Chapter 58

In the meantime Han tried to convince general Madine to set up a quick action in the Palomintar System, but the general told him that he needed support and conformation of Mon Mothma.

More than a week after their landing Leia and Han met with the Supreme Chancellor.

"Welcome back, Leia," Mon Mothma said affably, "You too, general Solo. You've been away a long time, leaving me unaware about what was going on in the Palomintar System. Where's your brother, Leia?"

"Luke is still on Palomintar Four, finding a way to undo the injustice that has been done to the Quelan community of Ribana and to eliminate the danger that Darth Golluth represents to Quelans and to the New Republic."

Mon Mothma rose, walked over to her desk and pressed a button on the infocom on her desk.

"Yes, ma'am?" the holographic image of her droid secretary asked.

"Cancel all my appointments for today and tomorrow, and tell general Madine to come to my office at once. The next two days I don't want to be disturbed. Will you make sure that while I'm awaiting the general enough food and drinks will be brought to my office, and make arrangements for lunches and diners."

"Yes, ma'am," The droid secretary answered and the image disappeared.

Mon Mothma walked back to the lounge area.

"How is your padawan, Leia? What happened to him?"

"Ian is assisting Chewbacca at the space port. He is fine, madam, thank you. He fully recovered after he got some very sever burns."

In a nutshell Leia told Mon Mothma what had happened to Ian and how Toallin and Mugin had taken care of him during his recovery. She didn't tell anything about the way of his recovery, but focussed on what Toallin and Mugin had done for him and what they had told her, Han and her brother about the occupation of Ribana and the forced flight into exile of all the inhabitants of Ribana to the other landmass Tyr. Han added the part about the force labor most young male Quelans had to do to prepare Darth Golluth' underground realm under the mountains near Ribana to Leia's story.

Mon Mothma listened carefully and took notes. She nodded approvingly when Leia and Han told they had accompanied the two former governors of Ribana to their home town to do some first investigation. She was highly surprised when Leia told her that they had had an encounter with Darth Golluth in Ribana, but that he hadn't noticed their presence.

"Isn't that odd, Leia? I thought, that Force users feel the presence of each other, no matter if some one is a Jedi or Sith. What's your opinion about that? You just said that your brother sensed the nearing droid guards that were accompanying Darth Golluth, but that he didn't sensed our adversary himself. You all saw Darth Golluth when he passed the house where you were hiding?" Mon Mothma asked.

The door of Mon Mothma's office slid aside and general Madine entered. He greeted Han and Leia wholeheartedly. Mon Mothma gave a recapitulation of Leia's story.

"So, miss Solichor's adversary isn't probably a Force sensitive user," The general concluded, after he had heard about their encounter with Darth Golluth in Ribana. Leia immediately tempered is optimistic view of the situation.

"Neither Luke, nor I can exactly tell you, what to think about this anomaly in the Force. Sometimes I feel as you do, general, but on the other hand we mustn't underestimate Darth Golluth. Liane has told us that he has spend a lot of time on Morantan. He also has been a member of the echelons around emperor Palpatine. It's possible that he might have gathered some dark knowledge one way or the other."

"You forget, darling, that Liane told us, that also your father wasn't convinced about admiral Matrik's real Force focus." Han said.

"So we still don't know what kind of Dark lord he is. So it's unsure what dark knowledge he has gained to call himself a Sith," Mon Mothma concluded.

"If he really is one, " Han added.

"Tell me the rest of your initiatives."

Leia told about their visit to Cantamaga and the reunion of Toallin and Mugin with their families. Mon Mothma nodded with a smile.

"That's good to hear, but I fear that the exiled inhabitants of Ribana aren't in a position to recapture their city on their own. As Darth Golluth has forced many of their men to work for him I fear that not many have survived."

"That's right, madam. Toallin and Mugin were able to escape and so were two other groups. They are still living in exile on other planets in the system, or have found a new life elsewhere. The group of Quelans in Cantamaga consist of the women and children, middle-aged and elderly Quelan males and the harvesters. It's those harvesters upon the Quelans in Cantamaga have established their hopes."

