Out of the Shadows 19

Kulthis

Tionne finished her song and waited for the good-natured but raucous applause to finish. This seedy dive was suspect but better than some of the places she had played recently.  The credits were better too. She pushed the image away from her mind of the things she might do with the extra credits - now was not the time.

There was a shout for more from the back of the room. Moistening her lips, she stared around until she caught the cantina owner's single bloodshot eye. He gave a gap-toothed grin of approval and swayed his head from side to side. Tionne wasn’t sure exactly which species he belonged to - he was vaguely humanoid in appearance apart from the one eye in the centre of his forehead - but one thing was certain: he couldn’t hold his drink.

She prepared to begin her last song of the evening, running her fingers lightly over the ancient stringed instrument that was all she had left to remind her of her grandmother. No matter how long the crowd bayed for more, this had to be her last song or she would be unable to sing again tomorrow. The cantina owner had booked her to perform for the entire week of the festival and it was a rare occurrence to have such a guaranteed income.

Tionne gazed once more around the room and, as she did so, she felt a tingle run through her whole body. Someone was watching her. She frowned, a wrinkle appearing on her smooth, pale forehead. The whole cantina was watching her but this felt different. It was as if this stare was burning an indelible mark onto her soft skin. She turned her head just a fraction and in the darkest corner sat a being in a hooded cloak, his intense gaze upon her. This was the same sensation she’d experienced yesterday and now she knew the reason why. She was being watched but in a different way from usual. She could almost feel his gaze touching her, seeing through her and finding out all the secrets she held within her.

Tionne’s silvery eyes widened as she opened her mouth to sing. Who could be so interested in her simple entertainment? Perhaps this lay would bring forth his identity and, in a split second decision, changed her choice of song. Forgotten was the mildly bawdy folk song she had originally intended to give her audience and in its place, she sang a bittersweet song of times long ago once taught by the Jedi to their own in their places of learning. She had found that this piece of music affected those around her more than any other. Her voice rose sweetly into the expectant air as the notes rang true, the words compelling and full of hope.

When she raised her eyes, after the approbation of her listeners had finished, to where the stranger had been, all she saw was an empty seat. Tionne slipped from her stool and, smiling stiffly, left the small elevated platform. She felt as if she had been watching herself perform from another place, unconnected to her own body. After collecting her evening’s wages, she left by the back exit and headed down the narrow alley to where it met the main street.

“I haven’t heard that song for many years.” The voice emerging from a dark doorway was low and cultured. “What made you choose that particular melody?”

Tionne let out a tiny shriek of surprise and nearly dropped the case containing her precious instrument. “You…you startled me,” she breathed, her hand fumbling to keep hold of her instrument and find her blaster. She couldn’t be certain but this appeared to be the man in the cloak from the cantina. He’d been lying in wait for her? She peered into his face, trying to see his features clearly in the darkness of the dimly lit lane. Was he hostile and was she in some sort of trouble?

“Come,” he said, his hand shooting out and grabbing hers in a firm grip.

“I’m not going anywhere but back to my lodgings,” she said, digging her heels in and beginning to struggle ineffectually. “Let go,” she said through clenched teeth. “I can scream,” she said and then winced at the pitiable ruse she was about to adopt. This street was in the worst area of the town near to the spaceport. It was unlikely that someone would come to her aid. Why would they?

“I won’t harm you.” His grip on her arm tightened.

“How do I know that?” she protested, her voice rising to a squeak as she tried to get at her blaster which was impossible as she had her instrument in one arm and the stranger was gripping her by the other. “I have a weapon and I will defend myself if you don’t let me go.”

The stranger chuckled but his grip didn’t slacken in the least. “I’m sure that you do, Mistress. But I’m telling the truth. I mean you no harm.” He waved his other hand and strangely, she felt calmer. “Come…the tapcaf over there is open. It’s on the main street and is well lit. I want to talk to you, that’s all. After that…you may go.” He steered her out of the alleyway and into the brightly lit main street where there were still many beings milling around despite the lateness of the hour.

“Oh…” Tionne felt a little foolish at her hesitation. “But I have to be careful. I don’t know who you are.”

“You are alone?” The stranger’s voice sharpened.

“No, I have…yes, I’m alone.” She couldn’t utter the ready lie. She thought he would see right through it.

“That’s what I thought,” he said, gazing at her fair prettiness. She was really quite lovely. “What’s a woman like you doing cruising the space lanes alone? Where are your friends…your family? You could be attacked, sold into slavery or worse.”

“My family is dead. I admit it, I am alone,” she said sadly, “but I am not the only one in that situation.”

“The Empire left many beings that way but surely that isn’t the entire truth of why you are here, is it? There’s more to this than you are telling me. You are brave singing songs of the Jedi in public.”

“You knew that it was a Jedi lay?”

“Of course,” he said brusquely.

