2003 | please don't steal
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"Jade Solitaire" [by Timothy Zahn]
From Tales of the New Republic, printed in 1999. Review by Terret Yeth: It is always refreshing to read a story about Mara, the solo Mara, the unconfined-by-a-smuggling-association Mara. When Mara is unfettered by responsibilities, then we can see her well-hidden talents that she honed under the Emperor's tutelage. Perhaps this is an unnecessary aside, but I would love to see Mara go up against a Mistryl. Anyway, the daughter of an influential and wealthy shipbuilder has been captured by Praysh, a slaver with a deep-seated hatred for female humans. Mara has temporarily been left in charge of the Wild Karrde, when she and the entire crew are captured and held hostage. Mara is faced with the choice of rescuing Sansia or watching the entire crew of the Wild Karrde killed before her. Burdened by her responsibilities, and wondering how she ended up with them, Mara accepts the challenge, and allows herself to be captured by Praysh. Due to an unforeseen complication, she is deprived of her lightsaber and is thrown into his slime pits, where she is doomed to harvest maturing krizar for the rest of her life. Through a bit of Force trickery and manipulation, she locates the shipbuilder's daughter and procures the necessary ingredients to create a suitable diversion, allowing the two women to escape. They are almost immediately recaptured, and are brought before Praysh, who condemns Mara to immediate death. Before she is brought away, a Togorian female is admitted into the throne room. The Togorian H'shishi (recognize the name?), having found Mara's lightsaber, attacks the slaver, and helps Mara drive the guards from the room. The three escape in Sansia's ship and return to her father, where they discover that Karrde has turned the tables on the ship builder with the help of some very familiar friends. The story doesn't end there but I'm not about to spoil it for you. Let's just say that by the end Mara acquires a very important piece of hardware that is easily recognizable by any true Star Wars proficient. BACK TO SHORT STORIES |