A/N: Eh voila, I return with another chapter in this ongoing saga! Whew, this was interesting to write. I'm still not sure about the pacing, either, but I hope the general effect is conveyed. As we get closer and closer to the end more and more stuff keeps tumbling out each chapter, and it's all I can do to write it down as fast as it happens. I love all the entertaining guesses about what's to come, and you guys' enthusiasm doubles my own. Please, please keep up the excellent reviews! They make me feel so special.

Also--I would greatly prefer to not be bludgeoned to death for anything that happens or seems to happen in this chapter. Just have patience and stick with me. As always, please keep all hands and arms safely inside until the chapter is over. Thank you!

SOUNDTRACK: The Fall of the House of Usher by Alan Parson's Project (or other generic creepy/depressing music), Chopin's Revolutionary Etude, the Star Wars Main Theme (or anything decently swashbuckling; POTC never hurts), and always, always Light of the Force by John Williams.

EIGHTEEN

It could very well be argued that they had been in darker places. Annie had been a slave, Krista the captive of a lustful fiend, the both of them tied to the stake awaiting their imminent incineration, and Danielle in a duel with a Sith and in the clutches of an evil fiend bent on taking her humanity and destroying the galaxy. Moreover, there were many places they *could* be that would undoubtedly be worse. Hell, for example, is never fun. Nor is math class. Or being chased by hordes of giant purple hippopotami.

Being in the dungeon of a Sith Lord because one of your best friends has just betrayed you and gone evil, however, wasn't very high-ranking on their Fun List either.

Albeit, the 'dungeon' could have been much worse. Being as how it would probably look suspicious if a nice, upstanding senator had dank musty cells complete with manacles, the rack, and a few artfully place skeletons in his basement, they were merely being kept in what they assumed to be a guest room. The fervor of some misguided interior decorator, however, had given the room an overall appearance of the aftermath of a battle between a rainbow and jungle safari. While the decor was enough to drive one insane, however, it was by no means painful or life-threatening.

To the three girls held captive inside it, however, none of this mattered an exceptional amount.

Palpatine, no fool, knew that despite their outward appearance they were not young women to underestimate, and so each was bound with a metal cable to a sturdy metal sitting chair to the point of almost complete immobility. The room was also free of anything that could be used as a weapon or means of escape, so Danielle and Krista's telepathy had amounted to nothing. Annie's precognition, always tenuous at best, had yet again chosen to desert her when it would have been most useful. Their imprisonment, while startlingly humane, seemed quite adequate to keep them exactly where Palpatine wanted them.

Silence hung heavily in the room.

Hours later, when she could stand the silence no longer, Krista shook her head, wishing her hands were free so she could rub her eyes. "I just can't believe this."

Annie, somewhere to her left, sighed. "We know, Krista. Neither can we."

"Three years with a Sith Lord," Danielle whispered, head bowed. "I never thought--we've been all right, I just assumed Laura would, too."

"I guess she just drew the short straw," Annie said sadly. "Guys, I don't think this is gonna be much fun."

"You think?" Being imprisoned yet again after having had a sword held to throat by one of her oldest friends had, understandably, frayed Danielle's temper. "I just--God, we fell right into the trap. We snuck out without even telling anyone we were going to leave. Obi and Qui--they'll never know what happened to us."

"What *is* going to happen to us?" Krista asked, raising her head.

During the fight, some of Danielle's hair had come loose from its ponytail and now hung around her face. Irritated, she tried to blow it out of her eyes, unsuccessfully. "Well, I think that in a few hours we're going to be handed over to the nice Galaxy-destroying man, and he's going to ritualistically sacrifice us, then use the power in our necklaces to conquer this galaxy and ours." She paused. "But that's just a guess."

Krista thumped her head back against her chair. "Shit."

"No, really? I didn't think it sounded that bad."

"Okay, that's enough sarcasm for now," Annie cut in hastily. "We need to try and figure out some kind of plan, some way out of this." When silence was the only response, she said, "Come on, guys! We've gotten out of stuff this bad before. We can do this!"

"Yeah, sure," Danielle said heavily. "Then, as soon as we escape from this room, the three of us can take on not only Evil-Laura but Darth Maul and Mr. Evil Emperor, all by ourselves, and save the day."

"It sounds so pessimistic when you put it that way."

"Now why do you think that might be?"

"Annie's right," Krista said. "We can't despair! We're in Star Wars--the good guys always triumph! There's got to be something we can do."

"Like what?"

Momentarily stumped, Krista thought for a moment before suddenly beaming. "How about some inspiration songs?"

Across the other side of the room, Danielle reached into the Force, focused, then sent a wave of energy across the room. Krista flinched and cursed as a sensation eerily like a hand smacking her upside the head struck her. "Hey!"

Annie rolled her eyes. "Yeah, that's really helping us figure out a way to get out of here."

"Well, *you* come up with something. I'm all out of daring escapes."

"Hey, I'm the only member of this group without telekinesis. Can't you magically untie the cables, at least?" When only silence greeted this remark, she snorted contemptuously. "Why am I not surprised?"

The snick of the lock turning shut them all up immediately. As they sat frozen, waiting, an extremely long silence passed. At last, impatiently, Krista began, "Okay, what--?"

Before she could finish speaking there was the sound of a gun firing, somehow muffled through the door, followed by an unfathomable crunching noise. As they pricked their ears, they heard a rustle, then all was silent once more.

