The Trouble with Tatooine

TROUBLE WITH TATOOINE

PROLOGUE

What had he been thinking? 

He thought this would prove him to be the best there was. He thought that once he made this run, he would be known throughout the galaxy as the undisputed king of the space ways. After all, flying was in his blood. From the first skip runner he had ever taken up, to the Republic fighters that came after her received his commission, he knew that he was destined never to be grounded. Those who saw him at the controls of a ship called him gifted. Perhaps that was true but at this moment, he wished that gift had been tempered with a little common sense. Unfortunately, he had never been able to walk away from a dare and when he had entered that tavern in Almania, spouting off how he was the best, it was only a matter of time before someone threw down the gauntlet of challenge. 

And as always, he was eager to pick it up, never considering the consequences before hand. 

Well he was considering them now. In the situation he presently found himself in, there was nothing he could do but consider it. It would have helped if he had given the matter some thought before he embarked upon this voyage. Unfortunately at the time, he had been so fired up to prove that he was the best that it never occurred to him that being the best was also knowing when to pull back when the odds were against him. He set out to conquer the challenge offered to him, without even giving second thought to what he would be facing until he was knee deep in trouble with no recourse but to go ahead because he had gone too far to turn back. 

At the moment, tremendous gravitational forces was threatening to strip the hull from the superstructure of his small fighter. The controls were fighting him hard as he struggled to maintain the course he had laid out in the nav computer prior to making this dangerous attempt. While space was meant to be a vacuum devoid of sound, he could almost hear the roaring vortex beyond the canopy of his ship. Of course, he could see none of it even though every instrument in the cockpit registered the presence of the cluster. Angry red lights were flashing from every gauge and counter, telling him what his brain was already doing so by producing secretions of fear throughout his body, that he ought to get out of here while he still could.

 Unfortunately, he had gone too far for such an easy solution to his present crisis. He had to maintain the course he had set for his small fighter and ride out the storm he had ventured into. It was the only way he could survive this expression of egotistical foolishness. He felt beads of sweat trickle down his forehead, further plastering his hair to his skin underneath his helmet. He was scared and he was not afraid to admit it. A man could not venture into this place and not be anything but a little frightened for he was a fool if he was not. There was plenty to be afraid. The kind of death that he had voluntarily placed himself in reach of was not one he would wish upon anybody. 

The Maw had claimed enough lives that way already. 

For years, Buck Wilmington had thought the Maw to be some old spaceman’s legend, like the bogeyman who frightened children at night, the Maw was its equivalent for budding young star pilots with more bluster then sense. Later on, after he had become a pilot with the Republic Fleet, he learned that it was anything but a myth. The Maw was real and to pilots who wanted to prove themselves, it was the ultimate test of skill. Unfortunately, it was a test no one had yet to pass.

 Having no wish to be counted as an Imperial with the political upheavals that were taking place galaxy wide, Buck had left the Fleet in order to go into business for himself. He had his severance pay and quite a bit saved up for the purchase of an Incom Corsair, a dealer in Sluis Van was willing to sell him when he got there from the outer worlds. Pure chance had made him stop in Almania where he had entered a discussion about the Maw and somehow allowed himself to get dared into making the run. The Maw was one of those places that even experienced pilots stayed away from. It was similar in treachery to the Kessel Run and no one had made a successful attempt of that either. Buck should have walked away from that Rodian Nardo but the slaver/ smuggler had been so obnoxious that Buck was eager to knock him down a peg or two. 

In retrospect, Buck had to wonder who had knocked who down exactly. 

The Maw was easily one of the most treacherous areas of space in the entire galaxy. It was a galactic blind spot, devoid of stars, planets or any other solid astronomical bodies. It was region of space almost 100 light years across, running parallel to the Hydian Way and existed between the Almanian and Yavin star systems. Its principle feature however, was a cluster of super black holes. All spaced in relatively close proximity to each other, the gravitational forces running rife through the region ensured that hyperspace was virtually impossible to maintain because of the stresses put on the dimensional bubble required to travel at faster than light speed. Theoretically, the only way to make it through this spatial mine field was to set an automated course that would allow a ship to skim along the event horizon of each black hole until it reached the other side. To deviate from the course set, even by a parsec would see a ship being sucked into the heart of whichever singularity had strongest claim to it.

 Buck had declared that it was not impossible, that it could be done even though many had died in the attempt. When he set out for the Maw, he had honestly believed he could successfully make navigate through it but now, as he found himself fighting his ship to hold course, he knew better. It was not the dying that frightened him so much but rather the way he would see his end. If he became trapped in a black hole, he would have no idea of it at all. Time itself slowed down once past the event horizon, those trapped would be oblivious until they reached the singularity and then there would be no time at all to do anything but be crushed into an orifice, no wider than an atom.

 The small Republic fighter that he had borrowed from Fleet command to take him to Sluis Van was heaving in protest all around him. The astrodroid sitting in its slot at the rear of the ship attempted to repair the damage caused from all the stress the ship was being subjected to. Buck was fighting the controls with every ounce of strength he had. The ship’s natural inclination was to follow the powerful currents leading it to a black hole he could not even seen but instrumentation assured him he was there. He was more than half way through but his ship was taking a tremendous pounding. Buck felt the muscles in his hands strain as he forced the control stick to remain where it ought even though it was veering towards the intense gravitational pull of multiple black holes. His problem was not only becoming trapped in the currents of one but being ripped apart by many others at the same time. 

"I know we have to get out here!" Buck swore at the astrodroid when it screeched its panic at him. The small screen at the base of the cockpit translated the litany of hoots and whistles into an understandable language.

 "Divert more power to the engines." Buck ordered.

 A return hoot indicated that his RU20 unit had a problem with that request.

 "I don’t care where you get it from!" Buck returned sharply. "Take it from auxiliary power if you have to. I only need enough life support power to get to Yavin, so you can tap into that as well." 

A series of beeps and whistles followed by the translation on the screen indicated that the astrodroid had complied with his demand and the controls became a little easier to manage but not much.

 "I don’t know what I was thinking of." Buck spoke out loud. "If I get myself killed, Inez is never going to forgive me."

 R20 bleeped a response unaware that his master was not talking to him.

 Buck read the words and growled. "Yes I know it won’t matter when I’m dead but you don’t know Inez."

Suddenly the control stick almost tore itself out of his hands when the ship shuddered violently. He heard something rip through his ship like paper and Buck saw the warning lights on his screen reach a new level of urgency as all systems began flashing a condition red breach. It took him a few seconds to regain attitude control and maintain course but it was the longest seconds of his life.  

"R20! What happened?" Buck demanded. 

There was no answer.  

Buck craned his neck around as far as it could and saw a gapping hole where the astrodroid was normally nestled. Wires and metal had been torn from the hull and there was no sign of R20. Buck felt his heart sink as he realised the dependable little android was most likely on its way to the heart of a singularity by now and wondered how long it would be before his master joined him… 

CHAPTER ONE

Billy Travis had never met a Jedi.

He knew what they were though. His grandpa read stories to him about brave Jedis who went off to face all kinds of dangerous adventures, fighting for justice and freedom throughout the galaxy. In the mind of a six-year-old, the Jedi was as close to a fairy tale creation as one could ever get. He had fallen asleep listening to tales that filled him with awe and wonder that took him to equally amazing places in his dreams. The Jedi had strange powers and they knew things most other people did not and when the Jedi used the Force, it was like magic. His father, whose memory was vague now in his mind, seemed to come alive most when Billy remembered the bedtime stories he used to tell about the Jedi. It was only after Billy went to live with his grandfather Orin on Bakura, did he understand that his father had been read the same stories as a child. Billy knew that the Jedi had gone away, that something bad had happened that they had suddenly disappeared like the last drop of water in a well. It saddened him but then Billy still had the stories and when one was six, the stories were quite enough. 

When Uncle Josiah had brought him to see his mother, Billy had been met at the hangar by a tall, blond man, dressed in black whom everyone seemed a little in awe of if not a little afraid as well. Billy did not deny that he felt a similar feeling of fear as he stared at Chris Larabee for the first time, with his imposing manner and his hard eyes. However, Billy saw the light sabre hanging off his belt and realised that his escort to see his mother was none other than a Jedi. A real life Jedi! Still, Chris was not what he expected a Jedi to be but Billy soon came to the conclusion that he was better. Unlike the Jedis who had to run off and fight enemies all the time, this Jedi spent time with him. He showed Billy his light sabre and told him real things about Jedi, not just stories but things Billy knew had happened.

Billy also liked how this Jedi could make his mother smile.

The lesson he had learnt first and foremost in his life was that his mother was an important person. She was not like regular moms; there was something about his ma that made her extra special. Granted Billy did not get to see her much and grandpa Orin explained why that was but Billy wished she were not always so sad. Ever since his father had gone away, the young boy noticed that most of all about the mother he adored. The sadness in her eyes she did not speak of, even when she was with him. Sometimes, Billy wondered if whether looking at him made his ma sad though he could not imagine why.  

However, when he came to visit her at the rebel base, a thing he had never been allowed to do, he realised that the Jedi made his ma smile and for that alone, Billy loved Chris Larabee. For the month that followed his arrival, if he was not with his ma, he was with Chris although Chris gave him the same look of sadness too, although not very often. Billy wondered whether it was just a grown up thing. Thanks to the surrounding forests around Siraj 2, Chris took him fishing and sometimes, they would just sit on the grass and Chris would use his magic to bring some of the animals to them. The more benign creatures that roamed the forests seemed to know that they were in no danger and Billy remembered with delight how a wood sprite deer had come right up to him and let him touch her furry pelt before skittering away.

"Ma, you think Chris will win?" Billy asked as he sat on Mary's lap.

Mother and son were seated on the floor with a good many other members of the Rebel Alliance base on Siraj 2. Everyone was gathered inside the confines of the empty berth, the venue Chris Larabee and Vin Tanner had chosen for their sparring sessions, eager to watch the proceedings. There was very little to do in the way of entertainment and it surprised Mary how many people had come to watch the Jedi and his apprentice practicing. Neither Chris nor Vin seemed to mind the intrusion since the atmosphere was generally one of good-natured fun even though the training between the two combatants seemed very serious indeed.

"I don't think its a matter of winning Billy," Mary responded. "This is a training session so Vin can get the feel of what it's like to be fighting an opponent."  

"Come on Chris, kick that bounty hunter's butt!" Alexandra Styles hollered as she sat next to Mary and Billy. 

Mary turned around and gave her best friend a look. "Lex, was that entirely necessary?" 

Alex smiled broadly and faced front again. "Absolutely necessary." 

Vin Tanner paused long enough to meet her gaze from the center of the berth, his eyes narrowing enough to let her know that he would get her for that remark later on before he faced Chris again.  

"You okay with this?" Chris Larabee asked Vin as he took note of the people around them. When he had asked Mary the use of one of the empty berths, he had certainly not expected to get an audience as well.  

"I'm fine." Vin replied sincerely. "I don't mind embarrassing myself in front of a whole bunch of people." The former bounty hunter drawled. "Besides, I get the feeling that things are a little too tense around here lately, the distraction even at my expense can't be bad." 

Chris knew exactly what Vin meant. The Empire had been persistently combing the Territory the past few weeks in an attempt to find the rebel base in Wild Space. Ships were forced to remain grounded to prevent any Imperial probes from detecting their departure. Also reports were filtering in from across the galaxy regarding the effects of the segregation policy that Palpatine had managed to push through the Senate. Whole races were being sold into slavery and the Rebel Alliance was feeling the sting of helplessness because it was still too fledgling a movement to be able to stop any of it. Morale was low, not only in this base but everywhere else in the Alliance, 

"Okay," Chris replied. "Let me know if I'm a little too hard on you." The Jedi could not resist adding a little smile at the end of his question. 

"Yeah right," Vin retorted as he removed his light sabre from his belt.  

Chris shifted his gaze to Billy and Mary who were watching him from where they were seated. Upon making eye contact with the Billy, the boy immediately waved at Chris and brought an unseen flush of warmth into the Jedi's heart that almost equalled what he felt for Billy's mother. Winking at Billy, Chris activated the light sabre in his hand. Behind him, he could hear the hum at the coming to life of Vin's weapon. Chris held his breath and listened, an eternity of time moving by in a flicker of a second. He swung around just in time to meet Vin's blade. 

The sounds of clanging lightsabres echoed through the berth as Jedi and apprentice faced each other in friendly combat. Vin was young and he was raw but he was also, Chris decided, very good. A fear years of experience under his belt and he would be hard to beat. If there was a still Jedi Order left to make the comparison, Vin would have undoubtedly become a great Jedi but of course, now they would never know. Chris shook such distractions out of his mind as he saw Vin recover from his latest attack to leap above his head and land behind him. Chris kicked out a leg and instant before the apprentice landed, planting it in Vin's sternum the minute the Jedi apprentice touched solid ground and swung again as the young man reeled back.  

Vin struggled under Chris' offensive for a few minutes until he managed to regain his momentum, then they met each other blow for blow. Their movements were graceful, like two dancers moving in tandem with beams of light. Vin returned his kick with one Chris was able to side step easily. Although Vin was learning fast, he still had the earmarks of a novice when it came to fighting with a light sabre. Eventually, when his confidence grew, these little flaws would disappear but for the moment it was the purpose of these sessions to weed those weaknesses out. Vin swung wide and Chris sent him reeling once again, this time not even requiring actually striking. All it took was a little focus on Chris' part and Vin's feet were swept from under him. He tumbled to the floor, his sabre flying and it took him a split second to retrieve it before could defend himself against Chris who was coming at him again. 

"You were doing okay for an apprentice." Chris chuckled as he approached. 