Tionne stared into his hooded face, his shadowed eyes glittering with an emotion she couldn’t fathom, and decided to tell him the truth. Why she was telling her business to a total stranger Tionne didn’t quite know but she wasn’t the type to lie and had nothing nefarious to conceal. Kulthis, with its Republican sympathies, was a far safer place to be than its near neighbour, imperially loyal Belderone. “I…I need to find out as much about the Jedi as I can. So much has been lost.”

“Isn’t that a dangerous occupation?” His voice took on a peculiar note.

“The Emperor is dead.”

“But the Empire is not. It is still very much alive and there are still agents roaming the galaxy.”

“Is that what you are?”

“No, I am just concerned for your safety. They might want to make an example of you if they discover what you are doing. The resources of the New Republic are stretched to their absolute limits. They cannot protect you out here.”

“I can look after myself. I am no threat to anyone. I am a balladeer – a wandering minstrel. I just sing my songs to earn enough credits to live. There’s no harm in that. I am no threat to anyone,” she repeated. “I travel and just make enough to survive. I am no different from anyone else out on the edge of known space.”

“Ah, but the songs you sing… That last song in particular possesses a powerful message. Ideas are far more dangerous than weapons because they can breed new ideas.” His grip slackened slightly. “The Jedi are no more – there are none of their number left. They are as dead as Palpatine.” The last word emerged as a sneer.

Tionne guessed that he wasn’t a fan of the late Emperor and he knew far more about the Jedi and the New Republic than the usual patrons who frequented dingy spaceport tapcafs did. “The Jedi will return,” she said quietly. If he was an agent it could not be for the Empire. She lifted her chin bravely and declared, “there must be those out there with the right skills and knowledge. The Empire cannot have killed them all. Luke Skywalker…”

“So you’ve heard of him,” he murmured, his grip on her arm slackening.

“Who hasn’t?” Tionne asked with a shrug that finally managed to shake her arm from the stranger’s grasp.  Then she marched across the street and paused, waiting for him outside the tapcaf door.

“Perhaps there are some beings left who are unaware of his existence,” he said, wry amusement lacing his voice, “but not many.” He ushered her into the brightly lit tapcaf and winced.

“He is real…isn’t he – Luke Skywalker?”

“Yes.”

“My name is Tionne,” she said when they were finally seated and she was able, for the first time, to take a proper look at her mysterious new companion, as they each nursed a large, rough mug filled with scalding hot stim tea.

“Kam Solusar,” he said reluctantly and sipped the hot brew thankfully.

Kam Solusar had been hiding in the darkest corner of the cantina, whiling away some time before trying to catch a shuttle bound for the Galactic Core Worlds, when she had walked out onto the tiny elevated stage, strummed a few chords and opened her mouth. He’d been unable to tear himself away once this woman had started to sing and had returned to hear her performance each night, his plans to leave put on temporary hold. There was something compelling about her clear sweet voice and her curious choice of songs. But tonight had been different – patterns in the Force had suddenly converged. She’d lifted her head and seemed to know that he was there. As she had sung that one last piece, his gut had twisted into painful recollection. He had the sudden urge to stay behind and talk to her. Strange that this was so, for he had shunned company for many years. His dark moods made it better that way.

His name suited him, she decided. Tionne’s strange silvery eyes assessed the human male seated opposite her. He was younger than she had expected, tall with greying hair; his thin face gaunt with haunted shadows in deep grey eyes. This man had suffered some kind of private hell. She could see it. She could almost feel it.

“Do I pass?” he suddenly asked.

“What? Oh…I was staring, I’m sorry,” Tionne flushed. “I didn’t mean to be rude.”

“It’s alright,” he said gruffly. “I was able to take a proper look at you in the cantina. You don’t belong there,” he stated.

“I belong there as much as any being does.” Tionne was defensive; her eyes of liquid silver shimmered. “I need to earn credits to survive. It’s a place to earn credits.”

Kam disagreed. She was pretty, he thought. Pretty, and way out of her depth on these kinds of lawless worlds. One of her long deceased ancestors must not have been human and he liked the striking combination of her pale hair and astonishing silvery eyes. She had a natural, gently-bred elegance about her movements and on Kulthis, in that rough environment, she just didn’t quite fit. “Can you really defend yourself? Suppose one of the cantina patrons had followed you.”

There was a brief flash of amusement on her face. “One of them did.”

“I don’t count,” Kam snapped. “But you should be somewhere better – somewhere safer.”

“It’s a paying job and I need to eat and fuel my ship. I am not naive, Master Solusar…”

“Just Kam,” he said, a brief flash of pain darkening his grey eyes to the colour of polished slate.

“My will to survive, Kam, is a strong one. I have been making my own way in the galaxy for several years now.” She wondered at the sudden anguish which had etched itself over his handsome features. “I will do whatever is necessary to achieve my goal.”

She was determined and not just the fragile beauty he had originally taken her for. He should have realised there was more to this woman than met the eye. His father had told him often that his eyes could deceive him. How many times had he disregarded his father’s wisdom in the past few years? Too many to count and where had it left him? He straightened his shoulders and lifted his chin; he was trying to change for the better and would succeed. “I, too, have taken employment I disliked to tide me over the worst times until the next meal. But why you?”

