The Ship Chapter 14
By Ash DarklighterDisclaimer: the characters and situations in this fic are the property of Lucasfilm Ltd. I've just borrowed them for a wee while to play with them.
Spaceport Security Office, Zathoq
"What are you doing?" Forrell slapped Lek cheerfully on the back and tried to stare over his shoulder at the monitor.
"Research," the older man grunted.
"What are you needing to research?"
"Just… stuff," he muttered vaguely, peering over a grubby pair of thick viewframes.
"You've not asked to use a computer for years…"
"I asked ten minutes ago and you said yes," he protested. "I didn't expect you to set a torture droid at me."
"I only made a comment." Forrell screwed up his little, round face in indignation. "We do not use torture droids here."
"Well, I'm not completely clueless when it comes to technology."
A feline howl of amusement rumbled throughout the room. "No, he's not completely clueless." Malyre wandered into the office slowly and perched on the edge of the desk.
Lek gave an imperious sniff and pushed his viewframes firmly back up his nose. "Don't see you trying to use one."
"Don't see the need."
"Haven't seen those before." Forrell pointed at the viewframes trying to defuse the potential argument between Malyre and Lek.
"They're not new, he just refuses to wear them. Thinks he's still a cub," Malyre chipped in snootily.
"I don't need them," Lek snapped. "I was told that you need these for working with computer screens. It protects your eyes."
"That's a load of Hutt dung, old friend and you know it." Malyre started fumbling in his tunic pocket for his pipe. "Docdroid told him he needed 'em."
"I don't really need them. This is so I don't strain my eyes. You can do that staring at a viewscreen for too long. What does he know?" Lek protested irritably, glaring at the old Selonian. "Not a lot. These docdroids just tell you what the current trend is."
Forrell shook his head. "He's a docdroid. That's what they're for."
"Who's afraid to admit they're getting old?" Malyre baited.
"I'm not old… Just not as young as I was." Lek staunchly refused to rise to any more teasing. "These droids… they get newer and fancier every year. What happened to a good old-fashioned two-one-bee? This new one couldn't have been more than a hundred years old."
Malyre and Forrell shrugged.
"Complaining about a new docdroid won't cure you of old age," Malyre muttered. "Or improve your sight," he added under his breath.
"I heard that," Lek retorted. "Ah hah!" he pronounced triumphantly.
"What have you found?" Forrell tried to peer again at the screen.
"I've switched it on."
*********************************************************************
Luke opened his eyes slowly, willing the moment to last just a little while longer. He wanted the feel of Mara Jade in his arms to remain with him, but he had things to do and places to go. Easing from her embrace he sat up and stared down at the still sleeping woman. Had they made a mistake? It hadn't felt like one, but Luke was under no illusions about the life of a Jedi and the place of relationships within it. None of the other women he had been involved with had been able to measure up to the life he was destined to lead. His hand trembled as he reached out to touch Mara's fiery hair, but hesitated and withdrew the gesture.
He carefully swung his legs out of the bed and stood up. Mara didn't stir. She remained deeply asleep, her breathing even. Luke picked up his clothes and moved out into the main hold where he dressed quickly. The data card on the table drew his attention. How could he have forgotten about it? Luke shook his head, a mirthless smile curving his firm lips. No, he hadn't forgotten about it. He'd just put off the inevitable because he didn't want to find out anything that would change his life once again.
He picked it up, his mind churning, and traced the square edges with a fingertip. Next he picked up the dull stone and was surprised when he felt it pulse through the Force. He closed calloused fingers over it and absorbed the comfort it seemed to give him. The carved object called to him but he couldn't quite bring himself to touch it so he left it where it lay. Luke picked up last night's untouched mug of caf and emptied out the cold liquid, the routine task giving him some peace. He sighed deeply and reluctantly picked up the data card once more.
A slender hand touched him gently on the arm. The Jedi Master looked up, faint surprise crossing his face. Mara stood beside him, her hair loose and untidy and her eyes still cloudy from sleep. "Hey," she whispered, a faint blush dusting her cheeks.
