Chapter One

Inside the Empire's new space station, the Death Star, Darth Vader is walking along the bridge overlooking the power core, thinking to himself.

"I know that Jonstone and Justina are still alive and they have evaded me for a long time. But something in the Force tells me that their time has come at last."

He strode over to a hologram projector at the other side of the bridge. He activated it and an image of the head mechanical engineer working on the Death Star appeared.

"Yes, Lord Vader?"

"How long until completion?"

"Well, the entire station will take several more years, judging by size. But we are making good time."

"Do we have any knowledge of where Jonstone and Justina are hiding?"

The officer looked startled and scared.

"Um, no. Not yet. But . . . but we have found a way to track them."

"Well? What is this new development?" asked Vader intently.

"Well, sir, when we recovered Anga Nicma's body from Nagob, we discovered that her comlink had been stolen. Whoever stole it has been eavesdropping on our discussions within the Empire. So, the next time they listen in we can trace the comlink's signal back to its location. Since it's very likely that one of the Jedi stole it, we can find their location that way."

"Good. Inform the Emperor on our progress."

"Yes sir. Thank you, sir."

Vader switched off the projector, turned away from it, and began to walk back along the bridge. He passed several Imperial officers working on the scanning computers inside the command center, by the shield generator which was still being worked on, and finally entered his quarters. He sat down in a chair next to a viewport and stared out at the stars sprinkling the space outside.

After Tarkin had been rescued from Kamino by Palpatine's backup shuttle, he had been surprised that Palpatine had swept Tarkin's recent betrayal aside as if it had been nothing. But then, he and Tarkin did have a long history together, from what he knew.

He began to feel himself slowly drifting off. He closed his eyes . . .

An image of himself engaged in a lightsaber duel with a young man dressed in black appeared in his head. The man wore a black glove on his right hand. The man slashed at him with clear anger etched on his face, until his green blade sheared through Vader's right hand. Vader fell back against a railing and panted faintly.

"Lord Vader?"

The voice sounded miles away.

Vader opened his eyes. His comlink had activated and the voice of one of the officers in the control room was coming out of it.

"Lord Vader? Sir?"

Vader picked up his comlink.

"What is it?"

"The Emperor wants you to contact him immediately, sir. He wants a personal report from you on what is happening."

"Tell him I am on my way now." said Vader, standing up.

"Yes sir."

Vader put away his comlink and walked out of his room back down the hallway. He was sure he had just had another premonition about his future.

"So, apparently that man will kill me and may destroy the Empire unless I do something about it first. But Jonstone and Justina are supposed to be the main threat, so why am I presented with another? Are they both involved?"

He shook his head and continued, "I need to work this out later. Right now, my main concern is to make sure that this battle station becomes operational on schedule."

As he walked back into the control room, he realized that he had also felt a certain connection with the man in his vision, almost as though he was some long lost relation of his . . .