Star Wars - New Jedi Order - Force Heretic III - Reunion - Book 19

by Sean Williams

  "That may be so, " Danni said, "but if we'd had your defenses at our disposal in the first place, we may have stood a better chance of repelling the Yuuzhan Vong at the borders of the galaxy. "

  The Magister's frown deepened. "Your words make it sound as though Zonama Sekot is all-powerful. But this is not so. Although it did once manage to repel the Far Outsiders, it was not without suffering major damage to itself. The attack traumatized it greatly. Our defenses are not impenetrable. " She looked down at her feet, then back at Luke. "You should know that the conflict you witnessed has also scarred Sekot deeply, mentally if not physically. The appearance of the Far Outsiders came as a terrible shock. Sekot was not anticipating them; there was no reason to suspect that they were nearby. They tried to study us without being noticed, but our sensors are acute. Sekot's defenses were activated, and the Far Outsiders took that as an aggressive reaction. They, too, reacted defensively. It is not clear who struck the first blow. The conflict was sparked by fear and uncertainty, as many conflicts are. We do not wish to be party to another such conflict. "

  "I understand, " Luke said, although there was much about the situation that remained mysterious. He had assumed that the Yuuzhan Vong had opened fire on the living planet, as they had once before. "We would not want to place Sekot in any more peril than it already faces. But you must be aware that you are in peril already. The Yuuzhan Vong have stumbled across Zonama Sekot twice now, on different sides of the galaxy. They are not so many that this could have happened by chance. " Although he lacked hard evidence to back up the claim, Luke pressed on with the point. "They must be looking for you-and they will keep looking until they find you again. If so much as one ship survived the fleet that found you this time, they will descend upon you en masse, and you won't be able to defend yourselves."

  The Ferroans shifted restlessly, unnerved by the image, but Jabitha didn't flinch from it.

  "And what would you have us do?" the Magister asked Luke. "You speak of consciences, of right and wrong, and of the horrors perpetrated upon you and the galaxy by the Far Outsiders. You speak of their wish for genocide. And yet, do you not wish the same for them? Do you not wish them removed from the galaxy as they wish you?"

  "Absolutely not, " Luke said. "We have, in fact, fought hard to prevent just such an outcome, " he added, the horror of the Alpha Red virus still fresh in his mind.

  "The Yuuzhan Vong aren't all warriors, " Jacen said. "They are women and children, too. They are slaves, and outcasts, and scientists, and workers. They have as much right to life as we do. There is no question about that. "

  "Then why have you come here? What possible help can we give you?"

  "We must work together to find that out, " Luke said.

  "Must?" Jabitha echoed. "It is true that all have a right to life. It is also true that everyone must decide what to do with it. Sekot chose to distance itself from the rest of the galaxy when our attempts to trade peacefully were met by aggression and suspicion. We have suffered greatly to find peace. Why must we suffer again on behalf of those who do not have the fortitude to free themselves?"

  "Because the living Force requires it, " Jacen said.

  Jabitha's eyes flashed at Jacen. "What is that? You dare presume to speak for the Force?"

  Silence fell around the amphitheater. The air was thick with tension. Luke could feel the situation rapidly slipping from their control. In the hope of rekindling the welcome they had first received from the Magister, he decided to try another tack.

  "You say that you have been attacked three times, " he said. "We know of two instances, both perpetrated by the Yuuzhan Vong. Were they behind the third, too?"

  "No, " the Magister said. "That force consisted of forces of the Republic, led by a Commander Tarkin. "

  Luke's eyebrows raised slightly. That was a name from the past he recognized only too well. "Is that when you fled? When you went into hiding?"

  "Yes. "

  "And that was the same time the Jedi were last here?" he persisted. "After Vergere's visit?"

  "Yes. "

  Luke detected a slight softening of Jabitha's expression. That was the encouragement he had been hoping for.

  "Tell me about them, " he said. "Tell me about Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi. "

  The silence seemed to stretch forever. It felt to Luke as though everyone had stopped breathing. Even the soft night breeze rustling through the branches above seemed to stop.

