And Never Return Chapter 4, a star wars fanfic

AND NEVER RETURN

CHAPTER FOUR

"These are your identification cards, based on the information we got off your ship," Treneda said as she handed Mara a wallet. The human glanced through it then tossed it onto the bed beside her new suitcase.

"Also charged to your ID cards is some money. And here are some more datacards. They'll have any important information and keycodes you might need. And here's how to get a hold of me. I've already reserved a room for you at the Newcomer's Hotel. The staff will help you settle in and you can stay there until you find a permanent apartment. I understand from the records you kept that you were a trader of some sort?"

Mara nodded mutely.

"Good. I am sure we can use you on interplanetary transactions. I will notify the proper office to see about that. Last is a comlink." Treneda held up a small black device. "You just clip this onto your belt and this onto your ear and you're ready to go." She turned to leave. "I'm sure your transportation will be here in a just a couple of minutes. Go ahead and change into some fresh clothing and I'll be back soon."

Mara didn't say anything as Treneda let the door slide closed behind her. This was Mara's eighth day on this planet, if what Treneda said could be trusted. Eight days! Mara rarely remained on the same planet for more than a week, but according to this humanoid, Kath'alon and her sister planets would become her permanent home.

Mara quickly dressed into a long black skirt and a green tunic and tied a black belt around her slender waist. It would take a while to get used to this new style, since her usual wardrobe consisted mainly of flightsuits and the occasional catsuit or dress. These people hadn't even included a pair of pants with her new clothes. She also had no weapons—according to Treneda, there were no weapons in the hands of civilians. Her blasters were probably still in what was left of the Fire and her lightsaber…all Mara could hope was that one of these humanoids turned it on with the wrong end facing them.

And what about Konner? Knowing what she did of the man, she was certain that Konner would not just sit around on this planet, not if he could help it. To get off Kath'alon, he would almost certainly need some sort of weapon.

Konner. Her mind kept pushing his name to the front whenever she tried to think about something else.

He was dead. Right? But if he were dead, then who would use his name?

Surely there were more than just one Konner Donteril in the galaxy. Right?

But more than one Konner Donteril who knew this specific Imperial code? One that only the Emperor's secret agents used? It was a simple code, yes, if you understood it, but it was a desperate code, created out of necessity in case the agent could not get to anything else.

Mara had met Konner at a banquet she had attended on Coruscant, oh, at least fifteen years ago. She was there to keep an eye on the Senator from Kuat, a stuck-up nobleman whose name had been implicated during a recent Rebel raid. Konner, one of the Imperial Intelligence Agency's rising stars, had been assigned as her date to discourage other males and to also give her a cover. Mara had assumed that she would never see the black-haired man again, but that was not to be so.

On no less than eleven other missions, when the Emperor's Hand was required to have a partner, Konner Donteril was there. Mara had been forced to rethink her original opinion of intel agents when he actually helped rather than hinder. Although fighting was not Konner's strong point, he could infiltrate any organization with an ease that Mara envied, as well as a large portion of the Intelligence community. He was the only man she had ever actually liked in a manner outside of professional admiration. They had just admitted their mutual attraction less than a month before he disappeared.

Records stated that his ship left Ord Mantell with flight plans for Coruscant. He never arrived at Imperial Center. The initial searched died away and it was assumed that he had taken a bad hyperspace trip—it was always a possibility with spacers, that they would jump to lightspeed and their ship would become just one more missing freighter.

But what if Konner Donteril wasn't dead? What if he had ended up here, like her, twelve years earlier?

Mara couldn't believe it. If he was alive…

She pushed this thought to the back of her mind and closed the suitcase. She would search him out as soon as she could.

The next morning Cat activated herself early and was determined to wake the Jedi Master as well. Although she kept to her promise and did not use the alarms, the temperature in the room he had claimed as his own underwent drastic weather changes in the span of five minutes, dropping to near freezing before shooting up and then plummeting again.

