Fiction Home - More by Corry Vrecken - More in Other Stories

Date: 50:10:15 (15 years after the Battle of Yavin)

Rowan squared her shoulders, knocked twice on the wide door and quickly entered without waiting for permission. Truth be told, she wasn't sure she would have gotten the permission.

Many things had changed in the TAG offices in the past three days, not the least of which was the commander's office. The lights in the room had been dimmed to half strength, but the alterations were easy enough to spot. The informal gathering of chairs around the wide desk, the scene of so many impromptu brain storming sessions, was gone. The chairs had been cleared from the room and the desk pushed up against the back wall. Corry sat there now, her back to the empty room, facing what had been a row of overstuffed bookcases. Now it was a blank dark wall, the perfect backdrop for a soft green projection of the latest lab report, enlarged at least three times to make it easier for the Colonel to read.

Rowan caught herself frowning at the projection. She was fairly certain that even at that size Corry couldn't read it. She suspected that instead of reading, the Colonel was listening to the small droid in the corner recite the report's contents, and from this angle she could make out a small ear piece nearly hidden behind a lock of the Colonel's hair.

Keeping her voice cheerful she announced, "Good news, Mayina has been able to reassemble one of the smashed crystals. She'll have the data transcribed and ready for you this afternoon."

"Thanks, Rowan. That is good news," Corry replied, not turning from her work. "Just have her send it in and I'll review it after I've finished with this morning's lab reports."

When Rowan didn't leave Corry asked, "Was there something else?"

"Just wondering if you were hungry. We're going to head up to lunch now. Why don't you join us?"

The silence lasted just a beat too long to be casual. "Maybe some other time. I have a lot of catching up to do. I'll send N5R out for something later." The back of Corry's head nodded toward the stubby droid.

"Powyhs could bring you something," Rowan continued, pushing against the tiny opening of conversation. "He's been moping around since you banished from your office." She grimaced as Corry's back stiffened. Perhaps she had pushed too hard? But it had to be said, and maybe it was finally time to say it. "Corry, I think his feelings are hurt. Couldn't he help you, instead of the droid?"

"He hasn't been banished." Corry's voice was light, but it had an edge to it. "He's simply far too valuable to spend his time in here. I need him running the sims for the reverse flight paths."

"The droid could run the sims." Rowan took a step closer and this time the Colonel's back almost flinched. "Corry, you haven't allowed him in here once since you got back from the medbay. You haven't let Rin or Kel'rac in either. They all know that you're avoiding them."

"I'm not avoiding—"

"Yes, you are. In the mornings you come in before anyone else and sit here, facing that blasted wall all day long. Then you don't leave until everyone has gone and the halls are empty. This isn't about catching up on work, Corry, especially not when you've got me lying to Colonel Conwy about why you won't take his calls." She lowered her voice and took one more step closer. "Corry, everyone knows about your face. You don't have to hide it." Rowan's voice caught. "At least not from me. I was there, remember."

"Yes, you were there." Unexpectedly Corry swung around, her sightless eyes staring bitterly at a point just beyond Rowan's right shoulder, her words dripping with resentment. "But I didn't look like this at the time."

Several long dark red scars cut down across each side of Corry's face, tracing from high on her cheekbones to near her mouth. It looked as if some giant bird of prey had raked its talons down her face, and it hadn't been any too careful about it. One of the scars on the left sliced all the way to her lips, pulling the left corner of her mouth down into a permanent pout. Deep purpled bruises were just beginning to fade from around her eyes, but that didn't hide the jagged circular scar that cut around her right eye socket, puckering the delicate skin where the bacta had closed the incision.

Rowan suppressed the urge to cringe and carefully kept her own face as still as possible, even though she knew Corry couldn't see her reaction. "No, you didn't. It looks like everything is healing well."

Corry snorted in derision and turned back to her desk. "Oh yes, it's healing. Thank you for the invitation. I'll pass this time, if you don't mind."

Rowan's mind raced, thinking up some argument that she could make, but Corry's voice curtly cut her off.

"You're dismissed, Alt Mere."

* * * * *

The door closed at the same rate that it always did, but somehow Corry imagined that it had been slammed. She groaned and almost dropped her head into her hands, stopping herself at the last minute. She couldn't see her face, but her fingers had traced the scars often enough that she could imagine exactly how she looked.

