Mara Jade Skywalker frowned down at her hands, noticing her fingers twitch slightly on the controls of her ship, the Jade Shadow. She could not allow herself to be nervous while calculating such a delicate hyperspace jump, but an odd feeling of disquiet was making her spine tingle.

He'll be fine, she told herself firmly.
It's just for a few days and I have to do this. We'll be back together in no time.

She pulled on the hyperspace lever and saw the stars stretch into lines at the same moment a small voice queried tremulously from behind her,
"Mommy?"

Mara glared at her toddler son with uncharacteristic fierceness, his eyes like twin blue saucers, his lower lip dangerously close to trembling over the head of a tightly clutched stuffed bantha.

"Ben!" she hissed, her heart hammering loudly in her chest, her hands gripping the arms of the pilot's seat far too tightly.
"What in stars' name are you doing here?! Your father must be frantic!"

She recapped a trifle belatedly that the unease she had been feeling earlier must have stemmed from her husband hunting for their son.

"Daddy and I were playing hide-and-seek and I hid back there."
He pointed with a chubby finger back towards the aft cabins.

Somehow Mara wasn't completely convinced of his innocence.
"Why did you choose to hide on the ship, Ben? I told you very clearly that I have to go away for some important work for a few days and that I wanted you to stay with Daddy."

Ben bit his lip and shuffled his feet and Mara knew she had hit her target. He had tricked his father and followed her on-board as an intentional stow-away.

"I'm sorry, Mommy."
His voice sounded utterly miserable.

Mara sighed. Ben had certainly timed his escape just right. There was no way she would be able to turn back in the middle of a jump. He would just have to come along.

The Jade Shadow came out of lightspeed near the Reltooine system and the first thing Mara did was check the hypercomm. As expected, there were 37 messages from her husband, increasing in panic level as he failed to locate their son.

Mara glanced back to where Ben was currently strapped in securely in the navigator's chair, staring out the viewport in wide-eyed fascination at the starfield outside and the planetary system hanging on the horizon, one hand clutching his bantha toy while the thumb of the other hung halfway to his mouth, forgotten. She couldn't contain her smile of affection.

She quickly composed a message to Luke, informing him that Ben was with her, safe, but very definitely in trouble and warned him not to fall for the old playing hide-and-seek trick in the future. Then she opened a hailing frequency on a secret bandwidth known only to a very select few and sat back to be contacted.

Ben's attention towards the forward viewport was broken by the softly insistent chime of the comm console. His mommy had just gone to the 'fresher for a minute, she would miss the communication and it might be important. Excitement sparking in his chest, Ben touched the release of his seatbelt and climbed down, approaching the blinking red button curiously. It continued to chime in its regular monotone. Hesitantly, he pressed the button.

A deep voice spoke from the other end, startling him.
"This is the Wild Karrde hailing the Jade Shadow. We have you in our sights. You're welcome to come aboard, Mara. Karrde, over."

Ben blinked a couple of times, unsure of what to make of it.

The voice spoke again.
"Mara? Are you reading me? This is Karrde, over."

Ben frowned in perplexity. He couldn't recognize the voice. He wondered why it was calling for his mother.
"Jade Shadow, please respond. Are you in distress? Mara? Are you there? Over."

Finally Ben figured he should say something. The voice on the other end seemed to be getting worried. He wracked his infant brain, trying to recall what his parents said when they answered the comm. He clambered onto the pilot's seat and leaned over the now-constant red light and boldly asked,
"Who are you?"

There was silence. Ben wondered if the comm had been disconnected. But suddenly, the voice spoke up again, almost startling him.
"Who are you ?"

Ben stared at the comm for a few seconds.
"I'm Ben Skywalker. Who are you?"

"Hello, Ben Skywalker. My name is Talon Karrde. Did you come in that ship all alone?"

Ben's heart leapt in his chest to think that the deep-voiced man actually thought he had flown his mother's ship all on his own.

He giggled,"N-no... My mom's here with me."

