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
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
CHAPTER 4
Mara skillfully put down the alien ship in their designated landing
dock. She shut
down all the ship's systems as Luke helped Artoo out of his alcove
and over to the exit
hatch. Mara lowered herself out of the ship first followed by Luke
and Artoo.
The door to the docking bay swished open and Gerri and two others, who
looked to be
doing guard duty, as they were both holding large blaster rifles, emerged.
Gerri
gestured them to wait by the door and he moved to greet Mara with a
wide grin.
"Mara Jade!" he said, followed by an abbreviated bow. "It has been quite
some time
since we have been graced with your presence.
"You're looking as lov..." He hesitated a moment as he took in Mara's
appearance for
the first time. Her hair was pulled back away from her face in a tight
braid, but it was
noticeably dirty. Her clothes were even in worse shape, stained and
tattered with a
large blaster hole in one shoulder of the flight suit she wore. And
though her face
was clean, it looked haggard and drawn, as if she hadn't eaten well
in quite a while.
"Can it, Gerri," Mara said curtly. She was in no mood for "Calrissian-ish" flatteries.
Gerri quickly shut his mouth, that he just realized lay open and returned
it to a quick
grin, which faded quickly when he noticed Luke and Artoo for the first
time. "I didn't
realize you had company with you," he said in a low tone. "This is
a secured area,
Mara. Karrde doesn't like having strangers about, ya know."
"Not to worry, Gerri," Mara said, waiting for Luke to catch up with
her. "Karrde trusts
him."
Mara waved a hand towards Luke, "Gerri Pabos, this is Jedi Master Luke
Skywalker.
Master Skywalker, Gerri Pabos."
"Nice to meet you," Luke said, extending his hand to Gerri.
Gerri hesitantly took the proffered hand and gave Luke an uneasy smile.
He turned
back to Mara and in a hushed voice asked "A Jedi? Jade, do you really
think this is a
good idea?"
"Relax, Gerri," Mara said calmly, giving Luke a wink. "He's a friend."
Luke covered his mouth with his hand trying to hide a chuckle.
"Now!" Mara said, taking on an "all business" tone of voice. "I need
you to make sure
this dock is completely secure. I don't want anyone in here. Including
those two,"
she said nodding her head in the direction of the two guards at the
door. "I don't want
anyone to know this ship even exists or that we have even been here.
You got that?"
She gave Gerri a stern look.
"Ah huh! I see..." Gerri said. "So I take it you're not going to tell
me where you got
that thing?" He crossed his arms over his puffed out chest.
"Sorry, Ger," Mara said placing a hand on his shoulder and turning him
in the
direction of the doorway, "That is on a need-to-know basis."
"Okay, whatever you say," Gerri replied with a sigh. "Anything else?"
"Yeah, have you heard from Karrde recently? Have any idea where he may be?"
"Haven't spoken with him in awhile, but I can have my people see about
tracking
him down for you," he replied returning to his normal bright cheery
self. "It might
take a little bit of time though. So maybe you two would like to "freshen
up" while
you're waiting. You look like you've spent a week wrestling a rancor."
"I think wrestling a rancor would have been easier," Mara said with
a sheepish
smile. "Don't bother asking for details, 'cause I can't tell you, but
a shower and a nice
hot meal sound wonderful."
Gerri let out a small sigh. "I'm always the last to know anything in
the company,
even when it arrives on my doorstep," he said and gave a dejected shrug.
"I'll have
the communications team locate Karrde and inform you as soon as we
get word of his
whereabouts. You can use Karrde's suite of rooms. I assume you know
how to get
there?"
"It's been a while Gerri, but I think I can find my way," she said as
they headed out of
the landing dock. "Thanks for all of your help. I'll make sure Karrde
compensates you
for your efforts."
A smile once again returned to Gerri's face. "Thank you," he said. "I
will inform you
as soon as we hear anything and in the mean time I will have two meals
sent up to
your rooms. Call if there is anything else that you need." And with
another small bow
he and the two guards headed down the hall.
Mara turned to Luke and Artoo and waved them in the opposite direction,
and the trio
headed to their rooms.
"So, can we trust him?" Luke asked as they made their way down the hall.
"Gerri? Oh yeah," Mara replied. "He has been with Karrde longer than
I have, and
most of his people have been with him just as long. This "little rock"
may not look
like much, but is pretty comfortable as far as out-posts go. They all
know a good thing
when they see it. I don't have any worries."
They arrived at the suite and Mara punched in the access code and the
door swished
open. The lights activated as they entered and Luke looked around the
now
illuminated room. It was a rather large seating room. A large comfortable
looking
couch was along one wall with a few matching chairs facing it. A comm-station
was
along another wall, next to an adequately supplied bar. The room was
decorated with
elegant pieces of art from places Luke didn't even recognize. A large
window looked
out onto a picture perfect view of a green covered mountain range.
"Nice place," Luke commented.
"All of Karrde's offices are," Mara answered as she poked her head into
the other
rooms attached to the sitting room. She was trying to familiarize herself
with the
layout of the rooms. It had been a few years since she had been here.
"Make yourself
at home," she told him as she disappeared through a door.
She returned a few minutes later to find Luke admiring a collection
of clay pots that
were arranged on a shelf near the sitting area. "Those are 2000 years
old and worth
about 6000 credits each, so don't break them."
"For clay pots?" Luke asked in an astonished tone.
"Everything has its price," Mara replied with a shrug. "Here, these
should fit you."
She tossed him a small bundle of clothing.
Luke caught the clothes just before they smashed into the collection
of pots. "Hey!
You told me not to break them."
"Well, you didn't, did you?" she replied with a cocky grin. "Lucky you
have good
reflexes."
Luke looked at the clothes she brought out to him; a pair of light-weight
navy blue
pants and a white shirt that buttoned up the front. He held the pants
up to his waist to
check the size. "Whose are these?"
"No one's really," Mara answered. "Karrde has a spare set of just about
everything. He
says it is so he doesn't have to worry about remembering to bring everything
with
him all the time. He knows he'll have what he needs when he gets there.
"There is a refresher off that room over there that you can use," Mara
said indicating
a door off to the left. "I'm going to use the one in Karrde's room,"
and she pointed to a
door off to the right.
"Sure," Luke responded, a look of disappointment falling over his face.
Mara walked over to him and wrapped her arms around him tightly. "Hey,
we have
our whole life, remember?"
"I know," he replied, kissing her forehead. "I guess I'm just used to
having you
around."
"I'm just in the other room," she said and returned his kiss. "Now shoo,
and get
cleaned up. Dinner should be here soon and I'm starved."
"Yes dear," he said and Mara jabbed him in the stomach in response.
----------------------------------------------------