"Those harvesters form a kind of militia, Leia?" Madine asked.

"No, general. They are bunch of tough men who spend a lot of time on Tyr, harvesting the fruits of the nut trees. They live in the wild for most of the season."

Madine looked doubtful.

"I also had some doubts in the beginning, general, but they are a well organized bunch of men who came up with a possible plan to get that weirdo from that dwelling under that mountain. You won't believe their plan, but I estimate they might succeed within the next five or six years." Han continued cynically.

"Han! That's very unfair, they want to do their share, that's all," Leia said.

"Is it, Leia? I don't say it can't be done. I only want to indicate that they lack the right equipment to carry out the plan."

"Can you tell, what they want to do, general Solo?" Mon Mothma asked.

Han nodded and explained the plan of the harvesters to the Supreme Chancellor. Mon Mothma shook her head. Han looked with a glimpse of triumph in his eyes to his wife. Leia neglected his look.

"Mon, there's another more serious development you need to know. As we went back to Myr we took a group of the harvesters with us. They wanted to continue with the work they had started before the inhabitants of Ribana had to be evacuated to Tyr. Luke and I wanted to visit Ribana again and see if there would be a way to meet Darth Golluth directly. As we lifted off from Tyr, we encountered the Basilisæa of admiral Vestor orbiting of the system at high altitude. We changed the original plan and came back to Irithim right away to inform you," Leia said looking very worried.

"A very unusual spot for the only imperial star destroyer that escaped the downfall of the empire. Did they see you?" Mon Mothma said sternly.

"They pursued us , but we shook them off, chancellor." Han said proudly.

Mon Mothma looked at her strategic counselor, general Madine.

"Crix, we've already been discussing possible assistance in the Palomintar region. It's no use to send those scouts to Palomintar Six anylonger, so you can withdraw those men. I think, we'd better inform admiral Vestor, that his presence in the Palomintar System isn't impressing us. It's an infringement of the truce we've signed with the temporary imperial government on Coruscant," She said before she turned to Leia.

"Leia, did you meet Wedge Antilles on Palomintar Four? I've got a message, that he was heading to the Palomintar System to assist your brother. Unfortunately he didn't send me any further report. I hoped he would have contacted me one of these days, for I want him to go to Na'ctaMagh'Ba to see if Liane is alright, but we also might need him now if we want to set up a strategic plan to liberate Ribana."

"Luke has already send Wedge to Liane, because she told my brother about a strange call she's got on the residence communication system." Leia said.

"A intruder got access to the residence communication system. That's very serious, Leia. Do you know what happened? Liane didn't answer that call, did she? I've warned her, she shouldn't."

"She didn't. Artoo and Threepio prevented it. Artoo has intercepted and recorded the illegal access to the system. Afterwards Threepio and Artoo decided to disconnect the com system."

Mon Mothma heaved a sigh of relieve.

"And Wedge Antilles is with her now?"

"Yes, with his padawan Yarmod Martan. If you agree to send help to Palomintar Four, madam, Luke wants me to go to the residence with my padawan; come back with Wedge Antilles and leave Ian Tydon with Yarmod and Liane."

"Excellent plan, Leia," Madine said, "Wedge can also take that recorded call with him, so we can do further investigation on that intruder."

Mon Mothma laughed.

"I've got the impression that you and your brother have already prepared parts of a strategic plan. I'm very relieved that Wedge Antilles is with Liane at the moment, for I can't find time to go there myself. Leia, I will make an emergency request to the leaders of Dalmaran to get permission to use the submersible to get you and your padawan to the residence. In the meantime you, general Solo, will team up with general Madine and prepared the Tychorion to be ready to go to the Palomintar System. My first idea is to make full use of our total fleet, but I need to coordinate that in the Senate. I have to convince the senators that we have to scare off that last imperial star destroyer. A little demonstration of our full space fleet power must be enough to refrain admiral Vestor of any thoughtless actions. Thank you all for your time. May the Force be with us."

