Mara picked her way cautiously among the rooms and corridors until she found herself outside. The bomb was set to go off in twenty minutes. She had to make sure Annaïse and the slaves made it to safety. She had seen the slaves escaping through a tunnel, and if she had her bearings right, the tunnel should spit them out on the eastern side of the grounds. She groped in the darkness along the wall of the house. Her footsteps were muffled by the birds' early morning songs. The sky was beginning to lighten announcing the approach of dawn, but the many trees scattered on the property left most of the ground in dark shadow.
Suddenly a hairy paw clamped over her mouth. But before the other paw could wrap around her torso, she slammed her elbow into an impenetrable mass behind her. The creature did not even flinch, and she was soon encased in a mountain of fur. No amount of squirming would release her from her captor.
"Mara?" a small voice whispered in awe. "Mara, I knew you were still alive! Rohney, put her down."
Mara immediately recognized Annaïse's voice. She spat a few strands of fur from her mouth and threw her a sardonic smile that was most likely lost in the darkness. "Well, at least somebody still has faith in me. Nice to meet you, Rohney."
The Wookiee let out a soft bark in reply but backed away with a look from Annaïse.
"Luke was nearly destroyed by your death," Annaïse said. "It is probably a good thing he can't use the Force, because he is perilously close to the dark side."
"Trust me, Luke is just fine," Mara replied through clenched teeth. "He's already moved on to someone new — or old — or whatever. Anyway, he may have forgotten about our mission, but I haven't. Have all the slaves been evacuated?"
"Yes, but doesn't that seem odd to you?"
Mara shrugged impatiently. "Have Guru and the buyer finished loading the transport yet?"
"No, but what about Luke?"
"Luke can take care of himself. Now, if we can delay the transport a few more minutes, we can take of both of them in one fell swoop."
"Mara, listen to me!" Annaïse demanded loudly. Both women glanced around nervously to make sure they were not heard. The coast was clear. "Think about it. What is Luke Skywalker well-known for?"
"Naivety, long sermons on the Force, getting into trouble — pick one," Mara retorted.
"What about his sense of duty?"
"It can be one of his more annoying qualities," Mara admitted. "That's how he usually gets into trouble in the first place: leaping into a dangerous situation with no thought as to the consequences to himself. So what are you getting at?"
"You have quite the reputation yourself, you know," Annaïse continued. "Hot tempered, good in a fight, always getting Luke out of trouble…" She poked her in the leg to drive home her point. "And you never give up. Isn't it possible that Luke is being manipulated by Callista right now? He is torn up over your 'death.' It was the straw that broke the Bantha's back. He needs your help to find his way back. Are you seriously going to stand by, nursing your bruised ego and not help him?"
The scene in Callista's chamber played over again in Mara's mind. Each time their kiss felt like a lightsabre blade in her heart. Luke would never be over that woman. But if Callista really was stringing him along, and Mara knew the conniving little bitch was, then maybe it was up to her to step in and reveal Callista's true colors. Mara shifted her weight uncomfortably. When held side by side, Callista's sins would never even compare to the atrocities that Mara had committed in her lifetime.
"Go to him," Annaïse whispered. "He needs to see the truth. Then let him judge."
Mara checked her chrono. Fifteen minutes to go. Damn! She punched the wall in a surge of emotion. "Go get a safe distance from here. I've got to go rescue someone — again."
Annaïse smiled and motioned for Rohney to follow her. They disappeared among the trees. Mara retraced her steps back along the wall. She clung to the shadows making herself as invisible as possible in the brightening daylight. She reached the grand staircase and had begun to climb the stairs to the front door when the hairs on her neck prickled. She crouched into a defensive posture but too late. Three men jumped her, and despite her reputation for being good in a fight, the three burly men had surprised her and effectively immobilized her.
"Sir, we've caught the escaped prisoner outside the front door," one of the guards said into his comm. "We're taking her into the grand reception room where we will await further instructions."
