[Legacy Of The Force] - 01(130)
Jacen stood. “Let’s talk outside,” he told Nelani and Ben, and left. They followed.
Once in the corridor, he said, “I’m going to visit her home.”
Nelani shook her head, not taking her eyes from Jacen’s. “Why?”
“I have to know how she spoke to me through the tassel,” he said. “Does she know something about me I don’t myself know? Or is it a method she could use on other Jedi, perhaps to lure them into traps? I can’t just ignore this, or assume that imprisoning her would eliminate the risk she may represent.”
“But it’s a trap,” Ben protested.
Jacen gave him a dismissive look. “A trap to do what?”
“Well … kill you, I guess.”
“Ben, she was able to lure me to several different scenes of violence over the last few days, and she knows a lot about Jedi and the Force. If she were going to kill me, wouldn’t one of those situations have been enough? Pack enough explosives into the aquarium and we’d all be dead. Find a sniper combat droid to shoot me from half a kilometer-I wouldn’t feel any emotional intent; there’s a good chance such a plan would succeed. Why lure me out to some planetoid?”
“I don’t know.” Something about Jacen’s assuredness suddenly annoyed Ben. “And neither do you. Just because you can’t figure out what she’s up to, doesn’t mean it isn’t bad.”
“Ben’s right,” Nelani said. “The woman’s story is too weird and complicated, so there have to be important lies, or at least omissions, in it. Going to where she’s the master of the environment is just a bad idea.”
“Nevertheless, I’m doing just that.”
Nelani looked even unhappier. “Then I’m going with you.”
Jacen shook his head. “That’s outside your jurisdiction.”
“I don’t have a jurisdiction. I’m just assigned to live on Lorrd. It’s fine for me to investigate something as near as Bimmiel. Especially when it involves the safety of another Jedi, and a mystery that involves the Sith world of Ziost. Do you think Master Skywalker would object to my going? I suspect he’d insist on it.”
“All right.” Jacen shrugged. “I just think it’s a bad idea for you to go.”
“Is that the Force talking to you, or your gut?”
Finally, he smiled. “My gut.”
CORELLIAN SYSTEM, ABOVE TRALUS
Leia, led to the bridge of Dodonna, marveled as she always did at the extravagant open spaces of a Star Destroyer-style command area. Though the Galactic-class battle carriers had been designed after the decline of the Empire-after the fall of the New Republic, in fact-they preserved the basic design of the Imperial-era Star Destroyer bridges, with the main walkway stretching from the main entrance to the gigantic forward viewports, with the officer and data stations on a lower level to the right and left of the elevated walkway.
Admiral Tarla Limpan, flanked by the ubiquitous aides and advisers any top-ranking naval officer warranted, stepped forward energetically as Leia moved onto the bridge walkway. A female of the Duros species, she had pale gray-green skin and facial features that looked like a cartoonish simplification of a human’s-large red eyes without visible iris or pupil, an almost featureless mouth, and a broad empty space where a nose should have been between them. She smiled and extended her long arms to seize Leia’s hand between her own, shaking it enthusiastically
“Madame Organa Solo,” she said. “How should I address you? Princess, Senator, Head of State? It must wear you down, carrying around so many titles and honors.”
Leia smiled, disarmed by the admiral’s informal manner and energy. “Well, all those titles should begin with former. Now I’m just a Jedi Knight and sometimes diplomatic consultant. Call me Leia.”
“I am Tarla. Except for those rare moments when I must be Admiral. I was informed you were in the Corellian system, keeping lines of communication open with the new Prime Minister. And a good thing it is.” She belatedly released Leia’s hand. “To what do I owe the pleasure of this meeting? And I must add a certain sadness at seeing you arrive alone, by shuttle; someday you might grace me by introducing me to your husband and his famous transport?”
“Of course. But Han, at the moment, is out visiting old smuggler haunts, trying to get a sense of black-market traffic and what it means to the current crisis.” That was a blatant lie, but one that anyone from either side would find difficult to disprove-no one knew which contacts Han might or might not be consulting, and never would, as insular and secretive as the informal society of smugglers tended to be. “I’m here just to visit, in whatever minutes would be at your convenience, and perhaps to get a tour of your vessel. I haven’t seen one of the new battle carriers up close.”