She had stood watching him for some time, her mind picking over the earlier events. Had she made a mistake sleeping with Luke like that? Would she regret feeling so much emotion as his body had claimed hers? He'd sucked her into the world that Skywalker inhabited - full of colours, lights and warmth. She experienced such things and was spoiled forever – the touch of his lips on hers, the sensation of his hand as it caressed her body bringing it higher and higher in an ever-dizzying spiral of consciousness, the completely whole feeling of being in the right place. Life was far more vivid with Skywalker in it than without him.
Mara could see before her the dreamy boy he had been reported as being, his blue eyes focusing on something far away. "You didn't sense me, right?" Mara drawled, pulling the fastening of her robe tighter and tying it in a secure knot.
"I was thinking," he excused himself.
"You've been thinking a lot. I don't like it."
"What!" Confusion etched itself across his features.
"Skywalker!" she chided softly. "I always have to dunk you in bacta if you've been 'thinking'. It doesn't just stop there. The thinking translates into some foolhardy stunt and then I have to go and rescue you. The end result of all this higher cognitive functions is the bacta dip."
Luke shifted his arm irritably, causing Mara to drop her hand. "You make me sound so reckless."
Mara raised sardonic eyebrows. "Reckless… you?"
He shuffled his feet. "Well…"
She sighed noisily. "It was a joke, Luke. I was teasing you, but now that you mention it… there is some truth in the rumour that you can be a little rash." Mara pulled him round to face her. "What is it? What are you worrying about now?" Her gaze met his, bright green and totally direct.
Luke met her eyes and stared into their jade depths. "Earlier on… did we make a mistake?" he asked, his voice barely a thread of sound. "Tell me this wasn't a mistake."
Mara's hands tightened on his upper arms. "Is that what you think it was?"
"No… By the Force, no! But I've wanted you for a long time and I…"
"Wait a minute, Jediboy." Mara's eyes narrowed. "What was that?"
Luke tried to remember what he had said. 'Oh, sithspit! He was for it now. She won't want to know about your feelings'. "We've been friends for a very long time…" He tried to avoid her shrewd green eyes.
"No, that wasn't it." Mara leaned closer
Luke sighed and gave in. "I've wanted to be with you like we were last night for a very long time and I didn't want to think I'd pressured you into something you didn't want to do."
"Luke!"
"Wishful thinking and all that." His mouth curved into a rueful smile that didn't quite reach his eyes.
'He wanted her.' Mara shook her head at her own foolishness. Of course he did but until she gave him signals he would exist on the edge of her life hoping to be nearer the centre. The blindness of the man was quite something, only equalled by her own, but of course this was Skywalker and he had been thinking far too much. She would dip him bacta herself. The fact that he had voiced what she herself had been thinking when she'd awoken and found the bed empty and cold beside her was irrelevant. "Luke…" Mara did the only thing she could think of at that moment and rising up on her tiptoes, pressed her mouth to his in what she thought would be a healing kiss. That's what she meant to happen, but Luke's arms snapped around her tightly and pressed her firmly to him. Her mouth opened allowing his tongue entrance. His hands tangled in her red gold curls and the dull stone dropped from his grasp and clattered to the ground. Neither of them heard it as they continued their passionate embrace.
Eventually they tore themselves apart with gasping breaths. "Force, Jade," Luke muttered hoarsely. Their eyes met almost feverishly as they searched for hidden truths.
"I'll go and get dressed." Mara mumbled as she moved to the cabin door. "Luke…" She hesitated. "It wasn't a mistake," she gabbled quickly. "I've never felt like that before ever." Her fingers nervously closed around the lapels of her robe and she disappeared into the cabin.
Luke stared out the transparisteel viewport at the slowly darkening sky. With his mind still full of Mara he wandered towards the cockpit and slumped into the co-pilots chair. He was amazed by the effect she had on him, his whole body throbbing from the effects of another kiss from Mara Jade. For the umpteenth time he asked himself, 'What was it about Zathoq?' He was either dreaming of Mara Jade or these visions. He had to focus on his main task. He nodded with determination and stood up. His foot touched the dull stone and he pulled it into his hand using the Force, placing it in the leather pouch with the two braids of hair. The key mechanism he pocketed absent-mindedly. They would have to get going. He glanced at his wrist chrono – it was getting late.
