Han glowered at the Ryn’s retreating back. “There’d better not be,” he said. “What did he say, anyway?”
Tahiri lowered her voice. “That was our contact. The Ryn. He said to tell you that things here aren’t what they seem.”
Han rolled his eyes. “When are they ever?”
Tahiri smiled nervously. “That’s just what I said.”
“Anything else?”
She repeated what the Ryn had told her about accepting an offer of accommodation.
Han nodded, casting one final glance at the Ryn as if tempted to follow him. “Okay.” He put an arm about her shoulder and guided her back to where the others stood waiting. “It’s nothing,” he called to them. “Let’s get on with it.”
Jaina gave Tahiri a penetrating once-over as she joined the group, but nothing further was said. Together they walked to where the security guards awaited them. As the uniformed guards surrounded them to escort them through the doors, Tahiri found herself filled with misgivings. It felt like they’d done all this before …
The harsh white of reflected sunlight belied the cold heart of Csilla. The briefest orbital scan of the icebound world revealed dozens of glaciers around the equator, as well as solid ice shelves that covered vast expanses of the planet. It made other frozen worlds like Hoth look positively temperate.
And yet, incredibly, it was inhabited. Huge cities skated the glacial fields like Mon Calamari water skimmers, riding the near-geologic flow of the ice; others buried themselves deep under the cold, tunneling into bedrock in search of geothermal warmth far below.
“Chilly,” Jacen said, staring in muted awe out at the swarms of clawcraft that silently flanked Jade Shadow as she arrived in orbit. Images of the Chiss home planet had previously been nonexistent. Luke and Mara’s last expedition to Chiss space, years earlier, had taken them nowhere near the heart of the alien empire.
“You talking about the planet or this reception?” Danni asked.
Jacen smiled at the quip. “You’d think with the pick of any of the worlds in the Unknown Regions that they’d have chosen one a bit more agreeable than this one. I mean, why stay here when there are so many warmer climates nearby?”
“Sheer obstinacy,” Mara answered from her position in Jade Shadow’s pilot’s seat. “You’ve seen how Jag and his pilots operate. Well, multiply that by ten and you might come up with something that approximates your average Chiss. Remember, Vanguard Squadron represents the imaginative, risk-taking extreme. The everyday stubbornness you’ll find on Csilla would even make the Hutts look accommodating.”
A brisk voice advised the incoming delegation from the Galactic Alliance of their allotted orbit. “You will not deviate from this vector,” they were warned, “unless instructed to do so.”
“We understand,” Mara replied, unable to hold the irritation from her voice. “But is there someone who can—”
“Commander Irolia is the intermediary you have been allocated. She will attend you on this frequency and address any queries or concerns you may have at this time.”
With that, the line went dead.
“Looks like our friend Commander Irolia beat us here,” Mara said.
“Well, at least it’ll be a familiar voice,” Jacen said.
“Ask for her,” Luke said from the navigator’s chair. “Tell her we want permission to send a landing party.”
“Are you sure that’s a good idea?”
“Which: landing or asking?” Luke smiled fleetingly. Then, soberly, he added, “Listen, Mara, if it’s not safe to deal with the Chiss now, with Imperials on our side, I fear it never will be.”
Mara acquiesced without further comment, and Jacen leaned back in his seat to listen to the conversation. It was brief, as expected. Irolia replied to Mara’s request with a briskness suggesting that she had anticipated it days ago. She gave them a window and uploaded a reentry corridor to R2-D2’s navigation banks. The stubby droid whistled to indicate that he’d received it, and that was that.
“Do you require the shuttle?” Captain Yage asked over the command frequency.
“I think we’ll take Shadow down this time,” Luke said. “Instruct Hegerty to gear up and—”
“Actually, Soron Hegerty won’t be going along on this trip,” Yage cut in. “The incident on Munlali Mafir proved a little too much for the doctor. She’s opted to stay aboard and sit this one out, if that’s all right.”
