Tempest: Star Wars (Legacy of the Force) (Star Wars: Legacy of the Force)

by Troy Denning

  Lumiya frowned. “What do you see down there?”

  She rose and started across the cabin, wearing a black flight suit that matched exactly the color of the scarf that covered the lower half of her face. The pilot disguise was appropriate to the berthing she had demanded down near the hangar decks, and when she was in public areas, it also allowed her to conceal her disfigured face behind a darkened visor. On any other Star Destroyer, a pilot walking around in an identity-concealing helmet would have raised a security flag, but the Anakin Solo was a GAG vessel—and most GAG visitors had valid reasons for concealing their identities.

  “What’s wrong?” Lumiya inquired again. She stopped at Jacen’s side and looked out on Hapes, which had returned to its normal placid appearance. “I see nothing disturbing.”

  “It’s gone.” Jacen could think of only one reason for the succession of dark faces he had seen, and he retained enough of his childhood indoctrination to shudder at the thought of a Sith dynasty. “Don’t worry about it.”

  “Don’t worry about what?” Lumiya pressed.

  “Nothing.”

  Jacen continued to look out the viewport, watching distant smoke trails rise and fall as interplanetary traffic entered and departed the Hapan atmosphere. Was the Force telling him that he was making a terrible mistake, that the Sith way would lead the galaxy into a long era of darkness and tyranny?

  “Come, Jacen. There can be no secrets between us.” Lumiya slipped her hand under Jacen’s arm and gently turned him toward her. “Tell me what you saw. I sense how it worries you.”

  “I’m not worried,” Jacen insisted. He started across the cabin toward the intelligence station. “Have you found out who’s behind the attack on the Queen Mother?”

  “Silly boy—you won’t fool me by changing the subject.” Lumiya pulled him back around to face her, this time more forcefully. “I know how troubled you are. The veins in your neck are throbbing like drum worms.”

  “I doubt that very much,” Jacen said. Like all Jedi Knights, he had been trained from childhood to conceal such obvious signs of his feelings—and he was far better at it than most. “I’m not troubled at all.”

  “Oh—I can see that,” Lumiya mocked. “Then your pupils must be dilated because you are so excited.” She looked out the viewport and allowed her gaze to linger on the face of the planet. “Is there some reason visiting Hapes would make you happy?”

  “I’m always happy to come to the aid of an old friend,” Jacen said carefully. The last thing he wanted was for Lumiya to keep probing and discover his feelings for Allana and Tenel Ka. “Tenel Ka and I were classmates at the Jedi academy.”

  “I see.” Lumiya’s voice assumed a knowing tone. “Now I understand why you are so concerned.”

  Jacen’s heart leapt into his throat, and he began to worry that he had given away too much already. He had promised Tenel Ka that he would never reveal the secret of Allana’s paternity to anyone—and when it came to Lumiya, he considered that promise doubly binding. The Sith regarded love as a blessing that must be sacrificed in order to balance the attainment of power, and there were some things Jacen would never be willing to sacrifice.

  Jacen met Lumiya’s gaze. “Actually, I don’t think you do.” He had to give her something else to think about, something that she would find even more engaging than whether or not he had a relationship with Tenel Ka. He exhaled slowly, then said, “I saw faces.”

  He went on to recount his vision, describing how the cowled heads had covered a little more of the galaxy each time he saw them. When he finished, Lumiya arched her thin eyebrows.

  “And this future frightens you?” she demanded.

  “I have a hard time thinking of a Sith dynasty as a good thing,” Jacen admitted. “Call it family prejudice.”

  “Your family’s opinion has been shaped by Darth Sidious.” Lumiya’s tone was surprisingly patient. “And he cared more about personal power than his responsibility to the galaxy. That is not the Sith way—as I had believed you to know by now.”

  “I know what you claim,” Jacen said. Despite his tone, he was relieved to have changed the subject. “That the Sith way is the way of justice and order.”

  “The Sith way is the way of peace,” Lumiya corrected. “To bring peace, first we must bring justice and order. To bring justice and order to the galaxy—”

  “First we must control it,” Jacen said. “I know.”

  Lumiya ran her fingertips down the inside of Jacen’s arm. “Then why do you worry about what you saw?”

