The blackness slowly faded as Vestara struggled to regain consciousness. Everything was a jumble, and her head was pounding like a bantha had sat on it. Gradually, she became aware that her hands were bound in cuffs. There was a low humming sound coming from somewhere behind her, which she assumed to be the engine of the ship she was traveling on.

Wait, why am I on a ship at all? All of a sudden, everything came flooding back, and she sat up quickly, only to sink back to the deck as her head exploded with agony.

"I wouldn't try anything if I were you. The effects of the drug I've been giving probably haven't worn off yet, and those stun-cuffs pack a nasty punch."

Vestara's eyes slowly focused on the two figures, sitting on a cargo box a few yards away. They stood, and as her head cleared, solidified into one person. The same person who had knocked her unconscious.

"Karick." She said, nodding amiably and squashing down the feeling of hatred she could feel bubbling up inside of her. "So kind of you to make sure I was comfortable."

He frowned. "You're not even going to try to escape or anything?" He asked, sounding puzzled. "Or try to kill me?"

"Of course not." She replied, while furiously thinking of a way to get out of this. "I was just wondering why you wanted me, out of all the other students at the academy."

His face brightened, reminding her of a child who had just been called on to solve a problem he knew how to do. "Why, to get revenge of course." He said proudly.

"Um, okay? What did I ever do to you? I've never even seen you in my life."

He looked at her incredulously. "I didn't do it to get revenge on you! It wasn't even my idea actually. We're doing this to get revenge on Ben Skywalker, and the whole Jedi order!" He said, as if reciting something.

"Oh, of course. How stupid of me. Why?" She asked wondering how this, well, child was planning to destroy the Jedi order by capturing her.

"Well, if we take you, Jedi Skywalker will have to come after you. We've also captured Davin Fel, and no doubt the Solos are already trying to figure out where we've gone. Master Skywalker himself is probably screaming at his son about how you're guilty for Hailee Talcyon's murder, and soon they'll all be fighting themselves!"

Vestara was astonished. "You. Idiot." She said, "You're voluntarily bringing the wrath of the Solo family down on yourself? And you actually think the Jedi are going to fight each other over me? They probably all think I'm guilty anyway! And you killed Hailee to convince them? Of course they all think I'm guilty! How do you expect Ben to be able to find us, anyway? He's not a god, you know."

"Of course he's not a god, we're going to kill him! And he does know where we are, I left him a note, and-"

"You left him a note telling him where we are?! Are you suicidal!? I suppose you left a note for the Solos, too?"

"No, a string of clues. They should find us right as we've finished killing your precious boyfriend. And I see what you're doing, you know." As he said the last bit, he reached out to grab Vestara's lightsaber, which she had spotted and been slowly dragging towards herself.

"I can tell when someone is using the Force."

"Could've fooled me." She grumbled. "I thought Force-sensitives were usually smart."

"I'm not just a Force-sensitive," He said imperiously. "I'm a Sith."

She tried to choke down her laugh, but it wasn't very successful. "And who trained you? Darth Patheticus?"

He glared. "I don't actually know it's name, but it goes by Ship. You see, I think you've actually fallen for my stupid little farm boy act. Pity, I would have expected better from a former Sith." He now longer seemed like a weak little child. In fact, now that she actually thought to use the Force, she could sense a dark, brooding anger lying under his surface. "Ship? Great. Now I'm actually surprised at how bad your plan is, if he is indeed behind it. He should know better than to get Ben angry."

"But, that's what he's trying to do. Get Ben angry." Karick said.

"He hasn't realized by now that that's never going to work? He really is hopeless."

Karick was about to retort when a dinging sounded from the front of the ship. "We'll continue this discussion later. For now, sweet dreams!" He shoved the cloth in front of her face again, and she slipped back into blackness.

~O~

"No, I'm telling you to stop his ship, not shoot him." Luke said yet again.

