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Poe rocked back and forth on his heels, barely containing his glee as he watched the…one X-Wing? No, that can’t be… He looked over to Leia, standing next to him. “They both reported in, right?”
Leia was already looking at her datapad. “Karé commed in six hours ago, reported that they’d both be coming in.”
“So where’s the other X-Wing,” Poe asked, all traces of mirth gone.
“I don’t know,” Leia said, reaching out, trying to test the waters.
And what she found gave her pause. There were two life forms in that X-Wing. “Get medical out here,” she barked. Poe turned to her, his eyes growing wide. “We don’t know anything yet, Dameron. Just in case.”
“Yeah,” Poe said, clearly unconvinced, “Just in case.”
The X-Wing came in for a perfect landing, and Poe nearly cried. After all their recent losses, it was good to see some old friends.
Karé climbed out of the ship, carrying something. For a moment, Poe forgot his worries and ran over, crushing her in a hug. Karé pushed him back, smiling. “Yes, hello, Poe,” she said, trying to protect the bundle in her hands. “Good to see you too.”
“Where’s Lo,” Poe asked.
“Ummmm,” Karé started.
Leia met them. “Captain Kun,” she said with a smile.
“Ma’am,” Karé said, shuffling the bundle in her hands and offering up a crisp salute.
Leia raised an eyebrow at that and then looked at the bundle. “And what have you brought us?”
“Oh, yeah,” Karé said, nodding towards the hangar. “About that.” She bit her lip. “We couldn’t assist on Crait because…well,” Karé paused, clearly trying to find the best way to tell the story, “Ummmmmmm….”
“Kun, out with it,” Poe said.
“Yeah,” Karé said, dumping the bundle of what appeared to be rags onto the top of a crate. It made a very unhappy noise.
Poe stepped back. “Did that thing just…”
“Yeah,” Karé said.
The bundle hissed and started moving.
“Is that a kriffing cat,” Poe nearly yelled.
“Kind of?”
“Kind of?”
“Technically, that’s Iolo,” Karé said.
“Technically that’s what now?”
Leia smiled and started undoing the bundle to free the cat.
“I had to wrap him up, ma’am. He’s been really pissed off and his claws are sharp.”
Leia chuckled, freeing the cat and picking it up, staring into its eyes. “Welcome back, Captain.”
The cat gave a long, wailing meow at that.
“Wait, what,” Poe said, still trying to catch up. “That…that…that…”
“It’s a cat, Dameron,” Leia said, stroking its black fur. “A pretty one at that.”
“Ummmmm, yeah, whatever,” Poe said, turning back to Karé. “What in the kriff happened out there?”
“Well,” Karé started.
A medical team arrived. “Ma’am, do you want us to check over Captain Kun and…” The medic looked around for Iolo.
Leia chuckled. “Let’s take Captain Arana down to medical,” she said. “Karé, why don’t you keep telling us the story.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
The group fell in line behind Leia and Karé as Karé cleared her throat. “Well, um, as you know we were scouting possible secondary base sites in the Outer Rim, and it had been going well.” She stopped for a moment, then added, “Well, as well as any op with Lo can go.”
The cat growled.
“Anyway, we’d found an uncharted moon near Zonju V, and were scanning to see if there was any activity when we stumbled across a settlement. We went down to investigate and it turned out to be some sort of religious order.” Karé shook her head. “They seemed nice, but…” She looked over at the cat, “but Iolo kept saying that something was off.”
“He saw something,” Leia asked.
“Yeah, but…but he couldn’t explain it. Normally, I’d suggest just leaving, but Lo here,” she stopped to give the cat a stern look, “insisted that we stay.”
Poe groaned, “Then what?”
“Then, our second night there, this one decides to go poking around in the sacred caves near the settlement.”
The cat meowed and Karé bent over until she was face to face with the cat. “Sacred caves, Lo! They called them the sacred caves for a reason, so it might be smart to assume that they didn’t want just anyone poking around there.”
The cat meowed again and Karé frowned, bringing up a finger and pointing at the cat’s face. “No! I don’t want to hear it, Lo. Sacred caves mean stay away. That’s your new motto and Dagger’s new motto and hell, even Stiletto’s new motto, you hear me?”
Poe swore he heard the cat say, “Yes, ma’am.”
“Okay,” Leia said, starting towards medical again, “so Captain Arana went snooping?”
“And of course, they caught him! And they drug him out and started chanting and they blew this dust on him and…” Karé shook her head. “The next thing I knew there was a cat where Iolo used to be.”
“And you’re sure it wasn’t some sort of trick,” Poe asked. “Switching out the cat for Lo or something?”
Karé cocked her head and rolled her eyes. “Yeah, because I didn’t immediately think of that, Poe.” She shook her head and pointed to the cat. “Ask it a question.”
“What?”
“Ask the kriffing cat a question, Poe.”
