Chapter 69

"Close up, Gold Squadron," He ordered.

Immediately the ten X-wing class star ships closed the formation.

"We're going to follow them at sublight speed and see what they're up to,"

"Confirmed, Gold Leader," Came the reponse of his team.

"Gold Leader, they are leaving their outside orbital position," Gold Six commented.

Immediately preceding Gold Six's comment Wedge had already reached out to the Force to get a glimpse of the Basilisaea's intentions. Carefully he watched the star destroyer from a distance, using his skills to envision what the commander of the Basilisaea was up to.

"Gold Leader, what if they are going into hyperspace?," Gold Two commented, noticing the change in the position of the star destroyer.

"They probably will. Keep your eyes open. Use your visual scanning and see if they reappear." Wedge commented.

Almost immediately the star destroyer had disappeared. Wedge and his Gold Squadron increased their speed, setting course along the trajectory the Basilisaea had followed. All Wedge's men were at the highest level of preparedness.

"There she is again at point zero-seven-zero, Gold Leader," Gold Three reported.

"Good work, Gold Three. On my mark we follow them through hyperspace; four, three, two, one." Wedge ordered.

Gold Squadron went into hyperspace as one smooth unity. Wedge looked at the synchro to keep track of their time in hyperspace.

"Sublight activation, Gold Squad; four, three, two, one," He ordered and his team came out of hyperspace near Palomintar Four. At some ten planet diameters the Basilisaea drifted in orbit around the planet.

"What kind of business do they have there, Gold Leader?" Gold Eight asked.

"Keep radio silence, Gold Squad," Wedge ordered.

He moved his X-wing in front of his team and watch the imperial star destroyer which was getting closer to the planet's surface. As it had reached four planet diameters its movement stopped. A hatch underneath opened and two small transport ship were launched.

"Increase speed to maximum power and dive. Follow me. We're going to intercept those landing transports," Wedge ordered and the ten X-wing dived. Being more maneuverable and faster they reached the two slow transport ship within minutes.

"Prevent them to land. Force them back to the star destroyer. Basilisaea, this is Wedge Antilles of Gold Squadron. Call back your transport ships. No landing is allowed on one of the planets in this system with exception for Ktafunda on Palomintar Six by order of the Supreme Leader of the New Republic. The rest of the Palomintar System is neutral territory. Call back your transport ships."

"Good work, master Antilles," He heard as an answer, "We take over from you and your men. Basilisaea, this is the New Republic Tychorion. State the necessity of landing those transports on Palomintar Four." The stern voice of Crix Madine sounded in his headset. He switched on the open hailing frequency of his ship.

"We stay underneath those transport ship and keep them from landing, general," He answered.

"Basilisaea, call back those transport ships, or we hooked them on our tracker beam and have the crew arrested for violating the truce between the New Republic and the former imperial forces." general Madine ordered.

Wedge craned his neck to look at the transport ships above him. The engines of the ships suddenly stopped and the ships just floated in the void of space. Slowly they seemed to turn around, but their engines weren't started. Wedge carefully watched the scene; the Basilisaea closed in and drew their landing crafts inside, then the imperial star destroyer went into hyperspace and took its former position outside the Palomintar system.

"They've left, general," Wedge reported to the Tychorion.

"Excellent intervention, Gold leader," Madine answered.

Wedge ordered his men to resume to their former position, when he felt Leia's presence through the Force

'Wedge, I want you to come on board of the Tychorion. There's much we have to discuss. Any sight of the Astræa? Any word from my brother?' Leia asked.

'Neither of the Astræa, nor of Luke, Leia. I will ask permission to board,' Wedge answered.

Wedge opened the special frequency of the Tychorion.

"This is Gold Leader. I wish to come on board, general."

"Granted, Gold Leader. We open the hatch to the docking area."

"Gold One, take over."

"Copy, Gold Leader." Wedge's second-in-command acknowledge.

