Spirit of the Shifting Sands

Disclaimer - I do not own these wonderful characters. They belong to Lucasfilm and I am glad of their existence. It makes our world a little bit brighter. I'm not making anything from this.

Chapter 8

Tosche Station

"Busy tonight, Boss." Arnek grunted as he dipped the glasses into the cleaning granules.

"Mm...," Fixer nodded absently, his eye roaming the crowded room, still mulling over the direction his life had abruptly taken.

It had been almost a fortnight since the attack on his life and property and he was still coming to terms with how lucky he'd been. Then there was the reappearance of Luke Skywalker - if it really was him? Fixer, finally, was coming to believe that after an absence of so many years the boy, who'd always incurred a feeling of inadequacy in the older man, had returned. The funny thing was - that feeling remained. Fixer had been the leader in their little group after Biggs had gone. Luke had followed Biggs with a hero worship, which somehow Biggs had reciprocated and he'd known that Luke hadn't regarded himself in the same light. The knowledge had rankled. Fixer had made sure that Luke was considered the outsider in their little world. It had been easy enough to do, for his Aunt and Uncle had protected him and generally kept him away from the local populace. Luke had worked harder on his Uncle's poverty stricken moisture farm than any farmhand and had tried so hard to fit it. Then he'd vanished. The picture of Luke's earnest face the last time he had seen it flashed into his mind. It was Skywalker, all right. The man knew too much about them.

There had been a lot of strange faces in Anchorhead recently. Some of them came to the machine shop, others to the cantina. Mostly however, only the locals patronised Fixer's small no-frills establishment. Off-worlders went to the Flying Bantha. It purported to be much more upmarket, but in the harsh light of the twin suns it just looked cheap and tacky.

Camie moved past his vision, dragging Marn by the hand. That boy - not only had he an aversion to cleaning solution, he also disliked bedtime. He'd been hiding in the workshop again, but his mother was wise to all his tricks. Anni had been asleep for hours already, but Marn...? No.

Fixer sighed bitterly. He wasn't proving to be much of a husband and father - unable to protect his own. Camie had lost the youthful beauty she'd had when they'd married; her face was drawn and worried. It was the mere fact that Luke Skywalker had arrived like some sort of avenging superman, fulfilling the promise they had always known was there, which twisted inside Fixer's belly and irritated him beyond belief. He was the failure not Luke.

Luke had got off this miserable rock and by all accounts had become this hero type. Fixer sipped at his lum. He'd always been the leader before and now he was taking orders like a hired hand. But deep down in his gut he was scared and reacted the only way he knew how - with resentment and anger.

A tall sun-tanned man stumbled into the room and made for a table in the corner. Fixer had privately dubbed it 'Skywalker's table'. No one had sat there since the night of the raid. This was another stranger. There were far too many strangers around.

Arnek shuffled over with the inevitable glass of cloudy lum and the man twitched him a lop-sided grin.

"Fixer!" Camie hissed from the back door, her face flushed from Marn's routine struggle at bedtime. "It's Luke..." she mouthed. "And Mara."

With a quick jerk of the head, Fixer summoned Arnek back behind the bar and followed his wife into the machine workshop, which doubled as the main office.

"Well, well. I thought it might be another ten or so years till I saw you again, Skywalker. What do you want this time?" he sneered.

Luke sat calmly while Mara paced behind him. Fixer took a good look at the beautiful trader and literally gawked.

"Cut the staring barkeep," Mara growled angrily. "Have you never seen brown hair before?"

Luke chuckled inwardly. Mara could be as irritable as Fixer was, probably more so. Fixer satisfied himself with scowling at them both as Camie entered bearing drinks on a tray. She quickly glanced at Luke and Mara, her expression wary.

"We're not expecting any trouble. We want to use your bar to have a meeting, that's all. Honestly, Camie, I don't only come with misfortune dogging my heels." He stated softly.

Mara snorted and rolled her eyes. "Great, Skywalker. Just cover things up, why don't you."

