Common Ground, Chapter 12: Red Alert

Temper still raging from having his heart torn out and stomped on just minutes before, Carth stormed into his apartment, and was annoyed beyond belief that Jordo and Dustil were camping out... again. Unfortunately, he didn't have the option to drink himself blind this time, since he was on duty in just a few hours, but he wanted to at least be able to spend it brooding alone in his apartment.

Furious, Carth stared at his unsuspecting friends, who were lounging all over his large leather couch, drinking his beer and eating the leftovers of the dinner he and Morgana had ordered in last night. It brought the vivid and unwelcome picture of her, soft and beautiful and dressed only in his robe as they shared Corellian noodles, and Carth simply couldn't reconcile that woman with the distant, cold and angry one who had just told him to stay the hell out of her life.

Since he couldn't take out his frustration on Morgana, he turned to the two handiest people. He crossed his arms over his chest and glared at his friends. 'Dammit, don't you guys have anywhere else to go?'

Jordo, who hadn't quite picked up on the fact that Carth was actually angry, laughed. 'Nah. You know that we don't.' Pilfered beer still in hand, he gestured towards the holovid player Carth had won by cheating at pazaak. 'Besides, you know you've got the best holovid player on the base.' Jordo's eyes narrowed when he realized that Carth wasn't joking. 'Hey, are you okay?'

That his friends were witnessing his misery, yet again, was too much for his pride to take. Carth's temper snapped. 'I'm tired of tripping over your sorry backsides all the time. Get out.'

Dustil shot him a dirty look and snapped back, oblivious to the food spraying from his full mouth. 'What the hell crawled up your butt and died, Onasi? I thought you'd be happy now that you finally got her into bed.'

It was so typical that Dustil thought this was just about sex. 'Well, I'm not, all right? We just had a fight, and I want to be alone right now, but I can't be because you two clowns are always in here. So get the hell out.'

Dustil stood abruptly, spilling beer and noodles all over the floor in the process. 'Fine. We're going.'

Jordo stood much more gracefully. 'Whoa, wait. What the hell happened?'

'She's mad about Brell. And she lost her grant. We had a fight and she told me to get lost.'

After I spilled my guts out and I told her I loved her -- and she threw it back in my face.

That it was true made everything ten times worse. Carth knew that he was out of his mind, head-over-heels crazy for her, and she didn't even care. But there was no way he was going to admit that out loud to his friends.

Dustil, loyal to a fault, declared, 'Damn, what a schutta. But there's no reason to get your panties in a twist over it. No woman is worth this kind of crap.'

Carth didn't even think, he simply rushed across the room, grabbed Dustil by his collar, and slammed Dustil up against the nearest wall. 'Don't call her that. Ever,' he ground out as his hands tightened on Dustil's collar. Incensed, Dustil turned red and shoved Carth back, and the two men glared at each other. Before they could hit each other, Jordo stepped in between the two of them.

'Stop it. Quit acting like idiots.'

Dustil glared and rubbed his neck. 'You tell him to stop it. He's the one acting like a jerkwad over some stupid broad.'

Carth hated that he still had an automatic protective instinct when it came to her. Nonetheless, it was still there and as strong as ever. 'She's not a stupid broad-'

'All right, knock it off! Calm down, both of you. You boneheads are both on the same side.'

Sullen, Dustil pointed at Carth. 'He started it.'

'Yeah, but you're the moron who just insulted the woman he's in love with.'

'What? Are you kidding? Carth's not stupid enough to...' Dustil caught sight of Carth's livid face, and let out a long-suffering sigh. 'Aw... frack, Onasi. You did, didn't you?'

Carth didn't say anything to that. Feeling like a complete moron, he glared at his friends, clenching and unclenching his fists, wanting to pummel Dustil, Jordo and anyone else who happened to be nearby, trying to figure out how to salvage the tattered remnants of his dignity and shattered pride.

The silence stretched for a few tense seconds as the three men glared at each other, but it was broken by the sound of the base alarm going off. The tension in the room shifted into wary anticipation, because they were now on red alert.