Liane looked up from the page projected on the display of datacron reader. On the opposite seat Wedge Antilles and Yarmod were equally involved in reading one of the old books of the Jedi library. She smiled as she recalled how she had explained them they had to focus on the Force to be able to understand the old writings in Jediese. In the beginning their progress had been slow, but after their third visit to the Jedi library they could read the texts almost fluently.

Liane was still studying the small yellow-orange box with Nomi Sunrider's story. So far she had followed her ancestral mother on her trip with her husband Andur to the Stenness system. She had read about the devasting murder of Andur and Nomi's arrival on Ambria and her first Jedi-training under Master Thon. Meticulously she had copied a transcript in Basic on her datapad. That Basic copy she kept with her all the time, because it allowed her to read about Nomi Sunrider without using the datacron reader. To know what had happened to Nomi Sunrider gave her a way to grasp the scope of her own relationship with the ancient female Jedi Knight.

She leaned back against the cushions of the lounge and closed her eyes for a moment. Her thoughts wandered off to Luke. How wonderful it would be to have him here and tell him what Nomi had taught her.

'How are you doing, my dearest? Thinking of me?' A soft familiar gentle voice said in her mind.

'Luke, is that you?'She answered amazed.

'Of course I am,'The voice continued.

For a moment Liane didn't know what to answer.

'Are you ... still on Palomintar Four, or ... ' She didn't finished the sentence.

'I am still on Palomintar Four and you make me very happy with your use of Jedi telepathy.' Luke's voice sounded with a familiar laugh, 'You still want to teach me how to read Jediese, don't you, my dearest comrade?'

'I do, but, Luke, I don't understand. You're so far away and I still can talk to you without using the Jedi-pendant.'

'My dearest pixie, the ability to use Jedi telepathy isn't limited at short ranges, as we practised on Endor. Jedi-telepathy works through the Force without the need to be close to the person you want to reach. Especially when there is a strong bond between them, and we're a Force dyad. A tighter bond isn't possible. Now that your Jedi knowledge is growing, Liane the more the Force becomes your ally, and the more your skills expands. What are you doing at the moment?'

'I'm still reading Nomi's story, Luke. Her story makes me feel happy and sad at the same time.' She said with a happy feelling, 'Have you made any progress with your plans?'

'Enough to be satisfied. Luke said elusive, 'And can you get along a bit better with my friend Wedge?'

Liane silenced.

'I appreciate his presence, but he's not like you, Luke, but it's nice to talk to him and Yarmod. We're having the same kind of discussion you and I always have. He has helped me tremendously using my lightsaber practice and Yarmod and I are doing lightsaber training every day.'

'That's good, Liane. I have to say goodbye now. I blow you a kiss, my dearest friend. May the Force be with you.'

'May the Force be with you, Luke'Liane whispered and looked up.

Wedge looked at her.

"Talking to Luke," He asked with a smile.

"Did you hear what I said?" Liane asked abashed.

"No, I didn't, but I felt your Force contact with him. I didn't know you're able to keep in touch with him using Jedi-telepathy?"

"Neither did I, so far I always used the Jedi-pendant to get in contact with him." She answered, "We have been practising Jedi-telepathy every now and then, especially when we were together, but I never used it while he was on the other side of the galaxy."

"Liane, may I ask you something?" Wedge asked and took a seat next to her.

"Sure, what you want to know?" Liane said suddenly smiling about his humble voice.

"Are you willing to show me the Jedi-pendant Luke has given you?"

"You've never seen a Jedi-pendant?"

Wedge shook his head.

"There's a picture in Jedi path. The book Luke's father also studied when he was a padawan learner. But an image isn't like the real one, of course," Liane said and unfastened the chain with the pendant

She handed it to Wedge Antilles. He carefully took it in his hand and studied it for several minutes.

"Do you like it?" Liane asked.

"It's extremely well done. It's very difficult to make. Luke has told me how he made, when I was on Tatooine with him to assemble my own lightsaber. Did he tell you that those little glowing crystals he used on the blade are very tiny Illum crystals?"