Jabbing at the control panel on her desk, she cut off the droid who had been droning on and on in the background during her interview with Rowan.

"Stupid, stupid!" she muttered, standing up for the first time in hours and stretching her stiff shoulders. Rowan hadn't deserved to be snapped at. The analyst had been nothing but supportive. In fact, she had almost run TAG by herself while Corry had been kept in the med bay. Rowan and Powyhs had shouldered all the daily duties, forwarding on only those items that needed a command approval. That allowed Mayina to dive into her research and Rin to huddle with regiment command, revising their strategies based on knowledge gleaned from the last battle with the Dukhang.

Corry owed Rowan much, far too much to have treated her so callously. She began pacing across the empty space in the middle of the office. She didn't need her sight for this, nor the "seeing eye" droid who hurried from the corner and slid along beside her. Her feet knew the exact number of steps she could take before turning.

As she paced she heard the Admiral's words echoing in her mind. Fel and Burn had come, themselves, to her bedside and had taken her statement about the Dukhang interrogation. After the debriefing was over she had stopped Nick when he turned to leave.

"Admiral, am I still in command of TAG?"

"Of course. As long as you can perform your duties I won't move you out of the unit."

Nick's voice had been firm, probably to give her confidence. But in running it over and over in her head, the words had taken on a decidedly different meaning for Corry. They soon became, "I'll remove you from command if you can't do the job."

With that supposed threat hanging over her head Corry had pushed Doctor Talgen to let her out early, leaving even before Sinclair had become strong enough for visitors. She had asked the doctor about wearing some type of mask, even a veil, but Talgen had simply told her to face facts and get on with her life.

To date, it appeared, she wasn't doing a very good job of it.

Turning, Corry headed for the door of her office. Rin and Mayina should be alone in the lab. At least she knew Rin and Kel'rac were away, and hopefully Powyhs was still working on the sims in Thorn's lab. If the two women were alone—well, she could face them. And she could at least apologize, even if she didn't join them in the crowded mess hall.

"N5R, stay here. I won't need you for this." Corry wished she didn't need the little droid for anything, but a white cane would have been a worse alternative. And she was endlessly grateful for standardized uniforms, at least she was able to dress herself without having to ask for help.

The door slid open and Corry advanced slowly into the bright room, watching out of the corner of her eyes. She was no longer completely blind. The grey mist had receded around the edges and she could now sense both light and movement in her peripheral vision, even catching a wistful glimpse of color now and then. The enlarged documents scrolling across the wall in her office were a sham, but she wasn't completely helpless any longer. However, after several seconds of searching for movement, her head cocked to one side in concentration, and Corry realized she wasn't sure who was in the lab, if anyone.

"Rowan?"

The silence answered her. She was too late. Rowan and Mayina had gone on to their lunch. But still… Corry paused, searching with her limited vision. Nothing moved, but it felt as if someone were there. A tendril of fear wrapped around her heart and gave a squeeze. Her hand dropped to the blaster that she now kept strapped to her thigh during the day and under her pillow at night.

"Who's there?"

No one replied, but the certainty that she was not alone grew. She raised her voice for system pickup. "Security, report the occupants of the TAG labs!"

This time the silence was definitely an answer. Someone had cut off the link to Security.

The blaster was out now and felt comfortingly solid in her hand, although she had no idea if she could hit anything aiming by sound alone. Rather than taking a chance crossing the lab, with its randomly placed crates, sliding chairs and moveable equipment, Corry carefully stepped backwards, one hand outstretched to fend off any chairs or boxes, the other clutching the blaster. Five steps later she slammed her hand down on the wall control inside her office and felt the door whoosh closed. She wished to high heaven that she had asked for a lock.

"Security?" But the pickup in the office was dead also.

"N5R, we need to…"

A male voice interrupted her. "Ah, come on, do you really think I'd close down the comms and leave a droid active? Give me some credit. Whoa!" The voice rose sharply as she swung around, pointing the muzzle toward the sound. "Hey, watch the gun!"

"Who are you?" she hissed.

"Wow, they said you were blind, but I didn't think you were deaf too. Don't you recognize my voice?"

Corry's mind raced and suddenly came up with a match. "Clayton? Andru Clayton?"

"Bingo."

