Caitlin Windancer

Duet With Destiny

"In a spiral never-ending are we drawn toward the source
Spinning at the mercy of an unrelenting force
So we stare into the emptiness and fall beneath the weight
Circling the Nexus in a fevered dance with fate
Wealthy the spirit that knows its own flight
Stealthy the hunter who slays his own fright
Blessed the traveler who journeys the length of the light."

Nexus-Lyrics by Dan Fogelberg


Meanwhile, not long ago and in a galaxy not very far away....



Jedi Luke Skywalker, slowly adrift in his crippled X-wing next to a large, white planet, says to his Astromech Droid R2-D2, "Can you fix it here, R2?"

R2 give a raspberry like sound "No!" Then he makes a series beeps, and other electronic sounds. Luke reads R2's answer on the X-wing's display monitor in front of him as it translates the droid's sounds into words.

"The laser weapons array has shorted out and a panel probably needs to be replaced. But you think it won't be any problem to do so if you can get the parts and they should be easy to find. The major problem is the hyperdrive motivator is absolutely hopeless and it needs to be totally replaced. And finding the right one may be a problem. So you are saying in essence we have no hyperdrive and no laser weapons and we might not be able to fix them. That's bad, R2! That's very bad!"

R2 gives a sad, whistle of agreement.

"Are your long range scanners working, R2?"

R2 whistles "Yes". He makes a sound of inquiry. "Why?"

"R2 can you get a fix on our location and what system this?"
R2-D2 answers him with another series of beeps and whistles.

"What do you mean you the system doesn't exist, R2? Oh, it doesn't exist in your database, a currently unknown system, huh? You don't have any information at all?"

R2 after checking the system again with his long range scanners, he replies with another series of beeps to Luke.

"Your scanners are only picking up some basic information. The system has nine planets orbiting around a G-class star. A yellow dwarf, huh? Some of the larger planets seem to have several moons but you are not detecting any lifeforms on them. But the third planet closest to the system's sun the one with one moon your readings indicate that is the only planet in the system that might be capable of sustaining life...hmmm. Are you picking up any ships or any transmissions at all from that planet, R2? Hmmm. Oh, you are picking up radio and other transmission signals from there. Which means it is probably inhabited with intelligent life. Good job R2, do you think we make it that far?"

R2 beeps an affirmative answer. "Yes!"

"Any sign of Imperial presence or enemy ships R2?"

R2 razzes "No!"

'Good, R2, Let's do it then."

"I hope they are friendly and have what I need to fix the X-wing or I might be stuck here for a very long time."

Luke thinks as he cautiously guides his ship towards the third planet. He nurses the damaged ship along.

"I hope I won?t have to fight with the ship in this condition. The best I can hope for is to out run them and then not very far." he thinks gloomily.

Several minutes later, his gloomy thoughts are interrupted by a beep from R2D2.
"What is it R2?" Luke inquires suddenly alert.

R2 beeps and whistles.

"Oh, are we almost there? What's that, again R2?"

R2 repeats what he just said.

"Your scanners have detected something orbiting the planet; it looks like a very small manned space station and some monitoring devices. How small a space station, R2?

"Very small, no more than possibly six people could fit in there you can only detect maybe three at the most." Luke utters in surprise.

"That is small! Hmmm... let me try something."

He closes his eyes and focuses, drawing upon the Force he reaches with his mind towards the now visible tiny space station.

"You're right I only sense six people. It's seems to be a research and science station only. The technology here is not as advanced as what we are use to having. Hmm...that could be a problem in more ways than one. We need to get by them without being detected. Luckily they are on their sleep cycle and have not yet become aware of our presence. Have any of the monitoring devices picked up our presence, yet R2?"

R2 after scanning the Hubble telescope replies. "Yes, the largest monitoring device has. It is broadcasting to a station on the planet."

"That's not good. Do you have any suggestions how to get by it, R2?"

R2 thinks a moment then replies with a sequence of rapid beeps and whistles.
"Good idea, R2 jamming their frequency shouldn't be too hard. Let's do it then. Also see if you can find us somewhere to land on the planet. Near but not too near a city, we need still find those parts."

R2 gives a buzz of irritation.

"Sorry R2, I mean to imply you didn't know what you are doing." Luke apologizes.

R2 pacified whistles "That's okay."

"Okay R2, whenever you are ready." Luke replies.

R2 responses by jamming the near-by transmission frequency.

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Earth
Los Angeles, California
Somewhere in a office of Jet Propulsion Labs(JPL)

Dr Jack Anderson is preparing a report on the lastest findings of the Hubble telescope for an upcomming NASA meeting. He is watching the live feed of Jupiter from the Hubble telescope. He is making notations to his report as he drink his cup of coffee. He yawns.

"Nothing exciting ever happens on my shift." He thinks.
He lets his mind wander to the upcoming Star Wars Fanfest in Los Angeles.He tries to decide what kind of costume he should wear this time.
"Jedi or something else? I wonder what the guys are going to wear. Maybe we could coordinate something." He wonders out loud. He glances at his friends Sam and George. He then glances back at the screen expecting to see the normal pictures of Jupiter. He reaches for the adjustment controls for the screen taking a sip of hot coffee. His hand freezes in mid-reach. He spits out his coffee and his mouth hangs open in surprise.

