PROLOGUE

In many ways, sisterly connections can be a nuisance, Kel reflected. Especially when your sister is eleven years older than you and makes you the messenger boy!

Kel sighed. She knew where to find her master, and she knew Rel would be with him, which was just as well. She rolled her eyes. Of course. Kel took the steps two at a time, bursting into the Mansion doors. She finally found her way to the quiet table where several of the Jedi masters sat, and waited until a quiet moment, when she could interrupt. Rel spun around on his chair and smiled at Kel. She smiled back. After nearly three years, Rel was back to his normal self. She knew he missed Myra—she did, too—but she was also curious who Rel’s new apprentice would be, if he ever got one. Silently, she set her holopad down on the table, letting Gawain and Rel and the others read it for themselves.

Dia duit, cherie.

I am in our homeland. I have been for months, which is probably why, if you were looking for me, you couldn’t find me. This is the first time I have turned anything on. There are settlers here, non-elementals, strange folk. Jashri Ji and Darlene are gone. But that is not what concerns me. As soon as you can, dear, send me every description of every person you remember from Donovon’s place, especially of the children. I know the Jedi took many of them. Do you know where they were placed? How many are still living? Ask Gawain or Rel to look through the records and see where each one is located now, and how many are unaccounted for. I wish you were here. The wind and the trees speak many things that I cannot understand. Something is very wrong.
This morning, for the first time, I went down into one of the settlements. These settlers fear the capital, and you would laugh at the stories they have of how it fell. They think the spirits of the old peoples seek for revenge from there, because the first settlers destroyed the city. This is, of course, rubbish. Our people were dead long before anyone thought of settling this place. This is just a ghost story, but I must agree there is something unsettling about the city. There is a shadow over Annagda, and it is spreading.
If you remember how to read our script, I’ve enclosed copies of pages from my journal, if you’re curious enough to want to know more. Please, send me your memories and the information as soon as possible. Even better, if you can, come yourself. But at least send me information!
~M.C.

Gawain read the message from Meav silently. Uneasiness tinged his Force aura and he took a second to clamp down on his emotions. The message only served to reinforce certain fears that he had held over the last few months.

The fact was that the galaxy had been entirely too quiet. Certainly there were the usual absurd rumors, mysterious Sith lords making Faustian bargains with backwater planets while flying around in giant space spiders. But it was an inevitable reality that when things went quiet in the Ditto galaxy, it just meant someone was trying to destroy the universe this time around instead of only blowing a few planets up.

"Rel, we will call a full assembly of the Masters, of course. Meav may not be of our Order, but she is trustworthy. If she is concerned by these happenings on her planet, than we should be as well. And I do not care for these concerns about the Donovan incident. Entirely too many loose ends there."

"What do you know about it, kiddo?" Ana asked as she wandered up to the table. "Weren't you still a Sith way back then?"

Those paying attention to the conversation went quiet at that comment. Mentioning a Jedi's fallen past was never polite and when it was one's own former master doing it, etiquette hadn't just been breached, it was already plunging toward the bottom of the ocean with all hands still on board.

Gawain's face remained impassive and his voice controlled as he responded to Ana," I fail to see what my whereabouts at the time have to do with the present concerns. Have you been drinking down in the docks again?"

Some of the more timid inhabitants of the Mansion began edging for the exits. Ana only grinned and pulled a chair up to Gawan's and Rel's table.

"Only a smidgen. Barely even one shot glass full. So what's this about a message from your Padawan's sister? Still gallivanting around the galaxy doing whatever it is she does?"

"Read it for yourself," Gawain said, gesturing at the holopad.

"Meh. I'd rather someone else tell me what it's about at this assembly thing. I trust this won't be one of those annoying dress robes functions?" Ana said, standing up and preparing to leave. "Kel, always good to see you."

Kel smiled politely at Ana and nodded.

"Its nice to see you, too," she said sweetly. Ana turned and walked out, and Kel turned and put her hand on her master's arm.

