Dentralla understood how Sam felt. Being in prostitution was not what she wanted, but to know that you were spared from it due to someone has gotten killed was very heartbreaking.
Dentralla realized how hurt she was already from all that she had dealt with so far. She was determined to guide her out of this and to the light.
Since she was her only friend, she stood very close to this Wookie. It was the only thing she thought she had left in the entire universe.
Since Sam was so wrought up by from what she heard, she did not do all that much in the mines. Terrell had to bring her to him. Since he knew that she was good at flying a ship, he thought she would be good with operating the equipment that kept things running in the mines.
The machines also allowed the slaves to live reasonably by giving fresh air, and made the mines somewhat cooler. When she arrived, Terrell already understood why she was upset. Terrell put on the charm. “I am a sorry that they had to die. I assure you that I did not kill them to allow you to move to the mines.”
She did not say anything. She just did not take any interest of what happened anymore. She also believed that Terrell was playing with her mind.
He realized this, so he spiced up his words to get her to break. He realized she was smarter than simply flying a ship. He never had seen anyone learn to fly a complex ship like his so quickly. He did not know where she came from, but he realized she did not come from anywhere near this galaxy.
Terrell had to find a way to break her, so she would learn he was running the show. He could not have one slave set out in thinking of starting a revolt. He kept on hitting Sam with heart-warming words and tenderhearted body language. Reluctantly she finally broke, and he saw it.
The last thing he said to her was, “I am going to allow you to go anywhere you like, but I want you to be back here to maintain the machines of the mines. It is your responsibility to make sure everyone down there gets all they need to be able to work to their fullest.”
He put a special collar on her, and said, “If you try to leave Coruscant, you and every slave here will die.”
Sam felt like the world was toppling down on her. Terrell immediately dismissed her. As she walked back to the mines, she felt a knife stab her in the heart for every slave she passed. They all had the same collar on their necks. She wondered if they all were thinking of her. She believed that she was the one responsible for all of them wearing the collars.
She did enjoy her new job, but it did not mean she had things running smoothly. She thought she was being punished once again. Despite her best efforts everyone was dying. She also needed her only friend with her.
She made an excuse to have Dentralla with her. She told one of the guards that she needed an extra hand running the controls. She said that she would only trust the Wookie, Dentralla.
The guard was tired of having to constantly go down in the extremely hot mines to drag in new slaves. Anything that would keep him from going down there, the better it would be for him.
He came back with Dentralla. Sam taught Dentralla how to operate the machines, but truth be told, it would not make any difference. If she had twenty people working on these machines, it would not change the outcome. She just wanted her friend with her. She also could have a little more time going to places on Coruscant. To her surprise, Terrell gave her some spending money.
Sam by no means thought that Terrell was getting soft on her. She knew very well why he was giving her money, to make sure she did not run out on him. By no means had he given her anything close to the amount to pay for a transport off the planet, but it was enough to buy extra food and drink when she did have the time to leave the mines. Even when Dentralla was with her, she did more at the mines. She could not be away one second longer knowing that she could do something to help save a life.
The more that died, the more she blamed herself for those deaths. Every death made her fall more and more into the pit of complete darkness in her soul. She thought that keeping these slaves alive longer would give her hope, but that hope constantly died with each slave that would not live longer. It was like they were dying to spite her.
Terrell did not care if they all died or not. He was making so much money from these spice mines that he could afford to lose them, and simply buy more slaves to replace them.
She was starting to think, “If they are going all die anyhow, I might as well leave and let us all die.” She could not allow that to happen to Dentralla.
One day she was telling Dentralla this very thing. The Wookie made a vow to her. Dentralla said, “For this Sam, I owe you my life. I hereby state a Wookie life debt to you.”
How her emotions were so raw from death all around her, she was very scared of this life debt. At the same time she was much honored to have Dentralla do this for her. That made the bond that she had with this Wookie that much stronger. For the first time, she knew that this very small light in her new life could never die. She did not fear Dentralla dying anymore. She knew Dentralla would live through this, and so will she.
