It is extremely difficult to pilot a space shuttle when it is being shaken like a can of paint attached to a mixing machine. Compound this with the stress of falling into a black hole, and the activity would sound near impossible. Yet Sheila was maintaining control, loosely termed, of the shuttle as it skated past the event horizon of the Maw black hole. Only one of the Imperial fighters had the fortitude to follow, but the black hole had gotten the best of it and sucked it where ever anything goes when entered there.

Sheila exclaimed in her jostled voice, "We have to point away and go in to hyperspace. I can't seem to point us away."

Truly, the vessel was locked in a perfect path and orientation due the gravitational pull of the black hole. It was a balance, unique and fortunate to keep them alive, devastating and unfortunate to keep them trapped. The slightest incorrect move and they would fall out of this precarious balance and totter in to the nothingness.

Grutex said, "Make the jump now."

Sheila replied, "We don't know what that will do. I have no idea what a jump running parallel to a black hole will do."

Grutex said, "We can't keep going this way or it will win. We have to jump now."

She looked back at Joel with a fearful, questioning expression. Did he nod in affirmation? It was hard to tell, his head was bouncing as was everyone's. Finally he said, "Do it. Just do it."

Sheila said, "RP, send us in to a jump."

The rattled droid responded, and it static popped through his vocal speaker, "Immediately ma'am."

Normally, when initiating a jump into hyperspace, certain calculations are made. This would have been the advantage of turning away from the black hole and getting some sort of tactical groundings. But, in this very rare instance, the tactical groundings were going to be a throw of the dice and a hope for the best. Also, normally, the passengers of the space vessel would see the stars stretch into spikes of light and wrap around them, but not this time. RP engaged the hyper drive and instead there was a crescendo of tiny flashes pulled in an arc, much resembling the splashing of wave when it hits a beach. Yet they did make the jump, but not perfectly.

Inside the hyper tunnel, the shuttle craft rolled and spun. Sheila fought with the stick to stabilize them, and it was a losing battle, "I can't straighten us out. It's as if we are caught in two hyper tunnels."

RP clarified, "Not a bad analogy. It seems the black hole opened a mirror hyper tunnel, a sort of extra dimensional tunnel if you will, and our physical manifestations are having trouble deciding which tunnel we are actually supposed to be in."

Karl said, "So, we don't know where we are. I do know, I might get sick."

Sheila laid her hand on the throttle, "Maybe if I push the throttle it will plain us out." She pushed down fully on the throttle, and rolling, pitching ship went in to a spin, as if a child's top just released by a string. The force pulled everyone to the left side of the cabin, no one could center themselves, and Sheila could not get her hand back on the throttle. "Well that didn't help."

Karl had both his hands wrapped around his mouth, just in case. Joel was pinned behind RP, and he was grimacing in pain as he tried to push the droid away. Grutex was pasted to the wall in the rear of cabin. He reached out towards the throttle, fighting the force to be glued to the wall. If only he could reach the throttle… if only…

Grutex could almost sense the throttle in his hand, though it was so far away. Something in him beckoned, and understood, almost in the same way it had understood Vader was his mother's murderer when Vader had him in the invisible clutches of his anger. The sensation calmed him in the chaos. His fear was lifted, and only the throttle mattered, as if the entire universe had focused all of its time and energy around it. The throttle moved backwards, fully, by invisible pulling.

The spinning vessel could have dropped into the ocean from the ozone and the change in velocity would have felt less abrupt. There was a deafening pop, and the vessel shot out of the hyper tunnel in one piece, more or less. Shaken and rattled, the crew did their best to gain their composure and positions. Joel pushed RP off of him, saying something to the effect of hurry and tin can. Karl was green, but his color was coming back. Sheila was picking herself up from the floor of the vessel, her shoulder length hair looking as though it had been caught in a very bad wind. Grutex remained against the back wall, staring at the hand he hand managed to reach out with, staring at the hand which had felt the contours of the throttle so far away and had also felt as though it had pulled it. Grutex wondered if he had actually done it. Had he pulled the throttle in the same way Vader had nearly choked him to death, by some unseen power?

Sheila was back in the pilot's seat and had some bad news, "We can't move."

Joel asked, "What do you mean?"

Instead, she directed her words to the droid, "RP, I need a systems analysis now. The engines seem dead."

RP plugged himself back in and said, "We have suffered some damage from the journey and exit of the hyper tunnel."

Sheila said, "What sort of damage?"

"The main power couple has come lose. We do not have the power to engage the engines. We are now functioning on the auxiliary battery, which will not last long."

Joel asked, "Can we repair it?"

RP said, "If we reconnect the power couple, we will be fine." Joel sighed a relief; then RP added, "But the main couple is on the exterior of the ship."

