Angel Skywalker sighed theatrically as she climbed into an airbus that would take her home from school.

 

In her dramatic six-year-old world, life was exciting and important. That was why she sighed - not because she really had anything to be stressed about, but because it made her feel so much more grown up to do it. Aunty Leia was always sighing.

 

Just behind her, Angel’s older brother Ben also climbed into the bus, and came and sat next to her.

 

“Rough day?” He teased her. “I’ll bet it was better than mine.”

 

Ben was always reminding her that she was the smallest - that she had easier and smaller amounts of homework, and that her life was a breeze compared to his. Secretly Angel thought that he had it pretty easy too, but Mama always said that Ben’s bragging would turn around and bite him one day.

 

Angel shrugged nonchalantly and stared out the airbus window.

 

---It doesn’t matter how old you are---

She told him through their mental connection.

---It’s still hard to call yourself ‘Cloudrunner’ instead of Skywalker and pretend to be as dumb as all the other kids…---

 

---They’re not dumb---

Ben chided, putting on all his big-brother airs.

---Papa says we should learn to be friends with creatures of all species and levels of intelligence---

 

Angel didn’t answer. She knew that Ben was just trying to be good, and that in reality it annoyed him as much as it did her to be so far ahead of the rest of their class. Jedi enhanced memory did have its drawbacks.

 

Both Ben and Angel were a year ahead in their classes, and knew most of the stuff they were being taught. Their Mama had started teaching them before they began school - just to occupy them - and they were both quite bright, too. Their family was wealthier than the average, although not as rich as others at school were. The Skywalkers were well traveled, and had met a variety of creatures from many different cultures and species.

 

Unfortunately, they were also famous. Which wouldn’t be so bad, if it weren’t for the fact that famous people - especially Jedi - make prime targets for assassins and bounty hunters. So both Ben and Angel were going to a public school under the ‘Cloudrunner’ alias. (A name that seemed to make their Papa smile to himself, although only Mama seemed to know why.)

 

But being the daughter of Jedi had far more pros than it did cons. Angel smiled a little to herself as she continued to stare out the airbus window. Stuff like knowing that even though you shouldn’t, you could mind-trick the teacher out of setting homework if you really wanted to. And like being able to use the force - just a little, of course - during physical education to make yourself the fastest runner and the highest jumper.

 

Both Ben and Angel led their class in athletics as well as in academics. Most of the time they didn’t even cheat about it, because their Mama and Papa had always encouraged them to work out and stay fit as part of their Jedi training.

 

Today as they headed home from school, both Ben and Angel were excited. It was the beginning of the holidays, and both were looking forward to the next six weeks away from school.

 

As the airbus pulled up at their stop, brother and sister hopped out together and walked the short distance to the Imperial Palace, where their apartment was located. Stepping into the turbolift, Ben graciously let Angel press the buttons. It always took a long time for the lift to ascend 385 floors. Angel envied those who lived on the higher levels, because the last part of their turbolift ride was in a transparisteel lift-tube, where you could see all of Coruscant around, below and above as you traveled.

 

Finally, the lift stopped on the 385’Th floor, and Ben and Angel got out and made their way to their apartment, block AA9. When they got inside, neither of their parents was home. This was not unusual. Often Papa had a class to teach or some other ‘Jedi Master’ thing to do, and Mama got bored and went out partying with her old smuggling friends.

 

Angel smiled. Her Mama and Papa were strange like that. All of Angel’s friends thought her parents were great, and Angel agreed. They weren’t stuffy or boring like all the other kids’ parents. The only drawback was that Luke and Mara Skywalker were both extremely protective, and always worried that one of their children would get kidnapped.

 

Sometimes Angel wished that she would get kidnapped. All of her cousins had been kidnapped before, and it sounded extremely exciting.

 

Angel reached out with the Force, looking for her mother.

---Mama, we’re home from school---

 

Almost immediately she felt her mother’s gentle reply.

---We’re at Aunty Leia’s, sweetheart. Artoo’s busted his motivator somehow, and Papa and Uncle Han are fixing him. We’ll be back in about half and hour---

 

Angel quickly relayed this information to Ben and then went to their observation lounge to watch holovids.

 

She had barely started watching when she felt a tingle of danger through the Force. Ben’s bedroom door opened almost immediately and he came out to see if she was okay.

 

Angel quickly reached into the Force again to contact her parents. Her eyes widened in panic. One glance at Ben showed that he was experiencing the same thing that she was. There was no force - only an empty hole.

Suddenly, Angel was afraid. She’d only felt this once before, when Papa had brought home a ysalamiri. It had been awful, but, as Papa said, an important lesson to learn. Only this time Papa wasn’t here, he was at Uncle Han and Aunty Leia’s. And he probably didn’t even know that there was a ysalamiri around - the area of a ysalamiri’s influence was only about twenty meters in diameter - and both Mama and Papa were a lot further away than twenty meters.

