Chapter Four: Not in Kansas Anymore

Stiffly and with a pounding headache, Luke Skywalker, Jedi Master, forced his eyes open. He found himself lying on a cot in a metal cell with a glowing force field covering the opening. Kneeling beside him was a man with pale skin and gold eyes. They were both wearing one-piece clothing fitted with wires.

Luke groaned and held his head as the other man helped him stand. "Thanks," he said, rubbing his head. "Who…or what…are you?"

"I am an android. Lieutenant Commander Data of the Federation starship Enterprise."

Luke looked puzzled. "Never heard of it. I'm Luke Skywalker. Where are we?"

"I was not here much longer than you were; however, I was told that we are on a ship belonging to a race called the Warlords. They are looking for the owner of a feather. The leader, I believe he is the captain, asked me if I knew who the feather belonged to, as he asked you."

"Yeah." He looked at the android and whispered, "Do you?"

Data looked uncomfortable, but said, "Yes."

If this android was like the droids Luke knew, then, by design, he couldn't lie. He glanced around to see if that guard was still outside, and saw he was working in a separate room, not paying attention to what was going on in the cell.

"So do I," he said, the barest of whispers. If these Warlords were after her, they weren't going to get any information out of him if he could help it. "You know Lisa?" He walked back over to Data, to the farthest wall from the force field so they couldn't be overheard.

Lisa was Luke's girlfriend. The feather the Warlords had was from one of her wings. He'd know it anywhere.

"Yes. She is on the Enterprise."

"She's with you? She's with me, too."

"The Warlords informed me that I have been taken into the future. Approximately two thousand years. It may be the same for you. The machinery they have can take individuals out of time."

"And they're after Lisa? For what? They said something about draining our abilities and an extractor."

"I would hypothesize," said Data, "that their extractor can drain the abilities of individuals and contain them, perhaps input them into other individuals. The Warlords themselves, for example."

"And Lisa's powers would be at the top of their list…" said Luke. "We can't let them get her."

Whatever Data was going to say was interrupted by a cone-shaped, transparent distortion. Luke recognized it as the thing that had hijacked him out of the Massassi Temple.

The distortion landed on the floor of the cell, then whisked itself away, leaving a figure lying where it had been. It was another man, wearing simple casual clothes.

"Hey, are you okay?" Luke asked, kneeling at the man's side.

The man groaned, tried to sit up and lost his balance. A look of confusion appeared on his face as he opened his eyes and found Luke and Data staring down at him.

"Where am I?" he asked, looking around. "Who are you?"

"I'm Luke Skywalker and this is Data. You're on a ship," Luke answered. "We're prisoners. We've been taken…what, out of time?"

"That is correct," said Data. "The species on board this ship, the Warlords, wish to steal special abilities and transfer them into themselves."

Their conversation was halted when the door to the brig opened and the Warlord leader stepped through. The guard also came out.

"Welcome to my ship," said the leader.

"Captain," said the guard, "this one's DNA doesn't match the feather's, either. In fact, the signature is weakening."

"What?" said the Captain, walking over to the console to read whatever it was the guard was pointing at. "And it wasn't like that before we picked him up?"

"No, sir."

"Well, that's just dandy," he said sarcastically. "Whatever. So, do you know who owns this feather?"

The new captive took one look, frowned, and said, "Never seen it before."

The Captain regarded him as Luke and Data helped him up.

"You're a very bad liar," he said. "Your bio readings give you away. Karkoff to Sykle."

"Sykle here, sir," came a voice over the communication system.

"Get the medic to analyze this fellow and find out if there's anything in him the extractor can take. By the way…you, Jedi." He looked at Luke. "Your abilities will be very useful, once we drain enough out of you." He must have noticed the look on Luke's face, because he grinned. "Oh, yes, Jedi. We've already started the extraction process on you. You've no doubt started to feel the effects. Just wait."

Sykle's voice came over the comm. again. "Sir, we have detected another DNA signature."

"All right, all right," he replied. "Though I'm getting rather tired of going back and forth. Gerod, you handle the next ones until we find the right one."

"Aye, sir," said the guard.

Karkoff left and Gerod went back into his section, leaving the three of them not quite alone but as close as they were going to get.

"Did he mean something specific when he said, 'Feeling the effects'?" asked Data.

Luke paused and reached out into the Force, and found his connection wasn't as strong as it used to be. It was unnerving. Also, he felt stiff and aching in his joints.

"This can't be happening…" said the newcomer.

"Let's get you onto one of the cots," said Luke as he and Data helped him. "Who are you?"

"Clark Kent."

Luke glanced to make sure they weren't being overheard, then said in a low voice, "You know Lisa, too, don't you?"

Clark looked up and Data explained the whole situation in technical detail as only an android could. Afterward, he nodded, "Yes, I do."

"You don't look too good." Luke observed.

"Something's affecting my powers," Clark said, looking around. "If I've been taken away from where I belong, there's no point in hiding that I have them…or had. There isn't a lot that can make me lose my powers, though. It doesn't feel like what normally is used against me."

Luke sighed. "Who do you think they picked up this time?"

"Given the evidence," said Data, "and knowing of her extended lifespan, it could be any one of Lisa's past romantic involvements."

"He's right," said Luke. "They've already picked up us three and we know they're after her. Do either of you know who came before you, Clark?"

Lisa apparently hadn't talked about her past relationships with any of them, because none of them knew. All they could do was sit and wait.

End chapter four.