Author's Note: For those who didn't read the message on Penpals, the reason I wasn't updating my stories for a while was that my cat died and I didn't feel like writing. But I'm back on working on my fics now.

Chapter 26: Undead Creature

Darth Vader stared at the intercom, his mind freezing up like an over-loaded computer. Surely the stormtrooper hadn't just said UNDEAD CREATURE, did he? He breathed loudly for a few moments, and then punched the com switch. "Did you say 'undead creature'?"

"Yes Sir! I saw it myself, Sir! It even attacked 74 and me but we managed to escape. It and the Brain-Eating Alien are holding another trooper as a hostage! What do you want us to do, My Lord?"

"Make sure it doesn't escape. I will deal with this personally."

"Yes Sir!" The trooper replied.

Vader clicked the com off and turned to regard his companions. The Emperor was in Sickbay, a fact which the trooper no doubt knew nothing of and he had to see to Palpatine's safety. Not that the Sith Lord believed undead creatures actually existed, but it was clear the trooper had seen something and the thing had attacked him. Reaching out through his bond with Palpatine, he was reassured by the fact that his Master seemed to be OK. Of course, being a Master Sith the deceivingly harmless looking old man was well armed. If the so-called creatures attacked Palpatine they would be sorry. Still, he should go there as quickly as possible.

"We will go to Sickbay." Vader informed the others. "There are reports of a Brain-Eating Alien and an Undead Creature being located there."

"An undead creature!" Luke's blue eyes grew so wide his father feared they might fall out of their sockets. "How do you kill one of those?"

"Luke, I'm sure such a creature does not exist." Vader informed his son as he started down the long corridor towards Sickbay, his black cape flowing behind him. Things on his ship were getting more and more out of control.

Just then the ship-wide intercom clicked on and the commander on the Bridge made another announcement.

"THIS IS THE BRIDGE. I HAVE JUST BEEN INFORMED THERE IS AN UNDEAD CREATURE ON THE SHIP. THERE MAY BE MORE. PLEASE BE ON THE LOOKOUT FOR MORE UNDEAD CREATURES. TAKE WHATEVER PRECAUTIONS YOU FEEL ARE NECESSARY. THE BRAIN-EATING ALIENS ARE STILL ABOARD. ARM YOURSELVES! BRIDGE OUT!"

"Nice, really nice." Mace commented as he followed the Sith Lord. "Now we're going to have a real panic to deal with!"

"The stormtroopers are trained to deal with these situations." Vader hoped he was right. And where was his mother in all this confusion?

On a different part of the ship Han and Shmi paused in the hallway to listen to the announcement, along with the Trooper 69 that was supposed to be their escort. The trooper had been acting paranoid before from the Brain-Eating Alien threat, now he was going full out bananas. The slightest sound was making him practically leap out of his armor and aim his blaster riffle in odd directions.

"Undead creatures? Oh, how could such a nasty thing get onboard?" Shmi asked, frightened.

"There is no such thing. I've been from one end of this galaxy to the other and I never saw any undead creatures. Trust me, once a thing dies it stays dead." Han replied, and then remembered who he was talking to.

"But I was…" Shmi started to say but Han cut her off.

"Look, that's not a very good idea with happy trigger-finger here." Han glared at the jumpy stormtrooper and gripped the tip of his blaster riffle, roughly shoving the tip towards the ground. "Will you be more careful with that? Look, just take us to the shuttle bay, all right? I'm sure there are no Undead Creatures or Brain-Eating Aliens lurking in there, just shuttles."

"Yes, Sir." Trooper 69 led the way to the shuttle bay. On the way he blasted three air vents, two garbage shoots and the ceiling once for unknown reasons. This, of course, set the klaxon off wailing and red lights started flashing all over Executor as the ship went onto Red Alert.

"Oh great! Now look what you did!" Han fumed as the ear-splitting siren wailed in his ears. "You're going to have everyone shooting at us!"

