Agharta

Chapter Nine: The Prophecy

The Jade Sabre - approximately one standard hour later

The trek back to their ship was similar to the one from Neekro Island. Silent and uneventful. Jaina was the same mute self. While Mara was tracking down Trogan to leave earlier, she also managed to grab a few Nilluk strips on the way back to their hut. With the confusion of how she found Jaina among the mess in the hut, Mara had forgotten she had them. She handed them to her niece in the transport and Jaina did finally eat. She ate in silence though. When they arrived at the Jade Sabre, Jaina made a beeline to her bunk. After he helped Mara with their packs, Trogan gave her a nod.

"Take care of her."

"Will do," she replied, failing in hiding her surprise at his concern. She heard him leave in the old transport and then headed to Jaina's quarters. There, she found her niece flopped on her bed.

Mara truly was in the dark at how to handle her niece's dilemma. She already tried the hands on approach back at the Mahra compound. She wanted to talk to her niece about what happened in the hut. Where would she start? If she kept on questioning her it might sink Jaina deeper into seclusion. Mara decided that she would wait until Jaina talked to her. Mara allowed a smirk when she realized that this was the Skywalker method of therapy.

She said to the body lying on the bed, "Finally resting now?"

"Hopefully alone this time."

"I'll let you alone while I contact Luke and then Bastion." She spotted the pouch given to her by Ristina Tai'lor. "I'll get this out of your way." She was just about to reach for it when Jaina stopped her.

"No! Leave it there, please."

"Jaina, it stinks. Glyphic spice may do well in all kinds of meals but it's not for helping you sleep."

"Then put it over there on the table. I want to keep it in here with me."

Mara tilted her head as she reached for it and moved it. "You're not seriously buying into that old tale about glyphic spice warding off spirits, are you?"

"Just humor me, Aunt Mara. I'm so confused right now that I can't think straight. I just want to rest now."

"Try a Jedi trance."

"Not sure if it will work."

"Sure it will. Just reach into a place of relaxation and concentrate in the Force to keep you there."

"And if that doesn't work?"

Mara shrugged. "I know a mug of Luke's favorite chocolate drink always helps him out of a depression. And I know you can never resist sugary drinks."

Jaina smiled so softly that it gave Mara a glimpse of her old niece. "And you're afraid you'll be a bad mother?"

"One issue at a time. Now you rest."

Jaina's eyes were already shut as she muttered groggily, "Not a problem."

Mara placed a light cover over her niece and closed the light down before she left her quarters.

Mara reached into her own ship's food tray and grabbed the last of the ribenes. She was famished as well. She chewed on them as she entered the cockpit and sat at the pilot's seat. She keyed in the encryption and comlink codes for the Millennium Falcon. She rubbed off a smudge of ribene sauce off of one of the keys before she sat back and waited in front of the holo-projector. Within a few standard minutes, a small blue-white image of Luke Skywalker formed before her. He was sitting at the controls of the Falcon. Alone.

For a few seconds, Mara cherished the sight of seeing her husband for the first time in weeks. The feeling washed over her as he spoke.

"Ah, Mara, my darling love," he greeted.

"Darling love? Han and Chewie must not be within earshot if you're calling me that."

"Yeah, they and Lando are in the other room playing sabacc."

"And you're sitting up there bored?"

"Well, I, uh...just thought I'd...go over some logistics on that new mining prospect on Cinnos."

"Uh huh. Lost at sabacc again, did we?"

Luke gave his embarrassing smile. "Yes, I lost a hand."

"I hope you don't mean that literally. You only have one human hand left."

"I was just never good at sabacc."

"Well, you know what they say, my love. Unlucky at cards, lucky in love."

"I think that's backward."

"Not in your case, dear." She could hear a sudden familiar Wookie growl coming from his background. "What was that about?"

"Oh, Lando must have won another hand. Threepio keeps changing the value with random pulses. They keep going into a Sabacc Shift and Lando ends up winning every time."

"Just so Lando keeps all of his limbs attached."

"For now."

"How was Lando's security project on Carratos?"

"Where most of his projects land recently."

Mara nodded. "In the garbage chute."

