It was two years after the untimely death of Luke Skywalker,
Jedi Master and head of the Academy. His widow, the beautiful
Mara Jade Skywalker, had agreed to take his place as Jedi
Master. He had felt, while still alive, that she would be the
best qualified. Unfortunately, the pain had become too much to handle for Mara.
She had shut the Academy down for an indefinite period of time… Now, as she walked around in the cool jungle of Yavin IV,
where the Academy was located, she was ready to restart.
Fortunately, all of the Jedi Knights of the suspended class were
still interested in training.
One of her assistants, Tionne, was with her now. “Mara,”
she said, “are you okay?”
“I don’t feel good. The pain still lingers. I thought I
would have been over this, but it just gets more and more
unbearable. My poor daughters think I’m falling apart at the
seams. Maybe they’re right.” Mara had twin daughters, Lenina
and Lucinda, both now seven. Mara’s eyes were watering up. “I
thought this was supposed to pass.”
“Mara, no, that’s not true.” Tionne herself was widowed.
Her husband, Kyp Durron, had been killed in action during a
standoff with one of the greatest threats to the New Republic,
the Dark Master’s Alliance. Tionne was still in pain over that.
Her daughter, Jianna, was also seven, born at the same time as
Mara’s twins. “I still wake up nights, crying my eyes out, even
though Kyp died a lot longer ago than Luke. It doesn’t pass
easily.”
Mara started crying, unable to hold herself together. It
was a wonder she even wanted to restart the Academy. Tionne
embraced her.
“Shh, just let yourself go. You’ll feel better.” Tionne’s
soft voice often soothed someone’s pain. She lightly stroked
Mara’s back. “Don’t do what I did,” she said, remembering her
attempted suicide just six months after Kyp’s death. It had
left her comatose and caused painful and frequent seizures due
to the brain damage she had incurred. Finally, she had suffered
a seizure that had nearly killed her and they had done surgery
to repair the damage. Mara’s current mood bothered Tionne,
because she had been the same way before the suicide attempt.
“I won’t. I don’t want to die.” Mara cried in Tionne’s
arms for an hour. Soon, the pain passed for the moment. The
two women walked into the Massassi Temple.
Mara lay in her bed and let the tears fall. She was in a
deep depression. Tionne soothed her pain by softly massaging
her. It was something a lot of Jedi Knights did to each other
at the Academy. Mara was most appreciative.
“It just hurts so bad,” she said as the tears fell. “I
never thought it would.”
“Neither did I, but I know how it feels.” Jacen and Tenel Ka Solo, two seventeen-year-olds who were
married, lay in their room. Jacen had his arms around his
wife’s naked body. He was kissing her shoulders and massaging
her. They had spent the time on hiatus on Coruscant and Hapes,
their respective home planets.
Jacen was a little shaken by the news he had learned just
before their wedding. His wife was infertile. She had suffered
massive ovarian damage from a poison used by a woman trying to
kidnap Tenel Ka’s closest friend, a Dathomirian woman by the
name of Arian. Although the doctors had ruled out removing
Tenel Ka’s ovaries, it didn’t seem likely that Tenel Ka could
get pregnant.
That was the problem, indeed. Both of them wanted children
and tried often to conceive, but with no luck. They prayed for
a miracle. But it seemed hopeless.
It didn’t matter too much, though. The two were deeply in
love and enjoyed each other’s company.
Jacen looked into her gray eyes, which looked so good in
the sunlight. She had her hand between her legs as she looked
at him.
Tenel Ka lay back. He parted her legs and pushed himself
inside her. Her body jerked again, but soon warmed up as he
continued pumping her. They had made love before, but something
was really intensifying the situation. Soon, Tenel Ka’s back
arched and she cried out; more of that would follow. Jacen soon
exploded in her and got off of her. It didn’t matter if they
had conceived a child or not. It just didn’t.
Jacen kept kissing her body, running over every inch of
muscle she had. Her love for rock climbing had given her a
tight, athletic body.
“Honey,” he said, “at this moment, I don’t care if we
conceived a child. Just making love to you is enough to make
things okay.”
“I agree, but I hope we did. I think we’re ready.”
Jacen was sure of it. “Do you want to go to breakfast?”
He hoped not; he wanted to spend some time alone with her and
eating in the dining hall just didn’t appeal to him right now.
“Maybe later.” Tenel Ka gave him a quick smooch and went
into the bathroom. Soaking in warm water was an everyday ritual
for Tenel Ka. She normally would have chosen to sponge herself
down, but she found the warmth of the water helped her relax.
That was important. She had suffered a loss herself.
In events that had led up to Luke’s death, Tenel Ka’s
father, King Isolder of Hapes, had been brutally murdered by an
alliance bent on restoring Imperial control of Hapes. Her
mother, Teneniel Djo Chume, had fallen apart over Isolder’s
death. They had been in love and to see her husband die like
that broke Teneniel’s heart. It had also hurt Tenel Ka.