Morgana couldn't shake the cold anger and bitter frustration that burrowed under her skin -- at Carth, at the grant board, and at life in general. Needing an outlet for her anger before she lost her mind, her first instinct was to tear her engine project apart and find out why the board thought it was deficient, but she simply couldn't bring herself to even look at it yet because it was just far too depressing. It would have to be done eventually, but she simply didn't feel up to facing her deficiencies just yet. And really, in the end it didn't matter. The decision was made and her future was gone. All the plans that she'd painstakingly made, all of the dreams of engines and unlimited funds were now gone.

It hurt too much to think about. Shockingly, thinking about Carth hurt just as much.

Still, she desperately needed to find something to do to get her mind off the last few disastrous hours, something that didn't involve nosy Twi'lek friends pestering her and offering unsolicited advice about her now non-existent love life.

That Carth was no longer a part of her life made her want to break down and cry again, despite the fact that she kept telling herself she should be relieved that he was gone, not broken up about it. She was absolutely furious with herself, because there was a small but insistent voice in her head telling her to go find and forgive him, despite the fact that her relationship with him had cost her future. Morgana knew that if she didn't find something to take her mind off her liar ex-boyfriend, she might do exactly that, so she squared her shoulders, gathered up her tools and went into the house.

Six hours later, she had torn apart and modified the housekeeping droid and almost all of the kitchen appliances. When her nosy friend made the inevitable appearance, pretending to have her head stuck in a project had the added benefit of keeping Nabat's slew of invasive questions at bay. Nabat made every effort to get Morgana to open up about her feelings, but after several minutes of terse responses, stony replies and flat-out ignoring from Morgana, her friend had finally given up, stalking off in a disgruntled huff, to Morgana's intense relief.

Sadly, busy work didn't help. While her hands were busy, the project was simply too menial to require much focus. Involuntarily, her mind kept wandering back to Carth, especially the pain reflected in his big brown eyes.

But I love you, Ana. Too bad all you love are your engines.

That was because engines were simple, efficient things of beauty, far easier to understand and to plan around, unlike people. Engines didn't lie, or beat up ex-boyfriends, or tempt her to waste her time, or tie her in knots, or make her feel like she wanted to crawl into a hole and cry for a week. Engines didn't screw up her plans.

And everything had been going according to plan until Carth came along. A plan that she'd had outlined for herself even before she'd come to the university, one that she'd had since she was just a little kid. A plan that included two degrees, and a grant that would have set her up to do her dream projects for the rest of her life. A plan that didn't include getting all gooey over one rowdy pilot who ate up all of her free time.

The treasonous voice reared up again, pointing out that her engines hadn't stopped the lonely ache she'd felt before Carth had blundered into her life. And that engines couldn't share dinner with her, or make her laugh, or turn her into a puddle with just a cocky grin. And that plans didn't mean very much if she didn't have someone to share them with.

She was flat on her back underneath the sonic sink, readjusting the synchronizer and wiping away more tears when the back door hissed open. Angry that Nabat would harass her again, and mortified that she'd almost been caught crying again, she ignored her friend and groped blindly for her hydrospanner.

'Go away, Nabat,' she snapped with a voice that was still thick with tears when the intruder made no sign of leaving. 'I don't want to talk.'

But it wasn't Nabat's voice that answered, and the hand that appeared in her vision clutching the hydrospanner was distinctly masculine. For a second, she thought it was Carth, and she hated the spike of relief that that brought.

'I thought you might feel like that, but I wanted to stop by and make sure you were okay.'

When Brell's voice drifted down to her, Morgana was even more profoundly grateful that her head was stuck under the sink. She took the hydrospanner from his hand, and used the few seconds it took to adjust the synchronizer to pull herself together, before shimmying out from underneath the sink and facing Brell, who was crouched down on the floor next to her. Morgana tried to think of something to say, but after their disastrous dinner and break-up, she had no idea how to react to him.

Fortunately, Brell continued, undaunted by her dumbfounded stare. 'Ana, I know how upset you must be. I know how much this grant meant to you. You worked the hardest, and your work was the best and most innovative. I just wanted you to know that I thought you should have won that grant.'