The carved object remained forgotten on the table.
When Mara returned to the cockpit. Luke had placed the data card in the reader.
"I was just waiting for you," he said with a warm smile, his eyes travelling over the black leather jumpsuit. "That's what you wore the very first time I saw you," his voice deepened. "Still want to kill me?"
Mara chuckled. "Unfortunately at times – yes."
Luke pressed his hand over his heart. "You wound me, fair lady."
"Oh, Sith! We have the next rising holo-star." Mara bit out with dark amusement. "You ready to read that data card?"
"As ready as I'm gonna be. I've linked it up to the main monitor so we can both see." He slid the card all the way home into the slot and the screen filled with strange little hieroglyphics.
"Damn!" Luke swore vehemently.
"Wait…" Mara soothed, her voice calm as she tapped some commands into the computer.
The signs and symbols formed into neat little patterns on the Dignity's basic screen.
"What did you do?" Luke asked incredulously. "Whatever it was… worked."
Mara shrugged her slim shoulders. "I just typed in your name."
"My… name."
"It was as good a guess as any and we lucked out with it."
"You're not joking, are you?" He shook his head, a bemused expression on his handsome features. "Mara Jade…. what would I do without you?"
"Get into trouble a lot more, I would guess," she retorted dryly.
"Ha-hah… you're turning into quite the comedienne."
Sending him her best withering look, she turned her attention to the viewscreen. "They must have been in quite a hurry to leave classified information without high levels of encryption. Anyone could have found this data card."
"But no-one did," Luke said slowly. "They were lucky."
Mara furrowed her smooth forehead and peered at the numbers on the viewscreen. "It looks like a location," Mara uttered in surprise. "That's a set of co-ordinates."
"It's several sets of co-ordinates," he corrected mildly.
She turned to Luke eagerly. "Perhaps that's the exact location where the ship was left…" She broke off abruptly as she absorbed Luke's lack of excitement. "Oh…"
"What is it?" Luke felt her sudden misgivings.
"I forgot."
"You forgot what?"
"Barancz says the ship is still there," she whispered shamefacedly.
"The ship? You mean… the one that I've bean dreaming about… Mara!" Luke's voice rose sharply, his calm deserting him rapidly. "How could you forget that?"
"You made love to me." She bit her lip worriedly, her eyes darkening. All her uncertainties coming to the surface. "I forgot everything except us."
Luke's anger fled as hastily as it had arrived. "Force… I'm sorry, love." He brought his hands up to cradle her face. "I didn't mean to shout at you."
A little of her caustic temper returned. "Well, you shouldn't have, Skywalker, and I'm sorry I forgot."
Luke rubbed his thumb across her cheekbones. "It's past. I know about it now." He slid an arm around her shoulders and hugged her close. "There is no way these co-ordinates connect with the ship in our visions. I hate to say this, but…" he sighed, "I recognise most of these."
"You do?" Mara pulled away from him.
"Yup." Luke rubbed his face. "Look at them, Mara."
Mara narrowed her eyes and Luke could see her working out exactly the locations on the screen.
"Oh!"
"Yeah, 'Oh'." He held his hands out. "I can understand why these were vitally important at the time… can't you?"
Mara nodded. "Of course. This guy… Olie was hiding here, hiding something. Even if he didn't know what it was. It figures that the locations of the most powerful weapons against the Emperor needed time to mature."
"Sure, but how long was this poor man prepared to wait?"
"Until someone he recognised came to him… except we were too late." Mara's face showed her melancholy. "We were too late. It's not fair."
"Life hasn't been fair to any of us, Mara. We cannot undo what has been done."
"But…"
Luke pushed his hands through his slightly overlong hair. "It's Obi-Wan's Tatooine hideout, my location…"
"There are files attached."
"Probably saying who and what I am."
"Jedi hunch?" asked Mara.