The X-wing of Gold Leader neared the Tychorion and Wedge made a perfect landing at the docking area. As soon as he had landed he saw Leia and his general walking up to him. He waited until the docking crew had fastened the landing staircase and jumped to the platform. Wedge made a formal salute to general Madine. Leia grabbed his arm, looking up at him with a relieved face.

"Good to see you, Wedge. How are you?" She said.

"I'm fine. No problems, so far, but I think it's a bit odd for the Basilisaea to set course to Palomintar Four."

"It isn't, Wedge. Probably Vestor wants the new instruction in his search for Ian. Darth Golluth knows that my padawan got wounded in Ktafunda on Palomintar Six and brought to the medic center."

"That happened several weeks ago."

"Darth Golluth probably doesn't know what has happened in the mean time. His communication system has been cut off. There has been a successful attempt to hack and infiltrate the Quoith computer system. Our engineers have traced the activities to a communication system on Palomintar Four. They have intercepted the downloaded data which contained among other things a lot of information about Liane's imprisonment on Wegoyy. It's very likely that Darth Golluth has found out that Ian was her guard before he became my padawan."

"Are you suggesting he assumes that Ian got befriended with her on Wegoyy and that she will help him once she learned he is wounded."

Wedge started to laugh.

"That guy has to learn a lot, Leia. He doesn't seem to know that your padawan is in good health again. It's good to know that his communication lines are cut off. His spies could have informed him as you and Ian were on Dalmaran consulting Mon Mothma about our intervention in this system."

"That's a lucky coincidence, but my padawan and yours have left Na'ctaMagh'Ba together with Liane to an unknown destination and they haven't turned up here yet. Neither of them responded to the Jedi way of communication." Leia commented and Wedge heard a worried tone in her voice.

Madine joined the conversation.

"Your Highness, if the Astræa turns up now, the Tychorion can intercept her and bring her on board. I'm sure those three runaways will tell us their reason for their flight."

"Does Luke already know, they have gone?" Wedge asked.

Leia shook her head.

"He hasn't answer my latest calls, Wedge. Has Han contacted you? The Millennium Falcon must have entered Palomintar's orbit several days ago."

"My men and I have seen him, but the Falcon hasn't contacted me, Leia?"

Leia nodded with a frown.

"Then I know what has happened. Han has probably gone to Palomintar Four already. I fear that against Mon Mothma's order my husband has landed the Falcon, using its cloaking facility, near the spot were we left Luke and the harvesters. General, I want to use your communication system immediately."

"Then you'd better follow me quick, Leia," Madine said.

On board the Basilisaea commander Vestor was outraged.

"How can that so-called commander of a very small contingent of X-wing have intercepted our plans." He grumbled at his second-in-command.

The captain of the Basilisaea wisely kept his mouth.

"We should be noticed it, if he had been asking for support. Did our communications officer intercept such a call, captain?"

"No sir. I have checked that immediately when the Tychorion came out of hyperspace."

"Somehow they seemed to know exactly what our intentions were. Captain, I want you to contact Darth Golluth on Palomintar Six. Send a coded message and ask them information about that Tydon guy."

"Yes, sir. Anything more you wish?"

"No, not at the moment. I'm going to figure out a plan to get all the information I need to capture that guy, otherwise I won't have reason if I want to exchange that guy for lieutenant Whain."

"We are going to take Ian Tydon as a hostage, but you told me he is wounded? What if he dies on board the Basilisaea?"

"Our staff of medical droid will keep him alive, as long as necessary, captain. What will happened afterwards with him is none of our business. As soon as we are able to get lieutenant Whain back on board, we're leaving this system. I want to get to Coruscant to discuss the situation with the provisionary imperial government."

"I will contact Darth Golluth. Let's hope he will answer right away."

