Out of the Shadows 28

The Lucky Strike – Somewhere in hyperspace

“Are we what?” Mara’s green eyes locked with Luke’s. What was the sith-spawned man on about now? He couldn’t have actually said what he had – could he?

“Are we friends?” he repeated earnestly, drawing closer to her.

“No…yes…maybe,” Mara muttered. “Friends usually have to have some sort of a history between them.”

“But we have that,” Luke persisted stubbornly. “We have a history.” He had to make her see that they could be that way. “If we have nothing else we have that.”

Mara made a face at him.

“Of course you saw me as the enemy…”

Their eyes held, messages they either did not understand or chose to ignore passing between them. She tried to summon up some of her long held antipathy for the Jedi…but there was none left. She had seen him as the enemy but she couldn’t think of him like that any longer. Oh, she enjoyed teasing him and arguing with him, but she was beginning to realise that it was to keep him near. In place of her antipathy was the surprising feeling of desire that she’d tried to banish. What would it be like to be closer to him…to have the freedom to touch him?

Luke could feel his heart thumping loudly in his chest as a wave of longing swept through him. She was so beautiful. It took a moment for him to realise to his amazement that the feelings he could sense in the air were not just coming from him. Some of them were coming from Mara. His feelings of desire for the red-headed trader were not totally one sided. He almost gasped out loud. Mara felt something more complex for him than hostility and he couldn’t exactly put a name to what he was feeling – not yet. It was too complicated – too confusing.

“Liar,” the little voice taunted inside his head.

He hesitated. He wanted to step forward, reach out and touch her and perhaps, if he was more confident and experienced with women, he might have done exactly that. But Luke knew that this would be the wrong thing to do. Desire did not necessarily mean that you liked someone even though he knew that he liked Mara Jade very much indeed. In fact, the more he discovered about her, the more he wanted to know.  But he wasn’t certain that Mara would be happy to accompany him on this journey of discovery even though they had achieved a curious sort of truce. These strange emotions colouring the air around them could just be momentary impulses on both their parts and ones that could go very wrong.

They had been alone in each other’s company for almost two months. Propinquity and solitude could play strange tricks on the mind. But she held a fascination for him that he’d never experienced before with anyone else.

The couple continued to stand staring at each other trying to read the secrets hidden in their eyes. Luke shivered suddenly.

“You’re cold,” Mara said quietly, noting the little raised bumps of flesh on his arm.

“I…I should go and get dressed,” he agreed awkwardly. Staring down at his lack of clothing, his face flushed with embarrassment. “This is easier to move around in when I’m concentrating on my own saber technique.” He glanced up at Mara and then flushed again.

Mara’s eyes ran down over Luke’s toned body, willing herself not to show a reaction. He was embarrassed at his undress? It was another facet to his character but he had nothing to be ashamed of. “Of course,” she said, her voice matter-of-fact. “I, too, have garments I wear to exercise. Still, I think you should go and put on some clothes now. I would not expect Princess Leia Organa to accept holo messages from half-naked farm boys.

“What!” Luke blinked. “Oh…yeah.”

Mara managed a grin and glanced at her wrist chrono. “We are about to revert to real space. You will be able to contact your sister once we do so. The holo net account Karrde has set up for his employees gives us access from this system to most places in the Core.”

Luke quickly turned away, his face flushing, and returned five minutes later dressed in another one of his black Jedi outfits. He found Mara sitting in the pilot’s chair speaking into the com as if nothing had happened between them. But nothing had happened, so why did he feel as if something had? His Jedi abilities had given him the skills to discern emotions ricocheting around both him and the beautiful redhead and he’d never felt anything like that before. But then, most facets of his relationship with Mara Jade were certainly new to him.

He saw her stiffen as she registered his close presence but she did not turn and look at him. Things had, for the moment, returned to normal.

“Of course I’m fine, Karrde.” Mara sighed with a mixture of fond exasperation and resignation. “Yes, I found him and I’m bringing him to Coruscant.” She finally glanced at Luke over her shoulder and nodded towards the co-pilot’s seat. “We’re stopping to refuel on Commenor and then we’ll be on Coruscant in less than a day. We’re just entering the system.” She swivelled around to check the navicomputer. “Have I contacted Solo and the Princess yet?” she echoed. “No!” She winked at Luke, who found it amusing and a little satisfying that she had started to treat him as a bit of a co-conspirator.  He wondered if she was even aware of what she was doing. “I thought I’d let Jedi boy do it himself.”

