Spirit of the Shifting Sands

Disclaimer - The characters used in this story are owned by Lucasfilm I'm only borrowing them for a short while. Please understand I am making no money or Republic credits from this tale.

Chapter 13

Tatooine, B'Omarr Monastery

Talmont bent over and gave a hacking cough. "Damn this sith spawned planet." Every time he breathed the fine particles of sand travelled into his weakened lungs. He reached into the back of the speeder and pulled out his water bottle and slugged a mouthful of the life giving fluid. Up ahead the monastery could be seen, a darkened shape against the night sky. He shivered despite the warmth of the temperature. Time was running out and he'd things to do and people to see. Then there was the Twilek. But it was time to go. He hit the accelerator and gently moved towards the unwelcoming building that loomed above him.

***********************************************

Deserted Passage inside the Monastery

Luke frowned and glanced quickly around him. "Excuse me," he muttered and jumped to his feet. "I gotta go."

They followed his compact form as he vanished from view. Page looked startled and caught Karrde's enquiring expression.

"I don't know Karrde. He might just need the 'fresher."

Karrde stifled a quick laugh. "I doubt that, Page."

"Yeah, so do I but since he didn't enlighten us, I can only speculate."

"He'll let you know soon enough," Karrde asserted.

"Probably. I should go find out what he's up to."

"Leave it just now. We've got other things to think about."

"True - how many people have you in place here?"

Karrde smoothed his tangled beard thoughtfully. "Can I say that I have enough?" He bared his teeth in something resembling a smile. "Could I ask you the same question?"

Page gave the smuggler chief a wry look. "Touché."

Luke wandered casually down to the back entrance. The speeder he'd been working on lay in bits, the parts scattered like pieces of flotsam in the sand. The vehicle bay reminded him of the rebel alliance hangars he'd seen over the years. It was always busy but by all accounts the leader was expected back that evening and things would have to be humming, including this piece of junk he had taken to pieces and was attempting fairly successfully, in his own opinion, to rebuild. This baby would have an extra bit of zip and this could come in handy if they ever had to effect a quick getaway.

Luke nearly missed the small cowled figure standing at the mouth of a previously unseen corridor. It stepped from the shadows unnoticed in all the activity. Luke felt a tingling in his senses. "This is important," they whispered to him. "Important - Why?" he asked in turn but received no answer. 'Just watch.'

He edged closer trying to keep inconspicuous. It would do no good at all if he was caught and unmasked. 'Don't expect to make a speedy escape from this place a second time if you're caught, Skywalker', he thought to himself with grim humour.

"Hey! Melosh. You gonna stand there all day or are you gonna lube this speeder? Mind, it looks as if it needs more 'n that."

"I'm coming. Can't a man have a breather," he whined irritably.

A wiry tentacle wrapped itself around Luke's shoulder and began to tighten.

"Okay, okay. I'm on it. I'm on it," he grumbled.

But when the owner of the tentacle moved away, Luke didn't return to his work but cautiously peered above the broken vehicle. Closing his eyes he stretched out with the Force and caught the presence he sought, but then another drew his attention. It did not have the Force but was tinted with duplicity and a faint aura of darkness. This being stood alone in the crowd. A military posture, but with shoulders slightly bent. The figure's sense in the Force was flickering unsteadily. Luke knew that the Force drew strength to and from all living things but there was no doubt in the Jedi's mind that this human was failing and that he was aware of this. It accounted for his faint air of desperation.

Luke opened his eyes and inched as near the figure as he could without attracting any more attention than he had already. Tentacle-arms was stronger than he looked. His container of lubricant lay at his feet so picking it up the Jedi casually strolled even closer.

The man was wrapped in the all enveloping cloak favoured by all Tatooine's human dwellers and a large percentage of the alien population as protection from the hostile elements. As the figure straightened his bent shoulders Luke caught a glimpse of sharp grey eyes in a worn and sunken face. He knew that face - Luke searched his memory. The man's hood slipped a little more and with a silent gasp of surprise Luke saw the military haircut and a hint of Imperial grey at the collar. Was this man stupid or just desperate? Luke suddenly knew who the man was. It was the Imperial Prefect Eugene Talmont, but this wasn't the man Luke remembered from holovids when he was a child, nor from any of the Imperial files he'd accessed over the years anxious for any news from home. That man had been fit and vital, with cruel energy snapping from his wiry fame. How he had changed. His face was grey, his cheeks sunken in. Talmont was ill, probably dying. Already his presence in the Force was diminishing.