"Oh? Well, could I speak to your mom, then?"

Ben thought even the man's voice sounded lighter somewhat.
"Uhhh... she's kinda gone to the 'fresher."

"Oh."

Ben looked out through the canopy, squinting.
"Where's your ship? I can't see it."

He heard a throaty chuckle emanate from the comm system and the voice said,
"You'll see me when I want you to see me, little Ben, and not a moment sooner."

Ben's face fell.
"Oh. Are you invisible?"

Karrde chuckled again.
"No, little one. I'm just behind you."

Just at that moment, his mother's hand snaked in from behind him to adjust the comm receiver.
"Hello, Karrde. It's been a while. Sorry about the kid."

"Mara."
Karrde's deep-voice sounded even more mellow.
"You should have told me you would be bringing company."

Mara smiled in the direction of the comm, resting her hand on Ben's head as he looked up at her.
"I hope he wasn't bothering you. He's at that age when he only speaks in questions!"

"Not at all! 'Captain' Skywalker has been perfectly entertaining in your absence. Now, if the two of you would do me the honour of joining me aboard my ship, I believe the introductions would be much better dispensed with in person!"

Ben looked up and up and up, hugging his bantha closer to his chest. Two blue-grey eyes regarded him sternly from beneath drawn black brows, making him shrink back even further behind his mother's protective shadow.

The big man spoke gravely to his mother.
"Mara, I don't believe I've had the pleasure of being formally introduced to the captain of your fair vessel."

Ben's mouth dropped open. This was the voice from the comm!

His mother grinned at the man and gently pushed him forward.
"Ben, say hello to Uncle Talon."

"H-hello, Uncle Talon," he mumbled, still not quite done taking in his impressive figure.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, young Captain Skywalker," Talon Karrde said, utterly seriously, "I must commend you on your fine ship."

Ben looked from the man to his mother and back to the man. For some reason, he was feeling inexplicably shy.

Mara smiled down at him.
"I'm afraid Ben here is getting a little too crafty for his age. He managed to give his father the slip and stow away aboard the Shadow."

The man's eyebrows rose.
"A stow-away, eh? And on Mara Jade's ship, no less! You've gotten soft in your old age, Mara. You never used to be quite as lenient to unwanted visitors back in the day."

To Ben's surprise, his mother blushed. The older man's eyes twinkled.

"Do you know what used to happen to stow-aways, young Captain?"
Talon Karrde hunkered down on a level with the little boy, his brows drawing together in an ominous frown.

Ben looked at him curiously.

"They would be taken into the lair of a great sorcerer and he would morph them into animals!"

Ben ducked his face behind his stuffed animal.
"Like Bamfa?"

"Bantha? Oh no. Not a bantha. Worse. Much worse. In fact..."

He rose to his feet and emitted a piercing whistle. Immediately, there was the sound of paws slapping the ship's deck and from the end of the hallway, two massive canine creatures bounded towards the small group. Ben clutched his mother's leg in panic and she wrapped an arm around him protectively.
But the two creatures came to a sudden stop as Karrde made a sharp gesture and Ben got a closer look.

They were twice as tall as he was, with gleaming eyes and strong muzzles lined with sharp teeth. Slaver dripped from them as they regarded the child, and they rumbled deep within their throats.

Suddenly, Ben, who had been cowering behind Mara, did a very strange thing. Without a word, he walked straight up to the two ferocious looking creatures and scratched them behind the ears! Instantly, it seemed as though their very natures changed. They sniffed the boy and nuzzled him, shooting out large, wet tongues to coat him with saliva. Ben giggled happily as the two nudged and harried him, toppling him so he sat down on the deck with a plop. He patted and petted them, far from intimidated, while they gambolled around him, acting nothing like their fierce reputation.

Karrde and Mara looked on at the sight, unable to disguise their amusement. All of a sudden, Mara drew in her breath sharply, her eyes going distant and unfocussed. Karrde looked over in concern.
"Mara? Are you alright?"

