“Look, I know you came recommended girl, but this is insane…” Kora had the most amazing ‘nerf in the headlamps of the speeder truck’ look on her face when she looked up from her datapad at her boss’ words. The Twi’lek sighed deeply as she sat down at the table the girl was studying at. “When did you sleep last, Kora? Really sleep?”

“I…” Kora stared at her boss and then at the chrono. “Um…” She smiled a bit sheepishly. “Last night? Twelve hours ago?” She said hopefully.

“Try twenty six hours. Fifteen minute naps don’t count.” The Twi’lek said with a sad smile as she looked the human in the eyes and winced. Kora stared at her and the female Twi’lek smiled gently. “Kora… I know you feel overwhelmed. But you are not going to learn it all, or relearn everything you knew before your accident, in a week. Interns are not supposed to sleep, but geez…” Kora sighed. Her cover story was that she had been a medical student. She had been involved in bad speeder accident and lost her memory as a result. According to her records, she had emigrated to Correllia to start fresh and that much was true.

“But Oeia…I…” Kora did not resist as the female Twi’lek took her by the arm and lifted her to her feet easily. “I need to learn…”

“No ‘buts’ Kora.” The honcho of the rescue station said sternly. “You are too tired. You go out like that and you will get someone killed. You are going home and getting some sleep. I will call Mork in, say it’s an emergency shift. Clear?”

“Yes, Ma’am…” Kora slumped in place, her face falling. Then everything stopped as the alert buzzer rang.

“Aw hell! Can you…?” Oeia stared at Kora who shook herself and nodded. “You better not mess up, or we will be filling out forms until Planetary Congruence.” Both females darted into the ready room and pulled their gear on.

Emergency Medical Technicians or paramedics as they were commonly called in most places, were generally the same the galaxy over. They were healthcare professionals who worked in emergency medical situations. It was a dangerous job. Both females shrugged into formfitting body armor as they pulled their packs from the lockers with their names. It was a well practiced routine, even though Kora had been on duty less than a week. She checked herself in the mirror for a long second and nodded just a little. The clone of a dead Padawan was only a memory. The human who stared back at her had scared blue eyes and a thick shock of brown hair. It would take a highly detailed DNA trace for anyone to figure out who she had been cloned from initially, just as that odd Hutt had promised. Kora shook herself, settling her belt with it’s tools and radio. Time to get to work. Even with her minor self inspection, both were out the door in under a minute and climbing into their airspeeder ambulance as the pilot powered it up.

“What have we got, Soen?” Oeia asked as she strapped herself in. She glanced over at Kora but the human had her own straps on and tight. “Go!”

She commanded as the human driver looked at her and the speeder took off, siren blaring. Between the siren, the lights and the automated transponder that blared just as loudly over the radio waves, traffic cleared quickly from around them as they climbed to a level reserved for emergency vehicles. The pilot was former Correllian Militia and apparently had combat experience, because he literally threw the ambulance through the air.

“Eight year old female human, bleeding. Mother called Emergency.” His succinct words had the both medical techs stiffening. Pediatric case.

“Then it’s not a simple cut…” Oeia said slowly. “We can hope for something reasonably simple. But full kit, just in case. Kora…” Her eyes were appraising as Kora started inventorying the gear they had for human child emergencies. “If you start to feel bad, or even strange, tell me.”

“Boss?” Soen asked, his eyes focused on the windscreen and his controls as the speeder literally tore through the air. Nothing at this altitude except emergency vehicles and the IFF they were broadcasting would get any but the most blinkered pilots from getting in their way. Militia teams had NO patience for anyone getting in the way of ambulances. There had been a few, um, incidents involving multiple shots fired at offending vehicles on occasion. “Problem?”

“You tell me, Kora.” Oeia asked slowly as she looked the young human woman over. “Is it a problem?”

“I won’t do anything dumb, Ma’am.” Kora said slowly. “I have gone longer without sleep.”

“Maybe you have.” Oeia said with a grimace. “But you were not on my team at the time. One hint of you acting off and I am booting you back to the speeder, clear?” Soen looked in his mirror at the pair and wisely kept his mouth shut.

“Clear, Ma’am.” Kora nodded as she finished the check. “Inventory finished. All items present. Small bandages are low, but still within inventory norms.”

“We need to keep the inventory topped off.” Oeia said with a grimace. “If we wind up with more than one patient we can run out really fast. We can use adult dressings for kids, but not vice versa. Put in a request for more when we get back.”

“Yes, Ma’am.” Kora said as she finished putting the bag back together and strapped it down. Soen was a good pilot, but not the easiest to fly with. She bet he had combat experience, she had flown with another pilot who had acted much the same way, if much more intense. “Any more info on what we have?”

“No.” Oeia was perusing the call report. “Dispatcher got cut off.”

“Ma’am…” Kora said in a worried tone. “If we don’t know what we are flying into…”

“Local police have been alerted.” Soen replied for Oeia. “I just heard from them, they have a speeder enroute, they say that it will be there as soon as we are. But we don’t exit the speeder until we are sure the scene is safe.” Kora nodded. It did no one any good if the rescuers got hurt or killed.

“ETA?” Oeia asked and then gasped as the speeder dove like a dive bomber. “Soen!” She yelled.

“Pediatric case, ma’am.” Soen replied unrepentant. “And ETA is now.” Pediatric cases hit paramedics hard, and the pilot was no stranger to them. Truth be told, neither of the females minded. Speed counted in emergency situations and in this case, the pilot know how to be fast and safe. But Oeia had to maintain appearances so she growled at him.

“IF you do that with any other team, Soen…” Oeia said sourly as the speeder settled to the ground. A uniformed human cop was waving urgently to them. She waved them to the door of a residence like all the other ones nearby. “Kora, bring the gurney and oxygen. I am on it!” She grabbed the jump bag and was out the door as Kora started working the gurney free. It was droid operated, had antigrav capability and supposedly could move independently on its own. But in practice, its droid brain was about as smart as a box of rocks and got confused if it had to travel faster than 1 km per hour. Kora had learned how to guide it, however, and with the gurney hovering behind her, she quickly followed her boss. When she entered the small dwelling, however, her heart lightened. She heard a young female crying. Odd that such a sad noise might lighten her heart, but if the kid was crying, she was not dead. If she was crying, she was breathing, everything else modern medicine could more than likely fix.

“Easy, girl, easy…” Oeia was saying. “What is her name?” She asked a very worried looking older human female standing nearby. She was finishing a basic exam, a fast and dirty check for massive bleeding, or other obvious problems. None seemed to be present, at least, nothing visible.

“Her name is Sandri Kuoim. I am her mother…” The woman said, sparing glance at the gurney and Kora before turning her gaze back to the head medic and what was obviously her child. “I came home and there was blood everywhere… I…” She was obviously not tracking well. “He will be mad…”

“Ma’am it’s okay. We are here to help…”Oeia had a gentle hand on the little girl’s shoulder now and was easing her down on her side so she could take a closer look at her. The back of Sandri’s shirt was covered in blood. The girl gave a small cry as Oeia lowered her down, but then just laid there, her eyes flowing with tears. “It’s okay, Sandri, my name is Oeia. I am here to help. I need to see what hurts.”

“Hurts…” Sandri said in a small tone. Kora’s heart went out to her, but she squashed the feelings. She had to remain professional. “Please…”

“Easy…” Oeia’s voice was calm and soothing as she checked the girl for wounds. “It’s okay. Let me know if anything hurts worse, ok…” She froze as Sandri gave a cry. Kora couldn’t see exactly where the Twi’lek’s hands were, but it was an odd place for a wound. The Twi’lek’s voice was soft as she spoke again. “There?” Sandri nodded quickly. “I am sorry. Where else?”

“Back…” Sandri said shivering.

“Okay…” Oeia’s voice was soft and gentle. “I need to take off your shirt so I can see your back. Okay?”

“Hurts…” Sandri repeated quietly.

“We are going to do something about that right now.” Oeia said slowly as she turned to the mother. “Mrs. Kouim, is she allergic to any medications?”

“Not that I know of.” The mother said slowly. She was shaking.

“Kora?” Oeia said quietly as she pulled a one use hypo out of the bag. “Take Mrs Kouim into the next room and get her information. All of it.” Her voice was level, but her eyes held something that Kora had not seen before in the kindly medic. Rage. “This won’t hurt Sandri, its designed not to.”

“I should stay…” The mother said doubtfully.

“Ma’am…” Kora said gently. “She will feel better without a witness. It’s embarrassing enough around strangers. Around family?” She did not understand the sudden feelings that she got from Oeia and Mrs. Kouim. But she ignored them. Kora the EMT did not have the Force. She had to stay in that mode. “Come on, Ma’am…” She kept her touch gentle as she steered the distraught woman by the arm to the next room.

“I…” Mrs Kouim seemed to wilt, but followed as Kora led her into the next room. It was a well appointed living room and Mrs Kouim sank into a chair, her head in her hands. Kora was moved to speak.

“It is all right, Ma’am.” She said gently. “It is all right. She is alive and we are going to keep her that way.”

“He will be so mad…” Mrs. Kouim said slowly. It was unclear if she heard Kora.

“Your husband?” Kora asked slowly. “Where is he?”

“I don’t know.” The human woman jerked as if she expected her husband to jump out of the wall and start screaming at her. “I don’t know.”

It took some time and a great deal of coaxing, but eventually Kora had all the information she needed. When she returned to the room, she found Oeia settling the silent child down on the gurney. She shook her head, she had NEVER felt such feelings from her calm and collected boss lady.

“Oeia?” Kora asked slowly. “We ready to transport?”

“Yeah.” Oeia said quietly. “Kora…Do me a favor.” She asked as she laid the jump bag on the gurney, there was plenty of space around the little girl.

“What do you need?” Kora asked as she checked to be sure they hadn’t left anything behind.

“See if the cop has left. If she has, get Soen to call her back. If she hasn’t… Tell her…the kid… Code Nine, child.” Kora froze. That code… “Yeah.” Oeia said slowly, her face a mask. “We need to get Sandri there as soon as possible and let the hospital know, have the staff ready.”

“Holy…” Kora said, stunned to her bones. “Boss…”

“Get. The. Cop.” Oeia said slowly. “Now.” She was obviously trying to keep calm as she turned back to her patient.

Unfortunately, it seemed that easy was not for EMTs as well as Jedi. The mother was distraught. And since she was the only parent present, they couldn’t very well just make off with the kid, now could they? Courts had a distressing tendency to call such things ‘kidnapping’. Oeia was obviously losing patience, the female cop likewise. Kora found herself acting as a mediator. Kora spoke evenly.

“Ma’am…” Kora said finally. “Your daughter needs urgent medical attention she cannot get here. We need to take her to the hospital. You know Coronet General. They are good. You can call your husband from the emergency room.”

“But…” Mrs Kouim bowed her head. “I don’t know…” She wailed. Kora looked at her boss and then the cop who nodded.

“Ma’am…” Kora touched the distraught woman on the sleeve. Neither of the others would feel when a small invisible pulse of power flared from her fingers to calm the woman slightly. Cheating, but in this case, speed was key. “She needs help she can’t get here. Can you come with us?”

“I…” Mrs. Kouim sagged, calmed either by Kora’s surreptitious use of the Force or by the young woman’s kind words. “I guess I have to. Otherwise they won’t treat her, will they?”

“Yes they will.” There was no doubt at all in Oeia’s voice and it was understandable. This kind of crime was something even the most independent minded of Correllians felt VERY strongly about. “You can ride with us.” The cop nodded to her and a grim smile played across the law enforcer’s face. Luckily the distraught lady did not see it. It likely would have freaked her out worse. “She will feel better with someone she knows.” It would also keep Mrs. Kouim safe, not a minor consideration at the moment, since she was a witness after the fact to a horrific crime.

I…” Sandri’s mother stared at the gurney where her daughter was sleeping fitfully now. “You are the professionals… I know I am a mess…”

“It is what we do, Ma’am.” Oeia said gently as she steered the woman towards the door, keying the gurney to lead the way. “Clean up our mess, Kora… Make sure we haven’t left any sharps lying around.”

Since she had already checked twice for sharps or trash, Kora waited until the two other females were gone before speaking to the cop.

“What do you need?” She asked quietly, but anger lay underneath her tone.

“I am going to seal the house until a detective can come by." The cop said professionally. "Whoever it is will probably want to talk to both of you. Until then keep your mouths shut, the last thing we need is for this to wind up on the nightly news. Especially such a horrific case. The newsies will hear, but keep away from them or stay quiet.” The cop said with matching anger in her voice. “This is pretty open and shut. I hate hurt kids…She is just a little older than my youngest…” She snarled softly. “And this kind of thing makes my blood boil.”

“Me too.” Kora said slowly. “And her dad…” She shook her head slowly, horrified.

“We don’t know that for sure.” The police officer replied carefully. “Not yet. Go on, get her out of this horror. I have got this.” Kora nodded sadly at the officer and started out of the building. By the time she got to the speeder, Oeia had the gurney strapped in, and was helping Mrs. Kouim with her seatbelt. She nodded to Kora as the young human sat down in the jump seat and nodded to the little girl watching her as she strapped herself in.

“Secure, Ma’am.” Kora reported as after she had strapped herself in and checked the gear on the gurney. Sandri did not really need oxygen at the moment, but it was better than trying to stow it with the gurney in place. “Ready to lift.” She reported.

“Right.” Oeia said quietly as she checked Sandri’s pulse. “Soen, get us to Coronet General. Code 2.” Kora kept her face impassive. Code two was lights, but no siren and no emergency IFF. Sandri’s life was not in danger and they did not want to advertise this.

“Ten minutes, Ma’am.” Soen reported from the front. From his tone, he was working very hard to keep his cool. Apparently he had heard when the cop had called in the report. And if he had heard… Soen made a noise somewhere between a groan and a sigh. “We got company…”

Kora looked out the side window and blanched as she saw a news airspeeder pacing the ambulance. The cop had been more right than she knew. The last things Kora needed was to make the nightly news. Civilian speeders were not supposed to be in the emergency lanes, but Correlian reporters were often laws unto themselves. She squashed a totally not nice urge to see the garishly painted speeder blown from the sky. Oeia looked and said something that sounded distinctly rude in a language that Kora was glad she did not understand. Both paramedics went back to work. They had their job, if someone wanted to look at the opaque windows of an ambulance, they could. It was annoying.

“Mrs. Kouim…” Oeia said quietly. “Has your daughter ever been hurt like this before?”

“She is good kid.” The woman said softly, her head down. “She does as she is told.”

“Ma’am…” Oeia tried again, her voice gentle. “Please… I am trying to help.”

“No.” Mrs. Kouim said quietly. “It’s never been this bad.”

“Ma’am…” Oeia warned Kora with her eyes and Kora nodded, laying a calming hand on Sandri’s. The little girl shivered a little, but relaxed. “When we land, the newsies are going to be all over this. They are going to shove microphones in your face. They are going to ask loud questions, nasty questions. We will get you through them as quickly as possible and security will keep them away from you and your daughter.” She didn’t mention that security would keep everyone away from her and her daughter, including any potential subjects of police investigation, whoever they might be.

Sandri was shivering hard now and Kora pulled a blanket out of a locker to spread over her. Sandri smiled her thanks and Kora smiled back. Kora patted her hand as she sat back in her seat.

“Ma’am…” Sandri’s voice was so low that Kora doubted Oeia or her mother could hear it. “Can I as a question?”

“You can ask.” Kora said with a smile. “I may not have an answer.”

“What did I do?” Sandri asked, her face downcast. “What did I do wrong? Why is mom sad?”

“Oh honey…” Kora said with a sad shake of her head. Her seat was situated so she could reach any part of the gurney easily.“You haven’t done anything wrong. You are hurt, we are taking care of you.” She paused. “Do you feel sick?” Sandri nodded and turned slightly green. “Oeia! Bag!” Kora called as she held the waif who was starting to convulse. A plastic bag found her grasping free hand and she shoved it in place just in time. “Easy… Sandri…” Kora murmured encouragement as the girl did what her stomach demanded. “Easy… it’s okay…”

“Why is she…” Mrs. Kouim asked, scared. “Why is she doing that?”

“Trauma can do that, Ma’am.” Oeia was quick to reassure the worried woman. Kora noted she did not speak other possible causes. Internal injuries, head trauma, toxins, all kinds of things caused that reaction. Distressing the woman further was just a bad idea. “It is not her fault.”

“No.” Mrs. Kouim agreed. “It’s not a voluntary reflex.” Oeia looked at her and she flushed. “Wanted to be a nurse… once… can I… Can I touch her…?”

“Sure…” Oeia moved herself so that the woman could reach over her and touch her daughter’s arm. “Just don’t undo your belts. Air currents around the city are tricky.” She warned.

“I won’t…” The woman said with a sad look. “Oh Sandri… I am sorry…” She bowed her head and when it rose she looked straight at Oeia and her voice was calm. “I assume the police will be waiting for me? I saw some of it…”

“You did not do this to her, Ma’am.” Oeia said slowly. “Did you know?” Mrs. Kouim shook her head. “Tell them that. Tell them everything you suspected, you thought, or felt. This… This is going to be bad, Ma’am.”

“As long as Sandri is safe.” The woman said slowly. “I tried to have time for her, I really did.”

“Mom…” The soft, pained voice silenced everything in the small cabin. “Not your fault.” Then Sandri lost it again. Kora patted her arm reassuringly as she held the bag steady.

“Easy, Sandri. Not long now.” She smiled as the girl looked at her. “Don’t try to talk. Your vocal cords have been strained by the…well… nasty stuff.”

“Hurts…” Sandri complained quietly as she collapsed back onto the gurney, her stomach apparently emptied. Her mom gave a low cry and touched her hand again.

“I know, little one.” Kora said gently with a shudder. The female she had been clone from had only been a few years older than this poor kid. She prayed for a moment that Sandri never faced the horrors that Kora had. Just hearing about it was bad enough, even when she couldn’t actually remember it. “I know. But it will be okay.”

They made the hospital without further incident and yes, as expected a swarm of news air and ground speeders were arrayed near the emergency room doors. They were scattered everywhere and Soen was snarling as he landed the speeder in the designated spot near the doors marked ‘Emergency’, threading his way through the hovering ones with the dexterity of a combat pilot. They were not QUITE blocking the doors, that was illegal. But they were close and they were everywhere.

“Are you sure I can’t even dent one of these pretty toys? I can make it an accident…” The pilot’s voice was sour as he extended the landing gear and brought the ship into to a soft touchdown. Oeia grunted a negative and he sighed sadly. Then he stiffened and tapped his helmet. “Acknowledged.” He turned to the back and spoke in controlled tones. “Security is on the way, they ask you to wait until they have a path through the sharks before you open up.”

“Ma’am…” Kora held out a veil, one of the newest fads on Correllia and Sandri’s mother took it with a smile. Ambulances carried all kinds of things. This was hardly the first time press had been a nuisance. She put it on and it covered her face nicely. No incriminating pictures there. Oeia smiled and moved a cover over Sandri’s head after making sure the oxygen was in place and working. Kora had her helmet on and the visor down, no chance of anyone IDing her with a picture that way. Not that they could, she looked nothing like the padawan she had been cloned from except in height and mass. Oeia nodded, her helmet was also down. Soen always had his own on when he flew, so no pictures there. Kora nodded to her boss. “Ready when they get here.”

“There they are. And…” Oeia stiffened in pace as a robed form appeared behind the armored security personnel who suddenly did not have to push the reporters back. It was as if none of the pack dared stand in the Jedi’s way. “What is he doing here?” the Twi’lek asked sourly.

“You know that Jedi, Ma’am?” Kora asked as she prepared the gurney for transit. She hid her initial reaction deep, very deep. She didn’t know this Jedi and she wouldn’t break her cover. “Didn’t know you knew any Jedi.”

“Only one.” Oeia said sourly. “But one is more than enough. Come on, let’s get this over with.”

As soon as the Oeaia and Kora eased the gurney from the ambulance, the area was filled with shouted question. Kora stayed beside Mrs. Kouim as the gurney traveled slowly between the two glowering security guards and past the Jedi who nodded to Oeia. She for her own part, acted as if he did not exist. Kora blinked at that, but was in motion as a newsie, braver than the others, managed to jump past the line and shoved a mike in Mrs. Kouim’s face.

“Mrs. Kouim, is it true your daughter was…” He jerked as Kora stepped in between the gurney and him. Coincidentally, that movement placed her -completely by accident- with all of her mass concentrated on the armored boot that landed on the instep of his expensive left loafer. Since she was still carrying a lot of gear as well as armor, the soft leather upper of his shoe had no chance against the weight applied. Especially when she twisted her heel slightly. He screamed and fell back, just in time for the closest security officer to grab him and toss him bodily behind the line. “Did you see that?” The reporter yelled. “They assaulted me!”

“Sorry, sir.” Kora said in an apologetic voice. “Didn’t see you.” Something suspiciously like a muffled snicker came from the veiled woman as the two paramedics ushered their charges past the doors.

“You shouldn’t have done that.” Oeia said after the doors hissed shut on the din behind them. “No matter how much they deserve it, hurting reporters doesn’t work.”

“Done what, Ma’am?” Kora said quietly. “I was guiding the gurney. I was trying not to get in his way. Freedom of the press is paramount after all.” Now Oeia snickered.

“Dang, girl, don’t ever go into politics.” The Twi’lek said with a smile as she led the way into the hospital. “No one would have a chance against you if you lie that easily.” She looked back as Kora made a sound of distress.

“I don’t….” Kora sighed. “Lying feels wrong, Ma’am. But what those… people… do is really wrong…”

“Thank you, Kora.” Mrs. Kouim said softly. “I appreciate it. Even though I did not see a thing.” Oeia grinned at that and continued on. Mrs. Kouim stiffened as a pair of surgical gowned female forms appeared ahead, waving the gurney and team forward. “I…” She shuddered and Kora laid a hand on her shoulder.

“Courage, Ma’am.” Kora said gently. “It will be all right.” She paused as Oeia nodded to her. “Boss?”

“Get something to eat, some caf for me and meet me in the staff room. We have a ton of paperwork to do, before the cops get here.” Kora winced and nodded, stashing the jump bag in a locker near the door. She sealed the locker and pocketed the key as she walked off.

Kora had eaten in the small commissary, used the facilities and now had to face the least fun part of her job. She got two cups of caf and brought both to the staff room, where she sat down to start filling out forms. EMTs seemed to do nothing but write reports sometimes. But with the legal system the way it was, anyone could litigate for almost any reason. They had to cover themselves. Doctors and medical staff were covered by malpractice insurance. EMTs were not. She barely looked up as Oeia entered the room, the Twi’lek’s face sour.

“Caf, boss…” Kora shoved the still hot cup across the table. “I have the 108 J and 12-A-F done. Check me?” She slid the datapads across and Oeia sat with a groan.

“You are not going to ask, are you?” Oeia’s voice was actually surprised. Kora shook her head. “Man, I wish I could be that detached sometimes.”

“It is out of our hands, boss.” Kora said slowly as she checked another form and nodded before sliding her page to another. “We did our job. It is all we can do.” She slumped a little, but then focused. “Poor kid…”

“Yeah.” Oeia said softly as she started on her own reports. “Doc say she should be fine, physically anyway. She is too young to get pregnant, but they gave her the full spectrum anyway.” The Twi’lek was snarling quietly.

“Oeia…” Kora said sadly. “It is out of our hands.”

“You know better, Oeia.” A new voice had both EMTs jerking and staring at the door. A male in Jedi robes stood there, his face sad. “Sandri will be okay. You know the docs here will help her.” Oeia made a noise somewhere between a snarl and a groan before turning her head and ignoring the Jedi. “The newsies did not get anything, Oeia. The furor will fade, she will heal. Kids bounce back.” The head medic did not acknowledge him and the Jedi sighed. When he spoke to Kora his voice was sad. “I am Michael Jonal. You are Kora, the new hire?” Kora nodded, but took her cue from her boss and ignored the Jedi otherwise. “Oeia… I can’t change what happened. I want to, but I can’t.”

“They trusted you.” Oeia said softly, but rage was pouring off her now and Kora stared from her boss to the Jedi. “They trusted you and you led them out where they could be picked off. Nicely heroic, Jedi.” She rose quickly, stalked form the room and the door hissed shut behind her.

“That…” Michael said sadly. “…went about as well as I expected.” He slumped as Kora ignored him. “Look… Kora… I don’t know what you have been told…”

“I haven’t been told anything, Jedi Knight Michael Jonal.” Kora said flatly. “But I do need to finish these reports.”

“I will be brief.” Michael said slowly. “I screwed up. I got a five people killed. Oeia and I were friends, and she… She was part of the medical response team that came to a hostage situation I was negotiating. I got five people killed including four kids and she blames me. Rightly so, it was my responsibility to make sure of their safety and I failed. She is a good EMT, a good boss. You can learn a lot from her.” Kora ignored him and he sighed. “I can see he was right: tough, stubborn and compassionate. Good luck Kora. Be careful, it’s dangerous out there.” Kora blinked. What the? What had she just sensed from him?