"I'm sorry. I have faith in you," she looked into her master's eyes. "And so does Meav. We trust you, not only for our people's sake, but for who you are."

"At least someone does," Gawain said, mock-cheerfully. "Come, let's catch a transport to the Temple. We'll need to call the Masters together to share this information with them."

Shira arched a narrow eyebrow at first the note, then the exchange between Gawain and Ana, but said nothing. When Gawain suggested going to the temple, she rose to her feet and folded her arms into her long sleeves.

"There is a sinister aspect to Meav's message and my mind is troubled. Something beyond urgency resonates from it through the Force. I and my Padawan shall take care of contacting the other Masters, if you would like."

These events take place approximately five Earth years (or convert those to your own planet's unit of time) before Meav’s message reaches Ditto Town.

Doctor Mooreland shifted uncomfortably in his chair. This was not the routine consultation and review of his certification he had been expecting. He was growing less and less certain that the men across his desk were Republic officials at all. The short built one standing in the way of the door (while trying to look like he wasn’t) had identified himself as “Gray” and hadn’t said much since. The young man “Jones” in the wheel chair Mooreland trusted even less. As a doctor he had to wonder why the man hadn’t received the cybernetic implants that would have given him his mobility, his freedom, back. Jones also had an easy likeable manor at first, talking about whatever subject the doctor brought up, but as the minutes dragged on he began asking strange questions. Was Jones trying to expose the one case the doctor would like forgotten? After all this time?

So these men wanted to know about professor Yang Haufeng and his dead wife and daughter? Why? They couldn’t be bounty hunters. Even if Jones was only faking his disability, and his shrunken, painful posture communicated that he wasn’t, he didn’t look like a fighter. Maybe one of the trade unions had sent them? But these men, or whoever they worked for, had too much clearance even for that. They clearly had support from powerful systems.

“Your computer files don’t clearly state the cause of death Mr. Mooreland. Such an unusual death for a human: childbearing. Were you low on money? Defective droids are common causes of such deaths. If that was the problem, it’s clearly been remedied; your facilities prospering. If that’s what you’re hiding, you can stop. Your record is acceptable and you may continue your practice.”

A threat? Mooreland didn’t know how to answer. He wasn’t used to the stress of having his professional qualifications seriously questioned. The doctor didn’t meet Jones’s eyes, fiddled with his halo pad and didn’t say anything for a long time. How much did they know anyways? Did they know everything? The doctor’s flesh was starting to feel clammy but he didn’t dare wipe his face or shuffle too much.
“Just tell me what you know Mr. Mooreland. We’re certainly not enemies, we’re just trying to gain a better understanding of one unclear case.” There was a pause and Mooreland noticed his hands were shaking slightly and tried to still them.
“It must have been hard for you losing her. But you don’t have to sacrifice your career for one mistake…”

“It wasn’t a mistake!” The doctor couldn’t stay silent. Whoever these people were, they wouldn’t go away until he told them everything. Yang Haufeng was long gone anyways. He’d taken his dying daughter with him and run. He was clearly running when he arrived, or he would have flown his distressed wife to a better equipped system.
The doctor didn’t know where he had gone, so what would these men with vast resources learn from him they didn’t already know? “It wasn’t a mistake. I preformed a standard caesarean section, but when the computer’s report came back, I knew she was lost.”

Jones waited quietly, nodding an acknowledgement. He was a good listener. “She wasn’t human at all… she only looked human. Her anatomy kept changing right before my eyes… she clearly didn’t know how to take a form that could give birth to a human child. And I couldn’t find so extreme a case in any of the records available to me. It wouldn’t have mattered. She’d been struggling for hours and was beyond medical aid long before Haufeng’s ship landed. As for the baby girl, she wasn’t fully human either, one of her lungs was collapsed and her heart was nearly useless. I told Haufeng to take the child and enjoy the few hours he had with her. I left the room to file everything, and when I returned, they were gone. I didn’t have the clearance to find out where they went of course.”

