Chapter 10: Locked Doors

"What happened to this place?" Tahiri asked as she and Luke disembarked from the Cassa had been landed.

Telos was a curious mix of unpleasantness. The buildings were fairly new, but they were uniformly dark and square. Debris consisting of twisted metal and shattered stone was laid in mounds between the buildings and scattered on the ill-maintained streets, which bent and dipped their entire length.

The air was drenched in smog and fairly caustic. Citadel City, a starport, had been built underneath the massive Citadel Station. Citadel Station hovered over the surface of Telos, blocking much of the sunlight. Droids wandered the street freely, but the few living inhabitants hurried so as to spend as little time outdoors as possible.

"Didn't you read the file that I gave you?" Luke questioned.

"Most of it," Tahiri answered. "But Yavin IV and Telos aren't that far apart— only a short jump on the Hydian Way. I didn't have that much time to study the file. I did memorize all the maps, though."

"Telos used to be one of the most beautiful planets in the galaxy," Luke replied. "It was rich with vegetation and natural resources. But these resources often attract exploitation by the corrupt. That, and several wars that took place on Telos, devastated the planet.

"The first occasion was when Czerka Corporation a few thousand years ago, tried to control the planet after Telos had been torn apart by the Mandalorian Wars and the Jedi Civil War. Telos was eventually restored, but destroyed again by famine, a civil war, and Offworld Corporation in the last days of the Republic. The final blow was when Telos allied with the Rebellion during the Galactic Civil War. During the Kwymar Suppressions of the Empire, Telos was again devastated. It has not recovered."

"That's so depressing," Tahiri said. "I can't imagine this place being so beautiful."

"There are some holos that you can look at when we return to the ship," Luke informed her. "But for now, let's turn our minds to the present. Which way is it to the contact point?"

Tahiri looked around, reconciling the map of Citadel City with its physical layout. "This way," Tahiri answered, leading Luke down a ruined alleyway.

After only a few minutes, Tahiri's lungs were burning painfully. She and Luke entirely stopped conversing, and she communicated the route merely by holding onto her master's arm and walking in the direction the map indicated. But after only a quarter hour of walking, they reached their destination.

Tahiri stepped inside, inhaling the filtered air gratefully. It took a few moments for her to catch her breath. When she did, she realized that she was standing with Luke in front of the turbolift of an apartment building with numbered doors.

"Are you all right?" Luke asked.

"Yes," Tahiri responded, her voice a little hoarse.

They entered the turbolift. Tahiri pushed the button for sublevel six. As the turbolift descended, Tahiri stretched out with the Force. She didn't feel any danger, but she still wasn't confident enough to rely on her own Force sense. Still, if anything went wrong, Luke would surely sense it.

Their contact's apartment room was directly opposite the turbolift. Luke knocked. There was no answer.

"I can't feel anyone in the apartment," Luke said suddenly. He bent down to examine the old-fashioned manual doorknob. "The lock's been forced."

Tahiri felt a thrill of excitement, then immediately scolded herself. Their contact was probably in trouble.

Luke tried the doorknob. It turned, and the door opened.

The room had been ransacked. Possessions had been smashed. Furniture had been overturned. In the center of the destruction was the body of a beautiful, middle aged woman with mussed dark hair soaked with blood

Tahiri took a step back in shock. She glanced at Luke. He looked as stunned as she did.

Luke knelt by her body. "I think," he said quietly, "I think that I knew her."

"What?" Tahiri asked. "You knew her?"

"I don't remember." Luke's face was tight with frustration. "She looks so similar a woman in my dreams, but not the same. I know that it isn't her, but she knew something important." He rose. He walked across the room, fragments of a shattered mirror crunching under his feet.

He dropped to his knees again, gently reaching under the overturned bed and lifting a silver comb from underneath. He turned the comb over and held it up to the light. Shining silver letters appeared— a name. Dormé den Tasia.

"Dormé," Luke said. "Dormé. That was her name."

"Can I help you with something?" Corran Horn asked politely as he leaned against the door to Master Skywalker's office. The expression on his face was thinly casual.

"I heard that Master Skywalker's office contained some exquisite and unusual stained glass built in to the architecture. As somewhat of an art lover, I was wondering if I could take a quick look," Senator Kalis replied, with as much false enthusiasm as she could muster.

"Unfortunately, Master Skywalker sealed his office before he left," Horn replied with equally unconvincing regret. "Not even Master Solusar can get in."

She painted a layer of confusion on her face. "Then why are you standing here?"

