Gone
Chapter Five

Talon pondered over the information, trying to figure out what they were trying to pull off. NRI had to be up to something with that amount of activity but the last few reports had indicated that they were trying to purchasing information on a freighter. This whole set up reeked. It was not normal behaviour for NRI. He may have to call upon Leia Organa Solo on Coruscant to find out what they were officially up to. Unofficially, things were always a different matter. Karrde was concerned that they were not exactly being subtle about it and this had attracted a lot of local attention. Karrde knew that the focus are their activity would soon become an interest to all the those opportunists who thought that they could make a profit out of it.

Karrde's network had pulled up information on the freighter and it's owner. Aves was on his way to brief him. He also needed to find out what exactly the NRI were doing quickly before they went to ground again. Before long, news of even his activities and presence would be detected by various organisations operating out in the Rim causing another stir of interest. He needed to be ahead of the pack.

Aves knocked on the door, and burst through without waiting for Karrde to answer. Startled by his employee's odd lack of courtesy, Karrde turned round to say something but before he could, Aves burst out.

"You have got to see these." The man was highly excited. He was practically spinning around the room. "NRI are tracing several freighters: The Kracken and The Stellar Byrd."

"We also received these from one of the agents. " Aves first produced a rather blurry holo of two figures in a hangar with a flourish. "The taller Corellian is Rick Ells and the other crew member is Ruaridh Kerr."

At first glance, nothing jumped out at Talon as he scanned the holo of the two men. It was not detailed enough to make out the facial features of the two men.

Aves was hardly taking a breath in his excitement, his words tumbling out in a rush. "Kerr is the one NRI are after. Ells is captain of the Byrd whom it also appears that he is one of our contacts. He reports to Ira Kilallan on Rykesh so hopefully we should be able to get hold of him quite easily."

Talon was aware that Aves was smiling broadly, seeming very pleased with himself just waiting for his reaction.

"However, this is the interesting one." Aves continued producing a second holo. "I've cleaned this up quite a bit from the original feed from a cantina security cam. This was taken a few hours after the first shot in the hanger so I am led to believe."

Talon leaned forward, watching the holo intently to make sense out of the poor quality film of the shorter man in a cantina, Talon swore. He could not believe what he was seeing.

Luke Skywalker was alive and had a Zeltron clutched around him.

Karrde suddenly understood Aves excitement, it was the last thing he had expected to see. "Get Mara on the comm. Now."

* * * *

"Mara, Han. You both had better sit down." Talon warned them trying to keep the excitement out of his voice.

Han didn't need any prompting. He had a hunch coming on. "What's up, Talon?"

"There has been a lot of unusual activity in one of the Outer Rim systems involving the NRI. I've managed to track down some of their source of activity. Information is being traded about a Ruaridh Kerr."

Mara looked up startled, "That was one of Luke's aliases."

"Is he still alive?" Han jutted in. He hoped that he was not reading Karrde wrong.

Talon continued. "Aves has got some interesting evidence that a Ruaridh Kerr was on Kyrash IV station several days ago until he joined the crew of a larger freighter."

It was all beginning to fit in. Mara's eyes closed as she stretched out with her senses but there was still nothing. She had felt nothing from Luke since their bond had ceased. Mara didn't want to get her hopes up but she knew Talon would not have come to her with this unless he was positive but she had to ask. "Are you sure?"

"I've seen Aves' evidence and I am convinced. The holo is poor quality but if that isn't Luke, I will eat my beard." Talon paused, before continuing. "We have another static image which I'm sending to you as well but there is not enough detail to be sure on that one. "

"Anything else?" Han asked, his hopes rising for the first time in what seem an eon. He watched Mara fidgeting anxiously as the images came through. Her hand fingering over the hilt of Luke's lightsabre almost as if seeking comfort from the contact.

"That's it, Jade!" Han started as he quickly took in the holo. It was good to see the kid. "I'll let Leia know and then we'll get started."

Mara didn't register what Solo had said as her eyes drank in the details of Luke's appearance in the grainy image. He looked a lot thinner and watching the footage of him at the bar brought a lump to Mara's throat. She knew it was Luke but she didn't like the shaved head. She was just so glad to see him alive that she didn't even feel jealous at the fact that Luke had a Zeltron in his arms. She stood and watched the footage unfold, including the scuffle with another spacer a little later. It seemed odd to see Luke handle a blaster rather than his lightsabre. She watched him speak, lip reading the words he had spoken. Unconsciously, she noted that his movements showed that he was favouring his right leg. "What had happened to him? Was he still going through the undercover mission? If he was, what did that mean now they had Bail Organa here safe and sound?"

What was disturbing her was that she just couldn't feel him at all. Mara just sat dumbfounded. She knew that Luke would not have left her and Leia thinking he was dead for all this time. She was certain that he would have somehow found a way to let them know, even if 'his death' had been planned with the NRI. Her mind was working overtime.

