Title: New Allies

Author E-mail: GAKDragon@aol.com

Spoilers: Eventually, everything.

Rating: This chapter?  PG-13.  

Summary: This is the main novel of the Kricetinae Chronicles,
a set of stories entwined around Grand Admiral Kricetinae 
Daragon. Like any good "novel," it starts with the Empire, 
shortly after the Thrawn Duology by Zahn.  Luke and Mara attempt
to begin their life together amidst every single nightmare I
can throw at them.    

Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations 
created and owned by Lucasfilm, Ltd. No money is being made 
and no infringement is intended. 

E-mail: Send comments/questions to me. I don't mind criticism, 
but please, nothing nasty.

Dedicated to the Masters of fanfic, Xia Sang Li and Gheorghe2. 


Chapter 1

  Admiral Toran Badel stared down the long nose of 
the Eclipse-class Star Destroyer under his supervision.  
The *Saberfang* stretched out for ten kilometers in front 
of him and six behind.  To the aft, both above and below 
and to port and starboard, were the *Bo'shiel,* *Firestone,* 
*Knight,* and *Nova Dragon,* four ships identical to the 
*Saberfang,* but for color.  

  The *Saberfang* was the flagship of her Imperial Highness 
Princess Kricetinae Daragon Palpatine's fleet.  He stared 
at the fleet around him.  In addition to the five Eclipse-
class Star Destroyers, there were twenty Super-class, fifty 
Imperial-class, fifteen Victory-class, and ten Interdictor 
Cruisers.  All of one hundred ships were under his command.  
It was a job scary enough to turn Darth Vader white-knuckled, 
so he'd heard.  

  Fortunately, he had tremendous help.  He glanced at the 
*Bo'shiel,* the flagship of her highness's second-in-command, 
Grand Admiral Thrawn.  Thrawn had been with them since the 
beginning, almost twenty-five years ago, and had kept the 
fleet a well-oiled machine.  

  Their mission had started out simple enough.  They were to 
continue plotting the Unknown Regions according to the plan 
devised by the Emperor and his daughter.  Badel didn't know 
the whole story, but he knew enough to satisfy his immediate 
curiosity.  

  Based on rumors he'd heard coming out of Imperial Center, 
he knew that Admiral Thrawn had had the gall to ask for the 
Princess's hand.  When the Emperor and his courtiers planned 
to send the ungrateful alien packing off to the Unknown 
Regions on a mapping expedition, Kricetinae privately 
intervened.  Ultimately, Thrawn was sent on the useless waste 
of time, but he took with him Krice's entire fleet.  

  The fleet received news of the Emperor's demise at Endor a 
year after the fact.  Three years later, Thrawn took a shuttle 
and headed Coreward, claiming it was all a part of her 
highness's plan.  Then he ordered Badel to take the fleet in 
a long orbit of the galaxy.  Oddly enough, he returned after 
only a year, in the company of a beautiful, exotic human 
female.  He immediately ordered the fleet's move to a small, 
insignificant world named Calder.  There, they joined forces 
with the Emperor's personal fleet and set up an orbital defense 
net around the planet with strict orders not to let anyone 
leave or land.  

  The woman, Badel later learned, was a close relation to the 
princess.  Though her polar opposite in appearance, they acted 
enough alike to be sisters.  

	The princess Kricetinae had been the most beautiful 
woman in the Empire.  With her long, pale blond hair and 
ivory skin, she certainly was eligible for the title.  Her 
exquisite, chiseled facial features and height made her equal 
to any goddess.  She towered over her father and Lord Vader, 
the latter by a good five centimeters.  She had a lean dancer's 
body and a warrior's posture.  Her grace and command were 
instantly known to strangers who'd never met her before.  

  Dynasty Daragon was the Princess's aunt, and Thrawn's valued 
advisor.  She had long, light-leeching black hair and a smooth, 
pale face.  She had a keen eye, and was extremely observant.  
Her predictions were accurate, and for the most part, based on 
logical research.  She had all the pent-up energy of a predator 
ready to pounce.  

