The Emerald Price Chapter 4

By Ash Darklighter

Disclaimer: - The characters and situations used in this story are the property of George Lucas and Lucasfilm Ltd. I am only using them for some entertainment and will not even make one Republican credit from this endeavour. This is set around eight to ten years after Luke and Mara met each other for the first time. This one is for all the girls on the AA list.

Spaceport, Elrood

Luke fidgeted in the co-pilot's seat as the large green and blue planet swathed in greyish clouds grew closer. Ahead and to his right, he could see its two grey moons, Sharene and Lodos. "We're not carrying anything weird, are we Han?"

"What do you mean 'weird'?"

Luke gazed around the cockpit, his searching blue gaze seeking anything that might not be strictly legal. "Hardware which might only belong to a New Republic General and not an 'independent operator' in a beat up starship?"

"My starship is not 'beat up'," Han roared and then widened hazel eyes exclaiming theatrically, "Now you tell me that we're undercover."

"I told you that before," Luke said with a mock groan.

"Just checking," the Corellian said, a grin threatening on his face. "Stuffed them in the sealed compartments while you were sleeping, kid.  You know this baby has been upgraded to my own special requirements." Han waggled his eyebrows.

"Han, it's a joke."

"It had better be. Unfortunately the authorities here are sticklers for regulations. Worse than the Imperials. Don't worry, the Falcon will hold up to inspection. They'll probably fumigate her too. unless you persuade them otherwise."

"Fumigate!" Luke's voice rose.

Han's gave his friend a calculating sideways glance. "I can't hide all the Falcon's modifications. It could mean an extra few days and we'll have to pay a fine."

"You know I don't like doing this, Han."

"Maybe you don't but the longer they delay us here, the longer it will take to find Mara and you told me that we don't have the time."

Luke exhaled a noisy breath. "Okay," he mumbled reluctantly. "But it feels wrong. It's just that influencing minds is a little too near the dark side for my liking." He hunched his shoulders. "I've been there once before and that's once too often."

"If you lose Mara that will be the least of our worries," Han mouthed under his breath and ignored the sharp look that the Jedi Master sent his way.

"This is the Red Krayt," Han intoned flicking a switch to secure the Elrood Starport Command frequencies. "Requesting permission to land at Elrooden Starport."

"We need your details. transponder codes."

"Here goes," he muttered and sent the information to the officials waiting on the planet below. "This code worked the last time I was here."

"But how long ago was that?" Luke queried, a hint of impatience in his voice.

Han's face grew serious. "When I was a lesser man - just a second-rate scoundrel."

"You were never second-rate, Han."

"Before you and I met, before Leia and before the Death Stars. before Endor."

"Remember the shuttle Tyderium?" Luke asked softly.

"We had to wait for an age before they cleared us."

"Vader knew I was there. They knew we were coming. That's why we had to wait."

But unlike Endor, no one knew who they were and why they were visiting Elrood. Things moved far swifter and the far away voice announced, "Permission granted. Entry and landing vector set. Do not digress from this path. Docking bay 77."

"Entry vector set. Over."

"Noted."

"Let's hope whoever was shooting at us from above doesn't have friends below," Luke commented as the planet began to grow large in the viewport.

"Unlikely. But you have your saber handy?"

"Always." Luke sighed. "I can't imagine my life without it." He paused in the entrance to the cockpit. "I'm going to see what I can do with the repairs for the moment."

"Thanks, kid. Some of the wiring is shot."

"And that was before we left Coruscant," Luke said, trying to lighten his own mood.

Han's lips twitched. "I should have left you behind. Were you always this mouthy?"

"Where's the hydrospanner?"

"I thought you were going to fix things with that sharp wit of yours."

"Normally I would, but a hydrospanner is so much easier to wield. How long before we land?"

"You are definitely worse than the kids. Ten minutes out of Coruscant and someone says, 'Are we there yet?'" Han checked his scopes. "About another half hour if we don't run into anymore friends."

"And you said you didn't know anyone out here any more."

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

The Falcon landed safely in the out-of the-way docking bay and with Luke to direct the attentions of the inspection team away from anything unusual, they'd been cleared to go about their business. The three humans making up the delegation from the ESC were sympathetic about their escape from the pirates. Han and Luke knew that they had indeed been lucky.

