Hello again.
I've decided to call the bunny Fred, we're moving in together next week. We are very happy.
I wasn't going to post this yet, but this story just kinda disappeared from the listings and I wanted to fix the glitch. I hope uploading a new chapter does it.
You see, now I don't have anything in reserve so you all are going to have to wait for me to write the next part before I can post it. Fred is giving me lots of information, but I haven't had time to write it down yet.
To all the fabulous, wonderful people who keep telling me how great my story is:
kayladie: Yes, I missed your review, but I am glad to hear you did see the update, with all the trouble I have been having with FF.N losing my story/chapters I wasn't sure anyone even knew I posted! I'm glad you liked the dream sequence, I was rather worried about it. Whenever I write something serious like that I worry that everyone is going to hate it. When Fred told me to write it I almost cried, but I did it anyway. So, glad you are enjoying it!
MistiWhitesun: I look forward to reading your every word. You always tell me waht I'm doing right, which I appreciate. As for sounding like you weren't interested, if you don't specifically say "this sucks" I am going to assume you want more! I'm glad my sense of humor appeals to someone out there, the nice people who sign my paychecks don't always appreciate it.
SeanWH: Hi there, I haven't heard from you before, so nice to meet you! Flatterer! My spelling and grammer suck because I have only barely been using spell check and I haven't been proofreading these, but thank you anyway! This story is all fluff, that is what I do best, I can never keep a plot going, I always forget what was going on somewhere in the middle of a food fight. The speeder scene is actually based on what happens just about every time my brother and I get together.
And I owe much kudos to Fred; the friendly plot bunny, he is very clever and he puts me back on track everytime I get lost in a speeder scene.
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A/N: Okay, this chapter needs some prefacing, just so you know. I put more Han in it cause Fred thought he was getting left out. This entire chapter ended up being set up for next chapter, I'm not sure how that happened, but it did.
Fred made me write the stuff with Barok. It turns out, Barok has a very interesting life story, I won't tell you what it is here, just in case it comes up again later (Fred won't tell me one way or the other) I don't want to ruin the surprise. If Barok doesn't make another appearance, I promis I will at least post a summary, if I don't post a whole story. So you know, Barok speaks a combination of Corellian, Huttese, and Basic. Everything in another language, is really another language. I didn't make it up, I spent hours of my time researching it. If you realy feel the need to know the translation, feel free to e-mail me or just review this story!
I don't know when they stopped making parts for the YT-1300 freighters. They started manufacturing them about thirty years before ANH, so it's not out of line to think they would stop making them post ROTJ. (can you tell I have way too much free time on my hands?)
I think that is about it, keep in mind, it will be a few more days before chapter 5 goes up so you have lots of time to post reviews!
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"Isn't Anyone Going to Say Anything?"
Chapter 4
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Mos Eisley is not on the list of top ten tourist sights in the galaxy. It doesn't even rate the top one thousand. There is absolutely nothing there worth going to see. In fact, unless you are currently living on the planet of Tatooine, there is absolutely no reason to go anywhere near Mos Eisley and even residents tend to avoid it if they can. The only reason for going to Mos Eisley is desperation. Unless your name is Han Solo, then you go to Mos Eisley any chance you get.
Quite a while ago, Han had discovered a used parts dealer whose main base was on the outskirts of Mos Eisley and, as he was already on Tatooine, he looked his buddy up. Some time ago the Correlian Engineering Corporation had stopped manufacturing replacement parts for their YT-1300 freighters. Between that and the fact that the Millennium Falcon now contained many parts that weren't strictly 'original', Han was having a terrible time finding the parts he needed to upgrade the Falcon's sub-light engines.
Barok's Rebuilds claimed to have 'any part for any ship you can land at the yard or the owner will buy you a drink.' So far, Han had never earned a single drink from the man.
Upon arriving in Mos Eisley, Beru had dropped Han off at the salvage yard and had taken Luke and Leia shopping with her at their request. Han approached the entrance the way he did everything else, arrogantly.
An aging human sat at the doorway to the fenced yard. The heavyset man was seated on a welded together pile of junk that strongly resembled a throne. When Han approached, the man turned sightless eyes in his direction.
"Chowbaso! No wega mi condorta?" The man called to Han.
"Hello Barok." Han replied respectfully.