There was a squeak as Andru sat down—apparently in her chair, since it was now the only one in the office. That, plus the adrenaline rush from fear and her natural antipathy for the wiz-kid hacker, made her growl out, "What do you want, Clayton?"

"Nice welcome, Vrecken. I heard you'd had some bad luck and just came by to see how you were. Just to repay all the times you stopped in to see me while I was on the mend."

Corry cringed inwardly. She'd only stopped by to see Andru once early in his recovery from a brutal stabbing which had left him paralyzed and bound to a hover chair. She had been blamed for that incident, but after her name was cleared she had only made one trip to his bedside. After he'd been released by Doctor Pierce he'd left Farpoint for a vacation and therapy on some world towards the Republic's core systems and she hadn't given him a thought since.

A thought crossed her mind. "Right. You cut key communication systems just to stop by and say hello?"

She could clearly imagine that impish grin of his as he replied. "Yeah… well, maybe it wasn't just to say hello. Maybe it was to help you out."

"Why do you need to hack the systems to help me out?" she flung back.

"Oh, this kind of help… well, I thought we'd keep it a private conversation, if you get my drift. You see… oh, wait… you don't see, do you? I bet that's a real pain. Might even be a problem for that brilliant career of yours, eh? I bet you wish that you could see almost as much as you wish that your face didn't look like that. "

Corry's hand rushed to her cheek. She'd completely forgotten that someone was looking at her, seeing exactly what the Dukhang had left her with.

"Get out," she whispered.

"Not yet, Vrecken. You haven't even heard my offer. Now, you need your eyes back, and if I remember your pride right, you want your looks back too. Don't bother to answer, I know you do. And I've read your medical records; Talgen has given up hope of you ever progressing much in either of those areas." He ignored Corry's indignant choking sound and continued. "Lucky for you, there's an answer to your problems, but I'm the only one who can give you the key to that answer."

Corry hissed, "What are you talking about?"

"A sarcophagus, that's what I'm talking about." Andru's voice held a smirk. "The only hope for you."

Corry stood stock still, stunned. Then she shook her head. "The Admiral has forbidden—"

"Oh cut the crap. You're not above breaking the rules to get the job done," Andru accused. "And we'll only be bending the rules, not even breaking them. Listen, there are two sarcs here on Farpoint. There's the wacked out one that they used on you once that made you knife General Moore. We'll cross that one off the list. But there's one other. And that's the one we need."

"That sarcophagus has been disabled," Corry countered.

"Yeah, but you disabled it. And I'm betting you can put it back together again, can't you? Look, I can hack the codes to get us into the lockdown area. No worries there. Then all you need to do is put the thing back together and we're in business! You'll get your eyes back and you'll have skin like a baby!"

Corry took a long steadying breath and carefully holstered her blaster. She'd almost forgotten that she still had it trained on Andru. "Three things, Clayton. First, the Admiral said we were no longer allowed to use the sarcophagi for healing. Second, even if I wanted to, you forget—I'm blind. I can't just put the thing back together in five seconds. It would take me hours, feeling my way along. And third…" She sent a sightless glare in his direction. "Third is that I don't trust you. Even if I were to consider this, why would you help me to do it? You feel the same way about me as I feel about you."

"Got that right." The chair squeaked softly as Andru stood. "So, it's not from brotherly love that I came. I need the sarc too." He tapped on his leg and she heard the ring of metal alloy. "I got rid of the hover chair, but now I'm stuck in this—a full lower body brace. Really cool engineering. I can walk without limping and no one even knows it's there." His voice lowered to a growl. "But I know it's there. Worse than that, I have no feeling at all in my legs. I want them back. I want to be whole again, without mechanics. You understand. I know you do. Talgen offered you optic implants and you refused."

She began to protest and he snorted. "I've read your records, Vrecken. All of your records. Understand? All of them. I know everything about you."

At her startled silence he smiled. "Now, about the Admiral and his rules—remember what he told you when you were given command of TAG? He said all of the resources of Farpoint were at your disposal. That was a public announcement. All of the resources." Andru crossed to her. "All of them. That means you have access to the sarcs if you need them to do your duty. And you need them, Vrecken. You need them badly. If you don't get your sight back soon, how useful are you to TAG? You won't be able to keep up your charade much longer, and even if you do you're slowing down the work. That means the Dukhang have an edge. Do you want to give the enemy that advantage?"

