Where Am I Going To?

Part Two

Chapter One

"Commander Skywalker, could you come here for a moment, please?"

Luke, who had been joking around with Wes and Wedge, turned briefly, curious. General Rieekan was waiting for him expectantly, arms folded behind his back. He was tempted to ask "What did I do?" like a culpable child, but merely responded with "Yes, sir," nodded to his companions, and trotted off.

Walking in silence next to the general for a few paces, he began to wonder what was so clandestine as to know one else being able to know about it.

"Rebel High Command needs to have a word with you," he finally said, and Luke felt his spirits sink ever deeper.

Unable to control himself, he had to ask, "General Rieekan, sir, did I do something wrong?"

Rieekan laughed, playfully clapping Skywalker on the shoulder. "No, no, of course not! It's just a very delicate subject we have for you. I think you'll understand in a moment."

…

And he did. As soon as he was seated, they announced "We have a job for you to do," and slid several data pads his way. Managing to scan through most of the information he asked "I'm afraid I don't quite understand. None of this really looks like it needs to be held a complete secret."

The esteemed officials of the Rebel High Command shifted nervously, and Luke felt the pit in his stomach grow more noticeable.

"Luke," Leia smoothed, "we've been noticing that….well, it seems…." She looked helplessly up at Mon Mothma, and Luke's gaze drifted to her as well.

"We have a mole."

Young Skywalker had bolted from his seat, heart breaking. "And you think it's me. After all this time, you still-"

Leia was quickly soothing him, and General Dodonna was shedding some light on the situation. "No, we do not," he denied firmly. "That is why we are trusting you with this information."

"We wouldn't if we didn't know for certain that you weren't the mole," confirmed Rieekan, nodding sternly.

Intrigued, Luke sat back down, and Leia continued. "But we don't want anyone else to think it is you, or have the blame shift to you. So, we're sending you on a trip."

"Very short."

"Very important."

"Okay…" he allowed, reading through the data pads again. "When do I go?"

"Tomorrow."

His shoulders slumped slightly, but of course he didn't protest. "Yes, I understand. Alright. Well," he rose from the chair, as did the respected officials, "thank you very much for your confidence. I won't fail you."

"That we already knew," Leia smiled, and he was off and on his way.

…

Two days later, Luke was knocking on the door to room L26 in what seemed to him to be a rather neglected apartment complex for Naboo. His mission: There was a contact who could provide him with the name of highly secretive manufacturer of large bulk cruisers, and the Rebellion was in desperate need of a few new – or newer, anyway – ones. Moreover, he'd be willing to work with the Alliance. Luke didn't have to pick anything up, just see some people, confirm some orders, and plump up some bank accounts with credits.

Whoever lived in such a poorly maintained apartment could probably stand to have their bank account plumped up a bit, he mused sadly, shaking his head. He vaguely wondered for a moment if had he someday been emperor if he would have provided equal housing. But then, he doubted he would have even really cared.

The door – the paint of which was peeling off – cracked open, and the small head of a Sullustian child peeked through. Luke managed a small smile and a "Hello, there," before the door was thrown wide open, and the small boy surprised young Skywalker by gustily shouting "Mom! There's some guy at the door!"

He needn't have yelled so loud. The small apartment's living room and kitchen were attached, and as the mother was busily cooking breakfast, could see quite well that there was someone at the door, and could easily hear her son.

"Mind your manners, Cory!" she cried in a slightly squeaky voice as she went back to the cooking food. "Invite the poor boy in, don't just leave him standing in the hall!"

"Cory," wrinkled when his nose when his name was said, and admitted to Luke in a hushed whisper "I hate my name." Luke nodded understandingly. However, Cory did step out of the door way, the most official welcome Luke figured he'd be getting, and he stepped into the tidy apartment, shutting the door behind him.

One child, Luke noted, was sitting on a threadbare couch, entranced by a holovid screen, and Cory quickly joined her. Two more had been playing with a litter of strange looking puppies on the rug, but they stopped to stare at Luke. He smiled and nodded politely, and one – a young girl – blushed, inciting her younger brother to relentlessly poke her in the ribs. She angrily waved him away, and tried to absorb herself in the care of the puppies.

"Have a seat, deah," the mother said, smiling, her "r," coming out as "h." He politely pulled out a slightly rickety chair from the worn and scratched wooden table. He'd originally thought that the Rebellion was paying an exorbitant sum for a name, but decided that there were far worse things to spend their money on. "You must be the boy who's here to see Henry," she said. "Have you had breakfast?"