Luke had been Jacen’s uncle on his mother’s side. Someone
had poisoned him with a terrible substance that had withstood a
heart transplant aimed at reversing the damage. Luke had lived
for about a month after the transplant before the poison
destroyed his new heart. Some of the Academy personnel and
students had watched Luke slowly die, finally succumbing to a
heart attack. Jacen was worried about his Aunt Mara. She still
didn’t look very good. It was odd, because Mara was one of few
redheaded women that Jacen thought was prettier than his wife,
another one being Teneniel herself.
One of the greatest things Jacen found in his wife was her
looks. She was incredibly beautiful, almost breathtaking, in
his opinion. Her eyes were dark gray and her hair was a fiery
red-gold color. Her body was long and muscular, with very
strong legs. She was very warrior-like, but very attractive at
the same time. It was no wonder Jacen was attracted to her.
She often wore a simple tunic, not quite as revealing as the
reptile hides other Dathomirians wore; Tenel Ka was part
Dathomirian on her mother’s side. Mara had asked her to wear
something presentable but comfortable. The tunic she wore fit
the bill perfectly.
Jacen wondered if other people from Hapes thought Tenel Ka
was even remotely attractive. He figured not, as they never
thought Teneniel was. Though Teneniel was actually quite
pretty, too, she was a little on the rough-looking side. But
Jacen thought both Teneniel and Tenel Ka were gorgeous. Hapan
standards for women just seemed too high if they didn’t count
them as beautiful.
One thing was for darned sure. There wasn’t an ounce of
fat on her body. She kept in great shape and it showed.
Tenel Ka slipped into the tub. She sighed as the warmth
coursed through her body.
Jacen leaned down and kissed her. “We’ll keep trying. I
know it’s not easy, but we’ll keep trying. I’m as much for this
as you are. Maybe Dr. Gianna was wrong.” Dr. Gianna, actually
Lucille Wilson Gianna, a beautiful blond woman from the dying
world of Sacorria–Mara’s home planet as well–had told Tenel Ka
that her ovaries were useless. Tenel Ka had hoped she would be
wrong.
“I can hope so. The great part is that we’re not giving
up.”
“You’ve got that right. I think I just enjoy holding you
in my arms.” As if the infertility weren’t bad enough, Tenel Ka
also only had an arm and a half. In an attack from a
Dathomirian Nightsister, a dark side witch, Tenel Ka had
defended herself with Mara’s lightsaber, but the hag had
extinguished the blade and sliced Tenel Ka’s arm off with her
own blade. Mara had been unable to help, as the Nightsister had
fired Force lightning into Mara’s chest, causing her heart to
fail. Tenel Ka remembered looking into Luke’s eyes as he had
realized that he could lose Mara. Mara had recovered, but
another seizure had scared the living daylights out of Mara.
Then came the fateful attack by Jana Morrin, a Firerreon woman
who shocked Mara again, but with more disastrous consequences
that left Mara dependent on a pacemaker.
Tenel Ka didn’t mind having one arm anymore. It didn’t
bother her as much. She had learned to deal with the loss and
get on with her life. That had been about the same time that
she and Jacen had gotten very serious, though they had been
moving in that direction from the start.
“Aunt Mara’s looking to go on another recruiting visit.
She wanted us to come along. She’s still not sure she wants to
restart the Academy just yet. I can’t blame her.” Jacen knew
Mara’s pain was still great. “Why don’t you go? She might need
your company. I need to get back to Coruscant for a while.”
“That’s not a bad idea. I think I will. Did I hear right
in that your sister is here?”
Jacen thought of the other beautiful woman in his life:
his twin sister, Jaina. She was a senator in the New Republic,
representing the Academy, where she had attained Knighthood.
“Yes, that’s correct. She’s just making a visit for her
reelection campaign, though I doubt she’ll have much trouble
being reelected. She wants to go with Mara as well. Mon Mothma
has given her a leave of absence, since this would go a long way
toward improving relations with distant worlds. It sounds like
a fun trip. It’s good that you’re going with Mara. She needs
the support.”
Tenel Ka got out of the tub and they made love on the floor as
they lay there.
Soon, the two went to breakfast. Mara was already there. “Tenel Ka, that’s great that you’re
joining me on my trip. I thought it’d be a good time to show some
of the personnel what I do when I recruit new candidates.”
“Are you feeling any better?”
“No, and I don’t expect to for a while. I’m not giving up,
though. Luke’s strong within me.”
“I was wondering if you were getting hard-hit by
well-wishers trying to set you up.”
“A few have tried that. I don’t appreciate it in any case.
I may find someone later, could even be tomorrow, but it’ll be
on my own terms, not anybody else’s.”
“Mom has had the same problems. She’s still saddened by
Dad’s death. You can’t avoid it. People just don’t want you or
Mom to be lonely. You two are very beautiful women in
high-ranking positions who were hit hard by the tragic deaths of
your husbands. I hope that never happens to Jacen, but I know
it’s always a possibility. I guess there’s nothing we can do
about fate.”
“No, we can’t do a damned thing about it. We just have to
roll with the punches and pray we don’t get killed ourselves.” Jaina walked into the landing where the shuttle they would
be using sat. Mara had used some excess funds to buy her old
ship, the Jade’s Fire, from the New Republic, but it was getting
old and the shuttle would serve as a backup if the ship failed.
