Reading about Esnon did nothing to prepare Shmi for the stark ugliness of the planet's surface. In fact the more Shmi saw of the dark, black-surfaced ball of rock, the less she wanted to be there.
Shmi, Ana and Sky had landed near an abandoned settlement that the Kianna's Dream's sensors detected. Landing on the outskirts of that settlement, the threesome were now wandering among the ruination. Collapsed walls and crumbling foundations were all that remained of what must have been a substantial town.
Shmi guessed the deteriorated condition of the abandoned city was due to the weather. Though it wasn't cold, there were great gusts of wind and from the buildup of clouds in the distance it appeared there were rainstorms, probably occurring quite often.
The three companions wandered in silence. The only sound the wind as it whistled through the vacant, crumbling buildings. It didn't take them long to traverse the settlement. At the other end of the ghost town they turned and faced where they had come from, the Kianna's Dream at the end of their line of sight in the far distance.
"I don't see nothin' here," Sky turned to Shmi. Shmi shook her head.
"Me either," she responded, wondering if she had met another dead end in her quest for answers.
"I guess we should walk back through, maybe we missed something?" Shmi said questioningly as she started forward again.
"I wouldn't move, girlie," Shmi heard Sky say, his voice rough. Shmi slowly turned her head to look over her shoulder.
Behind Sky and Ana were standing three men dressed in dirty, rough looking clothes. Two were holding primitive looking blasters at Ana and Sky, while the third had his weapon leveled at Shmi.
"Better listen to the old man, girlie," the one with the blaster pointed at Shmi offered.
Shmi slowed rotated on her feet, until she was facing the grungy, bearded man. She nodded and raised her hands, hoping he understood that she didn't want anyone hurt.
"What're you doin' here?" He asked, his eyes never leaving Shmi.
"Just lookin' 'round is all," Sky spoke, giving Shmi a quick wink.
Shmi was glad for his attempt to reassure her, but she didn't feel much better about the situation.
"Looking for what?" he asked, still staring at Shmi with fierce intensity.
Sky opened his mouth to answer, but Shmi cut him off.
"I think I lived here as a young child," she blurted. Ana widened her eyes in surprise but she and Sky remained silent.
The man with the blaster pointed at Shmi didn't respond. He narrowed his eyes at her, than lowered his weapon. The other two men did the same.
"I must be crazy," was all he said.
Shmi smiled nervously and lowered her hands to her side. The six strangers stared at each other for a moment.
"Why do you think you lived here on this forgotten rock?" the man asked as he holstered his blaster.
Shmi sighed, fearful for some unknown reason about telling his man, and his companions, about her necklace, and her dreams. When she didn't answer right away the man took a step towards her.
"Well?" He asked impatience evident in his tone.
Shmi considered her options, deciding that she wouldn't reveal the necklace just yet.
"I've had dreams about this place," she lied, "Dreams about a symbol of three leaf-like pieces intersecting at their bases, with a bright blue jewel in the center." Shmi saw the man's face register something as she described the symbol.
"Hm," was all he offered, his face once again void of expression. He stood silent for a moment
"Follow," he said finally, turning to head out the end of the deserted settlement, his tone indicating it wasn't really a request. Shmi started after him, hearing Sky and Ana stumbling through debris just behind her. The two other gunmen brought up the rear of the train.
They walked for what must have been a kilometer, over rocky terrain at the base of a cliff that rose out of the ground higher the further they went. Shmi could hear Ana and Sky's labored breathing behind her. As Shmi was about to ask that they stop for a moment to rest, they rounded a bend in the cliff face and Shmi stopped in her tracks, all thoughts of rest gone from her mind.
Ahead of them was a large triangular temple and on the face of it was a larger version of the charm Shmi wore around her neck. Shmi took a few steps towards it, tripping over a rock. The man who'd led them reached out and caught her, but Shmi couldn't say a single word of thanks. Her eyes were fixed, almost hypnotized by the site before her.
"This must be what you say you dreamed," Shmi heard the man who caught her say. Shmi nodded, turning to look at the stranger.
"Come," he said, releasing Shmi and leading them closer to the temple.
Shmi noticed, as they got closer, that the temple was in more ruin than it appeared from further away. Large chunks of stone were missing from the corners and holes were apparent near the top. The surface of the temple was covered with a thick black grime. It had apparently been built stronger than most of the buildings in the original settlement as it was still standing, but the temple was slowly succumbing to the natural elements of the deserted planet.
It was larger than she'd originally thought as well. Easily as high as the cliff wall it was nestled against. Maybe 100 meters, Shmi calculated.
"Not much is left," the man that led them there said, matching Shmi's gaze to the top of the spire at the tip of the triangular shaped temple. "All those, whattya call'em? -'ologist people have stripped it of anything worth value over the last twenty years. The only thing untouched is the symbol mounted there," he pointed. "I don't think anyone can figure how to remove it and believe me people have tried."
"I would take it if I knew how," he added.
Shmi glanced at the man, then back to the symbol. "Who are you?" she asked, keeping her eyes on the temple.
For a moment there was nothing but the sound of the wind as it traveled through the vacant temple. Shmi could feel the man's eyes on her, but she kept her gaze fixed on the temple, taking in everything about it; the cool gray color of the exposed rock, the bright blue of the center stone, the shiny surfaces of the three leaf shapes.
"Name's Zek," she heard him answer finally. "Those two are Kip and Nash."
Turning to face Zek, Shmi offered her hand, "I'm Shmi."
Zek looked at it as if it were a foreign object. Smiling somewhat uncomfortably, he grasped her hand than quickly released it.
