“Yes,” Jacen said. “I’ll look forward to that.”
Ben took Nanna’s hand and started toward the Falcon, leaving nothing but an awkward silence between Mara and the AWOL Jedi. Though Luke was the informal leader of the Jedi
Order, they had decided that she would be the one to confront them and put them on the defensive. That would leave Luke free to assume the role of judge, mentor, or friend-whatever was needed.
Mara stopped a few steps away and studied the young Jedi Knights in silence, meeting each of their unblinking gazes in turn, trying to gauge their moods but finding only the unreadable durasteel of veteran killers. She did not recall when they had grown so hard. The Yuuzhan Vong had come, and it seemed to Mara that they had gone almost overnight from being teenage Jedi-in-training to seasoned warriors. After what they had seen in battle-after what they had done-it seemed ludicrous to think of them being “in trouble.”
Jaina tolerated the scrutiny for only a few seconds, then stepped forward to give Mara a tentative hug. “This is a surprise.”
“I’m sure,” Leia said, arriving from the Falcon with Han, C-3PO, and Saba. “Raynar didn’t make it easy for us to find you.”
The glance of silent thanks that Leia flashed to Jacen did not go unnoticed by Jaina or the others, but Mara saw no sign that anyone seemed upset by it.
“Raynar is afraid you’ll try to take us back.” Tahiri Veila said. Over the last five years, she had matured into a sinewy blond woman-so much so that Mara might not have recognized her, if not for her bare feet and the three vertical scars the Yuuzhan Vong had left on her forehead. “And isn’t that why you’ve come?”
“It’s good to see you, too, kid,” Han taunted. “What do you say we let Luke answer that and just say hello?”
Tahiri’s face melted into an expression of joy and chagrin. “Sorry-we were kind of in the middle of something.” She opened her arms and went to Han, giving him a big, Wookiee-style hug. “It is good to see you, Han.”
When she started rubbing her arms across his back, Han shuddered and looked vaguely nauseated. Tahiri released him with a grin and embraced Leia as well, and the awkwardness finally faded between the two generations of Jedi. Han and Leia hugged Jacen and Jaina long and hard, fondly telling them both they had a lot of explaining to do and making them promise to do so later aboard the Falcon. Then the group exchanged greetings all around, and when they were done, Jaina quickly seized the initiative again.
“So what are you doing here? Without us, I didn’t think the council would have any Jedi to…”
The sentence trailed off as her eyes drifted back to Luke’s weary face, and her expression changed to one of dismay and fear.
“What’s wrong?” she asked. “Are you sick?”
“I’m fine-just a little worn,” Luke said. “We came to, urn, talk about what’s going on here.”
Jaina’s relief was obvious-as was that of her companions. Only Jacen’s expression did not change-and he had seemed unconcerned in the first place. He had been gone five years, and still he seemed less surprised than anyone by Luke’s temporary appearance.
Though Mara was being careful not to stare, Jacen gave her a small smile, letting her know that he had sensed her scrutiny. There was nothing menacing in the gesture, but it sent a cold prickle down her spine. As Palpatine’s assassin, her life had often depended on her ability to hide her thoughts-both physically and in the Force. Yet Jacen had sensed her attention casually, the way he might have caught a young woman studying him from afar.
Mara pretended not to notice and kept her gaze riveted on Jaina. “You’ve let down the entire order,” she said, deliberately forcing the younger Jedi to try to excuse their actions. “Losing one of you would have been bad enough, but there’s no way we could fill the holes left by all five of you.”
As Mara had expected, Jaina would not be intimidated. “Then how could the order spare four Jedi to come ‘talk’ to us?”
“The council felt the situation warranted it,” Luke said. “And now the order is short nine Jedi.”
“Situation, Master Skywalker?” Tesar rasped. “Has something happened?”
“You first,” Mara demanded. This was not the way the council normally dealt with its Jedi Knights, but she did not want this group taking advantage of Luke’s patience-or his regret over the outcome of the Myrkr mission. “What, exactly, are you doing here?”
Jaina and the others shared a moment of silent communion , then, to everyone’s surprise, Alema Rar stepped forward.