[Legacy Of The Force] - 02(109)
“You see that as destiny.”
“Inevitability. Which is why you should stop feeling guilty about your sister.”
“I’m having bad dreams about it. I wasn’t expecting that.”
“Do you want them to stop?”
“No. They are what they are. I have to embrace them.”
“Be sure you know the fine line between dreams and visions. They may tell you what you need to know-what I can’t tell you.”
“Which is?”
“How you progress from where you are now to what you have to become. I can guide you in techniques, but their application must come from you.”
Jacen sat down, careful not to touch any artifacts in case one had a use he didn’t yet know. “This is what I don’t understand. I spent over five years perfecting my use of the Force, learning techniques from all species-not just the Jedi way. What more can there be? Where does a Jedi adept end and a Sith begin? You see, I never really believed that it was purely a line between good and evil. Some days I can’t even define those terms.”
“It’s acceptance,” said Lumiya. “The willingness to surrender to what the Force asks of you. To stop denying it by rationalizing denial as self-discipline and avoidance of powerful emotions.”
“That sounds as if I should simply do the first thing that comes into my mind.”
“You already know you should.”
“Why am I different from my grandfather, then? The more I do, the more I feel I’m doing exactly as he did. Was it really only his preoccupation with his wife that stopped him achieving order?”
“He started his training too late and was still inexperienced when he was exploited by a man who wanted power. You’re a mature man with a lifetime’s training and nobody is using you. You won’t make the same mistakes.”
“It can’t be that easy.”
“It won’t be. It’ll be painful.”
“More painful than turning on your own sister?”
“Oh, yes…”
“That’s my destiny?”
“That’s the price you pay for bringing order to the galaxy. This is your sacrifice. Now do you see why weak men like Palpatine saw only power, and why they were defeated?” Lumiya’s hypnotic voice was almost disembodied. Jacen watched her mouth, and had no sense of being spoken to by another living being. It was an oracle, a dispassionate revelation. “There is nothing in it for you as Jacen Solo.”
He’d lied. There were worse things already than suspending Jaina. There was the look on Ben Skywalker’s face when he saw Ailyn Habuur’s body. He’d gone too far invading the woman’s mind; she hadn’t been up to the physical strain. He wouldn’t make that mistake again. But Ben’s trust in him had taken a body blow. The boy still didn’t understand that doing things his father’s way led to an endless cycle of war and chaos. Luke wouldn’t face the need to take extreme measures. Luke wanted to feel good about himself.
That was attachment.
“How do you feel when you see Luke Skywalker now?” he asked.
“I feel nothing,” said Lumiya. “I only remember.”
“What should I do next?”
“I can’t tell you. Deal with what troubles you most.”
“My apprentice, Ben. He’s wavering.”
“Don’t seek his approval.”
“I don’t.”
“Don’t set an example and hope that he’ll follow it. Put him in a position where he has to discover the truth for himself.”
She was, as she had been at Bimmiel, painfully right. Ben had to learn what his father never had-that there were necessary evils.
And there was no better place to learn that than in the Galactic Alliance Guard.
EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT COMPLEX UNDER KEBEN PARK, CORONET, CORELLIA.
For a couple of old guys, Han thought, he and Fett were keeping up with the girl pretty well. Then he realized that the underground passage sloped downhill.
The corridor that ran from Sal-Solo’s Presidential suite to the emergency management bunker stretched for a kilometer under Keben Park. All they had to do was keep running. What happened after that Han had no idea, but it wasn’t the first time he’d run headlong and trusted to his instincts and luck.
Besides, he was with Boba Fett. That man could escape anything.
“Where does this come out?” Han panted.
“Leads into the bunker complex. Then two exits out of there to the surface.”
“Two?”
“Two exits are always better than one.”
A long way behind-but not far enough-pounding boots echoed. They were now in a dimly lit tunnel with a hard, tiled floor and large stenciled signs every few meters with helpful messages like GOT YOUR RESPIRATOR? and SECURE ALL DOORS-YOUR LIFE MAY DEPEND ON IT.