Chapter Three

"He's coming," the woman said shortly, her eyes unfocused.

"How do you know?" The man with her asked curiously.

"I know. Prepare for his arrival. We must be cautious…capturing a Jedi Master will not be easy."


Antarnae was a world almost as barren and lifeless as Tatooine, though Antarnae had actual spots of forests scattered across its surface. Ghosts of memories stirred in Luke's mind as he flew his X-wing toward his designated landing platform. Something else stirred as well, though it felt muted and far away. A sense of things not right…of a darkness moving toward him…but no actual twinges from the Force.

Artoo beeped from his seat behind Luke and the Jedi glanced at his screen, then smiled. "No, I'm sure there are no monsters here to eat you. Artoo, you really must get over the Dagobah incident. How many worlds have we landed on, and how many times have you been eaten?" A beep of calculation. "See? Not that many at all. Now help me land this thing and we'll see what we can find out about this mysterious woman."

After Luke had tossed his flight helmet into the X-wing's cockpit and lowered Artoo to the ground from his socket, he took a good look around at the very small landing zone. His was one of two ships currently occupying the space there, the sand blasted into dunes behind both of them as evidence to their landings. A single control bunker stood in front of him with two men hurrying out of it. Both wore garments similar to the attire on Tatooine, though theirs was a little darker in color.

"Jedi Master Skywalker!" The older of the two exclaimed, his eyes round in awe, his beard seeming to be standing on end in excitement. "What brings such important person to our little world?"

Luke smiled politely at the men, though inwardly he had hoped that most people had gotten over the 'Jedi Master' awe he had constantly found himself in since the death of the Emperor. "I'm looking for a woman that I believe lives here, or was brought here against her will. Do you have a library or even a database that I can do a little research in?"

The younger man, beardless but with stubble, glanced at the elder in obvious disappointment as he shook his head. "Records none here," he said in their strange accent. "Too small to help us. Maybe we know her, eh?"

With a vigorous nod, the elder jumped in. "We know everybody! Tell us a name and we will tell you who she is."

Luke wasn't sure if he should be telling anyone on this planet anything just yet, but since they had no way for him to search for the woman in his dreams than by word of mouth, he supposed it would have to do. If something more came of it later, sinister or otherwise, he would have to rely on the Force to help him wiggle out of it.

"I only have a first name," he finally said slowly. "Namina. Does it sound familiar to either of you?"

The older looked blank as he shook his head, but the younger man gave a startled jolt, which he tried to hide. Both apologized for not knowing the woman he wanted, though the younger man would now not look Luke in the eyes.

"Maybe a visitor, eh?" The old man said, smiling. "Like you?"

"Or a prisoner," Luke added mildly. Then he switched topics. "Do you have some place I can stay while I am here?" He doubted it; he hadn't seen any tall buildings resembling hotels anywhere on the flight over to the landing platform.

To his surprise, both men nodded at once. "Momma's boarding home," the younger added. He pointed down the only dusty street to the right. "Third home on the left. She's got vacancies."

No doubt, Luke thought, amused. "I'll stay there then."

The older man nodded. "How long you stay for, Jedi Master Skywalker?"

Luke gave him a piercing gaze. "Until I find the woman I'm looking for. She's here—now all I have to do is locate her."

The older nodded as though his logic were sound, though the younger man again dropped his eyes from Luke's. There was definitely something that he knew and his elder did not.

Luke would not force the man to tell him. He could wait. This mystery would take time to solve, time he really did not have, but would commit as much as he could to.

He hoped he wasn't too late. He hoped Namina was still alive.

"Come on, Artoo," he instructed the droid. "Let's go get settled in."