Corry's mouth hung open in surprise. She closed it with a snap.

"I can get us in," Andru continued. "I've already been there. I tried to fix the thing myself, but I couldn't get it to fire up, so now I'm giving you the chance for a better life."

Her mind racing, Corry chewed on her lower lip.

"Come on, Vrecken. You know you want to. If you don't care about your duty, think of your love life. You weren't bad looking before. But how long do you think your precious Conwy will put up with a face like that? Even Sinclair won't—"

"Get out!" Corry's voice was strangled, her anger boiling up. The blaster was in her hand again and her blind eyes flashed. "Get out now!"

* * * * *

In the corridor outside the TAG labs, Andru slumped against the wall. He'd been close, so close to convincing her. He couldn't believe that his arguments for 'doing your duty' hadn't worked. Vrecken had always made herself out to be a poster child for the military. He had been sure that his logic would have been enough to buy her help.

Help. From Vrecken.

Shaking his head he pushed off from the wall and started back towards R&D. Who would have thought that he would be so ready to make a pact with the devil?

Andru watched his feet automatically swing forward as he walked, the brace doing what his mind could not—control his body—and he shuddered. It was true, he was desperate; desperate enough to turn to the one person on base who was his enemy.

Enemy—he didn't know quite how that happened. If anything, Vrecken should have been grateful to him, instead of hating him the way she did. She owed him enough. She owed him for bringing her back to life with his quick thinking and a syringe of adrenaline. She owed him for the lives of all the natives who she had sentenced to death on Starthurst because she hadn't come up with the right answer when the Sith energy field was sucking the life from them. But most of all, she owed him for the knife that had ripped into his spine, crippling him. She may not have held the blade, but she was responsible. He would never have been attacked if she hadn't made it obvious to everyone how much she hated him. She'd set him up.

"Hey Lieutenant, welcome back! Good to see you on your feet!" A tech raised a hand as they passed in the corridor and it broke Andru out of his introspection.

"Yeah, thanks. It's good to be back."

Andru shook his head to clear it, muttering, "Dude, I need something to eat." He stopped outside the door to R&D and shook his head again. The pain killers that Pierce had switched him to must be doing something to him. He hadn't felt this agitated in a long time. Just one more reason that he needed the sarcophagus. He wanted to be substance free, and not giving in to whims that made him feel guilty afterwards.

Guilty, like how he felt about threatening Vrecken when he'd hinted at blackmail. Not that he'd really have done anything about it—he wouldn't stoop that low, even for someone he detested as much as Vrecken.

Inside R&D Andru crossed to his desk, avoiding looking at the empty spot nearby. Mayina had left for TAG before he got back, and he hadn't had the nerve to contact her. He wasn't even sure if he should. Word was that she was hanging out with a new young sergeant, and she hadn't come by the offices to say "hi" since he got back. The old Andru would have tracked her down and won her over again, but this Andru, the one in the brace.... he just wasn't sure of anything anymore.

That's why he thought he'd finally had Vrecken's number. He knew what it felt like to have his self image mangled. He'd bet that even though he and Vrecken were on opposite ends of the spectrum for everything else, for this one thing they'd share a mind. That's why he'd thrown down his last hope—the vanity card. That one should have done it. It should have worked! He swore, kicking his chair out with one deadened foot. All of his planning, all of his hacking, and she went self righteous on him!

His body brace hummed slightly as he sat down. His job at R&D didn't hold the same joy for him that it once had. Everything seemed dull since he'd returned, weighed down by the brace. He'd just have to find some other way. He was too close to being whole again to let one crazy woman stand between him and…

His comm beeped twice and a voice he hadn't expected to hear said wearily, "Clayton, I'll do it. When?"

"Tonight," he answered, and the signal cut out.

"She got the comm working again." A slow grin spread across his face. "That's a good sign. If she can do that, she can fix…"

He let the rest of the sentence trail off, just in case someone was listening, but he caught himself whistling through the piles of work on his desk for the rest of the day.

* * * * *

The storage area that was designated as Lock Down on Farpoint bordered on being cavernous; you could easily hold a football match in it. Deep alcoves lined the walls, and on one of these a small service glowlamp was propped on the floor. The light was more for the benefit of Andru, since Corry was doing her work by touch.

