______She had always possessed a keen awareness of time. Ever since she was a child, time either moved too fast-like the precious happy moments with her father, or too slow-marooned and bored on a space cruiser surrounded by strangers too busy to grant her any time.
______In the last few days, she had broken free of the shackles of time-free of the limited, linear progression that had been her reality since the day she was born. She believed that she could slip through folds in time-travelling back thousands of years to experience the history of the planet the Alliance now populated.
______In a flash of insight, she discerned a fleet of warships skulking toward them, obscured from detection. And in their imminent arrival lay interwoven another vision, this one implied rather than seen: the annihilation of the Rebel Alliance.
______With a vengeance, time had reclaimed its hold upon her perception. Now time was of the essence. It worked against her, the sands sifting toward that fatal inevitability.
______She ran through the ancient temple corridors, noticing the imprint of time marked like a fingerprint upon the masonry. Her footfalls echoed loudly, each one announcing the passing of yet another second lost.
______As she ran through the temple, she also ran toward an unknown deadline. The arrival of the Empire's armada lay veiled in uncertainty.
______It could be today. It could be tomorrow. Or it might not be a matter of days at all. Any moment and she might hear the first blasts from the Imperial assault impacting the ancient temple, or the alert klaxons blaring to life much too late to save them.
______She had to find her--
______Father! she yelled. He was walking with two men, reading from a series of reports. A head taller than the other two, his silhouette turned toward her.
______Aeon approached, and braced her arms on her legs as she panted for breath. She didn't realize how long she'd been running.
______Gentlemen, you remember my daughter, her father said dispassionately. She didn't need to see his face to know his expression.
______She looked up, and saw two of the Alliance's other Generals smiling at her. Of course, one of them replied graciously.
______She made an attempt to wave as she regained her composure. Her father simply watched her, his impassive face speaking volumes.
______Father, I need to speak with you.
______The Generals looked to her father a bit awkwardly. We can finish up later--
______No! Aeon implored them. You can hear this. You should hear this. They seemed a bit confused, but they remained where they stood.
______We have to leave Yavin, Aeon declared.
______Well that's what we and your father were discussing, one of the Generals said. We are leaving Yavin IV, in--
______I know, but we have to leave now! She appealed directly to her father. There's an Imperial fleet coming. Its... she trailed off, searching for the right word, ...hidden from us somehow. Our sensors can't see it, but it's already past the second perimeter.
______What are you talking about? the two Generals stammered over each other. Hidden how? H-How do you know this?
______I've seen it-in a vision. There's a corridor of sorts-in space. It has strange features. It is able to--
______Gentleman, her father finally spoke, cutting her off mid sentence. I will speak with you both later. I apologize for the delay, but I have to attend to a few things first.
______Father...? Aeon asked.
______O-Of course, one of the Generals said. They looked to her father, and then at each other. He didn't return their gaze, his eyes never wavering from Aeon's.
______Try as she might, she wasn't able to keep hers level with his. Unconsciously, she looked down at the floor. She saw the Generals' shiny boots as they walked away.
______So this is you're new tactic? he asked. Before you were staying...
______What-that didn't garner enough of a reaction for you?
______Father, listen-- she tried to interject.
______Its bad enough I have to entertain these stunts, but when embarrass me in front of my colleagues... he trailed off, shaking his head in disbelief. I have to work with these people, Aeon.
______Father, I--
______I have to have their respect!
______She flinched, and it seemed that only then did he realize that he had shouted. The last echoes of his voice cascaded down the corridor, chasing the departed Generals.
______Its bad enough that I have to endure these stories from you and Kavolo--
______They're not stories! she said evenly. We have to leave immediately.
______An hour ago you were prepared to stay here indefinitely, he taunted. Why this sudden change of heart?
______I told you: I saw the fleet!
______What are you talking about? he countered skeptically. Aeon, enough of this nonsense! This fleet is invisible to sensors, and yet somehow you can see it?
