Chapter 1

Mara Jade heard a knock on her door onboard the Incident Alley and looked up from her data pad. It was unusual for her crew to interrupt her when they knew she going over the next week's shipments, so she answered cautiously. "Who is it?"

"It's me," Dankin, her pilot, replied. "You have some visitors."

Why in Hoth is he bringing visitors onboard the ship? Mara wondered. His voice seemed calm enough and she could sense no danger through the Force.

"Oh, and something about whisperkits," Dankin added.

Mara rolled her eyes. Apparently, she was going to have to go over the proper use of all-clear words yet again. Mara stood up and walked towards the door, clicking the safety off her blaster as she went, just in case.

Mara opened the door to reveal two easily-recognized but quite unexpected individuals standing beside Dankin. She hoped her surprise didn't show as she greeted them. "Leia Organa Solo. Han Solo. What brings you here?"

"There's something we wanted to talk to you about. Is there somewhere we can sit down?" Leia asked.

"Sure," Mara replied slowly, studying Leia as she did so. She couldn't get a read on what this was all about, but she could think of nothing good that could come of the sudden appearance of high-ranking Republic officials on her ship.

"Don't you have work to be doing?" Mara asked Dankin, who was still eagerly standing by. Mara tore her gaze from the newcomers to glance at him. "Now?" she added with a slight edge to her voice when Dankin opened his mouth to object.

"Yes, Chief," Dankin replied obediently and disappeared down the corridor.

Mara closed the door to her room behind her and led the way to the strategy room. "Can I get you anything to drink?" she asked automatically as they sat down, remembering Karrde's many lectures on hospitality.

"I'll take tea, if you have it," Leia replied.

"Nothing for me," Han said, sitting down with his arms crossed.

Mara slipped into the adjacent room to prepare the tea. As the water was heating she watched her guests through the one-way window. Han had a scowl so deep Mara wondered if his face was stuck that way and he seemed to be glaring at everything in the room all at once. Leia sat tall in her chair with her hands folded in her lap. Always the diplomat, Mara thought.

Although they were fixtures on the Holonet, Mara had scarcely seen Han or Leia in person since . . . she flinched inwardly. Nirauan. The whole bizarre and embarrassing experience came rushing back to her. Thank the Force they didn't bring Luke with them. Mara was happy to say she hadn't seen much of him since she rejected his proposal.

Mara paused for a moment as a new thought struck her. She'd tried very hard to stay out of the war, she'd trained herself to ignore any news of it except for purposes of planning shipments or selling information. But there was one bit of news she couldn't completely ignore despite her best efforts. Callista Skywalker, Luke's wife, had been killed.

Was this related to Callista's death? Mara wondered. Surely Han and Leia knew Mara didn't deal in information about the war. Besides, they had NRI and Mirax Terrik for that. So what did they want with her? Well, there was one way to find out. Mara collected two cups of tea and returned to the other room.

Mara settled into a chair across from the couple. Leia took a long, slow sip of tea before speaking. "We need a favor," she began.

Mara raised her eyebrows. And what made them think she had time to be doing them favors? She was already way behind schedule . . .

"We've lost all contact with Luke. No one's heard from him in days. Not since . . ." Leia broke off. She stared at her tea with a studiously neutral look on her face. But Mara could sense the anguish beneath the surface. Between the war, the loss of her sons, and now the death of one of her best friends, Mara supposed she shouldn't be surprised Leia was very near the breaking point. What did surprise Mara was that the emotion seemed to be contagious. She was beginning to feel unnerved, despite being in the sanctuary of her ship. Whatever brought Han and Leia here today, Mara was certain she wanted no part of it. But she could hardly kick them off now. Sith it, Dankin. This is why you don't let strangers wander onto the ship.

Leia began again, her emotions pushed down once more. "We need you to find him."

Mara nearly choked on the tea she was sipping. "Excuse me? You want me to find Luke?"

If Leia was taken aback by Mara's reaction, she didn't show it. "You owe him this much," she said simply.

Mara's eyes narrowed and her voice took on an icy tone. "I don't owe Luke, or you"—Mara stared hard at Leia as she began, then turned her scowl to Han—"or anyone, anything. I'm sorry, but I can't help you."

Leia continued to stare mildly at Mara. "Maybe you don't owe Luke anything. Maybe you just do it because it's the right thing to do."

"I don't have time for this." Mara stood up and shoved her chair backwards. They'd just passed the limit of her hospitality.

"Or do it for Benji. He lost everything," Leia continued softly. As Mara came around the table and grabbed Leia's arm to haul her to her feet, Leia looked meaningfully into her eyes. "You know what's that like, don't you?"

To her great chagrin, Mara hesitated for just a moment.

"He'd do it for you," Han growled from beside Leia.

Mara scowled as she bit back a retort. Yeah, I bet he would, she thought. He'd be only too eager to come rescue me from my self-pity. Her grip on Leia's arm relaxed as she thought about how much she didn't want to see Luke again. He'd teach me the ways of the Jedi and drag me right into the middle of this Maker-forsaken war that's destroyed every life it's touched, including his.

Leia stood and put her hands on Mara's shoulders as she continued. "I need to know my brother will be okay." Leia eyes were filled with despair and about to spill over with tears. "Please." There was so much desperation dripping off the final word Mara could almost feel it filling up the room, about to drown them all.

I don't owe him anything, she thought bitterly.

"Okay," she heard herself say.

Mara immediately wanted to take it back, to tell Leia she wasn't a kriffin' retriever kuppy with nothing better to do than track down her worthless brother, but the relief that suddenly filled the room was so palpable Mara choked on the words.

"Thank you," Leia said. "Thank you." She moved toward Mara, and for a moment Mara was afraid she would try to hug her. Suddenly Leia turned to the side, her eyes squeezed shut, her neutral mask cracking. Han put his arm around his wife and pulled her close. He nodded gravely to Mara with a Don't screw this up look on his face as he guided Leia out of the room and down the corridor. Vaguely, Mara hoped they made it off her ship before Leia lost it completely.

For a long time after they left Mara stared at the empty doorway . Had that really just happened? Had she really just agreed to track down Luke Skywalker? What was she going to do? Even if she'd wanted to, she didn't have a clue where Luke might be.

"Hey, Mara." Dankin startled her from her thoughts. "We're loaded up and ready to go."

"Change of plans," she said. "We're going to make another stop first."

"Oh, okay," Dankin replied agreeably. "Where?"

Mara sighed deeply. Too late to turn back now. "I'm not sure yet. I need you to pull up the last known location of Luke Skywalker."