Playlist:

❶ "In Orbit"—Space Camp OST

❷ "With Malice Toward None"—Lincoln OST

❸ "Torn Apart"—The Force Awakens OST

❶ Luke didn't feel any negative reverberations from the Force when they entered Wild Space near Endor. A few short hops, and the Elenium dove into the atmosphere of the uncharted planet Khalkha on a bright day. 

While soaring over the virgin forest, Luke and Naluma admired the scenery. He used his excellent piloting skills to take them in for a low-altitude survey of the mountains and deep canyon with the rushing river below.

Naluma pointed to a herd of sleek quadrupeds with antlers. "Look, there, leaping across the rocks. They're beautiful."

The five Padawan crowded into the cockpit, hanging over the shoulders of the Jedi to peer out the viewport. They gazed out the window, mouths open in awe at the endless miles of rolling hills and trees and patches of violet flowers.

Naluma asked, "Anything on that stick about the wildlife?"

"Hmm, I think Taznek called those antlered creatures 'fianna.' We need to watch out for the things he called 'shashini'—they're humongous—and some wild felines called 'melika.' The rest are just pests—eating your supplies and fencing."

When he spied a meadow on the top of a hill not too far from some buildings, he set her down and lowered the ramp. As Naluma and the Padawan rushed to explore the vicinity, Luke put the shuttle into post-flight mode. "Grab the glow lamps, will you?"

The aromatic fragrance of the kederi trees and the mossy smell of loam assaulted their noses. Luke felt Naluma relax as she pulled in the Force, finding it much stronger here than other places. Must be all the trees. He thought to Naluma, Amazing, isn't it?

She nodded and smiled in relaxation and enjoyment. I think I'm going to like it here. Sure beats Zaxyn.

"Artoo, watch over the shuttle, but don't fire on the wildlife."

The little droid chirped cheekily.

"Artoo."

Luke stepped off the ramp last and sealed the shuttle.

"Ah, shucks, Master Luke. Why do that? There's no one here, after all," Padawan Wei'ahtt asked.

"We don't know much about the wildlife on this planet, and I'd rather not come back to one in the shuttle."

While the Padawan raced down the grassy hill to the stone lodge, Luke weaved his fingers into Naluma's hand and pulled her back. He gazed into her black eyes as they opened their Force-bond and let their love spike along it.

"Home," he said. "It's been so long."

"Five years, maybe more."

He nodded. "Like it?"

"Any place with you is fine with me." She stroked his cheek. "But a home ... together. I think I must be dreaming."

He pulled her into an embrace, their heads resting on each other's shoulders. "I couldn't do this without you. Welcome home."

"Master Luke!"

The couple pulled apart, shielding their bond once more.

"It's all sealed up. Got a security code?" Tandolleau yelled from the front entrance down the hill.

Naluma laughed. "Patience, Padawan. Patience." They trotted down the hill to the expansive hunting lodge.

Luke surveyed the rough stone structure with a main entrance in the center and two sprawling wings. It was much larger than Taznek had led him to believe. When Luke punched in the security code, nothing happened.

Padawan Jannah said, "Maybe we should start up the power first."

"Good idea," Luke said with a nod. "Kallay, the generator is south of this building. You and Kalder head down there and start up the generator. Here's the instructions." He offered the datapad.

Kallay looked at Master Luke with an impudent grin. "Keep it, Master Luke. I think I can handle this one." Kallay was a medium-sized female with messy, short, brown hair. What she lacked on personal appearance she made up for in technical know-how. 

Her twin brother Kalder sported the same messy short brown hair, but his talents lay along a different line. Looking younger than his seventeen years, the slender teen used his youthful appearance to his utmost abilities. He could out-bargain every trader. He could procure any information, whether from a person or a machine. To him, bargaining and information were games—and sometimes they were the same.

Soon, the power generator sprang to life, and the access pad glowed with power. After Luke punched in the code again, the main doors creaked open, sliding to either side with strain.

❷ Naluma added gear lubrication to her growing list on her datapad. They entered the massive lobby of the stacked granite lodge. A gigantic river-rock fireplace dominated the room, and heavy beams held up the ceiling and lined the walls. Dustsheets protected the furniture, but no dust covered them. The blast doors had hermetically sealed the room.