"Han Solo! I'd know that walk anywhere." The blind salvage yard owner correctly identified. "What have you done to that beautiful ship of yours now?"
"Absolutely nothing! I'm just boosting her sub-lights. I got a list for you."
"Have you now?" Barok's voice was dripping with greed. The man has realized early on that he could charge a small fortune for his goods if he warrantied them. It didn't matter than only a tiny percentage of beings actually called in the warranty if the part was no good. Barok was now one of the richest beings in the sector. "Jeboe'i! Get in here boy!"
'Jeboe'i' had been working for Barok for as long as anyone could remember. The 'boy' was actually a three foot tall, slender, lavender colored humanoid. No one Han had ever met knew what species he was or where he had come from, but he was good natured. He also made the perfect assistant as he had the intelligence of a child and a mechanical genius that would rival any.
"Jeboe'i, the man has a list." The small alien peeked out from behind the wall timidly, then ran out eagerly when he recognized Han.
"Solo! Solo!" The alien cried in greeting. His high pitched voice slurred the words together in his excitement. "Wha'cha need Solo?"
Han handed him the list and the creature ran off. "I don't know where you found him, Barok, but you sure can pick 'em." Han told his old friend.
"I can pick'em? From what I hear you been pickin' some of your own." The blind man stared hard at Solo.
Han put on his best 'who me?' expression. "What in the galaxy are you talking about old man?"
Barok grinned. "Don't give me that innocent look. You'd be surprised what this blind man can see. I hear tell you found yourself a princess." The old man leered at Han.
"If you want her, your welcome to her! She's absolutely insufferable."
"Ah, the voice of love!" The old man said wisely.
"Is it that obvious?" Han asked, knowing Barok would 'see' it even if it wasn't.
The old man seemed startled for a moment. "My friend, your mellowing with age. Ten years ago you would have denied such a thing to the ends of the galaxy and back She must really be something special!"
"The most beautiful, insufferable, charming, loud mouthed, exquisite, opinionated woman I have ever met! And her family is strange."
Barok laughed loud and long. He laughed so hard he nearly fell out of his chair. "Ooh, Solo, bona nai kachu. You've got it bad! When are you going to pop the question?"
"What!" The thought had barely occurred to Han that such a thing might someday happen, he hadn't even decided to yet. Well, he hadn't yet admitted to himself that he had decided to.
"Ah, she's a princess with a strange family, better do it right! You know how royalty can be!" The old man was still laughing at him and Han wasn't sure he was happy about it.
"Who did you hear all this from, anyway?" Han wanted to know.
"It's all over about the Princess of Alderaan and her smuggler boyfriend! Even the holovids have caught on. Then I heard from a bounty hunter that a certain smuggler had been caught by Jabba, bad luck there my friend sorry to hear about it. A few months later Jabba is dead at the hands of who else? The Princess of Alderaan, with the assistance of a Jedi no less!"
Han hadn't heard the information laid out in quite that manner before, but even putting it that way it still didn't directly connect him to Leia. "That is still quite a jump, my friend."
Borak laughed at him again. "You are mellowing with age, but you are still as impatient as a youth, chumani. I heard about the Princess and the Jedi and I started thinking about the last time I heard of a Jedi being on this sorry excuse for a planet. About four years ago a Jedi left here with a blond kid, whose description bears a strange resemblance to that of the Jedi who was with the Princess now that I think of it. Whose ship did they leave on? Yours! Add all that to the pot, throw in some spice and you get just enough information to make an old smuggler think you know all and fess up!"
Han was dumbfounded. The old man was right. Han had just taken the bit of information the salvager had thrown at him and confirmed everything. Han felt like hitting his head against a wall. He did sag his shoulders in defeat and say, "I should quit the business and take up moisture farming."
"Don't take it too hard my friend. I am twice your age and you trust me. Under those circumstances I would have to be as dumb as Jeboe'i not to catch you out once in a while." The old man cocked his head to the side. "Speaking of, I think your parts are ready."
As if on cue, the tiny alien slipped out the door and whispered in Barok's ear. Barok's face was shocked. Jeboe'i whimpered slightly and the old man reached out and patted his head. "Don't fret little one, it's fine. I'm just surprised is all."