  During the earlier years of Palpatine's reign, it was rumored, 
Dynasty held a strong influence in the Emperor's plans.  Thrawn 
had alluded to her former position of power more than once, and
highly valued her opinion because of it.  

  Badel glanced over at her, sitting in a chair by the wall, out 
of the way of bridge traffic.  She was a help to the fleet, not a 
hindrance.  She allowed the officers to do their jobs, offering 
advice only when asked for or desperately needed.  

  She was a figurehead more than anything else, and she knew it.  
With her here, it was as if some small part of the Princess was 
with them as well.  It was morale-boosting.  

  She locked eyes with him.  He flinched and turned away, knowing 
she'd caught him staring.  Her only downfall:  she was a Jedi.  

  She wore a lightsaber, the weapon of all Jedi, at her belt with 
pride.  The first time he'd seen her, she'd been wearing a long 
saber, with a purple handle half a meter long.  Upon his inquiry 
into its nature, she displayed it to him with a green shaft of 
light coming out of each end.  

  The rest of the time, including now, she had worn a short 
saber, about twenty to twenty-five centimeters long.  It had 
a silvery blade and a burnished copper handle.  When asked 
about the difference, she'd replied, "This is my normal saber," 
indicating the short one of burnished copper.  

  She wasn't an imposing figure, like the Princess, the Emperor, 
or Lord Vader.  She had a quietly dangerous aura about her, 
one that matched her charismatic personality.  

  "Admiral."  Badel brought his mind back to matters at hand 
and faced the bridge officer before him.  

  "Yes, Klenh, what is it?"  

  "Docking bay reports successful capture of the ambassador's 
shuttle, sir."  

  "Excellent.  I'll inform the Admiral."  The Lieutenant saluted 
and backed away.  Badel approached a nearby comm terminal and 
contacted the *Bo'shiel.*  "Admiral Thrawn, this is the 
*Saberfang.*"  

  "Go ahead, Admiral."  

  "Sir, the diplomatic envoy from the surface is here.  We await 
further orders."  

  "Escort them into the main dining hall.  I'll be joining you 
shortly."  

  "Yes, sir."  Badel nodded to his assistant.  "Meet them in 
the hangar bay.  I'll be there as soon as I can."  He nodded a 
salute to Admiral Thrawn and cut off the communication.  

  As he thought about the fleet's plans for tomorrow, he wondered 
about the Princess Kricetinae.  Nine years before the death of 
her father, she'd dropped off the face of the galaxy.  Thrawn 
hadn't been disturbed in the least by the news, claiming "It's 
just the sort of thing she would do."  Badel wasn't so sure.  
He had the strangest sensation, a feeling that the Princess's 
disappearance was more important than Thrawn admitted.  He just 
hoped she was safe.  All respect and admiration aside, neither 
Thrawn nor Dynasty could match the pure genius of her highness 
Kricetinae.  Many of the fleet's captains waited eagerly for her
return.  

  But the wait thus far had been long.  And the wait ahead was 
none too short, either. . .  

*	*	*

  The room's appearance was ghastly, to say the least.  None 
of the furniture matched.  There was one rug on the floor, its 
design so ugly it clashed with itself.  Ian Palpatine stared 
at the pattern, mesmerized by the garish colors.  There were 
gold threads woven in through bright orange splashes on a blue 
background.  The rug had a border with yellow and purple plaid 
shapes superimposed over brown and green stripes.  The mixture 
of yellow, purple, and green finally disgusted him and he turned 
his gaze away.  The six sides of the room were too garish on his 
eyes at the moment, so he turned his gaze toward the window, 
towards the beautiful view of Aldera, the capital city of 
Alderaan.  His eyes rested, he turned them back to his room. 

  Of the four painted walls, the ceiling, and the floor, no 
color was used twice.  The floor, what little of it could be 
seen under the garish rug, was a cold, dull gray.  The ceiling 
was painted a bright sky blue.  The four walls, left to right 
>from the front door, were orange, Imperial scarlet, purple, and 
a putrid brownish-yellow.  Any sane human being could not live 
in such a room for a quarter of an hour, let alone a quarter of 
a century.  But lived in this room he had, for the better part 
of twenty-four years.  