“Of course. You clearly did the best you could. But why falsify the records?”
“He begged me. He didn’t want anyone to know his wife was changeling, I couldn’t deny a man who had just lost so much.”

Jones nodded and stopped taking notes. “Well, that’s really all we came for doctor. You’ll have to correct the falsified records of course, and then your license will be reissued. It was good to meet you.” He offered his hand.

Doctor Mooreland shook the offered hand and let out a sigh. He hadn’t realized how tense he was. The young, immobile man made him feel… edgy.

The rest of the day flew by with various engagements, and the doctor hardly gave a passing thought to about the whole ordeal. After all, he’d already established that he couldn’t possibly be endangering anyone. It was probably just a routine check. Still, he went to bed that night feeling uneasy.

He never woke up. Neighbors were later informed that his air system’s filters had stopped working and he had suffocated. It was such an unlikely thing to happen, involved a lot of computer errors all occurring at once, that they didn’t have to worry about it ever happening to their systems. Everything was fine.

(OOC: What's the lesser of two evils? One post that shatters the 600 word rule or a double post... because this all needs to be in the same place. )

"Of course. I will relinquish this duty to you with some gratefulness. Attempting to summon the various Masters is, as they say on Earth, like herding cats," Gawain said. There was a hint of humor in his voice as he continued," May the Force be with you."

Unseen in the corner, Cassandra watched the drama with interest. She was locked down in the Force, her presence reduced to the barest minimum an average mundane human would maintain.

"Something's wrong with Gawain," she thought, concerned at the strange aloof way he was carrying herself. She had managed to reconcile her teenaged crush on Gawain and subsequent grief and rage in the years since she had last seen him and felt only worry for one of the closest things she had to a friend.

Meav closed her book, slipping it into her bag. The temptation to take a dive into the water and ride the waterfall was huge, but she knew she had much to do. The memories of an ancient people were all around her, but she could only grasp little tastes of their meaning, which would dance tantalizingly on the edge of her mind before flying away. Meav wished she could simply absorb these, but alas, it was not to be so. She would have to find out what was happening on her own.

Slinging her bag over her shoulder, Meav started down the long trail that would eventually lead into the settlements. Then, she stopped, and considered. Her observations had indicated that the trail was well used, while the far side of the river—her side of the river—was rarely touched by the settlers. Perhaps it was because this was Jashri Ji’s land, the one place that the desolation had not really affected. The forest grew out from here, slowly reclaiming the lands with the kiss of greenery. The settlers seemed to fear the forest, though. Perhaps it would be best to stay in there, for the time being. She had yet to show her face in any of the little towns.

That was set to change, today, she reflected, as her lithe body scrambled down the rocky face of the outcropping. She stopped, hanging nearly upside down, as she saw two figures moving along the edge of the water. Both were intent on the water. Fishing, probably, she thought, immediately tumbling forward into an awkward summersault. A little flurry of dust spouted up as she landed, so Meav slid onto her side behind some bushy green things. The hope that no one noticed was great, but deep inside, Meav knew that these people were apprehensive about the woods. Something scared them. Perhaps they could hear the whispers of bygone ages, like she could? This would most definitely be a different type of people, then. Or where they perhaps scared of something else? They were obviously apprehensive, even more so now, as the men first called out, and then, when no reply was offered, speedily gathered their things and departed. Meav peered through the thicket down at them as they hurried off. They were scared, and they most definitely did not want to meet anything coming out of the woods. Probably including herself. She needed to get back to the hut, change, and then find her way into the villages. It was time she talked to the people.

Denver Haufeng grew up on the planet Remm in the 2342 System. The planet was named for the man who had commissioned the colony. The small city of self contained domes grew from the planet’s surface and kept the hostile environment of the planet’s surface sealed out. Denver never thought of her planet as strange. A world with 40,000 humans as the only intelligent life forms was her reality.

She also didn’t think it was strange that she was the only non-human.