 

Suddenly, Angel remembered something, and raced to the communications consol. Even if they couldn’t Force-communicate, she could still contact Mama and Papa at Aunty Leia’s. Ben followed her, and he flicked the holo’s on switch as Angel activated the memory key for their Aunty Leia’s apartment.

 

Nothing happened. The comm screen didn’t glow to life, nor did any of the systems power up, as they should have.

 

Angel turned to Ben, pushing back tears as he tried to think what to do. Suddenly the idea of being kidnapped was not so attractive anymore. Maybe it would be more fun to just keep living her safe, boring life.

 

Ben put a comforting hand on her shoulder. “Don’t be scared, Angel.” He said bravely. “I’ll run to Aunty Leia’s and get Mama and Papa. You just wait here.” He popped open a secret compartment in the lounge floor. “Hide.”

 

Angel climbed in obediently and Ben lowered the hatch. She listened as his footsteps pounded away, and as the main door slid open and then shut behind him. Running her fingers along the hideaway’s interior, she found the light switch and gladly turned it on. Many times she had begged to be allowed to hide in their special place, but Mama and Papa had said it was only for emergencies.

 

A few ration bars and a first aid kit were in a container on the hideout’s floor, along with a glow-rod and a lightsabre. The last of these Angel clutched to herself with glee. A real lightsabre - not a training one. It almost made the Force-less sensation worthwhile. Almost.

 

Only minutes later Angel heard the sound of voices above her head. Not human, she decided - too whiny. Maybe Bothans? Whoever it was, they didn’t sound friendly. Without the Force, Angel couldn’t tell what their intentions were, or how close they were to finding her hideout.

 

A hollow-sounding footfall directly above her confirmed that they were indeed very close. Angel listened with dread as they peeled up the transplast carpeting and saw the high-tech locking mechanism.

 

The floor around her began to vibrate as the intruders drilled towards her. When the end of their drill poked through the floor by her head she knew she’d been found. Gripping her lightsabre, she prepared to defend herself as best she could from whoever opened the trapdoor.

 

To her surprise, no one opened the door. Instead, a hissing sounded through the hole.

 

It took Angel only a few seconds to register this turn of events. Gas! She thought in a panic. They’re gassing me. I’ve got to get out.

 

Reaching up, she hurriedly activated the door’s controls, knowing that despite what was on the other side, she would have better chances awake than asleep.

 

But the door didn’t open. Frantically, Angel activated the lightsabre and plunged it into the trapdoor. The world started turning black, and it was all she could do to deactivate the lightsabre before she dropped it and fell back against the cold floor of the hidden compartment.

 

* * *

 

Ben took off down the corridor towards the turbolift, praying that he would reach his parents in time. He climbed in and had ascended a few floors before the Force slammed into him once again. He drank it in for a second, and then hurriedly reached out to his parents.

 

---There’s danger in the apartment---

He nearly shouted at them through the Force.

---Angel’s still there, and someone’s got ysalamiri!---

 

His father’s reply was almost immediate.

---Get as far away from the ysalamiri as you can son. We’re on our way---

 

The turbolift door slid open at Leia and Han Solo’s floor, and Ben gladly exited it and headed for the apartment. Part way there he was met by his Mama and Papa running towards him at full speed, lightsabres in hand.

 

“Go to your Aunt’s place and stay there!” Luke shouted as he passed his son.

 

Obediently, Ben went to his Aunt and Uncle’s house. Why had he left Angel on her own? Forgetting to be mature, he crawled into Aunty Leia’s arms and cried. Please let Angel be okay, he begged silently.

 

* * *

 

Luke and Mara burst into their apartment. Their secret hideaway had been exposed, and lay open and empty. Mara knelt and examined it grimly. A deep lightsabre gouge showed prominently on the inside of the open trapdoor.

 

“They must have locked her in and she tried to cut her way out.” Mara remarked grimly.

 

Luke nodded and turned the trapdoor over, pointed out the small hole that had been drilled through it. “They’re not making any secret of how they caught her, anyhow.” He said. “Look at the gas fitting.”

 

Mara looked at the conical fitting that had been fastened over the drilled hole. “What sort of gas, do you think?”

Luke shrugged. “It’ll have dispersed by now anyway.”

 

He bent down and picked up the disheveled remains of the emergency lightsabre. A precise blaster bolt had scorched its handle. “No lightsabre, no Force.” He turned to his wife. “We’re in trouble.”

 

The ysalamiri had left with the kidnappers and Mara felt reasonably sure they would have it them with them. “We just have to feel for a force-empty spot somewhere.”

 

Luke and Mara closed their eyes and spent a few minutes sweeping Coruscant with their senses. The search turned out to be futile.

 

“No lightsabre, no Force, nowhere.” Luke stated softly.

 

Mara turned stubborn green eyes onto her husband. “We’ll find her.”