______She paused, realizing the summit that loomed ahead of her. She had to start from the beginning.
______Father, we don't have time for me to tell you everything, she started. Ever since we got her, I've been feeling...strange. She paused for a moment.
______I've been able to see things that I've never been able to before: the insides of living things, their make-up-their cellular structure.
______She reached down, and touched the floor of the temple. I can feel the living things of the entire planet. Even this stone was once alive, coursing with organic energy.
______The stone?
______Aeon nodded. There's something special about this planet, and somehow I'm connected to it.
______These visions that I'm having-they're not dreams, Father. I can't explain them, but I know that they're real.
______But that still doesn't explain you knowing about this mystery fleet.
______My consciousness has been expanded. I was able to reach out into space, and feel it. I know its coming.
______Aeon... her father said.
______Aeon sensed that his resistance was lowering. Look, I know this doesn't make a lot of sense to you. I know it sounds crazy. And you're right, there is a chance that I imagined the whole thing, but I know I didn't.
______I could just sit by and say I told you so when half the Imperial Starfleet drops out of the sky, but that won't help us then. We have a chance to save the Alliance, but we have to act now!
______She had her hands on his arms, appealing to him. We have to warn the council. We have to convince them to move the evacuation--
______Aeon! her father interrupted. I'm sorry if I haven't been able to give you enough attention lately, but I have real work to do.
______She was too stunned to react. Her hands released their grip on his uniform, leaving the fabric in wrinkled knots underneath. You haven't heard a word I've said...
______Yes, I have. But I just don't have the ti--
______Then why don't you believe me? she implored him. I'm your daughter.
______So just because you're my daughter you should get special consideration?
______Yes! she answered emphatically. Dammit, I'm not one of your men! Why am I always judged with the same criteria-the same objectivity-you do your soldiers?
______She paused. I'm asking you to believe me. I need you to believe me. I'm asking for some benefit of the doubt because you're my father!
______The General looked away for a moment, and then back at her. I'm afraid it doesn't work that way.
______Aeon felt the corners of her mouth quiver, but she fought back her emotions. Says who...? she quipped sardonically, rhetorically.
______Her father treated it as such, and paid it no mind. I'm sorry, he offered.
______She couldn't respond. Her father turned, and walked down the corridor of the Massassi temple.
______Father, she called out. He stopped, and looked. Why do we keep having the same conversation...over and over?
______I don't know, he said. I think...I hope that you'll look back on what I've said differently...
______When you've grown up, he added. After a moment, he began walking down the corridor away from her again. ______
______Aeon just stood there for what seemed like a very long time.
______Grown up...? A small droplet of salty water fell upon the stone, darkening its surface.
______Her mind filled with all the things she wanted to say to him, a thousand clever remarks that would make him see just how grown up she was. Why did she always think of the right thing to say after they argued?
______He always made her feel small, like she was a child again. Today was the closest she came to speaking to him as an adult, and still...
______Wait! a voice cried out within her. Slowly, the same insight she had used to peer into the veil of space now turned inward.
______Why do I do this to myself? she wondered. I knew what he was going to say, and yet I went to him anyway.
______She realized that was true, and elements of an old puzzle began to fall into place. Perhaps it was time to ask herself the question she had posed to her father: why do they keep having the same conversation?
______They perpetuated this cycle, like two actors saying the same lines over and over, starring in the same production every night for the rest of their lives.
______They were locked into their roles by an event that happened over eleven years ago, an event that froze them in time.
______Time! Unfortunately, time was the one thing she lacked now. The Imperial fleet was still coming, regardless of the state of her relationship with her father.
______She had braced against the stone of the corridor to steady herself. She felt her strength, her sense of self, returning.
______She didn't need him. No, that wasn't true-but it wasn't an option at this point. She had to warn the leaders of the Alliance, and convince them that what she was saying was true.
______It was their only hope.
______She couldn't do it alone, but she knew where to get help. She started down the corridor, and with a renewed sense of purpose she committed herself to the task ahead.
______She thought about her father, and resolved to succeed just as she had been forced to live much of her life:
______Without him.
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