***********
A few months passed. One day Sam was at a cantina. Usually she was always by herself. No one ever gave her a glance. This day was different.
There was a blonde haired young male and a brown haired male that was several years older than the blonde. With these two men there was a Wookie at the side of the older male.
When the three of them approached her, the blonde haired male asked, “Could we sit with you?”
She answered a little bitterly, “I guess so. I am not here for a fight.”
“We are not here for that either.”
She took another swallow of her drink. The three newcomers quietly sat down. The blonde man got to the point.
“I have heard something about a Jedi, but not all that much. What can I do for you?”
“Can you come with me?”
She answered bitterly, “No I cannot.”
Han asked, “Why not?”
She pulled down her shirt collar, and shown them the electronic collar around her neck. She angrily spouted out, “You see this! If I leave the spice mines, I will cause the death of all the slaves there, including myself.”
Luke said, “Who is your master?”
She told him. Luke knew this man very well. He was one of the top drug lords of the spice trafficking on Coruscant.
Before the three newcomers in Sam's life left, Luke said, “Sam Carter, we will meet again.”
She went cold in fear, and asking in anger, “How in the hell did you know my real name?”
Luke calmly answered, “When you come to know the ways of the Force Sam, you will know why. Find the light within yourself.”
She was alone once again.
With emotions mixing in her in every direction, she unintentionally gulped the rest of her drink. The strong alcohol burned her throat, and her face cringed.
She got up, and went to another shop nearby. It was a clothing shop.
She put on an outfit and bought it. Without her knowledge it made her look like a Jedi Knight, without the lightsaber.
She bought the outfit because it was strong enough to take the work load of her job. She was tired of having outfit after outfit tear, get a hole, or simply wear out so quickly.
When she got back to the mines she went back to her unfruitful job in keeping everyone alive.
The next day, she was sent away to some men. She heard from the guards that she was to be a prostitute to these men that paid Terrell good money. To her horror she found out it was the same three she met yesterday.
She said, “Let's get this over with. The less I am away from the mines the more people I can try to save.”
Luke calmly said, “We are not here for that. I paid Terrell for prostitution, but that is not why I am here.”
She asked sharply, “What the hell do you want?”
“I simply want to talk. This was the safest way for you to be able to communicate with me.”
She did not say anything. She simply thought that Luke was nuts. “Why would anyone want to talk to me? I am a nobody in a world that I could never belong to.”
Luke said calmly, “I found you with the Force. You have a strong ability, with training, to use the Force.”
She said angrily, “If I have this ability or not, I do not belong in this world of yours. I am from a planet called Earth. I was kidnapped, and now I am here.”
Luke said with enthusiasm, “That is very interesting. By your mannerisms, I thought you were a stranger of these parts, but you appear to belong to a planet that is not part of our star system.”
She said bitterly, “It does not matter anyhow. I do not see myself ever going back home.”
Luke replied, “I believe it will be your friends that will in time find you.”
Sam was about to strangle Luke.
Chewbacca made a growl.
She backed off, and replied to Chewbacca, “Please forgive my anger. I do not know what made me want to attack Luke in the first place.”
Luke replied respectfully, “It is okay. I am sorry to have upset you so much. It is I that should be apologizing.”
She asked as calmly as she could, “What do you want of me?”
Luke smiled, “Come with me. I can buy you if I need to do. I can give you the freedom to be trained as a Jedi Knight. Learn the ways of the Force.”
She replied in complete despair, “I cannot. These people's lives depend on me. I cannot even leave the mines without thinking of them. I do not think you can pay for the freedom of all the slaves here.”
“Your time is almost up,” said Luke, “I had better let you go back before you get into any trouble on my account. There is hope Sam. Think about what I have said. Become a Jedi Knight.”
When Luke, Han, and Chewbacca left her the second time, she was starting to see that light within herself. For the first time since she had been kidnapped, she was starting to feel human. That also made her very afraid. Every single time when things started to look good for her, a total calamity happened to kill it.
She walked back to the mines.
