• Choose a category
• All
• Classic-Fiction

“I shouldn’t, Erisi.”

“Are you certain?” The disappointment in her voice twisted into forced levity. “Think of it as a chapter for your memoirs.”

“I have no doubt it would take two chapters.” Corran sighed heavily. “I’m afraid I’d get no sleep. That would kill me. I’d die happy, but I’m afraid our compatriots would not.”

Erisi nodded slowly and looked down. “I understand.”

I’ve got to be insane. I’ve said “no” to one of the most desirable women I’ve ever met. Corran smiled. Of course I’m crazy, I volunteered to go back to Borleias.

“Why the smile?”

Corran stroked her cheek. “I was thinking you’re ample incentive for me to do everything I can to return.”

Erisi leaned down and kissed him on the mouth. “Then if you do not return, I shall feel horrible for the rest of my life.”

“I can’t have that, can I?”

“Certainly not.” She kissed him again, then slowly pulled away from him. “Sleep well tonight, Corran Horn, and fly the best you ever have tomorrow.”

The door to her quarters closed and Corran turned to backtrack to the hallway leading to the billet he shared with Ooryl. Though with Ooryl staying in the med station so they can monitor his arm, I’ll be all alone.

A jolt of fear ran through him and he almost turned around and went back to Erisi. Since his father’s death he had spent a lot of time alone. It wasn’t that they had been in each other’s constant company, but just knowing he could speak with his father, and that his father would understand his problems, meant he didn’t have to face them without help. Unlike most of the folks he knew, he got along well with his father. They had their occasional fights, but nothing that ripped apart the fabric of their relationship. That relationship, strengthened by mutual grief when Corran’s mother died, weathered all adversity and just grew stronger.

They’d always been like paired banthas yoked to the same gravsledge. Together there had been nothing they could not accomplish. He realized that since his father’s death, he’d been trying to go forward as much as possible, but without his father being there, he had a hard time figuring out exactly which way was forward. Gil Bastra had tried to help him out, and had been very effective, but since leaving CorSec, Corran had been without a moral compass. Actually, I’ve had the moral compass, but I was so used to checking it against my father’s feelings on things, that I’m not certain it’s still calibrated correctly.

Deep down he knew his father would have supported his decision to join the Rebellion, but his approval would have been harder to earn. Corran felt fairly certain he could have earned it, too, but death prevented him from knowing his father was still proud of him. He knew his father would have thought the mission to Borleias was stupid and needlessly dangerous, but he would have also been one of the first to volunteer for it.

“I guess, old man, you really aren’t gone.” Corran fingered his medallion. “I’ve got your sense of duty and your good luck charm. Definitely puts me ahead of the game.”

Corran opened the door to his quarters and hit the light switch. He’d already unzipped his flight suit from throat to navel before he noticed the blanket-shrouded lump on Ooryl’s bunk stir. “How did you get in here?”

Mirax sat up and scooped long locks of black hair out of her face. “Your Gand friend let me in.”

“Where did you run into him?”

“Med-station. Coolant pump went in the Skate and flooded the ventilation system. My droid is locking it down, but I got a lungful. He was there and recognized me. The Emdees declared me healthy, but I couldn’t go back to the Skate, and with you staging for an operation, there’s scant free space here. Since he’s staying with the doc droids, he offered me his billet.” She yawned. “I agreed since I assumed you’d be spending the night with the bacta queen.”

Corran blinked at her. “You did?”

“I saw the look she gave you when I showed up on the Reprieve. She could teach the