Chapter Sixteen
"I am not pleased. Not pleased at all." Magister Hego Damask II frowned at King Veruna. "It is a very long trip from Mygeeto, and you promised me you would have two Force-strong younglings waiting for me here."
"It is not my fault," Veruna said, eyes wide and sounding slightly panicked. "They left only a few time-parts ago, with the Jedi and their father, as well as a pilot of the Soro-suub 3000. I tried to delay them, but the Jedi could not be swayed to remain." The King perked up at that realization. "The ship belonging to Rayne is still here in Theed. That must mean he will be returning, and then he can tell you were these younglings were taken."
"Probably to the Jedi Temple on Coruscant," Damask replied. "I will not be able to go there."
"Of course not," the King said. "But the Jedi were clear that these are not their Padawans. It is unlikely they were taken to the Temple. Rayne will know where you can locate them, I'm certain."
"I will wait for a short while for this Captain Rayne to return to retrieve his ship," the disguised Sith Lord Plagueis told the King. "If he does not return shortly, you will be in quite the debt to me for wasting my time."
Coruscant
"There," Rayne said, frowning down at the controls as he sat in the cockpit of the Millennium Falcon with Han Solo. "Everything is programmed into the time travel shields. Leave the planet's atmosphere, just like you did last time, then re-enter exactly where you did last time, too. As soon as you turn the shields back on when you re-enter, you should jump forward in time to precisely when you left. No one will even notice you've been gone, and everything will be the same as it was before you left."
"'Cept my arm," Han groused, pointing to his right arm, which was still in the plasteel cast.
Rayne flushed. "That wasn't anyone's fault but your own, Solo."
"How'd you figure that?" Han said, miffed. "I had to get some Republic credits for berthing fees and to eat, and it sure as hells wasn't my idea to get attacked by Gamorreans!"
The younger man stood up from the co-pilots seat, then shrugged his shoulders. "It'll heal."
"Yeah, now that Elsha the crazy lady isn't constantly re-injuring it to punish me it'll have a chance to heal," Han responded with a glare. "You sure you don't wanna come back with us in the Falcon, Rayne?"
"No, he can't," Qui Gon spoke up as he entered the cockpit. "It's true that Caleb must go back, but he can't leave his Soro-suub behind. A time-travel device is dangerous, and he's agreed to destroy all of them once he returns to his own time."
"I'll destroy the ones on my ship myself, 'cuz he sure ain't gonna be allowed back onboard the Falcon," Han said stubbornly. "I barely trusted him this time."
Rayne pushed past the Jedi Master, eager to leave the Falcon and its surly captain behind. Qui Gon smiled over toward Han. "It was nice meeting you, Captain Solo, and your children, too. They are quite the handful."
"Yeah, well, I'm proud of 'em," Han said defiantly.
"As well you should be. Good luck in the future, Han."
Han only nodded, unable to wish the same good luck to Qui Gon Jinn or his Padawan. Neither Jedi knew their fate - it was best to keep it that way.
Padawan Obi-Wan Kenobi watched as Caleb Rayne exited the battered YT-1300 freighter, then turned his attention to the Solo twins. "So, your uncle Luke is a great Jedi Master?"
"Yes, he is," Jaina said. "He's the best Jedi ever."
The Padawan smiled at the young girl. "I wish I could meet him."
"You will," Jacen said without thinking, then slapped his hand over his mouth, eyes wide. "Oops."
"Is that so?" Obi-Wan asked, raising his eyebrows. "I look forward to that day." He reached down and gave both twins a hug. Somehow, despite their attitudes, he had grown rather fond of them. "Tell your father I said goodbye, and tell him I don't think he's a bad guy… considering he's an ex-smuggler and a Corellian."
Jaina hugged Obi-Wan back enthusiastically. "We'll tell him, but I'm sure he knows. Our dad grows on everyone, once they get to know him. At least that's what our mom always says."