Things had progressed so quickly that Corry's head was almost spinning. A furtive journey to the Lock Down and long minutes waiting for the guard to pass was followed by an almost anticlimactic break-in. True to his word, Andru had every code they needed, and they passed inside without issue. The hacker had also known exactly where to find the sarcophagi and had impatiently pulled Corry along by the hand, a maneuver that neither of them had enjoyed.

Once there Andru helped her pry the bottom frieze free from the sarcophagus and set back to watch her work.

Corry had been slow at first, feeling along the dead connections with her finger tips. She finally gave up and asked him to help her find the location of several key energy junctures. But once those were straight in her mind she had fallen into a rhythm, her fingers tracing down the three crystals that she had altered when she had disabled the mechanism so many months before. Finally, lying on her side, with one arm deep in the workings of the sarcophagus, she had given a sigh of relief and quickly pulled out, using the edge of the sarcophagus to help her stand.

"Done."

"Are you sure?"

She rolled blank eyes. "I'm as sure as I can be. Look, it will either work or it won't. It's not like it will turn you into a pumpkin."

"Me?" Andru protested. "You think I'm going in there first? No thanks. You can test it out." But he knew, even as he spoke, that he needed to be the one. If anything went wrong she'd be the only one to fix it, and she couldn't do that if she were writhing in pain.

"Okay, already," he grumbled and reached out to depress the cartouche. The sarcophagus slid open with silent grace. "Yeah, so far so good. At least you got the door right."

She ignored his jibe and offered a hand to steady him as he climbed into the long cavity in the stone. "One thing, Clayton. You do realize that people usually go into a sarcophagus when they are unconscious, don't you?"

"Yeah, why?"

"I just don't know what to expect if you go in awake. I've never talked to anyone who did that. So, do you want me to knock you out before…?"

"No thanks! I'll take my chances." He lay back, and crossed his arms dramatically over his chest. The gesture was lost on her, since she couldn't see it, but he liked it nonetheless.

"Alright. Here goes. Good luck!" she whispered as the lid slid into place above him, cutting off the view of the darkened storage area.

For a moment nothing happened, and a sudden panic seized Andru. What if Vrecken had locked him in here and was now going to sneak out of the room, leaving him locked in forever? Did she hate him so much that she would…

A diffused glow slowly filled the cavity around him and he let out whoosh of relief. For a moment he'd been really worried.

The glow brightened until it hurt his eyes and he closed them convulsively. Still the white light poured in, brighter and brighter. It carried no heat, but the sheer intensity of it seared through his closed eyes, through his mouth, through his brain. It bored into his chest and flashed through his arms and legs. Gasping, his mind unwillingly dredged up black and white images of nuclear bomb tests and the flash that wiped out all life in its path.

Still brighter, the light suddenly deepened to gold, then cycled through amber, then red. Each time the wave of luminescence flashed through his body, firing off every nerve, causing each muscle to spasm, and his heart to freeze within his chest. His screams echoed back at him from only centimeters away, filling the cavity with sound to join the light.

Then the light gathered below his feet and squeezed up through his body, pushing blood and nerves ahead of it, forcing a blood curdling scream out of his lungs, nearly taking off his head with its intensity. After that, he knew nothing but blackness.

* * * * *

Half an hour dragged by before Corry heard the lid slide back on the sarcophagus. She rushed to reach inside, calling quietly, "Clayton?"

There was no answer. But in the cavity, the young lieutenant was breathing, deeply and regularly. She could hear it, and her questing hand found a steady beat to his heart.

"Clayton!" She slapped his face three times before he reached up and grabbed her wrist.

"I'm awake," he groaned.

"That's good." She chuckled in relief. "But are you healed?"

The question seemed to revive him and he sat up quickly, his hands rushing to his thighs.

"I feel them. I feel my legs!"

He jumped from the sarcophagus without her help, stripped off his pants and threw them to her. It took her a minute to figure out what they were, but when she did, she shuddered. "Ugh. I am so glad I'm blind."

Andru ignored her and uncoupled the braces in record time. Within seconds he was racing down the length of the storage area, amazed at the feeling of having legs, muscles, feet, again. He ran up the side of one crate and did a neat back tuck, landing on his feet.