  “You know why I worry.” Jacen pulled his arm away—not sharply, but firmly enough to let her know he would not be distracted by her games. “You saw what Palpatine and my grandfather became.”

  “And that is how I know you won’t fall to the temptations that undid them.” Lumiya paused to think, then added, “Vergere certainly didn’t think so, either … or you wouldn’t have been the one she chose.”

  Jacen raised his brow. “There were other candidates?”

  “Of course,” Lumiya said. “Do you think we would select someone for such an important role without considering all our options? Kyp Durron is too stubborn and unpredictable, Mara too committed to her attachments, your sister too ruled by emotion—”

  “You considered Mara?” Jacen gasped. “And Jaina?”

  “We considered everyone. Your mother was too frightened by Darth Vader’s legacy, your uncle was …” Lumiya’s voice turned hard and cold. “Well, he wouldn’t have listened. He was too bound by Jedi dogma.”

  “And old grudges,” Jacen added. The long history of malice and betrayal between his uncle and Lumiya was one of the reasons he still had doubts about his decision to become a Sith. He was well aware that all Lumiya’s talk of saving the galaxy might be a ploy; that turning him and Ben into Sith would be a vengeance on Luke that surpassed even murder. “What about you or Vergere? Why bother making me a Sith when you were Sith?”

  “Because we wouldn’t have succeeded,” Lumiya said. “I’m as much machine as human, and you know how that limits me.”

  “I know the theory,” Jacen said. “The Force can be tapped only by living beings, so people with largely cybernetic bodies can’t use it to its full potential. But, frankly, your Force powers don’t seem all that limited.”

  “Neither did your grandfather’s—except to the Emperor, whose power had no limit,” Lumiya replied. “You have the potential to succeed. I don’t.”

  “And Vergere?” Jacen asked. He needed to know that Lumiya wasn’t using him to get back at Luke; that he really was the only person who could bring an era of peace and order to the galaxy. “Her potential wasn’t limited.”

  “Not in the way you mean. But could she ever win the confidence of any government?” Lumiya shook her head sadly. “She would always be tainted—at best suspected of being a Yuuzhan Vong agent, at worst of being a collaborator who helped them conquer so much.”

  Jacen sighed. “I imagine that’s true.” He was still unsure whether Lumiya was telling the truth, but he could find nothing in her explanations to prove she wasn’t. “So that left me.”

  “I wouldn’t say left,” Lumiya replied. “You were clearly the best choice. Your reluctance to use Centerpoint against the Yuuzhan Vong demonstrated that you were capable of wielding great power responsibly. Your defeat of Tsavong Lah in personal combat proved you were not afraid to use great power when necessary. All that remained was for Vergere to recruit you.”

  “Recruit me?” Jacen scoffed, thinking of his long imprisonment among the Yuuzhan Vong. “You mean capture, don’t you?”

  “I mean both,” Lumiya said. “Your uncle would have interfered with your training, so we had to isolate you. Vergere returned to the Yuuzhan Vong and helped them capture you, then maneuvered herself into a position to oversee your imprisonment.”

  “You mean my breaking,” Jacen corrected. He was beginning to realize just how intricately the two had planned his fate. What had seemed like accide
nt and coincidence at the time had been part of a much larger strategy-a strategy that he still did not fully comprehend. “Let’s be honest. Vergere had to destroy what I was before she could turn me into what you needed.”

  Lumiya inclined her head. “Great strength demands great sacrifice. I have always been honest with you about that.” She looked out the viewport and let her gaze linger on Hapes. “The question is: have you been honest with me? Are you willing to sacrifice all you love for the greater good?”

  Jacen’s stomach grew so hollow that he felt as if an air lock had opened inside him. Somehow, Lumiya knew. He started to demand how she had learned of the relationship … then realized that doing so would only reveal the depths of his feelings for Tenel Ka and Allana—and increase the likelihood that Lumiya would eventually demand their sacrifice in balance to his growing power.

  He stepped to Lumiya’s side. “I’m growing weary of being asked how much I’ll sacrifice,” he said. “I’ve already proven—”

  A soft chime sounded from a small screen in the corner of the ceiling, then Ben’s voice came out of the intercom speaker. “Special Agent Skywalker, sir. The packages have arrived.”