"Mara. There won't be trouble here. Not tonight or any other in the near future. That, I can foresee." The implied rebuke made the trader flush and bite her lip. Luke's gentle censure made her feel about two feet tall. He was right and she knew it. She gave him a narrow glare, but remained silent and Camie ducked from the room not comforted in the least.

"Not fair, Jade. She's frightened enough as it is." Luke spoke in her mind.

"I'm sorry, Luke. It was Fixer I was trying to get at, not Camie."

"Revenge doesn't always target the one we aim towards. Other innocents always get caught in the cross-fire. Fixer's just as afraid as Camie is. He hides behind all that bluster and hostility. I thought you were better at reading emotions than that. Remember I've told you that seeing with the eyes alone can blind you to the truth."

"As I've also said to you, Master Skywalker."

"So you have, Jade. So you have."

Luke turned his attention back to Fixer. The heavy jawed man waited impatiently. "Well?"

"You don't have a surveillance system in place, I suppose?"

Fixer uttered a disbelieving bark of laughter. "You're joking. Right? You've been 'Core' for too long, Wormie," he derided. "A surveillance system here? What would we want one of those for?"

Luke opened his mouth to correct him, but before he could do so, Mara had launched herself at the taller man and had him pinned up against the wall, his feet several inches off the floor. If Luke hadn't been cross at Mara for losing her patience, he might have found it funny, because that's what it looked. The diminutive trader, held the surly Fixer in place with the minimum of ease.

"His name is Luke, not Wormie or anything else your little mind can come up with. It's Luke to you, or Master Skywalker. That's a title he has earned," she growled fiercely.

"Mara!" Luke intervened. "Let him go." "He's frightened and completely out of his depth." "Mara!"

Mara gave Fixer her best assassin's stare, but unwillingly, she did release him. Mara was reacting purely on her emotions. It was quite acceptable for her to taunt and goad Skywalker, but let anyone else try it and they would be sorry. Luke knew what was in her heart and he cut loose the grip on his anger with Mara. They always looked out for each other. They always would.

Fixer huffed. The female, what was her name again - Jade, had picked him up as if he weighed nothing. "I gotta go serve..." he mumbled. "Arnek can't do it all tonight - too busy."

"We'll stay here. But there are things we need to discuss later," stated Luke. "No getting out of them."

Fixer slammed the tray on the bar. "Who does he think he is?"

"He is who he's always been. Just older and more mature. Like I wish my husband could be man enough to be. You're acting like a jealous child, Fixer." Camie said softly. "By the looks of those two, something's up. But we can't talk here. No knowing who's listening. It's a pity we don't have a surveillance system."

"Fixer threw her a dark stare. Just what he needed - another female giving him advice he didn't want.

Luke and Mara sat alone in the workshop surrounded by bits and pieces of broken droid parts and speeder innards. Luke had picked up some part and was already tinkering with it. Finally he raised his head and gave a still defiant Mara a cautious glance.

He raised his eyebrows. "Well?"

Her mouth firmed. "I don't like his attitude. You helped him and he treats you...."

"Like he always has, Mara." Luke finished her sentence. "What about you," he threw at her accusingly. "You've insulted me far worse than he ever has and he never threatened to kill me."

Mara suddenly grinned, embarrassment creeping into her eyes. "I'm not nice to you sometimes - am I?"

"I guess I can live with it. Look Mara," He put down another piece of scrap metal he'd been inspecting. "I decided a long time ago that it didn't matter. Part of me wanted to come back a hero, medals gleaming and prove to them that I wasn't a washout. But after Yavin, time passed so quickly. I was fighting a war for my life and the lives of my friends. At the risk of sounding bigheaded I was too important to the rebellion. The folks here might have thought about me once in a while, but in reality, they assumed I was dead and got on with their lives. Nothing I did would ever make me truly fit in here. I was different from the others. Only Biggs knew how I felt and he'd already gone. Looking back on it now I could have come back earlier, although I might have put them in danger. I have been back to Tatooine, but I've never come to see those I left behind. My reception has been ambiguous at best since I've returned and I understand why. They don't know how to treat me. Am I really an alliance hero or a delusional fake?"