"I'm up, I'm up," Luke finally snapped. His voice was hoarse, his throat bone dry. He sat on the edge of the bed with the blanket wrapped around him. "Stupid computer," he muttered. He cleared his throat.

"What did you say?" Cat asked sweetly.

"I said, 'good morning,'" Luke lied. Who knew what the computer would do if he insulted her? Yes, the almighty Jedi Master was afraid of a computer. If he hadn't felt like crap, he would have laughed.

"How far are we?"

"About four days to Ryloth. Enough time for more dejarik. Maybe you'll even win a game. Not probable, but you can keep your hopes up."

"No, no. You chose the game last night, I choose today."

"The only game onboard is dejarik."

"How do you know I didn't bring a game with me?"

"Because I've already searched through your luggage. Really, don't you have anything else to wear besides black?"

"There were some other colors in there. White."

"Socks and underclothes don't count."

"Sure, they do."

"If other people don't see them, they don't count."

"How do you know other people don't see them? I walk around without shoes sometimes." He took off the blanket and walked to the refresher in only a pair of black pajama pants. He tried to ignore the whistle that followed him.

"I didn't realize that Jedi actually worked out," Cat said. "Not a bad view."

Luke could feel a blush rising on his neck, but was determined to ignore the computer's comment.

He spent the remainder of the morning stretching out his muscles and exercising. In addition to the difficulty caused by his still-healing body, his concentration was diverted because Cat was constantly making small remarks. It was even more embarrassing that it was computer commenting on his physical condition this way. She definitely had a female's mind.

"If all Jedi look like that, then I have to wonder why you would bother hiding under those robes. I mean, I'd certainly stop doing something illegal if a hot guy walked up without a shirt," she was saying as Luke took his lightsaber out of his bag. He hadn't been wearing it for the hyperspace journey. "Whoa, what are you going to do with that?"

"Practice."

"Uh, no. Not on my ship, buddy."

"Oh, come on. I've been using a lightsaber since I was nineteen and I haven't sliced into anything without meaning to."

"That's nice. You are not using it on my ship."

"Look, I played eight games of dejarik with you last night. The least you can do is leave me alone for an hour." He paused and Cat remained silent. He added, "I am a Jedi Master, Cat. You can trust my word. I will not injure your ship."

There was a long pause before the computer spoke up again. "Fine," she said as if that single word took worlds of effort. Just don't hit anything vital. Of mine."

"Thank you, Cat."

"I just know I'm going to regret this."

Luke moved fluidly through cuts and parries, as if sparring against an invisible opponent. It was a good workout, although Luke preferred a real match to this. Unfortunately (or perhaps, fortunately) not many people equaled the Jedi Master in lightsaber work, except for Mara and maybe one other knight. Thankfully, Cat remained silent until he shut his lightsaber off. She breathed an audible mechanical sigh of relief.

"See, I didn't even touch the ship," Luke couldn't help but point out.

"Yeah, well, I am not ever going to let you do that again. You nearly gave me a heart attack several times."

"Computers can't have heart attacks, Cat."

"Shut up."

Luke grinned at the acidic reply as he sat down on the floor. He could hear mumbling from the walls and knew that she was doing the equivalent of talking under her breath.

"What did you say, Cat?" he asked sweetly.

"Nothing."

The Jedi Master let his smile fade as he concentrated on the Force. He controlled his breathing and closed his eyes so he could slip into a light trance, mainly to refresh his body after his workout. As soon as he touched the Force, he stretched out and called out for his missing friend, though the odds were against him finding her presence while still in lightspeed.

Mara?

Mara had drifted off into her thoughts and was startled out of memory when someone called her name.

The Shrigan in the driver's seat had his attention on the road before him. Mara had been reading one of the datacards when she'd let her mind drift.

When he didn't repeat her name, she glanced back down at the reader. The capital city of the Shrigan government wsa located on Kath'alon and was named Deshnal, after one of the ancient great kings. Although monarchs no longer ruled the planets, the name remained.

Had Konner compiled all of the information on the datacards, or had he only written the botanical section?

She'd have to remember to ask him when she saw him.