  "They came looking for Vergere, " Jabitha said eventually. "And they came out of curiosity, wondering at the living ships we once sold to a select few. Under the guise of clienthood, they passed a testing ritual designed to see if they were suitable for partnership with one of our ships. The youngest, Anakin, was a mystery to us all. Normally, during the ritual, three or so seed-partners would bond with the client to form the basis of a new ship. Anakin drew twelve to him. His ship was a thing of beauty. " Jabitha paused, her gaze distant as though recalling long-forgotten times. "The Force shone brightly in Anakin. He was, briefly, my friend. "

  A strange feeling crawled into Luke's stomach. "You met him?"

  "He saved my life, " she answered. "And he revealed to me the truth about my father. "

  The words that Jacen had told him about the Blood Carver once again echoed in Luke's mind.

  "There was a Blood Carver, " he prompted.

  "An assassin sent to kill Anakin, " Jabitha explained, nodding. "He used me to gain leverage over Anakin, and Anakin became very angry. He killed with the strength of his mind. Until that moment, we had not known that such things were possible. "

  "They are possible, " Luke said, ignoring the emotions pouring through him at the revelations concerning his father, "but killing out of anger is wrong. The power of the dark side is seductive and dangerous. The Jedi have never countenanced its use. "

  "Yet Anakin used it. "

  Luke tried to find the words that might easiest convey Anakin Skywalker's fate. "It came at a cost, " he said after some reflection.

  Her gaze focused on him, sharp as a Tusken Raider's gaderffu. "You are his son, aren't you? And I don't just mean that because you share the same name. He is in you. " She faced Jacen. "And you, too. "

  "He was my grandfather, " Jacen said; Luke just nodded.

  "Sekot recognized the echoes of my friend in you both when you came here. That is in part why you were allowed to land. But you dismiss Anakin's actions as though they were an aberration, a mistake. We do not remember them that way. He loved our world, and we will not allow anything you say to damn his memory. "

  "The dark side is the dark side, " Mara pronounced. "If you'd met Luke's father when he was older, you wouldn't be so quick to defend him. "

  "That Anakin did what he did out of good is more important to us than the means he chose. He was a child, and you will not damn him for that here. He saved me. "

  Luke countered her defensiveness with a calming gesture. "It is true that I once abhorred all my father stood for, but I have not held such thoughts in a long time. You see, he saved me, too, when the Emperor, his Sith Master; tried to kill me. I no longer wish his spirit ill will; his name lived on through my family, who found no shame in it. I would count a friend of Anakin Skywalker a friend of mine, were I permitted to. " He held Jabitha's gaze without flinching. " But the shadow of Darth Vader, the man he became when he embraced the dark side, still hangs heavily over us. We have fought long and hard to free ourselves from his oppression-and we will not succumb to the same mistake he made in order to fight the Yuuzhan Vong. That would make a mockery of everything my father stood for, at the beginning and end of his life. "

  Jabitha bowed her head in acknowledgment of his short speech, but whether he'd convinced her or not was uncertain.

  "It is late, " she said. "You have had a long journey and must be tired. If you will allow us, we will provide you with shelter for the night. "

  Luke felt disheartened. "Does that mean that our discussions are at an end?"

&n
bsp; "I need time to talk with the council. " Jabitha indicated the ring of stony-faced Ferroans standing around them. "We will take into consideration all that has been said here this night and decide whether or not there is anything more to discuss. "

  "Then I advise you to consider very carefully, " Mara said. "The Yuuzhan Vong don't keep treaties, and they don't take prisoners. If they do overrun this galaxy, then they will ultimately destroy you, too. No matter how powerful Sekot thinks it is, no matter how far it runs, it won't be able to hold them off forever. And it'll be too late then to look for allies, because we'll all be dead. "

  "My wife's words are blunt, but truthful, " Luke said. " If you have any doubts about the Yuuzhan Vong's motives, we can show you the history of the war in more detail. "

  "That won't be necessary, " Jabitha said. "We feel that we understand the nature of your foe well enough. " The Magister's expression was one of great weariness, and again Luke was struck by how different she seemed from their first meeting. Then she had been vital and energetic; now she looked tired, drained.