She walked over to the engine compartment and checked out the
engines on the shuttle. All was working well.
Jaina Solo was a mechanically-inclined woman. Just minutes
older than Jacen, Jaina loved to take things apart and put them
back together. She never messed with parts in current use. She
didn’t want to chance it. Lowie was working with Arian on board
the Jade’s Fire.
Lowie had a knack for working with computers. He loved to
run diagnostic checks on the main computer system on the Jade’s
Fire. It was complex and interesting.
Arian was more interested in electronics. She had learned
a lot about electronic components from her father, who had
raised her after her mother, Kirana Ti, had left for the Academy
to learn the ways of the Jedi. Unfortunately, he had succumbed
to Quinnot’s Disease when she had turned twelve, leaving her
heart an empty space. Kirana Ti was always there, trying to
make up for lost time. Arian appreciated that; she looked up to
her mother constantly. Kirana Ti and Arian were very much alike
in appearance, with soft green eyes, dark red hair and muscular
builds, similar to Tenel Ka’s. They were beautiful and charming
women. All at the Academy liked them. Kirana Ti was one of the
original members of a Jedi group from the Academy known as the
Jedi Task Force. Arian was not part of the Jedi Task Force; her
heart, like Mara’s, was dependent on a pacemaker and she was not
in physical shape to fight alongside her mother. Arian prayed
her mother wouldn’t die for a long time. She loved her mother.
“Jaina,” Arian called out, “how are you?”
Like her brother, Jaina had dark brown eyes and matching
hair. She was about medium height and had a slender body that
looked great in her Senatorial attire. She had gotten
propositions from several guys on the Senate, but they were
either too old or already married, sometimes both.
Jaina had a soft spot in her heart for one guy, though.
His name was Zekk. He was from the underworld of Coruscant.
They often met in the halls of the Imperial Palace. If it had
been any other person from that area of Coruscant, Leia and Han
probably would have forbidden Zekk from seeing Jaina. The
people in the underworld were almost social rejects who lived
horrible lives. But Zekk was charming and diplomatic. They
were just friends, but Jaina held on to hopes that it would get
more serious.
Jaina had been heartbroken when she had found out Zekk had
disappeared without a trace. She had suspected that he was a
Jedi, but she wasn’t sure of that. Perhaps it explained his
disappearance.
“I’m just fine, Arian. How are you holding up?”
“The same as always. The Academy gets pretty dull when
we’re on hiatus. I hope Mara keeps up the job Luke started.
Mom agrees.”
“Aunt Mara’s not likely to get over Uncle Luke anytime
soon. She’s had trouble all her life.” In fact, Mara had
suffered a seizure during Luke’s memorial service, requiring
minor but incapacitating surgery. The pacemaker had failed, but
it only required that a unit designed to block the Force away
from the pacemaker be turned off. “How’s she doing?”
“She’s okay. She’s been lucky not to have seizures since
her surgery. She just needs to take it easy, that’s all. How’s
your Mom?”
“Doing well. She’s working harder than ever to keep peace
in the galaxy.” Leia Organa Solo, Jaina’s mother and Luke’s
twin sister, was Chief of State of the New Republic. She had
held that position for over ten years. She did well
administering her duties. Her husband was Han Solo, a Corellian
in his late forties and considerably older than Leia, who was
Mara’s age of forty. Han was a General. “It’s not easy.”
“It never is. I’m glad you came along with us. Mara needs
our company.”
“Hey, be careful with my ship.” Mara was down below,
yelling at Jaina.
“Just making minor repairs. Aunt Mara, your ship is not
ready for transport. The hyperdrive flux coil is fried. What
happened?”
“Some moron in the New Republic tried to enter hyperspace
too close to Coruscant. The gravity fought the hyperdrive and
won. Damn, that’s not good. I guess we’ll use the shuttle
then. It’s not too bad. It’s a New Republic Ambassadorial
Shuttle and it is very comfortable. Jaina, despite my
criticizing you, I really appreciate the help you have given me.
I’m not the galaxy’s greatest mechanic. Is the shuttle all
ready?”
Lowie growled. Mara knew he meant yes. She had learned
the Wookiee language and now could understand what Lowie was
saying.
“Good. Let’s get the shuttle packed. We’re leaving
tonight.”
“Where are we going?”
“Munto Codru. I know of a woman by the name of Xaverri who
wants to train. Do you know her?”
“Xaverri is an old friend of Dad’s. They reunited while I
was being held hostage on Crseih Station.” That was over ten
years ago. Jaina figured Xaverri to be probably about fifty by
now. “She’s supposedly a very nice lady.”
“I remember Xaverri,” Rillao, a student came in. She knew
Xaverri from the rescue mission at Crseih Station, where
Rillao’s ex-lover, Empire Reborn Lord Hethrir, had taken the
Solo twins hostage along with their younger brother, Anakin.
“Mara, I really think I should come with you.”
