Chapter 20

Almost exactly forty-eight hours after Luke had asked Mara to come with him, to leave both their past lives behind for an uncertain future together, he still didn't have a formal answer. At the moment, however, neither the past nor the future held any interest at all to Luke. His only concern was the present.

"Benji!" Tears filled his eyes as he raced to his son. Benji was unconscious in a stranger's arms. No, not a stranger. It was Aves, Mara's second-in-command. Luke couldn't recall having met the man before, but he recognized him instantly.

"The doctor thinks it's mostly superficial," Aves said as Luke wrapped his arms beneath his son. "He's in better shape than the others."

Luke nodded an acknowledgment and carried Benji to a nearby form couch, determined to make his own evaluation of his son's health.

Luke wasn't certain why they'd come straight to Mirax's private med center. He didn't doubt that the medical team was top of the line, but the facilities were limited. He was debating rushing Benji to the nearest public emergency center, but Benji seemed stable enough that he could at least look him over before making a decision.

Benji had many shallow cuts and bruises all over his body. "What happened to him?" Luke asked. He doubted Aves would know the whole story, but he may have a few more details than Luke. When there was no response, Luke looked over his shoulder. Aves was gone, the hallway now empty. Undoubtedly, Aves had gone to find the others, the members of Mara's crew who were in critical condition.

A quick scan through the Force did not reveal Benji to have any serious injuries. There were deep bruises and a badly sprained ankle, but nothing that wouldn't heal with a bit of rest. Luke exhaled deeply as tears ran down his cheeks. He was so relieved he was feeling light-headed, giddy even. He laughed softly as he silently whispered, He's going to be alright.

His words were intended for Mara. Somehow in the confusion he hadn't noticed when she left his side. Having the uneasy feeling that she had not heard his words, he reached out to her in the Force. Despite the urgency and distress all around, she was not difficult to find. For she was deep in the Force, drawing more power from it than he'd ever known her to before.

Dankin sucked air between his teeth and his entire body went rigid with dread. The movement shot fresh agony through a dozen wounds. He squeezed his eyes shut wishing it would all just end. He couldn't fight it, he knew he shouldn't fight it. But he couldn't take any more pain. He tried to scream, he tried to pull away. His efforts were barely noticed by the hands holding him in place.

"Wait," a voice, a miraculous voice, interrupted.

The doctor released his grip on Dankin's arm, one hand above the elbow, one hand below the shoulder. "This break needs to be set immediately. We may already be too late," the doctor said.

"It's not too late. I'll set it," the miraculous voice, Mara's voice, continued. Dankin opened his eyes to see her squeezing herself between the doctor and him. She was alive, and she was here. If she was here, Dankin knew everything would be okay.

There was a brief, horrible moment, when he thought maybe this wasn't real. Maybe he wasn't out, maybe he was still there. There, in the hands of the monster who saw Dankin's pain not as his own but as a way to hurt Benji. The fear passed the moment Mara touched him. To say her caress was soothing was an incredible understatement. She was using the Force to heal him, he knew. Her touch on his forehead, his chin, his chest, soothed the burning so intense he had lost consciousness several times already. Lost consciousness only to fall into a nightmare, a vicious nightmare that, unlike the usual, was fueled by an evil external to himself. The only escape from those nightmares had been the physical agony inflicted by a madman.

When Mara's hands grasped his arm, instead of bracing with fear he melted into her touch. With Dankin's body fully relaxed, and the Force flowing off Mara in healing waves, setting the broken bone took only a moment.

He wanted to say something to her, to speak despite the rawness of his throat, but instead of opening his mouth he closed his eyes and sank into sweet, dreamless oblivion.

"They're going to be okay." Mara was sure Luke said the words as much to reassure himself as to reassure her. She nodded, not taking her eyes off the wounded forms in front of her. Mirax's med center was top of the line but small. Dankin and Benji were sharing a room, each deeply submerged in a healing trance. Odonnl was in surgery. They didn't know if they'd be able to save the eye. H'sishi and Pormfil had blaster wounds that were being treated with bacta.

Luke and Mara were unscathed. They hadn't made it to Ghent's ship. The engines failed mere parsecs away, and so they'd sat helpless while Darth Caedus tortured and maimed their loved ones.

