The ship's hold was smaller than a Vor's tooth. But in this case, I didn't have any other way to get to Coruscant. I should probably give you a description of myself and why I was on this pirate ship full of some of the most disgusting and illegal creatures in the galaxy, or what I know of the galaxy.

I was born and raised on Vortex, one of the smallest and out-of-the-way planets. Almost all of the creatures on Vortex are Vors, obviously. They don't speak Basic; they speak with a mixture of tweets and whistles. Being a fairy, I had to use a glass flute to communicate with them. I had decided a week ago to get away from Vortex with the quickest and easiest way possible. Since I had no money and could not speak Basic, I assumed that I would have to stow away on a ship. Not many ships come to Vortex, so I was forced to stow away on one of the dirtiest ships I'd ever seen. I knew one thing for sure: I sure as hell didn't plan to get caught by one of the pirates! I've seen people disintegrated organ by organ for messing with pirates, and these pirates didn't appear to be the kind that gave out sympathy freely.

Stowing away on this pirate ship was one of the biggest mistakes I've made in my lifetime and I speak as a fairy whose life has been blemished by mistakes. There were no air recyclers in the hold and the air was suffocating. I'd had no nectar or water for several days. I can survive without nectar for several weeks, but I can only go without water for four days without slipping into a coma. It was the second day and I was starting to get worried. Being my usual self, I had not waited for a safer ship and in my impulsive way, I had not brought along anything besides my flute.

It was on the third day that something happened. I assumed they had stopped for supplies before continuing the trip to Coruscant. I was hiding in the hold when I heard the sound of a large blaster bolt and the screech of metal. It went on, the monotonous sound of screeching for several minutes. Heavily booted feet ran past the cargo bay door several times and I worried that with the commotion, they would stumble upon my humble self.

The air had an aura of excitement and victory, like that of a kimono dragon after its kill. The door was suddenly and violently flung open and I was thankful that I had taken the precaution of concealing myself behind some heavy crates.

Two filthy men were dragging an unconscious girl about my age into the hold. They opened one of the magnetically sealed compartments which I assumed they used for their illegal goods, and threw the girl into it. This surprised me for I was told that pirates usually kill the crew and take the goods. For them to have taken the difficulty and expense of keeping this girl alive would mean that they had planned for her. A horrible suspicion overcame me as to why they would want to keep this young girl. I knew then that I was not going to let this girl suffer the fate which had been forced so many thousands of helpless prisoners.

Escaping was one of my best talents. I'd had so much practice of it that I had the practice down pat, but this would be the first time I'd escape form a ship, and the first time I would have to include another person in my plans.

Although I felt pity for this girl, I did not want to know her. I had spent most of my life in nature and I had become not fond of humans. To be forced to collaborate when we probably would not be able to communicate or understand each other would be difficult, but I knew that I had to do something.

I knew something was wrong when the hyperdrive wouldn't engage. I cursed in several different languages and went to see what was wrong. I was glad I was in Corellian space, and I had my first ship, but why did this have to happen to me on my first run in my first ship? The circumstances were enough to make even the calmest Jedi Master scream, and since I was only an impatient Knight, I was nearly out of my mind with impatience to get home and show off my first ship. Okay, so it wasn't a fancy yacht, but it was all I could afford, even with Mom and Dad's help, or what they'd give me of it. A YT-3000 stock light freighter was good enough to me. It was about the same design as Dad's Falcon, but it was smaller and had more modern technology built in. Apparently, the ships' hyperdrives were functioning exactly alike as well.

