[Legacy Of The Force] - 03(80)

“You are not making us confident.” Alema shined the light on the missile just ahead of the fusioncutter’s beam. “Why not tell Jacen to have a trained technician remove the … . whatever it is you’re after?”

“The proton detonator charge,” Lumiya said. She was not wearing her face scarf, so her disfigured jaw instilled in Alema a feeling of kinship and togetherness. “And Jacen can’t know about this.”

“We should have guessed.” Actually, Alema had already guessed, and she was simply seeking confirmation. Even after she had prevented Master Lobi from exposing what Lumiya was doing with Jacen, Lumiya remained secretive about her goals and plans-almost as though she did not truly understand the nature of her partnership with Alema. “But we have told you-Jacen is important to the Balance. We need him alive.”

Lumiya continued to work, moving down the side of the missile toward the point of the initial cut. Alema counted to five. Then, when she had still received no reply, she moved the light away. The fusioncutter strayed from the weld, causing a shrill hum as it sliced into the skin of the missile cylinder.

“Crazy bugslut!” Lumiya snapped off the cutting beam. “You could blow the whole ship apart!”

Alema shrugged. “What does it matter? If Jacen dies, he does not become a Sith. If Jacen does not become a Sith, Leia’s suffering is not equal to mine. If Leia’s suffering is not equal to mine, the galaxy remains out of…”

“… Balance. You’ve told me.” Lumiya reignited the fusioncutter, but continued to hold it away from the missile. “I’m doing this to help Jacen, not hurt him.”

Alema continued to shine the glow rod away from the missile. “How?”

“Jacen asked me to rendezvous with Ben at Roqoo Depot,” Lumiya said. “He’s about to lead a task force to capture one of the coup leaders at the Relephon Moons, and he wants me to make certain Ben rejoins the Anakin safely.”

Alema frowned. “But Ben is aboard a reconnaissance skiff,” she said. “They can find their way to the Relephon Moons.”

“Exactly.” Lumiya motioned at the missile. “If you don’t mind, the Anakin will be making her first jump within the hour, and I need to be gone before then.”

Alema swung the light back toward the missile, but kept the beam focused on the floor. “It sounds suspicious.”

Lumiya sighed in exasperation. “It sounds suspicious because it is suspicious. Jacen came to me as soon as the Skywalkers ended their little visit. I fear I’ve become a liability.”

Alema returned the light to Lumiya’s work. “You think Jacen is sending you into a trap?”

“I know he is. He’s arranging a fight between me and Luke.” Lumiya returned the fusioncutter to the weld and resumed work. “If I kill Luke, it creates an opening for Jacen to take over leadership of the Jedi order. If Luke kills me, then it will look as though I’ve been stalking Ben all along. Luke will assume that his original fears were correct, and the veil of suspicion will be lifted off Jacen.”

“Jacen is no better than any Solo!” Alema was boiling with outrage. “Leia spawned a pack of lyleks.”

“Oh, I think she did better than that,” Lumiya replied. “I’d say Jacen is more of a thernbee-sly, ruthless, and deadly. I couldn’t be more proud.”

She completed the cut, and the nose cone came free. Aiema caught it with the Force lest it jar the impact trigger and detonate the proton charge.

“Proud?” Alema carefully lowered the nose cone to the floor. “For betraying you?”

“Oh, very proud,” Lumiya said. “I was growing worried that Jacen lacked the strength and cunning to fulfill his destiny. His betrayal proves that I was wrong. Jacen is very capable.”

“We do not understand.”

“Jacen’s destiny doesn’t allow him the luxury of loyalty,” Lumiya explained. She deactivated the fusioncutter and set it aside. “If he were unwilling to betray me, how could we expect him to betray his entire family?”

Alema had no answer for that. Even in the ryll dens of Kala’uun, where a dancer’s loyalty was strictly to herself, the one person she had never betrayed was her sister, Numa.

Lumiya began to sort through the tangle of wires and filaments surrounding the missile’s proton detonator charge.

“Master Skywalker is not someone to trifle with,” Alema said. “You could be killed.”

“I’m aware of that.” Lumiya found a bundle of wires leading into the head of the detonator housing and began to sort through them. “I have fought him before, you know.”