“I understand, but that’s never going to happen again.” Luke locked eyes with his nephew and put some durasteel in his voice. “And neither will something like the trick you pulled on your sister and the others. Is that clear?”
Jacen let out a breath of exasperation, but nodded. “The next time, I’ll come to you.”
“And if Luke’s not available?” Mara asked.
“I’m sure he’ll have designated someone to oversee the order in his absence.” Jacen gave Luke a wry smile. “I’m not the only one who learns from his mistakes.”
“Let’s hope not.” Luke reached out and was unhappy to find his nephew still closed off from the Force. “Now, what else are you hiding?”
Jacen was not surprised this time. He merely nodded, then said, “It has nothing to do with the Jedi-and I wouldn’t be hiding it if it wasn’t very important.”
“Does it explain why you want to kill Raynar so badly?” Luke pressed.
Jacen smirked. “That’s no secret,” he said. “I want to kill Raynar because it’s the only way to stop the war. Lowie and Tesar don’t want to because he was our friend at the academy.”
“You don’t think they’re being influenced by Raynar?” Mara asked.
Jacen considered this for a moment, then shrugged. “If Raynar had known what we were considering, sure. But they’re not complete Joiners, so it’s hard to believe they would’ve been in close enough contact for him to know that the Masters were discussing his death.”
Luke nodded. Raynar had already proven-when he originally summoned Jaina and the others to the Colony’s aid-that he could use the Force to exert his will over non-Joiners. But Cilghal’s experiments had established that he was not able to read minds-even Joiner minds-over long distances any better than Jedi could communicate through the Force. It was all feelings and notions; at the most, Raynar would have felt a vague sense of danger and unease.
“Good,” Luke said, relieved Jacen had not seized such an obvious opportunity to cast doubts on the judgment of his rivals. At least he was still trying to he fair and balanced in his actions. “That’s the way I understood the situation, too.”
“Of course,” Jacen added, “now that Tesar and Lowie have told Madame Thul about the debate, we can assume Raynar has been informed via more conventional means.”
Luke frowned. “How do you know about that?”
“Tesar and Lowie?” Jacen’s gaze flicked away, and he could not quite hide his frustration with himself. “I didn’t realize it was supposed to be a secret.”
“We haven’t told anyone about it,” Luke said. “And since I sent the three of them to Dagobah to consider whether they truly want-“
“You sent Tahiri, too?” Jacen gasped. “But she didn’t tell Madame Thul anything!”
It was Mara’s turn to frown. “And how would you know that?”
Jacen hesitated a fraction of a second, then seemed to realize he had made a mistake and said, “Tahiri and I still talk.”
“About what Lowie and Tesar are doing?” Mara demanded. “Is she spying for you?”
“We talk,” Jacen insisted. “Sometimes their names come up.”
“I can’t believe this!” Luke rolled his head back and shook it in despair. Had matters really gotten so out of hand that the order’s Jedi were spying on one another? “Maybe I should send you to Dagobah to join them.”
“I didn’t betray the Masters’ confidence,” Jacen replied evenly. “But if that’s your decision, of course I’ll go.”
“I’ll think about it,” Luke said darkly. “In the meantime, no more spying. If we can’t trust each other, we don’t have a chance of pulling together.”
“Actually, spying builds trust.” Jacen was quoting a maxim that Luke had often heard Leia use as the New Republic’s Chief of State. He must have sensed Luke’s displeasure, because he quickly added, “But it looks like I won’t be talking to Tahiri anytime soon, anyway.”
“Thank you,” Luke said.
“You’re welcome,” Jacen said. He glanced toward the exit. “If that’s all, I really should be-“
“Nice try,” Mara said, blocking Jacen’s exit. “I still want to know what you’re hiding.”
Jacen did not even pause before he shook his head. “I’m sorry. I can’t tell you.”
“Does it involve what you did to Ben?” Mara’s voice grew as sharp as a vibroblade, for she had been even more alarmed than Luke, when he reported what Lowie and Tesar had told him. “Blocking his memories?”