Jacen could see his uncle’s disappointment. Since leaving on this mission, the doctor and Lieutenant Stalgis had assisted Luke and his party on a number of occasions. His uncle was thankful for this, as it reflected cooperation between the Empire and the Galactic Federation of Free Alliances—and the more this could be seen happening, the easier it would be to sway the cynics in the Alliance. Her decision to sit this mission out would no doubt start rumors among those cynics.
“Okay,” he said, nodding. “Can you organize us a ground party? That window’s in an hour, so we’ll need to move quickly.”
“Testing our mettle,” Yage said, almost audibly grinding her teeth. “We’re more than a match for that trumped-up power princess.”
Luke smiled at his wife as Yage closed the line. “I think Irolia might have won herself an enemy.”
“Not hard,” Mara agreed. “After all, the commander isn’t particularly trying to make any friends.”
A thought struck Jacen then. “Do you think she’s been sent to us deliberately?”
Luke turned in his seat. “To see how we’ll react?” He thought for a moment. “Could be that someone much higher up than Irolia is testing us.”
“Don’t worry,” Mara said. “Arien is right. We’re more than ready for the Chiss.”
“I’ve no doubt about that,” Luke said. He faced the front again. “But it’s not Chiss I’m worried about.”
Jade Shadow came in low over the western arm of what would have been a crescent-shaped continent on a more temperate planet. Deep-surface radar revealed scoured rock two kilometers down, buckled and split by the weight of the ice above. Melt channels and refreezing fissures had created a fiendishly complicated network of caves and tunnels throughout the ice, and it was in these tunnels that the Chiss had built the city of Ac’siel.
Above the ice shelf, all that was visible was an equilateral triangle consisting of three craterous spaceports linked by lines of towers that could have been massive observation antenna and weapons installations.
Or perhaps, Jacen thought, just there to intimidate.
The wind howled like a lovelorn wampa, tearing at the hull of Jade Shadow as Mara brought her down to the spaceport they’d been allocated. Her hands moved deftly over the controls, guiding the ship with natural ease.
Back in the passenger bay, Jacen waited with the rest of the landing party. Outside, heat differentials whipped the storms into a fury, creating an illusion of dynamic processes that might eventually lead to life, but the ice always won out in the end. Where water froze, only the meanest organisms could evolve, and only the toughest survive. The Chiss clearly fit into the latter category, clinging to their world tooth and claw, no matter how much it tried to freeze them out.
Danni followed Jacen to the air lock when they had touched down.
“Ready when you are,” she said as the air lock hissed open.
Together, they stepped outside.
He had expected to find himself in the middle of an icy storm, but instead the air was warm and still. They had landed inside a large docking bay that was sealed against the elements by a flickering force field high above. The ferrocrete platform beneath his feet was clean and dry, and sloped down to where a small welcoming party waited for them. Seven officers dressed in purple-and-black uniforms stood to attention, their blue skins looking like marble under the arc lights. Jacen couldn’t tell if Commander Irolia was one of them, but he offered a small wave of acknowledgment anyway. There was no response.
“Nothing untoward,” he sent to Mara and Luke via comlink.
/>
Moments later they joined him and Danni outside Jade Shadow. Luke came first, followed by Lieutenant Stalgis and Mara. A second stormtrooper would stay with Jade Shadow, along with Tekli and Saba. The air lock sealed behind them.
There was a brief pause during which nothing happened. They simply stood awkwardly by the air lock, waiting.
“You know, I expected the Chiss to be more punctual,” Luke said.
Jacen caught the wink that his uncle sent Mara. “Perhaps we caught them with their pants down,” he put in.
At that moment the formation of guards dissolved. Two people walked through the entrance behind them and up the ramp to where Jade Shadow had settled. One of them was Commander Irolia, her expression as steely as her hair was black. The other was a human—a solid, muscular man of about Luke’s height. Completely bald, he had a thin mouth, deep-set eyes, and a nose large enough to rival a Toydarian’s. When he spoke, he made no pretense of welcome.