“You don’t have to twist my arm. Why don’t you?” Mara
admired Rillao, a Firerreon woman in her early forties. She had
black hair that had a patch of silver in it, black eyes,
gold-brown skin, and a very nice figure. She was married to
retired Admiral Drayson, and had a two-year-old daughter,
Corinne Drayson. Rillao was pretty, though a little
fierce-looking. Rillao was a practicing medical doctor on
Coruscant, where she had spent the last two years waiting out
the hiatus of the Academy. She understood Mara’s pain and
wanted Mara to take it easy.
“Good, let’s get moving,” Rillao said.
Mara had no idea just how good it would turn out to be to
have Rillao along. The crew–Jaina, Tenel Ka, Arian, Rillao, and
Shannia–strapped in and Mara piloted the shuttle out of the
hangar into open space. Mara was kind of glad she didn’t have
the Jade’s Fire. It was too large a ship to be carrying such a
small load. Mara pulled the hyperspace lever back and the
shuttle plunged into hyperspace, bound for Munto Codru. “Admiral, we are all set.”
Admiral Les Tarkin stood on board the Imperial Super Star
Destroyer Galactic Peacemaker. It was a misnomer. Tarkin was
the son of Grand Moff Tarkin, and he didn’t believe in diplomacy
to sway New Republic worlds to join back with the Empire. He
used rule by fear instead, just like his father had. The New
Republic was now recruiting Jedi from the planet of Munto Codru.
Jornell Tai, a male Dathomirian “Nightsister,” had his own
agenda. He wanted to intercept the Academy shuttle and kill the
teachers on board, then take the students on board and train
them as Dark Side adepts. Beside him was Zekk.
Zekk was a brunette man, seventeen standard years old.
Jornell had kidnapped Zekk in the middle of the night from
Coruscant. Zekk soon had learned of his powers and trained on
the Dark Side already. He swore to kill anyone who stood in his
or Jornell’s way. No matter what.
He had lost interest in Jaina. She was too proper for his
tastes and made him feel like bantha dung when he was around
her, though she had told him it hadn’t been her intent. To hell
with her, he figured. I have my own friends.
But the women on board the ship were so ugly. Not one of
them turned him on. He knew someone was out there that would be
perfect for him. But not currently on board. The shuttle barrelled through hyperspace. Mara was looking
forward to meeting Xaverri. She had seen pictures of her and
was impressed. Xaverri was an attractive woman with black hair
and soft eyes. No one at the Academy was sure of Xaverri’s
exact age; she may have been very much younger than Han. It
wouldn’t matter if Xaverri were a hundreds-year-old life-witch.
At least she had the will to train.
The shuttle came out of hyperspace. Mara opened a subspace
radio link to Xaverri’s home. “Xaverri?”
“Oh, hey, Mara. I’ve cleared you-”
The line went dead. Mara scanned the area and saw a Super
Star Destroyer. She wasn’t sure how the Empire went about
making them. The planet in the Core Systems where such ships
were made had been destroyed nearly fifteen years ago in a
supernova explosion. Mara didn’t want to open a subspace link
to the ship to find out. She whisked the shuttle planetside and
powered up the shields.
That’s when she saw sixteen blips on the radar screen. TIE
Interceptors. The curved-wing starships were infinite amounts
of trouble. Mara decided to elude them and get to the planet.
She was a diplomat now and was not looking to start a battle
that she could possibly lose.
Then her mind went blank. She felt her pacemaker skip a
beat, then quickly recover. She heard Arian gasp as well, so
she figured that it wasn’t just her.
The shuttle rocked. “Oh, god, no. Hang on, everybody.
Our shields are failing.” Mara plunged at top speed toward the
planet. Then she heard an explosion and an ear-piercing scream.
It was the last thing she remembered. Brakiss cheered. “Got them! That ought to put a damper on
the New Republic.” Mara woke up. Her head was bleeding and her left leg felt
like it was on fire. She checked to make sure the leg was still
there. It was, but her kneecap had shifted from the impact.
She covered herself up and limped to the back. She collapsed,
her injured knee unable to handle the weight of her body. She
used a levitation technique to get around. Perhaps Xaverri
would–
Wait, Mara thought. We’re not on Munto Codru. We’re on
some strange moon. Mara hit the subspace radio. But it was
inactive. She had sent out a panic signal to the New Republic,
but they would be looking for her on Munto Codru, not the moon.
She heard coughing. “Tenel Ka?”
Tenel Ka moaned. “What happened?” She screamed in pain.
“Mara!” Her breathing was labored. “Oh, god, I can’t breathe.”
“Lie still, your neck may be broken.” Mara slid over to
Tenel Ka. She did a quick scan of her injuries. “Tenel Ka, you
have three broken ribs and a collapsed lung, which is causing
the pain.” Mara saw what had happened to Tenel Ka. She had hit
a supply box on impact, hence the scream Mara had heard. “You
hit a supply box.” There was blood all over it.
Tenel Ka’s body shuddered as waves of pain coursed through
her.
Rillao woke up. She was uninjured. “Tenel Ka, are you
alright?”
Tenel Ka nervously shook her head as she cried out again.
“She’s got a collapsed lung,” Mara said.
“Damn. Tenel Ka, you’re not going to like what I’m about
to do to you. But I have no choice. I have to reinflate that
lung. Mara, do you have an oxygen tank?”
“Yes.” She grabbed it.