“I never said that I disliked it,” Tionne countered neatly.

“But you do, don’t you?” he said gently. “Why?”

“To fund my studies…and you?”

“To stay alive. Your studies…what exactly are you studying?”

“The Jedi,” she said, shaking back her silvery hair. “I am collecting information on Jedi legends, songs and other lore. I want to preserve them for future generations.”

“Who gave you the authority?” he demanded.

“No one. It’s just something I feel I must do.”

Kam stared at her, wondering why she felt this strong compulsion. Was it a call from the Force itself? The patterns of the Force were shifting rapidly of late and Kam didn’t pretend to understand what was happening. He hadn’t learned enough to read the eddies and currents of its ceaseless movements. “There are no universities or temples left that foster the study of the Jedi.”

“I know. This is the only way I can collect material. The Empire considered out of the way places beneath them. The Jedi learned that these worlds were the only possible places that their message could survive. One day, Luke Skywalker will want as much information as possible. The way of the Force must be preserved for the future.”

“All the old ways have gone,” Kam said bitterly. “You are wasting your time and your credits. Forget this.”

“No, I won’t. I cannot.” She fixed him in place, her eyes flashing silver, demanding hotly, “Who are you? Who exactly are you and why do you want to talk to me so badly? I’m a nothing – a nobody.”

“Would you believe that I wanted your company?”

A fair eyebrow arched derisively. “No, you don’t seem like that type of man but of course, I could be mistaken. There were females around in the cantina that would have been glad to ease your loneliness. I don’t do that sort of thing.”

Kam shuddered visibly and shook his head. “You were right, I’m not the type…not for cheap cantina whores…but I do want your company. Just to talk.”

“Why talk to me?”

“Your songs…brought back memories of a more…civilised age.”

She could feel the truth in his words. “Then it must have something to do with the Jedi.”

“I wasn’t lying when I said that I wanted to talk to you.” He stared at the mug and then lifted his grey eyes to meet hers, something desolate in their depths. “The last time I heard that final song of yours was when my mother sang it to me – it was one of her favourites. She died when I was a boy.”

“Your mother was a Jedi?”

“No, but she was familiar with their songs.”

“How…Why?” Tionne could feel the excitement building inside her. “Do you know others - stories, legends…anything?”

“I do,” he said gravely. “She used to sing them to me.”

“Could you teach them to me?” she asked tremulously, unable to believe her good fortune. “The ones you remember?” This was living history sitting before her. What a wonderful piece of fate. She had to get back to her ship and find her holo-recorder. These things had to be preserved before they were lost forever.

“I would be honoured,” he said.

“How do you know these things?” she asked breathlessly.

“I know because of my father. He was a Jedi Knight,” he said, his voice low.

“Your father?” Tionne closed her eyes unable to believe what she was hearing. The information this man must have and he was sitting opposite her! It was too unbelievable. How long was he staying on Kulthis? How much time did he have? “Your father…A real Jedi Knight?”

“Yes, my father was a Jedi Master. His name was Ranik…Ranik Solusar. And I… I was also…”

“You!”

“Keep your voice down,” he hissed, looking hunted, his grey eyes darkening to the colour of slate.

“You are a Jedi knight?” Tionne’s heart was beating so fast inside her chest that she thought that it might just explode. This was incredible.

“I was a Jedi Knight once,” he said sadly. “I lost that right a long time ago.”

Tionne’s mind went into a freefall dive. ”Was? Lost the right…why? What happened? I don’t understand. Does Luke Skywalker know about this?”

Kam gave a feeble laugh. “Skywalker? He’s a boy and a half-trained one at that.”

“How do you know? Have you met him? What is he like?” The words rushed from her eager tongue almost tripping themselves up in their haste to be heard.

“Of course I haven’t met him. No one has heard anything of his whereabouts for several years. What kind of a Jedi Knight is that?”

“One who is in hiding, perhaps? You’ve been in hiding. Who has heard of you?”

“The Empire is gone and my circumstances were different. I left…other employment. I am not the hope of the Jedi.”

“You’re contradicting yourself,” Tionne said. “You could be. You are trying to behave as a Jedi should. Remember what you said to me earlier? The Emperor is gone, remember but part of his Empire still remains.”

“The New Republic is in charge now. Why did Skywalker disappear when they finally achieved success?”

“Perhaps he has found someone who could give him further training. Perhaps he is preparing to rebuild the Jedi Order and is searching through the galaxy for suitable candidates to help him. There could be many reasons.”

Kam swallowed a mouthful of liquid, slamming the mug back down on the table with more force than he had intended. “Perhaps he’s gone home to wherever he’s from now that the war is over. All the Jedi that could have trained him are dead.”