He watched as the twins hurried inside the ship, waving goodbye to Qui Gon as he walked past them down the ramp. Both Jedi watched as the freighter lifted off, gracefully turning to glide away.
Naboo
"Remember, you must destroy this technology once you are back in your own time," Qui Gon told Rayne as the man exited the Corellian Consular cruiser to return to his own ship. "Time lines cannot be disrupted."
"I understand," Rayne muttered. "I'll destroy it."
Qui Gon nodded in approval. "That's good to hear. I'm putting a great deal of trust in you, Caleb."
"I said I'll do it!" Rayne shouted. "I don't need you to keep nagging me!" He hurried down the ramp, eager to put distance between himself and those annoying Jedi.
"Do you think he really will destroy the device, Master Jinn?" Obi-Wan asked, frowning in concern as they watched Rayne practically run toward his own docking bay.
"I'm not certain," Jinn admitted. "But the Force is telling me Rayne won't be causing trouble in the future…or in the past anymore."
Caleb Rayne hurried into his Soro Suub 3000, relieved to be inside his own ship. His relief was short-lived, for waiting inside was a tall, pale Muun, holding a silver tube and the stranger looked quite intimidating.
"Who… who are you?" Rayne spluttered out, taking a step back.
"I am Darth Plaguies, the Wise," the Muun replied. "Where are these Force-strong younglings?"
"Who?"
"The two human children that were traveling with you?" the Sith snapped out impatiently.
"Oh… Solo's kids? They should be back home by now," Rayne replied, his voice sounding miffed.
"Where is this place they call home?" the Sith asked.
"Coruscant."
"So they are living in the Jedi Temple after all?"
"The Temple?" Rayne repeated in surprise. "The Temple isn't there anymore. I'm sure the kids live with their parents in the Presidential Suite. Their mom's the President, you know."
The Sith frowned at this strange human, who was obviously quite insane since Plaguies could tell through the Force that the man actually believed what he was saying. The King of Naboo would pay dearly for wasting his time.
Uncomfortable with the Sith's steady stare, Rayne asked, "Did Jinn send you here to make sure I'd really go back home? You Jedi are starting to annoy me."
"Jedi annoy me, as well," Plaguies responded dryly. "If you cannot assist me, then we are finished here." Without waiting for Rayne to answer, the Sith turned and exited the ship, leaving the befuddled human behind.
Rayne shook his head in disgust as he sat down in the pilot's chair, flipping switches to quickly leave the planet. He never noticed that Darth Plaguies was intently watching him as he lifted off, nor was he ever aware that the Muun Sith Lord was grinning as the Soro Suub 3000 blew up less than a minute after lifting off.
Coruscant
"Mommy!" Jaina cried out as the twins rushed into their apartment penthouse. "We missed you!" the girl said, throwing her arms around a surprised Leia as Jacen quickly added his own hugs around his mother.
"It's only been two time-parts!" Leia said, startled at her daughter's joy at seeing her mother. "How could you miss me so much?"
"It's been a whole entire week," Jacen said balefully. "Not two time-parts."
Confused, Leia looked over as a bedraggled Han shuffled into the living room. "What in the stars happened to you?" She looked at his right arm, which was obviously set in a cast. "How...how did you break your arm?"
"Got attacked by Gamorreans with vibro-axes," Han groaned, thudding down heavily on the sofa. "Then I got kidnapped by a crazy lady from inside the old Jedi Temple who wanted to marry me, so she took me to Naboo an' down to an underwater city then kept threatening to beat me with a belt, 'cause, ya know, that's the only sure-fire way I know to convince a guy to fall in love an' marry you, only then I escaped with the help of a clumsy Gungan an' on the way back up to the surface of Naboo we almost got speared by a harpoon but then a giant gooberfish ate the bongo with the crazy lady inside, and after that, Rayne, who was in love with the crazy lady, decided to help us get back to the future with the time travel thingy he invented."
"If you don't want me to know how you broke your arm, just say so."
The End