"Pretty much. Turns out it was too much of an investment even for Lando to risk. We were going to head home but figured we'd wait to hear from you since we are in the neighborhood. How is your meeting with the Mahra pirates going?"

"For starters, they're not pirates. It's more of a religious retreat for different species only known by word of mouth." Mara went on to recount to him the events of their visit. The welcome greeting and the cookout on the beach in their honor. She also described to the best of her knowledge their religion based on their goddess, Agharta. Mara explained how Jaina found Seria Rayne though a sense of helplessness in the Force. Mara retold almost proudly her experience at transferring a Jedi trance to Seria and helping her gain back her sanity. Luke smiled back at his wife just as proudly. She then described what they found on Neekro island. The ancient gurlanin that reformed into a vornskr that Mara had just thought of. She described the hardened lava bed and the human remains they found chained to trees. She also mentioned the fact how the Spirit Leader, Krun Li, tried to cover up the fact that ancient gurlanins performed human sacrifices over the existing lava at that time.

Luke nodded and uttered, "He was afraid you wouldn't approve since the colonists let it happen back then."

"I came to the same conclusion, but I think there's more to these sacrifices than Krun Li is telling us. I want to research it further with Bastion records."

Luke nodded again but said in confusion, "Fine. But you don't really need my permission. In essence, you don't really need Pellaeon's permission either."

"Force of habit. But I think it's warranted. There's still some skepticism from former Imperial officers over the peace agreement with the New Republic."

"Unfortunately, that may last until the old officers are long gone." He paused and said, "I assume you do approve of the Mahra joining the New Republic."

"I'd like for you to come here and make that decision. In the meantime, I'll research further with Bastion."

"That's all well and good, Mara, but that decision was yours. It was either Leia or I who would make it official on your word."

"I know. I trust your opinion. I still want you to come."

"Fine." Luke looked down at the nav-com on the Falcon, which was invisible to Mara. He was doing calculations in his head before he began, "If we begin our jump now, we can be there in about eight, nine hours."

"You have the beacon coordinates for the Sabre there on the Falcon?"

"Yeah. Do we need them?"

"It may be difficult to find us without them. You'll see once you get here."

"Dense terrain?"

"Think Endor with more bodies of water."

"Got it. Okay, now tell me what is really worrying you."

Mara gave a defeating sigh and uttered, "It's amazing how you can see through me from this distance."

"No distance is too great for us, my love." After he watched her roll her green eyes at him, he defended himself by saying, "Hey, I can't exactly use my romantic charm on anyone aboard here. Seriously, if this is about Jaina, tell me what happened."

Mara went on to explain how Jaina has been seeing a small blonde girl in a white gown and claims that she is the embodiment of Agharta herself. Mara mentioned the symbol of ancient Qiilura was seen by Jaina both in her dream that morning and on Neekro island. She then described how she found Jaina sprawled on the floor near the entrance with all of their belongings scattered about the hut. Mara told Luke she has yet to find an explanation for that.

For a moment, Luke stayed silent in his thoughts. He then breathed deep and said, "There is so much that we don't know about Force spirits. My own knowledge of them is limited to what I've seen and heard myself. They're not exactly easy to research."

"There's nothing about them in the Jedi holocrons?"

"Very little. I do know that becoming a Force spirit after death requires a great deal of meditation in the Force. Obi Wan trained himself with it all those years on Tatooine and succeeded at the exact moment Vader cut him down. And I literally watched Yoda fade away into nothing. They both became Force ghosts or spirits. I don't see how a small girl could know that much in the Force to show up as a spirit after her death." He looked hesitant to add, "It is possible that this is all in Jaina's mind."

"You haven't seen her, Luke. She's not herself. She really does believe that she saw and spoke to this girl spirit."

"Then if Jaina is the only one who can see her, the Force has a reason for it."

"What if the Force has nothing to do with this?"

Luke scowled and looked at his wife as if she knew better. "The Force has everything to do with everything."

"Spoken like a Jedi Master, not an uncle. She's confused and in emotional pain because of this."

"What do you want me to say, Mara? I have as much, if not more, background on this than you do. The Force isn't always exact and can't be proved with hard evidence." He paused before he said, "My suggestion, though you may not like it, is to let this play out. Whatever it is it will reveal itself in time. Jaina will pull through this. She's strong."