Rillao put a mask over Tenel Ka’s face. “Tenel Ka lie
perfectly still. If you want, I can knock you out, but this is
going to hurt otherwise. I’m going to put a tube in your chest
to draw out the air that’s collapsing your lung and that will
help you breathe more easily.”
Tenel Ka went against her nature and asked to be knocked
out. Rillao injected a general anesthetic into her bloodstream.
“Mara, keep an eye on her breathing. If she stops, use this
valve.” Rillao attached a bulb to the tubing to allow for
artificial respiration. It was rare, but possible, for a
patient to stop breathing during the procedure.
Tenel Ka’s eyes closed.
Rillao looked in her medical kit. She had minimal stuff,
but there was enough to make the repairs with a makeshift
tubing. She swabbed the site for the needle and prepared to
stick it in Tenel Ka’s chest. First, she made an incision at
the site to facilitate the procedure. She then rubbed Tenel
Ka’s chest and made sure the needle wouldn’t pierce an artery,
then pushed the needle into her chest. A whoosh of air could be
heard as the lung reinflated. “Okay, there you go.” Rillao was
glad, as was Mara, that Tenel Ka had been asleep through the
procedure. With no significant local anesthetic, the procedure
would have been pure torture for Tenel Ka. “Okay, prepare a rib
muslin. I have to immobilize her ribcage or she’ll suffer that
again.” Rillao handed Mara a set of bandages.
Mara helped prepare a wrap to set the broken ribs.
“Rillao, I’m all set.”
Rillao sat the bones and Mara tightly wrapped the bandages
around Tenel Ka’s chest.
Jaina moaned. She fixed her eyes on Tenel Ka. “Aunt Mara,
what happened?”
“Don’t move. We crashed on some desolate planet. I have
no idea where we are. It’s not Munto Codru, I can tell you
that. Our subspace radio is broken and I have no idea what
condition the shuttle is in.
“My head hurts.”
Rillao did a quick scan of Jaina’s injuries. “It’s just a
mild concussion. Do you need a painkiller?”
“That would be appreciated. Is Tenel Ka okay?”
“She has a collapsed lung and three healing ribs. She’ll
do okay, but she’s really hurting right now.”
Jaina looked at the pain-ridden form of her sister-in-law.
She got up and kneeled at Tenel Ka’s side. She rubbed her
forehead.
Tenel Ka woke up. She moaned in pain. “Jaina,” she
whispered. “Are you okay?”
“Yes, I’m just fine. Just rest.” Jaina felt something in
the Force just then, but she couldn’t place what. Something is
very wrong here, she thought.
Actually, for one of them, something was very right; she
just didn’t know it yet. “Shannia, you’re lucky to be alive.” Mara did a quick scan
of Shannia’s injuries. She had a gash in her right arm and was
bleeding. Rillao took a gylocal patch and placed it on the
wound. Shannia didn’t even flinch. The gylocal patch usually
stung like crazy, usually on a deep wound.
Rillao sensed trouble. She looked under the patch.
Gangrene! “Shannia, you’re going to lose half of your left arm.
I’m going to have to amputate it right below the elbow. You
have a gangrenous infection that will kill you if we leave it.”
“Wonderful.” Shannia winced. “Just make it quick.” She
had a very low threshold of pain.
“Mara, do you have your lightsaber?”
“No, I didn’t bring it.”
Tenel Ka spoke up. “Look in my gear bag. I brought one.
Shannia, I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be. At least I’ll live this way.”
Arian popped her head into the cockpit. She seemed largely
uninjured. Perhaps she had been lucky. “Oh, god. What’s wrong
with her?” Arian gasped at Tenel Ka’s pain-ridden form.
“Tenel Ka’s been badly injured. She’s got broken ribs and
a collapsed lung. Arian, are you okay?”
“Yes. My head hurts, but I think I’m okay.”
Mara confirmed this. Not even a scratch, but there would
be a bruise on her forehead that would take time to heal.
“Here, Arian, take this cold pack and put it on your forehead.
It’ll ease the swelling a little bit.”
Rillao grabbed Tenel Ka’s lightsaber and ignited it.
“Mara, maybe you should do this.”
“Shannia, this is going to burn like hell,” Tenel Ka said.
“But it’ll dissipate quickly if you can use the pain management
technique Luke taught you.”
“Okay, Shannia,” Mara said, “are you ready?”
Shannia braced herself, then screamed as the blade cut
through her arm. Rillao covered the stump with a gylocal patch
and administered a painkiller. Shannia felt the pain quickly
dissipating. “Oh, that hurt.”
“You’ll feel some numbness in your arm for a while. But
you’ll be fine. We caught it in time before the infection
spread. Maybe Tenel Ka can help you adjust.” Rillao caught
something out of the corner of her eye that made her blood run
cold.
“She’s a tough woman, I’ll give her that. I couldn’t have
endured the pain she just went through.”
“Rillao, Tenel Ka’s having seizures.” Mara was scared.
Rillao looked at Tenel Ka and gasped in horror. Tenel Ka
was convulsing. Rillao pulled off the mask and resuscitated
her, then spray-injected an anti-convulsive into her
bloodstream. Tenel Ka started breathing again. “Tenel Ka, are
you alright?”