He was about to step forward when he saw the overseer of the maintenance facility face his direction and wave a macrofuser in what could only be described as a threatening manner. Luke ducked and began to work on the speeder but stopped again when the small B'Omarr bowed ceremoniously to the hooded Prefect. Talmont inclined his head in return and turned to walk down the passageway. As he did so the small monk seemed to look directly at the Jedi Master before ushering the head of the Imperial troops on Tatooine from sight.

'Sithspawn!' Luke's heart slammed up into the roof of his mouth. The small monk had appeared to stare straight in his direction as if he'd known Luke was there – watching.

Luke knew he had to follow them but just as he started to do so the tentacle wriggled its way firmly round his shoulders and clutched him fast by the upper arm. "Melosh, I've covered far too many times for you today. Anymore skiving and you'll be sand on the floor. Understand?"

Luke forced irritation into his voice, which wasn't hard to do. "Yeah, yeah I heard you. The whole galaxy heard you. I done my share today. Bantha spit - I ain't gonna work myself to death. The pay here ain't worth it."

"No danger of that. You listen here, you worthless piece of sand scum. You better put more effort into what you're doing or you won't be working yourself to your death because that's exactly what you'll be. Get my meaning?"

Luke hunched his shoulders and remembered how Han had faced up to authority mixed with a moan from his younger and more naïve self. "You tryin' to be funny? I been in more situations than you got wriggly things coming out of yer shoulders." He squinted past the many tentacled alien (it wasn't a species he was familiar with) and watched as the Imperial Prefect disappeared from view.

Luke had a really bad feeling about something.

It was to be the last time Talmont was seen alive. Luke could have used the Force and the alien would have let him follow the Prefect, without question, but it was important to Luke that he did this on his own. Perhaps this was an instance of the Force using the alien to prevent Luke from following. Who was he to second-guess a mystical power?

With a toss of his head Luke settled back to the speeder and finally was left alone. "Mara!" he sent softly. "You busy just now?"

"Course I am, farmboy. The Lord and Master is arriving from goodness knows where this very night and I am sweating my way into dancing with a precision you've never seen."

"Grace and beauty combined as always." Luke let a little emotion colour his words.

"Cut that out, Skywalker! I take it there's been a development."

"I think so."

"Okay, I'll be with you as soon as I can. Where are you?"

"Vehicle maintenance bay three - speeder area. Near the back."

"Got you."

"If you spot Page - bring him with you."

"Will do. Oh and Luke..."

"Yeah!"

"Don't do anything stupid."

"Who me?"

"Just be careful."

Mara settled into the back row of the dancers, as she didn't want to get too conspicuous and draw attention to herself. A little use of the Force now and again would ensure that it would remain that way. Luke hadn't been allowed into the upper audience chamber. Being very low in the hierarchy of the speeder maintenance crew had that effect. But over the past few days as Mara had rehearsed with the others, she knew there was something eerily familiar about the whole set up.

"All right. Take a break."

The troupe director's voice cut into her thoughts. Mara jogged over to the refresher station and grabbed a container of water. Nothing was too good for Jabba's dancers she decided, then froze as she realised what she'd been thinking. 'Jabba's dancers', she repeated silently. With a slight sense of shock Mara realised that the routine she had been learning over the past week was familiar. She took stock of the situation and wandered over to where a tall humanoid male was directing a team of decorators.

'I wonder if I could see his plans,'

"Hi," she murmured throatily. "My name is Arica - I'm one of the dancers here. I've never seen you before."

The humanoid gave her an appreciative once over and Mara refrained from doing him grievous bodily harm and enjoying it.

"Tannik Deck'ho."

"So pleased to meet you. You're in charge of the decorations. You must be so clever," she cooed, hating herself. The fluff piece persona was one thing she really disliked, but it worked every time. She was lucky that Luke didn't think like this piece of Bantha crap. He'd be one dead Jedi Master if he did. One frustrated, dead Jedi Master as she wouldn't have been sharing a bed with him either.

The decorator preened and issued several orders to his team of willing workers. They were obviously being well paid for their duties.

A small platform had been erected for the band. Right alongside where Jabba's rancor grille had been. The throne area - Mara could think of it as nothing else, was exactly in the same position Jabba's had been in. So Karrde was right. 'I don't like this,' she thought to herself.

"This is so-o original," she simpered. 'Sith, I'm going to be sick if I keep this up.'

