Clan of Three

Part Twenty-Five

Rael was awoken when she was thrown into the ship wall. "What the hell!", she groaned as she tried to sit up, but the ship made another sharp move, sending her smashing into the crates she had been leaning against. She felt the familiar rumble of the ship as they entered a planet's atmosphere. Just as she had gotten to her feet, the ship's power shut down and they began to free fall. All the air from her lungs was sucked out as she crashed into the floor.

Once her breathing had partly returned, she was going to scream every curse she knew at the amor-clad idiot, but then she heard a cry from the open sleeping compartment. The kid was hanging onto his hammock for dear life. "I'm coming!", she shouted at him and began to make her way to him.

Just as she grabbed hold of the entrance of the compartment, the ship jerked like something had hit it. Rael stumbled forward and fell onto the cot. "I swear when I get a hold of him..." She growled as she reached up and plucked the kid out of the hammock. She curled up on the thin mattress and held the kid tightly in her arms as the ship smashed into the ground and they slid into something.

After a second or two of nothing happening, Rael slowly sat up, heart pounding and blood pumping. "I think, whatever that was, is over.", she said to the kid as she slowly stood up. But just as she did, the ship lurched. "Oh force." she groaned, gripping the child to her chest. Not even a second later, the ship went into its second free-fall and Rael and the kid floated into the air.

But just as fast as it happened, they crashed back to the ground. Rael groaned as she raised her head a bit, relieved to see the child unharmed and sitting on her stomach. He cooed at her with worried eyes and touched her forehead. She winced at the pain and saw his little hand pull back with blood on it. "Well, that's not good..." she sighed as her vision started to blur. "G-go find Di- go get..." she muttered before her head lolled to the side and she lost consciousness.

~~~~~

"Rael, c'mon. You gotta get up.", A muffled voice said as Rael was being shook awake. The first thing she felt was the cold. As her eyes opened, she saw the Mandalorain hovering over her holding a bloody rag. "Come on. We need to get you warm." He said as he helped her sit up. "What the hell was that all about and why does it feel like I'm back on Hoth." she groaned reaching a hand up to touch her pounding head.

Din caught her wrist and said, "No touching." Rael glared at him, but obliged. "The one time we could've used your status with the New Republic, you were asleep. A X-wing patrol found us and wanted my beacon. But they recognized it from the job with Ran, so I had to get us out of there."He explained as he pulled her to her feet. Rael really wanted to point out that there were multiple different things he could've done instead of that, but realized now wasn't the time.

As he helped her wobble out of the sleep compartment, she began to shiver even more. "I've got the heaters and blankets in the cockpit. can you get up there?", he asked as she was staring at the gaping hole in the side of the ship that snow was blowing in through. "Ho-how? What are we gonna do?", she questioned, brain still foggy. "I know. We'll get to it. But right now, the main problem is not freezing to death." He said guiding her to the ladder. Din climbed up right behind her, making sure she didn't slip and injure herself more.

As the Jedi pulled herself into the cockpit, she saw the frog lady with her eggs and the child sitting on crates with a couple of small heaters between them. As she walked to the pilot seat to look out the front, Din wrapped a blanket around her shoulders. "I suspect the temperature will drop significantly more at nightfall. I'll have a better idea of our prospects then." Din told her as he sat down next to the frog lady on the ground. She croaked something at him as Rael sat down on his other side.

"I'm sorry lady. I don't understand frog. Whatever it is, it can wait until morning. I recommend you get some sleep." He told her as he tried to get comfortable and leaned his head back. Rael watched as the clearly worried female stood up and pulled her blanket off and wrapped it around her eggs. The female sat back down held the tank close as she began to shiver.