"I suppose so. The other co-ordinates…"
"It's Alderaan, so it's Leia."
Luke clicked on one of the attached files and a grainy holo of a tiny baby filled the screen in the arms of a slender woman with dark, melancholy eyes. "That's her," he stuttered, his voice rising. "That's the woman in my vision."
Mara peered at the writing underneath. "Senator Padme Amidala of Naboo formerly Queen Amidala of Naboo with Leia Skywalker. Your mother was a Queen?" She cleared the file and brought up the attachment added to Luke's co-ordinates and the same woman appeared, much more distraught, but holding a tiny child in her arms. "Luke Skywalker," Mara read and turned to the shaken Jedi. "Hey! You okay? There are genetic code markings down here. I presume they are yours."
"It would make sense if they were. I was hidden away on an inhospitable planet and there was nothing else to say who I was. I suppose that would be the ultimate proof."
"There was your name."
"I guess so, but Skywalker could be common enough around the galaxy."
"I've never met any others - one is enough."
"It sounds as if my people came from Tatooine. The name appears as if it belongs amongst the Darklighters the Whitesuns and the Sandskimmers. My Uncle Owen told me once that my father hated Tatooine and couldn't wait to leave. He was so afraid that I'd turn out like my father and in some ways I did. I couldn't wait to leave either and it was the safest hiding place for me. Obi-Wan watched over me and must have been waiting until I was ready to train to knighthood. That's if my Uncle Owen would have let him near me. In the end he had no choice." Luke swallowed shakily. "This poor man had the human equivalent of the Death Star in his possession. No wonder he was scared that I'd turn out bad." He lifted a trembling hand and grasped Mara's own. He still felt the pain of his losses very deeply – his family, his friends, the Jedi Masters who had instructed him - and not even Leia had been able to ease some of the hurt. Tears seeped from below his lashes and trickled down his tanned cheeks. "If that's my mother, that is the only holo I have ever seen of her."
Mara laid her bright head on his shoulder and tried to lift some of his despondency. "I understand. She was very beautiful and that kid is certainly you."
"How can you tell?"
"The chin. Looks as stubborn as yours does now."
"Funny, Jade." He gently kissed the top of her head. "There's nothing about you here. No locating co-ordinates… nothing. I'd hoped…"
"I'm completely in the dark about my origins… It doesn't make any difference to me. I am my own person."
"I don't think anyone would dispute that, Jade," Luke said fondly. "You are strong and walk in the light side of the Force. Whoever your parents were… they should be proud of you. I'm proud of you."
Mara blinked as a strange feeling assaulted her senses and a peculiar pricking behind her eyelids indicated the weakness of tears. She couldn't ever have imagined the feeling of having Luke proud of her. "Anything else we should take note of?" Her voice was gruff.
"I think there are a couple of codes. Could be to open a file or perhaps access the ship's database."
"Good idea, Skywalker. We need to get going. It's almost dark." She hesitated. "Do you think I could be related to Obi Wan?"
"Anything's possible. But if we never find out I hope your parents are somehow aware of your strength and abilities through the Force, if it is my first Master and the handmaiden. You accepted me with my dubious parentage and I don't care who your parents were. You are indisputably Mara Jade."
"I suppose…" But she'd only seen holos of Obi-Wan Kenobi as an old man and it was difficult to think of him being young, and in love and fathering a child. Her lips trembled. "Come on, Luke. It's time to go."
"Mara… all I wanted when I grew up was to have my father with me. When I discovered who he was… well the rest, as they say, is history. You can keep your illusions a while longer. It's not a great comfort and I'm sorry I can't offer you more."
Mara nodded. "Thank you," she whispered. "Luke… we really must go."
"Fine. Get the gear and I'll get the speeder warmed up." Luke kissed Mara firmly on the lips before jumping to his feet. Suddenly he could feel the anticipation bubbling in his stomach. No matter how hard he tried he couldn't adopt the proper Jedi attitude towards adventure – he craved it and he knew with absolute certainty that Mara did too. They were so alike in many ways and yet so different – a true partnership.
