Chapter 15

"I told you I have to work my way, Rand. Cautiously and discreetly. I hope you had a good time on Mas'onom."

Rand Phylotar grunted an angry answer. His brother laughed.

Jerno had invited his co-leaders Kalip and Valann for a secret meeting at his residential apartment which was located at a considerable distance from government territory. On arrival he welcomed them with an extensive meal with accompanying drinks. The three leaders sat down and enjoyed the different dishes while exchanging some news and chatting.

In the beginning of their cooperation as a triarchy, shortly after the Battle of Endor, they had often met there in secret, mostly at nighttimes.

The first weeks, after the deaths of emperor Palpatine and his commander Darth Vader had been proclaimed, had been filled with many days of exuberant celebrations over the regained freedom, but Jerno, as an imperial grand admiral had taken immediate action. He had approached a group of dependably influential people from all walks of the imperial government to form a provisional council. He also had chosen his three most trusted officers Colonel Kalip Ru'undo and Commodore Valann Namaran to form a temporary leadership. In cooperation with the newly formed council they had announced their triarchy and had firmly reestablished the order on Coruscant and the other systems. In this way, Jerno and his co-leaders had prevented the festivities from degenerating into chaos and anarchy.

In insistance of the chief command of the imperial fleet, he had, with some reluctance, ordered preparations for the Battle of Jakku.

He himself had placed more hope and trust in the first hesitant talks between the former empire and the Alliance, but as a strategist within the imperial space fleet, he thought it only logical that the commanders of the remaining star destroyers would not surrender without a fight.

The Battle of Jakku had been a unexpected disaster, especially because the commanders of the Imperial Space fleet had under estimated the force of the Alliance fleet. The size of their fleet appeared to have been reinforced with thousands of large and smaller space vessels from planets, clusters and systems that had been suppressed by the Empire.

As the situation near Jakku worsened Jerno, Kalip and Valann had made every effort to sign a cease fire followed by a temporary truce as quickly as possible.

Although both parties longed for an end to the Civil War a group of imperial commanders had opposed against further consultations with the Alliance to reach an armistice. Their resistance had been catastrophic. Tens of imperial star destroyers had been disintegrated, killing their crew and commanders. One of their super star destroyer had been plunged down on Jakku's surface. On receiving the disastrous course of the battle Jerno had used his authority and had ordered the remaining commanders to retreat and return to Coruscant immediately. Immediately he had negotiated an armistice with the Alliance. Afterwards he and his co-leaders had started the negotiations for a peace treaty.

Within the newly founded Provisional Coruscant Council, he and his co-leaders, Kalip and Valann, had acquired great authority to form a provisional administration on Coruscant next to the administration of the New Republic on Dalmaran. The many different systems in the galaxy would be left a choice to join the leaders on Coruscant or to cooperate with the newly formed New Republic. Nevertheless their task hadn't been an easy one, as they had faced a prevailing suspicion within the imperial space fleet staffers and commanders against Mon Mothma who had been chosen as the Supreme Chancellor of the New Republic.

After the covenant with New Republic had been signed Jerno had hoped that their alliance with the New Republic would be in favor of what was left of the former empire. After the raid on Morantan and the developments around the daughter of Darth Vader Jerno had become worried, especially after the intelligence force had intercepted the odd messages aimed at a certain location in the Outer Rim. He had become more and more convinced that someone in the Outer Rim wanted to come in contact with the daughter of Darth Vader, and he feared that the reason why she had to be brought to the Outer Rim, wasn't a peaceful one. His worries had increased after the New Republic's intelligence at Quoith had been able to locate the coordinates on Dalmaran from where a recent message had been sent to the Outer Rim. The New Republic's intel force had asked Kalip's team to decrypt the message and share its content with the New Republic.

Jerno served another drink and looked at Kalip.

"You have to bring Valann up to date, Kalip. After you have finished, I will inform both of you about a new resulting situation. I want to discuss with both of you some of my reflections and their conclusion."

Kalip looked at Jerno and Valann.

"As you both know, my men have been monitoring some strange connections aimed at a spot in the Outer Rim and sent from different locations. There was a strange coincidence for those connections were always sending information if something had happened to the daughter of Darth Vader, although her name was never mentioned. Since these messages had to do with Darth Vader's daughter, we informed our special contact with the New Republic. On our request hey too have started monitoring any irregularities closely. After she had been assumed dead, our intelligence force didn't intercept any unusual connection aimed at the Outer Rim for a long time. "

Kalip looked at Jerno who nodded and Kalip addressed Valann.