Yang Haufeng didn’t want his daughter growing up under any illusions about what she was. He told her when she was only 10 years old that her mother wasn’t h**o Sapien. Her origin was never a painful surprise or shock, just another daily reality. And Denver didn’t feel that different from those around her. She looked like her classmates, her father, and his lab assistants. She breathed the same air and spoke the same language. What else could a young girl surrounded by superficial peers want?

Her father didn’t tell her what species her mother was though. He couldn’t. He wasn’t sure himself.

Yang told his young daughter one other fact about her origin. Denver was named after the city he’d been born in, on a strange planet by the name of “Earth” that wasn’t on any of the star maps in the library. When she asked his father about that, he only shook his head and told her that they could never go back there, because as far as this galaxy was concerned, it didn’t exist.

Denver didn’t understand what her father was talking about. In her young mind she grew up believing that Earth must be a mystical place. Not that her scientific father let her believe in magic. He had his beliefs about their ancestors of course, but he was something of an agnostic. Try to please the ancestors, but don’t expect any help from them.

They were a long way from the graves of their forebearers.

The walk back to the little hut that Jashri Ji and Darlene used to inhabit was a lot shorter than Meav would have liked. She was assured that none would cross the river into the main body of the forest, but she couldn’t imagine a land that didn’t have childish dares and teenage adventurers. Again, company wouldn’t be a bad thing, it was just…how did one explain being the only living humanoid that apparently had little to no technology in a vast forest on a barren world? Obviously, it would not do. After a light meal, Meav changed her clothes and set out across the forest toward the nearest settlement. Tonight, she would lodge in the town.

As Meav felt each of her pockets, and around the inner lining of her belt, she counted and mentally checked off each item she was bringing. She hesitated, feeling the empty clip for her lightsaber. The flowing style of her pants would disguise the fact that she was wearing her customary tool belt, and she honestly did not know what to expect from these people. Her finger slipped into the loop and dragged on it gently. She didn’t really need to carry it. She hadn’t for weeks. This was her land—her home. It simply wasn’t needed. It never had been and it never should. This was not a Force-user’s world. It was her world. Still…. Her hand hovered over the instrument, then she slowly curled her fingers around its precious edges. As much as Meav felt she should move away from the forcey-worsey stuff, it was still familiar, instinctive. Perhaps too much so.

Meav slipped it into its clip and grabbed her scarf. Moments later, she had set off toward the river, and beyond. She would be in Kios tonight. As she walked, she reviewed her cover story, an interesting conglomeration of truths, half-truths and time travel. As had become her habit, she took the name of a relative, instead of using one of her own. Today, she was Miriel, a young widow whose husband had recently been claimed by the forest, leaving her destitute and without family. Her original settlement was far away, the small Keattan village.

There was the river, now. She would follow it aways, until it became a bit more rocky and shallow. There was no point in getting wet or in hurrying. Meav felt her comlink buzz. She paused for a moment to take a quick look at it. A quick survey revealed that Kel had been busy, and was beginning to send documents. Meav sighed and quickly scrolled through, searching for any indication of the Jedi’s reception of the news before switching it off. She would read Kel’s notes later, and send an appropriate thank-you then. Slipping her comlink back into its case, Meav knelt and slipped her shoes off. After gathering her pants up as much as possible, she waded across the water, enjoy its cool rush around her feet. After slipping her shoes back on, Meav turned toward the town, which was now well-lit in the quickly fading sunset.

The town was simply laid out: one main street ran through it, with smaller cross streets at frequent intervals. The people were poor and simple, trying to make a new life in her land. Most of the buildings were well lit, now that it was evening, and Meav sat and watched the people hurry about as the sun slowly slipped below the horizon. The grocer waved goodbye to his last customer, then straightened up a few things in his shop before he turned down the lights and slipped out the door. He lifted his hat to several passers by and greeted them, the greeting being returned in kind. His hands in his pockets, he strode confidently down the street to his own home, where happiness waited for him. Meav smiled as the door opened and three small figures rushed out to greet their papa, before dragging him back into the house. All was well in that household.