*******************************************************
"Now that you've managed to switch it on I don't suppose you could share what the topic of this research is?" Forrell grumbled.
Lek stretched out his hands joining them together, waggling his fingers like the most celebrated kloo horn player in the whole galaxy. "I'm looking up Jedi activity about forty years ago on Zathoq for Luke." He gave the other two a smug stare. "Luke asked me to do this for him."
Forrell furrowed his brow. "There are a couple of sites you could search. I may know a couple of access codes."
"I can do this," Lek muttered. "I can."
Malyre snickered.
"Where is the 'J'?" His hand hovered over the keyboard.
Malyre pointed out the letter.
"And where is the…"
"It's next to the…"
"I'll type," Forrell insisted. "Unless Luke and Merah aren't in any hurry?"
"Yeah, I guess Luke and Merah would like the information during their lifetime." Malyre added helpfully.
"I was just getting warmed up." Lek reluctantly got out of the seat and Forrell slid into it.
"I'll type in the word 'Jedi', will I?" the diminutive security officer asked.
"Yeah." Lek pulled up seats for himself and Malyre.
"Aha!" The security officer waggled his head excitedly from side to side. "Smuggler's ruin! He cursed. "There's so much information here I don't know where to start."
"Just pick something and see what we get," Lek grumbled. Forrell chuckled and tapped in some commands. "Success," he crowed delightedly as pictures formed on the monitor in front of them. "Jedi Master Luke Skywalker attends Coruscant ball accompanied by Master Trader Mara Jade," Forrell read in disbelief. "Look at the holos – it's Luke and Merah."
Lek shook his head. "It's not them. These are fancy Core World folks, not a Rim trader and her Jedi friend. Luke doesn't seem the type to enjoy these do's."
"Still think it looks like them," Forrell persisted. "His name is Luke…"
"I don't know. That guy is smaller than Luke is and Merah looks nothing like that woman." Malyre added, "She looks kinda stuck-up."
"Merah can be grumpy, but she doesn't give herself airs." Lek put in.
"That ain't them after all." Forrell gave in. "Mara would look much better than that woman if you cleaned her up a bit. That face of hers is always covered in engine oil."
"That is not what we're looking for, it's too recent. We want Jedi on Zathoq," Lek insisted.
"The only Jedi on Zathoq is farmer Luke." Malyre said grinning.
Lek rolled his eyes and sighed. "Not now, you idiot. We want strange incidents on Zathoq just around forty years ago."
Forrell climbed off his seat at the computer and went to scrabble in a drawer for a tray of discs. "Just after the Clone Wars?"
"That would be the perfect time." Lek muttered. "That's what Luke said – just after the Clone Wars. I was here on Zathoq, but that was in my spice days and a lot of things weren't as clear as they could have been and that is why…" he turned to Malyre. "You should cut down on smoking those flakes."
The Selonian snorted.
Forrell wrinkled his forehead, his dark little eyes gleaming as a thought struck him. "There was something… but I was still a boy at the time."
"And?" Lek sat up straighter.
"You know my father worked here before me. I'd come in to spend the day, but my father was beginning to think it hadn't been a good idea. There was an awful lot of activity in the spaceport. I loved it - the noise, the beings, the whole atmosphere…"
"Get on with it," growled Lek.
"These new white stormtroopers were everywhere searching things. My father felt that it insulted his security operations, but he wasn't given a choice. They were looking for something – possibly…"
"A ship? Yes?" Malyre interrupted, entranced with the tale. "Or Jedi."
"I don't know. My father never knew."
"Or he didn't tell you." Lek grunted.
"Would there be records?" Malyre asked keenly.
"There might be," Forrell murmured and turned to rake in the drawer once more.
"What have you got there?"
"Data rods," he answered holding out a long slim glass tube. "This one stores all the records for the first ten years after the Clone Wars."
Lek grinned. "I'm trying to remember if there was a time that the spaceport was overrun with troops. We didn't see the Empire much on Zathoq… unless they were hunting something."
