised that they didn't search harder. The man that had come to Chalum to see her had told her that was part of her power. She had wished and hoped so hard that they wouldn't find her and that they would just leave, that she willed them to obey her. She didn't believe him though, and was fighting him on everything he told her, and tried to show her. It was easy that way, she thought. Not to believe in anything. Anyway, if she supposedly had this power, why wasn't she able to stop her parents death?

More tears poured from her soft brown eyes and soaked into the fabric covering her knees as more memories of her lost life came flooding back. She hated this war so much, and she hated the rebels for starting it. Why couldn't they just live with the Empire like everyone else? She knew nothing of the hardships and injustices that many other races had to endure under Imperial rule. She was also painfully ignorant of the day to day lives of her fellow citizens of Chalum. She couldn't begin to realize how many people had been forced to be slave laborers, or that her own planet was governed by fear, and fear alone. These were things her parents tried their best to keep from their daughter. They had planned to tell her upon their decision to help the rebels liberate Chalum. They would never have a chance though.

A light knock at the door interrupted Kirena's thoughts and she sighed in annoyance. She knew it wouldn't be the same man that had visited her before, because he had been called away on important business, and that frustrated her even more. She didn't want to have to deal with anyone today, or ever again. At least the Jedi character was cute, she thought. It will probably be that odd looking General Haang, wanting to check up on me. That freak is worse than my father, she thought to herself as she rose to unlatch the door. Her quarters were housed in a small section of the space port's main building that served as low cost sleeping quarters for merchants. The empire had used them for the city's garrison though and they still smelled "sweaty." Or at least Kirena hoped that was what it was.

Wiping the remaining tears from her pale skinned cheek, Kirena slid open the heavy metal door, and almost screamed at the sight of what lie beyond.

"You must be Kirena?" asked the green scaled woman. Kirena stood dumbfounded for a good thirty seconds before she stuttered out an answer.

"Y... yes, who are you?" she finally replied.

" I, or we that is," said the green woman jerking her thumb over her shoulder, "or we that is, are from the Alliance." The woman cleared her throat, allowing the two men behind her to come into view. "We were sent here to protect you. We have reason to believe that your life is in danger."

Kirena took in the three strange figures at her door. The man to the woman's left seemed to be a true soldier, the way that Kirena was used to them looking. His dark hair was cropped short, and close to his skull. His orange flight suit was straight and stainless, and his boots un-scuffed. He stood straight up with his hands at his sides, unmoving and dispassionate looking. The only thing that betrayed his true personality though were his eyes. A soft deep gray and glittering, even in the dim overhead lights, she could see he had a soft side that he was hiding. She thought him to be fairly handsome, and although short, a well toned soldier. She momentarily wondered how he would look without that flight suit, but cast aside the thought immediately. Damn I'm pitiful, she thought.

Next she took in the man to the woman's right. He was obviously not a soldier, but not terribly shabby either. His shoulder length black hair was slicked back and in a short pony tail, and his dark brown eyes were filled with curiosity and perception. She felt slightly uncomfortable under his stare, and could tell he felt the same way about hers. A stocky build, like the other man's, complimented his rounded face and well-kept goatee. The only difference was his slightly ruffled uniform, and inch or two he had over his counterpart. She thought him handsome too, but strange. The other man intrigued her a bit more.

Her momentary gaze finally fell onto the woman in the middle again. Her pitch black hair framed her scaled forehead with small ridges separating the two. Her straight hair flowed down behind her pointed ears and up around her yellowish green cheeks, framing her odd, but pretty face. Her nose was small and her shiny lips were as black as her hair. Her rounded chin accentuated her long scaly neck, which also had small ridges along the side. The green scales disappeared into the woman's orange flight suit, but Kirena could tell the woman was well endowed in all of her womanly departments. Not bad, she thought, for an alien.

Kirena shook her head to clear it before she replied, the words just now sinking in, "my life? In danger? From who?" Disbelief filled her tone, although she wondered why these people were spending so much time on her. And so many lies.

"We are not sure as of yet, but we believe that a man has been sent here by the empire to stop you from discovering your ability to use the force." The woman's sighed a sweet hissing sound, and pressed on. "In other words to kill you."

"Not this "The Force" nonsense again. You sound just like that Luke Skyrunner guy that keeps bothering me. What is it with you rebel rejects and your obsession with it, and me for that matter?" she spat, her sharp wicked tone taking out some of her pent up frustration on these three fighter pilots.