Finally, Meav rose, brushed off the seat of her pants, and made her way down into the town. She passed the grocer’s home, where a glimpse revealed that the family was enjoying a dinner filled with laughter and stories. As she moved quietly down the street, most ignored her, but she caught the steely glance of a few who hurried passed, pulling their children close as they made their way to the safety of their own homes. Not a few people would bolt their doors tonight, to keep the spirit of the stranger out.

Julia Syran listened intently to the conversations between the masters. Her bright eyes glimmered with subdued curiosity, but her lips never moved with a sound. She admired Master Shira's utter calm and patience amidst what seemed like a pressing situation. It was a contrast to her own demeanor, one of agile curiosity and energy, though subdued somewhat since her training. She did not grasp fully the resonating sense of foreboding that the others seemed to glean from the message, but she took what feelings did come in stride and simply waited.

A thrill ran through Julia as a task was set upon them - notifying the other masters of the news. She touched her lightsaber, per habit since having received it, and shifted her weight on an opposite foot. It looks to be a promising day...

Her thin hand rested on the door for a moment, before Meav finally pushed it open, stepping into the light of the tavern. Her eyes squinted momentarily as she adjusted to the light, but the moment passed, and she pulled her scarf off, artfully wrapping it around her fingers before setting it down on the counter as she ordered a drink. Drumming her fingers softly on the seat, Meav took a quick look around the room, absorbing the location of all the possible projectiles, mirrors, windows, pointy things and possible escape routes, just in case. A quietness had settled over the room already.

“So,” one of the men said as Meav took a sip. “You aren’t from around here. Where you from, and where you headed?”

Meav set her drink down and looked at him for a moment, before dropping her gaze.

“I’m from Keattan, here, I suppose. But I’m going back to my homeworld as soon as possible.”

“Pioneering isn’t for you, eh?”

“’Suppose not.”

Both fell silent, and Meav began running her finger around the edge of her cup.

“How long have you lived here?” she finally ventured, as no one else seemed willing to venture a comment.

“Oh, ‘bout five years or so. We came when this town was first built.”

“How did you find that? Being a first settler, I mean.”

“Well, they said we would be fine if we stayed together. And we have been! Lost a few to the woods, early on—mostly children—but things have gotten better since then. Still, well, you know how it goes. Perhaps not as bad in the newer settlements, like Keattan, I guess. By the way, the name’s Lyle.”

Meav nodded. “Miriel.”

Lyle grinned. “Welcome to Kios. You’re actually not the first visitor here, today. That man, in the corner…no, not the one with the eye patch, the one that is all wrapped up in his cloak. He’s from Trie’la. Apparently there’s been worse activity lately, and he came to warn us.”

Meav nodded knowingly.

“How many have been lost to the Shadow from your village?”

“Excuse me?” Meav looked back at Lyle, unsure of what he meant. He frowned.

“You know…the Shadow. The remnants of whatever civilization was here before houses a great power. It eats souls, especially of children. Most just call it the Shadow, and stay inside at night.”

Meav frowned, then smiled lopsidedly. “I’ve never heard of it. Sounds like a superstition. I’ve spent many nights on my own, sleeping under the stars.”

“You kid. You wouldn’t be here if you did.”

Meav shook her head.

“She’s an intruder! She’s not one of us!” Lyle leaped to his feet, knocking a table as he unholstered a blaster. His shot glass tipped over, its contents spilling over the wood and the remnants of a card game.

“You would shoot a woman?” Meav demanded, stepping backwards and assuming a defensive pose.

“Yes.” Lyle’s face was set like flint.

“A woman without a weapon, who is tired and worn from travel.”

“You are not one of us. You are a threat to our existence. If you do not know of the Shadow, you are part of it.”

“Rather, you mean, I am the living expression of a broken planet that is in rebellion against you. So it doesn’t matter if I have a weapon or not. ”

“Please,” an old man rose from his seat and held out his hands toward both Lyle and Meav.

