Shattered Remembrance
Chapter
Twenty-three
Luke
squinted as the sparkling city of
An
image floated through Luke's mind – a young woman, with slim shoulders covered
by a delicate shawl, mismatched eyes and a reluctant smile. The image was immediately shunted aside by a
feeling of pain – souls crying out in torment for release.
"Are
you all right?"
"I
... I just saw ... something." Luke
forced himself to concentrate on the landing coordinates he'd been given.
"Out there?" Callista asked, following his
line of sight.
"In
my mind," Luke murmured. "Pain
..." He
tried to recapture the last glimpse he'd seen.
"Reptilian aliens ..."
"The
Ssi-ruuk," Callista said flatly, flipping on the comm. "Your contribution to their defeat is
why Lord Buaran wishes to meet you."
"So
you keep saying."
Luke
glanced over his shoulder at Mara's comment, watching as she settled into the
seat behind him. Their eyes held a
moment, until an automated voice crackled over the comm, giving landing
instructions and drawing Luke's attention back to the business at hand. He wondered how the girl in the brief memory
had fit into his life. No one had
mentioned anyone fitting her description.
"If
you know of the Ssi-ruuk, perhaps your memory is returning," Callista
said, ignoring Mara completely.
Luke
gave an unintelligible grunt. He didn't
want to remember Ssi-ruuk, or girls with mismatched eyes, or former lovers with
malt-brown hair. He wanted to remember
the redhead sitting right behind him. He
wanted to remember loving her, and making love to her. He wanted to remember every moment they spent
together, every moment that she knew about and he didn't.
"Why
aren't we landing at the main spaceport?" Mara asked abruptly, and Luke
swore under his breath that he hadn't noticed they were descending toward what
appeared to be a skyhook's rooftop landing pad.
"These
are Lord Buaran's private offices," Callista explained, watching carefully
as Luke engaged the repulsors. She
nodded in approval as he set the ship down with only the slightest thud.
"Nice
landing," Mara concurred, and her simple compliment meant worlds more than
anything Callista could have said.
After
confirming that Luke had properly shut down the ship's systems, Callista came
to her feet in one smooth motion.
"Come," she said. To
Luke, it almost sounded like a command rather than a request.
He
stood, looking back at Mara. Unbuckling
her crash webbing, she raised one eyebrow at Callista's retreating back. "We should be cautious," she said
quietly.
Luke
rested his hand lightly on his lightsaber.
"Aren't I always?"
"You
don't really want an honest answer to that," she returned dryly, a hint of
a smile playing about her lips, and Luke's heart lightened. They followed Callista out the exit hatch,
where a cool dampness in the air greeted them.
Their booted feet clicked against the smooth white rock-like surface of
the tarmac. The view of the city was
breathtaking.
"No
welcoming committee?" Mara asked, looking around. Luke realized there was no one coming out to
greet them. No sounds at all except the whistling of the wind. The air at this altitude was thin and he
slowed his breathing, instinctively reaching inside for calmness and almost
surprising himself with how naturally it came.
Luke
watched as Mara warily swept her eyes side to side, taking in every aspect of
their surroundings. Apprehension crept
into his gut, a kind of tingling that nagged at him that something about this
whole situation didn't ring true. The leery feeling began to echo back to him, and he suddenly
grasped that he was also sensing Mara's disquiet. She glanced his
direction, the furrowing of her brow reinforcing her earlier warning of
caution. Luke felt the reassuring weight
of his lightsaber, but he didn't snap it off his belt. Confidence filled him that he would have
plenty of time to snatch it if he needed to, and the skill to use it.
"This
way," Callista said, ushering them toward a turbolift. Luke and Mara followed at a careful
pace. Luke noticed that the lift door
slid shut soundlessly, and the car descended much
quieter than those on Coruscant. He
recalled Callista describing on the journey how Bakura utilized repulsors on
nearly everything. Though it was small
by Coruscant's standards, the very skyhook they were on was powered by enormous
repulsors, holding it several kilometers above the city's skyline.
Exiting
into a broad foyer, Callista led the way down a white stone corridor. An alluring mix of scents exuded from the
many plants lining the way, punctuated by a sprinkling of small waterfalls and
fountains. Luke couldn't help but appreciate
Buaran's sense of décor, and he said so aloud.
"Yes,
the Bakurans seem to find this ornamentation aesthetically pleasing,"
Callista said.
"And
you don't?" Mara asked, narrowing her eyes.
"I
have not given it any thought," the former Jedi replied, not breaking
stride as they approached a vine-covered doorway.
How can one not take notice of
such appealing furnishings, Luke thought, gazing in awe at the large atrium they
entered. Exotic plants of every shape
and color filled the room, with seating cushions floating invitingly amongst
them. Vertical streams of water lined
the gaps between the expansive viewscreens
overlooking the city. He even spotted
brilliantly plumaged birds flitting from branch to branch on delicate flowered
trees.
