The Unchronicled Adventures Of Ahsoka Tano, Book Ten

Chapter Seventy-Five: Beyond My Reach

LUX BONTERI

Lux had scarcely been at his father's summer summer estate for three days, and he already had to leave.

Those idiots, he fumed as he stuffed another shirt in his bag. I told them not to open negotiations without me, their company leader, and where are they now? Stuck in the middle of a planet-wide publicity cesspool at the point of being forced to go public about our secret dealings with the Rebellion!

He couldn't believe this was happening.

"Must you really go?"

Lux's arms went slack, and he sighed as he turned towards the doorway to face his father, folding a pair of dress pants against his chest. "Yes."

"But you've hardly been here three days, and Lothal is so far away! Can't you attend the conference via holo?"

"It's closer than Cialone," Lux said with a shrug. "And it's far too important for that. This vote will very likely end up deciding the future of IronFist: the matter up for debate is whether or not we're going to give the Empire a place on the board.

"They're talking about buying up to fifty-four point seven percent of the company's shares. With that, they would have majority vote over the other IronFist leaders in executive decisions, and I know that more than a few of the others would go along with whatever they said just to avoid getting crushed.

"They could make the company go public or even absolve it entirely if it suits them, and either option would be catastrophic for us here on Cialone, not to mention the rest of the Rebellion. An investigation would ruin us, not to mention cut the Rebellion off from its only real source of raw metals." Lux sighed, shaking his head. "I'm sorry, but I can't miss this. I have to be there to make sure the other leaders stay united and... to hopefully talk us out of it if something goes wrong."

Enarion nodded calmly, but Lux could tell he was disappointed.

"I shouldn't be gone more than three or four days if all goes well – but definitely no later than the date we set with Ahsoka and Jani for that get-together," he soothed. "You'll be all right to watch over the kids until then, right?"

"Perfectly all right," Enarion reassured him with a smile, and left it at that.

It could have been Lux's imagination, but as far as he was concerned, the silence felt far too heavy to be empty.

"There's something on your mind," he said. "What is it?"

"There's something I've been meaning to tell you, Lux. I wish it had not gotten to this point, but I sense that soon you will have to make a difficult choice. I... miscalculated, and I admit I should have known better considering your brother and I grew up in similar circumstances – without any real attachment to adult figures."

Lux frowned, and a hint of uneasiness he couldn't help crept into his tone. "What do you mean?"

Enarion sighed. "Caleb has slipped beyond my reach. He's been there for a long time, though I never told your sister for fear of causing her unnecessary pain. The one person he'll hear the story of our family from now is you – it's too late for me to step in, and he knows Jani too well to truly believe her. You're the best placed, after all: he's curious about you, and wants to know how you fit into everything."

"Did you tell him about me?"

"No. He knows nothing of the connections between the two of you, but I have reason to believe he remembers you from Morvolo all those years ago, and has questions he thinks only you can answer. If anyone is to tell him about his true lineage, then it must be you. But I leave it to you to choose whether or not to do so."