"And if she isn't strong enough to deal with this? I don't have to remind you what she's been through in the past few years. That's enough to make any adult break. She's only fifteen. Physically, she's not harmed. Mentally...I'm not sure."

"If it comes to that, we can induce her into a Jedi tra–"

"Oh, that's it! The Jedi answer! Put her in a coma because she's gone mad!"

Luke's voice kept calm. "That's not fair, Mara."

She put her head down in her hands and let out a long breath and said, "I'm sorry, Luke. This is just...I don't know."

"You're at a point where you don't know the answers. And you don't know what to do. And that scares you."

She looked up at his image to say, "Sometimes I hate it that you know me so well."

"Consider it a gift."

"Maybe something in Bastion's records can shed some light on all of this."

"That's the spirit." Luke cleared his throat. "No pun intended."

After she gave him a deadpan stare, she said, "Don't you have coordinates to enter into the nav-com?"

"I was going to wait until I can inform Han about–" There was another sudden Wookie growl in his background followed by Han shouting, "Chewie, back off!" Without missing a beat, Luke kept his eyes on Mara as he stated, "Or I can enter the jump and tell him later."

"Good choice. I'll see you when you get here."

"I'll be there soon, love, but I'm never too far away. May the Force be with you." He shut off his end of the holo-projector and his image slowly faded.

Mara immediately began to enter the comlink code to Bastion Research Division from memory. She wouldn't allow herself enough time to feel guilty about her outburst to her husband. Instead, she did what she did best. Move on to the specifics of the mission.

To contact a high-security research facility like Bastion or Yaga Minor, one doesn't just enter a code to call and say, Hello, I want to research your extensive Old Republic archives. Despite the signing of the Pellaeon–Gavrisom Treaty five years ago, there was still Imperial bureaucracy to wade through when certain services were needed by the New Republic. A typical representative of the New Republic would spend wasteful time cutting through many levels of officers before getting to where they needed.

But Mara Jade had an advantage. She had once been a part of the Imperial system regardless of how obscure her position was. She had ways to get through the bureaucracy. She knew that Grand Admiral Pellaeon would put aside politics and speak to either herself, Luke, or Leia with ease. The catch was how to bypass the officers whose job it was to guard communication traffic. Luckily, Mara Jade had the key to get directly through to those in higher positions in the Imperial Remnant. All it took was for her to utter five words.

Her code was received and the Imperial insignia filled the screen. Several standard minutes later, the first low officer on the Imperial pole appeared. He was very young with dark close-cropped hair that was obscured by the military issued hat. His face was as stern as his voice.

"State your name and your business." No please or hello. Mara shook her head. The coldness of Imperial society still lingered after all these years. She considered that he noted her ident codes of her ship, which she did not disguise. And part of that code told the officer that she was New Republic. She made a point to avoid using her married name. The name Skywalker still drove some Imperials mad with anger.

She stated, "Mara Jade. I request permission from Grand Admiral Pellaeon to use your research library."

"I'm afraid the Grand Admiral is very busy right now. Let me take your name and data and we can set up an appointment within a few standard weeks."

Mara blinked in surprise. "Weeks? I don't think so. Tell the Grand Admiral my name and we'll see just how busy he is."

"I'm afraid I can't do that, Miss...uh, Jade. There are thousands of requests to use the research library at the moment."

"Then tell him that this is a New Republic request."

"I am sure this is important for the New Republic, but I still cannot simply place you at the top of–"

"Let me tell you what I can't do!" she snapped. "I can't reach through space to wring your neck, Private. I know what your job is, and in this case I really do need to speak to the Grand Admiral. My name is Mara Jade, former Emperor's Hand, if that title doesn't sound familiar to you. My Imperial entrance code sequence is hapspiri barrini corbolan triaxis. Look it up and I'm sure you will be embarrassed at the high security level it contains. So, if I don't see the Admiral in the next ten minutes, I will make sure your next post will be monitoring comm channels on Polis Minor. Understand?"

Her intimidation skills were still intact as the Private looked around nervously at what to do and then said weakly, "Y..yes, Ms. Jade. One moment."

"I do believe I said ten minutes, Private."