Luke sat down beside her and for the first time was able to hear the cultured voice of Talon Karrde. He had heard of the man, who had managed to stay neutral at the height of the war between the Empire and Alliance . The refined tones of his voice did not match the image of a smuggler but Luke knew that the eyes could deceive. Ben and Yoda had told him often enough. Even more than that, Luke knew Han Solo.

“Mara, I want you to collect a couple of data cards from one of the usual contacts.” Karrde said briskly. “I’ll let them know that you will be in the area. I was going to do it myself next time I was passing through but that will save me the trouble and I’ll get the information much sooner. You can bring them with you to Myrkr.”

“Okay,” Mara acknowledged the unspoken request that she deliver her passenger and reconvene with Karrde’s group as soon as possible. “The cantina next to the repair shops?” she queried carefully.

“That’s it,” Karrde affirmed briskly.

“Will do. If that is everything, Talon, I have a Jedi anxious to contact his sister and a landing cycle to begin.”

Karrde chuckled. “Of course, Mara.” He paused and raised his voice a little. “It will be good to finally meet you in person, Jedi Skywalker. Now that I know you are still alive.”

Luke lifted his head, startled at the comment being addressed to him. “Ahh…yeah. I am still alive.”

“I know that now.”

Luke did not need to see the man’s face to hear the smirk in his voice. He was tempted to answer Karrde’s humour with his own but decided to defend the woman by his side. “Mara is a very special individual, Mr Karrde and, yes, she has managed to restrain her more violent impulses.” His mouth curved into a smile at the vibroshivs being shot at him from Mara’s green eyes. “I’m sure she was tempted to return without me but I have it on good authority that I’m worth more to her alive than dead and I did volunteer to go with her willingly.”

Karrde laughed. “We do have a business to run.”

“Of course you do. It is easier to survive with a good supply of credits in your pocket.” Luke decided that he liked Mara’s boss. It was one of those instinctive things but he was rarely wrong about people. He had felt the good in his father when neither Yoda nor Obi-Wan believed that there had been anything left in his father’s heart and impaired body but evil.

“I’ll be in contact,” Mara snapped, putting an end to Luke’s comments. Why did men have to try and bond like this? It had to be something in their chromosomes. It was either bond or fight. Skywalker continued to act an opposite way to everything she had heard about him. He was supposed to be aloof and superior but he wasn’t.

“I will expect to hear from you as soon as you reach Coruscant, Mara,” Talon ordered.

“I told you that I would be in touch.”

“I believe you but this time don’t let two months pass before you contact me,” Karrde reprimanded gently.

Mara rolled her eyes.

“Jedi Skywalker, I suspect your sister may be about to go off world…”

“Off world!” Luke exclaimed. “Where?”

“I do not know…yet. Don’t worry,” the smuggler chief said calmly. “She’s not reported to be heading out towards the edges of the galaxy. The holo-press would be full of that sort of publicity. Her business is set to remain in the Core Worlds at present. Therefore the communicator on this ship should reach her wherever she is.”

“Ah, thank you,” Luke murmured, reassured that he would still be able to contact Leia. It would have been rather an anticlimax to return after his long absence and find no family to greet him. “You keep abreast of things.”

“All part of the service, Jedi Skywalker,” the smuggler replied.

Luke glanced quickly at Mara. “Of course, you are being well paid for your efforts,” he murmured for her ears alone.

Mara scowled. “Karrde, we need to go now. Time is wearing on.”

“Clear skies,” her boss said calmly as Mara’s finger stabbed at the control, severing the connection abruptly.

Luke moved to the navicomp and began checking their position prior to commencing the landing cycle. “He worries about you.”

“Nonsense,” Mara dismissed briskly. “He knows that I can take care of myself.”

“Maybe so,” Luke said. “But he still worries.”

 Mara sighed as she admitted softly, her hands busy at the controls of the ship, “I know he does. Karrde looks after his people.”

“As he should. It is the mark of a good employer. I get the impression that he’s a decent man.”

“He’s a smuggler, Skywalker – a businessman. Some of his activities are not what some beings might term ‘legal’ and he likes it that way. Don’t go giving him qualities he does not possess.”