He bowed to the applause of the imaginary audience and ran back to the alcove, weaving his way through assorted boxes and machines. Once there he grabbed his pants and whispered, "I'm healed!"

A genuine smile lit Corry's face for the first time. "Oh Andru, I'm so glad!"

He kicked aside the now useless brace and grabbed her elbow. "Your turn!"

Outside the alcove the main light banks at the far end of the room came to life. Andru dived for their glowlamp, pulling Corry with him.

"What's wrong?" she whispered as they crouched down behind the sarcophagus.

"Lights are coming on." Andru's mouth was at her ear. "I shut down all the monitors on this area. I know I did."

Distantly they heard, "The system detected a power increase, sir. We're checking it now."

"Well, someone started one up again," she whispered back.

"You've got to get in the sarc!" Andru warned. "I'll hide. Maybe they'll be gone before you come out."

"It won't work," Corry moaned, her heart sinking. "When you were in there, I could hear you yelling."

"Oh." He scowled. "I could knock you out first…"

"Without them hearing?" Corry felt her eyes beginning to flood, but she fought the tears back ruthlessly. "What if the sarcophagus opens up and I find a guard detail looking down at me? It will end my career!"

With a resigned sigh, Andru reached up to activate the cartouche and the giant lid slid silently closed.

It took half an hour of dodging and hiding from the two guards before they were able to get back to the entrance. Fortunately the codes hadn't been changed and they we able to unlock the door from the inside and slip out. As they snuck through the door they heard the captain of the guard talking to someone in Ops.

"Yes sir, we'll station a man inside all night. All week if necessary."

* * * * *

The door to her quarters slid closed behind her and Corry leaned back against it in the darkness. She felt drained physically and mentally. All the effort, the excitement of the night—and it had come to nothing.

Well, nothing for her. Andru was happy, and she couldn't begrudge him that. In spite of their history together, Andru had seen her back to her rooms and had whispered a promise to continue wearing his brace for a few weeks. It wouldn't do to exhibit a sudden miracle after the Lock Down area had been compromised. He would wait, continue his physical therapy routines and eventually announce that his legs had been improved by standard medical means.

His offer meant a lot to her. It meant that she wouldn't have to crawl to Nick and explain her suddenly irrational actions. And it meant there might be hope for Andru and her to work together amicably in the future.

But with all of that, she was still right where she had started.

A small reading lamp glowed in the darkness, behind her favorite chair. She regarded it sadly out of the corner of her eye. She wouldn't be using the chair any time soon. Reading was a luxury from her past; reading and the old movies that she had so loved to watch.

There was movement from the chair, and something eclipsed the pool of light. "Corry?"

Strong, gentle hands grasped her shoulders, and a familiar scent made her gasp in shock.

"Rhyan? No!"

She tried to turn away, but he held her close and carefully tipped her chin upwards to him. He ran his thumb cautiously along the slashes crossing her cheek, murmuring, "They didn't tell me."

"Why did you have to come here?" Corry wailed, quivering as he searched her face. She could imagine the look in his eyes only too well; she had seen it in her nightmares for the past week. But it was too late to run. He'd seen her now, and nothing could ever undo that moment in time.

Finally he said quietly, "You're not quite as pretty as you used to be."

He ignored the sob that escaped her and bent to softly kiss her ruined lips.

"But you're still beautiful."

* * * * *

The day shift had already started when Corry, led by her droid, arrived at the TAG labs the next morning. She gathered her courage, straightened her shoulders, whispered to N5R, "Time to face the music," and palmed the door control.

Inside she cautiously navigated her way across the room, following the hum of the droid, and turned to smile tentatively as she sensed movement near one of the desks.

"Good morning."

"Good morning, Corry," Mayina answered, a hint of surprise in her tone.

More movement near the exam table. That would be Rowan. "Good morning, Rowan. I'm very sorry about yesterday."

A masculine voice answered. "It's me, ma'am. Rin."

"Oh!" She squashed a feeling of panic and was careful not to turn away. Giving him a smile also, she said, "Sorry, Rin. Good morning." But she picked up the pace, almost kicking an indignant N5R in the process, and quickly made it to the safety of her office without running into anything. Once inside she fell into her chair with a sigh of relief.