"Hang on, Solo." Karrde answered Han's outburst. "He left Kyrash on another transport. We are trying to find out his new ship's exact route so we can get someone on board. There is lot of sudden activity going on out which we need to brief you about before you and Mara blast off after him."

"Hey!" Han just grinned back at the spacer. "It's me. There's plenty for planning whilst we are under way!"

Han disappeared from view as Karrde watched Mara's face. She looked as if she had been pole-axed but was recovering from the shock quickly. He knew her mannerisms so he could see that she was thinking things through.

"I'll send you what I get through to the Jade Sabre as soon as I have it." Talon told her. "Mara? Be careful, something is not right about this."

Mara nodded absently.

"Did Luke have that scar hidden in his hair from before?" Talon asked curiously. He hadn't noticed it before but then Luke usually had more hair.

"No. It looks recent." Mara's delicate finger traced the outline of Luke's face on the holo." Mara was overjoyed to discovered he was alive but she was now very concerned about him. "I don't like the look of that scar, Talon."

Mara was one of the few people who knew really what went on at the Imperial facility at Lyntrax during the Emperor's time. She had tried not to dwell on that when they had found Luke's lightsabre. Its discovery indicated that what Bail Organa had suspected was true. It certainly looked like Luke had been held there despite no other evidence coming to light. She shuddered to think what may have been done to him but at least he was still alive. Mara now had to find him before he got into more trouble.

"We need to find him, Karrde." Mara continued, her tone was all business as she voiced her thoughts. "See if you can get an id on the Zeltron. It may come in handy when we arrive on Kyrash and follow his steps."

"Count it done." Karrde said, "Good hunting, Mara. Hope you find him safe and well."

Mara just nodded. "Will check in with you once we are on our approach. Jade out."

* * * *

Jade Sabre Kyrash System

Han watched Mara click on the communication's console to Karrde. "Jade Sabre. Karrde? Are you receiving this?"

"Karrde here." Talon's cultured voice cut through the silence of the cockpit.

"What's the news, Karrde?" Leaning forward, Han chimed in before Mara.

"Okay, the Kracken has made several trading post stops and is currently en route to the planet Circadia. Reports say that they have been carrying out business as normal. We have been trying to get any further visuals or information on Luke but so far no success. However, we have an agent in place to join the freighter at Circadia so we should get more solid intel from then on."

Mara digested this information. "So, can we confirm that Luke is still on board?"

"There had been no official record of him departing the Kracken up to now, but you and I know that doesn't mean anything out. I should be able to confirm with you that information once the agent gets on board makes her first report."

"This sounds too easy." Han muttered, "I know from experience anything to do with Luke - things always go wrong. He naturally attracts trouble."

Mara hoped the Corellian was wrong but she had to agreed with his view point. Luke always seemed to be in exactly the wrong place at the wrong time.

"What about the Zeltron?" Han asked. He wondered if Mara knew that most Zeltrons seemed to have a thing for the Skywalker twins. It had caused him great amusement in the past with their behaviour to Luke although he was less happy about their attention to Leia.

"There are several Zeltrons working mainly as pleasure givers on Kyrash IV station. They are quite freely available for hire for all sort of services. However, recently there is one that had been getting regular work through someone we believe be an undercover operative but there seems to be conflicting evidence who this man works for. It could be either the NRI or the Imperial Reminant. "

"A double agent?" Mara asked Karrde, whilst just ignoring the faint smirk on Solo's face.

"Hmm, looks possible." Karrde agreed with Mara's instinct. "At present, we just don't have enough intel to decipher out that tangle."

"The name that keeps coming up is Kimi. Aves has cleaned up the image further and he seems to think that the Zeltron slipped something into Luke's pocket. No-one ever is suspicious of normal behaviour and a Zeltron flirting with most humanoids is so common place that it doesn't stand out. Couple that with the perception that most Zeltrons are pleasure seekers so assumptions are made that they don't have the brains for the intelligence game."

"NRI are still tracing this Ruaridh Kerr?" Han asked, wondering what they were up to. "Why would they be chasing after Luke when they haven't told us that he is still alive? We need to speak to Leia and let her know so we can hit this from both angles. What are they up to? And more importantly, what is Luke up to?"

"So far I don't know what game either of them are playing. I think the NRI are still trying to ascertain if this Ruaridh Kerr is actually Luke or someone using his stolen identity. Aves has arranged for the original cantina footage to be destroyed."

"However, there are rumours that bounty hunters have got wind of this and are also investigating to see if they may get a finders fee. It won't take the professional bounty hunters long to identify Luke when they actually see him."

"Somehow I get the feeling that this is becoming a race." Han muttered. "We had just better get to him first."