  His half-brother lived next door, through the scarlet wall.  
His room was comfortably decorated in shades of white, gray, 
and silver.  The furniture was mostly white- or cream-colored, 
and the wall panels were light gray.  His was a room of 
tranquility and peace.  But then, Keihvign didn't have Ian's 
eye powers.  

  Both Ian and Keihvign possessed some of the strange optical 
powers of their father, the Emperor Palpatine.  Because his 
mother had three eyes, Ian's eyes were more powerful than his 
half-brother's.  But, he reflected, Keihvign was more powerful 
in the Force, so there was no sibling rivalry.  

  Ian could see along the entire range of the electromagnetic 
spectrum.  He didn't know how he was able to perform such an 
inhuman feat, but his father had had no explanation for him.  
The colors of this room, when seen from different visual 
wavelengths, were more pleasing than they seemed at first 
glance.  In the infrared, the walls and ceiling pulsed with 
comforting warmth.  

  Keihvign had excellent night vision.  His pupils grew to 
absorb light and shrank in broad daylight.  His older twin 
sister, Kricetinae, had irises that betrayed her present 
state of emotion by specific colors.  Though she was blind, 
her replacement eyes were manufactured from her organic 
tissue and still retained that feature.  Ian remembered well 
the tale she had told him.  

  When Kricetinae was five, she and Keihvign visited Alderaan, 
where their guardians were attending a secret Jedi conference.  
On the day of the conference, Krice and Keihvign hiked to a 
cave not far from their hotel.  Kricetinae went first into the 
cave.  It had been one of the biggest mistakes of her life, 
so she later told him.  A creature leaped out of the darkness 
and attacked her.  She had no time to defend herself.  The 
creature, some sort of large feline, attacked her eyes.  Its 
claws scratched her eyeballs out of her head.  She was blind 
for the rest of her life.  She backed out of the cave as 
Keihvign took her place against the feline.  The Force had 
not been with him, either.  The creature attacked him in the 
ears.  Her screams of pain and fear had been the last things 
he ever heard.  

  The twins had adapted to their respective handicaps within 
a few weeks of the attack.  Krice had special, organic video 
recorders built for her eye sockets that would appear to be 
real eyes but could be programmed by her computer brain to 
take visual recordings.  Keihvign had tiny audio recorders, 
also organic, built to resemble ear canals.  Krice's hearing 
was inhumanly accurate, an acceptable trade off for her loss 
of sight.  

  Their mother, Sefiere Daragon, had been charmed and wed by 
a very young Senator Palpatine.  Her children had been born 
only a few days after he became President of the Senate.  But 
by then, she had seen into the depths of his heart, and knew 
him to be evil at the core.  She ran to a secret world to give 
birth to her children.  Less than two years later Palpatine 
declared himself Emperor and ruler of a new Empire. 
 
  But Palpatine's evil had followed her.  He had poisoned her, 
and she died bringing her babies into the galaxy.  This poison 
had given Kricetinae slow-reacting brain damage that did not 
appear until she was two years old.  She then had radical 
surgery to remove eighty percent of the forward section of 
her cerebrum.  They were replaced with an organic computer 
in an experimental procedure by Magrody, the galaxy's top 
neural surgeon.  Keihvign had the same type of cancer and 
subsequently, the same surgical procedure.  

  Ian's mother was, in fact, Sefiere's younger twin.  Dynasty 
Daragon seduced Palpatine by emulating the features of 
his wife and produced Ian four years before the birth of 
his legitimate twins.  She'd dumped him on his father, 
forcing the young politician Jedi to raise the boy alone.  

  Looking back on the past, Ian had few regrets.  His father 
had done his best job, raising him to be a fine prince and 
an excellent judge of character.  His father had, interestingly 
enough, refused to teach him the ways of the Force, leaving 
his Jedi training to Ian himself.  

  He had turned out well enough, he supposed.  The only things 
he could regret were his own actions concerning a young dancer 
named Mara Jade.  

