Vision of the future

She might have gasped in pain; she wouldn't remember later whether she had or not. But suddenly Luke was crouching on the slideway beside her, his surge of fear dimly sensed through the waves of pain hammering at her. His hand briefly probed the area of the wound, and she could feel the pain ease somewhat as the Force flowed from him into her. 'What do you think?' she managed through clenched teeth. 'We seen enough for this pass?'

'Sounds good to me,' he said, his lightsaber humming angrily as he swatted more of the blue blasts.

'Then—'

She blinked in surprise. Above her was the edge of one of the fortress floors; but it was pulling up and away from her. Even now, she could see, they were coming down to the level they'd started from. 'How'd we get to the down part of the slideway?' she asked.

'You rolled onto it when you were hit,' he told her, shifting his hand from her neck to a supporting grip cradling her shoulders. 'Don't you remember?'

She shook her head. The movement sent a fresh surge of agony through her shoulder. 'Combat reflex, I guess. Wait—my blaster!'

'It's all right—Keeper Of Promises picked it up,' Luke assured her, shutting down his lightsaber. He half rose from his crouch, and she could feel herself also rising in the eerily intangible grip of the Force. 'Here we go.'

The level they'd come in on was starting to move past them now. Stretching out to the Force, carrying Mara with him, Luke leaped over the up section of the slideway to land on the solid floor beyond. Cradling her in both arms, he hurried down the corridor toward their hidden door.

'Look, I can walk on my own,' Mara growled, glancing back over Luke's shoulder as he ran. Some of the Qom Jha were visible coming up behind them, but so far there was no sign of other pursuit. 'You don't have to carry me—'

'Don't argue,' Luke bit out, his mind frothing with concern and worry. 'I just hope Artoo didn't lock the door— ah.'

Ahead, the door was swinging ponderously open toward them, pushed by an obviously straining Child Of Winds. Trying to work past her pain, Mara stretched out to the door with the Force, giving him as much assistance as she could manage. The droid, rolling forward to help, squawked in surprise and hastily backed up just in time as Luke and Mara charged in, followed by four of the Qom Jha. Seal the door, Mara heard Splitter Of Stones's order through Luke's mind as the Qom Jha flapped madly to a halt.

'What about the others?' Luke asked as two of the Qom Jha landed on the hand grips and began tugging.

They have gone into the other passages, Splitter Of Stones said. They will try to lead the Threateners away from this area.

'We can hope,' Luke said as the door swung back into place. 'Seal the door—I'm going to take Mara down to that last landing.'

'No—go up,' Mara said, digging out her glow rod with her left hand as Luke started down the stairs. 'If they find the door, they'll probably assume we went down.'

'Makes sense,' Luke agreed, turning and heading up. 'Artoo, you make sure they get it sealed and then stand guard.'

A minute later they'd reached the landing. 'I wish we still had our bedrolls,' Luke said as he laid her carefully down on the cold stone and took the glow rod from her. 'How does it feel?'

'Like someone's roasting an Ewok in there,' Mara told him. 'Not as bad as it was, though. Is that a pain- suppression trick you're using on me?'

'For what it's worth,' Luke said, sticking the glow rod between his teeth and stripping off his jacket. 'It's not nearly as effective on someone else as it is on yourself,' he added, talking around the glow rod as he bunched the jacket and slid it under her head as a pillow.

'I knew there was something else I should have stuck around the academy long enough to learn,' she said, hissing between her teeth as Luke set the glow rod down on her chest and began carefully pulling the burned edges of cloth away from the wound. 'I don't suppose you offer a crash course.'

'I usually like to ease into that lesson a little more gradually.' Luke's lip twitched. 'Ouch.' Mara looked down at her shoulder, and immediately wished she hadn't. ' 'Ouch' doesn't even begin to cover it,' she told him, feeling a little sick as she resolutely turned her eyes away. The burn was a lot nastier than she'd guessed. 'I think I've just decided I'm going to miss the medpac more than I am the bedrolls.'

'Don't give up just yet,' Luke soothed. His fingers were stroking the skin of her shoulder and neck; and as they did so the pain again decreased. 'I know a couple more tricks.'