Thirty minutes later two regulation taps echoed off her door. This time no one barged in, so she called, "Enter!"

Several shadows moved across the light from the doorway and into her office. Only then did she realize that the lighting in her room was still dimmed. Corry winced, facing the group. Okay, let them all take a good look. Might as well get it over with.

They were all silent, so finally she said, "Yes? What's up?"

"We have something for you," Mayina spoke up, and Corry caught a glimpse of movement as the researcher stepped forward, her excited words tumbling out. "It's a sensor net. I got the idea from an old sci-fi program on Earth. Kind of corny, but we think it might work. Here… can we put it on you?"

"Wait." Corry held up a hand and tried to decipher what Mayina had said. "Sensor net? What do you mean?"

"It's more like a piece of jewelry, ma'am," Powyhs' rich voice answered. "A necklace if you will. Several sensors strung along a biofeedback cord. We're hoping that the sensors will give you enough information to help you move about with more confidence, at least until your eyes have a chance to heal."

Bless Powyhs and his ever present optimism! Dumfounded, Corry whispered, "That sounds… amazing. I'd love to try it."

Someone, probably Mayina again, crossed behind her and a cool, weighty chain was slipped around her neck and adjusted to lie flat against her collar bone inside her shirt.

"Now, we just need to hook up the feedback…" Mayina explained as she moved Corry's hair aside and pressed a small medical probe behind Corry's ear.

There was a pop inside Corry's head and light burst in all directions. But before she could say "ouch", the surge was over and what remained was an overlay of the world around her. Shapes appeared, ghostly shapes, almost like a weak holo signal.

"Are you ok?" Rowan asked anxiously.

Corry nodded and screwed up her eyes, squinting and blinking, trying to fine tune the images. Sadly, her old means of focusing didn't work, so she closed her eyes and concentrated on the shapes. There were two shorter, slender forms beside her—that had to be Rowan and Mayina. One tall, broad shouldered form toward the back of the group—that was Kel'rac. Rin was the lean one, Powyhs the heavy form. The dumpy shape of N5R sat in one corner of the room, and…

Corry broke out into a smile. "This is wonderful! It really works!"

"What can you see?" Rin asked. "We tested it, but it was hard to know if it would work the same on you."

"Forms, just shapes. The outlines are quite distinct actually, but no features. But at least I won't be falling over everything. Oh!" Color seeped slowly into the images, filing them. Nothing bold or distinct, it was more like looking at a watercolor of the world. "It's adjusting," Corry said breathlessly.

"No, you're adjusting," Mayina laughed.

"You really should open your eyes, ma'am," Powyhs suggested. "We want them to work to get better. The sensors are only a crutch, not a final solution."

"You're right." Corry opened her eyes and the watercolor shapes now overlaid the grey mist that shrouded her world. She turned to regard each of them, willing the sensors to pick up more detail of the faces surrounding her. "I can't thank you enough! This is incredible."

"We were just tired of doing all your work for you," Kel'rac said with a rumble.

The others laughed, but Corry nodded. "You're right and I do apologize."

"That was supposed to be a joke, Colonel," Kel'rac corrected her.

"I know, but you have a point. It's time for me to stop feeling sorry for myself and get on with business." She ran her fingers along the circle of sensors. Things were definitely looking up.

Another shape appeared at the doorway, and Admiral Fel's voice said, "Is this a closed party or can anyone join in?"

Everyone greeted him, and several people chimed in to explain about the sensor net. He listened appreciatively and then smiled. "Sounds like you've been busy. I know you'd like to put Corry through her paces and see how your new invention works, but I wonder if I couldn't have a word with her in private for a moment?"

The TAG team filed out quickly, their voices rising in excitement as they left the office. Nick waited until the door closed and leaned against the edge of Corry's desk, looking down at her. "It sounds like you have a good group of friends there."

"Yes. I'm luckier than I deserve," Corry agreed.

He nodded slowly. "Makes last night's little escapade seem rather unnecessary, doesn't it?"

She gulped, turning pale. How could he possibly know? Suddenly she wished that she could see the expression on his face instead of just a Nick-shaped shadow.

"Sir?" She tried to sound innocently curious but her voice squeaked.