**********
Two days later, Luke brought all the Jedi Knights he could bring with him. “Sam was right; releasing her only would not work. The whole spice mines must be completely shut down.”
Han got some of the Alliance to join in the plan. Mara Jade Skywalker was the one to rescue Sam. First Mara had to make a nonsocial visit to Terrell. She needed to get the computer code to turn off those damn collars that were around every slave's neck. Luke knew his wife had a wonderful way to get things from people like Terrell.
Mara had a time with the guards, but she either seriously wounded them, or killed them on their own desire to kill her. When she got to Terrell, he did not easily give in to Mara. The more Terrell resisted cooperation, the more fun Mara had with him. After she used her lightsaber to hit both of his legs and one arm, she demanded what she wanted from him.
He replied angrily, “Fodo Jedi.”
She smiled. Mara used the Force to use Terrell's fear against himself. After a short time, Mara got the code she was looking for.
She replied, “Thank you Terrell for your cooperation.”
He replied angrily, “You will not live long enough to do anything with that code!”
He started to grab a remote control to activate the collars. She used her lightsaber to cut off that arm of his, and use the Force to slam him across the room. He hit the wall so hard that he was knocked out.
She immediately went for Sam. The other guards were too busy with the other arrivals to give Mara their special greetings.
It did not take long for Mara to find her. Mara said to her, “I am here on the behalf of Luke Skywalker. Us Jedi Knights are here with the help of some of the Alliance soldiers to rescue all of you.”
She was about to tell Mara about the collars around every slave's neck. She saw Mara close here eyes for a moment, and her collar around her neck came off.
Sam was amazed what happened.
Mara replied, “The chip at the back of your neck has been deactivated also.”
“How?”
“I will be happy to answer your questions, later.” Mara grabbed something from the back of her pants. It was a laser gun. Mara showed her how to use it.
“Luke said you are a Captain, so you should be well versed in using weapons.”
“Yes I am.”
Sam called for Dentralla.
Mara replied, “Sorry I do not have a gun for your Wookie friend.”
Sam said with a smile, “Give me time.”
Mara replied with a smile, “I think I am going to like you. Let us hurry.”
After walking about 500 feet, the three of them were being attacked. Sam fired at three specific targets. The firing stopped.
Sam said, “I knew where they were located.”
Mara Jade replied, “This is a beginning of a beautiful friendship.”
Sam quickly went to one of the locations she shot at. She came back with a good size gun for herself and Dentralla.
The weapon that Mara gave her was put inside the back of Sam's pants. Sam smiled, “Cool guns your world has.”
Mara laughed. “That gun is a water pistol compared to what I have in my arsenal.”
Sam smiled, “You are right, this is a beginning of a beautiful friendship.”
Mara continued to lead Sam and Dentralla to where they needed to go. The three of them ended up fighting alongside the others that were there to rescue the slaves.
They all finally made it to Han's ship.
When Sam saw it, she said, “Wow! Great ship.”
Han Solo replied with a smile, “Thanks. Let us all get on board. This is not over yet!”
When they got on board Mara said to Sam, “Come with me. Let me remove that chip in your neck before someone can reactivate it.”
She did as she was asked. Before they made it to the medical room, Han had the Millennium Falcon out from the planet and into hyperspace. Sam and the other slaves were finally free.
Mara asked her to have a seat in the chair.
Sam asked, “Will this hurt?”
“You will not feel a thing. It will take only a few seconds once I can find where the hell Han put the device I need.” Finally Mara found it.
“All I need is for you to lower your head.”
“This is okay?”
Mara smiled, “Perfect.”
All that Sam felt was the slight pressure of the device when Mara put it against her neck.
Moments later Mara said, “That is it.”
Sam replied with the utmost relief, “Finally. I am free.”
She stood up, turned around, and said to Mara, “Thank you.”
Mara replied with a smile, “I was happy to do it. Trust me; you will become a great Jedi Knight, if not more.”
Sam sighed, “We'll see. What I'd rather be doing is to find a way to get back home.”
“Everyone will be helping you do that Sam. No Jedi Knight that I know of has ever heard of a planet called Earth.”