Karl said, "That's not good. None of us can just walk out in to space."

Sheila said, "RP, can we send you to repair it?"

The protocol droid said, "I am afraid not. Were I a star droid, then yes. Once outside the ship, I would simply float away."

Grutex thought to himself, all of what Karl had been fascinated by, what was underneath the mask, was much tougher than any human. It was possible, he thought, he could exist just long enough in space to repair the couple and make it back inside the ship. He softly said, "I will do it," but on one heard.

Joel said, "Well that's just great, isn't it? We went through all of this just to run out of oxygen out in the middle of nowhere."

Grutex spoke a bit louder, but still no one heard him say, "I will do it."

Karl said, "Maybe if we tie a rope or something to RP, then he could do it."

RP said, "I'm still afraid I do not have the type of hands and arms adequate to perform the task."

This time, Grutex shouted, "I'll do it."

The silence in the cockpit was instant. All eyes were on Grutex, and he said again, "I will do it."

Sheila said, "You can't. You'll die out there."

Joel said, "Let him go. This is all his fault anyway."

Grutex spoke directly to Sheila, but all ears were tuned in on him, "I will go. I am Tusken. Our hides are tougher. Make no mistake, I can't live out there for long, but I may have just enough time to repair the ship." He looked back at Karl, "And we can use Karl's idea, and tie something to me in case things go badly."

Karl said, "There should be winch in the air lock."

Sheila said, "Are you sure you want to do this?"

Grutex looked around in all of the faces, "Yes. And after all," he turned his attention to Joel, "most of this is my fault."

Joel turned his head, not wanting the responsibility of actually feeling as though he were sending anyone out to their death.

Inside the air lock, Grutex found the cargo winch used to pull heavy objects aboard the vessel. He wrapped the steel cable around his waist and latched it. Looking back at the crew through the closed air lock, Grutex gave a thumbs up. Karl said to RP, "Okay, open the hatch."

RP said, "Doing so will spend our battery power down to almost nothing."

Joel said, "Do it."

The hatch opened, and Grutex was yanked out into space. His body stopped at the end of the cable, where he tossed around like a yo-yo at the end of a drop. All inside held their breaths with anticipation. Grutex reached out and grappled the front edge of the shuttle wing and began to climb over.

Sheila said, "One of us would be dead by now."

Karl made a fist and shook it in excitement, he pointed out at Grutex as the Tusken continued his climb around the ship and said, "And that is why I have just got to see what he looks like under that mask."

The couple was not broken, it had simply come unplugged, and it stuck out like a sore thumb. Grutex's head was pounding as he held his breath, and he could feel his body core getting warm as the vacuum of space was boiling his blood. He grabbed the couple, feeling the pressure and need for a breath over powering him, and tried to plug it in. His struggles made him miss. Now his vision was doubling as he tried a second time, and once again he missed. How simple it was to plug this under normal conditions, but now it seemed the most difficult thing ever. On his third attempt, his vision was dimming, and his arms felt as though they were made of rubber. He simply made a blind thrust, and the couple was rejoined.

The cockpit lit up and the crew cheered. Karl immediately grabbed the winch control and began to reel the limp Tusken Raider back into the air lock. The hatch was closed and there was a hiss as the air lock pressurized. Karl opened the air lock and pulled the Raider inside. He looked around in panic, "I think he's really dead this time." He lowered his head to Grutex's mask, "I can't hear him breath." Karl removed his hands as though he were touching something toxic, "I don't know what to do. What do we do?"

Joel grabbed a cable in the wall and jerked it lose, a spark shot. He told Karl, "Get back."

Darker than the infinite pull of the black hole, Grutex was now in a true darkness. He felt weightless, painless. It was comfortable here, and he a peace washed over him of which he had never in his life felt the likes of. "I'm dead," he said. "I'm dead, and it's not that bad."

An aged voice from nowhere said, "Not yet."

The Raider peered into the darkness, but saw nothing. "Who's there?"

The deep, refined voice said, "You are not dead yet."

"Then where am I?"

"You are somewhere in between. You are of the lucky few, who have a choice. You can stay, or you can go back."

The Raider said again, "Who's there? Who are you?"

Glowing in the distance was a shimmering puddle of light; it took on a translucent, robed human form. "You know me."

"I saw you die, on the Death Star."

The robed figure said, "Death is not an absolute. I made passage in way you will come to understand later. Something in you has been awakened, a power which binds and unites all life. It is why you have a choice."

The Raider said, "It's not so bad here."

The robed figure said, "My name is Obi Wan. I was the last of the Jedi. With me passes the understanding of hope, and the sorrow of many generations."

The Raider remarked, "I have heard of the Jedi. I am sorry for you."

The robed figure began to distort and shrink back to the glowing puddle, "The choice is yours."

