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And Luke could see them now, Olianne’s outline with her distinctive hair illuminated by moonlight, a slighter, leaner silhouette standing beside her. As they came within a couple of meters of the two women, Luke got a clear look at the girl without environment suits or attempted murder getting in the way.

She was a teenager, about Ben’s age or a trifle younger, slender, with long straight hair that looked as though, out of the moonlight, it would be a light brown. Her eyes were dark. There was no fear or apprehension on her face; in fact, she seemed to be wearing a half smile until Luke realized that the expression was an illusion, caused by the small scar at the corner of her mouth.

Luke gave Olianne a courteous nod. “Could we have some time alone with this young woman?”

“No.”

Luke restrained a sigh. “Very well.” He gestured toward the ground. “Shall we sit?”

Kaminne did, followed by Luke and Olianne. The teenagers were last to take their seats.

“I’m Luke Skywalker. This is my son, Ben.”

“I know.” The girl gave a little shrug. “I am Vestara Khai.”

“And you are a Sith.”

“I … was.”

Luke raised a brow. “You are no longer.”

“Now I am Raining Leaves.”

“Then if you’ve chosen to abandon your Sith ways, you wouldn’t mind telling us all about your former life.”

Vestara’s illusory smile became real. “No matter how I regard myself now, my friends are my friends and my kin are my kin. Shall I tell you all about them, so you can go to them and slay them?”

Luke shook his head, dismissing her protest. “All it takes to do evil is to stand aside while others do it—when a single word from you could have stopped it.”

“It’s also hard to talk of them without, in some sense, calling to them. Summoning them. Do you want me to summon them to this place?”

“Yes.” Luke kept his voice matter-of-fact. “If that’s what it takes.”

“I do not wish Olianne hurt. Not her, not my new clan.”

“She’s lying.” Ben’s tone was exasperated. Luke did not have to look at his son to know that Ben was rolling his eyes.

Luke wanted to tell his son, Of course she’s lying. Yet you can learn almost as much from the lies as you can from the truth. But he did not. Instead, he let Ben feel a flash of irritation, and outwardly ignored his son’s interjection. “For one who is anxious to be free of the Sith, you fought alongside your companion with exceptional dedication.”

“Of course I did! To do any less than your best effort at any time is to invite punishment. Is it not so with your Jedi?”

Luke ignored the question. “What can you tell us of your home-world?”

“Nothing.”

“And your plans, your aims? Whatever brought you to the Maw cluster in the first place?”

Vestara shrugged. “Nothing.” Vestara leaned toward Luke. “Just let me be. Let me stay among the Raining Leaves. Stop chasing me.”

“Where did you crash your yacht?”

She blinked as if surprised to be asked a question she could choose to answer. “It was in the middle of the jungle. I don’t know where. All the instrumentation was out. After the crash, I wandered for hours before Olianne found me.”

“Where’s your lightsaber?”

“It was in my cabin when I began my landing run. When the crash happened … there was nothing left of the cabin. I couldn’t find any sign of my gear.”

“Are you done?” Olianne did not sound so much worried for Vestara as annoyed with Luke.

Luke considered his answer, but Ben spoke first. “Olianne, this girl is a Sith, and that means she’s pure evil. She’s like a thermal detonator rolling around your camp waiting to go off. When she does, you and all your clan—”

“Evil?” Vestara practically sputtered the word. “Being Sith has nothing to do with good or evil, any more than being Jedi does.”

Ben glared at her, outraged. “How can you say that? People become Sith and they do nothing but evil—”

“Oh, I suppose that explains your Jacen Solo, whom we have heard of—”

“It does. He was Sith.”

“He was Jedi, and you know it!”

“He became Sith,” Ben insisted.

“Be quiet.” Luke spoke softly, but put some