"It is Luke Skywalker young one, and don't believe that we are doing this because we want to. I would rather be out there protecting people want and need our help. We are here because the Alliance, and Skywalker, believe that you have a great talent. They have ordered us to protect you so that you can be taught to control and use your ability. Most of us rebels believe in the old Jedi traditions and fight to uphold them. This includes protecting you so you may one day become a Jedi like Skywalker." The woman paused and thought for a moment. "Do not continue with the thought that we are here just to bother you, and make your life hell. Also don't believe that you are everything to us either."

The man to the woman's right finally spoke up, his soft deep voice sounding very sincere, something that's hard to find on a planet controlled by the Empire. "You should just be glad that we are here to keep you from harm, and that someone thinks you are important enough for us to do so. You are very lucky."

The lithe green woman nodded her head, forcing a short strand of her black hair fall into her face. She swept it aside and smiled a sincere and beautiful razor sharp smile. "Do not worry young one, you are in good hands. Now we will leave you alone for now. We will return in a few hours to discuss how things will work these next few days. I hope that we can convince you of your importance and help you to trust us. We shall see you later." With that the woman nodded and smiled, then turned down the hallway. The two men following suit.

"Whatever," murmured Kirena under her breath. She shut her door and sat back down on her semi-comfortable bed that the General had ordered brought in to the dingy quarters. He refused to make her sleep on a military cot, and she was thankful for that much at least. A myriad of conflicting thoughts and emotions filled her as she rolled around and laid on her stomach, head in her hands. What if she really was something special, something as special as a Jedi. She had read about them, and many other things concerning the Old republic. For some reason her parents had a wealth of books on the subject, and they passed the time, between time with friends and time with her parents. She remembered how heroic and powerful they had seemed. She also thought that it couldn't be possible that she had such powers as they did. How could she? They must want something else from me, she thought.

Her head rested on her pillow and she felt herself dozing off. All the thinking, and all the nightmares she had been having lately had taken their toll on her 16 year old psyche. It had also taken a toll on her physically and she drifted off to sleep with thoughts of heroic Jedi, and those three fighter pilots at her door. Did they really care? Were they really here to protect her? Time could only tell.

"So what do you think?" Asked D'lek as she sat on my cot next to me, her warm hand finding my thigh.

"I think that this cot will give me terminal back problems," I replied with a smile. She punched me gently in the arm and I reached up and brushed the hair from her beautiful face. I then looked down and sighed. "I don't know, I just don't know. She seems so unresponsive, and so skeptical. I'm almost positive that she doesn't believe us and that she will be quite hard to keep an eye on."

"I don't think that was a problem for some of us though," she replied with one of her sexy suggestive smiles. Both of us looked to a now blushing Captain Nim, who guiltily looked to the floor and then to us.

"What?" he said in an unconvincing show of ignorance.

"We saw how you looked at her Nim, and I don't blame you she was quite a cute one," said D'lek making the poor Captain turn a darker shade of red. "A little young for you though don't you think?"

I answered for him. "Well our Nim is only a ripe 20. She can't be that young."

"Well the file on her that Falgar gave me puts her at 16. I suppose that she could be mature enough. She seems to be much younger on the inside though, I'm perceptive about these kinds of things. She seems quite apart from the world around her, but has a healthy distrust of everyone." D'lek sighed with a sultry hiss, her voice growing a little more serious. "I hope that we will be able to get her to trust us. That is a most important thing if we are to protect her."

"I hope so too," added Nim. He then looked up startled at his uncharacteristic remark. Almost as if he hadn't meant to say it at all. "I mean for the good of the mission."

"Yea right Nim. You mean for the good of your mission," joked D'lek, turning the poor captain red again. "That would be taking down her shields and delivering a missile right." His face looked like it would catch fire as D'lek chuckled in her smooth sultry way.

"Aw, leave the man alone D'lek. It's not everyday that an isolated soldier can find love. Especially at such a critical time in our history, when everything seems to be relying on how well you perform your mission. I have to say that I'm the luckiest man in the universe to have found a partner in crime," I said letting the seriousness trickle into my voice. D'lek's hand ran along my cheek, her tails running lines down my cheek. Our lips touched for a short soft kiss and then she smiled in her way at Nim.

"Take lessons from this man Nim and you'll be enjoying different sleeping arrangements very soon." Nim blushed again shaking his head. He then laid back on his cot and let his hand rest on his forehead. He seemed to be quite deep in thought. Most likely on the young Kirena that we had just met.

"Let me know when you two are willing to talk seriously, I think I'm going grab a few winks. We are sure to have a long day tomorrow. In case you haven't forgotten, our target is due here in 19 hours. We have to be ready." With that Nim rolled over on his side facing the wall.