Mara moved to sit next to him and curled into his side. "You've never been back because this part of your life still caused you pain. These people weren't ready to accept you as you were then and perhaps as you are now. No-o...." She cut Luke off as he opened his mouth to argue. "Admit it."

He put his arm around her waist and leaned into her warmth. "Admit you want me, Jade," he countered huskily.

"I do not," she retorted. But her words lacked fire.

"Come on Mara - admit it." He trailed a gentle finger over the swell of her breasts, feeling her reaction and hearing her breath catch in her throat. "Admit..." He leant forward and kissed her warmly, parting her lips. "...it."

"Skywalker!" She pulled her lips from his. "This is not the time, or the place."

"There's no-one else here. All we have to do is wait for the others to arrive. We might as well pass the time doing something." Mara baiting, he had discovered, could be fun. Dangerous, but fun.

"Someone could come through at any moment. We've a job to do. We cannot be side-tracked by trivialities.

"Trivialities!" Luke echoed, his voice rising in pitch. "Jade, Jade." He tutted mock disapprovingly. Suddenly something shifted in the Force. He felt it and closed his eyes briefly. When he opened them his blue eyes shone into Mara's brilliant green ones. The look he gave her was oddly intent and his voice sounded strange in his own ears. Mara found she couldn't look away.

"Will our children be this contrary, Mara, do you think?"

"If they take after your side of the family I wouldn't be ... Children!!" She wrenched from his grasp abruptly and moved to the far side of the shop. Picking up something from a shelf, she turned and Luke got ready to duck.

"Luke Skywalker…. Any qualms about ending your miserable life have just been quietened. Children!" she sputtered. "With you!"

Luke shrugged. "Why not?"

"Why not?"

"If you're going to have them it might as well be with me. Think of the possibilities..."

"I'm not thinking. I'm not. I..."

The door slid open and Arnek came in with Han. "Not again," remarked Han conversationally as his shrewd eyes took in the situation instantly.

"He convinced me he knew you," the bartender murmured dryly. "I've a blaster trained on him just in case he's lying."

The Jedi shifted his gaze to Han.

"Nah. He's my brother-in-law. Han Solo meet Arnek." Luke waved a languid hand in Han's direction, but something in his eyes belied his apparently relaxed pose.

Mara on the other hand stood, shoulder's tense, green eyes shuttered broadcasting their discord.

The atmosphere in the small room was stifling. 'It's the sexual tension,' Han thought to himself. 'How could I possibly have missed this? It's been there for years. I wish they'd just give in. I don't care what my wife thinks about this. She's not had to put up with them and their moods over the past few days. Luke's not celibate. He's not particularly sexually active, but I'll swear on the Millennium Falcon that sex has reared its ugly head between these two and they don't know what to do about it. Maybe I should offer my services as adviser to sexually frustrated Jedi.' Then again, he took another quick glance in Mara's direction and decided against it. He'd rather take his chances against the whole Imperial fleet, than point out what was becoming painfully apparent to anyone who knew Luke and Mara. Their interesting and unique relationship had taken a somewhat inevitable turn.

Han, of course, didn't know that the Jedi had given in and it only made the craving, the wanting and the needing more desperate. The near miss from the previous evening had left them both hot and aching. Luke and Mara hadn't yet realised their dependency upon one another. Both of them still thought they could walk away from this with ease.

Han focused on the object in Mara's hands. By all the asteroids between here and Hoth – a decent  set of Alluvial Dampers. His eyes lit up. "How much?"

Mara groaned and rolled her eyes. She'd picked up the dampers to use as a missile against Luke. He'd made her so mad. He made her mad - constantly. Just a bantha's breath away from doing something she'd later regret. Like throwing a set of perfectly good alluvial dampers in his direction. He also made her feel good but.... children - with him!! No - she was not heading down that path.

