New Jedi Order Force Heretic I Remnant

PART ONE INTERSECTION

Three Months Later.
"I say we fight on!".
The voice echoed through the vast, domed hall that was serving as a.
replacement for the Grand Convocation Chamber on Coruscant, where the Senate had previously met. With Coruscant currently in the hands of the Yuuzhan Vong, Mon Calamari had been selected as a temporary capital and now played host to the representatives of the Galactic Alliance—a group much.
smaller than a full meeting of the Senate had once been, before the Yuuzhan.
Vong invasion, but still several hundred strong.
They responded to the call to fight in the fashion preferred by their individual.
species. There were whistles, grunts, shrieks, and subsonic rumbles. Some waved appendages; others stamped their feet. And others still, Leia Organa Solo among them, remained silent. She stood completely motionless, gently extending.
herself into the Force to feel it crackle and flare from the conflicting emotions of those gathered around her.
The speaker, a sour-faced Sullustan by the name of Niuk Niuv, paced the floor.
with an energy that belied his size. Clearly agitated by the sudden commotion,.
he lifted one hand to his ear to indicate his discomfort, while the other attempted to motion the crowd to silence. Even with his audio dampeners in place, the level.
of noise around the hall still hurt his sensitive ears.
"We have them on the back foot," he said, his large black eyes roaming the.
assembly. "They are overextended and ill prepared to defend themselves. They didn't expect to have to defend themselves so late in the game—which is precisely why we must drive home this advantage! To ignore the opportunity we.
have been given would be like putting our collective head back on the chopping block!".
"And who took it off the block in the first place?" The call came from the far.
side of the chamber. Leia immediately recognized the voice as belonging to Thuv Shinev of the Tion Hegemony.
Niuk Niuv's face contorted into a fleshy snarl. "That is irrelevant," he said.
irritably.
"Really?" Shinev bellowed. "I wouldn't have thought so. Too long have some.
among us treated the Jedi with contempt and suspicion. If we do have the chance.
now, finally, to force the Yuuzhan Vong back, then we should at least acknowledge their opinions on the subject!".
"If you think it necessary, then by all means thank them," the Sullustan.
retaliated. "I'm not saying they don't deserve that. But to do anything less than strike back at the Yuuzhan Vong would be madness, no matter what the Jedi.
say! We must prove to the Vong that we cannot be subjugated and will not tolerate their oppression! They have done enough. It is time for us to show them who this galaxy really belongs to! We must strike back hard, and we must do it.
now.".
A scattered cheer rose up among the Senators. It was loud, but not as.
deafening as Leia had feared it might be. After so many crushing defeats, most of the representatives remained uncertain that the Yuuzhan Vong could be rolled.
back as easily as Niuk Niuv stated. But the willingness to try was undeniable.
As Leia's gaze swept the crowd, she caught the tall, long-faced figure of.
Kenth Hamner on the far side of the chamber. From the scowl on the Jedi Master's face, Leia felt sure he was about to speak out against Niuk Niuv. But it.
was another who voiced their concerns.
"What if you're right?" Leia identified Releqy A'Kla, daughter of Camaasi.
Senator Elegos A'Kla, who had been ritually murdered by the Yuuzhan Vong's Commander Shedao Shai in the early days of the war. Since she had already.
served in his stead during his absence, her people had voted her into her father's position for the duration of the crisis. "What if we can beat them?".
"Then we win!" Niuk Niuv's big, round eyes were bright with anticipated.
glory.
"But at what cost?" A'Kla's fine, golden down shivered with intense emotion.
"The Yuuzhan Vong fight to the death, Senator. Admiral Ackbar used this very fact against them at Ebaq Nine. I don't think you truly realize what this means.".
"I realize," the Sullustan said. "And I realize that it is not our responsibility. If.
the positions were reversed, they would undoubtedly do the same to us.".
"I'm sorry, but my people cannot support such extermination under any.
circumstances," she said. She brought her long, three-fingered hands up to her chest. "We are pacifists, Senator. We do not wish such horrors on our consciences.".
"And I respect your people's ethics," Niuk Niuv replied. Turning from her to.
address the entire chamber, he continued: "If there was an alternative, then I would consider it. But in the absence of any such alternative, I am not prepared to sit back with my neck out waiting for the Yuuzhan Vong to bring an.
amphistaff down upon it!".
Another cheer rippled around the room. "It's all very good for the pacifists to argue about compassion and restraint,.
but it is they who will benefit from the ultimate peace that we will bring about with our actions!" Niuv faced Releqy A'Kla once again. "What good is pacifism.
if you are dead, Senator?".
Releqy A'Kla sank back into her chair, blinking in dismay. "We will crush the Yuuzhan Vong," Niuk Niuv concluded to the Galactic.
Alliance representatives gathered, punching a fist into the air. "And we will send their remains back where they came from!".
The cheer was louder this time. Leia's fellow Alderaanian, Chief of State Cal.
Omas, said nothing. It would have been pointless at this stage, with the majority.
now so evidently behind Niuk Niuv's sentiments.
Across from her, Leia saw Hamner's scowl deepen as he shook his head and.
slipped silently from the huge hall.
"Finally, we are vindicated." In a room not far from the domed hall in which the Senators met, a gathering.
of Jedi Knights and Masters looked similarly reduced in numbers but was no less passionate. Jedi Master Luke Skywalker had called the meeting to discuss.
strategies for the coming stages of the war with the Yuuzhan Vong. Waxarn Kel, the current speaker, paced in front of the gathering like a caged howlrunner. His.
face and hairless scalp were pink with fresh scars, indicating just how close he had come to being another victim of the Yuuzhan Vong anti-Jedi vendetta.
"Explain," Luke said. He sat on the stage at the front of the chamber, one knee.
raised to support the elbow of his right arm, and that hand supporting his chin.
The unnatural coolness of the hand's artificial skin against his jaw helped keep his head clear.
Kel looked up at him with a frown. "Do I really need to?" he asked with a mix.
of irritation and surprise. Then, to the rest of the Jedi, he said, "We've been.
slandered, hunted, and butchered from one side of the galaxy to the other. We became the scapegoat for everything the New Republic brought upon itself because of its complacency and inability to act. We told them things they didn't want to hear, and what was our reward? We were damned for it, that's what. But.
now we have been vindicated. The trap on Ebaq Nine and the defeat of the Yuuzhan Vong have shown that we are a force to be reckoned with. Vergere's sacrifice will not be in vain.".
"I hadn't realized that our fight was with the survivors of the New Republic,".
said Kyp Durron, leaning in flight uniform against one of the chamber's fluted walls, arms folded across his chest. "I thought our battle was with the Yuuzhan Vong.".
"It is." Kel regarded Kyp with some annoyance. "The Yuuzhan Vong are our.
enemy—not just of every peaceful citizen of the galaxy, but of the Jedi in particular. That's been the frustrating thing about this war. The New Republic has thwarted our every attempt to defend ourselves. If it wasn't the Peace.
Brigade actually trapping us and selling us over, it was idiots like Borsk Fey'lya holding us back. Well, now we're free to act, and we can show them just what we are capable of doing!".
"I presume you have something in mind." Kyp's expression was neutral, but.
Luke sensed a cautious interest lurking behind it—like that of someone poking at a bug's nest with a stick to see what might emerge.
"Of course," Kel said. "We strike, and we strike hard." "The Yuuzhan Vong?".
"Of course the Yuuzhan Vong!" Kel's eyes flashed anger. "We must act to.
ensure that public opinion doesn't turn against us once again.".
"How might it do that, Waxarn?" Luke asked. Kel glanced back up at Luke. The Master could feel the scarred young Jedi.
Knight consciously bringing his emotions into line.
"I fear it could happen all to easily, Master," he said, bowing slightly. "Unless.
we act decisively to reaffirm our usefulness and goodwill, to prove beyond the slightest doubt that the war can only be won with our assistance, then we risk.
looking weak. Or worse, looking as if our loyalty to the Galactic Alliance is.
weak.".
Luke smiled sagely. "Surely our loyalty is to peace." "First and foremost, yes, Master," Kel put in quickly. "But you have to be.
strong to protect peace from those who would destroy it. Sometimes it is necessary to fight in order to bring an end to fighting. Isn't that the way of the.
Jedi?".
Is it? Luke asked himself as he pondered the words of the young man before.
him. Luke himself had acted more than once on the philosophy espoused by Waxarn Kel and those like him. The cry had been taken up several times.
throughout the war with the Yuuzhan Vong by those tempted to take the seemingly easy route through the dark side rather than brave the ambiguities of the Force.
Luke didn't think Kel had fallen to the dark side, though. There was none of.
the anger and hatred in the young man that Luke could sense in a handful of others presently around him. They remained quiet, allowing Kel to speak their words for them. But it wasn't difficult for Luke to read their feelings. So many had been hurt by the Yuuzhan Vong and the Peace Brigaders that desiring.
retribution was, perhaps, only natural. Natural wasn't necessarily right, though, and part of Luke's job was to ensure that those in his charge weren't led astray.
None of the Jedi in the room had yet fallen to the dark side, and for that he.
was thankful. Some of them had taken a wrong turning here and there, just as some were being tempted to do now. But Luke had faith in all of them—even those who disagreed vehemently with his own opinions. He was sure that the collective wisdom of the Jedi, their strong belief in the healing, sustaining.
energies of the Force, would gradually assuage the grief they all felt for loved ones who had died in the war—as well as for themselves.
Luke straightened and dropped down onto the floor of the room to face.
Waxarn Kel. Once considered handsome, he was now scarred almost beyond.
recognition. And it was from this that Luke felt the man's emotions stemmed. Every time Kel looked in the mirror, he would be reminded of what the war had.
done to him and those he loved, and his anger and hatred would grow.
The dark side can beckon to us from so many quarters, Luke thought.
"If we strike now," Kel said, undeterred by being eye to eye with the great.
Jedi Master, "we can do the most damage. But if we wait too long, our enemies.
will have time to recover and—".
"Do you believe that this is why we have survived as long as we have?" Luke.
interrupted calmly. "Because our enemies are weak? Did those of us who have.
fallen in battle do so because they were weak?".
Kel blinked as a look of uncertainty passed over his face. "Master, I would.
never think that—".
"Of course not," Luke continued smoothly. "The Yuuzhan Vong are a.
powerful species, and they have used our weaknesses against us just as we are.
learning to use theirs. No species is perfect, and no war is won purely by strength. There are many other factors that must be considered.".
Kel nodded, lowering his eyes. "Yes, Master." Luke inwardly cringed. Kel was addressing him as a droid would its owner.
"Under my leadership," Luke said, "we have seen special combat units trained.
and led by the Jedi making a decisive difference in battle—yet at the same time I refuse to allow a Jedi to stand for political office. So do you think me weak?".
The young Jedi was shocked at the suggestion. "Master, that's not what—" Luke tried again. "I have formed a new Jedi council and placed non-Jedi upon.
it," he said. "Is that the action of a weak individual?".
"No, Master." Before Luke could speak again, he was interrupted by a low chuckle from.
Kyp Durron. He faced him, lacing his hands together behind his back.
"Yes, Kyp?" he said. "Master, I know you are weak." Durron bowed formally at the waist—but.
with respect, not sarcasm. "As am I." His hand lightly swept around to indicate the room. "As is everyone here. But I am proud of my weakness, for it makes me who I am. Forgetting one's weakness is a sure recipe for disaster.".
The door to the chamber opened, and Luke turned to see Kenth Hamner step.
into the room. Luke nodded acknowledgment, hiding his disappointment that it wasn't Jaina. His niece was running late for the meeting, and he couldn't help.
but feel worried. The loss of Anakin, Jaina's younger brother, struck deep into the part of him that was all too human: the part that had turned away from.
Master Yoda's teaching to rescue his friends; the part that loved his wife, Mara, and his son, Ben, more deeply than anything else in the galaxy; the part that.
could fully understand the need to strike back at those who had hurt the ones he loved. He wouldn't blame himself for loving, or call it a weakness, but he would.
blame himself for not meeting his duty of care. Aside from Jaina, too many of the Jedi were missing from this meeting: Tam Azur-Jamin, Octa Ramis, Kyle.
Katarn, Tenel Ka, Tahiri Veila ... If they were dead, he would feel as though he had failed each and every one of them.
Waxarn Kel had turned a faint crimson under his scars. Luke couldn't tell if.
Kyp Durron's point—the one Luke himself had been trying to make—had finally hit home, or if the young man was simply embarrassed for looking something of a fool in front of his colleagues. And some of those were becoming restless again; the tension in the air was palpable. Despite the recent turnaround in the fortunes of the Jedi, there were clearly still some who thought his.
leadership flawed.
"Thank you, Kyp," Luke said, reciprocating the bow. "There is more to.
winning this war than military might allows. Remember that, all of you, and we may yet win it in a way that saves us from ourselves, too.".
He swung back up into his sitting position on the stage and caught Jacen's eye.
in the process. His nephew, standing apart from the others at the back of the hall, nodded slightly, then turned his attention forward as Waxarn Kel sat down and.
the next person stepped up to speak his mind.
"Same meat, different bantha." Cal Omas snorted at Kenth Hamner's words. Although the Jedi physically.
towered over him and he found the man's dour expression impenetrable, the Chief of State of the Galactic Alliance had developed quite a liking for Hamner in recent weeks. Unlike most politicians, Omas had an appreciation for straight talking.
"We didn't have bantha on Alderaan." He was standing by the immense.
convex viewport of his office, staring out at the view. Beneath him, the terraced walls of the floating city swept away, merging into the mist thrown up by the mountainous waves far below. Beyond the mist there was only the tumultuous.
sea, stretching out to the horizon. He'd spent a lot of time at this view, hoping for a glimpse of the planet's legendary krakana coming to the surface. More.
often than not, though, he was too deep in thought to even notice if one had.
He glanced over his shoulder to Kenth Hamner and said, "But I do know what.
you mean.".
A murmur of assent rolled through the small group of people seated before.
him.
Two hours had passed since the meetings of the Senate and the Jedi. Omas.
had called a select group of people together to discuss the outcomes of both meetings: apart from Hamner, both Skywalkers were there, along with Leia.
Organa Solo, Releqy A'Kla, and Sien Sovv, the Sullustan Supreme Commander of the slowly re-forming Galactic Alliance military. In other words, people he could trust—and people he could use, in the best possible sense of the word.
"I called you here to ask for your help." He turned now to face everyone in the.
room. "Because I have to tell you, I am altogether sick of fighting.".
"The Yuuzhan Vong?" Mara Jade Skywalker asked. She was sitting at the.
long, oval transparisteel table, her husband standing beside her.
Omas shrugged noncommittally. "Borsk Fey'lya was bad enough. Fighting.
him every step of the way used to make me want to weep. The losses we incurred because of his stupidity ..." He shook his head, wanting to lose the memory. "He's gone now, and I had the momentary foolishness to think that it would somehow make things easier. But I was wrong. His death has sent the.
Bothans on this crazy ar'krai war of theirs, and I have one of my senior admirals arguing for an all-out push to wipe out the Yuuzhan Vong once and for all. I take it to the Senate, and all I hear is more of the same from them. Even the Jedi—".
"Not all of us." Luke Skywalker's frown was deep, as though he'd been.
personally stung.
Omas respectfully inclined his head to the Jedi Master, and to A'Kla, who had.
stiffened in her seat. "Forgive me," he said. "No, not all of the Jedi, and not all of the Senate, either. But there's too much craziness out there for any real.
decisions to be made.".
"Should I take it, then," Leia said, "that you don't approve of the final push?" "You're asking a politician to buck the public's will?" Omas laughed lightly,.
humorlessly, as he returned to his seat. He sank into it with a sigh. "The truth is, I wouldn't commit our forces to attack at the moment, whether I wanted to or not. We've made some small progress against the Yuuzhan Vong, yes, and we seem to be holding our own at the moment, but if we overextend we'll just be.
putting ourselves in their position. Until we have enough in reserve to defend ourselves, should such a push go wrong, I'm not prepared to authorize anything.
dramatic. Otherwise, we run the risk of losing what small advantages we've gained, and maybe even ending up worse off. We need to consolidate first, then.
fight back.".
"I wondered why Traest wasn't here for this," Hamner said. "He's not going.
to approve of this decision, is he?".
"He'll have to live with it. Kre'fey is a good strategist, and he stuck by us.
when we needed him, but he's not my Supreme Commander. I trust Sien on this.".
Sien Sovv nodded, his big, black eyes blinking. "Consolidation is the key. I'm.
not going to stick my neck out until I'm sure my vibro-ax is bigger than the.
Vong's.".
"Discretion is the better part of valor," Mara said. "Perhaps. If I had the forces at my disposal right now, maybe I would feel.
differently." Sovv shrugged.
Skywalker nodded. "A push would be harder to argue against, in that case. I.
understand. It becomes a moral argument, then. If we do attack with intent to.
destroy, does that make us any better than the Yuuzhan Vong themselves?".
There was silence around the table. Omas studied each of them in turn.
Skywalker looked worried, and his wife was watching him closely. His sister, Leia, had the tight-faced reserve he had learned meant that she was thinking.
carefully about everything going on around her. Kenth Hamner and Sien Sovv were military through and through, used to arguing in terms of resources and objectives, but on less firm footing when it came to philosophy. Senator A'Kla.
was the only one displaying any clear emotion. The Camaasi's golden fur was practically bristling with agitation.
"Yes, Releqy?" Omas knew what she was going to say before she had even.
opened her mouth. That was why he had invited her to the meeting in the first place.
"I hope to speak for all of us," she said, "when I say that our ultimate.
objective is peace. Not just an end to the war.".
Again, a murmur of agreement swept around the table. Only Princess Leia.
voiced dissent.