"Original!" The decorator intoned. "It may well be, but I'm working from highly detailed blueprints. The Lord was most insistent that things be done this way. He designed it himself." He looked a little sulky for a moment. "I wanted the colour schemes to be much bolder, but I'm being paid extremely well to do it this way."

Mara batted her eyelashes. "Could I get a teeny peek? I promise not to tell anyone."

"I don't know..." He sounded doubtful.

"You will give me a look at those plans." She waved her hand in a circular motion.

"I will give you a look at the plans," he repeated trancelike.

The layout of the audience chamber was an exact copy of how it had been all those years ago. Even down to the drawings of the characters who would inhabit this picture. However in Jabba's place was a Twilek, but not Firith Olan. The Twilek in the picture was one she recognised from a long time ago. Mara nearly dropped the decorators large data pad but something caught her eye. There was a signature at the bottom of the drawing and her eyes widened in shock. Time stood still as Mara Jade tried to assimilate what she had learned and what she now suspected was true. But it couldn't possibly be true – could it?"

**********************************

Imperial HQ, Bestine Township - Early next morning

Venner cursed as he sent a priority signal to Vash Ardiff. Forget about security, forget about secrecy - it was probably too late. He slammed his hand down on the desktop and watched as a fine mist of sand lifted into the air. Snarling with frustration Venner leapt to his feet and paced back and fore as he waited for some response to his signal. He had tried contacting the Prefect, but he had received no reply - only static.

All he had to go on was cryptic notes jotted down on the data pad - and a report on the practices of the B'Omarr. What Venner was seeing wasn't something he wanted to even contemplate. But was Talmont contemplating it? It was not a comforting thought.

'Sithspit!' he swore inwardly. "Damn it, Ardiff, contact me."

Should he have followed the Prefect? At first it was his immediate instinct, but he'd arranged to meet his friends in Anchorhead and decided that he needed to see what they thought, without divulging too much. They were subordinate officers after all and didn't need to know everything. After all, the Prefect was a grown man and would surely return to base after a couple of hours. That's what usually happened.

He'd downloaded the info on Talmont's data pad and perused it on the journey there. What he'd read had made him cancel the meeting and return immediately to base. He'd tried in vain to contact the Prefect but after six hours of nothing he knew he had to contact Captain Ardiff.

The com-line crackled and the signal formed on the screen. It was time they had decent holo-imagers but Talmont had never seen the need. Ardiff's intelligent face appeared, slightly sleepy, but parade ground neat.

"Yes, Major." There was no comment about the inconvenient time of his call, just the acceptance that it was something important.

"It's the prefect, Sir. He's gone!"

"Gone," he echoed. "Gone where?"

He took a deep breath. "I think he's gone to the B'Omarr Monastery."

"What!"

"I've been tracking most of his incoming messages, but he's been quiet over the past few days and very weak. It's just... the things that he's been investigating were on his pad and it's to do with the B'Omarr."

"So you think..."

"That he's gone..."

"To see the Twilek," finished Ardiff with a groan.

"I presume so, Sir. But I'm not sure. And, Sir…"

"Did he still have sandfly in his hat over Jedi on Tatooine?" Ardiff asked casually.

"You could say that. He was most insistent on it. Even though the evidence is sketchy to say the least. But he's right - there are Jedi on Tatooine."

"I know. Blast those rebels."

"They're not rebels now. It's the New Republic - remember."

"Yes, I remember. I'll have to tell Admiral Pellaeon - he's also convinced there are Jedi on Tatooine." Ardiff brought his steady regard on Venner. "How do you know there are Jedi on Tatooine?"

"There was a raid on the power station at Anchorhead by some of the Twilek's heavies. The station owner, his wife and an old man fought them off with the help of two strangers with glowing swords. Deaths and injuries were in line with lightsaber marks. The wounds were..."

"Yes, I know what they look like."

Ardiff turned his head as a signal sounded behind him.

"I hope you're ready to talk to the Admiral again, Jarl. He is grateful for soldiers such as yourself who put reason and intellect before greed."

Venner gulped. That was twice he'd actually talked to the great man.

Admiral Pellaeon's face appeared on the vid-screen, tired and lined, but with his character shining in the marks time and experience had placed there.

"What I have to say to you is strictly confidential."

"I understand, Sir."

