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Vacation Part 3: Excavation
by Lianne Burwell
December 1998
Revised April 2003
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Lando woke in the morning, feeling more relaxed than he 
could remember being in ages. The sunlight streaming 
through the window indicated that he had slept much later 
than he usually did. It also reminded him that he wasn't at 
home, since home was a suite in a space station with no 
windows. The suite, that was. Residential areas were kept 
deep inside of the stations, away from the windows, where 
they were better protected.

He rolled over and briefly considered going back to sleep, 
then sat up when he realized two very important things.

First, Tronin was meeting them for breakfast and second, he 
was alone in the bed.

Suddenly, Lando was wide awake. He sat up and realized that 
while he might be alone in the bed now, someone had 
carefully cleaned him up at some point without disturbing 
him. He climbed out of bed and ducked through the shower, 
before tossing on some clothing and heading out to the 
deck. There he stopped dead in his tracks.

Luke was on the beach, running through a practice routine 
with his lightsaber. He was wearing only a loose pair of 
shorts, and the sunshine gilded him, making his blond hair 
shine and his light tan gleam. Lando let go of the breath 
he hadn't realized that he was holding. Each movement Luke 
made was smooth, fluid. Lean muscles moved under his skin, 
giving him the grace of a felinoid. His eyes were shut, and 
a small smile hovered on his lips.

Luke was beautiful.

Lando watched in fascination as Luke finished his exercise. 
He shut off his lightsaber and turned back towards the 
cottage, breaking into a broad smile when he saw Lando 
leaning against the doorframe.

"Good morning. I was beginning to think that you were never 
going to wake."

Lando stepped forward to meet the young man halfway. He 
sighed as he wrapped his arms around the warm and very real 
body. "I sleep *very* well when I've been loved hard," he 
said, nuzzling Luke's neck, right below the ear. Luke gave 
a little sigh, and melted into the embrace.

Lando continued to nuzzle, moving his way around until 
their lips met. The kiss was gentle at first, then building 
in intensity until they were both gasping. Reluctantly, 
Lando pulled back.

"Much as I'd love to just go back to bed, we're late to 
meet Tronin for breakfast." His stomach growled loudly. 
"And I'm *hungry*."

Luke's smile got even bigger, with a touch of anticipation. 
"Right. I'll just shower and dress, and we'll be off. Then 
later, we can pick this up again."

"I'll hold you to that."

Lando grinned at the view as Luke headed into the cottage, 
and firmly squashed the urge to go in and help scrub the 
younger man's back. If he did, they'd *never* make it to 
breakfast.

* * * * *

The Andos resort might not be the best known on Sandrica, 
but it boasted a fine dining room and an excellent kitchen 
staff. Only half-way down the path to the main building, 
both men could already smell the enticing aroma of sweet-
breads, fresh fruit and cooked meats, and they walked a 
little faster.

The dining room was actually outdoors at the Resort, since 
weather satellites ensured that the weather was perfect 
during waking hours. It was towards the interior of the 
island, overlooking a fresh-water pool, fed by a small 
waterfall. Local greenery was carefully planted to give the 
impression of a wild jungle. Brightly colored birds called 
from the shadows, and suddenly moving branches betrayed the 
presence of small animals. In the pond, graceful shapes 
moved. The overall effect was of a natural beauty.

Luke and Lando stopped at the entryway. Lando stood in 
place, looking around. Then his smile suddenly grew larger, 
and he pulled Luke towards one of the tables in the corner, 
near the edge of the pool. Luke followed easily, taking the 
chance to examine the being waiting for them.

Tronin was definitely not human. His very tall, very 
slender build and the slightly blue tinge of his skin 
identified him as a Selean. He looked fragile, but having 
met others of his species before Luke knew that the 
seemingly frail build hid a strength far greater than the 
strongest of humans. An amphibian, his bones were more like 
a very hard cartilage, just rigid enough to support his 
weight on any world except the heavy gravity ones, but 
flexible enough to be almost unbreakable.

As they approached the table he stood, revealing a height 
almost half again that of Lando's. Next to the Selean, even 
Chewie would look short, albeit very bulky. His mouth 
widened into a grin, showing a mouthful of small, needle-
like teeth. Seleans were unapologetically carnivorous.

"Lando! I was beginning to wonder if you were going to even 
show up. I was about to start hunting for you." He bared 
his teeth even more as he joked about his race's predatory 
heritage.

"I overslept," Lando said. "You know how it is."

Tronin smiled at Luke. "And we both know what makes you 
sleep best. I'm Tronin, by the way."

