---

Chann�u�ni walked through the �Do not Enter� door feeling a bit apprehensive, but he did not have time to trust his instinct and turn away, for he was instantly yanked forward and up by the collar of his brown robe and pressed against a wall inside the room, which appeared to be someone�s living quarters. 

�Tell me what your real business is,� the mysterious man who had told Chann�u�ni to meet him here hissed.  Chann�u�ni inwardly cursed himself for his carelessness to fall into such a trap.  He should have known that the man�s haste to leave the bar was not due to the Hutts but his own desire not to cause a scene�

�It is as I told you,� Chann�u�ni lied, wondering if he would be able to emerge from this room alive.

The man pinning him against the wall snickered, and simply whispered in a hardly audible voice but one that was clearly meant to be threatening, �Try again.�

The sudden thought that entered Chann�u�ni�s mind was that this man was working for the Emperor and somehow knew of his plot to get the boy.  But then Chann�u�ni knew this was absurd.  This man had seemed more interested in the �woman� he had fabricated when he had told the man that a woman had been searching for her son.  Or perhaps he had only seemed to be interested in the woman in order to find a flaw in Chann�u�ni�s story and then force him to tell the real story.  That made more sense then any other possibilities�

�Who are you working for?� The man pushed even harder against the Tusken�s collar, until Chann�u�ni could barely breathe. 

Chann�u�ni realized he did not have many choices in this position.  �Okay, okay,� the Tusken sputtered, and the cloaked man dropped him and released his grasp.  Chann�u�ni took a quick glance around the room, trying to locate any weapon-like object. 

�How is it you speak basic so well?� The man growled while shaking his fist, obviously using this question to begin laying out his suspicions.

�I am not a slave to the Empire.  I listen and learn,� Chann�u�ni answered, very aware that his life was on the line.  After this remark, he expected to be instantly killed.  But the cloaked man dropped his clamped hand in a gesture that suggested that this comment had alleviated some of his tension.

�You do not work for the Emperor like the other Tuskens do?� The man asked, shock and doubt replacing anger.

�He has put us to shame,� Chann�u�ni responded.  �And I have one way to lash out against him, and will let nothing stand in my way of obtaining my subject.  The Emperor thinks all Tusken Raiders can be bribed.  He thinks he will win this little game.  We will see who has the upper hand when I have obtained the prize.�

Everything fell into place before Obi-Wan�s eyes and he realized that he had only one choice, like it or not.  But before he could act, the Tusken had grabbed a large metal rod from a pile of metallic objects that the former occupant of the �Do not Enter� room had stashed in a corner, probably as building material for something.  Now, the �building material� was being swung towards Obi-Wan�s head. 

Unfortunately the Tusken did not realize he was dealing with a Jedi. 

Obi-Wan had been expecting the swing, and he easily ducked and sprung backwards as the metallic rod attempted to strike him down the middle.  Even though the Tusken was fighting with an impressive amount of speed, Obi-Wan was completely attuned to the force and played on the defensive to avoid every one of the Tusken�s swings.  Obi-Wan had just finished avoiding a mid-section blow by leaping up and flipping over the Tusken to where he faced its backside when he decided to pull out his lightsaber.  The Tusken whirled around when he heard the scratchy sound of lightsaber coming to life. 

�Jedi?� The Tusken asked in complete disbelief.  �I though all your kind was dead!�

Obi-Wan gave one last regretful look at the creature before him.  He would have liked nothing more than to let the Tusken have his revenge on the Emperor, but not at Luke�s expense.  �I�m sorry I have to do this,� he admitted, and with that he swung the lightsaber towards the Tusken�s midsection.  Despite his sudden shock, the Tusken recovered quickly enough to drop and roll, but Obi-Wan was quicker and finished the Tusken off by plunging his lightsaber down into the Tusken�s heart. 

Obi-Wan did not look back as he walked out of the �Do not Enter� room; he only turned around after the door was shut and that was simply to force the lock across and use his lightsaber to melt and then seal the metal around it.  Nobody would find the body for a while, and most likely nobody would care, but Obi-Wan had always preferred to stay safe rather than sorry. 

Obi-Wan�s final reassurance that Amidala had not been involved in any business with the Tusken came in the form of her reply to his earlier transmission, which Obi-Wan received when he returned to his well-concealed abode in one of the tall cliffs overlooking the Tusken ships (over what had been the pod-racing track).  The reply was brief but reassuring:

Kah says they are approaching Trenor.  I am waiting as you advised.