"I'm sorry, Sir, but our ability to stop a ship without damaging it is very low, and as the pilot is your son, practically non-existent." There was a murmur from another voice on the other end of the comm. "I'm sorry, Master Skywalker, but it's too late, your son has already made it rather effortlessly past our defenses." The chief of OC sounded rather flustered, so Luke cut off the remark he had been about to utter about the state of the defense system. Instead he sighed and disconnected the call.

He leaned back in his chair and rubbed his eyes. May the Force be with you, Ben. Wherever you are.

~O~

Ben was, at the moment, extremely frustrated. Why did everything have to be so difficult? he had followed the coordinates on the flimsi exactly, and yet he was lost in the unknown regions. His Stealth-X floated in the deep blackness of space, where he had been for the last hour. Waiting. What did Vestara expect him to do? He leaned back in his chair and ran his fingers through his reddish-brown hair. He reached out through the Force, searching for any hint of her presence.

Nothing. Again. He sighed and sat back up, starting to power up his systems and chart a path back to the known part of the universe.

Dad was right. I was following my feelings. Again. Will I never learn?

His reverie was interrupted by the beeping of his proximity detectors. A small blip was floating very close to his ship.

"How did that get so close?" He wondered aloud. He opened a channel to his astromech.

"R-7? What is it?"

The droids answer scrolled across his screen.

Unknown. Does not appear to be any form of explosives.

"Hmm. Well, you may as well pull it into a missile launch tube. If it'll fit. And plot a course to the nearest planet so I can crack it open."

Affirmative Jedi Skywalker.

~O~

Han Solo walked back into Jag and Jaina's apartment, not relishing sharing the news, or lack of it, that he had.

As soon as he walked in the door, everyone jumped up and stared at him expectantly. He shook his head and watched as everyone sank back into their seats, disappointment on their faces.

"I tried every person and being I could think of. Nothing." Han said.

"You did your best, Dad." Jaina said.

"I did nothing to help." Han said, dropping himself onto the couch next to Jaina. "Where's Allana?"

"In bed." Said Leia. "Which is where we should all be. Come on, Jaina. Jag."

"I don't want to sleep. Not without him." Replied Jaina.

"Wearing yourself out after giving birth is going to help find him how, exactly?" Leia retorted. "You both need to get some sleep. You've been awake for over twenty hours. I will stay in the communication center all night if I have to. Go. To. Bed."

~O~

Vestara woke with less pain this time. It was still black but accented with hues of orange and red. Somewhere she could hear a baby crying. as her vision returned, she saw she was inside a cave. Something was wrong, but she couldn't figure out exactly what it was.

"Finally awake, are you?" Came a mocking voice from behind her. She turned as best she could with her hands and feet bound and said, "I'm really starting to hate waking up to your face."

Karick walked over to her, then stopped abruptly and took a step backwards.

Vestara smirked. "You're scared of me? Some Sith you are."

"Not scared, I just don't like being out of touch with the Force."

She cursed under her breath. "Very clever. Did you think of using those all by yourself?"

"Of course not. Until recently I had no clue what they were. It was Ship's idea. In fact-"

His gloating was interrupted by a call from the front of the cave. "Karick! Quit bragging and help me with this little brat!"

Karick rolled his eyes, and left. She could hear him talking in a low voice with the other person, a girl, and figured he would be occupied for a while. She immediately started planning possible escapes, and searching for the Ysalamiri that Karick had hidden somewhere around her. She strained her eyes searching the dark corners and crags of the cave. Finally, she looked up, and could barely make out the shape of a cage dangling in the shadows above her. She was shoved backwards by a hand planted on her chest. She slammed into the back wall of the cave, and as she was regaining her breath, she felt a bundle being pressed into her arms.

"Vestara, meet Davin Gilad Fel, your new charge. If he makes so much as a squeak, you both die."

She looked down at the tiny new human, and shifted him carefully. She'd never held a baby before, and ordinarily, she would be thrilled. Now she was terrified.

How in the galaxy do you keep a baby quiet?

~O~

Sorry for my long Hiatus. I was overwhelmingly busy with school, band, etc. Hope you enjoyed the chapter!

VJ