The senior man in the team had sighed. "We try to keep order but recently the traffic in piracy and slavery has greatly increased. We're so far from the Core worlds that it is difficult for the New Republic to come to our aid. In fact I'm not even certain that we are affiliated with the New Republic."

"I'm sure you are." Han made a mental note to check and send them some more support.

"That's one of the reasons why we are so thorough down here. We have to depend upon ourselves but things still get through."

Luke fiddled with the edge of his tunic and hoped his Jedi Master face was working overtime as the inspection team left the ship.

"We're going to need some parts." Han pointed to damage on the Falcon's hull-plating. He knew that his precious vessel couldn't have gone much further. While he'd concentrated on flying the ship to safety in its precarious situation Luke had already started on the repairs. He eased himself from the pilot's seat with a sense of relief but he also guessed that his relief could be short-lived. He had to go and see what the damage was.

"Luke?" Han hated having to ask this but his gut feeling told him that the pirates attacking them could have backup on planet and as soon as they left the ship they were fair game. "Can you sense anything?"

Luke's mobile mouth twisted into a wry smile. "Are we heading for trouble?"

"I didn't want to phrase it quite like that but, yes - are we?"

"I don't feel my danger sense twitching but that's no guarantee. We'll know when they start shooting at us."

"That is so reassuring. Call yourself a Jedi Master?" Han complained.

"I think we left them dead in space. Your original hunch was right. Still, there's bound to be other problems for us to run into. When have we ever not run into trouble? Where do we need to go?" Luke put down his hydrospanner and stood waiting, his hands on his hips.

"Go?"

Luke indicated the trailing wires and burned out capacitors he'd been attempting to fix or replace. "We need supplies. Where will we find the parts we need?"

"I thought we might need stuff and we do. Have you been able to make a list?" Han cast a critical eye over the work his brother-in-law had been doing. "Looks good what you've done so far."

Luke shrugged, handing the Corellian a data pad with a breakdown of what he thought they would need. "I haven't done anything major."

"I don't think a rebel tech could have fixed things better." With a sense of satisfaction Han realised that the kid still had it when it came to machines. Luke, in his early days with the Rebellion, had been able to fix almost anything. Many people forgot that Luke had lived on the run for years, making do with and mending whatever equipment they had, and assumed, wrongly, that the Jedi master never got his hands dirty. The Corellian saw the satisfied look on the Jedi's face. Luke still loved to work with his hands - he'd never lost that and never would.

"I was one of those rebel techs, remember? When I wasn't being a spy or a pilot or."

"I'm sorry, kid."

Luke lifted his head, confusion darkening his blue eyes. "What for?"

"I'm as guilty as the rest of them."

"I don't understand."

"Machines." Han let his voice trail off and glanced at Luke's hands now dirtied by oil and lubricant. "You always could fix things."

"Still can," Luke said without boasting. From the time he could walk, his uncle had made him help around the farm and then his ability to fix things had surfaced. Owen Lars hadn't been too happy but had utilised the skill. If Luke was busy he wasn't getting into trouble and he had kept the boy busy.

"I know." Han spread his hands out helplessly. "I don't fear you or the power you wield but I can never forget how much power you have at your disposal if you wanted to use it."

"I don't need to use it."

"I forget that you once loved flying your skyhopper, you liked the sun on your face and the inborn ability to fix anything mechanical made you happy."

"I am happy, Han."

"No, you are content and that's a lot different. I've been putting you on that Jedi Master pedestal and forgetting that you're human, kid. For that I'm sorry."

Luke's face grew bleak and then his expression warmed. "Thanks, Han. You're better than most. even Leia. Mara was the only one who treated me like a normal guy. I need that more than ever." He stopped, his confusion evident.

Han glanced at his chrono. "We need to go to the Bazaar. There's a place I used to frequent where they had top-quality used starship parts."

"Will it still be there?"

"It was there long before I was born, kid, and although it changes hands over time, it always remains."

Luke grabbed an oil-streaked rag and wiped his hands to no real effect. "Then we go."

"We need other kinds of supplies too?"

"The usual?"

"Yeah - blaster packs and ammunition."

"I thought we needed food?"

"That goes without saying where you are concerned. I still don't know where you put it."