Han approached her warily and almost snatched the set of dampers from her hands. Pulling out a pile of credits he thrust them into the grip of an astonished Fixer who'd followed Han and Arnek into the workshop. Han stuffed the part into his backpack, then something made him stop and twist his head towards the silent Jedi. They were at opposite ends of the room. This didn't bode well for any covert operation. He thought they'd sorted things out last night, when Han and Chewie had left them alone. But it was obvious that the feud or something else was still simmering. Well Mara was simmering, Luke was.... Luke was calm and very Jedi. That would be why Mara was simmering.

'Some poor fool is going to have to have words with them. Why do I get the feeling it's gonna be me,' he thought.

"Don't worry Han," Luke murmured quietly, eyeing Mara. "Everything's fine."

"I hate it when you do that, Luke. You know I do."

"Any Force sensitive within a good hundred miles radius could pick up on your churning emotions."

"I'm not worried about the mission - much. It's you and Jade that are giving me stomach problems and I'm not Force sensitive."

Luke frowned and again eyed Mara carefully. "I don't see why."

"I'll explain it later flyboy," Mara inserted caustically. "Much later."

Han sighed and set his mind back to recall the previous evening. Chewie and Han had left the tense pair of Jedi alone. When Han had returned cautiously, Luke had been huddled under blankets on his mattress on the floor. Mara had been on the other side of the curtain presumably sound asleep.

Han had hoped they'd have both been behind the curtain. It would certainly have relieved something - Han's anxious nerve endings for one thing. But he supposed Luke and Mara were two rational people and he was just wishing for a little craziness. Some folks thought too much and didn't act. Still, he couldn't normally say that about his impetuous brother-in-law or perhaps, these days, he could. As for Mara - no one knew what she really thought. Han sighed again. At one time Luke had been the impetuous, reckless boy, but that had all changed and he'd been replaced by a measured, watchful man with the strain of his heritage firmly weighing him down. Han suddenly realised how much Luke had changed and how he missed the carefree boy he'd first known.

The guilty pair had done some anxious embracing, but embarrassment and the knowledge of Han able to walk in on them at any time, held them back. Caution had won and Han had been left wondering if he'd been imagining it all. Was he conjuring something up between the two Jedi because he desperately wanted his almost brother to find happiness? And Mara Jade could bring Luke happiness - of that Han was increasingly optimistic.

Chewie had rigged up a small surveillance system to use in the bar-room. He wanted someone to be able to discreetly monitor events. That Imperials were already in the area was without question - but how many? Han and Chewie had got through many a rough scrape over the years. Han wanted to go home to his family, so he wasn't leaving anything to chance.

Task number one was to locate any of the Imperial operatives in the vicinity. They too might have secreted a few hidden holocamms. Jedi had their uses after all. Luke and Mara could find and temporarily neutralise them while Alliance agents installed their own. When Fixer closed the bar tonight - that's when they'd do it.

He roused himself from his musings and stared at his surroundings with awe. Now this was the kind of place that brought joy to his heart.

"This is fantastic," he enthused. "This place… I could get a whole set of spare parts for the Falcon.

Luke hid a smile behind a brown-gloved hand and Fixer almost cracked a smile.

"If I see anything I need…"

Fixer nodded. "Yeah, sure."

"I'll pay," Han assured Fixer.

"I ain't running no charity place, You see what you want – I'll run you up a bill."

Luke held up a finger. "Ssh! They're here." A minuscule click could be heard over his comlink.

Fixer gaped stupidly his mouth dropping open.

"Close it up, barkeep," murmured Mara mockingly. She stretched out with the Force.

"Who is it, Mara?" asked Luke quietly.

"I can sense six identities. One of them is especially strong in the Force." She smiled smugly. "It's Corran."

"Good."

"If we have Corran, then we should have..." She closed her eyes reaching for that elusive presence. "Wedge." The Corellian couldn't use the Force but he registered a vital life-force sign. "Oh, and I've just caught Tycho's presence. But once I identified Corran the others were easier. This is nothing spectacular Master Skywalker, so don't get your hopes up."

"What about the others?" Han asked curiously.