The captain and second-in-command of the Basilisaea left, leaving admiral Vestor with a brooding mind full of unanswered questions. His position as an admiral in the imperial fleet and the commander of one of the last full functioning star destroyers might be at stake if he didn't get the young lieutenant back on board. Normally he wouldn't bother about a subordinate, but this lieutenant was assigned to the Basilisaea by the first consul of the provisionary imperial government. At first he had refused to take the young man on board of the Basilisaea, arguing that he wanted only experienced crew members on board a ship that operated under his command, but the consul had put him under pressure. He had met the young Whain shortly after he had spoken the consul and he had to admit that the knowledge of the young lieutenant had impressed him.

Vestor slammed his desk.

"What a fool I've been to accept this foolish request to bring him before that self-proclaimed Sith Lord, because he could reveal that already known information. Darth Golluth wasn't impressed and send me off, keeping the guy as his prisoner. Well, I think I did well to send those files to the guy. I hope he can benefit from it after he has read the stuff."

Vestor had to admit that deep in his heart, he had become to like the young lieutenant who was a very intelligent and amiable person. He felt like a father to the young man. His features saddened and softened, as his thoughts dwelled for a moment on his own three sons. Dedicated young men who had paid a high price for their service on board the second Death Star and Darth Vader's super star destroyer Executor. His face became grim as he recalled the moment he had got the message of their death. No, this time he wouldn't fail. He had to get the consul's ward safe back on board the Basilisaea and back to Coruscant.

On Palomintar Four Luke, Cornell and his men, Han and Chewie were sitting in the main cave. Chati had followed Luke as a shadow and the young Jedi had awarded her with a seat next to him. Luke looked around the circle of men and still saw and felt the agony and fear his Jedi hibernation meditation had caused. Even Han and Chewie who knew him better seemed still scared.

"First of all I want to apologize for the anguish I have unwittingly caused. I realize now that as a Jedi I possess skills and abilities other species find weird and even frightening. I never had the intentions to frighten any of you with my Jedi meditation. I owe you an explanation about what's happening during a Jedi hibernation. Cornell was it you, who found me?" Luke asked politely.

The Quelan harvester still looked suspicious, but finally he shook his head.

"No, master Skywalker. It was Ronall, my son, who went inside the alcove. He thought he heard something and wanted to check out."

Luke looked at Ronall who was still looking very uncomfortable.

"I apologize for what you saw, Ronall. I know it has horrified you." Luke said with compassion.

"I thought you were dead, master Skywalker," Ronall whispered, "You didn't breath. I felt your pulse and felt nothing. I though I'd better warn Cornell."

"You did well, Ronall. I should have informed Cornell in advance about those hibernation sessions."

"What's the use of it, kid?" Han interrupted.

"There are a lot of reasons why a Jedi should go into hibernation. Mostly it's used when wounded. Jedi hibernation slows down all important physical functions. That give a Jedi the opportunity to reach a place where he can get proper medical treatment. It can also used during long space travels."

"What if there's no one to wake you up?" Han asked. "I think you're lucky that Chati used those words."

"I instructed Chati, Han. She had to use the Jedi greeting to wake me up, but I would have woke up by myself in two days."

Han grunted, not convinced or satisfied with Luke's answer. He looked at Chewbacca and shrugged his shoulders.

"Master Skywalker, sorry to ask, but would Chati always have interfered, if some one of us would have found you?" Ronall asked.

"Yes, Ronall. It was unfortunate that I was brought to the Falcon..."

Chewbacca grunted a very angry comment.

"Yes, Chewie, it was unfortunate, because Chati had to find a way to enter the Falcon without being noticed. She is the youngest among us, the runaway daughter of Toallin, and not all of us take her presence seriously. Chati has shown her excellent skills as a Quelan when she realized I had to be awakened, before you and Han would have taken me back to Dalmaran."

Luke had put his hand on Chati's shoulder.

"Chati possesses the same skills and abilities as I do. She is a strong Force user and in the future she will be trained as a Jedi Knight. From the beginning I instructed Chati how to act when she had to wake me up from Jedi hibernation. The first time she was as frightened as you, Ronall, but she controlled her fear and did what I told her she should do."

The harvesters looked in awe at Chati, who sat with a embarrassed face next to Luke.

