By JediGirl
CATAGORY: New Republic
SPOILERS: Tim Zahn's Hand of Thraw duology
RATING: R
SETTING: Those missing chapters that Mr. Zahn forgot to write in Visions
of the Future. Luke and Mara have just taken off from Nirauan and heading
out to meet up with Leia,
Han and Karrde. This is my version of what happened between Luke and
Mara during those days alone on their "borrowed" Chiss ship. And of course
how the "family" hears
about the pending nuptials.
DISCLAIMER As always, these charcters do not belong to me. They belong
to wonderful people such as Mr. George Lucas and Mr. Timothy Zahn, among
others. They inspire
me
to make up my own tales and share them with others....just for pure
enjoyment. There is more to life than just money :)
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS: A huge big THANK YOU to my wonderful beta reader,
Michele. This story would never have happened without her. She completely
inspired me
and helped to make it as good as it could be. Plus, if it wasn't for
her, the "challenge" would never had happened
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CHAPTER 3
Two hours later, Artoo woke the couple as he was asked. Mara and Luke
leisurely got
up and dressed during the last hour of their trip. They didn't talk
much, but they
didn't feel like they had to. They were content just to be there together.
Mara packed the blankets back up and returned them to their cabinet.
When she
returned, Luke had broken out their remaining rations. They settled
into the pilot
and co-pilot chairs to share the light 'breakfast' and wait out the
remainder of their
trip.
The light on the display board blinked indicating they had reached their
chosen
destination. Mara, sitting in the pilot's seat, reached forward and
pulled down on the
lever easing the ship out of hyperspace. The star lines around them
settled into
glittering diamonds on a velvet black background as they reentered
real space.
Hanging before them in the forward view port was a small planet of green
and
brown. No ships could be seen coming or going as was the norm for most
planets that
housed a star port. Even the tiny single moon that orbited the planet
showed no signs
of life. All seemed quiet. Too quiet for Luke's taste.
"Doesn't look like much," Luke commented as he scanned over the stats
he had called
up on the tiny system.
"Neither does Tatooine, but it produced you," Mara replied with a smirk
and a side-
ways glance to the Jedi Master seated next to her. "It is exactly the
kind of place
Karrde loves to set up out-posts. If it 'doesn't look like much' then
most people aren't
going to bother with it.
"Now transmit the data before they start getting suspicious," she said
as she moved
their small ship on an approach vector for the planet.
"Aye, aye captain," Luke said with a mock salute, and keyed in the command
to
transmit the information Mara had put together earlier in their trip.
Mara rolled her
eyes in response to his teasing.
"What's their defense system like?" Luke asked as he sat waiting for
a reply to their
hail.
"Oh it's ample" Mara replied. "All of Karrde's out-posts are. You may
not be able to see
it, but it's there. I'm sure there is more than one gun tracking us
right now."
A few minutes ticked by as they sat in silence. Luke fiddled with some
of the controls
on the board in front of him. Mara leaned back in her chair and impatiently
tapped
her fingers on the armrest. "Maybe no one's home," Luke suggested trying
to keep
the mood light.
"Ha, ha," Mara said in return to his comment. She was tired, achy and
just wanted to
get her feet on friendly ground, get cleaned up and some real food
in her before they
were off again. "I'm sure that Gerri is just trying to figure out what
kind of ship just
popped into his sector and why in the hell it is transmitting Mara
Jade's code. He'll
hail us to confirm the info we sent him." She let out a small sigh,
plopped her chin in
the palm of her hand, resting her elbow on the armrest and stared intently
at the
light that would signal an incoming call.
"A watched pot never boils you know," Luke quipped in his Jedi Master
tone of voice
and leaned in to give her a little kiss on the cheek. But he never
made it, because the
light Mara was watching began to flash to show they were being hailed.
"Really?" Mara replied in a sarcastic tone that quickly followed with a wide grin.
Luke shook his head at her with a smile of his own. "Well, it's not
the first time I've
been proven wrong." He waved a hand in the direction of the comm-unit
in a way
that suggested that she should probably accept the transmission.
Mara flipped a switch and a voice came over the speaker - "Unidentified
ship please
identify yourself and your business."
"This is Mara Jade in the Rim Skimmer," Mara replied, naming the ship
with the first
things that popped into her head. "I need a place to dock this thing
and access to your
communications systems."
"Please transmit identification and clearance codes," the comm-technician replied.
"Transmitting," Mara said in return and hit a switch to add action to her words.
"Mara!" a friendly male voice came over the comm-unit only seconds later.
"What
brings you ALL the way out here? And what in Vader's name are you flying
in?"
Mara gave a quick glance at Luke, worried how the light-handed use of
his father's
name may have affected him. He didn't seem bothered, or at least was
hiding it really
well. She silently reprimanded herself for being so paranoid. She reached
over and
hit the comm-button to respond to the caller. "Hey Gerri. Good to see
you are still
hanging out on that little rock. I was hoping it would be someone I
knew. I will
explain what I can when I get planet side. Can you give me coordinates
to dock this
thing someplace discreet?"
"Ahhhh...I see," Gerri replied in a contemplative voice, "Let me see
what I can do for
you. You're actually pretty lucky. A big shipment just left here only
an hour ago.
This place was swarming with Rodians for the past two days...good timing...as
always.
"Ok, transmitting coordinates now. We'll put you up in the secure bunker
on the east
side. I'll meet you there." Gerri clicked off the transmission.
"I guess the Force is with us," Luke said with a wink, and began fastening
the straps
on his chair in preparation for landing.
"As always." Mara winked back and followed the coordinates that were given to her.
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