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“Ben and Luke are going to be here any minute now. I’m ready to loosen your cuffs, but I need you to promise me something first.”

His eyes narrowed. Here it was. “What?”

“Luke is going to Mind Walk, to try to find Abeloth. Ben will be—”

“No!” Dyon cried, and started struggling. She placed a hand on him, and he felt her using the Force to send him calm. “He mustn’t reach her!”

“Be quiet and let me finish!” she hissed. “Luke won’t be Mind Walking alone. Three Sith will be joining him, including my commander. They’re going to keep him from finding her in that realm of reality.”

He ceased his struggle. “I’m listening.”

Not-Vestara graced him with a lovely smile. “Meanwhile, while Ben is stuck monitoring Luke, you escape and find Abeloth first. Tell her of our plan. Tell her that those who have replaced the Sith are on her side. It’s Skywalker she needs to be wary of, not us. If I loosen these cuffs, do you give me your word that you will wait to escape until I tell you the time is right?”

He could lie, of course. He could say yes, then bolt whenever he felt the time was right. He didn’t have to trust her.

“Yes,” he said.

She searched his eyes for a long moment, then nodded. “Okay,” she said. “We trust each other, and we both benefit. And so does Abeloth.”

Now Not-Vestara moved quickly to unlock the stun cuffs. The right one opened, and she moved to undo the left. This was the moment when he could take her by surprise, attack the imposter, render her helpless, even kill her if he chose. But he didn’t. She had proven worthy of his trust. He was not like the real Sith or the fake Jedi. He would not betray one who had helped him.

“When you’re on your way to Abeloth, watch out for the plants. They’re carnivorous.”

“Thank you,” Dyon said quietly. He lay as if he were still imprisoned.

Not-Vestara tensed, paying attention to something Dyon couldn’t sense. “They’re coming. I’ve got to go, but I’ll be back with them soon. And as soon as possible, I will tell you when you may escape. Here’s what you have to do.…”

“You know the drill,” Luke said to his son as they entered sick bay, with Vestara behind them.

Ben nodded, giving Dyon a cursory glance as they entered the small cabin. He lay on the gurney, still strapped down, still asleep.

“Yep. Hook you up to an IV, monitor the signs, and hope I don’t have to go Beyond Shadows to rescue you this time.”

Luke smiled. “I don’t think you will. We have a very specific task. This time, I know where I want to go and who I’m looking for. And trust me, I don’t want to take more time than I have to on this.”

“She knows we’re here,” Vestara said. The words were uttered without undue emphasis, but with such complete certainty that Ben felt a chill.

“Well, I haven’t felt any tentacles yet,” Ben said, trying to shrug off his unease.

“If you do, you know how to handle it,” said Luke, dropping a hand on Ben’s shoulder and giving it a good squeeze. He lay down on the bed next to the unconscious Dyon, and Ben inserted the IV quickly and almost casually.

Luke knew now, as he had not known the first time he had Mind Walked, that this place had a counterpart in physical reality. All of the places he had visited did. He was on Abeloth’s world, and this, the Lake of Apparitions, could be visited awake, on foot, with a lightsaber in his hand, if he knew where to find it.

On Sinkhole Station, his guides were being bent to Abeloth’s will, to take him to her, to keep him trapped in this place until his physical body perished. Only Ben’s decision to come after him, putting himself at great risk, had saved Luke. On this second spirit-voyage, he was again hardly among friends. But no one with whom he journeyed now wished Abeloth well.

He had, as promised, instructed the Sith who had insisted on accompanying him on the techniques. As he expected, they grasped the concept quickly. He had warned them to expect a sense of elation, of euphoria, and to not trust it. He had advised them to have someone watching over them, to monitor their vital signs, and to be prepared to go in after them if things