[Legacy Of The Force] - 03(77)

Tenel Ka’s face reddened, but she turned and politely motioned at the woman. “Masters Skywalker, allow me to present my chamberlain, Lady Galney, younger sister to the Ducha Galney of Terephon.”

Luke noted that the name was the same as the planet to which Ben had been sent, but merely bowed to Galney and did not remark on the coincidence.

“Chief Omas and Admiral Niathal are assembling a sizable defense fleet,” he said. “It should be able to depart Coruscant in a week.”

“A week!” Lady Galney burst out. “By then the usurpers will have mined the hyperspace lanes and be attacking Hapes itself.”

“There’s no need to worry about the mines, Lady Galney,” Mara said. “Alliance fleets are well equipped to deal with them. Once the defense fleet is under way, the usurpers won’t delay it for long.”

“Of course they won’t.” Tenel Ka’s voice carried more confidence than Luke sensed in her through the Force. “Is that the message you mentioned?”

“Actually, no,” Luke said. “That message is for your ears alone.”

He threw a tactful glance in Lady Galney’s direction, but she merely smirked and remained where she was.

“I’m the Queen Mother’s highest-ranking adviser. To perform my duties properly, I must hear whatever she hears.”

“Then I’m sure she’ll fill you in later.” Mara took the woman by the arm and started her toward the door. “But our instructions were explicit.”

Jacen rose. “In that case, perhaps I’d better go as…”

“No, you stay.” Luke motioned him back into his chair. “You need to see this more than Tenel Ka does.”

Jacen raised his brow, but returned to his seat. Mara pushed Lady Galney out the door with instructions to Sergeant Darb to have her escorted back to her quarters.

“I’m sorry about that, Your Majesty,” Luke said to Tenel Ka. “But it’s possible that someone close to you is a traitor.”

Tenel Ka nodded. “Yes, I have been having premonitions of that myself-though I don’t believe it is Lady Galney.” She smiled. “I can still sense when someone is lying to me, you know. She is a fool-but she is an honest one.”

“That doesn’t mean she can be trusted with your secrets,” Mara said, returning to Tenel Ka’s side. “Anyone with that much interest in another person’s business Won’t keep it private.”

“I am counting on that. With the Anakin Solo in orbit around Hapes, I need someone with me who will report to the rumormongers that I have not been sleeping with Her Jedi commander.” Tenel Ka glanced in Jacen’s direction and smiled again. “Besides, her sister, the Ducha Galney, is one of my most devoted nobles. It serves my purpose to cultivate the illusion of a special relationship with Lady Galney.”

Luke snorted in amazement. “Your life is a maze, Your Majesty. I don’t know how you live it.”

“Because I was well prepared, Master Skywalker,” Tenel Ka said solemnly. “And I thank you every day.”

Luke actually blushed, but he remained composed enough to reply, “And you’ve always made me very proud, Tenel Ka.”

“Though we are disappointed that we haven’t met Al-lana yet,” Mara added sternly. “I trust that will change before we depart today?”

Jacen started around the chairs, clearly alarmed. “That won’t be…”

“Perhaps,” Tenel Ka said. “But, as Jacen was about to say, Allana has been very upset by the assassination attempt-particularly since there was a Jedi involved. It might be best if we put it off until another time.”

Luke and Mara exchanged baffled glances. Maybe Allana really had been traumatized by the attack, or maybe the rumors of deformity were true; in any case, they had no choice but to accept Tenel Ka’s excuse.

“I’m sorry to hear that,” Luke said. “I was looking forward to meeting her.”

“But the message may clarify a few things about Leia’s involvement.” Mara’s voice had just a hint of petulance, as though she felt Tenel Ka should have known better than to think the Solos would really try to kill her. She used the Force to lower R2-D2 into the speaking area, then said, “Play Han’s message,”

R2-D2 acknowledged the order with a chirp, then went over to the holocomm unit and inserted his interface arm into a data socket. A rosy blur appeared over the projection pad and quickly resolved itself into an image of Han’s face. His skin was pale and waxy with shock, and his mouth was hanging in a lopsided grimace of pain.

Luke immediately felt a pang of concern-Mara hadn’t warned him that Han was wounded-but when he glanced over at his nephew, Jacen’s eyes were hard and narrow.