[Legacy Of The Force] - 01(132)

Brisha’s face was reflected in the transparisteel of the forward viewport, and Jacen saw her offer Nelani a smile that was just one step short of condescending. “It’s private,” she said. “I like privacy.”

Jacen ignored them, and ignored the sensor readouts before him. Instead, he concentrated on sensing the Force.

On that planetoid, there was something active within the Force, something strong and vibrant … but not alive. Jacen had once had a sense of something like that when, in a restful hour on a visit to a dead coral bed, he’d tried to sense it in the Force and had succeeded. The bed had held dim feelings, like faint, blurry memories, of the accretion of lives that had made it. What was before him now was stronger, more complicated, with more personality … and there was a lot of dark side energy in its vigor.

“It’s a big iron asteroid,” Ben announced. “It’s got a little gravity, but not enough for an atmosphere. We’re going to be floating around a lot.”

Brisha shook her head. “The habitat has artificial gravity. The generators will start up once your shuttle is docked.”

“Aww.” Ben’s was a noise of exasperation. Jacen grinned. He imagined that the boy had been looking forward to a low-gravity environment.

The docking bay was large enough to hold four shuttles, or the Millennium Falcon and one or two smaller craft. Entry to it was at the base of the ten-story-high habitat. Inside, the bay was lofty, the outside wall curved, the inner walls angled, making a near-trapezoid shape. The walls were riveted metal painted a soothing sky blue, and everything was remarkably clean.

As Jacen’s shuttle settled into place in the berth nearest the doors into the habitat proper, the big bay doors slid into place laterally behind them. Jacen felt himself settle deeper into his seat as the habitat’s artificial gravity dialed up. Without being asked, Ben dialed the shuttle’s own gravity down correspondingly, an exercise, and did a fair job of keeping the gravity close to Coruscant standard. Jacen gave him an approving nod.

But Jacen’s mind was elsewhere, part of him still seeking the source of the Force energy he felt.

He saw Brisha smile at him in the viewport reflection. “All the answers you’re looking for are inside,” she said.

Jacen nodded. “Which is not the same as saying everything we want is inside … or that we’re safe inside.”

“Correct,” Brisha said. She rose.

A flexible air lock corridor attached itself to their exterior hatch. Inside, the air was cold, but little eddies of warmth moved through it, evidence of the habitat’s heaters beginning their business.

The hallway, off-white and featureless on the inside, led them to a cross-corridor in the same sky blue as the bay interior. Jacen suspected from the corridor’s curvature that it was a complete circle around the habitat, providing access to the chambers up against the exterior wall.

Ben looked around, blinking. “It’s really clean. I thought this was a mining station.”

Brisha shook her head. “No, it was the administration habitat for the mining company. The administrators and their families lived here, as did the families of several of the more important company officers. And when representatives of the owning company came to visit, there were big chambers where they could have lavish dinners and entertainments. This place was more like a hotel than a mining camp.”

“In terms of design, it’s like an early-model Sienar Mobile Command Post,” Jacen said, “but older. Maybe centuries older.” At Brisha’s slight nod, he continued, “It would have been assembled in space, near where it was to be set up originally. Tugs would have placed it on foundation columns built at its landing zone. But it was a valuable piece of equipment. When the operation was done, its foundation clamps would have released, and it would have been towed off to its next station. Not left here.”

Brisha gave him an encouraging smile, then turned and led the way along the corridor. “Very true. No, the last administrator here arranged for the habitat to be left behind when the mining operation left this asteroid field. To be left behind-and forgotten.” At the first side corridor, she turned left, toward the habitat’s center, and the others followed. The blue walls continued, interrupted by doors suitable to private chambers or small offices. The doors were curved at the top, an antiquated design element.

Jacen quickened his pace to catch up to Brisha. “That’s a lot of arranging. This would have been lot of money for a company just to forget about.”

“Yes, it is.” Brisha looked agreeable. “But the administrator who arranged it was capable of coming up with the bribes and persuading people to look away. He was, after all, a Sith.”