"I've never asked Luke, how he made it, Wedge. Are you sure, these are Illum crystals?" Liane asked.

"While he had retrieved the Illum crystal he had chosen to use in his new lightsaber, several shards snapped off. He has saved those shards to serve another purpose. Later when he had gone back to Tatooine to forge the Jedi-pendant, he used the shards in the blade of this pendant."

Astonished Liane looked at the pendant in his hand.

"Thank you for telling me, Wedge," she said using his first name.

Wedge Antilles handed the pendant back. They looked at each other.

"I know I've hurt your feeling, Wedge," Liane said gently while she fastened the chain at the back of her neck, "I know, you've been wondering if you did something wrong, when you told me I had to quit my explorations. Don't deny that my restrained behavior has raised many questions in your mind. I felt your worries about your relationship with me. I know, you're here with the best intentions, you want to be a friend, like Luke, and I've hurt your feelings with my uncooperative behavior. I apologize for being that rude, Wedge, for I want you to be my friend."

She stretched out her hand. Wedge looked at her, then he reached out and took her outstretched hand. Neither of them spoke, but the look in her eyes told Wedge that she had finally accepted him as a friend. He held her gaze for a moment.

'I'm glad you want to see me as a friend, and no longer as a stranger, Liane,' He said using the common way for the Jedi to communicate.

'Thank you for accepting my friendship,' She answered at his telepathic words.

Liane's infocom beeped. She reached for it and pressed the button.

"Yes, Threepio, what's the matter?"

A series of angry binary beeps were heard. Liane looked at the tiny holo display and started to laugh at the tiny figure that bumped up and down on its sturdy wheels.

"Artoo! Are you furious, because we've lost track of the time? Where's Threepio?"

"Mistress Liane, Artoo wants to know when you will be back?" The holo image of the protocol droid asked.

"We're leaving now, Threepio," Liane said and switched off the info com, "Wedge, can you ask Yarmod to release himself from his Force reading trance?"

Wedge laughed

"That's easy," he answered. He walked over to his padawan and tapped him on his shoulder. Almost immediately Yarmod retreated himself from his Force trance.

"I've done a very nice long reading, master," He said, "There's a lot in here about the founding of the Jedi Order and the Old Republic, very interesting."

Suddenly he rubbed his stomach.

"Boy, I'm hungry, shall we go to the residential area."

To his surprise Liane and Wedge burst into laughter. They carefully locked away the boxes they had used. Wedge and Yarmod took their cloaks, Liane put on her flashlight and after having dimmed the lighttubes they head back to Mon Mothma's residence.

Doran Whain sat in front of the two screens. He cast a quick glance at a tray with the half emptied water bottle and a plate with some undefinable mash.

'Almost twelve hours,' He thought, 'and still no results.'

He blinked to focus his attention again on his work, but his eye sight was becoming more and more blurred caused by a lack of sleep. He turned half around to the two droids which stood behind him.

"I want to rest," He grunted.

"Confirm that you have carried out our master's demands," the droids said in unison.

'One day I'll blast you to pieces,' Doran thought, but he knew his thoughts were useless. The two droids were heavily armed, before he could eliminate one the second would attack and killed him. He turned to the screen again and started typing a series of codes. He leaned back, grabbed the water bottle and took some bites of the mashed food. It tasted like desert sand mashed with Bantha oil. He washed it down with a gulp of water, but it still tasted horrible. On the screen blinking series of binary code flashed on and off. Finally a message appeared. Whain uttered a curse. No luck, access denied again. This was useless, the new protection layer of the New Republic wasn't easy to crack. He still couldn't reach his pal Haym Nefloren this way. So far he had been working nearly twenty standard hours to find a loophole or a secret backdoor to enter the Quoith computer system.

"Any luck, major Whain," a voice suddenly said next to his ear.

The unexpected question made him shudder.

"I've told you it's impossible with this rattling system to hack a communication system as sophisticated as Quoith."

"I need those files, major Whain, no excuses, or lamentations." the voice continued.

"You've already repeated those sentence a hundred times."