“I’m not so sure about that.” Tionne leant forward conspiratorially. “My research so far has given up several names of the Jedi that were known to have died. Others just vanished. Many Jedi went into hiding and may have lasted through Palpatine’s reign. Who knows?” She shrugged. “Some of them may still be alive. We have to keep faith that this is so. You are a Jedi and are definitely not dead. You could help him.”

“I might as well be dead,” he said bitterly. “I was never trained properly and…” He avoided her eyes. “My father was killed before I achieved the true rank of my Jedi Knighthood. I told you my circumstances were different.” He swallowed, gearing himself up to tell her the worst, at the same time wondering why he was doing so. “I fell to the dark side.”

“What!” Tionne suddenly realised the nature of the hell that this man had gone through. She had read of the constant battle that a Jedi had to go through to win through over the baser side of his nature. Some of them couldn’t do it and were lost to evil. She stretched out a hand and covered his. “You didn’t stay there,” she said softly. “You came back to the light.”

“I am forever tainted,” he admitted bitterly, wondering at the way her soft hand touching his made him feel. It had been too many years since he had been comforted like this. “My destiny took a different path to the one I once intended to follow.” He withdrew his hand from under hers and rubbed it across his tired eyes. “Why are you so interested in the Jedi? One of your relatives…?”

“No…well, yes, in a way.” She shook her head. “My grandmother told me songs and stories about the Jedi. She revered them greatly. I don’t think she had any connection to the order other than that. She just loved them and what they represented. For her, it was everything that was good and just in the galaxy. She told me such things. The Imperial representatives on Rindao took exception to her Jedi tales and songs and publicly executed her. All she had done was tell stories.” The silvery eyes shone with tears as she motioned to the ancient string instrument by her side. “This belonged to her.”

“I’m sorry.” Kam’s grey eyes warmed with sympathy. “As I said before, stories can be more powerful than the most fearsome of weapons for they allow people to think and to dream. Your songs made me feel true emotions for the first time in years.”

“I’ve come to terms with her loss but it was hard at the time.” She looked up and glared at him fiercely. “One day, Luke Skywalker, or someone like him, will want to know as much as they can about the Jedi and I plan to help in whatever capacity I am able.”

Kam was impressed and it strengthened his own shaky resolve to do what he could on his own. But he couldn’t lead the Jedi. He spoke of Skywalker as being half-trained; he was even less suitable as a Jedi leader candidate than the boy was. Former dark Jedi did not suddenly turn to the light and restart an ancient order they’d once been hell-bent on destroying. But the Jedi had been the guardians of peace and justice in the galaxy and if he was truly to return to the light, he had to start somewhere. Anything was better than the shadows he was currently residing in. Otherwise he was still letting the dark side win. Perhaps the Force had just given him the mission of guiding this strange young woman.

“The dark side?” Tionne queried shakily. “How did you…?”

“How did I turn? Have you ever heard of the Dark Side Elite?”

“No.”

“Be very thankful that you did not cross their paths when singing your Jedi ballads, Tionne, for you would have been destroyed instantly. The Dark Side Elite consisted of seven warriors who were trained by Emperor Palpatine himself in the ways of the dark side of the Force. I was one of them.”

“Was?”

“I am the only one ever to have deserted.”

Tionne stretched out her hand again and trapped Kam’s restless fingers between her own. She was convinced he was telling her the truth. “And the others?”

“Dead, I think.” His fingers tightened on hers. “I ran and hid from the Empire as long as I could but my training had been sketchy and I wasn’t able to elude Vader and others like him. Vader killed my father and I was captured, tortured and forced into evil ways, eventually falling to the dark side. It was something I’d sworn that I would never do but the pain made me weak and I slipped into the abyss.”

“Oh, Kam!” Tionne exclaimed softly.

His mouth flattened, the lips thinning. “Until the day that I’d heard that a half-trained boy had defeated both Vader and Emperor Palpatine…it finally gave me something that up until then I’d lacked.”

“And what was that?” Tionne whispered, her eyes full of concern and pity for the proud man sitting opposite her.

“Hope.”

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Coruscant

Mara swiftly made her way towards The Lucky Strike and keyed in her access code. It was time to leave the place that held so many painful memories for her. Her return to the jewel of the Core Worlds was perhaps not what she had imagined but in some ways it had turned out better than she would have hoped for. She could return after she’d found Skywalker and start her life anew here – just another ordinary New Republic citizen.

She turned and stared hard at a man toting a piece of freight across the docking area. She would have to tell Organa and Solo that their people were far too obvious when involved in surveillance. She was dealing with the people who currently held the real power in the galaxy and although she should have expected the scrutiny, she didn't have to like it.

The ramp lowered with an angry hiss and she stalked aboard. She really was hoping that the maps she’d picked up gave her somewhere worthwhile to head towards, otherwise the whole exercise would be pointless.