"Oh really?" Vin retorted. "I wouldn't be too quick to count me out, I'm not done yet." The apprentice smiled as Chris came for him and for a moment Chris was uncertain of why Vin seemed so satisfied until he felt his senses tingling with caution. The Jedi turned around just in time see an empty crate, one of many that occupied the corner of berth, levitating towards him. He had a split second to admire the tactic before the object slammed into him and send him flying to the ground, landing roughly beside Vin. Both men remained seated in the same position for a few minutes as the cheering and clapping at their friendly match dissipated.

 "Not bad." Chris gave Vin a look as he shifted from his unceremonious landing site on the floor and flinched at the sliver of pain that ran up his spine. "Sneaky." He added.

"Thanks," Vin muttered pushing himself to his feet, with aches of equal intensity running through his body as he offered Chris a helping hand up. "Besides, I had to do something to look good in front of Alex."

Chris glanced at the exotic beauty seated next to Mary. The rebel operative had been injured during the ill-fated attempt to rescue Stephen Travis from the Black Sun and had spent her convalescence at the rebel base. Although she claimed she was still tender from her severe wounds, Chris believed her reason for remaining had largely to do with her deep friendship with Mary Travis. With the death of Stephen still so fresh in Mary's psyche, Alex was not about to abandon her best friend in the world when she was needed the most. Mary needed someone around her who remembered that she was more than just Commander Travis that she was a person who grieved and wept like everyone else. Mary and Alex had known each other since childhood and if there was one person, around which Mary could feel comfortable about being herself, it was Alex and Chris was sure Alex knew this too.

"You really go for the difficult ones don't you?" Chris asked as Vin and Alex made eye contact across the floor and the look she gave him was anything but friendly, more like a derisive smirk. 

"She's crazy about me. She's just in denial." He turned to Chris with a grin. Of course, his absolute certainty of this fact had been the memory of the kiss they had exchanged when she had come to his quarters, trying to disable him in order to help Mary slip out of the rebel base without anyone becoming wise to the fact. There was nothing in that passionate moment that could tell Vin she felt as hostile as she behaved. He had tasted her enough to know that if he could just get her to admit how she felt about him, it would be wonderful for both of them. Unfortunately, Alex was stubborn and that which he loved about her could also be damned infuriating at times.  

Still, Chris was right, he did love the difficult ones.

"If you say so pard," Chris laughed, not about to argue with Vin when it came to Alex. For some reason, his normally level headed and unflappable friend lost all good sense when it came to any discussion about the lovely operative. Of course, one only needed to sense the emotions emanating from the young Jedi to know just how deeply he felt about her.

"Chris!" Billy bounded into his arms, full of cheerful enthusiasm, ahead of Mary.

Chris immediately picked up the small child into his arms and continued walking as he carried him. It was astonishing, this spark of life that Billy was capable of engendering inside him. Sometimes, it was so powerful that Chris could hardly breathe because it was like he had found Adam all over again and at other times, when he was forced to remember that Mary's son was not his, it also felt like he had lost Adam all over again.  

"You just let Vin win didn't you?" Billy asked as he stared at Chris with nothing less than worship.

"Thanks." Vin gave the boy a look, not at all offended because the child obviously adored Chris.  

"That's what Aunt Lex says." Billy replied innocently. 

"Lex!" Mary who was walking towards them exclaimed. "Would you please stop teaching my son such bad habits?"

"Damn," Alex chuckled, "I guess I'll have to wait until he's just a little older to explain what else you can do with chocolate sauce." The comment escaped her with a thoroughly devious glint in her eye following it. 

"You can show me." Vin caught the tail end of that remark and could not resist adding.

 "Sure I will," Alex glared at him sweetly. "When you drop dead." 

"Ouch!" He smiled.

"That looked painful," Mary replied as they all started out of the berth once joining Chris and Vin. "Are both of you alright?" She asked concerned. 

"Its just a little bit of sparring." Chris explained. "Scratches and bruises are apart of the learning process."

"Well it didn't look like sparring." Mary remarked, not wanting to tell him that after how she had found him after his battle with Darth Vader, Mary could never consider his duels with a light sabre as anything but lethal. Until she saw him with Vin a moment ago, Mary had not realised how finding Chris had affected her. She knew what was at the heart of it of course, after losing Stephen only a month ago, Mary knew she was deathly afraid of having Chris disappear out of her life too. If it were not for him and Alex, she honestly did not know how she would have made it through the last month and it pleased her so much to know just how much her son adored the Jedi Knight. When she saw both of them together, it made her feel as if some semblance of her world was not completely shattered. 

"I'll get him next time." Vin said with a wry smile. "Once I get past being a greenhorn, that is."

 "We wait with abated breath for the day." Alex returned sarcastically.

 "You two are like mating rancors." Mary shook her head.  

"You see," Vin put his arm around Alex' shoulder. "They know you're crazy about me."

 "There's a difference between driven crazy and being crazy." She glared at him and shoved his hand off her.

 "I'm out of here." Chris groaned and hastened his pace to put some distance between himself and the two inevitable lovers. 

"I don't blame you," Mary laughed as she hurried up to catch up with Chris and her son. Unsurprisingly, neither Vin or Alex made any move to join them and Mary suspected that their displays were often just facades they wore for the benefit of others, mostly to protect their own growing feelings for each other from coming under too much scrutiny. 

"They're incorrigible," Mary sighed as she and Chris walked out of the berth, leaving Vin and Alex behind.

"They're in love." Chris said plainly.

 "You think?" Mary glanced over her shoulder and saw the duo still engaged in a heated argument, which she had absolutely no doubt they were both enjoying immensely. 

"I know." A little smile crossed his face as he made that statement. 

"Does that mean Aunt Lex and Vin are gonna be married?" Billy asked.

 "If they don't kill other first." Mary said dryly.

 "Have you heard from Buck?" Chris asked, changing the subject before Billy start asking question they would not be able to answer.  

"Not as yet." She answered, her voice changing from Mary to Commander Travis. The change was so subtle and yet unmistakable when it happened. Chris marvelled at the duality of the roles she played, mother, woman, friend to iron willed warrior. She was an enigma that astonished him at times. "He's still on Kashyyyk with JD and Josiah." 

With the segregation policy now in full effect, Kashyyyk, the Wookie home world was finding itself especially vulnerable since the Empire considered the race perfect for hard labour. The Rogue had been charged to take Josiah Sanchez to the leaders of Kashyyyk in order to discuss how the Rebel Alliance might be of aid to the natives who had very real fears about being taken into slavery. In truth, the Alliance could do little to prevent the implementation of the policy but they might be able to offer aid in intelligence reports and target slavers who might take advantage of it. 

"I hope he doesn't get into any trouble." Chris muttered, knowing how volatile Buck could be when it came to the issue of slavery, not that he was any fond of it either but Buck seemed to take it personally, especially after how he had happened upon JD Dunne.  

"He won't." Mary assured him. "He's dropping of Josiah and coming straight back here. How much trouble could he get into in hyperspace?"

 "You don't know Buck." Chris replied, feeling something at the edge of his consciousness that was ominous and foreboding. It made him uneasy and anything that made him uneasy usually had good reason to do so.  

Something was coming at them and Chris feared whatever it was, at the heart of it would be Buck Wilmington.

CHAPTER TWO

Buck did not like Gammorr much.

If it were not for the fact that the Rogue had developed engine trouble on its return journey from Kayyyshk, Buck would have found no reason to land on this planet. It was not that he had any personal dislike of Gammorr or Gammoreans in general but the race had a tendency to be drawn to quick profit and since he and his ship were on the high side of an Imperial wanted list, Buck knew it was a matter of time before some Gammorean tried to cash in on their presence here. At the moment, he and JD were presently utilizing the maintenance facilities provided by the spaceport where their ship was presently berthed. Even though Buck had opted one of the smaller trading posts on which to land the Rogue, he was still uneasy.

He supposed he had been this way ever since he joined the rebellion as more than just a courier. Despite himself, Buck knew he had some unresolved issues at being forced into a situation where he was required to give up the carefree existence of starship captain that he loved. He knew at the time it could not be helped, the circumstances had developed which required him to make a choice and yet lately, he was wondering if perhaps, he had not made a mistake to throw his lot in with the rebellion as he had. Unfortunately, the die was now cast and he was trapped in their service, unable to go anywhere else and for a pilot who had the stars as his playground, it was a savagely narrow cage he found himself inhabiting these days.

Fortunately, the young man who was presently replacing the power coupling to the deflector shield modulator was one of the reasons why Buck tolerated his tenure in the rebellion instead of heading for deep space, beyond the reach of either the rebellion or the Empire. JD Dunne had rekindled something inside of him that was reminded of what it was to be young. Through JD, Buck had found his friendship with Chris Larabee had improved from what it was in the wake of Sarah and Adam’s death because Buck no longer felt compelled to save Chris from himself when JD required his guidance. JD had arrived at a point when Buck had been ready to give up on Chris and as always, the Jedi had surprised Buck by finding salvation on his own when Buck's back was turned. In some ways, they were closer now then they had even been but Buck had come to realise that their friendship could never be what it once was and thanks to JD, Buck was okay with that.

There was little more than an hour of work left to be done on the Rogue and Buck was wasting no time in getting it accomplished. JD too seemed to realise the importance of getting the repairs completed even though Buck sensed the young man would have liked to take a look at Gammorr. Not that there was much to see in Buck’s opinion, the Gammoreans were not the most attractive race as far as female company was concerned. The women of the species would consider Buck a child and he was the tallest among the seven. They would probably consider JD a snack. Besides, the places that had a more varied range of females were probably the same places he and JD would do well to stay away from. In a matter of hours, they would be back at the rebel base and JD could continue his passionate non-interest in Casey Wells.

Such thoughts inevitably brought him to Inez and once again, Buck felt that bubble of jealousy he knew he had no right to feel. She was not his wife any more, he told himself repeatedly, even taking on the tone that Chris had used to make that point so succinctly. Ezra was a good man and Buck could tell that the Imperial captain had no intention of trifling with her feelings. Buck could not even bring himself to imagine that she might be in love with the suave and charming commander of Cordoba Base because it would rip the heart out of him. There were many things he had regretted in his life but none as much as agreeing to go their separate ways when things had gotten bad between he and Inez. He knew it then that he had been making a mistake because he still loved her. No matter what the arguments and the changes in their life, that much had remained consistent. He loved her then and he loved her still.

The odd thing was, he did not know how much until she had started turning towards Ezra.

"Hey Buck," JD spoke up, stepping out from the underside of the Rogue's hull. "I'm done."

Buck blinked and remembered that he was supposed to be working on the hyper drive converter and immediately put the finishing touches to the device before sliding its casing back into place. "So am I." He responded and emerged from the compartment before dropping down onto the floor of the berth. He wiped the sweat from his brow and strode to meet JD. "I say we grab something to eat and get the hell out of here. I think there's some place to eat in the space port."

"You sure?" JD looked at him, aware of how anxious Buck was to get off Gammorr. The younger man had a feeling that whatever was bothering Buck was not simply the fact that they had to make an unscheduled stop here. He had noticed something in the big man's manner of late, which indicated he had something on his mind he was not about to tell JD. JD could not blame him of course. Even the youth was not blind to his lack of experience. However, he did find it odd why Buck was not talking to Chris or perhaps even Vin.

"Something wrong Buck?" JD asked as they stared towards the hangar door.

"What makes you ask?" Buck returned self consciously, unaware that his mood was reflected in his manner. He often tried to hide how he felt especially in front of JD because Buck and Chris shared the same opinion that their feelings were no one’s business but their own, except that he was not above talking about it when it was clearly needed.

"You seem kind of out of it." JD remarked and seemed a little nervous about asking. "I mean if you don’t want to talk to me about it, I understand. I know I’m just a kid and all, well at least to you."

Buck wondered if that innocent farm boy routine was exactly what it was or was JD craftier than he looked because the statement had the desired effect of making Buck feel guilty enough to concede taking JD into his confidence. He hoped it was the former. "It ain’t nothing serious." Buck said first and foremost. "I’m just feeling a little down about what I’m doing with myself these days. It wasn’t my idea to join the rebellion full time you know."

JD nodded in understanding; perfectly aware of how Buck’s life could sometimes spiral out of control His need to lend a helping hand was what often precipitated the sweeping changes in his life. JD had entered his life because Buck refused to sit by and let him become the property of a Rodian slaver. It was the same good intentions that had forced Buck to embark upon the mission to save Nathan Jackson following their first meeting. Nathan’s capture by Imperial agents had been the catalyst that made Buck assume a role beyond that of a mere courier in the rebellion. Unfortunately, Imperial forces had apprehended him and his ship and Buck’s name were promptly placed on the wanted lists as soon as they had identified both. Once that was done, Buck’s free-spirited existence had come to an abrupt end.

"I know how you feel." JD replied, drawing from his own experiences in order to let Buck know that in part, he understood. "I mean I never thought I’d be where I am now when I left Odete, although if it weren’t for you I’d probably in the Rim some where, as someone’s slave."

"You would done fine." Buck answered, giving JD a warm look of affection. "I just stopped you from making a bad mistake. At your age, as green as you were back then, you were more than a little entitled to make one. I can tell you of a couple of dumb things I did when I was your age. Dumber in fact that you can possibly imagine."

"I don’t know," JD flashed Buck a mischievous grin. "If I listen to Chris right, I can imagine quite a bit."

Buck frowned and reminded himself to have a few words with the Jedi when he saw the man again. Ruining his reputation with his young companion had consequences, especially ones involving four women and a weeklong orgy in Coruscant when the Jedi was not as disciplined as he was now. Buck allowed himself a vicious smile when he considered how Chris would like it if he told Mary that story. The opportunity to amuse himself at Chris’ expense came to an end when the doors to the berth slid open just before the two men reached it.