* * * *

Planet of Circadia Outer Rim

Ruaridh Kerr slipped quietly off the Kracken, losing himself amongst the hangar workers as they loaded up the freighter with fresh supplies. He headed out of the space port. The planet's climate was recorded on the docking data as very warm but to Kerr, it felt a comfortable heat. It was nice to feel the sunshine on his face and breathe fresh air rather than the recycled atmosphere on board all the stations and the freighter.

Kerr thought things over as he started to wander through the busy streets mixing in with the tourists and the shoppers. Slowly he began to get his bearings as he quartered each district getting a feel for the place. In his pocket, he fingered the suspicious data chip. He couldn't shake the feeling that he was being followed, yet every trick he had tried to show up anybeing following him hadn't resulted in anything.

Watching the tourist speeders, all advertising "Trips to the Dark Side", Kerr lobbed the chip into the back of a passing speeder just in case his gut feeling was correct. If it was a tracer, then he hoped someone would have fun following the speeder full of tourists for awhile. He just couldn't understand why the Zeltron slipped him them but she probably had been paid to do so or the dodgy one at least.

Ruaridh spent half the day browsing through the busy market streets, purchasing a few essentials here and there. He tried to assess what he may need apart from some new clothes as the one good shirt he had had been ruined by oil on his last shift. He also wanted to blend in with the brightly clad locals rather standing out like a stain in his dark pants and brown vest.

His stomach rumbled a complaint, checking his chrono, it was later than he had appreciated. Circadia's rotation was slow and really bizarre with the planet's day being longer than it's year. The dark side of the planet would not revolve in to the sunlight for another few months. However, Circadia's cities were founded on giant platforms that slowly moved in time with the planet's rotation so there were perennially in the light. There was no night time on the planet unless you took off to the dark side like the tourists seemed to like to do.

Finding the nearest outdoor café, Kerr sat down in a shady corner so that he was able to observe the passers-by as he had his meal. The media outlet from the inside of the café, was blasting out a news report from Coruscant. Kerr had watched the report through when he had logged on at the data centre checking the information he had been given.

Drawn to the media report again, Kerr watched the diminutive woman beside the man, both of them smiling broadly. The tag line announcing that Bail Organa, Viceroy of the destroyed planet of Alderaan had been found alive and well. Kerr watched the image as something clicked in his mind.

* * * *

The NRI agent watching The Kracken had been startled out of his reverie when the data tracker had started to blip at him. Calling in this latest development, the intelligence field agent continued his surveillance. He had been told not to try and apprehend the target himself as he was apparently very dangerous. Thankfully, the tracer was working admirably so he was able to follow at a discrete distance. The target had trailed through the hot streets for ages seemingly on an aimless pattern. The NRI agent had begin to think that he had made him but there was no way with the distance that he could have been seen.

His instructions were just to follow until the rest of his team had made the pick-up but they seemed to be taking forever about it. When the tracer had suddenly started to move quickly before leaving the range of his scope, he had called in to say that he was losing the trace. Telling the team to hurry and pick him up so that he could get a lock on the speeder, or whatever vehicle, the man was now travelling in, got away.

It had been an anxious time until they re-acquired the trace. It looked like their mark was on a well travelled tourist trail. They quickly established an ambush on a quiet stretch. Swooping down from all sides, the team surrounded the speeder preventing any routes of escape while killing the momentum as they forced and bumped the other vehicle to a rough stop. However, instead of their target, they came face to face with four rather scared tourists who were rapidly becoming angry and belligerent. Marshalling the complaining people in to the waiting transport, their identities were checked and the speeder searched before they were let go.

The tracer was found in the speeder.

They had been decoyed like amateurs which stung.

* * * *

Coruscant

Leia Organa Solo had never been so angry in her life. NRI were stone-walling her. Her calls usually were put right through but for some reason she had been getting the full works of delaying tactics ever since she tried to contact the Director's office. She had spoken this morning to Han and Talon Karrde and the initial joy she had felt about the news about Luke being still alive was slowly being eaten away with worry. She had been politely put on hold so many times and Rieekan's aide kept informing her that he was still unavailable. How long could the man remain unavailable for? What was going on?

She had held General Rieekan in great esteem and respect for many years but for some reason today, Carlist was avoiding her. They had such a long working history together that today had surprised her and shocked her to think that he would do this.

Her father had been a tower of strength for her. His voice of reason bringing her back to normality after she went through a whole range of emotions. He had chastised her about her angry outbursts and at times, she felt like the awkward teenager again, getting a talking down from her father. But she had to admit that his tactics were helping her calm down and think clearly.

Bail Organa watched his daughter at work. He had to admire her tenacity. She was not for giving up as the intelligence and military offices gave her a severe run around. Bail was sure that quite a few aides and secretary's were quaking in their boots after her calls. She had put in considerable effort to try and get through to someone in authority. He suspected that her continued pressure would pay results eventually but he just needed to ensure she remained calm enough to reason. He had to admit that Leia Organa Solo was quite a force of nature when it came to something that she wanted done.