Grutex held out a pleading hand, "Don't leave me. Where are you going?"

The puddle rippled a bit, and expanded once more. This time it was the form of a female Tusken Raider. Grutex instantly knew who it was. He flew to her and wrapped his arms around her, and she around him. "Mother," he said.

She stroked his cowl, "There, there, my child. What troubles you?"

"I missed you. I don't want to go back. I want to come with you."

She straightened him up and said, "Grutex, you have been so lucky."

He said, "How? Everything I do makes trouble. Look at me now."

She said, "You saved your friends." He tried to look away, but she pulled his face back to hers, "Yes, you have friends. You saved them."

"I am the reason they were in trouble to begin with."

"Trouble will happen with or without you. Evil will transpire with or without you. You have been so lucky. Babgrat found you, and his given you a love which is only second to mine. And what of Sandagra?"

Grutex tilted his head curiously.

She continued, "Yes, I know about her. She loves you."

Grutex felt around his neck for the stone, but it was not there. His mother said, "You cannot bring your gift here. And this is your choice. Do you wish to come with me? Or do you wish to return to the many gifts which have been yours all of this time?"

"But mother, I miss you. I love you."

"And I love you, my son. I will always love you. But you find your way to me soon enough. I will be waiting. What about those who need you now?"

Grutex said softly, "No one needs me."

His mother's voice became stern, "Stop feeling sorry for yourself. The friends you saved needed you. Babgrat needs you. And Sandagra, no one needs you more than she."

Grutex asked, "You will wait for me?"

She said, "I will always wait for you." She took his hand and said, "You will always be in debt to the choices you make, Grutex."

Grutex hugged his mother once more and said, "I love you."

He could hear a loud popping sound, and the smell of smoke. The blackness turned to a blurry brightness. There was figures over him. Slowly his vision came to focus, and he rolled his head to and fro. He heard a voice, "Not again, Joel. I think he is coming to." It was Sheila's voice.

Karl's voice said, "I'll be damned. Those Tuskens are tough."

Joel's voice, "Hey Sand Head, can you hear me? Are you alright?"

Grutex tried to speak, but instead found himself trying to sit up. He felt other hands touching him, helping him. His vision was becoming more clear and he saw them. RP's glowing eyes were on him, Sheila was smiling at him, Karl had a grin wide enough to be frightening, and Joel was standing with a worried expression, holding an electrical cable with smoke waving from it. Grutex looked down and saw a similar smoke rolling from his tunic just over his heart.

He looked once more around at the crew and came back to Karl's mysterious grin. Grutex quickly ran his hands over his cowl, which was still on. Sheila said, "Don't worry, no one looked under your mask."

Joel said, "Okay, that's enough drama. Sheila, none of this is any good if we can't get those engines back online."

Sheila rolled her eyes, "Aye Captain."

She was back in the pilot's seat and said, "Engines are back." Looking back at Grutex she winked, "You did it."

Karl gave Grutex a brutal pat on the back, "That was the bravest thing I've seen since… since.. that was the braves thing I have ever seen."

RP said, "All systems are nominal. Even the hyper drive is working."

Joel said, "That's the best news I have had all day."

Karl said to Grutex, "I have to admit, I could wait a while before I ever go near a black hole again."

Grutex still struggled to say anything. His mind was still reeling from the voyage, and not the hyper jump. He was wondering if it had all been a dream. Had he really seen his mother? Had he really spoke to her? Had he really felt her embrace? He held his stone hanging from his neck in his hand and remembered what his mother had said. Sandagra needed him more than anyone else.

Joel said, while taking his seat, "So we can make hyper jumps again?"

RP said, "Affirmative."

"Clean ones? Hyper jumps which don't leave us stranded in space?" Joel asked.

RP said, "Affirmative."

"Alright then," Joel said. "Let's get our navigational readings for a jump. The sooner the better."

RP said, "Calculating the jump coordinates for the Bespin system."

"Whoa," Joel interjected. "Belay that course. Set coordinates for Tatooine."

All heads turned questioningly to Joel. Grutex raised his from the stone he had been transfixed on. Defensively Joel said, "What?"

Sheila said, "You heard him, RP. The captain says we are going to Tatooine."

Joel murmured, "Got to be out of my mind."

Sheila asked, "What was that?"

"I said Tatooine. Get on it." He looked back at Grutex, "We have to get this Sand Head back to Tatooine."

Sheila smiled and turned back to her console, "Got those coordinates in yet RP?"

RP said, "New coordinates are set. Final exit points for a hyperspace jump to Tatooine almost calculated."

Grutex now found the ability to speak. He reached out and touched Joel's forearm, "Thank you." Before he removed his hand from Joel's arm, he added, "Friend."

Joel glared back at Grutex, "Don't get carried away."