“Who was right?” Kora asked, her nose still buried in her pad as she typed.

“Your taxi driver, the one with the dragon fetish.” Michael said with a grin as he moved to the door. Kora’s head shot up and he grinned at her. “What? You didn’t think we would keep tabs on you? Kora…” His grin was urchinlike now and Kora surprised herself with a smile. “Go on, get your work done. The cops will be in shortly. Just do your job, keep your head down, your nose clean and everything will be okay.”

“I hope so…” Kora said softly as Michael left and a man came in, a badge in hand. Kora nodded as he set a recorder on the table and Oeia came back in. This would be long and hard, but hopefully some good would come of it. “Forms done, Ma’am.” She said as she finished up. Oeia looked at the forms and nodded to Kora and then to the cop. The cop nodded and spoke clearly.

“Official investigation, Correllian Milita, case file 1876M90R-P, Detective Nostrom, officer in charge. Report of paramedics sent to call at Kouim residence. State names and responsibilities please.”

“Paramedic senior Oeia.” Oeia said clearly and sat back, her face a mask. “Medic in charge.”

“Paramedic trainee Kora.” Kora said just a little hesitant. “Responsibility? Um… Whatever she tells me to do…?” Kora said with grimace. “What is my official designation?”

“You are a G0F3R, Kora.” Oeia said with no hint of a smile as the detective looked like he had swallowed something. “Hey! It’s official!” The Twi’lek said in a haughty tone.

“A… what?” Kora asked dubiously. “What acronym is that?” Kora asked, trying to find that in her memory. She was about to pull out her field guide when the cop lost his battle and laughed. “What?” She demanded.

“You are a go-fer, paramedic Kora.” Detective Nostrom said with a wide smile. “As in ‘Kora, go for this, Kora go for that’…Right?” Oeia had a wicked smirk on her face as she nodded. Kora stared at her and then the cop, blank faced.

“Very funny.” Kora grimaced, but her frown was twitching as the corners of her mouth turned up. The subtle tension that had been building eased and the cop sighed.

“Okay…” The cop became all business now. “We need your initial impression on arriving at the crime scene. Paramedic Oeia, you were first to enter. What did you encounter?”

“On entry…” Oeia spoke calmly and clearly. “I ascertained that there was a single patient, human female, age 8 years…” Kora sat back. This might take a while.

Two hours and as many cups of caf later, Detective Nostrom finally shut down his recorder and nodded.

“That is it.” He sighed as he stretched. “Geez I hate these cases…Give me a nice, bloody, multiple homicide any day…”

“Is…” Kora paused, unsure. “Is there anything more we can do?”

“No.” Detective Nostrom said with a sigh. “You did your jobs. The mother is talking to my partner, giving her statement. Both Mrs. Kouim and her daughter are now wards of the court. We haven’t been able to get hold of the father yet.” His eyes were hard now. “But the DNA samples the docs recovered… This is pretty open and shut. Horrific, but open and shut. The militia and the courts will take it from here. One thing though…” He nodded slowly to Kora.

“Yes, sir?” Kora asked slowly, not sure what she was feeling from him.

“What did it feel like to step on that slime ball? Jons Flik is nasty even for one of those press slimes.” Detective Nostrom asked with an evil smile. “You earned the entire precinct’s admiration, ma’am… When you did what nobody saw.”

“Am I in trouble?” Kora asked, tensing. “I was guiding the gurney. I didn’t see him…”

“For some odd reason, Ma’am…” The detective’s face was split in a huge grin now. “No one saw anything. Despite the best efforts of scum like Flik, on duty EMS personnel records are still sealed from the press. He tried to bribe your driver. Didn’t work. He tried to pressure your driver. Your driver told him, and I quote ‘Get out or get shot’. I hope he was joking. I don't want to arrest the man for carrying a blaster where he shouldn't. That slime is a symptom, not the disease, but there isn’t a cop in on the force who hasn’t wanted to hit him at least once. He thrives on horror.” The detective sighed. “He will try and find you. Keep your head down for a while and he will find someone else to pester.”

“She is going to be busy.” Oeia said with a glower. “Too busy to worry about much of anything.”

“I bet. I remember being a rookie myself.” Detective Nostrom said with a smile. “Good work, both of you. We will get the person who hurt that little girl.” Hunger was heard on the cop’s tone now. “With the evidence we have now, we will get him.”

“And then what?” Oeia asked softly. Nostrom looked at her and she shrugged. “I just patch people up, detective. But if I have to go back to that house and clean up a small body…or two bodies…” She swallowed hard and Nostrom nodded. His face turned sad.

“I don’t know what the courts are going to do, Paramedic Oeia.” Nostrom said softly. “But I can guarantee that he will not enjoy his time in the slammer. You know this.” Oeia nodded. “Now get out of here, your pilot will pick you up in back, away from the shark pack.” Oeia nodded as the detective gathered his gear and left the room.

“Come on, Kora.” Oeia said with a smile. “I know a bed that has your name on it. Your apartment is on the way back.”

“But…” Kora broke off as she saw the obstinate look enter her boss’ eyes. “Yes, Ma’am…” Kora said quietly as she picked up her datapads. She shook her head as she followed the Twi’lek out of the room and into the corridors. They picked up their jump bags from where Kora had stashed them and made their way towards the rear of the building, only to pause as an irate voice sounded.

“You!” A heavily built male human pushed his way past several medical staff, all of whom looked horrified. “Where is my daughter? You lousy kidnapping scum!” Kora blinked, but Oeia stepped forward, her hands on her hips.

“I don’t know what you are talking about , sir.” Oeia said quietly. “This is not the place for shouting.”

“I will shout if I want to, you head tailed freak!” the man stepped forward again, his hands clasped into fists. “Where is my daughter? You and that **** of yours took my daughter! Where is she?”

“I don’t know what you are talking about, sir.” Oeia said again, her tone reasonable. Kora could see two uniformed police making their way towards the man from behind now. “This is a hospital, sir. People are trying to help others here. I respectfully request that you cease shouting.”

“I will beat it out of you, you little…” He paused as Kora stepped up beside her boss. ”Two of you? Fine!”

“Sir…” Oeia said with a glower at Kora. “I do not know you. I have no quarrel with you. My partner and myself need to get back to work. If you would please step aside…”

“I am not moving until you give me my daughter!” the man snarled as she moved closer. “Sandri! Where is Sandri?” Kora felt her blood turn hot at that, and the sense she got from Oeia was that the Twi’ek was instants away from decking the man. But then…

“You don’t want to know where your daughter is…” Michael Jonal’s voice came from nearby and the Jedi stepped out of a cross corridor, his hand slightly raised. “You don’t.”

“I… don’t want to know where my daughter is…” The man, who had to be the poor hurt girl’s father and abuser, struggled, but then spoke evenly, his eyes slightly distant. “I don’t.”

“You don’t want to blame the medics who helped your daughter.” Michael continued in an even voice. More than one of the medical staff in the area looked at him oddly, but then hurried on their way. “You want to calm down.”

“I… I don’t want to blame the medics…I want to calm down.” The man said softly.

“You want to talk to the police, calmly.” Micheal said with a sad smile as Oeia and Kora both stepped away. “They want to talk to you…” The two cops came close and started reading the silent man his rights.

Kora was shaking her head as she and Oeia exited the building.

“Fracking Jedi…” Oea muttered as they got into the speeder to go back to work. “How much did he offer, Soen?”

“Fifty… Money grubber only offered fifty…” Soen said with a grin. Kora looked at him and shook her head.

“And if the reporter had offered a hundred, or more?” She asked softly as she finished setting her straps. Oeia checked her and nodded to the pilot.

“That scum is never going to have enough, Kora.” Soen said quietly as she threw the speeder into the air. “Some things you just can’t buy, Ma’am.”

“Just Kora, Pilot Soen.” Kora said softly. “Just Kora… After all, I am just a G0F3R, right?”

“Begging your pardon, paramedic trainee…” Soen said with a laugh. “Nothing ‘just’ about you. She will do, Oeia. Twenty minutes to the barn-” He blinked as the radio went off. Oeia started writing down data as the alert came through.“Dang it! Status?”

“Checking!” Kora said as she took a deep breath, calmed herself and started checking the bags and drawers. “Inventory is still low on small and now medium bandages. Oxygen is at 93%... Ready to work.”

“Right!” Oeia said with a smile as she finished doing the same with the drugs cabinet. “Ready to work!” She focused with her small team as they did what they were trained to do.

Another day in Correllian EMS.

“This is a bad idea, boss…” Soen said sourly as he sat down. “You know what is going to happen.”

“Probably.” Oeia said softly. “But come on, we all need some good food for a change. This time of day should be okay for an hour or two. And we could use the downtime. It’s been… hectic…”

“One way of putting it, boss.” Kora said as she sank into her seat gratefully. “I know we usually eat what we can grab and run with, and I could go for some of what I smell... But…”

“No ‘buts’, Kora.” Oeia said with a smile as she sat at the other chair. “You are good, but you need to learn more. Eat when you can, and sleep when you can. We finally got you to sleep right. Now we need to get you to eat right.”

“Welcome to the Red Kraken.” A female Bothan said brightly as she stepped up to their table, then she paused. “Paramedic Oeia? Is that you?”

“Hello Aesril.” Oeia said with a smile. “Brought the team for some good eats. Can you…? Um…?” She shrugged.

“The moment I tell the kitchen staff it is you, they will have it out.” The Bothan said with a grin. “Who is this?” She nodded to Kora.

“Kora, meet Aesril. Aesril, Kora. Kora is our new partner since Patte had her kid.” Oeia said with a smile. “Aesril saved a diner’s life in here six months ago.”

“Please…” Aesril looked sheepish. “I called it in, stayed with him and did what you told me to. Nothing more.”

“You saved his life, Aesril me girl.” Soen said as he looked over his menu. “Don’t deny it. If you hadn’t known what to do when he had that bad reaction and called, if you hadn’t been brave and strong enough to do what Oeia told you… He would have died. We wouldn’t have been able to bring him back.” Aesril blushed, but did not argue.

“Some story I am assuming?” Kora asked with a grin. “I like what I smell though. We better eat, boss.”

“True.” Oeia said with a grin. “Time for war stories later. I checked, none of us have any allergies.”

“Thank you.” Aesril said with a shudder. “So many people don’t know, or bother to check, and then… Life gets exciting. Too exciting, if you know what I mean…” She shook herself and pulled out a pad. “Drinks?”

“Water for all of us.” Oeia said softly. Soen looked at her and she glowered. He grimaced but nodded. “You have that fresh squeezed lemonade?”

“Just squeezed it.” Aesril said with a smile. “You got the time just right. So, water and lemonade for everyone?” Nods all around and the waitress moved off to get their drinks.

“What happened?” Kora asked quietly as she looked around. The restaurant wasn’t large, or very rich looking. It was comfortable though. “Allergy?”

“Bad one.” Oeia said softly. “Poor slob never knew what hit him. He took a bite and was out like a glowlamp. Convulsions, vomiting, the whole shebang.”

“Yuck…” Kora said with a grimace. “Many people have no clue what to do. She did?”

“She had just finished a basic course in First Aid, and the restaurant has the standard kit, which includes basic anti-allergens.” Oeia nodded. “She called it in, did what I told her as I walked her through injecting the man, and then sat with him until we got here. Got in trouble with one of her bosses, but I ’explained’ it to the Duro about how having people die in the restaurant would be bad for business.”

“Dang.” Kora said with approval. “Smart and gutsy.”

“Not afraid of speaking her mind either.” Soen said with a smile. “Boss… one beer? Please?”

“Soen… No…” Oeia said sadly. “I know you can handle it. But they are doing spot tests now, ever since that mess three months ago. They will ground you, and us. They might even fire you.” Kora looked at her and Oeia winced. “Ambulance crashed three months ago. They were on their way to a call and piled it in against a mountainside. No survivors. When they did the workup on the bodies, they found alcohol in the pilot’s system.” Kora stared, her mouth falling open and Oeia sighed. “Not a lot. Maybe one drink’s worth. Turned out it was a mechanical problem with the repulsorlifts, not pilot error, but… The bosses freaked. And when the bosses freak, it all rolls downhill. So no.”

“Drat.” The pilot said sadly, but nodded. “I understand. We have eighteen more hours on this shift. I can wait that long.” He smiled as the Bothan waitress came back with a tray of drinks and took his glass as she set it in front of him. “Ah, nothing quite like Correllian lemonade.” He took a long drink and his pleasure as obvious, even If it wasn’t alcoholic.

The team ordered quickly and the waitress left again. A comfortable silence descended as the team sat and relaxed for the first time in a while. Finally, Oeia spoke.

“So, what do you think, Kora?” The Twi’lek asked with a grin. “Is it what you expected?” Soen looked at the human woman who froze with her glass at her lips. “Kora, relax…” Oeia said gently. “This isn’t a test.” Kora smiled and took her drink, putting the glass down carefully.

“Well…” The human girl said slowly. “I was warned about the paperwork and expected it. I was warned about the cleaning.” She made a face, but it was humorous instead of angry. Oeia was a harsh taskmistress. She demanded 100% at all times and if she found so much as a spot of dust in the ambulance, Force help whoever had been on cleaning detail before she got there. “But…” She shrugged and took another sip.

“But what?” Oeia said gently as she took a sip of her own. “Problem?”

“No…” Kora said slowly. “More almost an itch I can’t scratch. Familiar things, but… not…” She shrugged helplessly and Soen and Oeia both nodded.

“Anything from before?” Soen asked softly. “From the records, that was one hell of a pileup you were in. You are lucky to be alive.” He knew, just as the rest of the medic teams did, about where her records said she had come from. They had all been part of the selection process. They didn’t want to work with an unknown after all. They put their lives in each other’s hands every day.

“Yeah.” Kora said softly. “I have seen records. But no memory. I think… I think I am glad of that.” The girl said with a gulp. Then she shook herself. “Ah well… Past is past. No family listed, so I am stuck. I will deal. This is not exactly what I expected, but it… works…”She grinned. “Even if I am a G0F3R.”

Both Oeia and Soen smiled at that and nodded. Then all three looked up as Aesril came back, her arms festooned with food.

“Wow… Aesril…” Oeia said in awe as she sat very still. The waitress deposited each plate in place with practiced skill. “That was quick…”

“We want you to ‘load and go’.” Aesril said with a smirk as all three paramedics groaned at the bad joke. ‘Load and go’ was paramedic parlance for emergency cases that required a least time transit to hospital facilities. “How does it look?”

“Good.” Oeia said with a grin as she reached for her utensils. The others did likewise and then froze as their coms went off with an emergency call.

“Go!” Aesril said as the team jumped up from their chairs. “I will keep it warm! Get back when you can, it will be hot and waiting for you.” The Bothan promised as the team hurried towards the door and their airspeeder.

No one spoke on the short run to the airspeeder. It was parked as close to the doors of the restaurant as Soen had been able to. It helped that at this time of day, the parking lots were generally not that packed. They had known that this would be a risk, all of them. But Oeia had been persuasive. She was impassive as she ran, checking the address and what little information was available on their coms. The three paramedics reached their ride without incident and climbed in quickly. All three pulled their helmets on, the speeder did NOT move without all of them being fully armored. Regs were regs, and helmets had saved a lot of lives over the years so no one was going to quibble. Soen started the engine warmup cycle while Oeia called in their readiness and Kora started checking inventory. It wouldn’t take long…

“Spast!” Everything stopped as Oeia cursed softly. “I do not believe this…”

“Boss?” Kora asked quietly, her eyes on the drawers full of gear. “What’s up?”

“Soen…?” Oeia’s voice was somewhere between angry and resigned when she spoke. “Did you get the address?”

“Yeah. Three and half klicks from here, that’s why they called us.” Soen’s voice was somewhat distracted as he fought to bring the engines online. “What?”

“They just...” Oesia grimaced as the onboard com chimed and all three stared at the message that crossed their visor HUDs.

‘Stand down. False alarm.’

“They just…” Soen’s voice was disbelieving. “They just cancelled the call?”

“Can they do that…?” Kora asked, not sure about this at all. “I mean… The call is the call… Right?”

“Dispatch can do whatever they want. It happens sometimes.” Oeia said softly as she shook her head slowly. “Bad information, another team closer, prank call… All kinds of reasons. It wasn’t far, three klicks. But the call… This was weird… Backup? Who the heck sends paramedics for backup?” She mused as she started putting gear away.

“What is weird?” Kora finished her check and started closing drawers. She asked as she turned to face her boss. “And now what?”

“The call specified non-life threatening injuries. Ah well… Now we go back to lunch.” Oeia said with a smile. “Aesril will have it still warm for us. Soen, shut it down fully again.”

“Boss…” Soen groaned but started shutting the speeder down. “I so wish for the good old days when I could leave the speeder running.”

“And not have it ‘borrowed’ by kids joyriding?” Oeia said as she hung her helmet up. “You leave any kind of airspeeder running these days and you will be lucky to ever see it again, Soen. You know this.” Kora nodded swell, she knew that for sure.

“True.” The pilot said with another heartfelt groan as he finished powering the speeder down and took off his own helmet. His dark hair –Kora could never be sure if it was brown or black as short as he kept it- glistened slightly with sweat. Kora herself felt a bit sticky, they had run as fast as they could to the speeder. It would feel good to get back into the climate controlled environment of the restaurant.

The three paramedics clambered out of the ambulance again and started for the restaurant. As they did, Kora was shaking her head.

“Does this happen often?” Kora asked quietly. “I mean, it wastes time, effort…”

“Fuel.” Soen nodded. “Wear and tear on the speeder, stress on us… All kinds of things. It does happen Kora, not that often.” Oeia smirked at him and he nodded. “Not nearly as often as it used to.”

“Yeah…” Oeia agreed quietly. “Say what you will about the court system, sometimes they come through. Calling in false emergency calls was always a criminal offense, but the penalties were minor. Responders have to respond every time, no matter if they know it is a prank or not.” Kora nodded as they made their way back to the doors of the eatery. As they entered they drew more than a few curious looks. Aesril came hurrying over.

“That was quick.” The Bothan said with a smile. “What happened?” She asked as she escorted the team back to their seats. As promised, the plates were still steaming.

“False alarm.” Oeia replied sourly as she sat. “Gotta love those.”

“Yuck…” Aesril said with feeling. “We had a nutball who thought it was funny to pull fire alarms in my dorm last year. Every week, he would pull a different one, on a different floor. It got so that half of the students didn’t bother to move when the alarm went off.” Kora stared at her, horrified and Aesril nodded. “That changed the last time it went off.”

“They caught him?” Oeia said as she started eating, obviously not wanting to wait. Soen didn’t speak, just started shoveling. Kora ate slower, more daintily.

“Yeah, they caught him.” For a moment, a dark shadow passed across the perky brown furred Bothan’s face. “He was setting us up.” All three paramedics froze and she nodded. “I never found out which terrorist group he belonged to, but the whole idea was to get us all so complacent about alarms that if he set a real fire, and blocked the exits…” She looked sick and then she smiled. “But the militia got him and the fire marshal had some choice words for all those who thought that sitting in their rooms was a good idea.”

“Heard about that…” Soen said slowly. “Nut wanted to restart the Free Sky Reds.” Kora stared as all three of the others paled slightly.

“That’s bad, I assume…” Kora said slowly. “I haven’t heard…But terrorists are bad no matter what.”

“You could say that.” Oeia said sadly. “They blew up a bank in Coronet, oh… about a dozen years ago now. My first disaster call as a rookie. Dozens dead. Bunch of children. Bad…” She nodded to Aesril. “Glad you are okay.”

“Well…” Aesril cringed slightly. “I am now. I um…” She shrugged. “I had taken a strong painkiller for a migraine. It wasn’t my fault I didn’t hear the fire alarm…I was O.U.T out of it.”

“But the fire marshal still reamed you.” Soen nodded. “It’s his job. Just like it’s our job to… Aw crap!” He snarled as the coms of all three paramedics went off again. “Boss…”

“Same call, same place…” Oeia said with a sigh. “Aesril…?” She asked plaintively.

“Go.” Aesril said with a smile. The three medics each took one final bite before jumping up and heading for the door. But before they got there…

“What the…?” Kora’s voice was bemused as her com made a noise she had never heard it make before. Almost a chirp? She pulled it off her belt and stared at it. Oeia and Soen had matching looks of disbelief on their faces as they stared at their own. “They cancelled it again…” Kora’s voice was baffled now. “If we go back and sit down…” She started to speak and Oeia nodded.

“You are learning, Paramedic Kora.” Oeia said with a sigh as she led the way out of the building. “Let’s go see what all the fuss is about. Maybe they do need a paramedic…”

“What the hell?”

Kora tensed slightly as Soen exclaimed. Those are generally not words you want to hear from a pilot. Especially when the pilot in question is the pilot of an airspeeder ambulance, those kinds of words did not inspire great feelings of confidence. Given that his tone was confused rather than terrified, it wasn’t as bad as it could have been, but still… Neither Kora nor Oeia had a decent view from where they sat. Their seats were set up so they could access all of the required gear and a patient without moving too much, a powerful consideration during flight. Even on a clear day, such moving around could be dangerous, hence the helmets that the paramedics wore. Add to that the fact that many of the days that paramedics went out, no one SANE was flying, and it raised all kinds of issues. The ‘barf bags’ were not just for the patients after all.

“What is up, Soen?” Oeia was calm as always. The boss paramedic checked her com for the upteenth time. Not that she needed to, but it passed the time and kept her hands busy. “Problem?”

“Not for us.” Soen replied slowly as he brought the speeder to a gentle landing, A uniformed policeman was standing nearby, obviously he had been guiding the speeder down into the- What the hell?

Two firefighting vehicles were visible, both with lights going. No less than FOUR Correllian police airspeeders were also visible, also with lights going. But most of the crew of firefighters and many of the cops were standing around talking. No one was acting stressed. No one was acting as if life or lives were in jeopardy. They all seemed almost amused. Kora risked a quick scan with the Force and found odd. She shook her head. What had she just sensed. It didn’t make sense. No pain, but anger, fear and other negative emotions, all coming from a spot behind one of the fire speeders. Then she stiffened. Newsies. She could see two news airspeeders parked nearby, but well out of the way. She looked at Oeia who shrugged and started pulling gear.

“Boss, official greeting party, point three.” Soen said softly as she set the speeder to idle. On site, they NEVER let the speeder go cold. “It’s the district fire chief, I am going to crack the hatch.” Oeia nodded silently as she finished her prep and sat back.

The hatch opened and a smallish human male stepped in. His uniform was somewhat rumpled, as if he had been in turnout gear over top of it. He nodded to the two paramedics and made a hand motion. Soen closed the hatch and the chief smiled somewhat ruefully.

“I wondered if you guys were going to show up. Chief Walkiar, Third precinct.” The man held out a hand to Oeia who took it and gave a shake. “Welcome to our latest cluster fisk.”

“Paramedics Oeia and Kora and pilot Soen.” Oeia said in reply. “What’s up, district chief?”

“What is up?” The chief asked sourly. “My ire. I knew they were going to call you. I have told them, and told them, and told them. But no, HQ knows better than me and my boys what we need.” Oeia just looked at him and he sighed. “No, this is not a territorial dispute. Your department and mine have had their differences, but in the end we are all on the same side. Most of the time.”

“True.” Oeia nodded with a grin. “Even if I do think you are all absolutely nuts. Burning building are to run out of, not into.” Kora nodded. She had never wanted to be a firefighter. She didn’t mind fire, but she certainly never wanted to be inside one more than absolutely necessary. “So what is up?”

“Single human male. Age thirty five.” Chief Walkier said with a grimace. “He has a number of DUIs on his license according to his file, so that is why he wasn’t driving or flying. Thank the maker.” The chief said with a sigh of relief.

“So, what happened?” Oeias said as the chief finished speaking. “I assume alcohol is involved?”

“You could say that, if you were prone to massively understating the case.” The chief’s voice was sour now. “Apparently, what happened was our friend, one Louni Kunper, was on his way home from the cantina after a few –dozen- rounds with his closest drinking buddies . He slipped and fell, which was not very surprising considering his level of inebriation. What IS surprising is where he wound up. He managed, somehow, to get his thigh stuck in a storm drain.”

“His… thigh…” Oeia said, her tone utterly disbelieving. She shook her head. “You are not joking are you?”

“I wish.” Chief Walkiar said with a grimace. “You need to see this, just… You will be on camera the moment you leave the speeder. So whatever you do, don't laugh. We really don’t need any more bad publicity. And while you and I may know differently, the press and the public expect us to be on our best behavior at all times.” He rolled his eyes and Kora smothered a chuckle. She froze as Oeia glared at her.

“True. Kora with me. Soen, keep it secure.”