"Peace at any cost," she said, "isn't peace." Mara was quick to back her up. "At best it would only be a temporary cease-.
fire.".
"We need something more permanent to base this new Galactic Alliance on.
apart from the defeat of an enemy," the Princess went on. "As well as a solid.
infrastructure and guaranteed supplies, ships to replace those destroyed and open hyperspace lanes, we need security and order, and—".
"What we need," Sien Sovv cut in, "is Coruscant back. It's a symbol of our.
authority, and without it everything we attempt is undermined.".
"All valid points," Omas said, acknowledging his Supreme Commander with.
a curt nod. "But I fear we're reaching for stars when we've barely managed to.
get out of the gutter. Keeping things together on a daily basis, let alone rebuilding what we've lost or fighting back, is my most pressing concern at the.
moment. The subspace networks and HoloNet itself are a mess. Do you have any idea how hard it will be to put things back together when we don't even know.
which bit is doing what anymore? Half the pieces can no longer even talk to.
each other.".
"It's not as though people haven't been trying," Leia began. "I know, I know," he said. "You and Han have put in a lot of effort, and so has.
Mara. Marrab, too, is doing his best—".
"Gron Marrab?" Mara interrupted. "Surely there must be someone better for.
the job than that.".
"Well, he's a Mon Cal, so he's local," Omas said, unable to help feeling.
defensive. "And besides, it's not as if I have much choice. That's my point, really. I don't have any choices. The intelligence community was routed when.
Coruscant fell, just like the Senate. All we have in its place is a lot of fine effort, but nothing coordinated. There are at least six chains of command out there, all feeding through to different people by different means. They don't talk to each.
other; I'd be surprised if there aren't still more that won't talk to me.
"And that's when they can talk," he went on. "There are parts of this galaxy.
as big as the Core that we haven't heard from for months. We don't know if this silence is self-imposed or due to infrastructure collapse. We don't know if it's a technical problem or deliberate sabotage. All we do know is that the.
communications we once took for granted have fallen into disrepair along with everything else.".
"And in the absence of communications," Luke put in, "ferment breeds.".
"Precisely," Omas said. "It's pointless to win a war only to watch the Galactic.
Alliance fall apart around us afterward.".
"Then what is it you want, exactly?" Mara asked. "I presume it has something.
to do with us, otherwise we wouldn't be here.".
"I need a group of people committed to bringing things back together," Omas.
said passionately. "A mobile task force traveling from place to place—.
reconnecting the dots, if you like. Familiar, trustworthy faces, symbols of peace and prosperity. That kind of thing. I thought of Master Skywalker first, of.
course. And Leia, too. A New Republic presence will certainly help things along.".
"That's 'Galactic Alliance' now, Cal," Leia said. "Yes, of course. That's going to take some getting used to." He continued:.
"The task force doesn't need specialist technical expertise to repair the networks where they're down; you can call for that sort of help if needed, when the.
problem has been isolated. Just in case it's a military problem, I'll provide a squadron or two for protection—but you shouldn't need anything more than that.
You're not there to intimidate, but to communicate. Open up the black spots,.
whatever it takes, and bring them back into the fold. At least let them know we're paying attention, anyway.".
He paused to allow others to comment. When no one did, he said, "Well, what.
do you think?".
Leia was the first to respond, nodding slowly and thoughtfully. "In principle, I.
think it's a good idea," she said. "And I'm sure Han will agree, too.".
Omas offered a faint smile in appreciation. "I was hoping this would be the.
case," he said. "The Falcon would make a great support vessel.".
"And you don't really have many to spare," Leia said. "I understand.".
Omas glanced at Luke and was surprised to see the Jedi Master frowning.
That threw the Chief of State for a moment. What wasn't there to like about his plan? It gave the Jedi a chance to reestablish their peacekeeping role in the.
galaxy while at the same time tying them ever closer to the Galactic Alliance. If the mission was a success—and there was no reason Omas could see why it wouldn't be—then no one in the Senate would be able to argue about the worth of the Jedi again.
"Luke?" Mara prompted, also catching her husband's frown.
The Jedi Master remained silent for a while longer, as though mulling over.
everything Omas had just said. When he did speak, it was slowly, choosing each word with care.
"This would solve only half the problem," he said. "No matter how well we.
did our job, it would still leave the Yuuzhan Vong. That's a problem that isn't going to go away, no matter how much you stifle the agitators. But what if I told you I could solve your military problem and the moral problem in one.
operation?".
"I'd be interested, naturally," Omas said, then lifted his thin shoulders and.
spread his arms in a supplicating gesture. "But how?".
"The Imperial Remnant," Sovv said, answering for the Jedi Master.
Luke looked at the Supreme Commander, nodding. "The Empire." "They turned us down," Leia said. "Pellaeon said that he had no interest in.
joining forces. As far as they're concerned, they've been holding their own perfectly well against the Yuuzhan Vong.".
"And at that point, we weren't," Luke said. "But now that we're starting to hit.
back, they might change their mind.".
"Well, it would certainly solve the military problem," Omas said. "It would.
also legitimize the name of our new government.".
"The Galactic Federation of Free Alliances," A'Kla said.
"Exactly. There's not much meaning to it if entire chunks of the galaxy won't.
join.".
Omas folded his hands before him, returning his attention to Luke. "You're.
proposing a diplomatic mission, Master Skywalker?".
"To the Imperial Remnant—and to the Chiss, too," he replied. "They're the.
ones who refined the toxin developed by Scaur's scientists—the Alpha Red bioweapons. That project is still hanging over us. We mustn't forget that.".
"No. Admiral Kre'fey isn't letting me." "I thought the project was on hold," A'Kla said, the purple fur above her eyes.
ruffling slightly beneath a frown.
" 'On hold' in military terms simply means that you're set on stun," the.
Supreme Commander said. "The blaster, however, is still powered and aimed.".
"Or it would be, given just a few weeks' development time." Omas himself.
was deeply conflicted over the Chiss plan to use biological warfare to defeat the Yuuzhan Vong. On the one hand, he could see the military sense in wiping out the enemy with one strike—a strike that would cost nothing in terms of troops or fleet resources. But it smacked of using the enemy's own tactics against them.
The Yuuzhan Vong had employed biological warfare on Ithor—whose native bafforr trees, ironicallly, were the very source of the Alpha Red toxin—and many other worlds, destroying whole biospheres in the process. It was a dirty,.
demeaning tactic, and it could so easily be used against the wielder. In his nightmares he saw system after system falling to a gray plague while, at the same time, the Yuuzhan Vong were wiped out by the Chiss bioweapon. The end result would be a lifeless, sterile galaxy.
He didn't want that to be what his administration was remembered for—even.
if there was no one left to remember it.
"Destroying the research," Sovv said, "would meet with the strongest.
resistance from some under my command. I cannot guarantee that they wouldn't.
take independent action to stop you.".
Luke nodded. "I'm aware of that, Commander. That's why I wouldn't be.
going to the Chiss to propose or attempt such a move. That's their decision, and I'll leave it up to them. I would only be extending the hand of peace.".
"People will automatically assume a hidden agenda." Sovv turned to Omas.
"If you're going to allow this, Cal, I'd advise that it be an informal mission.
Unofficially sanctioned, top secret, hidden agenda—whatever you want to call it. The fewer people who know about it, the better.".
"If it's not official," Omas said, "I'm not sure how much support I could lend.
it.".
"That's okay," Luke said. "We'll have Jade Shadow and my X-wing, and we.
might even be able to call in a few favors on top of that. The only support I really want is an assurance that you won't try to stop us, and that you'll hold the warmongers back while we're gone.".
"That shouldn't be a problem," Omas said. "There's plenty to keep people.
busy." He leaned back into his chair, sensing more to Luke's request than appeared on the surface. "However, I doubt that the Yuuzhan Vong will make it as easy for us as Senator Niuv would have us believe.".
"It's a long way to travel, isn't it?" Sovv asked. "I mean, I appreciate you.
going to such lengths to bring the Empire into the fold, but I'd have thought you'd be more needed here. Isn't there someone else you can send? Kenth, here,.
for instance, would be perfectly competent. The Empire and the Chiss would respect his background.".
"You make a good point, Sien." Luke briefly exchanged a look with Mara and.
Leia that Omas couldn't interpret. "But those very same abilities you mention make him perfect for the job of keeping things calm here. Neither the Empire.
nor the Chiss will resolve the Yuuzhan Vong problem alone, even in a military sense. To be honest, they are only secondary objectives. There's something else I need to do while I'm gone.".
"Ah." Omas pushed himself forward as the missing piece slowly became.
clear. "The Empire and the Chiss—both lie in or near the Unknown Regions.".
A faint smile appeared at the edges of Luke's mouth. "That's true." "What is it you're looking for, Master Skywalker?".
"If I told you, Cal, you wouldn't believe me." "The moral solution to the war?".
"Perhaps. An alternative, anyway." Luke raised a hand as Omas began to ask another question.
The Chief of State rested back into his chair again with a wry smile. "I guess I.
can't force you to tell me," he said. He glanced at Sovv. It was obvious that his.
Supreme Commander knew as little about Skywalker's plans as he did. "You've offered enough for me to give you my private assurance that I won't do anything.
to hinder your plans. Having the Empire and the Chiss aboard won't guarantee the security of the Galactic Alliance, but it'll help. If you think you can give me.
a long-term resolution to the war as well, then I shall do what I can to assist.".
The Jedi Master kept his expression carefully composed, but the way his wife.
touched his arm suggested that she was happy with the outcome of the meeting.
Like her husband, though, her face revealed nothing.
"What about you, Leia?" Omas asked. "Will you still do what I've asked of.
you?".
She nodded. "Of course," she said. "You can count on both Han and me to do.
whatever we can to help.".
The Chief of State nodded in return. "I'm grateful," he said. "Make a time.
with Sien to discuss the logistics. We'll see what special operations can lend you. I know you have some connections down there." He stood with a smile, knowing perfectly well that Jaina Solo's Twin Suns Squadron was a sure bet for.
the mission—and if she was involved, Jag Fel wouldn't be far away. Together they would keep the military side of the mission covered, and possibly more than that: he was sure Sien Sovv wouldn't mind applying a little force to some of the.
more unruly sectors of the galaxy.
"Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a line of beings wanting to see me." "We thank you for your time," Luke said, taking his wife's hand as she rose.
from the chair. "As well as your cooperation. May the Force guide us all.".
"To peace," Releqy A'Kla said, standing with the others.
"To peace," Omas echoed wholeheartedly as they filed out of the room. He.
knew that only time would blunt the teeth of the Corellian sand panthers in the ranks of the Senate, the Defense Force, and the Jedi. Whatever Luke Skywalker.
had up his sleeve, Omas only hoped he could give him enough time to bring it into effect before those sand panthers gathered outside his office door, hungry for his blood.
From space, the ocean world Mon Calamari shone a brilliant, peaceful blue.
Under a sky that glinted like ice, curving cloud patterns traced words only stars.
could understand. All but the keenest of eyes would fail to see the coral outcrops, marshy islands, and floating cities that were scattered across the.
planet's often turbulent seas. But they were there: the provisional capital of the newly formed Galactic Alliance and birthplace of two intelligent species was.
called home by more than twenty-seven billion people, including the legendary Admiral Ackbar and Jedi Master Cilghal. From up on high it was impossible to.
appreciate the hard times Mon Calamari had seen under the resurrected clone of Emperor Palpatine and the renegade Admiral Daala—hard times that the.
inhabitants of the planet could well see again before this war with the Yuuzhan Vong was over.
That's the beauty of an ocean world, Jaina Solo thought as she guided her X-.
wing down to the port city Hikahi. It shows no scars.
"XJ-Three-Twenty-three, you're clear to dock," came the distinctive Mon.
Calamari voice. "Proceed to Bay DA-Forty-two.".
She gritted her teeth as blast scoring on the fuselage of her X-wing caught the.
atmosphere on reentry, provoking a violent shudder that made her R2 unit.
squawk in alarm.
Moments later, as the X-wing glided in toward the docking bays, the droid.
tootled a short series of beeps and blips. She glanced at her craft's translator and smiled at her R2's message.
"No, I'm sure Mon Cal's high salinity levels won't be too good for your.
electronics," she said. "But it really shouldn't be too much of a problem, Cappie. I didn't bring you here to go swimming.".
Kyp Durron met her when she landed. Her former squadron leader looked.
tired and drawn, seemingly much older than when she'd last seen him a couple of weeks earlier.
"Nice to see you, Colonel," he said. "Sorry I'm late," she said, tugging off her flight helmet and slipping it under.
an arm. "There were delays making sure Twin Suns was adequately berthed. Did I miss the meeting?".
"Afraid so," he said as they walked together from the docking bays. "But.
that's okay. I get the feeling that everything's being decided behind the scenes. Gathering us together was just a formality—a way of reminding us that there's a bigger picture. You know?".
Jaina nodded absently, only half listening.
"Is Tahiri here?" she asked after a few paces. Kyp looked at her, his brow wrinkling. "No. Why?".
She shrugged as she continued walking, not meeting his eyes. She didn't want.
him to see how deep her concern ran. "It's probably nothing," she lied. "She left.
a message for me for when I docked at Ralroost. She said she wanted to talk to me as soon as I arrived. She sounded ...".
Kyp waited for her to continue, but when she didn't he asked, "What, Jaina?
What did she say?".
Jaina struggled to remember just how the girl had sounded. "I don't know,.
Kyp," she said. "It wasn't so much what she said as the way she said it. I just got.
the impression that something was wrong.".
"Well, if she is here on Mon Cal," he said, "she didn't come to the meeting.".
An upwelling of concern for the girl—no, young woman, Jaina corrected.
herself; Tahiri was a Jedi Knight now—rushed through her. Tahiri had been close to Anakin. If dealing with his loss had been half as hard for Tahiri as it had been for Jaina, then she could certainly understand the odd note of grief that had been evident in her voice. But why now? Why did Tahiri want to speak to her?
"Jag's here," Kyp said, and the feeling those simple words inspired surprised.
her.
"Really? Where?" She kept her gaze ahead as they continued through the.
maze of corridors, hopeful that this would be enough to prevent him seeing how her cheeks had flushed at the mention of Jag's name.
"Right now he's in a meeting with your parents, actually," Kyp said. "They're.
hatching some sort of scheme." He stopped abruptly and turned to face her. "There's talk of winning this thing, Jaina," he said. "A lot of talk. It's almost.
hysterical. Before Ebaq Nine we were all but beaten; now you'd think we already had the Yuuzhan Vong on the run.".
Jaina nodded. She understood perfectly what he was trying to tell her, and.
why. The politicians had no real idea what it was like on the battlefield. They were insulated by layers of command from the action, from how things really.
were. For all the losses they'd suffered, she'd always tried to maintain a sense of optimism, but even though they had recently made considerable headway, she knew they still had a long way to go. There were no certainties. There never was.
with war.
But she could sympathize with the politicians wanting to believe that victory.
was imminent. This war had been hard on everyone. Years of defeats, inexorable advances by the enemies, losses in every quarter—it had all taken its toll. She.
could see it in Kyp's eyes and in the way he seemed to have aged. She could feel it in herself, the grief for Chewbacca and Anakin still strong, her descent into the.
dark side painfully recent ...
"I'll be careful," she said, vanquishing the memory with a firm nod. People.
would be taking sides everywhere in the makeshift capital. She wasn't going to commit to anything without first learning something of what was going on.
"behind the scenes," as Kyp had put it.
Kyp resumed their walk, moving confidently through the warren of tunnels.
He had obviously been on Mon Cal long enough to familiarize himself with the city. The deeper into the city they went, the more crowded the corridors became,.
and the more hurried the activities of the people became. Jaina saw beings of varied species, sexes, and sizes going about all manner of duties. Technicians.
rubbed shoulders with bureaucrats while armed soldiers bumped into secretaries,.
and through it all trundled myriad droids. The air rang with industry and purpose, which was more than a little overwhelming for Jaina after the confines of her X-wing and only her R2 unit for conversation.
"I'm sorry," Kyp said, recognizing her discomfort. "Perhaps we should have.
taken a tunnel cab. I just thought you would have had enough of being cooped.
up in small spaces.".
"No, that's okay," she said. "I did need to stretch my legs a little." It wasn't just the exercise she was grateful for, though. It also gave her the.
opportunity to ground herself. Had she stepped off her X-wing and walked.
straight into a meeting, she would never have gained a feeling for the place. There was a vitality here that she found invigorating. Out of the chaos, some sense of order was returning, even if people couldn't agree on what to do with it.
This was what she was fighting for; the future of her civilization was being decided in these halls as much as it was in the vast battlefields of space.
Finally the corridors widened and the crowds thinned slightly. There was.
space to walk abreast, and the noise level dropped enough for them to talk about the finer points of squadron command without having to shout to be heard. Kyp.
seemed to find a measure of comfort in relatively mundane talk of promising new tactics and pilots. Their ships, like the staff that flew them and maintained them, were showing signs of fatigue. Little repairs had to be constantly.
performed to ensure they didn't escalate into something more catastrophic: fatigue was insidious, be it metal or mental. The principle was the same, she supposed, at all levels of the resistance.
They eventually came to a door guarded by two Mon Calamari security staff.
The guards brought their coral pikes up in a brief salute before guiding them through. Inside, leaning over a wide screen displaying dozens of detailed maps.
and charts, were Jaina's parents, Han Solo and Leia Organa Solo. Standing between them was a tall, dark-complexioned woman with her hair pulled back in.
a tight bun. Jaina recognized her as a former New Republic Intelligence officer. Also there, just as Kyp had said he would be, was Jag Fel. All looked up when.
they entered, but it was to Jag that Jaina's attention was drawn.