"Ghent's awake," a soft voice startled Mara. "He'd like to see you," the voice, belonging to her second- in-command, continued. "I'll stay with them." Mara responded wordlessly, heading towards Ghent's room. She was not ready to speak to Aves. Not too long ago, she'd thought he might be planning a hostile takeover of the company. It turned out his disappearance was not because he was embroiled in a scheme to undermine her, but rather because he was doing his best to take care of her. She felt bad enough about having so severely misjudged his intentions, but the fact that he'd flown to the rescue while she'd sat powerless was almost unbearable.

Luke appeared at her side a few feet from Ghent's door. He placed a hand on her shoulder. "We did what we could."

"It wasn't much," she replied.

"It was enough," Luke said. He said it confidently enough that Mara nodded slightly in agreement. Mara had told Luke what Callista had communicated to her about Jacen as soon as they realized the engines would not be getting back online. It took some time, but eventually through their combined strength in the Force they were able to contact Darth Caedus. They couldn't stop him, but once he realized Luke would not be coming he seemed to lose interest. He ceased the torture, stopped his attempts to goad Benji into joining him on the Dark Side. It had never been about Benji, or the victims of his torture. His only interest had been in challenging Luke, taking down his former Master. The Sith Lord was gone by the time Aves arrived.

"Mara!" Ghent exclaimed as soon as she entered the room.

"How are you?" she asked, walking to his bedside.

"Not bad," he replied, reaching out to her. She bent down to him, allowing him to embrace her. She gave him a few pats on the back before straightening. "I'm quitting my job," he added matter-of-factly.

"Why would you do that?"

"I'm a slicer, Mara. But somehow I ended up in charge of that whole ship. And…I'm just a slicer." Already Ghent was starting to tear-up; Mara didn't want to make him continue.

"It's okay. I understand. I'm sure you'll find something else."

"With you," Ghent said it as more of a statement than a question. Mara hesitated—she been hoping to reduce the number of people depending on her, not increase it. "You'll need a slicer," he added. "Why not me?"

Mara blinked, at a loss for what to say. She glanced to Luke, standing in the doorway. He shrugged.

"They must not have told you yet," Ghent said, relief in his voice. "When they do, tell them I've already volunteered."

Several minutes later, as Luke carefully closed the door to the room where Pormfil and H'sishi were floating in bacta, having stopped briefly to check on the crewers on his way back to Benji's room, Luke sensed Corran approaching. And he was not happy.

"Where in the nine hells have you been?" Corran demanded.

"I'm sorry, Corran. I've had a lot on my mind."

"So you just walk away from the Council in our moment of crisis? The time we need you most, you just disappear?"

"Is the Council ever not in crisis?" Luke asked mildly. Then, sensing the flare in Corran's emotions, Luke added, "I know the Council was in good hands. Better hands than mine."

"Don't give me that," Corran snarled. "We need to determine a new strategy. Saba has suggested—"

"I'm sure you will come up with something great," Luke cut in. "But it won't include me. I'm retiring, Corran. Effective immediately."

"Are you out of your mind? You created the Council! The new Order, all of it is your doing! You will not desert us now."

"I am sorry. But my decision is final. My son is most important and I need to focus on him." Luke dug into his pocket and presented a datachip to Corran. "My last actions as Grand Master are recorded here. You may play it at the next meeting of the Jedi Council."

Corran's jaw was clenched tight and he was seething emotion into the Force. But he must have known Luke would not be swayed. "Very well," Corran said with painfully forced calm, accepting the datachip. "You're retired. But the very least you owe us is to stay around long enough for us to get a handle on the current situation and elect a new Grand Master."

"No. If I stay around for one more crisis, at the end of that you will ask me to stay for just one more. If I don't make a clean break now I never will. You will be fine without me, and the sooner you start proving that to yourself, the better."

And suddenly, as he heard his own words, understanding dawned on Luke. He understood perfectly why Callista had not come back to him. She knew how much he loved her, and he knew how much she loved him. There were no last words that needed to be said, no final goodbye that could make things any easier. And if she had come back to him, even once, he would not have been willing to let her go again.

Corran was speaking again, but Luke did not hear another word.

I understand, he whispered into the Force.