Standing there, along with two heavy set Gammorreans who were armed was Nardo, the Rodian slaver/ smuggler that often crossed swords with Buck in the past. Buck went for his side arm immediately but Nardo was more than prepared for resistance and had drawn before the door had even slid open.

"Hello Weelmington." The Rodian hissed, his tapering snout twitching as he spoke.

"Nardo." Buck said coldly, exuding calm even though he had abandoned any attempt to retrieve his weapon.

"Its good to see you again Weelmington," Nardo answered in a sinister tone and then turned his green skinned head towards JD. "Hello pup."

"Who you calling pup?" JD snapped angrily.

"You’re just a pup." Nardo sneered, enjoying being in a position of power over the two men, in particular Buck. He turned around and faced the star pilot after a second of waiting to see if JD would react, giving him the excuse to shoot and was disappointed when the boy did not give him the pleasure.

"If it were up to me," the Rodian’s voice sounded no less malevolent through the translator device. "If it were up to me Weelmington, I would kill you now and be done with it. I know it was you who gave the Empire my name and claimed that I was some kind of rebel. I spend two months in their cells and you cannot imagine what I endured there."

"I hope you got up close and friendly with your cell mates." Buck remarked with a little smile, triumphant of that much at least. When Buck had been under interrogation by the Imperial commander during his ill fated attempt to rescue Nathan Jackson, there had come a point when the commander was more than ready to kill JD in an effort to coax information from the closed mouth pilot. Out of sheer desperation, Buck had offered him Nardo’s name in order to stop that from happening and had managed to keep JD alive until they were eventually rescued by Chris, Vin and Ezra much later in the day.

"I should kill you!" He jammed the gun in Buck’s belly more than prepared to fire when one of the Gammorreans bellowed sharply at him and stopped the Rodian before he could pull the trigger.

JD let out a visible breath of relief as Nardo’s gun withdrew and Buck could not deny feeling similar amounts of gratitude for an extension of life, even though he was not about to give Nardo the satisfaction of showing the Rodian that he was at all afraid about dying. Nardo would have killed him already if he did not need Buck for something and while he may be making all the noises, Buck had a feeling that it was the Gammorreans behind him who were really pulling the strings.

"What do you want with me?" Buck demanded, directing his question, not at Nardo but rather at his Gammoreans companions, an act, which infuriated Nardo to no end because he wanted to be the one in charge.

The two Gammorreans looked at each other and the leader of the two spoke. He was larger than most Gammorreans Buck had seen in his lifetime. His porcine face was deep set and made him look quite formidable. Buck had no doubt that this was not a man to anger in any shape or form and it looked like Nardo knew it too.

"My name is Selkik." The Gammorrean introduced himself.

Buck recognized the name and it chilled his insides. "Selkik, the Hutt enforcer?"

Selkik nodded and with that affirmation told Buck they were in serious trouble indeed, far more than might be imagined when he had thought Nardo was in charge. "What do the Hutts want with me?" Buck asked with a little more respect in his voice than he had displayed to Nardo. With the Hutt gangsters involved, a little diplomacy was essential if they were going to survive the next hour.

"His Excellency, the most powerful and all knowing Jabba the Hutt has requested your presence on a task he requires undertaken in the Almania sector." Selkik answered.

He was surprisingly well spoken for a Gammorean, Buck thought. Most of the time, the race could manage little more than grunts and that was through the universal translator. However, there was something about Nardo being here and the Almania sector that made Buck extremely nervous. "The Almania sector? Why me? Place is almost on the other side of the galaxy, I’m pretty sure that Jabba has a dozen pilots who could fit the bill better."

"His Excellency requires you." Selkik repeated himself and Buck noticed Nardo’s face contorting slightly into the Rodian version of a smile. Suddenly Buck had a bad feeling what it was that Jabba wanted him to do.

"If you’re thinking the Maw, you might as well shoot me now." Buck said firmly and completely serious. "I’m not taking my ship in there."

"The what?" JD looked at him questioningly.

"His Excellency has urgent business that requires you going through that particular area of space," Selkik responded smoothly, ignoring JD’s question as Buck had.

"There’s no way!" Buck declared in exasperation. "Its impossible."

"We have it on good authority that for you it is very possible." Selkik counted, his eyes shifting in Nardo’s direction enough to let Buck know who had given Jabba the idea of using him.

"I almost got myself killed trying to get through it!" Buck retorted. "You might as well shoot me now cause I ain’t doing it!"

"We would not be so unkind as to shoot you Weelmington," Nardo said smugly. "After all, I do not believe you can do it again. You’re not as young as you used to be and you humans get slow in your old age. But perhaps this boy….."

"No!" Buck shouted before he could even let the idea form in his mind. "You sons of bitches! He doesn’t even know what it is!" This time his outburst engendered even Selkik drawing his weapon and Buck felt JD’s hands restraining him.

"Buck!" JD retorted. "Take it easy!"

"It will be you or it will be him," Selkik cut through Buck’s outburst. "The choice is yours."

Buck stared at JD, feeling his heart pound inside his chest. The kid did not even know what they were talking about, why should he? Unless one was an experienced star pilot or Nardo, there was no reason for JD to know what the Maw was. However, one thing was certain, the kid was certainly not going in his place.

"Alright," Buck said in a low voice full of smouldering anger. "I’ll do it." He glared at Nardo with hatred and made a promise to feed the Rodian his liver before this was all over.

If he survived the Maw that is.

************

"Oh boy," Nathan Jackson let out a deep breath when he read the crew manifest of the ship that had just arrived from the core worlds and was presently carrying out docking procedures within the hangar of the rebel base.

Mary Travis, Alexandra Styles, Chris Larabee and Vin Tanner had just seen the departure of Mary’s young son Billy back to his grandfather on Bakura. Nathan could not help feeling a little sad to see the boy go but supposed he understood Mary’s reason for not wanting him to remain here with her. When the possibility existed that they could be set upon by Imperial warships at a moment’s notice, Nathan could appreciate why Mary would want her son out of harm’s way. Still there was no doubt that the boy’s presence the last month had been a tonic not only for his mother, after the death of Stephen Travis but generally everyone who came into contact with him. There was nothing more affirming about the cause that they were fighting when in the presence of a young child who would someday benefit from all the struggles they were enduring today.

"Mary," Nathan called out as he saw Mary and the others leaving the launch pad where they had seen Billy off to Bakura on a transport, which by now was jumping to hyperspace above the skies of Siraj 2.

The leader of the rebel base looked up at him, a bittersweet smile on her face that showed her sadness at seeing her son return home to his grandfather but also gratitude in knowing that he was safe in his departure. Her eyes glistened but there were no signs of tears and with Alex holding onto her arm in a show of sisterly support, the woman held up quite well. Even Chris Larabee seemed a little melancholic and no one could have been blind to how much the boy had meant to the Jedi personally these past few weeks.

"How you doing?" Nathan asked when he approached her.

"Oh I’m fine," Mary answered with a sigh. "I knew I couldn’t keep him around me forever but it was so nice having him here for awhile."

"Tell me about it," Vin Tanner found himself confessing. "I’m gonna miss that kid."

"You’re just a big softy." Alex remarked even though she felt just as sorry to see Billy go. He reminded her so much of Stephen that sometimes, it was hard to think of her brother being gone when she looked into the cherubic face of his son.

"We just had a ship come in from command." Nathan announced. Command was the term given by its members to the central hub of the Rebel Alliance, where its leader Mon Mothma and other highly placed and visible personnel took refuge. It was from Command that most of the Alliance policy was formed and strategy was mapped out. Mary had spent time there before she had arrived in Wild Space and it was widely known that transports from command normally brought new personnel to add to the complement in the Territory's enclave of the Rebel Alliance.

"Command?" Mary looked up, all business now. "Are we expecting any new personnel?"

"Yes," Nathan took a deep breath in anticipation of an outburst. "Remember last month when we had all that trouble?"

"As opposed to what?" Mary retorted sardonically.

"I think Nathan means when you had that sanitation problem." Chris pointed out helpfully, a small smile curling at the corner of the Jedi's lips as he saw Nathan trying to reveal something he was certain Mary was not going to like.

"Sanitation problem?" Mary looked over her shoulder. "That was putting it mildly. Our recycling system completely broke down and sanitation units in every living unit began overflowing. Naturally of course when a problem of this magnitude happens, people tend to forget the normal chain of command and go to maintenance about it. Instead, they flood my office with calls as if it was not flooded enough as it was."

"Yuck." Alex exclaimed with distaste. "Suddenly, I am so glad I'm a deep cover operative."

"No kidding," Vin chuckled "There was crap..." 

"We get the idea." Mary retorted frostily and gave him a look that was very much the commander of the base and one that would have done the Larabee glare proud. "What about it Nathan?" Mary returned to the issue at hand, facing her captain once again.

"Well remember I told you that command thought that we had a little morale problem and you told me to transmit a message to them saying if they could better, to come down here and try?"

Mary straightened up and narrowed her eyes. "Yes?" Her voice reeked of suspicion and caution all at once.

"They've appointed us a morale officer."

"A morale officer." Mary said calmly.

"What's a morale officer supposed to do?" Vin asked, unfamiliar with the term.

"Cause more trouble than they're worth." Alex responded quickly.

"Not on my station." Mary declared firmly and Chris saw her jaw set, an expression which usually meant that this as far as she was concerned, this was her base and neither God nor Country was going to tell her how to run it. "I will not have a morale officer running around the place trying make people cheer up! I want my people alert and aware of what's happening around them, not letting some idiot who had probably never served a day in uniform, who got slapped with some honorary goddamn rank, telling them to lighten when at any moment they could all get killed!"

"So how do you really feel about it?" Alex could not help muttering.

"That's it," Mary glared at Alex, deciding she was not in the mood for this today. "Get off my base!"

"Be careful I just might." Alex grinned, giving her old friend a playful wink.

"So who is the morale officer they've saddled me with?" Mary groaned with resignation as she saw Chris giving her a sympathetic look, which did much for her disposition and her acceptance of the inevitable. How was that man capable of calming her so? A question for another day, she told herself as she waited for Nathan's response.

"A Captain Perkins." Nathan explained looking at the crew manifest. When he raised his eyes, he noticed the passengers from the transport disembarking and one of them was headed straight towards them. Remembering he had a question to answer, Nathan took his eyes off the woman approaching and looked at Mary again. "Captain Louisa Perkins."

"Oh no," Mary was already shaking her head in abject denial while Alex started to laugh. Both Chris and Vin looked singularly confused as Mary started to rave. "Not on my base. I am not having that woman on my base!"

"Why Mary," a new voice entered the mix. "Is that any way to talk about your new morale officer?" 

CHAPTER THREE

There were some days when it just did not pay to get out of bed.

For Mary Travis, today was one such day.

It was bad enough that she was forced to say goodbye to her son Billy after a month long stay at the rebel base but on top of that, she had just discovered that Command had opted to send her a morale officer. That in it was irritating enough and Mary had accepted the news with resignation, realizing that she was adaptable to the situation. However, that was before she learnt whom they had decided to send in order to fill that role on her base. There were certain things and people she accepted without question, that was what made her such a good commander but as she stood before her new morale officer, she knew it was going to be a cold day in hell before she stood for this particular appointment.

"Nathan," Mary said icily, her eyes fixed on the new morale officer as she spoke. "I want an immediate patch to Command."

"Yes Sir." Nathan answered automatically not about to argue with that voice.

"Well its nice to see you too Mary." The tall red head named Louisa Perkins greeted smiling sweetly at Mary even though it was clear that she was enjoying the fact that she was such a matter of consternation for her new commanding officer. Louisa was an extremely attractive woman and wore her Alliance uniform almost as if it were fashion statement. She studied Mary and those before her with laughing green eyes and her manner was one of confidence for every occasion. She was in other words, always relaxed in the face of adversity. "And you too Lex."

"That’s Alex to you." Alex replied sarcastically.

Mary looked at Nathan who was like Chris and Vin, watching the exchange between the females in their presence with fascination. "Why are you still here Captain?" Mary asked sharply. "My call?"

"Sorry," Nathan shook his head and hurried off in the direction of the command center of the base, suddenly thinking it might not be such a bad thing being out of the line of fire.

"Now Mary, are you still afraid of little ol’ me?" Louisa asked in. Without waiting for an answer, she turned towards Chris and Vin. "Don’t mind us boys, Mary gets a little testy when she’s around me. We go a ways back."

"I can see that." Chris answered neutrally, trying to stifle a smile. "How far back?"

"The preparatory for the Academy and then the Academy itself." Louisa responded as Mary seethed. "And you must be Chris Larabee, the Jedi." She said sweetly, "I heard that we had one of you boys here."

"Louisa, why here?" Mary asked abruptly, not all liking how Louisa was regarding Chris. "There are almost twenty five other scattered across the galaxy, some in a lot more charming places than wild space. Can you please tell me what twisted set of cosmic circumstances put you on my base?"

"That’s easy," Louisa returned. "I asked for this posting."

"Figures." Alex remarked, watching Mary’s pupils dilate at the thought that Louisa’s presence here was not a set of freak circumstances. "I supposed you did that asking in your usual way?"

"What way?" Vin looked at her with curiosity.

"On her knees with her lips puckered." Alex returned with narrowed eyes.

Louisa did not seem to mind the insult even though Chris suddenly found reason to avert his gaze and Vin merely shook his head with a quiet mumble that sounded like ‘that’s cold’.