I stomped back to the maintenance hallway and slammed open the access panel. I was beyond mad now, it didn't help when the entire ship shook with the force of some sort of blast. I muttered several virulent Huttese curses and ran back to the cockpit. Sure enough, there was a ship, firing at me! I recognized the shape the shape as a pirate ship, similar to the Hound's Tooth in Dad's legends. I brought my light laser cannon on-line, only to find that wasn't working either. Was there anything on this blasted ship that actually WORKED? By this time, my ship's front shields had completely failed and I knew I'd better do some fancy flying if I wanted to come out of this alive. Too bad I didn't know much fancy flying. Hey, it was my first ship, give me a break! I almost panicked, but my dad had drilled me too much for me to freak out completely. BY now, the pirates were starting to board, and I knew what I had to do. My lightsaber and a blaster were both back in the bunk, and that was too far away from where I was. Unfortunately, my tools were in the maintenance hallway. I ran for the cargo hold. I heard rough pirate voices over the noise of the main door being wrenched open. I winced. Now what?

"Search the entire ship," one voice said. "Every hold. There has to be someone aboard."

I held my breath and the footsteps came nearer. Of all the times I wanted to be in my dad's ship, this was surprisingly one of them. What I wouldn't have given for hidden compartments....I made a mental notes to include that feature on my modifications of this ship. The footsteps stopped just outside the door. I braced myself for the worst, but to my utter surprise and relief, they moved on. I let out my breath in a loud whoosh, then I froze. Uh-oh. Could they hear that?

"Ow!" A large, furry, clawed hand grabbed my nearest limb and dragged me out of my hiding place. I stared into the ugliest face I had ever seen.

It had a round, bald head and bulbous eyes. Where its mouth should be were two inward-growing tusks. It glared at me and jabbered something in its own tongue. When I looked confused, it yanked me out of the hold further and snapped at me in Basic, "Move along, human wench!"

I matched its glare and followed him, cursing in Rodian and Huttese, hoping he would get the gist of what I was saying. The alien dragged me down the hallway to the main lounge area where several other alien pirates stood. "This is the only one we found," he said in Basic, jerking a furry thumb in my direction.

The leader of the group stepped forward and leered into my face. I resisted the urge to spit at him. "Ah, you have done well. You recognize this girl, correct?"

The alien, who I now identified as an Aqualish, peered into my face, thought for a moment, and shook his bald head. The leader backhanded him across the face. "You idiot!" he exclaimed. "It's the Chief of State's daughter!"

The rest of the group muttered to themselves. I struggled more when I heard one of them say, "what's a rich snob like that doing in a wreck like this?" I managed to break free and rush at the pirate who was insulting my precious ship, but I was outnumbered. I was shouting insults at them as they held me back.

"Stun her," I heard the leader say, and everything slipped into darkness.

Forcing open the door to the compartment, I studied the girl intently. She was still unconscious. I shook her hoping for a sign that the stun had not injured her. She began to mutter. She lashed out and I was forced to pin her arms and legs for fear that the pirates would hear the sounds of struggle and come to investigate.

I stared into the wild eyes that were searching my face. Excepting the fact that she was no match for me, her struggles lessened. Suddenly I was in the air.

I glared at her as she grinned up at me and sat up. "I guess you're not a pirate," she laughed. Lowering me to the ground she said, "What's you're name? I'm Jaina."

I looked at her critically and gestured that I didn't understand.

She sighed and looked back at me, "I guess you don't speak basic."

I swore at her in Vor. I assumed that she didn't understand because she didn't kill me on the spot. I gestured towards the door.

Nodding she stood up and wrinkled her nose. "What is that smell."

I glared at her. How long would it take for her to realize that I didn't speak her tongue?

"Oh, I forgot," she grinned sheepishly.

I gestured at the door again because I wanted to impress upon he the need for haste.

I grabbed my flute from the place of concealment and we quietly exited and found that, luckily for us, they were conceited enough not to station a guard. The hallway was empty . Loud noises emanated from the door opposite the one we had just exited. She put her finger to her lips. Did she think that I was stupid enough to shout "Hey we're escaping?"