  "We will talk again in the morning, " she said, standing and indicating that they should, too.

  With a gesture, Darak and Rowel stepped back, offering an exit from the circle. Luke would have liked to say more, but he knew that to push now would be to jeopardize their chances with the Magister. So he inclined his head slightly in a tight, polite bow and led the way from the natural amphitheater. The others followed suit. Once / they were clear of the circle, the Ferroans silently closed up behind them. Looking back, Luke saw Jabitha standing again in the middle, her eyes seeing worlds he doubted he could even hope to comprehend.

  Tahiri rocked back on her heels as her mirror image abruptly spun around and confronted her.

  It's here!

  What is?

  The shadow!

  Tahiri looked around her, but could see nothing. She and Riina were momentarily united by their mutual fear of the thing that had come for them. Tahiri felt her strength leach out of her at the thought of coming face to face with it. She was tired of fighting. If she let go now, she might finally join Anakin in another world, another life. And perhaps in that other life he could find a way to forgive her...

  You could help me fight it, Riina whispered close to her ear. Stand and help me kill it.

  How?... Tahiri started, but didn't know how to finish the question.

  You fought before, Riina said. You held your own against me. You are strong.

  Tahiri shook her head. She wasn't a warrior at heart. She'd tried to be one once, but it had cost her the one thing she'd truly loved. It had cost her Anakin; it had cost her a family.

  I was never strong enough to destroy you, she said. / could only bury you.

  You weren't trying to destroy me, Riina said. You were trying to destroy yourself.

  Tahiri wanted to deny the accusation. But the scars on her arm burned in support of Riina's argument.

  And you know I can never let you do that, Riina said.

  Why not? Tahiri asked, her face flushing with shame.

  Because I don't want to die with you.

  But you're already dead! You are a cold and cruel death that constantly sits inside me!

  And you are the cold death that envelops me, Riina responded, her words in Tahiri's ear as rough as a sandstorm. We are bound together, you and I. This is a fate we must accept.

  I accept nothing!

  Riina stepped up to Tahiri, her footsteps sounding loud in the hollow silence that had descended around them.

  Don't you think I would give you the death you desire if I could? Riina said. But we are bound together. You must see that! I could no more live in this body without you than you could without me. I cannot give you death without embracing it myself-and I am not ready to do that!

  Tahiri felt her world shifting around her. She wanted the words to refute Riina's claim, but in the end there were none.

  This can't be happening, was all she could manage in way of a defense.

  It is, Riina said. And you must accept it.

  Tahiri shook her head. I can't.

  Then you leave me no choice.

  Riina took two steps back and raised her lightsaber horizontally in front of her. Tahiri tensed in anticipation of a blow that never came. Instead, Riina's blade flashed upward, spinning high into the blackness and casting a bright blue light across the surrounding ruins, causing shadows to dance around them. Openmouthed, Tahiri followed the lightsaber's flight in fearful silence.

  As the blade came down again, Riina reached out to catch it. Tahiri could tell straight away that the Yuuzhan Vong girl had misjudged the descent, but she seemed incapable of calling out to warn her. She just stood mutely watching on as the bright blue blade slashed Riina's hand and then clattered to the floor.

  Then, from somewhere far away, almost smothered by a terrible, blinding pain, Tahiri heard herself scream.

  C-3PO cocked his golden head.

  "You hear that?" Han asked.

  "Of course, sir, " the droid said. "The signal is quite clear. "

  "We haven't been able to locate a source yet; the atmosphere appears to be carrying it a long way, and spreading it out in the process. But the important thing is, can you translate it? And don't bother telling me how many languages you speak. The only person in the room who hasn't already heard that spiel a thousand times is Droma, and he's not easily impressed. "

  "As you wish, sir. "

  Leia suppressed a half smile as C-3PO nodded stiffly. The warbling transmission issued from the cockpit speakers with liquid clarity. Millennium Falcon's audio scrubbers had managed to remove much of the background hiss, along with the increasing electromagnetic noise from the battle taking place above the planet. If C-3PO couldn't translate it, no one could.