'Thank you.' Morgana couldn't quite look at him, so she studied the heavy metal tool in her hand with more intensity than was truly necessary. 'But it wasn't good enough, was it? I should have worked harder, focused more.'

When she finally did manage to look at him, she was shocked and irritated to see that he was rolling his eyes. 'Oh, Ana, don't be stupid. You didn't lose that grant because your project wasn't good enough. Your stuff is brilliant and you know it. You've worked your tail off for two years, and I know for a fact that you've worked twice as hard as everyone else. No. You lost it because you didn't kiss as much ass as the others did.'

But Morgana couldn't believe him, still rebelling over the idea that flattery could win over merit. 'But-'

'Ana, look. While you were here isolated in your lab, the others were out having dinner with the grant board, and buttering them up every single opportunity they got. That's why they won.'

Morgana's guts tightened; the last thing she needed was Brell's smug gloating. 'If you came here to tell me that you told me so, then please leave.'

He held his hands up in a conciliatory gesture. 'No... Look, I'm sorry, okay. I didn't come here to gloat. I just know how you are, and that you were probably beating yourself up for not working hard enough, when I know that you poured everything you had into this project. What they did to you... wasn't right, and I told Obrin that right to his face.'

At that moment, Morgana realized that Brell truly did care about her. Brell's reputation was something he cultivated carefully. That he would risk the ire of Professor Obrin just to stick up for her meant a lot, and she couldn't help but be touched. 'Oh. Thank you. You didn't have to do that.'

'I wanted to. He had it coming.' His hands clenched and she could see his frustration in his face. 'Even after what happened between us the other night, I still love you, and I care about what happens to you.'

Once again, she had no idea of what to say or how to react, and her emotions towards both men, that she'd thought she'd finally sorted out, jumbled once again into a confusing tangle.

Brell cleared his throat, breaking the uncomfortable silence that had fallen between them, his disappointment at her lack of reaction obvious, even though he was making an effort to shrug it off.

'Don't worry. I didn't come back here to push you into dumping that thug. I lost you and it was my own damn fault. I just wanted you to know that I care, and that if you need something... anything, just call me, okay?'

Morgana chose not to inform him that she'd broken it off with Carth, too, knowing that would just complicate things even more. 'I'm sorry that he hit you. He shouldn't have done that.'

'Don't apologize for him. He and I, we've been itching for a fight since... we both wanted it, and that's not your fault.'

Brell forced a smile onto his face. 'But anyway, I don't want to talk about him. I want to know if you've started working on your appeal yet.'

Morgana blinked. She hadn't actually considered appealing the board's decision. 'I really don't see the point. You know that no one's ever won an appeal before.'

Incredulous, Brell stared at her. 'You're not going to just lay down and let them do this to you, are you? You have to appeal this!'

'I don't know, Brell. I-'

'You can't just give up on this. This is your dream. Get up and fight for it.'

Brell's words galvanized her, and hot shame flooded Morgana for even considering throwing in the towel. 'You're right. Give me a day to finish sulking, and I'll start on it tomorrow.'

The cocky and arrogant smile was more like the Brell she remembered. 'Of course I'm right.'

For a second, she thought he was going to move closer to her, but he must have thought better of it, because he stopped and moved back. Morgana stifled her relieved sigh. And Brell took her lack of encouragement as his cue to leave.

'I should go, but if you don't mind, I'll stop in tomorrow. Maybe I can help you with your appeal.'

'Thank you, Brell. I'd appreciate it. That means a lot.'

He nodded and stood, and after a few more awkward seconds, he left, leaving Morgana sitting stunned, surrounded by sonic sink parts in the middle of the kitchen floor.

With a soft grunt, Carth stretched his cramped legs out as best he could in the tiny cockpit of the MC-3 fighter and rubbed his bleary eyes with one tired hand. Behind him in the navigator's seat, Dustil groaned and yawned. Even though Carth did his best to stifle it, the contagious nature of the yawn won out, and Carth surrendered and gave in to the impulse himself.

