[Legacy Of The Force] - 03(100)

“Uh, before I send this message, maybe you’d better put yourself into a Jedi flying trance or something.”

“Han, I’ll be open to the Force,” Leia said. “But there really is no such thing as a Jedi flying trance.”

“Too bad-because I think our shields are stuck.” Han looked over at Leia and blew her a kiss, then activated his microphone and began to broadcast on the general hailing channel. “This is a message for Queen Mother Tenel Ka from Han Solo. Listen up, kid-I’ve got something important to tell you …”





Chapter Twenty-one


Outside the viewport of the depot cantina hung a glorious aurora, a luminous explosion of green and violet and scarlet fanning across the face of the Transitory Mists from the direction of the star Roqoo. The spectacle was a testament to the vast sweep of the mists and the ferocious power of a blue giant’s solar wind, but today Mara found it more eerie than awe inspiring. Today its dancing beauty was only the barrier that prevented her and Luke from making comm contact with their son.

Mara turned away from the viewport and looked across the table, where Luke sat nursing his third hot chocolate of the afternoon. “We might as well face it. Ben’s not coming.”

Luke continued to gaze out at the shimmering curtain of light.

“He’s way overdue,” Mara continued. “And when I reach out to him in the Force, he doesn’t feel anywhere near here. Either Jacen didn’t send the rendezvous message, or Ben didn’t get it. But something went wrong.”

Luke nodded and took another sip from his mug. “And something wrong is coming,” he added. “Don’t you feel it?”

Now that Luke had mentioned it, Mara could feel something. It wasn’t much-just a faint prickle easily mistaken for a chill-but it was there.

Mara turned back to the viewport, but this time she studied the reflections in its corners instead of the aurora outside. Most of the customers she could see in the murky cantina were good-looking humans-typical Hapans-and without exception they seemed more interested in their meals or the Falleen glimmik singer on stage than in the Skywalkers. The nonhumans-a dozen blue-skinned Duros, some anvil-headed Arcona, and a couple of Mon Calamari-seemed transfixed by the aurora beyond the viewport. And the Twi’lek family who ran the place was being kept far too busy to pay attention to anyone not ordering something.

Mara looked back to Luke. “You think Jacen set us up?”

“I do.” Luke’s voice was steady, but their Force-bond was permeated by sadness-and by a sense of bewilderment and failure. “If Tenel Ka hadn’t verified it, I wouldn’t even believe he had sent Ben to find Jaina and Zekk.”

Mara sighed. “I have to admit, I’m beginning to feel a bit like a fool for placing my faith in Jacen.”

“Don’t,” Luke said, “We both trusted him-and I’m still not sure we were wrong. Jacen helped Ben overcome his fear of the Force. We can’t forget that.”

“How could I?” Mara asked. “But if he has set us up-if he’s leading Ben into the dark side…”

“Now, who’s leaping to conclusions?” Luke leaned across the table and took her hands. In a low voice, he added, “Look, even if Jacen is working with Lumiya, I don’t think it’s been for long. And it doesn’t mean he’s becoming a Sith.”

“It doesn’t mean he isn’t,” Mara countered. “We can’t know what’s going on between him and Lumiya.”

“I know Jacen,” Luke said quickly. “Whatever he’s doing, it’s because he thinks it’s right for the galaxy. Once he realizes he’s mistaken, he’ll be easy to bring back.”

Mara considered this, trying to recall when she had ever seen Jacen do anything selfish, trying to think of anything-even after assuming command of GAG-that Jacen had done out of self-interest rather than for the good of the state.

After a few moments, she nodded. Her fear for Ben-and her anger at feeling deceived by Jacen-were beginning to affect her judgment.

“You’re right,” she said. “But we’d better work fast. Jacen is too powerful already, and if Lumiya has her hooks in him, it won’t be long before he reaches the point of no return. We can’t let that happen, Luke. We can’t let him drag the galaxy down with him.”

“We won’t,” Luke assured her. “We stopped Raynar, didn’t we?”

“You’re not inspiring much confidence,” Mara said. After crash-landing near a nest of Killiks, Raynar Thul had joined their culture, eventually rising to become the leader of a powerful insect civilization. Under his guidance, the Colony had expanded to the edges of the Chiss Ascendancy, provoking a border war that Luke had averted only by capturing Raynar in personal combat. “Look how well that worked out. He’s been locked in the Temple basement for how long?”