What Luke
couldn't see was any other beings present.
"No one home?" Mara said, her keen eye surveying
the expanse. "Didn't you call ahead
that we were arriving?"
For
the first time, Callista faltered slightly.
"I did expect Lord Buaran to be waiting. Perhaps—"
She
stopped as a holoplate unexpectedly rose silently out
of the center of the floor. A
transparent image of a young man appeared, apparently over-sized to make clear
his importance.
"Lord
Buaran," Callista said, bowing her head in deference. "I have brought—"
"I
can see," Ra'uf Buaran cut her off.
"The great Jedi, Luke Skywalker.
And his tag-along companion, the lovely Mara Jade. Welcome to Bakura, Master Jedi."
Luke
knew enough about holoprojectors to recognize that he
and Mara were not within what should have been pick-up range for the
communication device. Which
meant that the entire room was probably wired for surveillance. "Thank you, Lord Buaran," he
returned, nodding.
"I
was pained to hear of your recent accident, and your continuing struggle to
regain your memory."
Mara
and Luke exchanged glances. His amnesia
had been kept from the general public, which meant that Callista must have
spilled the caf-beans to her boss. Luke
took a moment to study his host. Buaran
had slicked-back black hair and heavily lidded dark eyes. He wore what looked like a military style
uniform, but with no rank insignia save gold braided piping.
"My
disappointment, of course, centers on the fact that you are unable to recall
the circumstances for which I have summoned you here," Buaran continued, his voice deep and oily. "I could not, in good conscience, let
you go ... unrewarded ... for your part in Bakuran
history."
Luke
hid a frown as the man droned on. There
was something bogus about his insipid smile.
After his initial greeting, Buaran had ignored Mara, and Luke could feel
her bristling behind him.
"I
am glad that I was able to come to the Bakurans' aid when the Ssi-ruuk
attacked," Luke said, feeling he should make some kind of reply.
Buaran's
head tilted back and he roared with laughter.
"How typically arrogant," he cackled. "Were it not for you, the Ssi-ruuk would
never have appeared in our galaxy. The
Jedi upset the Cosmic Balance by their very existence."
Mara
moved forward, her Force-sense roiling.
"We didn't come here to be insulted," she bit out. She gripped the hilt of her lightsaber, but
didn't ignite it. What was there to
strike out at? Callista remained silent,
but from her posture, Luke guessed that she was as surprised as they were.
"Oh,
I didn't bring you here merely to insult anyone," Buaran said, his lip
curling with contempt. "I am going
to complete the goal that my father sought." His eyes glittered in what could only be
manic satisfaction. "He had devised
a brilliant plan that would have rid the galaxy of the Jedi scum, while
satisfying the Fluties enough to entice them to leave. He would have been a hero."
The
uneasy tingle that Luke had felt earlier now thrummed with the threat of
danger.
"But
you, Skywalker, didn't have the courtesy to cooperate. You greedily grabbed the title of savior for
yourself." Buaran's face
darkened. "You not only fled what
should have been your fate, but you struck down my father in cold blood. I was watching from the crowd. I saw you deflect the blaster bolt, without
mercy, straight to his heart. My mother
was so torn with grief that she never recovered her health.
"Yes,
my father was Wilek Nereus, the lawful ruler of Bakura. He was on the fast track to promotion in the
Empire. He could've been a Grand Moff
someday. He promised to take me with
him. But you murdered the Emperor, then
came here and did the same to my father."
Luke
remembered that the museum account of the Bakuran
battle stated that the local governor had been killed, allowing the planet to
escape Imperial rule. It had failed to
mention how he'd met his demise.
"You
deceived me," Callista said, finally stepping forward.
"Ah,
yes," Buaran snickered. "You
were such an easy little thing to dupe.
But well worth the credits."
"Why
aren't you delivering this in person, you coward?" Mara snarled. Luke had been thinking the same thing, and his sense of imminent peril screamed at him
"Oh,
my dear traitor to the Empire, I have such a better vantage point where I
am." Buaran reached out and flicked
one gloved hand off-screen.
Part
of Luke was expecting armed guards to jump out from behind potted plants at any
moment, while the logical part of his brain reminded him that he couldn't sense
any other living beings on the skyhook.
"We need to get out of here," he whispered to Mara. She nodded in agreement, and they turned
toward the exit. The turbolift could be
a lethal trap, but they couldn't see any other avenue of escape. Luke glanced at a stone-faced Callista, intending
to motion for her to join them, when it happened.
Explosions
ripped across the entire room, blowing out the sides of the atrium. With the sudden decompression, everything not
bolted down blew outward toward the planet's upper troposphere.
Including Luke, Mara, and Callista.