ANGEL'S MORTALITY

iv

HYPERDRIVE

Cal sat in front of the transmitter as he sent the intel he got from the Senator to Saw Guerrera. He could still see Bravo's ship exploding in front of him. He could see the burnt mark on Gab's chest. Could hear how loud the thud was when the twins fell lifelessly.

He reached out to hold an old holo-photo. Everyone in this photo was dead, including that version of him.

"We did it," he said out loud to no one.

BD looked at his best friend and went toward the holoprojector behind the flight deck. The little droid hopped on and began scrolling through its database to find what it was looking for.

"Hey, BD."

Cal slowly turned as the voice continued. His face softened as he saw a projection of Greez in front of BD.

"Hey! Are you making a holo-movie? Hey! Aaaah! Make sure I look good, right? Get by best side!"

Cal placed the photo down as the holo-movie image of Greez laughed. The ginger stood in front of it as he watched a younger version of himself bob his head to whatever music he was listening to on his headset.

"Boots off my table, kid."

Younger Cal took his legs off of the small table as Cere came into view, holding an old book. The holo-movie winded up, and an image of Merrin staring at Dahomir appeared.

"The galaxy is vast droid," she said. "And I have only seen a little of what it has to offer."

"Bwoo."

"But one day, I will return to Dathomir and whisper what I have learned to my sleeping sisters."

"Boop!"

Merrin turned to look at the version of BD who was recording.

"You are not invited."

"Beep," the droid said, sad.

The footage winded again.

"Hey BD!"

Diane came into view.

"What's this?"

"Beep boo bwoo!"

"Aw, that's...cool?" Diane said, confused. "Does that mean you're recording?"

"Beep."

"So... Would Cal be able to see this?"

"Beep boop."

The angel nodded her head.

"Okay. Promise you won't show him this until way later! Okay?"

"Bwoo boop!"

Diane looked around, and she was stifling a laugh even though she hadn't uttered a word.

"I was the one who turned the water cold when Cal was bathing."

"Boop boop boop!"

"What?! I didn't want to be the one telling him his singing was terrible!"

The footage winded even more.

At the table were Cere, Merrin, Diane, Cal, and Greez sitting at the edge of the table.

"You know, it's not often I break out an old family recipe like this... So, what do you think? Merrin!"