Luke gave an embarrassed grin. "I never know when I may have to go without a meal so I always stock up."

"Figures." Han pulled on his old camouflage jacket and waited as Luke pulled on a leather jerkin, attached his belt containing his saber around his waist and then wound a grey cloak around his shoulders slightly different from his usual Jedi fashion. "That's new."

Luke shook his sandy head. "Nope. I use it when I don't want to appear too much like a Jedi and I don't want to look too much like a Jedi out here."

"Never hurts to be cautious but the lightsaber kinda gives it away."

"It's underneath my cloak. All they'll see is my low-slung blaster holster."

"You carrying a blaster, kid?" Han's voice was incredulous. Luke hadn't carried a blaster willingly, to his knowledge, since before Han had been captured at Bespin. Not wearing his customary black Jedi garb made him appear almost like a different person - younger and less serious. In fact, he appeared little older than the boy Han had first picked up on Tatooine. Luke should have been that way and not burdened by the galaxy's cares. For a fraction of a moment Han wondered what might have happened if he had left that "kid" at the Mos Eisley Cantina, a kid who had grown wise, yet solemn far beyond his years under the weighty burden of a galaxy's fate.

Han began checking his own ammunition and weaponry. "Spare blaster packs?"

Luke nodded. "Got them. You said this place was lawless. I don't have to use them even if I do have them."

"What about a 'toaster'?"

"A what?"

Han grinned. "Slang for a thermal detonator."

"I haven't got one of those." Luke rolled his eyes. A 'toaster' indeed.

"We'd better pick up a couple then. Always best to be prepared."

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

The two men headed out into the quiet that heralded the grey dawn of an Elrooden morning. Like most starports it was already busy. Beings of all races headed about their business and the machine shops were already ringing to the sound of repairs being made.

Han shook his head. "We'll pay triple the normal price here for parts and that's before they attempt repairs."

Luke nodded. "We can do a better job ourselves."

"That's true."

Luke pushed Han to one side suddenly without warning as a high-pitched humming of a finely tuned swoop engine caught his ears. "Watch it!" he shouted as two repulsorlift swoops sped by narrowly missing Han. "You okay?"

The Corellian brushed the dust from his jacket and pulled himself away from the wall. "Yeah! I forgot about the swoopies. Used to ride one myself."

"Me too. My uncle hated them. Said I would get myself killed and banned me from going near the swoop races in Bestine Town on Tatooine."

"But you still went."

"'Course I did. What do you take me for?"

Han laughed. "Reckless?"

"Takes one to know one."

"I guess it does." Han pointed to a repulsorlift transport car. "This will take us right into Elrooden City. That's where the Bazaar is."

"Won't it be just as expensive?"

"Not if you know where to look."

"And you know where to look."

Han's face was a picture of innocence. "Hey! It's me."

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

Dawn rose slowly over the starport as they boarded the sleek transport bound for the city centre and the Bazaar. Han sat with his eyes closed but Luke, tired though he was, tried stretching out through the Force. He had to see if he could sense her - they had to be close now. The transport moved steadily through the outskirts of the City, past tumbledown housing and factories belching smoke. Then the surroundings grew nicer, well maintained modern dwellings were visible behind security compounds. Luke saw none of it, concentrating on locating the presence of the woman he'd come so far to find.

Not once had Luke thought he would fail to find her - he knew that he would but he wasn't sure if it would be in time. Mara's life was in danger. Not once had he remembered his fruitless search for Callista. This was different. He and Mara were linked so strongly through the Force that he would pick up her heartbeat if she was alive and on this world.

"Luke. I can't hold on much longer."

"Mara! Where are you?"

"I'm close, so close."

"You're not on this world."

"Perhaps I'm beyond this world."

"You can't be. you can't. I won't let you."

"Luke!" Her voice rose on a wave of pain in his mind.

"Kid?" Han's anxious voice brought him back to reality. "Kid. you okay?"

"Han!" Luke squeezed his eyes tight shut. Had he heard her again? Had that been Mara's voice in his head or was it just wishful thinking - a product of his own worry? "Mara's not on this world."

"But she's nearby, isn't she."

"I think so."

"How long have you been able to sense her presence?"