"Um, no, I-"

"Oh, well, here!" She barked an order to her children, who now scampered to the table, and she set plates out before all, including Luke.

"Uh, that's alright, I'm really not that hungr-"

"Nonsense!" she dismissed, bustling back into her kitchen. "Why, you're thin as a post. What do they feed you at that silly little operation?"

He vaguely wondered if she quite understood what went on at that little operation. Murder, for one thing, he violently thought. Leia and the Rebel High Command had been worrying themselves to pieces, as Luke seemed to be getting progressively mentally worse. His part in the destruction of the Death Star had originally violently haunted him, but did ebb off. It had suddenly come back with vengeance, and with it Luke's lack of sleep – which he already had, it merely worsened – and his terrible habit of not eating. He suspected that that had been another deciding factor on shipping him off world for a while; he guessed he sort of did need a break.

He was about to eat when something was suddenly stuck into his lap. Looking down, he noted that it was the nose of a dog – probably the mother of the puppies on the rug – and she, too, was of an odd sort of breed. Her two tails wagged merrily, her four eyes blinking. Smiling, he patted the smooth head, and managed to nibble on the bacon served.

"Um, Misses-" he paused, realizing he merely knew the location, not the name, of the person who would help him find the man in charge of the bulk cruisers.

"Mrs. Destalk, sweetheart," she smiled. "And what's your name?"

He'd convinced the Rebel High Command that his first name didn't need changing, as there had to be millions of other people named Luke, and he never could remember pseudonyms. His last name, however, had to go. "Luke Edinburgh," he supplied, hoping he hadn't screwed up the pronunciation. On to business: "Mrs. Destalk, where is your husband?"

"Henry? He's at his night job at this electronics company, Risen Corp. But he should get off soon."

And not a quarter of a standard hour later, in walked an exhausted and haggard Mr. Destalk. "Henry, deah," his wife called while the tired man's four children congregated excitedly to see him, "Luke's here to see you."

"Who?" he asked, hugging each child before rubbing at his tired eyes. "Oh, the boy from the Alli-"

Luke quickly cut him off, rising to meet him. The dog, which had been happily laying on Luke's feet, causing his left foot to go numb, whimpered slightly. Mr. Destalk quickly caught on that he probably shouldn't implicate himself anymore than necessary. "If you still have the contact's name sir, we'll make the transfer and I'll be on my way."

"Yes, of course," he said, taking the data pad that Luke offered him in order to write it out. Luke would then be charged with memorizing it and erasing it. After finishing, he nervously handed it back and asked "When will I get the money?"

He suspected that that was weighing heavily on his mind constantly. The family could clearly use the cash. "As soon as I meet with…" he looked down at the name, did not speak it, and looked back up, "I'll have the credits transferred in small amounts, so as not to be noticed."

"Yes," the exhausted man nodded, blinking his eyes once and then twice. "I'm sorry to have kept you waiting."

"Not at all." He shook hands with the poor man and bowed respectfully to Mrs. Destalk before preparing to go. He did, however, wink at the girl who had been watching him all through breakfast before leaving, and he smiled, noting that she'd blushed again.

…

Luke had been sitting at booth for about an hour, the smoke of the greasy bar starting to bother his eyes. He'd refrained from drinking much of anything unless he was sure it was reasonably nonalcoholic, and tried to pretend to be absorbed in his data pad.

In truth, he was depressed again. He'd arranged to meet the contact – a one Jarken Risen – at the seedy establishment earlier that day, and had spent the rest of the afternoon dwelling on the Destalk family.

Essentially, it all boiled down to the fact that despite their obviously tight resources, Luke would have traded childhoods with one of the four any day of the week. Poor the family was, but clearly close knit, and reasonably happy, which was more Luke could say about the relationship between his father and himself. As if that line of thought wasn't depressing enough, thinking of his father only made things a whole lot worse, so that he was practically a wreck by the time that Jarken Risen arrived.

To Be Continued…

HermioneSkywalker: Insert fanfare here

xInuyashaxangelx: Here it is!

jedi71: Chapter 10's a good chapter. Hope you enjoy the rest of it too.

Stefanie2: I did manage to look at a few little bits of Timothy Zahn stuff. Hopefully I'll be able to check something out of the library….

TorontoBatFan: Yes, it's a very absorbing book. It is very cool to have found someone else who likes it.

Jedi-Goddess/Nascar girl: Well, the "Luke, I am your father," thing will obviously have to work out a bit differently.

Vader: Luke, I am your father.

Luke: Well, big freaking duh.

Damaris: I've started the next chapter, but I have a lot of Drivers Ed homework, so it might take a bit….