“It could be that you call her by a different name.”
Mara smiled, “If we can figure out how you got here, then it might help us find the location of your planet.”
Sam smiled back, “The last form of transport I know about was by the Stargate.”
“The Stargate?”
Sam explained to her about the Stargate and the SGC on Earth.
Mara replied with enthusiasm, “Wow! Cool job.”
Sam started to feel a little depressed from being away from her home world and her friends.
Mara smiled, “We will get you home soon. If you can do anything for yourself, please believe in that.”
“I was thinking more of what my team might be going through. I also have been thinking of what Luke said to me about them finding me.”
“I believe my husband is right. I cannot explain it myself, but I have seen stranger things in this galaxy.”
Sam did not smile, “I missed them, and I am angry that they have not rescued me already. We have this 'no left behind' policy. I know that they are not responsible for me being....”
Sam walked away from Mara, and started to cry.
Mara quietly walked up to Sam. Mara gently said behind her, “It is okay Sam. You are safe here.”
Still crying Sam said, “I know. I just have a lot of emotions buried in me. At times I do not know if I will make it.”
“Sam if any of us start questioning our sanity, then it means we are sane.”
“I do not mean to be ugly, but you do not know what I have been through.”
Mara said even more gently, “In a way I do.”
Sam turned around to face Mara. “How did you deal with it?”
“Sometimes I ask that same question.”
“What can I do in all I have been through?”
“When you do start your training in being a Jedi Knight, you will never be alone. You will not be trained each day and leave you on your own. We Jedi can see you are hurting Sam, but we cannot see what is in your mind. That is for you to deal with.”
“I will share what I can, but right now it is terrifying me too much to let it out.” Sam facial expressions showed she was about to cry once more.
Mara gave Sam a loving hug, and whispered, “It is okay to let it out.” Sam started to cry.
Mara repeated, “Let it out my friend.”
**********
Sam and Mara finally went to the others. They heard the two Wookies talking to each other. Sam asked, “What will happen to the other slaves of Terrell's?”
Mara answered, “By now they should be at a place to get them cleaned up, fed, and other needs they require. For that bastard Terrell, I left him without a right arm.”
Sam smiled, “Sweet. I prefer to see him dead, but at least he has suffered somewhat.”
Luke said, “I just got through talking with the local authorities. He should be heading to prison for his crimes.”
Sam gave a big sigh, “It is over.”
Luke asked for Sam to look at something. He turned on a holographic image of the space traffic that he found out on the Cyax slave trade routes. Luke asked, “Can you find any place that might help us lead you to your planet?”
Mara explained to Luke about the Stargate and how Sam's team used this transport system.
Luke said, “I have never seen or heard of this Stargate, but I may have some people I know that can find out.”
Sam replied, “Luke I hope you can. Nothing is familiar to me. I do not think they could have kept me knocked out if we traveled by ship. I have not known any ships that can travel galaxy to galaxy in a short time.”
Luke said, “There are no ships that can do that here in this galaxy.”
Han Solo said, “I know a few independents that could help us. Sam I promise you if this Stargate is anywhere near this traffic system you see here, we will let you know.”
Mara asked Sam, “Will you be able to dial to Earth once we find it?”
“I am sure they have changed the security code of the IRIS, so I need to create a means of allowing them to know it is me.”
Luke said, “We will help you in every way we can.”
Sam realized she was free, but now she had come to realize that she had a lot of garbage built up in soul that could be just as bad as what she had been through. She was very impressed in seeing all the Jedi Knights fight for her and all the slaves. She understood that she needed the discipline to help her control these raw emotions in her.
“If this energy field is as powerful as I have seen so far, then it might be what I need to finally be free from all the hell I have been put through. I also want to use all that I can to get me home… to Jack.”
Sam said to everyone, “I want to apologize ahead of time on any bad conduct due to the raw emotions I still have in me. You risked your lives to save us all, and for that I am very grateful.”
Han replied, “It is our pleasure. We all had gone through hard times. We have seen how people react to slavery. They made it. I can tell you right now, I can see you are a tough young lady. I know you will turn out a lot better person than you did before you were kidnapped.”