Kora followed the other paramedic and the chief as they left the speeder. The moment they did, she started hearing sounds. They sounded like profanity but it wasn’t until they walked around the fire engine that she realized that it was profanity. She also realized that the pump speeder had been parked specifically to block sight of the- She did a double take worthy of a holo-vid, but managed to keep her mouth shut as she took in the scene.

A team of firefighters were rigging a sling. By the looks of it, it would be attached to a crane that was now extending from the side or the pump speeder. That was fairly straightforward. What was not was the patient. The chief had not mentioned that the human was huge. This guy had to mass at least two hundred kilos. She could also smell him from as far away as she was and she was suddenly very glad for the olfactory filters built into her helmet. They didn’t eliminate the smell; that could be bad for EMTs who might need to smell things. But it did cut it down to manageable levels. The guy reeked. He was also very unhappy.

“Get away from me you bastards!” His voice was slurred and his motions, that may or may not have been a swing at one of the firefighters. But the cop that stepped forward blocked the swing easily and stepped back, obviously being careful not to cause harm. “Just let me be!” The man screamed.

“Can’t trank him.” Oeia said softly, for Kora and the chief’s ears alone. “Not with that much alcohol in his system. How any people has he slugged?”

“All of us once or twice.” The chief replied equally quiet. “Dispatch keeps asking about injuries and we have to tell them the truth, with the vid cameras and all.” He nodded to the cameras hard mounted on the fire trucks. “That is why you keep getting called.”

“Territorial disputes aside, we don’t mind patching you guys up. As you say, we are all on the same side.” Oeia said softly, her mind obviously racing. “Anyone hurt badly?”

“None of my people.” The chief said with a shrug. “We know better than to get that close to a drunk and not keep our eyes on him. Bruises mostly. The first cop on scene took a solid hit, but his armor caught most of it. He is over there.” He nodded to where a Twi’lek was sitting on the hood of a squad car, flexing his arm.

“Ma’am.” Kora said slowly. This was bad, but she might be able to help. “Maybe I can help.”

“Kora. First rule.” Oeia said sharply. “The scene is not safe. You do not go in.” The chief nodded emphatically.

“Ma’am, chief. I can help. I am small. I am not a threat.” Kora insisted softly. “I will stay out of reach, but if I can calm him down, that will help. If he stays agitated, he will break the sling.”

“I appreciate the thought, paramedic Kora.” Chief Walkiar said with a sigh. “But your boss is right. We will get him out, eventually. But you go over there and he will hurt you. He probably doesn’t intend it, though you can’t always tell with drunks. We have got this mess under control.” He sighed as the drunk took another swing and was restrained again. “Mostly. And as soon as we get him out, he is going to the drunk tank for slugging the cop.”

“Come on, Kora.” Oeia said sadly. “Nothing we can do here.” She started towards where the cop was nodding to her now. “Maybe we can do some good.”

<Twenty minutes later>

“How did it go?” Aesril asked as the team sat back and she brought steaming plates to them.

“Messy.” Oeia said with a sigh. “But it always is around us. Thanks, Aesril.”

“Least we could do, Ma’am.” The Bothan smiled. “You do good work.”

“Can’t save everyone.” Oeia said sadly. “Especially not from themselves. But we do our best.”

“Eat while you can. Ma’am.” Aesril glared at their com units. “I wouldn’t want your job for all the money in the galaxy.”

“It has its moments.” Oeia agreed as the other two started eating quickly and efficiently. “Thanks.” She said with heartfelt gratitude as she reached for her utensils.

“Anytime.” The Bothan said as she started back to her other duties. “You have enough problems.”

Something was wrong. The training exercise had faded in her mind, everything had. Someone was speaking to her, but she couldn’t understand the words. Kora focused, trying figure out why she felt so weird. Everything was fuzzy, almost as if she had been tranked. That hadn’t been part of the plan, had it? Something grabbed her arm and gave her a shake.

“Kora?” A face came close, an armored one. “Kora! Talk to me!” The voice cried out. “Medic! We need… Um… another medic here. Kora is hurt!”

“What the frell?” A loud voice came that Kora remembered. Sergeant Bluta was a no nonsense Mon Calamari with the Correllian Militia. The militia had it’s own medics of course, but they were always short staffed, so they had put out a call to train more. It only made sense for people learning Tactical EMS to be training with the tactical squads from the militia and Bluta was the overall range boss as well as entry team leader.

“Who shot the medic?” Bluta’s voice, even unamplified, could peel paint from a bulkhead even when he was not irritated. Now he was flat out angry. “Terminate exercise!”

“I am okay.” Kora tried to say, but her mouth wasn’t working. “I am okay.” She managed to slur.

“No, you are not.” The first voice was kinder, gentler now as someone helped her sit. “Get the helmet off, Sarge?”

“Easy does it, Officer Gillian.” Another set of hands were fiddling with her helmet and she protested. It had been drilled into her head never to remove her helmet during operations, EMS or otherwise. “Easy, medic Kora. We have other help coming, but we need to see the damage.”

“I am fine.” Kora protested. “Just blurry. Good to go.”

“No, you are not, Kora.” A voice she recognized had her freezing in place. Paramedic Oeia was unhappy. That meant other people, lots of people, were going to be unhappy shortly. “Sit there and let me take a look.” Kora knew better than to argue. She sat quietly while her helmet came off. A light the brightness of a sun flashed into her eyes and she groaned. “No obvious damage.” Gentle hands were searching her scalp.

“What? Happened?” Sergeant Bluta’s voice was moderated, but barely. “Officer Gillian?”

“I don’t know, sergeant.” The human woman said, confused. “I bumped into her, I turned around to check team position and she was just standing there, a burn mark on her helmet. I was covering my sector, sergeant!” The woman sounded almost in tears.

“As you were supposed to.” Bluta said, his tone almost approving. “So who was out of zone? Someone was. Thank the Great Kraken we use blanks for this.”Then he shouted, not bothering to use his com. “Team, sound off and form up! Now!” A chorus of replies sounded.

Kora did not move as Oeia’s fingers found a sore patch. She hissed, but did not fight as the other medic checked her for other injuries. She thought back. She had been in position. The entry team had stacked up as they had been trained. Point, guns, command, commo, as medic she was the second to the end and then the rearguard. The breaching charge had gone off, she remembered that. The point had gone in, she remember the Duro firing and calling ‘Clear’… Then it got hazy. She looked up into her boss’ eyes and the Twi’lek sighed.

“You are okay, Kora.” The Twi’lek extended a hand and Kora took it, hauling herself to her feet. “You got your bell rung though. You are going to have one hell of a headache when the endorphins wear off.”

“Sarge…” Kora spoke evenly, carefully. “What did I do wrong? I must have done something wrong. Was I out of position?”

“I don’t think so, Medic Kora.” Faint relief colored the usually abrasive sergeant’s voice as Kora spoke. Then again, he was in charge. Oh, the captain was supposedly the boss of the exercise, but like any sane captain, he let the experienced sergeant run things. Speaking of the captain… The sergeant tapped his com. “Sir, did you get anything on the vids?”

“Replaying now, sergeant.” The voice of Captain Smirk came over the com and Kora tried, again, not to smile. It wasn’t the Devonarian’s fault that his parents had been insane to name him that. “Entry is good. Wait, wait, wait, freeze and reverse to thirty six point nine.” The captain’s tone turned resigned. “Sergeant, your number four was out of position on entry and it appears his weapon discharged as he turned.” The sergeant was obviously following the vid display because when he spoke it was biting.

“Jonsen!” The Mon Calamari’s tone turned polite and Kora froze in place along with the team. When the Sarge got polite, bad things were coming, very bad things. “Check your weapon. Has it discharged?”

Jonsen was the team com tech, a gawky human kid barely out of the Militia academy. He froze in place and his voice was scared.

“Oh my god.” The kid said in a tone of shock as he scrutinized his short rifle and realized that yes, it had fired. He wasn’t supposed to have fired. He hadn’t had any targets in his lanes of engagement. His voice turned soft and resigned. “No excuse sergeant.”

“No there isn’t, boy.” If anything, the Sarge’s tone got kinder. “Come here…” He held out a hand and Jonsen came, obviously scared. “Look at her, Jonsen. Look close at Medic Kora. Look at the girl you nearly killed. Your teammate you nearly killed. Look her in the eyes, boy.” The boy’s helmet came up and met her face. His sense in the Force was scared spitless.

“Ma’am.” The kid stammered, obviously one step away from wetting himself. “I am sorry.”

“Sorry doesn’t cut it, son.” Sergeant Bluta said, still in that so polite tone. “If we had been using even low power charges instead of blanks you could have splattered her brains all over the inside of her helmet just with the concussion. If we had been using live rounds,…” The boy gulped and the sergeant nodded. “You would have killed her. You could have killed her with blanks. As it is…” The sergeant shook his head, steeling himself, but paused as Kora raised a hand. “Yes, Medic Kora?”

“Sergeant, I mean no offense to you, but the only way I really, really learn is by making mistakes.” Kora said with a wince as her skull started to throb. “This one was bad, but I am not dead.” The sergeant looked at her and sighed.

“Dead or not, Medic Kora, he messed up. If we had been using live rounds, we would be calling a meat wagon for you right now.” The sergeant shook his bulbous head. “This is going to get written up, Officer Jonsen, Medic Kora. We have to. We cannot have such things happen. They do, but we have to minimize them. We will put it down as an accidental discharge, which is what it was. But…” He rounded on the officer who was still standing there like a nerf in headlights. “Repeat after me, Jonsen. ‘I will not have my finger on the trigger until I am ready to fire’.”

“I will not have my finger on the trigger until I am ready to fire.” Jonsen said, almost robotically.

“I will check my target before I fire.” Sergeant Bluta’s voice was cold now and everyone winced.

“I will check my target before I fire.” Jonsen repeated.

“I will not shoot my teammates, or near my teammates.” Sergeant Bluta’s voice was back at caustic again.

“I will not shoot my teammates, or near my teammates.” Jonsen straightened himself and spoke. “Permission to speak to the medic, sergeant?”

“Granted.” Bluta turned and moved off, to check something else.

“I am sorry, Ma’am.” Jonsen was so totally abject that Kora sighed. “I am sorry.”

“It’s okay, Jonsen.” Kora said slowly, putting her hand to her head. Oeia nodded to her from the sidelines and started rummaging in her kit for an analgesic. “We are here to learn and nothing teaches like mistakes. Just please don’t do that again.” She grimaced.

“I won’t Ma’am.” Officer Jonsen said quietly. “You okay?” He asked, concerned.

“Headache.” Kora said with a shrug. “As Oeia said, I got my bell rung. I think that’s it for me for today. I would prefer to keep going, but after this…”

“Not a chance in hell, girl.” Oeia said with a smile as she walked over with a single use hypo. “One heart attack a day is all you get to give me. I still think you are nuts to volunteer for this training, but it is good to have. Provided, you don’t get shot by the ‘good’ guys.” The term ‘good’ was heavily sarcastic. Kora paused that wasn't about her. The pain was old but still fresh.

“Paramedic Oeia…” Sergeant Bluta had been listening. “Your opinion of us is noted. Personally, I think it is deserved. They should have relieved that sniper as soon as they realized that his sister was dead. That was our mistake. But we cannot change the past. All we can do is try and make the future better.” She just looked at him and he sighed again. “I said at the time he should have done jail time at the very least, and I still say it. It was murder pure and simple.”

“I know, sergeant.” Oeia said sadly. “But…” She shook her head. “Come on, Kora. There is a bed with your name on it in your future.”

“I need to talk to her for a moment.” Sergeant Bluta said slowly. “In private?” The rest of the team found other things to do as Jonsen handed Kora her helmet before moving off. Oeia sighed and left the room. The sergeant nodded to Kora and reached into her helmet to flip a switch. Kora stared as the indicator for recording went dark. “What I am about to say is off the record, Medic Kora. You have a good head on your shoulders, despite Jonsen trying to blow it off. You have a good heart, and a wise mind. Watch out for her.” He nodded to where Oeia had gone. “What happened was wrong, it was evil. Poor kid had lost his sister, wasn’t thinking straight. His team lead should have pulled him, but they were shorthanded. He fired. He just wanted the dad dead, the one who had killed his sister.”

“The botched robbery.” Kora breathed in horror. “I have heard a bit about it.”

“Sniper had no idea that the four other snipers would take their cue from him.” The sergeant said sadly. “They all assumed he saw something. A hold out weapon, a remote, something. They all fired. At that range, none of them were going to miss, and high power blasters tear through unarmored people. Two seconds later, five people down. Four of them kids.” Kora hissed and Sergeant Bluta nodded. “What happened that day stained every one of us. It hurt every one of us. But her, I think, more than anyone else. Watch her. There is something about her, something off.”

“I know.” Kora had felt the bone deep grief and pain that Oeia kept hidden most of the time. “But what can I do? I am just a trainee.”

“I only met you this morning, but I could tell immediately. You are ‘just a trainee’ the way I am ‘just a sergeant’, Kora.” Bluta said with a sad smile. “You know about handling people. Just keep an eye on her. Now scat. We have a lot of work left. We also have a lot of trash to pick up and I know who just volunteered for that detail. Oh, Jonsen…” Kora smiled and did as ordered.

“Boss?” Kora was totally unsure about this. The Force nudged her again and she sighed and asked again. “Oeia?” It was a day after her near death experience in the Correllian Militia shoothouse and she had been getting odd nudges since the morning.

“Come on in, Kora.” Oeia said with a sigh as she turned from her terminal. “What is on your mind?”

“Can we talk?” Kora asked softly, unsure. “I mean, we are, obviously, and everything seems to be on track, for now. But…”

“You are off for today.” Oeia reminded her. The docs at the hospital had been less than pleased with Kora. She had taken a concussion and been bleeding from her ears slightly when she had arrived. Her ears were still ringing slightly from the extremely close range blast, even if it had been a blank. “Mork is covering for you.” Kora had to grin, she liked Mork. The guy was a nut who believed that interdimensional aliens were out to eat his soul, but other than that, he was harmless. The tin foil that he wrapped around parts of his body was off putting, but he was a good paramedic. “How do you feel?” Oeia asked.

“Better.” Kora said quietly. “Docs stopped the trickling of blood out of my ears and the meds they gave me let me sleep. Bored mainly. I mean, how many texts can one cram? I thought that would be enough. Lots to stay current with and all.” She shrugged helplessly. “I don’t know.”

“What is bothering you?” Oeia asked softly. “I can tell something is. Kora, give. What is wrong?”

“I don’t know.” Kora admitted. “I just…” She broke off. “I- Oh this is going to sound stupid.”

“It might.” Oeia said softly. “But out with it, girl.”

“You are not okay.” Kora said softly and Oeia jerked up in her seat. “I am no Jedi, no mind reader. But you are not okay. I worry about you.”

“Did that sergeant put you up to this?” Oeia asked dangerously. “Kora.” She pressed when Kora shook her head.

“No.” Kora said slowly. “Sergeant Bluta told me his perspective on what happened at the bank. The Jedi told me his perspective on what happened at the bank. Both of them blame themselves. The sergeant was one of the leaders there, wasn’t he?”

“His element was set for entry. Back of the bank, just in case of a trap of some kind.” Oeia said softly, her expression was of haunted memory. “Wasn’t his responsibility. He argued to relieve the brother of the guard who was killed. Said it would end badly. Guess he was right.”

“Ma’am.” Kora said gently. “Was it the Jedi’s fault?”

“Kora.” Oeia shook her head. “I have been seeing shrinks since that day. They don’t help any. I don't know whose fault it is. I can still see their faces though. I can…” She shook herself hard. “Paramedic Kora, this is really none of your business.”

“Begging your pardon, Paramedic Oeia, but bull malarkey.” Kora said, standing her ground. Oeia stared at her and Kora pressed her advantage. “If there is one thing I know after going through what I did, it is that there are some things you simply cannot handle alone. I am here. I have a fresh, unbiased set of ears. I am no counselor, I am your friend. I like to think I am anyway.” Oeia looked at her oddly and Kora shook her head. “Tell me to leave and I will. Tell me to take a hike, pack my bags and get the hell out of your station and I will. But this is why I wanted to be a medic. I want to help people. You are hurting. I want to help.”

“You can’t Kora.” Oeia said sadly. “The best shrinks on planet can’t help me.”

“I am not a shrink.” Kora spoke low but forcefully. “I am your partner and your friend.” She was going to speak again, but the alert buzzer sounded. She jumped, but Oeia glared at her and she subsided. She wasn’t cleared to ride just yet. Oeia was out the door and gone in seconds. Less than a minute after that, Kora heard the warble of the siren and the scream of lift engines as Soen pulled out of the hangar with his usual decorum. Or lack thereof. He was an exceptional pilot, but his people skills needed help. She sighed and sat in one of the uncomfortable chairs in front of Oeia’s desk to wait.

She was still sitting there when Oeia returned, two hours later, covered in mud and other kinds of filth. The Twi’lek stared at her.

“You have been sitting there this whole time?” The Twi’lek asked incredulously. Kora nodded and Oeia slumped, exasperated. “You are stubborn enough to be a Jedi.” The Twi’lek sighed and then nodded. “Let me change. Wreck was buried in a mudflat.”

“Shower might help too.” Kora said quietly. “Refresher works. I used it. Bad wreck?”

“Nosedived into the mud. At least it wasn’t a cliff this time. Two transported. Both critical.” Oeia’s voice was clinical as she stepped into the small refresher that was a perk of her rank. Water started running quickly. “Docs say both have a good chance. Out of our hands though.”

“I am glad.” Kora said quietly, not budging. She stayed right where she was until Oeia came out, drying her scalp with a towel, a clean jumpsuit on. “You never told me to leave.”

“It is not a secret how I feel, Kora.” Oeia sighed as she sat. Then she started rummaging in her drawers. “I need a belt.” Kora looked at her and Oeia shrugged. “I don’t pilot. They can fine me, but not ground or fire me as long as I don’t overdo it and endanger my patients.” She pulled a glass and bottle out of the drawer and nodded. “You don’t drink, do you?” Kora shook her head and Oeia smiled. “Good, more for me.”

The Twi’lek poured a generous measure of whatever was in the bottle then returned the bottle to the drawer before pulling another bottle from a small fridge behind her. A glance showed it was orange juice. She filled the rest of the glass with orange juice and, with a smirk, put the bottle away.

“Drinking alcohol is technically a firing offense in a paramedic station.” Oeia said with a smile. “But orange juice? Who cares?”

“Sneaky and underhanded.” Kora nodded approvingly. “I like it. When I am legal to drink, I may try it.”

“Sometimes I forget just how young you really are.” Oeia said with a grimace, one that vanished as she took a long drink. “Sometimes you act ancient and wise, other times like a complete noob.”

“I just muddle through.” Kora said quietly. “But I do want to help, and as I say, I am a fresh pair of ears, unbiased. I wasn’t there. I have no baggage. Ordinarily I am your subordinate, but not today.” And she wasn’t. She was off duty, technically, she wasn’t even supposed to be in the station but no one was going to complain if the place was cleaner that it had been or more inventories were done.

“One would almost think you had planned this.” Oeia said with an appraising glance. “Almost.”

“Not hardly.” Kora admitted, somewhat sheepish. “So… The bank?”

“Yeah.” Oeia’s eyes went far away. “It was a beautiful day. One of those rare days with not a cloud in the sky. I remember looking up, after we had arrived and the negotiator started talking. I remember thinking that with Michael on the case, no one else had to die. They let us in, you know. To try and save the girl who had been hit. The dead were dead, nothing we could do. Most of the injured were not bad. But that girl… She was about your age, now that I think about it. She was gutshot and died before we could convince the father to let us transport her. I tended her and she looked me in the eyes and calmly said ‘It’s okay’. Then she died. Just like that. We were too late. I tried to save her, to resuscitate, but I failed. I expected them to kill me, but the dad said ‘no’. He was so confused, he hadn’t planned for resistance.”

“But it happened.” Kora’s voice was nearly in audible.

“Two other guards and three of the bank patrons were hurt. We managed to get the injured released and out of the way. I promised I would take care of the girl’s body and I did. Michael was amazing. Everything he said made sense. He wanted everyone out of there alive. I could tell he did. I don’t think he was using the Force either, he just wanted a peaceful resolution.” Oeia took another drink. “It took eight hours of demands and counter arguments before the father saw reason. They came out, unarmed, unarmored. They surrendered. And then I saw Michael’s face. He knew something. I know he knew something, right before…” She choked a little.

“Right before the snipers fired.” Kora finished for Oeia. “And then?”

“Then we had to clean up the mess.” Oeia said quietly. “Four dead kids. One dead adult. Bunch of ‘commendations’ for everyone involved from the politicos. After all, they were terrorists, right? Only good one is a dead one, right? One of those kids was ten years old!” Kora bowed her head and Oeia snarled. “And then they have the gall to reward him? To call him a hero?”

“Did he take the rewards?” Kora asked softly. Oeia stared at her and Kora continued. “I don’t know a lot about Jedi.” She bit her lip on the lie, but continued. “But from what I understand, they are not into material things. And I didn’t see a man who was happy when we met at the hospital. I saw a man who has a ton of regrets. I don’t need the Force to see and hear that.”

“I…” Oeia stared at Kora, her face ashen. “I don’t know.”

“I am not a shrink, Oeia.” Kora said slowly. “I am just a fricking noob with an unadulterated pair of ears. But I don’t see how anything that happened was your fault. You are angry. Of course you are. It was stupid, senseless, and horrific. I don’t remember my past life. I feel on occasion that I remember something, but it is more like a dream, it fades when I try and look at it closely. But I do know this. You are my boss, and I like to think my friend. I do not, have not, and will not abandon my friends.”

“You are crazy girl. As crazy as Mork.” Oeia said with a grin as she finished her glass. “But… thanks.”

“Did it help?” Kora asked as she rose.

“Yeah. It did. You have given me something to think about , anyway.” Oeia smiled at her subordinate. “Now get out of here. You are still off shift.”

“Yes, Ma’am.” Kora did not smile as she left the room. Was it her imagination that she heard a familiar male voice, somewhere in the deepest recesses of her mind?

Well Done

Kora was snarling as she tried to get her belt to sit straight. She had been in the shower when the alarm had gone off. So she was wet under her armor and it was not comfortable. “What do we have?” She asked as she finally got her straps on and the speeder took off like a rocket into the twilight air of the planet Corellia.

“Dispatch got a call from a hunting party out in the sticks.” The pilot said as he focused on flying. “They said it was an animal attack.” He pulled up the location on the map and Kora hissed in disbelief. “What?” Soen asked.

“There is a commune right by the call.” Kora said flatly. She pointed at an area on the map. “They don’t hunt.”

“You know them?” Oeia asked dubiously. “Are they dangerous? Some of these fringe types are.”

“I… um…” Kora winced slightly. “No, not dangerous. Just weird. You know… um… I didn’t arrive via normal means. But I did go through Customs.”

“I know.” Oeia said with a snort. “I do the background checks for all the hires, remember? Why would you go there?”

“The ship captain who brought me had a delivery there.” Kora thought back and nodded. “Then he took me to the port for customs and then Coronet General for the interview. The Customs people were…a bit unhappy.”

“I bet. That is one long detour.” Oeia said dubiously.

“I was out of it.” Kora admitted sheepishly. “I got seriously spacesick. I think he forgot about me until I woke up as he landed in their compound.” This was no lie. Flying with Will Kalenath was not for the faint of heart. And he had forgotten about her, he had been so apologetic when she had stumbled out of his ship, confused and worried. He had probably forgotten due to the three bounty hunter ships that had tried to attack him as he had entered the system. Stress ‘tried’. That wasn't all of the truth, but it was enough.

“You are lucky you didn’t wake up a slave or dead.” Oeia said with a frown. “So… What are they like? The commune folk?”

“They were … odd.” Kora said with a shrug. “They were always chanting, but their healer knew what it was doing. Cured my spacesickness with a single cup of something that tasted herbal. It was a Gand named Qulrrg.”

“Um…” The pilot was looking at the report that had come over his display. “The call says multiple casualties. Do we have anything on Gand physiology?”

“Uh…” Oeia looked at her datapad and shook her head. “No. Let’s hope it’s not the healer. If it is, I will get on the horn to the Coronet General and we load and go. Another team is enroute, but we are closest. ETA?”

“Four minutes.” The pilot replied. “Whoa...” The ambulance lurched as something flew by close overhead. Both Kora and Oeia were slammed into their straps by the buffets they took. Oeia recovered first and snarled.

“What the hell was that?” She demanded. “This airspace is supposed to be cleared….” She broke off as she saw the image the forward vid camera had caught of the ship that had buzzed them. A distinctive profile shone. Imperial starship. “Ah… Never mind…” She gulped. “They heading for our site?”

“No.” Soen replied, his voice testy. “They are continuing on. I am reporting those lousy Imperial scum. Maybe the Militia can do something. Maybe not.”