"The Empire as it once was is finished. The Emperor is dead. Thrawn is dead and I cannot.…" He stopped and dared Venner to open his mouth to argue. But Venner was a junior officer and knew the Admiral was right.

"We need to establish our boundaries and secure our forces. We have done enough fighting - our people are tired of war. But if we are to have an equal stab at a treaty we must be able to look the New Republic in the face, with pride. Tatooine is important in that respect. What was once an outer rim backwater is now in the neutral zone of our proposals. "

Venner widened his eyes as some of what the Admiral was saying filtered in to his numbed brain. "What kind of a treaty? You're really considering what I think you're considering?"

Ardiff grinned briefly at Pellaeon. "I told you he actually thought about what went on in the galaxy, Sir."

Pellaeon didn't smile. "Tatooine is important because it could be a transitional world between Imperial and New Republic territory. It has the nexus for the hyperspace routes and Mos Eisley is a big enough spaceport to provide trade. The facilities are all in place here, but with the Twilek running the show I cannot see it happening. He does not want to see peace because while it might mean prosperity for the New Republic and us, it will be a threat against his plans. These types of individuals feed on people's misery. Our people have faced enough of that misery - we cannot be drawn into another conflict we cannot afford."

"Permission to speak freely, Sir?" Venner asked respectfully and the Admiral nodded. "Tatooine has this amazing significance as a place for the rebels, I mean the New Republic, as we know. They don't want to lose it to another organisation like Black Sun or some megalomaniac like Zsinj."

"We can't afford another fight - period!" said Ardiff. "We need to hold Tatooine to have an equal chance round a negotiating table if we were ever to hope for..."

"For what, Sir?" asked Venner as he sensed the emotions coming from Ardiff and Pellaeon.

"Peace," answered Pellaeon softly.

Venner hardly dared blink; he was so caught up in the sheer impossibility of such a thing. But suddenly it seemed so clear and so right. Prefect Talmont and Firith Olan didn't want peace. The ordinary citizen on numerous worlds just wanted better lives for their families because they were the ones who suffered in these conflicts.

"What about the Jedi?"

"What about them?" Pellaeon sighed wearily. "They want peace too. They are supposed to be an order dedicated to peace and justice in the galaxy. But there has been little enough peace and justice lately for them to defend."

"They are on the planet."

"Yes - at least two of them are. If we're right and the reports you saw were accurate. Luke Skywalker is on Tatooine along with a woman known as Mara Jade. She has used other names over the years but that is how she's known in Imperial and now New Republic circles."

Venner shivered. The name meant nothing to him, but sounded mysterious and exciting. "Sir, Luke Skywalker was in the Lucky Despot Casino and talked to Solo.

Ardiff gave Pellaeon a sideways glance. "How do you know?"

Venner held up a holodisc. "May I?"

"Of course, transfer it over." Pellaeon said.

Venner nodded.l "This is a copy of the holodisc I sent you earlier. Notice the bearded human in the hat. That's Skywalker."

"Well I'll be a…" Ardiff exclaimed.

"Gorez Melosh," Pellaeon said as everything clicked into place. "And now I would definitely guess that the woman among the dance troupe was Mara Jade. I suspected she was with him but…"

"Who is she?" Venner asked.

"Mara Jade is one of the brightest and most beautiful women I've ever met and one of the most deadly. She worked specifically for the Emperor himself."

"So she's one of us. Maybe she could..."

"Was one of us. She was his Hand, his personal servant who went all over the galaxy carrying out his orders. When he died she had nothing and very few knew of her existence. We thought she was dead, but eventually she hooked up with the rebels. She's force strong, but I'm not sure if she was ever fully trained. The Emperor undertook most of her previous training personally."

"It was said that she could contact him anywhere at any time without the use of a holonet. She could hear him in her mind," broke in Ardiff.

"We suspect she has been training with Skywalker although we have no actual proof. She hasn't been seen on Yavin in a long time. Nor in Skywalker's company recently."

"They don't always get on apparently," murmured Ardiff. "Reputedly she's a very strong character."

"Mara Jade disappeared at about the same time the Jedi Master did."

"Disappeared!" exclaimed Venner quietly.

"Relax," reassured Ardiff. "There hasn't been any worry in NR circles about Skywalker's disappearance or Jade's. Some interest - yes, but not much in the way of actual worry."

"So someone knows where they are," mused Venner. "I suppose we do," he said in surprise.

Pellaeon smiled slightly. "And if we do..." he let his words trail out slowly, "…the NR Intel people will too."