"Yes, of course. Just hold on."

He shut off his comm screen and the insignia returned. It actually took less time than she figured. The screen changed in less than five minutes. An elderly man with white close-cropped hair wearing the bright white uniform of a Grand Admiral stared back at her through the screen. Pellaeon's features were older since the last time she saw him. Yet, age seemed to make his wisdom blossom.

"Mara Jade," he greeted in his rugged voice. "Charming as always. I'm afraid you made Private Jinzen take an unscheduled refresher break."

"I still have that effect on some men. How are you, Admiral?"

"As well as to be expected. Now what is it that I can help you and the New Republic with?"

Mara smiled. True military tact and quickness to the point. If only Pellaeon had been a Grand Admiral much sooner Mara wondered what the Empire would have been like. "As you may or may not be aware, the New Republic is in talks with the Mahra on Qiilura."

"Qiilura. Yes, that does sound familiar. Pirates, I believe."

"Actually, they are far from being pirates."

"I figured as such. We have not heard from them in quite some time. I would venture to guess that their pirating was propaganda from our mutual former boss."

"You would be correct."

"And if my memory serves, you yourself had captured a few Mahra members during their raid of this very facility."

"Your memory serves you well." Mara looked away from him and spoke more to her conscience than the Admiral. "I met the daughter of one of the couples I detained."

Pellaeon raised his white bushy eyebrow and finished her thought. "And therefore indirectly handing them their death sentence. I can see how that could be awkward."

"You have no idea."

"On the contrary, I have lived through many awkward moments such as that. The key is to endure the bad. Otherwise you may not live to see the good." He cleared his throat and said with a smile, "Now, I'm sure you didn't contact me to give you life lessons. A task which I'm sure your husband provides."

Mara nodded and stated, "I am requesting the use of the Bastion research library. Particularly those in the Old Republic archives."

"Specifically, files based on Qiilura and the Mahra. I'm assuming your resources on Coruscant have been exhausted."

Mara nodded. "There wasn't much to begin with. Nothing but a basic history. We know about Commander Tur-Murkan's actions to evacuate the colonists on Qiilura after the gurlanins' betrayal of their pact to leave the colonists alone."

"You believe that some colonists refused and stayed?"

"There's nothing official, of course. That seems logical with the formation of the Mahra. The Mahra's Agharta myth has to be at least a thousand years old."

"Which would precede the human colonists on Qiilura by a great margin." Pellaeon shook his head and said, "You do seem to have a mystery on your hands, Mara. I'm afraid I am unfamiliar with this aspect of the Mahra. Perhaps the archives here will help you. Though it seems this subject is more for an historian." Suddenly, his eyes brightened. "Do you know who you should speak with?"

"An historian?" Mara said dryly, almost immediately regretting the informal manner in which she answered a high-ranking officer.

Instead of a reprimand she was expecting, she was greeted with bellowing laughter coming from the Grand Admiral. Something of a rare sight she had heard. He then said with amusement, "I apologize. It is not often I hear such casual replies."

Mara lowered her head in honor. "It is I who should apologize, Grand Admiral."

"Nonsense, Mara Jade Skywalker. It is rather refreshing to hear your retorts over the complete dryness of Imperial officers. And, please, do not insult me with the formal Grand Admiral. Gilad will do. I believe you earned that much over the years."

"Thank you, sir...er...Gilad. So, who should I talk with?"

"Yes, right. Professor Jeydrian Usar. He is one of the few remaining historians of the Old Republic who is still among us. I would never attempt to guess at his age in front of him, but it is up there. And he still retains a remarkable memory for things in the past. He first taught at the original Republic University, which, as you may know, became the Imperial Academy."

"And I'm guessing along with the name change came the Professor's retirement."

"Yes. The Empire had no use for historians of the Old Republic at that time. He has recently acted as a consultant on the ancient archives, as well as Executive Administrator of the Bastion Library."

Mara smiled at Gilad's veiled hint to her. She called him on it. "A position I'm sure he didn't get appointed to without help from within."

Pellaeon smiled as well. "Cannot get much past you, Jade. Yes, I had a hand in that. Reward for teaching me as an ambitious kid all those years ago at the old University. I suspect he could be a great asset to your mystery. Though, I must say, that you are the first New Republic representative to make use of our facilities here on Bastion. Officially, of course."