Luke resisted the urge to blush at the knowing look on the 
male's face. He did wonder just how Tronin would know. 
Lando had never shown any inclination towards dallying with 
other species that he knew of. "Luke Skywalker," he said, 
introducing himself. Tronin drew himself up, hissing in 
surprise.

"I am honored, Jedi Skywalker," he said, folding his hands 
together and bowing low. "Honored indeed. Lando said he 
would try to bring a Jedi with him, but he did not say that 
he would reach so high. You could have warned me, you old 
reprobate," he added, jabbing an elbow into Lando's ribs.

"Ouch! And spoil the surprise? I see your elbows are as 
sharp as ever."

They sat down at the small table, Luke feeling more 
comfortable all the time. Tronin was a wonderful 
combination of formal and informal. He treated Luke with 
the respect due a Jedi Master, but still kept it light and 
friendly. He didn't show any of the usual fear reactions 
that were common among people that Luke met.

"So anyway," Tronin was saying, waving his fork around. 
Luke ducked as he was almost hit by a piece of fish that 
flew off the utensil. "Sorry, Luke. As I was saying, I'm 
excavating on an island that hasn't been terraformed into 
yet another resort for the rich and senseless."

"Ahem..." Lando said. "Does that description include me?"

"Of *course* it does, old friend. Anyway, I've found a 
settlement that seems to be equal parts native and off-
worlder. Now, I knew there was a native species, and that 
there might have been older settlements, but I didn't 
realize that there was any real contact between the two 
groups. It's absolutely fascinating. Everything I've found 
suggests that the community was completely integrated, with 
both sides as equal partners."

Tronin's eyes were starting to glaze over with a scholar's 
enthusiasm, no doubt going over the possibilities in his 
mind.

"And Lando says you've found Jedi artifacts?" Luke asked, 
pulling the Selean out of his thoughts.

"Hmmmm? Oh, yes.  I've found taped records which refer to a 
Jedi living in the settlement. I haven't identified the his 
home yet, but I hoped that another Jedi might be able to 
speed the search."

Luke considered the idea. "Perhaps. It depends on how long 
ago the settlement was abandoned, how much time the Jedi 
spent in the building and how many others have lived there 
since. The more that have, the more diluted the resonances 
will be. Can we come see the site?"

"I would be honored. In fact, I was *hoping* you'd say 
that." Tronin's grin got wider. Then he popped another bite 
into his mouth. They settled down to finish breakfast and 
the talk turned to wild stories about Lando and Tronin's 
past exploits together.

* * * * *

From the air, it was almost impossible to see the signs of 
excavations. Tronin piloted the air speeder with 
confidence, flair and a near-recklessness that made the 
trip an adventure. Luke held on to the seat and enjoyed the 
adrenaline rush that the speed and the air rushing through 
his hair caused. Next to him, Lando was grinning widely, 
obviously enjoying the ride too.

The only thing that dampened Luke's spirits was the obvious 
care that Tronin took in making sure that they were not 
followed and could not be tracked. Considering the rumors 
about the disappearance of the native race, possibly at the 
hands of the syndicates that had built Sandrica into a 
gambler's paradise, he wasn't surprised. If there was the 
slightest chance that the excavation could *prove* their 
involvement...

Well, probably it wouldn't make a difference to business in 
the long run, but they were not likely to want to take the 
chance.

The island in question was one of the larger ones, mostly 
rocky, with clumps of rainforest along the coast line, 
between the beach and the mountain at the center of the 
island. The beaches were more gravel than sand, and 
probably one of the few on the planet that didn't have a 
gentle tide. That was probably the main reason that it 
hadn't been turned into a resort yet -- it would take too 
much effort and expense to change the environment to meet 
the expectations of potential guests.

Tronin aimed the speeder for the north side of the island, 
where a cliff face overlooked the water. Through the tree-
cover at the base, Luke caught glimpses of the remains of 
buildings. Tronin brought the speeder down with impressive 
accuracy, but at a speed and angle that nearly left Luke's 
stomach behind. When the vehicle stopped, it took him a 
moment to retrieve it.

"Welcome!" Tronin said, hopping out of the speeder. "Let me 
show you around."

* * * * *

The tour was fascinating. Tests said that the buildings 
were almost six hundred years old and had been abandoned 
for more than four hundred, but for the most part there 
wasn't a lot of difference between them and their modern 
equivalents. Most technological advances in that time had 
been in the realm of space-flight and weapons systems. 
Building techniques and designs tended to change very 
slowly, and only when conditions were harsh enough to need 
it or changed unexpectedly.

