Disclaimer: Me no own Star Wars

A/N: Hi! I'm back! Sorry this one took so long, I've been working on a HP fic, and kinda forgot to update **ducks thrown fruit** okay, okay, I deserve that, but - review? Please? You remind me of the need to update!

Chapter V: "He's in the Space Slug?!"

Starlines appeared, shortened, and fell into place as stars as the Rock Dragon fell out of hyperspace.

And was hurled into an asteroid field.

Tenel Ka reacted with Force-enhanced speed, Uldir a second behind. "Anakin!" he shouted as he and Tenel Ka fought to keep her ship from becoming debris. "What's going on?!!"

*Don't worry; you're in the right place. Set down on the really, really big asteroid to your left.*

"You want me to do what!?!" he demanded.

*Land on the asteroid, Uldir. Jacen's there.*

"He's on the asteroid?! You have got to be kidding me!"

*Uldir, would I really give you coordinates for the center of an asteroid field if Jacen wasn't in it?! LAND!*

"What is going on?" Tenel Ka demanded, using the Force to keep her spaceship intact.

"We have to land on an asteroid. The really, really big one, over there," Uldir nodded towards the multi-kilometer chunk of rock. "Somehow, that's where Jacen is."

*Try to land on the side with the big hole in it, the one made by a space slug. A really big space slug. That's actually where Jacen is; in the space slug.*

"HE'S IN THE SPACE SLUG?!!" Uldir jerked in surprise, moving one of the controls and causing the Rock Dragon to spin out of control. Zekk, Lowie and Sannah kept asteroids at bay while Uldir and Tenel Ka regained control.

"I take it we're heading for the hole the space slug bore in the asteroid?" Tenel Ka inquired when the Rock Dragon was under control again.

Uldir's voice was in shock when he replied. "Apparently."

*

"How can Jacen be down here?" Sannah asked as Tenel Ka and Lowie searched through the breathers for one that would fit her. "We're inside another animal, and if we're using breathers that means the atmosphere can't be enough to survive on."

Uldir cocked his head for a moment, listening to Anakin's response. "The atmosphere is just really thin. Not enough for any kind of long activity, but once Jacen was deep enough that the Vong wouldn't be able to find him, he dropped into a healing trance. It's keyed to wake him every fifty hours, or if someone says his name."

"Convenient."

"Ah hah. A breather for you, Sannah," Tenel Ka held the smaller breather by the elastic cord around the back. "And Uldir – or Anakin – is correct. Jacen is here. I can feel him."

Lowie spoke up in a series of growls, some of which Sannah understood. Tenel Ka's answer proved her mental translation correct.

"Yes, I can lead us to him."

"Um . . . Are you sure you don't want me to stay with Em Teedee on the ship, Tenel Ka?" Uldir asked. The miniature translation droid had refused to fly about the gullet of an animal.

"Yes. The Rock Dragon can take care of herself, as I mentioned before. We're wasting time," the Dathomirian woman answered curtly before heading down the ramp and into the moist atmosphere of the space slug digestion system.

"It's squishy!" Sannah squealed, mincing along just behind Zekk, who rolled his eyes.

"We're inside a space slug, Sannah, of course it's squishy!"

Lowie growled a question from behind Sannah. "Not much farther," Tenel Ka called back. As the train reached a turning point that led into the harsher intestinal section of digestion, Tenel Ka increased her pace and ran to a figure the others could hardly see, lying near one of the fleshy walls. The redhead knelt next to the emancipated Solo as the others caught up.

"Jacen."