A heavy electric bolt hit Doran in the back. He slammed forward unto the keyboard.

"I'm not asking you to comment," the voice hissed, "Get to work on that file. You, droids, see he's working this whole night, no further food, no rest."

Disappearing clicks of a long pike on the floor indicated that Darth Golluth has left the cavern. Doran was alone again with the two menacing droids. He rubbed his head and his back. Once again he entered a series of codes. The maddening flashing started again, but suddenly Whain noticed a very familiar combination of binary numbers.

'Dalmaran via Quoith, the secret procon connection' He thought, 'Now I can leave a message to Coruscant.'

He stopped the flashing coding and scrolled back through the data. He found the combination, isolated the series of binary numbers and started to send a coded message, using an old imperial encryption method. He carefully disguised his action against the optical sensors of his bionic guards.

Luke stood on the ridge, looking down at the dense forest. Behind him he could hear the voices of the harvesters, a constant murmur. Shortly after sunrise they had climbed the steep trail, carrying most of their equipment to the work camp from where they would continue with their plan. Luke had done his part in carrying several heavier crates of equipment. Using his Force abilities, he had astonished the harvesters with the ease with which he moved up the steep trail. They expressed their gratitude and appreciation for his unusual help, accepting him as one of their own without much ado.

The second camp was smaller than the main camp down in the valley, but the harvesters had built a number of different tree houses along the edge of the trees, adding to them over the years as they worked. Cornell had cleared out one of the smaller tree houses, which normally served as a storage place for supplies, and had arranged it so that Luke had his own space. The largest tree house, built among the lower branches of a circle of old trees, served as a community building where the harvest men ate together and discussed their work strategies. The other tree houses were used for sleeping. Mostly, however, the harvesters gathered outside on the rocky plateau. There they usually sat after their meals and divided up the work. There was strong cooperation among the harvesters, and few words were needed to allocate tasks.

Although Luke appreciated the good cooperation between the harvesters, he had senses that the young deputy harvester Fonall wasn't yet a truly accepted member of the group. The young man had been very careful not to approach Luke and had studiously avoided exchanging a word with him. Neither during the climb on the steep path, nor during their shared meal had the young man shown any interest in him, while the other harvesters enjoyed to have a Jedi Knight in their midst.

Luke had watched the young man silently, and when the other harvesters sent him away to fetch water for their meal from a nearby stream, Luke had followed him, taking a different path through the woods that crossed the stream, near where Fanoll could easily fill the containers. Luke waited behind some trees and used altus sopor to become absorbed in the Force.

The young Quelan had left the group without being noticed and was walking along a forest path staying out of sight of the camp site. Luke silently observed the young Quelan and smiled.

Fanoll was very busy filling the containers with water, when a shadow fell on his hands.

"Why are you hiding yourself for me this way, Chati?" Luke said gently.

Startled the girl looked up.

"I'm Fanoll, master Je... " She stammered, but before she could finish her sentence Luke had grabbed her arm.

"Chati, I have a very important lesson for you to learn. Never try to fool a Jedi Knight. I already sensed your presence on board the Falcon. Why didn't you stay in Cantamaga?"

"I apologize, master Jedi, that I have tried to mislead you. Are you going to bring me back to Tyr, master Jedi? Please, don't, master Jedi. Cornell says I can learn to do the same work as his men."

The voice of the girl sounded guilty, but Luke also senses a glimpse of hope.

"Master Kamalin and your parents would be only too happy, if I could get you back safe and sound to Tyr, Chati. They were very worried when Kamalin told your father he found out you hadn't slept at your room. However there's one big problem; I can't take you back for now, because I have sent the Falcon back to Dalmaran. You must stay with Cornell and me from now on. Master Cornell feels responsible for you. Chati, master Kamalin wanted you as his assistant, not only to teach the younger ones of your people, but also to make you more aware of your Force skills. You have a great Force potential. You have seen how your master and I could use the Force to pick up one of those snacks using the Force. I've asked master Kamalin to let you experience this kind of Force use, so you would learn to do it yourself. In stead you let him down and disappeared without telling anyone what you were up too. You've only thought about the excitement that would lay ahead if you could go to Myr. You didn't consider, not for a minute the consequences your deed. You haven't thought how worried your father, your mother, master Kamalin and all the others would be."

