The trip back from Malachor V had been tense, to put it mildly.

Kari had made serious threats to leave Kinnan marooned on the planet if bringing him back meant prosecuting Dianiss as a Sith. Only Galadina's assurances that everything would be okay convinced Kari to relent. (Plus, leaving him behind meant not getting paid.)

But Kari did, as a small act of defiance, collect the Sith's saber for Dianiss.

Then there was the matter of the missing White Parallel computer from her ship. Against all astronomically-unlikely odds, it appeared that someone had followed them to the Malachor system, gotten onto the ship, disabled the remote-controls, and stolen the Gree machine.

The only reason they DID know what had happened to it for sure was that the culprit had left behind a datapad with a simple message: "No need to return the Gree computer: I hope you don't mind but I've taken the liberty of collecting it ahead of schedule. Also, please accept my sincere condolences regarding the damaged holocron. --Saffire"

For the trip back to Tython, Kinnan had insisted that Dianiss be held in the Sith transport capsule under sedation like a prisoner, which Kari initially refused. But after examining her patient closer, Kari put Dianiss in it anyway for medical reasons--and to allow Dianiss to sleep off the worst of Ziveri'Sinya's after-effects.

For the remainder of the journey, Kari kept herself occupied on the bridge by flying the ship and occasionally popping over to the cargo area to check on Dianiss. Any free time she had in between was spent studying Jedi law texts and reprogramming Kinnan's shower controls to randomly turn ice-cold.

Kinnan spent most of the trip in the main crew lounge utilizing the holotable to scan and catalog the holocron fragments that he had collected from the crater floor, occasionally grumbling to anyone who would listen (which was NO ONE) that the White Parallel would have been perfectly suited to the massively-complex task of analyzing all the individual pieces and fitting them back together, giving him a chance at maybe reconstructing the holocron.

Galadina avoided all three of them for the entirety of the trip, preferring to remain in solitude in the crew bunks meditating and presumably trying to repair Truthseeker using some of the spare lightsaber parts from the Sith's arsenal. She, too, had collected a souvenir from Malachor V: the centuries-old robe of Darth Trayus that had been used to nearly end her life. (In the dry air of Malachor V, it was remarkably well-preserved.)

So aside from Kari's periodic announcements regarding travel progress and meal/sleep periods, the entire trip was spent in complete, awkward silence.

It wasn't until they had nearly arrived back on Tython that Galadina emerged from her self-imposed exile to visit the cargo area where she waited for Kari to come in to check on Dianiss one last time before they arrived.

"How is she?" Dina asked.

Kari was so startled by Dina's unexpected break of the silence that she nearly jumped out of her own skin. "OHMYGOSH! Don't do that!"

"I'm sorry."

"It's okay." Kari said, calming down. "But you've gotten a lot sneakier since you started using that double-barreled blade." From her tone of voice, she sounded uncertain of whether or not she approved.

"Well, it IS part of the training. So . . . how is she?"

"She was burning the Sith-powered hyperdrive pretty hard back there, so it's going to take her a while to come back down to her normal Jedi-powered mojo. The medical coma will help speed that up--and besides, it also keeps her from using Master Endurance out there for 'exercise' in the mean time." (As she said the word 'exercise', Kari made quotation-marks with her fingers.)

"...using . . . huh?!?"

"Trust me Girlfriend, if your connection to Annie is anything like mine, you DO NOT want to be in the next room." Kari cocked her head to the side, and with a smirk, added, "Then again, maybe a little of THAT might do you some good." Though Dina didn't recognize it, Kari made a slightly-obscene gesture with her lekku. "Is he your type?"

Dina stood and faced Kari for a moment with a we-are-not-amused expression on her face. "I'm going to start again." she finally said. "When we dock on the Tython station, what are your plans for afterward?"

"Well, Scoundrel's Vacation will be in for some diagnostics and maintenance after the hyperdrive double-jump, and I fully expect the Accounts Payable people to give me the run-around on this one, so . . . I figured I'd be staying on Tython for a while. Why?"

"I want to hire your ship. It's a . . . time-sensitive job, so we'll need to leave as soon as you can."

"All right, in that case, I can push back some of the maintenance and deal with the Service Corp later, when I've got TWO jobs to collect on." A puzzled look crossed Kari's face. "Don't you have a ship of your own?"

"Yes, but . . . yours is more suited to the task. It doesn't scream out 'Jedi' like mine does."

"Oh, so this is one of THOSE runs, huh? What's the cargo?"

"Just passengers: myself and Dianiss. In fact, I think you should just keep her unconscious in the capsule for her own good until we return. I need to deliver a message, but I have to do it personally. On the return trip, we'll probably have another passenger, maybe more than one. And . . . discretion. We're probably breaking a few laws."

Kari couldn't help but smile. "All right, Dina, out with it. What are you up to? It's not like you to be so cagey and it's DEFINITELY not like goody-goody little Galadina to go walking on the wild side like this."

"Well, right now, the less I tell you, the better. I'll give you the destination after we launch."

Kendsel was lying in bed looking delirious due to the light sedative he'd been given to calm him down. Both Master Annanya and Colonel Corvioch were with him, while Master Casei examined him both with medical equipment and through the Force.

"You see what I mean?" Corvioch asked rhetorically. "He's just completely checked out."

"Well, so far, I don't see anything wrong with him physically." Casei reported. "I'll keep looking deeper, but I really don't think this is a medical problem."

