THE ADVENTURE OF KARM STARKILLER

Prologue

"We have an unresponsive Jane Doe with multiple lacerations and burns, Dr. Jackson. Can you take it?"

Dr. Jackson sighed. "Yes, I'm coming." He mentally complained as he hurried down the hall. Why was the ER so busy on his shift? Why couldn't people space their emergencies farther apart? And why couldn't people keep identification with them?

He stopped in his tracks when he saw the patient. Her blaze orange jumpsuit was mottled with bloodstains and slightly charred in spots. "What kind of clothing is that?"

The orderly shrugged.

"Looks like she was injured in an explosion. Where was she found?" Dr. Jackson started the examination.

"Hiker found her collapsed on a trail in Craig County's National Forest. Called 9-1-1 on his cell phone. Paramedics went in with a stretcher and carried her to the ambulance."

"Respiration and pulse OK. Let's start cleaning her up."

An hour and a half after he finished, Dr. Jackson was called to Jane Doe's hospital room.

"She's waking up," the nurse told him. "You're in charge of her case, so you need to be there."

"Thanks," he said, and walked quietly into the room. A monitor beeped regularly. He sat in a chair beside the bed and waited.

He didn't have to wait long. The girl, who looked to be in her late twenties, stirred and moaned slightly. Slowly, she blinked her dark blue eyes open and looked straight at him.

"Hello there," Dr. Jackson said in a friendly tone.

"Who are you?" she mumbled.

"I'm Dr. Jackson. How do you feel? Well enough to answer some questions?"

"Depends."

He decided to ask anyway.

"Can you tell me what your name is?"

"How do I know you aren't Imperial?"

"I'm sorry?"

"You might be Imperial. We haven't finished 'em all off yet."

"I can assure you, I'm not – Imperial." This girl had been dreaming, Dr. Jackson decided.

"Prove it. If you're a member of the Alliance, get the Princess on the comlink."

Princess? Comlink? This was bewildering. It was unusual for patients to have such vivid hallucinations. What was the girl talking about?

"You are Imperial, aren't you? Not getting anything from me." She tried to sit up. "Where do you have me? On a ship?"

"This is a hospital – on land. You need to calm down. You're injured."

"What system?" She turned her face toward the window. "Doesn't look familiar."

"This is Addison Memorial Hospital in Roanoke, Virginia." Delusions didn't usually last this long. Should he call in a psychologist?

"Virginia? In the United States?"

"Yes."

"On Terra – Earth? In the Milky Way Galaxy?" she gasped eagerly.

"Of course."

"I'm back!" She lay back and closed her eyes. "Sorry about calling you Imperial. You don't know…." Her voice trailed away as she dozed off.

Dr. Jackson shook his head and left the room. Stopping at the nurse's station, he asked to be told when Jane Doe woke again.

"She didn't tell you her name?"

"No, I'm pretty sure she's delirious. She kept talking about comlinks and Imperials and princesses."

"Well," said the nurse, "she ought to have some interesting things to say when she comes to."

Jane Doe slept for the rest of the afternoon and on through the night. She was awake when Dr. Jackson arrived the nest morning, however.

"Good morning, Dr. Jackson," she said as he came in. "I want to apologize for what I said yesterday."

"You remember that?"

"Yeah. I said some rotten stuff. My name's Kar-- Robin Hall, by the way."

"What was that you almost said?"

"The name I used for the past several years. It doesn't mean anything now." Robin touched a long scar on her unbandaged left cheek. "This may sound crazy, but can you tell me what the date, including the year, is?"

"Twenty-first of October, 2010."

"It's been ten years here, too," Dr. Jackson heard Robin mutter. This was more weirdness, but he pretended not to have heard.

Something about the name Robin Hall started to ring a bell. "Are you the Robin Hall who went missing back in 2000?"

"As far as I know, yes."

"I'll have to notify the police, of course."

"Go ahead, I don't mind."

Dr. Jackson stood up to leave but paused. "Where were you? Even the FBI was looking but they didn't find a trace."

"The aliens kidnapped me."

"What!?"

"Maybe I was in a subversive training camp, planning to overthrow national leaders. Or taking part in secret government programs." The part of Robin's face that wasn't bandaged displayed a mischievous grin momentarily. "Ow, I shouldn't have smiled." She stared at the doctor's bewildered face. "Those were jokes. You know, things that are supposed to be funny?"

"Of course," Dr. Jackson said, and left in a hurry.

"Actually, it was all three," Robin whispered to the empty room.

A police officer and an FBI agent came later that day. They took fingerprints and DNA samples and left. Dr. Jackson got a phone call from the agent asking if his patient was able to receive visitors and replied yes, she seemed to be healing faster than would be expected.

"The fingerprints match," the agent told him. "Since we have a positive identification, we'd like to bring Robin's family to see her."

"I think that would be allowable," said the doctor. "When will they be here?"

"They live in New Castle, about an hour's drive away from the hospital. I'm calling them as soon as I finish talking to you."

"She'll be ready in an hour, then."

"Mom, Dad, Jason, I missed you so much." Robin gingerly hugged her parents and brother while sitting up in bed. "I didn't leave on purpose. It just happened."

"The doctor told us you were badly hurt when you got here. What happened, Robin?" asked Will Hall.

"Um…it's kinda complicated, but I can sum it up as an accident involving crash-landing."

"If you were the pilot, I can understand that," teased Jason.

"Jason, is that all you can say to your sister?" Anna Hall mildly scolded. "Robin, it is so wonderful to see you're all right, except for those cuts and that nasty scar on your face."

"That?" Robin traced it with a finger that ran from cheekbone to jaw. "That happened several years ago. You wouldn't believe how I got it."

"Fighting?" guessed Jason.

"Fighting with laser swords, actually."

"Can you be a little clearer on that, Robin?"

"Sure I can, Dad, but you won't believe me. I wouldn't believe it myself if it hadn't happened to me."

Anna sat down in a chair at Robin's bedside. "Just tell us. Then we'll talk about believing it."

"Okay." Robin inhaled deeply. "Darth Vader nicked me with his lightsaber while we were fighting on Bespin.

"I thought you'd do that," she said, looking at their faces. "I'm thinking I need to start at the beginning. The very beginning. I'll be glad to tell you all kinds of fascinating details about life on other planets, but it's a long story and I want to get through the main points first. It'll take quite a while to do even that." Robin turned to Jason. "Remember, you were badgering me about being afraid of the woods. I ended up taking your dare to camp out – alone.

"At first, I didn't think I would fall asleep at all. There were so many strange noises! But fall asleep I did, eventually, and when I woke up—"

Cliffhanger! Cliffhanger! I love making people upset with cliffhangers.

This is my first Star Wars fanfic, so sorry if I get details wrong. Please review!