[Dark Nest] - 1(119)
“I’m sorry, Princess. We have orders-“
“Then I suggest you let me speak to whoever issued them,” Leia said. “Queen Mother Tenel Ka has been a frequent guest at my dinner table. I’m sure she would be unhappy to learn we were detained as a matter of… procedure.”
A new voice came over the comm channel. “Princess Leia Organa Solo?” he asked. “The mother of Jedi Jacen Solo?”
“That’s correct.” Disturbed by the way the man had emphasized Jacen’s last name, Leia reached out in the Force and was relieved to feel no sense that her son was anywhere in the fleet. “To whom do I have the honor of speaking?”
“Forgive me,” the man replied. “I am Dukat Aleson Gray, ninth cousin to the Queen Mother and Duch’da to Lady AlGray of the Relephon Moons.”
“Thank you,” Leia said. “I’ll remember you to the Queen Mother the next time we meet.”
“You’re very kind.” Gray’s tone was polite but doubtful. “I’m certain we can trust you to hold our encounter here in the strictest confidence.”
“Of course,” Leia replied. “We wouldn’t want to jeopardize the Colony’s reinforcements.”
The comm fell silent.
“Blast, you didn’t have to say that,” Han groaned. “We know where they’re going.”
“But not why” Leia said. “If a war is breaking out, we need to know.”
“Why?” Han asked. “We won’t be able to tell anyone if we’re stuck in the belly of a Battle Dragon.”
Gray’s voice came over the comm again. “Actually, our mission is closer to peacekeeping than reinforcing.”
Leia shot Han a smug grin, then said, “Yes, that’s what I was given to understand. Do you need navigation data to the Colony gateway?”
“That won’t be necessary,” Gray responded. “We have a course to the Lizil nest, and your son assured us that someone would be waiting-“
“Our son?” Leia interrupted.
“Yes.” Gray sounded confused. “The Queen Mother’s new consort. He was the one who, uh, convinced her to intervene.”
A loud smack sounded from the pilot’s seat. Leia glanced over to find Han holding his palm to his brow.
“You think you know him,” Han said, shaking his head. “And then he tries to start a war.”
TWENTY-EIGHT
The door slid aside, revealing the clean-lined interior of the Skywalkers’ uncluttered Ossan cottage. Mara had grown so accustomed to the vague uneasiness she had been feeling in the Force that the sensation barely registered as she crossed the foyer. But this time she paid special attention, closing her eyes and letting her feet carry her toward where it seemed strongest.
“Mom!”
Mara opened her eyes and found Ben standing before her, on the other side of low table that was the living room’s only furniture. The sliding wall panels that partitioned the house into rooms were all closed, so it was difficult to tell where he had come from. He pointed at her feet.
“Your shoes!”
Mara glanced down and saw she had neglected to leave her dusty boots in the foyer, as was the custom on Ossus.
“Never mind my shoes.” She started around the table toward Ben. “Did you bring a pet back from Jwlio?”
Ben’s eyes grew round. “A pet?”
“A Killik,” Mara said. The uneasy feeling was as strong as ever, but she could not pinpoint a location. It seemed to be coming from Ben and from all around her. “Is that what you’ve been doing with all that gelmeat and nerfspread?”
“Aren’t Killiks smart?” Ben asked.
“Smarter than I thought. Why?”
” ‘Cause then she’d be a friend, not a pet.”
Mara cocked an eyebrow. “She, Ben?”
Ben’s mouth fell open, and he backed toward the kitchen. “I, uh… they’re all-“
“Stay here.” Mara started around the table. “Don’t even think of moving.”
“But, Mom-“
“Don’t argue,” she ordered. “Your father will talk to you later.”
Mara stretched her awareness into the kitchen and sensed only Nanna inside, but that did not stop her from pulling her lightsaber.
“Mom, don’t-“
“Quiet!”
Mara used the Force to slide a wall panel aside and found Nanna down on her knee joints, quietly brushing morsels of gelmeat onto a sheet of flimsiplast. The rest of the room appeared deserted.
“Nanna?”
The droid looked up, but was so flustered she continued to brush morsels, missing the flimsiplast and spreading them across the floor.