Lando was staring at the datafile in disbelief. No way. Of course, considering the person who brought it to him, it had to be genuine. He would check and double-check something like this very carefully.

The file was an announcement of a bounty. Bounty hunting wasn't as widespread as it had been during the Empire, but it still flourished in the Outer Rim. And this was a really big bounty. Ten million credits. That someone would pay that kind of money for a person—any person—was scary enough. Considering who the person was… Lando, still hardly believing it, re-read the file.

Name: Mara Jade

Species: Human

Sex: Female

Height: 1.6 standard meters

Hair color: Red-gold

Eye color: Green

Last known location: Coruscant

That last line bothered Lando most of all. Mara, while not a public person, wasn't unknown. Her physical appearance was a matter of public record. But who would know that she had been on Coruscant just recently? Last known location… not suspected, or possible, or probable. KNOWN. Lando resumed reading.

Warning: subject well trained in combat, piloting, and infiltration… Whoever posted this, Lando thought, had done their homework. And well. He kept reading. …subject known to have been in Jedi training, and may be armed with a lightsaber.

And, after all the information, in big, bold letters: SUBJECT WANTED ALIVE AND UNHARMED. There was a second page in the file, where the information was repeated in Huttese.

"Well, Calrissian?" Talon Karrde demanded. "What do you think?"

"Is there any possibility that this is not genuine? Someone's idea of a joke?"

"People who joke like that deserve a price on their heads themselves," Karrde growled. "No, it's real, all right… but," he raised his finger, "No matter how I nagged my contacts, nobody was able to find out who is behind this. What does that tell you?"

Lando thought for a moment. "That's it's most likely been done by a government," he said, and immediately realized where that conclusion could lead to…

Karrde must have picked up that reaction. "Do you know something about this?" the smuggler asked. "You have an idea who it might be?"

Despite logic, Lando thought the idea absurd… but of course, a ten million credit bounty on Mara was also absurd. "No," he finally said.

"You do, Calrissian," Karrde countered. "You just don't want to tell me. You know something I don't."

"Yes," Lando admitted. "No, I can't tell you. It's a matter of trust."

"All right. But that knowledge allowed you to speculate."

"Well… yes… but you're not going to believe it."

"Try me, Calrissian… who do you think is behind this?"

"Well, it's not that certain…"

"Nothing is totally certain, Calrissian. Who?"

"Leia Organa Solo."

XXX

"Are you sure about this, Mara?"

"Look, Skywalker, we're going to have to land on a planet sooner or later. It's better to do it where and when we choose, with a ship that can take off on a moment's notice."

"I know… I'm just worried about you."

"Hey," she smiled, "you could turn me in and become a rich man."

Luke chuckled. "No, I could turn you in and become a very poor man… with a lot of credits."

Mara kissed him. "Thanks. You should teach me that Jedi disguise thing."

"I will… but right now, I prefer something more durable. Even I won't be able to maintain the illusion we I have to fight. By the way, I like you as a brunette."

Mara ran her fingers through her hair, which had been dyed dark brown. "I like my natural hair, Skywalker. As soon as this is over…"

He kissed Mara. "It'll be over soon. Come on."

As in any spaceport, life revolved around the cantina. Luke was surprised to find that the food here tasted quite good. He and Mara were enjoying their meal, but they were still paying careful attention to their surroundings.

"Hey! What're you doing?" a desperate voice shouted. Luke turned and saw two Gran, a Duros, and a human, each at least two meters tall, holding a young human boy. The boy was twelve or thirteen, had short, jet-black hair, and was dressed in a black jumpsuit and dark green cape.

"Hey," Luke heard the Duros say to his fellow thugs, "those are some fancy fabrics. Parents must be wealthy. What do you think…"

"Let him go." Luke's voice was hardly more than a whisper, but he immediately attracted attention of the four bullies.

"Mind your own business," one of the Gran grunted at him.

"Let him go," Luke repeated. One rarely could tell in advance whether the mind trick would work on any particular person. These seemed to be able to resist it… He felt Mara start getting up. It's okay, dear, he called through their bond. It's still overkill.

The second Gran yelled and threw a punch at Luke… or rather, at the place where Luke was a moment before. He now was off to the side, and threw lightning-fast kick, sending the Gran slamming into the human. Seeing that, the other Gran and the Duros both drew their blasters. Luke stuck out, grabbed their wrists, and squeezed with such force that they dropped the weapons. Then the Jedi simultaneously threw a jab into the Gran's throat with his left hand and a punch into the Duros' equivalent of the solar plexus with his right. Turning to see the recovered human swing a stool at him, Luke punched him in the jaw, and then struck out his legs from underneath him. He caught the stool the man dropped and sat down on it as if nothing had happened. He nodded at Mara, and then turned to the boy.

"Are you okay?"

"Yes, sir." He looked at Luke. "Hey, you're…"

"Not here," Luke whispered.

Mara approached. "We're leaving," Luke told her.

She nodded. The other bar patrons gave them a wide berth as they headed for the door. Once they were reasonably distant, and Luke didn't feel any eavesdroppers with the Force, the three of them sat down.

The boy spoke first. "You're Luke Skywalker," he said.

"Yes, I am," Luke admitted. "Now, what's your name?"

"I can't tell you."

"Why not?"

"You'll hate me."

"Why should I hate you?"

"Because you're a Rebel."

Luke frowned. "How old are you?" he asked.

"Twelve. But what does that have to—"

"Twelve," Mara repeated. "When the Emperor was killed at Endor, you weren't even born. When he finally died permanently, you were three. You had nothing to do with the war… why should Luke hate you?"

"Because of who my father is."

Luke frowned again. "I don't hate anyone because of who their father is… I have no right to." He looked at Mara with a knowing glance. "Now," he carefully looked at the boy, "What's your name?"

The boy finally relented. "Jagged Fel," he said.