"What?! The..."

He quickly adjusts the screen to focus on the object that has caught his attention. Zooming in and enlarging the object so it can be clearly seen. He hits the record button.

"I don't believe it. This can't be real!" He cries as he stares at the tiny ship hovering in space close to the planet of Jupiter. It is now clearly visble on the screen.

"Sam! George!Come here look at this!" He exclaims excitedly to his friends and colleagues. He continues to stare at the ship in wonder and surprise as his friends join him.

"What is it Jack?" They both ask at the same time.

He points to the object on the screen. His friends exchange looks of surprise.Then the ship on the screen now moving quickly away from the planet of Jupiter.

"If I didn't know better..." George starts to say then stops as if afraid to voice his thought out loud.

"That looks like... an X-wing!" Sam finishes. He then shakes his head in disbelief. "But it can't be." He turns to look at George. "Shouldn't we report this?" He asks of George.

George shrugs his shoulders. "If it isn't a hoax of some kind." He replies.

"Hoax?!!" Jack exclaims, who hasn't taken his eyes off the ship the whole time. "This no hoax! Look at the date and time stamp. This is a live feed." He says pointing to the bottom of the screen.

"Yes, Of course. We should report this at once hoax or not." Jack cries excitedly as he reaches for his phone.

His friends exchange startled glances.

"But, Jack..." Sam starts to say.

But Jack talking excitedly into the phone ignores him.

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Dodging communication and other satellites Luke pilots the X-wing into the planet's atmosphere. After a few moments, he breaks into clear sky high over what looks like a vast body of water.

"Wow! Would you look at that, R2. I haven't seen that much water since last time we flew over Mon Calamari." He exclaims. He heads the X-wing across the ocean towards the nearest large, land mass.

As he nears the shoreline of the continent he flies lower in preparation for landing. When R2 whistles suddenly informing him that he is picking up some kind of military transmissions. And the scanners are showing some kind of fast moving aircraft are approaching their location from the direction of the land mass. That they are probably the planetary defense forces.

Over the general broadcast channel is the heard the following:
"Unidentified aircraft. You are entering the United States restricted airspace. Please, identify yourself immediately! And you will land at once! Or will be considered hostile and will be shot down."

R2 whistles to Luke over their private channel.

"What are we going to do?"

Using the Force Luke reaches out for the feelings of the other pilots to try to determine what to do. He senses the other pilots hostility and protectiveness towards their people. They mean what they say they will shoot if he doesn't answer them.

He also easily picks up their thoughts that even if he complies and lands he will be imprisoned. He will not be allowed to leave even if identifies himself. He makes his decision.

He answers R2. "We can't fight them and we definitely can't go with them. We need to get out of here. Can you jam their radar, R2?"

R2 beeps an "Of course."

"What do the scanners say? Can we fly faster them, R2?"

"Yes, easily." He beeps.

"Then do it, R2! And let's get out here fast."

R2 replies by jamming their radar and increasing the ship's speed capacity. Luke increases the X-wing's speed to sublight. He easily out distances the other aircraft. More fighters join the chase as he passes over the middle of the continent. They can't keep up the X-wing's speed. They keep shooting missiles at him. Each time he dodges them. The missiles explode harmlessly into each other. He then climbs higher into the atmosphere losing the ships.

R2 picks their excited chatter over the general channel when Luke does. The X-wing soon passes over the continent to another ocean. He goes from day to night as he goes from ocean to the other. He flies low over the water to avoid detection by anymore radar.

He flies towards the West coast of the island of Ireland. R2 informs him that there is an uninhabited area of land ahead next to a small habitation. He slows down and skims the surface of the land looking for a good place to land. His ship rattles the windows of the small village of Glendara and the surrounding area as it passes overhead. He barely misses a circle of large, standing stones on a nearby hill. He finally lands in an open area of wilderness several kilometers outside of Glendara near hill of the standing stones.

First checking the scanners to make sure the atmosphere is breathable by humans. Luke opens the X-wing's canopy and gets out. He looks around at the surrounding lush green vegetation lit by moonlight.

"That was close R2. Did we lose them?"
R2 beeps an assent.

"Good! Are you still monitoring their channels?"

He beeps another "Yes."

"Very good, R2. Keep me informed if they get close or anything else for that matter. I'm going to take a look around. If it is safe I'll come back then can we set up camp and hide the ship. Alight."
He whistles. "Right! Be careful!"

Luke towards the hill of standing stones in order to get a better view of the surrounding area. A light breeze ruffles his hair as he walks up the hill. Moonlight streams down through the clouds, illuminating the stones in a bright glow of silvery light. A feeling of peace and power flows from the large stone in the center of the circle of stones.

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In the village below the lights have come on and there is a buzz of excited voices coming from the streets as people come outside to see what caused the disturbance. Dogs are barking, horses whinnying, sheep are baaing and cows are mooing in the distance.

Passing Jupiter



Earth orbit

Ireland Landing