Padawan Tandolleau ripped off a dustsheet before jumping onto couch. "Comfy," he said, crossing his legs on the table in front of him.

All of a sudden a loud, strange noise passed through the building. Jannah jumped and screamed, "What is that, Master Luke? Some creature?"

Luke felt around the immediate area and felt nothing. "No."

Kalder and Kallay entered the room as the sound continued and Jannah screamed again.

Naluma said through clenched teeth, "Jannah, if you don't stop screaming, I'm going to take you back to the shuttle and leave you there."

Jannah shut her mouth and moved beside Wei'ahtt to avoid Naluma's angry glare.

With outstretched hands, Luke said, "Be at peace. All of you. You cannot use the Force if you are not at peace. Your fear will cloud your efforts." Luke turned to Kallay. "How did it go? Any problems?"

"Nope. Power turned on just fine. There's plenty of solar power stored in the tanks. They're all at full and shunting off the excess. I also found the water purification station and started it up." Another weird sound passed through the building. "Ah, there must be a valve open somewhere. The system is bleeding off the air in the pipes." She crinkled her nose as she analyzed the issue. "Probably a leak somewhere."

Naluma frowned and tapped her datapad again. One more thing to deal with. "Master, there are blast doors to either side. Should we investigate?"

"They lead to the rest of the building. According to the plans, offices, storage, and kitchens on the ground floor, guest rooms above. How about we split up into two different groups? The complex has six wings that connect in the back with a courtyard in the middle."

"Sounds good," Naluma said with an eagerness in her voice. "Twins, you're with me."

Luke gave her a disdainful look for saddling him with Jannah, Wei'ahtt, and Tandolleau. He thought at her, You owe me for this, Naluma.

She grinned with mischief and winked. 

Luke led his group to the south door. When the blast doors parted, they revealed a massive dining room that extended the entire three stories of the building.

Blastshields covered intricate pane-glass windows that extended from the floor to the ceiling. Open rafters of chunky wood beams supported the high ceiling. Triangular, wrought-iron chandeliers fitted with faux candles swayed from the rafters, illuminating the chamber in a warm glow. Round wooden tables with wooden, hard-backed chairs sat to one side, as if someone had just finished mopping the floor.

Jannah said, "This is palatial, Master Luke. Are you sure this is ours? This could rival my family's palace on Zeltros." 

"Yeah, it's ours, but it's far more than I ever thought we would get. I expected a ramshackle cabin, not a luxury lodge."

"Wonder why he built it," Tandolleau said while he fingered the carved wood decoration by the doors.

"They were going to retire here. Run it as a hotel for hunting parties," Luke said while tapping his datapad.

Wei'ahtt perked up. "Hunting? Can we go, Master Luke? I'd love to bag me one of those shashini you mentioned."

"Some day. Let's check out the kitchen. It's through these doors." Luke led them across the vast hall.

The kitchen appeared to be in decent condition. The appliances all functioned, except for one of the commercial ovens. Further explorations revealed a huge storage area with spoiled supplies that they would have to destroy, but at least no animal had gotten into them.

"Wei'ahtt, close that freezer door. It's never going to get to the right temperature if you leave it open like that," Luke said as he added more items to his list.

The wing on the west side revealed a conference room, which Luke thought would make a great combat arena, as it sported a twelve-meter ceiling and tall windows.

❸ While Luke contemplated heading upstairs, the ground rumbled. Thunder emerged from the north wing—the wing where Naluma was. Then the screams started. Luke bent over in agony as he experienced her pain through their Force-bond. He clamped down his shield, cutting her off just so he could stand.

He and the others ran to the north wing. A mammoth kedari tree had crashed down, rupturing a gaping hole through all three floors and pinning Naluma.

"Naluma!"

She moaned as a pool of blood seeped from under the tree.

Luke moved closer, examining the tree. "Blast it!" It had slid into position on top of her, not fallen. Probably shifted when they opened the blast door. Can't lift it. Gonna have to slide it while someone holds up the second floor.

He inventoried the Padawan and their skills. Kalder and Kallay have decent levitation skills. Right now Wei'ahtt can move things better with his muscles than his mind. He shook his head in dismay. Jannah definitely is not ready for this—neither is Tandolleau.