“What happened?” Her body was trembling and she was
drenched with sweat.
“You suffered a seizure, but we don’t know why. Look, I’m
going to have to knock you out. That was dangerous.” Rillao
put Tenel Ka to sleep and did a quick rescan of her injuries.
There was a mass in Tenel Ka’s lower stomach. “Mara, get some
blood from the compartment. I see the problem.”
Mara saw it, too. Tenel Ka was pregnant. “Well, I’ll be
damned.”
“She really wanted to conceive a child. I could tell. As
far as I can tell, the baby is fine. But I definitely will have
to keep that mask on her face. It’s uncomfortable, but I have
no choice.”
“I think she’ll understand.”
Rillao knew Tenel Ka was a terrific patient anyway; when
she had lost her arm, she had followed Rillao and Dr. Gianna’s
orders to the letter and spirit, despite the sometimes
excruciating pain the treatments caused her. Tenel Ka had a
very high threshold of pain, relatively speaking.
Arian ran to Tenel Ka’s side. “How is she?”
“She is hypoxic. This blood transfusion should help.
Arian, your friend is pregnant. The pure oxygen should help.”
Rillao opened a line and infused Tenel Ka with several pints of
blood.
“She’s pregnant? That’s wonderful.”
Tenel Ka slowly came to. She moaned. “Rillao, what-”
“Tenel Ka, Dr. Gianna was wrong. You’re pregnant. Looks
like about a couple of weeks along.”
“No, that’s impossible.”
“Even Dr. Gianna admitted it was a possibility. You
suffered a seizure because of the depleted blood supply. I
controlled it, but you have to take it easy.”
Tenel Ka lay back. Mara rubbed her stomach. Tenel Ka
relaxed a little. Rillao covered her up. “My own child,” Tenel
Ka said. “I just can’t believe it.”
Mara figured Tenel Ka would be thrilled about that. So
would Jacen. She smiled at Tenel Ka, holding the young woman’s
hand. “You’ll make the perfect mother, I can already tell.”
A smile flashed across Tenel Ka’s face. Somehow she had to
tell Jacen. But, for now, she was happy just to be pregnant,
finally. Xaverri sat in her apartment. Her husband was with her.
“Xaverri, what’s wrong?”
“Mara’s last transmission was jammed and we haven’t heard
from them since. I can’t feel them through the Force.
Something’s wrong.”
“What can we do?”
“Contact the New Republic by holophone. They may not be
jamming the holophone frequency and I’m worried about the crew.”
A successful link was established. Leia picked up. “Hey,
Xaverri,” Leia said, “what’s wrong?”
“I have some bad news. Your daughter, daughter-in-law, and
sister-in-law are missing. They were supposed to be here on
Munto Codru a day ago and we lost a subspace link with them. I
fear the worst. Leia, I’m sorry.”
Leia wondered if she should send a sweep crew to comb the
surrounding system.
She decided against it. Mara was pretty resourceful.
She’d do something.
It would turn out to be a very questionable decision. Rillao administered an anesthetic to Mara’s knee. “Brace
yourself.” She grabbed the kneecap in Mara’s right leg and
shifted it to the right position. Mara cried in pain, but was
glad to have her knee back in joint. That had hurt, the
dislocation injury. Rillao then checked on Tenel Ka. Tenel Ka
was a little dizzy. That concerned Rillao; she used an
anti-convulsive drug on Tenel Ka and it seemed to help. She
probably was being weakened by microseizures caused by her
injuries. Rillao checked her ribs; they were healing nicely.
Then she noticed something. Tenel Ka blacked out and had a mild
seizure. Rillao controlled it. She had a good amount of
anti-convulsive drugs on her. That would be good. “Tenel Ka,
you’re in trouble.”
Tenel Ka had an air embolism. It was causing miniature
strokes. Rillao concentrated on the air blockage and pushed the
air out Tenel Ka’s mouth. Tenel Ka woke up. Her head hurt.
“Damned cheap medscanner,” Rillao mumbled. “Tenel Ka, are
you okay?”
“Yeah, what happened?”
“You had an embolism. The collapsed lung caused an air
bubble to lodge in your brain. You seem to be okay, but you
need to be on oxygen for a while. I’m going to recline your
body to try to reverse the damage. It doesn’t look severe.”
Rillao used a flat board and inclined Tenel Ka’s body into what
was called the Trendelenberg position, where the feet were
higher than the head. Tenel Ka recovered quickly. Then she
found something else in her kit. She removed the mask from
Tenel Ka’s face and used a breathing apparatus. It would be
less confining and still give Tenel Ka the oxygen she needed.
Tenel Ka fell asleep. Leia hailed Jacen on the holophone.
“Mom, are you saying-?”
“Xaverri isn’t sure where the crew is. Or what condition
your wife is in. Can you feel anything through the Force?”
“There appears to be a massive blockage of the Force near
Munto Codru. Could be them. I don’t know. Mom, I hope Tenel
Ka and Jaina are okay. Those two mean the world to me. You
know that.”