Mara furrowed her brow in concentration. "Three of Page's men. They go by the working aliases of Zav, Rillit and Senno."

Luke moved to her side. "Well done," he congratulated softly.

The door slid ajar and the three Rogue Officers slipped through.

"This place... is..." murmured Tycho.

"Back in the dark ages?" queried Mara nastily.

"The word I was thinking about was 'incredible'. We just got caught up in a mini sandstorm."

"They happen all the time without warning," put in Luke. "The wind whips up as it travels across the Dune Sea and swirls into these little twists of gold." He winked at Mara. "Dangerous but beautiful."

"What do you think, Corran?" Tycho asked.

"He's an x-wing pilot. He doesn't think," shot back Mara. "Almost poetic farmboy. I didn't know you had it in you."

"I beg to differ Jade," he suggested in her mind. "This is my world."

Luke placed his hand across his heart and the other Rogues assumed tragic expressions.

Han raised his eyes to the ceiling in disbelief. "Oh, the ego of an x-wing pilot. Mara, you realise this lot'll sulk about this for ages and bring it up during inappropriate moments."

She snorted. "Hah!"

"Enough, Guys. We do have a mission to plan." Han tried to put a little command into his voice.

"Yes, General Solo, Sir," they chorused mock cheerfully.

Han turned his gaze in Fixer's direction. "Is it okay to talk here?" The mood turned serious.

Luke nodded. "Yeah, we can trust him. We have to. Fixer is an old friend of mine. He won't say anything. Will you?" He phrased it as a question, but there was an implied threat and the man could only nod dumbly. This wasn't the Luke Skywalker he'd grown up with. He had changed. Boy had he changed. This man was used to giving orders and having them obeyed without question. Fixer frowned slightly as the others all gave their undivided attention to the Jedi Knight, but a pleasant feeling lingered for a moment at being in such a position of trust. Luke took his eyes from his childhood companion and set bright blue eyes on Mara's slim figure. He leant casually against the wall, his off-white desert tunic contrasting with the shadowed interior, his gloved hand resting thoughtfully on his chin.

Wedge slid a data-pad across the desk to Mara. "It's a message from Karrde," he explained.

She read it swiftly. Karrde's in place as are Mazzic and Gillespee."

Han smiled grimly. "Excellent. I didn't know Karrde had the others involved."

"It's their livelihood as well, Solo," put in Mara. "Whoever is hitting these ships has to be stopped."

"Page's men should be there too. What about you, Luke?"

"I'm with Mara. She's the one recruited by you guys. I'm just a simple Jedi Master on sabbatical." Luke's decision had been made long ago. He'd told Han to keep quiet about his involvement but those going into the lair once used by Jabba the Hutt deserved to know of his presence.

Wedge hooted. "Believe that if you can. This guy has not rescued anyone or anything for at least three months. He's bound to want some action."

"Try a week or so," murmured Mara dryly. "He's been up to his old tricks again." She was getting used to Skywalker's 'save the galaxy' mentality.

Wedge directed his next comments to Fixer. "You know him from way back. Luke walks into an Imperial stronghold, rescues a rebel Princess, then destroys a battle station."

"Wedge," Luke broke in, a light flush staining his face.

"Then he...." You could really tell that Wedge was warming up to his theme. "...converts a Sith lord and rebuilds an ancient order and..."

"Cut the chatter, Red Two," Luke threw in. "I was in the wrong place at the right time."

"Same as always," grinned Han.

"So..." Wedge continued. "What was he really like?"

Fixer opened and shut his mouth helplessly. 'Wormie?' This was too much.

"Leave it, Wedge. This is Mara's mission. The Imperials should think I'm still on Coruscant or back on Yavin." But his gaze said that he doubted that. Luke frowned briefly. 'There were people in the New Republic he didn't exactly want knowing his current whereabouts, but Cracken knew he was here. He should have spoken to him.'  "I'm going as a personal favour to Mara. If I'm needed, of course I'll help. Will I be needed?"