“Not all employers look after their workers. He’s still a good man,” Luke stressed quietly. “I know a lot of good men who work on the shadier side of respectability, Mara. It doesn’t make them any less honourable. One of them saved my life many times. I consider him closer than a brother.”

Mara didn’t need to be told who that was. She’d been grudgingly impressed with Han Solo from the moment she’d met him even if his attempts at humour fell short of actually being amusing.

“Karrde looking after his employees tells me a lot about the type of individual he is. He is a good man and from what you’ve said I realise he has tried to stay neutral because he wanted to stay alive and protect his people. One day, however, he will have to make a choice.” This time Luke did not look at Mara as he re-checked the nav data.

“We all make choices,” Mara said quietly. “Sometimes they’re the right ones and at other times…very, very wrong.”

Luke cleared his throat. “I can understand that,” he said gruffly, thinking of some of his more spectacular failures. He could have enlightened her further but all he said was, “We’ll be able to land in less than an hour.”

“That’s enough time for you to contact your sister.”

Luke’s face stilled as he thought of Leia. “Yes and no. It can never be enough, not when we’ve been apart for so long. But it should be suffice for now.”

“I’ll set up the holo emitters…”

“I won’t use the holo this time; hearing her voice is wonderful, seeing her…” He turned his head and the expression on his face was wistful. “It’s too much. Do you understand what I mean?”

Mara nodded. Strangely enough she did. She pulled out a drawer, scrabbled inside and pulled out a scrap of flimsy. “Here,” she muttered, handing it to him. “This will connect you with Leia’s private line on Coruscant. Their home connection,” she stressed. “If she isn’t there it will link to wherever she is.”

“They have a…a home on Coruscant…Leia and Han?” Luke took a breath and punched in the code Mara had given him. His relief at hearing they were still together filled him. He could feel his heart beating with anticipation. There was a crackle and a hiss of static and….no answer. He could have cried with disappointment. An anticlimax right enough.

“Keep trying,” Mara advised, sensing his disappointment. Her hand rested reassuringly on Luke’s shoulder. “She’s a busy woman.”

“She must be off world…Karrde was right. She could be anywhere,” Luke muttered despondently.

“It’s possible but I don’t recall her having anything long-term planned and Karrde’s information is usually correct.”

“You and Karrde were privy to the contents of her diary?” Luke asked sharply, the disappointment heavy in his gut.

“Of course not, but important people like your sister plan ahead and if they do, Karrde would know what those plans are,” Mara said absently, staring at her hand where it rested on the Jedi’s shoulder. She blinked - when did she do that - and moved it away. “He has sources of information that even Imperial Intelligence and the Bothan spynet can’t top. The signal will be rerouted to wherever she is. It’s a priority channel after all. That means it will get the message to her. She’s a member of the New Republic ruling council and must stay in contact.”

“But I wanted to speak to her in person…not leave a message.” Luke glanced at his wrist chrono. “What’s the time in Galactic City ?”

“Early evening.” Mara pointed to three dials set into the bulkhead above his head as she quashed Luke’s hopes that Leia might just be asleep. The first chrono is set to Coruscant time, the second to Karrde’s main base where he is currently stationed and the third is where we are now….approximately.”

“That’s a good idea.”

“It’s necessary. That way I don’t wake up the wrong people. Clients are much more receptive to deals after a good nights sleep.” She checked her co-ordinates once more. “We are approaching Commenor’s atmosphere and should land in thirty minutes.” She flicked a switch and then turned her head to look at the Jedi beside her. “Try her again before I begin the landing cycle.”

Luke punched in the code once more, his hand shaking. “Nothing,” he said. “Are you certain that this is the…?”

“Leia Organa.” The soft alto voice was coloured with the cultured overtones of the royal court of Alderaan and Luke’s breath caught in his throat. He could not find the words to answer. For three years he’d only heard her voice in his dreams.

“Who is this?” Leia said impatiently.

Luke closed his eyes and tried to reach for her presence but he was too anxious. “Leia,” he murmured, his voice husky.

“Who is…” her voice faltered, “…this?”

“Leia, it’s me.” He didn’t need to say it. He knew that she knew.

“Luke!”

He could hear her voice trembling, knew that her hands shook. “Yes,” he managed to say past the lump that was wedged in his throat.