"This is Ana, and Sky," Shmi indicated towards the older couple. They nodded to Zek.
Shmi turned to face the temple and started to walk up the stairs. She heard the others following behind her.
"Do you know what this place is?" Shmi asked. Though she knew the truth, she wondered what Zek knew about this place.
"Well, from what I've heard, it was a Jedi retreat. But they all disappeared after the murder of the settlement," Shmi considered his words. "They all disappeared…" Did that mean they were still alive, somewhere else?
Shmi reached the top of the stairway and cautiously entered the dark, cool temple. Her footfalls echoed in the large, empty room. There were a few wooden tables tipped over and broken against one wall, otherwise the large atrium was completely empty. Shmi walked to the center of the room and slowly turned in a circle, taking it in. There were large, open air windows every few meters along the length of the temple and they stretched up near the top of the temple. Short shafts of sunlight were providing the only light in the temple. Shmi noticed dark patches sporadically appearing on the walls, as if there had been paintings, or tapestries, or other kinds of wall hangings at one time.
"There's nothing here," Shmi stated softly, as if defeated.
"As I said, it's been stripped clean," Zek affirmed.
Shmi had no idea what to do next. She turned to Ana and Sky.
"Now what do I do?" She asked to no one in particular.
Awhile later, Shmi was seated in a cave, surrounded by crates of merchandise that she was sure were being smuggled, somewhere. The three men had offered them food, and Shmi, desperate to glean more information from these men, had accepted their invitation. She thought she'd caught a look if displeasure on Sky's face.
The entrance to the cave was past the Jedi temple, behind a large boulder. There was artificial light, run off batteries, and a very primitive computer system that Zek explained was how they had known someone had landed. He explained the cave was a cooperative effort, each time a smuggler used it they were required to provide fresh supplies, making sure the batteries were well stocked, and the computer equipment was maintained.
"It's not a shabby situation," he'd smiled at them, obviously proud.
"And you've not been shut down?" Shmi asked.
Zek shook his head. "The various system authorities haven't been able to detect the cave, and the residents of this system don't come here. As long as we keep any trouble off the other inhabited worlds, then they leave us alone while we're here."
"Handy system," Sky piped up, looking over the computer system with an experienced eye. "I haven't seen this type of programming in years."
Zek gave a short laugh. "Well, smugglers have been using this planet as a haven for almost fifteen years, so it's at least that old. Plus, it's easy to maintain and we don't all have to be computer scientists to figure out a problem."
Sky nodded, fiddling with a few of the dials. "This is quite a setup," he said finally, turning away from the computer and looking at Zek with a strange expression on his face.
"How long have you been coming here?" Shmi asked Zek, breaking the stare he held with Sky. Something about the two men's behavior didn't sit well with her.
Zek turned to Shmi, smiling. "I've been in business for maybe twenty years now. My former partner retired, and I've been on my own now for the last five years. Just recently I added Kip and Nash to my crew."
Shmi nodded and glanced at the two men. They were hovering over a crate near the back of the cave, talking in hushed voices.
"Where is your ship, anyway?" Shmi turned back to look at Zek.
He only smiled. "It's around. You don't expect me to share all my secrets, do you?"
"It doesn't matter, really, I guess," Shmi shrugged, looking over at Ana. She didn't look well. There were dark circles under her eyes, and her expression was worried. Shmi opened her mouth to ask if she was okay, but stopped as Ana just shook her head and offered a tired smile.
"Can we get some of that food and water you offered before?" Shmi asked Zek, wondering what was wrong with Ana and Sky. Neither was acting as she was accustomed too.
"Sure," Zek responded, and set about offering dried jerky and water to Shmi and the older couple.
"So, Zek, is there anything else you can tell me about this place? Anything not found in the official record?" Shmi asked, hoping she sounded nonchalant.
"The rumors I've heard are pretty vague-you really think you're from here?" He asked, interrupting his own dialogue.
Shmi nodded slowly, curious why he seemed so hesitant to tell her anything.
"Okay. Well, you know why the settlement was moved here in the first place?" Shmi nodded, so Zek continued.
"Well, after the vaccine for Grift Fever was developed- some 50 or so years after the disease decimated this system, the survivors on the other planets denied these refugee's access to move back to the main, developed planets. Why? I don't know. This system is full of strange customs. But essentially a civil war broke out. The small band of refugee's here battled the few survivors of the Fever on the other planets. A lot more people lost their lives. It wasn't long before the Jedi Knights came to negotiate peace between the two sides. Originally there were four Knights; three men and a woman. I don't know that I ever learned their names, but they were extremely successful and within a standard week there was a treaty and the refugee's who wanted to move off Esnon were allowed back to the other worlds. There were many who wanted to stay here, and they did. The Jedi also stayed, building that temple and bringing another ten or so Knights out here. They lived together with no problems for close to 20 years. But then a small group of travelers landed here. They were missionaries of some strange religion-again, not sure on the details. But a disagreement between them and the settlers escaladed into a full on battle, and the traveler's wiped out the settler's-that's the rumor anyway. I don't know how a few people could have massacred over a thousand settlers but I guess that's why in most circles people believe that it's a mystery. That's what they teach anyway. But the Jedi were nowhere to be found after either. Their bodies were never discovered and their possessions, what few they had, were left behind. So, either they were taken or they abandoned the settlers. In any case there were no survivors from the massacre and all the bodies were buried in a mass grave near where your ship landed," Zek stopped and looked at Shmi as if he was trying to see through her.
"So my question-if you are from here-is how did you manage to survive?"
