Myrkr

The next day the Solo, Skywalker and Tantiss family members sat around the galley dining table eating ration bars and looking troubled and apprehensive.

Mark tossed his food bar down on his plate in a frustrated gesture and gave his family a questioning look. "Do you really think we can pull this off? I mean this is basically a cover up. I know I can keep secrets, but you are all better Jedi than I'll ever be…," he looked at all around the table. "Can you stomach living the lie?"

Han spoke up first. "I was a smuggler. Telling truthfully-challenged stories was part of the profession."

"I was a politician," Leia simply stated.

Mark looked to his two sons but then skipped over them with a roll of his eyes. "I know you two can stretch the truth."

"Hey," Jaden said looking a little insulted.

Mark's gaze fell on Jaina. "I'll do anything I can to help my brother, including making up a cover story," Jaina sighed.

"Same here," Ben added softly.

Mark finally looked over to Luke and Mara. "He nearly killed you Mara. How are you going to deal with seeing Jacen daily?"

"I was once a spy—which is like basically being an actor," Mara pointed out. "I can play my part. It's Farmboy here that I worry about."

Luke looked down at the table. He glanced up and gave a tired look. "I won't say anything to him unless he remembers and asks me specifically."

"Do you think he will regain his memories?" Jaina asked her uncle.

Luke shrugged. "It's possible. Mind rubs are usually not permanent. The memories may return eventually."

Jaina frowned. "Won't that cause him a lot of confusion and anxiety if it happens?"

"Not necessarily," Jaden spoke up. "It is very possible that Jacen will eventually accept our story as reality. With reinforcement he will start to 'remember' the implanted story and most likely will embellish on the bogus memory, adding more detail as the years go on. If the real memory reappears he's more apt to disregard the truth in favor of the fabricated story."

Han looked at Jaden skeptically. "How is that possible?"

Jaden turned to his uncle. "People often believe their memory is like a holo-recording, but it's not. We remember bits and pieces of an event and often our brains will reconstruct the information into a coherent memory. Unfortunately, during this reconstruction process errors come up due to exposure to misinformation or suggestions from others. When that happens a flawed or false memory is born. Most of us will never know our memories are imperfect unless somebody else points out a discrepancy in a story we're telling. I wouldn't be surprised if Jacen starts 'remembering' the fictional fight between him and Lumiya on Myrkr. After a few years he'll probably manufacture enough details that you, yourself, may forget the story isn't real."

Jaina raised an eyebrow. "That's hard to believe."

Jaden shrugged. "Dozens of studies performed by cognitive psychologists have shown this to be true."

"Unfortunately," Luke interrupted. We won't be able to manufacture five years of memories. He will always know he has missing time. I just hope he doesn't get it in his head to investigate his past too thoroughly."

"Do you think he kept a journal?" Ben asked looking to the others at the table.

Talon shook his head. "I doubt it. When he found out that I kept a journal he teased me about it. I guess he thought it was an unmanly pursuit."

"Unmanly," Mark said with a snort. "I kept a journal for years and there's nothing effeminate about it. He probably didn't like the idea of you keeping a record of all the questionable situations that you and your cousins have gotten into." He glared at Talon. "Like the Crystal Snake incident."

"What was that about?" Leia asked.

"Nothing, no need to bring that up again." Talon said guiltily.

Mark made a dismissive gesture. "Getting back to the subject at hand," Mark said as he sat back in his chair with a serious look on his face. "I just want to say, I am very hesitant about doing this. I know how to perform the memory rub from Palpatine's memories but the Emperor wasn't known for his finesse when utilizing this skill. He really didn't care if he rubbed out a few years or a decade." He looked to those around the table. "Do you still want me to do this?"

"I think it is our best option," Han said as Leia nodded in agreement.

Mark sat silently for a moment. He then broached a subject that bothered him since the talk of a memory rub came up. "If I do this…If I take away a half decade of memories…you have to promise me that we will forget all that he has done to wrong us." He dragged in a shuttering breath and let it out slowly. "I don't want somebody to later on decide he should go up on attempted murder charges for me, Mara or Jaden."

"Why would we do that?" Mara asked.

Mark shrugged his shoulders. "I think it's unlikely to happen, but my concern is if I rip memories out of his brain and later he is brought up on charges…he will have absolutely no way to defend himself because we stole those memories. If I do this, then everything that's occurred between Jacen and us in the past couple weeks…never happened. Agreed?" Mark looked to each person searching his or her face for approval.

Mara was the first to respond. "Agreed." Each person at the table motioned their approval until it was Luke's turn. He hesitated for a long pause before he answered. "Agreed."

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Later that day the group slowly filed into the room where Jacen laid in an anesthetic slumber.

Luke looked to Jaden who was overseeing Jacen's medical condition and then to Mark. "Are you two ready?"

"I'm ready," Jaden said with a nod.

Mark's right hand suddenly started trembling as a cold, sick fear tightened in his belly. He was terrified he was going to fail Jacen…and fail his entire family. He took a couple deep breaths before he answered with a confidence he absolutely did not feel. "I'm ready."

Luke turned to Jaden. "Wake him up."

Jaden injected a chemical in Jacen's IV line that would slowly bring him out of sedation.

