have the entire story, please?” Luke took a chair and sat down near the doctor. Balto paced the room restlessly, saying nothing for a time, but at last he began to speak. “Very well, since you're the one person who may be able to shed some light on this mystery. Evidently, once the Executor was hit, I and a number of the crew were trapped inside a large fragment that spun away from the main wreck and so was not destroyed with the rest of the ship.” In a calm voice and without any embellishment Commander Balto related his story. “The last thing I remember was asking the Jedi for his name, and then I fell asleep. I woke up on this medical frigate in the bacta tank. The medics fished me out and the rest you know.”

“He gave you his name?” Luke's eyes sparked with interest.

“Yes he did,” Balto closed his own eyes in concentration. “I was falling asleep, so what he said seems very far away. An-something. Ana– Anakin.” Balto opened his eyes and nodded. “That was it, Anakin Skywalker.” He smiled in momentary triumph then his smile faded as he turned slowly to stare at Luke. “Just a moment,” he muttered. “You're Luke Skywalker…”

Luke's incredulous expression matched Balto's own. “Anakin Skywalker is the one who saved your life?”

“I'm quite sure that was the name he gave me. Was he a relative of yours?”

“You could say so. He was my father.” A number of emotions flashed across Luke's expressive face. Balto couldn't be certain, but he thought he recognized astonishment, joy, and sorrow. “You actually saw him?”

“Oh yes, as clearly as I see you now.” Balto smiled strangely. “If it wasn't for the fact he glowed in the dark and could walk through walls, I would have thought he was any normal person with Jedi robes and a lightsaber.” He tilted his head, considering Luke. “You favor him.”

“You saw him.”

“Is something wrong with that?” Balto folded his arms and looked stubborn. “I know it's not normal for most people to see ghosts, I didn't believe in them myself before this, but I certainly saw something, and more than that. He helped us somehow, repaired the power supplies so the blast doors would close, talked me through the hotwiring, patched up the worst of my injuries.” Balto pressed a hand to his chest. “Without his help we never would have survived long enough to be rescued.”

Luke seemed to consider his words carefully. “You didn't see a ghost, you saw a Force spirit.”

Balto scowled. “That's exactly what he said! To be honest I don't see what the difference is, they're dead and yet somehow they interact with the living.”

“But that is the difference, interacting with the living. Ghosts don't do that. As I understand it they are simply afterimages of beings that were once alive and are now gone. But Force spirits are something different.” Luke reached out a hand toward Balto. “Most people cannot see them, never mind see them so clearly they initially mistake them for those living in physical bodies. As I understand it, only a powerful Jedi could do such a thing.”

Balto felt an exquisite thrill of horror race along his nerves. “I'm no Jedi!? There is no way I could have served Lord Vader for any length of time and been a Jedi. The Emperor would have had me executed straight away, and Lord Vader himself would have done the deed since I was under his command.”

“You served Vader?”

Balto spoke in a calmer voice, still feeling rather flustered. “For years. I began my service as a junior officer under his command, and he kept me on rather than rotating me out.” Balto shook his head at Luke's expression. “What, do you think he slaughtered everyone under his command? It wasn't so. A competent soldier could do very well. I wasn't the only officer assigned long-term to his service, there was Commander Praji, and Lt. Commander Belkan, and several others.”

“But you were close to him?” Luke moved a step closer to the commander.

Balto ran a paw through his fur and looked puzzled. “Close? Do you mean as in physical proximity? I served as his aide-de-camp, so I was often near him. If you mean was I his confidant...” Balto shook his head and said nothing further. He kept a wary eye on Luke as the young Jedi came close enough to touch him, but instead of actually touching Luke simply stroked a hand through the air near his head. Balto felt an odd sensation, as if someone were pushing on him slightly and without thinking he braced himself. Luke smiled at that.

“You may not be a Jedi yet, Commander Balto, but the Force is with you.”

Balto could not think of any immediate reply, his mind still trying to comprehend Luke's words. He wasn't sure which statement appalled him more, the one about ‘the Force is with you’, or the ‘not a Jedi yet’. His thoughts skittered around in loops like small creatures trying to figure out a larger potential predator dropped into their midst. Cold sweat prickled on his fur and it took nearly all of his self-control to keep from flinching away from Luke. “I don't see how it could be.” His voice sounded unsteady even to himself and Balto grimaced.