Chati bowed her head.

"No, master Skywalker, I never have thought of them. I wanted to stay with you. I wanted to help you and your friends and with the harvesters to retake of Ribana."

"And how did you plan to do that?"

"I don't know, master Jedi, but there certainly will be possibilities for me to be useful," Chati said and looked up hopefully, but her eyes only got Luke's stern face.

"Chati, this isn't a trip full of excitement and adventure. This is a mission against a possible user of the Dark Side of the Force. Haven't you understood what I told you about my training under master Yoda and how I failed in my first battle against the Dark Side, my first battle with Darth Vader, the man who once had been Anakin Skywalker, my father. My story should have made you aware of the many dangers I have encountered before I became a Jedi Knight. "

Chati silenced. She felt the firm grip of Luke's fingers on her arm and knew she had been misjudging her plan. Luke released her and took one of the water containers.

"You get the other one. We're going back to the others and have a word with Cornell. Afterwards I will explain to you why the Dark Side might hold a danger for you too."

"Thank you, master Jedi," Chati murmured and took the second container effortlessly on her shoulder. She followed the path back to camp site. Luke Skywalker, who admired the young female Quelan in silence, walked close behind her. To be honest, Chati reminded him of his own reckless adventures, before Master Yoda's strict training had made him aware of the importance of controlling himself and concentrating completely to be mindful of the moment. She also reminded him of Liane.

As they neared the camp site Cornell was waiting for them. He looked with a stern face at Chati.

"I told you, that you should stay away from the Jedi master, Mayan. Get to your chores, I'll talk to you later."

Luke raised his hand in an appeasing gesture.

"It's alright, Cornell. It's not her fault. I deliberately followed her. I knew from the beginning who she was. You did a good job to give her a camouflage as a harvester. No one would have recognized her as Chati Fonaldris in this outfit." Luke said using a soft Force tone in his voice to ease Cornell's anger, "Maybe we'd better talk in the tree house you have so generously prepared for me. We have to discuss what consequences Chati's presence has for our plans and how we can protect her."

Cornell mumbled something inarticulately, but walked over to Luke's tree house and beckoned Luke and Chati to follow him. Before Luke wanted to climb up the rope ladder he looked at the girl and smiled at her reassuringly. Chati sighed relieved. Luke Skywalker wasn't really angry at her.

Once inside tree house Cornell sat down on the only upturned crate and looked at Luke as he reached Chati his hand and took her gently inside. He point at some thick fur nagawa fleeces that served as his sleeping place.

"Sit down, Chati," he said and took a seat next to the girl, then he looked at Cornell who still looked at them with a stern face.

"Thank you, Cornell, for taking care of this stowaway. I would like to share the responsibility you feel for her." Luke said.

"Master Skywalker, she shouldn't be here. I've already scolded her, after I've found her in one of the hidden cargo holds of the Millennium Falcon. She's always a nuisance; she's never behaving like a female Quelan should do. From the moment we arrived at Cantamaga she has constantly causing trouble. And now I have to keep an eye on her to make sure I can bring her back to her parents safely. I ordered Cemall, my son, to teach her our manners, so she would learn how to use our weaponry. I want her to work and stay with the others."

"She still will do as you have ordered her, Cornell. Teach her the way the harvesters work and live. It will do her well. Your teaching will make her aware what it means to be responsible for others and to be a member of a community. There's nothing wrong with your approach."

Cornell watched Luke with some distrust.

"You leave her under my supervision?" He said thoughtfully.

"I do, for I have things to do." Luke answered.

"Thank you, master Skywalker, my apologies. When I saw you come back with her I thought you would look after her from now on. You, Mayan, get out of here and get to your chores. You've heard what master Skywalker just said; he has no time to listen to your daydreams and fantasies, he has other plans and you're not part of them," Cornell said and pointed sternly to the leather curtain that cover the entrance.