Obi-Wan read the words over and over again, but soon he was not seeing the words at all.  He kept seeing Anakin�s young face, eager and willing to begin his training as a jedi, but Obi-Wan had been doubtful, he could still feel the hesitance coursing through him.  He could still hear the silent alarm going off in his head.  He had listened to the dying plea of his master, that long time ago, and he could still see the resolution in Qui-Gon�s eyes before his life had left them.  How could his master, his elder have been wrong? After Anakin�s turn, Obi-Wan had beaten himself down with this question many times.  He should have trusted his instincts.  But, what is done is done, Obi-Wan reminded himself, and with that he looked up towards the bright Tatooine sky.  But what is yet to come is still unsure�

---

Vader had managed to recover two messages similar to the one D�Tall had sent earlier.  The first one appeared to have been written around the time when he and the Twi�Lek had first boarded the ship.  It read: We are on board and in �pursuit�.  So far so good.  �Kah

Vader had even discovered a response to this message: When do I lower my guard? I don�t want to do this even though we have to. �Pna

D�Tall�s second transmission replied: Wait for my mark.  You know we must protect them from him.  I have checked in, and the ambush appears to be set.  Fighters are waiting, but we have a little while to go yet.  �Kah.

At first, Vader didn�t want to believe the words he had read.  D�Tall was double-crossing him? Vader had to check the sensors to be sure.  But they did not respond for Vader, requiring a voice prompt.

Very clever, Vader thought.  But D�Tall had obviously been a bit careless with the messages even though she had protected them with a panel code.  However, from his observations Vader had already seen her enter the code, at the time not completely understanding what it was.  Once he had put two and two together, though, he had been able to access her transmissions.  The problem was, Vader had never seen D�Tall use a voice prompt.  It must have been something she did when Vader went to a room to clear his mind.  An extra precaution that she was able to take when the opportunity arose. 

�You should have been more careful and trusted your instincts,� Vader chided himself, feeling anger suddenly well up with quite a ferocity.  It suddenly dawned on Vader that he had been completely mislead.  But why? Why would D�Tall have wanted to jeopardize her paycheck in order to lead Vader to some moon? Apparently, quite the lovely �welcoming party� was expecting Vader on Trenor, but what had Vader done to personally offend D�Tall Kah so much that she would throw away a payment so great that it would have satisfied her every need for the rest of her life?

This mission is not about D�Tall, it is about my son, Vader reminded himself.  Perhaps D�Tall�s mission was also about his son.  At that moment his mind raced back to the use of quotation marks around the word �pursuit� in D�Tall�s first message.  And the more Vader had pondered this usage, the more little details had bothered him, such as the fact that he had never once witnessed the ship they were pursuing.  And the fact that D�Tall had always been in control of the ship�s destination.  And the fact that the reason for this was because this ship was conveniently not a model Vader was familiar with.  And the fact that Vader had trusted a Tusken�s word on the boy�s whereabouts.  The Tuskens could have been so easily bribed to lie to Vader if they had been guaranteed that Vader would not return alive to punish them! D�Tall had intended to let fighters stationed on Trenor destroy Vader! She probably had a small escape vessel for herself hidden somewhere in the ship.  That way she could make a clean getaway while the fighters finished Vader off.  And she could have locked Vader out of the controls so that he would have been helpless to save himself.

And that would keep Vader from bringing his son to the Emperor.

In that small corner of Vader�s mind, Anakin was praising D�Tall.  But the man consumed by the Dark Side, Vader, was busy thinking, �How could I have been so stupid?� He wanted to tear D�Tall limb from limb that very moment, but he needed some sort of proof. 

The most immediate proof that Vader could think of to uncover would be an escape vessel.  The presence of such a vessel in this type of ship would prove that D�Tall was indeed planning to leave Vader to be destroyed while making her getaway.  An escape vessel would be a foreign addition to this ship.  Just the kind of proof Vader needed.  So he went to the back of the ship toward the one enclosed room that he suddenly recalled D�Tall dismissing as the ��emergency ration room.  Hardly even used and not even relevant to our mission.� And low and behold, when he typed in the same panel code as in the main panel, the door slid open to reveal a small but sleek silver escape vessel.