“Let us discuss this, peaceably,” he implored. Meav jerked her head in Lyle’s direction.

“Make him put his weapon down, first.”

Lyle made no move to do so.

“Put the gun down, Lyle, I’m sure she’s not that dangerous. Beside, if she is of the planet, she might know something of what has happened to our people.” the old man gestured toward the table. Lyle sighed and holstered the blaster. “Now, everyone, sit down. We will talk this out.”

Meav leaned against the bar, her foot resting gently against a barstool.

“To begin, my name is Mikas Keiran. I am one of the elders of this town. Why have you come here?”

“This is the land of my people. This was our planet for time immemorial. Your people have only arrived in the last three or four years. And you ask me why I have come? This is my ancestral home.”

“This planet was declared unoccupied by the Coalition.”

“The Coalition didn’t ask the occupants.”

Mikas shrugged.

“That I cannot say. Yet we have been here for years, and there has been no sign of your people, besides the disappearance of ours. How many of you are there?”

Meav blinked.

“I am the last of my people. There are no others. They died when your people came.”

“Ah, the Klempari Defense! How clever. Really. How many of your people are there?”

“As defenses go, the Klempari Defense is rather old hat. It isn’t a story, though. I am the last of my people.”

“Really,” Mikas repeated, considering what she had said.

“She’s lying!” Lyle jumped up, pulling his blaster out of its holster and firing it rapidly. Meav held her hand up, a shield of water forming around it, catching and dissipating the shots. The slow sizzle of the energy echoed through the room.

“Great Scott…you said you were unarmed.”

“No, I said I was weaponless, not defenseless. There is quite a difference.”

“Can you always do that?” Lyle jerked his blaster toward Meav’s hand as the water vanished.

“Of course. I can also burn you to a crisp, or any other delightful combination of hot and cold that happens to enter my mind. I’m an Elemental. Anything’s possible.”

“She’s in league that shadow then; the one that steals the children,” the traveler in the corner spoke softly, but Meav still heard him. She turned and stared at him.

“Speak more, so I can learn of this shadow,” she said sweetly, her finger tapping against her leg. She had come for information, and now she seemed to have found it.

“The child stealer? She takes the form of many, most often of a gypsy lady with pale green hair. She promises to raise children into great warriors, then vanishes with them. Other children simply vanish into the Shadow that follows her.”

“Where does this shadow come from?”

The traveler did not reply.

“Come, you seem to be the authority on the topic: where does it come from?”

“What does it matter to you?”

“It matters because I hear things you don’t. You hear wind. I hear words. You hear running water. I hear a lament. You are blind to the world around you because you are human. Even the trees are awake, and murmuring. They hold the entire history of this world. And they know that something is wrong.”

“You plan to track down the shadow.”

Meav shrugged. “Perhaps, if it seems convenient and if it is in the best interest of my planet.”

“This isn’t your planet anymore,” Mikas said softly. “You don’t have any choice about that.”

Meav turned and looked at him.

“If it makes you feel safe, go ahead and believe that. A piece of advice, though. One man held enough power to keep this planet from exploding years ago. He is dead. I'm all that you have to hold the planet together. Just keep that in mind.”

“What happened to him, the man?”

Meav frowned.

“I…I don’t know.”

The Philomena exited hyperspace smoothly and Gawain guided the Jedi Order's transport ship into a stable orbit. Gawain began standard scans of the planet's surface, listening idly to the sounds of conversation behind him. The transport was filled with some of the most powerful members of the Order. Included amongst them, much to Gawain's chagrin, was Ana.

Ana settled into the empty co-pilot's chair and kicked her feet up onto a spot on the control panel free of buttons.

" So. Nice piloting."

"I'm a Jedi. We're born knowing how to be a good pilot."

"Gawain. we've known each other for years now. I know that you're up to something. You might as well tell me. Or you could refuse and let me have fun torturing it out of you."

