Chapter 1: Into the Shadow

A dead electric sound hummed in the darkness around her. Something scritching its way down the hall outside the door, and she didn't know why, but Leia closed her eyes and willed it to keep going.

When she opened them again, though it was hard to tell in the darkness, she thought she saw a light some meters away. Leia got to her feet and walked towards it. She realized with a shock then that it was not a light, but a face, a man's face with blank eyes and a wicked smile.

"My name is Vertas Shaduk and I want to play a game. It's time to run, Princess!" He lunged at her, long bony fingers reaching out...

Leia awoke with a gasp to find the soft violet glow of a distant nebula filtering into her sleeping quarters aboard the Millennium Falcon. She put a hand to her chest and could feel her heart pounding, but the memory of what had caused her to awaken so abruptly, and to feel so panicked, slipped out before she could grasp it. Instead all she was left with was the pulsing anxiety that followed a nightmare.

She got to her feet and pulled on her robe before slipping out into the hall. Padding quietly into the cockpit she paused for a moment. By the shine of starlight and the yellow glow of the controls she could see Han in the captain's seat, his feet propped up, though she could tell by his breathing that he was awake.

Leia walked over and trailed her hand lightly against his shoulders. Han jumped, then sheepishly put his feet down.

He raised his eyebrows when she moved to set herself lightly on his lap. "Well, hello your highness. Couldn't sleep?"

Leia leaned her head against his shoulder. She didn't particularly want to give him the satisfaction of knowing she'd come in here because of a bad dream. "How long until we reach Xas?"

"Another hour. We just dropped out of light speed. The angle we're coming in at makes it easier to just crawl in the last bit." He wrapped one arm around her and used the other to point out the window.

Leia turned her head. Far ahead of them she could make out the thin sliver of a sun partially obscured by something. And squinting, she could see the dark disk of the planet Xas. Straightening a little, Leia took a deep breath. "I should get dressed."

"Yeah." Han peered at her. "You sure you're alright?"

"I'm fine." Leia smiled, then kissed his cheek and reluctantly slipped off his lap. "I'm going to make sure Luke and Chewie are awake."

The Ayl'xasians were humanoid enough, their blue-grey skin covered in a soft sort of fuzz. Perhaps the most disconcerting thing about them was that on close inspection one could see the long tendrils coming off of their heads were not twisted locks of hair, but extremely dexterous tentacles that moved to accentuate facial expressions and occasionally to express gestures of affection or anger.

Personality wise Han found them nice enough, if a bit cool and withdrawn. But for a species that was as obsessed with security and defense as they were, he figured that sort of behavior was to be expected.

As delicate as the slender beings were, their architecture was the exact opposite. Most of the buildings seemed to be randomly placed slabs of stone and concrete, brutal, plain, practical, with windows in neat rows along the sides.

"Councilor Organa," one of the Ayl'xasians who identified himself as Shemto said, greeting the group with a bow to each one in turn. They stood on a huge sloping ramp outside one of the main buildings. "In Unity's name, we welcome you to our planet." Shemto's grasp of Basic was superb, traced through with harmonic notes that were part of the Ayl'xasian native language.

"We're honored that you would have us," Leia replied. "I hope this will be the beginning of a lasting friendship between our people."

Shemto nodded rather icily and motioned for them to follow him up the ramp into the building. "Yes, well, as I am sure you are aware, we generally try to stay out of galactic politics."

Leia turned and exchanged a glance with Han, but pursed her lips as they followed Shemto into the vast foyer of the building.

"We are in the shadow time of our planet," Shemto explained. "This will last for several weeks, and can be difficult for off-worlders to adjust to. You may have the rest of the night to relax after your journey and we will begin talks in the morning." His navy blue eyes focused on Leia's. "The borders of the city are marked with steel pylons. Do not try to go beyond them, though there are other buildings out there."