“Luke! Oh, Luke.” He knew there were tears in her dark eyes without seeing her, because he felt the tears well up in his own.

“Where...? How soon? Are you…?” Her voice rose upwards.

He laughed gently at her incoherence, the sound travelling through the com and across the lightyears of space to the ears of the woman whose flickering image had started his whole life’s adventure.

“I don’t know what to say,” she whispered.

He laughed again. “I don’t believe that for a moment.” Leia always knew what to say whereas he was usually unsure, the awkward words tumbling out of his mouth in his haste to say them before becoming silent once more. To render her speechless was a feat in itself.

Feeling very much like an intruder in this almost reunion, Mara slouched into her seat trying not to listen but it was impossible not to hear. The emotions she sensed coming from the man at her side made her feel things she’d never felt before. She wanted to belittle and ridicule the sentiments between Skywalker and his sister but she could not. Was this what love was? Could someone who felt like this for another being possibly be evil? Mara was quite certain that she knew the answer but it was another step forward for her to take and this time she could not retreat. There was no doubt at all in her mind that Skywalker loved his sister.

“We’re approaching Commenor,” Luke said.

“So close,” Leia’s voice said clearly as if she was standing next to him. “I was supposed to be travelling to Commenor tomorrow. If you hadn’t contacted me today we could have passed without knowing. I cannot go there now…not when you are coming home to me. I must reorganise…”

Luke guessed that she’d reach for her data pad and her well worked out schedule. Winter would sigh and make a token protest but would take away the schedule and make it work another way. “Coincidence running our lives again, Leia, or perhaps it is the Force at work again? It would have been strange if we’d met in the spaceport.” He still marvelled that they’d managed to find one another amongst the billions of beings in the galaxy. “We’ll be stopping to refuel and then we’ll be on our way. I’ll be with you as soon as I can.”

“Luke…”

“I’m fine, Leia.” He grinned as he answered her unspoken question. “You?”

“Better than fine now that I’ve heard from you at last.”

Luke could hear the joy in her voice. “You knew how it would be. I had to go but I will never leave you like this ever again.”

“I hope that’s a promise, Kid.”

Luke closed his eyes, blinking away the moisture that was trying to gather there.

“I think there’s someone else here that would like to speak to you.”

“Put him on, Leia,” Luke said softly. “Please.”

Leia held out the com to the man sitting opposite her, the expression on his face was of hopeful disbelief. “Han.”

“Kid!” Han’s voice cracked. “Is it really you?”

“I think so. No one else would want to be Luke Skywalker so I think it must be me.”

“It’s him, Solo.” Mara couldn’t keep quiet any longer. “No one else could be this annoying and he matched the ‘wanted holo’ all Imperials were given out during the war.”

Luke gave a howl of protest. “I’ve seen that holo. Couldn’t they have got a better one? I was nineteen, for kriff’s sake and I was going through a bad hair year.”

“Still are,” Mara griped.

“Ah, the lovely Mistress Jade,” Han said dryly. “I hope she’s kept that sweet disposition she’s famous for.”

“Can it, Solo,” Mara snapped.

“Mara’s a friend and I haven’t noticed anything wrong with her disposition,” Luke said, immediately, springing to her defence for the second time in less than an hour, even though Mara could and would look after herself. He ignored the startled glance that she sent him and concentrated on hearing the words of the man he thought of as a brother.

“So things have been cosy, huh?”

Luke sighed. “Han, please.”

Mara shifted uncomfortably in her seat. She wasn’t his friend. Things were better between them but… Mara Jade didn’t have friends. She had colleagues and acquaintances. There was no one who knew her well enough…who understood her like… Oh, hell…Like Skywalker did.

“Where have you been, Kid?”

“Dagobah,” Luke answered simply.

“So you were there. Leia said that’s where you’d be. You should have been home a long time ago,” Han said darkly.

“I know.”

“Chewie is mad at you,” Han muttered.

“Oh,” Luke said. “How mad?”

“Pulling the arms off of a Gundark kind of mad.” Han couldn’t keep the smile from his face. The Kid was finally coming home and they’d keep him there this time even if he had to strap him down.

“If he’s going to stay that mad then maybe I’d better not come home. I like my arms where they are. I don’t have the full set as it is and I don’t want to lose another one.” There was a sudden awkward silence. “Are you still angry with me, Han?”