She was delighted to see his face break out into a smile upon seeing her, even.
if that smile was just as quickly stifled. She had learned early on in their friendship that he didn't approve of public displays of affection. When his time.
came to formally greet her, he would do so with a stiff nod and perhaps a tight handshake—but that was all. It didn't bother Jaina; just the knowledge that the.
affection was there at all was enough for her. She would carry that quick smile.
with her for the rest of the day, until they could find time to be alone later.
"Jaina." Her mother stepped over to enfold her in a tight, warm hug. Since.
Anakin's death, her mother's embraces had become more frequent and were delivered with more passion than ever before. It was almost as though every time she saw either Jacen or Jaina these days, she was overcome with relief.
Her father's large hand ran through her hair, stopping at her shoulder to.
squeeze gently. "Good to see you, kid," he said with a wry smile.
"You too, Dad." She reached up and kissed him on the cheek. The prickliness.
of his chin, the scent of his unkempt hair, and the sight of his lopsided smile—.
the familiarity of these simple aspects of her father brought with it a sense of comfort she had always felt around him. For all her mother's efforts, Han Solo still had a slightly disreputable air. Jaina had been told by some that she had.
inherited a portion of that, while her twin brother had gotten their mother's thoughtful nature.
"Where's Jacen?" she asked, taking a step back from both of them. "Your uncle Luke has him working on something else," her mother explained.
"He'll meet you when we're finished.".
Jaina caught Jag's eye and was completely thrown for a second when he.
winked at her. For the second time that day she felt a blush forming, so she turned away, looking for a distraction in the Intelligence operative standing.
before the luminous star charts.
"Belindi, isn't it?" Jaina said, searching her memory. She stepped over to the.
woman and extended a hand.
The woman gave a single, respectful nod. "Belindi Kalenda, that's right," she.
said. "Chief Omas has asked me to coordinate an operation involving your parents—and you, if you're willing.".
"And that's where I check out," Kyp said. "You're leaving?" Jaina asked, surprised.
He nodded, shrugging, the flickering lights from the map painting his features.
with an assortment of colors. "My job was only to escort you here, I'm afraid,".
he said with exaggerated disappointment.
Jaina smiled at this. "The great Kyp Durron reduced to being a delivery boy,.
eh?" she teased. "Who'd have thought? And to think, you once offered to take me on as an apprentice, too! Glad I didn't take that route.".
"You're a funny girl, you know that?" he said in return. "For a Solo, that is.".
He didn't give her chance to respond. "But listen, if you feel like catching up.
later, why not stop by at the Ocean's Floor café for a drink? Bring young Jag.
here along, too. He can show you the way." He offered a mock salute before turning to leave. Then, at the door, he faced her again. "And if you like, I'll make a few inquiries about Tahiri for you," he said more seriously.
She smiled her appreciation at him. "Thanks, Kyp," she said softly. When he was gone, Belindi Kalenda quickly summarized the mission for.
Jaina's benefit. The others stood by patiently, interjecting a few words here and there to help clarify certain aspects of the plan. It sounded simple enough: travel the open hyperlanes fixing communications links and reminding the locals that they were still part of a galactic civilization. Jaina was sure it wouldn't be so.
easy in practice, though. The Yuuzhan Vong, by mining the major hyperspace routes, had left some areas isolated for as long as two years. No one knew with any certainty just what was happening inside such regions, but there had been.
rumors of local despots seizing control while attention was focused elsewhere. It was probably safe to assume that, in some places at least, their welcome wouldn't really be heartfelt.
She loosened the tabs on her flight uniform and participated in an hour or so.
of discussion regarding the mission objectives. There would be numerous.
opportunities to coordinate with local governments and such organizations as the Smugglers' Alliance along the way, although it was difficult to plan for anything in advance with so little known for certain about most areas.
At one point an orderly brought some refreshments for them: raw pointer fish.
cuts and lampfish tongue, along with tall glasses of chilled Calamarian water. Although she was hungry, Jaina only picked at the salty comestibles while she listened to her parents debate the best way to structure the mission itself. There.
was no bitterness or anger to the argument; they simply disagreed over the details and weren't afraid to say so. In the end, though, it was Leia whose.
opinion made the most sense, so Han backed down without acrimony. Where once he might have taken offense at the suggestion that the Falcon wouldn't be.
enough to ensure the safety and success of the mission, now he just shrugged and let common sense rule.
The mission, Jaina was told, would be comprised of one fighter squadron, the.
Millennium Falcon, and a recommissioned Lancer-class frigate called Pride of.
Selonia under the command of a Captain Todra Mayn, recently relegated to less active duties after being injured at Coruscant. Mayn would defer to Leia and Han.
in all matters regarding the mission, as would the leader of the fighter squadron. There didn't seem like much else left to decide upon, except, perhaps, for where.
exactly the mission would proceed first of all. Jaina felt as though there was little.
she could contribute. Jag, too, was quiet for the better part of the discussion, although she had no doubt that he was paying as close attention to everything that was being said as she was. The three people doing the talking, Belindi Kalenda and Jaina's parents, didn't seem to notice that their more youthful audience was remaining silent.
After several minutes spent discussing the relative benefits of Antar 4 and.
Melida/Daan, Jaina leaned across the screen and broke in. "Is there any particular reason that I'm here?" She kept the frustration from her tone as best she could. "It just seems to me that I have very little part to play in this plan of.
yours.".
Leia looked at Han, who backed away from the screen with a gesture that.
implied the answer was obvious. "You're here because we want you here," he.
said.
Jaina had learned to mistrust any nonchalance her father displayed. It usually.
meant that he was uncomfortable about something.
"Why?" she pressed. "Because we need a military escort," her mother explained. "That fighter.
squadron has to come from somewhere.".
"Why Twin Suns, though? There must be others you could take." "That's true, sweetheart," her father said. "But—".
"Don't 'sweetheart' me, Dad," she cut in irritably. "There's something you.
aren't telling me.".
"Listen to what we are telling you," Leia said, taking a step toward her.
daughter. "This mission is important, and we want the best pilots accompanying.
us.".
"But I have work to do here! There are the new pilots to train, new simulators.
to program. The war isn't going to stop just because you're off on a jaunt to reunite the galaxy, Mom. I can't just dump everything and leave!".
"Your training work will continue during the mission," her mother said.
calmly, moving in to place a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "I'm proposing to.
allow Lowbacca to form his own squadron with the pilots you've trained. The gaps left in Twin Suns you can make up from Chiss Squadron. There's still a lot.
to learn from each other.".
"Yes, but—".
"What are you afraid of, Jaina?" her father joined in, moving to Leia's side.
"The war's still going to be there when you get back. That much, at least, I can.
promise you.".
Feeling set upon, she turned to Jag for support, but he just shrugged.
helplessly. For a split second she felt a rush of anger at him, too, but she knew that was ridiculous. He would never side against her out of spite; if he was backing her parents now then it was only because he believed they were right.
"Don't be too hard on your parents," Belindi Kalenda said, shifting.
awkwardly on the far side of the flat display. "This was my idea.".
Jaina asked Jag, "I take it you'll be staying here, then?" "Actually, no," he said. "I'll be going along with you." She turned to her parents, then looked back at Jag. "As part of Twin Suns?".
"It's not the first time, and probably won't be the last." "We like the idea of having two experienced squadron leaders," her father.
said, "especially with a mix of Chiss and your pilots in the air. This way we can.
have one leader groundside with us at all times, while the other remains up in orbit to keep an eye on things.".
Jaina sighed in defeat. Deep down, she knew it made good tactical sense, but she still didn't like it.
She couldn't shake the feeling that her parents weren't telling her the whole.
truth. Part of her felt as though they were doing this to give her a rest, but weren't prepared to say so because they knew the reaction they'd receive. And if that was the case, they were right. The idea of being put out to pasture was.
offensive to her in the extreme.
But whatever their true motives were for wanting her along, the fact was that.
she was going. The only saving grace in all of this was the fact that Jag was going along also, which meant that they'd at least be able to spend more time.
together ...
Her thoughts were distracted by the buzzing of her comlink. Turning away.
from the meeting, she pulled it from her uniform belt clip and raised it to her lips. Before she could even say a word, however, the panicked and choked-up.
voice of Tahiri issued from the small gadget in her hand.
"Jaina?".
Out of the corner of her eye, Jaina saw her mother's eyes widen in surprise. "Tahiri, where are you?" Jaina asked, already reaching out into the Force in.
search of the girl. She was nearby, and for that, at least, Jaina was thankful. "You said you wanted to see me. You said it was urgent.".
"Jaina, I'm so sorry. I was—I—he—" Jaina was struck by a powerful psychic pain emanating from the girl—a pain.
so great that it had spilled over into the world around her. She attempted to offer.
comfort to Tahiri through the Force, extending herself so that she could mentally embrace her and ease her torment. But the emotions were too intense—too raw.
"Tahiri, what's wrong? What's happened?" "It's Anakin." "Anakin? What about Anakin?".
"He—" Again Tahiri's voice ceased in midsentence. It was almost as though.
something was stopping her from speaking. Then, all of a sudden, the words burst free from her: "He's trying to kill me, Jaina. Anakin wants me dead!".
The accompanying sensation of distress broadcast through the Force peaked,.
then abruptly disappeared. At the same time, the comlink signal ceased.
"Tahiri? Tahiri?" Jaina reattached her comlink to her belt and faced her.
mother, who was rubbing her forehead in obvious discomfort. "You felt it?" she.
asked.
Leia nodded in confirmation. "She's in trouble, Jaina." Jaina didn't need her mother to tell her that. Even those not Force-sensitive.
could have figured it out just from the sound of Tahiri's voice.
She turned to Kalenda and said, "We need a trace on her comlink—and fast.".
The Intelligence officer nodded and turned away to speak into her own.
comlink.
Jaina's father came up and put a reassuring hand on his daughter's shoulder.
"It'll be all right, honey.".
She nodded, but wasn't convinced. "Tahiri's been missing for almost two weeks now," Leia said. "She didn't.
respond to Luke's call for a meeting of the Jedi. We didn't know where she'd.
gone or what she was doing.".
"She called me." Jaina winced, remembering the pain she had just felt.
radiating from Tahiri's mind. She should have made more of an effort to contact the girl as soon as she arrived. She might have been able to prevent it—whatever.
it was that had happened.
"I have a location," Kalenda said shortly. "Lane eighteen-A, level three. I've.
sent someone to investigate.".
"Do you know the way?".
"Yes, of course." "Take me." Jaina was on her way to the door before the woman had time to.
respond. If there was one thing Jaina had learned about command, it was that you didn't give people the opportunity to argue—especially in emergencies.
The security officer took charge as soon as they left the conference room.
Jaina was close on Kalenda's heels, with her parents and Jag not far behind. Moving with rapid steps through the wide corridors of the city, weaving naturally through the bustling crowds, Kalenda led them up a level and across several high and arched thoroughfares. Jaina resisted urging the woman to go faster. If Tahiri had already moved on from the source of the transmissions, then.
running wasn't going to change anything. Instead, Jaina reached into the Force to try and find the girl; to reassure her, help her ... But she was unable to feel her anywhere, and that only heightened her concern.
Kalenda's comlink squawked. Still walking, she listened for a moment, then,.
after half a dozen steps, she faced Jaina. "What does your friend look like?".
Jaina pictured the young Jedi in her mind. "Human, blond hair, green eyes, a.
little shorter than me.".
"I think they've got her," Kalenda said. "Security has found someone.
answering your friend's description near the site of the last transmission. A medical team is on the scene.".
Jaina felt a chill run through her. "Medical team? Why? What's wrong? Is she.
—?".
"We're almost there," Kalenda said. "It's just up another couple of levels.
Here, climb onto this.".
The security officer commandeered a passing hover-taxi, quickly speaking her.
clearance and authority codes to the droid operating it.
"This will be quicker," she said. "The lanes tend to get more congested the.
higher up you go.".
The narrow vehicle rocked as they all clambered in. There was enough room.
for only four passengers; Han was forced to stand on the cab's outer footboard and hang on. He had to crouch down slightly when the droid guided the cab into.
one of the ducts reserved for emergency vehicles. Sometimes, Belindi Kalenda explained, it was the only way to ensure a quick and unobstructed passage to the.
city's higher levels.
As she sat in the front of the cab, staring vaguely as the damp and craggy.
walls of the duct raced by, Jaina felt her mother's hand squeeze her arm in reassurance. And while the gesture was appreciated, it didn't really help. The.
absence of Tahiri in the Force was making her sick with worry.
The cab spat out of the vent into a vast market area. The entire place was in a.
dome, the sides of which rippled and shimmered with golden water that cascaded gently, and impossibly, down its surface, while hanging from the.
uppermost section were thick, lush vines that swayed hypnotically in the humid.
air. Below, the area was heaving with activity as hundreds of individuals went about their everyday business of trading everything from food to parts of old household service droids. Among all the hustle and bustle, though, one section stood out from all the rest. A large crowd had gathered around an area that security officers and droids were attempting to cordon off so that the medical.
team Kalenda had mentioned could get in.
Unable to negotiate any closer to the scene because of the curious onlookers,.
the cab came to a halt and all five passengers quickly alighted, with Jaina roughly forcing her way through the crowd that stood between her and Tahiri. A.
security guard stopped her when she tried to cross the perimeter of the cordoned- off area, allowing her to pass only when Kalenda flashed her ID and instructed the guard to let them through.
Jaina froze when she saw the supine figure being attended to by the two.
members of the Mon Cal medical team and their MD-5 droid. At first she didn't even recognize her: Tahiri had cut her hair short, and she'd lost a lot of weight. There were bags under her eyes and a hollowness to her cheeks; her face looked as though it hadn't been washed in days. Worst of all, though, were her arms:.
they were covered in bloody slash marks.
"Is this her?" one of the medics asked. She wanted to say yes, but the girl lying before her looked like a completely.
different person from the Tahiri she knew.
As Jaina watched, Tahiri stirred. From an apparent state of deep.
unconsciousness, she twitched and tried to roll over. The medics did their best to restrain her, but she was stronger than she looked. With arms flailing around and.
her eyes wide and unseeing, she tried to stand up, but was failed by her unsteady legs.
"Anakin?" she screamed. "Anakin!" Her eyes caught Jaina's the same instant one of the medics stuck a spray hypo.
against her throat. The hiss of the spray coincided with an intense surge through the Force, as Jaina felt Tahiri's panic and terror rush into her all at once. Then.
Tahiri slumped face-forward into the embrace of the droid and the surge faded.
It was only when she exhaled that Jaina realized she had been holding her.
breath. She felt comforted and warmed by the presence of Jag at her side, but just for once she wished he would forget his ideas about displays of affection in.
public and simply hold her.
"Is this her?" the medical officer repeated, turning to Jaina now that they had.
managed to settle Tahiri.
Jaina nodded dumbly in response. "You don't seem too sure," the officer said. "No, I'm sure," she said. "That's her. Her name is Tahiri Veila. I don't know.
what she might have done here, but she's not a criminal. She's a Jedi Knight.".
The medic nodded his understanding. "We'll treat her gently, I promise.".
Jaina watched on as Tahiri was placed onto a waiting hovercart and carried.
away.
"Please give us some space," she heard the droid instruct the crowd. "This is.
an emergency. Please make room.".
Jaina backed away, clutching Jag's arm for support. A wave of dizziness.
rolled over her. From the other side of the city, she could feel her twin, Jacen, asking her what was wrong, but she didn't have an answer for him just yet. All.
she knew was the mixed-up jumble of feelings she had received from Tahiri's mind. The incredible, overwhelming sorrow she could understand; she invariably felt the same thing whenever she dwelled on the death of her brother. But below that had been something else—something that Jaina would have thought Tahiri incapable of. It was an emotion she had never felt from the girl.
before, and its intensity frightened her. But it was there, and it was real.
It was hatred—a deep and unremitting hatred ...
The smell of burning flesh was the first thing she was able to clearly identify.
It was unmistakable—a smell so caustic and pungent that it crept like a dung- worm through her nose, furiously writhing its way into her olfactory nerve center to ensure that she never forgot it. And how could she? It was so.
overwhelming that she felt sure she'd never be free of it, no matter how far she could get from this place.
It was close, too—so close, in fact, that she found herself checking her own.
arms to make sure her own skin wasn't smoldering. All she saw, though, was a.
layer of ash that had settled over her like a fine and gentle snow. And beneath that ...
She hid her arms in the folds of her robes, looking again into the thick smoke.
She could hear movement and voices, but no matter how much she squinted and.
strained, she couldn't make anything out through the haze. And constantly in the background came the snap and fsst of the fires consuming flesh, along with the.
occasional crack from what she imagined to be bones breaking in the extreme heat. But she still couldn't make anything out, no matter how much she squinted.
She took a couple of cautious steps forward until her feet came to the edge of.
the rocky outcrop upon which she was standing and was able to make out what.
was happening. Down below she could see a compound, and in it a ceremony was taking place. Those gathered there had their faces concealed beneath hoods, and they were all dressed in robes similar to the one she was wearing. They seemed to have been waiting for her arrival, for when they saw her emerge from.
the smoke they automatically began the ceremony proper, chanting as they marched around the compound. It was a language that was at once alien as it was familiar—a language that simultaneously terrified and comforted her. These emotions were not generated by the words themselves, however, but rather the.
culture this language was rooted in.
She ignored the proceedings, looking instead about the five-sided compound.
In each corner there stood an immense effigy of a god, each one staring down.
toward a pit at its feet. The priests were filing past these pits in turn, casually tossing into the smoking holes what she instinctively knew to be various body parts. In accordance with her ambiguous emotions, she found herself both warmed and repulsed by the sight, with one part of her wishing to give thanks to the gods that accepted these offerings, while another, deeper part of her wanted.
to throw up from the smell emanating from the pits.
