“Listen up, kid.” Han’s voice was low and raspy, as though he was trying to avoid being overheard. “I don’t have long-we’ve got someone aboard who can’t know about this-but I need you to relay this ho!o to Tenel Ka … and only to Tenel Ka. Someone close to her is a traitor, and it could go bad on us if this message got back to the wrong people.”
The image changed to the profile of a beautiful Hapan woman with long brunette curls and high cheeks. She seemed to be leaning over something-Luke thought it might be a bench or table, until he saw her remove a tube of bacta salve from a drawer in the Falcon’s medbay.
Han’s voice continued, “This is a woman named Morwan, but that might be an alias. She was a flight surgeon aboard the Kendall at the Battle of Qoribu. We’re fairly sure she’s in service to the AlGray family of the Relephon Moons, and she’s the contact between the Heritage Council-that’s what the nobles behind the coup call themselves-and the assassin who escaped with us.”
The woman’s image changed to full face, and she looked even more striking, with full lips and soft, slanted eyes.
Han kept speaking. “We heard her tell the assassin to take care of AHana first.”
The woman’s image vanished, then Han’s face reappeared, looking even more distressed than he had a moment earlier. “Luke, Tenel Ka needs to take this threat seriously. The assassin’s name is Aurra Sing…”
Luke was so shocked that he temporarily shut out Han’s voice. He knew Aurra Sing’s name from records of the old Jedi order that he had gathered and studied over the years.
“… thinks she might have been some sort of Jedj about eighty years ago,” Han was saying. “That’s all we know, but there’s something else. Keep an eye out for Alema Rar. We bumped into Jag Fel out at Telkur Station, and…”
Han stopped and glanced over his shoulder, then his voice dropped to a whisper. “Gotta go. Tell Tenel Ka we’re sorry about that mess in the palace. Gejjen was using us to set her up, and we didn’t know.”
The hologram vanished, leaving them to stand there in silence. Though Luke was intrigued by the mentions of Alema Rar and Jagged Fel, he didn’t give it much thought. He was more interested in his nephew’s reaction to what they had just seen.
Jacen was keeping his Force presence buried and unreadable, but he was scowling at the floor and taking long breaths. Luke resisted the temptation to suggest that it had been wrong to doubt the Solos in the first place. If Jacen was going to break the dark side’s hold, he had to rediscover for himself that a Jedi trusted his feelings as much as his eyes.
After a few moments of silence, Tenel Ka said, “Thank you for showing us this message. It is certainly easier to believe the Solos were being used than that they were trying to kill me,”
Jacen surprised Luke by nodding. “And it explains some of those witness conflicts you mentioned,” he said. “If my parents were being used by Gejjen, once they realized what was happening, they would have tried to prevent the attack.”
A warm sense of relief rose inside Luke. Not only was Jacen open to the idea that his parents were innocent, he was looking for reasons to believe they were. Luke grew even more confident that he would be able to turn Jacen away from the dark side, whatever his nephew’s relationship with Lumiya.
“I hate to be a wet blanket,” Mara said. “But to me, this smells like they’re inviting us to a Hutt’s banquet.”
Luke lowered his brow. “What are you saying?” He wanted to tell her to stop planting doubts in Jacen’s mind, but he sensed through their Force-bond that Mara was only trying to be certain Jacen understood his mistake-to be sure that Jacen believed in his heart that his parents were not only innocent of aiding the assassination attempt, but incapable of it. “That this might be misinformation?”
“I’m saying their message is convenient.” Mara addressed her comments to Jacen. “If they were involved, the message would be a good way to throw off suspicion-and feed us misinformation.”
Jacen’s eyes widened. “I’m surprised to hear you say that, Aunt Mara.” There was a note of resentment-perhaps even anger-in his voice. “I thought you had a better opinion of my parents than that.”
Mara’s gaze did not waver. “I have a very high opinion of Han and Leia-which is why we have to consider the possibility that they they’re deceiving us.” She paused, then, with perfect timing, turned to Tenel Ka as though she were dismissing Jacen’s opinion. “This is war, and the Solos are fighting for the other side. We have to be careful.”