She looked confused, so I pointed in the direction of the hanger bay. We ran silently down the hall and we entered the hanger bay a few seconds later. she looked around cautiously and then ran towards a beat-up wreak of a ship. I gestured towards a brand new state of the art ship, but she shook her head and pushed the access codes in. Seeing the she was adamant and that arguing would only alert the pirates to our location, I gave in. She finished punching in the access codes.

"Stop!" we heard. I froze.

She finished the access codes and we dived into the ship. It began to hum when shepressed some buttons.Since I had no idea whatwas going on, Idecided to sit down andtake the timeto stretch my legs. Agter all, I haddone the rescuing. She could do the flying. She wasreading som egibberish thathad come up on a screen and was frowning again. From the expression on her face, I could see thatthingswere not going well fo rus and the battered ship. OUtthe cockpit window, I could see the hangar door open. Several pirates rushed in, shooting at her already charred ship.

The ramp was just opening when I heard a blaster shot and someone shouting at us. I ducked, shoving the fairy-creature under me. Now we were even; she hadn't reacted at all! She glared at me as I pulled her up the ramp, trying to dodge blaster bolts the whole way. I dropped the fairy at the top of the ramp and hit the controls to close it.

I ran for the cockpit. No time for preflight; I activated the repulsors and shields and hoped they both functioned. By some miracle of the Force, they did, and we shot out of the hangar bay. I wondered if the pirates were smart enough to use a tractor beam, or if we would actually get away. And what system were we in, anyway?

I didn't have the time to find out. I activated the sublight drives and hightailed it away from the ship. Risking a quick glance out the viewscreen, I smiled. Coruscant had never looked more beautiful than at that moment. I'd been aiming for Yavin IV when I left Corellia, but this was even better.

The pirate ship was gaining on me. I decided it was time to enter atmosphere. I'd just flicked on the comm when the ship listed heavily to port. I cursed, forgetting the comm was on.

"Jaina Solo, is that you?" The voice from ground control was all too clear.

I gulped. "Uh, hello, Wedge. Mind sending up an X-wing or two and letting me in?"

Wedge just laughed. I panicked. He thought I was kidding! Out of the corner of my eye, I could see that fairy nearing the cockpit. I wondered whether or not she could help me. Obviously not; she had her feet up on the control panel and her eyes were closed. I decided she couldn't since she couldn't even understand Basic. But I needed someone in the laser turret; my light laser cannon that could be operated from the main console wasn't exactly operational, and I didn't have any other weapons available from the cockpit.

I shook her awake and pointed in the general direction of the gunwell and made the motion of firing a blaster. She shook her head wildly. I rolled my eyes. Did she actually think I wanted her to go into the reca area and shoot herself? Actually...

But no. This girl had saved my life. We were in this together, whether I liked it or not. I sighed and returned my attention to the disaster at hand. New acquaintances could wait until we were planetside.

The pirate ship was shooting again, and I successfully dodged several shots. I was congratulating myself when another shot blew out my rear deflector shield. I turned the ship around, wishing Wedge had sent up those X-wings. It was just me against a bunch of pirates who wanted to ransom me. So I turned my front deflector shields to full and streaked toward them.

I didn't really have a plan. But Dad had told me a story where he had done this. Of course, he had had weapons. I also forgot that he's by far the superior pilot. My shields weakened. I tried swerving, rolling, dodging; everything I'd heard of, but without a single weapon at my disposal, I could only wait until the planetary shield was deactivated.

The fairy girl started gesturing frantically at the pirate ship. I couldn't take the time out to decipher what she was saying, so I ignored her. Didn't she realize I was trying to keep us alive?

The front shields failed. I looked at the control panel and muttered a few choice Rodian curses. We were out of options, and quickly running out of time. One more direct hit and would blow us to bits.

The fairy yanked at my sleeve and pointed to the port viewscreen. I looked, knowing we were dead anyway. My jaw dropped, and I reached absently for the comm.

I tuned to a familiar frequency. "Dad? How'd you know to come up here?"