  “They’re not packages, Ben,” Jacen said. “They’re our guests. Show them to their cabins and—”

  “We would prefer to join you now.” Tenel Ka’s voice was less distinct than Ben’s, but still very recognizable.

  “We’ll freshen up later.”

  “That would be fine, Your Majesty.” Jacen glanced over to find Lumiya studying him thoughtfully. “Will Ben be a satisfactory escort?”

  “Quite,” Tenel Ka replied. “We will see you directly.”

  The intercom crackled off, and a knowing twinkle came to Lumiya’s eyes. “No need to worry, Jacen—I know when my presence would be a problem.”

  She went to the corner of the salon and touched her palm to a hidden pressure sensor. A meter-wide panel of wall popped forward and slid aside. She stepped through the opening into a narrow white corridor, then looked back over her shoulder. “When you need me, I’ll be in my cabin.”

  “Good.” Jacen went to the intelligence station and began to study the data Lumiya had gathered on Tenel Ka’s nobles. “I’ll let you know what else the Queen Mother can tell us about these suspects.”

  “I’m sure that will be very useful,” Lumiya said.

  As soon as the wall panel closed, Jacen summoned his Tendrando Arms security droid, SD-XX, and asked him to do a security sweep of the entire cabin. He did not really suspect Lumiya of planting an eavesdropping device, but he was not going to take any chances. Lumiya clearly knew too much about his relationship with Tenel Ka already, and he was determined to keep her from learning any more.

  By the time Jacen finished reviewing the files Lumiya had pulled, SD-XX had completed his sweep and was standing next to the intelligence station. With thin armor and blue photoreceptors set in a black, skull-like face, he resembled a scaled-down version of his progenitor line—the mighty Tendrando Arms YVH battle droid.

  Jacen looked away from his display and nodded. “Report.”

  “No eavesdropping devices detected by preliminary and standard sweeps.” The droid’s voice was thin, raspy, and just a bit menacing. “Consent to proceed with a comprehensive sweep?”

  “No,” Jacen said. “We don’t have time for that, Double-Ex.”

  “A standard security sweep is only ninety-three percent effective,” the droid said. “If there is reason to suspect—”

  “There isn’t,” Jacen said, rising. He had only a few moments before Ben arrived with Tenel Ka and Allana. SD-XX was designed to look menacing and ominous, and he did not want the droid giving his daughter nightmares. “Dismissed.”

  SD-XX remained next to the intelligence station. “Can you be certain, Colonel? In my experience, there’s always reason to be suspicious.”

  “I’m certain.” Jacen pointed toward the hidden exit Lumiya had used. “Leave the back way. I’m about to have visitors, and they don’t have clearance to see you.”

  SD-XX leaned forward at the waist, then fixed his blue photoreceptors on Jacen’s face and said nothing.

  “Go,” Jacen said. “That’s an order.”

  SD-XX’s voice grew cold. “Acknowledged.”

  He pivoted and stalked to the corner in utter silence, then touched the pressure sensor and vanished down the corridor. A moment later the feminine voice of Jacen’s reception droid sounded over the intercom speaker.

  “Special Agent Skywalker is here with your guests, Colonel Solo.”

  “Send them in.”

  Jacen rose and stepped out from behind his intelligence station. The door hissed, and Tenel Ka strode into the Command Salon with Allana at her side. Mother and daughter alike were dressed in tailored flight suits of gray eletrotex, a nanoweave material better known for its opalescent luster and outrageous cost than its effectiveness as an all-purpose armor.

  Behind them followed Ben in his black GAG utilities, and an older woman with a long aquiline nose whom Jacen recognized as Tenel Ka’s personal aide, Lady Galney. Bringing up the rear was DD-11A, a large Defender Droid with a cherubic face, synthskin torso, and weapons-packed arms. The droid served Allana as both bodyguard and nanny.

  Jacen started to bow to Tenel Ka, but as soon as Allana saw him, she pulled her hand free of Tenel Ka’s grasp and raced across the deck with her arms thrown wide.

  “Yedi Jacen!”