The yard owner stood and held out a hand to Han. "Congratulations old friend, it looks like I owe you a drink!"
Han groaned. "You were my last hope! Which part don't you have?"
"The 7200 toggle switch board." The old man said wryly.
Han looked at him in confusion. "But I can get one of those anywhere!"
"Anywhere but here, my friend. I only sell used parts, when I run out, I run out. You'll have to buy one new somewhere." Barok shrugged his shoulders at the smuggler who was still staring at the man in disbelief. "What can I say, I stand by my claims, lets go get that drink."
Han started to follow him but stopped when he saw a familiar speeder pulling up. "Sorry, I'm going to have to get that drink later, my ride is here."
"Ah, would that be the ride with the princess in it? Any chance I could meet her? I'd like to shake the hand of the woman whose got Han Solo turning down drinks!"
/
When the speeder pulled up Han saw that Luke was driving and Leia was riding passenger. Beru was nowhere to be seen. "What's up, kid?"
Luke stood on the drivers seat and jumped out. Leia watched him and then did the same. "Aunt Beru met up with some old friends and they decided to go out to lunch. She told us to come check on you."
Han walked over and took Leia's hand. "Hey kid, Princess, I'd like the two of you to meet an old friend of mine!" He led them to where the junk dealer was once again seated.
"Barok, I'd like you to meet some friends of mine. The kid is Luke and this is Leia."
The old man turned sightless eyes on the Princess and reached for the hand she had unconsciously extended. He bowed and gently kissed her fingers. "Ol'val. Cjaalysce'l milady and you are just as beautiful as they say."
Leia's royal upbringing and training took over. "You flatter me, olys guerlle."
"Any woman who can make Han Solo turn down a free drink deserves to be flattered."
The princess looked sharply at Solo. "I've never heard of such a thing either." She told the blind man while staring at Han. Luke just laughed behind his hand. He knew how long Han had had a crush on his sister and was greatly enjoying the show.
Han shrugged noncommittally. "I just said my ride was here. I don't want to have to walk back to the Falcon."
"Phaw! How far is the docking bay from here?" the junk dealer asked.
"Actually, I'm docked out at the kid's farm." Han said.
"Where's that?"
Luke spoke up, knowing he would give the most accurate placement. "It's the Lars Homestead, out by Anchorhead."
"Ahh, you're the Lars' boy. What's the name, Skywalker?" Luke nodded, caught himself, and said "Yes sir."
The old junk dealer tilted his head to the side and peered at Luke with sightless eyes. He sat back in his chair, still staring thoughtfully at Luke. The creature he called Jeboe'i slipped up onto the arm of his chair when he beckoned. Bakor started thoughtfully, "Check me here, Jeb, Didn't I know a kid called Skywalker about thirty-five years ago?" The little creature chattered at him in a language none of the party recognized, he nodded. "Yes, around that time. I remember hearing about a boy called... Ani, that's what they called him. He worked for a real junk dealer in Mos Espa. A real slimy character, that one. Had that boy fixin stuff up that shouldn't been able to be fixed then sold it for twice what it was worth. Don't suppose you know who I'm talking about? Not a real common name, Skywalker, even around here."
The friends were frozen in place. Han had no idea what to say so he wisely said nothing. Leia was trying not to appear too eager for the information since she wasn't ready to admit her relationship to the man. Luke spoke first, not sure what to say but not willing to let the old shopkeeper think he wasn't interested. "Anakin Skywalker was my father. I don't know much about him, he died before I was born." He winced even as the words came out, it was the standard answer he had heard and said all his life and he had grown to loathe those words. The phrase hurt even more, now that the knew the truth.
"Sorry to hear that son. I don't know much about him either. I met him once I think, he was just a lad then, of course. He was a little tow-headed boy, about seven or eight, the only one I ever met that could match Jeboe'i here in the mechanics department. The last I heard of him, he won a podrace and left the planet with some Jedi."
Luke looked at him suspiciously. "You must have a great memory if you can keep track of every little boy on the planet."
The old man laughed. "Son, I keep track of things that interest me. Just so happens, little Ani crossed several of my interests. I used to be a fan of podracing, I'm always looking for news about mechanical things, and I have always been a bit fascinated by Jedi. My memory would have to be very bad to not remember Ani's name!" The old man beckoned to Luke, who stepped forward sheepishly.