  Ian had traveled to the second planet of the Hoth system 
when he was thirteen.  His father had sent him out into the 
galaxy to find either a student, a prospective wife, or a 
concubine.  Ian had followed the Force, and it led him to 
someone who was all three in one:  Mara Allyson Jade.  

  Ian had bought her from her grandmother/caretaker, winning 
the auction against the colony governor.  Mara, only twelve 
at the time, didn't know that her grandmother had put her up 
for sale.  Even so, Ian used the Force to block her childhood 
memories, except the ones that she cherished the most.  At 
first, the girl was frightened and shy, but as they traveled 
on their way to Coruscant, Mara came into his room at night 
for comfort and warmth.  

  The first night, she slept beside him until he woke.  She 
was fearful that he might rape her, but Ian only desired to 
hold her in his arms.  Night after night they slept that way, 
until Mara gradually began to flirt with him extensively.  
Finally, on a night when they'd been on Coruscant for some 
time, they gave in to their growing passions, and made love.  

  Mara had incredible Jedi talent, so Ian taught her as best 
as he could.  When Krice joined the Empire, Ian asked her to 
teach Mara about Jedi and flying.  Always the Jedi Master, 
she agreed and took Mara as her Padawan apprentice.  At Ian's 
request, she blocked Mara's memories of the man who took her 
>from Hoth.  Her block covered three years of Mara's life, 
>from ages twelve to fifteen.  

  Ian fell in love with Master Kricetinae Dragon, not knowing 
she was his younger sister.  She adored him in her own way, 
so they started dating.  Ian hadn't known, until too late, 
that she was only dating him to make her ex-boyfriend, 
Keihvign, jealous.  Ian became attached to her, and started 
mentally planning their future together.  

  But her plan had worked.  Keihvign became extremely jealous, 
and begged his ex-fiancé to take him back.  She did, breaking 
Ian's heart in the process.  Ian gradually came to accept it, 
once he realized they had been meant for each other.  Heck, 
they had been best friends their whole lives, and romantically 
inclined since their Jedi training ended at age ten.  

  Krice and Keihvign had not known they were brother and sister, 
and got engaged shortly after earning Jedi Master status.  
Krice became pregnant with his child at the tender age of 
twelve.  But Keihvign was already poisoned with the Emperor's 
evil.  He felt that children should be twins, because siblings 
who were separated by time had enormous potential for intense 
hatred of each other.  When Keihvign found out that Krice was 
pregnant with only one child, he beat her until she miscarried 
the baby.  He then raped her in hopes of getting twins.  His 
insane attempts at conception were unsuccessful.  

  To seek revenge against Keihvign for raping her and killing 
the child within her, Krice had joined the Empire that he 
served.  Within three years she had risen to the rank of Grand 
Admiral, had command of a squadron of the Empire's best pilots, 
and was the first Emperor's Hand.  With the Emperor's permission 
and at Ian's urging, Krice had begun teaching Mara Jade both 
the ways of the Force and the tricks of being the Emperor's Hand.  
Due to this training, she and Mara became best friends.  

  When Krice was fifteen, there was a member of Palpatine's court 
who accused her of treason against the Empire.  Kricetinae had 
served in a Rebel faction for two years before Keihvign raped 
her, and this officer had proof that she was a part of the 
Rebellion.  

  Ian smiled at the memory of what had happened next.  Krice, 
Keihvign, Ian, Lord Vader, the Emperor, Mara Jade and the 
accuser filed into the Emperor's chambers.  The Emperor 
questioned Kricetinae and she answered truthfully that she 
had served the Rebel forces at one time.  He was outraged.  
He stood up, walked down to stand in front of her a few feet 
away, and attempted to electrocute her.  Ian's smile turned 
into a full-fledged grin as he remembered Krice's reaction.  
She just stood there as if nothing was happening.  The Emperor 
struck her at least five times.  She withstood it all.  
Finally, he turned his attack on the man who had incriminated 
her.  The accuser died instantly.  