"We can't let the Twilek or the Prefect get to the Jedi. We need their particular skills in the galaxy as much as the New Republic does," offered Ardiff thoughtfully.

"Even though Skywalker is reputed to be the destroyer of the first Death Star and a Rebel Alliance leader?"

"By all accounts Skywalker is a just and honourable man, if a little serious and intense. I still remember a time when things were different, but I was a young man then. Skywalker is not the monster you think he is. He's just a man."

"Yes, but when you read the dossier there is about him, he must be a truly remarkable one."

"That he is. Our generation is full of such people on both sides and there will be more in the future. I hope."

Ardiff glanced at his chrono. "Time is moving on. It would be wise to establish the Prefect's exact whereabouts before morning."

"I agree. Major Venner, can you transfer the data the Prefect had on his data pad?"

Venner nodded. "Yes, Sir."

"Then I suggest you get yourself and your back up crew as near the monastery as possible. The strike force should not have been required until three days hence. We'll have to call forward the attack. And hopefully before then we'll manage to contact Skywalker."

Venner's jaw dropped as he lost his air of military aloofness. "Attack!" and then he registered the second part of the sentence. "Contact Skywalker?"

"Of course," the admiral said.

"You've spoken to him before?"

Pellaeon allowed himself a small smile. "Oh, yes. Many times."

****************************************

Tosche Power Station, Anchorhead

Wedge stopped the speeder and turned a level brown stare on his passengers. "You know we've gone and done it now. We could be court-martialled."

"I'll see to it you're not, Wedge." Leia returned evenly, the famed Organa calm fully evident. Corran tried to gauge her sense but could get nothing. 'Her control is good, but then I should have expected that.'

Leia moved the veil over her face to keep out the sand and surveyed the ramshackle cluster of buildings on the edge of the town. But that was too ambitious a term for this part of Anchorhead. It was just a few sun bleached stone shapes half buried in the desert.

"I don't think I've ever been here before and I've been to quite a few 'places' in my time," she murmured. "It's not exactly the centre of the universe is it? It reminds me of Luke's descriptions of the place he grew up. 'If there's a bright centre to the universe, you're on the planet that it's farthest from.'" She jumped from the speeder and waited impatiently for the three Rogues. "Wait, did you say we were going to Anchorhead?"

The Rogues gave the affirmative.

"Why have we stopped?" Leia demanded.

"We've stopped because this is Anchorhead." Wedge said softly. "Or to be accurate the outskirts of it."

 "So we are where Luke grew up. I've been to Tatooine before, but not to Anchorhead. He always wanted to avoid coming here for some reason."

Tycho grinned, his teeth white against his unnaturally tanned face. "Well - this is it."

"It's not much of a place - is it, Princess?"

"That depends on what you're looking for," answered Leia who was stretching out with the Force trying to locate her brother's reassuring presence. There was nothing.

"Luke had friends here, you know."

"Yes I remember him talking about them - Fixer and Camie."

"They are still here. He wanted to protect them, not risk their lives by consorting with a known rebel."

"Sounds like my brother."

"Come on," urged Corran. "I'm thirsty and could do with something to eat." He strode briskly towards the stone structure and banged on the durasteel door.

"We're closed!" the voice bellowed.

"Come on, Arnek. It's Corran Horn with Tycho and Wedge Antilles. Luke's friends."

There was a muffled grunt and the grizzled face of the old barman peered round the door as it slid aside. Corran also noted the muzzle of the powerful blast rifle.

Wedge pulled down his hood and pulled off protective goggles and smiled at Arnek. "We've brought a friend and she needs to rest."

"She?"

"Yes."

Leia felt Tycho clap a warning hand on her shoulder and wisely said nothing for the moment.

"She's travelled a long way and needs sustenance, then a wash and a rest."

Leia opened her mouth, but when she saw the expression on the faces of her companions she nodded gracefully.

"I am tired, thank you."

"I'm Arnek," the old man offered, peering at her partially veiled face.

"I'm..." she hesitated, but only for an instant. "Leia."

A woman with tired eyes smiled. "Come with me, Leia. I'll show you where you can rest. I'm Camie."

Leia looked at the woman curiosity in her countenance. "I've heard of you. Luke spoke about you a few times but he never says very much."