 

* * *

 

Angel opened her eyes and sat up. The fogginess around her mind was still fading away, and she fought for a moment to remember what had happened. That’s right, she thought. I’m kidnapped. It isn’t as exciting as I thought it would be…

 

The room she found herself in was, in fact, not exciting at all. The walls, the floor and the ceiling were so alike. In the end, Angel decided that if somebody were to turn the entire room upside down or on its side you wouldn’t even notice the difference.

 

Everything was well-lit and cleanly white. There weren’t any grisly stone walls or formidable bars. Angel frowned in frustration. If I have to be kidnapped, couldn’t it at least be as interesting as cousin Jaina’s kidnapping was? She had to sleep in a tiny cell and eat terrible food…

 

Angel’s little stomach growled. Come to think of it, she hadn’t had any food. Looking around the room, Angel tried to find the door. She knew there must be one, but she couldn’t find it. This would be so much easier if it weren’t for those stupid ysalamiri.

 

Getting up, Angel began to pace the small room, looking for the door. Of course, she didn’t think she’d be able to open it, but at least it was something to do.

 

* * *

 

Luke and Mara sat in their apartment watching the holo-news, with Ben sleeping between them. Several days of furious searching had turned up no results. They had no idea who had taken their daughter, or why - or where.

 

On top of all that they were dealing with, a political squabble had sprung up around Angel’s disappearance. A Bothan senator from Kothlis, Borsk Fey’lya, had suggested that the children of the Jedi were a threat to the safety of the public. Even worse was the fact that a group of extremists had sprung up and agreed with him. The extremists argued that all Jedi children were vulnerable, and that if any one of them fell into the wrong hands he or she could quickly be molded into a powerful and dangerous tyrant.

 

Unfortunately this was true, and the Jedi were having a hard time convincing the extremists that it was not necessary to completely ostracize all Jedi below a certain age.

 

Between Luke and Mara, Ben stirred. “Mama, will we find Angel soon?”

 

Mara nodded and stroked his smooth blond head. “Soon.”

 

* * *

 

Angel had nearly paced a hole in the floor trying to find the door of her cell. As it turned out, the door found her before she found it. A guard came into the room, and it was with some glee that she noticed that the he was indeed a Bothan, just as she had guessed. But her mirth faded when the guard took her by the arm and led her out of the room.

 

“Where are we going?” She demanded.

 

“Shut up.” The guard growled, and he gripped her arm a little tighter.

 

Deciding that there was no point in arguing with a guard that had a ysalamiri strapped to his shoulder, Angel said nothing and instead looked around her, trying to figure out where she was.

 

In the end, her only clue was the faint hum of a ship’s hyperdrive. Blast! She thought. If we’re in hyperspace, I could be anywhere between Coruscant and Kessel. And it’s impossible to escape from a ship in hyperspace…

 

The guard led her into a large, high-ceilinged room. At the far end stood several more guards, surrounding a tall Bothan in elaborate dress.

 

“Welcome, little one.” The tall one said. “You may call me Uncle Burke.”

 

Angel shuddered. She didn’t want to call this humanoid ‘Uncle’. There was something cold and mean about him. She remembered cousin Jaina’s stories about ‘Uncle Hethrir’. Well, she would just call him Burke. Or jerk.

 

“Sit down, child.” Burke instructed, gesturing to a nearby chair. “Guards, leave us.”

 

As the last guard filed out, Angel gasped suddenly with relief. The Force flowed back into her and around her, and it felt wonderful. Quickly she reached out, trying to sense her parents.

 

Burke nodded with satisfaction, as though her reaction to the guard’s leaving confirmed something in his mind. “Excellent.” He murmured. “Tell me your name, child.”

 

Angel said nothing, but instead got up and sprinted for the door. She was about three meters from it when the emptiness smashed into her again.

 

She turned and walked back to Burke in tears.

 

“Now, child, I know this is distressing for you.” Burke said, with chilling kindness. “But I couldn’t have you running away. At least here with me you shall feel your powers.”

 

Resolving to be brave, Angel wiped away her tears and sat back down in the chair again. “You already know my name.”

 

Burke nodded. “An insightful child. Tell me, how old are you, little one?”

 

Angel lifted her head and tilted her chin towards him defiantly. “Six.”

 

The Bothan’s eyes narrowed almost imperceptibly. “Is that so?” He asked casually. “You look very small.”

 

Unfortunately it was true. Even though she possessed all the intelligence and personality of a person twice her age, Angel had still been born with a petite frame, downy red hair and youthful blue eyes.

 

“I’m bigger than you on the inside.”

 

Burke smiled indulgently. “Perhaps.”

 

He turned to a case beside him and took out a fist-sized ornamental ball. “I want you to lift this up for me, child.”

 

The Mara Jade stubborn streak ignited in Angel. She smiled inwardly with satisfaction as she walked over to where Burke had placed the ornament on the floor.

 

I know what he’s trying to do, she thought. He wants a demonstration. Well he won’t get one.

 

Reaching down, she picked up the ornament in her hand and held it out to the Bothan. “Ornament lifted, Sir.” She said saucily. “Now what?”

 

The Bothan frowned. “With your mind, child, or I will have to take your powers away from you again.”