  Jacen laughed and leaned down to scoop her into his arms, and all trouble left his thoughts. She was a beautiful little girl with her mother’s red hair and a button nose, and suddenly he knew that his long struggle was worthwhile, that he could never stop trying to bring peace and order to the galaxy … that Allana and all the children like her deserved to grow up on worlds untroubled by war and injustice.

  Allana leaned back, studying Jacen with a pair of big gray eyes. “Jacen, some bad men twied to kill us but Mama’s guards chased them off so now we can’t have no more parties—”

  “Any more parties,” Tenel Ka corrected. She had stopped three paces from Jacen. Despite the worry circles beneath her eyes, she was as radiant as ever, with high cheeks and a long braid of red hair hanging over one shoulder. “Let Colonel Solo put you down. You’re such a big girl now that you’ve grown too heavy to hold for long.”

  That wasn’t true at all, of course. Jacen could have held Allana in his arms forever, because inside he was terrified of the sacrifice Lumiya kept hinting at. He wanted to hold his daughter forever, to keep her pressed safely against him and stay in constant touch with her through the Force—but doing any of those fatherly things would only place her in even more danger. Even this small display of Allana’s affection had put thoughtful expressions on the faces of both Ben and Lady Galney.

  “The Queen Mother is right,” Jacen said, holding Allana out where he could look at her. Though he usually managed to sneak a visit three or four times a year, this was the first time he had noticed the same fiery sparkle in Allana’s eyes that he had so often seen in his own mother’s when he was growing up. “May I return you to the deck now?”

  Allana frowned. “Yedi are supposed to be stwong!”

  “I am strong,” Jacen laughed. “But I need to save my strength for when I find the bad men.”

  Allana’s eyes grew wide. “You’re going to fight the bad men?”

  “Of course,” Jacen said. “Hunting bad men is my job.”

  Allana considered this a moment, then said, “Very well, Jacen—you can put me down … for now.”

  “Thank you.” Jacen lowered Allana to the deck and watched her return to Tenel Ka’s side. Then he turned to Ben, who was still studying him carefully, and said, “I’d like you to escort Lady Galney to the guest suite. Stand by during her inspection.”

  “Okay.” Ben’s voice betrayed his disappointment. “I mean, as you’d like, Colonel.”

  Jacen would have preferred to let Ben stay for Tenel Ka’s briefing. But Ben had b
een present when Jacen learned that he was Allana’s father, and Jacen worried that seeing them together would overcome the memory rub he had used to alter Ben’s recollection of the incident.

  Next, Jacen turned to Lady Galney. “Ben will see to anything you require to ensure the Queen Mother’s comfort.”

  “Actually, I’ll be staying.” Galney flashed him a cold smile. “As I’m sure you can appreciate, times have been rather trying for the Queen Mother.”

  “I’ll be fine, Lady Galney.” Tenel Ka kept her gaze fixed on Jacen as she spoke. “Colonel Solo’s suggestion is an excellent one—and I’d like you to take DeDe and Allana along. Ben—I mean, Special Agent Skywalker—can watch the Chume’da while DeDe does a security sweep.”

  Galney’s green eyes flashed anger in Jacen’s direction, but she inclined her head to Tenel Ka. “As you wish.” She held her hand out to Allana. “Come along, Chume’da.”

  Allana stepped past the offered hand to Ben, then took his hand and pulled him toward the exit. “Are you a Yedi too, Ben?”

  “Yes.” Ben cast a guilty glance over his shoulder, then amended, “Sort of. I’m in training.”

  “Mama was a Yedi once,” Allana said. “She still has her lightsaber and pwactices with a wemote …”

  Allana’s narrative grew inaudible as she led her small entourage deeper into the anteroom. Once the door had slid shut behind DeDe and Galney, Jacen and Tenel Ka stood facing each other in uncertain silence, their eyes meeting, but their bodies still three paces apart.

  Finally, Jacen felt sure no one would be returning unexpectedly. “It’s okay,” he said. “I just had a security sweep.”

  Tenel Ka did not smile, but a look of relief flashed across her face. She was in Jacen’s arms almost before he could open them. “It is good to have you here, Jacen. Thank you for coming.”