"There's not much on Zathoq for the Empire." Malyre mumbled. "I remember… I remember a dark skinned man blasting off in a ship and a tall man in black… He was staring into the sky but you couldn't see his eyes. He just stared as if he could will the ship to turn back." He shivered with distress. "I can recall troopers everywhere. They were beating people and they didn't like sentients like me… not human… so I hid."
"When was that?" Forrell asked holding the glass tube up to the light.
"I don't think it was quite forty years," Malyre mumbled. "Not good with dates."
"How old were you when your father brought you to the spaceport?"
"That was easy. This was my first time and I was nearly twelve – in fact it was the day before my twelfth birthday. I'm forty-nine now. So we're talking about thirty-seven years ago. I can remember my father…"
"You remember far too much," muttered Lek.
"Setting the scene, just setting the scene." Forrell waved his little short arms around in an expansive gesture.
"Come on, let's have a look at those records now that we can narrow it right down to an actual day."
Forrell chuckled and slid the data rod into the slot. "I don't believe it!"
"What!" the other two exclaimed.
"That's really strange." Forrell ran the screen down over several items.
"What don't you believe?" grated Lek.
"The records are missing from that day and the whole of the following week."
"Could be a computer glitch. These are old records," suggested Malyre thoughtfully.
"Maybe old records, but all the others are there. All the files are in place. Nothing is missing apart from the files for that date." He slid from his chair and headed over to a cupboard where he produced another set of rods.
"You've looked in the wrong one," Lek said slowly. "They are there and you just didn't see them."
"No, I did not look in the wrong place. I'm going to check a couple more years worth of data." He grinned apologetically. "I can't actually check all the data unless I do it in detail, but I should be able to tell if there are large gaps."
"We haven't got all night. I'd like to get back to Luke and Merah with something even if it is nothing," Lek began to grumble irritably. His leg was aching and that always put him out of sorts. He cursed under his breath. 'Rheumatism, huh!'
Malyre began to fiddle with a couple of spare power packs on the shelf.
"Stop that, you old fool," admonished the tapcaf owner. "We've already caused enough trouble by shooting Talon Karrde with a stun bolt."
"Large gaps mean no data… no files… no data…" Forrell muttered frantically to himself. "There are files missing. It's strange…" he shook his head, his normally ever-smiling mouth tight with frustration. "I'm done and there are no other interesting spaces. Just that one week. But…" Forrell dug into a box and produced a selection of tapes. "I've got holo footage of all arrivals and departures."
"Oh, hell," Malyre muttered. "I'd give anything to be back in my den, even with the females running things… right about now."
"We don't have time to sit through hours and hours of holofootage," Lek snapped and then felt horrible as Forrell's cheery countenance fell. "It's just not my day," he mourned theatrically. Look, we better go and tell Luke and Merah about the records. They'll want to know. Then perhaps we can come back and watch the tapes."
"You have a point. It will keep Malyre out of mischief for several hours."
"I resent that," the old feline said with a dignified air.
Lek got slowly to his feet. "Come on, we'd better go and see the young ones."
Forrell grabbed the power packs and stuffed them in his belt.
"Why did you do that?"
"I always take spares. I'm never without them."
***********************
They left the security office and made their way across to where the Dignity was berthed. "Wait!" Forrell hissed, stopping so abruptly that Lek, hard on his heels, almost bowled him over.
Leaving the Dignity were two figures both dressed in black, both with lightsabers clipped to their belts, both with serious intent expressions on their faces. Two people more alike in temperament and feelings than either would admit to.
"What we going to do now? They're going somewhere," Forrell whispered
"And they mean business too," Malyre observed.
"Do you think we should go and help?" Forrell asked
"I don't reckon we should get involved." Lek tried to inject a note of caution into his voice.
"But…" Forrell protested.
"Merah's a Jedi too," Malyre murmured. "I should have seen that one, but I didn't."
"I think they might need back up." Forrell nodded his head as he spoke, making his little beard quiver on the end of his chin.
"No one has said that we shouldn't go." Malyre reasoned.
"My speeder is the quickest." Lek gave in.
"What do we do if they discover us?" Malyre wondered.
"Hope they don't shoot first and ask questions later." Lek muttered dryly.