But the buildings closest to the water were *very* 
different. They had openings that led directly into canals 
that connected them to the ocean, and were built with soft 
curves instead of the angles that characterized most human 
habitations. Tronin continued to explain his theory that 
the settlement had been home to both off-worlders and the 
indigenous species, which was believed to be aquatic.

But Luke saw at once why Tronin had taken such care in 
getting them to the island without being tracked. Many of 
the buildings still showed the faint scorch marks of 
blaster fire, despite the long passage of time, indicating 
that the settlement had been abandoned forcibly. Luke 
shivered, feeling echoes of the pain and fear that 
resonated through the area.

And something else. Something tugged at the edges of his 
consciousness. Something trying to get his attention.

Luke focused on his connection with the Force, allowing the 
'something' to guide him. He followed away from the main 
part of the settlement into a wooded area that showed 
little signs of excavation yet. He was peripherally aware 
that Lando and Tronin had followed him and that they were 
worried, but it didn't matter to him at the moment.

The call, for lack of a better term, led him to a small 
building, well removed from the rest of the settlement. It 
was small, only two or three rooms, and looked to have been 
a residence. It was also relatively unscathed. Luke stopped 
in the middle of the main room, gradually becoming more 
aware of his surroundings again.

"Luke! Are you all right, kid?"

Luke shook his head, trying to clear it. "I'm fine, Lando," 
he finally said.

Tronin was slightly stooped, since if he stood up he would 
be in danger of hitting his head on the ceiling. "Actually, 
this is where we found some of the artifacts that we 
believe might be Jedi in origin. We removed everything to 
our center of operations..."

Luke shook his head again, this time in negation. "Not 
everything, Tronin."

He turned slowly, trying to pin down the source of the pull 
that had brought him to the building. Moving through the 
room slowly, he triangulated until he pinned down the 
origin to one of the cabinets against one wall. He crouched 
down and opened the lower portion. It was empty.

Not deterred, he ran his fingers along the bottom of the 
cabinet. Along the edge, there was a knot in the native 
wood that had been used to construct the cabinets. Chewing 
on his bottom lip, he pressed down, and felt something 
give.

A panel popped up slightly at the other end of the cabinet. 
He lifted the piece of wood and reached in. When he pulled 
out his hand, there was a lightsaber in it.

* * * * *

Lando was beginning to wonder if maybe bringing Luke to 
Sandrica had been a bad idea. The whole idea had been to 
get the young Jedi to relax, but Luke had gone into Jedi 
Master mode almost the instant they'd landed on the island. 
Even now that he was responding to them again, Luke's eyes 
seemed unfocused, almost as if part of him wasn't there.

He ignited the lightsaber, and swung it back and forth, 
experimentally. The blade glowed a deep indigo-blue that 
was unlike anything that Lando had ever seen. It drew the 
eye, fascinated the viewer. And there was something else 
strange about it... It took Lando a moment to realize that 
the blade was slightly curved.

"I wonder how they did that..." Luke murmured, no doubt 
noticing the same thing. He traced the air along the path 
of the blade, and Lando winced at how close the young man's 
hand came to the glowing blade.

"There were no bodies left behind," Tronin said in a soft 
voice. "They were removed either by the people who 
destroyed the settlement, or else by survivors."

Luke seemed to be listening to something in the room. "The 
survivors. They came back and cremated the remains, 
scattering the ashes from the highest point of the island. 
Then they left. There weren't many."

"And the Jedi?"

Luke shook his head. "He wasn't a Jedi. But..." He closed 
his eyes, an expression of confusion on his face. "He was 
something close enough that everyone assumed he was.  I've 
never felt anything quite like it." He extinguished the 
lightsaber's blade and hefted it in his hand. "I wish I 
could have met him."

* * * * *

The rest of the visit was more subdued, Luke still more in 
the past than the present.

They toured the rest of the settlement, then had lunch with 
Tronin's crew. There were only a half-dozen of his best 
students, Tronin being a teacher at one of the top 
universities in the sector. Lando wonders just how they'd 
managed to sneak their equipment onto the planet, since 
there was no way this was an authorized dig. No one *on* 
the planet would risk proof of genocide being exposed. But 
Lando knew Tronin well; the wily Selean knew every 
smuggler's trick.

Then Tronin flew them back to the Andos resort, leaving 
them plenty of time to rest before heading to the north 
pole for an evening's entertainment. Lando waved goodbye as 
Tronin left, then turned back to Luke. That was when he 
finally noticed the old lightsaber hanging from Luke's 
belt.