"Last week, after nearly two years, the connection from the same source, has sent again a message to one of the planet clusters in the Outer Rim. This time the location was on Dalmaran. The message was first intercepted on Quoith and the exact sending location was on Mas'onom. Our intelligence force decrypted the content of the message which has alerted our Council at the highest level, for it mentions that Darth Vader's daughter is alive, but suffering from a severe form of amnesia. According to the intercepted content of the message she has been injected with the old imperial mind-weakening drug during an interrogation in the prison on Wegoyy. The New Republic has provided our intelligence force with all their information about the Wegoyy prison and guess what: the commander in charge is Olon Dendicott, one of the officers who defected shortly after the Battle of Jakku. Also some other former imperial officers, the brothers Rand and Daino Phylotar, two imperial defectors who once served under Olon Dendicott, have shown their interest in the daughter of Darth Vader. In the message the contact on Mas'onom report that Daino Phylotar has asked them about the antidote for the mind-weakening drug. It's a pity that we are still not able to intercept the response of their collocutor yet. I wonder who this man can be and why he is interested in Darth Vader's daughter. His contacts confirm that they will bring the woman to him. Jerno recently has asked our contact of the New Republic to confirm that Darth Vader's daughter is indeed alive. I remember that you didn't agree with me when I reported her death some time ago. So your assumption was right and that explains the many travels Jedi Skywalker has done all those months to the Outer Rim. Both our governments are deeply worried about the recent message and the possible involvement of some former imperial defectors. Our New Republic contact has sent us a secret holo-recording between Daino and his brother Rand. I'll show it to you. "

Kalip slid a data card in the holo vid display and the three men watched and listened to the secret meeting between the two Phylotar brothers. After the holo vid had ended, Kalip looked at Valann and Jerno.

"So far the two brothers haven't been arrested yet. The New Republic's government has told me that they keep them both under tight surveillance for the time being. They are aware of what's going on and will take any necessary measures if Rand Phylotar would turn up with the woman. They know his plan and they know about what has happened to Darth Vader's daughter in the Wegoyy prison. Her former guard, Ian Tydon, has testified before the High Council shortly after he and Jedi Skywalker came back from the Jedi's investigation on Wegoyy."

"Is it possible that their restraint can be interpreted as a kind of trap for those who have been involved in the secret torturing in the Wegoyy prison?" Valann asked.

"Absolutely," Kalip answered, "but their agent says that the guard's testimony couldn't be confirmed during their investigation on Wegoyy. The prison commander and his staff denies the accusations. So the New Republic needs the daughter of Darth Vader to tell them what they have done to her. However in her current condition she isn't able to testify, as she doesn't remember anything. What's more the woman's current whereabouts are unknown. She has disappeared after having traveled for more than a year with a group of independent traders who took her on board their ship."

"Could it be, that she's on her way to that strange recipient of the messages to the Outer Rim?" Valann asked concerned.

"Nobody knows. She's no longer in the company with those traders and nobody knows where she is hiding at the moment."

Kalip looked at Jerno.

"Thank you, Kalip. I'll take over. Valann, Kalip, what I'm going to tell you both has to stay, for the time being, extremely classified. Thanks to the cooperation between the two intel bodies of our two governments we now have full audio recordings, including the response of the person in the Outer Rim. I want you to listen to the audio recording the guys on Quoith have sent us."

Jerno started a holo-display device again. Valann and Kalip listened intensively to the complete conversation. After the last laugh of the recipient had died out, Jerno looked at his co-leaders.

"I have sent the other messages we've intercepted to Quoith as well, with a request if they could restore the full conversations. You'd better also listen to what has been said in those first messages."

Again Jerno started the device. He leaned back in his chair and watched his fellow leaders who listen to all the earlier connections to the Outer Rim. When they had finished, Valann looked puzzled at Jerno.

"The guy took the initiative for her escape to Ortel. He paid the bribes to the guards and that senator, but his attempt to bring her to the Outer Rim hasn't been successful," He said and frowned before he wanted to continued. Jerno saw the disbelieve in his eyes and silenced him with a slight gesture.

"Kalip, you once said I shouldn't have any secrets for the two of you."

"That's many months ago, Jerno," Kalip answered.

"Your reproach was justified, but at that moment I couldn't reveal what I had been thinking, but these audio recordings from our allies on Quoith were the final proof I needed for my hypothesis about what is going on in the Outer Rim. I'm almost certain that I know the identity of the collocutor, and, Valann, am I right, you have recognized the voice too, haven't you?"

"I thought he was dead, one of the casualties of the explosion near the Urervik cluster," Valann said hesitantly.

Kalip looked at Valann and shook his head.

"Jerno, Valann, what you both are suggesting is impossible. We have evidence that those commanders were on board that star destroyer that has exploded in the Urervik cluster four or five years ago, isn't it? As far as we know nobody survived and now you both think that one of those commanders survived."