"Now, you remind me a lot of him except... you have a patience he didn't have. Little Ani was always about now, now, now." The old man took Luke's hand in his and traced the palm with callused fingers. He looked suddenly at the small blue alien, who was cooing softly, then back to Luke. "Have you met Jeboe'i, Luke Skywalker?"
Luke shook his head again and said, "No Sir."
"Why don't you do that while I make delivery arrangements with your friends here, then maybe I'll take you all out for a drink."
Luke nodded obediently, much to the surprise of Leia and Han, and followed the small creature into the yard. Barok turned to Han and Leia. "I think they will get along nicely. Now, Han my friend, when did you get mixed up in such unusual company?"
Han shrugged. "I decided to get respectable. I took a nice easy charter, overcharged them just like your supposed to then..."
Barok laughed. Leia was still worried a bit about Luke but she thought she would know if he were in trouble. She reached out and could feel his calm presence. She decided that he must be okay and she turned her attention back to Han and his friend.
"I won't be able to get those parts delivered until day after tomorrow. You can pick them up this evening if you need them sooner..."
"No, day after tomorrow is fine. It will only take a few hours to install them. I don't know how long were staying, but I have the feeling that it will be longer than that." Han had a look on his face that Leia couldn't quite see. What ever it was, it made Barok laugh again.
"You know better than to take open ended charters, my friend."
Han rubbed the back of his neck and gave a lopsided grin. "Well," He said sheepishly, "It's not exactly a charter. I'm kinda doing this..." He trailed off.
"What's that son, I didn't hear that last part."
"I said I'm kinda doing this at cost."
Barok laughed again. Han glared at him and Leia caught on. Barok already knew the things he was asking, he just wanted to make Han say them and Han liked the man to much to refuse the game. Leia risked joining in. "Han volunteered the Falcon for this trip. I wanted to research some family history and Luke didn't want to come but when Han suggested he fly us..." Leia winked at the old man and somehow, she thought he saw it, because he winked back.
"Well I'll be! You did get respectable." The old man said, standing up. A moment later Luke came back out with a puzzled look on his face. The man spoke up before Luke had said a word. "Come on, I'll buy you all a drink."
They agreed and they moved the conversation to the cantina down the street. The bar was quiet and clean, impressive qualifications for this city, and Barok knew the owner. "Bar keep! A round for my friends here, on me." He called as they approached the bar. The man waved them to a table and headed over.
"What in the galaxies did you three do to make him buy not one, but three drinks?"
Barok, who was seated next to Han, slapped the smuggler on the back. "Han here discovered the one part I'm out of. The lady is the reason he turned down that drink, and the kid... Well lets just say I like the kid."
The Barkeeper/owner stared at Solo for a long moment before pulling out an extra chair and standing on it. "Hey listen up!" every head in the room turned toward him. "I want it to be known that the end of the universe as we know it is here. Believe it or not folks, Han Solo, captain of the Millennium Falcon, this day has turned down a free drink because of a woman."
The cantina erupted in cheers and catcalls. Han lowered his head to the table and stayed there, Leia blushed, and Luke was failing miserable at hiding his laughter. A humanoid in a mask came up to the bartender and held out a handful of coins. The cantina owner, still standing on the chair, took it without a word. He turned back to the table and said, "I'll tell you what, whatever he buys, I'll double it!"
"That's quite generous of you!" Barok said.
"Well," Said the barkeeper, climbing down off the chair, "Solo here just earned me a large sum of credits. That man over there, he said just this morning that he had never heard of any Correlian turning down a free drink, I said it happened now and then. He said that the universe would end first, I said wanna make a bet..." He hefted the coins.
Leia snickered, Luke had buried his head in his arms and was shaking with laughter and Han looked vaguely ill. Barok ordered a drink and encouraged the others to do the same before the Bar keep changed his mind. Han ordered his usual and Luke and Leia both chose drinks with no intoxicating effects. Neither wanted to upset Aunt Beru.
The group sat and chatted for over an hour, at which time Luke reminded them that they needed to go pick up Beru. Barok walked them back to their speeder.
"Han, old buddy, don't wait so long between shopping trips." The old man said.
"I wait as long as I can, I wouldn't be here now if the Princess wasn't picking up the tab."