 

Angel placed the ornament back down on the floor and sat back down in her chair. “You can’t take my powers away.” She said calmly. “No one can. You just have ysalamiri that stop me from being able to touch the Force - but that doesn’t change the fact that the Force is always with me. No amount of stupid lizards will ever change that.”

 

“Very well.” Burke agreed placidly. “Then I shall bring the ysalamiri back again. I understand that their presence is rather uncomfortable for a Jedi?”

“How about we compromise?” Said Angel, feeling like her Mama would be very proud.

 

Lifting an eyebrow in amusement, Burke gestured for her to go on.

 

“You tell me why you’ve kidnapped me and where we’re going, and I’ll lift that ornament for you. The truth, mind you. I’ll know it if you lie.”

 

The fur on the top of Burke’s head rippled for a moment in indecision. “Very well.” He said at last. “I’ve kidnapped you to help a friend of mine get rid of his worst enemy, and to use your powers for my gain. And I’m taking you to a planet somewhere.”

 

Angel rolled her eyes. “A planet somewhere. Well that helps heaps. Where exactly is this planet?”

 

“You didn’t ask what planet.” The Bothan said coldly. “You asked why and where, and I told you. Now it’s your turn to hold up your side of the bargain.”

 

Sensing the truth of what Burke had told her, Angel decided to cooperate - for now. What harm could it do to lift a stone ball, anyway?

 

Hardly concentrating at all, Angel levitated the ornament a few feet into the air and then held it there for Burke’s inspection.

 

His reaction was much more extreme than she had expected it would be. Getting up from his chair, he clapped his hands to his furry face and gazed at her in amazement.

 

“So it’s true!” He exclaimed. “The Jedi powers are not just a myth.”

 

Touching a button on the arm of his chair, he sat down again, smiling delightedly. Moments later, a ysalamiri-clad guard came in again and escorted Angel back to her cell.

 

Interesting, Angel thought as she sat down again. I may be able to barter quite a bit of information out of him in exchange for more ‘demonstrations’. But he doesn’t seem to know what I’m capable of, she warned herself. So I mustn’t go giving the game away.

 

Sitting down on the floor, she dug into a plate of reasonably decent food that the guard had left for her.

 

* * *

 

“This is outrageous!” Leia Organa-Solo shouted. She stood on a floating dais, her blown eyes blazing angrily. “The Jedi knights are the guardians of peace and justice - they have dedicated their lives to serving the very people that you accuse them of placing in danger! And now, when they need your sympathy and your support the most, you level accusations at them.” Her voice quieted. “Somewhere out there is an innocent little girl - who is no more interested in taking over the galaxy than any other child. All she wants to get home to her mother and father.”

 

“That’s all very lovely and maternal.” Borsk Fey’lya sneered from another floating dais. “But, councilor, you must put aside your obvious bias, and listen to the facts.”

 

Leia’s face darkened still further in annoyance. From where he was watching, Luke had to admire the Bothan’s courage, or perhaps it was stupidity. No one else would dare to get his sister this worked up.

 

Fey’lya cleared his throat and then launched into an obviously well prepared speech. “Somewhere in this galaxy is a child who is granddaughter to a Sith Lord and daughter to an evil Emperor’s most trusted assassin. At a vulnerable age she has been thrust into the hands of someone who means to use her powers for harm. How can this not be a threat? Friends - senators, we must ensure that this can never reoccur.”

 

Leia shook her head. “Listen to me, I speak from experience. I myself have had all three of my children kidnapped at a young age. Not by a political threat, but by a Sith Lord who was in the process of raising up an army of Dark Jedi. All of my children survived this, and are stronger Jedi because of it. These children have been raised in dark times, senators, and they are strong. We cannot refuse them a free and normal life just because of what has occurred in the past.” Leia paused to make eye contact with the Bothan Senator. “With your accusations you bind our children to a past that they had no part in and will have no future in. We must break free of the past, and look ahead to a new and peaceful future.”

 

* * *

 

Angel groaned inwardly as the guards filed out and she was once again left alone with ‘Uncle Burke’. What does he want this time, she thought. Another demonstration?

 

Much as she hated being here, she appreciated the precious few minutes she could spend in the cool sweetness of the Force, feeling it flow through her once again.

 

Burke smiled as Angel drew nearer. “I have a more difficult trick for you to perform today, my treasure.” He gestured over toward a large brick made of wood. “I want you to break it in half - with your mind.”

 

Angel rolled her eyes. If I had to get kidnapped, she thought, couldn’t my kidnapper be a bit smarter? Lifting ornaments and breaking blocks of wood - and all the while giving my parents just that much more time to find me. You’d think he’d try and make use of the time.

 

Burke carefully placed the block down on a low transplast footstool. “Take your time, child. There’s no hurry. I don’t want you to strain yourself.”

 

Angel chewed her lip thoughtfully. “What will you give me if I do?”