Naluma moaned, wincing and on the verge of fainting from the shock.

"Okay, Wei'ahtt, I want you to grab Naluma under the arms and be ready to slide her out. Kalder and Kallay, I want you two lifting the floor that's pinning this tree down. You two," he said to Jannah and Tandolleau while pointing at them, "just stay out of the way—and don't touch anything."

"On my mark—three, two, one, lift." Working in tandem, the twins raised the ceiling. It took all their effort to move it just an inch. Luke slid the behemoth tree up, and then Wei'ahtt pulled Naluma loose. Once she was free, the twins released the upper floor, crashing it into the tree and sending plascrete everywhere.

As he levitated the victim to the courtyard, Luke hurried the Padawan out of the danger zone. Naluma's left leg gushed and spurted blood. Bone stuck out of her crushed leg, causing Jannah to gag. Luke pushed his bare hand on her eye to stem the blood gushing from a cut on the brow.

"Kalder and Wei'ahtt, head back to the shuttle and grab the medkit—the big one. Jannah and Tandolleau, go up to the second floor and see if there is a room that we can put Naluma in. Kallay, see if you can't get that blast door back down to seal off the north wings from the rest of the complex. If that tree has been down for as long as I think it has, there's something living in there." They scattered like the mice on Dagobah.

Luke checked her temperature with the back of his other hand, finding her cold and clammy. He took off his outer tunic and covered her with it, maintaining the pressure on the eye. As she blacked out, he said, "Hey, don't do that, Naluma. You're the medic. I need you to tell me what to do. Come on, wake up."

"Luke," she breathed.

He marked that there was no "Master" in front of it. He liked the way she said it. "Stay awake. Come on, this isn't as rough as your vigil was. Stay with me."

Kalder and Wei'ahtt arrived with the medkit and pulled out bandages. With the the medical scissors, Kalder cut Naluma's trousers so he could access the wound. She moaned again as he removed the soaked fabric from her injury. He grabbed a big package of gauze and stuffed it inside the gash. He then placed another piece of gauze on top and held it in place. "Master, here's some gauze for her head wound. Direct pressure," he instructed.

Luke grabbed the gauze with his red, sticky hand and applied it to her head.

"She's losing too much blood." Kalder said. "Can you find her femoral artery and put pressure on it?" 

Confused, Luke asked, "Her what?"

Kalder took Luke's hand and placed it near Naluma's groin on her left leg. "Push hard there. Do you feel the pulse? Good. Push until the pulse stops there."

Kallay returned to the courtyard, carrying the datapads. "All sealed up, master. Grabbed your datapads, too."

"Thanks," Luke said without looking up at her. Tears threatened to spill from his eyes as he felt Naluma's life-force waning.

Wei'ahtt and Jannah returned next. "The rooms are in great condition, just like the main room," Jannah said.

Kalder looked at Naluma again. She had passed out. "Master, she's lost too much blood. We need to get her to a med center, and I mean right now."

"Tandolleau, fire up the shuttle. Kallay and Jannah, start closing up the place again, but leave the electricity on. Shut the water off until we can find that leak. Kalder and Wei'ahtt, help me get Naluma to the shuttle."

Kalder continued holding pressure on the leg, while Wei'ahtt carried the medkit, providing more gauze as requested. Luke continued pressure on the eye and the artery while he levitated her to the shuttle. He lowered her to the deck of the main cabin, as blood continued to ooze from her leg and head. 

"Tandolleau, plot a course to Koda Station," Luke yelled to the cockpit. "Jannah, grab a blanket from my rack." Luke  and Kallay ran up the ramp, closing it behind them.

In the galley, Artoo hovered over the scene beeping and pinging while tottering on his two legs.

Did you know ...

● The planet Khalkha is based on Kings Canyon National Park, one of my favorite places to camp. The lodge is based on the Ahwahnee Lodge in Yosemite, though. 

● The words for the different animals come from a variety of languages. Thanks, Google Translate.

● Koda Station is two hours hyperspace jump from Khalkha.

Tell me what you think ...

● How have the Padawan's characters been revealed throughout this chapter?

● How do you think Luke will react if Naluma dies?