Han opened the speeder door for Leia and said, "Since when do you speak Old Corellian anyway?"
"A princess must be able to return any formal greeting." Leia replied primly before ignoring the open door and jumping over the side of the speeder.
Luke took the opportunity to take Barok aside. "About Jeboe'i, did you know he's..."
Barok cut Luke off by patting the small of his back. More specifically, he touched the holster, Luke had hidden under his clothes, that held his lightsabre. "It'll be our little secret, Knight Skywalker." The old man said softly, giving Luke a push toward the speeder.
Luke got in a started the engine, pausing to take a long look at the retreating figure before he drove the speeder away. Leia leaned forward in her seat and asked, "What was that about, with Jeboe'i?"
"I'll tell you later."
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They picked up Beru in the shopping district. She was standing next to a large pile of packages. Luke jumped out and started loading the parcels while Beru asked if they had fun today. The gave her the abbreviated version of events and she laughed just as hard as Barok had.
"Oh you poor man!" She said, patting Solo's arm. "I'll make it up to you though, tonight I'm making a dessert that you will just love. You'll see."
They all piled into the speeder and headed back to the farm. They arrived to find Chewie and Owen playing holochess in the common room.
Owen was obviously winning and Chewie roared as he lost yet another piece. "Oh, quit complaining, your the one who left him wide open for attack." Owen told the Wookie.
Luke leaned over and whispered something in Chewie's ear. Chewie gave a wicked looking grin and leaned back in his chair. He looked at the board and pushed two buttons. The pieces shifted and Owen lost three pieces all at once, evening the board slightly.
Han, who still had his arms full of Beru's packages continued into the kitchen, puzzled over the move. Once they were out of earshot, Luke leaned in toward Han and Leia and whispered. "I reprogrammed the board. Uncle Owen apparently still hasn't figure it out, but every time you sacrifice a piece, the other person loses three. It's nice when your playing against him because he refuses to sacrifice his pieces."
Han shook his head and went back to watch the rest of the match. Beru shoed Luke and Leia out when they tried to help her unpack her groceries saying that she was perfectly capable and that they were on vacation and didn't need to work so hard thank you.
"I wish she'd felt that way when I was still living at home!" Luke said, walking away.
"So, what now?" Leia asked.
Luke thought for a moment then snapped his fingers and called toward the common room, "Uncle Owen, I don't suppose the skyhopper is still in the garage?"
"Sure, don't know what else to do with the thing. That model was outdated when we bought it and no one who might have wanted to buy it can figure out that jury-rigged mess you made where the controls are supposed to be."
"Leia and I are going flying then, we'll be back in a few hours." He said, dragging Leia out as quickly as possible.
In the garage, Luke walked straight to the tarp covered form at the back. He peeled off the dirty brown cover to reveal a dirty grey T-16 Skyhopper. He climbed onto the wing and popped the cockpit, stepping back a bit as stale air wafted out.
"I thought those things were only supposed to seat one?" She said skeptically.
"They are, I modified it. You see, Biggs and I used to go racing and half the time one of the planes would crash or break down before we got back, so we modified our planes so neither of us would have to sit alone in the desert while the other went for help."
She looked at the tiny cockpit skeptically. "An where, precisely, did you put an extra seat?"
Luke was checking some dials on the inside and his voice was a bit muffled. "I moved back the power cells and took out the back up life support. Skyhoppers can't go into vacuum and there isn't any place on this planet you can't breath the air so the primary life support is redundant, that back up is just a wast of space."
Leia raised an eyebrow and stayed silent while he chattered on. He jumped off the small plane and headed for a workbench. He found a diagnostic tool that Leia could barely identify and he climbed back into the cockpit. "I made enough space to put a full size, forward facing seat in. It even has emergency eject. I've never had to use it, so I can't guarantee it works, but it was practically new so it probably does." He climbed back out of the pilot's seat and jumped down. "You ready to go?"
Leia smiled at him and climbed in. The spare seat was positively spacious compared to what she had been expecting. Luke followed her and passed her a helmet. "I really never saw the point of these, any crash where they would help is going to be bad enough we probably won't survive anyway but the radio is built in so we won't be able to hear each other if we don't wear them.
Leia put hers on and adjusted the strap. Luke climbed in and did the same, then he said, "Testing one, two, three, four."
