wanted her to be?"
"No," said Akanah. "She was more than that."
"Akanah--" Wialu said in a cautionary tone.
"I have to tell him," Akanah said with sudden anger.
"A secret is too much like another lie." She stood and took a step
toward Luke. "In the second year, a woman came to see Isela on
Carratos. She was Fal-lanassi, but I did not know her--she had not
been with the Circle on Lucazec. She stayed with us for five days, and
spent hours alone with my mother, talking."
Then she turned toward Wialu. "I think that she was sent by the Circle
to try to persuade my mother to let me go. Perhaps she would even have
taken me away with her when she left, if my mother would have agreed to
it. I've wondered if my mother got her to agree to something else--a
sum of money to be sent later, perhaps, to buy a child's passage, and a
child's freedom.
Who would expect that she would take the money and leave the child?"
Wialu's impassive face offered neither confirmation or apology. After
a long moment of staring expectantly into her eyes, Akanah turned back
to Luke.
"This woman's Circle name was Nashira," she said. "She was beautiful,
and kind to me--enough to remind me of everything that Isela was not.
She talked to me as if I mattered, and she shared her heart with me.
When I asked her why, she said that the Emperor had taken her children
from her-a boy and a girl. And all she could do was try to love the
children who were near her, and hope that someone was doing the same
for
hers. When you asked me about your mother, I pictured the woman I
wished had been mine. I told you about Nashira."
"But it was all about you," Luke said, shaking his head. "Your
pain--your fantasies--" "Are they so different from yours?" she
asked.
"I have seen inside your heart, too, Luke Skywalker. I could only
deceive you by knowing you. I could only deceive you with the
truth."
Luke backed slowly away from her, toward the cabin door. "Enough," he
said. "I've heard enough. I can't believe anything you say. I can't
believe anything that's happened since Coruscant. There's more truth
in her silence than in your words."
He gestured toward Wialu as he spoke the last, then looked to her.
"You must think me a fool, chasing after the phantom she created.
Thank you for the wake-up call. I wish you luck in coaxing her off
Isela's path, and onto yours."
Then Luke turned and left the cabin, missing Akanah's honest tears.
"Is he coming?" Akanah asked anxiously.
Etahn A'baht frowned and looked across the loading bay to the open
entryway. "Let me check with my people again," he said, reaching for
his comlink and stepping away from the foot of the boarding ramp.
Akanah looked to Wialu as a Star Morning porter passed between them,
carrying their bags aboard. "I have to talk to him. I can't leave
like this."
"How long would you have us wait?" Wialu asked gently. "The damage
you have done--" "I know," Akanah said. "But I have to make him see
that it wasn't all lies."
"There can be one star of deception in a galaxy of stars, but if that
is the star before you, you can see nothing else--and if you stare at
the deception, you will be blinded by it," said Wialu. "It will take
time, Akanah--more time than we have."
Akanah sent an anxious glance toward A'baht, who was returning to
them.
"If you can't wait, then I'll have to stay here."
"Akanah, you cannot force the flow to come to you," said Wialu. "You
can only ride it where it goes."
The general rejoined them then, his frown deeper than before. "Luke's
not answering. No one seems to know where he is," said A'baht. "I
don't understand it he brought you here, and I'd think he'd want to see
you off. We owe you a debt--" "There is no debt," Wialu said firmly.
"The choice was mine, and I ask for nothing."
A'baht grunted. "I still feel I should apologize--" "He is here," said
Wialu.
The others looked toward the entryway, but Wialu directed her gaze
toward an empty corner of the compartment.
A moment later, Luke appeared there, as though walking through a door
no one could see.
"What the--" A'baht said, then shook his head in disgust. "Jedi."
Akanah ran to meet Luke, but stopped a step short of the embrace she
wanted, and looked into his eyes for a cue.
"I came to say good-bye," Luke said.
"I'm not sure that I'm leaving."
Luke shook his head. "Your place is with them.
Wialu is right. Even I can read that in the Current."
"There's something I have to say before I can go," she said
fervently.
"Please--don't judge us by my example.
I beg you not to reject the truth because of the lie that preceded
it.
There is something gentle, and beautiful, and healing in the Fallanassi
way--and if I failed to put it before you, the weakness was in me, not
in the way of the Light, or the path of the White Current.