The effigies that rose into the shadows she knew well—all except one. The.
farthest one from where she stood was a god unlike any she had seen before; she.
felt it did not even belong here with the others. It was mostly hidden in the shadows, rising like a giant snake high above the other graven images around the compound. Its presence was a blasphemy she wanted to protest against, but she couldn't because she felt it was here because of her. Its eyes—they weren't.
staring into the pit like the other statues, they were staring at her. More than that: those immense, red eyes were accusing her.
Why did you leave me? she heard it whisper into her thoughts. She wanted to flee. The part of her that had been comforted by the ceremony.
was suddenly panicked and scared. But there was nowhere for her to go. All the passages leading into the mortuary were closed, plugged up by yorik coral.
She didn't have time to dwell on it, however. One of the priests had caught.
her attention and was waving at her to watch the burning of the body parts in the.
pits. But whose body was it? And what was it? Human? Yuuzhan Vong? It was impossible to tell from such a distance.
Other priests motioned for her to watch. She frowned in confusion as she.
leaned precariously over the lip of the pit. What was it they wanted her to see?
She saw.
The body parts weren't being destroyed—they were being remade. They were.
crawling from their individual fires over to the unnaturally large pyre blazing in the compound's center, immersing themselves into the blue-and-orange flames. The fire licked at each of the parts—taking the quivering mat of skin and wrapping it around the pulsing organs, collecting the limbs and snapping them.
back into place in the appropriate socket.
She turned to the snake statue, beseeching it to stop. Through the choking.
smoke it no longer looked like a reptile, though. It looked like ... But, no. The smoke was too thick by far to allow her to make anything out clearly. All she.
could discern was its eyes, red and penetrating in the oppressive gloom of the chamber—its stare no longer upon her, but rather focused on the events taking place in the compound below.
She looked down to see a figure stepping from the pyre, its skin blistering.
from the heat.
"Please," she whispered to the reptile, begging for forgiveness. "Please," the figure from the flames echoed at the same time—also to the.
reptile, but for a different reason. It seemed to be pleading with the statue for.
life, as though the reptile had the power to grant or deny this.
Then suddenly, without warning, the figure from the flames turned to face her.
up on the rocks. The burns on the skin had vanished, and all that remained now.
were scars. But even with this disfigurement, she was still able to recognize the face. It was like looking directly into a mirror ...
She turned and fled into the shadows and smoke, effortlessly smashing the.
yorik coral plug that had formed over the passage through which she'd initially.
entered, fleeing into the darkness of the tunnel, running from the abomination with her face ...
"A living planet?" Danni Quee's voice possessed a rising tone of incredulity.
"You're not talking about Zonama Sekot, are you?".
"Good," Master Luke said. "You've heard of it.".
"I've also heard of the Algnadesh Ship Graveyards, and the Lost Treasure of.
Boro-borosa, but that doesn't mean I'm going to go halfway around the galaxy.
looking for them. Every astronomer who's worked the Outer Rim knows about Zonama Sekot. They know it doesn't exist, for starters.".
Saba Sebatyne tensed. In Barabel society, expressing doubts over a superior's.
decision in such an open manner would certainly result in a challenge, and a challenge meant a blood fight. Although she had turned her back on some of her people's more aggressive ways, she still found herself a prisoner to her.
upbringing. It was something she would probably battle the rest of her life— especially now that her people were no more. How, after all, was one to fight a ghost?
"I understand your reaction." Master Luke smiled patiently. "It's not the first.
time I've gotten this response, believe me. If you'll allow me to explain my reasons, though, I'm sure you'll come around ...".
Jedi Master Luke Skywalker's explanation sent tingles of excitement through.
Saba's joy-starved brain. A living world? Her tail coiled and uncoiled reflexively.
from the excitement such a notion stirred. Of all the wonders she had seen since leaving Barab I, a sentient planet would have to be the most profound.
Her mind froze as another level of significance to the Master's words occurred.
to her. He's telling me because he intends for this one to go with him, she thought to herself, her slitlike eyes widening at the idea. She couldn't help but feel both wonder and despair at the thought. She would have to decline. She had no choice. And with that thought, her mind drifted ...
The Master's office was not ostentatious. It contained a plain desk and three.
chairs suitable for people of various species. Occupying those chairs were Saba, Danni, and the healer Master Cilghal. A hologram of the Master's son, Ben, repeated every forty seconds in one corner of the desk. Saba's eyes were caught.
by it, entranced by the innocent play of the child. She vividly remembered the one time she had met him, while he was on a brief holiday from the Maw. The Jedi Master's son, although still very young, was already used to the many different shapes and sizes in which life presented itself in the galaxy, and so had.
displayed no alarm at the sight of Saba's naturally fierce demeanor. Quelling the grief at losing so many young of her own kind, Saba had flared her nostrils back.
and grinned with all her teeth unfolded. She was delighted to see the boy respond with a bright, wide smile that stretched from his mouth right up to his.
deep, steel-blue eyes.
Her eyebrow ridges drew closer together in a frown. The memory was a.
sobering one. Everyone, it seemed, had lost something during the war with the Yuuzhan Vong. Many people had lost their homes, their families, their lives. She.
herself had lost her Master and her apprentices before watching Barab I die. Her complicity in the destruction of her people slowed her recovery, made her doubt.
her own abilities as a fighter—but to be reminded of what she was supposed to be fighting for made her feel slightly better.
Life. The future. A single child's smile.
"Are you sure it's safe?" Master Cilghal asked from behind her. Woken from.
her daze, Saba turned slightly in her seat so she could watch both the Mon Calamari healer and Master Skywalker at the same time.
"Look at it this way," Master Luke said. "If we stay here on Mon Cal, we're at.
ground zero for Yuuzhan Vong retaliation. We're also prime targets for Peace.
Brigade action. I doubt there will be anything as dangerous as either of those possibilities in the Unknown Regions.".
"With all due respect, Master Skywalker, we don't know what's in there.
That's why it's called 'Unknown.' " Danni Quee would know, Saba assumed.
The human scientist had started life as an astronomer and only by circumstance moved into specializing in the enemy's works.
"Exactly," Master Skywalker said, acknowledging the point with a patient.
nod. "But this is an exploratory mission, not a military one. We're not going to pick fights.".
"You'll try to stop them if you find them, though." "That is the nature of the job." Master Luke smiled. "Will you come?" Danni shrugged in a way that implied she was helpless to make him see.
reason. "Of course. I wouldn't miss it for the world.".
"And you, Master Cilghal, have you reconsidered your decision?" "I have, Master Skywalker." The healer stood, bowing her head. "But I have.
not changed my mind. I am needed here. There is too much work for me to do, too many people to teach in the ways we have lost. It would be irresponsible of me to leave now.".
The words implied another challenge, but the manner of neither Master.
acknowledged it.
"I understand," Master Skywalker said smoothly, "although I am sorry we.
won't have you with us.".
"I recommend my apprentice, Tekli, to go in my place.".
"Thank you, Cilghal. We would be delighted to have her aboard. With Danni,.
Mara, myself, and Jacen, our complement is almost complete." Master.
Skywalker turned to address Saba, presumably to invite her to join him and the others on the mission to the sentient planet. Saba's powerful heart raced—.
—but before he could speak he frowned, and his attention turned inward for a.
moment. A look of concern flashed across his face.
"Master?" Saba said. "I'm sorry," he said. "I thought—".
Master Cilghal's comlink buzzed at that moment. She answered it, listening.
intently to the tiny voice issuing from it. "Take her to the infirmary. I'll be there immediately." Standing, she said, "I'm sorry, Luke. It's Tahiri.".
"Where is she?" asked Master Skywalker, also standing. "Is she hurt?" "She's here in the city," Cilghal explained, moving hurriedly toward the door.
"Medics found her a few moments ago, unconscious. I've advised Tekli to bring.
her in. I'll go there now to supervise her examination.".
"I'll alert Mara," Master Skywalker said as Cilghal left the room. "She'll want.
to be there. And Jacen, too.".
"What about you, Hisser?" Danni asked as the Master reached for his comlink.
to make the call. "Will you come?".
For a moment Saba was confused. "There is little this one could do for Tahiri.
—".
"No, the mission." The young human woman reached across the space.
between them to touch her arm. "It sounds crazy, but Vergere knew what she was talking about. Are you going to come along?".
Saba froze, barely hearing Danni's words. Few humans touched her. Barabels.
were best known for their violent—some would even say barbarous—ways, and.
it was well known that a wrong gesture or word could be enough to provoke a challenge. Sometimes they became the target of status-proving assaults from other species—usually by adolescents going out of their way do so in order to.
prove that they weren't afraid of what might happen as a result. In days gone by she might have ruthlessly shown them that they should be afraid—but now she was a Jedi Knight, and she had learned to quell such automatic impulses. Or so she'd thought.
Danni was a friend. They had worked together in the past. She trusted Saba.
not to hurt her.
She quelled the reflex to strike out, but she couldn't quell the dismay that.
filled her at what might happen if she made the same mistake again. She had.
attacked the wrong people once already. How was she ever to make up for that?
"It would be an honor to accompany you on any mission," she said, "but it.
would be better if you found someone else. Someone whose judgment haz not proven to be so poor.".
"It's not your fault—" Danni began. "Their deathz were from this one's hands." Saba shook her head solemnly.
"Their memory is this one's accuzer. This one failed to feel the people trapped in that slaveship because of anger and hatred—blinded by dark emotions. If this.
one had shown more control, they might still be alive today.".
"That's true," Master Skywalker said. Saba looked up. She hadn't noticed the.
Master finish his calls. "And they might be slaves of the Yuuzhan Vong, too. Or food. Wishing that things were otherwise does nothing to erase memories. Wounds do not heal by ignoring them.".
"This one appreciatez what you are trying to do," she said with quiet regret,.
turning to face him, "but I cannot.".
"We're not asking you to come out of sympathy, Saba. We—I am asking you.
to come because you are a Jedi Knight, and we need your help. Your life sensitivity has grown enormously since the loss of your people. You have to.
admit that we could use someone like that, where we're going." He watched her, gauging her reaction. "Do you really want me to order you along?".
The thick black plates covering her body stiffened. "I would not like to fail.
you, Master. If I fail again, my people fail with me.".
"So don't fail, Saba." The Master smiled. "Think of it as a hunt—one last hunt.
for the honor of your people. How better could they be remembered?".
That thought caught her. What the Master was proposing wasn't a battle in.
which victory meant instant death for one side. The quest to find Zonama Sekot.
would be played out over weeks, maybe months, through dangerous and uncharted territories. There would be clues to discover, trails to follow, traps to unravel. They would have to be stealthy, keen-sensed, and quick-witted. Who.
knew where it would lead them, or what they might find at the end of it?
Her tail thumped the floor. Part of her responded to the challenge—and there.
was a challenge implicit in the Master's voice. A reminder of who she had been, and still was on many levels. She was a hunter, the end result of generations of.
breeding and a lifetime of instincts. If anyone could hunt a living planet, it would be her.
How better could they be remembered? "If you've no further objections," Master Luke said, "I'd call that settled.
You'll come with us on the hunt for Zonama Sekot.".
Saba vacillated for a few seconds longer, then acquiesced with a nod. A hunt.
was better than waiting around Mon Cal for the Yuuzhan Vong to attack.
"This one will come," she said.
His smile widened. "Thank you, Saba." "I'm glad," Danni added, squeezing her arm tightly, then letting go.
Saba dipped her head in a gesture anyone familiar with Barabels would.
instantly recognize: honored obeisance with overtones of awe.
"Now," said the Master, standing, "let's go find out what happened to Tahiri.".
Deep in the bowels of Yuuzhan'tar, a cloaked figure moved stealthily through.
the shadows. His ooglith masquer was failing, drying around the edges and beginning to peel away, rejecting the face beneath just as the society to which he had once belonged had rejected him. Those living above him—in that artificial.
landscape that had once been known as Coruscant but was now named after the legendary Yuuzhan Vong homeworld—they would surely kill him if they ever found him. He knew that without question. They had tried often enough in the last couple of months he'd been forced to live in the filthy underworld of this.
revolting planet. But Nom Anor had no intentions of letting them find him just yet. He had learned to hide well in these artificial caverns and tunnels, among the abandoned machines that littered the underworld. It made him sick to have to.
dwell among such abominations, but it was necessary if he was to survive—and he would survive.
He moved furtively along the artificial roads, cursing under his breath as he.
silently damned the one who had effectively destroyed him. He lashed out at one of the numerous droid husks standing in his way, not caring that the rusty metal.
gashed his fingers. His insides burned with anger at the contemplation of his fall. Should he remain down here another ten years, he knew he would never forget that betrayal, and never surrender his anger.
When the quiet had finally settled around the noisy clatter of the droid he had.
just smashed, he continued walking—a fugitive in this forsaken and forgotten underworld. He knew that his thoughts were slightly imbalanced, that isolation and near starvation were taking their toll. But that did nothing to undermine his.
determination to survive.
The deep, artificial caverns of Yuuzhan'tar were places he'd had no great.
wish to visit, let alone flee to. The invading armies of the Yuuzhan Vong had flushed all manner of vermin from them, including entire cultures that had.
existed in the crawlspaces of the original inhabitants' government. Strange, wild- eyed outcasts all, they had been either sacrificed as part of Warmaster Tsavong.
Lah's purification program, or turned into slaves or soldiers for use in further battles. Once the caverns had been declared empty, they had been abandoned,.
and ignored as irrelevant. The new warmaster, Nas Choka, recently recalled from Hutt space, had continued the purification campaign. Everyone had.
assumed that the underground ruins were empty still ...
As he stood dripping blood from his cut fingers, he began to realize that a new.
sound had joined those far-off echoes—something other than just the sounds of.
dripping water and creaking of old metal. In fact, someone was coming toward him. A whispered voice was amplified by the walls around him into a faint susurrus, like that of a faint and distant wind.
Nom Anor wrapped his bleeding hand in the remains of his cloak to prevent it.
from leaving a trail and ducked into a nearby alcove. He strained to listen to.
what was being said by the approaching voice, but it was impossible to discern. He couldn't even decide how many there were. He presumed the voice had an audience, but could hear no other footfalls.
He tore off the dying ooglith masquer and tossed it to the ground. If it was.
another search party sent to find him, then the disguise would be of no use anyway. And if it wasn't a search party, then he would need every sense available to him. Either way, the masquer had become irrelevant to his needs.
A ragged figure carrying a dull, bioluminescent lamp came around the corner,.
heading in the opposite direction to Nom Anor. The figure was hunched and unkempt, its robes flapping around it like the wings of some uncoordinated flying beast. It was muttering one phrase over and over, hoarsely and under its breath:.
"Sha grunnik ith-har Yun-Shuno. Sha grunnik ith-har Yun-Shuno." He recognized the phrase. It was a simple incantation to the gods, asking for.
clemency. The incantation wasn't directed to one of the gods to whom the.
former acquaintances of Nom Anor had appealed. It was intended for Yun- Shuno, the thousand-eyed deity of those who had failed or been outcast from Yuuzhan Vong society—the Shamed Ones, as they were known.
With that realization, all worry of capture left him. The creature was a.
Shamed One, and he therefore had nothing to fear. Shimrra would never send a Shamed One to do a warrior's job—and even if the Shamed One guessed who he.
was, the lowly creature would have no reason to turn him in.
Nom Anor waited until the Shamed One came abreast of his hiding place, then.
stepped out in front of it, quickly and with menace. His sudden appearance had the desired effect: the Shamed One—a middle-aged male—reared back, flapping.
his robes in terror before collapsing to the ground, squealing as he begged for mercy.
"This place is forbidden to all of Yun-Yuuzhan's children!" Nom Anor.
boomed down to the prostrate figure. "Explain your presence here!".
"Have mercy, Master! I am nothing—not worthy even of your contempt! The.
gods have spurned me and I crawl like a worm through the belly of the world!".
"I know what you're doing," Nom Anor spat. "I'm not blind, fool! But you.
still haven't told me why you are doing it. Stand up and address my face!" The plaeryin bol in his left eye socket tensed, ready to spit venom should the Shamed One show any sign of recognizing him.
The scruffy creature raised himself to a hunched crouch, holding his lamp.
upward in supplication. His face in the dim light was lumpy and twisted; his.
eyes were crooked, and his nose seemed to be on the verge of sliding right off his face. The result of poor breeding practice, Nom Anor observed disgustedly to himself.
"I am lost, Master. That is all. I swear it! I was separated from my work detail.
and became confused. I tried to follow their voices, but the echoes confused me. I am worthless and humble and submit to your will in all things, Master.".
The Shamed One bent low, still mumbling his apologies and supplications.
Nom Anor pushed him roughly backward with one foot. The former executor knew a liar when he met one. The question was, why was the Shamed One lying? And, more importantly, what exactly was he lying about?
"What is your name?" he asked when the Shamed One fell silent. "Vuurok I'pan, Master," the creature replied, barely looking up.
"How long have you been lost down here, I'pan?" "I have lost track of time, Master," he said. "But it feels like hours." "Do you have water on you?".
"No, Master," he answered, averting his stare to the ground. "There is no.
drinkable water down here that I have found.".
"Really?" Nom Anor ran a thick finger over his painfully cracked lips. "It is.
odd, then, don't you think, that your lips do not seem as dry as mine?".
The Shamed One's eyes went wide as he stammered out a reply. "It feels like.
hours since I became lost, Master. But perhaps it hasn't been so long.".
Nom Anor resisted the urge to smile in triumph. Poor liars tripped constantly.
over their untruths. "Tell me," he said, stepping over to I'pan. "What was the.
work detail you were assigned to? Who was your overseer? If it wasn't so long ago that you became lost, then they might not be too far away. Perhaps we can.
find them, yes?".