"Kalip, did we really do a thorough investigation at that time, after we heard about the explosion of that missing star destroyer. No, we didn't. At that moment our main concern was the existence of Darth Vader's daughter on Morantan and what would happen if the New Republic would plan to eliminate that pocket of resistance.

We've assumed that both commanders were on board the star destroyer that exploded, because we took their last message as full proof. There wasn't any real evidence that proofed our assumptions. The debris, collected by the Basilsæa, couldn't reveal the exact number of men that perished in the explosion. Furthermore between the disintegration of that last missing star destroyer and the message the commander of the other star destroyer, two years had passed without any trace of the last star destroyer with two full crews and ground forces.

There's also another point that might proof my suspicion. In the last intercepted message there is talk of the antidote for the imperial mind drug. During Palpatine's reign only the emperor himself, Darth Vader, and the members of the praetorian guard who also acted as the emperor's executors, were using the mind drug and other forms of severe torture. The imperial guards had the same unlimited mandate as Darth Vader to use any special tactics to torture and interrogate prisoners. They must have had access to many kinds of antidotes too. Maybe they even knew how to manufacture the antidotes. In the message we heard that the collocutor says, that he will cure the daughter of Darth Vader's mind loss. So he probably is familiar with the mind drug and their antidote.

Now I come back to those two commanders in the exploded star destroyer. One of them was the commander in charge, the one who has sent the message about the hyperdrive failure, the other one was the commander of the star destroyer that was destroyed in a meteor shower near Avali. He was our missing admiral and went on board the second star destroyer that two years later exploded due to that hyperdrive malfunctioning. We've discussed this matter shortly after we heard about the exploded star destroyer. We even held a memorial service for all those perished men."

Valann nodded with a serious frown and Kalip shook his head.

"Jerno," Valann commented hesitantly, "At that time you referred to the special assignment the admiral had as a member of the staff on Morantan. What do we know exactly of him?"

"I've found out that from the moment he got his commission on the imperial space fleet, as a junior officer, he has drawn the Emperor's special attention. The Emperor himself assigned him as one of his personal guards. He has been a member of the praetorian guard. Those special group of imperial officers were chosen for their Force sensitive abilities."

Jerno emphasized his last sentence. Kalip's face had gotten a very worried expression and he only listened to what Jerno and Valann were discussing. When his co-leader looked at him he said: "Jerno, you know for certain, who we're talking about, don't you?"

Jerno nodded, "I do, Kalip, and looking at you and Valann I can only conclude that you both know, that my conclusions will need more hard based evidence, before we take further action."

Valann only nodded, Kalip cautiously commented on what he had heard.

"SSo our missing admiral probably has survived the explosion and now lives somewhere in the Outer Rim and is looking for the daughter of Darth Vader? Why? What does he want of her? What so special about her, except that she is the last Si..."

Jerno hushed him, before Kalip had finished his comment, then he said, "Indeed, Kalip, that's probably the reason why he is looking for her. As a former staff member on Morantan and a former praetorian guard near Palpatine he probably knows what kind of knowledge Darth Vader has taught her."

"This probably means that he wants to research that knowledge," Valann commented.

"Not only research, Valann. Being influence by the Force he probably want to learn from her the knowledge of the Siths. He wants to become a Sith Lord himself."

Valann and Kalip looked devastated.

"That could mean.......," Kalip started, but Valann interrupted him.

"If what you think, this is true, Jerno, we must start a thorough investigation. We must find the origin of the message he has sent from Avali in which he says, that his star destroyer is lost and that he and his crew had abandoned the ship and landed on Avali. Did he really sent it from Avali, or was it a diversion? If that missing admiral wasn't on board that space ship that exploded with two hundred or more of our men two year later, then we must investigate the cause of that explosion anew, and find evidence of what happened to the two crews between the Avali message and the last message before the explosion. We also need to research on which planet or system in the Outer Rim he is hiding and what his real intentions are."

"We certainly have to, Valann," Jerno said, "It's about time to take several actions ourselves and start looking into the old intelligence logs and the archive of the empire. The three of us need to compose an exact time line of all the events with as much details as possible, from the moment those two star destroyers disappeared after the Battle of Jakku, until the last message of the disintegrated star destroyer near the Urervik cluster. We also need to gather any facts about the careers of those two missing commanders and especially the career of our missing admiral. Our investigations shouldn't attract any attention, so we have to keep our findings secret, until we knew exactly what's going on. Despite our desired secrecy, I suggest, that we should give Admiral Vestor of the Basilsæa a much broader mandate and extend his mission to monitor and take a look at all the clusters in the Outer Rim near the Unknown Territories. He must pay special attention to the Urervik and Avali clusters which are near the aimed coordinates our joined intelligence forces have found. His surveillance flights must look like normal routine surveys."

