[Legacy Of The Force] - 03(36)

“Right,” Tozr said. He pointed down the walkway to a blartree on the far side, where a forensics droid appeared to be making resin casts of a set of footprints. “One ambusher was waiting there, and another over here.”

He pointed to a bush on their side of the walkway, a little closer, where another droid was casting footprints.

“What species?” Mara asked.

“Human or near-human,” Raatu answered. “The shoes made it hard to tell, but both ambushers were probably female and fairly light-the prints were small and shallow.”

“And one had a deformed foot-she didn’t put any weight on the front part of her shoe,” Tozr added. Motioning the Skywalkers to follow, he stepped through the hedge. “We think your Jedi realized something was wrong and tried to come up on them from behind.”

“Too bad they saw her coming,” Raatu said from the back of the group. “But it doesn’t look like she suffered long.”

They emerged from the hedge into a bed of knee-high chrysanthus shrubs. A pair of medical droids were waiting on the far side with a stretcher and a hoversled, while yet more forensics droids were swarming over the area, making casts of footprints and holorecording every detail of the crime scene.

In the center of the bed, still dressed in Jedi robes, lay the torso of a large Chev woman. Both lower legs and her head lay a couple of meters away. The lifeless eyes in the head were still open wide in surprise. There was no sign of her lightsaber or other equipment.

Luke’s stomach grew hollow. “This is a message.” He started to move closer to the body, but a forensics droid quickly cut him off. “She’s toying with me.”

“Toying with you?” Raatu repeated. “Who would that be?”

“In a minute.” Mara touched Luke through the Force, making sure that he felt her suspicion-and growing irritation. “How is this a message, Luke? From Lumiya?”

“I’m afraid so,” Luke said. “I think she’s telling us she can take Ben anytime she wants.”

“What does this have to do with Ben?” Mara demanded. “You’d better not be telling me you were using our son as bait.”

“Not bait, exactly,” Luke said. He had not told Mara about asking Tresina Lobi to follow Ben, in large part because of their disagreement over whether Jacen was good for him. “But I did ask Tresina to keep an eye on him, because I thought Lumiya might try to use him against me.” It looks like I was right.”

“And that’s why you told me to bring my shoto?” Mara asked, referring to the half-length lightsaber she had built as a defense against Lumiya’s lightwhip. “Because you knew Lumiya had something to do with Tresina’s death?”

Luke shrugged. “It looks like I was right.”

“Being right is no excuse,” Mara said. “You should have told me.”

Luke sighed. “I said it would be a good idea to keep an eye on him. You accused me of looking for an excuse to spy on Jacen.” He paused to collect himself and sensed the keenness of Raatu’s interest in their conversation. He gave Mara a Force-nudge, reminding her of their audience, then said, “Besides, that’s not what you’re really angry about.”

Mara flashed him a look that said this conversation wasn’t over, but took the hint. “No, I suppose it’s not.”

“I take it this Lumiya is our prime suspect?” Tozr asked. “Who is she?”

“One of Luke’s old girlfriends,” Mara said sharply.

Raatu’s antennae snapped upright. “Ah-that explains it.” He lifted his hand and dictated a note into the datamike clipped to his cuff, then gestured at Lobi’s body. “And Master Lobi is the new girlfriend?”

Instead of answering, Mara merely lifted her brow and looked to Luke.

“Not at all!” Luke answered. “Mara is-er, Mara is my wife. I don’t have a girlfriend.”

Raatu shrugged. “What do I know about you Jedi?” he asked. “With most humans, it’s usually sex or love.”

Tozr nodded sagely. “Eighty-seven percent of the time,” he said. “Spice is a distant second.”

“Not this time,” Luke insisted. “This time, it’s revenge.”

“Revenge for what?” Tozr asked. “And how is your son involved?”

“Lumiya was a Sith apprentice,” Luke explained. “She wants revenge because I shot her down and helped overthrow the Emperor. Ben is just a means to an end.”

“Sure, Master Skywalker,” Raatu said. “Whatever you say-but for now, we’ll keep all motives on the table.”