"Oh Lex, you’re gonna have to do better than that to get under my skin and for that matter, might I just add that you look simply fabulous now that you lost all that weight. You should have seen her as a teenager, I declare she was a chubby little thing, or maybe little isn’t the right word." Louisa returned just as sharply.

Alex opened her mouth to speak when suddenly; Chris broke in. "Alright ladies," the Jedi looked at the trio in his presence, with less than amicable feelings towards each other and decided enough was enough. "I think that’s enough. We’re all in this together."

"Spoken like a man," Mary growled with a hard stare, which required no telepathy on his part to realise that she wanted him to stay out of this. "Alright Louisa," she faced her adversary of so many years once more. "You’re here and for the moment, I can’t do much about that. Until I do, you will not interfere in the smooth operation of this base. We have people here who live their lives with the fear that at any moment and Imperial warship can come out of hyperspace and vaporize us all. I do not want their thoughts fixed on anything but their jobs."

Louisa straightened up and returned with just as much vehemence. "I know my job commander and while you’re so eager to have people remember that they could die any minute, also remember that they’re people and unless they find some outlet to remember that, they will snap under the pressure. Not everyone is built like you Mary. Some of us do not go to bed at night thinking they can take whatever comes without a single worry. Some of us," she narrowed her eyes as she made the statement, "some of us are actually human."

Chris saw the hostility in Mary’s eyes melt as Louisa’s remark had precisely the desire effect that the morale officer had intended. Personal feelings aside, Mary’s dedication to those who served with her was first and foremost in her mind. Whatever she felt about Louisa would take a secondary position in comparison to the people that followed her with dedication. "You make a good point Captain." Mary said quietly.

"We don’t have to like each other," Louisa retorted. "But we do need to work together."

"I don’t have to agree to that," Mary returned firmly, not about to call their battle of wits over just yet but rather drawn to an uneasy compromise. "However, I can let you do your job just as long as you remember that vigilance is necessary in this place."

"I won’t forget it," Louisa replied, glad that they had come to some kind of understanding. "Now, if one you charming gentlemen would be so kind as to show me to the quartermaster’s office, I’ll find a place to bunk down."

"I’m going that way," Chris volunteered, deciding that it was best to put some distance between Mary and Louisa for the moment. It surprised him to feel a tinge of jealousy emanating from Mary at his offer and he stared at her for an instant, wondering what on Twin Moons made her so threatened by this woman. Surely, she could not imagine for one minute that his offer could be anything more than sheer politeness?

Stop thinking like a Jedi and start thinking like a man, Larabee.

His inner voice said derisively and Chris winced inwardly remembering what effect single women who were more than a little friendly towards him had on Sarah. She would give him the same look that Mary was giving him right this second. Suddenly Chris had an idea that it was not a bad idea if he got out of Mary’s way for a while too.

"I’ll see you later." Chris muttered gingerly returning Mary’s look and took note of the smouldering heat behind those blue grey eyes before turning to Louisa, "shall we?"

Louisa was not blind to the effect of Chris playing escort was having on Mary and indulged herself a little further at the expense of the Jedi who was trying hard to play peace maker but was fast becoming another spark in Mary’s igniting temperament. "Why thank you," she said deviously, sliding her arm around Chris even though the Jedi did not offer it.

Vin Tanner stifled a laugh, watching the expression on Chris’ face change into helplessness as Louisa drew him away. If there was one person in the universe Vin did not want to be when Mary caught up with him again, it was Chris Larabee. He had no idea getting caught in the crossfire between two women could be so hilarious when viewed from an outsider’s perspective. And Chris thought being a Jedi was hard.

"I hate that woman." Mary remarked, invisible threads of steam rising from her as Chris and Louisa disappeared out the hangar.

"I wasn’t fat." Alex insisted defiantly.

Vin could not resist that opening. He gave her a once and over before remarking. "I don’t know, I can picture you……."

"Finish that statement and you die." Alex turned on him with a menacing glare.

"I’m going to my office," Mary grumbled. "Let me know if the day can get any worse." She stormed without saying another word as Alex and Vin watched her go. The devil in Vin was actually looking forward to more exchanges between Mary Travis and Louisa Perkins.

"Come on pudgy," Vin grinned evilly at Alex once Mary was out of sigh. "I’ll buy you lunch at the mess."

Alex fumed and retorted in a low voice. "Keep pushing it Tanner, just keep pushing it."

***********

Buck Wilmington had no idea where JD was and it was driving him crazy.

He would have refused to cooperate entirely with Nardo and his Gammorreans friends if it were not for that fact alone. Unfortunately, no sooner than he had allowed himself to be coerced into agreement regarding the undertaking of the Maw Run, the Gammorrean enforcer, Selkik had called for reinforcements. They had arrived soon after, a number of men led by a known bounty hunter named Dengar. Dengar was a patchwork of human and cybernetic parts, a result of having an unfortunate run in with Black Sun, so rumour had it. No sooner than Dengar had arrived with his entourage, he had taken charge of JD and disappeared out of the hanger before Buck had a chance to protest. Of course he knew exactly what they were doing by taking the kid.

Without Buck having any idea of where JD was, there would be less likely chance of him doing anything foolish during the course of the trip through the Maw. With JD hostage, they could be assured of his good behaviour. Nevertheless, Buck also was wise to the reality of his situation despite his momentary capitulation to Selkik’s requirements. He had no doubt that once he was done taking their cargo from one end of the Maw to the other, JD would cease to be of any further value to them and if the boy was lucky, they would kill him. If not, Buck was perfectly aware thanks to Vin Tanner, that Jabba the Hutt was known to keep human slaves. Somehow, Buck had to get word back to the Alliance.

It was his and JD’s only hope right now.

"Alright, what’s the job?" Buck demanded after JD had been taken and he was alone with Selkik and Nardo on the Rogue. They were assembled in the main passenger compartment of the Rogue, with Nardo’s gun still aimed in his direction.

"His Excellency, the almighty powerful Jabba has been approached by an Imperial commander of great note." Selkik explained. "This individual wishes Jabba to ferry cargo to be picked up at Myrkr and taken to an outpost on the planet Bastion."

"Myrkr?" Buck’s brow rose in curiosity. "There’s nothing there. It’s a forest world, no commercial value whatsoever. What’s the cargo?"

"A life form." Selkik responded readily.

"You better kill me now and the boy," Buck said angrily. "I won’t be a party to slavery." He meant it too. There were not many things he was willing to die for even to the extent of sacrificing JD but slavery inspired his deepest contempt and it was the one thing he would not do no matter what the price.

"Its not a sentient life form." Selkik countered immediately, not wishing a situation to arise when there was no need for it. "They are called yslamiri."

"Never heard of them." Buck answered sincere in that statement. Of course in a galaxy as populous as the one they presently inhabited, such a statement was not beyond the realms of possibility. There were billions of life forms out there, half of which had yet to be classified as any particular genus. These creatures could well exist without Buck ever having heard of them once, no matter how well travelled he might be.

"They are found only on Myrkr," Selkik, obliged to explain in greater detail since Buck’s tone was not ambivalent but generally curious as to the nature of the precious cargo they required him to move with such secrecy through the Maw. "Secrecy is of utmost importance. Our client does not wish to be picked up by Imperial agents of any kind that is why we are taking the route through the Maw. If you were to travel to Bastion by regular means, then you will have to pass through the Hydian Way and that may necessitate discovery."

"There are ways around the Imperial boys that don’t require us going through the Maw." Buck pointed out.

"Our client insists it be this way." Selkik returned. "He has paid his Excellency the Mighty Jabba very well for this privilege and so it will be so."

There was no point arguing with him on that point, Buck supposed but he did find it somewhat curious about the yslamiri creatures that were being freighted from one end of the spiral arm to the other. Almost as curious about this Imperial commander who wanted to hide them from his own. "Any idea who this Imperial commander is?" Buck inquired, hoping to glean some useful information.

"Only that he is from the Unknown Regions." The Gammorrean responded with enough tremor in his features for Buck to see that this disturbed him for some reason. "He is not human."

Now that did surprise Buck a great deal. Even before the segregation policy had become firmly entrenched, Palpatine had been removing non-human personnel from the ranks of the Imperial fleet by any means necessary. Most went when they saw the shift in the wind, choosing to go voluntarily while others who were more stubborn were removed by more permanent means. Some were discredited and discharged, others were forced to leave because of secret coercion against their families and home worlds and then there were rumours of those killed outright. The fact that there was an Imperial commander of non-human origins who still remained in the Emperor’s ranks indicated two things. One that he was so valuable to the Emperor that his services simply could not be dispensed with and another was that the Emperor had not gotten around to removing him yet. The latter explanation seemed to make sense if the man was enlisting the aid of a gang lord like Jabba the Hutt to conduct his business.

"You’ve met him?"

"I’ve seen him at his Excellency’s palace." Selkik answered. "They saw that he is a master strategist."

"This master strategist have a name?" Buck persisted.

"What is with all these questions!" Nardo interrupted. "You need not tell him anything!" The Rodian barked at the Gammorrean.

The Gammorrean glared at Nardo, giving him a warning look to remind the Rodian who was in charge here. It was a hard stare more than enough to send Rodian cowering back to silence but Buck could see that Nardo’s remark had left an impression. However, Selkik felt it permissible to give Buck one further morsel of information before he revealed nothing further about his master’s client.

"Thrawn." Nardo responded. "He is called Thrawn and I have never seen a race like him."

Thrawn? Buck had never head of an Imperial commander called Thrawn; not did he recognise the origins of the name. While it would have been wiser to simply let it go at that, Buck was intrigued enough about this mysterious Commander Thrawn to inquire further information. It was obvious the Gammorrean felt some inner disturbance about the man and was volunteering information because if anyone knew what Thrawn was about, it would be the Rebel Alliance. Since Buck was now known as a card-carrying member, it was the closest Selkik would ever get to satiate his own questions.

"Do you know what colour his uniform was?" Buck inquired. It was one way to narrow down the list of possibilities.

"White." Selkik answered almost immediately, as if that were the most telling thing about the man other than his non-human status.

"White?" Buck exclaimed and knew that there was only one designation for any Imperial commander in white and that was Grand Admiral.

There was Grand Admiral pulling the strings on his trip through the Maw. Buck wondered just how much worse things were going to get.

**********

When Ezra Standish walked into his office several hours later, it was actually morning on Cordoba. Owing to the difference in standard galactic time, a matter of hours made the difference between night and day when held comparatively between Gamorr and the region known as Wild Space. It was still early as far as he was concerned and yet the hot climate of Cordoba was already making itself felt as the Commander of the Cordoba outpost entered his private sanctum. He tugged at the collar and told himself that while the uniform did look handsome, it was hell to wear in this heat. Unfortunately, Ezra was too fastidious to look anything but the paragon of military discipline and bore his clothes with a stiff upper lip.

When he walked through the doors, he found his newly appointed First Officer awaiting him. Ezra tried not to frown as he saw the titian haired beauty that had obviously been sent here to spy on him. When he had encountered Darth Vader for the first time, the Sith Lord had been convinced that Ezra had something to hide and although Ezra had saved his life following a light sabre battle with Chris Larabee, Vader was still determined to uncover his secrets. His appointment of the lovely young woman had incensed Ezra to no end because he had thought Vader had respected him more than to believe a pretty face would get him to loosen his tongue.

Since her arrival here, Ezra had taken every opportunity to find fault with her work. He knew there were instances where he was being abjectly unfair and truth be known, it gave him no pleasure to be so hard nosed but Ezra could think of no other way of ridding himself of her without raising suspicion. Finding flaws in her performance was a legitimate way of transferring her off Cordoba without raising the suspicions of those in command. Ezra was certain that in the face of that reason, not even Vader would be able to block the transfer request without explaining why she had to remain where she was. Ezra knew military hierarchy well enough to be certain that none of them would be impressed that Vader was now planting spies in the midst of what were meant to be loyal officers of the Empire.

"Good morning Commander." Julia Pemberton rose to her feet at his arrival.

"Good morning Julia." Ezra said smoothly not in the mood to begin their verbal sparring before he had his cup of hot brew. The aroma wafted through the porcelain cup that was seated at the side of his desk and once again, Ezra gave silent thanks for his adjutant Claire who manage to leave small pleasures like this one when he came into the office. In his opinion, she was the only person who had any right to claim the title of First Officer on this base.

"I’ve been going through the morning reports from communication," Julia responded smoothly, no love lost between them. "I’ve found something interesting."

"Do tell," he said not really interested but Ezra knew how to manage a poker face better than any man alive and appeared listening as he nestled into his chair and took a sip from his cup.

Julia continued to stare at him for a moment as if she was making some observation about him that she was revealing to no one at this point. Instead she continued on the subject at hand. "You’ve notified all commands to contact you in the event the ship called the Rogue is ever identified at large."

Ezra sat up immediately and paid attention. "Yes I had but I doubted I would get any results. The Rogue belongs to Buck Wilmington, a member of the Rebel Alliance. No doubt, they would have furnished him with forged registration papers after we identified him and his ship."

When Ezra had first assumed command of this posting, he had done so promoting the belief among his superiors that he wished to find the rebels in this area who was responsible for the destruction of the Doldur base where he was stationed. The illusion of vengeance ensured the powers that be that he had a personal stake in capturing the rebels in the area while giving him a perfect alibi to cover his activities as a Rebel Alliance collaborator. He had put all points bulletins on both the Tracker and Rogue, with instruction that he been reached the instant they had any intelligence about the ship. In that way, he was able to alert the Alliance whenever they were in danger of being discovered by local authorities.

"I realise that Sir," Julia agreed. "However, that ship was seen blasting off Gammorr seven hours ago."