 

Her ambition both impressed and amused the tall Bothan. “I’ll make you another little deal. How about if I give you half an hour away from the ysalamiri each day, after you’ve done what I ask?”

 

Angel nodded quickly. “Deal.” She said casually, before he could change his mind. Inside, though, she was soaring.

 

Reaching out with the Force, she took hold of the block. I shouldn’t do this too quickly, she thought. He seems to think that this might be hard for me, and I’d better keep it that way. In reality, Angel could have used the Force to do any number of things to the soft wooden block. She could have set it on fire, pulverized it, mashed it into the floor, banged Burke on the head with it or done all of the above without lifting a finger.

 

But instead she took hold of the block, plastering strain all over her face, and after several minutes of ‘trying’ snapped it into two uneven pieces.

 

Burke smiled encouragingly. He had expected Angel to have difficulty with this task. As the guards came back into the room, Angel smiled innocently. “Was that good?”

 

Burke rested his head in his furry hand thoughtfully. “Yes, yes little one. That was very good.”

 

As soon as Angel had left the room, though, he frowned. He didn’t have as much time as the child was taking. Time to put the pressure on.

 

* * *

 

Back in her cell, Angel paced back and forward angrily. That horrible, scheming, no-good Bothan had broken his promise! The guard had just informed her that there was to be no half-hour away from the ysalamiri.

 

In her restlessness, Angel almost missed the microscopic tingle that she felt as she paced. But she didn’t quite miss it, and walked quickly back to the spot where she’d felt it. No, she wasn’t mistaken. It was there - the Force. Only a tiny patch of it, but in that patch it was as strong as it had ever been.

 

Stretching out towards the walls, she tried to figure out why the ysalamiri’s influence did not touch this one spot. A very old ysalamiri, perhaps? Or a very young one, or a sick one?

 

The cell that she was kept in was big - but small enough that with a normal ysalamiri pressed against the outside of each wall the entire cell would still be Forceless. But this abnormal ysalamiri, even when pressed right up against a wall, failed to reach the center of the cell, where Angel now stood.

 

Angel sat down in the force-spot thankfully. It’s a tiny spot, she thought. And it might not be here for long, so I’ll have to make use of it quickly.

 

Turning her face towards the ceiling, Angel stretched upwards, thinking that maybe there would be no ysalamiri in the ceiling. She grinned when the force continued to respond to her mental touch, all the way up to and beyond the ceiling.

 

It was one of the proudest moments of Angel’s short life when the ceiling finally gave way to her relentless Force-pushing. The small hole that she had managed to puncture there was only just wide enough to admit her little body, and for the first time she felt grateful for her petite frame.

 

Wedged in between the ceiling of her cell and the floor of the room above her, Angel painstakingly repaired the damage she had done. It’s a pain now, she thought, but it’s crucial that they don’t know how I got out.

 

She crawled along between the ceiling of her cell and the floor of the room above, until she was sure that she was far enough to be outside the walls of the cell, but also back in the path of the ysalamiri again. Shivering slightly in the Force-less environment, she wished that she could sense who was in the room below. Crawling still further, she finally felt the force again.

 

Pressing her ear to the metal panel that she was crawling on, she stopped and listened. There were no voices below and no electrical sounds. Uneasily, Angel wondered how good the sound proofing of this starship was. She fervently hoped that it was good enough to stop the sound of the metal bending and twisting as she used the force to break it.

 

This would be so much easier with a lightsabre, she thought as she finally removed a section of paneling and dropped into the room below.

 

It was a huge room, with crates stacked all around it and hardly any lighting. Angel drew in a breath sharply as she noticed four nutrient frames leaning against the far wall. Ysalamiri frames.

 

Tiptoeing over to them, Angel felt both glad and scared. She knew she’d have to get rid of the ysalamiri, but how? Papa always said that she must never kill anything unless there was absolutely no other way. After a few minutes of indecision, she decided that this situation fell into the second category.

 

Moving down the row, she quickly broke the necks of four unfortunate ysalamiri. It was the hardest thing she’d ever done, but she took some small consolation in the fact that at least she couldn’t sense their pain through the Force. It really was a shame to kill them, though, since they hadn’t done anything wrong.

 

With all of the ysalamiri dead, Angel tried her best to make each one look alive. When she’d finished, she had to conclude that they still looked dead, and just hope that no-one noticed.

 

Crouching down in a dark corner, Angel tried desperately to think what she should do next. She sighed sadly. Papa would know what to do.

 

* * *

 

“My Lord, we must land somewhere to refuel.” The ship’s pilot said to Burke. “We can’t get back to the base without fuel!”

 

“Oh, very well.” He agreed finally, and with great reluctance. “But see that it is quick, Captain Triune. I’m growing edgy about this Jedi-child. I need to get her somewhere secure before her family starts poking around this system.”

 

Captain Triune nodded thankfully. Lord Burke could be so unreasonable when he decided to be. “With your permission, my Lord, we will put down on Nal Hutta.”