Due to the powerful sensor equipment that it carried, the two-man MC-31 was far bulkier and a lot less fun to fly than the sleek Z-27 that he usually few. Even worse, he was flying with Dustil as his navigator and gunner. Other than what was necessary to carry out their duties, he and Dustil hadn't spoken to each other for over three days, neither man willing to admit that they'd been wrong.

Frustrated and bored, Carth forced himself to focus on the instrument panel showing readings of the fourth planet in a small star system they'd been sweeping for the last eleven hours. For the last three days, the men and women of his squadron had been on a fifteen-hour rotation, and it was starting to take its toll on their squadron.

But it wasn't just their own squadron on red alert; all of the Republic Fleet ships in the sector, as well as the not-inconsiderable Corellian Security Force, were scouring the twenty-four Corellian star systems, searching for a hijacked Corellian transport and its two thousand plus passengers that were being held hostage.

Initially, when the Republic Senate had sent the Fleet to the Corellian Sector in an effort to curb the rampant piracy, they had been remarkably successful, managing to cut down on hijackings and thefts by over sixty percent. Unfortunately, the once-ragtag group of independent smugglers and pirates had become unified in the face of the Republic threat, increasing their effectiveness and growing bolder with every passing day, until finally they'd hijacked a Corellian cruiser bound for Telos in retaliation to Corellia's cooperation with the Republic Fleet. And now they were executing one passenger an hour until the Republic agreed to remove its forces from the sector. Which was why his squadron was spread thin, flying two-ship patrols in an effort to cover distance as quickly as possible.

Julia's voice crackled from over the comm, and Carth looked out the front of his viewport, where Julia's fighter was in the lead. Carth dropped into the wingman position, waiting for orders from his squadron leader.

'Red two, incoming orders from Captain Karath. We sweep this system and head back to Mother.' Carth sighed; he'd been hoping that they would be relieved by now and on their way back to the Relentless. On the other hand, he knew that when he got back, he'd have nothing to occupy his time except wallowing in misery, so maybe one last sweep wasn't a bad thing.

Julia knew her pilots well enough to guess that fatigue was starting to wear on them. 'Keep sharp, guys. I know you're tired and bored, but we need to keep alert.'

Carth keyed the comm and answered for both himself and Dustil. 'Copy that, Red Leader.'

From the fact that they hadn't already been recalled back to the Relentless, Carth knew that all of the other sensor sweeps of the other systems hadn't turned up anything. It was frustrating to know that there was a bunch of innocent and scared civilians out there that they simply couldn't find. But twenty-four Corellian systems was a lot of area to cover, even with five Republic cruisers and most of CorSec sweeping the systems. The work was slow and painstaking, and so far, fruitless.

'Snuggle up, Red Two. We're going in,' Julia ordered as her fighter broke the atmosphere. Carth banked left, staying on her wing while they descended into the dirty brown clouds of the planet below. 'The faster we get this sweep done, the faster Onasi can go home to his cute girlfriend.'

Carth grimaced, trying to keep his mind on the dustball that passed for a planet below and off of Morgana. While in theory the planet was habitable, with an atmosphere that was breathable to at least humans, it was rocky, barren and probably frigid as hell. Carth was very glad that he was snug in his ship and not actually down on the planet's surface.

He didn't correct Julia's statement, or mention to her that he probably didn't have a girlfriend to go home to anymore. While she would have been a great person to ask advice from, he sure as hell wasn't going to ask in front of Dustil, whom he was still pissed at, and Julia's Sullustan navigator, whom he really didn't know.

Dustil grunted behind him, but thankfully didn't mention anything to Julia either, but Carth could still feel his friend's disapproving glare in between his shoulder blades. The same stony silence that had blanketed the cockpit for nearly three days, interrupted only by the clacking of Dustil punching buttons on the nav comp equipment, accompanied them down to the planet's surface. But as the ochre-colored rocks streaked past as they started their sweep, Julia let out an exasperated sigh. There was a soft clicking sound as Julia switched over to a private frequency that only Dustil and Jordo could hear.

