But there was nothing.
Artoo gave a questioning warble. 'I can't sense her,' Luke admitted. 'But that doesn't necessarily mean anything. We're still pretty far out, and she may not be strong enough to reach this far. She could be asleep, too—that would limit her range.'
The droid didn't respond. But it wasn't hard to guess that his thoughts were paralleling Luke's. And there was also the vision Luke had had three and a half weeks ago at the Tierfon medical facility. That image of Mara floating lifelessly in a pool of water...
'Anyway, there's no point in worrying about it,' Luke said, pushing that vision into the back of his mind as best he could. 'Do a quiet sensor scan—nothing that'll set off their detectors. Or at least, nothing that'll set them off if they work the way ours do.'
There was an acknowledgment, and another question scrolled across the X-wing's computer display. 'We'll take the same route in that she did,' Luke answered. 'Down the canyon to the cave where she disappeared. Once we get there, we'll take the X-wing inside and see what happens.' Artoo twittered an uneasy-sounding acknowledgment. Glancing at the course record Talon Karrde had given him, Luke eased the X-wing toward the planet, wishing for a moment that Leia were here with him. If those creatures that Mara had run into were intelligent, it might take not only Jedi skill but also diplomatic finesse to deal with them. Finesse that Leia had, and that he didn't. He grimaced. On the other hand, they probably weren't very happy back home that he'd taken off this way without notice, let alone if he'd tried to bring Leia along with him. No, Leia's diplomatic skills were needed most back in the New Republic.
What skills would be needed here he'd find out soon enough.
They were still well outside the planet's atmosphere when the X-wing's sensors picked up the two alien spacecraft rising from the surface toward them. 'So much for stealth and secrecy,' Luke murmured, studying the sensor profiles. They definitely looked like the ship he and Artoo had spotted on their way out of the Cavrilhu Pirates' nest in the Kauron asteroid field. That ship, though, had cut and run before he could get a close look at it. Now, as this pair rose rapidly toward him, he could see that his first impression of the craft had indeed been correct. Roughly three times the X-wing's size, they were an odd but strangely artistic combination of alien manufacture melded with that of the all-too-familiar TIE fighter design. At the bow of each ship was a slightly darkened canopy, through which he could just barely make out a pair of Imperial-style flight helmets.
Artoo whistled pensively. 'Steady, Artoo,' Luke warned. 'It doesn't necessarily mean they're allied with the Empire. They might have found a TIE fighter somewhere and borrowed from it.' Artoo's grunt showed his opinion of that one. 'All right, fine, probably not,' Luke said, eyeing the incoming ships. A minute later they were on him, rising slightly above the X-wing and altering course as they curved into flanking positions on both sides. 'You getting weapons readings?' The droid whistled, and a rough schematic appeared on the computer display. The ships were quite heavily armed. 'Great,' Luke muttered, stretching out with the Force to try to get a feel for the situation. But all he could detect were the basic emotional backgrounds of the three beings aboard each ship. Alien minds thinking alien thoughts, with no point of reference for him to latch on to. On the other hand, their flanking positions were more suited to escort than attack. More importantly, Luke's Jedi senses weren't indicating any immediate danger. For the moment, at least, they were probably relatively safe.
And it was time to start acting friendly. 'Let's see if we can talk to them,' he suggested, reaching for the comm switch.
The aliens beat him to it.
The droid warbled a worried-sounding confirmation: it was indeed the same transmission Karrde and Mara had picked up from the alien ship that had buzzed Booster Terrik's
'I understand,' Luke said. There was a click from the comm; and suddenly the two alien ships dropped toward the surface. Luke was ready, following and sliding quickly back into his place in the formation. 'Show-offs,' he muttered under his breath.
He had spoken too soon. A second later the two ships again twisted away, this time curving slightly up and then hard to starboard. Artoo screeched as the portside ship shot uncomfortably close over his head, the tone of his displeasure rising sharply as Luke cut the X-wing hard over to again match the maneuver. He had barely settled back into his place in the center when they did it again, veering to portside this time.
Artoo grunted. 'I don't know,' Luke told him as he caught up with his escort again. 'Maybe there's some kind of defense system they've got set up that requires a specific approach if you don't want to get blasted. Like the pirates had at their asteroid base, remember?' The obvious point scrolled down the computer display: according to the
Artoo grunted. 'Or they could be trying to create an excuse to open fire,' Luke agreed grimly.