Coruscant - Fixer had heard of it. Who hadn't? The galactic capital. He'd heard it was covered entirely by buildings and to someone from Tatooine that concept was strange, yet wonderful. If he ever were to travel Fixer would have liked to see Coruscant. But Yavin he'd never heard of.

He watched as the strange assortment of people crammed into his workshop planned some sort of infiltration mission as if it were an every day thing and a meeting of importance taking place in his bar was routine. They talked of other places and things he'd never heard of and didn't understand.

"Don't worry about it."

He almost missed the quietly spoken comment in his ear. Luke smiled wisely and retreated back to his corner. The woman - Jade - moved from her chair and walked around, her hands moving deftly in the air to illustrate some point or other. She was very beautiful, that one, not that his own wife Camie wasn't. But Mara Jade had class and Wormie - never took his eyes from her. Fixer lifted his shoulders. So that was the way the bantha tracked.

"Can you three neutralise any Imp holocams?" Han directed his question at the three Jedi. Corran, after a glance at Luke and Mara, nodded.

"Good. When the bar closes do it then. It has to be quick. We have to make it seem like a minor malfunction. Only seconds or they'll suspect."

"No problem," grinned Corran. Light green eyes shining. "I set these things up all the time when I worked in Corsec. I can dismantle them in an instant."

Fixer moved to help Arnek close the bar, but it wasn't an onerous task. Since the raid on the place, the locals had tended to leave early and make for their own homes where they felt safer.

Luke, Mara and Corran entered the now deserted bar. Dust and tiny sand particles hung in the air, mingled with smoke and the vanished presence of those just gone home. Closing their eyes they identified the cams, disabled them and restarted them. Han watched keenly. This was the heritage his children had been born to. Surely they would have an easier time than Luke or Mara. Even Corran had had it easier than these two. Jacen, Jaina and Anakin would follow their own destiny no matter what. But he hoped it wouldn't be as tragic as their mother's and uncle's had been.

The three Jedi had finished the task in a matter of seconds and with a quick nod in Corran's direction Mara headed outside. Luke followed her with his eyes then turned to Corran. "That's it for now. I'd better go. I don't want to be visible when you meet the Imperials. May the Force be with you."

Corran stiffened. His danger sense had begun to ring big alarm bells. "Where's Mara?"

"She's gone to start the speeder. We're getting out of here."

"Why?"

"We're tired? I don't know. Force hunch, I guess."

"Stormtroopers!" muttered Corran peering into a monitor.

"Here?" questioned Tycho. "You're kidding, Horn. It's a trap?"

Luke shut his eyes and sent a rapid message through the force to Mara. "Wait just round the corner. Have the engine running."

"Why? Ah! I see. I copy Master Skywalker. Just get out of there. Don't do anything foolish."

"Who me?" He felt her smile.

"Luke… it's a trap."

"No - it's not a trap. They're looking for me, not you." Luke stated firmly after a careful probe. "They don't know where I am, but have heard rumours to the effect that I might be around this system. So if one set of Imperials want to talk peace, the other set doesn't and wants me out of the way. Nothing unusual about that." He cast his mind back when he'd become a sort of tug-of-war between his father and the head of the criminal organisation Black Sun.

"I did suggest to Mara a few minutes ago we should leave, but I didn't realise it might have to be quite so precipitous."

"But you can't go outside. They'll recognise you." Said Arnek worriedly.

"I'll go out the back way. Just be polite and answer any questions they ask. It'll be fine."

Fixer grimaced sourly. His barman had obviously swallowed everything Luke had said. But who was he to judge? Luke had helped them and all these people seemed to look towards him and respect him. Even the woman - Jade, sarcastic and impatient as she was, always checked with Luke first.

"It's not a problem." He stretched out with the Force. "Well done, Corran. Your skills are improving. What brought this on?"

Corran shrugged "I decided to fully accept the talent I was born with. If I didn't, I would be betraying everything my father held dear. Then there's Valin. I want to be able to guide him and any other children Mirax and I may have." He pulled a small cube from his pocket, touched a panel on it and held out his hand. Valin Horn's serious little face peeked out at the world.

