Author's Note: Thank you so much to my faithful readers and commenters: StarWars077 LOVEM RedLig016 JediLukeSkywlaker and of course HighQueenP. I've been super busy with work, including some 16-hour days. When I did get downtime, my brain was mush. Work is easing up, so you should expect more frequent updates.

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CHAPTER 144 - UNEXPECTED COMPANY

Two days later, Naluma returned to the physical therapist, and Luke enjoyed afternoon tea with Sabé and Cordé again. Sabé spent hours telling him about life on Naboo and with her precious Padmé.

He struggled to keep his identity concealed. Since her short-term memory was non-existent, Luke was tempted to tell her. However, if he told Sabé, then Cordé would know. And he couldn't afford to take that risk on this mission.

While Luke listened to another story of Padmé, this time of how she met a little slave named Ani while they were fleeing from the Trade Federation, screams resounded throughout the ship.

The parlor hatch slid open as armed pirates burst into the hall. Luke stood, reflexively reaching for his lightsaber that was not on his belt. He stood in front of Sabé and Cordé. "Get behind me, get behind me."

The invaders herded the younger passengers into one corner and shoved the elderly down with their hands behind their heads and blasters pointed at their skulls.

"Get away from her, and move it over there with the others." He thumbed the power stud on the blaster and pointed the weapon at Luke. "Don't try and be a hero."

Luke didn't budge, but the other pirates circled around the elderly passengers shaking on their knees, and raised their weapons at the backs of their heads.

"I warned you, hero." The pirate in front of Luke pulled the trigger.

The Jedi Master raised his hand and closed his eyes. A red blaster bolt sizzled at Luke, but the Force was with him.

The shot ricocheted off his hand and flew back at the pirate. It blasted a hole in his chest, striking him in the heart. The man's mouth flopped open, and Luke summoned the weapon from his hands.

When the smoking blaster hit Luke's palm, he turned it on the other pirates. Three shots, and three fell.

The third crumpled over on himself, and triggered his blaster at the pirate standing next to him, taking the last of the bunch out for Luke.

The passengers cheered, but Luke frowned.

He turned to check on Sabé in her hover chair. Her eyes gleamed above a large smile. "You are him …"

Luke nodded. "Yes, I am."

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Naluma groaned as the physical therapist stretched her left leg, extending her upper glutes.

She ran the scanner over the spot, analyzing the injury. Kahreen said, "Found it. It's the piriformis and the gemelli under it. They're contracted. What did you do?"

"I fell a few meters during physical training a few months ago. Landed on the edge of a platform. Thought it was a bruise," Naluma said with a wince.

Kahreen pulled out another device and rolled it over the affected area while Naluma stretched. She could feel the healing rays work on those muscles.

After a few minutes, Kahreen put the device away and used the scanner again. "How does it feel now?"

"Better than it has in a long time."

"Lie back down. I think I can touch it now without you screaming," Kahreen said with a smile.

After thirty minutes of stretching the fibers of Naluma's back, faint screams echoed through the corridor. She sat up and reached out with the Force, past the treatment rooms occupied by other passengers and the reception office.

A gang with fire arms stormed the spa wing of the ship. Naluma touched her cheek when she felt the strike of a fist on the concierge. Individual blaster bursts followed by thuds, echoed through the wing.

With a wave of her hand, she locked the reception hatch and extinguished the lights in the rooms. She held her finger to her lips indicating for Kahreen to be quiet.

Naluma quickly dressed in the dark while Kahreen sat on the treatment bed. Naluma thought through the predicament. If we stay here, they'll catch us. They're nearly to the spa.

The Jedi Master scanned the area with the Force. A small porthole in the bulkhead perched above the linens cabinet. She figured she should be able to squeeze through it. Her cabin was a couple of decks above this one and maybe a hundred meters to the rear of the ship. She had to get to their lightsabers if they were going to stand a chance of overcoming these pirates.

She reached a tendril out to Luke, feeling him through their bond. He was fine but in the thick of it. She released her touch to let him concentrate.

The Jedi hopped up on the linen wardrobe.

Kahreen whispered, "What are you doing? The portholes are sealed."

"Not a problem. Come on."

"I can't. I can't swim."

Naluma looked at her, perturbed. She had to get to her stateroom to get their sabers if they were ever going to get the ship back. "Hide then. Maybe they'll assume the room is empty if the light's off and the door's unlocked."

"Unlocked?"

Naluma moved her hand and unlocked the hatch. "Yes. If it's locked, they'll assume someone's inside. Stay absolutely quiet and still. If I'm not back in two hours, use your own wisdom on when to leave. But once they check this suite, this will probably be the safest place."

She removed the bolts from the porthole with the Force, lifted herself up, and hauled herself out of the round opening.

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Luke assumed control of the situation immediately, ordering the passengers around. "You," he directed the steward near the door. "Close that hatch and lock it."

He grabbed the guns from the fallen pirates and handed them off to the men and women around him. "Who knows how to use a blaster?"

A few of the men and one of the women raised their hands. "Shoot short bursts at anything that comes through that door. Conserve your ammunition," he said as he distributed the weapons. "Move some of those tables for cover."

Luke turned to the passengers who had been shot. He grabbed table cloths and draped them over the dead.

One of the elderly had fallen before they were blasted. The woman was bleeding from her skull. Luke took her vitals.

"Check the kitchens for a medkit. And take two guns and seal off the back entrance from the kitchens." Luke bent down and put pressure on the woman's head wound with a napkin to stem the bleeding.

A dark-skinned Korrunai male with flying dreadlocks and bulging biceps asked, "What gives you the right to boss us around?"

Luke took a deep breath and let the anger flow out of him before he responded. "Do what you want, but if you want to live, do what I tell you. These aren't the only pirates on this ship."

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Did you know . . .

● The pirates have a goal—obtain workers for their resource procurement. Kattada is rich in agriculture and sea goods, which could supply a burgeoning military force quite nicely.

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Tell me what you think . . .

● Would you have followed Naluma's advice to keep the door unlocked? Why?