Moving to the crew space, she dropped her bags, pulled out the long tube of stiffened flimsi and unrolled one of the maps that Professor Chan had given her. “Nothing,” Mara said as she scrutinised the faint markings. The next map proved to be the same as did the third. But the fourth one she examined was a different story. It was much older in its origins, crudely drawn and not the kind of map she could rely on for getting an exact fix on her destination but the one word drew her eyes immediately. Could it be?

‘Daygohba’

‘Sabacc! The Sluis Sector,' Mara thought. Right smack-bang in the centre of where she had thought that Skywalker’s hideaway could be. This was much more exact than guesswork. She moved to the cockpit and checked her navicomp. It was time to set the co-ordinates for the Sluis Sector and from there she could work on getting a fix on Skywalker’s mysterious hideaway. Daygohba had to be an alternative way of spelling the name of the planet. Daygohba…Dagobah. It had to be the same place and it felt right and that was good enough for Mara. Her Master had always told her to give in to her feelings and they had, in most cases, led her along the correct path.

She strapped herself into the pilots chair and called the Westport control requesting a departure slot. She was lucky. Someone had cancelled and if she was ready she could leave within the next five minutes.

Mara was ready.

Within minutes the ship was airborne and as she prepared to make the jump to light speed, Mara quickly ran through the files she’d downloaded from the Professor’s computer. Dagobah had at one time been surveyed by an Imperial team but for some reason they had failed to return the survey and it had remained uncharted. 'Well, well,' she thought. Someone had made a mistake - or was the omission deliberate?

After she had made the jump to light speed, Mara set the controls to autopilot and headed to her cabin to have a little nap. She would be travelling for several days and had no real knowledge of what she would find at the other end but she had time to learn. Of Dagobah itself she had no idea. Her eyes travelled to the briefcase where she’d stored the objects taken from Palpatine’s palace hoard. It had taken quite a bit of research to locate these items and Mara would lay bets that not even Karrde knew about these little beauties. Her hand stretched towards the case. She was itching to start again but she needed to rest first. With a regretful sigh, Mara’s hand fell to her side and she climbed into her bunk, pulled the blanket over her shoulders and settled down to sleep.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Coruscant

“Han!” Leia called.

“Yes.”

“I thought you were tired.” Leia turned her head as the door slid open. “I expected you to be in bed before me.”

“Sorry, sweetheart,” he said as he wandered into the bedroom. “I had to take that com call.”

“At this hour?”

“Leia!” Han said chidingly, as he climbed into bed. “You’ve never had to deal with something this late?” He’d just had an interesting conversation with General Airen Cracken, the New Republic head of security, and knew that Leia would want to know this little piece of information.

“Yes. What was it – something important?” She sat at her vanity unit, staring at her reflection in the polished glass, unwinding the heavy coils of her hair from its intricate styling with sighs of relief, the tension slipping from her weary shoulders.

Han loved to see her take down her hair. When she did so – she was truly his and not the regal beauty he had no right to touch. He sometimes took her hair down for her. He loved to gently pull out the pins and feel the silky mass slipping through his fingers. But that usually led to other things and they needed to talk. “It could be. Mara Jade left Coruscant three hours ago.”

Leia turned to look at him, her forehead wrinkled in a frown. “That’s what that last call was about? Cracken’s been keeping watch on Karrde and his people?”

“I don’t think there was any harm in alerting Cracken. He had someone at the spaceport in any case.”

Leia pursed her lips disapprovingly. “We’ve discussed this before. I still don’t think you should have mentioned this to Cracken at all. We are not Imperial agents and they are not enemies of the regime. Karrde and Mara are free citizens…”

“Mara has a death wish on your brother, remember?”

“I’m not likely to forget,” Leia said stiffly. “But I don’t think Luke’s in any danger from her.”

“He might be if she’s found out where he is hiding.” Han leaned back against his pillow. “You did tell her about Dagobah. Was that wise?”

“It’s not on any of the charts. I’ve looked.” Leia picked up a brush encrusted with semi-precious stones and ran it through her hair. “I think she’s our only hope of finding Luke. She promised she wouldn’t kill him if she does, by some miracle, manage to locate Dagobah.”

“And you believe her?”

“Of course I do. I like her, Han. I think she means what she says and that’s a rare thing.”

“You’ve actually looked for Dagobah on the charts?”

“Well, not me personally for ages – I’ve been too busy - but Winter has spent some time searching on my behalf.” Leia put down the brush, removed her peignoir and walked to the other side of the bed, staring down at Han, concern in her dark eyes.

“Winter found nothing?” Han’s breath caught in his throat as he gazed at his lover, every curve outlined by the thin white silk gown she was wearing. He sat up a little straighter.

“Winter found nothing,” Leia confirmed dejectedly. “It is not on any of our charts.”

“Have you tried the enemy’s charts? There must still be some of them around.” Han was finding it increasingly difficult to keep his mind on the conversation. Not when Leia looked so…tempting.

“Yes, of course we’ve checked the Imperial charts. We captured enough capital ships and searched through their databases and nothing - no mention of Dagobah.”