“Ummmm, okay,” Poe said, feeling stupid. He leaned down and looked at the cat. “Ummmm, hey buddy! Uhhhhh,” Poe sighed. “If you are Lo, then you have very strong opinions about Z-95 Headhunters. I think they’re crap, but—” The cat hissed and swatted at Poe, who immediately backed up. “Sorry, buddy! Just checking.”
Leia rolled her eyes, shaking her head. “Really, Poe?” She held the cat up to face her. “Are you Iolo Arana?”
The cat meowed.
“Do you have any idea how they did this to you?”
The cat let out a mournful noise.
“I’m going to take that as a no.” She turned to Poe and Karé. “Poe, take Karé to the mess and get her something to eat. Then, come back here. I’m going to want you to tell Dr. Kalonia the story again.” She turned to the medics. “One of you, go find Rey and tell her to come to medical immediately.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
The group dispersed.
# # # #
Karé poked at her food as they sat in a nearly-empty mess.
“You have to eat something,” Poe said.
“It’s my fault that idiot is a cat,” Karé said.
Poe couldn’t help his chuckle. “No, it’s Lo’s fault he’s a cat.” He reached over, squeezing her shoulder. “But don’t worry, we’ll get him back.”
“Poe,” Karé started.
Poe pulled her into a hug. “I promise.”
# # # #
Within an hour, every pilot on base had found an excuse to visit medical to see Iolo, and it was clear the cat was miserable.
As Poe and Karé came in, Poe heard C’ai say, “He’s never gonna live this down.”
“They’ve already started calling him Captain Kitty in the hangars,” another pilot said.
Poe pressed his lips together to keep from smiling.
Karé gave him a disappointed look.
“Don’t worry. I’ll tell them to cool it with the Captain Kitty stuff.” After they tease him for a day or so, Poe added in his mind.
“So,” Karé said to Dr. Kalonia, Leia, and Rey. “Any ideas?”
“None,” Dr. Kalonia said with a frown. “There’s nothing medically wrong with him.”
“He’s a cat,” Poe said.
“Yes,” Dr. Kalonia said. “A cat in perfect health.”
Rey said, “There’s some sort of…” She shook her head. “It’s not quite the Force, but…”
Leia said, “Magic, for lack of a better term.”
“So,” Karé asked.
“We’re going to send another group out to this moon, see if we can negotiate with the settlers.”
Karé sighed. “I don’t know how happy they’re going to be about that. I had to blast my way out of there.”
“We have to try,” Leia said. She nodded to Poe. “We’ll get something ready for tomorrow.”
“Of course,” he said, following her back to command.
Dr. Kalonia looked down at the cat on the stretcher. “Captain, you have food and water and…a litter box in the corner.” The cat let out a wail. “I know, but…” She shook her head.
“It’ll be fine,” Karé said. “I’ll stay with him.”
Dr. Kalonia smiled. “Let us know if either of you need anything.”
As Dr. Kalonia left, Rey offered up a smile. She reached over, scratching between Iolo’s ears. “We’ll fix this. I promise.”
Karé held out a hand. “It’s nice to officially meet you. Karé Kun.”
“Rey,” Rey said. “Poe’s told me a lot about you.” She looked at the cat. “And about you too, Captain Arana.”
The cat turned and curled up into a ball with a huff.
“I think he’s a little embarrassed to be meeting a Jedi in this…state.”
Rey smiled. “No worries.” She walked to the door. “But we will figure this out.”
“Thanks,” Karé said, settling into a chair next to Iolo’s bed.
For a while she just sat there. Then she looked over at the bed where Iolo was grooming himself. “Really?”
The cat paused and then almost seemed to shrug.
“You know, this is your own damn fault.”
The cat huffed out a breath and moved to the edge of the bed closest to Karé, looking up at her with big sad eyes.
“That isn’t going to work, Lo.”
The cat’s tail twitched as it continued to look at her.
“Urg,” Karé said, reaching over and pulling the cat into her lap. She started stroking his fur. “You’re too much work, you know that, right?”
The cat gave a happy meow and settled into a comfy spot in her lap.
# # # #
The next morning, Dr. Kalonia nearly dropped her datapad as she entered Captain Arana’s room. “Holy hell,” she finally breathed out. She stepped back out into the hall, so she wouldn’t disturb the sleeping captains. She pressed her comm. “Tell the General that Captain Arana’s condition was only temporary. He’s back to form. We’ll run some tests, but…” She smiled. “I think the crisis has been averted.”
She was about to step back into the room when she heard a snore and then Karé groaning. “Urgah, Lo, you weigh a kriffing ton, you idiot.”
“And good morning to you too, Karé.”
Then, there was a scream and what sounded like Captain Arana falling to the floor. “Kriff, Lo, you’re naked!”
Dr. Kalonia went to go fetch the Captain some scrubs.