"Our intelligence force can provided him with a number of different coordinates which are close to the location of the intercepted messages. I will order also that our monitoring will be intensified and ..." Kalip remarked.

He stopped abruptly as if something crossed his mind.

"Maybe, we should send an undercover agent specialize in high communications technology to the Basilisæa. He could monitor any signals more closely."

"That's not a bad idea, Kalip," Valann commented, "but Admiral Vestor shouldn't be informed that he has to take an undercover agent on board of his ship. What do you think, Jerno?"

"It's a good option," Jerno said.

For a moment he was silent as if he was thinking about something. Kalip and Valann watched their friend. Jerno turned to them and nodded.

"I know someone. What do you think about ... "

He typed a name on a datapad and handed it to his two companions.

Surprised Valann looked up to, but Kalip immediately showed his support.

"Do you think he will accept such a mission?" Valann asked.

"I will arrange a secret meeting with him," Jerno said, "and tell him about our case."

"He would be an excellent choice. There's only one thing: isn't he too well known," Valann said cautiously.

"He could use one of his many identities or even a new one, one we only know," Kalip remarked, "he once have worked for intel too under different aliasses. His info was always accurate. Already before the Battle of Jakku started, he warned us we shouldn't get involved, because the outcome would be disastrous. If we had listened, our fleet wouldn't have encountered so many losses and casualties, but those stubborn star destroyer commanders thought they could outnumbered the fleet of our opponent."

"That right, Kalip. OK, I'll see if I can contact him and if he is willing to do some undercover work again. I hope he will. He is a loner who loves to work completely alone, but maybe I can convince him to accept an assignment in the technical staff on board the Basilisæa"

For a moment the three men looked at each other, then Jerno continued.

"Kalip your role is still the same, your men have to continue monitoring any odd signal. Besides I want you to supervise any future communication with admiral Vestor. Valann, is there anything special, you can do? Your former background as a historian might also give us a useful starting point."

"Indeed it does and I have already been thinking where I could start, Jerno. You both know, that as a historian I hold the highest clearing to access any of the former imperial archives which includes the personal archive of the former Emperor. Perhaps I can find out more about the relation between Palpatine and that former admiral," Valann said.

"Good, next to a meeting with our possible undercover agent, I will concentrate on the old communication log files between our Communication Center and our fleet, starting with the first indications about a possible encounter with the fleet of the Alliance near Jakku. I will explicitly concentrate on clues of the conversations between Coruscant and those disappeared star destroyers. Let's meet again here, let's say in two months," Jerno said.

"I'm Eilidh," Liane said pointing at herself.

"Aay-lee?" The hairy creature pointed with his little paw at Liane.

"Yes, that's me? Who are you?"

She pointed at the little creature.

"Hadda wanto diddo Teebo."

['I'm called Teebo']

"Teebo, your name is Teebo?" Liane asked.

The little creature looked uneasy.

"Hadda wanto diddo Eilidh!"

['I'm called Eilidh']

Liane repeated the words the little bear had used and pointed at her chest. She hoped that the pronunciation would be similar to his.

Suddenly Teebo started to grin.

"Aay-lee diddo, hadda?"

['Your name is Eilidh?']

"Hamma. Teebo diddo, hadda?"

['Yes, I am, and your name is Teebo?]

Liane confirmed, as she used the word that seemed to be a confirmation in the local language and repeated the little bear's question.

She sighed deeply. It was so difficult to communicate with these little tree bears.

After she had been captured, they had brought her to a village high up among the trees. There they had untied her and brought her before a group of elderly tree bears. Those elderly bears had held a long talk and after they had finished, she had been locked up in a one room tree house.

They had brought her food and drinks at regular intervals, but none of the little bears had shown any interest in her. They accepted her presence, but treated her with indifference.

Finally, after more than a month one of the elderly bears had entered the tree house and has beckoned her to follow him. The little bear that had been standing guard, had walked close behind her.

The elderly bear had brought her to a bigger house and had showed her around. The tree house had two storeys with five rooms at the ground floor. Two of them seemed to be his private rooms, but the other ones were storage rooms stowed with dry leaves and berries, branches and roots.

He had taken a small spherical wooden ball, pulled off a kind of cork and had held it out to her. She had understood that he was the tribe's medicine man, the shaman.

With a nod of her head she had tried to make clear she understood. Carefully she had taken the bowl and had smelled. The odor of the liquid was sweet and grassy.

Then the shaman had taken her to the upper storey and to her surprise there had been lying four bears on soft moss mattresses.

The shaman had walked over to one of them and had beckoned her to follow him. He had lifted a swathe of broad leaves and showed her a terrible wound.

Unable to express herself she had looked up at him. He had taken the spherical ball from her hands and gestured that she should help to clean the wound.

