Vision of the future

the Qom Jha.'

'Really,' Mara said, hoisting herself carefully to her feet and hobbling over there on unsteady legs. It was a roast avian, all right, simmering on a cooking pad. 'Awfully nice of them. Where did you get the cooker?'

'I sent Keeper Of Promises back to your Defender for the rest of the survival gear,' Luke explained. 'I'd rather have sent them back to my X-wing—the spare kit Karrde put together was a lot more complete. But after our brush with the Threateners they're not all that eager to go roaming around outside.'

'This from the species that eats fire creepers raw?' Mara pointed out as she eased back into a sitting position by the cooking pad. 'Pretty selective skittishness.'

'It's a little more complicated than that,' Luke said, seating himself cross-legged on the floor across the cooking pad from her and gesturing toward the food. 'Hence the gift, actually. They've come to the conclusion that you saved their lives in there.'

'I don't know how they figure that,' Mara grunted, tearing off a piece of the roast. 'We were the ones being shot at, not them.'

Luke's lips puckered. 'Actually, there's some question about that. Splitter Of Stones thinks it was the Qom Jha who the Threateners were firing at, not us, at least until you started shooting back. And as I've gone back through my memories of the battle, I think he's right.' Mara took a careful bite. The meat was a little overcooked for her taste, but not bad for all that. Anyway, as her loudly growling stomach reminded her, a person who hadn't eaten in five days couldn't afford to be too choosy. 'Interesting thought,' she said, 'but I'm not sure where it gets us. Whoever they were shooting at, the fact is, they're still touchy about strangers.'

'Maybe,' Luke said, his tone odd. 'But maybe not. Haven't you wondered why the Threateners never came into the cave looking for you after you knocked yourself out?'

'Are you sure they didn't come in?' Mara countered around a mouthful of food.

'The Qom Jha say they didn't,' Luke told her. 'There were a couple of flybys with their ships, and that was it. In fact, as far as Child Of Winds knows, they never even conducted an outside ground search of the area.'

Mara chewed thoughtfully, resisting the urge to point out that Child Of Winds was not exactly the most reliable source of information around. 'Okay,' she said. 'Let's assume the Threateners lost interest in me. Where does that get us?'

'If they simply lost interest, I don't know,' Luke said. 'But what if they didn't lose interest, but just decided to wait until you found your own way into the High Fortress?' Mara took another bite. That was a disturbing thought. In fact, it was an extremely disturbing thought. All the more so since that exact course of action was one she had actually considered early in her captivity. 'I don't know if Karrde mentioned it to you,' she said slowly, 'but the way we found this system was by tracking the escape vectors from two of their ships to an intersect point. My assumption has always been that they simply didn't know we could track their vector for a few microseconds after they jumped to lightspeed. But now I'm not so sure.'

'You think they wanted you to come here?'

'It would fit with them not searching all that hard for me after I landed,' Mara pointed out. 'Of course, if we argue that direction we then have to come up with an explanation as to why they tried to shoot you down.'

'Maybe they're not interested in having more than one guest at a time,' Luke suggested, gazing out into space. 'Or maybe they don't want to talk to anyone from the New Republic until they've talked to you first.'

Mara eyed him closely. There had been a flicker in his emotions just then... 'Is that just off the top of your head?' she asked. 'Or are you getting something from the Force about it?' He shook his head, still gazing at nothing. 'I'm not sure,' he admitted. 'But I have the feeling... no, never mind.'

'No never mind what?' Mara demanded suspiciously, pressing at the corners of his mind. 'Come on, we don't have time for games.'

A muscle in his cheek twitched. 'I get the feeling it's you they want to see,' he said. 'You, specifically.'

Mara lifted her eyebrows. 'I'm flattered. My fame just continues to spread.'

'Eater Of Fire Creepers did say they'd heard the Threateners talking about you,' Luke reminded her. 'I wish we knew the context of the conversation.'

There was a flapping from the stairway, and one of the Qom Jha appeared. It spoke—'Thank you, Flyer Through Spikes,' Luke said. 'Go see if Keeper Of Promises has any news, if you would.' The Qom Jha replied, and with a flurry of wings was gone down the stairway. 'I've had some of the Qom Jha patrolling the upper areas of the stairway and listening for activity outside the doors,' Luke explained. 'Flyer Through Spikes tells me the upper areas of the fortress were active for a while this morning, but they seem to be quiet again.'

'Ah,' Mara said, tearing off another bite with perhaps a bit more force than necessary. Those blasted Qom Jha and their blasted unintelligible voices—