Annanya looked at Kendsel for a long while without speaking, simply holding his hand.

"What happened, Cor?" she finally asked.

"He had one of his visions, but this one was a doozy. Any other time, he's only in the zone for a few seconds, but this time it was a few minutes. Ever since then, it's like the worst case of P.T.S.D. I've ever seen. All he does is talk in gibberish, and we have no idea what he actually saw. I don't even know what to do with him at this point."

"Thanks for bringing him here.  That was definitely the right call." Anya said, after a long pause. "I'll do what I can to get through to him."

"Good morning, Dear." she said as she entered the room carrying her trophy. "I have an early birthday present for you . . . if you've been a good boy. And if you've not, I've also selected an appropriate suit in honour of the occasion. Shall I change into it for you?"

"That won't be necessary." Zarvell responded, with his usual sigh of exasperation that was entirely too common in his dealings with Agent Violet'ence and her flirtatious teasing. "I expect you've examined it already."

"Well I had do SOMETHING to pass the time on the trip back." she confirmed with a pouting expression.

"And?"

"They were definitely telling the truth about using it to reverse-simulate the destruction of Malachor V and find the current location of some centuries-old planetary coordinates. They did find what they were looking for."

"But?"

"You're going to make me say it, aren't you? Very well. You were right, damn you. I DID get to it before he'd gotten a chance to erase anything, and YES, I found another program. You're NOT going to like it."

"Why is that?"

"I'm not 100% certain, but it appears that our friend Master Sig-lapp was customizing some sort of artificial virus to a particular blood sample. And unless I'm mistaken, the blood sample data belonged to your little Angel--and it was somehow stolen from Prowler's team back on Nar Shaddaa. That makes this personal, you know. I'm the only one permitted to make them look bad."

Zarvell sat silently for a few moments before saying anything. "Believe it or not," he finally said, "that's NOT the most troubling thing I've learned today."

"Are you joking? Worse than a bloody bio-weapon customized for your daughter? This practically has the scent of your Ex's perfume wafting off of it."

"I've been reviewing the holo-footage you sent ahead. If this had come to me from any other source, I'd immediately pronounce it a remarkable forgery due to certain . . . inconsistencies in continuity."

"Inconsis-- . . . like what?!?"

"Well, now that we have the White Parallel computer in hand, we can use it to reprocess these images to eliminate the visual distortion caused by that Force construct so that I can confirm my suspicions. But even without that, there's something odd about Master Galadina's behaviour . . . and something particularly odd that I almost missed about a certain wound on her right leg."

After arriving on Tython, Kinnan wasted no time and went directly to Master Satele Shan with his accusations.

"Master Kinnan," she said, "these are VERY serious charges, especially in light of the fact that she was officially assigned to your expedition, making her your responsibility."

"I understand that. But it's clear to me that this Sith ancestor of hers is a danger to everyone around her, including herself. It has to be contained . . . and if possible, removed." He was slowly getting more and more animated as he spoke.

"There is another issue that we will have to address if you intend to proceed." she said, calmly. "As I'm sure you're aware, much of the information concerning Dianiss' . . . origin . . . is classified."

"As a member of the Council of First Knowledge, I have full White-level clearance, as I'm sure you're aware."

"Yes I am. But to protect the sensitive information that will almost certainly be brought out, the entire proceeding will have to be done in executive session. This cannot be put before the entire Council, nor can we allow the public or any form of press. The Tribunal Council will have to be kept to the bare minimum, as will the number of witnesses. Do you disagree?"

"I am well aware of our procedures, Satele. I still believe it is in the best interests of the Order to proceed."

"Very well, Master Kinnan." Satele said, as she manipulated a few controls on the arm of her chair. "I'll activate the recorder and you can enter your official charges."

Kinnan paused a moment to collect his thoughts and to be sure that the holorecorder in the chamber was operating. "I, Jedi Master Kinnan Sig-lapp of the Council of First Knowledge, do on this day officially file charges against the Jedi Consular Seer Dianiss Lynn Zechman of being a Sith and working against the Jedi Order in assistance to the Emperor of the Sith Empire; and as such seek that she be expelled from the Jedi Order and sentenced to lifetime incarceration."

When he finished, Satele stopped the recording. "The charges have been officially entered. I'll send out the order to have Dianiss arrested."

"Okay, Boss...", Kari said once the ship had gone into hyperspace. "I've logged in the flight plan and we're on our way to Taris, as instructed. Our buddy Master Sig-lapp was in such a hurry to get to the surface shuttle that he neglected to take Annie with him. I sure would love to see his face when he learns that we left with her still on board."

"It's important that we keep her close for now, and better for her if she stays in the medical coma--that way she's not an accomplice."

"An accomplice? Just who ARE you and what did you do with Jedi Master Galadina?"

Galadina giggled a little bit, as if something about what Kari said was deeply amusing. "Don't worry: I'm the same me who went with you to Malachor."

"How long until we reach Taris?" Dina asked, changing the subject.

"Just a few hours. Where are we REALLY going?"

"The Scoundrel's Vacation IS going to Taris. But it's the Terminus that I actually need from that point on."

Kari blinked a few times while soaking in the implication of what Galadina had just said.

"Oh, no. Please tell me this is not another trip to Kaas City." Kari said. Then, with a sudden lekku-twitch of realization, she blurted out, "We're smuggling Lord Zarvell onto Tython, aren't we?"

Continue to Chapter 17 . . . .