Mara was gazing transfixed at her son, now laughing gaily at the giant heads nuzzling in his tiny lap.
"Talon...he-he...I can feel him- in the Force!"

To the old smuggler's surprise, his former second-in-command had tears glistening in her eyes, something he had never seen in her before.

"What are you talking about, Mara? He is a Jedi, isn't he? Like you and Luke?"

She looked up at him, barely able to contain her excitement.
"Karrde... he closed himself off from the Force after the war. Even we would have difficulty sensing him! I- I haven't felt his Force presence so bright in- in... I can't even remember!"

Talon Karrde regarded the small child, still sitting sprawled on the deck floor.

"Stow-aways," Ben looked up at Karrde, his eyes shining bright.
"Were they stow-aways?"

Karrde laughed and patted the little boy on the head.
"Just like you, little Captain! I found them huddling in a corner of my ship when they were pups. They must have crawled on at Myrkr and gotten separated from their litter. Raised them ever since. They're called vornskrs, Ben. I used to have two others, Sturm and Drang, but they died when they got too old. I missed their company, so I welcomed these two newbies into the fold."

"Vonkers!" Ben giggled, "They're so bright!"

Karrde frowned at the unusual adjective.
"Bright?"

But Mara was kneeling beside her son, joining him in play.
"He means in the Force, Karrde. He's communicating with them through the Force! He- he almost never opens up to it..."

She turned her face up to her former employer, her eyes shining like twin stars.
"Thank you."

Karrde didn't know how to respond to this, so he merely smiled.

The vornskrs proved to be a welcome distraction for Ben, keeping him occupied while Karrde, Mara and Shada D'ukal, Karrde's present second-in-command held a private conference and got business out of the way. Once they had all shaken hands in understanding, all three sat back while Karrde opened a particularly fine case of burtalle. Murmurs of appreciation went around the table and Shada smiled.

"Now there's a reason to stay in the smuggling business!"

Karrde looked over at her archly.
"I shall have you know I paid good money for this. Perfectly legal."

Mara and Shada exchanged a look.
"Well then. Someone around here must be losing his edge! I can hardly picture Talon Karrde walking into a liquor store!"

Karrde flashed Mara a look of hurt.
"Well, if you must know, it was sourced from Calrissian. One of his personal contacts. I never thought I would actually be heard saying it, but the man does have good taste."

He actually seemed reproachful at having to make such a confession aloud.

Shada chuckled and rose from her seat, stretching.
"Well, I'll take your leave, if you don't mind. Since Talon's the boss, I have to take care of the mundane chores like actually running this ship! I'll take my hours of rest when I can. It was great catching up with you, Mara."

The two women hugged warmly.

"I'm sure I speak not only for myself but also the captain and crew and assorted creatures we have onboard when I say that you'd be more than welcome to bring little Ben along anytime in the future. Everyone seems to have taken to the tyke!"

Mara smiled affectionately.
"Thank you, Shada. If you find him, could you send him over? It's getting late and I'm going to have to put him to bed if I want to be able to take off again!"

Shada nodded and left.

Talon Karrde's eyes twinkled with more than just humour as he regarded the woman seated across from him.

"I must say, Mara, it's very refreshing to see you concerned with things like putting infants to bed on time, for a change! You deserve some quality time with your family after all the hell you've been through in the last few years."

Mara's smile was shakier than usual when she lifted her head to meet his gaze and he was surprised to see her fidgeting.
"Talon...I- uh...there's actually another reason I came to see you this time..."

Karrde cocked his head inquisitively.
"Oh?"

Mara continued to stare uneasily at the deck floor, twisting her hands in her lap.
"I- I want a favour from you... a pretty big one, actually."

Karrde relaxed.
"Mara, for you, I would promise anything. You know that. All you have to do is ask."

Finally, she looked up and something in Karrde's throat caught to see the uncertainty in her eyes.
"I- It's not for me, Karrde..."

She glanced over her shoulder at the doorway.
"It's for my son."

Talon Karrde's brows drew together.
"Mara..." he stopped.

