Shattered Remembrance

Chapter Twenty-Six

Towering over her, Ra'uf Buaran wrapped his arms around the slim shoulders of his wife, turning her around to face him. "Loyalty is a virtue to be prized," he said in a low voice. Ra'uf grasped Delia's chin in his large hand. "A virtue you seemed to have lost, my love."

Trying to avoid her husband's hard gaze, Delia found herself looking into the unblinking eyes of some kind of long furry animal entwined on a frame. Noticing what caught her attention, Ra'uf began laughing as he backed away.

"Do you like my new pet?" He reached back and stroked its gray-brown fur. "It cost me a pretty credit, but was well worth it, don't you agree?" Ra'uf's eyes flashed, and Delia felt a chill run through her. "Don't you agree, my darling Delia?" he growled.

"I ... I don't know what it is," Delia stuttered. She began to slowly edge toward the doorway, but Ra'uf quickly moved to block her path with his large body.

"It's a very special creature," Buaran said, his voice low and oily. "It allows me to hide from Jedi. It blocks that demonic sorcery they possess." Grasping Delia's arm tightly, he pulled her with him as he moved toward his oversized desk. Flicking a button on its underside, Ra'uf smiled as a monitor emerged from the desk's surface. "Now, let us see what our uninvited guests are up to."

***

Han, Leia, and Guri had barely gone a dozen meters when they came upon a small tram-car sitting silently in the passage.

"Well, what do you know?" Han said, his mouth tilting into the lop-sided grin that still warmed Leia's heart. "Guess Buaran doesn't use these tunnels for his daily exercise regime."

Leia watched as Han switched on the tram. Its repulsors instantly raised it off the floor with a quiet hum. "Do you think there's one of these in the passage Luke and Mara took?" she wondered aloud.

Han shrugged. "You could check," he said, sliding behind the steering column. "But I'm not sharing this one."

As she clicked on her comlink, Leia saw Guri kneel gracefully in the tram's small storage rack. "Listen, Mara," Leia said when her call was promptly answered. "We've found a tram-car here that Buaran must use to travel through the tunnels. Is there one on your side?"

"Haven't seen anything," Mara returned. "But he would've taken it if he came this way."

"True," Leia said, frowning at herself for missing that point. "Which means he didn't go this direction." She glanced at Han, to see him knit his brows in thought, too. Leia had consciously been making an effort to not be overprotective toward her brother. Only Mara's combat skills, and her apparent personal interest in Luke, prevented Leia from raising an objection over his continuing the trek away from the watchful eyes of her and Han. Now she was beginning to have second thoughts. "Maybe we should all go your way."

There were whispered mumblings filtering over the comlink, and Leia could picture Luke and Mara discussing options. "We don't know that he came through these tunnels at all," Mara said as she came back on. "He may only have the one tram. Luke and I think both routes still need to be checked out."

"Since you have Artoo, do you want to use the car?" Leia offered, ignoring Han's scowl.

"No, we'll be fine," Mara replied. "The group with the oldest member should use the travel aid."

"Hey, you tell her—" Han began, until Leia shushed him with a wave of her hand. She noted that he didn't relinquish his seat, however.

"All right," Leia said into the comlink. "We should be able to check out both the Stybridge building and his ship by the time you reach Lowount. I'll comm you if we find anything. From what Madame Buaran said, he probably has another tunnel connecting Lowount with Stybridge that you could take."

"With possibly another tram car there," Mara noted. "Sounds like a plan. Jade out."

Leia clicked off her comlink, then squeezed onto the bench seat next to Han. Apparently Buaran never took passengers with him.

"Leave it to a repulsor baron to have a floating getaway car at the ready," Han remarked as they shot off down the passageway. Indirect lighting came on as they traveled, and craning her neck around, Leia could see it turning off behind them. Obviously motion sensors. "Any idea how far it is to this Stybridge place?" Han continued, glancing back at Guri.

"It is twenty-two kilometers from his home to the shipping facility," Guri replied. Leia envied how effortlessly the droid was keeping her balance as Han rounded a slight bend in the tunnel. "At Captain Solo's current rate of speed, and assuming the passage is more or less a direct route, I estimate we should be there in just over a half hour."

"Then we'd better step on it," Han said, as Leia grabbed the side rail and held on tight. Who said that the older a person got, the more they slowed down?

***

Mara glanced sideways at Luke as they hurried along the passage, Artoo trundling ahead of them. Several times he appeared ready to say something to her, but then pressed his mouth flat and looked away.