There is depth there beyond what I've mastered, and worth there beyond
what you've seen."
"I've seen deception, manipulation--" Stepping forward bravely, she
touched his breast-bone lightly with the flat of one hand. "It is not
a way of power, but a way of peace--and I dearly wish for you to
have that peace within you. I wish for you to add that strength to
the great strength you already possess. I always wanted that for
you--I never wanted anything from you." A tremble entered her voice as
she added in a near whisper, "I never wanted to add to your pain."
Luke covered her hand with his own and lowered his eyes. "It seems I
must choose what to believe," he said at last. "I will try to believe
that first, and perhaps it will guide me through the rest."
She looked up at him gratefully. "Then I can go now," she said, and
kissed his cheek softly before backing away.
He stood and watched as she accepted a final word of thanks from the
general, then moved up the boarding ramp past Wialu, who turned and
followed.
Akanah hesitated for just a moment before vanishing through the inner
airlock, looking back to him with a final apology in her eyes.
Somewhere he found a forgiving smile for her, and then she was gone.
By then A'baht was approaching Luke. "Comm shack has some messages for
you, Luke---a couple of priority flags that came in this morning--" he
began.
"Luke Skywalker."
Looking up at Wialu's voice, he found her standing at the inner
airlock. "Yes?"
"There is one small service I ask of you."
Luke cocked his head. "What's that?"
"Tell your sister," Wialu said, "that when she is ready to follow her
own path, she would be welcome among us." Then she turned away,
needing no reply and inviting no questions.
By the time a startled Luke could find his voice again, Star Morning
was moving away from the dock, continuing its journey.
There was no message from Leia.
The chief l
ibrarian's office on Obroa-skai advised him that his pending
request for a contract researcher had moved up to number five on the
waiting list, and he should be certain he had the research subject
clearly defined and all supporting materials ready to transmit.
The senior rehab therapist on board the medical frigate High HaVen
passed on the word that Han was being transferred again, this time back
to the Fleet hospital on Coruscant.
"It's not that he's in any danger he's doing pretty well, better than a
lot of the folks in here now. And it opens a space up on our ward,
which we can use," said the therapist. "Given that the commodore had
his own transportation available, it seemed like the best course."
After a pause and a frown, he added, "Besides, the Wookiees
insisted."
The third message was from Streen, who had compiled an overly
conscientious report on activity at the academy on Yavin 4. In his
present mood, Luke found none of it of enough interest to read
closely.
The final message was from Alpha Blue.
"Hello, Luke," said Admiral Drayson. "Now that things are a little
quieter where you are, I wanted to tell you that I've located your
missing droids. You can have them back whenever you want, in fact.
But, as you'll see, I'm afraid you're going to need to pick them up
yourself."
"Are you sure about this?" asked the senior crew chief, following at
Luke's heels as he carried out his preflight check of the exterior of
Mud Sloth. "Even with the losses, I'm sure Captain Morano would be
more than willing to put you in most anything else we have---" "I'm
sure," Luke said, ducking under the tail plane.
"I mean, after all, you Jedi swung the fight our way, driving off all
those Star Destroyers with your phantom fleet," the chief persisted.
"It just doesn't seem right to send you away in a low-budget--" "That
isn't what happened," Luke said as he
reached the boarding ladder. "And this ship serves my needs right
now."
The chief scratched his head. "Well, if you say so."
He stole a glance back over his shoulder. "I guess the general'll be
down to see you off, eh?"
"He doesn't know I'm leaving," Luke said, throw ing his bag up through
the open access hatch. "I'd appreciate it if you weren't in a hurry to
tell him."
"That's a bit of a problem," the chief said, frowning.
"Nothing's supposed to leave the flight deck without authorization from
the hot room."
"Not my problem," Luke said, climbing the ladder.
"Civilian pilot, civilian ship. Shouldn't even be here.
Clear me through the patrol screen, will you? She's not real strong on
flash breaks or roll-and-run."
"Sure," said the chief dubiously. "Sure, for you, I can do that. But,
look, I have to at least be able to tell the booth where you're
going--you know, for the log."
"You've never heard of it," Luke said as he reached for the hatch
closure. "Just log me out, Chief--and thank the gang for prepping her
so quickly."