"A long time." Luke was deliberately vague but the knowing expression on the Corellian's face made him sigh wearily and admit the truth. Not even Leia knew that he had linked so closely with the former Emperor's hand. Luke was unsure how his sister would feel about anyone being so close to her brother - especially Mara Jade. "Okay." he amended. "Probably since Wayland."

"Since Wayland? But that's."

"Been nearly ten years? Yeah! She doesn't know," he hastened to assure Han.

"You've hidden it from her. Aw." Han clenched his hand into a fist. "I guess you would have to. Stang!"

"What else could I do, Han? Just say, 'It's okay, Jade. You've gained your freedom from the Emperor. You'll no longer hear Palpatine's voice in your head because it's been replaced by mine. You might not want to kill me now but you certainly don't trust me. You think I'll turn into another Palpatine.'" He looked directly at Han. "She still does after nearly ten years."

"Mara doesn't think like that at all," Han refuted the Jedi's assumption sharply. But on reflection maybe the kid was right. Mara would not want another voice in her head.

"Then why does she refuse her Jedi heritage? Why does she refuse to come and train with me?"

"Maybe she just wants to be independent. She doesn't deny her Jedi skills."

"She's content to play at being a smuggler and trading partner or rather, she thinks she is. But I'm linked to her soul, Han. I know what she dreams. She wants to become a Jedi but part of her is rebelling against it. She fears she will lose part of herself and thinks that I have already done so. She cannot accept the Force whole-heartedly and to become a Jedi she will have to."

"I don't know what to say. I'm sorry, kid. I wish I could shed light on all of this." Han lifted his head and stared out of the viewport as the transport slowed to accommodate a sudden upsurge in vehicles. "We're almost there."

Luke stared at the colourful sight of hundreds of brightly hued market stalls of varying shapes and sizes and a throng of beings from all over the galaxy bargaining for their wares. "I had no idea."

"Of the size of this place? No, I must admit it has grown since my last visit and it was huge then."

"Where do we get off?"

"Not here. This is the grand plaza or the Daya," Han said. He pointed to a series of elaborate looking constructions. "These trading establishments are for the tourists and are permanently here."

"Too expensive?"

"You got it, kid."

Luke gaped around him through the transparisteel viewports of the transport as if he'd just stepped off the first ship from Tatooine. "This place is enormous!"

Han grinned. "Yeah, it is."

The repulsorlift car drove away from the polished, cosmopolitan centre of the Bazaar and headed back into the outskirts. Han pulled a data pad from his pocket and began punching in figures. "If my calculations are correct, the place we're looking for is around the next corner." Han leant forward and pressed the button to signal the driver that they wanted to alight at the next station.

Luke glanced around him. They were the only ones left on the transport apart from the driver, a large Coynite, who gave them a friendly, yet ferocious smile as they disembarked.

Han hustled Luke towards a small square in front of a large warehouse. "This is the place." He pulled a small bag from his pocket and ran the contents through his fingers.

"What's that?"

"Small semi-precious gemstones. It's often the only currency places like this will transact business with. I did a deal with one of the inspectors when they came aboard the Falcon." He lifted a shoulder. "I didn't need all of that Hapan silk. They paid me in these tiny precious stones. New Republic credits won't always work out here. It kinda screams 'come and get us.' You're wearing a blaster - I didn't think we wanted to advertise the fact that we're legit."

"I would never have thought about that sort of thing."

"That's why you asked me along. Someone to do the thinking."

"It will be the first time you've done any thinking for an age, you old scoundrel."

"You're heading for the Sarlacc pit, kid. Cut out the cheek."

Luke popped off a cheerful salute. "Yes, sir!"

Han watched as the stallholders set up their wares and the beings began to arrive in some numbers to buy and sell. "You wait here and keep a watch out for anything unusual. I'll go get us what we need. In fact, Junior. Since you tend to think with your stomach." He thrust several of the small gemstones into Luke's hands. "Get the food supplies."

"Hey!"

Luke, left alone, could almost imagine he was back on his home planet watching the weekly market traders set up for a busy days trading. He snorted to himself - apart from the sand and the fact that it was a lot cooler. Also, there wasn't a jawa in sight.

He took his time, wandering among the stalls set up and spent some time chatting to a small boy who was supposed to be helping his grandmother. "I'm helping grandmother but she doesn't mind if I look at the other things to sell. Sometimes, if I'm very good, 'Old Alpert' will give me a swishberi."

