[Dark Nest] - 1(46)

“Quiet, Solo,” Mara said. “Don’t interfere.”

Jacen said something Leia could not hear, then a helmet and X-wing flight suit appeared in his hands.

“Jacen,” Leia said, frowning. “I’m having trouble hearing you.”

Jacen spoke again, but still she could not hear him.

“Jacen?” Leia felt the color drain from her face. “How? You’re not-“

“I’m fine, Mom,” he said. “I’ll see you soon.”

“Uh-oh,” Han said beside Leia. His hand tightened around her arm. “Looks like someone’s been listening in.”

Leia glanced over and saw three more deep blue insects pushing through the crowd gathered along the crater rim. They were clearly coming toward the Solo-Skywalker group, but Leia was not ready to leave yet. Jacen was still standing in the bottom of the crater, looking up at her.

“Qoribu,” he said. “In the Gyuel system.”

Leia wanted to ask him to repeat it, to be sure she had heard correctly, but Han was pulling her away, following Nanna down the crater slope through a swarm of astonished insects. Ben was in the droid’s arms, while Luke, Mara, and Saba flanked her on three sides. Leia and Han were in the rear.

It took Leia a moment to see why they had suddenly grown so concerned. More blue insects had appeared, pushing through the crowd from all directions, not really attacking, just clacking their mandibles and staring. The rest of the Kind seemed unconcerned; they stepped aside politely, then continued to stare up at the Crash.

Leia drew her own lightsaber and activated it. “Threepio, what are they saying?”

“They’re not saying anything that makes sense,” C-3PO said. “They’re just repeating is it is it is…”

Their guide rumbled an explanation.

“What a relief!” C-3PO said. “Yoggoy says they’re just curious about us.”

“Bugs are never just curious,” Han said. He drew his powerful BlasTech DL-44. “Especially when they’re hungry.”

“Ubrub ubru Ruur!”

“They just want to see the Crash!”

“Then how come they’re coming after us?” Mara demanded.

They reached the bottom of the slope and found the gate blocked by blue-black insects. Nanna shifted Ben to one arm and opened the other at the elbow, revealing her built-in blaster cannon.

“That means move,” Han said, stepping past Nanna to confront the insects in front of them.

The insects began to crowd forward to meet him.

“The other way.”

Han raised his blaster pistol and flicked the power setting from stun to lethal.

“Not yet, Han.” Luke glanced in Han’s direction, and Han’s hand slowly fell to his side. “Let me handle this.”

“Then you’d better handle it quick,” Leia said, looking back up the crater slope. Two dozen of the blue insects had emerged from the mass and were slowly creeping closer. “It’s getting crowded back here.”

Leia felt a brush of reassurance from Luke, then an astonished booming erupted behind her. She glanced back to see several dozen insects hanging in midair, their legs and arms wiggling wildly as they attempted to make contact with the ground. The group began to move forward again, and she backed out the gate under the dangling insects. Luke was standing to one side, holding his hands palms-up above his shoulders.

“Not bad,” she said.

“Impressive, even.”

Luke winked at her, then turned toward the rest of the blue insects, who were still attempting to follow. He lowered one of his hands and stretched it toward them… and the insects immediately began to back away, dipping their heads and clacking their mandibles.

“They’re apologizing, Master Luke,” C-3PO said. “They didn’t mean to make you feel hunted.”

“No harm,” Luke said. He waited until Leia, C-3PO, and their guide were past, then lowered the first group of blue insects down inside the gate. “As long as the feeling doesn’t come back anytime soon.”

They followed Mara and Nanna back to the lot where Yoggoy had left their transport, then climbed aboard the battered hoversled. Their guide slipped behind the controls and turned her head all the way around to the passenger compartment, then thrummed a question.

“Yoggoy asks what you would like to see next,” C-3PO said.

“The Falcon,” Han said.

“Rurr ur uu buubu.”

“Yoggoy suggests a stop at a membrosia vault,” C-3PO said. “You seem rather tense.”

“That’s ‘cause I am,” Han growled. “And getting-“

“I think we’ve seen enough for one day,” Leia said tersely. She could tell that the other Jedi shared the same feeling she did, for they were still holding their lightsaber handles in their hands and scanning the surrounding area. “I think we’d all like to go straight back to our vessels.”