  His father had demanded an explanation.  She told him all 
about herself, that her true name was Krice Daragon, and told 
him about her mother.  Finally, he understood.  With shock and 
horror, she listened as he told her he was her father.  She 
spent a year under him, training to take over his throne when 
he died.  

  Then one day, the Emperor heard Keihvign talking about his 
fiancé.  He apparently had no idea that Krice had been that girl.  
So, he told Keihvign to kill this woman.  In sheer disbelief, 
Keihvign assured his master that he would comply.  The three 
children of Palpatine went to Lord Vader for help.  He assisted 
the boys in quietly disappearing, and put them down here on 
Alderaan.  To further make them disappear, he erased all 
knowledge of them from Mara's mind.  She had been nineteen 
years old, and had very little memory of her early childhood 
to begin with.  Vader had modified her memories of service to 
the Emperor so that she no longer remembered precisely who had 
taught her, she only remembered serving him.  

  He added a safety net, though, in the form of Krice.  Krice 
was to wander across the galaxy, not knowing who she was or 
what her mission entailed until she came into contact with 
Mara Jade.  She knew everything Vader knew, including where 
her siblings were located and how to release them.  The 
memories were hidden from the Imperial heir by a voluntary 
Force block.  

  If Mara ever saw Krice, her memories would come back full 
force.  She then would be able to help the princess remember 
the past if Vader died.  Krice had begged her good friend to 
do this to both of them, so that they would be safe from her 
father and the trio would be protected.  

  To pass the endless hours, Ian painted and composed music.  
He practiced it on his viola, the only present his father had 
given him that Ian enjoyed.  Keihvign wrote short stories and 
fairy tales.  When he was finished with a story, he would 
either transfer it to a sound tape or rewrite it in Raised 
Aurebesh so his blind sister could read it if they were ever 
reunited.  Ian's favorite media was acrylic on canvas - a 
very old fashioned media, in Keihvign's mind.  He painted 
beautifully with it, though his twin siblings had him beaten 
by far in that art.  

  Fortunately for the brothers, they were not cut off from 
the rest of the galaxy entirely.  Lord Vader had installed 
a holographic unit in their cell that was tuned to the 
Coruscant Global newsnet.  So, they knew about the successful 
rebellion against the Empire and the formation of the New 
Republic.  They also knew of a surprising new player under the 
Skywalker moniker, Lord Vader's old name.  

  Luke Skywalker, now a Jedi Master with his own academy, was 
brother to the president of the New Republic, a woman who 
went by the name of Leia Organa Solo.  He was also getting 
married to Mara Jade.  Ian had known that Luke was the son of 
Vader the first time the young man's face was projected onto 
the screen for a news report about the destruction of the first 
Death Star and the man who had fired the crushing blow.  He 
had known Luke was Vader's son from a holo picture of Anakin 
Skywalker that the Sith lord had given to a very young Ian 
before his transformation into Vader.  It now hung on the 
purple wall next to his bed.  

  They had also heard some dire news about the fate of Lord 
Vader.  He had been dead now for fifteen years, killed in 
the explosion of the second Death Star along with their father.  
The ceremony for their father had been respectful, short, and 
bittersweet.  

  For Lord Vader, the funeral ceremony was as sorrowful as the 
one given by his son.  Vader had been Ian's teacher and a 
parental figure in lieu of his father.  Keihvign claimed the 
Sith Lord as a best friend.  Ian and Keihvign were left alone 
in the world.  

  Neither Krice nor Mara would ever remember them on their own, 
and it was unlikely that they would ever meet.  That, and the 
simple fact that everyone in the galaxy thought that Alderaan 
had been destroyed by the first Death Star.  So, they were stuck 
here for all eternity.  

*	*	*

**Coruscant, one week later

  The crowd of millions outside of the Tatooine embassy was 
divided into twelve barely contained sections, each section 
representing one of the twelve districts of Coruscant.  At 
precisely 1800 hours, twelve protocol droids exited from the 
embassy and began to disperse among the crowd.  One droid took 
up residence in each section as the crowd cheered in 
anticipation.  