Vuurok I'pan whimpered. Nom Anor kicked him again, putting all his rage.
and frustration into the blow.
"Fool! Who do you think you are lying to? You have no tools and aren't even.
dressed for underground detail!".
"Please, Master! I am no one. I am nothing. I am rishek olgrol immek'in inwey.
—".
"Silence!" Another kick. "Your voice is an offense to my ears!" The Shamed One became a bundle of quivering rags, face covered by sticklike.
arms and bony back upraised. Nom Anor thought rapidly to himself. If this Vuurok I'pan creature was a runaway, then he must have found some way to stay alive in the underground of Yuuzhan'tar. If Nom Anor could gain access to.
that means, he, too, might be able to live a little longer. That, for now, was all that mattered.
"Take me to the others," he snarled, putting every iota of command into his.
voice.
"Others?" the Shamed One squeaked. "What others?" "Understand this, I'pan," Nom Anor said. "The only reason you have not died.
a coward's death is because you could be of value to me. Should it turn out that I.
have overestimated your worth, then I shall be sure to reconsider my actions.".
"No, Master, please!" I'pan quickly withdrew on all fours, cowering a meter.
or so away. "I shall take you to the others, I swear! I swear it on the name of—".
"If your Shamed tongue so much as dares utter one more word, I shall rip it.
out and eat it for my sustenance.".
I'pan fell silent without another word. Instead he stood and—slowly, as.
though wary of turning his back on Nom Anor—began hobbling back the way he had come. Nom Anor followed just as cautiously, aware that he had no.
particular reason to trust this broken spirit he had coerced into doing his will. For all he knew, I'pan could be leading him into a trap—or worse, if he was as foolish as he appeared, leading them both to their doom on the surface, convinced he might be able to bargain a pardon from the warmaster.
But what choice did he have? He had to go where the Shamed One led him. It.
was either that or continue wandering aimlessly through this gods-forsaken.
planet. He had survived this long, true, but how much longer could he last before he succumbed to thirst and hunger? Or before one of the search parties got lucky.
and found him?
No. He needed these "others" if he was to survive. If they were as pathetic as.
I'pan, he was sure he would be able to use them to his advantage ...
I'pan began to relax as their journey progressed. His posture straightened and.
his voice became firmer, advising where to step cautiously and where to duck his head. He occasionally stole glances at Nom Anor as they walked, nervously at.
first, but then more boldly as they moved farther into the tunnels. The former executor could practically hear the other's mind turning over. He had no doubt.
that the Shamed One suspected now who he was.
"What?" he barked after I'pan turned around for the third time in as many.
paces.
"Nothing, Master." I'pan focused all his attention forward. Nom Anor grabbed the neck of his flapping robe and hauled him off balance.
"What is it you are thinking, my stinking worm?".
"I am wondering, Master ..." "Speak it!" Nom Anor shook him to loosen his tongue. "Are you—are you a Shamed One like us?" Nom Anor struck I'pan so hard that blood from his gashed fingers splashed in.
a wide arc across the metallic floor between them. I'pan bounced off a nearby wall and collapsed to the ground with a pained grunt. Before he had a chance to collect himself, Nom Anor picked him up again and hurled him into the opposite.
wall. This time I'pan could not hold on to the lamp, and it went flying down the corridor, its pale light reflecting briefly off abandoned machinery buried in the walls.
The moaning of the Shamed One as he again tried to pick himself up only.
incensed Nom Anor further, and the former executor's vision dissolved into.
spinning blotches as a torrent of rage exploded behind his eyes. He heard himself screaming words that even he couldn't understand as he pummeled I'pan again and again, the Shamed One curling around himself to protect his face from the.
assault, whimpering helplessly as blows and kicks were rained down upon him.
When the fit had passed, Nom Anor sagged into himself, his anger and energy.
spent. Leaning against the wall, still panting heavily, he forced himself to think rationally.
Vuurok I'pan was huddled in a corner, trembling with fear. Realizing just how.
close he had come to killing the Shamed One to assuage his rage, despite the fact.
that I'pan might yet prove to be of great assistance in keeping him alive, Nom Anor offered a hand to help him to his feet. The Shamed One took it.
apprehensively, clearly fearing another outburst.
Nom Anor pulled him in close, breathing steadily into his face.
Are you a Shamed One like us? "Ask me that again, I'pan," he said, "and those will be your last words.".
Nom Anor released I'pan, walked a few paces down the passage, and.
collected the lamp. Returning, he shoved it into I'pan's quivering hands.
"Show me the others," he said, gesturing for I'pan to continue walking. The.
Shamed One did so, and in silence, not looking back once for the remainder of.
their journey.
Master Cilghal's infirmary was a world unto its own. Large enough to hold.
three examination tables and a small audience, it was designed to be a classroom as well as a place of healing. Shelves of obscure remedies and arcane technologies lined every wall; an open door led to an herbarium for growing.
medicinal plants; and three full-sized bacta tanks off to one side took up almost a quarter of the room. Saba liked it because, unlike most surgeries or medic stations, this place was not sterile and lifeless. Thanks to the curved walls and undulating ceiling being layered with sopor-moss to aid the patients' recovery,.
the air in the room was both rich and invigorating.
The human Jedi Tahiri Veila lay unconscious on the center examination table.
A small group had gathered around her, watching with concern as Master.
Cilghal examined her. Several of Saba's apprentices had spent time with Tahiri while on their mission to the Yuuzhan Vong worldship orbiting Myrkr, seeking out the voxyn queen. It had been a mission that had not gone smoothly, and had resulted in the loss of a number of their party—including Anakin Solo, Han and Leia's younger son. Only one of Saba's apprentices had survived. It had been a.
perilous mission, so she was lucky to have even that one survive. Tesar—.
Saba stopped in midthought and brought herself to the present. Hunt the.
moment, one of the elders of her family had once told her. Grip it in your claws.
and never let it go. Slip too far into the past or the future, and you will be lost.
Such teachings arose from a barbarous past, in which grief and fear lurked.
everywhere one looked, but they had echoes in Jedi training. She had learned to strip herself back to a single point of consciousness, focused solely on the task at.
hand. Applying such meditation techniques was almost second nature to her. Indeed, they were arguably the only things that had saved her mind after the.
destruction of so much she had held dear.
Hunt the moment ...
Saba had never regarded herself as being particularly close to Tahiri. They.
were different—they came from different worlds, had different backgrounds,.
and held different values. Nevertheless, they were bound simply by virtue of being Jedi. In the short time Saba had known Tahiri, she had struck Saba as a.
Jedi with a bright future ahead of her. She had come across as young and inexperienced but still full of potential. As with many Jedi, Tahiri was powered.
by an inner determination. A fire burned in her that had remained undiminished even by the death of the boy she'd loved, Anakin Solo.
She wondered where that fire was now, in the body of the frail, young human.
before her. If she, too, was trying in her own way to focus on what lay before her.
Anakin's parents were there, looking as concerned as they would for one of.
their own offspring. Outside, watching through the sterile barrier that cordoned off the room, were a number of other concerned individuals, Jag Fel and Belindi.
Kalenda among them.
All attention was on Jaina, as she tried to explain to Master Cilghal what had.
happened.
"She collapsed in one of the public halls," she said, her hands animated in.
front of her. She was clearly upset by the turn of events. "We traced her there after she called me on her comlink. She sounded—upset. She wasn't making much sense.".
Master Cilghal gestured and Tekli handed her the instrument she required.
Their unspoken communication was near perfect, obviously the result of a familiarity developed over years of working together.
"What was she saying?" the healer asked, her moist, webbed hands pressing a.
nutrient gel to Tahiri's forehead. Even Saba could tell that Tahiri was.
malnourished.
"She—" Again Jaina hesitated. "She said that Anakin was trying to kill her.
Like I said, she wasn't making much sense.".
Saba wasn't an expert at reading human body language, but she sensed that.
Jaina was hiding something.
"I felt her calling for Anakin through the Force," Master Skywalker was.
saying.
Jacen Solo nodded, exchanging glances with his twin sister. Saba suspected.
that Tahiri's grief was touching places uncomfortably close to their own.
"I see no reason for Tahiri's collapse," Master Cilghal concluded upon.
finishing her scan of the young woman. "Physically her body is under stress, but.
she isn't ill. As far as I can tell, all she needs is to rest and eat properly for a couple of weeks. I suggest we let her sleep for the moment. Until she wakes up.
and we can talk to her, there really is little else we can do.".
Leia stood to one side, with her husband's arm around her waist. Her eyes.
were glistening. "Do everything you can for her," she said. "I refuse to let her become another victim of this war.".
Master Cilghal looked up and nodded her head. "I'll place her in a private.
ward, under full observation.".
Leia turned and walked from the room. Han and Mara went with her, followed.
by Jaina and Jacen. Saba started to go also, but was stopped by Master Skywalker's voice.
"Not you, Saba." He spoke in a way that made it sound like a request, not a.
command. "Please, stay for a moment.".
She obeyed, returning to stand with him and the two healers over the supine.
body of the human girl. Saba's eyes were most sensitive to the infrared part of the spectrum, so the finer details of Tahiri's face were lost to her. But something was burning deep within her, that much Saba could tell. Tahiri lay flat on her back, her chest gently rising and falling, eyes roving behind closed lids—to all.
appearances, the girl was sleeping. But Tahiri was radiating heat like a furnace, as though her body was working overtime even while lying still. And there was something about that fire that raged inside her ...
Now that she was closer, Saba found herself intrigued by it. It wasn't a fire.
that needed fuel; if anything, it seemed to be burning itself, as strange as that sounded.
"What is it you see, Saba?" Master Skywalker asked. "This one iz not sure," she replied.
"But there is something?" Master Cilghal pressed, her huge eyes rolling.
inquisitively.
Saba nodded uncertainly. "There seemz to be, yez.".
She searched the young woman for any sign of what might be wrong. Her.
peculiar sensitivity to life wasn't the same gift as that possessed by Master Cilghal and the other healers. Saba wasn't attuned the same way they were. Disease, in the form of viruses and bacteria, was a sort of life, too, and deserved.
respect. She might flinch at a warrior beheading a shenbit and leaving its meat behind, but she could rejoice in the progress of a plague. That hadn't endeared.
her to some of her colleagues. The Jedi teachings told them that they should be devoted to preserving life—a philosophy to which she wholeheartedly.
subscribed. Which life, though, was the question that troubled Saba. Was an intelligent being such as herself, for example, of more intrinsic value to the.
Force than, say, a swarm of piranha-beetles? She wasn't as sure as her fellow students had seemed to be that that question had a simple answer.
This ability to sense life had grown since Barab I. It made her an asset when.
the healers failed; she saw something that they did not, when the flow of life was.
imperiled rather than life itself. Her frequenting of the medical wards of Mon Calamari had enabled her to exercise her gift more frequently than was possible.
on a battlefield, enabling it to grow stronger, more refined. When she looked at.
Tahiri—really looked at her, not just with her basic sense of smell and sight— she saw the usual human patterns of life swirling through her. If each cell was a star, then her veins were hyperspace trade routes and her nerves were HoloNet channels. What looked like a single, continuous body on the outside was in fact a joyfully chaotic community containing billions of components. The flow of.
information and energy among those components was what Saba saw when she looked at Tahiri—or anything living, for that matter. Life was a process, not a thing.
But in Tahiri she saw something else, too. There were disruptions to the flow,.
strange eddies where it would normally be still, and pools of calm in areas that she was used to seeing active. There was more to this young human than met the eye.
"I wonder," Master Skywalker mused. "Jaina is closest to Anakin in.
temperament, so perhaps that is why Tahiri came to her. And the Yuuzhan Vong have just suffered their greatest losses since the beginning of the war ...".
Master Cilghal looked up inquiringly when he trailed off into silence. "You.
believe you know what afflicts her, Luke?".
"For certain?" He shook his head sadly. "No. But if we had the time, I think.
Saba here could figure it out. Unfortunately, there is vital work that needs to be done—by all of us." He turned to Saba. His eyes were deep and full of concern.
and determination in equal measures. "We leave tomorrow. You, too, Tekli." The healer's apprentice bowed solemnly and silently. "I would stay to be with Tahiri, given the choice, but ...".
Again he let his words trail off, sentence unfinished.
Saba felt in Master Skywalker all the weariness of a man who had fought his.
own father—and a tempting journey to the dark side—for most of his life, and.
she understood. Sometimes the moment demanded too much of even the greatest hunter.
"War narrows our choices," Master Cilghal finished for him. "Yes," Luke said. "Yes, it does.".
Movement through the cramped tunnel was difficult, and made doubly so by.
the presence of the nutrient vines and cloning pods that were impeding her progress. But she kept going regardless of how hopeless she felt her situation.
was. She attacked the vines and pods falling around her with a vigor generated from desperation and fear. No matter what she did, though, they kept coming at her—they kept growing around her!
Breaking free of the restrictive passage, she risked a glance back into the dark.
mouth from which she had just emerged. The vines and pods continued to pulsate steadily, contracting and expanding like a fleshy sphincter. The fine ash pumping from the cave reminded her of blood cells, swirling around her in an almost threatening manner and carrying with it the terrible stench of burning.
flesh—a smell that served to remind her of what she was running from.
She fleetingly wondered if her stalkers had been caught in the tangle of vines.
in the tunnel; but it wasn't so much a serious thought as a hope—and an empty one at that. The thing with her face would chase her until its last dying breath,.
and the thing chasing it would never stop. The lizardine god-figure was hot on both their heels. She would never be able to face the two of them. Exhaustion wheezed in her chest with every breath she took. Until she found a chance to.
collect her strength, confronting these nameless horrors was an inconceivable option.
She urged herself away from the tunnel mouth, but found only darkness.
ahead. Taking tentative steps forward, she waved aside the ash that was getting into her eyes and mouth. She wanted to run, but without being able to see where.
she was going, it was too risky. Her footsteps vanished into the void, sucked away with the light. She stopped and peered ahead. It was only then that she noticed patches in the shadows that were actually darker than others—that there.
were degrees of blackness. When her eyes had adjusted fully, she could see more clearly the cavernous space she was in.
It was tall, with massive arches at either end and small alcoves lining the walls.
to either side of her, only meters away. From these she thought she could make.
out movement, like that of beasts shifting in their lair. She looked around her with nervous wonder. It all seemed terribly familiar, in a claustrophobic sort of.
way.
Before she could isolate the memory, though, the snout of one of the beasts.
emerged from the shadows, the rest of its lithe body following. She sucked in air, coughing on the ash that went into her throat, as the creature passed by close.
to her face, the eye on the side of its head glaring out of the dark, examining her as it swept by.
A voxyn, she was sure—and all alcoves around her were filled with them! Her heart beat faster at the thought. As though in sympathy, the vines and.
pods in the tunnel behind her beat faster also, forcing out even more of the foul- smelling ash into the cavern.
She edged back from where she felt the voxyn to be, bumping into a ladder as.
she did so. Unable to go forward or back, she began to climb it. Her progress was hampered by the swirling ash, but the higher she climbed, the easier it seemed to become.
If I can climb high enough, she thought, I will be free. She noticed as she climbed that the walls of the cavern began to glow from the.
lichen covering them. Dimly at first, but with each rung the luminosity of the lichen intensified, until it became so bright that everything below her was lost to the glare.
Was she safe now? she wondered. Was she finally free?
Her silent queries were answered by the ladder vibrating under her fingertips.
as the thing with her face began to climb after her. She forced back the tears of frustration and continued to ascend; there was no choice now but to go up and.
out. She climbed higher and higher, until the ash that was blowing about her face was no longer gray ash at all: it had become white, like snow.
She stretched out her tongue to collect some of the flakes, wanting its wetness.
to sate her growing thirst. But she winced and spat at the terrible taste. This wasn't snow; it was too dry. This was dust!
Her tears flowed unchecked as she continued her climb, disappointment.
gnawing at her heart. Disappointment quickly turned to terror, however, when the ladder shook again. The reptilian statue had begun its own ascent, roaring out.
its anger to those above. But there was something new about its roar that made her hesitate ...
She hung there with arms wrapped tightly about the coarse wood of the.
ladder, listening as the reptile bellowed again. This time she realized it wasn't.
just a vague and angry roar as she'd first imagined it to be; it was something much more than that. This creature was crying out a single word over and over.
again.
Its howls echoed throughout the dusty cavern, and the ladder she stood on.
trembled from its bellows. The roar sounded as though its voice had been slowed a thousand times, until it became almost totally unintelligible. But the more.
intently she listened, the clearer it seemed to become, until she had no doubt whatsoever of what the creature was saying.
It wasn't a word. It was a name. "Tahiri," it called out to her, its tone tugging at her heart and the guilt she.
carried. "Tahiri ... Tahiri ... Tahiri ...".
Tahiri woke to the sound of someone screaming, realizing only when she.
found herself being restrained that it was, in fact, herself.
She felt something cool and scented being pressed against her forehead.
Pushing the hand holding it aside, she tried to roll away, but restraints across her chest held her in place. Nevertheless, they didn't stop her from trying to wriggle free—even when a second hand joined the first, pushing her shoulders firmly.
back onto the bed. She desperately scrabbled at her side for her lightsaber, only to find it gone. Besides which, the hands were simply too strong. She would never have had the chance to use it even if it had been there.
"Sith spawn!" she shouted at her assailants. "Let me go!".
"Tahiri!" Beneath the whip crack of command to the voice, there was.
something unmistakably familiar to it. She stopped fighting for a moment, trying to make out the figure standing over her, all but blurred through her tears. It.
couldn't be, could it—? "Calm down, please!".
"Jacen?" The fight drained out of her like air from a punctured balloon, and.
she sagged back into the soft mattress, sobbing. "Oh, Jacen, I'm so sorry. I—I didn't know it was you. I thought it was—".