Krista waited a reasonable interval before speaking again. "Okay, what the hell was that?"

As if at her very words, the door opened, just a crack. A cloaked and hooded figure slipped inside, and they all stared dumbly for a moment as it quickly shut the door behind itself. Before anyone could even conjecture a hypothesis, it reached up and pushed its hood back, and Laura stared at them out of level eyes. She was dressed just as she had been before, all in blacks and dark browns with her hair pulled back tightly, but she was paler now than she had been, and her hazel eyes blazed in her face.

For a moment, no one spoke.

"Well, well, well," Danielle said drily. "Look who it is. Our friend Laura, come to visit us. Have you come to gloat? Torment the prisoners a little, maybe? Or is it time to take us to Atharca?"

"Aw, you know me," Laura's voice was, in their opinion, unwarrantedly droll. "I'm always up for a spot of torture on the sly. I've got the thumbscrews and country music all ready."

"This isn't a game, Laura!" Danielle snapped. "We're not in the mood for jokes! What do you WANT?"

Laura sighed heavily. "All right, geez. In point of fact, I'm here to rescue you."

There was a very meaningful silence.

Finally Krista said, "Well, of course. I mean, why didn't we guess? What other reason would you go to the effort to trick and capture us than so you could just come right down and free us again?"

"Yeah," Danielle added, "I already fell for that trick once, Laura. We're really not that stupid."

Laura folded her arms and leaned back against the wall with stunning nonchalance. "Ah, yes," she said, her voice as sardonic as human voices can be. "Observe my stunning and villainous cleverness as I trick you into thinking I'm rescuing you from my master so that I can just turn right around and betray you again--and put you right back where you started, then revel in the fruits of my fiendish plan." A single eyebrow soaring up, she fixed them with an impatient look. "Not that that would be pointless or anything. You know us evil fiends--always looking for ways to pass the time."

"But you are a Sith," Danielle said coldly. "Aren't you?"

Laura hesitated a moment. When she spoke, her voice had that same terrifying flatness to it. "Yes. I'm afraid that I am."

"Then why the hell would you want to help us?" Krista asked.

Laura met her gaze calmly. "Because I'm not a Sith by choice."

There was a pause as they digested this statement. "All right," Annie said slowly, "if you really are here to rescue us, then why *did* you bring us here in the first place?"

"That," Laura grimaced, "requires a hefty amount of explanation, so does no one mind if I start untying you while I tell it?"

"Oh, I mind, definitely," Krista declared. "I will be personally offended if you remove my bonds and help me to escape."

Ignoring this, Laura unfolded herself from the wall and stepped up to Annie, who was closest, and produced a long mechanical device they could only assume was a lock-pick. "To shamelessly utilize a cliche, I guess the entire explanation starts at the beginning, with me showing up in magical ol' Star Wars--not on some fun happy planet, mind you, but on the doorstep of a lovely Sith who decided I looked just peachy as his next little apprentice. Naturally, I wasn't really up for that plan, and protested--at which point Mr. Sithly decided a little persuasion never did a body harm." Her face twisted, thinly veiled hatred showing beneath her affected air of casualness. It was a more terrible expression than any her friends had ever seen on her face before. "As you can imagine, it was very convincing."

Annie, listening to her friend carefully, suddenly felt ill. "Oh my God," she whispered. "You . . . when I first woke up here, I heard--I heard screaming, in my mind." As Laura stared at her, amazed, Annie said raggedly, "That was you, wasn't it?"

"You're quick," Laura said, raising an eyebrow. Inserting the lock into the device, she pressed a few buttons and waited as it began humming loudly.

Danielle, meanwhile, turned pale. She was remembering how she'd woken up the first day with her friend's name on her lips, and the memory of screams echoing in her ears. "Oh, Laura."

"Yeah. Fun, huh? Well, I may say so myself but I held out for quite a while. Fought back with every inch of my might, refusing to follow orders, to speak, sometimes even to eat. All very noble and self-sacrificing, and doing me not one whit of good. It was no skin off his nose to just continue tormenting me until I broke. Eventually, I did--harnessed the Force I barely knew how to use, stole Darth Maul's lightsaber, and tried with absolutely everything I had in me to kill Palpatine. Not very well, of course, but hey, it's the thought that counts. I didn't even realize, at the time, that I'd snapped--but by the time he'd put me on the ground with a broken arm and marvelous blue electricity holes all over my skin, I'd gone over to the Dark Side."

After the passage of several years, she looked almost more amused at the story than anything else. "And you know what they say about that Dark Path, kiddies--once you start down it, forever will it dominate your destiny and all that jazz. That's truer than any mealymouthed Jedi platitude has a right to be." Her years in a Sith's household had also, it seemed, given her a rather unorthodox view on Jedi wisdom.

"So you just--what? Embraced the Dark Side?" Danielle asked incredulously.

"Yeah," Laura said, rolling her eyes in Danielle's direction as she adjusted a knob on her lockpick, the leather of her black gloves creaking. "That's me. Decided the Dark Side sounded fun and just dove right in. For heaven's sake, no. It's just that--once you let it in, just once, it's *always* in, whispering in your ear and nudging your subconscious and bubbling up in your dreams. Every time I tried to reach for the Force all I got was darkness. At first, I didn't use it at all. After a little while, I started making excuses . . . then more . . . until finally I realized I wasn't just fighting a losing battle, I'd already lost."