  A young woman in district two was pushed aside by some rowdy 
observers.  "Hey, watch it!"  Jori Elidej protested.  She 
quietly, softly made her way back to the fifth circle of people.  
>From this spot she would hear very well if her name was called 
as part of the raffle drawing.  

  For his upcoming wedding to Mara Jade, Luke Skywalker had 
authorized the Ulek Skyrider Foundations' raffle drawing.  The 
grand prize was an invitation for two to the "wedding of the 
century," plus a private conversation with the bride, groom, 
the Chief of State and the executive officers of the Foundation.  
All proceeds from the raffle contest, with its 150 creds-per-
ticket price, went to one of the numerous charity organizations 
affiliated with the Ulek Skyrider Foundations.  

  Jori and her friends at work pitched in to purchase five 
tickets.  Yesterday, they'd drawn names to decide who would 
take the grand prize home, if one of their five tickets won.  
Jori had been lucky that day, and so she had gotten to the 
embassy early in the morning to grab a good waiting spot.  

  She desperately wanted to win.  Her twin children, Lyris 
and Lemuel, were just beginning to show Jedi potential.  
What better way to present them to the Jedi Master for 
testing than at his wedding reception?  It was a perfect 
opportunity.  

  The only problem lay in the restrictions on invitations.  
She had two children, but would have only one extra 
invitation if she won.  But maybe there was hope.  Ulek 
Skyrider was scheduled to hold a meeting today with the 
winners, since he had to remain at his SaberFyre distillery 
on Yavin 4 the day of the wedding.  If Jori won, she would 
ask him for help.  Maybe he could ask Luke Skywalker or Mara 
Jade for an extra invitation.  

  But there was a deeper, more personal reason she wanted to 
win.  She'd heard stories of the Jedi, heard they could take 
away a person's memories.  She hoped the opposite was true, 
for Jori had a severe case of selective amnesia.  

  She could remember very well the things that she had done 
>from three months after her sixteenth birthday on.  There 
was absolutely nothing before that.  She couldn't remember 
anything from the first sixteen years of her life.  

  She hoped that Master Skywalker knew something to help her, 
knew a way to get her memories back.  

  The announcing droids each gave a clear, loud tone.  
Silence fell, almost completely, over the crowd.  In 
succession, the droids rattled off the winning raffle 
numbers for their respective districts:  "In District One, 
would the person holding ticket number '000058' please 
approach the embassy.  For District Two, would the person 
holding ticket number '396403' please approach the embassy 
steps.  In District Three. . ."  

  The voices faded out as Jori looked through each of her 
tickets.  396404, 396402, 396403, 396- wait a minute.  396403.  
She screamed in excitement.  She dropped the remaining four 
tickets and pushed her way to the embassy steps.  She couldn't 
believe it, she'd won!  

  She reached the steps of the Tatooine embassy and handed 
her raffle ticket to one of the contest officials.  The 
young Twi'lek  female placed her ticket into an encoder.  
It processed her raffle ticket and stamped it.  The Twi'lek 
handed the ticket to an aide and took Jori's elbow.  She 
smiled and said, "My name is Tomia Deauxyo.  We'll be taking 
your holo for publicity and setting up a time for an interview 
with Mr. Skyrider."  

  "Thank you, Miss Deauxyo."  Jori was ushered along the 
halls to a conference room.  In awe and quivering excitement, 
she posed for a holo shot, both alone and with the other 
raffle winners.  Then, each of them was ushered into a private 
office one by one.  

  The man seated at the large oak desk rose as she entered 
and extended his hand.  "Miss Elidej, it's a pleasure to 
meet you.  I'm Ulek Skyrider." 

  "How do you do," she replied as she shook his hand.  "Please, 
call me Jori," she requested as she sat down.  

  "Thank you, Tomiad'eauxyo.  That will be all."  The Twi'lek 
nodded and shut the door.  Jori took a good look at the galaxy's 
most generous benefactor.  He had deep, greenish-blue eyes and 
harsh, jagged features.  His eyes had a glazed-over cast to 
them, probably from his job as a distillery owner.  His belly 
slightly protruded above his belt, also evidence of his 
affiliation for distilled spirits.  

