[Legacy Of The Force] - 04(70)

Captain Uran Lavint looked up from her betting and her drink to nod at him. “Colonel Solo.”

“Captain Lavint. How did you get here?”

“That’s a silly question, isn’t it? I got here on the cargo vehicle you gave me.” She lifted her drink, tilted the container toward him in salute, and took a sip. “Please forgive me for not thanking you before now. The Duracrud has become a good-luck charm for me. My fortunes have been improving ever since I took command of her. I’ve run three cargo routes, all at a tremendous profit.”

“You haven’t had any difficulty with her?”

“Well, she’s old. I spent part of your payment to me giving her an overhaul. But nothing catastrophic.”

Jacen stared down at her, baffled. Jedi could often tell when someone was lying, and Lavint was clearly withholding information, but she didn’t manifest any of the emotion that should accompany the lies he expected. If her hyperdrive had failed, she should be angry with him. She was not. If she were covering up the fact that he had ruined her financial fortunes with his actions, she should radiate resentment. She did not. Something had gone wrong with his final instructions concerning her. But he’d sort that out with his next few questions.

Then he felt a slight flicker within the Force. He looked tip to see Luke and Mara standing just inside the casino entrance, staring at him.

He gave the captain a purely artificial smile. “We’ll get caught up later.”

“Looking forward to it. You can buy me a drink.”

Pushing Lavint from his mind, he approached Luke and Mara, offering each a civil handshake. “Masters Skywalker. You should have told me you were coming to Corellia.”

“Where would you have been if we had?” Mara asked.

Jacen blinked at the question. “Aboard the Anakin Solo, probably.” He did not add, And able to limit the time I would have to spend with you.

Luke gave him a cheerful smile. “Well, it’s nice that we could find you when you have more time for socializing. Let’s get a table, order drinks.” Not waiting for a reply, he turned and led the way into the ranks of small tables closer to the bar. He chose an empty one that appeared to have been recently cleaned-its glowing, glossy surface was still damp-and sat.

Mara and Jacen joined him. Jacen had to struggle just a hit to keep annoyance from his face. This encounter was inconvenient. The server, a Bothan female with silver-gray fur, not much of it covered by her abbreviated black dress, materialized to take their drinks.

Once she was gone, Luke leaned in close. “Jacen, this is important. We need to know exactly what happened on the asteroid near Bimmiel.”

Jacen kept his emotions under tight control and attempted to project nothing more than additional annoyance. But inwardly he felt relief, a return of confidence. Luke and Mara had obviously already found the leads Lumiya’s people had planted. All he had to do was keep straight the details she had sent him. “It’s true I haven’t had time to write a report. My Guard commission came in too soon after our return to Coruscant. Was there something wrong with Ben’s report?”

“Well, it’s incomplete,” Mara said. “It doesn’t cover what happened while he was unconscious, or what happened to you while you were separated from him.”

“Oh. Of course.” Jacen frowned as if trying to dig up memories buried beneath tons of more recent events. “Well, let’s just concentrate on those two periods, then. Brisha Syo, Nelani, Ben, and I boarded a sort of railcar that took us into the asteroid’s interior. A pulse of Force energy yanked Ben and Nelani out of the car. After a moment Brisha was yanked free. The car stopped in a deep cavern, and there I was attacked by a Force-user who radiated dark side orientation and wore your face, Luke.”

Luke nodded. “At the same time, I was fighting a Force projection with your appearance. An altered appearance. And Mara and Ben were fighting distorted versions of each other.”

“That’s right.” Jacen’s mind clicked its way through the details Lumiya had so recently provided as he tried to figure out the best order in which to present the information. “My duel ended when the false Luke hurled some boulders at me and I inverted into a spin with my lightsaber. We both connected. I took a rock to the head and was out for a while. But when I woke up, my opponent was in two pieces, and once I found his head, several meters away, I could see his true features. A Devaronian. He had no identicard on him. His lightsaber was gone.”

“Gone?” Mara frowned. “So someone came while you were unconscious and took it.”