"I'd like to think of that as rather fitting."

"Very well. I will grant you access to the Senth Herf Herf module of the Bastion Library server. That's where most of the Old Republic documents and archives are located. I would normally have them opened up but I'm afraid I would insult you since I know you can get into them anyway."

"Thank you, Gilad. And Senth Herf Herf? Cute aurebesh code for a library. And I could have sliced into the files myself, but I prefer to ask these days. I have nothing to hide."

"A sign of the times. Ah, I found Professor Usar's comlink code. It is very early morning here but I'm sure he will be awake. I don't think the man ever sleeps. Sending the encryption now."

"Got it. Thank you so much, Gilad."

"And to you, Mara Jade. You always seem to make things much more interesting than they are. Good luck with your mystery. If that is all, I do have a schedule to keep. Even if there is less for me to do than Private Jinzen thinks."

"Of course, Admiral Pellaeon. And thank you again."

"Anytime, Jade. Pellaeon out." His image faded away.

She immediately went into the HoloNet to delve into the Bastion research library. It was encrypted of course and, normally, one would need special pass codes to enter for access. That or a good slicer. Mara Jade was that slicer. It was amazing to her how her memory retained the algorithms needed to get into the site. Within a half hour, which was a longer time than what she had once completed, she was in. She went to the proper server that Pellaeon told her. The Old Republic archives. Mara thought for a few seconds about what some people wouldn't give for access to what was in front of her. She quickly entered Qiilura and data started to come up.

She frowned as she read through the same basic information that she already knew. It gave Qiilura's agricultural history and the many products it once gave to the galaxy. Drunks across many cantinas could thank Qiilura for their contribution of the powerful urrqual drink. Neimoidians took control over the farms and the product at first. During the Clone War, there was the agreement from the gurlanins with the Old Republic to act as spies for them due to their unique shape-shifting abilities. The price for the Republic was the removal of human colonists and farmers. But the gurlanins betrayed the Republic by invading and killing most of the colonists.

Though Mara knew these facts, she also applied them to what she knew from Neekro island. She wondered how many human colonists were sacrificed into the molten lava or chained to tree limbs simply because they refused to leave. The Republic Commander, Etain Tur-Murkan, evacuated the colonists in response to the gurlanins' betrayal. Mara wondered if he did, in fact, evacuate all of them. Or perhaps he only took care of the human colonists. Either way, the Mahra followers would have stayed. Why hadn't those followers succumb to the sacrifices?

Mara skimmed further to see more data that she already knew. She did come across the entry about the Mahra pirate raid on Bastion. In the Empire's version, all of the Mahra pirates were eliminated during the battle. There were no prisoners. Mara shook her head. Censorship within the Empire's own institution. How did she ever work for such an organization so blind to its fallacies?

Mara soon felt frustrated when she found nothing new. She tried a new angle. She looked up Mahra in the seek field on the site. It took a few seconds but the computer came up with a one sentence answer.

The religion of the Gurlanins in the Qiilura system.

Though it was short, there was one word that got her attention. Gurlanins.

Mahra was a gurlanin religion? That put a new spin on this. If that was true, then why would humans and other species follow it? Or perhaps that was the condition for humans to stay on Qiilura and not be sacrificed?

Mara realized that there were now more questions than answers in her research. She went over to the comlink and entered the code for the Professor who Pellaeon referred her to. She entered the code and the Imperial insignia appeared once again. After a few minutes, an image on the holo-projector started to come on. It was an elderly human man with gray-white hair that was receding from his forehead. Aged wrinkles and blemishes dominated his face and skin. Despite his apparent age, he was quite alert and he greeted her with an acute awareness.

"Yes? Who is it?"

"Professor Jeydrian Usar?"

"Who's asking?"

"My name is Mara Jade. I was referred to you by Grand Admiral Pellaeon."

"Ah...Mara Jade. The Emperor's Hand."

"You've heard of me."

"I've heard of you, and your reputation."

Mara looked down. "I assure you that reputation died quite a while ago."

Usar grinned knowingly. "Unless I'm referring to your reputation for getting results. What can I do for you?"