  On the whole, he was a good-looking man.  It was his smile 
that made him extraordinary.  With a flash of white against 
his nearly bronze face, his smile made her feel like the sun 
had peeped from behinds the clouds on a rainy day.  

  "So, Jori, how do you feel about winning the raffle 
contest?"  Her name rolled off his tongue with an intriguing 
accent.  

  "I feel wonderful.  It was by the luck of the Force that my 
number was drawn."  

  "Oh really?" he asked, leaning forward with interest.  "How so?"  

  "Well, I was hoping I would be able to meet Mr. Skywalker 
so that he could meet my children."  

  His smile remained intact, though his brow creased.  "Why 
should the master meet your children?"  

  His title of address for Luke Skywalker made her pause, 
then she remembered some of his history.  Ulek Skyrider 
lived and worked on Yavin 4, and at one time had been a 
student at the academy there.  He, like other graduated 
students of the Jedi praxeum, still used the respectful 
"Master Skywalker" when dealing with the Rebel hero.  She 
took a deep breath and answered his question.  "I think my 
children have Jedi potential.  I was hoping to bring them 
to the reception and have them tested."  

  His smile turned suspicious.  "You need an extra invitation." 
 
  "Yes.  Just one," she added, hoping it would smooth any 
ruffled feathers.  

  He thought about it for a moment, gently probing her mind 
as he did so.  She was innocent, truthful, and rather shy.  
But there was something at the back of her mind, enticing him 
yet warning him to stay away.  He avoided the trap and pulled 
out of her mind.  "There's something else, isn't there?"  He 
asked.  

  "Well, yes," she admitted.  "I have a severe case of 
selective amnesia."  

  His whole face softened instantly.  "How bad is it?"  

  "I can't remember anything before I was sixteen."  

  "How old are you now?"  

  "Forty."  

  "That's not a bad age.  At least, you have twenty-four 
years of good memories."  

  "That's true.  I am thankful for that, and that I have 
my memories of my fiance."  

  "What happened to him?"  

  "He was a pilot in the war.  He was shot down over Sluis Van."  

  "I see.  So you have nothing at all from before sixteen?"  

  "No, nothing."  

  "May I probe you?  I'd like to see if the memories are 
blocked or hidden unnaturally."  
  "Alright."  He came around the desk and sat in the chair 
next to her.  He placed his hands on her temples lightly as 
she leaned forward.  He probed the whole of her mind, skirting 
the edges of that mind trap.  Any time he tried to go deeper, 
he was met with a solid wall.  He couldn't get any kind of 
viewpoint to see if it was man-made or not, but he felt it 
was man-made.  He tried probing the back of her mind, where 
that nub of unconscious power lay, but it too was blocked off.  

  "Well, let's see," he said, standing and crossing to the 
other side of his desk.  Grabbing a comm receiver, he held 
it up to his ear and dialed an extension.  Jori listened to 
the one-sided conversation with interest.  

  "Hey, Skywalker!  It's Ulek."  Pause.  "Yeah, it's been 
a while.  How's your lady friend?  Is the wedding still on?"  
Pause.  "Well that's certainly good to hear.  I wouldn't want 
all these good folks to lose their money.  The proceeds have 
all been invested already."  Pause.  "You would see it that 
way, Mr. I'm-a-farmboy-you-tell-me.  Say, I've-" Pause.  "No, 
not that I know of.  Say listen, I'm here in my office with-"  
There was the sound of faint laughter coming from the 
handset.  "Yes, I actually visit my office on occasion.  
Now will you stop interrupting me?"  He gave her a rueful 
smile.  "Thank you.  As I said, I'm here in my office with 
Miss Jori Elidej, one of the raffle contest-"  He paused as 
Skywalker interrupted again.  "No it is not.  Now shut up 
and let me finish.  Miss Elidej is the raffle winner from 
District two.  She has a slight problem."  He paused for 
an extended period of time.  "I was waiting for you to 
interrupt me again.  Anyway, Miss Elidej has two children.  
She needs to take both of them to the wedding.  So we need 
an extra invite."  Pause.  "She's taking them in for Jedi 
testing.  There's something else, Luke.  She has the oddest 
case of selective amnesia I've ever seen."  Pause.  "That's 
why she's coming to your wedding, Luke."  Pause.  "Yes, she 
needs one extra invitation for her child."  Pause.  Skyrider 
looked up at her before continuing.  "He died at Sluis Van."  
There was a long pause, during which Ulek grabbed a light 
pen and scribbled down a number.  "Thanks, Luke, I'm sure 
she'll appreciate it."  Pause.  "Yes, well, I hope she 
doesn't call it off between now and then."  Pause.  "She 
did it last time, didn't she?"  There was another pause 
and Ulek replaced the handset.  