“No…yes…sometimes. How did you know I was…?” Han stopped. Luke knew him so well and of course he could tell if Han was angry. “I was mad at you because I didn’t understand why you had to go. Sometimes I still don’t until I get caught up in some of Leia’s political wranglings and then I do understand. You should have talked to me about it, buddy. But everything’s gonna be fine now. I’ll tell Chewie to cancel the arm pulling.”

“I appreciate it,” Luke said, the smile on his face threatening to split his jaw. “He with the Falcon?”

“Where else would the old furball be?” Han chuckled softly. “Tell Jade…” Han stopped and swallowed. “Tell Jade…thanks. I owe her one.”

“I will.” Luke turned to stare at Mara and knew that she had heard.

Leia’s voice came over the com once more. “I’m transmitting a priority clearance to you for when you arrive on Coruscant. It will get you straight past any customs and red tape without interference and get you straight to me.”

“Mara,” Luke said. “Expect a transmission.”

The red-head nodded as lights flickered on the console. “I’ve got it.”

“Leia,” Luke murmured. “Keep my return quiet for now.”

“But Luke…the New Republic Inner Council…your friends… They will all want to know.”

“No, none of them – not yet,” he said firmly.

“But security will pick up…” Leia protested. “Cracken will find out.”

“Just you, Han and Chewie. Leia you mentioned the politicians before my friends. That’s not the way that things work with me any more. Cracken isn’t a politician but I can’t trust him not to go blabbing.”

“I understand this one even if I think you’re being rather unrealistic,” Han said dryly. “I’ll explain it to her Highnessness for you and you leave the General to me.”

“I just want a little time with my family before everything goes crazy and it will. They cannot manipulate me, Leia. I will not allow it to happen.”

“They won’t…”

“They will try and you know it.”

He could hear his sister’s sigh before she spoke. “I will do as you ask.”

“Thank you.”

“Hurry,” Leia urged him.

“I will. We’ll contact you again just before we arrive. I love you, Leia.” Luke could feel the frozen lump in his chest begin to thaw. He hadn’t realised he’d been like that since he’d left her. Home wasn’t very far away.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Harnaidan City - Muunilist

The sun disappeared over the horizon, leaving the sky at the in-between stage of day and night, the spectacular high towers and spires of the city casting massive shadows. Folla Rule climbed from the speeder and handed an Imperial credit stick over to the Muun guide who had taken her to the last known locations of all the Jedi sites.

The Muun’s short-sighted eyes widened at the amount. “It is too much!”  he exclaimed, his squeaky voice amplified by the pickup built into his robe.

“Nonsense,” Folla replied, brushing a tendril of dark hair away from her face. “I was told that you were the most reputable guide in the area and the most knowledgeable on the lost history of the Jedi on Muunilist and Dantooine. I needed the best and I pay accordingly.” She didn’t think that the Muun would protest too much. Their greed was known throughout the galaxy. If there was one thing that the Muun species could do was amass wealth. She had paid him three times as much as he had asked for to ensure his discretion. “There is a good chance that I may return here in the near future and would require your services again.”

The Muun bowed, his rail-thin body almost bending with the wind. “I thank you, Mistress,” he murmured.

She glanced around her carefully. If she’d been followed there was no evidence but she’d made certain that her movements could all be traced. She needed to be visible to anyone who wanted to check her itinerary - until she’d got rid of the guide. The sites on Muunilist and Dantooine had been stripped of all their treasures very thoroughly long ago and all that was left was a faint taint in the air. But she’d gone through the motions of checking her detailed maps of the sites and collecting samples of the soil. It was possible with the layers in the Force shifting and folding that something new might have come to light – but nothing had.

Her lip curled disdainfully as she climbed back into the speeder. “I have your contact details.”

“Yes, Mistress.”

She nodded dismissively and watched as the alien walked away from her, heading for the nearest building. Waiting until her guide had disappeared from view, Folla gunned the speeder and joined the throng of traffic heading towards the High Port. It only took a moment to switch speeders and adopt the traditional covering dress of some of the Muun females. Her new destination contained one of the few human settlements on the planet.

The village was tiny but Folla knew it held one of the sleeper cells the Emperor had set up years ago. Within the perimeter fence of the hamlet lay the beginning of the Imperial resurgence and the rebirth of her master. Ysanne Isard and her short sighted Moff would regret that they had refused her help.