After he had finished his work, she also had helped him to do the same for the other injured bears. All three of the bears were unconscious and moaned slightly when the shaman sprinkled the liquid around and in their wound.

She had helped him the best she could. He seemed content and he had brought her to a tree house next to his. There were two rooms, one furnished as a sleeping room and one with a wooden table and a low bench.

She had thanked him with a bow and now she was living there since another month, helping the shaman with his task to cure the wounded members of the tribe.

She had gotten some more freedom: she was allowed to walk around in the village, but when she tried to get to the forest floor her little guard who still was following her all the time, summoned her with a grunt and a nasty push of his spear to return.

She hadn't tried to push her luck once again and had become content with her new way of living.

"Hadda gado diddo witta fili liwit." Teebo said with a grin around his lips and pointed to the village.

['We have to get back to your house. Let's go']

They were sitting on one of the lower platforms near the perimeter of the village. Liane frowned.

"Haddo gado diddo witta fili liwit." Liane repeated. "Could that mean: Let's go back to the village."

She rose and Teebo looked much pleased with her action. He followed her back to her tree house.

The shaman was just leaving his hospital house. Liane turned to Teebo and said pointing at the chieftain.

"Hadda wanto diddo?"

['What's my name?']

Teebo shook his head.

"Haddo wanto middo?"

['What's his name?']

"Haddo wanto middo?" Liane repeated.

['What's his name?']

The shaman had walked over to them and Teebo started to tell a fast story Liane didn't understand. The shaman nodded and turned to Liane.

"Hadda wanto diddo Logray" He said.

['I'm called Logray']

Liane laughed and answered.

"Hadda wanto diddo Eilidh."

['I'm called Eilidh']

"Aay-lee?

['Eilidh?']

"Hamma diddo," Liane nodded.

['Yes, that's me']

The shaman grabbed her hand and shook it several time. He spoke several long sentences and beckoned her to follow him inside his house.

He brought her to one of his private rooms and sat opposite her. Then he started to talk to her slowly, pointing at objects in the room. Immediately Liane understood that he wanted to teach her the Ewok language. She nodded with a smile and repeated all the words he said. Sometimes he corrected her pronunciation and wanted her to repeat the word again.

The following morning Logray came over to her house very early and he continued the lessons. Patiently he repeated the words they had practised the day before. Liane showed herself a dedicated learner and repeated the words and easy sentences. She tried to remember the correct object to which a word belonged.

After five days Logray seemed very pleased with her progress and walked with her to the village center. Al the way he talked to her and pointed the world around him. With great commitment Liane repeated all the words and the sentences the little shaman was saying. At the village center he told her to wait and entered the big tree house. After some moments he returned with the one of the other elderly bears.

He pointed at Liane.

"Haddo middo wanto Aay-lee."

['She's is called Eilidh ']

The other chieftain walked over

"Hadda wanto diddo Chirpa, cama noka mada donama canda Ewoks."

['My name is Chirpa, I'm the leader of the Ewoks.'] He said.

Liane bowed.

"Gamdo ... timo... nama." Liane said slowly, emphasizing on the pronunciation of every word.

['Please ... to meet ...you']

"Haddagawit Logray denta wagiwit haddova."

['Logray told you want to learn our language.']

Liane looked confused, but Logray nodded at her. Liane quickly said.

"Hamma ... diddo ... kento ... ewo."

['Yes ... I want ... to learn']

Then Logray pointed at the tree house.

"Tanda." Liane answered.

['Tree house']

Now Logray pointed at the leaves on the tree branches.

"Jagadgammo."

['Leaves']

Chirpa nodded.

"Haddoga tapaso digaba."

['You can teach her.'] He said to Logray.

In the months that followed, Liane had to divide her daily chores between learning the Ewok language with help of Logray's lessons and caring for the four wounded Ewoks. The progress of the sick bears' recovery was slow, and Liane often felt that Logray was unsure if his patients would recover. As she was helping him she always showed the deep compassion she felt for the little bears' suffering.

One morning Logray took Liane upstairs again to help the injured bears. One of them was very seriously wounded and seemed to be on the brink of dying. The fur and flesh at his chest seemed to be ripped apart, showing a nasty wound which had become inflamed. Liane who now could form some simple sentences in the Ewoks language looked at Logray.

"Pande ... tipo ... dama?"Liane said slowly, pointing at the severely wounded Ewok.

['Happened ... to him ... how?']

"Pandu tipo dama sono" Logray corrected her.

['What happened to him?']