Mara tried to struggle, but they had her arms pinned awkwardly behind her making any movement send lightning bolts of pain through her shoulders. She tried a few well-placed kicks, but kept her off-balanced enough to prevent the attack from succeeding. She was led squirming into the mansion. Some rescue, she berated herself.
Much to her surprise and that of the guards, the grand reception room was already occupied when they arrived.
Luke darted into the antechamber, and Callista was already there waiting for him. "I've got a speeder. Let's go."
He grabbed Callista's hand, and she followed him eagerly. He had to get her away from the mountain before the explosives he set detonated. He would be relieved to put the events of the past few days behind him and escape the ever-increasing buzz that came from somewhere inside his head.
The two of them burst through the antechamber door and into the grand reception room. No sooner had they crossed the threshold when the door on the opposite side of the room banged open. Luke's heart began to pound sensing an oncoming fight. He lifted his lightsabre and began to charge across the room, hoping to catch them by surprise.
At first, he could only see a broad back filling the expanse of the doorway. Then three more bodies spilled into the room. All three of the men were fighting with some captive. Suddenly, a powerful leg shot out catching one of the men in the chest and sending him sprawling to the floor. Luke stopped dead in his tracks. Every organ in his body seemed frozen as the prisoner looked up, her green eyes piercing through a veil of tangled red hair. Luke paled and his eyes widened in disbelief. Finally, his vocal chords came back to life. "Mara!" He choked out.
By this time, the guards had become aware of the other two occupants in the room, and taking in the green lightsabre poised for attack, they immediately went on the defensive. The man who had been knocked to the floor came up with his blaster aimed at Luke. Mara was still providing too much resistance for the other two so one of them punched her in the stomach causing her to double over. That hit was all it took to shake him from his shock. Luke charged.
"Luke, no!" He heard Callista shout. But her voice seemed distant and irrelevant compared with the rage and protectiveness he felt bubbling up inside him. The armed man fired off multiple rounds at the Jedi, but Luke had become an enraged blur. The lightsabre danced green around him becoming an impenetrable shield. The man ducked and dodged lethal slashes at his hands, throat and abdomen.
"How can he do that?" the man cried in a panic. "He shouldn't be able to use his powers!"
"He's got more skill in his pinkie finger than you have in your entire body, asshole," Mara spat.
The man fired wildly, but to no avail. Then Luke saw an opening. He saw the man try to feint to the right, so he was ready for him on the left. Luke deftly knocked the blaster away from him and landed a solid kick on his chest. Once again, the man found himself sprawled on the intricately tiled floor.
Luke made as if to lunge at the man and give him the final blow, but a charging blaster stopped him.
"One more move, and I'll cook her brains, Jedi," said one of the men holding Mara. He held a mass of her hair at the base of her neck and with the other hand he held the business end of a blaster to her head. The other man held her arms firmly to ensure she did not try anything heroic.
Luke felt a lump rise in his throat, but he refused to lower his lightsabre. If he aimed perfectly, he could throw the lightsabre at Mara's captor and decapitate him. But if he was even a millimeter off, he could end up slicing up the woman he loved. He locked eyes with the fiery jade ones in front of him and a silent message passed between them. Mara's shift in weight was imperceptible to everyone but Luke. She was ready.
Then suddenly she broke eye contact, and her gaze flicked to something behind him. She hadn't even uttered a sound before Luke whirled at an attack from behind. But he was too late. A heavy object clunked him on the left temple with enough force to knock him to the ground. As the world turned fuzzy, he saw Callista standing over him with an almost apologetic look on her face. Then everything went black.
Callista stooped over Luke's still form and plucked the lightsabre from his hand.
"You're gonna pay for that," Mara seethed through gritted teeth. She renewed her struggle against the two muscle men, but they had her effectively pinned between them.
Callista strode over to her and gave her a cool grin before backhanding her across the side of her head with the butt of the lightsabre handle. Immediately Mara was as limp as Luke.