[Republic Commando] - 03(133)

Ordo folded the wrapping tight again and walked into the passage that separated the cockpit from the crew compartment. Etain thought he was heading for the computer terminal in the storage compartment, but she heard the hatch mechanism hiss open and the thud of his boots as he walked up the ramp.

“Ordo?” No answer. “Ordo? “

The realization must have hit Skirata at the same moment it hit her. Everyone bolted for the hatch, cramming into the short passageway, even Ko Sai. Looking up through the canopy, Etain watched in horror as Ordo drew his hold-out blaster, threw the package of datachips high into the air, and fired at it like a claydisk shoot.

Fragments of plastoid flared and rained like a pyrotechnic display.

She couldn’t see Skirata or Mereel from this angle. But Ko Sai let out a long gasp and slumped against the bulkhead, weaving her elegant head from side to side in shock. Every precious line of research was gone.

”Oh, shab … ,” said Vau, hands on hips, and hung his head. Etain was too stunned to speak. “Shab.”

It wasn’t just Ko Sai’s entire life and purpose that had just turned into embers hitting the water. It was Darman’s, too.





Chapter 13


Of course Ordo ‘s messed up. They’re all messed up. They used live rounds on exercise at five years old, they fought their first war at ten, and the lucky few got their first kiss as grown men aged eleven. Almost all of them-millions-will die without ever having heard someone say, “Welcome home, sweetheart, I missed you.” You think you’d be totally sane after all that?

-Kal Skirata to Captain Jailer Obrim, CSF Anti-Terrorist Unit, discussing life in uniform



The Marina, Tropix island, Dorumaa, 478 days after Geonosis

“Ord’ika?”

Skirata tried not to show his shock, but it wasn’t working. His voice jammed in his throat and struggled to shake loose.

Ordo stood forward of the hatch, looking out to sea in the growing dusk, and folded his arms. “I’m sorry, Kal’buir.”

What am I going to do? How the shab can I start over now? We had it, we had it all, we were so close…

“Just-just tell me why, son.” How could he do this to me? What did I do to tip him over the edge? “I know you’re upset. I know you’re worried about Fi.”

Mereel caught Skirata’s arm. “Nothing you can do, Buir. Let’s start again and shake everything out of Ko Sai.”

Skirata resisted Mereel’s pull at his sleeve. “Give me a minute, son. You go warm her up for me. I need to talk to Ordo.”

Skirata knew there was no point in being angry with the lad: this was all his fault. It was so easy to see only the clever, courageous, loyal side of Ordo and his brothers, all their wonderful qualities, and forget how badly damaged they all were at their core. No amount of love could erase what had been done to them at a critical time in their development. All he could do was patch them up, and he was willing to do that until the day he died.

He stood beside Ordo and put his arm around him, not sure now if that would result in a flood of tears or a punch.

“Son, you know how much I love you, don’t you? Nothing will ever change that.”

“Yes, Buir.”

“I just need to know why you did that after all the trouble we went to in getting that data.”

Ordo’s jaw muscles twitched. He didn’t look Skirata in the eye like he usually did. “This is all about having a choice. That’s what matters, isn’t it? But even now, we’re still under a Kaminoan’s control because she’s got information she won’t give us. Well, I’d rather live fifty years on my own terms than a hundred on hers. And now she’ll know it. The information she’s withholding is worthless. I’ve taken her power away for good.”

“But I just wanted to give you a full life. You deserve that.”

“But we’re men, Kal’buir, and I know you’ve given up everything for us, but you can’t keep making decisions for us like we’re kids.”

That hurt. The physical pain in Skirata’s chest, like a heavy stone pressing down inside, got a little worse. “But what about your brothers, Ord’ika? What about all of the ad’ike who didn’t get to choose?”

“There’ll be other ways around this.” No point arguing. He’ll feel bad enough about it when he comes to his senses. “Sure. We’ll forget it for the while and concentrate on Fi, and Etain’s baby, and then we’ll have a rethink. Ko Sai isn’t the only geneticist in the galaxy. Is she?” But even the Kaminoan ones need to get her back, and they’re the best. It s over. I’ll keep trying, but unless there’s a miracle…