Part Four: Darkness surrounds

Krista worked feverishly, trying to forget the revelation she experienced almost two weeks ago. She could barely blink without hearing the image of Vader hissing the words that terrorized her every moment since that night. She expected to find Ben glowing in her room every time she opened the door, so she wouldn't go there unless it was absolutely necessary. Tonight, it was, even she could tell it had been a while since she spent time in the refresher and people were starting to avoid being near her.

She peaked around the door of her quarters and saw nothing blue and glowing, so she ran into the fresher. The warm water soothed her nerves and encouraged her to spend her allotted water consumption. She wrapped a soft Corellian towel around her and another around her head and stepped out into her sleeping area.

"I half expected you to be a prune by now," Ben said, trying to start off on a light note.

"Iee," Krista screamed, grabbed her pounding chest, then scowled at Ben. "I knew you would show up as soon as I came in here. What do you think you have to say, that would interest me in the least?"

Ben smiled sweetly, trying to soften her mood.

"Forget it, that suave smile won't make up for what you got me mixed up in. You know who he is! Who his father is! You know one day he will come looking for him and you didn't warn me. Bantha spit, you haven't even warned him." Krista fumed as she threw everything that wasn't tied down at Ben's glowing image. Her furry exploded when she ran out of things to throw, so she took the towel off her head and threw it. "Oooh!"

Ben closed his eyes just in case the other towel came next. The sight of Ben sitting there with his eyes closed and an embarrassed look on his face struck her as funny and broke down her defenses. Krista laughed and said, "You can open your eyes, I'm not mad enough to throw that towel at you."

"I didn't know; you were pretty mad," Ben said, carefully peeking, before he relaxed and opened his eyes. They sat quietly for a few minutes before he ventured to say, "I would never have included you in the lessons if I thought there was any danger to you."

"But he's Vader's son and you know it and you are still training him. How could you do such a thing knowing what the outcome could be?"

"I know what his father was like before the Emperor got hold of him. Anakin was a good man. Luke is a good man; he could help turn his father." Ben said, almost to himself rather than to her.

"Have you dealt with Vader? He is no longer good. He's evil, if he gets hold of Luke, he will turn or be killed." Krista couldn't believe the wise man she once trusted could be so blind.

"Luke needs to be trained so he can handle himself when the time comes," Ben said, searching out his reasoning to ensure he was correct.

"You know that time is coming and you are throwing Luke to a pack of wampas. Tell him to run and hide, Vader can't life forever. Once he's dead, it will be safe to train him or some other Force sensitive person, but not now," Krista pleaded with Ben.

"I know you are scared, Krista, but now is the time to act. Luke could use a friend." Ben tried to warm her to assisting Luke. "After what you two shared on Hoth, I thought you would be more of a..."

"Hey! What do you mean shared? We didn't share anything but a closet. Get out of here and don't come back... go... now!"

As Ben slowly faded Krista heard a soft knock at the door. She opened the door and screamed, "What!"

The captain stood, shocked and confused as he tried to voice his concerns. "Some of the crew have mentioned, you seem to be having a problem with someone in your cabin, "he said, carefully looking around the small compartment. "I heard you screaming at someone just now."

"I was arguing with my imaginary friend Ben, or he used to be my friend." Krista looked up at the ceiling as she screamed the last part of her statement. "Now if you don't mind, I would like to get dressed before someone starts more rumors about me!" Krista slammed the door in the captain's face.

"Too late," he said. He turned to see half the crew peaking around the corner at the other end of the hall. They all nodded in agreement at his observation.

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"Pallac, I want Krista off this ship at the first possible stop," the captain ordered his first officer. "Until then, she is confined to her quarters, put guards on her door if you have to."

"Yes, sir! I will see to it personally, sir!"

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Krista sat in her room, cold and alone, as she always was, but now it seemed worse. She now knew the loss of a friend and mentor as well as the loss of her parents. 'This is worse than before,' she thought. 'Now I have two of them to worry about.'

She heard the ship drop out of hyper-space and land. Then the guards knocked on her door and announced it was time for her to leave the ship. Everyone watched as she was escorted off the ship like an insane prisoner. The light from the two suns was blinding as she emerged. The captain tossed her a small bag of credits for her to get setup with. As she walked away, she heard him mumbling about Aglis pawning his crazies off on him and never returning to work for the rebels again.

'I wonder, how is a girl supposed to make a living on Tatooine.'

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