"Never knew, Chati, you're a Jedi Knight too." Ronall said and started laughing, "We all treated you as troublemaker, an stubborn girl, and now it turns out you're of more use to Ben than we are."

"I'm not a Jedi Knight, Ronall, I'm even not a padawan. I hope to become one. One day," Chati said in a whisper, "and I want to help all of you and not only Ben. I want to do useful things here and learn from you. I want to help everywhere I can."

"You're a fine young woman, Ma ... Chati," Cornell complimented the girl, "We're very glad to have you with us."

Chati beamed with pleasure and looked around her fellow Quelans with more confident.

"We accept your apologies, Ben, but you haven't explained what the purpose is of that hibernation state." Cornell said.

"Yeah, that's what I want to know," Han said still looking skeptical, "You weren't wounded and you're not traveling in space. So what's the use of it here on Palomintar Four."

"You're right, Han, there is no use of Jedi hibernation at this moment and I can't see a useful appliance immediately, but the Force has shown me some possible future developments where this knowledge might become useful. Let me explain what happens during a hibernation session and how I bring myself into that state. I start doing a normal Jedi meditation in which I concentrate on the Force allowing her to influence my breathing, my heart beat, my body temperature and my metabolism. All those functions are brought into a lower state. To an outsider I don't breath any more, my heartbeat can no longer be felt and I feel cold, even the color of my skin changes. A Force user like Chati can use his or her Force potential to feel my slow heartbeat and breathing. The fact that my body temperature has dropped to an absolutely low doesn't frighten him or her, nor does the skin color."

"Will you be practising this again here, Ben?" One of Cornell's men asked.

Luke shook his head.

"I don't think it will be necessary. I know what consequences this Jedi meditation would have on me and my surrounding."

"Fine with me, kid. Don't do this again to me. I still feel shaken." Han commented.

They all started to laugh. The tension of the event quenched and Cornell's men started to get to work again, when Han's infocom bleeped.

"Han, where are you?" The voice of Leia sounded.

Han left the cave.

"I'm with the harvesters, darling. I went down to Palomintar Four to assist your brother."

"You've neglected Mon Mothma's orders," Leia snapped.

"Glad I did, your brother has learned himself some idiotic new Jedi feature. He scared me to death. You should ask him yourself and tell him that he never uses this again," Han bickered.

"Is Luke alright?" Leia asked concerned.

"Better than ever. What about me?"

Leia started to laugh.

"As I hear you, you're in a fine shape, darling. Nothing seems to be wrong with you. Listen, Han, can you lift off unseen and come to the Tychorion. Maybe Luke should join you. There are some serious new developments."

Han heard a worried tone in his wife's voice.

"What's wrong, Leia? Are Liane and those padawans alright?"

"That the main point of my concern."

"We leave immediately. I will ask Luke to join Chewie and me. See you on the Tychorion."

Whain put the tiny datacron between the lining layers of the collar of his uniform jacket and sewed the split. Then he put his datapad in his pocket and left his room. Looking calm he walked to the main entrance of the underground dwelling, greeted the droid guards and went down the sloping path. He knew the droids were watching him, so at the end of the path he turn left in stead of going straight to Ribana. He had already figured out that the left path first went up on the mountain ridge, but sloped downward, and out of sight of the cave entrance, into the valley behind Ribana after an hour's walk. He could reach the deserted city from the rear side without being noticed. He walked firmly along the rocky path, carefully observing the surrounding landscape. The valley behind Ribana must have been a very fertile area. He still could see the outlines of arable land. The fields itself were overgrown with weeds.