"It's okay," he said, his tone warm and reassuring. "Just let it out. Don't keep.
it inside where it can hurt you.".
She frowned at him as he came slowly into focus. His words left her feeling.
oddly naked. "What do you mean?" she asked, wiping at her eyes with the backs.
of her hands.
"Bottling things up," he explained. "It doesn't help anyone. Trust me. I should.
know.".
He smiled, but she found it difficult to reciprocate the gesture. The residue of.
the dream still lingered in her thoughts.
She sat up, this time finding no resistance from either Jacen or the restraints.
"You feeling any better?" he asked. She wasn't, not really, but she didn't want to seem ungrateful. "I'll be fine,".
she said. "Thanks.".
"You're welcome," he said, reaching behind her to ease the back of the bed.
up. It was only then that she looked around and recognized where she was.
Despite the absence of the usual sensors or equipment, there was no mistaking.
the small, circular room as belonging to a medical ward. The smell of sopor- moss lingered about her, despite the wide-open viewport off to her left that.
admitted the fresh air blowing off the Calamarian seas outside. There was a functional edge to the room's walls and furniture. Also, her own clothes were.
gone, replaced by a drab hospital smock. A thin sheet covered her on the bed.
"What am I doing here?" she asked, rubbing her hands across the bandages on.
her arms.
"You blacked out." Jacen sat on the edge of the bed beside her, his own hands coming over hers to.
stop her self-conscious movements. Even though he didn't say anything, the.
message was obvious: she shouldn't worry about what was hidden there, yet.
"The medics found you in the Water's Edge market," he said. She concentrated for a moment, staring at the folds in her sheet. She.
remembered contacting Jaina, remembered the uncontrollable panic that had.
disoriented her following the dream of the Yuuzhan Vong cemetery. Then she had found herself in the cavern where the voxyn lay hidden ...
She shuddered at the memory. "What's wrong with me?" she asked, looking.
up at Jacen.
"It's a bit of a mystery, actually," he said. "They can't find anything." His brown eyes were searching hers. She looked away, not sure if she was.
relieved or disappointed.
"I guess I must have just fainted, then.".
"You've been unconscious for fifteen standard hours, Tahiri," he said. "You.
didn't just faint.".
"I-I've not been sleeping well lately," she lied, looking away.
Fifteen hours? This was the worst episode yet. Maybe it would be for the best,.
she thought, if the truth finally came out. Even though she wanted to, however she found she couldn't bring herself to say the words.
He'd hate me if he knew, she thought. They would all hate me!
"Tahiri?" She looked up again. "I'm sorry," she said. "I don't know what's happening to.
me." That, at least, was partly true.
"That's okay," he reassured her. "I'm sure Master Cilghal will work it out.
sooner or later.".
"I'm sorry to have been a burden, Jacen.".
"You're not," he said. "Coming here to keep an eye on you was a good excuse.
to get out of some tedious meetings I'm supposed to attend. Besides, it gave me.
a chance to get a little bit of shut-eye myself. Things have been pretty hectic these last couple of days.".
He did look tired, she noted. There were lines around his eyes that she hadn't.
noticed the last time she had seen him. But how long ago was that? After his.
return from Coruscant? During the battle at Ebaq 9? It dismayed her to realize.
that she couldn't remember just when that had been. In recent weeks—months, perhaps—her life had become a blur.
"Where's Jaina?" she asked. "Sleeping. She said to say hi when you woke up." Disappointed, Tahiri nodded and looked down at her folded hands. She didn't.
know why she wanted to talk to Jaina so badly, or what she would say when she did. That she was sorry she hadn't been able to save Anakin the way he had saved her? That she missed him as much as Jaina did? No, what she wanted to say, what she needed to say, could never be said—not to Jaina, not to anyone.
She looked again to her arms, wondering at the wounds underneath the.
bandages. She remembered doing it to herself, remembered seeing herself do it, but she had been unable to stop herself.
She closed her eyes, wanting to shut out the thought. But it was impossible.
The thoughts were always with her these days, waking or sleeping.
"Is Master Luke angry at me for missing the meeting of the Jedi?" she asked. "No, of course not," he said, laughing lightly. "Uncle Luke isn't the sort to get.
angry about stuff like that. Trust me, he's more concerned about your well-.
being. Actually, he had been hoping to take you along on this new mission with us. He thought you could use some time away from all the action. But given your condition, it was decided that perhaps it would be best if you rested some.
more.".
"Mission?" she asked, the beginnings of dismay creeping into her voice.
"What mission?".
"We're looking for something," he said. "I don't know how long it will take.
us—or even where we're going, for that matter—but I do know it's something we have to do. If we don't, we could end up losing the war—even if we end up.
beating the Yuuzhan Vong.".
She frowned. "That doesn't make sense.".
"It depends on how you look at it," he said. "And how do you look at it, Jacen?".
"Honestly?" She nodded.
"Well, personally I think the worst thing we could do would be to wipe out the.
Yuuzhan Vong.".
Her frown deepened at this. "Why?" Jacen stood, running a hand through his shaggy brown hair. "We already.
know that they'll never give up," he explained, moving around the bed. "They'll.
just keep fighting until they're all dead. But when they're gone, where does that leave us? I don't know about you, Tahiri, but I don't particularly want genocide on my conscience.".
She opened her mouth to speak, but before she could, he went on. "I know what you're probably thinking: if the Yuuzhan Vong don't register in.
the Force, then why should we care if we wiped them out? But I don't think it's that simple, Tahiri. The Force isn't just about what happens to living things; it's also about what living things do to one another. No matter how you look at it, if we win by military means alone, then we'll end up committing an atrocity, and.
there's no way I can explain such an action without resorting to the dark side. I refuse to accept that there is no alternative.".
She stared at him, taken by the passion in his voice. This was a Jacen she had.
never seen before. Committed and sure of himself, he was no longer the teenager she had come to know. His experiences on Coruscant had changed him. He was so much more the adult now.
"Do you remember Vergere?" he asked after a few moments' silence. "Of course." The change in subject puzzled her.
"She told me something before she died." There was a slight deepening of the.
lines around his eyes as he spoke, and his hands fiddled with the railing at the foot of the bed. "She told me about a place she once visited—long before you or.
I were ever born, Tahiri. It was a world unlike any other in the galaxy. The people who lived there had a reputation for building starships. But not just any starships. These were without equal—starships that could outperform anything built even today. She was sent by the Jedi Council on a mission to find the.
shipbuilders, even though there were those who thought the planet little more than a myth. She was successful: she found the planet and its inhabitants; she.
saw the marvelous starships in operation—and many other things, for that matter, things the likes of which no one had ever dreamed possible. It had.
jungles and vast forests; but they were not shunted aside or eaten away in the name of industry. This was a world in balance.".
His eyes gleamed with the wonder of this secondhand vision. "Vergere fell in love with the place," he went on, "rejoicing in its jungles, its.
many forms of life, the way it seemed to her to be a living hymn to the Force. But she failed to guess the truth underlying what she saw—at first, anyway, even.
though it had been under her nose right from the beginning. The thing about those starships made on the planet, the thing that made them really special, is.
that they were alive.".
Tahiri's eyes narrowed. "Like the Yuuzhan Vong ships?" He nodded. "These were no ordinary ships, Tahiri," he said. "They lived and.
breathed and died just like any other being. They were alive like you and me, like any living thing. And so was the planet that made them.".
"The planet—?" she started, incredulously. If it hadn't been Jacen telling her.
all this, and had he not been so earnest in his telling, she might have laughed the whole thing off as a joke. But he was serious; this was real.
"Its name was Zonama Sekot," he said. "It was a living being in its own right,.
one of the most wondrous things this galaxy has ever produced.".
Tahiri felt a strange tingling sensation go through her. " 'Was'?" she echoed. "Not long after Vergere arrived, aliens came and attacked it. Zonama Sekot.
referred to these aliens as 'Far Outsiders.' We know now that these Far.
Outsiders were the Yuuzhan Vong—possibly a reconnaissance party sent to explore the galaxy before the actual invasion. The planet had been negotiating with these Outsiders for months, Vergere learned. The Yuuzhan Vong were fascinated by it, as you can imagine. A living planet would not be so different from one of the worldships that they used to cross the great gulf between.
galaxies.".
"So what happened?" Tahiri prompted when Jacen went quiet as if in thought. He looked up. "The Yuuzhan Vong attacked and Zonama Sekot fled," he said.
"The whole planet—moved. It changed systems, and hasn't been seen since.".
"Moved?" Tahiri echoed. "Just like that?" He nodded. "There's no mention of it in any records anywhere. It's as though.
it completely vanished.".
"And you're going looking for it—this living planet?" "Exciting, isn't it?" he said, coming back around to her side and sitting on her.
bed. "Vergere told me that the Yuuzhan Vong, in their own way, revere life. Not as a Jedi reveres life, cherishing each individual as a component of the Force that.
is both life and greater than life, but rather in their own perverse way. Their reverence for life, she said, is mixed with notions of pain and death. This.
fascinated me, and still does. It underpins their entire culture. I've always felt that if we could understand this ideology better, then we would understand them.
better.
"Call it an instinct," he went on. "Zonama Sekot is the key to the whole thing.
—to victory. I'm sure of it. That's why Vergere told me about it. It might help us find a way to turn back the Yuuzhan Vong. It did it once before, after all, if on a.
smaller scale.".
"Maybe it can make us ships as good as or better than the Yuuzhan Vong's.
coralskippers." Tahiri marveled at the thought. "How do you intend to find it?".
He shrugged. "That's the problem, isn't it? It's done a very good job of.
staying hidden all this time, so tracking it down isn't going to be easy. When I talked about it with Uncle Luke, there was only one conclusion we could come.
to: if it hasn't been seen, then it has to be in the Unknown Regions. There's nowhere else it could be. A fertile world is not exactly the sort of thing that would be omitted from a ship's log.".
"Let alone a world that has appeared out of nowhere," Tahiri added. "Or has a.
mind of its own.".
"Exactly," Jacen said. "It's literally the stuff of legends. And in the absence of.
rumors, we have to go chasing them ourselves. We're stopping at the Empire.
first, since their territory borders the Unknown Regions; they might have information we can use. And then there's the Chiss: they've explored the Unknown Regions much more than we have; they'll have access to a wealth of data—".
"If they'll share it with you. Either of them.".
"We'll just have to talk them into it." Jacen withdrew into himself for a moment, and Tahiri took the chance to.
collect her own thoughts. It all sounded very unlikely: living planets, old Jedi.
missions, wild crusades into the galaxy's darkest regions, Yuuzhan Vong prophecies. But she knew to keep an open mind. After all, stranger things had happened in his family's history ...
A twinge of pain accompanied the thought. Had Anakin lived, it might have.
been her family, too, by now.
She pushed the thought down as far as it would go. It whispered that she.
should tell him everything, exactly how she felt and all she suspected was happening to her. But she couldn't. Jacen had more important things to worry.
about, even apart from Zonama Sekot; he had been grappling with Jedi philosophy so deeply and for so long that the smaller concerns of those around.
him might seem trivial, perhaps even silly. She had no evidence, after all, that the things she was experiencing were anything more than nightmares, even.
though they felt so real.
"Is Jaina going with you?" she asked, shrugging free of the uncomfortable.
train of thought.
"Hmm?" Jacen broke from his own reverie. "Oh, no. She has other work to do.
—with Mom and Dad. Sometimes it seems like we're spending most of the war.
apart." He looked sad. "But if you're worrying that you won't be seeing her, don't. She'll be in tomorrow, when she's caught up on her sleep. And speaking of which ...".
"Oh, I'm sorry," she said. "I'm keeping you up. You already said that you.
wanted to get some—".
"No, Tahiri." He laughed. "Actually, I was meaning you. You said you've not.
been sleeping very well lately.".
She nodded cautiously, not wanting to encourage questions along those lines. "Okay," he said. "So relax for a moment and close your eyes." He edged.
closer as she did as he asked; at the same time the back of the bed lowered, and he placed his splayed his fingers across her forehead and temples. In the shadow of his hand, she smelled Anakin and bit her lip.
"I just want to try something," she heard him say. And that was the last she knew for an endless, timeless moment.
She awoke again to sunlight streaming through the room's wide and opened.
viewport, the sound of water crashing against the city walls, and the smell of salt on the air. The transition from night to day was so jarring that, for a moment, she didn't know where she was. But with a quick glance around the med room, it all came rushing back.
What had Jacen done to her? She felt rested for the first time in weeks,.
certainly, but instead of gratitude, she was left with a sense of betrayal. There was a strange feeling behind her eyes, as though someone had been poking around in there while she slept.
Jacen was nowhere to be seen, which was only to be expected. On the bedside.
table, under a jug of blue milk, she noticed a small piece of flimsiplast. Taking.
it, she unfolded the note, immediately recognizing the neat, confident handwriting as belonging to Anakin's older brother.
It read, simply: You will always be family to us. J.
Family. She sat up and hugged herself as though from a sudden chill. She had.
been thinking about family just before Jacen had put her to sleep, however he.
had done it. The reference seemed too pointed to be a coincidence. He must have taken the thought from her mind, and—.
Did he see my dreams, too? she wondered, fearfully. And if so, did he also.
see ...?
She dispelled the disquieting thought by taking the piece of flimsi and tearing.
it into tiny pieces. Then, stepping over to the window, she released the pieces to.
the wind and watched them until they had all disappeared into the rough waters below.
The training mat took the bulk of the impact, but the fall still left Jagged Fel.
winded. He lay gasping on his back for a moment, then levered himself upright.
"Nice move," he said, massaging the muscles in his left shoulder. "For a.
scruffy rebel, anyway.".
He stood, dropping into the classic Chiss "Forbelean Defense" stance. From.
such a position, virtually all forms of attack could be deflected. On the opposite side of the mat, Jaina Solo dusted off her loose-fitting training outfit.
"You aristocrats are all the same, aren't you?" she joked. "Underneath that.
tough exterior, you're all as soft as Mon Cal jellyfish.".
"And that coming from the daughter of a princess!" She opened her mouth to reply, but he didn't give her a chance to say.
anything. Instead he lunged at her for another attack. Two half paces forward took him within arm's reach. Ducking to avoid the defensive feint he knew she'd.
use, he brought one shoulder up to deflect her arm and his body and right leg around to sweep her off her feet. If he surprised her at all, she didn't let it show. Instead she jumped lightly as his sweeping kick caught her feet. Seemingly.
effortlessly, she used the momentum of his blow to spin her body around its center of mass, landing, in apparent defiance of gravity, on one hand, upside down. It lasted only a split second, but it was all she needed. Her left leg transferred her angular momentum back to him via his chest, sending him flying.
Before he had even hit the mat again, she had cart-wheeled back on to her feet and was standing, poised and at the ready, waiting patiently for him to recover.
He sat up, rubbing at his chest. "Sith spawn, Jaina!" His lungs felt like a.
clawcraft with a leak into vacuum. "That hurt.".
"It serves you right," she said, barely breathing heavily. "My dad always said.
you should never let someone get away with calling you 'scruffy.' " Seeing that.
he wasn't in a hurry to get up and retaliate, she relaxed her posture. "Besides, I thought the Chiss never attacked first.".
"Yeah, well," he mumbled, propping himself up some more. "You insulted.
my father.".
"I also thought they didn't let their hearts rule their heads during combat." "That was for using the Force during an unarmed sparring match—".
"But I hadn't used it yet," Jaina quickly pointed out, stepping over to him.
"I could tell you were about to, though." "Really? Then you must have the Force, too, my friend." She smiled down at.
him and offered a hand to help him up. "Can you tell what I'm thinking now?".
He took the hand and pulled her down onto the mat with him. "Can you tell.
me what I'm thinking?".
I want to be very much more than your friend, Jaina Solo, he thought. Her smile widened as she entangled her legs in his and leaned in closer to him.
"I don't need the Force to know that.".
They kissed—only briefly, but it was enough so that when they pulled apart.
again, her breathing had quickened. It pleased Jag to know that while she could kick him halfway across the room and not break a sweat, it took a simple kiss from him to set her heart racing. So he kissed her again, longer this time,.
enjoying the feel of her lips against his. He didn't allow any thoughts of honor or propriety to get in the way of the moment, either. On this occasion he was more than happy to let his heart rule his head. Opportunities for the two of them to be alone were rare—too rare not to be taken advantage of.
He hadn't told her yet that this was the main reason why he had fought for.
their inclusion on her parents' mission. Yes, he was feeling like a finely spun wire, likely to break if stretched any tighter, but he knew he would keep fighting well beyond reason if the war demanded it. His Chiss training emphasized the.
need for regular rest in order to perform at one's best. All of the members of the Chiss Squadron knew that, too. But he could see the fatigue in their eyes, and even he had made mistakes recently. His second in command had pointed that out. She wasn't innocent herself, she had admitted, but it was his job to know.
better, she said. And, of course, she was right.
The diplomatic mission was a godsend, then—a way of making sure everyone.
got some rest while still performing a valuable duty, and at the same time it gave him a chance to spend more time with Jaina.
Jaina broke for air and sat back with her hands resting on his chest. Jag.
wondered if she could feel the beating of his heart through his thin training.
uniform.
"Duty calls," she said after a moment. "And I'd like to see Tahiri beforehand.".
She pulled a regretful face. "Sorry.".
"The only thing you should feel sorry for, Jaina Solo, is cheating.".
She playfully punched his shoulder before standing. "Winning is everything." "Do you really believe that?".
Her expression turned serious for a moment. "I think I did, once," she said.
Then she stretched out her hand once more. "Come on.".
He took her proffered hand, this time allowing her to help him to his feet.
Halfway up, however, she let go and he fell back with a thump onto the mat.