"Five, six, seven, eight." Leia responded almost habitually.
"Good, everything seems to be working, strap in, we're gone!" Luke said into the radio. Leia strapped in just in time to feel the light plane lift off the floor of the garage. Luke expertly flew the plane over the other equipment and out the open door.
Leia, who already knew he was a skilled pilot, was impressed. Even though he'd had only centimeters clearance, the Skyhopper hadn't even touched another thing on the way out. She called into the radio, "Nice flying. Am I going to get so see this famous canyon all you flyboy's love to talk about?"
"You want to see Beggars Canyon? You got it, don't say I didn't warn you though..."
"I trust you Luke." Leia said. She regretted it a few minutes later. Speeding across large expanses of bare sand was almost relaxing, spinning and weaving through rock formations with solid stone walls only millimeters from the sides of the plane was something else entirely.
Luke had started out calmly enough. They entered the maze-like system of caverns and passageways at a nice cruising speed. As the canyon walls started closing in, however, Luke pushed the light plane to higher and higher speeds. The brightly colored walls that Leia had found so captivating were now speeding by so fast she could no longer identify the colors, let alone the patterns.
The princess leaned forward as far as her restraints would allow and searched for the speedometer on Luke's heads-up display. She found it after a moment and was shocked that the numbers, though unbelievably high, weren't changing. Then she realized that the numbers weren't changing with their fluxuating speeds because they were going faster than the device was capable of measuring. She sat back and tugged at her harness in an attempt to tighten it.
Luke must have sensed her unease because he said into the radio, "You all right back there?"
Her voice quivered slightly when she said, "No. Luke, exactly how fast are we going?"
His reply did not set her mind at ease. "I don't know, The speedometer doesn't go this fast. That's okay, I think it's broken anyway."
"I would really like it if we didn't go this fast, please."
The radio crackled as he laughed. "I thought you trusted me? Hold on, we're going to thread the needle then I'll slow down."
Leia didn't like the sound of that, but she did trust him so she sat quietly and tried not to hold on to the seat too tightly. The cavern twisted and turned and Leia watched the upcoming obstacles. She was fine until they came up on a dead end. Well, not quite a dead end, there was a tiny opening in the far wall. She wasn't worried until she realized Luke intended to go through that opening. She almost cried out, then she realized she really did trust him and that he wouldn't risk hurting her.
When this hit her, she relaxed completely. Of course he knows what he's doing, what in the galaxy am I thinking? Leia sat back in her seat and enjoyed the rest of the trip. Luke felt her relax and pushed the speed a bit more, wanting to show off a bit. They slipped through the opening, which was more than adequate space for such a small plane, and sped around the outside of the rock formation.
Luke slowed the plane and landed it on the edge of one of the cliffs. He popped the canopy and climbed out, offering a hand to Leia once he was standing. He dropped his helmet on the wing F.O. the plane and walked across the top of the cliff for a few meters. HE turned and watched Leia climb down from the same wing.
She walked to the edge F.O. the cliff and looked down. They were several hundred meeters up. Turning back she could see Luke staring at her. "What?"
"It just occurred to me I didn't know if you were afraid of heights."
"I'm not."
"I can see that. Come on, I have something I want to show you." He walked swiftly toward a space near the center of the plateau. He paused and turned to her. "It's right here."
She stepped up next to him and looked down to where he was pointing She saw a narrow hole in the ground. "What's in there?"
"I'll show you." He took her hands and gently lowered her into the space. It was a tight fit, even for her small frame, but she squeezed through. Her feet were still dangling in the open air when he let go. She at first thought she must be falling a very long way, then realized he was using the Force to lower her slowly.
When her feet touched the ground he called to her, "Are you all right?"
"Yeah, I'm fine. It's kinda dark down here though."
He started to climb down himself and she lost even the meager light from the hole in the ceiling. In a moment the light returned and she heard her brother land hard on the stone. "We should have brought glowrods."
Luke grinned at her and pulled one from his pocket. He turned it on and pointed it around in the darkness. She could see it illuminate a worn path that had been cleared of stones. Luke began following this path. "Come on, there isn't much to trip on, but be careful not to hit your head."
"Where are we going?"
