And Never Return Chapter 9, a star wars fanfic

AND NEVER RETURN

CHAPTER NINE

Malian Chan'irae sat back in her chair and put her feet up on the table. The general had assigned her here to watch Luke Skywalker. It was a dull assignment but experience had taught her to always be prepared. Therefore, along with the screens and scanners was plenty of stimcaf, snacks, and crossword puzzles.

Four letter word for a male Alderaani leader…

"Ma'am, there's an unidentified human male at Skywalker's apartment."

Malian put down her puzzle. "Keep an eye on him. This might be Amet—Telikna. Could be Telikna." She glanced at the younger man, but he didn't seem to notice her slip.

Luke was woken from his light nap by knocking. Rubbing his eyes, he walked over to the door and tripped over his suitcase. Resisting the urge to curse, he kicked the cheap case out of the way and answered the door. A man about his age stood on the other side. He had brown hair pulled back in a short ponytail and blue eyes. Luke hesitated when he looked into the man's face, struck with a sense of recognition. He brushed the feeling away after a moment, realizing that this man was not the one he thought he was. It was just a strong resemblance. Must have been the hair or cheekbones or something.

"Mister Skywalker?"

"Yes?"

The man extended his hand. "Hi, I'm Daryn. I'm one of your neighbors."

"Check on that," the security officer told her underling. "See if there's a 'Daryn' renting a room somewhere in the building and get a background check if there is. Have Security standing by."

Luke!

Luke jolted in surprise at Mara's clear voice in his head. He'd retracted his presence again, but she had found him and broken through the barriers.

Tell Daryn to leave!

Why? Mara, what's wrong?

Just do it, Skywalker, she ordered.

Luke snapped his attention from Mara's voice in his head to Daryn. The other man offered him some refreshments in his apartment.

"I'm sorry, I'm kind of busy right now," Luke found himself saying. "Maybe some other time?" Luke sent a tendril of the Force to search for whatever may have caused Mara's change of instructions.

Daryn nodded slowly, then told him, "I'm in the apartment next door, if you need a guide to the city. I'm here for another couple of days."

"Thanks," Luke responded and closed the door as Daryn walked away. As he headed back to his couch, he touched Mara's presence, which had not gone far, as if she'd been monitoring the conversation.

You going to explain this to me now? he asked.

You're being watched.

What? Why? The simple answer came to mind. To find the resistance group. Blast, I hadn't even considered that. Are you going to tell Daryn to get out of here?

We can't. Konner doesn't want to risk him getting caught, so he won't contact him at all. Look, you need to meet with Daryn, but somewhere away from your apartment. They've probably got holocams installed in your rooms.

Got it. He cut their conversation and took a few minutes to wander through his apartment, looking in various cabinets, putting on a show of general boredom for the possible watchers. After about ten minutes, he pulled on a new dark cloak and left his apartment to wakl over to Daryn's suite. The other man opened his door and didn't seem surprised at all to see Luke there.

"I was wondering if you'd show me some of the local places? If you weren't busy," Luke asked.

"Sure. Here, let me get my coat and we'll be off."

Malian paced the length of the room. "Get someone out there to follow them. I can't lose this one."

Daryn played the role of tour guide well, although Luke wasn't paying much attention. He immediately sensed the Shrigan following them. Gently probing the humanoid's mind, he felt the fierce determination she had to prove herself to her superior officer. She was a rookie and not very well thought of in the Kath'alon Security organization. If she could catch the Resistance leader trying to recruit the new male human, then she would be promoted and definitely have something to brag about during the stim-tea breaks at work. It was the same determination found anywhere else in the galaxy. This was her big chance.

Luke was thinking of a way to escape the shadow when Daryn steered him towards a crowd waiting to enter one of the public transportation vehicles.

"Meet me at the bar next street down," Daryn muttered. Luke barely understood what he said, but if he had trouble hearing and he was standing right next to him, then the odds that they would be overheard were exceptionally slim. "Called the Kath'alon Midnight. I'll be there in ten minutes. If I'm not there within twenty, call it off and go back to your apartment. You haven't done anything illegal…yet." Evidently Daryn had noticed the shadow as well. Luke wondered momentarily what profession this man had before he'd gotten caught in Qantul. Was he a mercenary of some sort?

When they reached the crowd, Daryn said, "Now, go," and then he disappeared among the numerous people. Luke waded through the crowd until he was near the middle and then reached out for the Shrigan woman again. She had gotten slightly confused as to her "mark" when he entered the large crowd, since most of the group wore cloaks to shelter themselves from the light rain. However, she thought she recognized the shade of blue the blond human wore and her attention was still accurately on him. Luke pressed her mind a little with the Force, simply adding to her indecision until she doubted her original choice. She found another being to watch, one towards the outside of the group and began to shadow him when he wandered away from the transport. Luke felt somewhat bad about messing up the rookie's chances for a promotion this time, but his task at hand was catching up with Mara. The novice would have other chances to get the recognition she craved.

Luke stayed with the crowd a while longer, searching carefully for anyone else studying the group like his shadow had. When the group of beings began to barod the large vehicle, Luke joined a group who had exited the transport and strode down the street Daryn indicated.

He found the Kath'alon Midnight, a dimly lit bar that could be a twin to almost any other cantina in the galaxy. It was mostly empty, with only three other patrons, all glued to the flatscreen on the other side of the room. Unnoticed, he chose a table in the back corner. Han had taught him to do this: to select seats where no one could sneak up on you and you could see the entire room. Daryn showed up a minute later and slipped into the seat across from Luke.

"They lost you?" he asked immediately. Luke answered with a single nod. "Good." He waved over a waitress and ordered two glasses of lum.

"Mara told me she would talk to you before I showed up," Daryn began. Luke nodded again and the brown-haired man continued. "So you're planning to go through with this, right?" he asked nonchalantly. He didn't keep his attention solely on Luke, glancing at the menu and list of alcoholic beverages displayed prominently on the wall.

"Yes."

"Great." He placed a small green packet on the tabletop. "Add this to your drink and then down the liquor. It'll taste bad, but do it."

"What does it to?" Luke asked. He could barely keep suspicion from his voice though he tried to imitate Daryn's uncaring demeanor.

"Takes you off their scanners. You have to drink it before I take you off planet. Understand?" He smiled flirtatiously at the waitress when she returned with their glasses. "Thanks."

"Can I get anything else for you, gentlemen?" Daryn waved her off and turned his attention solely to Luke.

Luke opened the packet and dumped its contents into his glass.