 

Burke groaned. “You can’t be serious, Captain Triune. Nal Hutta is disgusting, swampy, dangerous, and absolutely crawling with petty criminals.”

 

“It’s closest along the route that we’re traveling, my Lord. We haven’t got enough fuel to land anywhere else, and at least on Nal Hutta we won’t be noticed.”

 

Frowning sulkily, Burke at last gave in. He turned in annoyance when the Captain still did not leave. “Was there something else, Captain Triune?” He asked irritably.

 

“My - my Lord, we haven’t got enough money to pay for more fuel.” Triune stammered. “We’ll have to barter some supplies…”

 

“Just do what it takes.” Burke interrupted sharply. “But I’m not happy about this, Captain!” He called as Triune beat a hasty retreat.

 

* * *

 

Angel was almost glad to have the decision of what to do next taken out of her hands, when the sense of four individuals coming down the corridor outside forced her to hide quickly in one of the crates.

 

Only seconds after she’d closed the lid, the room’s door opened and four Bothans came in.

 

Oh, Sith, she thought in frustration. I just had to choose a weapons crate! The weapons were cold and hard, and jabbed her everywhere. The Bothan’s took ages in the storage room - shifting crates and making lots of noise.

 

“Hey look!” One of the Bothans shouted.

 

Angel’s heart nearly stopped.

 

“There’s a big hole in the roof!”

 

Focusing her mind on one of them, Angel sent him as much of her willpower as she could.

 

“There-isn’t-a-hole-in-the-roof.” The affected Bothan said in a dazed monotone.

 

“Of-course-not.” The first Bothan agreed.

 

The third and fourth also agreed that there was nothing out of ordinary about the roof, and continued to stack boxes and crates.

 

Exhausted from using the Force so much, Angel drifted off to sleep.

 

* * *

 

Mara Jade Skywalker smiled slightly as she watched her husband and her son sitting together on the floor in joined meditation. Sitting down on the floor beside them, she watched quietly for a few minutes.

 

Suddenly Luke’s pale blue eyes flew open, shortly followed by Ben’s darker brown ones.

 

“A glorious jewel.” Ben whispered softly.

 

Mara looked at her husband questioningly.

 

“We heard those words.” Luke said. “But nothing else. I wonder what they mean?”

 

Mara titled her head back thoughtfully. “A glorious jewel…”

 

“Nal Hutta.” Luke said suddenly. “Angel’s on Nal Hutta.”

 

“What makes you think that, Papa?”

 

“Nal Hutta is Huttese. It means ‘glorious jewel’.” Luke answered.

 

Mara got up. “I’ll pack our bags for Nal Hutta, then.”

 

“Can I come?” Asked Ben.

 

Mara shook her head. “I’m sorry, Ben, but I think you’d better stay here with Aunty Leia and Uncle Han. Nal Hutta is not a friendly place.”

 

* * *

 

Luke looked at the reading on the ships navigational computer in despair. “We’ll never get there fast enough.”

 

The situation looked impossible. By the fastest route the navigational computer could devise, there were still three long days in hyperspace between them and their daughter.

 

Mara came up behind him and powered up the Jade’s Fire II for takeoff. As the ship lifted off and sped away from Coruscant, she smiled comfortingly at her husband. “How about if you do a repeat of that stunt you pulled on the way to find Han and Leia at Dathomir?”

 

“That was a few years ago…” Luke mused.

 

“Well, is there any reason why you can’t do it?”

 

Luke shook his head no. Jedi could pilot ships blindly through hyperspace, often shaving days off the fastest route that the navigational computers could devise.

 

Closing his eyes, Luke placed his hands on the ship’s controls and pushed the hyperspace lever forward. The Jade’s Fire II screamed in protest, but Mara quickly overrode the auto-pilot and sat back in her seat, hoping and praying that they would make it in time.

 

* * *

 

Far away from her parents and friends, a tired little human girl slept soundly as two muscled Bothans lifted up a small-arms weapons crate, loaded it onto a service speeder and sent it swiftly down to the unloading bay.

 

Ignorant of how fate was aiding her escape, she continued to sleep as the crate was stapled firmly shut, labeled ‘small-arms’ and stacked in-between several other similar crates ready for bartering on Nal Hutta.

 

* * *

 

Angel awoke with a start as the crate that she was in was shoved to the floor with an inconsiderate bump. Still groggy from sleep, all she could think of was how much she longed to stretch, and of how horribly uncomfortable it was to spend several hours with something hard and spiky sticking into your back.

 

But she awoke fully when she heard the whiny voice of a Bothan just next to her crate. “I’ve already argued this out with your master. We exchange five crates of small-arms weapons and eleven tanks of Bacta for the fuel.”

 

A deep, unfriendly sounding voice boomed out what sounded like a reluctant condescension, and Angel heard footsteps heading away. Using the Force to spy out the area around her, she sensed two unfamiliar minds still in the room, but neither were Bothan. They felt larger and - meaner. Was it possible that there could be anything meaner than a Bothan? But that was how it felt…

 

One of the creatures began to come closer, and Angel desperately tried to use the Force to influence the creature into not checking her crate - but to no avail. The creature’s mind was greasy and strong-willed.

