Vision of the future

state it's in.'

'Especially not if those resources are needed to battle some other threat,' Mara agreed, unstrapping her restraints. 'Which unfortunately means we have to get back in there and pull copies of that data for ourselves. At least then we'll have a chance of blocking whatever Bastion does to pull them in on the Imperial side.'

She could sense Luke forcing the tiredness from his mind. 'You're right,' he said as he started unfastening his own straps. 'If we can get Artoo to a computer jack so he can download everything—'

'Hold it, hold it,' Mara said, reaching over and putting a restraining hand on his arm. 'I didn't mean right this minute. We're not going anywhere until you get those burns healed.'

'They're nothing,' Luke protested, glancing down across the scorch marks. 'I can handle them.'

'Oh, bravely said,' Mara said, fatigue and her private pain adding an unintended note of scorn into her voice. 'Let me rephrase that: I'm not going anywhere with you until you're healed. You were just barely able to keep ahead of that last attack—I don't want any of your attention wasted on old injuries you could have gotten rid of with a few hours' rest. Understand?' He glared at her. But behind the glare, she could sense his grudging agreement. 'All right, you win,' he said with a sigh, resettling himself into his seat. 'But you wake me right away if anything happens. I'll set up the phrase 'welcome back' to snap me out of it.' Mara nodded. 'Got it.'

'And even if nothing happens, wake me up in two hours,' he added, closing his eyes. 'It won't take them more than a few hours to get enough of the damaged ships out of the way to free up the ones in back. We'll need to get back there before then if we're going to stop Parck from handing all this over to Bastion.'

Without waiting for a reply, he took another deep breath and leaned back against the headrest. His thoughts and emotions cleared and faded, and he was gone. 'Don't worry about Bastion,' Mara said softly. 'I'll take care of it.'

For a moment she sat there in the silence, gazing at his sleeping face, a tangle of emotions twisting through the darkness of her private agony. Ten years now they'd known each other, years that could have been filled with camaraderie and friendship. Years Luke had effectively wasted with his own lonely and arrogantly stupid wanderings through completely unnecessary pain and doubt. She ran a fingertip gently across his forehead, brushing back a few loose strands of hair. And yet, after all that, here they were together again, and the man she'd once so highly respected and cared for was finally back on his proper path.

Or perhaps it was the two of them together who were on their proper path. Perhaps.

Behind her came a tentative questioning warble. 'It's just a healing trance,' Mara assured the droid, pushing the last of her straps away and getting out of her seat. 'He'll be all right. You watch over things in here, okay?'

The droid twittered again, his tone suddenly suspicious. 'I'm going outside,' Mara told him, making sure her sleeve blaster and lightsaber were secure. 'Don't worry, I'll be back.' She slid past him, ignoring his sudden flurry of comments and questions and popped the hatch. Child Of Winds brushed past her as the ladder unfolded, chirping rapidly for a few seconds and then flapping off into the deepening darkness.

A darkness matched by the ache deep within her.

For a moment she looked back at the top of Luke's head, visible over the chair's headrest, wondering if he had guessed her plan. But no. She'd carefully held it secret within her, behind the mental barriers Palpatine had so long ago taught her how to create.

The old Luke, the one obsessed with solving every problem himself, might have forced his way in through those barriers to demand the truth. The new Luke, she knew, would never do such a thing. Later, probably, he would regret not having done so. But by then it would be too late. The simple fact was that Parck and the Chiss had to be prevented from giving the Empire the secrets of this place.

And it was up to her to stop them. However she could. Whatever the cost. The droid had run out of words and was watching her, his stance somehow reminding her of that of a frightened child. 'Don't worry,' she soothed him quietly. 'It'll be all right. Watch over him, okay?' The droid gave a forlorn moan of agreement. Stretching out with the Force, Mara turned and headed down the ladder.

However she could. Whatever the cost.

CHAPTER

30

Even late at night the Drev'starn spaceport was a bustling hive of activity, the pedestrians and vehicles casting long shadows in the bright light of the glow lamps as they hurried about their business. The same bright light, Navett thought as he strode along, that would make the spaceport an ideal target for the warships orbiting high above them.

He wondered if that same thought had occurred to the rest of the hurrying crowds. Perhaps that was one of the reasons they were hurrying.

He reached the target zone and gave a soft whistle. It was answered immediately from a stack of shipping crates to