“Not our problem if they are not heading towards our landing zone, Soen.” Oeia said sharply. “We have enough trouble without borrowing more. Checklist.” She started checking things and Kora started making notations in the logbook. In just a few minutes they had inventoried everything in the ship, most of it by touch. Kora tried not to squirm but it was hard, her skin was squishing against her armor. “Kora…” Oeia said as she leaned close. “You okay?”

“Wet and uncomfortable, but okay.” Kora said slowly. “I am good to go.”

“Good.” Oeia sat back and pulled her helmet visor with its medical sensors down around her head. Kora did likewise as the ship spiraled in for a landing.

“What the frak…?” Soen’s voice spoke for the entire group as they stared out of the windscreen of the ambulance. The landing lights of the speeder illuminated at least a dozen dead dalyrakes lay scattered around the clearing that had a small strobe light flashing in it. The corpse of a sand panther also lay quiet. “Um… Lead…?” He asked Oeia.

“Any movement?” She asked as she scanned the area with her eyes and her helmet sensors.

“No…” Kora said slowly. “But I am getting life readings over there…” She nodded towards an area that almost looked fortified. Hiking packs had been arrayed as a barrier of sorts. “Faint, and… Ma’am…” Her voice tightened as she realized the readings were fading.

“First rule, Kora.” Oeia said with a grimace. “If the scene is not safe, no one leaves the speeder. I don’t see any more animals.”

“This much carrion is going to draw predators, Ma’am.” Soen said slowly. “If we…What the hell?” He asked as a figure appeared from the seemingly fortified area. The human male wore the most outlandish robes that anyone had ever seen. They were pink and had a gold sunburst emblazoned on the front. He held a blade that vanished as he nodded to the speeder. “Who the frell is that?”

“That is one of the commune people.” Kora said slowly. “What was his name? Dang it, I can’t remember… Nizol, Nirol, Nipol? I can’t remember.”

“You say they are not hostile?” Oeia asked slowly as the man beckoned them urgently. “Kora?” She prompted.

“They were not with me.” Kora said slowly. “But… They did say something about me being a distraction, ‘a badness thing’… or… something…” She shook her head. Nobody had ever told her what to do in this kind of case. “They were very polite, if odd. It might be better if you talk to him, Ma’am. You are the boss after all.”

“Yeah, rank hath it’s privileges.” Oeia said sourly as she unstrapped herself and swung to the hatch. “Get the kits and stretcher ready. I don’t know how many patients we have.”

As soon as Oiea swung out of the speeder the man bowed formally to her. When he spoke it was calm and uninflected.

“It is a goodness thing that you have come, healer who flies.” He did not seem to notice her poleaxed expression. “I am Nikol. Three beings need your care. The other two I am afraid are beyond your aid.”

“What happened?” Oeia asked as she sidled closer to the pile of packs. As soon as she got closer, she could see three beings laid out with what were obviously field bandages applied to them. A Bothan female, a human male and a Selonian of undeterminable gender all looked to be unconscious. Two still forms lay under sheets and she did not need to scan them to know that neither breathed.

“I do not know.” The man said slowly as he waited for her to assess the scene. “When I arrived, the dalyrakes were attacking. I did what I could. A sadness thing, to kill so many creatures of nature. But sentient lives were at stake.” He shook his head. “I need much cleansing… After such badness things…”

"Right..." Oeia shook her head, making a snap decision. “Kora! Get the kits! Soen, keep the engines lit. I don’t know if we can carry three, but we may have to.”

“Kora?” the man asked as the human female swung out of the ship, medical kits in hand. He smiled. “You look much better, young human. Blessings on your way.”

“May you find your way, seeker.” Kora said slowly as she approached the piles. She started a fast triage. Oeia came to her side and both worked feverishly. “Ma’am.” Kora said slowly as she uncovered a raw, bleeding wound in the human’s side. “This is deep. Definitely lung and possibly liver from that angle.”

“Yes.”Oeia said slowly. “The Bothan’s head wound is worrying, the Selonian seems to just be unconscious but it may be dalyrake venom. The human is worst. He has priority. Get him aboard. Another crew is en route; they can carry the ones we can’t.”

Kora did as instructed, getting the gurney in place to transfer the sorely hurt human to the ambulance and then pulling a stretcher out. She did not look up as a siren sounded in the distance and another ambulance swooped in, but she was glad for the help as two more paramedics joined the fray. No one noticed when the robed man vanished into the dusk.

“We have a load and go aboard. This one too.” Oeia indicated the Bothan. She nodded her counterpart who accepted her authority easily. Kora nodded and started carefully rolling the unconscious female Bothan onto the stretcher. Another medic helped her carry it to the airspeeder and slid it in place as she clambered in.

Oeia climbed aboard, strapped herself in and sighed. “Kora, belt!”

“Yes, Ma’am.” Kora said sharply, annoyed with herself for forgetting to strap in. She sat down and did as instructed. “Ma’am!” She called as the human’s vitals took a sudden dip.

“He is crashing!” Oeia snarled as she started working, her hands flying. “Soen!” Kora moved to assist as Oeia ran an IV with practiced skill. The pilot needed no prompting. The speeder jerked into the air and was in motion, siren and IFF broadcast blaring.

“Ten minutes at max, boss!” Soen called. “Has he got that long?” Neither Kora nor Oeia replied but he took their silence for assent. Finally after a few minutes of fighting, they had the man as stable as they could get him.

“Wha…?” A soft voice had Kora freezing, then she spun in place. The Bothan was awake, but very confused.

“Ma’am.” Kora was quick to reassure the Bothan. “You are hurt. We ware paramedics. We are taking you to the hospital.”

“Feel…” The Bothan said slurring her words. “Weird…” Kora blinked and checked the readouts of the scanners attached to the stretcher. What she saw made her pale.

“Oeia! She got hit with dalyrake toxin!” Kora shook her head as she started doing what she could. “A bad dose. Do we have the antidote?”

“We do.” Oeia sounded unsure. “But with her head wound, I don’t know. It can cause intercranial bleeding, and that will kill her fast. I need to check, something about her scan is bothering me.” She shook her head. “I am calling it in. Stay with her, this one is stable, for now.” She hit her com and started talking in low tones, probably to the hospital staff.

“Ma’am.” Kora said gently as she moved to reassure the Bothan. “Stay with me, okay? Stay with me.”

“So…tired…Stupid hunting trip.” The Bothan grumbled, but managed to keep her eyes on Kora. “Who are you?”

“My name is Kora.” The young human woman said with a smile. “I am a paramedic. What is your name?”

“Zieria.” The Bothan said with a grunt. “Head hurts.”

“We will do what we can for you, Zieria, okay?” Kora said as she eased closer in her straps. “Do you know what happened?”

“No. Just suddenly predators everywhere.” Zieria said softly. “Was making dinner for Fels, my mate. Fels…” Her voice turned scared. “Where is Fels?”

“I don’t know, Ma’am.” Kora said softly. “You were the only Bothan I saw.” She did not say that she hadn’t seen two of the bodies, covered by sheets as they had been. “Easy, Ma’am. You are strapped down for transport. We will get you off loaded and on something more comfortable as soon as we can.”

“Stupid, stupid.” Zieria said, her eyes closing. “So… stupid. Had to bring that damn cat back to the camp. Had to…” Her voice trailed off and Kora blanched as she glanced at the monitors and saw the Bothan’s vital signs dropping fast.

“Zieria? Zeria!” Kora gave the Bothan’s shoulder a gentle shove and then a harder one. “Stay awake! Damn it, stay with me!” Kora cried as she touched the woman on the head and focused on healing. Witnesses be damned, this Bothan needed her! What happened next shocked her. She heard a female voice, clear as day, inside her head. One she didn’t know.

No. You will kill yourself trying to heal something that cannot be healed. This is not your destiny, child.

Something insubstantial shoved her back from the still form on the stretcher. The Bothan was barely breathing. Kora cried out as she lunged back to do something, anything. But strong hands held her back.

“I am sorry, Kora.” Oeia’s voice was gentle. “The hospital confirmed. She is allergic to the antidote. Nothing else we have will help her. There is nothing we can do.”

“No.” Kora was begging as the life signs on the stretcher faded and then vanished all together. “No.”

“Kora, I need you. This guy is cashing again! Don’t fall apart on me!” Oeia’s voice was sharp now. “Kora!” She barked as the young woman shook herself.

“Good to go.” Kora’s voice was barely a whisper as she turned to assist the other medic. “Good to go.”

It was all murky. She remembered arriving at the hospital, transferring the still form on the stretcher and the living one on the gurney into hospital hands. She remembered filling out forms. She remembered sobbing into Oeia’s shoulder at least once. But then, everything went blurry. Voice came from far away.

“She going to be okay?” Soen’s voice was soft, worried. “She is a good kid.”

“First time losing a patient is always the worst. Some people say the second is, but I think that is bunk. You remember the pain. This is her first. I don’t know, Soen. Lots of people who have all the proper skills can’t hack this. No offense to them, they just can’t bear failing. Losing patients.” Oeia’s voice replied, just as worried. “Let’s get her home, put her to bed.” Kora roused a bit at that.

“Rest of shift, boss.” Kora protested, her voice slurring badly. She tried to force her body to obey and it responded, slowly. She couldn’t seem to open her eyes. “I am good to go.”

“No you are not, Kora.” Something gentle rubbed her arm. “No you are not. None of us like losing patients. It happens. You can’t save everyone. But no one likes when it happens. What you are feeling is normal. The rest of the shift is covered. We are all off shift.”

“I want to help people.” Kora said softly. “I tried. I tried so hard.”

“We all did.” Oeia’s soft, calm voice was gentle and soothing as hands guided her to a seat. “It’s not your fault, Kora.” The other medic was gentle as she strapped Kora in. “Soen, get us to her place, take it easy.”

“I-” Kora was shaking hard, trying to keep from bursting into tears. “She just died. I tried. I wanted to help.”

“I know.” Oeia’s voice was coming from a great distance now. “Sleep Kora. You will feel better.” Despite trying with all of her might, Kora could not resist the waves of lethargy that swept through her, pulling her down into comforting bliss.

<Some time later>

When Kora woke, for a long moment, she was unsure where she was. Then she realized she was lying on her own bed. She was wearing a nightgown, one of hers. She shook her head slightly and sat up.

“Good morning.” A totally unexpected voice had Kora freezing. “I sent Soen home. He had no business here especially when he tried to ogle you in your skivvies.”

“Oeia? What?” Kora asked slowly, trying to figure out why her boss was sitting in a chair across from her bed, obviously watching her. “How did I get here?”

“You were out of it, we carried you in and well… Your clothes were a mess. So were you.” The Twi’lek said with a sad smile. “I am not going to pretend it gets any easier. It doesn’t. It never gets any easier to lose patients.” Kora recoiled as if struck and Oeia nodded. “You need to understand, if you keep doing this, you will lose patients. Despite the wonders of technology we have, despite our skill, our speed, our dedication to helping others, sometimes, it just isn’t enough.” The Twi’lek’s voice was melancholy.

“I cracked, didn’t I?” Kora asked after a moment of examining her memories. “Am I gone from the team then?”

“You didn’t crack.” Oeia said sadly. “What happened to you is exactly what we all expected to happen. You care so deeply, that it could not have affected you any other way.”

“Then why is it all fuzzy?” Kora asked slowly. “Why was I crying? Wait a minute…” She blinked and stared at the older paramedic. “You drugged me.”

“I put a sedative in your drink, yes.” Oeia said slowly. “You worried me, girl. You very nearly fell apart in the ambulance. You were well on your way to collapsing in the ER too. Now…” She raised a hand to forestall Kora’s half formed protest. “You had reason. I hope you ever stop feeling for your patients, girl. But…We can’t have people on the team who are not there 100%. You were not.”

“So, now what?” Kora asked slowly, not understanding. “Am I fired?”

“No. You managed to keep going. Barely, but you did.” Oeia said with a genuine smile. “Personally, I would prefer you on the team to some of the other creeps I have worked with in my life. People who don't react like that when they lose patients. Don’t get me wrong, they all were good medics, but they all had lost something important. Empathy is what makes us great medics. We want to make a difference. But you are going to need help. Not many people can handle this horrid part of what we do, not alone. As you said before, sometimes we need help ourselves. You were right. And this time, you need help.”

“Help?” Kora asked slowly. “What kind of help?”

“I know how I would react if I were in your position, Kora. I would tell, well me, to fisk off.” Oeia said with a soft chuckle. “You are an adult, no matter what you look like. But in this particular case, you cannot do this alone. We cannot let you face this alone. We rely on you. We need you to be ready to work. We have a counselor on retainer, specifically for situations like this. You are off duty until you have talked to him.”

“I…” Kora paused and then nodded. “I know I messed up. When do I meet him?”

“Kora.” Oeia’s voice was fondly exasperated now. “You didn’t mess up, you did keep going. Barely, but you did. This was your final test. Not one we would or could set to you. But this is how you know if this is the life for you. Because if you keep running with us, you will lose more patients. Better to find out now, before anyone else’s lives are on the line.”

“That makes sense.” Kora mused. “So… a counselor?”

“Yeah.” Oeia said slowly as she rose with a groan. “I am not as young as I was. Once you have talked to him, he will send you to me. Then we will talk. Until then, we are both off duty. Soen is taking the time to get the speeder fully serviced anyway, so he is gone for at least a day, maybe more anyway.”

“Were you here all night?” Kora asked softly, her eyes widening as she realized she had slept at least ten hours. “Boss?”

“Part of the job.” Oeia smiled at her partner. “And the least I could do for a friend. Get up, get clean, get breakfast, and then get to the counselor. Clear?” Kora nodded, somewhat bemused and Oeia left quickly.

Kora was shaking her head as she entered Oeia’s office. She had spent several hours talking to the counselor that Oeia had steered her to, a Doctor Neelig. The Ithorian was quiet, calm and very, very good at what he did. She was sure he knew that she had been holding back, not wanting to say everything that was on her mind. But it had become apparent quickly that all he was really interested in was helping HER cope. She found she liked the odd hammer headed being. She wasn’t sure she trusted him, not yet, but she liked him. Oeia looked up from her terminal and nodded as Kora came in.

“Take a seat, Kora.” Oeaia said with a somber grin. “Be with you in a moment. Just have to finish up these schedules.” Kora did as instructed, she sat and waited. After a few moment, Oeia nodded, hit a few keys and smiled as she focused on Kora. “Never thought schedules of all things would take such time to finalize. You talk to the doc?”

“Yeah.” Kora said quietly. Oeia waited for her to speak again, but Kora shook her head.

“Kora.” Oeia’s voice was compassionate now. “Do you need more time?”

“No.” Kora said just as quietly. “This is what I want to do. But… I don’t know if I can do it. I don’t know if I am going to put other people, my partners, my friends, at risk.”

“The doc says you are handling it better than most. Better than me.” Oeia said with quiet conviction. “I have been known to throw things when I lose patients.” Kora stared at her and Oeia shrugged. “Haven’t hit anyone yet, so no reports.”

“Yet?” Kora asked, a strange burble of laughter welling. Oeia smiled at her, but then sobered.

“This is one of the hardest parts of the job, Kora.” Oeia said with sadness coloring her tone. “You will lose patients. Fully trained doctors with years of experience, in big hospitals with all the gear and support they could possibly hope for, they lose patients. We get stuck with crappy environments, gear that works when it wants to, bodies torn all to hell, very limited time and we are expected to save everyone. We can’t. There is simply no way. We are not gods. We are paramedics.”

“I know that.” Kora said softly. “Intellectually, I know that. But actually seeing someone I was fighting to save just die like that.” She shook her head.

“It hurts.” Oeia said softly. “Bad. Worse than any other pain I have encountered. If you stay, it will happen again. Maybe next call, maybe not for a while. But it will happen again.”

“I want to stay.” Kora said quietly. “I can make a difference.”

“You have.” Oeia said softly. “We, the crews, take care of each other. We rely on each other. You will fit right in. That little talk we had before…” Kora gulped and Oeia smiled. “Thank you, you helped me get past a rough blind spot. My own counselor thinks I am turning a corner. I hope so. I am sick of being a bitter witch. You are a mighty asset to this team, Kora. We will take care of you, if you let us.”

“You didn’t really let Soen ogle me in my skivvies, did you?” Kora asked, her tone somewhere between resigned and dubious. Oeia just smirked at her and Kora tensed. “Oeia.”

“Kora!” Oeia said with a disapproving scowl. Then she grinned widely. “He is married and his eldest is half your age! He is likely the safest male person on this planet for such a thing. He takes fatherhood very seriously.”

“Soen is…married?” Kora stiffened in shock. She shook her head, baffled. That simply did not compute with the happy go lucky pilot she knew. “How many kids?”

“Two girls.” Oeia smiled as she pulled a holo from the side and turned it so Kora could see it. On it, a pair of human girls were somersaulting as two older humans watched from nearby. The male was obviously Soen, minus his uniform and helmet. “His wife Anny drew the line at two. Their names are Susin and Krysti.”

“Beautiful kids.” Kora said, somewhat forlornly. Had she possessed a family, ever? No records existed now that she could ever access. She shook herself and nodded to Oeia. “When can I return to duty?”

“How quickly can you get changed?” Oeia smiled at her expression. “I was working you back into the schedule.”

“You knew?” Kora blinked. “How?”

“I didn’t know.” Oeia said with a sigh. “I hoped. I don’t have a lot of friends, Kora. I am an Obsessive Compulsive, cargo hold retentive witch with a capital ‘B’. I demand the best, from my teams and from myself. But I had a sneaking suspicion when the doc commed me. He didn’t say what you talked about, that is YOUR business. But he gave me a heads up. He was somewhat surprised at how composed you were. How clear your emotions were. He asked if you had studied with Jedi.” Kora blinked in surprise.

“Not that I know of.” Not a lie. She hadn't studied with Jedi. Bladeborn were not Jedi. “Maybe before I remember.” Kora shrugged. “Is it important? This is what I want to do.”

“Not to me.” Oeia reassured her. “I am glad. Some of us work our whole lives to find out who and what we are.”

“I don’t know if this is me or not, Ma’am.” Kora said slowly. “But I do know that I want to be a paramedic.”

“Good.” Oeai smiled and Kroa returned it. “Get changed. You are on shift in thirty minutes. And the speeder will need cleaning after what the maintenance guys did to it.”

Kora groaned good-naturedly and jumped up. As she ran from the office, she did not miss Oeia’s soft words.

“I am glad you are staying, my friend.”

Kora shook her head as she changed the computer inventory of the speeder to the actual levels instead of what was listed. This was insane. They had received some new people, fresh out of basic EMS training. Most of them were good, dedicated, willing to work their tails off. One of them was not.

Kora never paid much attention to politics, she always had far more to worry about than who was in office where. She didn’t particularly care that one of the new hires was the son of something called a ‘deputy senator’ whatever that meant. What she cared about was that her speeder had been shorted essential supplies. She thought for a moment and then shrugged. Was it her place to talk to the perpetrator? She wasn’t sure. She had found the lack of IV bags, so she was responsible to fix it and bring it to the boss’ attention. Then she paused. What the hell?

She stared, but the grimy spot that had just caught her eye did not vanish. She sighed and went to get cleaning gear. Oeia demanded interior walls and floors clean enough to eat off of. They never stayed that way, but Kora understood. Attention to detail saved lives as often as speed. She had found the cleaning gear and started back when the alert buzzer went off. Soen and Oeia came running, but paused as Kora held up a hand.

“We are off status!” The human girl called. “No saline.”

“What?” Oeia demanded, her voice shrill. Then she snarled something that sounded decidedly rude and tapped her helmet to activate her com. In moments, another crew had run out and climbed into their ambulance. It flew away, siren and lights going. She was obviously fuming as she stalked back towards the speeder. “When did you find out?”

“Two minutes ago, when I did the six day check.” Kora said as she opened the cleaning kit and started scrubbing. “I was on my way to you when I saw a dirty patch. I was going to com.” She said as Oeia flushed. Orange Twi’lek skin was downright scary when they were angry.

“Com first, clean second, Kora.” Oeia said in a sour tone as she relaxed. “Are we short anything else?”

“Medium bandages are low.” Kora said slowly. “But the whole squad is low on those.”

“Yeah.” Oeia nodded. “Shipment is due today, hopefully before midday. Hope Team Nine doesn’t need them in the meantime. Who had-“ She broke off as Soen groaned softly. “Aw nuts, not him again.”

“Corren.” Kora said noncommittally. “Boss, I don’t like to speak ill of people, but...”

“Well, I for one have no difficulty speaking ill of people.” Soen said with a snarl. “Look at this…” His voice was resigned as he waved at the front of the ambulance. It had supposedly been cleaned. Their last call had been a mess, a rainy day and a landspeeder that had slid off a road into a muddy field. No one badly hurt, just messy. That had been three hours ago and the team had been busy since then. Soen had asked, not ordered, asked Corren to clean the muck off the speeder before it set. Indeed, the mud caked part of the front looked a little wet. Soen shook his head. “If he had done it when we told him to, it wouldn’t have been a problem. Just wash it off. Now that it has mostly dried, it’s going to be a pain.”

“Get it off the lights.” Oeia said as she picked up a rag, wet it and started scrubbing. “For now, everything else is secondary.” Soen nodded and pulled out a hose. “This is what, the fourth time we have found his work substandard?”

“About that many, yes.” Kora said quietly, scrubbing with industry. “He is…” She struggled for a proper word.

“He is lazy.” Soen said with a scowl as he played the stream from the hose over the front of the ambulance. “Stupid little…” His diatribe was cut off by Oeia.

“Less talking, more cleaning.” Oeia said with a scowl. “I am going to go have a word with him.”

Neither of the other two looked up as the obviously still angry lead paramedic stalked out of the hangar bay. Kora finished her area and moved to help Soen on the front. Indeed, the mud was encrusted and a mess.

“We may need a sandblaster to get this crap off now.” Soen said with a grunt as he yanked a bit away from the left headlight. It gave with a pop and he fell backwards, only to be caught by Kora who let him get his balance back before releasing him. “Thanks.”

“No problem.” Kora said with a smile. “Wouldn’t want the pilot to have a crash now would we?” Soen groaned.

“That was bad, Kora.” The pilot was snickering though. Then he sobered. “What else was low?” Kora stiffened and Soen sighed. “Kora, I have dealt with people like him before, in the Militia. Did he do anything?”

“He mopped the floor of the truck and he did fill the tray racks and the syringes. The rest…” Kora slumped. “No.”

“He did all that while one of us was watching.” Soen said with a huge sigh. “Don’t lie to Oeia. She can and will ream you for it.”

“I didn’t lie. Everything else was within inventory norms, just not topped off.” Kora shook her head, bemused. “I don’t understand. Why IV bags? They are not heavy.”

“They are bulky and awkward for most people.” Soen said quietly. “You and I are used to it. We don’t think about it. But some pampered kid whose sole exercise for most of his life was probably tapping a keyboard? Or leering at girls he is never going to have the guts to actually talk to?” He shrugged.

“Soen, that is not kind.” Kora said softly.

“I don’t care, Kora.” Soen replied just as quietly. “That boy reminds me of too many people I knew in the militia. Way too many.” Soen shook his head. “At least here he is only likely to kill patients. Someone will get through to him, eventually. Or cut him off at the knees. The question is how much damage he will do.” He broke off as a loud voice was heard from nearby.

“…and I don’t care who your dad is!” Oeia was snapping as she literally hauled a young human into the hangar bay. “If you get any of my patients killed I will personally stake your still breathing carcass out for scavengers! Get your lousy tookus out here and help us clean up your mess!”

The boy was about seventeen, had brown hair and hazel eyes. Kora had met him of course and had eaten in the mess hall with him once, but that was the extent of their interactions. She was always busy. Corren Solo had a surly look of rebellion on his face. Until he looked up and saw Soen and Kora staring at him. No, he wasn’t looking at Kora. His face was a study of fear as he looked at Soen. Something… Kora looked to the side and Soen’s face was empty, emotionless. His eyes were distant, cold. This was not the kind and generous pilot and father of two cool daughters that she knew. This was a man who was capable of anything. For a moment, he reminded her of another man she had met, an empty, incredibly dangerous man. Kora shook her head slowly, she knew, somehow –even without the Force- that she was not in danger. The Force confirmed that she was in no danger. Oeia froze in place, unaware that Soen was only focused on one being. Corren was a nerf pinned under the glare of a rancor. Kora pushed herself to speak.

“Soen, he is not worth it.” Kora wasn’t sure where she found the words, but they came from her heart. “He is not worth it.” She repeated softly. The pilot shook himself and sighed.

“No, he is not. At least nobody died this time. No thanks to him.” The pilot looked the younger human male up and down. He sniffed dismissively and then Soen turned his back on the boy deliberately, almost as if he declined to admit the being was human. His voice was clinical as he started scrubbing the mud off again. “So, Kora…” He ignored the head paramedic and the stunned human male. “You think the Rockets have a chance at the playoffs?” Kora arched an eyebrow and shook her head.

