[Dark Nest] - 3(39)

“I know you do,” Jacen said. “But telling you any more would betray a confidence, and I won’t do that.”

“Jacen, if you’re going to continue being a Jedi, you have to put the order first,” Luke said. “We can no longer have divided loyalties.”

“I understand that, and I’ll leave the order if-“

“Nobody wants that,” Mara interrupted. Luke shot a blast of irritation her way through their Force-bond, but she ignored it and continued, “We just need to know that this secret won’t interfere with your duties as a Jedi.”

“It won’t,” Jacen said, relief showing on his face. “In fact, I can promise that it makes me even more determined to be a good Jedi-and to keep our order strong.”

Jacen revealed just enough of his presence to confirm he was telling the truth-that whatever the nature of this secret, he saw the Jedi order as the best means of protecting it.

“I guess we’ll have to trust you on that.” Luke’s tone was measured. “Don’t let us down.”

Luke was about to dismiss his nephew when a guilty heaviness began to weigh on the Force from the direction of his inner office. He went to the door and found Ghent lying under the work station in the corner, affixing something to the underside of the writing table. Mara slipped through the door past Luke.

“Ghent!”

The slicer sat up, banging his head, and the guilt in the Force changed to fear. His gaze shot across the room toward R2-D2, then he pulled a tiny electronic device off the underside of the table and swallowed it.

“Have you been planting listening devices in Luke’s office?” Mara demanded.

The tattoos on Ghent’s face darkened with embarrassment. “S-s-sorry.”

She used the Force to pull the slicer out from under the table, then began to go through his pockets, pulling out a truly impressive assortment of eavesdropping bugs.

“Did Chief Omas put you up to this?” Mara asked.

Ghent nodded. “He said it was for the good of the Alliance.” He plucked one of the hugs out of Mara’s hand and began to fidget nervously with the tiny wire antenna. “And he said that I couldn’t help you with Artoo any more unless I did it.”

“I see,” Luke said, joining them.

He looked around for a moment, eyeing an out-of-place datapad on the surface of his work station, a recording rod that had mysteriously turned itself on, a holocube of Ben and Mara that was facing the wrong way on the shelf.

“Were you finished?”

Ghent looked confused. “N-n-not really.”

“Well, then.” Luke waved Mara and Jacen toward the door. “I guess we had better leave you to your work.”

“You’re going to let him finish?” Jacen asked.

“Of course.” Luke nudged his nephew toward the outer office. “Didn’t you just tell me that spying builds trust?”





TEN


Three jumps after departing Lizil, Han was running a systems check while Leia plotted the course to the Rago Run, the long hyperspace lane that would take them back into Galactic Alliance territory. So far, the Swiff had performed flawlessly, even reminding them to eat when the ship’s droid brain noticed that none of the processing units in the galley had been activated in twenty hours.

“I don’t like it,” Han said, studying the nacelle-temperature history. “No machine is this reliable.”

“To the contrary, Captain Solo,” C-3P0 said. “When properly maintained, operated in the appropriate environment, and not pushed beyond performance parameters, machines are very reliable. Malfunctions most often result from a biological unit’s inattentiveness. I can tell you that has been true in my own experience.”

“Watch it, Threepio,” Leia advised. “It’s not smart to insult the hand that oils you.”

“Oh,” C-3P0 said. “I certainly didn’t mean to imply that you or Captain Solo have ever been neglectful. I have had other owners, you know.”

“Other owners? Now there’s a thought.” Han looked over to the copilot’s station, where Leia was seated in one of the cockpit’s self-adjusting, supercomfortable Support-Gel flight chairs. “How are those jump coordinates coming along?”

“Almost done,” she said. “The navicomputer’s a little slow, at least compared with the Falcon’s.”

Han felt a small burst of pride. “That surprises you? The Falcon has top-notch-“

He was interrupted by the sharp pinging of an alarm.

“I knew it!” Han said, looking for a flashing indicator on the hyperdrive section of the expansive control board. “That warp stabilizer was running a couple of degrees hot at the end of our last jump.”