Luke stared at the picture, a lump in his throat. 'Children'. Would his son live in a safe galaxy? He shook himself back to reality. He had no son and wasn't likely to have one either."He's grown, Corran. Is he...?"

"We suspect so but, like you suggested, we're not doing anything about it. Just bringing him up the best way we can and stopping Booster from having too much influence."

Tycho smirked at the mention of Corran's strong-willed father-in-law.

"I'll get you to test him when he's older."

"It should be time enough," agreed Luke.

Mara waiting in the speeder felt Luke's change of feelings. She didn't know what had upset him, but she would tackle him about it later. She'd felt pain and longing and a sense of urgency.

"Luke," Han approached him and steered him to the back door. "I think you should think about getting out of here. Mara should have the speeder warmed up by now. We'll see you there. Goodness knows what we'll find. I'll send an encrypted summary of the meeting to Artoo."

"Thanks Han. We'll be fine if the Force wills it."

They gave each other a serious stare then Luke peered round the edge of the door. Sure enough, there was a squad of desert stormtroopers. He closed his eyes and from somewhere a quiet wind began to blow. It whipped his cloak about his shoulders and from no-where little puffs of sand began to rise into the air. The wind grew in intensity and the sand formed strange shapes and suddenly funnelled into spirals. For a moment the whirling specks obscured the dark shapes of Tosche Station's buildings. When the haze cleared the stormtroopers stood bewildered and Luke... He had gone – vanished into the whirling gold as if he had been one of the legendary spirits.

Corran shook his head disbelievingly. That freak storm had been conjured out of the air by a master.

The Commander of the trooper squad marched up to the building.

"We're closed," announced Arnek.

"Have you seen this man?" He showed Arnek a small holo.

"He seems familiar, but I don't know. Could be anybody. He's not a local. I would know him if he were. I'll call the boss. He might remember him. We've had a lot of people through here lately including some strange alien types, but they never stay."

The trooper grunted in agreement. He'd been posted here. It didn't mean he had to like it.

"Boss! You busy?" Arnek called to Fixer who had come through carrying some chipped glassware.

"'Course I'm busy. What do you take me for, old man?" Fixer watched from the corner of his eye as Han and the others slipped into the cellar. There was an underground passage there that ran for several miles.

"The Captain here wants to know if we've seen this guy."

Fixer gave the holo a cursory once over. "He looks kinda familiar, but I can't say I've seen him in here. No.... He could be anybody - he's got that average sort of look about him. Did Arnek tell you? We've had a lot of funny beings in here, but I serve them all. Business is business and I can't afford to turn anyone away. I'll be glad to open for you fellows if you want? On the house, of course."

The Captain regretfully declined. He knew they were on a wild goose chase. What the head of the Jedi Order would be doing in a worthless place like this was anyone's guess.

A room in a building just across the street.

Jarl Venner scratched his neck. That damn sand got everywhere. He would have thought he'd been used to it by now, but it still managed to get places he didn't believe it could. He and his men had been in Anchorhead since the location of this epoch making meeting had been finalised. He paced round the tiny office they were using for surveillance purposes. Why suggest such an out of the way place such as here? Some local knowledge must have been available - it was perfect for their purposes. He didn't think the Windriders were Alliance spies. He'd observed them before, but only as part of his usual duties. There were rumours to the effect that they'd known Luke Skywalker once, but he didn't know if that was fact or fiction. It was possible, but there had been no reports of the Jedi Master in a long time. He was usually to be found on an out of the way moon with all the other Jedi. If he was here, he was keeping quiet and well out of the way. But then again - a meeting in such an out of the way place made sense and it wasn't too far away from the source of their worries. He groaned inwardly. His worries mainly came in the shape of his immediate superior, the Imperial Prefect Eugene Talmont. Jedi would only add to that. He wasn't sure if he believed in the myth of the Jedi and the Force they served, but it was a big galaxy and these days there were men of sound judgement who swore they'd seen things.