She dropped the formality as she blasted both of them. 'What the hell is wrong with the two of you? Normally I can't get you guys to shut up, but you haven't said two words to each other this whole damn shift.'

Dustil spoke first. 'That's because Carth's a fracking idiot.'

Julia chuckled before Carth could make a terse response. 'You're both fracking idiots. Tell me something I don't already know.'

'I said some things about his ex-girlfriend, and he slammed me against the wall.'

Carth could picture the puzzled frown that Julia was probably wearing. 'You got mad at him for talking about Tanis? I though we all agreed that she was a schutta.'

Dustil helpfully cleared up her confusion, and Carth palmed his face, knowing that the following conversation was going to be beyond annoying. At least she'd switched to a private frequency so that her own navigator, and any of the other Republic ships that happened to be in range, wouldn't be able witness his embarrassment and mortification. Not that there were probably any within comm range since the fleet was spread so thin.

'Nah, not Tanis. Morgana.'

Even over the crackling comm, Julia was clearly shocked. 'You broke up with Morgana? Why? She was such a sweetheart!'

'I didn't break up with her, dammit! She was the one who told me to get lost.'

'Why? What the hell did you do to her?'

Carth couldn't hide his anger and frustration. 'Why are you assuming that I did something to her? Did it ever even occur to you that she could have done something to me?'

Wry silence was her only response.

Giving up the fight, Carth eased up on the thrusters as they hit the planet's atmosphere, and spilled his guts. 'She was upset that she didn't get the grant that she'd been gunning for. Told me that she shouldn't be wasting her time on a liar like me.'

'Why did she think that you lied?' Julia asked, her puzzlement clear in her voice and Carth nearly groaned aloud because he knew that she would continue poking and prodding until she got her answer.

'Because I... uh... didn't tell her about the fight I had with Brell,' Carth mumbled so quickly that the words slurred together.

Unfortunately, Julia caught every word. 'Ah. Well, she shouldn't have told you that you were a waste of her time. That was wrong. But damn, Carth, you should have told her about that fight.'

Dustil's loyalty flared up again, forgetting that he was giving Carth the silent treatment. 'Hey, why should he have to tell her about that fight? That was between him and the pretty boy. He shouldn't have to apologize for that!'

There was a part of Carth that realized that, if Dustil was on his side, he was probably wrong. The thought made his head hurt.

Julia confirmed his nagging inner thoughts. 'First of all, trying to hide it from her was as stupid as hell. It was only a matter of time before she found out. Second, while asskicking is rather fun, it's not exactly the adult way to solve problems. But she seems like a nice girl, she'll come around.'

Carth stared out the front viewscreen at the desolate and rocky surface. 'I don't think she will. She told me that it wouldn't have mattered whether or not I'd lied. That the time she spent with me was a waste because it cost her that grant.'

'Oh... ouch. That is pretty cold,' Julia admitted.

'Yeah,' Carth muttered, his fingers tightening on the yoke until his knuckles turned white.

'Look, Carth, she probably didn't mean it. People say stupid things when they're upset.'

'But it was just a stupid grant. I know it meant a lot to her, but it wasn't the end of the world.' Not the way having the woman you're in love with tell you that you're a waste of her time. 'She's smart,' he continued. 'She won't have any problems getting a job.'

But Julia wouldn't let him dismiss it so easily. 'It sounds like she had her heart set on that grant.'

'Yeah. It was a lot of money. She would have been able to fund her dream research with it. She said it was a once-in-a-lifetime shot, but I think she's overreacting.'

'It sounds like a hell of an opportunity. It had to hurt. Probably as much as it would have hurt you, if you'd been denied entrance into the Fleet Academy.'

Carth blinked. 'Yeah, that would be pretty bad.'