Liane repeated the sentence, looking with concern and compassion in her eyes at the moaning little tree bear. She pitied the severely injured bear and gently caressed its furry paw to give it a bit of comfort. Logray seemed to understand her concern, for, after they had cleaned the wounds, of all the injured Ewoks and covered them with a fresh swathe of leaves he took her downstairs in his private room and unrolled a large dried leave. The drawing on it showed a large feline. Logray pointed at the claws and gave her some objects. It were big teeth. The attacker had been a feline predator with large fangs.

Liane nodded and felt a knot in her stomach.

"Mido ... tano ... gifat ... hoda" She said and pointed to the ceiling.

['Go ... to ... them ... I ... want']

Logray didn't correct her sentence and let her go.

Without making a noise she went upstairs again and kneeled near the injured Ewok with the gaping wound at his chest. She took the low stool Logray normally used as he helped the wounded and sat herself behind the little bear's head. She looked down on the little creature's face and wondered what she could do to give the bear some comfort. She imagined the pain and the anguish it must feel. Gently she wiped some sweat drops from the creature's temples with the broad leaf of a fern, when unexpectedly strange images began to whirl through her mind.

A strange-strong-felt concentration began to surround her, along with a deep pity and compassionate feelings for the wounded tree bear.

The stong-felt concentration seemed increase and seclude her from the surrounding of the tree house. No longer did she only see the injured little bear, she seemed to unite herself with him. She had closed her eyes and slowly put her hand on the little bear's forehead. In her mind a whirl of odd images became visible, showing her what had happened to the bear.

With a muffled cry, she suddenly saw the attack of the predator, leaping onto the Ewok and sinking its huge fangs into its body. She heard the little bear scream and it felt like she was being attacked herself. She felt the bear's great pain and agony. Her own body seems to reflect the little tree bear's pain. Deep in the trance she placed both hands over its closed eyes, pressing her fingers gently against the side of its head.

"Haddo nuda." A soft voice full of pain now resonated in her mind.

['I'm scared.']

"Hadda nuda diddo cama sunomoti." She slowly answered in the Ewok language.

['You are in pain. I saw what happened']

"Hakulana! Haddo wanto nuda cama nakasu." The soft moaning answer came.

['Help me. I am afraid to die.']

She felt a slight surprise as she fully understood what the little wounded bear was saying while she was focusing on the little bear's whispers. Again she saw the images of the attack, but the scaring images became blurred and another much clearer image of the little bear became visible. It was swinging at the branches among the canopy again. The image became clearer and completely replaced the fearful images of the feline predator's attack.

"Hadda nuda diddo gifolit. Cando sino diddo!" She murmured slowly.

['You won't die. You will get better. Look that's you swinging among the canopy.'] .

The little creature stopped moaning. The happy images of the healthy bear became very bright and were glowing intensely now.

"Hadda nuda diddo hamanof gifolit. Cando sino diddo!" She repeated again. She gently passed the images to the mind of her little patient and felt how he surrendered itself to what it saw. He seemed to forget his pain as his thoughts became filled with the bright glowing images.

['You won't die. You will get better, I'll promise. Look that's you among the canopy.']

She murmured the words in a strange low voice. It reminded her of how she had used Affect Mind to control an opponent.

"Hadda nuda diddo hamanof gifolit. Cando sino diddo!" She repeated the sentence in the Ewok language again. Carefully, she took her hands from the bear's head and shifted her position and sat next to its injured body. Still in that strange-felt concentration she stretched out her hand and held them above the swathe that covered the deep wound at its chest. A strange warm blue flow began to emanate from her fingers, covering the bears' chest with a cloud of the whirling blue radiation. She bowed her head and managed to increase her concentration, while she kept her hands hovering above the wound. In her mind the images of the happy bear among the branches of the trees still kept whirling for a while, but finally became blurred and vanished.

Slowly releasing herself from the strange and deep concentration that had surrounded her, she blinked her eyes smiling serenely and with great compassion in her eyes.

"He will recover," She said in Basic.

In front of her stood Logray, looking at her with his large dark eyes.

She pointed to a little water bowl.

"Hando tala soju tela?"

['Can I have a drink?']

Quickly Logray walked over and filled a wooden cup with water and handed it to her. Slowly she drank. The cool water refreshed her. Before she rose she looked at the wounded tree bear who now seemed sound asleep.

"Tama diddo sima. Tedo kama firo?"She asked

['I feel tired. May I go home?']

Logray nodded.

Liane descended to the ground floor, left the hospital tree and walked over to the door of her own tree house. The experience gave her a strange sense of satisfaction and happiness, but it also filled her mind with questions, but also with some fear. She had heard how she had been speaking in the same voice as her father had taught her to use Affect Mind. Had she been using the Force? If that would be true, had she caused any harm to the injured little bears?