She explained what she was looking for in Qiilura and the Mahra religion.

He smiled confidently. "Not finding much, are you?"

"No."

He nodded. "The Gurlanins are very much a private species. Highly intelligent. Quite useful in their unique ability. Most shape-shifters can only change into one form or another. The gurlanins can become anything. Including inanimate objects, like a rock."

Mara began her questions without fanfare. "Why would the Old Republic trust them to get the human colonists off of Qiilura?"

Usar shrugged. "Simple naivety. The Republic couldn't see how unpredictable they were. I saw the gurlanins' betrayal a parsec away."

Mara hesitated but asked, "Had there been any evidence of human sacrifices by the gurlanins?"

The professor squinted his eyes at her before he stated, "Not that I can recall. Nothing on record, of course. There may be hints in the written archives."

Mara was taken aback and repeated, "Written archives? Written by whom?"

"Why, the colonists who were evacuated, of course." He hesitated before he said, "I'm afraid I must stop you there, Miss Jade. I must ask why you are interested in the gurlanins when it's the humans of the Mahra making the deal to join the New Republic."

"You're well informed. And a fair question. There is a Spirit Leader at the head of the Mahra. He lied to us about the gurlanin past as well as hid the fact about there being human sacrifices on their island. We found human remains still hanging on chains to tree limbs along a hardened lava bed."

"And you don't trust this Spirit Leader."

"No. I suspect he is hiding more."

"I see. As I said, there was never anything official about sacrifices. Though, I wouldn't put it past the gurlanins to perform such a heinous act. They are a violent race with very strict customs."

"A dangerous combination."

"Indeed. Well, the only way to find out is to consult the archives themselves. If you would excuse me for a moment while I fetch them."

While waiting for his return, Mara chewed meticulously on the last of the ribenes. After a few minutes, Usar returned with scrolls of ancient flimsi instead of a datapad. Each piece looked so old that Mara was afraid they would fall apart.

After Usar spread a few of the sheets on his table, he read through them. Mara couldn't read them but she could see Aurebesh handwritten on them. She could only watch him read and anticipate what could be on them. Finally, he pointed his bony finger at a space on the flimsi and said, "Ah, here we are. These are a series of scrolls I found under the entry of Qiilura. It is dated 75 BBY."

Mara did the calculation and said, "That's over fifty years before the Clone War."

"Yes. Interesting." He flipped over a page carefully. "Ah, here is a name of a colonist who wrote it. It only says Antilles."

Mara scoffed. "That can be any one of a million."

"He describes himself as a farmer. His family was born and raised on Qiilura. He says they joined a group of gurlanins in the religion of Mahra. He and his family lived in peace and harmony among the Mahra followers. Human and alien alike. He goes on explaining how their lives were grand. Ah, until something happened."

"What?"

"Just a moment. I'm reading through. There was an incident with his daughter."

Mara nodded. "Let me guess. She was fairly young, ten or eleven years old. And she claimed she saw something."

Usar read for a bit and then eased his head up to look at Mara. "Yes. That is it. How did you know this?"

"It's already happened to a girl around the same age twenty years ago, and it's happening now to my niece. Does this Antilles mention what she saw?"

"Yes. An apparition. She claimed she saw a girl-"

"In a glowing white dress and long blonde hair," Mara finished.

The professor nodded. "And she claimed that the girl she saw was of the Mahra goddess, Agharta."

"Figured. What does he say he did?"

Usar read more before he answered, "He doesn't say how, but he found out about a prophecy in the Mahra religion. He said it states that only the Spirit Leader can have contact with their goddess, Agharta. No one else can see her or communicate with her." He read further, but this time his expression turned to horror. When he looked up at Mara through the holo-projector, he could hardly get his words out. "It says...anyone else who claims to have seen or spoken to Agharta...will perish into the flames of the Mother."

Mara nodded slowly. "The lava bed. It could have been active a century ago. His family was threatened, weren't they?"

"Yes. Antilles said he gathered his family in the middle of the night and took off for the nearest Republic outpost. They left Qiilura on a shuttle the next day."

"More like escaped."

Usar flipped through the rest of the pages of flimsi. "There is nothing else from Antilles. But I think we can conclude what has been happening on Qiilura since at least a century ago."