“Yes, I do. We’re not sure what to do. We’ll keep
searching.” “Maybe we could push into the Force bubble and make a
contact through the Force to Jacen.” For a woman who had just
suffered a mild stroke, Tenel Ka seemed okay. She had been very
lucky.
“No,” Rillao said, “the bubble is too big.”
“Size matters not,” Mara whispered.
“What?”
“Another saying by Yoda that Luke used. He said that it
doesn’t matter how big or small something is, one can manipulate
it with the Force.”
“The other problem, though, is we apparently have a Jedi on
board the attacking ship. How can we get in touch without the
Jedi sensing it?”
“That’s a problem, all right. Let’s work on getting at
least the subspace radio working. We can contact Xaverri that
way.” Arian and Jaina worked feverishly on the subspace radio.
It had been damaged on impact. No one was sure what they could
do even if they got it working. There was the jamming still
going on. Arian had used a high-frequency scanner that still
detected the jamming.
Then Jaina heard a rustling of leaves. She ran outside.
She got about thirty meters from the ship when an unseen force
knocked her to the ground. A stun bolt knocked her unconscious.
Zekk stared at the girl who had broken his heart, in his
opinion. He no longer cared for her.
Arian watched as Zekk’s shuttle took off, with Jaina on
board. “Mara!” Mara nodded. “I know, I just received a transmission by
radio.”
Jedi Knights:
My name is Zekk. You have helped the New Republic take the
galaxy from the Empire. That will stop right now. You must
come up here and fight us or your beautiful apprentice will die.
-Zekk
“Who is Zekk?”
“An old friend of Jacen’s,” Arian said. “At one time, he
and Jaina were an item.” Jaina regained consciousness. She was being held by two
troopers.
Jornell stood at Zekk’s side. “She’s nothing but trouble.
Let’s get rid of her.”
“Leave that to me.” He dismissed Jaina with a wave.
Jaina was horrified. “You son of a bitch, Zekk, who do you
think you are?”
Zekk wouldn’t listen, but he felt her knowing glance on his
back. Maybe this wasn’t a good idea. “There was nothing you could do, Arian,” Shannia said. “If
you had been with Jaina, they would have taken you prisoner and
probably tortured you. That pacemaker is not totally
infallible, you know.”
“No,” Rillao said, “but it is pretty strong. I checked it
out. It is insulated against outside shock. When they replaced
Mara’s pacemaker, they used a similar one. The misfiring wasn’t
in the unit itself, but in the wires in Mara’s heart. Arian,
don’t go with them if we decide to fight this out.”
“I won’t. Mom would never forgive herself if I died like
that.”
Mara piped up. “I think I know how to fix the radio.
Jaina’s lightsaber is still in the tool compartment. There is a
crystal in there for an old subspace radio. It runs on a
different frequency than the normal subspace radio. Han–you
know Han, always messing with his ship–uses that frequency on
the Millennium Falcon as a private channel. I happen to know
that because I picked up a manual from the radio. In fact,
Jaina’s crystal is from the Falcon. That’s also how I know. If
we can send a transmission, we can alert the New Republic and we
may be able to rescue Jaina.”
Tenel Ka sat up. “Good idea. Let’s do it.”
Rillao shook her head. “You’re staying right where you
are, Tenel Ka. No telling what could happen if you move around.”
“Who said anything about getting up and moving around?”
Tenel Ka was barely able to sit up.
Rillao realized that the seizures she was having were
weakening her. She fought the urge to just knock Tenel Ka out
and let her rest until they got to Coruscant, but that wouldn’t
necessarily stop the seizures and Tenel Ka might not wake up
again. “Arian, what did your cardiologist suggest when you were
having seizures?”
“I don’t know if I ever had seizures like that; the
frequency of the ones Tenel Ka is having worries me.”
“it does me, too. Still, though, was there any
suggestions?”
“Rest, a little relaxation, and the human touch is what Dad
always told me would help me. Believe me, that’s enough right
there, just to put your mind at ease. Might work even with her
having multiple seizures.” Arian softly stroked Tenel Ka’s
chest, placing her hand over the baby. Arian started softly
crying.
“Arian, it’s okay. Think how she feels.”
“I’m scared she’ll die. I’m sorry, it’s just that we’ve
been friends for so long and I’ve never had to face the
possibility she might die young.”
“For now, just keep a sense of optimism. She needs you to
have it. I know her dying is a very real possibility, but
that’s not something she needs to hear right now.” Rillao
consoled Arian. Jaina was ready to rip Zekk’s throat out. How could he
have become so unfeeling? He had caused Tenel Ka’s devastating
injuries. She started crying. She was normally stronger than
this, but she felt betrayed. “Zekk,” she whispered, “I’ll get
you for this.”
The problem was, she still had feelings for him. It was
not a pleasant thought. Mara completed the circuit using Jaina’s lightsaber. “Hope
this works.” Leia was on the Falcon when the transceiver rang. She hit
it. Static. She switched the frequency around and heard a
voice.
“Come in, Falcon…Come in…”
“Copy, Falcon here. Is that you, Mara?”
“Leia. Yes, it’s me. We have a big mess on our hands.