Annie looked at her strangely. "Uh, this might be a stupid question, but why didn't you leave? If you hated it so much, why did you stay?"

"It's not a stupid question; it happens to be extremely relevant. I tried, on quite a few occasions, to do just that. I was prevented and punished each and every time. I happen to be a halfway decent Sith; I'd even make a good Jedi if I had half a chance. Despite this, I do not, by any stretch of the imagination, so much as pose a threat to Palpatine. Even now, his power is . . . enormous." Eyes unfocused, she stared into space, clearly forgetting where she was. "The powers he commands are quite simply beyond my scope. If I tried to face him he would, to borrow a phrase from home, stomp me like a narc at a biker rally. For God's sake, I have trouble even defying him." Her eyes returned to the present, and her smile was unpleasant. "Besides, wherever I go, he's always there, in the back of my mind, watching, listening, instructing, haunting. I'm quite simply never free of him.

"But that doesn't mean I'm happy about it. I may be his minion, but I bear no love for Palpatine or his nefarious schemes. So for the past three years I've walked a careful line, playing the bookish, unimportant aide in public, doing his evil bidding in private, and just all around trying to bungle his schemes whenever I can. Not very effectively, mind you, but still. The key to this scenario, however, is that he doesn't know I resist him. At some point I just told him I'd given up my struggles and embraced the Dark Side, and the arrogant old ass believed me. So he thinks I'm just a happy little minion . . . which is why I'm here, now."

The lock clicked, and Laura pulled her device free as the lock fell open. A few moments later she'd pulled the steel cables around Annie free, and stepped back, warily.

She needn't have worried. Annie didn't rush to hug her, but she didn't attack her, either. Standing, she took a measured step away from Laura and watched calmly as Laura moved to Krista and began working at her lock as well.

Danielle twisted in her bonds. "So if all that's true, how did we end up Palpatine's prisoners? You tricked us into coming here, not Palpatine. If you're on our side, why bother?"

Laura shot her a look. "I didn't have any intention of turning you in at first--as, I might hope, was evinced by my earnest rescue of you from the very person I am supposed to hand you over to in a few hours. You *did* notice my attempts at anonymity, I hope? If Atharca had recognized me, this would all have been blown to hell and he would be starting his lovely galaxy-conquering sacrifices this very moment.

"So I got you out of there as best I could--no criticisms from the peanut gallery, thank you very much--and took you back to the Jedi Temple, where I thought you'd be safe if I left and reported back to my Master to keep him from getting suspicious. How the HELL was I supposed to know that you'd be staying with--of all people--" her voice rose in indignation, "*Obi-Wan Kenobi* and Qui-Gon JINN? I mean, out of all the Jedi in the entire freaking Temple--"

The three girls exchanged glances. "What do they have to do with anything?" Krista asked in surprise.

Laura's expression spoke volumes about their intelligence. "Duh. Of all people in the galaxy that Atharca told Palpatine to watch, don't you think those two would make it on the list? He's been monitoring them for years--since not much after I arrived, in fact."

"Wait a minute." Danielle felt ill. "You're saying the apartment is *bugged*?"

"And a kewpie doll for the lady," Laura snarked, rolling her eyes. "Of course the apartment is bugged--and, even more fun, Palpatine has spies in the Temple. I don't know who, but I do know that they're there, and they report regularly. Anyway, as soon as I stepped inside and saw the two of them I knew I was screwed. Palpatine keeps their room monitored constantly. And, sure enough, a few minutes after my arrival he calls me up and tells me good work for gaining your trust, and to bring all three of you in, sans Jedi accompaniment."

"'Called you up'?" Annie repeated incredulously.

"Yeah, that whole funky master and apprentice thing where when I'm nearby he can speak to me psychically," Laura replied, grimacing. "Great for constantly monitoring my every move, so I have to keep my shields up all the time. Even then instructions always get through--and if they're not obeyed immediately, so does excruciating pain." She glanced at Danielle, eyes sparkling. "By the way, that whole psychic things works for more than just master-apprentice relationships. Next time you feel the need to just let loose a general psychic shout, be sure you know who's in the neighborhood."

For a moment Danielle had absolutely no idea what she was talking about, then she stared at Laura as though she'd just turned into a flock of wild chickens. "Oh my God. You heard me. When I was captured by Atharca, and I tried to yell for Obi-Wan and Qui . . . *you* heard me?"

Laura grinned at her. "Imagine my surprise. I was just cruising along, minding my own sweet business, when lo and behold into my head comes the voice of one of my best friends, whom I've been searching for for years now, in distress and not more than a few blocks away. What could I do but go riding off to the rescue?"

Krista's lock opened, and instead of stepping away as Annie had, Krista launched herself at Laura. Laura flinched back at first, but after only a moment she returned the hug fiercely. When Krista stepped back, her eyes shone suspiciously. "I knew you weren't evil," she said passionately. "I *knew* it! You couldn't be--you'd suck at it."

"Uh, thanks," Laura said warily, but her eyes were sparkling again. "That's a harsh outlook on my future plans for being an evil overlord, but I'll accept the implied compliment. Anyway," she moved slowly to Danielle's side and began working on her lock, "it's not quite as simple as all that. To resume my narrative, I knew I had no choice but to follow orders. All Palpatine had to do was ask Atharca if he'd been having any trouble recently, then listen to my remarks about rescuing Danielle, and that would have been all, folks. So I snuck you guys in there like a good little minion and--with Palpatine and Darth Maul watching the whole time to ensure I didn't slip up--took you prisoner. I couldn't let you in on what I was doing; you had to be convinced I was actually betraying you, or he'd have suspected something. Now, I'm doing everything in my power to get you the hell out of here, if you hadn't noticed."