Liane shook her head. No, it couldn't have been the Force. The Force could only be used for evil things. What she had experienced hadn't felt evil, but what where the answers to her questions. How could she fluently understand the injured Ewok and formulate an answer in their language without hesitation? Has she really seen the little tree bear's recovery, or were those images of the bear's past, before it had been attacked? Where did that strange strong-felt concentration come from and that strange blue radiation that seems to emanate from her fingertips as she had held her hands above the wound in its chest? Could she also help the other wounded bears this way? Pensively she stroke the wooden pillars which formed the entrance of her tree house.

"I have to try again," She murmured and walked back into Logray's house. She walked up the stairs to the top floor where Logray was watching over the four injured Ewoks.

"I will help the others like I helped him," She said in Basic, while pointing at the Ewok which seemed to fallen into a sound sleep. It didn't moan any longer and the expression at its face showed happiness and trust.

Anew she sat herself behind the head of one of the other Ewoks. Carefully she placed her hands on the Ewoks head, covering its closed eyes with her fingers.

To her surprise, she immediately felt the strange trance which seemed to surround her from all sides and she heard the agonizing scared voice of the bear. In her strange low voice she began to talk to the Ewok in his own language, ensuring the little creature felt safe.

In a flash she saw what had happened to this little bear, but images of a happy, healthy little Ewok, running around in the village, jumping to the branches of the trees, almost immediately began to fill her mind. As she gently penetrated the mind of the little bear to pass on what she was seeing, her little patient began to smile happily and tranquilized.

She sat next to the wounded tree bear's body and let her hands hover above its injured leg. The warm radiating blue flow immediately began to emanate from her fingers. It covered the wound and in her mind she saw how the frayed wound edges became smoother. The muscle tissue inside the wound seemed to smooth itself. A damaged blood vessel stopped bleeding and a strange way of tissue repair seemed to set in. As she felt that the little tree bear had also fallen asleep she released herself from her concentration again and turned to the next wounded Ewok.

Using her new concentration experience she helped all four wounded Ewoks. All the time Logray watched her, but he never interfered with her way to help his fellow tribesmen. After she had finished her task Logray made a deep bow and handed her a another bowl of water which she accepted with a smile.

For a moment she and Logray sat together in total silent, watching the four Ewoks who were fast asleep, two of them were even snoring.

As Liane rose Logray followed her downstairs. He opened the door to the platform outside his tree house and made a deep bow again. Liane felt he was showing his respect for what she had achieved with her strange way of help.

Back in her tree house she sat down on the edge of bed. Her former questions came up in her mind again. This couldn't be the Force, could it? It felt so great that she understood what the wounded Ewoks were saying, but how could it be that she could answer them in their own language without difficulty? However, most of all she has a great feeling of joy about the odd and deep trance which had surrounded her and especially the strange radiating blue flow from her fingers had felt peculiar and baffling, but very comfortable. Her deep concentration had given her a heightened sense of what those wounded Ewoks feared, She also was sure that the images she had put in their minds, had helped them to relax. She wondered about those mystifying and puzzling images she had seen. Those images must have shown her the future of the injured Ewoks and as soon as she had passed on those images in the little bear's mind she knew what needed to be done to start the healing of the bear's injury, hovering her hands above the wound. That strange radiating blue flow from her fingers that had started a kind of healing process, repairing the damaged tissue and stopping any bleeding.

A knock on the door interrupted her musings about her strange experiences. As she opened the door, Logray stood waiting, together with Chirpa and two others of the elders.

"Hada kono wilato miko. Tana kono simitiko dona, Logray said with a bow and also the Ewoks in his company made deep bow.

['I have told Chirpa and the others. Like me they are grateful for what you did.']

"Komano sofi gemati kimo sama." Liane said humbly.

['I hope what I did, will be of some help to them.']

Chirpa stepped to the front.

"Tanoka timo sama diddo tika. Wikala pona diddo temo."He said and grabbed her hand with his paw.

['This help is very important. Come with us and join our meal.']

Surprised Liane followed the four Ewoks to the village center where the members of the tribe where greeting her with respect.

Rumors of her way of help had already spread among the other tree bears.

Chirpa took her with him inside his tree house. With kind gestures and many bows he made clear that she should sit his own chair which stood on dais at one side of the room. Chirpa bowed again while he walked backwards to a corner of his house. All the while he remained looking at her. He took an object from a shelf and walked back to her. With great respect he offered her a necklace with beads of many different kind of dried nuts, flower seeds and shells of tree fruits. He made clear to her that he wanted to lay the necklace around her neck. Liane bowed her head and Chirpa slid the necklace over head. He carefully arranged it.

"Hama diddo manoko sampa Aay-lee," He said, as he turned to the others elders who had entered the room.

['Eilidh is now an honored member of our tribe.']

"Koma tanka molano diddo kama tamona romo sinikomo tala,"He continued.