He hadn't thought of it quite like that, or at least he hadn't wanted to think about it that way. Carth couldn't imagine a life outside of his squadron, not one that he wanted to live, anyway, and he could see, now that he wasn't blinded by anger or giddy relief over her safety, how she'd feel the same way about this grant. While he wasn't proud of it, he was beginning to realize that there a part of him that wanted to believe that he was the only important thing in her life. Being forced to see that that wasn't the case still burned, but he could see now how that would be both unrealistic and completely unfair to expect that from her. On the other hand, he was still angry that he didn't seem to matter to her at all. Hell, he figured he deserved to be at least as important as that damn grant.

'I'm not saying she was right, Carth. She shouldn't have said those things, but if you want my advice, you should try to talk to her again once she cools off about her ex and the grant. She seems nice; she'll come around, you'll see. And if not, then maybe she wasn't the woman you thought she was, and you'll be better off without her.'

The pathetic part was that he didn't want to be without her. He'd only known her for a short time, but the idea of life without her was damn near inconceivable. After his last fight with her, he felt like a complete and utter fool for still feeling this way, but that didn't change the way he felt.

When Carth didn't respond, Julia laughed, and Carth's indignation soared. 'Cheer up, Onasi. It's not the end of the world.'

His bitter retort died on his lips when the ship's alarms began to blare through the cockpits of both ships.

'Incoming freighter, bearing down on us from mark-' Dustil rattled off a bunch of numbers over the main comm channel while Carth and Julia both tried to get visual confirmation.

Julia let out a string of curses. 'Damn, they're close. Keep your guard up, Red Two, and no firing until we're sure it's a hostile. We don't want to take out an innocent civvie by accident.'

Dustil's question echoed everyone's thoughts. 'Yeah, but what are the odds of it being a civilian way out here on the ass end of the Corellian system?'

'I know.' Julia's voice was calm and cool.

Carth tensed as he followed Julia's lead; he could hear her voice crackling over the comm. 'Unidentified freighter. This is Squadron Leader Julia Skye with the Republic Fleet. Identify yourself.'

There was a squelch of feedback gibberish from the ship, and then silence as they were completely ignored. Julia tried hailing them again, but there was still no response from the ship. Even after a warning shot across the bow, the ship barreled forward, and began a series of clumsy evasive maneuvers that was almost comical in its ineptness. And then, in the front viewport, they got a visual of a series of what should have been derelict buildings, but there were far too many ships for it to be abandoned. They'd found their pirate base.

Julia immediately banked her fighter left, dropping the trail of the freighter. 'Red Two, I think we've found our pirates. Let's get the hell out of here before they scramble their ships.'

'Copy that, Red Leader.'

Carth automatically followed her lead, increasing his speed to match hers, when Dustil's words sent a surge of adrenaline pounding through him. 'I'm picking up ten incoming hostiles, Red Leader.'

Menacing red dots blinked on Carth's screen. The freighter must have commed ahead and warned the base. As they flew in tense silence, Carth knew that Julia was doing a quick mental calculation. There were only two of them against ten fighters, and possibly more if they stuck around. The only option now was to run. He could hear her barking orders out to her navigator, although the comm was thick with static now. 'Get those coordinates transmitted now.'

Her Sullustan navigator responded in thick, accented Basic. 'I can't, Red Leader. They're jamming all long-distance frequencies.'

'What about you, Red Two?' she asked. 'Can you transmit?'

Dustil's normal irreverence was gone as his friend focused completely on the situation, and he could hear Dustil furiously working behind him, trying to find a way to get around the jamming device. 'Negative.'

Carth's sensors lit up bright red as the incoming fighters came into range. Sleek, deadly, and clearly hostile, Carth knew that they were in some serious trouble.

Julia's orders buzzed through the comm. 'All right, then. We run until we get away from their jammers. Getting these coordinates back to Mother is the highest priority. Got it?'

'Copy that, Red Leader.'

'If we split up, our odds are better that one of us will get through.' Julia veered off due west while Carth banked east. Fear made sweat bead on his forehead, but then the surge of adrenaline pushed the fear aside, and calm focus blanketed him as he concentrated on finding a way to shake the incoming fighters.

'Bug out, Red Two, and don't get caught. May the Force be with you,' was the last thing she said before the sky erupted in red blaster fire.