 

Angel listened in horror as the lids of other crates were pried open, and their contents thoroughly checked. Finally her own crate was the one under scrutiny, and Angel held her breath, waiting to be found.

 

The lid was lifted, and for a moment the light was so bright that she could not see a thing. But she could hear the startled voice of the creature, in that same deep, unfamiliar language, and she knew that she had been found.

 

* * *

 

In the few short hours since Angel had arrived on Nal Hutta, she had learnt a lot about the planet.

 

Once the guard had realized that she did not speak his language, he had told her, in broken Basic, where she was and that she was to come with him. She had then been escorted to see someone who was obviously the head of whatever underhanded trading organization she had been unlucky enough to find herself ‘bartered’ to.

 

She had learnt that the fat, slimy creatures that inhabited the planet were called Hutts and that they didn’t care a scrap for why she’d stowed away or whether anyone else was looking for her.

 

The cargo porter who had found her had not listened to any of her pleas, stating coldly that since she had been in the crate, she was therefore part of the goods being bartered and belonged to the organization’s chief.

 

Now she found herself chained to an enormous Hutt on a bruised, blue-brown planet in the Y'Toub system, far away from home and everyone she loved.

 

The chief’s audience chamber, (where he spent most of his time), had a great view of Nal Hutta - a planet that was revolting. It was covered with stale, scum-covered puddles, stinking bogs and patches of unhealthy marsh grass. Flocks of large, clumsy birds flew about a gray and listless sky, before being shot down by swoop-riding hunters.

 

The air was brown and polluted, and even indoors was repulsive to breathe. And it rained, never in proper showers, just continuous drizzle. All of the buildings that Angel could see stood on stilts, to keep them out of the planet’s swampy ground. Just behind the building she was in, Angel could see a huge gray palace, and ahead of it a large and busy spaceport.

 

The chief Hutt really had little use for Angel - he merely liked to own her and have her at his beck and call. It was degrading to have to sleep pressed up against the slimy, thick hide of a Hutt, but better than having to perform ‘magic tricks’ for a power-hungry Bothan.

 

* * *

 

After only a day on Nal Hutta, Angel was already desperate to leave. She had tried mind-tricks on the Hutts, but nothing was working. She had rehearsed every possible method of escape in her mind - each time coming to the conclusion that they’d probably just shoot her.

 

She was sitting at the base of the chief Hutt’s ‘throne’ when she heard a commotion coming from up the hall, and some all-too-familiar whiny voices.

 

Panicking, she got up and went as far away from the noise as her chain would allow, hiding her right behind the chief Hutt, much to his amusement. As she peeped out from behind him, she saw a score of Bothans coming towards the throne room, with Burke at their head.

 

When the Bothans reached the foot of the chief Hutt’s throne, Burke spoke up. “I am sorry for the disturbance, noble one, but I seem to have waylaid a prisoner of mine when I stopped here yesterday morning. A little human girl - do you know where she is? We believe she may have gotten out in one of the cargo crates.”

 

After a minute or two of garbled Huttese, a translator droid spoke up. “The most excellent and esteemed Jerked the Hutt has received your gift of a small human child with great satisfaction. He has no intention of returning his gift, but will gladly provide you with an escort to the door.”

 

Several Gamorrean guards began to advance towards Burke, but he held up his hand for silence. “Esteemed Jerked,” he said humbly, “the child is dangerous. I ask that you return her, not for my own gain, but for your safety. She is also very valuable to me, and I would be willing to buy her back.”

 

The great Hutt laughed. “I appreciate your concern, diminutive being,” he said through his translator, “but be assured I see no great threat from a child so small. Now my guards will escort you to the door, or if you would prefer, to my prison cells.”

 

Burke stepped back a little but continued to look Jerked straight in the eye. “Perhaps I did not make my position clear.” He said icily. “I do not intend to leave here without the girl. Now hand her over.”

 

Jerked laughed again and motioned to his guards. The guards stood in their places and made no move.

 

Shouting a rapid instruction in Huttese, Jerked turned a surprised face to Burke when still the guards did not move.

 

“You see, most noble one.” Burke explained smugly. “You find yourself surrounded. Now hand over the child.”

 

Jerked the Hutt was a proud creature, but not a stupid one. He knew when he was beaten, and used the chain to drag Angel out of her hiding place.

 

Burke grinned with satisfaction and took hold of the chain. Out of the shadows, two robed figures stepped forward.

 

“I’m afraid there has been a mistake.” Said the taller one. “The child is coming with us.”

 

Burke spun to face the two robed figures angrily. How many more creatures would try to claim his prize today?

 

“She belongs to you, does she?” The Bothan spat. “You and what army?”

 

At this moment Angel decided that she’d heard enough. “Wait a minute!” She yelled.