With a smile that merely bared her perfect white teeth, Folla began transmitting the code that would awaken much of the life within the grey walls she could see through her electrobinoculars. She was tired of waiting patiently while aliens and their grubby friends ruled in her master’s place – tired of bureaucracy ruining the freedom she’d once had to travel the galaxy searching for artefacts. It was time things changed back to the way they once were.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Commenor

The Lore Seeker landed in the allotted landing bay with all the grace of its pilot and Kam Solusar had to admit that he was impressed.

“You handle the controls well,” he said as the sound of the engines died away.

Tionne bristled at the compliment instead of being gratified. “It’s my ship,” she said tartly. “I should be able to manage the controls. I’m not the novice you keep taking me for, Jedi Solusar.”

“I did not mean to insult you, Tionne.”

“Then what did you mean?” she asked, fixing him in place with her pearly eyes.

“That you are a part of your ship and your flying is instinctive. It’s a Force-given talent I would suspect.” He was struck again by the loveliness of her strange eyes. One of her ancestors could not have been fully human and he thanked whoever it was for bequeathing her that particular beauty.

“Oh.”

She unfastened her safety harness and stood up, stretching as she did so. Kam rose to join her and Tionne found that in the cramped confines of the Lore Seeker’s cockpit, they were closer than she had anticipated. Tionne raised her hands to move him away from her and found when she looked into his serious grey gaze that she didn’t want to. There was something compelling about this haunted man.

This was a complication she had not foreseen when she’d agreed to take the tall, serious Jedi with her. She hadn’t expected to begin falling in love with him. He was not ready to love anyone, let alone her. Her mouth opened and closed as she tried to think of something appropriate to say.

“What is it?” Kam asked. Conscious of her small hands resting against his chest, he brought his own up to rest on her shoulders. “Tionne?”

She shook her head and stepped away. “It’s nothing,” she said and then changed her mind. Lifting her eyes to his, she smiled and said quietly, “You’re a good man, Kam Solusar, and don’t forget that. There aren’t enough men in the galaxy like you. One day you will believe it.”

Tionne wished that she could have been brave enough to smooth her fingers across his high cheekbones and curl against his shoulders, letting the weight of being alone lift away. She’d been alone for so long – ever since her grandmother’s death. She could barely remember her parents.

Kam managed to smile back. He’d missed something there and wondered what it was but he had the idea that it was personal and he didn’t want to pry. “Refuelling first?” he asked prosaically. “…and then something to eat.”

“Finding a decent tapcaf shouldn’t be too much of a problem,” Tionne agreed thoughtfully. “I may just bring my instrument. Eating to music is always more pleasant.”

“I would agree but as long as you manage to eat and don’t spend all of the time playing and singing. Much as I enjoy your songs, Tionne, you need sustenance.”

“Yes, but if I sing for my supper the sustenance often costs fewer credits.”

“Wisdom is also prized amongst Jedi,” Kam murmured softly.

“Not really,” Tionne said grinning back at him. “Necessity.”

“Is wisdom often born of necessity?”

“You do sound like what I imagine a Jedi would sound like sometimes,” Tionne said, with a mischievous grin.

“Then I’m finally doing something right,” Kam returned, his grey eyes twinkling.

Refuelling didn’t take long and then they headed down the ramp towards the conglomeration of cantinas, repair shops and cheap flophouses. The spaceport was bustling and Kam drew closer to Tionne just in case she should come to harm. He couldn’t explain the need he felt to protect her even though she could look after herself. A tingle ran through him and he stopped suddenly. Tionne turned around quickly when she no longer sensed that he was right beside her. She had felt him move closer as they’d joined the throng of people on the walkway.

“What is it?” she asked.

Kam had lifted his head and was gazing up into the cloudy sky as if it was sending him signals. “I feel…” He stopped. “No…it’s coming from ahead of us…or is it?”

“You’re not making any sense, Kam. What is it?”

“I don’t know. But it feels like the Force has suddenly solidified and it’s everywhere around me.”