"Possibly longer."

"Perhaps. If you found evidence of human remains on that island, you may have discovered just why Antilles was afraid for his daughter and family enough to leave an otherwise tranquil life."

Mara muttered to herself, "Maybe they weren't sacrifices. From what Antilles said, that was the price to pay for claiming to see or speak to their goddess. Only a Spirit Leader can do that. Jaina figured there had been others. She accused Krun Li of knowing about those others. And he threatened her back. He was the only one who can make contact with Agharta. Or can he?"

"Uh, pardon me, Miss Jade...but who are you talking about?"

He shook her out of her thoughts and she said, "I'm sorry, Professor, I was thinking aloud."

Usar smiled. "Not a problem. The way I see these writings, Antilles must have written them down after he left Qiilura. I can't find any other reports from colonists about the Mahra religion. Maybe Antilles was the only one who thought to record what he went through with the Mahra. In case it happened again."

"Which it has."

"In any case, I would doubt that the current Spirit Leader would go so far as murder because of what your niece saw. There aren't any more active lava beds on Qiilura."

"There are other methods."

"Miss Jade, surely you don't believe the Spirit Leader would go up against not just one, but two Jedi."

"Stranger things have happened."

"True. But from what you explained, it seems to me that the Spirit Leader hid the gurlanins past for fear of exposure. If you were about to become a large part of the galaxy, would you want that on your record."

"I guess not. There's still the mystery of Agharta."

"As you said, it was part of a legend. There have been numerous stories in various systems that include a young heroine tragically murdered."

"Yes, but if all of these young girls like Seria and Jaina did not see a spirit of Agharta, then what exactly did they see?"

The professor quietly replied, "What, indeed."

Mara thanked the professor for his help. She didn't receive the answers she wanted but she learned a long time ago to accept the answers she did find. The prophecy of the Mahra helped her understand their religion better. It disturbed her that gurlanins would torture and kill anyone who claimed to even see their goddess. A former Emperor kept the same standards for simple acts of morality. She wanted to research into how many mysterious deaths of girls occurred over the years within the Mahra. Because of their lack of technology, that would be even harder to find.

She suddenly yawned and realized it was dark outside. The only lights on were the nav-com and auxiliary lights. She decided she had thought about all of this enough and intended to go to her bed. There was a time when she would work through fatigue. That was a weakness according to her long dead former boss. Since she spent so much time with Luke Skywalker over the years, Mara Jade had learned to slow down.

As she got up from her cockpit seat, where she sat for several hours, she stretched her arms.

There was a sudden thud coming from outside the cockpit. She sprang up and opened the door to find darkness in the lounge. There was a light coming from the hallway going to Jaina's quarters.

Mara called out, "Jaina? You awake?"

No answer. Mara reached into the Force and touched the mind of her niece. It told her she was sleeping. Mara edged into the lounge with her hand on her lightsaber. When she reached closer, a figure emerged into the hallway. It was only in the shadows but Mara could never mistake the shape of her niece's hair. Yet, why was the Force telling her she was asleep? Was Jaina sleepwalking?

"Jaina, are you all right? I know how tired you are. Just go back to bed."

Jaina shook her head.

"Jaina, I found something about the Mahra tonight. Luke will be here sometime in the morning. We can talk about it then."

Jaina only stood in place.

"Look, Jaina, it's late and I'm going to sleep too." Mara turned her head slightly towards her quarters and when she turned back at Jaina–there was no time to react to the hit at the bottom of her head. Mara had felt the muzzle end of a blaster at her head before. As soon as she realized it, she was already on the floor and sinking fast out of consciousness. Her mind went blank with a faint memory of pain.

Mara awoke with a pin light shining into her eye. She reacted and opened both eyes to bright light. Daytime. She was in the med center of the Jade Sabre. The next thing she saw gave her an elation that she wasn't expecting so soon.

"Luke," she uttered weakly. "What happened?"

"I was going to ask you the same thing. We found you on the lounge floor with big welt on the back of your head."

"Jaina?"

Luke breathed in heavily and let it out. "She's not here, Mara. She's gone."

Chapter 10 will be coming soon.