Camie tried to peer through the protective veil to the woman beneath. 'This was another friend of Luke's?' She smiled wistfully. "He used to at one time. In fact he never shut up. Luke Skywalker was one big noise when he got let out by his uncle, which wasn't often. It's strange seeing him again after all these years"

Leia was shown to a small room and Camie left her for an instant. Leia pulled off the veil and hood and gazed with interest at her surroundings. The place was small and pin-neat. A tap at the door returned Camie with a small covered tray.

"Oh!" she exclaimed as recognition set in.

"What is it?"

"You're Luke's sister. We never knew he had a sister."

"Neither did he until he left Tatooine, but we're close now. Have you seen him?"

"Not for a couple of weeks. He was with Mara Jade."

"I know." Then her face paled and Camie could have sworn she saw the calm façade slip. "I don't suppose my husband has been around recently?"

'Husband!' "Oh, you mean General Solo. He was here only two days ago, but he was ordered to leave, I don't know more than that. They said it was best we didn't know too much. I mean, we could get into trouble. So they decided..." She stopped nervously. 'Was this woman really a Princess?'

"It's okay, I understand. They were quite right to try and keep you out of this. We're unsure what's really happening."

"Cruelty, hardship and murder. Honest people trying to go about their ordinary lives on this planet but who are being kept from succeeding by power games and greed for wealth." Camie's voice was low and bitter. Leia had to strain to hear what she said.

"I'm sorry. I do understand - you may think I don't, but I do."

"How could you? You're a Princess and a leader in this New Republic they all keep talking about. How could you understand about scraping an existence and then having it slowly taken from you bit by bit until you have nothing? You worry that you may not have enough food to feed your children, that the man you love and depend on has lost his will and his self-respect. How could you know?"

Leia stretched out a hand, compassion evident in her dark eyes. "I do understand. I saw horrors being perpetrated on the innocents of many worlds in the name of Imperial order and I couldn't do enough to save them all. I watched my whole world disappear in front of my eyes. I lived my life on the run for ten years. I moved from base to base to keep from being arrested and executed by the Empire. Sometimes I worried about having enough food or another place to run to - whether the people I loved would still be alive after the next mission."

"Luke too?"

Leia's eyes grew sad. "Yes - Luke too. He flew in combat as a pilot for the rebellion. He had lost his family, his best friend and his mentor, yet he never lost sight of where he wanted to go. But often I didn't know where he and Han were for months at a time. We all had a price on our heads. Myself, my brother and the man I loved - sometimes I didn't even know if they were alive. "

"I'm sorry. Sometimes our troubles rise up and overwhelm me. Fixer doesn't know how to reassure me."

"Perhaps because he can't. Perhaps the only way he can deal with problems is to push them as far from his mind as possible. People deal with their problems in different ways. Han retreats to his beloved ship and tears it apart before rebuilding it. Luke shuts himself off so that he won't worry us. I throw myself into my work and my family have to cope with a mother and a wife who isn't there for them." Leia's voice slowed as her own words suddenly rang loud and clear. Force, she'd never thought about it quite like that before. She knew she had to make many sacrifices but she hadn't quite comprehended how much her family had suffered because of them.

Camie picked up the pot of caf and filled an earthenware mug. "What's happening?"

"Luke's in danger as usual," Leia admitted. "He wasn't supposed to be involved in this affair. He's supposed to be on Yavin teaching his Jedi trainees or on Coruscant advising the Senate. Not in the middle of conflicts that could get him killed."

Camie gave a mirthless chuckle. "Keeping out of things, staying safe? That doesn't sound like the boy I remember." Her eyes misted over as she recalled Luke from long before Leia had known him. "He was ... sweet, impulsive, young."

"Reckless?" asked his sister dryly.

Camie's eyes met Leia's. "Yeah, I guess so." She remembered banged heads and crashed skyhoppers.

"Luke will always rush headlong into trouble. I have to be there to get him out."

Camie sighed and sat on the edge of the bed. "Look, princess," she offered in a way that was oddly reminiscent of Luke when they'd first met. "I don't have the education you have. I'm not even particularly bright, but it strikes me that you're treating Luke like a child. He makes his own decisions. If he gets himself into trouble let him get out of it. You said you sometimes couldn't be there for your family. Luke wouldn't want that. Remember he lost his, he wouldn't want the same to happen to you"

"Camie!" the irate voice bellowed. "Camie! We got company."

"Stay here." Camie hissed and gave Leia a grim look.

"No! I'm coming too. I'm not sitting here if there's trouble."

"Now I know you're Wormie's sister."

"Thanks - I think."

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