Chati stood up, grabbed the pole to descend the rope ladder, and nearly slipped off. Luke gave a gentle wave of his hand and prevented her from taking a nasty fall. Cornell looked at Luke suspiciously.

"Why are you interested in this unruly Quelan woman, master Skywalker? I know you have been talking to master Kamalin. Before we left I heard that he had asked her father if Mayan could become his assistant. I also have seen you and Mayan walking uphill one of the first days after your arrival," Cornell asked, showing his disapproval of Luke's intervention.

"I asked Chati to show me around in Cantamaga, Cornell. She introduced me to Master Kamalin and I sensed how much Master Kamalin and Chati liked each other. I became intrigued why she has been provoking the community by wearing male clothes and behaving completely opposite from what is expected of her as a female. You're not the only one who scoffed her for her daydreams and fantasies."

"And I won't be the last, I presume, master Skywalker. I never told anyone, but I have seen that girl more than once playing, running around and waving with a branch as if she held a kind of sword in the nut tree forests. I always kept an eye on her, because those nut forests aren't without danger. We, harvesters, aren't carrying our weapons for nothing. The canopies of the nut tree are the breeding grounds of the Urams, fierce birds of prey, that attack any intruder of the nut forests.

I've been attacked more than once and so are my other men. I always became alerted if I saw Chati going into the woods. One day one of the Urams flew down and landed on several paces of the girl. I gave a scream and the ferocious bird flew away. I took her home and forbade her to play under the nut trees again. My words didn't seem to impress her for not long afterwards I saw her again in the woods. She was sitting under one of the nut trees, looking up to a young Uram which sat on one of the lower branches. She looked at the bird and the bird was clearly looking at her. There absolutely was a kind of contact between them. When she noticed me, she jumped up, looked at the bird, waved at it and it vanished among the canopy. I can't explain what she was doing.

One thing is very strange; the Urams never have attacked her, never have done her any harm. I saw them watching her, and she was always looking up at their nests, but the adult birds never came down. The young ones were very curious and to me it seemed as if the adults allowed their offspring to get a closer look at the girl. It looked like they were accepting her presence. I tell you this, master Skywalker, because I can't explain why they never attack her."

Luke leaned back against the wall of his tree house.

"It pleases me very much that you entrusted me with this story, Cornell. Thank you for telling me. You said you'd never told this to anyone. Let's keep this a secret between you and me."

"Can you make sense of it, master Skywalker?" Cornell asked surprised.

Luke nodded.

"I can, Cornell. The Urams probably sensed Chati's connection with the Force, Cornell. The girl is Force-sensitive. Just like those two Jedi friends of your father must have sensed that your father was a Force-sensitive friend they could trust. It's very unlucky that we met that imperial star destroyer which was drifting in space outside the Palomintar System, otherwise I certainly would have brought her back to Cantamaga. Due to the unexpected appearance of the imperial star destroyer I didn't dare to tell Han Solo to get back to Tyr, because I feared those imperials might detect Cantamaga and would start an investigation. My first obligation was to protect the Quelans who live there. That's why my brother-in-law played a kind of hide-and-seek with the star destroyer.

The leader of the harvesters was silent for a long while. Finally he looked up.

"It's good to talk with you. You're very honest, master Skywalker, thank you for taking into account the well-being of the people of Cantamaga. So, Toallin's daughter is Force-sensitive and may I conclude that master Kamalin also knows how to use that strange power you called the Force? My father has explained it to me, at least he tried, but we harvesters are no-nonsense men and aren't superstitious, or believing in some unseen power, nevertheless my father still is convinced that the Force is influencing all the living creatures, the Urams as well. He told me that his Jedi friends had a strong connection with the Force. I sense that you have a similar believe in Mayan who more than once have told my sons that one days she would become a Jedi Knight, just like those old friends of my father. I even forbade my father to tell her more about his Jedi friends," Cornell said, while he started to laugh, "In all seriousness, Master Skywalker, will you train her to become a Jedi Knight? You will have a tough task, master Skywalker, to teach a girl like her some obedience. May I wish you luck?"

