A/N: This chapter takes place on the capital world of Coruscant, and Viqi Shesh is a truly incredible (and more than slightly corrupt) senator. Rachel I assume you know. This chapter is mostly dialogue, but I promise more action next chapter! If you want, if you review this story before Thursday, write whom you want to narrate the next chapter, and I'll try to comply. Thanx!

Yes, Luke is married, and his wife is really cool! I guess you've been reading Young Jedi Knights only. They came out right before Timothy Zahn's duology, Specter of the Past and Vision of the Future, (which I highly recommend, btw) in which Luke proposes, so even though the Young Jedi Knight books take place after Luke and Mara marry, it doesn't mention it.

RACHEL

"And I'll need some more contacts," a voice was saying. "I can't just bribe my way into the Coruscantian underworld."

I kept my eyes closed and listened. Where was I? The last thing I remembered was climbing into a Dumpster and suction pulling me… somewhere. I had been speeding through an odd blackness and had just barely managed to slow down by twisting my head. Then, I had stopped short and continued on in a different direction. I barely recalled the cold of space and a ship pulling me into it. Then, I must have blacked out because my mind was blank.

"No, Warmaster, the human has not woken up. She is still unconscious," the voice continued. I heard a distant rumble that I guessed was the Warmaster's reply. "What do you mean, she's listening? Oh, of course, Warmaster. I'll go check on her."

Every fiber of my body was screaming to morph. But my brain told me that the best choice at the moment was to stay put, open my eyes, and try to charm this irritable voice.

"Hi," I said, opening my eyes. "I'm Rachel."

The woman walked toward me. She was exotic looking, and seemed almost aristocratic in bearing. She wore a long silk dress and a suspicious frown.

"Who are you?"

"Like I said, I'm Rachel."

She towered over me. "Names mean very little on this side of the galaxy. For all I know, you could be a Jedi, or a Vong spy sent to make sure I'm doing my job right."

"Jedi? That is soo Star Wars." I couldn't conceal my disgust. "Are you some kind of crackpot Star Wars nut convinced that Luke Skywalker's gonna show up any day now wielding a lightsaber and save the world?" I rolled my eyes.

"I'd prefer if you didn't call me a crackpot," the woman said coolly. "And besides, Luke Skywalker left Coruscant after Warmaster Lah called for the heads of all the Jedi."

I stared at her. "You really are nuts. Welcome to the real world, sorry, Darth Vader doesn't exist, Hayden Christensen does, unfortunately, and Star Wars fans are vanishing by the second."

"What is this 'Star Wars'?" she asked.

Now I couldn't conceal my disbelief. "You know, Jedi, Luke Skywalker, lightsabers, the whole spiel…"

"I don't know where you're from, Rachel, but on Coruscant, we don't refer to enemies like Skywalker as almost fictional."

"Um, Star Wars is fiction…Wait a minute. What do you mean 'where I come from'? We're all from Earth, after all."

"What is this Earth?"

"Hold on. You're not from a galaxy far, far away, are you?"

"You can't possibly mean that you don't live in this galaxy!"

I thought for a moment. Where had that Dumpster led? I didn't think that there were other humans on planets other than Earth, at least in our galaxy. And the woman spoke so casually about fiction as fact, it seemed unlikely that it really was fiction here. "I guess I do. Not live in this galaxy, I mean."

"Amazing," she breathed. "You're the only human I've ever seen from another galaxy." Her voice became crisp, businesslike. "Did you come with the Yuuzhan Vong?"

I shrugged. "Who the heck are the Vong?"

"They're a group of aliens trying to take over the galaxy." She had a crafty look on her face. "I work undercover with them. I'm a senator, and the government loves me."

"You mean you're a traitor."

"I prefer undercover messenger." A smile came onto her face. "The government- the New Republic- is falling apart anyway. I'd prefer to be winning with the Vong, rather than staying true to the NR and dying with it. 'Go with the flow', that's my motto. And at the moment, the flow is moving in the Vong's favor. Do you have a problem with this?"

I considered. Even though she was a traitor, and probably pure evil, she was the apparent winner, and if I was stranded in a weird galaxy alone, I was going to stay with the one person I now knew. There was just one problem. "Sure, I'm with you. But what's your name?"

She laughed. "Some politician I am. I completely forgot to tell you who I am! My name is Viqi Shesh. Are you ready to give me a hand in helping the Yuuzhan Vong, other-galaxy-girl?"

I managed a wan smile. "I'm ready when you are, nut-girl… Viqi."

"Then let's go," she grinned. "I have an appointment with a big gangster on this planet. Maybe you can use your other-galaxy diplomacy to help me out."

I winked. "Diplomacy isn't my best trait, but I'm sure I'll be a big help. You never know in what way my talents will show!" And I resolved to tell Viqi about my morphing power on the way.