She had met Soen's family and liked them all. Soen’s girls were avid null-g ball fans. Soen tolerated the sport, calling it one step removed from ‘blood and circuses’, whatever that meant. But he loved his girls. So did Kora. Every time Kora went over, the girls asked her to watch a game with them. She didn’t care much for the game either, but she did enjoy the girl’s company.

“Hard to say.” Kora tried to match Soen’s clinical detachment. It was hard with all the emotions she could sense. Oeia was just as shocked as Corren apparently. This was a side of Soen that no one had seen. “With their star forward down with that knee injury, they will have difficulty. But it is teams that pull together despite such things that persevere.” Soen shot her a glance and she grinned where Corren could not see. Soen quirked an unseen grin as well.

“I don’t know.” Soen admitted. “But some teams just can’t gel. Some people just can’t hack it.” There was no doubt who he was talking about. “Boss…” He turned for a moment. “You need us? Kora and I will be busy cleaning this muck off for a while.”

“No.” Oeia had regained her poise. “Corren here and I will do the inventory right this time.” Her tone was biting now. “Isn’t that right, Corren?” The boy nodded, his face still drawn to Soen’s the way a small fish might stare at a shark. “Come along boy. Now we shall see if you are capable of doing real work.”

Something bothered Kora. Something about Corren. He was afraid of Soen, with obvious cause. Heck, Kora was too. But there was something else when he turned to follow Oeia. But it faded, whatever it was, when he and Oeia left the bay to go to the storeroom. Kora shook herself and focused on cleaning.

“What do we have Soen?” Kora asked as she piled into the speeder. She slid into her seat, closing the belt with practiced efficiency. It had been a slow week since the scene in the hangar bay and Kora had let herself relax. Silly that. “What a time for Oeia to be away!”

The head paramedic of the team had been called away for ‘administration’ issues of some kind in the capital. Kora was technically still a trainee, but everyone knew that Oeia had been grooming her as a lead paramedic for some time. Truth be told, no one minded. Kora had what it took, and that was all that mattered.

“Speeder collision on the 103, Ma’am.” Seon said laconically. “You want to pull someone else?” Kora mulled that for about ten seconds.

“No.” Kora said softly. “The other teams are tasked out. If it’s too much to solo, I will call for help. I am not stupid.” Soen just looked at her and she snarled at him. “I am not!” He just sighed and threw the speeder into the air. “Soen… If it isn’t safe, or if it is more than I can handle, I will call it in.”

“We should be calling for help now.” Soen grumbled, but subsided as Kora started her inventory checks. She exclaimed and Soen nodded. “I know. I had just finished my basic in-check when we got the call.”

“Do you have any idea what Oeia is going to do if she gets back and finds out that we are out -not low, but out- of small bandages?” She sighed. “She is going to have someone’s butt. Who had invent- Oh…” She broke off and groaned. It had to be him.

“Yeah.” Soen’s voice was neutral now. “Corren had the inventory last. Boy just keeps pushing her.”

“Soen.” Kora said slowly. “If he puts patients in danger, I don’t care who his father is, I want him gone.” The human boy was lazy, reckless, irresponsible and, well, flat out wrong as a medic. Even a basic level responder had to know better than that boy did.

“I think that may be why Oeia left in such a hurry.” Seon said quietly. Then he stiffened. “Kora, we have a problem.”

Kora did not need him to say that. The sounds of the repulsorlifts had faded, leaving only the screaming of the siren which also stopped abruptly and the whistle of air past the frame of the speeder. A whistle that got louder as the speeder fell from the sky. Even the cabin lights went out and Kora felt fear the likes of which she had not in quite a while. Kora had a moment to panic, and then she reacted as she had been trained. Soen had his hands full trying to fly what had become for all intents and purposes, a durasteel brick. A durasteel brick that was way up in the air. Training kicked in, she knew what to do, Soen was busy. She took the com. It had its own internal power supply for just such situations. She was utterly amazed that no fear was heard in her voice when she spoke into the mouthpiece.

“Mayday! Mayday! Mayday!” She called over the com as Soen fought to get power back. “This is Airmobile Medic 3 out of Bela Vistal! Declaring in flight emergency!” The response came fast. Anyone calling ‘Mayday’ on Corellia had immediate and absolute priority.

“This is Militia Ground Station Seven Bravo, responding to your mayday, Airmobile 3.” The calm male tone soothed Kora’s nerves as the ship plummeted. “What is your status?”

“Seven Bravo, we are at 4000 meters and dropping. We have lost all power. All repulsorlift has failed.” Kora swallowed. “Pilot?”

“Secondary power is offline! Backups are offline!” The pilot said quietly as he fought. Some people got profane as they got stressed. Soen? He got quiet. And bloody dangerous too. “No way is this a malfunction!”

“Who the hell?” Kora blurted out, not realizing her com was wide open. “Motherfracking pussbuckets!”

“Say again, Airmobile Medic 3?” Ground control queried. “We have you on scanner. Your rate of decent is increasing.”

“Tell us something we don’t know.” Soen said tightly, not keying his com. “Like find me someplace soft!”

“Can you suggest a landing zone, Ground control?” Kora surprised herself with a scared chuckle. “My pilot asks for somewhere soft.”

“Checking the maps we have. Most of the area you are descending towards is heavily wooded, Airmobile Medic 3.” Ground control said quietly. “We don’t have a lot of information on some of it. There is a lake four kilometers to your west. Can you make it that far? If you maintain good seals on a water landing, you can sink and we can come get you.”

“Pilot?” Kora asked carefully, aware now that everything she was saying was being broadcast. “Can we make it?” The airspeeder turned suddenly and jerkily and then settled onto a new heading. But then Soen sighed.

“This is an ambulance, not a fighter.” Soen shook his head. “No.” He said flatly. “We do not have enough control or lift to make it to the lake. Best I can do is about half a klick from it. We will hit the ground cushion in eighty seconds at this speed, when we do, I am going to pull up with everything I have. Been an honor, Ma’am.” The nose fell even more despite the pilot’s best efforts.

“Ground control.” Kora was amazed at how calm her voice sounded. “That is a negative on the lake. We are going in hard. We were heading to a wreck on the 103, someone needs to get another crew there.” The response from ground control was kind.

“It’s handled, Airmobile Medic 3. We have Search and Rescue enroute to your location. Put her down as easy as you can. We do not abandon our people!” Ground Control’s voice was taut now. Kora could see out the window and the ground was rushing up fast.

“Tell Bela Vistal Base that we are down.” Kora asaid slowly, unable to take her eyes off the scene of green rushing towards her. “Tell them-“ She broke off as the speeder buffeted. Soen snarled and yanked his controls, but she could see green things, big green things, looming in the near distance and getting closer very fast.

She could not restrain a scream as something hit the underside of the speeder, but then she focused as she never had in her life. Somehow, some way, she had to get Soen back to his kids. She had to. The Force answered her desperate plea and power flared from her fingers.

“What the…?” Soen’s stunned voice had Kora breaking out of her trance. “What the hell? This is no ground cushion.” Something was holding the airspeeder at its current speed and altitude, its nose was coming up with no input from him! Something else was happening. Something intangible. He spun to look at Kora and froze. “Kora?”

“Where…?” Kora managed to gasp out. “Where can we land?”

“Break in the canopy, point four.” Soen said, not taking his eyes from the woman whose hands floated now in the middle of the small ambulance bay as if upheld by some current he couldn’t see. Both were angled as if to cup air underneath something. Unbeknownst to her, her eyes were also glowing faintly as power flowed through her. “Kora? Are you a Jedi?”

“I don’t know what I am.” Kora said sadly. “This is going to cause problems, lots of them. But I won’t let your kids grow up without their dad.” She loved his kids. They were so cool, and understanding about his job. They liked Kora and she liked them. She was gasping now, the power flowing through her was ebbing. “I… Get us down, Soen... I am losing it…”

“Kora!” Soen cried as she grimaced.

“You have flight control.” Kora said softly. Soen turned back to his instruments in shock as they responded sluggishly. “I… I don’t know how… how long I… I can hold it… Get us… down…” Her eyes closed and darkness claimed her as she heard Soen scream her name.

***

Someone was shaking her. Someone was calling her name. She was so tired, she just wanted to sleep. Then her cheek stung. Someone had opened the front of her helmet and slapped her. She groaned.

“Kora, wake up.” Soen? Was that Soen? It sort of sounded like him. “You have to wake up, Kora. Come on, I can’t get you free, Kora. Wake up!”

“Soen?” She asked as she managed to force her eyelids apart. What met them was horror. The inside of the ambulance was a shattered wreck. One entire side of the tough vehicle was gone. Completely gone. It took a lot to tear durasteel. Apparently the impact had managed. “What happened?”

“We are down.” Soen looked like hell. One arm hung limp, obviously broken. His helmet had a nasty crack in it as well. “You got us down.”

“You got us down, Soen. I just slowed us a little.” Kora started to rise and then tried not to scream as her right shoulder seemed to try and tear itself off her body. She said as she looked at the offending appendage. Something had impaled her shoulder, a tree branch by the looks of it. She could see the hole that had been punched in her armor and the bloody brown object sticking out. “Aw fierfek…And it was such a good day.” She took a deep breath to steady herself. Then she pulled with all her might to get loose. It did no good. She almost passed out again as the muscles in her shoulder protested. She looked around and tried not to gasp as pain erupted again. “I almost preferred being unconscious.” She said with a slightly sick smile. “How bad are we?”

“We are lodged in the upper branches of a tree.” Soen said slowly. “About twenty meters up. Big tree, but…”

“Won’t hold us.” Kora said with resignation as she felt movement beneath her. She fought back a scream as the branch impaling her moved and pain ripped through her shoulder. “Use the evac pack. Get clear.” Emergency evacuation packs had all kinds of gear, including rope. Soen shook his head and Kora hissed as she tried to move again. “Soen, I am not going anywhere. A saw will take too long, this tree won’t hold forever. Get out of here, your kids need you!”

“Even if I wanted to leave you, which I don’t.” Soen said with a grimace as he started searching the wreckage for medical supplies. “I can’t. Evac pack was on that side of the ship.” He waved his good hand at the destroyed section. Kora chuckled sadly and he looked at her. “What?”

“Aren’t we two sorry excuses for medics?” She asked in an oddly whimsical tone. “Give me your arm.” He carefully held out his broken arm and she too it gently, careful not to hurt him or pull her impaled shoulder. She stared at it and then winced. “I can’t… I hoped I could heal it. But I can’t. Too weak.” He carefully took it back.

“You use the Force.” Soen’s voice was noncommittal as he sat nearby. “But you are not a Jedi.”

“Or Sith.” Kora agreed quietly. “Something else. I am not powerful.”

“Powerful enough to save our lives.” Soen said with a snort. “Even if it doesn’t work out, Ma’am, Kora. Thanks.”

“You are welcome.” Kora said with a matching snort. “So… What do we do? You are the soldier.”

“Was, Kora. Was a soldier.” His head jerked up. “I hear big repulsorlifts.” Soen said quietly. Then Kora could hear them as well. He tapped his helmet with his good hand and shook his head. “Main com is trashed. I hit my head hard a couple of times. My helmet com is out, try yours.” Kora nodded and hit her com with her good hand.

“This is Airmobile Medic 3, calling unknown repulsorcraft approaching our position.” Kora was flatly amazed at how calm she sounded. “We require assistance.”

“This is Militia Search and Rescue 89. You seem to have treed yourselves, Airmobile Medic 3.” Came a laconic response. “Hold tight, we will get you out of there.”

“Roger that, SAR 89. Be advised, we have massive structural damage to our ambulance. Two crew aboard. Pilot and medic are both injured, injuries as follows…” Kora sighed and let the future take care of itself. Right now she had to get herself and her pilot out of this mess in one piece.

She could finally relax. Soen had been evacced and was sleeping on the other side of the massive cargo bay of the huge bright blue painted Militia SAR speeder. Medics had worked on him and all of them were confident he would recover. She wasn’t so sure about herself. They wouldn’t tell her how bad the damage to her shoulder was. One of the medics, whose name tag read Lorson, came close. Militia medics wore full armor just like the rest of the troops.

“Miss Kora?” He asked quietly. “You okay?”

“Not really.” Kora said quietly. “Too many thoughts going at once. Will they be able to recover the ambulance?”

“Crews got parts of it. Some of it was reasonably intact, for being stuck in a tree. But the rest of it is jammed in there good.” The medic said as he checked the dressings on her shoulder. They had been forced to cut the branch off to get her out of the speeder and the end of the wooden spear still impaled her. Dressings secured it in place. Standard practice. You did not remove a protruding object in the field. Getting her out of the mess of the ambulance had been…interesting. “It is a write off anyway. How’s the pain?”

“Manageable.” Kora grimaced as she settled a bit more. It was disconcerting to be the one on the gurney, instead of the one tending the person on the gurney. But she dealt with that. “Where are we going?” She asked as the hum of the engines changed a bit. They had been in the air for a bit. They had probably told her, but she had been in and out of consciousness while they worked to free her and after. “I have been fuzzy.”

“Best drugs on Corellia, guaranteed.” The medic had a grin in his voice as he nodded to her. “Coronet General, Ma’am.” The medic nodded to her. “This is going to be a mess. Ma’am, no question.”

“It wasn’t an accident, Medic Lorson.” Kora said softly. “I could see a fault causing loss of primary power. I can see something causing a loss of secondary power. But we have three redundant backup power systems on that design of ambulance, including those ancient and hard to maintain solar batteries. There is no way all of that failed at once, Medic Lorson. No natural way anyway.”

“I don’t know anything about that, Ma’am.” The medic sighed. “I do what you do, remember? I patch people up. Get some rest. It’s going to be a circus when we get to the hospital.”

“Just wanted someone else to know my thoughts, in case I am out when we reach the hospital.“ She did not say ‘In case I die before we reach the hospital’. She knew Lorson appreciated that. “How is Soen?” Kora asked as she settled again. “I saw his helmet. He was hurt a lot worse than he said.”

“Yes, he is, Ma’am.” The medic agreed. “The arm, of course. Concussion, possible skull fracture, definite broken ribs, some internal bleeding. He hit his straps hard and must have bounced his head off of at least one of the upper consoles. We are on it, Ma’am. We are not going to lose him. He is one of us, even if he IS working for you lunatics at the moment.”

“Who are you calling a lunatic?” Kora asked mock incredulously. “I am not the one who is paid to get shot at.” She grinned at him as he obviously stared at her even through his closed helmet.

“You are crazy, Ma’am.” He laughed sourly. “Not that I blame you after such a landing.”

“That was a landing?” Kora was bemused by this guy. He was a hoot, but totally professional. “I thought a landing something where the ship remains intact. That ambulance wasn’t even close to intact.” Lorson laughed. He had a marvelous laugh.

“We have a ’flexible’ definition of landing in Search and Rescue.” Lorsaon said with pride. “Anything you walk away from is a landing. Anything else is a crash. You walked out of there. Three assisted steps to the stretcher we lowered, mind you, but you did walk.” Kora laughed and then winced. “You okay?” Lorson asked hurriedly.

“Don’t make me laugh.” Kora begged as she forced herself beyond her pain. “That really hurts. I am surprised you are not tranking me. Concussion?”

“You were acting odd.” Lorson said quietly. “Probable concussion, definite internal bleeding.” Kora felt her guts freeze, but Lorson touched her hand. “It’s okay, Ma’am. We are on it. You know the drill. We are five minutes out.”

“My boss is going to have my head.” Kora said with a self pitying groan. “I lost the speeder, damn near got my pilot killed. Shouldn’t have gone out at all. Not shorthanded.”

“Your boss is waiting for you are Coronet General.” Lorson said gently. “She is probably more worried about you than the speeder.”

“You don’t know Oeia.” Kora said with a groan as she sank back and tried to relax. Getting tense wouldn’t help at all. “So, what is it like in Search and Rescue?”

“Messy, usually.” Lorson said quietly. “High speed or high altitude, its all the same. Something goes wrong and the pieces are small. We do rescues too, from distressed sailing ships, derelict spacecraft, the works. Many of those are warm and fuzzy afterwards. Occasionally we get a downed pilot, and they are always happy to see us.”

“We were darn happy to see you.” Kora said softly. “This big blue bird of yours is the most beautiful thing I have ever seen in my life.”

“We came as soon as we heard your mayday, Ma’am.” The medic was sitting beside her gurney now. “We may not always agree with what you civilians do, but we do our best.” He tapped something on the side of the gurney, probably a command to a drug dispenser. The pain was increasing.

“After you pulled my pilot and myself out of that tree, medic Lorson, do you think I am going to argue?” Kora was floating now. “Thank you. From the bottom of my heart, thank you.”

“You are welcome.”

What happened after that was a haze. Voices sounded, angry and concerned. She was moving, and then she was on something while people in surgical garb moved around her. Everything was blurry. It was a lot like when she had been concussed by the blank during tactical EMS training. Stood to reason, actually. Concussions were no joke and had often similar effects. Then she was…floating? Everything went away for a while and when she could see again, she was lying on an inclined bed. She smelled something odd, but couldn’t focus enough to figure out what it was. The recognizable sounds of a hospital were all around her. She cracked her eyelids carefully and found herself in a bed in an Intensive Care Unit. The room was small, cramped with equipment and the walls were transparent. She could see nurses and doctors hurrying to and fro. She had been here before, but never from THIS side. She was in the ICU at Coronet General. She was hooked up to every bell and whistle she had ever seen and then some. She looked at herself and found a patient gown over her body. Light dressings shone on her shoulder and a dull ache pervaded it when she tried to move it.

“Ow.” She said quietly. A cough nearby made her jerk. She hadn’t realized she wasn’t alone. “Ah, Boss?” She hadn’t even seen Oeia sitting beside her bed. The Twi’lek looked terrible. She had obviously slept in her jumpsuit.

“Kora.” Oeia’s voice was flat. “You are in big trouble, young lady. I told you not to scare me.”

“I am sorry about the speeder, boss.” Kora said slowly. “I guess they will take it out of my pay?” She jerked. “Soen!” Where is-?” She paused as Oeia patted her hand. “Oeia?”

“They are taking him out of Kolto in twenty minutes.” Oeia said softly. “Then you go back in. Both of you should be out of here by tomorrow morning.”

“Boss, there is no way I can pay for that.” Kora protested. The miracle healing fluid Kolta was very rare after the Sith bombardments of the planet Manaan. A single dip could cost thousands of credits, let alone two. “I have to heal slow.”

“No, you don’t.” Oeia said with a scowl. “You are not paying for it. The Corellian government is.”

“Wha?” Kora asked intelligently and Oeia’s scowl eased. She was still frightening.

“The Corellian government is deeply embarrassed at the actions of the son of one of it’s deputy senators. Not a lot of the speeder has been recovered, but enough has been to prove that Corren Solo sabotaged it. I had suspicions from the get go, something about that kid bothered me.” Oeia nodded at Kora’s poleaxed expression. “Apparently, he wanted revenge on me for embarrassing him. So he was aiming his revenge at me, and got you and Soen instead.”

“He… tried…” Kora could not wrap her mind around that. “I knew the boy was lazy, but…Murder?”

“According to him, he never checked at what altitude we fly. He never bothered to look out a window when he was riding.” Oeia said severely. Kora snorted and Oeia nodded. “He definitely never checked the main posted schedule. He expected me to be in the speeder. He was somewhat surprised when I arrived at the station with a bunch of cops in tow. That was after we looked at the black box info and what SAR recovered from the speeder. We had to get him out quickly before he was lynched by the rest of the crews. As it was, he got pelted with rocks and old vegetables.” Kora shook her head. She could just see the teams doing that. Or worse. Oeia shook her head. “I never thought I would say this, but if ever there was man who needed killing, that creep does. Smart, but sociopathic.”

“Attempted murder.” Kora shook her head, trying to work her head around that. She had eaten with the boy in the squad mess. He was young, about her age. He had tried to be charming, but it had come across as flat and contrived. She hadn’t really noticed him after that. She had been busy. And he had tried to kill her.

“He says it was a prank. That it was intended to ground the speeder without causing any damage or harm.” Oeia said softly. “The cops don’t believe him, and neither do I. It was premeditated murder. Attempted murder anyway.”

“Why?” Kora asked the ceiling. “I know he was a goof off. You called him on it, told him to shape up.”

“Apparently the fact that I embarrassed him in public was more than enough. I personally don’t think the hangar bay counts as public, but he does.” Oeia sighed. “He wanted revenge and when he had the chance he slipped a neat little gizmo he made into the main breaker of our speeder. You reached cruising altitude, and a timer started. When it finished, it cut all power. You and Soen are damn lucky to be alive, girl. Don’t scare me like that, Kora. Don’t.” Oeia was crying now. “I thought my heart was going to fall out when I heard your mayday call.”

“Shouldn’t have gone out.” Kora was still in shock. Someone she had eaten with had tried to kill her. Actually it was worse. He hadn’t been trying to kill HER. She had just been ‘acceptable losses’ in the way of his revenge. “Should have sent another team.”

“Maybe.” Oeia said with a grimace. “But then again, it is what I would have done. I can’t blame you for aping my own mannerisms, now can I?”

“You can.” Kora surprised herself with a grin. “But you aren’t that petty, are you?” A pair of surgical gowned forms appeared nearby and Oeia nodded to them.

“Time for your dip, Kora. Get well soon, we need you.” Kora was stunned speechless when Oeia bent over and kissed her cheek gently before stepping away. The two nurses came close and Kora sighed. This would likely not be fun, but hopefully, she would come out of it better. The nurses were gentle as they eased her onto a traveling gurney and steered her towards the door.

“What do I do?” Kora asked softly. “I have never been in Kolto that I know of.”

“Just leave the driving to us, Paramedic Kora.” The male nurse said gently. “You will sleep through it. Everything is taken care of. Just relax.”

“You don’t know much about paramedics, do you?” Kora asked with a grin. “We never relax.”

“You will this time.” The female Mon Calamari said in a non nonsense tone as she pulled hypo from a pocket. “We need to remove the dressings and that is going to sting.” She said was she injected the drug into Kora’s IV line.

“Worse that having a branch through my shoulder?” Kora asked as she started sliding into unconsciousness. “Can’t be.” She was sure she startled a laugh out of the female nurse, but then she was asleep.

It was really, really weird. Aside from the persistent odd smell that nothing seemed to get out of her nostrils, Kora felt better than she had in ages when she woke the morning after her dip in Kolto. She was sitting up in bed when Oeia came in with a set of her clothes. The human girl was rotating her shoulder, checking it’s range of motion, and shaking her head as she did.

“This is nuts, Oeia.” Kora said softly. “I saw the damage. I saw the scans of my shoulder. Broken collarbone, broken shoulder bone. Internal soft tissue injuries, nerve damage. They are gone. The wounds are gone. No pain, no impairment, no nothing. I had a cavity on one tooth and IT is gone.” She shook her head, bemused. “Pity that stuff is so expensive.”

“Yeah.” Oeia said dryly. “Miracle drugs be darned, Kolto is better. But it is incredibly expensive.”

“They had a tank at the clinic I woke up at, after my accident.” Kora paused and then nodded. “Yeah, it was a kolto tank. I don’t think they dunked me, I would remember the smell.”

“Smell?” Oeia asked curiously as she laid the bundle of clothes down. “What smell?”

“I don’t know. But I can’t get rid of it. Probably seeped into my pores while I slept in the tank. Not bad, just odd.” Kora said as she picked up the clothes to change. Oeia turned around and Kora snorted. “You have seen me in my skivvies once already, boss.”

“True.” Oeia said sourly. “But I better be formal. There is a ‘delegation’ waiting. People who want to talk to you. Who want to know how you saved Soen and most of the speeder.” Kora froze with her jumpsuit pants half on. “How did you do it Kora? I saw the black box info. I heard Soen’s helmet recording, what there is of it. I heard yours, which is intact. He asked you if you were a Jedi. You replied you were not. Even a Jedi might have had trouble doing what you did. That speeder should have nosedived into the trees, hit fast enough that nothing would have been left but very small pieces. Instead it glided down until it hit that big tree, which is flatly impossible. Ambulance airspeeders don’t glide without power.”

“I don’t know.” Kora admitted as she slowly finished closing up her jumpsuit. She sat heavily. “I just…I couldn’t let Soen die. I couldn’t leave his kids without their dad. Was it right? Was it wrong? I don’t know. But I couldn’t just sit there and do nothing.” She felt her eyes start to burn and scrubbed them harshly. “How much trouble am I in?”

“Kora, you saved Soen and yourself.” Oeia said with a sigh. “You saved enough of the speeder that we caught the evil son of a barve who sabotaged it. In my book, you are a hero. But people, highly placed people, want answers.”

“I may not have answers.” Kora said slowly. “I mean, I don’t remember anything from before.”

“Kora…” Oeia began.