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Kelt slouched into the swathe of grey material he was using as a cloak as he left the cheap tapcaf he’d been frequenting for meals to save on his credits. The food was filling if not exactly flavourful but he couldn’t afford to complain. He lifted his hand and gingerly felt the discoloured area around his left eye. Someone had jumped him last night just outside the cantina where most of the best pilots congregated and tried to rob him. He managed a smile and winced as the pain still made itself felt. He’d fought as hard as he could, screaming and yelling to attract the maximum amount of attention possible. His grandmother had taught him well. He hadn’t felt this stiff since the last time she’d been able to put him through a proper workout. None of the other boys in Osar had been put through self-defence and survival training by their grandmothers. They’d all attended the classes run by the local school. Kelt had attended those too, his grandmother had insisted upon it but he hadn’t learned very much. Kelt knew that his training had been much more thorough.

Security had finally arrived to deal with the matter but his assailants had scarpered at the giveaway sound of the warning siren. There had been nothing that they could do.

Osarian had been a quiet world; people had known one another and such things didn’t happen there. He flinched as the remembered agony of his family’s fate played across his mind. No, he’d been wrong. Terrible things did happen on quiet backwater worlds. Not for the first time, he wished that he’d never left Osar, that his family was still alive and he could go to work at the factory in his routine, safe, boring job. But he wanted to make his grandmother proud of him. He was certain that she was in her right mind again and watching him. Only just last night he’d dreamed of her and it had seemed so real.

The walls of the room in the cheap flop-house were thinner than a sheet of flimsy and it was difficult to shut out the noises around him – some more disturbing than others. Something crawled across the floor at his feet and he'd chosen to ignore it, curling up on the bed and finally falling into a restless sleep. A couple of hours later a loud noise somewhere above woke him up and he’d lain in the darkness blinking until he’d sensed that he wasn’t alone.

“Who’s there?” he quavered. He normally considered himself made of much sterner stuff than this but a lot had happened to him over the last few months. It was then he realised that he couldn’t have woken up, that he had to still be dreaming.

“Kelt!”

“Grandmother?” It was as if she was in the room with him but it wasn’t the vague woman he’d known for the past few years. This was how she’d been when he’d been growing up; the once wizened figure was straighter, taller, her eyes clear and bright. But it had to be a dream because he could see right through her. She looked like a cheap hologram.

“We have little time so listen well.”

“Time?” He’d never had a dream like this one.

“Time,” his grandmother said firmly. “Neither of us are strong enough. I never was and you are untrained. Your strength will grow with the proper training. Let go your anger and your fear because it will do you no good.”

How did she know he felt such anger still? How did she know how scared he was? Simple, he told himself, he was dreaming.

“This is no dream, Kelt. This is the only way I can speak to you and I hope that the little time we have is enough. You are a good person. Those that walk in darkness are drawn to such as you with a natural need to destroy and diminish.” The transparent hand lifted and smoothed tenderly across the livid bruises on Kelt’s face. “You still have my lightsaber?”

He nodded. “Yes.”

“Wear it, learn to use it and never give up.”

“How did…?”

“I know you.”

“I miss…”

“It wasn’t a real love. If you’d stayed…perhaps in time...but you would have never been truly happy on Osar. You would always have sought something that she could never have given you. Jedi life is not for the weak-willed and I know you have the strength required. I never did – not really.” The image grew fainter.

“Grandmother…”

“You must move on, Kelt. Trust in the Force and let it guide you always. I love you, Kelt.”

Her image faded and Kelt was left blinking into the empty room. A weak early daylight shone through the slatted blinds covering the windows and, more restless than he had ever been, he swung his legs from the bed and stood up. Somehow, his grandmother knew that he needed her. Whether his dream had been just that or something more he didn’t know.

He came out of his memory and cast a quick glance about him, his hand closing around the cylindrical-shaped object he had taken from the bottom of his carryall and attached to the belt at his waist. He still didn’t know how to use it but, in a pinch, it might just give him an extra element of surprise. All the Force ability in the world would do him no good if he was taken down before he had a chance and he wanted that chance. Getting off Commenor now seemed to be a priority.

None of the local pilots had been willing to transport him off world for less than what appeared to be the entire gross national expenditure of a moderately prosperous mid-rim world which he just didn’t have. The only other option was to stow away on the first transport ship heading for the Core – if he could get close enough to one of them without having to spend a night in the gaol.

With a deep breath he stepped from the shadow of the doorway and made his way into the busy crowd of beings. That was when he heard the sound of rapid blaster fire. The crowd began to either run or join in. This could be the distraction he needed. His fingers felt for the switch on the hilt of the lightsaber…just in case.

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