At an intersection just before the road began to slope downwards Whain turn right and vanished between the overgrown path. Some ten meters after some thick high growin g bushes he descended into the valley along a hidden stepping stones where a small stream of water trickling down into the valley below. Whain laughed grimly at himself. Even if Darth Golluth would use a sniffer droid it wouldn't find his footprints on these hidden stones. Carefully he had prepared today's walk. On his prior walks he had set up some false and fake tracks around the entrance of Darth Golluth' underground dwelling. By accident he had discovered the overgrown stepping stones and had found out that they lead from the afforest hilly area that surrounded the valley behind Ribana into the valley itself. Quickly Whain jumped further down the steps, carefully putting his feet in the water flow. In the distance he could already see the goal of his walk: a deserted domed estate in the middle of a vineyard. The overgrown fruit trees completely withdrew the house from view. He had visited the estate once. It was still intact. Even the main cellar could be reached. It would be a perfect hide-out and would serve his goal: reading the classified information admiral Vestor had send him.

Every time he had left the underground dwelling he had taken care to take the small datacron with him, hidden somewhere among his clothes. Whain knew that if Darth Golluth would find this tiny chip everything would be lost. That's why he had decided to hide the datacron somewhere in the cellar of the vineyard estate building.

Leia watched as the Millennium Falcon boarded the Tychorion. Han had indeed managed to leave Myr unseen after their short conversation. She hoped that Luke was with him.

"Millennium Falcon has landed," A PA-system blared through the huge hall. Leia left her place behind the window of the control room and walked over to the familiar shape of the Corellian freighter. The ramp came down as she neared the ship. She waited patiently, but suddenly her face brightened as she felt the presence of her brother and of another Force user. Luke had come, but he had also taken the young Quelan woman with him. Why? She looked up and saw Han and a young Quelan girl walking down the ramp, followed by Chewbacca and Luke. Han hurried over to her and hugged her.

"Missed you, darling," He said and gave her another passionate kiss, "Glad to take you back on board the Falcon again. I suppose you're coming with me, if we're going back to Myr?"

"I will, my love," Leia said and turned to the young female Quelan who stood waiting with her eyes cast down. Han pushed the girl to her.

"This is the stowaway who secretly hid herself on board when we left Tyr. This time I put her in one of the passengers seat to next to your brother to keep an eye on her," Han said with a mocking laughter.

"Hello Chati, welcome on board the New Republic Tychorion," Leia said friendly and stretched out her hand.

"It so huge," Chati said in awe, expressing her feelings about the impact the size of the Tychorion had made on her.

She still kept looking around the main landing hangar, before she realized she was neglecting Leia's outstretched hand. She formally bowed, as she had seen when Wedge Antilles had saluted Jedi master Skywalker.

"I'm honored to meet you again, master Jedi Organa," She said on a very formal tone.

Leia started to laugh.

"My brother seems to have instructed you well in our formal salutation, Chati," She said and returned the formal greeting.

Meanwhile Chewbacca and Luke had joined them and Leia hugged the Wookiee and her brother.

"Are you alright, Luke?" She asked.

"Why are you asking, Leia?" Luke returned the question.

"Han said you have been using some frightening Jedi meditation. What is it?"

"I'll explain later, Leia. Tell me, how is Liane doing? Is she alright again?"

"Let's go to Madine quarters. He's waiting for us. I will give an update on the situation that has arisen," She said and Luke heard a concerned tone in her voice.

The company boarded a small transport speeder that brought them to the commander's quarters. There they met with Wedge Antilles and general Madine. The general greeted his friends friendly and affable. Luke introduced Chati and Madine welcomed the young Quelan female on board.

"Will Chati attend this meeting too, Luke?" He asked.

"Yes, general. She is my padawan leaner at the moment. I want her to be informed about what's going on."

Chati had looked up at Luke words and the others laughed as they all saw how the young girl's self-esteem seemed to grow. Even Madine couldn't suppress a smile. He told his duty officer to serve drinks and ordered the subordinate that he didn't want to be disturbed. After the officer had left they all took a seat around the conference table. Chati looked at Luke.

"A padawan always supports his master, Chati. They act in unison. Your place is behind my seat. Listen carefully and never reveal what's being discussed." Luke said whispering to the girl who was standing near him.

"Yes, B.., master," Chati whispered.

Luke patted her gently on her shoulder.

Leia looked at general Madine who nodded.

