AN: I would like to thank BrentusofGath for beta-ing.

Part Three: Terror renewed

Luke beat and banged on the coupling, trying to get them loose, while Krista sat shivering behind him. "Without that coupling we are not going to get this thing off the ground."

"I know," Luke snapped, losing focus and skinning his half frozen fingers.

"I could do that faster, you know; it's a job for finesse, not brute strength." Krista appealed to him to let her try.

She was at it for over an hour before it finally loosened, only to find the lubricant inside frozen solid. "Oh bantha spit, the stuff we're supposed to use for this weather is green, this is red. We aren't going anywhere in this piece of junk. Two more icicles on this forsaken planet."

"I told the head tech we were going to a cold planet and to prepare the ship accordingly," Luke fumed.

"You told Benar, that's the problem; he is too self absorbed to think about anything but his hair. Besides, he's colorblind. It doesn't help his family tree has no branches." Krista ran on half under her breath to herself and half to Luke.

"I'll get on the comm-link and see if we can get some help. It's going to be a long cold wait though."

Luke came back from the cockpit to find Krista making a nest in one of the supply closets with insulation from the cargo bay, spare cold suits, thermal blankets and even a pink blanket with cartoon furry animals on it.

"Are you sure we will both fit in there?" Luke asked naively.

"Who said you were getting in there with me, Farmboy?" she hissed at him over her shoulder from under the hair hanging down on her face.

"You used all the insulation and coldsuits. What am I supposed to use?" Luke whined.

"You were the one who talked to Benar about setting up your ship."

"He's the head tech, how was I supposed to know he is an idiot," Luke's boyish voice finally got her sympathy.

"Okay, but as far as YOU are concerned, I am a Wookie. No, funny business!"

"I noticed you haven't shaved your legs in a ...," he stopped in the middle of his sentence when he noticed her expression.

"They're sending Han to get us," he changed the subject. "He was going to leave last week but Chewie decided to overhaul the hyper-drive at the last minute. It seems Wookies repair things when they get nervous," Luke said, trying to keep their thoughts on other things as they climbed into the nest.

The fit in the nest was snug at best, so they had to lie facing the same direction and too close for Krista's comfort. "We could practice the Jedi mind tricks, they only work on the weak minded, but if we got any benefit it would be worth the effort."

"Oh, all right, but be careful which definition of warm you use," Krista insisted, "and why did you bring your lightsaber in here?"

Ben materialized outside the closet for a lesson, heard the conversation, thought better of it and quietly vanished.
Leia and Han dug their way through the new snow, following the sound of a beacon. They found Luke and Krista's ship and them in a healing trance, buried deep in the closet. Han noticed Leia's obvious displeasure at seeing them so close together and it disturbed him.

"Well, don't we look cozy... and we were worried about you two." Han's annoyance was evident even if the reason wasn't.

The two snowbirds climbed out, a little dazed and confused as to where they were. "We needed to conserve body heat, that's all!" Krista insisted.

"Is that what they call it now-a-days?" Han teased, only to get a mean stare from Leia.

"I'm sure they were too busy staying alive to be doing anything like that," Leia said, a little to forcefully.

Leia and Krista sat in the dinning area of the Falcon while the men talked in the cockpit.

"You do know Luke is a special person and has a distinguished career ahead of him. He is in no position to settle down," Leia said protectively to the menial mechanic-pilot before her.

"Yeah, and I have a career ahead of me; I have no intentions of 'settling down' either. Besides, what business is it of yours; you already have Han on a string, or do the women have harems where you come from?" Krista snapped.

"Han! I have no interest in him, he's a..."

"He's a what?" Han said, coming to see what all the noise was about. "I want to hear the answer to that."

"Nothing! I was just telling Krista how you insisted on coming to rescue Luke."

"I appreciate that very much, don't you, Krista?" Luke interrupted the fight that was about to start.

"Yes, Han, I appreciate YOU coming to get us." She smiled at Han, then at Luke then turned and glared at Leia.

A month later, Krista and Luke sat on the balcony, preparing for another lesson. Either Ben was late, or they were early, but they didn't know which.

Luke was unusually quiet tonight and sat quietly, applying the Jedi calming techniques while Krista fidgeted nervously.

"Well, I see you are early," came the proper Coruscant accent. "I have a new lesson for you tonight. We are going to look to the future and allow the Force to direct us. I see Luke has already started with the Jedi calming techniques. Krista, you chose not to for some reason," Ben said only mildly scolding her.

"I..." she started to say, but he waved his hand and she closed her mouth and eyes and took a calming breath.

"Relax and allow the Force to flow over you; allow it to speak to you. Allow it to tell you what you need to know."

Krista felt a fog floating through her mind and slowly it parted until she saw her worse nightmare. Darth Vader, standing in front of Luke. Luke was holding his injured arm and Vader was saying, "Obi-Wan never told you what happened to your Father."

The fog swirled, then she heard, "I, am your Father." Luke's scream in her head melded with her own as she came out of the fog and into reality.

She realized she sat in front of Vader's son and Ben knew it, yet he was training him to be like his father. The thought scared her speechless and almost motionless. Finally, her legs answered her commands and she bounced over the rail and ran to Aglis' office.

"I want on the next transport out of here!" Krista demanded.

"I have a cargo ship going for supplies that leaves in ten minutes," he said, puzzled at her reaction. 'Is this one of her night terrors?' he wondered?

"I'll be on it!" She ran from the office and came back with her travel bag and an armload of clothes.

Aglis stood outside his office, hoping to get a better explanation, but only got a quick, "Thanks for everything," as she ran by, up the ramp and into the cargo ship.

Aglis was watching the ship fly off when Luke asked, "Have you seen Krista in the last few minutes?"

"Yes, she came in and announced she was on the next flight out of here," Aglis informed him, still in shock.

"When does it leave?" Luke asked, concerned by her reaction to the vision.

Aglis just pointed to the cargo ship disappearing into the sky and said, "She's gone!"

Krista carried her meager belongings to the quarters assigned to her by the second mate and folded up in the corner of the room, trembling as the words rang in her ears. "I, am your father." 'What was I mixed up in? How could I have been so blind.' For the first time, she wished she had screamed, then she would be safely dead with her parents.

AN: This is the end of the challenge but my Master has agreed to allow me to fight off an attacking plot bunny so there is more to come. I hope you have enjoyed reading this as much as I have writing it. Thank you for spending your valuable time reading and possible reviewing it.

Lea