"The defenses on Master Skywalker's office have been set by an expert slicer," Horn informed her. "I'm here to make sure that nobody accidentally takes a wrong turn and tries to open the door. I'm sure Master Skywalker would be very upset if someone was injured."

There was no hint of a threat in his voice, but Kalis noticed his fingers unconsciously drumming the empty place on his belt where a blaster would usually be attached.

"That would be just horrible," Kalis agreed. Either there was something they didn't want her getting into behind those doors, or they were just trying to make her think there was something, to distract her. But no, the Jedi could never be that clever or devious.

"I'll be going, then," Kalis said aloud. "Perhaps Master Skywalker can show me the glass when he returns."

She left and began to head to the Academy Archives. Perhaps there was some information there that could be of use to her master.

Kalis lifter her comlink to call the computer expert that she had brought to Yavin just for situations like these. "Ginta," she snapped.

"Yes, milady?" the tinny voice answered immediately.

"Meet me at the Academy archives. And don't come armed. Solusar insisted that anyone I bring into the Academy be weaponless."

Luke rose, clutching the silver comb. "We need to get out of here," he told Tahiri urgently. "Someone knew about our meeting with this woman. We're in grave danger."

"Too late," chuckled a disembodied voice from somewhere around the doorway.

Four figures materialized around Luke and Tahiri.

Luke ignited his lightsaber. Tahiri followed suit. She noticed the bloodshot eyes and the twisted features of the attackers, and realized that they must have been implanted with crystals too.

They charged.

Tahiri had seen Luke fight twice before— once during the tournament, and when the first crystal-implanted Force-user had appeared on Yavin. But this time, he was not recovering from deadly injuries or too many sleepless nights on a mission. He was not fighting a new type of opponent with a new lightsaber.

He was healed, he was ready, and he was Luke Skywalker.

She watched him in astonishment as the single blue light began to overwhelm the four red ones. Her mind was sluggish and so tired . . . .

Tahiri felt the touch of Luke's mind on her own, and an invitation. Before she could think twice, she plunged into his consciousness. Half of him was absorbed in the fight, but the other half was shocked at how far she had gone into his mind. He struggled to keep the mental pathways open for her, struggling to let himself trust her so deeply. She felt the currents of his thought guiding her, and suddenly, she understood.

The attackers were suppressing their minds with the Force. But Luke's sense was revolving and shifting, only exposing a small, ever-shifting part of his mind. He gave Tahiri a mental push, and the haze from her mind cleared as well as she imitated him.

Tahiri's mental communication with Luke ended and she withdrew from his mind, but there was a bond between their consciousnesses now. She was slightly surprised at how slow the Dark Force-users were moving, but raised her aqua blade to meet them.

A few moments later, it was all over.

She looked at Luke. He was breathing heavily, but uninjured. Tahiri realized that the battle must have gone longer than she had thought.

"That was amazing," she told him.

"Yeah," he replied, his face relaxing into a smile that quickly faded. "Now, we really need to leave."

"This is just great," Tahiri sighed. "We just lost our only lead on the crystal mystery, and we're stuck guarding a politician. Is this the way missions usually go?"

"Everything does seem to be going wrong lately," Luke agreed as he sipped his drink thoughtfully. "We still have the comb, and the name Dormé den Tasia." The two were sitting in a relatively clean midlevel cantina on Coruscant, waiting for the Senator they were to protect to contact them. It had been almost an hour so far, and no message yet.

Tahiri eyed the golden liquid in his glass. "Still, you know that things are going wrong when Luke Skywalker is drinking alcohol in front of his impressionable apprentice. Can I have a sip?"

"Absolutely not," Luke answered. "You can order another Ruby Bliel if you want, though."

"You're letting me land starships, handle dangerous weapons, and exercise full access to your credit account," Tahiri protested. "You won't let me try a tiny bit of alcohol?"

Luke considered. "Well, that's a good point," he conceded. "Okay, take one sip."

"I don't want any part of your randomized Remote Terminator," Tahiri said darkly. "I had some of the vile stuff on Tatooine once. I only wanted to see if you would let me."

She was spared from Luke's indignant reply by the chiming of his comlink.

"That's our signal," Luke said, standing up. "Let's go."

A/N: The plot's still moving. I hope you're not being bored :)

I was wondering if you could tell me which of the following types of scenes you like best and like least. You're feedback would be really helpful!

1. Luke/Tahiri bonding scenes

2. fighting scenes

3. Luke's dreams

4. Yavin 4 training scenes

5. The same proportion of different scenes that there are now.