“I don’t!” Kora was nearly in tears. “I don’t know who I was. I don’t…” Her babbling broke off as the door to the room opened again and Michael Jonal stepped in. “Uh…”

“It’s okay, Kora.” Michael said with a smile. “It will be okay.”

“Back off, Jedi.” Oeia stepped between the two. “She is my responsibility.”

“No.” Michael said softly. “She is our responsibility, yours and mine. Kora, they did a full DNA workup while you were in Kolto the first time. They know you are a clone.” Kora slumped, and then she sat on the bed, tears falling. His voice was gentle now. “Hey, it’s okay.”

“No, it’s not.” Kora said as she held her head in her hands and tried to stop crying. “I didn’t want to lie! I never wanted to lie! I just wanted to help people!”

“You haven’t lied.” Oeia said softly as she sat on the bed beside the disconsolate human. “You didn’t tell the whole truth, but I understand. Kora, it’s okay. We will make it okay.” She put her arm around Kora and gave the sobbing girl a squeeze. “It’s okay, Kora. It’s okay.”

“I didn’t want to deceive anyone.” Kora babbled. “I didn’t want to hurt anyone. I just want to help people. Like Ona does.”

“Who is Ona?” Oeia asked softly as she tried to calm Kora down.

“A friend. A healer. Strong in the Force and a bit on the testy side on occasion. You would like her. She put me back together after I was badly injured in a fight a while back. No one crosses that crazy Bothan.” Kora had to grin a little at that definition. Yep, that was Ona of the Bladeborn in a nutshell. Michael spoke gently as he came close. “Kora, it’s okay.”

“She is my hero. I don’t know what to do.” Kora said after taking a moment to calm herself. “I am not a Jedi.”

“You were cloned from one.” Michael said evenly. “But you are not one.” Michael agreed. “What we need to figure out is what you are. The Council is not about to take my word for things so they sent another representative. You will like her.” Kora shook herself and sighed.

“Am I going get you in trouble, Oeia?” Kora asked calmly. “They will think you covered for me.”

“Well, they can kiss my butt.” Oeia said with a snarl as she gave Kora another squeeze and then slipped off the bed, standing subtly between Kora and Michael. “And you can quote me on that, Jedi.” Michael looked at her and chuckled. Oeia stared at him. “What?” She asked sourly.

“You have no idea the number of people who are ready and willing to use any means, and I do mean any means, to protect Kora at this moment, Oeia.” Michael said with a sigh. “You are nowhere near the scariest either. Sorry.” He shrugged as she stared at him. “The discussions of who to send were rather intense, as I understand.”

“I just want to help people.” Kora said glumly. “I just want to make a difference. I am a paramedic, not a Jedi.”

“Come on, Kora.” Michael said gently. “This won’t get any easier if we delay it.”

Kora was trying her hardest not to shiver as Michael and Oeia led her into a room she had never been in. It was obviously a theatre of some kind. Maybe a large classroom? It had many rows of chairs set up in a semi-circle and a raised stage set up in front of them. On that stage a table had been set up and four chairs stood empty. The rest of the table was full. Eight beings of various races, some she couldn’t; identify, sat around the table and all of them had apparently been talking before the door had opened and Kora had entered. Kora was very nervous and it was only the combined presence of Oeia and Michael that kept her from turning and bolting as all eight gazes landed on her. But then another voice jerked her up short.

“Good to see you, girl.” Kora’s eyes shot to the side and she froze as Soen stood up from where he had been lounging near the door. The human grinned lopsidedly at her and smiled. “You do a ‘chicken lizard in the headlamps’ better than anyone I know, girl.” Her face lit up with a smile and then she laughed.

“Well, you are insane, Soen.” Kora replied with automatic levity. But then she slumped. “I am in trouble, Soen. You have a family. Don’t jump in.” A tap on her shoulder, the formerly injured one, had her blinking up at him. He shook his head as he retracted his hand.

“You ain’t my boss, girl.” Soen said with a sigh. “And as someone said a while back, I don’t abandon my friends.” Kora had to sigh as he parroted words she had used in a supposedly private conversation. “What?” He asked with a scowl. “You think I am going to let two of my partners get into a girl fight and not watch?” He asked with an obviously comical leer. “I wanted a video recording of you two tussling, but someone –probably a sneaky Twi’lek- cut my access before it got interesting.” He snickered softly at Kora’s expression.

“You have already seen me in my skivvies, Soen.” Kora retorted as the odd group walked towards the stage. “What is screaming and pulling hair?”

“What hair?” Oeia asked wickedly, rubbing her lekku. That elicited a snicker from Soen and a smile from Kora. Oeia sobered and sighed. “Soen. Stick to the facts. If they ask for an opinion, give it. If they don’t, then don’t.” There was clear command in her voice now and both Soen and Kora nodded. “Both of you, this is seriously deep water we are swimming in. Let’s not make waves if we can help it.” Both of her subordinates nodded as the odd quartet approached the stage.

Kora tried to keep her expression calm as Michael led the way onto the stage. Two forms in Jedi robes sat near the empty chairs. A young human female and a- What was that race? Kora wasn’t sure but thought the odd alien looking at her might be a Rakata. The eyestalks that protruded from the huge head seemed to hold compassion. Beside the human Jedi two armored forms sat, both obviously Corellian Militia. Neither wore helmets and both were human. One was a youngish looking male with black hair, the other an older female with graying blonde hair. It was hard to tell body language in the armor, but both faces looked like they were unhappy and trying to hide it. The remaining four were all in suits. Three humans and a Bothan, all wearing similar expressions; the non-expressions of career politicians. But what shocked her was when both militia soldiers rose and saluted. They saluted Soen! He shrugged.

“I am not in uniform, sirs.”Soen said dubiously. But neither lowered their hands. With a sigh, he returned the salutes. His was crisp and sharp, as if he were on a parade ground. “Isn’t it against regs to salute someone who is out of uniform?” He dropped his salute and his sense in the Force was disturbed.

“Doesn’t matter, Captain.” The older human said with a smile as she lowered her salute after Soen did. “Anyone who wins the Corellian Star gets a salute. If anyone deserves that medal, you do. Even if you do disagree, the government gave it to you.” Koran and Oeia both stared at Soen and he shrugged. The Corellian Star was the single highest award for valor that the Militia gave out. Usually it was given posthumously.

“Later.” Soen said softly. “Please.” There was such pain in his sense in the Force that Kora was moved to pat his arm. He looked at her and smiled forlornly as the two uniformed members of the group sat. Michael nodded to the table and spoke evenly.

“Representatives of the government, soldiers, fellow Jedi, I present Paramedics Oeia and Kora, and Pilot Soen. All of the Bela Vistal Paramedic Station.” Michael bowed to the group of medics and then to the table.

“Paramedic Oeia.” One of the human politicians shook his head. “I might have known you would be up to your lekku in this mess.” But his tone was humorous rather that censorious.

“My people, my responsibility.” Oeia replied softly, but clearly. “It was aimed at me.”

“Be at ease, paramedics.” The man said softly. “No one is on trial here. No one would dare.” Kora stared at him and he snorted in sour amusement. “Your arrival on planet may have been irregular, young lady, but you have done Corellia as a whole a number of services since then.”

“Here, here.” The older of the armored forms said quietly. The others looked at her and she shrugged. “It’s the truth. She is one heck of an asset.”

“General.” The odd alien Jedi said with mild reproof. “She is a young woman. And right now she is scared out of her mind.” She nodded to Kora. “I am Nolikas and this is Diseree, Kora. I wish we were meeting under other circumstances.” The young human beside Nolikas bowed her head slowly, Kora returned the head movement. Then the odd Jedi said something that took Kora completely off guard. “Ona wanted to come, but she couldn’t. She is still in physical therapy. She wasn’t happy about that, let me tell you. She said to tell you, from her, ‘It will be okay.’” Kora swallowed and nodded again. “Take a seat, Michael, medics Oeia and Kora, pilot Soen. We have a lot to discuss.”

Kora sat slowly, carefully. Oeia and Soen sat on either side of her. Truth be told, she needed the support, she was shaking like a leaf. One of the human politicians, one who had not spoken before, shook his head and spoke gently. He had wisps of gray had and the most peircing brown eyes that Kora had ever seen.

“Medic Kora, no one is accusing you of anything.” The politician sighed. “I accept full responsibility for what my son did.” Kora’s eyes went wide and she felt astonishment from both sides of her, but no one spoke and the man spoke again. “My name is Lak Solo. The boy, no…” He corrected himself slowly. “The man who tried to murder you and your pilot is my son. I don’t know what happened, where the boy I remember laughing and playing went and the spoiled murderous fool I spoke with earlier appeared. But that is immaterial for now.” The deputy senator sighed deeply. “Questions have been asked about you. ‘I’ personally could not care less about that. You saved your pilot, you saved yourself from my son’s sabotage. I have to say this though. I am sorry. Maybe if I had turned the boy over my knee a few more times, he would have had better judgment. Maybe not.” He sat back and slumped a bit. “I came to offer my own apology for my son’s actions.”

“What will happen to him?” Kora asked softly. Soen and Oeia both looked at her, but she persisted. “Will he go free?”

“No.” Lak Solo said flatly. “He expected me to get him out of his mess. He can rot for all I care.” Kora could taste the man’s outrage. He was a politician and lying came with the territory, but this rang true in the Force. Lak Solo was furious, no matter what showed on his face. “But while he was spouting, he spouted things about you. Odd things, things that were part of an official investigation, and thus cannot be easily swept under the rug.”

“How could he have found out?” Oeia asked slowly giving Kora a look that pleaded with her to remain quiet. “I didn’t know and I looked closely at her background. Especially after Customs had questions.”

“My son is not stupid.” Deputy Senator Solo said sadly. “If he were, he wouldn’t be so fracking dangerous. He hacked your systems; apparently it was a game to him. He found a few oddities about Kora there, small things, disconnected things. Then he did deep checks through MY database.” Again, the carefully hidden rage sang. “My people thought the questions were coming from me, even though I was offplanet. They are quick and thorough.” Solo shook his head again. “I think he was looking for leverage. Maybe dirt to sell, I don’t know. That conduit is sealed now though.”

“Senator…”The human who has spoken first who had spoken first, shook his head. “There is no need…”

“My resignation is on your desk, Attorney General Cord.” Kora froze in place. The Attorney General?! Here? Talking to her? Lak Solo shook his head and continued. “What has happened has compromised my position. That I could live with. It happens. But he compromised my own people and tried to kill innocent people with information he got from them. That, I will not tolerate.”

“Get off your high Bantha, Solo.” The Bothan said softly, but with command. “We need you. This hurts you, but we do need you.” Kora opened her mouth but snapped it closed when Oeia stepped on her foot. “You are a jerk, but no one questions your honor.” An indrawn breath from Kora had everything stopping. Oeia sighed and slumped. “Something to add, Medic Kora?”

“A question, if I may?” The Bothan nodded. “He changed? How quickly?” Senator Solo stared at her and shook his head. “Senator, please, it’s important.”

“Overnight to hear my wife….” He broke off as Kora’s face turned ashen. “What?”

“I don’t follow much politics, Senator. I am little busy generally.” Kora said slowly. Oeia muttered something about ‘not busy enough’ under her breath, but Kora continued. “I don’t remember anything about my previous life. That is true. But the people who healed me, helped me recover, and set up the job interview for me, people I trust…” She nodded to Nolikas who…winked at her! “They talked a bit, with me and around me. About their enemies and their enemies’ tactics. This seems like the kind of attack someone might make to destabilize the government.”

“Using my son?” Solo looked shaken now and his sense in the Force was stunned. “Cord?” The Attorney General shook his head.

“Possible.” The human bit his lip in thought and Kora stifled a chuckle. Nice to see that high level people did the same silly things in thought as peons. “We have been investigating and you know I cannot comment on that. If he was coerced by an agent of subversion or acted on his own, it is immaterial, really. Either way, Lak…”

“I know.” The senator said softly. “Either way, what he did demands punishment. I would just shoot him, but then we might never get answers. He is all yours, Cord.” He made a hand washing gesture.

“That does leave us with another problem.” The Attorney General said to the Bothan who sighed and nodded. “You did enter the system irregularly, young lady. Immigration is upset. And unregistered clones have no rights.”

“I didn’t lie.” Kora said softly. “I don’t remember being a Jedi. I am not one.” The politicos and soldiers all turned to Nolikas who nodded.

“She may have begun as a clone, gentlebeings.” Nolikas said slowly. “But I have perused her records, all of them. The Padawan Min is dead. This girl is not a Jedi. She has a minor talent, but no more than that.”

“She held a crashing airspeeder in the air for over thirty seconds, righting it and softening its landing and that is a minor talent?” The female soldier who had been called ‘General’ goggled at the Jedi.

“She had help.” Nolikas said softly. “But that is all I am allowed to say about that.” Kora was not the only one whose eyes went wide at that. “Matters of security. I apologize, but…” She shrugged.

“We understand about those.” The Attorney General said with a sigh. “So she is not going to be throwing lightning around?” Kora shook her head violently and the AG nodded.

“Kora?” Nolikas said gently. “What do you want?”

“I want to help people.” Kora said simply. “I fit as a paramedic. When I think of hurting people, it makes me almost sick. I never wanted these powers, I asked them to strip me of them. They refused.”

“It is too cruel.” Nolikas said sadly. “Are we to blind and deafen someone because they might become a threat? No, Kora. You are not a risk; for that anyway.” She smiled gently and Kora relaxed. The politicians and soldiers looked at each other but remained silent. “Then my recommendation, such as it is, is this: Kora makes a good paramedic by all accounts. Anything else, she would either be wasted in or caged. I would… recommend not doing the latter. All kinds of people would take offense.”

The Attorney General looked at the Bothan who winced and shrugged. He looked at Solo who sighed.

“This is not going to be swept under the rug, Cord.” Solo warned. “If you try, I will shout it from the rooftops.”

“You are too principled for your own good, Lak.” The Attorney General said with a groan. “General Romlus, your thoughts?”

“We can’t leave her running around loose.” The general said with a frown. Kora tensed but the General smiled at her. “Be at ease, young lady. I am more worried about you hurting reporters who deserve it than anyone else.” Kora blinked and the general laughed, a merry sound. “It was too good a story to stay hushed up. But Flik has never managed to find you. And he won’t if I have anything to say about it.”

“I tried not to lie.” Kora said, her face crumbling. “I tried so hard. I just want to help people.” She was shivering now, although she tried very hard to stop.

“Kora needs more sleep.” Nolikas said gently as Oeia and Soen both moved to support her. “Kolto heals quickly, but the energy reserves will take some time to recuperate.”

“All of us…” The Attorney General nodded. “Need to discuss this. But rest easy, Medic Kora.” He leaned closer to her and smiled. “We want you to stay. We will find a way for you to stay.”

Something was wrong. Kora struggled, but she couldn’t move. She opened her eyes, but only saw black. She tried to sense her surroundings, but everything was hazy, even in the Force. She was drugged. She recognized the feelings. But why? She had gone home, the government types had been deliberating and she had been sent home with an injunction to stay out of trouble. She was off shift anyway, they were short a speeder. She thought back.

Oeia and Soen had wanted to talk, but she had been so tired. She had sent both of them home and said she would talk in the morning. She had gone to the refresher… And then it all went black. What had happened? Had she blacked out? Was she asleep? She opened her eyes again, but no light came. She wasn’t asleep. She tried her hands and feet again and they moved, but not far. She paused as cold metal was felt around them. She was a prisoner? Whoever had bound her had done so in a professional way, binding her hands behind her, so they could not be used as weapons or to undo her bonds. What did that mean? Her head was fuzzy. Light flooded her eyes and she groaned through something that she hadn’t realized was blocking her mouth. Harsh light blinded her and before her eyes could adjust something covered her eyes again.

“She’s awake.” A cold male voice asked. “We sure that is her?”

“Has to be. She was dropped off just where Fifty Two was supposed to.” A similarly cold male voice replied. “The rest of the information the senator’s brat gave us checked out. Has to be the target.”

“Not much to look at.” The first voice said softly, with menace. “Pretty enough, I guess.” Cold fingers ran up her body, poking, fondling her, but she did not react. “Could have some fun.”

“Order was ‘undamaged’.” The second voice said sourly. “Leave her be.”

“Don’t tell me you don’t want a piece.” Kora tried not to react as finger went into very sensitive places. A sound of a blow and the first voice sounded annoyed. “Hey, get your own!”

“Order was for delivery ‘undamaged’, idiot.” The second voice sounded testy now. “That includes molesting her. So back off.”

Kora wasn’t sure what was going on. Someone had paid to have her kidnapped, obviously. And undamaged? Why did that send a chill down her spine? Something about these two men scared her, scared her greatly. More than the fact that she was obviously their prisoner. Something worse.

“You are no fun.” The first voice complained. “Ah well, let’s get her stripped and packaged.” A hypo hissed and she was falling.

***

When Kora woke again, her arms and legs protested as she tried to move them. She had been lying in position long enough for the limbs to cramp. She opened her eyes and found her head covered by something. Some light filtered through it. Her arms were bound at the wrist across her back and her legs were hobbled both at the knee and ankle. When she tried to move, she found something arresting her movement, something around her neck. When she moved again, a tingle ran through her from her neck. A slave collar. She was about to cry out when something gentle touched her mind, something worried. Something familiar. It calmed her. There was nothign verbal, just a warning.

“She’s awake.” A soft, worried female voice spoke from nearby. A gentle hand traced her arm and Kora shivered. She tried to talk but something sticky was covering her mouth. “I don’t like this.”

“We have been over that, Fifty Two.” A harsh male voice spoke from somewhere. “We need to make a statement, and this brat will do nicely. The government coddles their people. Time to show them what real soldiers can do.”

“I am sorry.” The female voice said sadly as the hand traced Kora’s arm again. “I am sorry…” She said again and withdrew. A hiss from nearby and something hot traced her skin. She tried to shy away from it, but it followed her, never quite touching.

“Camera rolling?” The male voice asked. “We will take off her gag after my speech. This will take a while and we want to catch every scream.”

“Look, I know we agreed to hurt one of their paramedics, but she is just a kid!” The voice of the woman called Fifty Two was shaky now. “Do we have to torture her?”

“Fifty Two, get out. Twenty Three, take the camera.” A muted sob sounded but then a door hissed open and shut. When the man spoke again, it was solemn and angry. “This is One, leader of the Corellian Free Sky Reds. We have been hurt, we have been hounded, we have been chased by your lapdogs, but we will never surrender!” Kora was trying to moderate her breathing. The Free Sky Reds were terrorists, the absolute worst kind. She wasn’t sure what they had planned for her, but whatever it was wouldn’t be fun. “We are going to burn Corellia to it’s foundations and start fresh, stronger, harder, purer. The government and it’s pawns may think themselves above the law but we know better. This is the first of many messages we will be delivering to the Corellian government. This sacrifice is the first, but there will be more. Our time is…” Everything stopped as a whine sounded. A whine Kora remembered from Tactical EMS training. A breaching charge!

“No!” The man screamed as the explosion sounded. She expected to hear blaster shots, but instead, she heard loud popping noises, almost like the popcorn that Soen’s daughters had introduced her to.

“Clear.” A very cold voice she remembered spoke from nearby. What was Will Kalenath doing here? “Sound off.” A chorus of ‘Clear’s came from several points nearby. If they followed standard procedure, they had the room covered. “Medic, help the hostage. Get her clear. Rest of team, with me. Stack up.” A rustle of movement. “One hostile, right side. Open and clear.” A door slammed open and a male scream was heard. It chopped off as more popping sounds came. “Move up!”

Gentle hands were working to remove the collar from her neck and she gasped into her gag as the slave collar came off.

“Easy, Ma’am.” A young voice sounded. “Let me get this junk off you.” Something cold and sharp slid along her arms, cutting the ropes that held her. Then hands were working to undo whatever was holding her mouth shut. “This is going to sting, Ma’am.” Someone took hold of what was clearly tape on her face and she braced herself as that person gave a tug. It hurt and she had to bite back a cry as the tape came off. “Easy…” the same sharp thing cut her legs loose. The blindfold came off and she was looking up into the goggles of a Militia medic. “Can you walk?” She nodded jerkily but managed with some help to get to her feet. She blanched as she saw a red hot iron lying on the floor nearby, a steaming corpse with half it’s head gone lying beside it. Another human lay behind a large video camera, obviously not going to move, not with that many holes in him. Both of them wore red masks, the signature insignia of the Corellian Free Sky Reds. . A table nearby held an array of sharp and jagged looking things, most of them dark with dried blood and Kora shivered harder. The medic took her arm. “It’s over, Ma’am. It’s over. Come on, let’s get you out of here.”

“Oh no…” A silky voice spoke from the shadows. “You are going nowhere.” The medic jerked, a blaster coming up and Kora screamed as the young man went flying to land in a heap by the wall. He was breathing, but… She hadn’t thought she could get any stiffer, but she managed as a red lightsaber ignited. A Sith? Here? A human in black robes stepped out of the shadows, his face a rictus of rage. His head was shaven and his eyes glowed with fiery power. A red scarf covered the lower half of his face. “All my plans, all my years of preparation, gone! You are not even powerful enough to train.” Kora paused and then stepped between the fallen medic and the Sith. He chuckled sourly. “What do you think you are going to do, brat?”

“Nothing.” Kora said sadly. “I help people, but I can’t help you.”

“I am not the one who needs help.” The Sith said as he raised his weapon. He sneered as Kora shook her head. “You are pathetic. What do you think you can do?”

“You hurt.” Kora said with conviction. “You are in pain, deep, deep down. But I can’t help you. There is no time.”

“You know nothing, you little fool!” The Sith snarled. “I created the Reds, I nurtured them, I will rebuild them, I…” He staggered as a popping sound came from behind him. He stared at her and then turned as the shadows came alive. “You…” He breathed as Will Kalenath stepped into view, no expression at all on his face. The soldier’s green eyes were a pair of agates. The silenced slugthrower carbine in his hands did not waver.

“Me.” Will said as he fired again. The Sith blocked the shot with a contemptuous swat, but then stared as his lightsaber fizzled and went out! Will’s expression might have been called a smile, the same way a shark’s might. “Aren’t specialty rounds fun?” He asked snidely as he fired again. The Sith was caught in mid jump and crumpled to the floor in a heap. Will looked at Kora and then he put two rounds into the back of the Sith’s head. His expression never changed.

Kora winced, but slumped and turned to where the militia medic was groaning. She ignored the fact that she wasn’t wearing anything. Her captors must have cut her clothes off, the better to torture their victim, probably. She checked him quickly, but found no injuries.

“Are you an angel?” The young man asked, dazed as he came back to consciousness. “You look like one.”

“Sorry.” Kora said with a sigh. “Just a paramedic.” Something suspiciously like a dark chuckle came from Will who had bent to check the Sith. Not that he really had to with most of the man’s head gone the way it was.

“Just a paramedic?” Will asked in an odd tone. “Sorry Kora, no ‘just’ anywhere in your description. This never happened and I was never here.” The militia medic nodded blearily and Kora looked at him. When she looked back, Will was gone.

“You wouldn’t happen to have an emergency blanket or something in your kit, would you?” Kora asked with a shiver that ran the length of her body. She was not wearing anything after all. But that was the least of her feelings. Will had been... Something about him had been worse than before. Much worse. “Suddenly… cold…”

“Me too, Ma’am.” The medic said as he started reaching for his pouches. “Me too.”

“I told you to stop scaring me, Kora.” Oeia said with a grimace as Kora tried to relax in one of a dozen large comfortable chairs that surrounded the pool. “Why don’t you ever listen?”

Soen had been with the Militia team that had come to get her from the Free Sky Red’s hideout. He had grabbed her in a bear hug as soon as she had stumbled out of the abandoned apartment building the terrorists had used as a base escorted by the medic, covered by an emergency blanket and nothing else. He hadn’t bothered to ask, he had simply pulled her into the Militia airspeeder ambulance where Oeia had been waiting to give Kora a once over. Kora hadn’t been hurt, just scared out of her mind. Oeia had been gentle, patient and totally unrelenting. Since Kora hadn’t been hurt, she had declined the hospital, and instead, Soen had brought her here. Home. His home.

Kora knew Soen’s family of course. She liked Anny, his wife and she adored the two girls, Susin and Krysti. Both knew better than to ask dumb questions when Kora had shown up in a jumpsuit three sizes too big for her and obviously one step away from hysterics. Anny had taken Kora in hand, and with Oeia’s help, had gotten Kora clean and then into clothes that fit her and sat her down with instructions to ‘sit there and be coddled’. Kora had to admit that Anny knew how to coddle. The young medic was stuffed. Anny knew how to cook, no question, and she enjoyed it too. Kora hadn’t had to move at all, but sooner or later her bladder would make her. Hopefully that would be later. She looked around, amazed as always that this huge estate was Soen’s. Apparently he had done very well for himself in the Militia. The lot was huge, private and secure. She did not miss the multiple guard droids that were concealed in bushes near the perimeter. She also hadn’t missed the guard at the gate, a competent looking man whose slung rifle had made her wince. The house was likewise oversized. The four members of Soen’s family rattled about in it like peas in a too large seedpod. She watched Susin dive into the pool with a splash and sighed deeply. Krysti was waiting her turn to dive.