 

Everyone in the room turned to look at her. “I know who I belong to!” She yanked the chain out of the surprised Bothan’s hand. “And it’s not a great fat Hutt, or a whiny stupid Bothan, or anyone else! I belong to my Mama and Papa. And none of you have any right to talk about me like I’m yours to boss around - or buy, or sell!”

 

Force-jumping into the air, she spun around and brought her booted foot straight into the side of a nearby Bothan’s head. Not stopping to see who would chase her, she ran for the door. Behind her she could hear Burke’s whiny voice shouting. “After her! Did you see what she just did? Catch her… Don’t harm her, she’s valuable.”

 

Good, she thought. They won’t harm me. Well, I’ll harm them! The far door of the audience chamber was almost in sight when two of the pig-like Gamorrean guards stepped in front of her, barring her way.

 

Reaching her palm out towards them, Angel continued in her headlong sprint, and the guards flew to either side from her mental shove.

 

The doorway was so close - so close, when a thick blast-door slammed down in front of it. Turning around in a panic, Angel, levitated a kicking, screaming Burke several meters into the air, though it took all her training in the force to do so.

 

“You insolent child!” he screeched. “Put me down this instant!”

 

Behind her, there was a flash of movement as the guard snatched at her foot and pulled her to the ground.

 

Crying out in surprise, Angel released her grip on Burke, who dropped several meters and landed with a bang on the permacrete. As furious as Burke had been to be picked up, he was even more furious to be dropped.

 

On the other side of the room, the two hooded figures began to run towards them.

 

The guard fell down on top of Angel and the two of them rolled headlong into a hard, metal statue that stood upright on the floor.

 

The statue came crashing down on Angel’s unprotected shin. The leg was bleeding, and it hurt more than she had ever felt before. HELP ME, she screamed into the Force, knowing that no one would hear. My Mama and Papa are far away, and I have no friends, only enemies.

 

The guard got up and turned back to grab Angel, just as the two robed figures reached them. To Angel’s complete surprise, they did not try to harm her, but instead jumped in front of her protectively. They threw back their hoods, and Angel nearly collapsed with relief.

 

“Mama, and Papa!” she whispered, just before she passed out. The last thing she heard was the hum of two full-powered lightsabres.

 

* * *

 

As Mara knelt and lifted the statue off of her daughter, Luke addressed the motley crew of Bothans, Hutts, and Twi’leks, Gamorreans, and humans, who all looked a little less than keen to tangle with the Jedi. “By the power of the New Republic government I am placing this Bothan under arrest.” He said, indicating the fuming Burke. “Any who choose to defend him now will be charged for assisting a kidnapping, and will be guilty by association. I am also taking this child.”

 

As Luke extended his hand towards the helpless Bothan, Burke found himself dragged over towards the Jedi. He could feel the strength of Luke’s fully trained power, and knew that he was helpless to resist.

 

Every creature in the room was now stunned into mute inaction. Slowly, the blasters lowered.

 

Mara picked up her unconscious daughter, while Luke forced Burke to precede the group. All four made it back to the Jade’s Fire II, and nobody asked them where they were going or tried to stop them. Perhaps it was the lightsabres. Or perhaps it was just typical Nal Hutta - a refuge for criminals and the safest place for anyone who did not wish to make his business known.

 

Luke locked Burke in the storage room and then put ship into hyperspace, while Mara gently laid Angel down on a cot. They’d gone through a lot to save their little girl. Mara frowned. Somebody was going to pay for this.

 

* * *

 

Angel opened her eyes and looked around groggily. Her leg was propped out in front of her in a bacta-cast, and pale walls and clean smells told her that she was probably in a hospital.

 

“Are you all right, sweetheart?”

 

Angel turned towards the voice and saw her Mama looking down at her. “Yeah.” She nodded sleepily. “My leg hurts.”

 

Mara nodded in understanding. “You’ve broken it, love. I’ll get the doctors to give you some more pain killers.”

 

“What happened to Burke?”

 

Mara’s expression turned to one of grim satisfaction. “He will be in jail for a very long time, along with Senator Fey’lya.”

 

“What does Fey’lya have to do with it?”

 

“He was the one who arranged the kidnapping.” Mara answered. “He wanted to use your disappearance to ensure that there would never again be a free Jedi in the New Republic.”

 

“How long are they in jail for?”

 

Mara leant forward and kissed Angel’s forehead. “For one-hundred and fourteen years each. But Bothan’s don’t live that long, so he’ll be there for the rest of his life.”

 

Angel leant deeper into the pillow thankfully. She wouldn’t admit it to anyone, but she’d been worried that Burke would kidnap her again. Suddenly, she felt that maybe her experience had been as exciting as cousin Jaina’s. Exciting, but not enough to want to do it again.

 

Just then, Luke came into the room and knelt at Angel’s bedside. He laid his hand on her head, and all of her pain melted away.

 

Angel smiled. “Nothing works as good as the Force… Mama, Papa?”

 

“Yes, Angel?” Luke said softly.

 

“I’m glad I belong to you.”