Chapter 2

Luke Skywalker's life was over. Callista, his beautiful wife, was dead.

Luke had been wandering around some planet for several days. He wasn't sure where he was or even how he'd gotten there. All he knew was he wouldn't find Callista here, he wouldn't find her anywhere.

He'd been nursing a drink, he wasn't sure what, for literally hours. The dingy bar had closed long ago. They had told him to leave several times but he pretended he didn't hear and eventually they had just cleaned up around him. He'd buried his head in his arms on the table, but he could still hear a few workers rustling around in the back. He hoped they wouldn't make him leave before they went home for the night.

Luke Skywalker, a voice interrupted his thoughts. Luke slowly sat up and looked around. He didn't see anyone so he put his head back down. Luke Skywalker, come here. Outside the bar. Now.

Fearing the voice would continue to harass him until he complied, Luke slowly stood up and headed for the door. The floor lurched beneath him and he struggled to maintain his footing. After bumping into a few tables and chairs he made it to the door. The door was lighter than he expected and he stumbled into the cool night air.

"Stang, Skywalker. Are you drunk?" the voice asked again, but this time it wasn't just in his head.

Luke turned to face the voice. He knew immediately that he recognized her, but couldn't think of where he knew her from. And he couldn't pause to try to recall her name because his sudden turn had sent the world spinning around him. He shifted his weight to keep his balance. The woman muttered a curse under her breath and grabbed him by the arm. "I've been looking all over this Force-forsaken planet for you and here I find you drunk in some lousy bar. I guess it's a good thing I left my ship on the other side of the planet, the drive will give you some time to sober up."

"She's dead," Luke said.

"Yeah, I know." The woman pushed Luke into the passenger seat of a landspeeder. It occurred to him that maybe he should resist, but for some reason he felt safe with her. Or maybe it was just that he no longer cared what happened to him. "And you know how I know for sure you're drunk?" she continued as she buckled him in. "You didn't give me a lecture about how it should have taken me two seconds to find you, if I only knew the ways of the Force as well as you." Her red-gold hair brushed his face as she worked and it reminded him of Callista's soft hair falling across his cheek as she lay beside him.

"She's dead. She's dead," was all Luke could manage to say.

The woman climbed into the driver's seat and studied Luke for a moment. "It's been a while, but I think I remember how to do this." She put her hands to Luke's forehead.

"Please think of something else to say before we get to your son," she added as the world melted away.

"Wake up, Luke." The familiar voice again.

"Wow, a totally toasted Jedi Master. I'm sorry I missed it." A new voice, a male human with an accent Luke couldn't quite place.

"Uh, he's not waking up. Are you sure you did it right? You didn't kill him, did you?" Another male voice, this one with a Corellian accent.

"If only Jedi Masters were so easy to kill—" she began.

"—you'd have killed him back when we had him on Mrykr?" her first companion finished.

"Ah, Myrkr. Those were the days weren't they?" the Corellian added.

"Why don't you get the engines started? I'm ready to get off this rock." There was more than a little annoyance in the voice, which Luke had finally placed. Mara Jade. The Force-sensitive smuggler who had once wanted nothing more in the galaxy than to kill him. And who would never admit she had almost said yes to him on Nirauan.

"Sure, Chief." The two men left.

Once her companions were out of earshot, Mara spoke again. "You always were a good faker."

Luke slowly opened his eyes. Mara was kneeling beside him, waiting for a response. But there was nothing for him to say. Nothing he could say would bring Callista back.

"Perhaps you could ask if I know where your son is," Mara suggested.

Benji! Luke had been so consumed with his own pain over Callista's death, he hadn't even thought about what his son must be going through. "Where is he? Is he okay?"

"He's okay. Seems to be coping a lot better than you, actually. Not that you set the bar real high. He's waiting on my ship—"

"—Dad!" Benji interrupted as he sprinted across the landing field and slid to his knees beside Luke. Close on his heels was one of the men who had been with Mara when Luke woke up.

"Sorry, Mara," the man said to Mara as she stood up.

"Skip it," she replied. "I'll let you two catch up," Mara added to Luke. "We roll out in ten minutes. Be onboard if you're coming with us."