"Luke?"

He shook his head, fixing his concentration on the path ahead.

So despite his earlier declaration of wanting to clear the air between them, he either didn't want to talk now, or couldn't bring himself to start the conversation. This was the first time they'd been alone for any length of time since being in Callis— uh, Guri's – galley. Somebody had to break the ice. "Are parts of your memory coming back?" she asked, hoping to ease into what was really on her mind. And, she suspected, his. "I don't think I gave you enough training to pull off a mind-trick that smoothly."

Luke's steps slowed a bit, and she got the impression that he was relieved this was all she was asking. "I still can't remember specific skills. But things are starting to come to me by instinct. It's like all these abilities are swirling just beneath my conscious mind. I can't pinpoint them, or pull them out directly. But when I need to do something, they leap out on their own." He gave her a feeble smile. "That probably sounded really weak. I don't know how else to explain it."

She wondered if Jedi skills were the only tangibles that he could nearly touch.

Almost as if he knew what she was thinking, Luke continued, "I still can't remember ... us. But I want to apologize for the way I reacted, after you told me—"

Mara stopped, and reached out to lay one hand lightly on his chest. "No, Luke. I'm the one who needs to apologize. I deceived you. I deceived your family and friends."

"It's all right, Mara. You were in a difficult position. It's not the kind of thing you spring on a person, I suppose. I can't be sure that I wouldn't have done the same if our roles had been reversed." He took her hand, squeezing it gently. "It's in the past, and we have a whole future ahead of us."

Mara wilted with relief. She started to respond, but he plunged on. "Whatever kind of relationship we're going to have, I don't want it based on actions I don't remember making, or feelings I don't remember having." He gently stroked her cheek with his free hand. "We can make new memories."

"Yes," she agreed softly. She didn't think she had ever loved him more than at this moment. It was on the tip of her tongue to tell him so, but the look on his face held her back. He wanted to start over. She raised their joined hands in a toast. "Here's to new memories."

He smiled, then leaned forward to kiss her tenderly. Wrapping one arm around her shoulders, he pulled her close as they resumed their journey. She could feel him relaxing, and the tension drained out of her as well.

"There's only one thing I want to know," Luke said. "How foolish was I in asking you for a date? Surely we've been on lots of dates."

Mara laughed and shook her head. "Not a one. I told you, our relationship began just before your accident. Days before."

He grinned. "Good. Then I don't have a reputation to live up to." He cocked an eyebrow. "Or, hopefully, shortcomings to be worried about?"

"Not a one," she assured him.

"And the fact that I've been having less than platonic daydreams every time I look at you?"

"Perfectly acceptable." Mara's step was brisker and her heart was lighter as they kept pace with Artoo. This was still her Luke, and nothing could ever keep them apart.

****

Delia Buaran watched with dread as Ra'uf rotated through different views of his escape tunnels. No audio issued forth from the screen, but she caught sight of Master Skywalker and his companion pulling apart as from a kiss before continuing their quest.

"Ah, so the Jedi engages in romantic romps just like a mere mortal," Ra'uf murmured, snorting at the overhead view of the couple. "I believe it's only hospitable to lay out gifts as he traverses under our city with his traitorous girlfriend and mechanical menace." He flipped up a panel to access a keyboard, then typed in commands that Delia couldn't see. "After all, he failed to receive the full effect of the surprise I planned on my skyhook."

"Why are you doing this, Ra'uf?" Delia pleaded. "They mean you no harm."

"He murdered my father right in front of me!" Buaran boomed, his repulsor chair spinning back as he sprang up. The chair banged into a pedestal, causing a centuries-old vase to smash to the floor. Buaran ignored it.

"You never told me who your father was," Delia said, willing her voice to stay calm. She had never been this frightened of her husband, but she was determined to be strong. "Perhaps if you had explained to me—"

"Don't lie to me, woman. Your sympathies have always been with those accursed Rebels." Looming down over Delia, Ra'uf's contorted face was half hidden in dark shadows beneath the room's glaring lights. The sessile creature on his back blinked lazily. "You showed them my tunnels. You want them to kill me."

"No!" Delia backed away, pressing herself against a custom-made cabinet, its shelves filled with rare scrolls and priceless art. Perhaps if she could distract Ra'uf long enough, the princess and her companions could escape safely. "I was trying to divert them away from here. How can you believe I'd consort with strangers against you?"