He should have known. His love was thorough to the point of obsessive. If she’d put Lady Winter onto the case… Well, his lover’s aide was the best person he knew to discreetly search for a single microscopic speck of information and remember where she’d found it. Han tapped his chin thoughtfully. “Then how did the Kid get there the first time he vanished?”

“I don’t know. I suspect Obi-Wan Kenobi told him.”

“That crazy old wizard? He’s dead or one with the Force or whatever it is that Jedi do. How could he have told Luke?”

“He’s the only one I can think of who would know where it was. Luke has claimed to have seen him several times since he died on the first death star.”

“Ah! The Jedi ‘seeing people who aren’t there’ trick.” Han reclined against his pillow again, the cover slipping to his waist. “I suppose you did do the right thing…”

“Me!” Leia’s mouth opened and closed. “Who was it that asked Karrde to search for Luke in the first place?”

“Okay, guilty,” Han muttered. “I suspect Jade still has access to resources we don’t know about.”

“Possibly,” Leia admitted tiredly. “But if we cannot find the location of Dagobah with all our sources then who can? Karrde has the best network of informants I’ve ever seen but I suspect that even he would be unable to come up with the goods on this occasion. I wish we could get him to work for the New Republic .”

“Can’t see that happening, sweetheart.” Han patted the bed invitingly. “He’s a smuggler and likes to remain independent.”

“Mara won’t be happy if she guesses that we’re spying on her. I was beginning to get to know her – I think.”

“That I doubt. I don’t think she lets anyone in, sweetheart.”

“There’s more to her than you think,” Leia maintained. “And we shouldn’t have had her followed.”

“Jade would expect it. She trusts us about as much as we trust her.”

“I still don’t think that she would like it.” Leia pulled back the covers and slipped into bed beside Han. “I’m very fond of Airen but I’m the first one to admit that he can be difficult. Once he gets an idea in his head it’s very difficult to stop him from carrying it out. Jade is not our enemy, Han. No matter how hard she persists to argue in such a contrary fashion.”

“Relax.” He wriggled closer, placed his arms around her and kissed her nose. “Mara will never notice.”

“She’s Force sensitive, Han. Of course, she’ll have noticed.”

“Do you think she’s found Dagobah’s location?” the Corellian asked, his voice serious.

“I don’t know. I hope so. But she could be setting out on a trading run for Karrde and not searching for Luke at all. I miss him so much, Han. I really do.” She yawned, her eyes drifting shut.

“I know you miss him.” He dropped a couple of tender kisses on her closed eyelids. “We’ll have him home soon. Sleep, sweetheart.”

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Sluis Sector

Mara’s on-board navicomputer gave a warning signal that the Lucky Strike would be re-entering real space in the next few moments. Finally, after ten days of travelling, she had reached the Sluis Sector. If all her calculations were correct, the time to the Dagobah System, and Luke Skywalker, was only two hours. On closer inspection, Dr. Chan’s maps had been most informative. Mara shut down the remotes she’d been using to practise with, checked that everything which needed to be fastened down was secure and returned to the cockpit.

She couldn’t believe that this strange planet had once been the possible destination for colonists. The meagre information she’d managed to discover about Dagobah, including what she hoped was its exact location, was that it was almost impossible to survive upon… unless, of course, you were a Jedi. There were no records of any sentient life forms making their home there.

The systems containing Praesitlyn, Bpfaash and Sluis Van passed by. She had been tempted to stop and refuel on Praesitlyn but decided against it. She didn’t want to delay getting to Dagobah now that she knew where it was. ‘Stang!’ she thought. No wonder people could disappear out here. It was parsecs from anywhere important. This really was the middle of the galactic nowhere.

Her heart was thumping with anticipation and unaccustomed nervousness. What exactly would she find on Dagobah? Suppose this was all a wild-morodin hunt and there was no Jedi at the end of her journey. Somehow, Mara knew that this was not the case but it didn’t lessen her nerves. She could just feel that she had found what she’d been searching for. A warning chime from her instrument panel sounded loudly in the cockpit. Something planetary-sized was located dead ahead.  The countdown clock crawled to zero and Mara pulled the lever dropping the ship out of hyperspace.

And then there it was in the distance – a little speck of nothing coming closer and closer. She shivered with excitement at the sight of the world shrouded in thick grey clouds. The scanner confirmed what she already knew; there were no cities or technology on this world but massive life form readings and, more importantly, something that could be the life force belonging to one human Jedi Knight.

Another warning sound echoed through the cockpit and Mara, strapping herself into the pilot’s chair, stared in horror as suddenly all the controls went haywire.

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Dagobah

Luke stood and walked to the door of Yoda’s hut, his gaze fixed anxiously on the cloudy grey sky. He couldn’t see anything yet but he knew she was coming. There was a connection between them far greater than the one he shared with his twin sister and this both worried and excited him. He did not understand how this could be so.

“Luke.” Yoda’s weak voice called to him.

