“Guess what?” Jacen asked.
Ben could hear him clearly enough now, a very faint ringing in his ears the only remnant of the effects of the explosion. “What?”
“No dead.”
Ben looked at him, startled. “None of them died?”
“Not one. Well, not counting the crazy man in the Y-wing. But it seems that every one of the security men and women will make it. Not one seems to be in critical condition, thanks in part to their body armor, but mostly to you.”
“Lubed,” Ben said.
Nelani said, “While Jacen and I were arguing about procedure, you were doing what a Jedi should-being mindful of the Force.”
“So we get to take note of your example today, instead of the other way around,” Jacen continued. “I also thought you should have a reward.”
“What reward?” Ben asked.
“The rest of the day is yours. Nelani and I are returning to Doctor Rotham’s now. You can accompany us, you can go sightseeing, you can check out a groundspeeder and improve your piloting-skills, whatever you like. You have enough credits to get by, and you know how to get to Doctor Rotham’s, I believe.”
Ben nodded. He didn’t let it show on his face, but his mind was spinning-the rest of his day left to his own devices, unsupervised! That was indeed a reward. And, he was dimly aware, it was also a sign of trust. “Thanks,” he said.
Jacen rose. He and Nelani headed back out the way they’d come, heads bowed together as though they were renewing their argument, leaving Ben to figure out what he wanted to do with himself.
Though he didn’t know it, Ben was right: the two Jedi Knights began quarreling again as soon as they reached the exit from the hangar, though they handled their disagreement more civilly than before. “I really wish,” Nelani said, “that you’d given me another minute or two with Huarr. I’m really curious about this ‘Force ghost’ business of his.
“Students,” Jacen said, in a tone that suggested his one-word argument should settle the whole matter.
“Yes, yes, the students in their quarters were in danger, I’m not disputing that. But couldn’t you have surreptitiously squeezed the ends of his missile launching tubes closed? That way, if he’d fired, same result, but until then, I’d have been able to talk to him. Maybe I could have gotten to the root of his craziness.”
They reached the anonymous gray speeder that had brought them to the spaceport. They hopped in, Nelani behind the controls.
“I suppose I could have,” Jacen admitted. “It didn’t occur to me, and it does beg the question of whether someone who threatens the lives of thousands of innocents deserves any consideration whatsoever.”
“Maybe he deserved consideration for being a war hero.” Nelani activated the repulsors and sent the speeder skyward.
Jacen made a dismissive gesture. “My father is a war hero, too. I don’t recall him ever doing what Huarr did.”
“And Huarr never smuggled spice for Hutt crimelords, either.”
Jacen shook his head. “Sometimes it’s a disadvantage having a father so famous they make holodramas about him.”
Nelani grinned. “With you, I have to exploit any conversational advantage I can get my hands on.”
“You’re definitely not the late-blooming Force-sensitive I taught lightsaber technique to.”
“I’m glad you noticed.”
Jacen ignored that remark, as well as the rather personal tone with which it had been communicated. “It’s time we turned our attention back to Doctor Huarr and those tassels.”
“Not just yet. I’ve been trying to turn your attention to me.”
He grinned. “You really have gotten bolder.”
She nodded. “Learning how to, and having the ability to, cut gundarks in half went a long way toward overcoming my shyness problem. And being a Jedi, the only Jedi assigned to this world, means I have very little time of my own, so I tend to get to the point rather quickly. Does that bother you?”
Jacen shook his head, but kept his attention on the terrain-long banks of warehouses graduating to blocks of low-rent businesses-speeding by beneath their vehicle. “No, but there’s someone …”
“Someone occupying that particular place in your life?”
“Yes.”
She made a chiding noise. “Well, then, let’s just spend a little time together. Which, incidentally, I wanted very badly to suggest seven years ago, when you were teaching me lightsaber technique, but I was too self-conscious.”
Jacen smiled and offered no further explanation.
Nelani shook her head, a gesture of mild regret, and fell silent.