Not long after, Luke and Mud Sloth plunged into the welcome solitude of
hyperspace for the long jump to Maltha Obex.
By the end of that journey, Luke could feel himself changing. The ship
was like a tiny chrysalis, and it was his metamorphosis that was
underway.
He had wanted time where he and Akanah had spent so much time. He had
wanted to hear the echoes of their conversations, feel the residue of
the emotions.
Luke spent the journey in silence, alternately reflecting and playing
with reflections. He inventoried his memories of the last months,
discarding some, rewriting others.
And he collected a set of drill objects, and spent hours honing the one
Fallanassi skill he grasped in its wholeness.
The work was not yet finished when the galaxy reappeared around him and
Maltha Obex appeared be fore him. He did not know at that moment quite
who he was becoming, or what would presage the transformation.
He only knew that he welcomed that moment of reconnection, and the
possibilities that it offered.
For days, Lady Luck had been fleeing before the Teljkon Vagabond,
staying over the horizon from the powerful and unpredictable Qella
artifact. Two tasks had occupied them during that time keeping tabs on
the vagabond by means of the equipment at the abandoned surface camps,
and scanning for what they hoped would be a task-force-sized entry into
the Maltha Obex system.
But the ship that did finally appear on the scanners was so small that
Joto Eckels felt a rush of disappointment rather than relief. "Perhaps
it's some sort of probe," he suggested at Pakkpekatt's shoulder.
"Don't you usually send a probe in ahead of the main body?"
"It's a civilian skiff," said Taisden. "No military comm."
"Then we have to warn it away at once," Eckels said. "Colonel, once
the vagabond spots it, half an orbit from now--" A display screen above
their heads flashed on as he spoken "This is Mud Sloth, hailing the
Lady Luck. Lando, report your status, please."
Eckels began to look more hopeful as he recognized Luke's face.
"Lando's not here, Luke--" But Pakkpekatt rose from his seat, blocking
Eckels from the holocomm as he leaned forward to reply. "Mud Sloth,
you are entering an NRI security zone, and you are at risk. Turn your
ship about at once and leave this system."
"You'd be Colonel Pakkpekatt, I take it," said Luke. "And was that Dr.
Eckels? Is Lando still aboard the vagabond, then? You haven't been
able to get to him? I need an update covering the last five days."
"You are not authorized for that information,"
said Pakkpekatt. "You are not cleared for this security zone."
"Colonel, I'm all the assistance you're likely to get for a while,
given the demands on the Fleet at the moment.
And I know Dr. Eckels doesn't want to see this expedition end with a
shoot-out, anyway--" "Absolutely correct," Eckels said, pushing his way
into the holocomm's field of view.
"--so let's see if we can't work together and make something better
happen."
"Do you have any ideas about what that might be, Luke?" said Eckels.
"The artifact has been notably un-cooperative so far--even more so than
the colonel."
"I know. I've reviewed your reports--yours and his both," Luke said.
At that news, Pakkpekatt threw his hands in the air in disgust and
turned away from the flight console. "I will demand an investigation
of this entire operation," he muttered. "The breaches of security--the
complete disregard for the lines of authority--" '2 think I can get the
team off the vagabond," Luke went on. "But I'm hoping for more than
that. Why don't you tell me what you think happened here, Doctor?"
"May I ask first if you're planning to board the vagabond yourself?"
"Yes, I am, Dr. Eckels."
"Then would it be possible for you to collect me before you do? I will
likely have better answers for you once I've seen it for myself."
"I was hoping you'd offer, Doctor," Luke
said. "If you and the colonel
would locate some power packs for the droids and put together a mercy
basket for the men, I'll rendezvous with you on your next orbit."
"Very good," said Eckels. "We'll be ready."
As the vagabond grew outside Mud Sloth's cockpit viewpanes, Eckels
looked nervously from it to Luke's face.
"How will you know if it's working?"
"We'll know if it isn't," Luke said, closing his eyes.
"Shouldn't we at least alert General Calrissian that we're coming
in?"
"No signals," Luke said. "No sounds. No thrusters.
Nothing that will disturb the flow. Nothing that will announce our
presence."
Eckels looked back toward the alien vessel. "But can't it see us just
as easily as we can see it?"
Luke shook his head slowly. "You're aboard a submarine, Doctor, not a
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