Disclaimer: I am not Rick Riordan or George Lucas.

Enter Luke and Mara, in the Unknown Regions.

Luke tries to sit up.

Mara. Rest. You're going to need it.

Luke. Lowie . . .

Mara. [shakes her head] Luke. I'm really sorry. [halfhearted] He may have survived. I mean, fire can't kill him.

Luke nods.

Mara shows Luke the items she salvaged from the Chimaera: Yun-Shuno's now empty canister, a bag of bota, a couple Imperial uniforms, and a bottle of fizzade. Luke, in turn, has only Yun-Shuno's jar of kolto and his lightsaber.

Luke. [aside] We sail for hours. Now that we are in the Unknown Regions, space glittered a more brilliantly, like Zillo Beast acid. The atmosphere smells fresh and salty. But it carries a strange metallic scent, too, as if a thunderstorm is coming, or something even more dangerous. I know what direction we need to go. I know we are exactly one hundred thirteen parsecs from our destination. But that doesn't make me feel any less lost. No matter which way we turn, the stars seem to shine straight into my eyes. We take turns sipping from the fizzade, shading ourselves with the sail as best we can.

Luke and Mara discuss Luke's dream.

Mara. [frowns] That's not good. That means we have less than one planetary rotation to find Corran, assuming your dream is accurate, and assuming Monarg hasn't changed his mind and decide to marry Corran earlier.

Luke. [bitter] Yes. You can never trust a Wookiee.

Mara stares across space.

Mara. I'm sorry, Luke. I was wrong about Lowbacca, okay? I wish I could tell him that.

Luke. [aside] I try to stay angry with her. But it's not easy. We've been through a lot together. She has saved my life plenty of times. It's stupid of me to resent her.

Luke glances at Yun-Shuno's supplies thoughtfully.

[to Mara] Mara. What's Yoda's prophecy?

Mara. [purses her lips] Luke. I shouldn't . . .

Luke. I know Yoda promised the Je'daii he wouldn't tell me. But you didn't promise, did you?

Mara. Knowledge isn't always good for you.

Luke. Your mother is the wisdom deity.

Mara. I know. But every time Jedi learn the future, they try to change it. And it never works.

Luke. The Je'daii are worried about something I'll do when I get older, something when I turn sixteen.

Mara twists her cloaking device in her hands.

Mara. I don't know the full prophecy. But it warns about a Jedi child of the Big Three — the next one who lives to the age of sixteen. That's the real reason Sekot, Vader, and Bogan swore a pact after the Great Galactic War not to have any more kids. The next child of the Big Three who reaches sixteen will be a dangerous weapon.

Luke. Why?

Mara. Because that Jedi will decide the fate of Tython. He or she will make a decision that either saves the Great Peace or destroys it.

Luke. That's why Palpatine didn't kill me last summer.

Mara. [nods] You could be very useful to him. If he can get you on his side, the Je'daii will be in serious trouble.

Luke. But if it's I in the prophecy . . .

Mara. We'll only know that if you survive three more years. That can be a long time for a Jedi. When Yoda first learned about Jaina, he assumed she was the one in the prophecy. That's why he was so desperate to get her safely to the Praxeum. Then she went down fighting and got turned into a tree. None of us knew what to think . . . until you came along.

Luke. This Jedi in the prophecy . . . he or she couldn't be, say, a Wookiee. The Big Three have a lot of monster children.

Mara. [shakes her head] The Prophet said "near-human." That always means half-human, half-god. There's really nobody alive who it could be, except you.

Luke. Then why do the Je'daii even let me live? It would be safer to kill me.

Mara. You're right.

Luke. [sarcastic] Thanks.

Mara. Luke. I don't know. I guess some of Je'daii would like to kill you. But they're probably afraid of offending Vader. Other Je'daii . . . maybe they're still watching you, trying to decide what kind of Jedi you're going to be. You could be a weapon for their survival, after all. The real question is, what will you do in three years? What decision will you make?

The escape pod lands on Dathomir, rolling toward a deserted island.

Exit all.