Resurrection Part2 The Jade's Fire shot through hyperspace, carrying it's three passengers to the cryptic destination where they were to meet with Talon Karrde. Not one of them had the faintest idea what Karrde had found that was so important he had risked direct contact with Mara. Karrde, after all, was still a smuggler opperating illegaly, and Mara was a respectable business woman and the sister-in-law of one of the founding members of the New Republic. Not one of them except perhaps Anakin. The boy had come to Luke in the hanger where the Jade's Fire was stored, and had begged to come with him. Although Luke had explained that there was bound to be some sort of danger where they were going (there always was with Karrde), and that he didn't want to explain to his sister how he got her son killed before the age of eleven, Anakin had insisted. There was something in his sense, something urgent, that forbade an argument. Now that they had at least a week before the coordinates were reached, Mara decided to find out exactly what had caused Anakin to insist upon joining them. The ten year old son of Leia Organa and Han Solo had kept quiet and pretty much to himself the last three days, coming out of his shell only to help run the ship and eat. The Jade's Fire ran with usually a crew of fifteen, but Mara had it rigged so that one person could fly it if they knew the right command codes. The only two people who knew the command codes were Mara herself and Luke, the latter having argued his way into the knowledge against the former's will. Even though with the two of them they were adequately staffed, Anakin still came in handy at the nav consol, and he could repair a snapped circuit in under three minutes, which was a record in Mara's book. "Looks like a smooth ride from here," Mara said casually, glancing over at the co-pilot's station where Luke sat. "Think I'll go catch a bite to eat." But even as she rose from the pilot's chair she knew she hadn't fooled him. She could tell from his sense that he knew precisely what she was up to. But instead of making a comment, he only threw her a knowing look and turned back to the nav display. Mara sighed and headed off the bridge. Anakin was in the cargo hold, attempting to repair a faulty droid. Mara pulled an empty crate over to where he was perched on the deck and sat on top of it, pulling her legs up under her and watching him work in silence for a few moments. Anakin made no attempt at communication; just continued rerouting wires and fiddling with the droid's various innards. Subtley, Mara decided, wasn't going to get her anything, so she took the blunt approach instead. "What's wrong, Anakin?" she asked, ready to pick up on any changes in the boy's sense. But Anakin (just like his uncle, as Mara was still discovering) was full of surprises, and instead of evading the question like she had expected, he answered her bluntness with a straightforward answer. Sort of. "I had a dream," he said, straightening up and leaning back against the hold wall. In that moment he looked and sounded considerably older than his ten years. Mara felt a chill in her spine as she met Anakin's haunted gaze. "What kind of dream?" She made herself ask it, although something told her that she wouldn't like the answer. "The Force kind," he answered. He opened his mouth to say more at the same moment the cargo hold door slid open and Luke walked through. He joined Mara on the crate without saying a word. Anakin hesitated a moment, then continued. "I was standing on a balcony with a man who kinda looked like you, Uncle Luke. He didn't say anything, he just pointed out at a ship leaving a landing pad." "This ship," Luke said, more as a statement that a question. Anakin nodded. "I got the impression that something real bad was gonna happen. That's why I wanted to come. I mean, I know I'm just a kid, but there must be something I'm supposed to do. I can feel it." Luke looked a moment longer at the boy, and then nodded in agreement. Mara could tell that he didn't like the idea of putting his nephew in a dangerous situation, but the will of the Force was the will of the Force. If Anakin was meant to help in some way, then he would. "All right, Anakin," he said,"I believe you, and I know you're doing what you believe is right, but I don't want you charging off on your own trying to be a hero. If there is something you're meant to to, it will reveal itself in time." "Yes, Uncle Luke." "Now, come here," his expression softened, and Anakin climbed up on the crate to lean against his uncle. Luke put his arm around him, and traded glances with Mara over the top of his head. Anakin was trying to be brave, but they both could sense the underlying fear. "You musn't be scared, Anakin. Everything will work to the will of the Force. Try to quiet your mind and listen, and you will find peace within yourself. Fear is the path to dark side, and you must never give in to that fear." It was the same speech she'd heard him use before, only it never lessened in feeling. That, Mara reflected, was the reason why Luke was such a good teacher. He never presumed to know everything about the Force, but what he did he passed on as shared wisdom, not in lectures. But she also knew that it was really not a speech. Luke was trying to comfort Anakin, who was growing ever stronger and more adept in the Force than either his brother or sister. Sometimes that power could be frightening. Anakin stirred. "I'd better get back to work on that droid," he said, sliding down off the crate. His mood was notably lighter, and a wry smile reminiscent of his father crossed his face. "And you two better get off that crate before it collapses under all that weight." The proximity meter pinged, and brought Luke out of his light dose at the pilot station. "Sleeping on the job again?" came Mara's voice from behind him. She was seated at the nav consol, plotting in emergency courses. Luke rubbed sleep from his eyes and glanced at the chronometer. Three minutes to go. "You can fire me later. Where's Anakin?" "In his cabin," she said, then swiveled her chair to face him, "making a lightsaber." Luke sighed, feeling a small knot of