"Shouldn't you have left that with Tronin?" he asked, 
waving a hand towards the artifact. Luke looked startled, 
almost as if he didn't remember that he still had the 
saber. He unclipped it and held it up in front of his face, 
a frown on his face. Lando couldn't help noticing that the 
blade fit perfectly into his hand, almost as if it had been 
made for him.

"There's something about this saber... It's not much older 
than the settlement, but I keep getting the impression from 
it of 'ancient'. I wonder why..." His eyes unfocused, as he 
considered the enigma. Lando decided to nip this off in the 
bud. This could wait until *after* the vacation.

He reached out and plucked the lightsaber from his lover's 
hands, the dropped it on one of the lounge chairs. "I seem 
to recall that you promised we'd pick things up again 
later."

Luke smiled, his attention having returned to the here and 
now. "Oh, did I?"

"Yes, you did." Lando buried his face in Luke's neck, 
licking at the salt from the sea spray. Luke shivered in 
his arms.

"Well, if you say so."

"We still have plans up North for tonight," Lando reminded 
him. "But right now we have *plenty* of time for a shower, 
first. Maybe even a nap."

"Shower... sounds good," Luke gasped as Lando started to 
nibble on his ear.

"Yes," Lando growled. "It does." He turned his face so that 
his lips could meet Luke's in a deep kiss.

When they pulled apart, Luke was the one who had to pull 
*his* attention back to reality. Lando grinned as the other 
man pulled him towards their rental cottage. Inside, he 
made short work of Lando's clothing, then his own. Lando 
followed, more than willingly, as Luke headed for the 
bathroom.

The bathroom had a bathtub large enough for at least four 
adult humans to lounge in, but it was the shower that was 
the height of decadence. Water passed upwards between the 
two layers of glass that enclosed it, then sprayed out 
through fine holes in the upper third of the structure. The 
visual effect was like being inside a bubble of water. 
Shampoo, soap and body lotion dispensers were the only 
break in the clear walls of the shower, and they were 
hidden by a cluster of seaweed fronds that grew between the 
layers at the back side of the shower, waving slowly as the 
water passed on its way up. Lando had tried to figure out 
how the seaweed could be protected from the shower water 
whenever the guest wanted a hot shower, but still hadn't 
worked it out. He knew it was probably either fake or an 
illusion, but it was an amusing exercise for an engineer's 
mind.

Luke programmed the water temperature and pressure into the 
controls set in the wall, then pulled Lando into the 
shower. As soon as the door closed behind them, they were 
hit with a spray of water strong enough to wash them 
without being overly vigorous. He immediately stepped into 
Lando's arms for a long kiss.

Lando's erection responded with a vengeance, pressing hard 
against Luke's groin, where it was answered by a matching 
heat. Thrusting his tongue deeper into Luke's mouth, Lando 
started to move with a purpose. He leaned back against the 
glass and pulled Luke in tight. Their hips undulated, 
rubbing their erections together.

Not releasing Luke's mouth, Lando reached out blindly to 
squeeze a handful of shampoo from the dispenser. Bringing 
his hands up behind Luke's head, he worked it into the 
blond hair, creating a thick lather. Luke moaned into his 
mouth as Lando's strong fingers massaged his scalp.

Lando was so enthralled by the sensation of soft hair and 
frothy bubbles against his fingers that he was taken 
completely by surprise when soap-covered hands started 
running over his chest.

The movement of hands against bodies grew slower, intended 
to caress rather than clean, building arousal until two 
sets of hands reached simultaneously for matching 
erections.

Lando resisted the urge to whimper as slick hands wrapped 
around him, pumping firmly. Instead, he thrust his hips and 
returned the favor. In an eternity that was far too short, 
he cried out and climaxed. He slid down the wall until he 
was kneeling on the shower floor. Luke followed him, 
equally spent.

* * * * *

Luke gasped, amazed anew by the intensity of what he felt 
when he was with Lando.

As soon as his breathing and heartrate had lowered to a 
more normal level, Luke climbed to his feet, pulling Lando 
up with him. Since his lover was still dazed, Luke grabbed 
a wash cloth and used it to clean the last of the soap off 
of them. Then he steered Lando out of the shower and into 
the dryer station. The tickle of warm air over his flesh 
*almost* had him aroused again, but Luke doubted that he'd 
be able to get another erection this soon.

Dry, they stumbled to the bed and collapsed there, still 
tightly entwined. Luke set the alarm to wake them in time 
to dress before catching the shuttle to the pole. Right 
now, a nap sounded *really* good.

TO BE CONTINUED