"Luke, I first will give you an update on Mon Mothma's effort to convince the Senate to send more support to the Palomintar System. The Senate couldn't consent with her wish to send the entire fleet. The members fear that the mission would be an infringement of the truce we have signed with the provisionary government on Coruscant. She only gave Han and Wedge permission to go to the Palomintar System with the strict order that neither of them should land on Palomintar Four."

She looked at her husband with a frown. Chewbacca grunted a long sentence in Han's direction. Han shrugged his shoulders.

"But, as the Falcon can land and depart unseen, it might be a useful opportunity to help the Quelans getting their home town back," Leia continued.

"You're overruling the Supreme Chancellor's order?" Wedge asked.

"I don't. Mon Mothma's order was explicit as long as the Tychorion hadn't arrived. From now on the Falcon can land on Myr, but I think it's wise to use it's cloaking facility. We don't want to give the admiral of the Basilisaea a reason to land on the planet as well."

"The Tychorion will take care of that, Leia," The general said.

Leia nodded.

"The second item of this meeting concerns Liane and our padawans Yarmod and Ian."

"What do you mean, Leia?" Luke asked strained.

"Our three friends have taken the Astræa and left Na'ctaMagh'Ba without telling the space port official of Mas'onom their destination."

Flabbergasted Luke, Han and Chewbacca looked at each other.

"Why didn't you tell me, Leia?" Luke asked.

"I couldn't reach you, Luke. I've tried several times this last week, but you didn't answer my Jedi telepathy call," Leia said with some reproach in her voice.

For a moment Luke leaned back in his chair.

"You probably were in Jedi hibernation, master," Chati whispered.

Luke nodded.

"My fault, Leia. I'm sorry. I have been practising a new Jedi meditation: Jedi hibernation. Anakin instructed me and I must admit that it might be useful. In which way I don't know, but I'm glad I thoroughly have obtained this knowledge. I will pass on this knowledge to you and Wedge after we have fin..."

"No, I protest, I don't want my wife to lay like a corpse next to me. I forbid you to tell her how you did it. Leia, I've found this guy nearly dead in the cave." Han protested.

"Master Solo," Chati said quietly, "If this knowledge belongs to the Jedi, you shouldn't refrain master Organa to obtain that knowledge, for I think, that she will learn it somehow. I have seen master Skywalker doing it and I'm sure it's safe to use."

"Shut up, girl," Han snapped, "Master Organa, as you called her, is my wife and I'm telling her brother I don't like it she will obtain this dark side knowledge of Darth Vader. I can't speak for your master; he can decided for himself if wants to follow the instruction of his father."

Leia raised her hand.

"Han, darling, let's stop this useless discussion."

"Useless discussion," Han said surly, "You didn't see your brother, I did. No breathing, no heart beat, cold as ice and a skin color as a dead body laying in a snowstorm on Hoth."

Leia heaved a sigh. She knew her husband's objections against her Force use.

"Han, leave it until later. I'm sure Luke can reassure us all. I want us to concentrate on our three fugitives. I've told you, Luke, that Liane had a Force vision while Wedge and I were visiting her in Mon Mothma's residence. We've heard her talking to Trevor. Later I talked to her alone, urging her to stay on Na'ctaMagh'Ba. She told me that she felt she had to go to Palomintar Four and seek out Trevor. Because I couldn't reach you, Luke, I've asked Wedge to look out for the Astræa." Leia summarized her part of the story.

"So far, my men and I haven't found any trace or spot your ship, Luke," Wedge said.

Luke was silent. The others watched him.

"The Astræa can land unseen too. Like the Falcon, my ship also has a cloaking facility. It wouldn't be easy to spot her. Leia, Wedge, did you contact your padawans?"

The two Jedi Knights nodded.

"Yarmod didn't respond," Wedge said.

"Ian either," Leia said.

"So we don't know anything about their whereabouts. They can be everywhere in this galaxy, but their most logical goal would be Palomintar Four. How long are they away now?" Luke asked.

"More than a standard fortnight, Luke," Leia answered.