The young Jedi turned and walked back to where the aged Master was resting. He hadn’t been able to leave his bed for days, spending most of the time sleeping. He was asleep more than he was awake now. “Yes, Master Yoda?”

“Coming she is,” Yoda managed to say, the words barely audible.

“You can feel her presence too?”

“Newly wakened and powerful,” Yoda said. “But sense her through you I do. Linked tightly together are you. Foreseen this I had not.”

“I awakened her, therefore I can feel her anger and her pain the most. It makes sense I suppose. I could not leave her as she was. She has to learn what it is to have the power of the force without Palpatine’s control.” Luke sank into the old repulsor lift chair whose coils had fried long ago, beside Yoda’s bed. He’d spent most of the past few days just watching the old creature sleep, imprinting his image into his mind. But now Yoda was awake, a strange restless glitter in his eyes.

“Agree with you now I do. But careful must you be.”

“I will be,” Luke said with a warm smile. “But you must rest.”

“Rest…” Yoda chuckled, his eyelids drooping. “Rest in the next world I can. Hurting she is. Full of anger and bitterness. Help her you must before too late it is and aid you she will.”

Luke swallowed. “Please, Master Yoda,” he begged. “Conserve your strength.” He could feel Mara’s presence stronger than ever, slightly panicked as the control of her ship was taken from her. Dagobah did not give up its secrets easily.

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It wasn’t slowing down, Mara realised in shock as she frantically flicked switches and tried everything in her power to halt the rapidly descending craft. If she kept going at this speed, she wouldn’t survive the landing. Suddenly the vessel gave a lurch and Mara was thrown forward, her head slamming against the bulkhead with a sickening crack, and everything went dark.

Luke swayed as, for a moment, he thought he saw stars. “Ouch!” Sith, she must have hit her head. ‘Mara! Can you hear me?’ “Stang!” he muttered. He couldn’t feel any response from her and suspected that she was most likely unconscious. He reached out towards where he thought the ship should be and found that it was on the final part of its rapidly accelerating descent.

“Emperor’s bones!” Luke swore. “It’s coming down too fast.”

He ran outside and, summoning all the power of the Force at his disposal, reached out his hands, seizing the ship in his mental grip. His knees buckling with the effort involved, he began to slow down the hurtling plunge of Mara’s vessel towards terra firma or possibly terra swampland, which would be more accurate in this quadrant of Dagobah. This woman was going to be very important to the Jedi and to Luke Skywalker personally – even Yoda had said so - and therefore he had to make certain that she was safe.

“Size matters not,” he mumbled. “Got her.”

Luke strained, his eyes squeezed tightly shut, the muscles in his arms bulging as he held the large ship with the power of his mind, halting its frenetic rush to the surface and lowering its bulk slowly until it touched down in the soft marshy ground with a careful whumph.

He opened his eyes, the blue especially vivid in a face gone pale with the effort involved. It had taken more out of him than he’d thought. Taking a deep breath, getting his breathing and his emotions under control, Luke stepped towards the ship and pressed the hatch release. The mechanism opened and the ramp lowered with a gentle hiss. He hurried on board and immediately made for the cockpit. The pilot lay slumped in her seat, bleeding profusely from a large gash on her forehead. Head wounds always looked worse than they really were. They bled more freely. At least Luke hoped that was what had happened. There seemed to be an awful lot of blood.

“Mara?” he said cautiously.

The girl gave a slight moan but didn’t answer. That was enough for Luke. She was still alive. Increasingly worried, Luke undid the seat restraints and lifted her from the chair, carrying her from the ship into his own makeshift quarters. He laid her on his bed and hurried across to Master Yoda’s hut for the med kit.

“Hurt badly is she?” Yoda opened his eyes.

“She’s out cold,” Luke responded, rifling through the kit until he found a bacta compress and sealed sterile wipes. “I hope she’s not seriously hurt. There’s only so much I can do with the Force. I’m not a healer and I’ve never really tried to heal anyone else... at least not on purpose.”

“See her I will,” the old creature said, raising himself up into a seated position.

“This is not good for you,” Luke admonished fondly, hiding his fear. The old Jedi’s health was now so precarious.

“Told you before, young one I have. When my age you reach then give the orders you can.” He pointed irritably. “My staff.”

Luke rolled his eyes; his Master could still act like a petulant child when he wanted to. But he did as he was asked and handed Yoda his staff.

The old Jedi struggled to his feet, his face almost grey with the effort it took. He could see the look in his apprentice’s eyes as he thought about the young woman and Yoda had lived through several lifetimes - enough to know exactly what that look meant. He had to see what the future of the Jedi might entail and this young woman had the future of the Jedi order firmly entwined with her own destiny. All the possible futures he had foreseen had that as a certainty.

Luke returned to his living area and began carefully tending to Mara’s head wound. He ran his hands lightly over her body, checking for other injuries and thankfully there were none. Ripping open the pack of sterile wipes, he dabbed gently at the gash on her temple, his ears listening for the tap of Yoda’s staff and his increasingly laboured breathing. He had left out a small stool for Yoda to sit on. He wanted to care for his Master but knew that Yoda still had his pride and would not appreciate the offer for Luke to carry him to see Mara.