"You're far too trusting, Jag," she said, smiling. With a wink, she headed for.
the showers.
They briefly reconnected again afterward. Side by side, not touching, they.
walked toward the infirmary, where she was to see Tahiri before meeting with her parents to go over their plans one more time. He would go on to a meeting.
with her uncle and aunt. They would need all the information he could give them on the Chiss if they were seriously planning to go to the Unknown Regions expecting help.
As they walked, Jag rubbed at his breastbone. It was still tender from the last.
kick she had delivered.
"I'm sorry if I fought you hard today," she said, noting his discomfort. "I'm.
just ..." She shrugged. "I don't know, Jag. I guess I'm a little angry about being put out of action.".
"So you're fighting harder to prove you haven't lost your edge?" he said. She.
nodded. "Listen, Jaina, no one has said that.".
"No, but it was implied. That's why they want me on this mission, I'm sure.
They want to rest me up.".
"Now you're just being paranoid," he said. "But anyway, so what if going on.
this mission does allow you to get in some rest? You've earned it, haven't you? I really don't see what the problem is, Jaina.".
"I'm surprised you're taking it so well," she said as they rounded a corner,.
almost bumping into a couple of Ho'Din walking the other way. "I expected you.
to be as annoyed as I am about all this; in fact, I would have thought you'd be cursing and swearing!".
He shrugged. "You don't tend to learn too many swear words at the Chiss.
academy.".
"Really?" "Yeah, really. The worst insult I learned there was moactan teel.".
"And what does that mean?" "That you're fair-haired," he said with some embarrassment. It was an insult.
that only really worked in Chiss space where everyone had jet-black hair. Here, among so many variations of hair color, it seemed ridiculous. "Sorry," he added.
She laughed out loud. "Are you apologizing for the insult to my own hair.
color, or the lameness of the insult itself?".
He felt himself blush, but didn't respond to her teasing. "I tell you, if you want some good insults, you should listen to my father. I.
learned plenty from him over the years," she said. "And if you don't want them directed at you, then I suggest you take care.".
They parted at the infirmary with no obvious display of affection. He was far.
too conscious of the people around them for that. He kept imagining what others would think if they were seen together: "What's the outsider doing with the Jedi today?" His upbringing with the Chiss had left him short on social mores when it.
came to public displays. He didn't want to be seen to do the wrong thing, and he was pretty sure Jaina wasn't mistaking his caution for disinterest.
He continued along the winding corridors to the meeting with the Skywalkers.
Part of him wished that it was this mission he and Jaina were participating in. He would have loved for her to see the Chiss capital again: icebound Csillia, with its blue snowfields and clear skies. Since joining one of the phalanxes—the twenty- eight colonial units that comprised the domestic Chiss military force—at an early age, he had found few opportunities to return to the capital planet, let alone.
the estate on which his parents, General Baron Soontir Fel and Syal Antilles, had recently settled. The Yuuzhan Vong had been harrying the Unknown Regions as well as the rest of the galaxy. Life, even for a relatively young and untested.
starfighter pilot, had been hectic.
Untested no longer, he reminded himself as the door to the small, oval.
conference room slid open and he entered.
Inside the darkened room, Jag found Jedi Master Luke Skywalker and his.
wife, Mara, studying numerous maps and charts on a clear, vertical display screen. As he stepped in and the door behind him closed, the Jedi Master.
straightened, staring at him through an incomplete section of one of the maps. Jag instantly recognized this particular great swathe of the galaxy as the area that.
the New Republic and the Imperials called the Unknown Regions, and what he called home.
Luke acknowledged Jag with little more than a nod. "We know very little about the Chiss," he said without preamble, stepping.
around the display screen toward Jag. "I like to think that this is a situation that can be rectified.".
Jag studied the Jedi Master's face for any sign of duplicity. As always, he saw.
none. "Grand Admiral Thrawn's actions paint us in a dubious light," he said in.
response. "I understand the reluctance of many people to deal with us.".
"And the reverse is probably true. No doubt you've met your fair share of.
people purporting to represent the New Republic. The Unknown Regions have always been a haven for criminals and outcasts, as well as renegade Imperials.".
Jag inclined his head in acknowledgment of the point. "What is it you wish to.
know?".
"First of all, I'd like to know if the Chiss have any knowledge of a certain.
planet in the Unknown Regions.".
"For that you would need to contact the Expansionary Defense Fleet." "Is there anyone in particular there that I should be talking to?".
"I can't give you names." Luke raised an eyebrow but didn't query his answer. "Okay," he said, placing.
his hands behind his back and pacing in front of the display screen. "Then.
second, I need to talk about closer ties between your people and the Galactic Alliance.".
"The same department would handle those inquiries." "But I wouldn't want them to end there," he said, stopping his pacing and.
facing Jag fully. "This isn't just a matter for the Nuruodo family to consider.
under the military and foreign affairs portfolio. It's also a communications and justice issue. The Inrokini and Sabosen families handle those affairs, if my information is correct. It's also a colonial issue, since the Yuuzhan Vong are.
affecting everyone, and that's overseen by the—".
"The Csapla, yes," Jag said. "Your sources are correct, whoever they are." "A contact in any or all of these departments would be helpful, Jag," Mara.
said from the other side of the screen, the faint light from the maps flickering.
across the beautiful woman's red-gold hair.
"I'm sorry but, again, I cannot give you any names." He could sense their.
frustration and made a sincere effort to dispel it. "I do understand the reasons for you asking, and I assure you I am not trying to be obstructive. I simply cannot.
answer you.".
"Why is that, Jag?" Mara asked.
"Two reasons, really," he answered. "One is that I'm not in a position to know.
who holds what rank in any of the appropriate families. I know who represents.
each, but they are just political positioning. Who actually does the work, I have no idea. It's these people you would need to speak to; and it is they who will.
seek you out when your intentions become known.".
Luke nodded thoughtfully. "And the second reason?".
"Even if I did know," Jag said, maintaining steady eye contact with the Jedi.
Master, "I wouldn't tell you. You see, the Chiss are taught from the earliest days of training that it is not the person holding the position that is important, but rather the position itself. Individuals must allow themselves to be subsumed into the role society expects them to play. If you asked for someone by name, they would on principle not talk to you. If you asked for them by rank, however, they.
would not hesitate.".
"Then what rank should I ask for?" Luke asked. "In the first instance, the matter of this planet you seek, you should ask for the.
chief navigator of the Chiss Expansionary Defense Fleet. Regarding closer ties.
with the Galactic Alliance, you would need the assistant syndic in the same department.".
"Isn't that the position currently held by your father?" Mara asked.
Jag didn't dignify the question with a response, even though it was correct. He.
was becoming increasingly irritated that they knew as much as they did. "If you address your inquiries through those avenues," he said, "then I am sure you will be heard.".
"And in your opinion, will we get what we want?" Luke asked.
"It depends on too many factors to say for certain. Whether we've seen this.
planet you're looking for is an obvious one; how badly the Yuuzhan Vong are hurting us is another.".
"I was under the impression they weren't hurting you at all." Jag allowed himself a half smile at that. "I think it's safe to admit that the.
Yuuzhan Vong are hurting everyone to some degree or another. It's good that you are attempting to address this as a galaxywide problem, for that's precisely.
what it is.".
Mara came around the display now, as though to look at him properly. "So.
you'd like our help, but you won't even tell us who to talk to in order to offer it to you? I find that—interesting.".
Jag recognized the deliberate provocation, but wasn't offended by it. "I.
apologize if you think I'm being unreasonable.".
"You are being unreasonable. But you're being what your culture expects of.
you, and to be honest, I admire you for that. It's just not how we would operate,.
that's all.".
"No doubt time will reveal many such differences between our people.".
Mara smiled; there were clearly no hard feelings there, either. "No doubt." "There's one other question I'd like to ask, though," Luke said. "The Galactic.
Alliance doesn't have a vast amount of resources to spare at the moment, as you.
are surely aware. In fact, in places we're as thinly spread as the Yuuzhan Vong. What are the chances, do you think, of procuring aid from the CEDF?".
"I imagine that would depend on how your other negotiations went. If you can.
convince the Chiss Expansionary Defense Fleet that your mission is of strategic value to the Chiss, then they might give you an escort of some description. But.
then, they might not, also. If your mission is valuable enough, you might end up in competition with the CEDF.".
Mara raised her eyebrows in mock alarm. "They'd steal it out from under us?" "Depending on what it is," Jag shot back.
Luke chuckled. "Well put." He leaned against the transparent display and.
folded his arms across his stomach. "You're holding yourself very well here, Jagged. It can't be easy, caught between two different cultures like this—twice.
over, if you like: a human raised by the Chiss, then sent back to deal with the Galactic Alliance.".
"No," he replied, thinking of Jaina. "Sometimes it isn't easy." "But it's good, I think. For all of us. We need another example of the Chiss to.
help us judge their nature, and you are as good as one of them. Thrawn was.
brilliant, but not the best ambassador a culture could wish for.".
Jag stiffened defensively. "The Chiss do not ask to be judged, Master.
Skywalker. Not by you; not by anyone.".
"But you judge us." There was no acrimony in the Jedi Master's tone. "We all.
do it, Jag. It's only natural. And we know enough of your foreign policy to know your opinion of 'lesser' civilizations. We might be one of them.".
Jag could feel himself being led out onto treacherously thin ice. "Neither.
Grand Admiral Thrawn nor myself was an ambassador, as I'm sure you both realize. He was simply doing what he thought most appropriate in a particular.
military situation.".
"As are you. I understand," said Luke. "Thank you for your help, Jag. I.
appreciate it.".
Jag was surprised that the meeting had taken so little time. He had expected a.
more determined interrogation. But as Luke guided him to the door, he realized it wasn't quite over yet. A small but strong hand gripped him by the shoulder,.
and Mara said: "Look after my apprentice, won't you?" Jag looked down into the startlingly green eyes of the woman beside him. "I know she's a Jedi Knight.
in her own right, but in some ways she's still very much a child—albeit a precocious one." The green eyes smiled. "I hope you can be a beneficial part of.
her education.".
"I intend to be." "Good," she said, withdrawing her hand and nodding. "I'm glad.".
*.
There were many other things Jag still had to organize with his second in.
command, and he went straight to the barracks she had been given to discuss them with her. Eprill was ready and waiting, in full uniform.
"What did you tell them?" she asked, almost reproachfully. She had known.
about the meeting with the Skywalkers and disapproved of their intentions.
"Nothing they didn't already know," he said. "That alone might be too much." Red eyes blazed at him from a blue face.
He opened his mouth to snap at her, but discipline took over before the words.
emerged. He couldn't be angry at her for simply doing her job. The Chiss Squadron may have originally come on a fact-finding mission, but now it was here—at his instigation—to fight the Yuuzhan Vong. The negotiations and information bartering should be left to the Chiss Expansionary Defense Fleet.
But at the same time, he couldn't in good conscience let Jaina's uncle, aunt,.
and twin brother go blindly into a potentially tricky situation. They meant well, and their goals were admirable. Part of him wanted to give them every assistance.
he could, even if it did mean violating the oaths of secrecy he had sworn to the Chiss.
He didn't know what his father would think. The Baron was human, too, but.
he had embraced the Chiss culture as completely as it had embraced him. If his.
father had been in contact with the Skywalkers, then Jag doubted he would have told them anything of substance. They might simply have been bluffing to see.
what he would say in response. Jag wished he could ask his father what was going on—but that would have been seen as a sign of weakness. It had been his.
decision to keep the Chiss Squadron in Galactic Alliance space; he alone had to deal with the consequences of that decision. He hoped his father would be proud.
of the way he had handled himself.
But there was more to it than that. The military situation was too complex for.
one person alone to handle. He wanted his government involved, and he hoped that Master Skywalker would manage to achieve this.
Shrugging the problem aside, he sat down with Eprill, his second in.
command, and attempted to decide on a roster for the coming weeks. She would.
remain behind to take command of the Chiss Squadron. There would be six.
pilots left, enough to work as an independent unit alongside new pilots from the training program.
Jag knew that Eprill was as tired as he was. He also knew that she would be.
offended if he didn't leave her behind to take on the job. This was a big break for her, a chance to demonstrate her ability to command in combat, instead of just.
following orders. Looking at her now—at her pressed uniform, her perfectly straight posture, her black hair pulled severely back to the nape of her neck as per regulation standards for a Chiss soldier—he knew that she deserved every success. She was the epitome of what a Chiss officer should be.
She reminded him, in fact, of his childhood friend Shawnkyr, who had.
returned to Chiss space after Ebaq 9. Shawnkyr was almost too perfect—as a pilot, as an officer, and as a Chiss. She was exactly the sort of person he should.
have ended up with—not someone like Jaina, the headstrong, stubborn daughter of parents who openly spurned military authority. He had known Shawnkyr ever since their victory over looters during their academy training; he had known Jaina only a couple of years. Shawnkyr had a perfect understanding and acceptance of the chain of command; Jaina was known as something of a loose.
blaster, following orders only when they concurred with her own moral code. The contrast couldn't have been more extreme.
What his family would think of Jaina, he had no idea. Given their own.
background, they might accept her perfectly well. But then again, they might not. And if they didn't, then how would it affect his standing among the Chiss, that he had chosen one from outside? He wasn't certain which he would choose if forced to decide between Jaina and his own people. He envied Luke more than.
he could say; his heart ached to see the three moons of Csillia again. But would his heart have ached more to leave Jaina behind? He didn't know, and a large.
part of him didn't particularly want to find out, either.
"Jag?".
"Huh?" He snapped out of his thoughts. "Oh, I'm sorry, Eprill. My mind was.
elsewhere.".
"Obviously." There was a hint of disapproval in her voice. "I asked if you.
thought Sumichan should go with you, or if you'd like me to keep her here to.
work on her maneuvers.".
He sighed. Jaina occupied almost every thought these days. He doubted he.
could be rid of her, even if he wanted to be.
"She can come with me," he said. "She just needs time to practice—and.
where we're going, I'm sure we'll have plenty of spare time on our hands.".
Then again, he added to himself, the way the Solos operate, maybe not ...
In the previous years, much had been learned about the infidels who occupied.
the galaxy promised by the gods to the Yuuzhan Vong. Nom Anor had played an important part in gathering and interpreting that knowledge. As a result, he felt.
justified in thinking that he understood the enemy better than anyone else. But even he failed to get his mind around a culture that would allow a planet's natural surface to be buried under lifeless metal and transparisteel—and not just once, but thousands of times over, so that it was almost impossible for any living.
thing larger than a rodent or more persistent than moss to survive beneath it.
Yuuzhan'tar was not a world Nom Anor would have chosen to conquer. Had.
it not been the center of power in this galaxy, he would have happily left it to.
choke in its dust and smog while the rest of the galaxy came alive with the glorious Yuuzhan Vong invasion. The hardiness of the vile encrustations smothering the planet—the built things and the obscenities called machines so loved by the enemy—was such that the dhuryam responsible for turning it into a more suitable world seemed to be unable to overcome them. Hundreds of.
thousands of years of habitation had their own momentum, and mere klekkets of Yuuzhan Vong occupation couldn't turn that back overnight. The roots of these built things went deep into the planet, and it would take time to extract them.
fully.
Nowhere was this more obvious than underground. Buildings had been built.
upon older buildings, which in turn had been built upon buildings older still, until a crack in one's basement might open up on what had once been an attic in.
another. And since construction in this fashion was rarely seamless, there were millions of narrow paths that had never been mapped. It was through such ways.
that Vuurok I'pan led Nom Anor, descending carefully along steep traverses that appeared to be tiled underfoot, as though they had once been roofs. He took.
them through areas immensely wide, though barely high enough for them to crouch—areas compacted between enormous slabs of ferrocrete and time-.
flattened piles of rubble. None of which sat easily with Nom Anor. He was not a coward, but the idea of scuttling through such spaces was distinctly unnerving.
Soon they came to an impossibly large vertical tunnel that plunged into depths.
of darkness that Nom Anor hadn't imagined possible. They spiraled down the.
interior of this tunnel for what felt like an eternity, walking upon metal steps that constantly creaked and groaned under their weight. It was so large that it could.
have easily held an entire transport carrier, except that it was almost totally filled.
with a mysterious silvery column. The thing stretched up high into the darkness above them, taking up so much of the space that there seemed only enough room for the stairs on which they descended. What purpose the column served, exactly, Nom Anor couldn't tell. Perhaps it was the outside of another pipe built within the old one. It, too, was probably abandoned, like everything else in the.
empty spaces—dead metal left to die, left to rust.
Rust. Now that was a concept the Yuuzhan Vong knew about. The reaction.
between the elements iron and oxygen was an important one in biology. But the abhorrence with which the process was held by these machine builders had been.
unexpected. Sometimes Nom Anor thought it a good metaphor for how the Yuuzhan Vong invasion should have been conducted: slowly, insidiously, the machine builders could have been eroded from beneath until all their glittering,.
unnatural towers fell and crumbled to dust. But here, underground, he could see the fallacy of the plan. Rust took time, and the Yuuzhan Vong were not known for their patience. The worldships were dying; their people needed homes. If the basements of Yuuzhan'tar could still stand, even after being so long untended, then invasion by rust would simply be too slow.
Still, there was something in the concept, he was sure. It nagged at him as he.
followed I'pan farther down into the depths of this abominable planet—so deep, in fact, that the coolness of the upper levels eventually became replaced by a.
stifling heat and smell not dissimilar to a coralskipper backwash.
Is this to be my tomb? he wondered. The bowels of a planet whose very nature.
is blasphemous?
No! He quickly reined in his thoughts. He would not die here like some.
worthless vermin, in some hole where even the gods could not find him, if they had ever existed. No matter how deep I'pan went, he would live. He had to. That.
he currently had no plan and no resources beyond his mind didn't bother him: any goal at all was better than just giving in—and the power of his mind wasn't.
to be scoffed at.