“Why so great a sigh, Kora?” Soen asked quietly from his spot nearby. She did not miss that his hand never strayed far the pile of newspapers at his side. One she was sure contained a hidden blaster. She knew that Anny had one, the woman went nowhere without her ‘portable cannon’ as she called it. Odd, but Soen’s family lived firearm safety. Both girls also carried blasters, when not cavorting in the pool anyway. “Problems?”

“It’s never going to end, is it?” Kora asked softly. “Every time I turn around, someone else is going to want me dead, or hurt or…” She broke off and shivered. She bowed her head. “If the team hadn’t gotten there when they did…” A hand touched her arm, offering comfort. She looked up into Anny’s worried eyes and smiled without conviction.

“They were going to drag it out.” Soen said without emotion. “The whole point of terrorism is to terrorize. To scare people into accepting someone’s else’s political agenda. The Reds were nuts, even by most terrorist’s standards.” He shook his head slowly. “Maybe this time they are gone for good. Maybe.”

“Seon.” Anny’s voice was calm. It was so odd. She was maybe thirty. Soen was just a little older than her. But their affection for each other was clear even without the Force. Her hair was unbound for once and fell well below her shoulders in luxurious red waves. She wore a short dress that went well with her hair and tanned skin and was well suited to the mild evening. “It’s not your fault. What happened wasn’t your fault.” Soen shook his head and Anny groaned. “What is it with men?” She asked the sky as she slapped her husband on the arm. He stared at her and she grinned lopsidedly. “She is alive, you are alive. The bad guys are dead. That is a win in my playbook.” She grimaced, she didn’t like the game any more than Soen did, but her daughters’ ways of talking were rubbing off on her. A muffled snicker came from where Oeia was ostensibly reading a book. Anny leveled a withering glare at the Twi’lek. “You hush.”

“I didn’t say a thing!” Oeia protested, her face still buried, probably to hide a smile. “I know better.”

Kora stared at the normally dominant Twi’lek and then strangled a laugh as Oeia comically cowered away. Then, somehow, Kora was crying. Anny’s arms came around her and held her while she sobbed.

“I just want to help people.” Kora bawled. “I just want to help. Why can’t it ever be easy?”

“Ah girl…” Anny said with compassion as she held the sobbing form. “Life isn’t fair. You do what you can. You are a darn good paramedic. Don’t let this break you.” She looked at her husband who nodded and Anny sat beside Kora on the large chair. “I have something I would like to ask you, if you don’t mind.”

“You are so nice to me, Anny.” Kora said after a moment, composing herself. “Why?”

“Part of it is that I like you.” Anny said with a smile, but then it vanished. “Part is because I know what it is to be a thing. To be a pawn. Until Soen came into my life, for so long I didn’t know any other way.” Kora stared up and her and then, with a cry, embraced the older woman. “Hey.” Anny said with a smile. “It’s okay. My past is past. My future is here.” She nodded to where the two girls were swimming as fast as they could around in circles. “And it is a future we would like to share with you.”

“Me?” Kora asked, unsure if she had heard correctly. “What do you mean?”

“Immigration is likely to get sticky.” Soen said sadly. “It’s their job, and they go overboard sometimes. You did NOT lie. You just did not tell everything. For good reasons. Unregistered clones are not on the government’s list of ‘approved’ immigrants.” Kora looked at him and then she blinked. How had Soen and Oeia found her? For that matter how had the Militia teams found her? She shook her head and discarded subterfuge.

“How did you find me?” She asked quietly. “They took my clothes, my armor, and I didn’t have my helmet. No trackers that way.” She blinked. How had WILL found her? Wait a sec... “You know Will.” It wasn’t a question. Soen looked at Oeia who nodded and spoke loudly.

“Come on girls, let’s go do the dishes and then we can watch some of that revolting game you like so much.” Krysti and Susin swam to the edge of the pool, climbed out quickly and followed her into the house. Soen nodded and smiled as Anny sat down beside Kora.

“Yes, I do.” Soen said quietly. “He tracked you, I don’t know how and didn’t ask. When I realized you were not in your place, and it had been ransacked, I… I freaked.” He shook his head. “There are some people that you do NOT disturb without good reason, but this counted as a good reason. He was close and he didn’t mind. I think he likes you.” Kora stared at him and Soen shrugged. “I honestly don’t know if that is a good thing or a bad thing.”

“Considering he is the reason we both survived what we did.” Anny said with a scowl. “I think it is a good thing.”

“You know what he is, Anny.” Soen said with a sigh. “What I am. He is worse than me, but not by much.”

“You really think I care?” Anny asked, getting up and moving to her husband’s side. She kissed him and then, backing up, slapped him on the top of the head.

“Ow!” Soen exclaimed, more in surprise than in hurt. “What was that for?”

“What have I told you about ‘self pity mode’?” Anny asked calmly. “I will not let you wallow, you know that. He wouldn’t want you to, either. You are not like him.”

“You both know him.” Kora said with a swallow. “Did you…know about me?”

“No.” Soen said with a sigh. “That man has secrets within secrets. Anny… I am no good with this…” Anny nodded.

“Kora.” Anny said gently. “We will tell you whatever you want to know. But right now, I want to ask you a question.”

“Go ahead.” Kora said softly. “You have both been so good to me, how can I refuse to at least be polite?”

“Would you like to join our family?” Anny’s face was gentle, but intent. Kora’s eyes went wide at that. She stared from Anny to Soen and back. Anny nodded. “We are both Corellian citizens. If we adopt you, you will be one too. Then Immigration can go take a flying leap out an airlock.” She grinned and Soen grinned with her.

“But….” Kora stammered. She had never expected this. “But I… I was … What?” She managed to get the question out. “I am a clone. I won’t be able to have kids.” That had hurt. It had hurt her so bad when she had first found out. Now, though, it was a minor thing. Most of the time.

“We…” Anny gave her a squeeze and stepped back. “…don’t care. They tell me that you didn’t have a family, even before. Just the Jedi. They would take you back, probably treat you with kindness, but you obviously don’t want to go. We like you, our girls like you. You are all alone. And you don’t have to be.”

“I am not a Jedi.” Kora paused, unsure of what to do. “I…” Anny patted her shoulder, offering support.

“You don’t need to answer now, Kora.” Soen said with a sigh. “But we would be honored.” He took a deep breath. “Oeia will be out as soon as she gets the kids watching their blood sport. I owe you that explanation. Of why the General saluted me.” Anny looked sharply at him and he winced. “I wasn’t in uniform, she wasn’t supposed to do that.”

“It bears on us.” Anny said with sigh as she sat beside Kora in the chair. Kora moved to the side and let Anny sit. Anny put her arm around the younger girl and Kora, truth be told, didn’t mind. “It was twelve years ago. It feels like a hundred.” Kora’s eyes widened as the woman slumped. “I don’t like remembering, but you need to know. Even if you do not choose to join our family, you need to know.”

“I don’t want to hurt you.” Kora insisted. “I really don’t. I like you both.”

“It’s okay, it is going to come up again. We owe you an explanation.” Soen said softly. “It was twelve years ago. The Free Sky Reds, that incarnation of the scumballs anyway, had just blown up a bank in downtown Coronet. Hundreds of civilian casualties. Fifty dead, including eighteen kids. The Militia as a whole were angry and we played right into the Red’s hands…”

“Yeah.” Anny agreed sadly. “They set a lot of traps, planet wide.”

“What happened?” Kora asked softly, unsure. “You both survived. So the Militia wasn’t destroyed.”

“I wasn’t Militia, Kora. I was stupid.” Anny’s voice held old anger and recrimination. “I was an undergraduate student in the wrong place at the wrong time. My boyfriend at the time hung out with the Reds. I didn’t know who they were; I paid no attention to politics. It sounded so romantic over beers, if you can believe that. Rebels fighting a desperate battle against oppression and all that. I was so stupid.” She repeated, her face falling.

“Honey, it wasn’t your fault.” Soen said quietly. He paused as the door to the house opened and Oeia came out, her posture hesitant. “You need to hear this too, Boss. Kids busy making eyes at the quarterbacks?”

“Are you sure?” Oeia asked. “Yeah, the girls are enthralled by their game. Two hours?”

“About that.” Soen said with a grimace. “Silly blood sports. But I understand if you don’t want me flying you now. I was careful never to lie.”

“Just like someone else.” Oeia cast a mock serious grimace at Kora who winced. She shook her head and patted Kora’s arm as she sat. “It’s okay Kora, I understand. I trust you and Soen. With my life.” Kora nodded emphatically and Soen sighed and started speaking.

“It was a mess.” Soen’s voice was quiet, old, tired and sad. “The Reds set us up, suckered most of us in nicely and before we knew what happened, we lost almost a third of our deployed teams. Many of them deployed to hit ‘safehouses’ that turned out to be deathtraps or one big bomb. And the coms were out, everywhere.” Soen shook his head. “My team was tasked to hit what we were told was a munitions factory. A place where they made Improvised Explosive Devices. Turned out to be their primary HQ, although we had no clue at the time.”

“Ouch…” Kora said with feeling, but softly as if unwilling to interrupt.

“Yeah.” Soen shook his head. “Two airspeeders, two squads worth of troops. First thing we knew there was a problem was when our coms stopped working. Then my wingman was blown out of the air by Republic design anti-air weaponry. The Reds had a pipeline for that, although we had no clue at the time. The bomb they had used on the bank was a Republic bomb.”

“Why don’t you hate the Republic then?” Oeia asked, her tone dubious. “I know I would have, if I had known. I thought it was a truck bomb. That is what we were told.”

“Nope.” Soen shook his head. “Class A concussion charge. The size of a large briefcase. And the reason I don’t hate the Republic? You ain’t seen mad until you have seen how they responded.” Soen actually shuddered. “I…” He shook his head again. “I went into piloting so I wouldn’t actually get close and personal. I was good at it, too good. I enjoyed it too much. I do enjoy it too much.” Kora and Oeia both looked horrified at that, but Anny just shook her head.

“You think you do.” Anny said sadly. “And no matter what I say, I cannot change your mind. You are not a bad man, Soen. Not like… him…” Kora stared at Anny and then shivered. It took no hard thinking at all for the girl to realize that Anny was talking about Will Kalenath.

“On that, we agree.” Soen said quietly. “So does he, actually.” Soen shrugged. “I want to make a difference, I always did. But I finally got sick of killing people. So sick of it.”

“What happened?” Kora asked quietly. “Obviously you survived.”

“Did I?” Soen shook his head and his expression was bemused. “I dunno sometimes. Around my family and now you and the boss here, I feel… Almost human. Feels good. But part of me died that day.” Anny hugged him.

“Soen…” Her voice was sorrowful. “I am sorry.”

“It is not your fault, Honey.” Soen grimaced but returned her embrace. “What happened was the squad entered the building, ten of the bravest people I have ever known. I went with them. The speeder had crash landed and couldn’t take off again. The anti-air emplacements were everywhere. All of the other team members died in there. Mines, traps, enemy fire… We found the jammer that the Reds were using to cripple our commo. Without any chance of calling for backup, we were dead, all of us and we knew it. We had thought we knew what the Reds were capable of. We were wrong.”

“They found me.” Anny said quietly when Soen trailed off. “My boyfriend and I had finally realized that things were not as we thought. We tried to run. They caught us. They killed him, used his body to lay a trap for the Militia and strapped me to a bomb. Then they nailed me to the jammer.” Kora froze. Anny had many old healed scars on her arms and legs, easily visible ones. They could have come from anything, but from the positions… Kora gave a small cry and embraced Anny. “It’s okay, Kora. After the first two or three, I didn’t feel them.” Anny said as she returned the embrace. “I was out of it, from the pain and fear. And then he came.”

“Soen.” Kora said, her face buried in Anny’s shoulder as Anny patted her head.

“Only three of us were left by then.” Soen said sadly. “We were tired, hurt, and almost out of ammo. And then we found her nailed to the jammer.” He shook his head and tears were falling. “I nearly shot her.”

“You should have.” Anny said quietly. “The mission came first, Soen. You should have shot me.” Kora looked up at her in horror and Anny shrugged. “I was not a civilian. I was not wearing the mask, but I was in what passed for their uniform otherwise. I was an enemy combatant, and I was in the way. You should have shot me.”

“I couldn’t.” Soen sighed, scrubbing his face with his hands. “I saw Anny. She looked up and looked me in the eyes and I couldn’t fire. She couldn’t talk, they had put a nail through her throat, careful not to kill her. We deactivated the bomb and pried her loose. Then the Reds hit us again. They knew that if the jammer went out, that the Militia would swarm them.” Soen shook his head. “We fought, and fought, and fought. Blasters, knives, hand to hand. I don’t know how many I killed. Eventually, I was the only one left standing.” He smiled. “Well, me and Anny here.” Kora stared from one to the other and Anny smirked.

“I woke up with a big, strong, handsome man tending my injuries as best he could. I couldn’t talk, but it didn’t matter.” Anny said with a grin that turned into a scowl. “I made myself an oath that day. If I survived, I was going to marry that man.” Oeia choked a bit and Anny nodded. “Then the people who had hurt me started attacking. What the hell was I going to do? I picked up a blaster when one of his friends went down and started shooting. She was dead, and they had no explosives left to blast the jammer. It was hardened against hand weapons. But Soen is nothing if not creatively violent on occasion.” Her voice held pride now.

“It was your idea Anny, remember? You picked up the bomb and were obviously looking for something to do with it. The box was armored.” Soen’s smile was vicious now. “The power cables were not. She took the bomb that she had been strapped to –it wasn’t enough to dent the box, but the cables were another story-, hooked it to the cables, and then she backed up and tried to shoot it. She missed, so I pulled her behind myself since I was in armor and shot the detonator.” Kora and Oeia both hissed in disbelief. “The blast was substantial but we survived it. And then we had coms again. That jammer had cut militia coms to the whole planet, through repeaters. I called for help, but everybody else was at the same time. Couldn’t get through. The Red’s traps had been fiendishly effective. Dozens dead, dozens more hurt. It was a mess.”

“I assume the terrorists were not happy about that.” Oeia said in the silence that greeted her soft words. “I remember. I helped clean up part of the mess; I was a rookie at the time. Never heard about this thought. Lots of bodies, both sides.”

“Yeah, and it never got off planet either. Republic holo news people were not known for covering local disturbances anyway. Who cares if a couple of hundred people died? I never wanted a media circus. The brass wanted to make me into some kind of celebrity and I told them to stick it.” Soen agreed. “Anyway, back to the story… A mess. Yeah, it was a mess. The Reds hit us, trying to get to the jammer maybe, or maybe the documents. There was a vault nearby that the intel geeks found later. It had all kinds of incriminating stuff in it. So the remaining Reds hit us. Flashbangs and stun charges, then a rush.” He shook his head. “We fought, Anny here was hit, I was hit again.”

“You were hit nine times in total, Soen. You held the line all by yourself after I went down.” Anny said with a pained expression. “You covered me with your own body after I was hit. The next thing I know, a kind woman in Republic armor was tending my wounds. I never learned her name, but she had the saddest eyes.” Kora and Oeia both looked at Soen who shrugged.

“The Republic's response. While we held the Red’s attention,…” Soen said softly. “A pair of Republic Special Forces troopers hit their rear ranks. One of them was the man in black who took the Militia in after you, Kora. I don’t care what anyone says about Special Forces. I never want to fight hem, never. None of what is said is exaggeration. Lousy terrorists didn’t have a chance. They took most of them alive. Scum and brutal they might be, but the Reds are mostly not stupid. When someone pointed a heavy blaster cannon that might make holes in a walker at them from dang near point blank range, they got very polite, very quickly.” Soen shook his head. “I was the only survivor out of those two Militia squads. They gave me the medal for blowing up the jammer, saving the rest of the teams that were cut off from support. I lost my friends, and my desire to hurt people. But I think I came out ahead anyway.” He hugged Anny who smiled.

“But if you were with the Reds…” Oeia said softly. “Why would the Militia trust you?”

“They don’t. I am under full time surveillance and will be for the rest of my life. But I don’t care.” Anny said calmly. “I was never initiated into the Reds. They had given me the mask, but I had not killed anyone wearing it, which was the full initiation test. I never actually killed anyone until Soen freed me from the nails that held me to the jammer. I turned governmental evidence; I told the interrogators everything I knew. I knew I was going to prison, maybe to a grave. I didn’t care what happened to me, as long as Soen was all right.”

“So… How…?” Kora asked softly, unsure. “Even if you hadn’t fully joined the Reds, why would the government let you go?

“Someone we know..." Anny smiled at her husband who shrugged. "...has all the give of a brick made of adamantium.” Anny said with a grin that banished the darkness that had been growing. “He visited me, in the hospital and later in prison. He spoke at my hearing. I told them everything. I didn’t want him to get involved, but he is a bit stubborn at times.” She grinned to take the sting from her words and Soen smiled at her. “He was persuasive. I don’t know what he said to them after I was removed from the court for their deliberations. But I was remanded into his custody, and truth be told, I like it. I wouldn’t trade this life for anything now.” She looked to through the huge bay window of the house to where the girls were watching the holo-vid of the game with avid fascination and shrugged. “Most of the time, when those two are not driving me crazy that is.”

“The offer of adoption stands, Kora.” Soen said quietly. “Sleep on it. No one will bother you here.”

“No one sane.” Anny said with a smirk. “Come on, let’s get both of you to beds.”

“On shift tomorrow.” Kora protested half heartedly as Anny helped her up. She was staggering as Anny helped her into the house. “Need to be up early.” She mumbled as Anny and Oeia helped her into a bedroom.

“No Kora.” Oeia replied sadly. “Tomorrow you meet with the Jedi. Besides, we are short a speeder.” She nodded to Anny and left the room.

Kora stiffened, but did not resist as Anny sat her on a bed and pulled her shoes off. Then Anny produced a nightgown from somewhere and waited while Kora changed into it. Kora sighed, but did not resist as the older human woman tucked her in. She was asleep before the older female left the room.

Kora was not really scared. She had faced harder tests than this. But when she entered the room of the building Soen and Oeia had dropped her at, she did not find a semicircle of Jedi waiting to judge her. Instead, she found a middle aged woman sitting in lotus position. Her outfit was outlandish, but not the oddest that Kora had ever seen. The woman wore a smock like robe that was decorated with loud colors. The woman’s hair was painted earth tones. The colors in her hair were oddly soothing. Kora bowed to the woman, her face calm.

“Good morning, child.” The woman said softly. “I am Silversky Dawnaborning Moonflower Sighs in Stream. You may call me Silversky.”

“I am Kora.” The young paramedic said softly, unsure of what to do. “I expected others.”

“Yes.” Silversky said softly. “Michael told me some of what you have gone through, young one. Not all of course, and I will not pry. Some secrets should not be exposed.” She said with a sad sigh. “Some truths hurt worse than silence.” Kora looked at her and then knelt in front of her.

“What is wrong, Silversky?” Kora asked softly. “I expected the Jedi to be here.”

“I asked to speak with you first.” Silversky said quietly. “I have a young female friend, someone I have known since she was born. Her name is Lois.” Kora waited and Silversky continued. “She was never the brightest of people, but her heart was in the right place. Until she fell in with evil company.” Kora shook her head.

“I am not a Jedi, Silversky.” Kora said softly. “I am a paramedic.”

“I know.” Silversky said sadly. “You are the girl that my…friend, abducted for the Reds.” Kora froze in place. “I have to apologize. I taught her healing. I taught her what she used to knock you out in your apartment. I…” Silversky was crying softly now. “I had no idea…”

“It’s not your fault.” Kora said gently. “Each sentient chooses his, her or its own path.” Silversky continued as if she hadn’t heard.

“She says she didn’t know what they were going to do to you.” The older woman shook her head. “I don’t know if I believe her or not. She had to know why they wanted you. The monsters in red masks don’t take prisoners.” Silversky broke off, obviously working hard to remain calm.

“Silversky, what are you asking of me?” Kora asked softly. “Was she captured?”

“She surrendered to the Militia team that rescued you.” Silversky said, her face downcast. “To my shame, I almost wish they had shot her, even unarmed and cowering in a corner as she apparently was.”

“Don’t ever wish that.” Kora said with sternness in her voice. “Where there is life, there is hope. Why tell me though? This is a matter for the courts.”

“The courts have ruled that she is a kidnapper.” Kora stiffened at Silversky’s soft words. “She is guilty, but the fate of a kidnapper…” Kora stiffened. Corellia was very advanced in some regards, but in some cases, it was still downright barbaric. “I ask your help.”

“Where?” Kora asked softly as she rose. She held out a hand to Silversky. “Come with me.”

“What are you going to do?” Silversky asked, her face working. “The courts have decided.”

“I am going to try and make something good come of this.” Kora said a she drew the older woman to her feet and started for the door. Three forms in Jedi robes appeared when it opened and Kora snarled at them. “This is wrong!”

“We have to stay neutral, Kora.” Nolikas said sadly. But then she smiled. “You don’t.”

***

Soen and Oeia were unhappy with an extra passenger, but Silversky was a model passenger. They had ‘borrowed’ one of the squad speeders that was not on call for this. She touched nothing. Indeed, she didn’t move at all from where Kora had installed her and strapped her in. The few times Kora had tried to start a conversation, the woman had replied in monosyllables. After the second time, Kora had stopped trying.

“There.” Soen said softly as flashing lights appeared in the distance. “You sure about this, Kora? The forms all went through. You are legal.”

“Don’t tell me you approve, Soen.” Kora said in a disgusted voice. “You of all people.”

“Kora…” Soen said quietly. “Whether or not she wanted to, she did abduct you. Law is clear in cases like that, especially when the perpetrator confesses.” Kora glared at him and he shrugged. “You know my history Kora. I am not going to say you are wrong. It would be a little hypocritical, wouldn’t it?” He had a grin in his voice.

“Kora.” Oeia’s voice was kind. “You do this and there will be no going back. You know that.”

“We will help.” Soen said quietly.

“You have.” Kora said as the speeder grounded near another, larger speeder. “Let me do it, please?” She asked. Oeia and Soen both looked at her and then nodded, reluctantly.

As soon as Kora left the speeder, she could hear terrified whimpers coming from a large metal box that was sitting nearby. The two cops and the female Selonian in judicial robes all turned to look at her. The droids excavating the soon to be filled grave did not acknowledge her. At least there were no press around. The whole idea of this kind of thing was to keep the press away. The guilty party would be entombed, alive, and forgotten in an unmarked grave. Doomed to die a slow, horrid, lingering death. Kora walked up to where the judge stood and spoke evenly.

“I am Kora.” The cops both stiffened and the judge nodded to her. “I have come to ask for justice.”

“Justice is being done.” The Selonian replied evenly. She waved towards the box. The whimpers intensified. “Your hurts will be avenged.”

“I do not wish vengeance.” Kora said slowly, aware of the scrutiny of the two cops now. “I wish justice. This is not justice. This is…wrong.” The Selonian sighed.

“Right or wrong, young Kora. It is the law. She violated the law.” The Selonian shook her head. “The punishment is brutal, for a reason.”

“I do not see how there can be justice when the laws are absolute.” Kora said sadly. “But that is neither here nor there. I formally ask the court for her life.” An indrawn breath came from one of the cops, but neither moved.

“You would take her life?” The Selonian looked Kora up and down. “Why?”

“I don’t take lives.” Kora replied quietly. “I save them. She can be saved, I think. Can you let me talk to her at least? I wish to help her.”

“This is…most irregular.” The judge said after a moment. “But I admit to disliking this facet of the law also. We can hope that this law gets changed, repealed or annulled soon. Until then though, it is the law.” Kora nodded. “I will need to check some things.”

“Rule of law beats rule of mob, any day.” Kora said with a forlorn smile as she started towards the box. It had been sitting out in the sun and had to be stifling inside. One of the cops handed her an ancient key and she looked at the lock, an actual ‘turn the key and move pieces inside’ lock. Wow. How often did you see one of those? She put the key in and turned it. A groaning sounded and one wall of the box opened. It was long and narrow, more coffin than a box. The female form within wore a prison jumpsuit and a hood that had an air line attached. Her hands were strapped to her sides in the formfitting material that filled the box. Other straps held a catheter and IV in place. Wouldn’t do for the prisoner to die of dehydration before she had the chance to suffer, now would it? Kora thought with a wince. The girl had obviously been struggling, but the restraints had held her firm. The whole point of such a horrific punishment as to scare people. “Hang on a sec Lois.” Kora said gently a she undid the hood and pulled it away.