“I am far from knowing everything there is to know about the ways of the Force,” said Luke quietly. He kept his movements slow as he circled Balto, obviously using whatever enhanced senses he possessed. “I only started learning about it five years ago, and all of my old masters who were teaching me are now one with the Force.”

“Like my mysterious Jedi rescuer?”

“Exactly.” Luke nodded in approval at his deduction. Abruptly he seemed to change the subject. “Commander Balto, did Anakin Skywalker say anything to you about the fate of Darth Vader?”

Balto tossed his head in a quick motion. “Yes, he did. When I asked if Lord Vader was still alive, the Jedi said Lord Vader was ‘free and suffers no longer.’ By that, I assumed he was dead, and it turns out I was right.” Thinking about it still gave Balto that odd pain in his heart. He shifted from paw to paw, wanting to be moving again, but something in Luke’s face held him. 

“He said it that way?! I’m so glad!” Luke knelt down, flung his arms around the Imperial and caught him in a strong hug. “I know he's all right, but it's wonderful to hear it from someone else.”

Balto barked in surprise, distracted from his unhappy musings. Being embraced by Rebels —especially this Rebel—was not something he’d expected to experience, ever. The younger man was several feet taller than Balto and at this close range exuded an odd scent compounded of ozone, fire, leaf mold, and desert dust.

“Will you please tell me why your father would care about me and my people or Lord Vader?” Balto tried to make his questions sound less peevish but failed miserably. “What’s going on?”

Luke released him and held Balto’s shoulders, staring into his eyes as if he couldn’t quite believe what he was hearing. “Don’t you know? Didn’t Anakin Skywalker tell you?”

“Know what? Tell me what?” Balto was more than a little frustrated. “Why should some Jedi care about us or help us as he did? I served Lord Vader.”

Luke took pity on Balto and spoke gently. “Because they were one and the same person. Anakin Skywalker was Darth Vader.”

“The… the same?” Balto shuddered at the sudden onset of vertigo. “The same person? I knew something in that voice sounded familiar,” he muttered. The sensation of falling became markedly worse. I think I'm fainting, Balto thought as his knees buckled and he sagged to the floor. Luke caught him under one arm and kept him from collapsing entirely. Dimly he heard Dr. Doc's worried voice.

“Is he all right?”

A moment later Jir felt the doctor take his other arm. “I'm afraid he's feeling about the same as I did when I got the news from my father.”

“I'm sorry,” said Luke as he and Doc helped Balto into a chair. “It's a bit of a shock – no, it's far more than that, but there's no easy way to say it.”

Balto sat where they had placed him, powerless to move, still feeling as if he were falling. That Jedi, that man, Lord Vader? Balto’s eyes were wide open, but he couldn’t see. That fine man? How? Why? His thoughts, which had begun to settle down somewhat from Luke’s earlier Jedi bombshell, gave up any semblance of order and fled in a chaotic stampede. He was left with a sensation of anguish so deep it felt like wild krayts were flaying the flesh from his bones. He breathed in ragged gasps, unable to articulate the agony.

“You’re in pain,” said Luke, his voice filled with concern.

“Yes,” Balto forced the response out through clenched teeth. “I suppose so.” Balto felt rather than saw Luke reach toward him.

“It might be better if you could cry – or scream,” he offered. “I did both.”

The paralysis broke and Balto scrambled up with a lurch, knocking over the chair in his haste to avoid Luke’s hand. He still could see almost nothing; it was as if someone had plunged the room into utter darkness. The young Jedi was a shining swirl of soft light, the doctor a similar nexus-point of energy. Balto backed stiffly away from both of them. “Don’t,” he pleaded. “Don’t touch me.”

“Commander, if you…” Luke took a step toward him.

“No.” Balto moved away as Luke tried to come closer. He was hot, burning with fever, yet so cold he shivered uncontrollably.

“Please.”

“No,” Balto whispered. “I’ll come apart.” He stepped back another pace and found the wall of the room brushing against his tail. “Don’t be kind to me. I’m used to it from my hometown.”

Balto was surprised at how sane his voice sounded. Wobbly, yes, but sane. He didn’t feel sane. Sucking in a deep breath he continued in a rush. “If you touch me, I won’t be able to stand it. If I start crying, I