"Okay," Danielle said, slowly beginning to believe the wild tale. "So that's why we're here. But--you said you knew so much more than just this. What's going on, Laura? Why are we here? These necklaces--how do they work?"

Laura looked like she wanted to refuse, then shrugged. "Well. I guess there's no better time than the present. Like I said, I've had quite a while to research, and I think I've figured out what's going on. I found a most unusual book--a journal from a character that I never knew to be in the Star Wars mythos--and she described a series of events that I believe led us to be where we are now."

She took a deep breath, then continued in a voice they knew she reserved for her stories. "Once, long ago, in a galaxy we have never seen nor ever will, Star Wars as we know existed in much the same state as it does now. The Sith were rising, the Jedi were slowly weakening, and the entire galaxy hung on the edge of a precipice. In fact, the only notable difference from the story we've seen in the movies was the addition of four characters--four people--a Jedi . . . a handmaiden . . . a slave on Tatooine . . . and an unwilling Sith apprentice." She looked up at her audience, and they stared back at her, breathless with shock. "Because of these four people, the events of Star Wars did not unfold as we knew them to. These four people, each in their own way, somehow became so pivotal that they stopped the inevitable: they exposed and defeated the Sith, prevented Anakin's fall to the Dark Side, and saved the Republic from destruction. Everything, in essence, that we would like to see happen as well.

"One being, however, was not nearly so happy with this outcome. An alien of the name of Atharca with the ability to glimpse into the possibilities saw what would have happened--what they prevented--and did not like it. Atharca and his kind feed on chaos; like the Sith, they long to dominate the galaxy and rule the minds and souls of all its people. In a well-ordered galaxy full of Jedi, such dominion would be impossible. But in a galaxy in chaos, ruled by Sith . . . more than feasible, it would be very simple to seize control.

"As you know, Atharca has the ability to travel through time much as we do through space. He traveled back through time to approximately when Krista and Danielle arrived and began trying to bring about the downfall of the republic. Obviously, there are other characters who would have been equally or even more important to remove--Obi-Wan, Yoda, or even Padme, for instance. But when he returned in time, there were four beings--friends despite their incredible differences--who saw what he was doing and who opposed him.

"If I read this diary correctly, they very nearly defeated him--he was greatly wounded and much of his ability was obstructed. It would take him another forty years of recuperation on Tatooine before he was able to resume his offensive. He hunted down the four who had prevented him from taking over the galaxy, defeated them, and ripped them completely from this galaxy--removing them not only from the present, but making it as if they had never existed at all. He exiled them to what he could only imagine was some parallel hell dimension. It was not a hell dimension. It was, in fact, a galaxy not unlike his own . . . our galaxy."

Danielle drew in a sharp breath as Krista and Annie stared dumbly. "That's right," Laura said grimly. "We'll never know how the tale of Star Wars made it into our world, but chances are that it came with one of these girls. However, we do know that they were banished to our world, unable to return and fill the places in history that they had been destined for. Instead, they were forced to watch as everything they had fought to prevent took place, everyone they loved had died . . . and do nothing.

"But they *did* do something. Unable to return themselves, they decided that they would send four to fill their place--four chosen by fate to fulfill the destinies they were robbed of and save their galaxy from anarchy. So they combined their strengths and created four talismans--tokens of incredible power--that would send four back to their original place in the galaxy . . . Tatooine, Naboo, the Jedi Temple, and in the clutches of a Sith.

"They succeeded, but the task destroyed them. When they had finished creating the pendants, everything they were was within them, and they ceased to be. The pendants, each complete with the spirit of a true Star Wars inhabitant and programmed, when joined, to take their wearers back to their home, were lost. Heaven only knows how long they spent in shadow before some unsuspecting idiot pulled them off the rack at the antique mall and purchased them . . . for herself and three of her friends . . ."

Silence fell. After some time, Krista whispered, "Holy God."

"There's more," Laura said, rousing herself when her lockpick beeped and she was forced to adjust it. "Like I said, they put everything into the creation of these pendants--even themselves. That's why we have places here, unnatural skills, and the occasional memory. That's why this galaxy feels like home--because, in a way, it is. There are spirits of long-dead heroes living in these pendants and now sharing our bodies, and they're what's making us capable of surviving here so long." She grimaced. "The downside to that, at least in my case, is that my particular spirit happens to be a more than half-mad Dark Jedi. Sometimes, when she talks . . . I can't help but listen. And she doesn't often give what you might call sound advice.

"It didn't take long after our return for Atharca to figure out who we were and why we were here. Our reappearance in the galaxy anchored the possibilities he'd tried to destroy when he'd banished the four years ago; in other words, we kept him from altering time as he'd planned, especially since we'd all been sent to different times. Atharca could only assume that we were either our predecessors reincarnated or willing participants--he had no idea we'd fumbled onto something we couldn't even begin to understand. He also knew that if he didn't find and stop us, we *would* fill the places we'd been destined for; with our knowledge of what is to come, we would be able to save the galaxy as we'd been intended. He had to destroy us--and unless he destroyed the pendants as well, with our deaths they would simply return to our galaxy to wait and gather another four. They had to be destroyed together, ritualistically--then, and only then, could he take over the galaxy and bring it into shadow."