"I will see if I can reach one of our padawans, or Liane, using Jedi telepathy tonight, when I'm back on Myr," Luke said, "If not, there's only one option left: we have to be on our guard and notify each other if we notice something unusual on Myr. Wedge, can you and Gold Squadron set up surveillance flight over Myr?"

"We can, but what about the Basilisaea? Vestor will probably notice our actions," Wedge commented.

"Master, may I suggest another option," Chati said humbly.

"Go ahead, Chati," Luke said, raising his hand to silence the others.

"Master, this big ship, can't it go into orbit above Myr at such a height that it can see the mountain ridge, the valley were the Quelans once lived and Ribana. Only that part of Myr has been inhabited by us. The rest of the continent is rural uninhabited area. Nobody lives there, even the Quelans avoid it. Behind the mountain ridge the land is barren because the radiant heat of the lava flow has wiped out nearly all vegetation. The southern part of Myr is forested at first, but when you go further south the trees disappear and the landscape turns into a deserted plain. Sometimes the nagawa's stray and wander that far and we had to drive them back. You can ask Cornell and the other, if you don't believe my story. "

Chati's face had turned read during her story.

"I can show you what I mean. It must be possible to spot those friends of master Skywalker long before they can land with their space ship." She added.

General Madine pressed several buttons in front of him. In the middle of the table a holographic image of the Palomintar system popped up. Madine amplified Palomintar Four, the forth planet of the system.

"You're a good listener and you've done a fast way of problem solving, young lady," He said, "My compliments. Now show us the areas you mentioned. Come over here. It's easier to point the locations from this side of the table."

Chati walked over to Madine's seat. She pointed at some spots. Automatically the area she pointed out amplified and the attendees got a clear view of the area she meant.

"This the mountain ridge to the north of my home town. Behind it is the barren wasteland of the lava flow. Ribana, where the Quelans lived, is over there. To the west is the valley we used to grow our crops and vegetables. My family owned a large estate there with a vineyard. To the south, here, is the forested area. The trees grow a large part of that area, but they are growing smaller until they are no longer trees, but just small bushes. Finally these bushes disappear too and the deserted plain is covered with a weed which is dangerous. It entangles any traveler who tries to cross it, leading to a certain death. We have lost several of our men as they were looking for our herds of nagawas."

Again Chati's face had turned red. General Madine put his hand on the young girl's arm.

"Thank you, Chati, for this excellent explanation. We will move the Tychorion away from Palomintar Four up to two hundred planet diameters in the orbits between of Palomintar Five and Six. At that height we still can keep a close watch over the area you have pointed out to us. Wedge, you and your men can do some surveillance at a lower height, while watching the activities of the Basilisaea and keep her at bay. We keep in touch with the Falcon, using a shielded pro-con communication frequency. If any movement approaching Palomintar Four or near the surface in this area is being noticed, we can alert you, Luke, and give you the exact location."

Madine turned to Chati.

"Young lady, I think you should instruct my surveillance droids where to look. You will provide them with the coordinates of that area you pointed out."

He called the duty officer.

"Take this young Jedi padawan to our observation system. The droids have to be programmed to set up a visual and audio surveillance in an specific area on the continent of Myr. She knows the exact coordinates. She has to confirm the images the droids are plotting, are matching the area precisely. Oh, lieutenant Nordean, after she has finished, show her around at the Tychorion," Madine said and laughed at Chati, "I feel, that you're quite curious about my ship."

"Wow, thank you, sir! I didn't dare to ask, but I would love to see a bit more of this ship. Master Skywalker, may I leave with the general's lieutenant?" Chati asked.

Luke who nodded. Leia jumped to her feet and took off her Jedi coat.

"You put this on, Chati. It's almost your size and you will look in it as a Jedi padawan," She said and wrapped the coat around Chati's shoulders fixing the clasp under her chin. All of them laughed.

"Alright then," Madine ordered, "Off you go, young padawan. Come back when you've finished your round."

To be continued...