His voice was grim. "I was in the flight control center with Wedge. Get planetside; you're defenseless. We'll discuss this at home." I could read his voice well enough to obey instantly. This was not a time to argue with him. But I still didn't know if I was in trouble or not. I decided it didn't matter. The last thing I saw before I hit atmosphere was an explosion onboard the pirate ship. Smiling, I landed my crippled freighter.

Later, the fairy and I faced my parents. I realized I still didn't know her name. Glancing form Mom to Dad, I started to explain.

"I really didn't have a choice. The hyperdrive wouldn't engage, so I went to see what was wrong. The next thing I know, this ship full of pirates is firing at me! They boarded my ship and took me alive, probably because the wanted to hold me for ransom. Otherwise, they would've killed me on the spot." I glanced at the fairy, who was making crashing and exploding sounds, as if she were re-enacting our battle.

Mom looked slightly horrified. Dad just lifted an eyebrow. It didn't surprise me that they were taking this all in stride. They'd been in worse situations than this.

I glanced at the fairy. She obviously didn't understand a word we were saying. "So what do we do about her?" I asked my parents.

Dad sighed. "She can stay here, I guess. But I want to know something."

I bit my lip. Uh-oh. That didn't sound good. "Sure, Dad."

"Why in the Force were you attacking that ship with no weapons?"

I grinned and explained about the rear shield and his Battle of Hoth story. Then I looked at the fairy again. "She saved me. But I don't know her name, or even what language she speaks." Come to think of it, I didn't know anything about her.

Mom nodded. "Maybe Threepio can help us with that."

Dad and I groaned in unison. Mom scowled at us and reached for her comlink.

Minutes later, Threepio toddled in. I smiled. For all my complaining, the droid wasn't all THAT bad. "Good morning, mistresses Leia and Jaina and Master Han." The droid backed up a little as his optical sensors found the fairy. "Oh dear! Who is this?"

"This is some sort of fairy, I think. She doesn't speak Basic."

The fairy looked at Threepio, obviously startled. She backed away from him, gesturing frantically. I looked at her quizzically. Hadn't she ever seen a protocol droid before?

I was astonished when the fairy pulled a small, clear flute from her clothes and began to play it. The result wasn't exactly a song; it was more like a question of some sort. It reminded me of Artoo's beeps and whistles. I looked at my parents to see what their reaction was, and they looked as confused as I felt.

Threepio, however, understood the trilling notes of the flute and warbled back. Then he turned to us. "Mistress Jaina, your friend here is speaking Vor. I have agreed to translate for you."

I nodded. Mom glanced from Threepio to the fairy suspiciously. "Vor . . . are you sure? She's not a Vor."

Threepio translated for the fairy-creature. She looked indignant and replied on the pretty flute. It was some sort of glassine substance, and very small. I wondered if it could play songs as well as conversation.

"She says she was raised on Vortex. She stowed away on the ship."

"What's her name?" I asked. I hoped it was pronounceable in Basic.

The two exchanged whistles and Threepio looked back at me. "She says her name is Amarantha."

"Tell her our names. And ask her if she wants to stay here on Coruscant. Oh, and tell her thanks for helping me out of that ship."

Amarantha and Threepio conversed for awhile. The fairy smiled and tried to look modest. Threepio turned back to where my parents and I were sitting. "She said she is most welcome for rescuing you. She would like to work here on Coruscant and learn Basic."

I nodded. "Okay, we can swing that. What can she do to work?"

Threepio returned her answer quickly. "She would like to know where all the plants are."

I nodded again, trying to think of what she could do. Mom provided an answer almost immediately. "Jaina, I could probably get her a job at Skydome. She wouldn't need to speak Basic to tend the plants, but she'd learn it. Threepio, tell her we can get her a job."

The protocol droid complied. Amarantha made a gesture of thanks. I smiled at her and mimicked the gesture. Maybe she wasn't so bad after all . . .

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