“I am Chief Navigator Peita Aabe,” he said, his voice as sharp as the creases in his uniform. He came to a halt before them, his cold gaze touching each of them in turn. “We have made arrangements for you to meet with the necessary authorities.”
“Wouldn’t you like to know who we are?” Luke asked.
Aabe’s attention settled on the Jedi Master with an expression that suggested he was making the best of a bad situation. “That isn’t necessary. Commander Irolia has ensured that we have the relevant information. If you will come this way.”
Aabe turned to lead them across the docking bay.
“Wait a second,” Mara said. “I’d like to know more about you, first. You’re human.”
He didn’t attempt to hide his annoyance as he swung around. “And that troubles you?”
“No, of course not. It’s just that apart from Admiral Parck and Soontir Fel, I wasn’t aware that any others had joined the Chiss.”
“Many would have, but few were accepted.” Aabe’s frosty facade melted for a moment, allowing a glimpse of burning pride beneath. “I serve Assistant Syndic Fel in his absence. My origins are not important.”
He turned and continued down the ramp. Irolia waited to ensure that they followed, then did the same.
Assistant Syndic Fel? Jacen thought as they followed the Chiss officer. The Baron must have been promoted. Whether that was a good thing, though, he couldn’t decide.
“A cheery lot, aren’t they?” Danni mumbled as they walked.
“Be that as it may,” Jacen replied, “I’d sooner deal with them than the Krizlaws, any day.”
As they passed through the exit from the docking area, the seven guards standing there fell in line behind them.
“Where are we going?” Mara asked.
“I have already told you,” Aabe said gruffly.
“You told us that we were going to meet the ‘necessary authorities,’ but you haven’t told us who they are or where we’re being taken to meet with them.”
Aabe strode a few more paces before speaking again. “Is that really important at this time?”
Mara rolled her eyes at Luke, clearly annoyed with the evasive responses. “You tell me: is it?”
Surprisingly, it was Irolia who answered Mara’s initial question.
“You are being taken to meet representatives of the Four Families and Chiss Expansionary Defense Fleet.” Mara half turned to face the woman as they walked. “There we will discuss the role the Chiss will play in your mission.”
“You work for the Nuruodo family,” Mara said. “That’s military and foreign affairs, right?”
Irolia didn’t answer. She didn’t need to. The Chiss didn’t give anything away, but the broad structure of their government was common knowledge. Jacen knew that four families dominated public affairs: Nuruodo, Csapla, Inrokini, and Sabosen. The Csapla oversaw resource distribution, agriculture, and other colonial affairs; industry, science, and communications were the concern of the Inrokini; the Sabosen ensured that justice, health, and education services were maintained equitably across the colonies.
“Which of the families do you work for, Chief Navigator Aabe?” Jacen asked.
“I work for none of them,” their stiff-backed guide said without so much as a glance in Jacen’s direction. “I am employed by the CEDF. The fleet is always in need of those with experience outside the inhabited territories.”
“Incursions from the Ssi-ruuvi Imperium and the Yuuzhan Vong,” Irolia explained, “plus our experience with Grand Admiral Thrawn, taught us that insularity could be a weakness as well as a strength. It’s not enough to be strong; a truly successful culture needs to be flexible as well. And in order to be flexible, we must look beyond what we consider familiar; we must come to know our neighbors as well as we know ourselves.”
“Most governments would open diplomatic ties,” Mara said. “Either that or just send in spies.”
“Those are methods we have certainly tried, and indeed to an extent still employ. After all, we are talking to you now, are we not?” Her smile flickered briefly. “However, sometimes we find that integration is the optimal way to achieve our goals. Your former Emperor accepted Thrawn as an ally because he was a brilliant strategist, despite his nonhuman origins; so, too, are we prepared to accept non-Chiss into our fold.”
“Would you accept a Ssi-ruu into the fold? Or perhaps a Yuuzhan Vong?”
Irolia didn’t miss a step. She regarded Luke, who had offered the challenge, with not the slightest change in expression.