Something was wrong, Ezra thought quickly. Buck Wilmington was not stupid enough to use the original registration codes for the Rogue without being aware that every Imperial command in the sector would be alerted to the fact. If Buck used those registration codes then there was only one reason for it; he wanted to be found. Ezra hid these ruminations from his first officer, because this was precisely the situation she had been waiting for in order to see how he would react, whether there was justifiable reason for Lord Vader's suspicions about him.

"It does not seem right," Ezra spoke after a moment and in that sense he was lying because it did not seem right that Buck would make such an obvious mistake unless it was the only way he could think of to signal for help. Buck knew that Ezra monitored any Imperial reports about the Rogue and the Tracker and would be able to get word to the Alliance. "Wilmington is no fool, using his registration code would allow us to find him. Did the Rogue launch a flight plan upon its departure from Gammorr?"

"Yes," Julia nodded after conferring with the transcript of the communications message she had received from the authorities on Gammorr. "Her flight plan was set for the Tion Cluster."

"I suppose that is possible." Ezra mused but knew that he ought to take that flight plan with a grain of salt. As far as he knew, Buck and JD had been escorting Josiah Sanchez somewhere near the core worlds for a rebel conference. Something must have happened in order for Buck to tip his hand like this, which meant he had to act quickly.

"What shall we do about it?" Julia asked.

"What is there to do?" Ezra turned to her. "Alert our people in the Tion Cluster to inform us as soon as the ship enters their space. Beyond that, it is very much out of our jurisdiction."

Julia frowned, knowing that he was right. Imperial procedure on this sort of thing was very specific. However, she could feel it in every fibre of her being that there was more going on behind those powerfully attractive green eyes of his and hated herself for the fact that she had noticed.

Somehow or rather Julia Pemberton had to find the evidence to finish Ezra Standish before he did the same to her.

CHAPTER FOUR

JD had seen a number of worlds since joining the rebellion and he could say with absolute determination, he did not like Tatooine very much.

Heralding from a planet covered in almost entirely in agricultural land, he had grown up with rolling forests, large tracts of emerald perfect pastoral lands that seem to run into horizon forever and a lush, healthy climate that had the power to make one feel very grateful to be alive. His idea of a living, breathing planet was his home world of Odete, a place with an abundance of life not only in its inhabitants and native fauna but also in its vegetation. JD supposed that no matter how much he had seen since leaving Odete, a decision which he never regretted, he had no idea how much he was going to miss the planet of his birth.

To JD, Tatooine did not seem quite real with its vast deserts and parched skies. As the bounty hunter Dengar landed his ship in a rather unimpressive town called Mos Eisley, JD was allowed to take a good look at the terrain as the vessel lowered itself in the local spaceport. He saw a town slightly smaller than Cordoba City but with a decidedly far more eclectic assortment of life forms than he had ever imagined. JD would have even liked to explore this new world under different circumstances but he did not at all like the idea that if Buck did not do as he was told, there was every chance that JD might not leave Tatooine alive.

The bounty hunter acting as his keeper during his journey to Tatooine and to Jabba the Hutt did not address JD other than a few obligatory remarks to mind his behaviour. As bounty hunters went, Dengar was as different to Vin Tanner as one could possibly manage. Where the former bounty hunter, now Jedi apprentice reminded creature of Voris cat, a creature renowned for the hunt because it its agility, power and ruthless determination, Dengar was the exact opposite. There was nothing about him that could be called sleek or graceful. He was a clumsy collection of cybernetics. Vin Tanner said that he had started his career as an Imperial assassin until the bad wiring in his head made him unreliable and he broke away from their control. He fell for a time into the employ of Laurel Chase and Black Sun who had him dispatched when he failed her too.

However, JD was not stupid enough to believe that ferrying him from Gammorr to Tatooine was too difficult a task for the bounty hunter and had no wish to provoke the man. At least until not he had come up with a plan of how he was going to escape and get word to the Rebellion that Buck was in trouble. He had no idea what the Maw was but that was real fear JD had seen in Buck's eyes when the Rodian had turned his attention to JD about flying through it. In all the time that JD had known Buck Wilmington, fear was something he had never seen in the man's eyes and there was not a patch of space anywhere in the galaxy that JD was sure Buck could not fly through.

What was the Maw?

"Hey," JD asked, seeing no reason why the bounty hunter would not answer him since it appeared that JD was very much in his power anyway.

Dengar was at the pilot controls and he glanced over his shoulder at JD, who seated in one of the passenger seats in the compartment with him and guarded closely by Jabba Gammorrean guards, before retorting gruffly. "What?"

"Can you tell me what the Maw is?" JD asked, thinking he did not have much to lose.

The Gammorrean sitting across him snorted as if the question was a source of humour and his and his companion took great amusement in chuckling over the next few seconds. JD frowned, feeling foolish for asking when he noticed that there was no such derision in the bounty hunter's expression but rather thoughtful consideration as to whether or not his question ought to be answered.

"I'd really appreciate it." JD tried once more. "I just want to know what Buck is going to face because of me." He added just enough farm boy innocence to his voice to make it sound that he was asking for the sincerest of reasons. For some reason, this tone of voice often got him answers whenever he employed it. He was starting to see it as a very useful advantage.

Whether or not Dengar saw through it was unknown but the bounty hunter faced front again and answered with a deep rumble of a voice that sounded somewhat like Josiah's but lacking all the erudite eloquence. "It's a cluster of black holes in the space between Almania and Yavin. They call it the Maw because the only way to successfully cross it is to skirt the event horizons. Almost everyone who's made the attempt has died. Wilmington was the only one who made it through."

That did not surprised JD in the least. If any one could do it, the young man had no doubts it was Buck Wilmington. However, he had also remembered the look in Buck's eyes at the suggestion and knew that it was not a task the pilot wanted to attempt again. He had been doubly horrified at Nardo's suggestion that JD undertake it in his place. JD had a terrible feeling that the reason for Buck's resistance to the idea was the possibility that he might be able accomplish a repeat of his earlier success. With that idea firmly entrenched in JD's mind, suddenly the idea of escape took on a more urgent need. Somehow, he had to extricate himself from these men in order to get word to the Rebellion.

Unfortunately, as he stared at the Gammorrean guards, keeping close eye on him, with blasters drawn now that they were preparing to land in Mos Eisley, JD did not see that opportunity arising. Nevertheless, he would have to devise one. He just had to do as Ezra Standish often told him whenever the Imperial agent was in their company.

Watch and wait. The odds always shifted during the game. You just have to make sure they shift in your favour.

He would do that. He would watch and wait until the game shifted.

**********

After everything that had transpired in the rebel base today, with the departure of Billy Travis, the arrival of Louisa Perkins and the subsequent events that followed which saw him caught in a tug of war between two women, the Jedi decided to make himself scarce. Chris retreated to his quarters, unable to understand why Mary could be jealous of Louisa about him. How could she for a second, imagine that his attention could be swayed from her? Did she not know how she felt? As he thought more deeply on the subject, he determined that she probably did know she was never in danger of losing him to anyone else but then jealousy was never about the obvious he supposed. It was in a way flattering, he thought to himself with a little smile. However, if he pointed that out to Mary, he would have better luck fighting Darth Vader then getting past her with his skin intact.

Thus he chose to stay out of her way until she calmed down. He wanted to meditate because despite the superfluous trivialities of Mary and Louisa on his thoughts, Chris' Jedi senses had felt a disturbance in the Force, particularly around his old friend Buck Wilmington. He did not know why exactly he felt this sense of foreboding but it was there, like some tangible force skirting on the edges of his unique perception. Sitting down cross-legged on the floor in the center of the room, he took a deep breath and focussed.

Images of Buck Wilmington filled his mind. Old images of their youth in Corellia which brought a smile to his lips even though he ought to be concentrating on finding his friend and seeking the root of this ominous feeling that he had sensed about Buck earlier. However, those old memories were hard to resist and Chris drank them in for awhile, feeling himself returning to a simpler time when the heat of the Corellia sun on his face was the sunshine of the only world he had ever known. He remembered being a teenager watching across the horizon at the race where he had first met Buck Wilmington.

The General was home and was with him. Chris was fifteen years old and he had never been happier that the old man had agreed to join him at the race. The General had such difficulty understanding him and Chris guessed it was mostly because the man failed to understand how a military war-horse like him had produced a Force adept son. But then Chris' ability did not come from the General at all, but rather his mother, Annika Buran Larabee, a member of the Jedi Council.

The town had been buzzing about the race for weeks. The boy who had challenged Erson Vix, the best speed racer on Corellia some said, was a nobody. The boy had been on the racing circuit for some time and was reputed to be unbeatable even though he had never faced a true professional like Erson before. There were also whispers that his mother was a courtesan or someone equally disreputable but the fact that Erson had taken up the challenge was enough to bring out everyone in droves, despite the challenger's reputation or scandalous lineage.

He was cocky and he was very good, Chris was later to find out. He kept on Erson's tail throughout the entire race, maintaining speed, matching the professional, curve for dearly curve on the uneven landscape. The crowd roared with awe and Chris wondered if the boy had the Force. The General smiled and said no, he was just a natural. He won the race of course and later on Chris discovered that his name was Buck Wilmington and with his Jedi senses, though nowhere as acute as in his latest years, Chris found the only thing bigger than' s Buck's ego was his heart.

Chris drew away from the pleasantness of the memory, shifting through mire of emotions and feelings to seek out Buck Wilmington. His body relaxed and he was soon bombarded with other images, some he could not distinguish, some he recognized, others he simply ignored. He felt himself drawn to something in the fog, watching it swirl past him as his momentum increased and he knew that he was reaching Buck wherever he was. Soon, he would find Buck and his fears would be allayed by seeing how the pilot fared. He would be rid of this unpleasant sensation that had given him a vision of slow, lingering death for his oldest friend.

Except suddenly Chris was blind.

Not in the literal sense but definitely in a state that robbed him of his extraordinary sight. For a moment, he had no idea what had happened. He had been close, he had could almost feel Buck Wilmington where ever he was but instead Chris had come upon this sheer wall of black and plunged headlong into it. For one who had never known a day when this second sight was not apart of his consciousness, being robbed of it sent Chris into panic. He gasped out loud, clawing through the black, trying to find some way out and then realised in his stark terror that whatever this was, it had found him because Buck. Feeling anguished inwardly because he knew what he had to do, Chris wrenched free the strands that linked himself and his old friend. He tore away and pulled back as far as he could, praying that the blackness would not follow him.

It did not.

Once he had let go of Buck, the images returned like clean water washing away dirt. It filtered through his thoughts and wrapped a kaleidoscope of sensation and emotions around him like a blanket of comfort. Chris opened his eyes and found his breathing was shallow even though the fear had passed. For a moment, he did not know what to do but sit there and ponder what had happened to him. In all the yeas he had been a Jedi Knight, Chris Larabee had never experienced anything like that. The totality of his blindness was beyond comprehension. It was like he was stripped of all his abilities and that made his heart pound in fright. For the first time, he wondered how those without the Force went through their lives in such blackness of unknowing.

With a sharp dose of clarity, Chris realised that whatever that blackness was, Buck Wilmington was surrounded by it.

Chris rose to his feet shakily, his mind whirling as he came to grips with what had just happened. Talking a deep breath, he mentally forced himself into a calmer state of being because his emotions were running so hot at the moment, he was little good to anyone, especially Buck whom Chris believed was in dire trouble now. Chris walked towards the door when suddenly, he heard it chime before he could activate the panel to open it. Instinctively, he pushed the button and saw it slide open.

"Chris," Mary Travis stormed past him before he had a chance to register that it was her standing there.

"What were you thinking?" She turned around and faced the Jedi. "Louisa is not interested in you! She's just using you to get to me! Its just like when we were in school, when she couldn't out do me in classes, she'd steal my boyfriends! This is the same thing all over again! She's insane I tell you. Insane!" Mary blurted all this without a pause or a breath.

Chris could only stare at her before he responded in complete exasperation. "WOMAN, WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?"

"You and Louisa!" Mary replied confused. What else had they been discussing here?

Chris rolled his eyes, "I don't have time for this." He growled and started out the door again.

The look in his eyes immediately effected Mary like a splash of water on her skin and was startled back to her senses when she realised how ridiculously she behaved. With a groan of complete embarrassment, she hurried after him realizing that something was terribly wrong other than the fact that she had completely lost her mind. Oh, could she humiliate herself any more this day?

"Chris!" She called out to him while he was striding down the hallway.

He did not pause but slowed down slightly, allowing her to catch up with him.

"What's the matter?" She asked, concern flooding her voice.

"Buck." Chris said tautly. "There's something wrong with Buck."

"What do you mean?" She looked at him, wanting an explanation.

Chris paused and took a deep breath. "I can't feel him."

"Excuse me?" She stared back, not comprehending. "I don't understand, what do you mean you can't feel him?"

"I can't find him." He repeated himself. "I am a Jedi, I can feel people through the Force. I can feel you, Vin, anyone if I set my mind to it but right now I can't feel Buck. Where he is, there is nothing. I've never felt anything like it before."

She could tell that just by the look in his eyes. There were many things she could tell about Chris Larabee even without the benefit of being a Force adept and how much would have surprised him. Of course when Louisa Perkins was anywhere in the vicinity, her commonsense seemed to disappear but now that she had discarded such foolishness aside, she could tell what he was thinking just by the glimmer in his sea colored eyes.

And right now, his eyes were telling Mary that he was afraid.

The idea that Chris Larabee could be afraid was one that rather shocked Mary on a basic level. He could be sombre, grave, and amazingly sensitive while still maintaining that rock hard exterior shell that hid his thoughts from everyone but fear was something she did not associate with him. "How is that possible?" She asked.

"I don't know," he shook his head and resumed walking.