"You'll see." He said, enigmatically. The path they were following quickly turned into a tunnel. A tunnel with a very low ceiling. Luke stopped when he heard his sister cry out for the third time. He took her hand and raised it over her head. She felt her fingers touch the cool stone. "Trail your fingertips along the stone just in front of your face, then you'll know when the ceiling is lower."
She did as he said and was pleased that it worked. They walked for a few minutes more and Leia almost asked 'how long' when she abruptly lost contact with the stone above her head and promptly walked into Luke's back. "Wait here." He told her. "I'll be right back."
She watched his light bob around as he walked away from her. She saw it briefly illuminate several items that she couldn't immediately identify. He lingered for a moment over what appeared to be a stack of power cells. He pushed a few buttons and, when nothing happened, he kicked the stack. Leia was momentarily blinded by the lights, they came on so suddenly. She looked around when her vision cleared and said, "Wow!"
The cavern was huge. The bell shaped room was over two hundred meters high at it's arch. The space was easily large enough to land the Falcon in and someone had installed sufficient lights to illuminate the entire space. The equipment she had seen was indeed a stack of power cells. There was also a small generator and a control panel, presumably for the lights. Near the center of the room, Leia spotted some furniture and a largish cooling unit.
"What is this place?" She asked.
"Biggs and Fixer and I found it. The plateau is actually an extinct volcano, this room used to be filled with molten rock. We used to camp out in here. The only way to reach it is by air. The walls of the plateau are too steep to climb. We set up solar panels on the top but we kept them covered with dirt when we weren't using them so no one flying by would find them. I'm kinda surprised that the power cells are still good, Fixer must still come out here occasionally."
Luke wandered over to where the furniture was arranged and looked around. "Some is still coming out here, look, these holomags are recent and I know that chair wasn't here before."
Leia looked over the assorted stuff and asked, "How did you get all this stuff down here anyway?"
He chuckled, "Very carefully. We had to take some of the larger stuff apart to make it fit." Luke plopped down in one of the larger chairs, Leia followed suit.
Sensing that now was a good time, Leia turned to her brother and asked, "What was that about this morning, with Jeboe'i?"
Luke's face took on a far away look for a moment. "The creature is force sensitive, I think Barok is too."
"What do you mean?"
"Jeboe'i could tell I was a Jedi. When Barok started talking to me specifically, the creature noticed me too and started examining me through the force. He must have liked something about me, because he started telling Barok, telepathically, that I was 'the good kind' what ever that means. When we were leaving, I started to ask Barok if he knew and he stopped me from saying it. Then he called me Knight Skywalker and showed he knew it by pointing out my lightsabre."
"You brought that with you? I thought you left it behind, I didn't see it..."
"You weren't supposed to. I had it in a hidden holster. Mos Eisley is not a nice place and I didn't want to go weaponless, but it would have disturbed Aunt Beru and it definitely would have called attention to us."
Leia thought about this for a moment. "What does all that mean to us?"
Luke shrugged. "Probably nothing. I just thought it was interesting. You know a lot of this stuff is just as new to me as it is to you. Training in a swamp for a couple of months doesn't make a person an expert you know."
Her smile was encouraging. "I know. I forget sometimes, but I know." She paused a moment. "Luke? Do you think you could teach me some of this? I understand if you don't feel comfortable teaching anyone yet but..."
"Are you sure you want to. It won't be easy." He warned.
"I've been thinking about it for a while now. I know it won't be easy, and I can't guarantee that I will be good at it, but I feel I need to learn it. It just seems important somehow."
"I understand. Believe me, I know exactly what you mean." He stood up and offered her his hand. "Are you ready for your first lesson?"
"What, now?"
"Now. Come on." He picked up the glowrod and turned out the lights. The went back up the winding tunnel. Once at the top, he levitated her to the opening and she was able to climb out easily. He led her to the plane and handed her a helmet.
"In you go!" He said cheerfully. She looked at him suspiciously and started to climb into the passenger seat. "No you don't, your flying home." He told her.
"But I don't know how to fly one of these."
"You'll learn, it's easy."
"I have a bad feeling about this."
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Sorry to do that to y'all, but chapter 5 is coming, as soon as I get it written, that is. Fred is giving me some pointers, but the nice people who sign my paychecks are having me work ten hour shifts this weekend so I don't have much time...
Soon, I promise.