There was a click as Danielle's lock finally disengaged. Stepping away, Laura pulled it free and looked at her friends evenly. "That is why we're here--not by accident, not by chance, not by some sick joke. Like it or not, we've been thrust into the middle of a battle that was going on before we were even born--a battle that, if we lose, could now result in the destruction of our own galaxy as well. Because Atharca knows now how the pendants work, how they travel between galaxies, and he can harness them to conquer ours as well. He is a powerful man; if he's not stopped, he will do it, and everything will fall into darkness." When they just stared at her, she shrugged, a little self-consciously. "I'm just saying."

The three girls exchanged another glance, filled with horror and understanding. At last, Krista said drily, "So no pressure then."

As Danielle stood, Laura couldn't help but grin. "Nah, it's not like we're the only thing standing between Atharca and his goal. I mean, I sure as heck wouldn't want that to be the case."

Annie rubbed her temples. "I think I'm getting a headache."

"And I," Laura said, rubbing the lightsaber that hung at her waist unconsciously, "think we've been dawdling long enough. Time to get you out of here, ladies."

"Wait!" They turned to look at Danielle, who was staring at Laura in concern. "But how will we get out without Palpatine noticing?"

Laura grinned even more widely. "Again, my secret weapon, my ace in the hole, is taking care of that for me. He's a pretty effective distraction, let me tell you."

"Secret weapon?" Danielle asked warily. "Who?"

"Ah, I think we've had enough revelations for one day. Before we head out, though, I think you might be needing these." Her cloak, huge and voluminous, apparently had a fair amount of pockets, because from them she withdrew two guns, which she tossed to Annie and Krista. As they caught them, surprised, Laura reached into a different pocket and withdrew a black cylinder. "Here," she said quietly to Danielle. "Atharca gave it to Palpatine, and I pinched it." Carefully, she extended the lightsaber to Danielle, and Danielle reached forward and took it in shock. It was her very own blade, which had been confiscated when Atharca had captured her.

Laura glanced out at the hall, then beckoned them forward urgently. "Come on, gals; time to get a move on."

Krista and Annie both instantly moved at her words, Annie touching Laura's shoulder as she filed out past her, but Danielle remained where she was, unmoving.

Laura turned to face her, and her expression was filled with understanding. "It's not a trick, Danielle," she said quietly.

Danielle shook her head, ever so slowly. "Laura . . . if you betray us again . . ."

"I won't. I swear it." When Danielle still didn't budge, Laura extended one black-gloved hand, solemnly. "I *swear* it, Danielle. Please, for the sake of everything we've been through, trust me just one more time. I'm on your side."

For a moment Danielle met her gaze, and she could not stop herself from remembering how cold that gaze had been over the crimson blade of a lightsaber. Something had twisted inside her at the cold hatred she'd read in Laura's eyes, and even now she could not completely shake it from her mind. But Laura's gaze did not waver . . . and almost without her consent Danielle stepped forward and grasped Laura's hand tightly in her own. "I trust you."

Laura smiled. "Thank you," she whispered; then, breaking the grasp, she turned and strode forward. "Come on, let's get the hell out of here."

Laura was a much swifter and more surefooted guide than she had been in Atharca's lair; clearly, three years living here had given her a good idea of its layout. "I'm going to take us through the lower levels for as long as I can," she'd whispered. "Most of the guards and security are upstairs, so we're going to try and avoid them as long as possible."

She'd proven right thus far. Leading them at first through a tangled maze of darkened corridors until they were all completely disoriented, Laura finally turned abruptly and opened an unremarkable door that led into a small, unlit room. The others filed in after her and Krista closed the door soundlessly behind them.

"What's this?" Annie asked. "Where are we?"

"This is one of Palpatine's private offices," Laura whispered. "Follow me, and when I say so, *be quiet*. There're periodic security sweeps in here, and I've disabled the visual, but the audio will still pick up." Without further explanation she swept across the door to a large file cabinet, rapidly entered a set of numbers, and opened one of the drawers.

As Laura began rifling through the papers, Danielle asked, "Laura, what are you doing? We're in kind of a hurry, here."

"Have a little patience," Laura responded firmly. "This is almost as important as your getting out of here alive. Here," she said triumphantly, brandishing a folder filled with documents. Tossing it at Krista, who caught it fumblingly, she then turned to the computer, seated herself, and began rapidly typing on the keyboard.

"What's this?" Krista asked, surprised.

"Documents recording various conversations and transactions between Palpatine and the Trade Federation. *Illegal* transactions," she added with grim triumph. "Stuff those somewhere and do not lose them. Let me just get a little more here . . ."

"What are you doing now?" Annie asked as Laura hit a key firmly and, with a tinny noise, information began recording on a disc.

"This is a basic conglomeration of stuff you might find useful. Passwords to all sorts of Palpatine and Atharca's crap, locations, information lines, contact listings . . . basically, whatever the Jedi and the Senate might find useful in rooting out and destroying their entire organization." After a moment, when the disc finished writing, Laura pulled out the fingernail-sized piece of hardware and flicked it at Danielle. "Bring the bastards to their knees," she said grimly.