---

D�Tall felt very refreshed after she awoke from her much-needed break.  For a moment she wondered if she had been wise to take a nap and leave Vader to himself, but then she pushed that thought aside with the reassurance that Trenor was very close, so the end of her role in this mission was nearing.  D�Tall, Amidala, and Obi-Wan had planned this mission so that when the fighters of Trenor came to meet this ship, Vader would have no way to escape because he would not be able to navigate; not only because he did not know how to, but because D�Tall had secured all navigation with a voice prompt that Vader could not bypass.  So once D�Tall took off in the Vienna, her escape ship, she would not need to worry whether Vader lived or not because he certainly would not.  With this renewed sense of hope, D�Tall stood up, stretched, and headed out of her room to finish what three people had started to protect one very sought-after by the Emperor�but very much loved by those who hated the Emperor�little boy. 

---

Movement.

Vader sensed this come from the room D�Tall had rested in, and he quickly returned to the bridge of the ship, taking his seat beside D�Tall�s chair.  Very shortly he would be in control once again. 

�Ah, D�Tall Kah,� Vader addressed the Twi�Lek calmly, as she approached her chair by the main panel. 

�Vader,� she acknowledged, sitting herself upon the chair looking rather triumphant, not at all aware of the sudden turn events were about to take. 

�What is to be our course of action?� Vader asked, drawing on the Force to remain calm until the appointed time.

D�Tall began to type her access code into the panel.  �As I mentioned before, we are going to close in on the ship at its resting spot, Trenor, if it is still there.  Hopefully the boy and this Obi-Wan will be completely taken off-guard.�

�You know D�Tall,� Vader began, �I�ve never quite approved of you brazen manner and rash tactics,� he paused as if to collect his thoughts.  He could tell that D�Tall was expecting him to congratulate her on her progress.  �Well,� Vader thought to himself rather smugly, �in the words of an old, foolish, pod-racing boy that I used to know�too bad, sucker!� Then he continued, �But I never thought that behind this rebel streak you would truly be up to no good.  However,� and at this point Vader decided to throw in a few fables of his own, �I happened to have brought my own tracking device just in case my bounty hunter was not quite up to par,� (Vader had no such device) �and it appears that the ship we are searching for did land on Trenor,� Vader paused to see a flicker of fear cross D�Tall�s face, �but it seems to have quite a few friends waiting along with it.  And somehow I don�t think my son is among any of those friends.  In fact, I�m getting the sense that those friends might not, in fact, be friendly at all.�

By this time, D�Tall had dropped all pretenses and looked completely panicked.  She knew that Vader now was aware of the plot to have him killed, and she also knew that she was trapped.  �Perhaps we have been following the wrong signature�� D�Tall made a feeble attempt to convince him otherwise, but Vader shook his head decisively, �No D�Tall, I think we are following the energy signature that you wanted us to follow.�

D�Tall felt her panic begin to consume her until it became a sort of dull numbness.  What had she been thinking, hoping to fool Vader into a mousetrap? Yet they had been so close, so close, and if they had only traveled a little way farther than Luke would have been ensured safety from the tyrant his father had become for the remainder of his life�

But Vader could no longer be fooled.  He cut off the automatic rise and fall of the Twi-Lek�s breath with a Force choke to her throat, feeling hatred pulsate through his body with every beat of his still human (or was it?) heart, a hatred that was driving him almost to an insane frustration.  How could this bounty hunter who had never been able to build up much of name for herself have led him, Vader, second only to the Emperor, on a wild goose chase? True to his Master�s orders, Vader had stayed focused on his mission�so focused that he had been deceived.  Well, D�Tall Kah would receive her fair punishment.  Vader tightened the force even more around her throat.

Even though everything in Vader was telling him to kill D�Tall that second, he was overcome by an even stronger bout of curiosity.  He raised the question that had long been on his mind, �The only thing that still bothers me, Twi�Lek, is why you would betray the Emperor and myself in the first place.  What could you possibly have to gain?�

D�Tall, even in the face of death, was able create that cocky air around her once more, and finally she put the final piece of the puzzle into place.  �I have the freedom of your son from a monster like you to gain.  The whole galaxy would have gained something from your death, but your son mattered the most.  I decided to aide my friend in this mission because that boy�s protection meant so much to her.  I�m sure you can figure out who my friend is, Vader.  Let�s think�you cannot break my thoughts.  You cannot find out where your son is his hidden.  Who do you think trained me, Vader? It�s not that difficult to figure out, really.  She learned to build a mental guard against you a long time ago even though you are still haunted by the very thought of her and the way you betrayed her��

D�Tall saw Vader�s anger swell, and she knew that he was about to lunge for her to quickly finish the job.  In the split-second D�Tall knew she had left to live, she reached into her pant pocket and pushed a tiny sensor pad that she had sewn into the pocket�s material.  Her last thought was that she had failed her dear friends and failed the resistance�

---

Amidala was huddled in the corner of her underground hide-out, trying desperately to shut out the whispers of her overactive conscience.  What Amidala really wanted was sleep, but she hardly ever had this luxury anymore as the bags under her devoid eyes would agree.  She hardly even had the luxury of stomaching any food, and to this her gaunt face and frail limbs could atone.  Amidala was still battling with the possible consequences of her actions when a red light next to her began to blink.  Stunned, Amidala sat up so quickly that she felt her head spin because she was so weak, but that did not matter nearly as much as the incessant blinking of this light.  In an instant, all activity within Amidala�s mind came to an abrupt halt, and it remained like this for an entire minute as the light continued to blink.  Then, like an ice cube slowly melting, realizations began to set in to Amidala�s frozen mind.

The first was that this light meant that D�Tall was dead and their plan compromised.

The second was that Vader was still alive.

Amidala didn�t know whether to be relieved about this second realization or whether to be filled with dread.  She had never wanted her husband to die, but Obi-Wan had assured her that it would be for the greater good of the galaxy, and the greater good of her children, especially her son.  And since Amidala had already mourned over the death of the Anakin that she had known, letting Vader go was something she knew she had to do.  Her conscience had still bothered her about this decision, but Amidala knew that Obi-Wan was right.  And now all the issues with morality, all the planning, all the emotions that Amidala had endured over the past few weeks (for the planning had taken quite a while indeed) were in vain.  The plan had fallen through and Vader had won.

Amidala�s mind was too weary to debate how she felt about Vader and whether she thought there was any trace of Anakin left in that black mask, so she concentrated on the very real grief of her good friend, D�Tall Kah�s death. 

As Amidala�s tears begin to fall freely and she felt the familiar sting of the salt-water rolling down her cheeks, she huddled into a ball once again and prayed that Obi-Wan would at least ease her grief by sending her a message that Luke was safe.  That way D�Tall Kah�s death would have not entirely been in vain.

---

Luke felt a sudden stab of pain course through him, and for a while he thought he might have bumped his head on something, because the pain started from his head and ran down to his toes.  However, the more Luke looked, the less Luke found that might have been the cause of his injury.  Finding this rather odd, Luke decided to go lie down in the hopes that the pain would ebb.  Luke hardly had time to feel the pain fading away once he had stretched himself across Jimmy�s bed�for he and his aunt and uncle were still at Jimmy�s due to the sand storm�because a sudden feeling of fatigue sent him quickly to sleep, and into another of the most unusual dreams�

Luke found himself on the cliff that towered over the sand dunes once again.  Even though the location was the same, the time of day had changed, for instead of stars greeting his heavenward gaze, the glare of a bright sun made Luke look down and cover his eyes quickly.  The heat was almost unbearable as well.  Luke felt a trickle of sweat roll down his brow. 

Then, once again, Luke suddenly felt as if he was being watched, but he was not fearful, for it was same presence that he had encountered in the last dream.  Also like the last dream, the presence did not allow itself to be seen but began to speak in the same grave voice.

�Luke, I cannot ask you to hide out somewhere for the rest of your life, but unfortunately this is probably how long a danger to you will remain.  However, you are to go home.  But, listen carefully, you must always be cautious and never put yourself into dangerous situations.  And if you get a strong feeling that something bad is coming, listen to it.  This feeling may well save you.�

The voice was like a barrier from the rays of the hot sun, and Luke did not want it to fade.  Not only for that reason, but also because a million questions were burning in his mind.  Luke kept wondering why he was in danger, what someone would want with him, who it was he was to be cautious about, and this is the way the questions went, round and round in his head.  The voice did not speak for a while, and Luke felt the heat making him weak.  He wanted to ask all his questions, but he could feel himself slipping away from this place.  Before the dream world before him had completely faded away, Luke could have sworn that he heard the voice repeat the line that would remain prominent in his mind for many years.  This line would, in fact, one day reveal why his very existence and protection was so important that it cost others their lives and cost his dear mother a sea of tears, �Things that you have not even imagined await you in the future��

However, until this future came, Luke remained blissfully unaware of the events that had occurred around him; for the time being, he had no conception of the vicious circle that had engulfed Anakin, killed D�Tall, imprisoned Amidala, and would one day threaten to undertake him as well