"Do not play me for a fool, Delia," Buaran said silkily, his mood once again switching gears. Not turning his back to her, he outstretched one hand and punched in a few final directives. "This should slow them down sufficiently, until ..." He smiled cryptically. "Come, my love. You've been wanting to go on a vacation, and my ship awaits."

Buaran grabbed Delia by the arm once more, dragging her toward the doorway. She struggled uselessly against his durasteel grip. Loud banging could be heard from a closet as they neared the front entrance of the mansion.

"Stephon..." Delia said weakly.

"He let vermin into my home," Ra'uf growled, ignoring the muffled pleas for release. Exiting the home, he pulled Delia toward a waiting speeder. Removing the frame from his shoulders and stashing it into the rear compartment, Ra'uf shoved Delia into the passenger seat. All hopes of fleeing were dashed when he pulled a blaster from his belt and aimed it at her.

Before she could cry out, Delia Buaran's world faded into oblivion.

***

Mara and Luke continued down the passageway, more alert to their surroundings. They had each felt a gradual stirring in the Force during the last few minutes, a prickling sense that caution was warranted. Mara's gaze had been directed down the tunnel when she finally realized Luke had paused behind her.

"Luke?" she asked, looking back over her shoulder.

He was biting his lip in thought. "Something just feels ..."

A spike in the Force was the only warning Mara received as a heavy door suddenly slid down, separating them.

"What the—" Mara whirled around, her lightsaber springing to life as she scanned the area. But the only detectable motion was a small stirring of dust at the barricade's bottom. That, and the flashing lights of Artoo-Detoo as he rolled back to join her.

"I don't know what happened," Mara grumbled at the droid. "Maybe we tripped a sensor." She could tell through the Force that Luke was all right, and she assured him that she was also safe. Examining the walls, Mara popped off the plate covering of what she hoped were the door controls. "Here, make yourself useful."

Artoo bleated indignantly as he extended a pincer arm toward the nest of wires. Mara glanced at his screen, and read it aloud.

*I'm always useful.*

Mara snorted in amusement. "Not that I don't have faith in you, but I think I'll also work on my own method." She stuck her lightsaber into the thick barrier and began dragging it slowly in an arc. Almost immediately, the tip of a green blade poked through from the other side, moving in the opposite direction.

Artoo beeped in what sounded like frustration. Great, now she was understanding the little astromech. She used to make fun of how Luke could converse with his metal friend.

"I can't help it that there isn't a computer jack," she said. "Bakurans don't use droids." Mara was trying to divide her attention between her cutting and watching for any new dangers. "Don't worry, I'm sure Luke and I can get a hole opened. Just be glad you're on this side, and we don't have to make an opening big enough for you to get through."

Out of the corner of her eye, Mara could see a new message had flashed upon the screen.

*Are you still going to marry Master Luke?*

Mara was so startled, her blade jerked off course. Luke sent an inquiry through the Force, and she hurriedly reassured him and resumed her work.

"You know he doesn't remember asking me about marriage," she whispered to the droid, lowering her voice even though the door was surely soundproof. "His memory got wiped."

*I could show him a recording of that time period,* Artoo returned.

"Don't you dare!" Mara forced herself to pay attention to where her lightsaber was going. "You recorded his marriage proposal?"

*I record many things.*

"I knew Luke allowed you too much leeway," Mara groused.

Artoo warbled back in obvious disagreement.

"Sometimes I think I should've followed through with leaving you in pieces on Myrkr." She then recalled all the times the little astromech had saved Luke's life, and hers too, on occasion. "Luckily for you, though, there are times when I'm glad Luke wouldn't trade you for all the credits in the galaxy."

Artoo tweedled in what sounded like satisfaction.

"Even if you do have a big ego," Mara mumbled under her breath. Craning her neck to read while cutting the hole was giving her a cramp. "Listen, you. No more sneaky recordings of personal moments without our permission. Got it?"

Mara rolled her eyes at Artoo's meek *Yes, Mistress.* Her blade had finally met Luke's in their joined task, and she shut it down as he pulled the plug into his side of the tunnel.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Luke asked, glancing at both her and Artoo as he stepped through the opening.

"Perfectly fine," Mara returned, trying not to be too obvious as she scanned him for any injuries.

Luke nodded. "We need to stick closer together from now on."

"Like turbo-glue," Mara agreed. As they followed only steps behind Artoo-Detoo, she was relieved to see his translation screen was mercifully blank.