Shattered Stars (TCW)

Chapter 33 -- Salvation and Doom

It was only a few weeks later that reality truly hit the group—not only were they resourceless fugitives, the clones were genetically engineered to die before they had a chance to live full lives.

"I am not going to let that happen," Taska firmly stated the first time the discussion came up. "Now, we can live quiet lives out of reach of the Republic, but I'm not letting your lives be short, too."

"There's no guarantee that you can stop it, Taska," A'den pointed out.

"And there's no guarantee that I can't," she argued. "And I'm not going to stop until I find out, one way or another, if I can."

Taska wasn't lying. She spent every spare moment that she could, every hour that wasn't occupied with farming or gathering or crafting or selling or trying to keep her men safe, studying every medical journal she could find. Genealogy and the alteration of DNA sequences were what she dreamed about.

After the dinner table was cleared, she set up a workstation.

"I hate seeing you like this," Ace said, kissing Taska's temple and sitting next to her. They had gotten more comfortable with being in close quarters since they had more time to experience just living with one another.

"Like what," she replied absently, her eyes not moving from her datapad.

"Stressed, upset, worried," he listed, rubbing her shoulder in an effort to get her to look at him. "Confused."

She looked at him. "I'm not worried. I have no reason to be, as soon as I figure out—"

"What if you can't? And this is all for nothing? We're all right here, right now. Nothing bad is happening to us. Right?" he reasoned.

"Yes, but—"

"We all only have so much time here. And I know I have less. It sucks. But I'm not going to let it hang over my head. I've already been so much happier in these last few weeks. You have to be ready to let people go," he said seriously.

She set her forehead against his, smiling faintly. "Now you sound like a Jedi."

"I'm just saying, I'd rather spend every moment I can get with you, instead of in this house with you on a datapad."

She sighed. "You're right. I'm sorry."

"Don't be. It's nice to know you care so much."

"I'll go to bed in a minute, and we'll spend the whole day together tomorrow, I promise," she said.

He smiled at her. "That's what I like to hear." He kissed her forehead again, turning to leave.

One more page, she promised herself. Her jaw dropped. This is it, she thought. This is the key to everything. She scanned the equations on the page, etching them into her heart. Frenzied, she made some notes. "I can save you," she whispered. And she went to bed, her worries dissipating, a new purpose in her heart.

* * *

The next morning, Taska woke up with the sun already high in the sky. That was the first long rest I've had in a while, she realized. It was only after she had fully opened her eyes that she saw Ace stepping closer to her, a blaster in his hand.

"Ace!" she yelped, sitting up and pressing her back to the window behind her. "Wha—what are you doing? What's happening?"

"Good soldiers follow orders," he said mechanically, and it sounded like his voice was not his own. "Good soldiers follow orders. Kill the Jedi."

As he spoke, she felt a searing pain through the Force. People were hurting, scared—too many all at once, as if the Force itself couldn't hold the pain. Alarm rose ever higher in her chest. "Ace! I'm not a Jedi! What is going on? Talk to me!"