Danielle tucked the disc into a small, secure pocket in her cloak. "I will." After a moment, she amended, "*We* will."

"Okay, that's all the time we can spare, I think," Laura said, glancing at a chronometer on her wrists. "In fact--" she flung a hand into the air "silent, now!"

All four girls froze. In the corner, a small, previously invisible security droid flared into life, innards buzzing as it slowly panned over the room, first in one direction, then the other. After a moment, it fell still again. Laura dropped her hand, and they let out breaths of relief.

"Come on," she said, glancing inexplicably upward. "I think we need to hurry." And, without further explanation, she swept back out into the hall, leaving nothing for them to do but follow.

After some more confusing navigation of dark halls, they turned into an open area filled with dim shapes. In the distance were what looked like giant metal doors, and the ceiling stretched in shadow far overhead.

"Where are we?" Annie asked.

"Palpatine's private hangar bay," Laura whispered back. "Perfect for launching ships on illicit missions and all that jazz. Of course, no one but his closest aides knows it exists, he's so touchy about it. It's a wonder that he never puts anyone on guard--"

Before she even finished her sentence Laura leapt back and snapped up her lightsaber, in her hand and ignited before her friends even fully registered what was happening. In eerie almost-synchornization, next to her Danielle did the same thing, and the glow of the two blades meshed eerily in the dim lighting. Only a split second later Krista's gun was up and ready, but Annie remained holding hers loosely, a distant expression on her face.

"What is it?" Krista asked tersely.

"I don't know," Laura bit back, glancing at Danielle for confirmation. "Something--"

Behind them, Annie shuddered intensely, then shouted, "To your right!"

The two lightsaber-wielders began moving before the words had left her mouth, swirling to engage the foe. For, surely enough, emerging from between the distant rows of ship were huge defense droids, weapons already flashing as they attacked the four intruders. They were a model unseen in the Star Wars films, very squat and chunky with two blaster cannons per droid. Despite their inelegance, however, they were very effective, and they unleashed salvo after salvo at the four girls.

Laura and Danielle stepped forward, trying to shield their friends, lightsabers flashing in a frantic attempt to deflect all the shots. Behind them, Annie and Krista took advantage of their cover to fire over the others' shoulders and take out the droids, but there were simply too many, and more kept coming.

"I thought you said he didn't have anyone on guard!" Krista yelled over the din.

"He didn't!" Laura snapped back. "This is new!"

Abruptly there was a new sound, from behind them, and with a cry Annie dove, taking herself and Krista to the floor. Milliseconds later blaster fire ripped into the air where they'd been standing, and Laura instantly whirled so that she and Danielle were back to back, guarding against the shots coming at them from both sides.

As Krista and Annie lay flat on the floor, still trying to fire, Danielle shouted, "We're surrounded! I can't deflect from all sides!"

Laura hesitated a moment before answering, clearly torn. "All right!" she shouted back. "Get ready to run! When I say 'go', we'll clear an opening, and then run for the opposite end, all right?"

"Okay," Danielle replied, and Annie and Krista agreed as well.

"All right: one, two, three, GO!" Laura shouted, and she and Danielle extended a hand, knocking the nearest rows of droids back. Instantly they took off, Annie and Krista already on their feet and running with them. Blaster fire trailed after them, but they managed to outrun it.

At the end of the hangar bay they entered a carpeted hallway, and at a breakneck sprint Laura led them away from the room filled with defense droids. "Okay," she panted as she ran, "that was new, and new isn't good. We can only hope Palpatine doesn't know what we're up to, because if he does--we are screwed, ladies."

"What now?" Danielle asked, running at her side and gasping for air.

"We have to get you out of this building as quickly as possible. I think the quickest way is up a utility staircase just around--LOOK OUT!"

The four girls threw themselves to a stop as they rounded the corner--for on the other side lay a veritable army of the battle droids made infamous in the Phantom Menace, fully armed and with guns brought to bear on the escapees.

"Go back!" Danielle cried, and they retreated around the corner. Realizing the dozens of droids would soon follow them around the corner, Krista beckoned them into an open office nearby, and the two lightsaber-wielders positioned themselves at the door where they could deflect shots.

"I think it's safe to say Palpatine's figured out what's going on," Annie remarked, casually.

"So we're screwed then," Krista said, resigned. "That sucks."

"No," Laura replied, and her friends were shocked to realize that her voice shook with fear. Her expression, however, was one of rigid determination. "You can still escape. I think Palpatine must still be distracted upstairs, and these guys are simple enough to get around; I know--"

It took them a few seconds to realize Laura had stopped talking. Glancing at her, they realized that her face, already pale, had gone completely white, and that she stood trembling with her jaw clenched and her lightsaber shaking in her grasp.

"Laura?" Danielle asked, bewildered. She stretched out a hand to touch her friend--and Laura recoiled with a small noise, like a cornered animal.

"Laura!" Krista shouted, alarmed. "Laura, are you all right? What's wrong?"

Laura dropped her lightsaber, and the energy blade scorched the floor before it automatically disengaged. Her hands flying up to cover her ears, she began to back away, shaking her head and muttering insensibly. There was not even a shred of sanity in her eyes.

Danielle, lowering her lightsaber, looked at her friend in horror as Laura dropped to the floor and scooted up against the wall where her mutterings slowly became audible. "No, no, no, no, no, no--"

As Danielle started to step toward her friend, the first of the battle droids discovered where they were hiding and began firing on them through the doorway.