He didn't know how long they'd been moving, but eventually they emerged.
into the huge cavern that he knew instantly to be the refuge of the renegade Shamed Ones. He could smell them, their fear and their desperation. I'pan.
stopped a few paces ahead of him, facing Nom Anor with a newfound confidence—as well as relief, it seemed. He must have felt that here, at least, he.
had the support of his companions, and that Nom Anor was less likely to attack him than he had been earlier.
"This is it," I'pan said unnecessarily, his arm sweeping around the dusty area.
Even with this newfound confidence, his voice still carried a habitual obsequious tone. "We have arrived, Master.".
The area was wide and circular, with a high, domed ceiling arcing overhead.
Across the ground were scattered numerous blisterlike structures that Nom Anor recognized as minshals, grown for temporary accommodation. The entire place.
was lit by bubbling, bioluminescent globes hanging from the ceiling high above.
Off to one side, a slanting airshaft led even farther down into the seemingly.
endless city basement. Issuing from its wide throat were deep and rhythmic vibrations that made Nom Anor's calves vibrate. Moving over to the shaft he.
saw a chuk'a waste processor deep inside, its muscular segments busily ingesting rubble as it worked its way downward into the vent, turning it into the walls, ceilings, and floors of the new homes for the Shamed Ones, filling the.
empty spaces in much the same way that some insects built their nests.
"We found the chuk'a some levels above," I'pan said. "Mislaid for dead, we.
think, it has since come in handy for our needs.".
In the strange, greenish light from the bioluminescent globes, Nom Anor.
could see I'pan's disfigurement much more clearly. Rejected by coral implants,.
the Shamed One's face lacked the brutal beauty of a true scarring. His skin was unnaturally smooth, and, apart from his nose, there was a symmetry to his features that offended Nom Anor's refined sense of aesthetic. No wonder I'pan.
had been outcast. The gods' shaming of him was visible for all to see.
"We?" Nom Anor asked, wasting no energy on sympathy. "I see no one other.
than yourself here, I'pan. Where are these others of whom you speak, and why do they hide?".
"We hide for the same reasons you do," said I'pan. There was no accusation.
in his tone, so Nom Anor felt no cause to lash out at him. "We have learned to.
do it out of necessity—for self-preservation." Then, ringing a bell that dangled from a tripod by the entrance to the shaft, he suddenly called out: "Ekma!
Sh'roth! Niiriit! We have a visitor.".
Muffled voices responded to I'pan's call and the sound of the chuk'a ebbed.
Nom Anor straightened as footsteps sounded seemingly from all around him. The fear of capture returned to him. With the minshals and the chuk'a the.
Shamed Ones no longer seemed so helpless or liable to obey his will. Down here, in their world, he was just one individual among many.
Still, he thought, any number of Shamed Ones should be as nothing to one.
who defied the Supreme Overlord himself. He held himself as proudly as he.
could while awaiting his fate, his wounded hand hanging freely, still oozing.
blood.
A dozen figures appeared from the shadows around them; three more emerged.
from the entrance to the airshaft. The Shamed Ones surrounded him, studying him. All were ragged and misshapen, although few as severely as I'pan. Two, in fact, seemed perfectly healthy, tall and ritually scarred like warriors. Nom Anor.
had never seen warriors so filthy before, however, and their rags were a far cry from vonduun crab armor.
One of these two stepped forward. Her face was narrow and angular; scars.
traced deep crosshatched lines across her cheeks and temples.
"I know you," she said, barely a pace away from him. She displayed no fear.
whatsoever, only confidence, for which Nom Anor felt nothing but admiration. For a while he had thought they would all be like I'pan.
"Well, I don't know you," he responded evenly. Underneath his calm, he was.
tense, readying himself for attack. One dart from his plaeryin bol and she would suffer a quick and painful death.
"Does it matter who I am?" she snapped. "You have failed our warmaster.
many times, Executor, but I doubt you've ever noticed the ones who fell with.
you. There are many like me who suffered for your ineptitude. Not all of them found honor in death.".
"You still might," Nom Anor said, on the verge of using the plaeryin bol. But.
he held himself back. Killing her would set the rest against him. Until he was certain he was about to be betrayed, he would exercise restraint— uncharacteristic as it was for him.
"True," she said, the blue sacks beneath her eyes pulsing slightly from.
suppressed emotions that he could only guess at. "I still might.".
She turned her back on him, and he bit down on his anger at the deliberately.
insulting gesture. After a few seconds, with those around silent in anticipation of Nom Anor's response, the female faced him again, her dirty teeth smiling at him.
"I am Niiriit," she said, "former warrior of Domain Esh. And you are the.
once-great Nom Anor." She looked him up and down briefly with a dismissive.
snort. "I presume you must have failed the warmaster once again. Why else would you be seen down here among the likes of us?".
She paced around him, putting on a show of superiority for her compatriots in.
Shame. Her garb was little more than tattered rags, but her bearing was strong.
and muscular. Nom Anor couldn't help his admiration for her—even as he contemplated her death.
"I have not failed." He answered the accusation leveled at him by Niiriit, but.
his good eye was directed at those huddled around him. It was these whom he needed to impress his authority upon.
"You measure success, then, differently from what I would've expected." He showed her his teeth, then. "If you wish to mock me, do so openly, not as a.
coward.".
"I'm sorry," she said, returning to stand in front of him again. "It wasn't my.
intention to mock, just to point out the reality of your situation. It must be faced. We have faced it in our own way, and as a result are doing well enough down here. We live, we are safe, and we are building a home for ourselves." She.
indicated the airshaft. "Our lacks include reliable food supplies and adequate clothing, but what we cannot steal we will soon be able to grow. Sh'roth here used to be a shaper." Her hand fell upon the shoulder of one of the older ones in.
the group. "Many of us have worked in the fields in the past. Among us we have the knowledge to create a self-sustaining community that has no need of the dhuryam. What happens on the surface will be irrelevant here. We just want to be alone—to be left in peace to find our own sort of honor.".
Niiriit's defiance struck a chord within Nom Anor. She was Shamed, but she.
was clearly not defeated.
"I'm impressed," he said, his own survival instincts rising to the fore. If they.
could survive down there, unnoticed by the cleanup crews and occasional.
security sweep, then it wasn't impossible that he could, too.
"We're not doing it to impress you," Niiriit said. "Nor did we seek your.
admiration.".
"Nonetheless." Once he would have died rather than utter the words he was.
about to say, but he knew he had little choice in the matter. "I would stay with you a while, given your leave.".
Her expression didn't change. "Why?" "You need able bodies, and I am willing to work.".
Again she asked, "Why?" That was harder to answer. "The sun has not yet set on the fortune of Nom.
Anor," he said. "It will rise again, given time.".
"And will we rise with it?" called out one of the Shamed Ones off to his left.
"Yes," he said, looking vaguely in their direction. "I give you my word that,.
should I return to my former position, I will restore your honor.".
There was a murmur of consent that quickly rippled through the Shamed.
Ones. They were obviously taken with his offer.
"How can you listen to this?" The male ex-warrior standing just behind Niiriit.
stepped forward. "We have no reason to trust him!".
"I know that, Kunra," Niiriit said, her attention remaining fixed upon Nom.
Anor before her. "But he's one of us, now. If he betrays us, then he betrays himself. Isn't that right, Nom Anor?".
The former executor swallowed his pride, and it tasted of bile. Everything.
Niiriit said was true. They could trust him, because here in the depths of this offensive world, these Shamed Ones were all he had left. Yes, he had told them he would give them back their status if he were returned to his former position, and it was an offer he would happily keep his word on. For the chance to restore.
his own honor, Nom Anor would make any sacrifice necessary.
"We are allies, Niiriit Esh," he said, giving her full name in return. "I shall not.
betray you.".
He raised his gashed fingers and steeled himself to reopen the wound in order.
to demonstrate by sacrifice that they could take him at his mercy. It was an instinctive gesture, drummed into him after years in Shimrra's court.
Niiriit stepped forward and stopped him. "That is not necessary down here,".
she said. "We recognize a different sort of honor, a different sort of gods.".
"Different gods?" he repeated. Niiriit nodded, grinning. "And I just know you'll like them," she said, her.
dark eyes glinting in the greenish light from the globes overhead. "In fact,.
you've met some of them in person. Spoken to them, even.".
"You are talking about the Jeedai?" he asked, finding it impossible to contain.
his astonishment.
"That appalls you, Nom Anor?" She shook her head, as if disappointed in him.
"Live and learn, my friend, or die with the others when their time comes. The choice is yours.".
"And I make it freely," he said, bowing low to cover his surprise. The cult of.
the Jeedai? Here on Yuuzhan'tar? He'd heard whispers of it from his spies in the.
worldships, but for it to have infiltrated so close to Shimrra was unthinkable. No, more than that. He would have thought it impossible.
And yet, impossibly, it was so. What was going on down in these dungeons of.
Yuuzhan'tar was more than just survival. It was heresy.
Live and learn, he told himself, repeating Niiriit's words as though they were.
a mantra. Perhaps there is a way, after all.
"Tell me about the Jedi," he said. "I am keen to know more ...".
This is going to change everything, Jacen Solo thought as he stood beneath.
Jade Shadow's tapered nose, watching from off to one side as his friends and.
family made their farewells to one another. This is the beginning of something new.
It was a very different kind of premonition that rolled through him as he stood.
there on the landing bay, pretending to busy himself with last-minute checks to.
the ship. It wasn't necessarily a sense of foreboding, but rather something deeper, more profound. It was as though he could vaguely make out the future, and it was a strange and alien place—somehow a consequence of this moment.
Then again, perhaps it wasn't a premonition at all. Perhaps the feeling was a.
direct result of all the stimcaf he'd been drinking, coupled with the fact that he hadn't been sleeping well of late. For the last few nights he'd been sitting in his room for hours on end, worrying—not just about the mission, either, but about.
leaving half the people he loved behind, as well.
He watched them now, hugging, shaking hands, kissing, laughing. For all the.
levity, one would think Jade Shadow and her crew were off on nothing more than a jaunt to the sunbaked moons of Calfa-5 rather than on a mission to the Unknown Regions. But he didn't need the Force to tell him that beneath the.
casual facade there simmered a somberness that would have been difficult for any of them to shake ...
Just about everyone was there to see off Jade Shadow. His mother had come,.
shadowed once again by her Noghri bodyguards, Cakhmaim and Meewalh. Han clapped Luke on the shoulder and advised him to keep out of trouble. The well- meant hypocrisy provoked a light smile from the Jedi Master, who nodded and wrapped his old friend's hand in both of his and shook firmly.
To one side stood C-3PO, gleaming bronze in the arc lights illuminating the.
side of the armored transport looming over them, with R2-D2 beside him,.
whistling cheerfully to reassure his metal companion.
"It's not you I'm worried about," C-3PO returned. "It's me!".
R2's domed top turned as it issued another string of beeps and whistles. "Well, at least you don't know what awaits you in the Unknown Regions," C-.
3PO said. "I know far too much about the place Mistress Leia intends to take me.".
Jag Fel helped load the last of the supplies into the transport. Danni Quee was.
running late and had sent some equipment down ahead of her on a repulsor.
platform. When it was empty, it beeped to no one in particular and trundled away. Cilghal's apprentice, Tekli, had already loaded supplies the healer had.
insisted they might need on their long journey. Luckily the giant reptilian Jedi,.
Saba Sebatyne, had brought less than half her allocation, creating extra space. Like Jacen, the stoic Barabel stood away from the others, her small eyes blinking while her tail twitched restlessly about her feet.
Perhaps she senses it, too, he thought. After all, those of us leaving on Jade.
Shadow could be gone for months. Who knows what we'll be returning to, or.
what we'll even be bringing back with us? Communications with the Unknown Regions were notoriously unreliable, routed through just one long-distance transceiver on the edge of known space. After Anakin's death, he wasn't so naive as to assume that he would ever again see any of these people he was now.
saying good-bye to.
But I have no choice. Like everyone else, I must do what I must. The war with.
the Yuuzhan Vong might be won without us, but there are many different kinds of.
war.
Jaina noticed him standing to one side and came to join him. "What's wrong, brother? Having second thoughts about going?" He turned to face her and was surprised by how grownup she looked.
Although the age difference between them was barely five standard minutes, she.
seemed so much wiser and more mature than he pictured her in his mind. Where was the child with whom he'd tormented C-3PO on Coruscant? Or the teenager who had single-handedly repaired a crashed TIE fighter on Yavin 4? The girl.
was gone, replaced by this young woman standing now before him. Try as he might, though, he couldn't recall exactly when the transition had occurred.
"Not at all," he replied, forcing a smile. "Just a little overwhelmed, I guess." He looked at her again, still somewhat amazed by the confident woman.
standing before him. They weren't kids anymore. The universe had taught them the hard way that the responsibilities of being an adult weren't always easy. But.
the Force connection between them was still strong, and this fact alone brought him great comfort.
"I hope you find what you're looking for," Jaina said, intruding upon his.
thoughts.
"I'm sure we will," Jacen said. "All available data suggest that the Unknown.
Regions are where—".
"I meant in your heart, brother." His smile came easier this time. "I won't come back until I do.".
"Is that a promise, Jacen?" she asked. "Or a prophecy?" "Perhaps it's a little of both.".
She embraced him, then, tightly and warmly. "Just make sure you do come.
back, okay?" she whispered close to his ear.
She winked at him as she pulled away, and before he could say anything.
more, the space she had just vacated was suddenly filled with other people wishing him well and bidding him good-bye.
Jag Fel shook his hand with a definite air of reassurance. Jacen forestalled his.
father's usual gruff attempts at farewells by cutting off whatever he'd been about to say and simply giving him a hug. His mother hugged Jacen, too. She didn't offer any words, though. She didn't need to; the emotion in her eyes spoke volumes.
Others appeared before him, taking his hand, patting his back, and speaking.
animatedly. He heard little of what was said; his attention kept going back to his sister, now standing at the back with Jag—who respectfully kept his hands to.
himself. Nevertheless, even though he didn't hear a lot of what was being said to him, Jacen could feel the sentiments expressed. The air was almost crackling with the Force as so many emotional Jedi clustered around him.
He would miss the ones who would remain behind, but he wouldn't grieve—.
no more than he would for Vergere. Even now, so many weeks after she died, he.
could still hear her voice in his mind as clearly as though she was one of those standing right there beside him.
"You have always been alone, Jacen Solo. Even in the midst of your family,.
and your friends. Even when you touched the Force. You have always been set apart, distanced, separated and alone, through no choice or action of your own.".
He hadn't understood everything his teacher had said to him, and suspected he.
would be picking at the meaning of her words for many years to come—if not.
the rest of his life. Vergere had been a creature of contradictions, a pet of the Yuuzhan Vong at one moment, an ancient Jedi Knight in another.
"Everyone is part of you," she had said, "just as you are part of everyone." It was a simple truth, and one he embraced now as he said good-bye to his.
friends and family. While his loved ones lived, wherever they were, he had no cause to grieve ...
At that moment, Danni Quee bustled into the bay, her shoulders laden with.
bags. Following her, looking somewhat dazed and confused, was Tahiri.
"I found this one wandering in the corridors outside," Danni said. Tahiri flushed pink. "I-I got lost on the way here," she stammered. "I'm.
sorry.".
Jacen felt a wave of compassion for the girl. The three deep scars on her.
forehead stood out strongly against her blood-filled face. She still looked terribly.
thin and uncertain of herself; there was little in the girl's appearance and nervous manner to suggest the Jedi he knew her to be.
He reached out with the Force to touch her, comfort her. She glanced over at.
him, a faint trace of gratitude in her smiling eyes. But she turned away quickly, uneasily, back to the others.
"So this is it?" Danni said, her eyes bright, her curly blond hair standing in a.
nimbus around her head. "We're really going?".
"We're really going," Luke said. Mara went aboard Jade Shadow to prime the.
yacht's systems. Saba and Tekli followed. The sound of mechanical systems.
whirring into life gave the farewells a new urgency. The Solo/Skywalker clan gathered for one last moment while the others moved aboard. Jacen was unsurprised to see tears in Tahiri's eyes when she was invited to join in, but was.
glad she agreed.
"May the Force be with us all," Luke said after a moment. "It always is," Jacen said automatically, paraphrasing another of Vergere's.
teachings. "The Force is everything, and everything is the Force. The only uncertainty lies in ourselves.".
Jaina smiled at her brother; Leia did the same, and kissed his cheek. Then it was time to go. Everything was loaded, and everyone was there. There.
was no point delaying any longer. As R2-D2 glided ahead of him up the ramp.
into Jade Shadow's belly, Jacen felt the premonition rush through him once more. It prompted him to halt momentarily and cast a quick glance back to his parents and sister.
What if I'm wrong about Zonama Sekot? he wondered anxiously. What if this.
grand quest is nothing more than an elaborate means of running away from conflict? What if I misunderstood Vergere completely? Even if he had.
understood her perfectly and was doing exactly the right thing for the moment, it still wouldn't be easy. As she had said: "No lesson is truly learned until it is.
purchased with pain." The lesson the Galactic Alliance had to learn was a difficult one, and he was in no doubt that the people most likely to bear the cost.
would be those on Jade Shadow.
He offered a brief wave and then continued into the maw of the ship. At the.
top of the ramp he saw Danni standing there, waiting for him. Her smile did little to hide her own anxieties.
"There's nothing to be nervous about, Danni," he said, looking calmly and.
evenly into her eyes. "Everything is going to work out just fine.".
"Really?" she said, shucking the larger of her bags. "Well, either you know.
something I don't, Jacen Solo, or you're one of the best liars I've ever met."