  While the droid was busy with this task, Han angled the Falcon up and over a ridge, diving deep into another trench. Droma, in the copilot's seat, fired a concussion missile at a distant mountain, in the hope that the resulting explosion would cover their tracks. Thus far there had been no attempt to interfere with their progress across the surface of Esfandia, so they had to assume that the tactic had thus far worked.

  But there had been no sign of the relay base, either. Wherever it was, it had dug in deep and wasn't moving.

  "The transmission appears to be in a very strange form of trinary machine language, " C-3PO said, his glowing photoreceptors gazing off into distant semantic landscapes. "The grammar is inconsistent, and the vocabulary quite peculiar. I am quite certain, though, that this is the source language. "

  "Is it coming from the relay base?" Han asked over his shoulder.

  "I don't think that's terribly likely, sir, " the droid said. "Not unless it has taken to talking to itself. "

  "There's more than one signal?" Leia asked.

  "I have identified at least seventeen. "

  "Seventeen?" Han repeated. "That's impossible. "

  "They could be decoys, " Droma suggested, "laid out across the surface to misdirect the search. "

  "What's the point of that if you can't find a single decoy? The way the atmosphere spreads these frequencies, we'd be lucky to bump into one by accident. "

  Droma shrugged. "It'd keep us busy, though. And the Yuuzhan Vong. "

  Leia thought of the strange, flowerlike formations the Falcon had passed through earlier, and an uneasy thought suddenly occurred to her...

  "These transmissions, " she said. "Are they all using an identical variation on that trinary code?"

  "No, Mistress. Each transmissions source has its own unique variation. "

  "What's the point of that?" Han said.

  Leia waved him silent. "And what are they talking about, exactly?"

  "It's difficult to say with any precision. Some of the nouns are unfamiliar to me, and the modifiers have mutated in ways that defy-"

  "Your best guess will do, " Han interrupted.

  "There seems to be a lot of talk about the battle, " the droid
returned after listening to the signals for a few seconds. "The atmospheric disturbances are severe in some areas, and it would appear that the local flora has suffered catastrophic damage. "

  "Did you say flora?"

  "Indeed, sir. The ecosystem of this world is another major topic of conversation, particularly among those whose food supplies have been threatened. "

  "Food supplies-?" Han glanced at the forward viewport. It was black and lifeless outside. Even using enhanced vision, the surface showed no obvious signs of any biological activity. "Are you saying that the things making these signals are alive?"

  "Why, yes, sir. I had assumed you already suspected this. "

  "But how is that possible in an environment like this?"

  "Life has been found before in atmospheres of similar constitution, sir, " C-3PO lectured. "It could have evolved here in the planet's early days, when the heat from the core was much more intense. Single-celled life-forms could easily have evolved, perhaps larger organisms also. "

  "But you're talking intelligent life, " Han protested. "Things that can talk!"

  "Indeed, sir. It is also possible that these life-forms are not indigenous to Esfandia. "

  "They could have been imported here?" Leia asked. "Where from?"

  "From wherever it was they evolved, Princess. "

  Han raised his hands in frustration. He looked at Droma as though for support.

  "I guess it makes sense, " the Ryn said. "If life was going to exist here, it would have to be scattered; a low-energy world couldn't support too dense a population. They would have to use a form of communication that could reach long distances, and comm frequencies give them that. "

  " But trinary code?"

  "I think someone taught them to speak that way, " Leia said.

  Han's eyes narrowed thoughtfully. "Someone on the relay team?"

  "Past, if not present. The language has had time to change, after all. " She turned to C-3PO. "Do you think we could communicate with these creatures?"

  "I can see no reason why not, Princess. We know the frequencies upon which they communicate, and I am fluent in an approximate version of their language. "