"But I saw EYES looking at us, watching us!" Trooper 69 exclaimed, letting several blasts of red laser fire melt a nearby door control. Then he ran, tumbled across the floor and opened fire on a nearby Men's Room. Screaming could be heard from within as a partly armored trooper stumbled out, his pants only partway up. He tripped and fell on the floor. Then 69 leaped into the bathroom with a loud shriek and started blowing up all the toilets.

"Lets get out of here before he starts shooting at us!" Han gripped Shmi's wrist and they ran into the nearby shuttle bay. Picking out the nearest Imperial Shuttle, Han led her aboard and he started up the engine. The safest place for Shmi was down on Coruscant, in Vader's palace. And Chewie would make a formable opponent and bodyguard. The shuttle lifted smoothly off the floor and flew out into space. Within moments it was heading down through the atmosphere towards downtown Coruscant. Spotting Vader's palace, Han eased the ship onto a landing platform near the Falcon. Opening the ramp, he led Shmi outside. "Well, this is where your son lives. He owns this whole big building."

"Ani owns all this?" she asked, dumbfounded.

"Hey, they don't call him Lord Vader for nothing you know. He's the second richest guy in the galaxy." Han explained, and then pointed at the Falcon. "That's my ship, the Millennium Falcon. She's the fastest ship in the entire galaxy!"

"Everything is so big!" Shmi stated, shocked at seeing Coruscant for the first time. The buildings, the traffic, and the noise… it was all so overwhelming! "I can't believe I'm really here. I had dreamed of being with Ani for so many years, of seeing him and knowing he's OK, but I never thought…"

"Hey, you want to help me bake some cakes?" Han asked. When Shmi nodded yes, he led her up the ramp into the Falcon.

Back on Executor, McCoy had finally found Lord Vader and now the Doctor was glaring at him with blue eyes. "What's all these nonsense about Brain-Eating Aliens and Undead Creatures? It's the biggest bull story I ever heard and believe me I heard some real whoppers in my day. This baloney is going to incite a full blown panic!"

"Is my Mother still in Sickbay?" Darth Vader asked, concerned for her safety. He had sent Admiral Piett looking for her but as of yet he hadn't heard back from him. With the state of things on the ship, it might be some time before all his guests were found and rounded up. That is, if the stormtroopers didn't shoot them.

Dr. McCoy thought for a moment, and then shook his head. "No, she left with all those other people. The only one that stayed was that little green fellow. And the Emperor is in his private room sleeping."

"I have been informed that a Brain-Eating Alien and an Undead Creature are holding a stormtrooper hostage in Sickbay." Lord Vader informed the Doctor.

"Why, that's the most ridiculous thing I ever heard!" Bones exclaimed loudly as he grew hotheaded. "No one better be messing with my Sickbay! I just got the place cleaned up and organized the way I want it!"

Vader held up the two rib bones that he still clutched in one hand. "Can you identify these for us, Doctor?"

McCoy took the bones and carefully examined them, eyeing the teeth marks with experienced eyes. "Yeah, I can identify them all right. What do you want to know about them?"

"Are they from a murder victim, Doctor?" Master Mace asked as he moved closer to the Doctor. In fact, they all moved closer to McCoy, eager to hear his analysis of the priceless bones. "Did a crewmember get ate by the Brain-Eating Alien?"

The Doctor eyed Mace, wondering if the baldheaded man was serious. "Look, I had enough of this claptrap. Some joker on the bridge that isn't even out of his diapers yet calls me on the horn and he tells me that a Brain-Eating Alien has killed YOU! Then I get over here and now you're showing me bones from a barbequed rib roast! These are HUMAN teeth marks. Why, any idiot can tell by looking at these bones they didn't come out of a human chest! The shape and length is all wrong."

"Cooked ribs…" Vader repeated, then turned to stare at Luke.

In fact, everyone was staring at Luke now.

"Why is everyone staring at me for?" Luke asked, suddenly not liking all of the attention. At McCoy's mention of barbecued ribs, a little memory had resurfaced in Luke's head and he was pretty sure that's why everyone was looking at him now.

"You didn't eat any ribs now, did you?" Mace inquired, his hands on his hips.

"Ummm…maybe a few…" Luke sheepishly admitted, his face growing red in embarrassment.