“Who…” The girl, she wasn’t more than two or three years older than Kora, blinked rapidly as sight returned. Her brunette hair was matted with sweat where it had been pressed by the hood. Her hazel eyes were hesitant as she stared up at Kora, obviously blinded by the sudden light. Her voice held barely suppressed terror. “Wha…? I have told you everything I know. Just get it over with.”

“I am not going to hurt you, Lois.” Kora said with a grimace as she saw bruises that had not come from the restraints. “I have a question for you.”

“You are not a cop.” Lois said as she focused on Kora, still not seeing clearly. She slumped in her restraints. “Not like I have a choice. Go ahead.”

“Why did you join the Reds? Your mom loves you.” Kora’s soft words had the girl freezing in place.

“So stupid.” Lois looked as if she wanted to cry but was out of tears. “So angry at mom, so tired of carrot juice and nature loving. So… So stupid.”

“What happened, Lois?” Kora insisted, her hand stroking the girl’s head. “I can help.”

“No you can’t.” Lois slumped in her bonds. “All my fault. All of it.” Kora’s eyes narrowed and she rubbed Lois’ scalp gently. Something… familiar… A feeling of worry from somewhere else came over her, and information. She nodded soberly. It was as she had suspected.

“Why?” Kora asked gently. “How old are you, Lois?” Power came from elsewhere and flared from her fingers, hidden by the walls of the box. Lois stared at her and then slumped, obviously unaware of what had just happened, that she had been freed temporarily from another mind’s influence.

“Nineteen.” Lois said, tears falling. “Shouldn’t have trusted him. Olim, my boyfriend. Was my boyfriend. He took me to their ‘meeting’ and that man in black was there. Everything… I couldn’t resist. I tried. I swear I tried…And everything went bad.”

“It would. It is not your fault.” Kora’s voice was soothing. “I can help you, Lois. If you let me.” Lois stared at her and her eyes went even wider in recognition.

“You… You are the medic.” The girl’s voice was hushed, scared now. “The one that they had me abduct. They were going to torture you.”

“They were stopped.” Kora said quietly. “I help people. You need help. Will you let me?”

“You can’t.” Lois said sadly. “The law is the law. I kidnapped you, this is the required punishment.” She broke off as the judge came close and nodded to Kora. “What?” She stammered as the cops came close. She tried to shy away from them and then her eyes went wide as they started unhooking her. She turned incredulous eyes to the judge who smiled at her.

“Your sentence is hereby changed. This young woman has taken custody of you.” Lois’s eyes went so wide that Kora thought they would fall out of her head. “Keep her out of trouble, medic Kora.”

“I will do my best.” Kora said with a grin as she helped Lois out of the box. “Come on, we have lot of talking to do. Your mom is in the ambulance.”

“My mom…” Lois groaned. “I can’t face her… Not now.”

“It wasn’t entirely your fault, Lois.” Kora said gently as she helped the girl over the rough ground towards the ambulance. “But you do need to talk to her.”

“Shoot me?” Lois begged as the hatch of the ambulance opened and Silversky came out, her face remote. “Mom… Silversky… I…”

“You abused what I taught you.” Silversky said softly. “You used what I taught you about healing to hurt another, someone who had done nothing to you. If not for her, you would be screaming your lungs out, buried alive and forgotten, and doomed to die over a matter of weeks. I want to forgive you, but I can’t.” The old woman’s face was closed. “I can’t.”

“Ma’am, Silversky…” Kora said quietly. “It wasn’t her fault.”

“It doesn’t matter, Kora.” Lois said sadly as she knelt. “I hurt you, I broke with our Way.” She bowed her head and Kora stared as Silversky spit. It seemed symbolic somehow and Lois recoiled as if the globule of spit onto the ground had been a fist to her face. Silversky ignored Lois and spoke to Kora.

“What will you do with her?” The older woman shook her head. “She is no longer my daughter.” Lois made a soft noise of despair, but did not move.

“She was brainwashed.” Kora was dazed, she hadn’t expected this. “It wasn’t her fault.”

“No.” Silversky admitted. “If it was anyone’s fault, it was mine. I didn’t pay enough attention. I did not see the signs of evil taking her. I failed the woman who was my daughter.” She ignored the soft cry of distress that Lois made. “But the Way is clear. The woman who was my daughter abused her calling, abused the training I had given her. I do not know the woman with you.” Silversky shook her head and turned to go. Another speeder was landing nearby and Kora did not have to see to know it held the three Jedi.

“Silversky…” Lois said , her voice breaking. “I am sorry.” The older woman ignored her completely, as if Lois did not exist. She stepped into the speeder and it lifted again. Lois slumped and then nodded. “What now, mistress?”

“I am not your mistress, Lois. You are not a slave, no matter what the letter of the law may state.” Kora said gently. “What you did was bad, but you are alive. Where there is life, there is hope. I don’t know your Way, but is there nothing in it about redemption?”

“I…” Lois shook her head. “I don’t know. So much I thought was clear is not. So fuzzy now.”

“It’s okay, Lois.” Kora blew out a deep breath. “What do you want to do?”

“Have you got space for a trainee?” Lois asked softly as she rose. “I think I might like to try EMS.” Kora looked at her and smiled as she laid an arm over the older girl’s shoulders and guided her towards the speeder and her future.

Lois was deeply asleep but her eyes were open and watching Kora as she sat down near the girl’s bed. Soen had been less than enthused by Kora taking Lois in, but Anny was willing to give Lois a chance. She knew about second chances. But no one was going to trust Lois near a gun anytime soon. Maybe never.

“I know you can hear me.” Kora spoke evenly. “Are we enemies?”

“You thwarted the master’s plans.” The voice of a collective consciousness run by an intelligent mass of nano machines spoke through the sleeping girl. “Why do you attempt to communicate? Why have you saved this one from being buried alive?”

“I don’t remember who I was before.” Kora said evenly, squelching the sinking pit of fear that opened in her gut. “I don’t remember what happened. I woke with no memory among people who cared for me. They told me that to remove the programming that your master put in me, programming that was trying to make me suicide; they had to wipe my mind entirely. They told me that your master’s minions had hurt someone that I care a great deal for.” Lois’ body seemed to slump in place.

“Many of the master’s actions have been… suboptimal.” The collective agreed. “He knows this and seeks a better way.”

“I don’t care.” Kora said quietly. “I feel your tendrils in Lois. You will take control of her again.” It was a flat statement, not a question.

“We do not control.” The collective disagreed. “We merge ourselves. We all become greater, part of a greater whole.”

“Perhaps.” Kora said sadly. “Or perhaps you are all so caught up in what you believe that nothing anyone says matters. Either way, it does not matter. I saved Lois from being buried alive. I will save her from you.”

“We are not evil, Kora.” The collective said quietly though Lois’ lips. “We will not harm her.”

“There are many ways to harm.” Kora said softly. Her hands came up with a heavy blaster pistol and the eyes of the slumbering woman were drawn to it. “I don’t want to do this, but you leave me no choice.” She aimed at the sleeping woman’s head.

“Kora, no.” The collective was begging. “Please…”

“You have absorbed her, you will take her over and be a threat to everyone I care about.” Kora was crying softly. “I am not one of the Seven, I cannot purge your influence from her. So the only way to free her…” She was squeezing the trigger as Soen had started teaching her. She hated blasters, but firearm safety was important.

“Stop.” A new voice spoke from Lois’ lips. A male voice. “There is no need, girl.”

“Firdlump.” Kora said softly. “I think there is a need. She didn’t want this. She did not ask for this. Scan her memories, you can, can’t you? She didn’t join the Reds willingly, did she?”

“No.” Firdlump’s voice as sad. “But it cannot be undone, Kora.”

“Sure it can be.” Kora disagreed quietly, her aim never wavering. “But it is brutal when the Seven do it, which is why they don’t like to. When were you going to implant her?”

“We were not going to.” Firdlump said quietly. It was downright eerie, the male voice coming out of the female body. “She would have been a spy, not an agent.”

“She is useless as a spy.” Kora said softly, not moving. “The Militia knows about her, the Jedi know about her and the Seven know about her. So how about this? You leave her alone.”

“What?” Firdlump’s voice turned sharp. “What do you mean?”

“Do you want to watch as she learns how to be an EMT? While she learns to patch up broken bodies? It’s fairly disgusting much of the time.” Kora asked sourly. “That is what she wants. Or did you think anyone else is going to trust her but me? And I won’t trust her but so far.”

“You would do that, for her?” Firdlump’s voice was cautious. “Why?”

“Because I help people.” Kora said softly. “I can feel when you are in her mind. I know that your…connection or whatever you call it, is not complete. She is my responsibility. If I feel you attempting to complete the connection, using her to spy, or ferry information, I will shoot her.”

“You just said you wanted to help her.” Firdlump said quietly. “How is shooting her going to help her?”

“You enslave people.” Kora did not take her eyes off the target. “You may cloak it however you wish, but let us not bandy words. None of your servants can leave your service. That is slavery. Do you pay any of them?”

“Not in way you would understand, child.” Firdlump said sadly. “So, what do you want?”

“I want Lois.” Kora said softly but firmly. “I want you and your collective to stay out of her head. I want you to cut the connection you have now.”

“I cannot do that.” Firdlump said, and was his voice uneasy? “I cannot do what you ask.”

“I just want you to leave her alone.” Kora said with a snarl. “I will cut her connection, one way or another. Do not make me kill her. I will.” The muzzle of her pistol, which had drooped a little, came back up to point between the girl’s eyes. “Leave. Now.” Suddenly, the odd sensations that she felt in the Force vanished and Kora hastily stashed the pistol as Lois’s eyes closed and then reopened.

“What?” The young woman asked softly, scared. “Kora…?”

“It’s okay, Lois.” Kora soothed the scared girl with a gentle voice. “Bad dream. Go back to sleep. I will keep the monsters away.”

“Shouldn’t have saved me.” Lois said as she slid back towards sleep. “I am a monster.”

“No you are not, girl.” Kora said with a wince. “But just barely not. I won’t let you become one. Sleep.” Lois drifted off, her face easing as she relaxed.

Well done, Kora The soft, gentle voice in her head said quietly. Well done indeed. We will not be in contact often, but if you need our help, call.

Thank you, Queen Kicota Kora replied the exact same way. I hope I don’t need to call for help, but thank you.

***

Soen was shaking his head as Kora came out of what was now Lois’ room.

“I don’t think this is a good idea, Kora.” Soen said slowly. Kora looked at him and he shrugged. “She gives me the creeps. Something about her…” He shook his head, baffled.

“I know what it is.” Kora agreed. “But she is my responsibility now. I can handle it. Um… Do I call you ‘Dad’ now?”

“You don’t have to. This is going to be slightly weird, Kora. We adopted you and you have basically adopted her.” Soen said with a smile. “But that was very well done. I assume the Jedi were satisfied?”

“Yeah, I think.” Kora said, her posture discouraged. “I don’t know, Soen. They still have to test me. They will make their report, and we will have to go from there. But for now, I just want to relax with my new family.

“Don’t get too relaxed.” Soen warned. “We have a new speeder coming in two days. You have never had to deal with what the factory thinks is ‘properly adjusted’.” He made quote symbols in the air around the last two words and his tone was sarcastic.

“Bad huh?” Kora asked as she sat at the table. Anny was finishing up putting away the dishes that everyone had helped clean. The meal had been incredible. Kora hoped to be able to cook half as well when she got to be Anny’s age.

“Yeah, they always try and get all of the settings wrong. I think it’s a game to them…” Soen smiled at Kora as she shook her head. “We always have to fiddle with things a lot to get them right. That is assuming they put all the pieces in the right places this time, they don’t always and then getting them to fix things is a major hassle..”

“But you love it, Soen.” Kora said with a grin. “Admit it.”

“Wouldn’t be anywhere else.” Soen had a wide grin on his face now. “But don’t tell Oeia that. I have my own reputation to maintain.”

“Go ahead and grumble Soen.” Kora said with a smirk. “We love you anyway.” She paused as Soen’s face became serious. “What?”

“I need to know, Kora.” Soen leaned close so as not to be overheard. “Is Lois going to be a problem?”

“No.” Kora said flatly. “She is not a threat. Not to anyone on this planet anyway. If she does become one, I will handle it.” Soen looked at her and whatever he saw in her eyes must have convinced him because he dropped the subject. Kora sighed. “So. Speeder calibrations?” She sat back as she thought about the odd feelings he got from Lois and shook her head. No wonder the Jedi didn’t want anything to do with the girl, not if she was part of Firdlump’s collective. “Another day in EMS?”

“Another day in Corellian EMS.” Soen agreed with a smile. “Fun, fun. But not until the day after tomorrow.” Kora grinned and they went to sit with Anny who was looking at them expectantly.

“So, what is our new daughter up to?” Anny said with a grin as Kora sat.

“No good.” Kora said with a matching grin. “What else would I be doing?”

“Saving the galaxy, making the world a safer place…” Anny said with a pompous air. Kora looked at her and she smirked. “Hey, can’t blame a girl for dreaming big. I will settle for you being safe and happy.” Now her tone was serious as she patted Kora’s arm where it was close enough.

“I am no Jedi, Anny.” Kora said softly. “I am pretty sure…” Like 100% Kora thought with a pang. “…that the way I managed to save Soen and myself was a once off. Now I can barely muster the energy to lift a chair a centimeter or two. Or at least I can’t do anything at long distance. Maybe I can heal. Maybe. But even if I can, I won’t be able to do a lot of that.”

“Take it one day at a time, Kora.” Soen advised. “It is all anyone can do. But what is this ‘no good’ you are talking about?” He asked sternly, but with a twinkle in his eyes.

“I dunno.” Kora said with a grin. “But I do think that your daughters are evil minded. The pranks those two are planning for me...” Soen winced. “They are not very subtle and whispers carry.”

“They are not malicious, thank the maker!” He said with a heave of relief. “But I was always told that teenage daughters are the scariest things in the galaxy.”

“Well, yeah.” Anny agreed with a wide grin. “They haven’t learned what Kora has yet. How to use their powers for good.” Kora stared at her and then laughed. But then Anny sobered. “Kora, I have a question for you.”

“Go ahead.” Kora asked as she sat back and sipped a glass of water that had somehow mysteriously appeared on the arm of her chair. Anny grinned and another appeared on her own chair. Soen and Anny loved their techie toys.

“Do you know an Officer Lorson?” Anny asked. “He has called three times. Apparently he tried your apartment and was shunted here. I think you have an admirer.” Anny and Soen both laughed as Kora choked on her water.

“Easy Kora.” Soen said as he patted her back until her airway was clear. “Don’t want to call EMS for you.”

“Right…” Kora said sourly. “Would be embarrassing.” She was sure her face was as red as a blaster bolt and her ears had to be almost on fire from the way they felt. “To answer your question, I do know a Lorson. He was a medic on the SAR speeder. But…He is calling me? Why?” She shrugged, confused. “What did I do?” Anny and Soen exchanged a glance and Soen rose. “Soen?” Kora asked, somewhat worried. He patted her arm and started away, shaking his head and mutter something about ‘kids’. Kora was starting to get scared. “Anny?”

“It’s nothing bad, Kora.” Anny said quietly. “I have been planning this discussion for the other two, but you need it now. Have you heard of the birds and the bees?”

“No.” Kora’s eyes went wide as Anny’s sense in the Force turned resigned. “What?”

“This may be a long discussion.” Anny said, but she grinned. “You see, he is attracted to you.”

“No!” Kora blurted out, her glass hanging forgotten. “No way.”

“Yes way.” Anny said with a sad smile. “So we are going to have a nice, quiet Momma-daughter chat. You are old enough to make you own decisions, and I have no business telling you to do anything since my own judgment wasn’t so hot when I was your age. But there are things you need to know. Things I doubt that anyone has taught you in your retraining.”

“Probably.” Kora said slowly as she took a sip. “So… This is a boy-girl thing?”

“Right, a boy-girl thing.” Anny said with a nod. “There is a lot of stuff you need to know, not just the biology. Understand this, you can talk to me at any time. And I do mean any time. So, lets start at the bare bones basic level. Boy humans and girl humans are different.” Kora opened her mouth and then shut it with a click as Anny glared at her. “Good girl.” Anny sighed. “Get comfortable. This may take a while.” The two female settled into their chairs to continue Kora’s education in things other than EMS.

<Two days later>

Kora was shuddering with fatigue when the tests finally ended and she could relax. Nolikas smiled at her and nodded.

“All done, Kora.” The Rakata Jedi surgeon said with a nod. “I assume you want a report as well.”

“Yeah.” Kora said as she stepped off the treadmill. She walked a little, her body trying to stay in motion. She picked up her water bottle and took a drink careful not to drink to fast or too much. “If you can, that is. I don’t want you violating any secrets. But I do want to get back to work.”

It had been a long two days since Anny had sat her down and explained the birds and the bees. The girl had been hesitant, but then Kora had to admit that she had enjoyed every moment of the pampering that Anny had given her. She and Anny both knew that it would settle down, that she would settle down. Get into a routine, and not need such attention. For now, Anny just made sure Kora was enjoying herself and Kora made up for it by helping out however she could.

Lorson had called again and Kora had talked to him, hoping the whole time that her fumble witted excuses for conversation hadn’t been too glaringly obvious. She wasn’t sure if anything would come of this, but he seemed nice enough. He did understand her, and she him. Krysti and Susin were marvelous, if a bit taken aback by this new addition to their family. Kora found herself fitting in a way she wasn’t sure she ever had. But she really liked it. Lois was going to be a handful, but the girl did seem to be set on trying to find a way to redemption for what she did. It was really weird, Kora mused. She was the parent to Lois and Anny and Soen were parents to her. She wondered idly if SHE was going to have to explain the birds and bees to Lois. Probably not, Lois was older and smart. She would sit down with the older girl at some point anyway, just to be sure. Anny had taken Lois in hand and the girl was soaking in knowledge like a sponge. It wouldn’t be long before Lois could take the basic evaluation test for EMS. To become a G0F3R, Kora thought with a mental smirk. But that left Kora here. She focused on the Rakata as she felt her heart rate slow.

“I won’t.” Nolikas said with a sigh as she turned from her desk. She nodded as she watched Kora finish cooling off. “Easy does it. I pushed you hard.”

“Yeah.” Kora agreed softly. “But you needed to. What did you find out?” She asked as she sat.

The small room had been set aside in the rescue squad building as a testing facility. Oeia and Sioen did not trust Nolikas. For that matter, Kora wasn’t sure she did. There was something about the Jedi. Something…hidden. Kora shook her head again as she looked around, The small room was set up as a fitness facility. A small desk with a terminal that the Jedi was using, multiple workout machines and a fridge that held water and sports drink were the sole furniture. A monitor on the wall could play the news or any holos that the people working out might bring, Kora had found some very odd things in the player on occasion, but nothing awful. Just odd. Nolikas nodded to her.

“You are in excellent health.” Noliaks started at the beginning. “Your physical condition is excellent given that three days ago, you had a stick shoved through your shoulder and two days ago, you had people very nearly torture you.” She shook her bulbous head at the young woman. Kora for her part waited patiently. “But you knew that.” Nolikas sighed. “I have access to Min’s records. She had more power than you have available. I don’t what they did to you, the ones who cloned you from her, but whatever it was, cut most of your connection to the Force.”

“Good.” Kora said softly, but not softly enough. Nolikas stared at her.

“Good?” Nolikas was nearly in tears. “Kora… I knew Min, she was… She wasn’t exceptionally powerful, but she was such a good kid. She was my responsibility in the enclave healing wing when she vanished. When I heard about you, I had hoped…” She broke off, unable to continue.

“I am not Min, Nolikas.” Kora said sadly. “I don’t even have her memories. I was likely cloned with them, but to break the controls, they had to wipe my mind.” Nolikas stiffened, but Kora was not done. “I don’t blame them. It saved my life. I want to honor my progenitor, but I am not a Jedi, Nolikas.”

“No you are not.” Nolikas agreed sadly. “You don’t...” She broke off again, obviously trying to find a soft way to say it.

“I can’t muster the power or discipline to be able to pass the Jedi Trials.” Kora said for her. “I suspected as much.”

“You might be able to find a calling in the Jedi Service Corps, the Medical Corp in particular.” Nolikas said sadly. “I hate to lose someone who wants to heal as much as you do.”

“I can make a difference here.” Kora said quietly, sipping her water. “I honor the Jedi, but I am not a Jedi, Nolikas.”

“The Council is just going to love this.” Nolikas said with a sigh. “But you are right. I want to make it better and I can’t.”

“I am better, Nolikas.” Kora was oddly calm, much calmer than she had been recently. “I am not powerful enough to be a threat, am I?”

“I wish, Kora.” Nolikas said with a scowl. “The Dark Side can take any of us. Even those with minor talents. Admittedly, those usually cannot do as much damage as the really powerful beings, but…” She nodded and Kora hissed. “You saw.” It wasn’t a question.

”He has lost it, hasn’t he?” Kora asked in tone one step removed from abject fear. “Can we help him?”

“I don’t think anyone can help Will Kalenath this time.” Nolikas said sadly. “We are taking action. Diseree is off taking actions that will alienate people, good people. But we have to stop him before too many lives are lost. Before this spirals completely out of control. We will try and keep it from this world.”

“Thank you.” Kora said as she shook herself. Nothing she could do about it. “So the power I… got…when I slowed the speeder came from the Seven? Why?”

“You will need to ask them.” Nolikas said with a shrug. “And they are not talking to us right now. I am not too proud to say I am scared of what is coming, Kora.”

“Me too, Nolikas. Me too.” Kora shook her head and finished her water. “Am I clear to return to duty?”

“Yes.” Nolikas said with a smile. “Good luck Kora. May the Force be with you.” She closed down her terminal, nodded to Kora again and left the room. Kora shook her head and followed. She checked the schedule and she was listed as ‘on shift’. Oeia was keeping up with things as always. She had just turned into the lady’s refresher when something went click and she was suddenly drenched. She caught the bucket that had been perched over the door for the next unwary soul and scowled. A laugh came from a dark room nearby. A familiar one. Jokes were a good way to break the stress that was a paramedic’s life, but…

“Soen! When I get my hands on you…” She cried as she entered the dark squad bay, but froze as the lights that had been dim came up bright. The whole team was assembled. Twenty six beings of various races were all smiling at her. Her eyes went wide as Soen and Oeia came forward, a paper in the Twi’lek’s hands. “What the…?”

“It is traditional, Kora.” Oeia said with a twinkle in her usually stern eyes. “You have to be all wet when you receive this.” She paused as Soen pulled out a towel and wiped off the sopping paramedic’s hands. He pulled the towel out of reach as she would have dried more of herself. “Kora.” Oeia’s voice became formal as Kora growled at the pilot who was grinning so wide his face looked to split.

“Yes, Ma’am?” Kora braced. What had she done?

“According to standards that have been in place for decades, a trainee has a large number of hoops to jump through to prove his, her or it’s ability to serve in EMS. While you were busy proving that you were not a Jedi, and Soen was busy fussing over his new toy, I have also been busy trying to keep up with the paperwork you crazy fools have dropped all over me.” Oeia’s words were merry, but her eyes were sad. “I never wanted this job. I just do it.”

“No one better.” Kora said quietly and a muted ‘hear, hear’ came from around the room. “What did I do this time, Boss?” She asked resignedly.

“You passed your test for full status.” Oeia said quietly as Kora stiffened. “Not only that, but your grades were the highest I have ever seen. No one has ever made 100% on this test. No one. Your score of 99.53% has set a new record. Paramedic trainees are going to curse your name from now until the stars grow cold for blowing the curve out of space.” She finished with a wide grin.

“99…” Kora felt faint. She had been sure she had done well, but not that well. “Has to be a mistake.”

“Nope.” Oeia shrugged. “There was some talk of cheating. Talk that luckily got squashed by a number of people before it reached my ears. You worked your rear end off, girl. You studied harder than any two other medics I have known, myself included. You know your stuff, so it is my duty and honor to promote you from General -0 rank- Female- 3rd class- Recruit to Paramedic –Evaluated- Operational, status Normal .” She handed the paper to Kora who glanced at it. It was… She took a deep breath.

“So…” Kora asked with a grin as she saw her name emblazoned on the certificate. “I just got promoted from a go-fer to a peon?”

“Yep.” Oeia was grinning widely now. She tried to look innocent and failed. “And to celebrate, someone –I have no idea at all who that could have been- seems to have baked a cake.” The mass of paramedics moved and Kora’s eyes went wide as she saw a huge flat cake laid out on the table behind them. On it, a large tree had an ambulance stuck in its upper branches, lights still going. The caption read. ‘Just another uneventful day in EMS.’

“Anny…” Kora half groaned, half laughed. The others were ushering her forward when the alert buzzer went off. She was at her locker in seconds and pulling her gear on despite her wet discomfort. She was out the door in just a few more seconds. Oeis and Soen had the speeder ready as she piled in and snapped her belt shut. As the speeder took off, she shook her head and smiled as she focused on her job.

Just another uneventful day in Corellian EMS.