Han frowned, not sure if Shemto was making a threat, or merely a warning. At that moment two more Ayl'xasians appeared, beckoning for them to follow up a flight of stairs to the living quarters. To Han's relief they were put in a suite of rooms, with a common bathroom and large sitting area that had tall windows looking out to the mountains beyond the city.

An hour or so later a rather nice assortment of food was brought up, and they all sat around to eat. Han looked up from the pieces of fruit he had loaded onto his plate and frowned. "Does any one else get the feeling like there's something off here?" He directed the question particularly towards Luke.

"They're hiding something," Luke said with a shrug. "I can tell that much for sure."

Han grunted. Luke was one to talk. Judging by the looks he kept exchanging with Leia, they were picking up on something they weren't about to let everyone else in on.

After dinner Leia stood in her room. She had changed into light pajamas, and was attempting to collect her thoughts for the negotiations the next day. The Ayl'xasians had defensive technology that could solidify the growing Alliance beyond anything they could have hoped. Even if the aliens were reluctant to involve themselves in politics, there had to be some sort of deal they could strike with them.

Someone touched her arm. Leia spun around, instantly berating herself for letting anyone sneak up on her, even if it was just Han.

"Eesh, sorry." He gave her a lopsided grin and sat on the end of her bed.

Leia folded her arms over her chest. "What?"

"What were you and Luke thinking earlier? When I asked if anything was wrong."

"He's been on edge since we landed," she said, shrugging. "I was trying to chalk it up to a strange culture, but he keeps acting like there's some big disturbance in the Force." She snorted and rolled her eyes.

"Sibling rivalry already?" Han asked, the corner of his mouth quirking in a light smile.

"He's taking this whole Jedi thing too seriously," Leia said. Her tone was still bitter, but she could feel herself starting to relax a little. "Sometimes things go wrong and have nothing to do with the Force."

Han stood, smiling, moving to lightly put his hands on her arms. "I think you're jealous."

"Jealous because I don't go around feeling disturbances in the Force all the time?"

"I'll show you a disturbance," he said, grinning.

Leia shrieked when Han swooped her up and dropped them both back on the bed with a fwump. "What are you doing?" she tried to sound furious, but the effect was ruined by a strangled laugh when Han tickled her side.

"Trying to get you to relax a bit, princess," he said. "You're complaining about Luke being too gloomy, have you ever listened to yourself?"

Leia hit his shoulder. "I am not!"

"You're as stuffy as Councilor Drena sometimes."

"Han!" Leia made a face and attempted to wriggle away, but his arms were firmly wrapped around her waist. "At least I'm not insufferably crude and bad-mannered. Coming into a lady's room and everything..."

"Like I said, stuffy." Han rolled them over. He pressed a kiss to the corner of her mouth before he got up. "Sweet dreams, Madam Councilor Princess Leia Skywalker Organa."

She propped herself up on her elbows to watch him go. "Try not to let the door hit you on the way out, bantha brain!"

"Hey!" Han's face poked around the edge of the door. "Don't make me come back in there."

Leia waited until he had left before letting out a soft laugh.

Luke awoke in a cold sweat, at first unsure why. He sat bolt upright, hand feeling beneath his pillow for his lightsaber, at the same time reaching out with his mind to the room next to him. He touched his sister's mind, sleeping, undisturbed, and the presences of Han and Chewie. Everyone was alright, everything was silent, so why had his sleep come to such an abrupt end?

Like water through a filter the dream started trickling back into his mind in little drops and splashes. Long hallways. Leia running from something. A man's face. A man's face he did not recognize laughing. And another face, something white and eyeless staring at him out of the dark.

He jumped, swinging out with the Force to turn all the lights in the room on with such urgency that the lamp on the bedside scooted dangerously close to the edge.

Stop it. Luke told himself. You're being ridiculous.

Standing, he pulled on his robe from where it was draped over the back of a chair. On good measure he also grabbed his lightsaber before slipping out of the room and crossing the darkened common area, hoping not to attract the attention of Threepio or Artoo. He had almost made it when a door behind him slid open.

"Luke?"