"Come on, Corry. Did you really think that Andru Clayton could sneak you out, unseen, past an alerted patrol?" He sighed. "Corry, I understand how frustrating this must be for you, and believe me, I wish it had never happened. I should never have sent your team into that situation. That was a mistake. I should have sent an Intel team."

"Excuse me, sir, but please, don't say that!" She sat up, watching his outline intently. "We've done a lot of good. We've met our goals and we're making real progress! We needed to be there. Intel takes casualties, they even lose people, but they get the job done - and so did we. This last mission was a victory for our side."

Nick regarded her closely. "I'm glad you think that. But I want you to remember that you weren't the only one who paid a price for this 'victory'. Every one of our groups took casualties. Quite a few of them are worse off then you are."

He stood, his shape turning from blue-grey to bronze as he moved. "Those men and women don't have the option of sneaking in to use a sarcophagus to give them back their missing limbs, or to regrow their charred skin, or to heal their fractured minds. Those who died don't have the option of being brought back by that infernal machine."

His voice was low and penetrating. "I made a decision, Corry. It wasn't a decision I made lightly. There were good reasons for it. Everyone in Rogue Squadron has been required to live by that decision, including you."

Corry shrank in her chair, suddenly very much ashamed. "I know that, sir. I'm very sorry. It was a horrible lapse in judgment."

"Yes it was. I hope you've learned from it, because frankly I can't spare any more commanders. How's Clayton?"

"He… he's better, sir. He's fine now."

"Good to hear." Nick stood. "Alright, I'm going to consider this subject closed. I trust you won't reopen it, because next time I won't turn a blind eye to it."

"No, sir," Corry said quietly.

"One more thing, Corry."

"Yes, sir?"

"Cut it out with the sirs."

* * * * *

Two hours later the office door opened, this time without anyone knocking at all. It closed just as quickly.

"Hey, Vrecken."

"Andru!" Corry didn't even have time to swing around in her chair before Clayton was standing beside her. She really needed to have the room put back in its proper order, if only so that no one could sneak up on her.

"In the flesh. We need to plot!" he sounded exuberant.

Well, who wouldn't be? she thought. He's got a new lease on life.

"Look, I have a plan," he continued. "We can lure the guard away. It'll be a piece of cake, 'cos you know what else they have stashed in that Lock Down area?"

Corry interrupted him, "No Andru, we're not going back."

"Is this person bothering you, Colonel?"

Both Corry and Andru jumped. Kel'rac crossed the room in two silent strides and stood looming over Clayton. She was definitely going to have the room put back in order.

"That's just not nice, dude!" Andru complained. "Can't I stop by to see how she's doing, without a chaperone butting in?"

Kel'rac's tone brooked no argument. "You have been an annoyance to the Colonel in the past. I have not heard that you have changed."

Corry hid a smile. "It's alright, Kel'rac. Lieutenant Clayton is here on business. I'll call if I need help."

"As you wish. I will be just outside."

After Kel'rac had gone Andru breathed a long sigh of relief. "That dude is quiet! He even made the door quiet. Too bad we can't get him to help out. So, here's the plan…"

"Andru, we aren't going back. It's over."

"No way! I never skip on a promise. You got me in there, now I'll…"

"Admiral Fel knows," Corry said clearly.

There was a long silence. Then Clayton asked, "Does he know about me?"

"Yes. He specifically asked how you were doing."

Corry could almost hear him wince.

"Ah, man. We're toast! What did he say? Is he sending us home?"

Shaking her head Corry said, "I don't think that's an option for either of us, now is it? Actually he didn't give us any punishment. He simply asked for my word that it wouldn't happen again."

"Dude. That's harsh," Andru groaned. "We both know there's a working sarc just under our feet and we can't even touch it? That's gotta be cruel and unusual."

"I highly doubt that's what he intended, Andru. He's not like that." She shivered. "He did remind me of all the others who were hurt, and how unfair it was to use the sarcophagus when they could not."

Andru sighed. "Yeah, I thought of that too. Had a nightmare about it last night. Maybe we should see if we can volunteer down at the medbay or something."

Corry tried not to smile at the thought of Andru in a candystriper's outfit. "Maybe we should."

As he headed for the door, Andru said, "You know, Vrecken, this means I owe you one. I gotta say, I'm not really liking that idea."

"I'll try not to keep it hanging over your head," Corry laughed.