"And these are good?" Luke asked.

"They're the best." The child, in the way that children do, had taken a fancy to the serious blue-eyed stranger who actually listened to him as if he was important. Only his grandmother and 'Old Alpert' did that.

"Have you come far?"

"Yes," Luke replied.

"I could tell."

"You're very clever," Luke murmured with a smile.

"My grandmother says 'I'm all ears and eyes.' She says 'I'm too smart for my own good.'" The child had a certain way of talking and Luke could hear the exact intonation of the grandmother's voice in his speech.

"I don't think you can ever be 'too smart'."

"Then that's okay. I need to be smart to look after my grandmother and save her from the swoopies."

"The swoopies?"

The child's face shuttered. "I help her," he said.

"Then she is very lucky to have such a responsible and grown-up grandson. Not all grandmothers do." He slipped one of the small gemstones into the child's hand. "Much as I am enjoying our talk I need to get my supplies," Luke said quietly.

The child nodded his tousled dark head and pointed out the best stalls to visit. "Don't go to Darahk's. He'll cheat you because he'll guess that you're from off-world."

"Am I so obvious?"

"In the Daya no one would look at you again, but here," the child shrugged his bony shoulders. "This part of the city doesn't get many off-world beings."

"And you are?"

"Tayo."

Luke bowed. "Good to meet you, Tayo."

"My grandmother and I have a stall. My father's dead and my mother was taken as a slave when I was a baby. We think she's probably dead too."

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be. I never really knew my father. He died when I was small and I can't remember mother much."

Luke stared at the boy before him. He wasn't that big now. He might have been ages with Jacen and Jaina. "It's good that you help your grandmother."

"Maybe you'll come to our stall. My grandmother makes the best bread."

"I'll make a point of it." Luke waved goodbye to the child, quickly making his purchases before heading back to wait for Han. Just as he reached the warehouse, the smell of freshly baked bread teased his nostrils. Luke retraced his steps. Tayo's bread smelled wonderful.

He wandered slowly up to a small stall set up in front of what must be the bakery. A small dumpy middle-aged woman was busily setting out loaves rolls and various pastries. "I'll buy some of your bread. Your grandson recommends it."

The woman laughed, her dark eyes twinkling in her lined and weather-beaten face. "You met Tayo?"

"I did. He advised me on where I should make my purchases."

"He's got a wise head on his tiny shoulders."

"That he has," Luke agreed with a chuckle as he carefully counted out the amount of tiny coloured gemstones the woman had asked for as she wrapped his purchases.

"Grandmother!" Tayo's voice rang out urgently.

Luke swivelled around on the balls of his feet immediately sensing the disquiet of the woman and child, his hand crept under his cloak to find the reassuring weight of his saber.

"What is it, child?"

"Besketorr and the gang." Tayo gulped, his face white under a thin layer of dirt, his eyes large and fearful. "They're in the next street."

Luke lifted his head searching the Force for its patterns and myriad layers. Something stirred close by.  He felt the menace. "What is it?"

"Besketorr and his gang," she explained shakily. "They demand money. Otherwise, they put us out of business. Look around you, off-worlder. Can you see any of us having wealth here? I have no more jewels to give them." Her face suddenly appeared tired and old, the lines deepening and Luke saw the worry she'd long held. "They told me they'd given me all the time I had and if I couldn't pay them they would ruin my business for ever and transport Tayo to the slavers. They will do it. They took my daughter and killed her husband. Tayo is all I have left."

"What about the authorities?"

"They do nothing," she spat. "They are in the pay of the gang lords - each one more corrupt than the next."

In his mind's eye Luke saw another middle aged woman saddled with the burden of a small child to bring up as best she could in a harsh environment, all the while knowing that his destiny could be her death. Why did life throw up so many cruelties and inconsistencies? Why had this poor family to suffer to make a meagre living?

Her eyes dulled with resignation. "You'd better go."

"No," Luke said. "You'll need my help."

She shook her head. "You'll only bring trouble onto yourself."

"What's a bit of trouble?" he asked whimsically. "Those that deal it out can bring more on their own heads. I'll stay and help," he insisted, his face hardening, rocking on his feet as if ready to spring into immediate action. "Tayo," Luke murmured never taking his steady blue gaze from the older woman's frightened face. "Get out of here. Go and find somewhere safe and stay there, keep your head down and come back when we call for you."