"Where are you going?" Mary asked as she started following him.

"I'm going after him." Chris replied firmly and had not really decided what he was going to do until she had asked the question. All he had been doing ever since he left his quarters was reacting to that awful darkness he had seen.

"Go after him?" She exclaimed. "You don't know where he is. On last report he was on route back to us from Kashyyyk."

"Then I'll start there." He stated with conviction, not about to be deterred from that plan.

"Chris, let's think about this." Mary tried to reason with him, knowing all too well what it was like to run off half cocked without thinking about the consequences. She cared about Buck Wilmington too but she did not want Chris to endanger himself by rushing off without being aware of what he could be facing when he got there. He was too valuable to the rebellion and to herself personally, to lose so recklessly.

"I don't have time to discuss this with a committee." He barked.

"I am not a committee!" She snapped and kept up with him, not about to let him do anything foolish. "If you insist going on then I'm coming with you."

Chris came to a halt abruptly and stared at her. "No you're not."

"Don't tell me what I can and cannot do on my base Mr Larabee." She retorted with a determined set of her jaw that indicating she was not budging on this matter.

"Mary...." Chris started to try a different tact.

"You try leaving this base without proper information about where Buck might be and I'll have you grounded so fast it will make your head spin."

"You wouldn't." He met her gaze in disbelief.

"Try me." She saw through narrowed eyes. "I did something very stupid a month ago and almost got everyone I cared about killed in the process including myself, I am not letting you endanger Buck by rushing off without any idea of what might be out there. You said it yourself, for some reason your sight does not work where Buck is concerned. Do you mean to tell me that you're not vulnerable because of that? You are no good to him if your Jedi abilities are useless to you."

In truth, if he wanted to leave, there was very little that she could do to shop him. He could take a ship out with virtually no resistance from just the respect he commanded among the rank and file. However, he did not want it to come to that and as much as Chris hated to admit it, she was right. If he went after his old friend, it was likely he would run into whatever it was that was blocking the Force around Buck Wilmington. His Jedi senses would next to useless and if it was something that Chris could not handle, then he was not only dooming himself but also Buck.

"Alright," he let out a sigh, conceding defeat. "Can we track him?"

"We’ll try." Mary said automatically, glad he had chosen to see reason. She had no wish to carry out her threat against him, perfectly aware that if he had gotten it in his mind to leave, there would be very few people who could stop him, if any. "I know he left Kashyyyk on schedule. Let’s wait until to see if he exceeds his ETA back to base. If he does, then I’ll alert our people to start a search."

Chris hated to wait but knew that he had no idea how to proceed to even locate Buck. Even if he took off, he would not even know where to begin. Beyond Kashyyyk, Buck and the Rogue could be anywhere in the galaxy and that was too vast a space for a Jedi to search, particularly when the source of his quest seemed surrounded by something capable of repelling the Force. "You do that." Chris nodded. "But the minute we know for sure he’s late, I want to start looking myself."

It was something of a compromise in Mary’s opinion but not much. However, it was better than nothing. "We’ll find him Chris," she placed an arm on his shoulder. "If it's all possible, we’ll find him."

They had better, Chris thought inwardly, because he sure as hell could not.

*************

It was hours later before Ezra could leave the Cordoba outpost without raising the interest of his First Officer who seemed to be watching his every move closely. Fortunately, his staff was accustomed to seeing him dine outside the base during lunch and thus when he had departed the premises bound for the Four Corners Tavern; no one was in the least bit surprised. Besides, those under his authority were perfectly aware of the relationship shared between their commander and the owner of the tavern. Those who had seen the lady themselves could well understand his infatuation for she was certainly handsome.

It especially served his purpose for them to think that when she was also the only link he had to the Rebel Alliance. Their relationship had the added feature of giving him a plausible cover for his frequent visits to see her. A short time after his arrival in the tavern, Inez had relinquished the bar tendering duties to one of her employees and joined him at the table they normally occupied whenever he was in the place. If there was anything that could be considered a perk of this posting, it was the opportunity to meet her and everything they had shared since then.

"Buck would not do that," Inez declared feeling a tightening in her chest at the possibility her ex-husband might be in danger. She knew Buck's habits and she knew that he was no fool. He would never use his original registration codes for the Rogue unless there was good reason for it. "He’d know the minute he used his original registration, the Empire would find him." She whispered quietly to Ezra over their meal.

"I am aware of this," Ezra responded quietly, just as concerned of this as she. "I am assuming that the only reason he would do this is to alert the rebellion to the fact that he is in some kind of difficulty, so that they may determine his last known whereabouts."

"But why?" She exclaimed. "Who could have him? The threat cannot be from the Empire if they were notified first."

"Agreed," he nodded. "Whatever danger he is presently experiencing, it is not from the Empire. Gammorrean authorities merely forwarded the information to me because I had standing order requesting all information regarding the Rogue. They sent it on to me expecting me to take action."

"Did you?" She asked tautly.

"I had no choice Inez," Ezra confessed reluctantly. "The information was brought to me by Julia. If I did not act upon it, it would give her reason to suspect my loyalties are anywhere other than where they ought to be."

She nodded in understanding, having no reason to question his actions because Ezra had proved more than once how much he was willing to risk in order to help the rebellion. Just how much was often a source of great worry to her because she cared deeply about the man and would have devastated if any harm should befall him.

"I know," she said with a little smile and leaned over to kiss him, a gesture of apology that he was more than happy to receive. Their lips met tenderly and in the dim light of the tavern were ensured a certain amount of privacy.

Her kisses were truly electrifying, Ezra thought almost dreamily as their tongues duelled in heat. She smelled of all things warm and delicious, of spice and sensations that tingled his skin.

"Am I interrupting?" A new voice entered his paradise of feeling and tore him unwillingly from it.

Ezra shifted his gaze and his head enough to find himself glaring hard at Julia Pemberton, standing by the table watching them closely. "I trust you have an extremely good reason for being here." He turned to her, his voice cold like ice.

"I had heard so much about this place," Julia remarked, pleased to see him a little shaken from his usual cool facade. "I thought I would come and see it for myself."

"You are always welcome here," Inez said with a smile, noticing that there was something in the way this woman was staring at Ezra that was more than just professional interest. "Ezra has told me so much about you Lieutenant Pemberton." Her words were one of greeting but the tone was warfare declared with as much hostility as two armies about to kill each other in a bloody battle.

"I'm afraid he has said nothing about you." Julia retorted shortly.

"I do not see how my personal life is any of your business..."Ezra started to say. He was angry and not about to hide it.

"It is my business Sir, when it is possible that she is a rebel collaborator." Julia declared triumphantly.

Ezra stood up firmly and said in a low voice, betraying nothing. "Explain yourself Lieutenant."

"I had a check run on her," Julia returned, staring at Ezra dead in the eye and realizing how furious he was even though he was attempting to remain composed. "She was married to Buck Wilmington many years ago."

Ezra took a deep breath and answer. "Just how do you think we became acquainted in the first place?"

Julia stared at him, not understanding for a moment. There was no surprise or anger on his face at her revelation, just her personally. "You mean you know?"

"Of course I knew!" He hissed. "I am member of the Imperial fleet, do you think that I would be foolish enough to consort with someone who was suspect? However, as records have also shown, that marriage was dissolved some years ago. I met Ms Recillos when I was inquiring after the whereabouts of her former husband."

"I was very helpful," Inez said with a little smile, amused to no end by the stupefied look on the lieutenant's face.

"My dear," Ezra turned to her and said graciously. "I must apologise for all this."

"Its alright," Inez said rising to her feet. "I always knew Buck was going to be trouble, even after I divorced him."

"But..." Julia opened her mouth to speak, unable to imagine how the situation could spiral out of control so quickly. She had been so certain that Ezra had been unaware of this woman and her past affiliations just as Julia was sure that Inez Recillos was a rebel sympathizer using him to gain information. Now, in retrospect, she realised that Ezra Standish was too crafty to be used in that way. Unfortunately, it was a realization that had come too late.

"Enough." Ezra shot her a look that silenced her immediately. "We will discuss this in my office."

Yes, Julia thought gloomily, far too late.

CHAPTER FIVE

 Shortly before Chris Larabee had been struck with Force blindness, the Rogue landed on the planet Myrkr.

Myrkr was strangely idyllic in its way. Its lack of mineral ore and its distance from the main space lanes has ensured that the planet remained virtually uninhabited except to the native wildlife that had always been there. Buck himself had never had reason to travel to Myrkr and beyond its existence on the galactic star charts had no other reason to think about the system at all. Upon entering the upper atmosphere and making his slow descent to landing co-ordinates provided by Selkik, Jabba’s enforcer, Buck was treated to his first view of the surface. From space, it was evident abundant life survived here just from the nitrogen oxygen rich atmosphere that gave the planet an inviting emerald glow. However as the Rogue from the atmosphere and he journeyed to the surface, Buck was treated to a world with large tracts of forest land, oceans teaming with life and the vision of a serenity that made him wish that he had come here under better circumstances.

The designated landing site was a clearing in a middle of a thick forest composed mostly of trees that Buck was certain were hundred of years old judging by the width of their thick trunks and by the height they seemed to reach. Their branches were equally formidable, all heavy with leave that when combined together created a thick canopy that blocked out the sunlight for those beneath. Buck felt a sense of outrage realising that his landing site had been land recently cleared for the evidence of burnt trees and charred grass stared at him from the ground. Somehow it did not feel right seeing such destruction in these pristine surroundings.

There was another ship already waiting for them when the Rogue landed although this one was a great deal smaller than the freighter, capable of carrying only three passengers at the most. The little skip jumper as it was called generally was modified for speed and without even being told, Buck determined that its passengers were most likely Jabba’s people for their vessel had just the type of adjustment required by the demands of being under Hutt employ. The trio awaiting them was also very much of Jabba’s ilk. A Chandra Fan, clearly the leader was a small rodent like creature known by their amazing ability to track. A Trandoshian whom most rebels would consider to be from a race of traitors since it was the Trandoshians who first introduced the idea of making Kashyyyk a slave labour force, was mostly the muscle, Buck decided. The last of the three was the Trandoshians’ protégé, a young Twileki who went by the name of Bib Fortuna.

"Have you gathered them?" Selkirk asked the Chandra Fan named Elera.

"Yes," Elera replied. "Two dozens as Jabba requested."

The diminutive alien turned away from the new arrivals and started walking toward his ship. The Trandoshian Rhussk stared at Buck Wilmington with obvious distaste. Trandoshians had no love for rebels and were known to turn any in that came across their path as if it were a matter of national pride. Buck returned the reptilian’s glare with the challenge that if he were to make that attempt, he would not live to regret it. Selkik grunted at Rhussk in Gammorrean and Buck guessed by the manner the Trandoshian pulled back, it was a warning of incurring Jabba’s extreme displeasure if the human were killed before he could perform the task required. Buck gave the Trandoshian a little sneer, daring him to come at him and relished the fury in Rhussk’s eyes when he could not.

They rounded the skip tracer and were confronted by a number of steel cages. Within the cages, scurrying around in a scattered disorganised state was the yslamiri. For a moment Buck thought that his was some kind of a joke. He had expected something worthy of the risks he was taking to ferry it to Bastion but the animals he spied in their cages appeared more like creatures children would keep as pets. They were small and furry, no more than a foot from nose to tail. Their bodies were long but covered in smooth brown belt and they looked as harmless as any life form he had ever seen. They paused at the new comers and stood on their rear legs to take an exploratory sniff with their small nose from which fine whiskers were dangling.

"You got to be kidding me." Buck stared at Selkik in accusation. "You want me to brave the Maw, just to carry those things?"

"We have been told that they are creatures of great importance." Selkik responded. "The Grand Admiral was willing to pay handsomely for their capture and sale."

Buck glanced at the creature scampering in their cages and for the life of him could not see the reason why. They were cute and no doubt the kind of thing to make females and young children squeal in delight but valuable enough to take through the Maw in order to avoid Imperial detection? It simply did not make sense. Unfortunately, whether or not it made sense to Buck was not important, what did matter was the fact that unless he transported these animals to their new home on Bastion, JD Dunne was as good as dead. With that in mind, Buck brushed aside the importance or lack of, of these creatures and conceded that he would be taking them to Bastion one way or another.

"Your dime I guess," Buck frowned. "I kind of thought you might be curious why you’re risking your necks for these things."

"We are risking nothing," Rhussk retorted. "We are getting well paid to play trappers."

"And you do it so well," Buck gave the Trandoshian a disgusted look.

"I have found something interesting though," the Chandra Fan announced. "I have discovered what appears to be a Jedi relic while we were engaged in the hunt." 

"Jedi, pah!" The Trandoshian sneered. "Their kind is gone."

"Not all," Nardo glanced at Buck. "You is friend to one, are you not?"

Buck swore under his breath, realising that Nardo who frequented Cordoba just as much as he would have been aware of his association with Chris Larabee. During the period when Chris was hell bent on killing himself either by the liquor or the bounty hunters that attempted to claim his head for the Empire, Chris had been highly visible on Cordoba and Buck along with him. Although there was no real harm in they knowing about Chris, Buck nonetheless was unhappy about it, not wishing to be in any more of a disadvantage than he already was.

"I’ve known a few in my time." Buck admitted somewhat reluctantly as all eyes fixed upon him.

"The relic is inscribed in an pre-Republic text." Elera who seemed quite intelligent explained as if what was found intrigued him on a personal level beyond the monetary value of the endeavour he had been paid to accomplish.

"Pre-Republic?" Buck exclaimed. "That’s more than 5,000 years!"