Yoda stared at the back of Luke’s head as he continued to tend Mara. “My time is over, Luke, but this one I would meet before I die.”

The words emerged slowly and with great effort and Luke’s mouth firmed. And Yoda said that Luke was stubborn! “If you are sure?”

“Important to you she is. Told you I did, linked you are. Hope for the best it works out. For your father it did not.”

“My father?”

“Loved too well, he did. Like you for your family. Once your heart is given loyal are you.” The old Jedi could still see straight through Luke and could interpret signs that the young man hadn’t even admitted to himself.

“I don’t love her. I’ve only met her once,” Luke protested quietly.

‘And in your dreams many times, young one,’ Yoda thought slowly.

“Mara,” Luke called softly, as he continued to bathe her wound, his fingers gentle. “Mara…”

The dark red eyelashes flickered revealing a hint of clear green.

“Mara,” Luke repeated, exhaling with relief.  She was going to be fine. “You’re safe. Just a little concussed.

The lashes flickered again, this time opening more fully, the green eyes confused as she struggled to get her bearings. “What…what happened? Who are you? My ship…?”

“At a guess,” he looked at Yoda for confirmation, ”...the instruments on your control panel went haywire and you had a bumpy ride down.” Luke could see comprehension creeping across her face. He hoped he wasn’t staring at her like a lovestruck bantha cub. She was still the most beautiful woman he had ever seen.

It came to Mara that she was lying on a bed staring into the face of a fair-haired young man with concerned blue eyes. Her ship! What had happened to her ship? Groaning slightly, Mara tried to sit up.

“No…please rest for a few more minutes,” he urged her earnestly.

“Hit your head hard, my lady, you did,” Yoda wheezed quietly.

“Do you remember?” Luke asked anxiously. “I’m Luke Sk…”

“Skywalker!” Mara did sit up and winced at the agonising pain that ran through her head. It couldn’t be…? “Skywalker…and…” Her eyes widened as recognition set in. She had read about this creature.

“This is my Jedi Master.” Luke made the formal introduction proudly. “Master Yoda, meet Mara…”

“Mara Jade.” The old creature stared at her as if he could see inside her soul, then he nodded at Luke, closed his eyes and let out a deep breath. Yes, there was hope for this one. But her journey would be hard and fraught with difficulties. “The right thing you did, Luke. Told you…” The words died away into silence.

Luke glanced at Mara and then swiftly back at Yoda, the worry on his face changing to full blown panic. “Master…”

Suddenly, the tiny body seemed to wilt in the chair. Luke’s eyes went wide and he dropped the cloth he’d been using to clean Mara’s wound. “Master Yoda…” He reached out and stopped Yoda’s fall, supporting his weight, noting with anguish how light he was. “Excuse us,” he said to Mara.

Lifting Yoda into his arms, he made his way into the hut where Yoda had spent all of his years in exile, gently placing the old Jedi onto his cot.

“Luke…”

“No, Master, you must rest.”

“Beyond rest am I.”

Luke had to strain to hear the words. “No.”

“My time it is.”

Luke swallowed as a heavy weight descended on his chest squeezing and constricting his breathing. He leant forward and grasped Yoda’s little clawed hand. The great luminous eyes seemed to be gazing towards something Luke could not yet experience, looking beyond this reality and into the next.

“Proud of you,” the old Jedi whispered. “Love…you.”

Luke could hardly speak. “I know.”

Mara Jade watched in bewilderment as the last of the Jedi carried his Master towards a tiny construction which looked as if it had been fabricated from the elements of the planet Dagobah itself and fitted underneath the roots of a giant gnarltree. Lurching to her feet, ignoring the pounding in her head and the desire to empty the contents of her stomach, she dizzily staggered after Skywalker with his precious burden. This creature was Yoda! This was supposedly the greatest Jedi of his age. He had survived the Clone Wars, the Jedi purge and even Palpatine himself. She had to bend her head to enter the primitive dwelling and tried not to reel with the pain. She had endured far worse.

“Time…to…start…anew.” Yoda had lifted his gaze and was staring over Skywalker’s shoulder. The old Jedi was looking straight at her. “Your fight…not with…with…the…boy it is.”

“I…” Mara opened and closed her mouth. Who was her fight with if it wasn’t Skywalker?

“Luke, help you she will. But her help…first you must ….”

“I know.” Luke smiled down at his Master, a gentle smile warming his whole countenance. He hoped that his eyes weren’t too red. “Ssh! Rest.”

“Look after you she must.”

Mara blinked. Look after Skywalker? Now, wait a minute.

“My legacy to the galaxy you are. May the Force be…” And with a last sigh, soft as air, Yoda vanished as if he had never been.

“Be with you.” Luke finished, as he bowed his head, his shoulders shaking as sudden realisation of his loss swept through him.