“If they were exceptionally talented and trustworthy,” she said, “then yes, of course.”
Jacen was unsettled by the response, and he sensed the others were, too. It wasn’t hard to understand. The pain of loss was still fresh in the hearts and minds of everyone around him. Lieutenant Stalgis had lost many troopers and friends on Bastion; Danni had seen her colleagues die on Belkadan, right at the start of the war, and had probably seen more death and mayhem as a result of the Yuuzhan Vong than anyone Jacen knew; Mara had almost lost her infant son Ben on Coruscant; and Jacen himself still felt the terrible absence of his brother Anakin in his heart …
His uncle’s feelings were kept carefully hidden, and Jacen wondered what he was thinking. Intellectually he knew that at some point loss had to be put aside to make room for hope. Clinging to the past only made the future that much harder to achieve; and it was only in the future, ultimately, that peace lay.
With Irolia’s comment having effectively killed any further discussion, the party continued along in gloomy silence. In the absence of any conversation, Jacen studied their surroundings, his curiosity piqued by the strange translucent substance that made up the walls. It appeared to be ice, but when he reached out to touch it he found it warm and dry. Visible in the substance every meter or so was a frame of silver metal that seemed to define the boxlike corridors, each possessing a green light that flickered on as they approached and then switched off after they had passed. At first glance he could see no discernible reason for the frames’ existence, although he had no doubt that they performed some function. The Chiss didn’t seem the types to enjoy decoration for its own sake.
Danni noticed his interest. “Field generators,” she whispered.
He frowned, momentarily puzzled. Field generators? Why should they need field generators to hold their corridors together? Surely the power drain would outweigh any possible security benefit.
Then it hit him: the walls really were made of ice. The field generators provided a boundary between the bubble of warm air in which they walked and the slippery surface beneath their feet. They also kept the cold at bay, and stopped the ice from melting. The generators switched on as they approached then switched off as they passed, meaning that the power drain on each unit was minimized. Overall, the cost would be much less than sealing and heating every single cubic meter of the tunnels—especially when the cost of manufacturing and laying insulated materials around the tunnels was factored in. It was an elegant solution to a tricky problem—part
icularly in areas that weren’t frequently traveled. Jacen was impressed.
Eventually they came to an area that was insulated and sealed with more conventional materials. His ears popped as they passed the last of the field generators and the heated bubble dissolved around him. A smell of flowers struck him, and he found himself in a wide, tiered space that was thick with vegetation. The ceiling hung at least twenty meters above, with a bright tube that ran its length, lighting the area. The atmosphere was peaceful and serene, and Jacen’s first impression was that it was a residential space—perhaps an underground park for the public. However, he soon dismissed the idea when he realized that, apart from themselves, there was no one else present. For that matter, he hadn’t seen anyone other than their escort since they’d arrived at Ac’siel. All the corridors they’d walked down had been empty.
Whatever the reason for this was, he didn’t have time to ponder it. Chief Navigator Aabe had led them to one of three doors on the far side of the gardenlike area and was now impatiently trying to hurry them through. Jacen and the others complied, filing into a relatively small and circular room containing a dozen black chairs set around an equally circular table. The walls, floor, and ceiling were black also, while tiny globes floating high above stabbed beams of light through the room’s shadows to give prominence to the chairs around the table below. On the far side of the chamber, opposite where they’d entered, was another door.
Taking the seat nearest to him, Aabe indicated for the others to sit also. They did so, occupying a semicircle of chairs opposite him—all except Stalgis, that is, who opted to remain at the door with Irolia. Guarding the guard, perhaps, Jacen thought.
The door behind Aabe slid open without a sound, and four figures entered the room. Their faces were hidden by hoods, and each of their head-to-foot robes was a different color—bronze, rust-red, silver-gray, and copper-green. Without a word, they took seats at seemingly random positions around the circle, spreading themselves out on either side of Aabe.
An awkward silence followed, only broken when Mara asked, “So, do we find out now who we’re talking to?”
Refugee: Force Heretic II Page 10