Danielle's lightsaber snapped up in time to desperately deflect the first volley, but the shots of the battle droids came far more quickly than the security droids' and without Laura's help she had more ground to cover on her own. "Help her!" she screamed to Annie and Krista. "One of you cover me and someone figure out what's wrong with her!"

Annie was already moving before Danielle spoke. She dove to Laura's side as Krista drew up behind Danielle and began picking off the battle droids as best she could without hitting Danielle. Annie dropped to her knees at Laura's side and desperately grabbed her friend's shoulders. "Laura! Laura, what's wrong?"

At first Laura seemed completely oblivious to Annie's presence, but when Annie shook her shoulders and slapped her, Laura blinked, then seemed to come back to herself a bit. Slowly, waveringly, her eyes focused on Annie, and there was an expression of complete disorientation in them. "Annie?" she asked, fumblingly, her voice seeming to come from a great distance. "What's going on?"

"Laura, you have to get up," Annie said, her voice shaking with fear. "Please, Laura!"

Laura's eyes instantly snapped back into the present. "Annie!" she repeated, this time with certainty. "What--oh God, let me up!"

Relieved, Annie released her friend and moved away, as Laura grabbed her lightsaber once more and slowly rose to her feet. "What *happened*?" Annie gasped.

"A little bout of unpleasantness," Laura said, her mouth pressed into a grim line. "I--I lost control, just for a second there." As Annie looked at her in horror, Laura tried to shrug it off. "I'm fine."

Danielle and Krista saw her stand, and relief washed across their features as they turned to face her. "Laura!" Danielle cried, gesturing desperately. "Help me!"

"Laura!" Krista cried in joy, turning to run toward her friend--at the exact same moment Danielle moved aside to allow Laura to join her at the doorway--

It happened in the blink of an eye, too fast for either of the Jedi or the precognitive Annie to even move. One of the battle droids fired just as Danielle lowered her blade for an instant--and the shot snaked past her into the defenseless target behind her.

Krista staggered at the impact, then took a step back, shocked. At first she didn't realize what had happened, didn't register why her friends were screaming her name--then her hand instinctively went to the burning pain in her side and her knees buckled under her.

"Oh, hell," she whispered, then slumped to the floor.

Annie caught her before she hit the ground, and Krista was a dead weight in her arms. Looking at the others, her face was white with fear. "She's not breathing!"

Horror washed over all three of the girls. Danielle's mouth dropped in horror and Laura's features washed black with rage and terror. "Is she alive?" Danielle gasped, her breath catching in her throat.

Annie pressed a hand to Krista's temple, then gave a little sob of relief. Looking up at Laura and Danielle, she nodded. "She's alive. But--"

"There's no time," Laura snapped. "Stay here and guard her for a minute," she ordered Annie. Turning to Danielle, she said, "We have to get to the end of the hall. Now!"

Danielle nodded grimly, and the two girls positioned themselves in the doorway. Without any further discussion, they swirled as one into the hall, Danielle slamming the door closed behind them.

The battle droids outnumbered them immensely, but with rage fueling Laura's motions and Danielle fighting for the friends that were now undefended, they sliced through the line of droids like a scythe through a wheat field. Back to back, motions complementing each other just as well as they had matched each other in battle, they cut a swath through the mass of droids, lightsabers drawing lines of searing color in the air. Droids fell around them left and right, dismembered by the blades of light that they could neither deflect nor evade.

Only moments later they broke through, and Danielle remained behind deflecting as Laura sprinted to a small console mounted in the wall a few yards down the hall. Dropping her lightsaber, she rapidly typed on the keyboard for a moment, then slapped a button triumphantly. "Brace yourself!" she screamed at Danielle, flattening herself against the wall.

Danielle threw herself out of arm's reach just as, overhead, unseen electronics suddenly hummed into life. With a massive crackle, a wave of blue energy suddenly swept down the hall, extinguishing the overhead lights and deadening all the battle droids it touched until they lay in a motionless heap on the floor. The energy continued down the hall as far as Danielle could see, until the only light was the searing crimson of Laura's lightsaber and her own azure.

"What was that?" Danielle gasped, staring at the heap of battle droids in shock.

"The Star Wars version of EMP," Laura replied grimly. "A security measure installed in case someone sends droid assassins in here. Lightsabers, of course, are immune. Palpatine must not know I'm with you or he'd have disabled it. Come on!" Beckoning Danielle after her, she sprinted around the piles of deactivated droids back to the room where Annie waited.

As soon as they entered she looked up, and tears made tracks on her face. "It's bad," she said, her voice shaking. "Oh, God, guys--"

The two girls rushed to her side, extinguishing lightsabers as they dropped to their knees. Annie had pulled Krista's tunic up, and they could see clearly where the blaster bolt had blackened and burned away the skin of her side. She was still unconscious. "She's breathing, but she needs help."

Laura gave a small moan and Danielle glanced away momentarily, looking ill. "This is really bad, guys. She needs help, now!" Annie looked imploringly at them. "One of you has to do something!" She swallowed, throat working convulsively. "If we don't get her somewhere soon, she'll die. I . . . I saw it." Her voice shook with urgency.

"I'm not trained," Danielle whispered. "I never learned how to heal!"

She glanced at Laura, but Laura shook her head, self-loathing in her eyes. "I'm Sith," she said, voice low. "The Dark Side begets no life. We can't heal."