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Jacen consciousness swam as an incoherent muttering came to his lips. He was drifting in a twilight state—like a boat loose from its moor. In the darkness he could hear his mother's soft sobs followed by his father whispering something to her. 'Why is mom crying?' he wondered as his brain became more and more coherent. His eyes twitched and then slowly opened. He blinked at the bright overhead lights as he gazed at the outline of people around him. Eventually his eyes focused enough for him to make out his mother's face across from him. She was holding back tears but it was undoubtedly the face of a grief stricken mother.

"What's happening," Jacen slurred. His tongue felt numb and swollen making speech difficult. As he looked to the somber faces surrounding his bed he started to remember. He attacked Jaden, Mark and could have easily killed his Aunt Mara. His family thought he was Sith—he came out and admitted it in order to be ousted from the Jedi order. Obviously they took him very seriously and now it appeared they had made a decision on his fate. By the look on his mother's face, an extremely unpleasant punishment awaited him.

"Are they going to kill me?" He wasn't afraid for himself as much as alarmed that his mother would be forced to witness his death.

Bleak lines showed on Leia's face. "No, they're not," she sobbed.

Jacen watched his Uncle Mark walk up to him. The large man looked as distressed as Jacen's mother. His face was etched with the expression of pain and guilt.

"Just be still Jacen, this won't hurt a bit." His uncle reached out with hand and placed his palm on Jacen's temple. For the first time in a long while Jacen felt scared. He wasn't sure what Mark was about to do because he was in a ysalamiri created Force-void, but Jacen knew this was no longer an obstacle for Jedi Master Mark Tantiss. Whatever was going to happen to Jacen had to do with the Force and the fact that Mark was doing the task and not Luke meant they wanted to keep Jacen Force-blind and helpless to resist.

Jacen jerked his head trying to prevent his uncle from touching him, but Mark reached out with his free hand and grabbed Jacen by his jaw immobilizing him. "What are you doing?" Jacen yelled his voice edged with panic.

"Just making you forget," Mark answered.

'Forget?' Jacen thought in alarm. "For how long?" He didn't care about losing his memory of Lumiya or any dark knowledge he acquired. He didn't want to forget his daughter…or his wife. "Stop, don't do this." Jacen pleaded, but he could already feel an odd sensation worm through his brain. He concentrated on remembering Allana and his relationship with Tenel Ka. He tugged at his cuff restraints and tried to pull free from his uncle's grip, but Mark held firm. 'I have to remember Allana and Tenel Ka! Remember! Remember!' He refused to let Mark erase his memories of his family.

Mark leaned down and whispered into Jacen's ear, "Forget."

The squirmy sensation in his mind grew stronger and then things got foggier, indistinct and confusing. Jacen briefly wondered if his cousin Jaden has started the sedative IV again. He turned and glanced at his mother and father, then to Luke. He looked back to Mark who was holding his head still within his firm grasp. Jacen looked up to him with confused eyes. "What's going on? Where am I?"

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Mark let go of Jacen and then stepped back wide-eyed. He ran a hand down his face, looking nauseous. "I think I'm going to be sick," he said before he rushed from the room and down into the direction of the 'fresher.

Luke poked his head out the door and watched his clone rush down the hall. He turned back to Jaden. "Keep an eye on him."

"Will do," the Jedi healer said.

Luke quickly moved down the hall in the direction that Mark had ran. When he neared the 'fresher he could water running. He popped open the door and found Mark leaning over the sink, splashing water on his face and looking miserable. "What happened Mark?"

The man looked up and opened his mouth to talk but then just shook his head and went back to splashing water on his face. After a moment he finally took a couple of deep breaths and composed himself. "Nothing. It was just a very uncomfortable sensation. I started to feel faint." Mark then averted his eyes and looked at anything but Luke.

"I don't need the Force to tell you are hiding something from me Mark."

He hesitated to answer and looked very much like a man trying to decide what he was going to say. "Luke, I saw things in Jacen's mind during the rub. We were wrong about him. He wasn't Sith. Jacen teamed up with Lumiya for the same reason your father went to the darkside."

Luke looked at him confused. "You said Palpatine tricked Anakin to turning to the darkside to protect his wife and child…or I guess I should say children."

"That's right," Mark said.

"Jacen doesn't have a wife and child," the Jedi Grand Master pointed out.

Mark moved away from the sink and sat down on the floor, leaning heavily against the 'fresher wall. Unshed tears glistened in his eyes and Luke could see a nervous trembling in Mark's hand. "Luke I didn't see what was in his mind until the process was almost over." He shook his head sadly. "Luke he does have a wife and child. He couldn't tell anybody because of their safety." Mark buried his head in his hands. "Luke I stripped him of his memories of his family."

Luke shook his head. "What are you talking about Mark? What family?"

The redheaded Jedi looked up at his Master. "Jacen is married to Tenel Ka…Allana is his daughter, and I think I wiped out all his memories for the last five years. He won't remember her birth…he may not remember her conception." He looked up to Luke. "What are we going to do? Jacen didn't tell anybody to protect his wife and daughter. If this gets out, they may be in danger." Mark looked utterly miserable. "I took away the memories of his family…his family. Gods, what have I done?"