depression beginning to form in his center. "I hope it's just a precaution." "You don't sound too convinced," Mara pointed out, moving from her chair to the copilot's next to him. Luke reached out to take her hand and sighed again. "I'm not, and that's the depressing thing," he squeezed her hand a little tighter involuntarily. "Can't we just live in peace for a few years at least?" Mara smiled wryly and reached over to brush a piece of hair off Luke's forehead. "We'd get too bored," she said, and he laughed, knowing it was at least partially true. He brought her hand to his lips and kissed it, and held it there for a few moments. "What's wrong, Luke? What is it about Anakin's dream that has you so disturbed?" she asked, then added, "Besides the ominous implications of death?" He took a deep breath, wondering why he hadn't told her sooner. He never kept anything from Mara, both because he loved her deeply, and more often than not she helped him come up with a reason or solution. "Well-" Luke broke off as the proximity meter pinged for thirty seconds. He let go of Mara's hands and reached for the hyperdrive levers. Just about there... And with a slight jolt the starlines vanished and the Jade's Fire was back in normal space, twenty kilometers from the Wild Karrde. "Nice timing," Luke commented, "I guess we'll talk later." "Yeah," she said, reaching over to tap the comm button. "Wild Karrde, this is the Jade's Fire. Karrde, you'd better pray this was good enought to drag me off Coruscant." "Hello, Mara," Karrde's cool, modulated voice came back, "Nice to see you too." Luke looked up at the swish of the bridge doors, and saw Anakin heading towards the nav consol, newly made lightsaber swinging from his belt. He was a bit apprehensive, most likely wondering what his uncle would think. Luke sent a silent reassuring message through the Force, letting the boy know that he approved. He could feel Anakin relax a bit, then abruptly realized that Mara was bringing the ship closer to the Wild Karrde. "So what's this about, anyway?" he asked, feeling slightly annoyed with himself for getting distracted. "Something about a lost ship," she replied, "I really hope he hasn't stumbled upon another disappeared fleet that everyone in the galaxy's willing to kill for." "Or worse." They docked with the Wild Karrde, and after a brief explanation in Karrde's office, had headed over into the abandoned ship via the starboard airlock. The Wild Karrde, like most smuggling freighters, had not one but two external airlocks in case of emergencies. Due to a tentative suggestion from Anakin, a guard had been sent over into the Jade's Fire, just in case. "Look, Karrde," Mara said as she ducked beneath a ventilation pipe in the entrance corridor, "I know this is a pretty important historical find, but what does it have to do with us?" They'd entered the cockpit, and Karrde reached over to punch a panel in the dashboard open. Out of it rolled a lightsaber. A very old lightsaber, by the make of it. Luke gave a soft exclamation, and reached out a hand for it. Karrde placed it in his outstretched palm, a carefully neutral expression on his face. Mara knew, however, that behind that cool facade Karrde was dying of curiosity. You didn't work closely with someone for years and not pick up a few telltale gestures and expressions. Luke turned the lightsaber over in his hands, running a finger along the cylindrical casing. Stepping back, he thumbed the activation switch and the blue blade sprang into existence. "Well, it works," he said, taking a few experimental slices at the air. "There's more," Karrde said,"A whole box full was pulled out of the small storage hold." "How many?" Luke asked, deactivating the humming lightsaber. "About forty." Mara whistled softly. "Not even a jedi master has need for that many. Do you think he was supplying a group or something?" "It seems likely," Karrde replied,"There's no registration in the main computer, and no ID anywhere on board. Either they didn't want to be recognized, or didn't need to," Karrde sat down in one of the cockpit's two chairs. "As far as we can tell, the pilot must've run square through the tail of a passing comet. The dust fried his sensors, and took out a good portion of his equipment." "Including the hyperdrive," Anakin said from behind them. Karrde nodded. "Including the hyperdrive. This ship must've been sitting here for a good thirty to thirty-five years. Our sensors couldn't detect any life on board, but someone sure stole our shuttle." "It couldn't have been a malfunction of some sort?" Even as she said it, Mara knew how unlikely that was. Karrde raised an eyebrow. "Malfunctions don't fire a shuttle's turbolasers and throw the said shuttle into hyperspace. No, there was definitely someone on board, and the only explanation that I can come up with is that they were a Jedi. Who else could've scrambled our sensors and stolen a shuttle out from under out noses?" Luke sighed. "The lightsaber's evidence enough of that hypotheses, anyway. Were you able to pull a course from the nav setup?" Karrde nodded. "Well, you might as well give it to us, and we'll see if we can find this mystery Jedi." He glanced Mara's way for confirmation. She nodded agreement, but for some reason not really liking the idea. There was something familiar about the feel of this ship that set a tingling feeling on the back of her neck. She glanced over at Anakin, and by the look on his face, knew that he felt it too. Karrde raised his eyebrow again. Luke rolled his eyes in exasperation. "Nice to know you haven't changed, Karrde," he said, fixing the other with a look that he knew full well wouldn't do any good. "I'll put on your account." Karrde smiled wryly. "So generous, Master Skywalker. Anyway, I'll have Aves send you the coordinates. It might interest you to know that he was headed for the planet of Naboo." Mara felt a cold chill run through her. Naboo...the system represented in the Old Republic by none other that Senator Palpatine. The man who would one day become the Emperor. She looked at Luke, knowing full well he was thinking the same thing. She shook her head. "I've got a bad feeling about this."