First off, we are not on Munto Codru. Xaverri probably told you
that. Second off, we are not sure where we are. All I know is
that there is an Imperial Super Star Destroyer out there
guarding this planet. They may have found this frequency for
all I know.
“We have several severe injuries. Thanks to Rillao,
they’re all taken care of.”
“What happened?”
“The ship shot us down and we crashed. I had the crash
field on, but my repulsorlifts failed, so we had a hard impact.
So far, we have Tenel Ka with a pneumothorax.”
Leia knew how serious an injury that was from watching Mara
recover from one. “How is she?”
“Not too well, I’m afraid. She had an air embolism that
caused a seizure in her. She’s okay and we fixed the damage,
but there’s something else I think your son needs to know about.
She’s pregnant. Don’t ask me how she got that way with her
reproductive system messed up, but she did. Rillao said the
embolism didn’t harm the baby much. Tenel Ka looks a lot
better.”
“Tell her I wish her well. I’ll send for a medevac shuttle
when we get your location. Can you pinpoint your location?”
“As far as I know we’re in the system with Munto Codru.
Leia, what is about this system?”
“There are two small moons in the system. One is a
desolate planet with mountains, the other is uninhabitable.
Does the atmosphere smell like fuel?”
“No, not unless we sprung a leak.”
“You’re on Codru II-C. I’ll get a shuttle out to you. Any
suggestions?”
“Yeah, use quantum armor and don’t attack the ship. They
have a hostage. Leia, I’m sorry. It’s Jaina.”
“Mara, what the-”
“Arian was with her. Jaina went by herself to check out a
noise and was abducted. We suspect it may be Zekk, but we’re
not sure.” That was a lie; Mara knew it definitely was Zekk,
but she didn’t want to say it.
“Zekk? I thought he was dead.”
“I don’t know. All I know is that Arian said he looked
like Zekk. She met him one time while I was recuperating from
that first implant surgery. Nice guy, but I’m afraid he’s on
the dark side now.”
“What are the other injuries.” Mon Mothma had just left to
send for a medevac shuttle.
“Shannia was severely cut. She got gangrene and lost her
arm. Rillao says that the infection didn’t spread, so she
should be okay.
“I suffered a dislocated knee. They fixed that. Arian is
unhurt, near as we can tell.”
“Mara, you’d better get going. We’ll get you out of here
somehow.” Han Solo, Leia’s husband, walked up behind her. “What’s
going on?”
“There’s been a shuttle crash. The Academy shuttle crashed
on Codru II-C and there are some bad injuries. Han, I have some
good news, though. Jacen doesn’t know this yet, I don’t think,
but Tenel Ka’s pregnant. The problem is she’s having problems
with a collapsed lung that’s causing miniature strokes in her.
Rillao says she got it under control, but I’m afraid for the
baby.”
“Oh, no. I guess there’s nothing we can do now.”
“Praying for Tenel Ka and her baby would be nice.”
Han and Leia both did that. The Medevac Shuttle Medic X-Q, with quantum armor, took off
for Munto Codru. It was the closest one.
It was the last anyone saw of the shuttle. Jaina appeared behind Zekk. “Zekk, if you’re going to kill
me, at least do it the Jedi way. Even on the Dark Side, that
should mean something. Right?”
“Very well. En garde.” Zekk raised his lightsaber. Jaina
ignited hers. She had grabbed Mara’s old one by mistake. She
prayed it wouldn’t fail on her.
The lightsabers clashed on the bridge as Zekk and Jaina
engaged in a furious saber battle.
Jornell came up behind Jaina and fired lightning into her
back. Jaina screamed. She fell to the floor, momentarily
stunned. Zekk walked up.
Jaina had a look of hardened determination in her eyes,
almost daring him to kill her.
“What did you ever see in me, anyway,” Zekk asked her.
“You weren’t like the other boys on the planet. You had a
personality trait that no others had. You were fun-loving,
cute, charming. Hey, my parents like you. That should say
something.”
“Yes, it does. Jornell, put her back in her cell.”
“Zekk, you have got to be kidding me.”
“Put her back in her cell or I’ll-” He raised his finger.
Jornell started choking.
“Zekk, stop it. Can’t you see what you’re doing?” Jaina
glared at Zekk, who was using the Dark Side.
“Using my Force powers. For the first time in a long time,
I have been freed of my torment.”
“By using the Dark Side. Zekk, we have an Academy now-”
That was what had bothered Zekk the most. “Run by a woman
who had to quit her job for two years. Care to explain that?”
“Yes. Her husband died two years ago. She’s had heart
problems and she had a seizure at his funeral. That ‘woman’ is
my Aunt, Mara Skywalker. Can’t you at least show a little
compassion?”
“Jaina, I don’t know.”
“For one, why don’t you release him?”
Zekk did just that. “Now what?”
“You have to make that choice. You must do what is right
within your heart.”
“I’m sorry, I can’t-”
“You have to choose. It’s never easy. Kyp Durron had to
make that choice. So do you.”
“You’re right.” Zekk stunned Jornell and left. He and
Jaina cloaked themselves with the Force and hopped into a
shuttle, bound for Codru II-C. He used the Force to cloak the
ship.