He sighed again. He'd had to invent a heck of a lot of excuses these past few weeks just to keep Talmont off his back and he had the feeling the man might be on to him. Normally Talmont was as sharp as a Bothan spy and just as devious, secretive and self-absorbed. Add to that a healthy sense of suspicion and paranoia. Talmont was clever and manipulative. Why he'd been left in charge of Tatooine Venner had no clue, but one thing none of them had taken into consideration - the man was sick. He was wasting away from some disease in front of their eyes and Venner could tell he was getting desperate. Desperate men were dangerous.

His colleagues, Kapass and Leggin manned the viewscreens for any sight of anything unusual. But all they could see were a few run down buildings and in the bar the old man, Arnek, and his boss were clearing up and urging patrons to their feet. Venner didn't have strong feelings about Tatooine - he considered it part of his job. It may be a backwater planet but it was an important one and some people had forgotten that. If this planet was lost to the criminal elements in the galaxy other planets would surely follow and neither the Empire nor the Alliance could do a thing about it.

"Anything?" he asked.

"No, Sir," answered Leggin. "Although this place is a lot busier than it usually is. There's been a lot of coming and goings over the last few hours. But everyone going in has also left. The viewscreens flickered for an instant and cut out completely. The imperials stared in horror.

"Try and get the picture back - Now!" Venner ordered without letting the panic build up in his voice. But as suddenly as it had disappeared, the picture crackled to life again. It couldn't have been blank for more than a couple of seconds. But according to the tech in charge of the equipment, it had been doing that all day.

"Sir! Could you take a look at this?" Leggin asked quietly. "There are folks hanging round the doorway. Someone's just leaving.

"Hello...! This one came in with a friend." He pointed to a lone hooded figure leaving and moving to a speeder parked just outside. "I can't remember this one in the bar."

"What on Bastion.... Sir! Sir! I don't like the look of this." Kapass interrupted

Venner moved quickly to the monitor. A platoon of white armoured desert stormtroopers had just drawn up in a transport. The hooded figure in the speeder ducked behind the corner of the building. Venner knew that didn't mean anything. The locals were still hostile to the Empire. They considered them an occupation force. But what were stormtroopers doing here? The coming meeting was top secret. Ardiff had pressed on him that no one else in the Empire was to know of this - especially not the local Imperial Prefect. He was supposed to be under suspicion of working with the new crime lord. Venner closed his eyes briefly. The Imperial Prefect was working with the new crime lord. There was nothing supposed about it - only Venner didn't have enough proof.

'Damn'. Venner bit off the curse that rose to his lips. He moved to a communicator behind him where a red light flashed and flicked a switch. "Damn." The word escaped this time. Talmont must be monitoring closer than he'd thought and yet he'd been so careful.

"Janks to Venner. We have a problem." The disembodied voice came clearly over his comlink.

"I know. I can see it on the monitor. Can you tell me anything else?"

The monitors flickered again and Venner heard Kapass swear quietly. The wind picked up and blowing sand twisted and swirled obscuring everything from view. Even though desert stormtroopers were equipped to survive Tatooine's conditions, Venner could hear muffled grunts of annoyance as the troopers took shelter. Then, as suddenly as it had arrived, the strange wind died and the view across the street showed the run down buildings clearly. In the distance the lights of a speeder could be seen heading out into the desert.

"My audio monitor is picking up the occasional word, but it's not working properly. Too much sand. They're hunting..." The voice of Nils Janks rose in astonishment. "... Jedi!"

"There's no Jedi here. We would surely have heard something. Wouldn't we?" 'Talmont was on a completely different track, but one which had surfaced at the same place as the other one.'

Kapass gave his superior officer a direct stare. "I'm not sure, Sir. There's more of them than there used to be and we have no way of tracking them unless it's with someone gifted with the same magic powers." His lip curled disdainfully. "I personally don't believe all the hype, Sir."

"Believe It Kapass, believe it. This can only complicate matters. If we have Jedi here then...." He let his voice trail off, then briskly cleared his throat and reached for his comlink.

"Captain Ardiff. This is Major Venner. Sir, we have a problem."