Mara's gaze was almost beseeching.
"Look, I know it's a lot to ask, but... after Luke, you're the one I trust the most. I mean, I know Luke would depend on his sister, but the last time we gave him to Leia and Han, he- he almost got kidnapped. We- we nearly lost him, Karrde!"

There was an edge of panic in her voice.
"And then, in Shelter, we barely got to even see him. And that was harder than you'd know. I knew he was safe, but I couldn't help fearing that if the Vong ever found our younglings..."

She let her voice trail off, but the edge of a terrible fear that Karrde had never heard in her voice before, hung between them. Uncomfortably, he cleared his throat.

"Mara... I think I know what you're getting at. But do you honestly think an ex-smuggler's ship is the safest place for a child? You know the kind of work I do!"

"I still think you're a safer bet than a Solo!" Mara retorted sharply, and an unconscious smirk tugged at the ends of Karrde's lips.

"Does Luke approve of your decision?"

Mara bit her lip and Karrde looked at her over the bridge of his nose, though not unkindly.

"Mara...If Luke doesn't know, I wouldn't feel comfortable going behind his back. He is the boy's father, he should have a say in this."

"Luke won't say no," she replied in a soft whisper.
"If it's for Ben's safety, he'll never say no."

Karrde sighed, running his fingers through his hair.
"What do you want me to do, Mara?" he asked, raising his palms upwards.

Mara gazed steadily at him.
"I want you to promise me that if ever anything happens to me and Luke, you'll look after our son."

"He's already got an aunt and uncle waiting to do that, you know."

"I'd still feel more comfortable knowing you were keeping an eye on him, Karrde."

Karrde heaved a sigh, but finally nodded with a wan smile.
"I won't pick a fight with Solo. He has his rights over his nephew. But I'll keep an eye out for him...two if I can spare them!"

He leaned forward and placed a reassuring hand over his former associate's.
"I hope it never has to come to it, though."

Mara smiled in gratitude.

Just at that moment, the hatch to Karrde's office whooshed open and an exasperated Shada D'ukal walked in trailing a sleepy-looking Ben.

"Your son led the whole crew on a merry chase, Mara," she reported, looking down at the little red-headed toddler beside her.

"He put the vornskrs to good use in discovering new hiding places!"

Ben rubbed his eyes and yawned, letting go Shada's hand and walking unerringly upto his mother and trying to clamber up into her lap.

"Finally had enough of your 'vonkers', Skycrawler?" she teased him affectionately, pulling him up. He curled up against her, yawned and gave a sleepy nod, inserting his thumb in his mouth.

His mother smiled down at him, lovingly running her fingers through his soft red locks.

Karrde sat back, enjoying the rare scene of a maternal Mara Jade indulgently.
"I want you to be his godfather."

Karrde looked up, stunned.
"What?"

Mara's brilliant green eyes were utterly serious.
"I'm naming you his godfather, Talon. I want it to be official."

"I already promised you, Mara, it's not necessary..."

"Yes it is." A small smirk played around her lips.
"This way you won't be able to weasel out of it on a technicality!"

Ben was sleeping contentedly on his mother's shoulder as Karrde accompanied them up to the docking tube connecting the Jade Shadow to the Wild Karrde, his bantha nearly dropping out of one limp hand. Karrde stopped to pick it up and hand it to Mara. She wrapped her free arm around him in a warm embrace which he returned in full, then stepped back.

"Thank you".
It came out as inordinately gruff in Karrde's voice.

Mara looked at him with frank surprise.
"For what?"

"For the honour. I've... never been a godfather before."

Mara smiled, cradling her son closer.
"I think you're going to do a wonderful job, Talon. Take care of yourself. I dare say you're going to have to what with your new responsibilities now!"

She winked at him mischievously.

Karrde shrugged, but smiled back anyway.
"You too. Safe journey, Mara. And as for you, little Captain,"

He reached out a hand to caress the sleeping child's head.
"I shall be watching your career with great interest."

THE END