He turned, realizing the droids must be powered down for the night. "Leia, go back to sleep. I'm fine, I just need to go for a walk."

"I'm coming with," Leia whispered, moving to his side and taking his arm as they stepped out of their quarters. In the hall she raised her eyebrows at him. "What happened?"

"Bad dreams, it's nothing." He offered her his arm. They followed the passage to a door that led out onto a covered balcony stretching the length of the building. Outside the night was cool and still, but Luke could feel a lingering anxiety from the dream like a bad taste on the air.

"Luke, what is it? I can tell something's bothering you."

"Show off," Luke said, forcing a laugh.

Leia made a face. "No, you're just squeezing my arm."

"Oh...I guess…" He let out a little laugh at the phrase that seemed to have been their unofficial mantra for the past few years, "I just have a bad feeling about this."

"Right…" She ducked her head, smiling as well. They came to the end of the balcony and went in through another door, finding themselves in a vaulting library. Leia let out a soft breath.

Luke looked around and smiled, then with a flick of his wrist turned the rows of reading lamps on, filling the space with a soft, comforting glow. Here, among the dim light and the smell of old books and papers, it was easy to forget the uncomfortable feeling the dream had left him with. Leia went to curl up on he end of a couch while Luke examined the books on the shelves.

"I always wanted a sibling you know," he said, trailing his hand along dusty spines and the ends of scrolls.

"Me too."

"At least you had Winter. And a whole palace of people. Most of the time it was just me, my aunt and uncle."

Leia laughed. "Don't let Han catch you talking like that."

"What?" Luke said, distracted as he came to a stop. A strange tingling sensation was running along his skin, growing stronger when he reached for a small book just at his eye level. He walked back to the couch and shook his head. "Did he say something?"

"Just that you're a bit on the gloomy side. Then he accused me of the same thing."

Luke opened the book. It seemed to be a diary of some sort, handwritten in neat, curving Ayl'xasian letters. "Is that what you two were shrieking about earlier?"

"Luke!" She scowled and nudged her shoulder against his. "What are we looking at?"

"No idea."

Leia craned her neck to look at the pages, tracing her finger under the letters. "I only know a few Ayl'xasian words…"

He continued flipping through the pages, more intrigued by the beauty of the script and the occasional small illustrations than anything. After a bit he glanced up and saw that Leia was watching him. "What?"

"What was the dream about?"

"Leia…" he let out a long sigh. "Just the usual things."

"Wait…" Leia grabbed his wrist, because the script had suddenly turned to Basic. She tipped her head curiously to the side, making Luke hold the book closer to the light to see:

As expected, going into the capital was a mistake. Was chased out by guards. So much for political neutrality, the Ayl'xasians cannot stand an enemy of the Empire such as myself, even in these days when the Empire is not the biggest ship in the fleet. Well. I see where their loyalties lie. Strangers beware!

I have an idea. I will disguise this journal and get it into the capital somehow. If some non-Ayl'xasian should come across it - You, reader, I am hoping - they may be able to help me. Yes. Yes that would be good. My name is Vertas Shaduk. I am a humble scientist. I am an enemy of the Empire. I live only a few kilometers outside of the city. I am in need of help.

Leia blinked in surprise at her brother. "What the…"

"It's dated from only a few months ago," Luke said, flipping back to the beginning of the pages in Basic.

"I don't know how much I trust it," Leia said. "There's been no evidence that the Ayl'xasians support the Empire." She recognized the look on Luke's face and groaned. "No."

"What?"

"You want to go find this man and help him. Luke…" She shut the book and fixed him with a frown. "These talks with the Ayl'xasians could be the key to the New Republic having the resources to defend itself."

"And if it turns out the Ayl'xasians are in league with the Empire?"

Leia was silent, and Luke could tell she was weighing the risks in her mind, looking at this logically. Finally she sighed. "Let me ask them about this first," she said, taking the book.

Luke bit his lip and nodded, deciding not to argue. Still, he couldn't shake the feeling that something was about to go terribly wrong.