Family Found: Chapter 10

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Mara Jade was leaning back in her Council seat, listening to the latest reports from the war. Around her were all of the available Masters and directly next to her was her husband. She glanced towards him, his blue eyes focused intently on the Galactic Guard Lieutenant. His prosthetic hand, cupping his lower face, the thumb pressed beneath his chin and the arc of the pointer finger lying over the lips.

It was a pose that she had seen him take thousands of times before. Whenever there was something preying on his mind or a tidbit of activity that he was thinking hard about, that was a mannerism that he adopted.

It was a sure sign to her that he was intently listening.

And for a moment, she wondered why she was having so much trouble paying attention.

She allowed her self to carefully look around the room. Her eyes lingering for a moment on each of the Masters; noting that they too were paying attention to the young lieutenant with nearly the same focus as Luke.

She closed her eyes and probed the Force, hunting for the cause of her sense of disquiet.

And was met with images of a dark hallway and inaudible whispers.

She lifted her right hand, the nail of her thumb slipping between her teeth as she started to worry at it. Realizing that she was about to bite off her fingernail she dropped her hands into her lap and twined her fingers together.

She saw a flicker of interest from the lieutenant in her movements and she pushed down a burst of annoyance at being noticed.

The sense of something being off slowly changed to a pressure, a knowing that something was about to happen. And that that something was not necessarily a good thing.

One of her hands shifted down to her lightsaber. Another movement noticed by the lieutenant.

If the pressure in the Force was not growing so large, so ominous, she was certain that she would be disturbed and annoyed by being so closely watched by a non-Jedi.

Then the pressure crested – shifting from the knowledge that something was about to happen to the knowledge that something dangerous was happening at that precise moment.

In an eyeblink she was up out of her seat, twisting in a circle trying to find the source of the danger.

Ben!

And with that heartbeat of intuition she knew that the danger was not directed towards her or Luke, but towards their son.

Then the room rumbled as an earthquake shook the Temple.

Luke looked up at the ceiling and then towards Kam. "I thought that the Temple was built on stable ground away from any fault lines."

Before Kam could reply, Mara spoke up. "Not important, Luke. Ben's in trouble."

"What do you mean?"

Mara did not answer. Instead she turned towards the windows and stared out across the landscape of Ossus, facing the distant mountain ranges where the old Jedi Library stood.

She pulled out her comlink and thumbed it on, her fingers twisting the dial automatically to the frequency Ben's comlink uses. "Ben?"

Static returned to her and she frowned down at the device.

Turning back towards her husband, she asked, "Where did he say they were going?"

"He said something about visiting the catacombs beneath the old Jedi Library."

Without another word, she stormed out of the Council Chambers, Luke following close on her heels. His comlink chirped and he pulled the device out and activated it.

"This is Luke."

Tahiri's voice came to him over the device, thin and scratchy with the distance between them. "Master Skywalker, is something wrong with Noelani? I can feel her distress and fear."

Mara grabbed the comlink from Luke. "Did she go somewhere with Ben?"

"Yes."

Mara sighed and glared over her shoulder at Luke for a moment. "We just had some type of earthquake. I felt a pulse of fear from Ben immediately after it."

"I'm on my way back to Ossus now."

"Fine. We'll meet you at the old Jedi Library when you get here."

She turned off the device and threw it at Luke. "This is all your fault."

"Mine?"

She glowered at him, her fists clenching and unclenching unconsciously. "So Noelani went with them. Who else?"

"I think he said something about Poll Syth and Kor Res'al."

Mara nodded her head. "Poll doesn't have a Master, but we need to talk to Kor's."

She turned away again, as she heard Luke trying to get a hold of Thann Mithric on the comlink. She glanced around, trying to figure out her location in the Temple and then making up her mind turned left, heading towards the garage.

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Tahiri shrugged into her heavy parka, and glanced at Han and Leia. "Sorry. I have to go. I… I'll let you know about what you want me to do."

Leia took her hand, giving her a calm smile. Tahiri's heart hitched at it, and she fought the urge to drop to her knees and cry.

"Trust the Force, Tahiri, and let us know how things turn out. Are you sure you don't want us to go to Ossus with you?"

Tahiri bit at her lower lip, her eyes flickering between Leia and Han, seeing the concern etched into both of their faces. She wanted them to come, but knew that if they do someone would probably try to arrest them again.

Finally she shook her head, fighting back her tears. "No. I don't want to risk the two of you being arrested."

Han spoke up. "The Kid wouldn't do that, not while Ben's in trouble."

Tahiri frowned for a second. "I… I don't think I would trust Master Skywalker even that much."

Tahiri lowered her head, noticing as she does so that Han and Leia shared a look between each other. Finally, Han spoke again. "Why do you say that? Has he down something? Well something even more stupid than trusting my son?"

Tahiri shook her head. "No. Nothing. I guess it's just a Jedi thing. I've got to get back to Ossus now." She threw her arms around Leia's neck. "I hope I'll be able to see you soon."

Leia returned the hug. "It will be all right."

Tahiri dropped back to the flat of her feet and turned towards the ramp, walking down it as it lowered. Then the wind cut through even her heavy parka, stealing her breath and warmth.

Hunching her shoulders against the wind, she slowly made her way over the frozen ground heading towards the Stolen Star where she rested a couple dozen meters away from the Falcon's boarding ramp.

She thumbed a small device in her pocket, and a seam appeared towards the rear of the craft – the Star's boarding ramp lowering into position. As she arrived she glanced back towards the Falcon once again, wondering if she would get to see Han and Leia again, or if Jacen would capture them first.

Shaking the thoughts from her head, she quickly boarded the ship, sealing the ramp behind her. Then she was climbing the short ladder into the cockpit and preparing for launch. Rushing off in what she knew was a vain effort to get to her apprentice.

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Thann Mithric sat in a classic meditation pose, happy at the solitude afforded him because his apprentice was off playing with some of the other Jedi trainees her own age. His awareness was diffused out, stretching across the entire Temple, feeling the ebbs and flows of the Jedi and the non-Jedi as they went about their business.

The harsh tone of the door buzzer drew him back into his body, abruptly ending his meditation. Frowning slightly, he heaved himself to his feet and walked the short distance to the door. He jabbed the button there which opened it, revealing Jedi Master Kam Solusar standing there, looking annoyed.

Thann bowed towards him. "Master."

"Did your apprentice go somewhere with Ben Skywalker and Noelani Darklighter today?'

Thann frowned, wondering why that would matter to the Master, wondering what sort of mischief his young apprentice had gotten herself into. "Yes…I believe she said something about exploring the Jedi ruins."

"You haven't felt anything off? Or disturbing concerning her?"

Thann shook his head and then closed his eyes, he stretched out with the Force, hunting for Kor through their training bond. He found her, a small, confused and fear-filled awareness in the back of his mind.

His eyes popped open. "She's afraid of something. What's happened?"

"We're not sure, but we think they might have gotten trapped during that earthquake."

Stepping the rest of the way through the door, Thann frowned at the Master. "Then why are we standing here talking? Shouldn't we be trying to rescue them?"

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