['We welcome her as a new member and will celebrate the future recovery of our wounded tribesmen']

He beckoned her to follow him outside, where the other Ewoks had made preparations to serve a lavish meal. Liane got a seat among the elders flanked by Logray and Chirpa. Astounded and impressed by the ritual she tried to express her appreciation for the honor which the Ewok chieftains had bestowed on her. On a whim of kindness she put her hands on the paws of chieftains who were sitting next to her, squeezing those paws gently to show her gratitude. All Ewoks burst into loud cheers.

Having become a respected and honored member of the Ewok tribe now, Liane used the visualizing of images and the healing flow emanating from her fingers to help every wounded Ewok in the hospital tree house. The recovery of the wounded bears began immediately after she had started with her special way of treatment, but she also gave her help to Ewoks with minor injuries which she could treat with the emanating blue flow from her fingers. Those small injuries almost cured within a day, sometimes even in a few hours. Her new way of help still astonished and puzzled her, but it also earned her Chrirpa's and Logray's growing admiration and the respect of all the other Ewoks, from the older ones to the little ones which still cling to their mothers. To express his gratitude chieftain Chirpa ordered Teebo to end his task as her guard.

Marek Grann looked at the blaster which was pointed at him.

"Mister Grann where is Liane Solichor?" A voice snarled from behind a leather mask which covered most part of his face.

The face of the governor of Rasth immediately hardened.

"I don't know anyone going by that name, " He answered.

"You know whom I'm talking about. She is traveling with your sons under the name of Eilidh Grann."

"You're better informed than I am. Who are you? Do you have a governmental warrant to interrogate a private person? Put that blaster away, will you?"

"Tell me where I can find the girl. You know where she is."

"I haven't the faintest idea, Mister ...?"

"My name is of no importance, Mister Grann."

"If I don't know to whom I'm talking, I'm not obliged to answer any of your questions. Will you please excuse me."

Marek Grann was about to step back inside ,when the masked visitor suddenly lunged at him and tried to grab Marek's throat, but the governor of Rasth once had been a Rebel fighter and a very tough veteran officer in the Alliance.

He took hold of his opponent's arms, made a slight side turn and threw his attacker with a formidable throw over his shoulder on the garden path.

In his fall the surprised attacker lost the blaster. Marek Grann quickly kicked it out of reach. The attacker managed to get to his knees and ducked for his weapon, but Marek kicked his boot hard on his opponent's hand, and with his fist he gave him a hard blow between his eyes. The attacker fell backwards on the garden path again, bumping his head at the stones.

Marek grabbed the lapels of the attacker's jacket and pulled him to his feet again. Swaying, the attacker grabbed at his bleeding nose, but Marek Grann didn't gave him time to recover and kicked him in his stomach.

Groaning the attacker fell on his knees. Once again Marek grabbed the jacket of attacker and pulled at the attacker's mask, but suddenly the man yanked himself free. He scrambled more or less half upright and stumbled off as fast as he could. Marek went after him, but he slowed down, when he saw how his attacker had already reached an old model landspeeder, managed to crawl at the driver's seat, started the engine and drove off at high speed. He watched him go. He turned back to the house, picked up the fallen blaster and went inside.

Once back in his office he scrutinized the weapon thoroughly.

"An old model imperial blaster," He said pensively after his close examination, "So my attacker probably is an old enemy. I'd better warn commodore Skywalker."

He walked over to his study and requested a special connection via a procon message.

"Special request for commodore Skywalker from Marek Grann." He said. The voice recognition robot requested his personal code. Marek gave it and waited.

"Requested contact can not be established," the voice of the system answer, "You can leave a vidage or put in a emergency request to establish a connection as the requested contact has entered his code connection."

Marek Grann activated the vid-cam of his system.

"Record this vidage with immediate delivery to commodore Luke Skywalker," He stated.

"Confirmed. Recording of your message starts within one minute," The system answered.

Marek waited until a green light appeared.

"Commodore Skywalker, you're not the only one who is looking for Eilidh Grann, "He said and in short he told how an unexpected visitor had asked him about Eilidh, "The man was masked and threatened me. He started to fight, but I managed to catch him off guard and outwit him. During our fight he lost his blaster. As I wanted to take his mask off, he managed to get away to a waiting speeder and left at high speed. The blaster is an old model imperial one with a legible number. I will send it to Irithim for further research."

He pressed the recording button and the green light disappeared.

"Confirm end of recording, " He said.

"End of recording, confirmed. Vidage received at the account of the requested contact. You will get confirmation if the requested contact viewed it," The voice answered.

Marek logged off and looked at the empty display.

"My dear Eilidh, I don't know what's going on, but I will protect you as good as I can. It's obvious that more guys are looking for you and probably not all of them have good intentions."