The Jedi Council had been known to exist for nearly 3000 years and before that the order was not exactly called the Jedi even though they had been ingrained in the fabric of the civilised galaxy for as long as there had been life to remember it. Buck did not realise until this moment the magnitude of the Jedi’s extinction. Suddenly Buck felt very deeply for Chris and had empathy for his old friend not only for the loss of his kind but what that meant for the galaxy as a whole. It was as if something important was lost forever, thanks to the machinations of Darth Vader and his master, the Emperor.

"So what does it say?" The Twileki named Bib Fortuna inquired.

"I do not understand for sure," the Chandra Fan’s nose twitched unhappily and for a moment, did not look unlike the yslamiri that Buck would soon be taking off world. "I think it is a warning to stay away from this world."

"There must be powerful weapons here then," Rhussk immediately declared. "Something that would kill Jedi."

Buck could already see the greed forming in the reptilian’s eyes and Buck could tell the Trandoshian had plans of selling the location of this place to the Empire. More than ever, he wished he could get word to the Rebellion because Chris of all people needed to know about this place. The Jedi were already dying out in large number, Chris and a few others still remained but if there was some kind of weapon on this world that could destroy them too, then the Jedi fire would become extinct in the galaxy. That was something Buck could not stomach in any shape or form. However, Buck need not have worried because Selkik had also see the glimmer in the Trandoshians eyes.

"You will say nothing about this place Rhussk." Selkik said firmly with enough command in his voice to indicate that if the Rhussk did not obey here and now, he would be killed immediately. "The Admiral was specific about maintaining its shroud of secrecy. Sell its location to the highest bidder and I swear to you there will be no place in this galaxy you can hide that he will not find you. Even his Excellency the mighty Jabba does not wish to anger this being."

"He is just an Imperial lackey." Rhussk snarled but Buck could see he was clearly shaken by the vehemence of the threat.

"Rhussk," Selkik eyed him carefully. "If you should feel compelled to tell about this place after we have paid you well, Jabba too has a long reach and if you do not feel threatened by an Imperial admiral then I hope you are mindful of his Excellency's desire, I have no wish for you to visit the Pit of Karkoon."

Buck stared at Selkik wondering what the hell that was but the question was driven away by the relief he felt when he saw the enormity of what the Trandoshian faced sink into the reptile’s psyche. Buck had no doubt that Rhussk would maintain his silence. Still, Buck’s own curiosity regarding the history of Myrkr was aroused and if he ever made it back to the Alliance, made a promise to himself to find out all he could about this world.

Something told him that it was in the interest of the Jedi to do so.

************

The ETA for Buck’s arrival at the rebel base came and went with no sign of the Rogue.

Mary had received a com transmission from Josiah who was still on Kashyyyk, informing that Buck had left on schedule and there did not seem any portents of danger during that departure that might have given Josiah any concerns for Buck’s return to the Alliance. What had happened to Buck after the Rogue blasted off Kashyyyk was anyone’s guess and Chris was once again revisited by that terrible image of blackness that had kept him from reaching Buck. He knew Buck was not dead, that much the darkness had not been able to keep from him but he could sense little else. It was very possible that Buck was in a coma and his mind in such a state of limbo that nothing could breach the walls of his neural dysfunction. Chris tried not to give that possibility too much credence.

Vin was more than prepared to accompany him in the search for Buck, even though Chris had made it clear that he was under no obligation to do so. The former bounty hunter was currently preparing the Tracker for departure since there was wisdom in having two ships if one of them needed to return to the Alliance for help. He also hoped to sneak away before Mary carried out her foolish plan to accompany him. Chris had the sneaking suspicion that Mary's eagerness to follow him on his search had more to do with her escaping Louisa Perkins for awhile rather than rescuing Buck. Not that Mary would not put herself in danger for the pilot if required but she had to know that Chris was more than capable of handling things on his own without her presence at his side.

Chris was preparing his ship for take off when Mary entered the hangar and immediately spotted him beneath the X-wing. As he saw her walking towards him, he resolved himself not to be deterred from his intention to leave. Mary had a way of putting things so reasonably that Chris had no choice but to comply but not this time, he could feel an invisible clock somewhere in the background and each tick made him more convinced that Buck was running out of time. However, as Mary approached, Chris started to sense something from her that was not just her desire to have him remain or for that matter take him with her.

"Chris," Mary spoke up as she reached the X-Wing. "We've just had a transmission from Cordoba." She announced, not even noticing that he was readying the X-wing to leave.

"From Inez?" Chris guessed and while he did not say it, information that came from Inez usually originated from Ezra Standish.

"Yes," she nodded. "Ezra informed her that the Rogue was on Gammorr."

Chris paused what he was doing and stared at her. "On Gammorr?" He asked. "What the hell is he doing on Gammorr and how did Ezra find out?"

"I'm not sure," she shook her head trying to make sense of the pieces as Inez had imparted it to her. "Apparently he was in Gammorr and when he took off, he used the original registration codes for his ship instead the forced registration we provided him with so he could get past docking authorities without trouble. The minute he did that, docking authorities notified Ezra."

"That don't make sense," Chris mused coming towards her. "Unless he was in trouble."

"I'd say so," Mary agreed with that assertion. "Unfortunately, we have no idea where he went from Gammorr. Ezra said that he forged some kind of flight plan but that's almost certainly a forgery."

"We have to go there," Chris stated firmly, realising that finally he had somewhere to begin. "We need to go Gammorr." He started towards the Tracker on the far side of the hanger where Vin Tanner was presently conducting pre-flight preparations on his vessel.

"I'm coming with you." Mary stated firmly.

Chris had hoped she had given up that notion but her voice indicated other wise. "Mary, this isn't such a good idea."

"Chris I can take care of myself," she said trying not to sound annoyed at his remark.

"I know that," he looked at her. "But if we run into trouble, you're too valuable to lose."

"Chris," Mary looked at him. "I know you're trying to protect me but I need to get out of here for awhile. Its not just the fact that I will probably kill Louisa if I don't get away from her but its also the fact that I need to be doing something and not just waiting around for you and the others to come back."

He could sense the emotions from her and knew that she was telling him the truth. With Stephen's demise only weeks behind them, Chris could tell that she was still had very real fears about losing her friends just as tragically as she had lost her husband. He knew when it came to him, it was more than just friendship she felt and Chris could not deny that he felt the same way about her. Mary was still too fearful of losing the people she cared about by sitting back and doing nothing. How could he berate her for something he felt once too often himself. It would drive him just as insane to be sitting somewhere safety where other people risked their lives for something he ought to be taking active participation.

"Alright," Chris let out a breath and conceded defeat, wondering if there was ever any contest really regarding this matter. "You can come along."

"Well thank you," she said sarcastically and even Chris had to admit he sounded a little condescending but considering how insane she had been behaving since Louisa got here, he figured he owed her a little discomfort.

"Be nice," he glanced sideways and gave her a smile of mischief. "I might invite Louisa with us."

"Very funny." She glowered.

"So what is the story between you two anyway?" Chris asked good naturedly, taking his mind off Buck for a moment. "Other than the boy friend stealing?" He could not resist adding with a slight chuckle.

The remark garnered a sharp slap on his shoulder. "She just gets on the wrong side of me." Mary grumbled. "I mean she was always so feminine and graceful and one of those women that swoon when men say a word to her."

"I guess you're not the swooning type." He remarked with a completely straight face.

"I haven't met a man yet that was worth the swoon." She said sweetly, giving him a look.

"And you say Alex and I are bad," Vin Tanner laughed as he stared at them from on top of his ship where he had been making some minor repairs to the hull. He had Mary and Chris' conversation and felt rather gratified to know that even a full Jedi could be just as juvenile as an apprentice could when the mood took him.

"Vin," Chris suddenly became serious. "The Rogue was spotted on Gammorr. You've been there haven't you?"

Vin walked to the edge of his ship and sat down with an immediate frown replacing the chuckle that had been on his lips an instant ago. "Hell, that is not good news."

"That bad?" Chris asked, sensing the dark emotions that were emanating from the younger man.

"Bad enough," Vin replied. "If anyone recognised him or the ship, you can bet your ass they would sold him out as fast as possible. Gammorreans are mostly big and dumb and they like to make quick money. If they can't do it by playing muscle, they'll doing by playing the informant game. I would have thought an old space jockey like Buck would know better than to land there."

"I don't think it was intentional." Mary explained as the former bounty hunter listened from his lofty position. "When he left Gammorr, he used the original registration codes for the Rogue."

"Make sense," Vin exchanged a look with Chris, "if he is in trouble, that's the surest way to get word to us without tipping off who has him."

"Except that who has him isn't the Empire," Chris pointed out, gleaning that much from what Mary had told him about Inez's information. "Apparently, docking authorities on Gammorr alerted Ezra on Cordoba to the presence of the Rogue, expecting him to call in to the Empire."

"I remember," Vin nodded, recalling how Ezra had once said that he had issued orders than any information regarding either the Tracker or the Rogue be sent on directly to him. It was Ezra's way of being alerted to any of them being in danger so that he might be able to help if necessary.

"If it isn't the Empire, who could it be?" Mary asked.

"Bounty hunters." Vin said without having to think twice. "Every one of us has a substantial price on our heads. If he was taken on Gammorr, I'm guessing that it's was a bounty hunter."

"Vin there's something else," Chris said reluctantly, "I can't find him with the Force."

"What?" Vin's eyes widened and the apprentice immediately started descending from the top of the ship by way of a set of rungs against the hull that led to the hangar deck. Within moment, he was facing Chris with the same astonishment on his face as when Chris had told Mary. "How? I thought you told me the Force was everywhere."

"I know," Chris nodded, "but it's not around Buck."

"Wait a minute," Vin started to say, a memory reawakening. "Remember when we were in the Corporate Sector when we approached the Black Sun's hideout?"

"It was exactly the same as that." Chris concluded, having already guessed what Vin said particularly since he thought about it when he had time to reflect upon the blackness he encountered when he had attempted to find Buck. "Whatever was deflecting the Force at the Black Sun's domicile is now doing it around Buck."

"There was no Force adept there." Mary retorted, recalling her time at Black Sun well enough to know that much for certain. "In fact, I had the impression Laurel Chase did not think about the Jedi very much at all."

"I know what I felt." Chris said firmly. "It was like going blind. One minute I could see and the next, everything went black, especially when I tried to link up with Buck."

"Chris," Vin let out a deep breath, reluctant to bring this possibility up but they had to be realistic and exhaust every idea. "Could he be dead?"

"No," Chris said automatically and with conviction. "He's not dead. If he died, I would have felt it."

"Chris," Mary suddenly realised that they had been speaking so much about Buck that they had forgotten one very important thing. "What about JD?"

Chris' eyes widened. "JD. I never even thought about it." The Jedi mused feeling profoundly ashamed that he had forgotten about the young man. "I assumed that he was with Buck."

"He would be," Mary pointed out. "However, if you cannot find Buck, can you find JD?"

Chris had to think on that for an instant. He did not JD as well as Buck or as long. There were some connections that were naturally binding, like his connection to Vin for instance. However that was more than just time and years of friendship, his link to Vin was established by the fact that they were both Force adept. He was not certain he could be so precise with JD.

"I'm not sure." He confessed. However, even as the words left his mouth, another was following close after it. "But I'm sure as hell going to try."

CHAPTER SIX

"Tanner is that you?"

"Yeah it's me Crawl." Vin Tanner answered the grizzled blue skin alien that was staring back at him through the com screen on the console of his ship, the Tracker. "How are you doing?"

"How am I doing?" Crawl exclaimed with a hint of exasperation. "Going crazy wondering what happened to one of my best customers! Where the hell have you been?"

Vin shrugged, wondering if he ought to tell Crawl what he had been up to the last few months. When he was still a bounty hunter, the Modrek whose image was being transmitted to him through a scrambled frequency from Coruscant, had been the closest thing Vin ever had to a friend in the days before Chris and the rebellion. Crawl was a courier, the intermediary between himself and his paying customers. It was through Crawl he would get his assignments and Crawl had a good nose for people so he never led Vin astray. In his time, the Modrek had been quite a bounty hunter himself but that time was long past and Crawl spent his later years playing the middleman for the new generation of bounty hunters who now roamed the galaxy.

"Dare you to tell him," Alex said with a little smile as she sat comfortably in his co-pilots' seat. It surprised Vin to no end how good it made him feel seeing her there.

Vin gave her a look of sarcasm but the truth was, Crawl was a friend and a trusted one at that. He had acquired the reputation of respect from the bounty hunters who knew him because Crawl was no sell out and the secrets that were made known to him, remained with him. "I went the other way, Crawl. I'm out of it."

"You are the best my boy," Crawl retorted in open disbelief. "I've seen you track a mark half way across the galaxy until the poor bastard finally gave himself up just to be rid of you. What in the galaxy could make you throw away that talent? It's not a woman, is it? I know how you are with them."

Alex cocked a brow of interest and Vin gestured at her to remain quiet because he could see she was bursting to make light of that remark. "No, it's not for a woman. Its worse."

"A man?" Crawl asked suspiciously. Humans were odd and some were very bizarre indeed. Vin did not strike him as such but one could never tell.

"NO!" Vin exclaimed indignantly

Alex was almost splitting her sides trying to hold her laughter in. "Oh come on, you can't expect me not to say something!"

"Crawl," Vin ignored her and turned his attention back to his old friend gruffly. "I've walked away from the game. I'm a Jedi apprentice."

"You're a padwan learner?" The Modrek gasped, shock apparent on his furry and wrinkled face.

"You know what a padwan learner is?" He did not expect Crawl to know the term employed only by Jedi Knights to describe their apprentices.

