MARA

It was an unusually sunny afternoon, two weeks after Ben had been born. Leia and Han had just returned to Coruscant, and Luke, Ben, and I traveled to the Maw. Jaina was with us, and Anakin had promised to come by soon. Although the Vong were still active and dangerous, we allowed ourselves to relax for a bit.

Actually, we had still been working actively behind the scenes. Luke continuously met with Triebakk and Cal Omas via the HoloNet, planning a way to turn the New Republic's favor toward us Jedi. I helped Leia plan offensives against Chief-Of-State Borsk Fey'lya. All in all, we were really fighting against a more immediate enemy- the New Republic's bureaucracy.

But today, there would be no politics. Just two Jedi, their niece, and their newborn son having a peaceful time without Yuuzhan Vong interference. Or any problems whatsoever…

"Mara! Mara! Wake up!" Luke shook me vigorously and I was jolted out of my much-needed slumber.

"Unh? Luke? What is it?" I asked groggily.

He lowered his voice so as not to wake up Ben. "There's something going on near the edge of the Maw."

"How do you know?"

"I can feel it."

Now I could, too. A rift… some sort of disturbance taking place. I jumped up and thrust Ben into a bemused Jaina's arms.

"Watch him. We're going to check this out." She barely had time to nod before I had run into the docking bay, Luke right behind me.

Kam Solusar was leaning against the Jade Sabre, speaking to a technician. I nearly smashed into him. "We're taking my ship. There's a problem-" I waved my hand vaguely toward the other end of the Maw. "-There."

He moved away from the Sabre and motioned for us to go. I slid into the captain's seat and Luke took the copilot's chair. "I didn't realize that you were so desperate for action, Mara," he commented.

I grinned a fierce grin. "Neither did I."

We easily navigated through the Maw, using the Force. At the very edge, I froze. The disturbance in the Force was coming from a black hole nearby. Then two small ships shot out from the black hole!

"Impossible," Luke whispered. "Back holes don't spit anything out."

I nodded and focused on the ships. They were slowing down now, and without some really impressive aerial stunts, I would crash into them. I pulled up short and sent out a tractor beam. It locked on the brown ship, and I pulled it along as I maneuvered through the Maw.

When I reached base, Kam and Tionne were both waiting for us. We all examined the ship that I had gotten. It was tiny, perhaps a foot long and two feet wide. It also had an odd feathery feel to it. The front was hard, two claws protruded from the bottom, and it was freezing.

"What is it?" Jaina asked, coming up behind us.

"It appears to be a spaceship," Tionne told her.

Kam frowned. "Pretty small for a spaceship."

"Is it a Vong spy?" I wondered.

"Is it alive?" Jaina asked in a hushed tone.

This stopped all of us it our tracks. "If it's alive," Tionne pointed out, "we'd better warm it up. It feels like it's freezing!"

Luke quickly carried it into a nearby heated room. I lingered in the docking bay, trying to see if I could sense the other "thing." Then I felt someone call out to me with the Force.

Do not worry, Mara Jade, an oddly familiar voice said. The Animorph is in good hands.

And I was left there, alone; wondering, until Luke came back to get me.