"Son, you just threw up all over my boots when you looked at those bones! Are you telling me now that those are YOUR bones, from the ribs that YOU ate?" Mace asked, shocked.

"I forgot…" Luke admitted. He wished he could just sink through the floor and disappear, but even the Force couldn't make that happen. "Really! You just came in and started talking about Brain-Eating Aliens and I forgot all about those ribs! It was just so exciting and scary that I wanted to go blast some of them!"

Mace moaned loudly. "A Jedi doesn't seek adventure and excitement! We had the same exact problem with your father but HE never caused huge messes like this one!"

"But I didn't cause this mess!" Luke protested, sure they were going to try to pin the whole Brain-Eating Alien thing on him now. "Why, I don't even KNOW any Brain-Eating Aliens!"

Panicked, Luke dashed over to Obi-Wan and gripped the Jedi by his outer tabards. "Ben! Tell him I don't know ant Brain-Eating Aliens! You know I don't!"

Mace gripped his baldhead, moaning loudly.

"Luke, relax. I know you don't." Obi-Wan assured him, placing an arm around his shoulder and comforting him.

"By golly man, Brain-Eating Aliens don't exist!" McCoy shouted. "Someone's been filling this boy's head with poppycock! Now tell me son, who's been telling you these stories about Brain-Eating Aliens?"

Luke pointed a finger at the blinking lights on his father's chest plate.

Dr. McCoy glared at Vader. "I'll deal with you later! I have to go see who's messing with my Sickbay."

They all watched the Doctor march off, the bones still clutched in his hand. Then Mace turned to Luke again. "Luke, did you start this whole mess somehow?"

"No! Of course not! I just wanted to go out on a date with Mara."

"Master Jedi, if I may?" Padme stepped forward; confident a more calm and diplomatic approach would work on her son. All Mace was doing was upsetting him and that would get them nowhere. "Where did you get the cooked ribs from? Surely there were none in the Officer's Lounge."

"Oh, a guy brought them." Luke explained.

"A guy…what guy?" Mace asked eagerly, hoping that finally they'd get to the bottom of how this disaster had started. "Where's this guy now?"

"I don't know…"

"Well, what did he look like?"

"I don't know…"

"Well, what DO you know?"

"He didn't want to give me the food I ordered!" Luke suddenly exclaimed. Then he reached into his toga and pulled out one of the bantha burgers, offering it to Obi-Wan. "Do you want one?"

Obi-Wan turned slightly pale, thinking of where they had been and for how long. "No, no thank you."

Luke then settled down on the floor and started eating his burger.

"Luke," Darth Vader said, exasperation in his voice. "What are you doing?"

"I'm eating. What does it look like?" Luke uncapped the gallon jug of blue milk and took a big slug, milk dripping down his chin and neck to finally run down Vader's black cape.

"Son, this is no time to eat!" Mace shouted, loosing his famous Jedi calm. "We're in the middle of an investigation!"

"Yes and I thought you wanted to go kill Brain-Eating Aliens?" Vader added.

"But I'm hungry! And you ruined my last meal!" Luke accused his father through a mouthful of food. "Besides, I can't fight on an empty stomach…"

"And what about the guy?" Mace asked after he had counted to one hundred and had shoved his temper back down where it belonged.

"What guy?" Luke asked, staring up at Mace with a confused look.

"THE GUY THAT DIDN'T WANT TO GIVE YOU THE FOOD!!!" Mace screamed as loudly as he could while jumping up and down on the floor.

Frightened, Luke scrambled to his feet and hid behind Obi-Wan.

"Stop that cowering and get over here!" Mace ordered. He was determined to get an answer out of Luke if it was the last thing he did.

"No! I'm not coming out!" Luke cried from behind Obi-Wan.

"Fine! Then I'll come and get you!" Mace hurried forward and ran around Obi-Wan to grab Luke, but young Skywalker slammed the jug of blue milk on Mace's head. The jug burst open and milk poured all over the Jedi Master's head and clothes.

Realizing he was in even more trouble now, Luke raced down the hallway after McCoy.

To be continued…