"I have been around a great deal longer than you," Crawl said as a matter of factly. "I thought you were walking away from the game, not taking an even more dangerous path. It is not a good time to be a Jedi Vin, Palpatine is bent on wiping them out."

"I know," Vin answered, grateful for Crawl's concern but that was not the reason why he had contacted the man in the first place. Even as he spoke, he could see Gammorr approaching in the distance. Alex was feeding in the false registration codes provided by the rebellion to the docking authorities so that they could land. Chris' ship was in a holding pattern on the far side of Gammorr's moon. There was no way an X-wing could attempt to land at any civilized star system without alerting every Imperial ship in a 50 light year radius. "Look Crawl, this isn't a social call. I need some information."

"You know my rules." Crawl retorted, reminding Vin that he did not inform on other bounty hunters.

"I understand but I need to know if anyone has brought in a rebel named Buck Wilmington to the Empire." Vin asked.

"Not to the Empire but I hear Hutts are after a pilot named Wilmington." Crawl answered readily enough because this was common knowledge among the circle of bounty hunters and not exactly a secret. "Jabba's paid a lot of eyes to keep on the lookout for him."

"Jabba?" Vin mused with confusion. What would Jabba want with Buck? As far as Vin was aware, Buck had never even met the gang lord before. Buck's tenure as a commercial freighter captain was mostly in service to the rebellion, Vin had never heard of him mention any dealings with Nal Hutta. For that matter, Vin had something of a working relationship with Jabba and knew that Jabba had no use for outside help, he had a small fleet of his own ships. "What would Jabba want with him?" Vin found himself asking.

"Something to do with the Maw. I don't know whether or not they caught him but I hear Dengar was hot on his trail." Crawl added.

Vin suddenly had the suspicion that Dengar might have encountered Buck on Gammorr and somehow managed to coerce the pilot into leaving with him. It would certainly explain why Buck would use the Rogue's original registration codes when he slipped through docking authorities. It would have been the only way for the pilot to signal for help. However, Vin was still at a loss to know why Jabba would want him at all so much as to go through all the expense of hiring bounty hunters to acquire him. And more importantly, what had the Maw to do it?

"What's the Maw?" Alex asked quietly.

"I'm not sure," Vin muttered. "It's supposed to be some kind of a spacer legend." He pondered the question a little further before facing Crawl again. "Thanks for the help Crawl," Vin said to his old friend. "I'll be seeing you around."

Their conversations were often that way, short and to the point. In the past, it had to do with the fact that Vin was always on the move from one job to another. Now, it was simply because Vin was not about to risk Crawl's life by having anyone discover the Modrek's affiliations with a member of the Rebel Alliance not to mention a Jedi apprentice.

"If you're going down the road I think you are, I'd rather it be later than sooner." Crawl retorted, reaffirming Vin's belief that an amicable termination of their relationship at this point would be for the best.

"I understand." Vin nodded. "Goodbye."

"May the Force be with you." The Modrek smiled finally before his image disappeared off the screen.

Once the transmission was terminated, Vin eased back into his chair, feeling uneasy because he could not figure out this situation. If it were the Empire who had Buck, then at least Vin would know why that was. However, the introduction of Jabba the Hutt into the mix confused him. What would a Hutt gangster want with a rebel pilot? For that matter, why would Jabba be interested in an old legend like the Maw.

"I don't get it," he said out loud. "Why would he want Buck?"

"I don't know," Alex shrugged. "I thought Nal Hutta had its own pilots."

"They do," Vin declared firmly, aware of this information from personal experience. "And why the Maw?"

"You know what it is?" Alex asked again. She herself had never heard the reference but then if it was an old spacer's legend then it was understandable.

"I've heard something about it." He faced her as the automatic tractor beams on Gammorr docking authorities captured the ship and brought the Tracker into its appropriate landing berth. Once automation took over, there was little the pilots were required to do except sit back and enjoy the ride. "It's supposed to some treacherous part of the space that kills anyone that flies into it."

"Maybe he wants Buck to try it." Alex suggested.

"Maybe," Vin agreed that was definitely a possibility. "I can't see why Jabba would be interested in some old legends. He doesn't have a curious side to him, just a nose for making money."

"He's a Hutt," Alex retorted. "Its genetic."

"We better try and contact Chris," Vin finally decided. "Maybe he has some idea what the Maw has got to do with Buck."

***********

The X-wing maintained its orbit of the small uninhabited moon that revolved every 32 hours around the planet Gammorr. Remaining on its far side, the X- wing stayed out of reach of planetary sensors and any other scanning devices that might be able to locate them. They had decided prior to leaving the rebel base that it would be best if Vin made inquiries after Buck on Gammorr since he knew the terrain better. Besides, with Alex who was a skilled information gatherer as well as covert operative, the duo were mostly likely to find out what had become of Buck Wilmington, rather than a Jedi and the most wanted rebel in the sector.

That is if they could stop arguing for more than a minute.

"You okay back there?" Chris asked Mary as he heard her moving around in the passenger seat behind him. 

"I'm fine." Mary yawned, feeling the boredom of waiting around finally catch up to her. When she had agreed to accompany him on the X-wing it had mostly been because it seemed wiser at the time to let Vin and Alex conduct the investigation on Gammorr but Mary had no idea how tedious the inactivity of waiting around could be, even when it was routine. On the rebel base, when the others were away undertaking perilous missions, Mary had always busied herself with running her command but this was the first time where she had absolutely nothing to do. It was a disconcerting feeling.

Chris could sense what the waiting was doing to her and supposed it was hard for a woman who was accustomed to doing so much find herself with time on her hands. "It shouldn't be too much longer. If worse comes to worse, we'll set down."

Mary eyes the moon before her and saw a world that was largely barren that was covered in craggy terrain and felt no immediate to desire to see it up close. "I'm fine. I'm just not used to waiting around with nothing to do."

"I noticed." He replied. "Think of it this way, at least you're not sharing the same space with Captain Perkins."

He could feel her bristling without turning around to look. The emotions she exuded whenever Louisa's name was mentioned was stormy to say the least and he was surprised by the kernel of jealousy he sensed from her, regarding how he thought of Louisa. "Are you still thinking that I'm attracted to Louisa?"

"Of course not!" She scoffed but Chris could sense in her voice that her answer was not completely truthful. "I'm sure you have better taste."

"Taste has nothing to do with it," the Jedi said glad that he was forced to sit with his back to her for she would have certainly been furious at the smirk that was on his face at the moment of it. "She is attractive."

"I suppose to a man she might be considered pretty." Mary remarked with a shrug.

"Very pretty." Chris could not resist adding.

Mary felt silent for a moment. "Are you torturing me for a reason?"

"Yes," he said with a completely straight face. "You should know better by now."

Another silence fell over them following that statement and Mary felt her cheeks flush because something in the way he said that made her skin tingle and suddenly, Louisa was the farthest thing from her mind. They had not spoken about their feelings for each other like this before. Ever since Stephen's death, it had hung there awkwardly, like some no man's land that neither dared approach. Mary knew even though she admitted it to no one that despite the loss of Stephen and how badly that had affected her, her feelings for Chris were extremely passionate although she did not know how to deal with them in the wake of her husband's death.

"Should I?" She finally found her voice enough to speak.

"You should." He answered. "I...."

Suddenly, a voice crackled through the air from the com unit's speaker. "Chris, come in." The voice was clearly Vin's.

"What's up Vin?" Chris swallowed, brushing away the moment now that the opportunity was lost. "Have you found something?"

"Yeah," the apprentice's voice responded clearly. "I got in contact with a friend of mine in the business. Apparently, Jabba the Hutt has been after Buck."

"Why?" Mary blurted out first. "What would he want with Buck?"

"I don't know," Vin replied automatically. "But it's got something to do with the Maw."

"The Maw?" Mary responded with just as much confusion as Vin when he first heard the reference. "What's that?"

Chris was not listening. His mind was whirling back to the past where that name held its most potency. "Vin are you absolutely sure?" Chris asked after a moment. "Jabba wants Buck for the Maw?"

"Yeah," Vin confirmed it a second later. "What is it?"

Chris took a deep breath and answered. "The Maw is a collection of super black holes in the space between Yavin and Almania. The only way to fly through the thing without getting caught is to ride the event horizons until you get to the other side. It's considered impassable."

"Then why do they want Buck?" Mary asked aghast at anyone attempting to pass through such a heinous part of space.

"Because, Buck's the only one's whose ever made it across alive. Everyone else has died in the attempt." Chris said gravely with the realization that if Buck was in the Maw, then his hopes of getting to his old friend was next to impossible.

"Chris, there’s more." Vin responded through the scrambled frequency. "Alex and I asked around and we found out that the bounty hunter Dengar who was after Buck was on Gammorr."

"Does he have Buck?" Chris asked.

"I’m not sure." The confusion in the apprentice’s voice was plain. "He left here about the same time the Rogue, bound for Tatooine."

"That’s too much of a coincidence." Mary remarked.

"I agree," Chris nodded and fell silent for a moment. In truth, he was not at all happy at the idea of returning to Tatooine. He had promised Ben Kenobi to safeguard the secret that existed on that world and the best way do so was to stay away from the planet altogether. It would be extremely dangerous if the Empire or worse yet, Vader should take an interest in the world because of a rebel presence there. Still, it was clear that their enemies in this situation was not the Empire and he doubted if Jabba and his minions would have any interest in what the Jedi Master was doing on Tatooine if it had nothing to do with their personal affairs.

"So do we go to Tatooine?" Vin asked, perfectly aware as well as Chris why caution was needed.

Chris let out a sigh and saw no other way out of it. "I guess we do." He replied finally. "Since we don’t have much of a choice otherwise."

*************

The pod racer was a thing of beauty.

JD had seen enough of them in his lifetime to know one from sight, even it if was the Tatooine version of it. The craft gleamed under the twin suns of the Tatooine sky and seemed beckoned him with promises of speed and all things enchanting to one who loved to challenge themselves in this medium. As much as JD would love to say that his interest was purely for the love of the race, he saw himself an opportunity to survive his incarceration should Buck fail to cross the Maw. Even though, JD was of the firm belief that if anyone could survive the treachery of the Maw, it would be Buck Wilmington, he also realised that if he could escape, then Buck would not have to undertake the dangerous trip which would most likely get him killed.

Following their departure from the space port at Mos Eisley, the bounty hunter Dengar was met by more of Jabba's guards, a colourful collection of aliens that soon had JD bundled into the local version of an all terrain vehicle, called a land speeder, before departing the town all together. Once past Mos Eisley, JD came to the firm conclusion that Tatooine as a hellish place of seemingly endless deserts. It was beyond comprehension how any thing could survive in the searing heat but according to Dengar who did not mind talking to him now that he was about to deliver JD to Jabba, Tatooine was home to moisture farmers, sand people and jawas. JD seemed to recall that Vin had come from Tatooine and could not imagine how any human could call this world home.

JD recognised Jabba's palace the moment he saw it. The formidable structure, constructed on the edge of a cliff was once the temple to the Bomar Monks. The Bomars were a strange religious order who believed that the path to true enlightenment could only be attained if one were to discard ones body and exist in a mechanical receptacle that housed the brain only. Unsurprisingly, the order did not get many converts. Upon reaching the palace as Jabba's employees referred to it, the enormous doors heaved open and allowed the land speeder into the main compound. It was there that JD had spied the pod that was being prepared by its technicians for a race. JD had been involved in enough of them to recognise the fanfare that took place prior to such a contest.

"She's a beauty." JD remarked to the Twileki mechanic working under the hood when he was ushered off the speeder and led to make his audience with Jabba. "When does she race?"

"In two days." The Twileki responded.

The Gammorrean guard behind JD sniggered, inspiring the Twileki's annoyance to no end. "You think it is funny?" He hissed at the large porcine alien. "We will see how funny it is when his Excellency flays us alive for his displeasure!"

JD did not like the sound of that at all but simply could not contain his curiosity and had to ask. "Why?"

"His pilot angered him and so Jabba had him fed to the Sarlaac." Twileki grumbled. "Now we do not have any one who is good enough to fly this creation and if his Excellency is not represented in the race, it will be very bad for us."

May fortune favour the foolish, JD told himself. "I used to race."

The Twileki's eyes widened while the Gammorreans started to laugh. Even Dengar seemed amused but did not laugh, instead he gave JD what seemed like a look of concern.

"Do yourself a favour and shut up kid." Dengar warned.

"You are human." The Twileki pointed out. "Humans are not fast enough to pod race. Everyone knows that. No human has accomplished that in almost thirty years!"

"I won the pod races at home." JD said confidently. "Odete may have been a backwater but we knew how to race and I was the best. I might have gone on to Coruscant if I didn't get side tracked."

The Twileki stared at him critically. "I know of the races in Odete." The alien rubbed the long appendages that flowed from his skull like a flowing hat. "They race well there."

"They do," JD said with a little smile. "This little pod of yours looks like she might be worth a run. If you can convince Jabba to keep me alive, I might consider taking it out for you."

"Your presumption is beyond belief," the Twileki pretended to disregard the idea but JD could tell that he was very interested in the proposition not to mention the prospect of giving his prized creation a chance to prove itself. "His Excellency may choose to eliminate you and I doubt anything I have to say would change that but if you are as good as you say, I still may try."

"You do that," JD replied as Dengar finally shoved him forward to keep him moving and possibly from saying anything else to land himself into deeper trouble. "Just don't take too long, that race is in two days, I'll need to get a feel for her and the course."

When they had left the Twileki behind, JD found Dengar looking at him, a smile of bemusement on his craggy face. "I'll say this for you kid, you got guts."

"Thanks." JD answered, feeling a little pride at the compliment.

"Let's just hope we won't see it splattered on the course."

PART SEVEN

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