“Right now I do not see that.”
Mara smiled, “Believe it or not Sam, you are pointing in the right direction. If you were to act normal and quiet, then I would be concerned if you could recover.”
Sam sighed. “At times I have acted like a prime ape, a lower species of humans on Earth.”
Chewbacca growled.
After hearing what he said, Sam replied, “O my God! How did you Wookies ever survive through that?”
Chewbacca explained to Sam that they turned their disadvantage to an advantage.
“How can I turn all that I been through to my advantage?”
Mara answered, “I know that you do not see any light at the end of the tunnel. I did not for a long time, but Luke helped me find that light. From learning a little about you Sam, I see you are a lot stronger than I was.”
“I could never do all that you Jedi Knights can do. I am very amazed at it all, but I cannot see myself doing what you all did in rescuing all of us.”
Luke smiled, “When I saw you the first time, I saw that you were a Captain of a military unit.”
“Wow! How can you see that in me? I am still perplexed in you knowing my name.”
“You are Captain Samantha Carter of the United States Air Force, on Earth.”
Sam spouted out, “Damn!”
Mara approached Sam, “We are sorry to overwhelm you.”
Sam stated with a smile, “It is alright. I was simply amazed by this power you all have.” Sam said to Luke, “You said you found me by this Force. What makes me so special?”
“You have a very strong ability to use the Force, with the right training.”
Sam was perplexed, “I remember you saying that, but I still do not understand.”
Mara said, “Us Jedi Knights can see if someone is Force sensitive. You have a very strong sensitivity of the Force.”
“How is that? I really do not know how long I have been here in this galaxy, but I could not have gotten this ability to use this energy field in the time I have been here.”
Luke stated, “Apparently there are others throughout the universe that can use the Force, and become a Jedi Knight.”
Sam asked with doubt in herself, “In all that I have faced in this world of yours, how do you know I will not use this power for evil rather than for good? I wonder if that was why someone kidnapped me in the first place to be broken down, and be used.”
Mara asked, “Do you feel that you have been broken?”
Sam answered with fear in her voice, “At times I thought I had been.”
“How do you feel now?”
“I am not sure. My emotions are going so out of control.”
Mara smiled, “We promise you that we will do all we can to get to the bottom of this business of why you were sent here.”
Sam stated sadly, “I feel that you will not find out. Whoever took me put a shroud over everyone at the SGC before they kidnapped me. For a brief period, Jack and I were able to sense a strong danger, but then it was gone.”
Luke nearly choked at her words, “Sam it sounds like this is more serious than you may know. You have just described the Dark-side of the Force.”
Han said, “He is dead. You saw him die.”
Luke replied, “I am not saying it is him, but someone is at least trying to replace him.”
Sam said confusingly, “If I understand you all right, this person wants me to be his apprentice or something?”
Mara answered, “I going to be honest with you Sam. I think it is a strong possibility.”
“How can I be of any use to anyone? I come from a world that no one in this galaxy knows anything about.”
Han said, “It might be that whoever is responsible for kidnapping you must have found about you when you were on one of your SGC missions.”
Sam stated with doubt in herself, “The only thing I can do is to be a Captain in the United States Air Force and be an astrophysicist. How can I help any side of this Force?”
Luke said, “You have raised some good questions. Will you allow us to investigate into this?”
Sam answered with some relief, “Please do. I do not want to go back home, and go through this all over again. If learning to be a Jedi Knight, and using the Light-side of the Force will help me keep that from happening, then I am all for it.”
Mara said, “Sam the Force will be able to help you. Your life will change to what you once knew it to be. Are you willing to take that challenge?”
“I may never see Jack, Daniel or Teal'c again. I would not want them to waste their lives coming for me.”
Sam answered Mara, “Yes, but I also want to do all I can do go back home.”
Mara smiled, “We will help you deal with what you have been through, find out who is responsible, and send you back home if we can.”
Sam smiled, “I will allow whomever to train me to become a Jedi Knight.”