"But I can help too." the child protested.

"In this case - don't think so. You've already been very brave. You gave the warning. Go, Tayo. It's best that you should." Luke injected a little Force persuasion into his voice and the child found himself obeying without question. Suddenly the fear gripped his wiry little body and he sprinted away to his own special place and curled into a ball waiting for his name to sound.

The roaring sound was only heard faintly at first but Luke saw how the rest of the market traders reacted. They began to try and pack up their stalls even though it was too late. Luke came around and stood beside Tayo's grandmother. "What is your name?" he asked gently. He could see she was in shock.

"Farani."

"Well, Mistress Farani, I suggest you get inside and leave me here. Go inside where it's safe." A cloud of dust billowed around the street corner and the sound of high-pitched roaring swoop engines could be heard approaching closer and closer. "Go inside, Farani," Luke repeated. He curled his hand around his lightsaber, feeling it pulse in his grasp. He would be ready. Pity Han wasn't with him.

The swoop bikes roared into the square at breakneck speed, stopping right in the centre of the square with a squeal of breaks and clouds of noxious fumes. Luke could feel their cruel and greedy anticipation. He also sensed the trepidation and outright fear from the local people.

There was a sudden moment of complete silence as everyone froze.

Everyone that was, apart from Luke who continued to pack up Farani and Tayo's stall, stuffing the breads into various containers. He had already noted that there were at least a dozen beings mounted on repulsorlift swoop bikes. Bullies needed to be taught a lesson. If one gave in to them it was only a matter of time before they wanted more.

The leader of the gang dismounted from his vehicle and, accompanied by two aliens Luke couldn't recall ever have seeing before, approached the seemingly unaware man. Luke whistled a jaunty air he'd heard Han using on a number of occasions. The stall shook as Besketorr slammed his massive hands down upon it.

Luke turned around. "Hello! You want to buy some bread?"

"Where's the old woman?" the hulking, bearded man snarled at the Jedi Master.

"What old woman?" Luke parried carefully. "I don't see any old woman here. You must have bad eyesight or are perhaps delusional."

Besketorr narrowed his eyes. He had the feeling he'd just been insulted. Nobody talked to him like that. "She owes us."

"From where I'm standing she doesn't owe you anything." Luke's voice was calm. He could sense the remaining stall owners watching him.

Something in that very calmness seemed to enrage the brute opposite him. "You'll have to pay in her stead."

"I owe you nothing."

"This is our territory. Everyone in our territory pays."

"I'm not paying," Luke said and smiled. "I don't know or care who you are. You can try and make me pay but I warrant you'll come off worst."

Besketorr gaped at the sight of the smaller man who refused to be intimidated by him. He didn't recognise the coldness of Luke's smile nor the determined light in his eyes. His hand shot out and grabbed the front of Luke's cloak pulling him over the top of the stall.

"I'm still not paying," Luke enunciated right in the gang leader's face. "I owe you nothing. These people owe you nothing." He gave a grim smile. "I'm getting really bored saying this but you're obviously too thick to understand." Luke grinned to himself. Yoda was right - he was reckless.

A quavering voice shouted out from behind them. "He's right. We owe them nothing."

Luke surmised rightly that it was Old Alpert and used Besketorr's momentary inattention to twist sharply from his grasp and slither free. His hand went to his blaster and when Besketorr turned back to face him he was looking down the barrel of Luke's gun.

"Demons," Besketorr shouted furiously.

Luke stood his ground, his blaster remaining pointed at the leader. It was then he realised that several of the other swoopies were advancing on him with their weapons drawn, their snarling and hissing making the hair on his arms stand on end as he was surrounded on three sides. The stall provided him with no back door for escape.

"Oh, sithspawn!" Luke swore as he crouched and jumped, back flipping himself out of harm's way for the moment.

"How the.!"

"What the hell."

"Get him!" Besketorr screamed as someone threw a smoke grenade into the centre of the market square. Suddenly there was pandemonium as shots rang out and swoopies began to get into fights with the remaining stall owners.

"This way, lad." Luke turned at the sound of the quavery voice.

