[Dark Nest] - 1(144)

“I was wondering if you had,” Fel said.

“Of course not. Why would I comm a vessel I had boarded?”

“I don’t know that you are comming them,” Fel countered suspiciously. “Your signal is coming from the Falcon.”

“Your signal is coming from the Falcon,” Gray accused. “I warn you, I won’t fall for any of your Chiss-“

“Pardon me, gentlemen,” Leia said. “Your concern is touching, but I assure you, the Falcon remains under Han’s command. Will you both activate Idol Smasher?”

Idol Smasher was an old encryption system the allies had used in the war against the Yuuzhan Vong. Outdated though it was, it was almost a certainty that both fleets would still have the decoding hardware available in their code room archives. Military cryptographers were notorious pack rats.

After a short pause, Gray said, “We’ll need two minutes.”

“We’ll need one.” Fel’s tone was superior. “Please notify us when you’re ready, Dukat.”

Han glanced back at C-3PO, who was already plugging the necessary module into the comm station, and smirked.

“The Falcon is ready now.”

The transmission light went out, then Leia said, “Trouble, Han.”

Han looked back to the tactical screen and immediately began to warm the ion drives. The moon Kr was fast vanishing behind a cloud of dartships. As he watched, the spectrograph identified their propulsion as hydrogen-based.

“Dark Nest,” he said. “Anything from Luke and Mara?”

“A little anxiety-they’re not calling for us, yet.”

“Tell them not to push it,” Han said. “They’re too old to play hero.”

“Han, they’re younger than you were at the Battle of Yuuzhan’tar.”

“Yeah, well. I’ve got my luck,” Han said. “All they have is the Force. “

Fel’s voice came over the comm. “Checking encryption.”

“Well done, Commander!” C-3PO answered. “That took only thirty-three point seven seconds.”

“Thirty-three point four-you neglected the transmission lag,” Fel corrected. “I wanted to have a word with the Solos before Dukat Gray joined us.”

“Jag, we’re not going home.” Han was keeping one eye on the tactical display and one on Leia, ready to start toward Kr the instant it looked like Luke and Mara were in trouble. “Jaina’s in there, and-“

“Yes, I know,” Fel said. “I think… actually, I’m convinced she saved our fleet.”

Leia’s jaw fell, but her voice betrayed no hint of her shock. “You find that surprising, Jag? The Jedi are here to stop a war, not choose sides.”

“We’ve never doubted your intentions, Princess Leia,” Fel said. “Only your province in being here-and your ability to resist the Colony’s Will.”

“Then Jaina has changed your minds?”

“She has opened mine,” Fel corrected. “But that is very different from convincing Defense Fleet Command that the Jedi can neutralize the Killik threat.”

“We understand your concern,” Leia said. “Perhaps Defense Fleet Command would believe us if the Colony withdrew from Qoribu?”

There was a moment of stunned silence. On the tactical display, Kr had vanished beneath a yellow swarm of dartship symbols. Han shook an inquiring finger in the moon’s general direction, but Leia shook her head. Luke and Mara still did not want any help.

Finally, Fel asked, “The Jedi can arrange that?”

“Testing encryption,” Gray’s voice broke in. “You’ve been talking without me.”

“Encryption confirmed.” In a tone that mimicked Gray’s peevishness, C-3PO replied, “Though you are somewhat late.”

“It was only two minutes twenty,” Gray complained. “That’s no excuse-“

“We were just catching up on old times,” Leia said. “You may not be aware of it, but Commander Fel came very close to becoming our son-in-law.”

As Leia spoke, her eyes grew wide, and she began to gesture frantically out the forward viewport. Han slammed the throttles forward, and the Falcon leapt toward Qoribu.

“Commander Fel, Dukat Gray, your tactical officers are about to tell you that the Falcon is accelerating toward the moon Kr at maximum power.” Though Leia’s face was pale, her voice remained calm. “I wanted to inform you both of the reason.”

Leia briefed them on the Jedi discovery of the Dark Nest and their theory about the power it held over the rest of the Colony’s collective mind. She even revealed the Order’s fear that the nest was being controlled by the two Dark Jedi who had abducted Raynar Thul on Baanu Rass, keeping secret only the fact that the Dark Nest was also attempting to absorb Alema Rar.