"Then we have to get her to a hospital immediately," Annie said, harshly. "Laura, we need to know the fastest way out of here."

Laura hesitated a moment, then sheathed her lightsaber at her side. Motioning for Annie to move aside, she bent down and picked Krista up, but not without effort. "Good thing she doesn't even weight a hundred pounds and I'm a Sith," Laura grunted, showing the effort of carrying her friend nonetheless. Beckoning with her head, she started for the doors. "You guys are gonna have to cover me, but I'll get you to an exit. Come on!"

Their journey to the nearest turbolift and up it were hellish; Laura could barely move at a trot carrying her friend, and Annie and Danielle started at every noise. They gained the lift successfully and were uninterrupted on their journey to the main floor, and stepped out warily into what seemed to be the main hall.

The hall seemed to have recently seen some type of battle. Furniture lay askew and the walls were scored with blaster marks, yet everything was eerily still. Danielle closed her eyes, reaching out her senses to discern if anyone lay in wait for them, but could sense nothing, and so she stepped out into the open boldly.

Eyeballing the disheveled hallway, the other two followed her. Their footsteps seemed uncannily loud in the silence. "All right," Laura said, voice low. "The mains doors are just at the end of this hall and to the right. We--"

"So," a low, deadly voice rang out from behind them, interrupting Laura. "It seems that I am doubly betrayed tonight. But no matter; all will soon be put in its place."

All four girls froze, and Laura closed her eyes briefly. Slowly, reluctantly, they turned--and there stood Palpatine, dressed in his evening clothes and with an unperturbed expression on his face . . . and blue energy still crackling on his fingertips.

"I might have known you were the author of all this," he said reflectively, glancing at Laura. "Everyone has a weakness where friends are concerned and you are not one with great skill at denying your weaknesses. I couldn't fathom how the prisoners might have escaped without help--and, of course, they did not. Very well; I can acknowledge when I have been bested. Now, Laura, you have been a very wicked girl, and you must be punished; but you can still redeem yourself in my eyes. Bring them back in, and I will be merciful in my retribution."

Laura seemed rooted to the spot, her face white with fear, her head bowed as she tried vainly to block out her Master's voice. She didn't respond.

"Come now, Laura, you know that resistance is futile. I have already dealt with your co-conspirator and now this little rebellion of yours is at an end. Bring your friends to me."

Still Laura did not move. Annie and Danielle dared to neither speak nor even breathe; through both of their memories her earlier words were ringing: sometimes, I have trouble even defying him at all.

Palpatine advanced toward them, menacingly, and Annie and Danielle took a corresponding step backward toward freedom. Palpatine froze, and his features turned malevolent. "Laura, do as I command." When she still did not move, his voice was like a whipcrack. "Laura!"

And, then barely audible, they heard her answer. "No."

Danielle and Annie both relaxed, subconsciously, as Palpatine's features went blank with shock. "What?"

"No," Laura repeated, more firmly this time. She lifted her head, and while her face was still deathly pale, it was determined. Carefully, she eased Krista to the ground, and Krista moaned softly as Laura stepped away from her. Annie hurried to her side as Laura took another step forward, toward Palpatine, and grasped her lightsaber reflexively in her hand.

"You dare," Palpatine said, voice wroth. "You *dare* to defy me? You will regret this day, insubordinate fool."

"Undoubtedly," Laura said, her voice resigned. She took another, extremely reluctant step toward him.

All at once the angle of her friend's movement struck Danielle as off, somehow. "Laura? What are you doing?"

Laura glanced over her shoulder and saw Annie help a very pale and disoriented Krista to her feet. "Get out of here," she said, voice low. "I can hold him off long enough for you to escape, but no longer."

At first her friend's words didn't register. "What?" Danielle asked, dumbly.

"I said get out of here, now! You don't have much time!"

"Laura, you can't think--we won't leave you here!" Danielle stared at her in shock.

Laura's features darkened and she turned slightly to face Danielle. "You must. We'll never all make it out of here; someone has to ensure the others escape, or no one will. Krista needs to get to a healer. You *must* return to the Jedi Temple and give them word, do you understand me? They *must* know what is going to happen!"

Danielle was torn, staring at Laura in horror. Logically, she knew that her friend was right, but she could no more easily abandon her to this fate than she could raise her sword against her once more. Annie, seeing her indecision, glanced over at them in worry. "What?"

At the end of the hall, Palpatine began moving toward them, and Laura jumped back. "That's it, we're out of time," she snapped. "Get the hell out of here, now!" When Danielle and Annie remained rooted to the spot, unable to move, Laura looked at them again, her eyes full of desperate entreaty. "Now!"

There was no more time to think. As Laura raised her lightsaber to meet Palpatine head on, Annie and Danielle exchanged a quick, frantic glance. Then, together they took a hold of the barely conscious Krista and ran for the door, leaving Laura standing defiant behind them. Out of the corner of their eye they saw Palpatine raise his hands and the blue lightning stream forth from them--and Laura, sweating with the effort, catch the first surge of it on her blade. They knew, however, that she would not last long.

Then they rounded the corner, and she and Palpatine were lost to sight.

It was only a short sprint down the remainder of the hall outside, and they ran it without interruption. As soon as they burst onto the front lawn, the stars shimmering overhead, they knew they were free--they would leave unopposed.

Behind them, inside the building, they heard Laura scream.