Luke started to laugh too, but shook his head.

"No! I'm not going to train her to become a Jedi Knight. I only want to make her aware of her Force abitlities. Now that she has managed, against all odds, to get to Myr, it will be my duty to take over master Kamalin's task and teach to her some basic knowledge about the Force. I have to explain to her what it means to be Force-sensitive, and especially what kind of responsibilities her Force skills bring to her. Whether she ever will be trained as a Jedi Knight, or not, I can't tell you. If she really develops the right skills and ability to become a Jedi Knight, there is a long path for her to go. A path full of dangers, mistakes and failures. It won't be easy for her, for it isn't a easy path to commit yourself to learn the ways of the Force. Maybe she will be trained as a Jedi in a far future, but every now and then she'll certainly wish, that she had stayed with you and the harvesters, or with her family in Ribana. Your harvester training surely is tough, but becoming a Jedi Knight is much tougher. For now, Cornell, we both have to take care of her, that's what we owe Toallin and Chati's mother Udine.

There's one other thing I want to ask you. Do you have some spare harvesters' outfit about my size, so I'll be disguised as one of your men."

"You're wise man for your age, master Skywalker. Like my father Manall, I'm honored to have a Jedi Knight among my friends. Sometimes history is repeating its self."

He gave Luke a firm hand, his face had an inviting smile.

"I'll make a harvester of Mayan Fonaldris, and afterwards you'll may decide if she can be trained as a Jedi Knight. Agreed? I will get you our clothes, equipment and weaponry. Maybe I should make a harvester of you, too, master Skywalker."

They both laughed and shook hands and went back to the camp site outside.

Leia and Ian stood on the underground platform of the government building in Irithim, waiting for the submersible to arrive. Mon Mothma stood next to them.

"Come back immediately, Leia. We need Wedge Antilles to help us set up a strategic intervention plan. Ian, it will be your responsibility together with Wedge Antilles' padawan Yarmod Martan to take care and protect Liane Solichor, " The Supreme Chancellor said.

"I'll do as you wish, ma'am. It will be easy, Liane and I are getting along very well, and so is Yarmod. On Endor we both helped her, while she was taking care of the wounded Ewoks, using her healing powers."

Leia looked with a warning glance at her padawan. Ian quieted.

"There's your transport, Leia. Have a good trip. May the Force be with you." Mon Mothma said, while the submersible emerged along the underground quay.

"Thank you, Mon. Come on, Ian. Let's get on board. I want to get away right now."

The hatched opened automatically and Leia climbed on board the bobbing boat. Ian followed her. The hatch closed again and slowly the submersible sank under the waterline. Mon Mothma watched it go and sighed. She turned around and went back to her office, where Han, Chewbacca and general Madine were waiting.

"They just left," she said when she entered her office through the secret entrance.

"Good," Han said and looked at his chrono, "They will reach the residence in about a day. Stop worry, Chancellor, we'll get this all fixed in no time."

Mon Mothma laughed.

"I'd wish I had just a tiny bit of your optimism, general Solo. Anyway, let's hope for the best. The only thing we can do at the moment is wait until Leia returns with Wedge Antilles. Crix, are your preparations on schedule."

"There's a tiny delay, because I had to recall several of ships of our allied systems which were doing some routine flights through our neighboring system. Most of them are on their way. I'm awaiting their confirmation."

"Send all our associated system an urgent message, Crix, and tell them it's my order that they abandon their missions immediately and return to Dalmaran. Oh, and, general, when our fleet is complete I want to inspect it. Will you make sure, I've your permission to board the Tychorion. I will instruct our commanders on board our main frigate."

"Will see to it, Mon. As soon as the fleet is ready I will invited all the commanders on board the Tychorion. They will be pleased to meet you."

"Thank you, Crix, and now will you please get on with your preparation. I call for you again as soon as Leia has come back. That will be at earliest within two days."

Han, his Wookiee friend and general Madine left and headed for the space port to discuss the technical and logistic details of the operation.

To be continued...