Gawain shifted in his seat uncomfortably," I wish you wouldn't joke about things like that."

"Who's joking?" Ana said, her grin turning grim. "I know you think you're quite the terrible Jedi. You get angry. How dare you actually have an emotion. You're headed straight toward the Dark Side every time you get a little bit irritated."

"You don't understand anything," Gawain said, his voice dropping to a low whisper. "I'm so angry all of the time. Little things irritate me, stupid things. I want to lash out at people, hurt them. Being Dark, it feels good."

"You think no one else has ever been Dark before? I've been there. Multiple times. Quit whining and let me help you."

Ana reached out and placed a hand on Gawain's arm, for once genuinely expressing concern. She recoiled as Gawain turned to look at her and his eyes glowed yellow for a brief second.

"I don't need your help."

Meanwhile, attached to the hull of the Philomena was an unmarked, unnamed ship piloted by a certain thief/mercenary named Cassandra. The effort of cloaking her presence in the Force from the prying attention of so many powerful Jedi was wearing on her, but she had a feeling that she needed to be here.

((OOC: This, and many posts to follow, occur before the above post.))

Meav slid onto her cot and rolled over, staring up at the stars. The wind rustled in the trees, and Meav softly traced the engraving on her bracers. She wished that Jashri Ji would just appear. How often had he vanished for days on end, and then returned like nothing had happened? He was a shapeshifter. He could be living in any of the villages, completely undetected. But then, why had his home been so clearly abandoned? She took one of the bracers off and stared at the runes on it. She could barely remember what they meant. He had tried to teach her so much in so little an amount of time. Now Meav regretted leaving so quickly. But back then...then she had only wanted to leave behind the bad memories, to avoid them.

She sighed and sat up. Regrets weren't going to help her any. She would have to learn on her own, now. The planet would teach her, she was sure. She knew enough to learn from the remnants of her people.

Meav fiddled with the records Kel had sent her, then finally called up the HoloNet. She was late, and knew Kel would be waiting. She was right, as her sister appeared seconds later.

"You're late!"

"Sorry, I know," Meav replied, smiling at Kel's bouncing curls. Even as a young adult, Kel's hair still fell into tight ringlets, and they never failed to amuse Meav. "I found out some interesting things, though. Were you able to finish sorting out where all Donovon's recruits went to?"

"And Hello to you too..." Kel muttered, looking down at the pad in her hand. "So far, we've located all but ten, plus another two who are presumed dead, but not confirmed."

"That's a pretty low deathrate for a group of young Jedi in Dittotopia," Meav muttered, scrolling through the records Kel had sent her. "Did you happen to find anything about Emily and Emma, the twins I told you about?"

"Nope. I guess they didn't come back to Ditto Town afterward. They aren't even listed in the official stuff for Donovon's operation. By the way--it says you killed Donovon? What happened there? I thought you said Emily killed her."

"She did. Never mind what the report says about details. Unless they're important details."

"What's the whole deal with you suddenly obsessing over the Donovon op, anyway? We checked out his place a few years ago with Rel, and--"

"I got my shoulder all messed up there. I remember what happened," Meav said, blushing slightly. "Anyway, what else did you find?"

"I still don't understand why you're so concerned about all this right now, though. I mean, Donovon's dead and gone. Why are you wanting to dredge up all this stuff? It's got to have a lot of bad memories for you. I mean, it has bad memories for ME," Kel shuddered. Meav nodded.

"I know, and I'm sorry. It is just a hunch. Donovon had to have marked down some stuff about this planet, or taught it to someone. I'm hoping I can pick up the lead, and maybe figure out why this planet has suddenly become of interest to the Coalition. Apparently they scanned it for lifeforms and it registered a big fat zero."

"And?"

"So what happened to Jashri Ji and Darlene? They've just disappeared. And all these settlers are either the most superstitious people I've ever seen, or something else is going on. Where's Gawain? I want to talk to him. Or Rel. Somebody."

"Fiiiiiine. I'll go get Gawain."