"Old Alpert?"

"Aye, lad. That's me. We should have done this a while ago." He produced something from a voluminous tunic and prepared to throw it into the centre of the square.

"Alpert." Luke's danger sense gave a knock. "Don't throw that."

But it was too late. The thermal detonator lobbed away from the old man and Luke was just too late to stop him. There was a bright burst of flame and debris showered them as they cringed underneath the shelter of the stall.

The sound of the swoops being revved up assaulted their ears. "Find him and get him. I want that."

Two of the swoopies came barrelling through the smoke and grabbed the old man, dragging him away.

"No!" Luke shouted and charged after them.

"Luke! Luke!"

He heard his voice being called frantically and peered through the grey haze of dust and smoke. "Han! I'm over here."

Luke stopped and winced as his brother-in-law banged into him knocking them both to the ground.

"I don't suppose you are behind this little fracas?"

"Guilty."

"What the hell are you playing at, kid?"

"Sorry, Han. Remember how we said that we always get into trouble? I'll explain later. Got to go and get the old guy out of this." Luke climbed to his feet and, with his blaster in hand, ran through the clearing smoke, his Jedi senses accurately finding the way until he came to the centre of the square. Old Alpert stood shaking in the rough grasp of two of the thugs.

"Let him go."

Raucous, jeering laughter greeted Luke's words.

Eyes narrowing, Luke suddenly spun into action, striking out in a hard fighting stance. Making a lightning fast decision, Luke holstered his blaster and brought out his saber. Flipping it on he ran at the swoopies, slashing and kicking until they let the old man go. "Get out of here, Alpert."

Han had set up behind an overturned stall and was carefully shooting at the repulsorlift controls on the swoop bikes watching with satisfaction as they crashed to the ground. "I leave him here for ten minutes and what happens - chaos."

Han, too busy taking pot-shots at confused gang members, didn't notice the influx of new personnel entering the square but Luke did. Force! Were these newcomers friends or foes? He hoped the former but fate wasn't usually that kind. He shut down his saber and began chasing another of the swoop riders who had a pretty young girl by the hair. He raised his voice and demanded, "Let her go."

"Come and get her." The swoopie lifted his blaster and aimed a shot at the Jedi Master but missed as Luke ducked away, the shot skimming past him by a hair's breadth.

"Lucky one, Luke," he breathed and then stopped as he met the barrel of a blaster coming the other way.

"'Bout time these guys were stopped," a dry voice said laconically and shifting aim shot the thug straight between the eyes. The young girl screamed and ran as the gang member pitched forward, dark red blood bubbling from the wound.

"You shouldn't have done that," Luke said. "He's dead."

"Good. The thermal detonator took care of Besketorr. That was his second-in-command. Now he's finished off too." He swung his blaster around and pointed it at the Jedi. "Now, where do you fit in?"

'Second-in-command,' Luke thought. 'Oh, Mara! Where are you?'

The man was wearing a greyish jacket that might have been part of a uniform at one time. "Are you one of them? I don't recognise your face."

"No, I don't know them."

"Kid!" Han came careering towards them and then stopped dead, his feet almost tangling himself into a heap. Something about the man Luke was standing beside brought forth a chord of recognition.

Han heard a muffled exclamation and then felt his arms being grabbed and tied behind his back. He could see another two men wearing a greyish uniform approaching Luke. The Jedi didn't move but stood staring at the body of a fallen swoop rider.

"I'm no threat to you," Luke said as they grabbed his shoulders roughly.

"Let him go!" Tayo's little figure tore across the rapidly clearing square. "He helped us."

"Really?" The newcomer's voice sounded his disbelief.

"He did, truly he did," Tayo pressed urgently.

"We should have fought back a long time ago. Just like you told us to. This young man just provided our impetus." Old Alpert hobbled up to Tayo and took his hand. "Come on, Tayo. Your grandmother will be worried. Our thanks, young man," he said to Luke.

"What about him, sir?" one of the men holding a strangely silent Han Solo asked.

"He's with me," Luke said.

The leader of the group turned and stiffened.

"You!" Han said. "It is you. I thought that it couldn't be but it is."

"Let them go," a woman's voice said.

"Let them go?" The man sighed. "You want me to let them go? Okay." He turned to his men. "Let them go."

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