[Legacy Of The Force] - 03(43)

The words were breathy and cold and rife with dark side power … and the voice was familiar. It sounded like Jacen’s. He leaned closer to the viewport, studying the wispy features below, trying to decide whether he was seeing his own face.

But the clouds were not cooperating. The wisps drifted into a new arrangement, and a lumpy brow appeared above the eyes. The cheeks grew sunken and smashed, while the mouth became gaping and twisted. Then the entire face began to expand, drawing a veil of shadow over the rest of the planet and dimming its sea of scintillating lights.

The mouth rose at one corner, and the smile became a sneer. “Mine.”

This time, the voice was too low and harsh to be Jacen’s. He felt relieved, since the mangled face could not be a vision of his future if the voice did not belong to him.

The shadowy head continued to expand, swelling beyond the edges of the planet and engulfing the Hapan moons. The face became long and gaunt, its features now defined by patterns of the half-obscured light shining through from the surface of the planet.

“Mine.”

This time the word was crisp and commanding, and the head continued to grow, becoming round and coarse. It swelled beyond what Jacen could see through his viewport, dimming the stars to all sides of Hapes and engulfing-as far as he could tell-the entire known galaxy. Most of the face vanished into unrecognizable patterns of light and shadow, but the eyes remained, expanding into a pair of blazing white suns. “Mine!”

The white eyes flashed out of existence with all the brilliance of a pair of exploding novas, and Jacen felt as if an incendiary grenade had detonated in his head. He let out an involuntary groan and whirled away, hands clamped to his face.

But his head did not explode. The pain vanished as quickly it had arrived, and when he pulled his hands away, it was to find himself staring down at the reassuring pearliness of the Command Salon’s luxurious resicrete deck covering. There weren’t even any spots swimming before his eyes.

“I hope that expression doesn’t mean you left something back on Coruscant,” Lumiya said. She was sitting across the spacious cabin at Jacen’s equipment-packed intelligence station, poring over the latest data on Tenel Ka’s unpredictable nobles. “We have an opportunity to position you as the savior of the Galactic Alliance-but only if we move fast.”

“Positioning me isn’t what matters here.” Jacen did not want Lumiya to see how shaken he was-at least not until he understood what the Force was trying to tell him. “Catching the terrorists who attacked the Queen Mother-that’s important. Making certain it doesn’t happen again-that matters.”

Lumiya frowned. “What do you see down there?” She rose and started across the cabin, wearing a black flight suit that matched exactly the color of the scarf that covered the lower half of her face. The pilot disguise was appropriate to the berthing she had demanded down near the hangar decks, and when she was in public areas, it also allowed her to conceal her disfigured face behind a darkened visor. On any other Star Destroyer, a pilot walking around in an identity-conceal ing helmet would have raised a security flag, but the Anakin Solo was a GAG vessel-and most GAG visitors had valid reasons for concealing their identities.

“What’s wrong?” Lumiya inquired again. She stopped at Jacen’s side and looked out on Hapes, which had returned to its normal placid appearance. “I see nothing disturbing.”

“It’s gone.” Jacen could think of only one reason for the succession of dark faces he had seen, and he retained enough of his childhood indoctrination to shudder at the thought of a Sith dynasty. “Don’t worry about it.”

“Don’t worry about what?” Lumiya pressed.

“Nothing.”

Jacen continued to look out the viewport, watching distant smoke trails rise and fall as interplanetary traffic entered and departed the Hapan atmosphere. Was the Force telling him that he was making a terrible mistake, that the Sith way would lead the galaxy into a long era of darkness and tyranny?

“Come, Jacen. There can be no secrets between us.” Lumiya slipped her hand under Jacen’s arm and gently turned him toward her. “Tell me what you saw. I sense how it worries you.”

“I’m not worried,” Jacen insisted. He started across the cabin toward the intelligence station. “Have you found out who’s behind the attack on the Queen Mother?”

“Silly boy-you won’t fool me by changing the subject.” Lumiya pulled him back around to face her, this time more forcefully. “I know how troubled you are. The veins in your neck are throbbing like drum worms.”