Leia was about to give up with the comm centre and try the more direct approach. She had reasoned that they would find it a lot harder to dismiss her when she dealing with them face to face. When the comm chimed, it was her call to Director of NRI finally being returned. Looking at her father, Leia answered it coolly.

"My apologies, Princess Leia." The quiet but clear tone of the Alderaanian accent crossed the room to where Bail Organa was sitting.

"About time, General." Leia admonished him. "I was about to come round personally to camp out in your office."

Rieekan seemed to wince slightly at her words. "We had a situation come up that I took my undivided attention most of the day. Now, what can I do for you, Leia?"

"I want you to tell me the truth about my brother." Leia made strong eye contact with Rieekan, watching his features for any tell-tale signs.

"I had a feeling it may be something like that." Rieekan sighed. This was going to be a difficult session. "The information we received on Luke's death was thought to be accurate but we have had reason to doubt this recently. We are now believing it was either staged or even perhaps it was a clone that was killed."

Rieekan paused as he took in Leia's lack of expression in. She was obviously well informed as she hadn't flicked an eyelash at his mention that her brother may still be alive. "We have intelligence that the undercover identity that your brother was using on his last mission has been re-activated. We have investigated this and after today, we are now certain that it is your brother rather than someone else using the identity. There is a difficulty about this which I will explain to you shortly. I had hoped to have good news for you but I have just had word that Luke has eluded our plans to apprehend him on Circadia."

Rieekan paused before continuing, "Through one of our operatives on Kyrash IV space station, we had placed a tracer placed on him but unfortunately, to cut a long story short, after it successfully working for days, it was used to mislead the team that was following on when they moved in for pick-up."

"Why cannot you approach Luke directly if it is him?" What Leia couldn't understand was that if her brother was free and able to move about, why he hadn't contacted them to let them know he was alright? Surely by now, he would have seen the news reports of his supposed death and her father's rescue so he would have to know that his mission was over and it was time to come home.

"Ahh," Rieekan shuffled in his seat. This was the awkward bit. "Luke agreed to some neural conditioning before he was assigned to this mission. It was necessary for a variety of reasons which your brother understood and agreed with. Unfortunately, things have gone wrong – very wrong. It appears that from what we have been able to ascertain so far that Luke believes that he is actually his cover - Ruaridh Kerr."

Leia couldn't believe what she was hearing. Now, she was beginning to fully understand Luke's reluctance for this mission. Her own regrets about asking him to do it after Mara's initial reaction about things. Leia trusted the trader's judgement and the fact that Mara had not been happy about this mission, even before things went wrong, had once again proved her instincts true. Leia was annoyed at Rieekan and knew that things had been kept from her. She was not happy that Luke had undergone neural conditioning. She was surprised that her brother had even considered it, nevermind that he had agreed to it. She wondered what else was going to be revealed. Leia knew Mara was likely to go ballistic about this latest development.

"It seems most likely that Luke is suffering from some form of amnesia due to physical trauma but," Rieekan paused before continuing. "It also has been brought up that his amnesia could be due to damage or even planned alteration to his neural conditioning during his captivity."

Leia absorbed this information. Her mind whirling with the impact of this information.

Rieekan didn't want to explain to his long time colleague and friend that her brother was being viewed as a security risk to them by certain political elements. They viewed it that since the Rebellion's hero and Jedi was already dead in the galaxy's eyes that they had an opportunity to neutralise him without any outcry. However, Rieekan was not going to allow that whilst he was still in charge. He just hoped with time, that the Jedi would recover his memory as amnesia was usually short-lived. Rieekan just hoped that was this was the cause for Luke's memory loss rather than any other reason but he didn't dwell on that at the moment.

"NRI agents are trying to regain contact with Luke but your brother remains a difficult target and is avoiding them. However, I believe that your husband and Mara Jade are also on his trail. Maybe seeing familiar faces will reawaken his memory. If not, we will have the best medics on it. I promise you that, Leia."

Leia nodded. She was not looking forward to informing Mara Jade of what she had just learnt but she just hoped that Mara and Han would catch up to him quickly and bring him home. She had such a lot of questions but Leia knew that Mara would want to know more about the neural conditioning as that may help them once they caught up with Luke.

"I think this discussion had better be continued in person, Rieekan. I will come over to your office immediately." Leia paused, ensuring Rieekan knew that she was deadly serious. "I will want to speak to the person responsible for the neural conditioning after I have spoken with you. Organise it."

Leia cut the comm and stood up all energised.

"I'll come along with you, Leia." Bail offered. "Maybe I can be of assistance."

Leia paused thoughtfully then shook her head. "Sorry, dad. I'll get more out of them without you."