  "Okay.  Let me get the invitation and add one, and you're 
set," he said, standing.  He walked to the locked cabinet 
behind his desk, opened it, and removed a data card.  "What 
are your children's names?"  

  "Lyris and Lemuel Elidej."  

  "Boy and a girl?"  

  "Yes, girl oldest."  

  He nodded and sat.  Turning to the computer, he entered 
several commands.  Finally he slid the datacard in and asked 
her, "How old are your children?"  

  "Ten and ten."  

  "Twins, eh?"  He grinned at her.  

  "Yes," she replied, giving in to his infectious smile.  

  "That must have been nice, taking care of both genders at 
once."  

  "I never thought of it that way," she said, tilting her 
head in a way he found sensual.  He shook away the sudden 
surge of passion and turned back to the computer.  

  He took out the datacard and handed it over saying, "Here 
you go.  You're all taken care of."  She stood and took her 
card.  "Luke will want to see you just after the cutting of 
the cake.  He'll talk to you, and introduce you to his sister 
and his new wife."  

  "Thank you very much, Mr. Skyrider."  

  "Please, call me Ulek," he requested as he took her hand.  

  "No," she refused with a smile.  "You've called me Jori 
only once, so I shall continue to call you Mr. Skyrider."  

  He laughed softly.  She was again taken back by the flash 
of white against his tanned face.  He let go of her hand and 
escorted her to the door.  "Have a good time, Jori."  

  "Thank you, I will.  Goodbye," she said as the door closed 
behind her.  

  Ulek walked back to his desk and sat down.  He placed 
another call, this time using the speaker setting.  "Hi, 
honey, it's me."  

  "Luke, what *was* that message you just left?"  

  "You can delete it, Mara.  It was just a one-sided 
conversation that needed to happen."  

  "Everything settled now?"  

  "Yes, the young lady in question is squared away."  

  "Uh-oh," Mara Jade started, mock suspicion creeping 
into her voice.  "You haven't been naughty, have you, Mr. 
Skywalker?"  

  "Ulek Skyrider" sat back in his chair.  "No, Miss Jade, 
I've been a good little Jedi farmboy."  

  Her laugh was rich and warm.  "Sometimes I like the 
naughty pilot.  He's good for a laugh."  

  "He's still here.  You're marrying him, remember?"  

  "No, I'm marrying *you.*  All three of you, or however 
many of you there are."  

  "Five, I think.  I haven't been able to catch any more 
than that."  

  "Oh, I get to marry five men in one day, huh?  Lucky me."  

  "Don't whine," he said, using her own words against her.  

  "Hey don't quote me to my face.  Only I'm allowed to quote 
me.  And besides, I don't whine nearly as much as you do, so 
I'm entitled to it."  

  He smiled wistfully and said softly, "I love you."  

  "I love you, Luke.  See you tonight."  

  "See you then.  Bye."  He hit the speaker button on his 
receiver and cut the connection.  He thought about what he 
could do for Jori.  In all his years of study, Luke'd never 
seen a case of amnesia that advanced yet selective at the same 
time.  For twenty-four years she'd been in doubt of everything 
she knew to be true.  

  The only thing he could come up with was to give her a 
deeper scan than he'd done today.  It would be painful, but 
it was her only hope.  If he'd had any inkling of what lay 
behind the fog in her mind, he probably would have left well 
enough alone.  


(End of Chapter 1)