[Legacy Of The Force] - 03(81)

“What about Jacen’s destiny?” Alema asked. “Without you to guide htm…”

“Jacen has the knowledge to complete his journey.” Lumiya separated out an orange wire that ran from the detonator housing into a relay box on the head of the missile cylinder. “All that remains for him is to make his sacrifice.”

“Then he hasn’t?”

“Not yet.” Lumiya pulled a pair of wire cutters from the pocket of her utilities and slipped the jaws over the orange wire. “But he will.”

Alema’s heart leapt into her throat. “Not the safety delay!”

Lumiya looked up, her brow furrowed in irritation. “Orange isn’t the safety delay. It’s the proximity sensor.”

“It was on Imperial missiles,” Alema said. “On Alliance missiles, it’s the safety delay. There’s only one wire-see?”

Lumiya studied the bundle, then reluctantly shifted the wire cutters to the first of a handful of gray wires.

Alema breathed a sigh of relief, then asked, “How can you be sure?”

“I assume you’d tell me if I was wrong again,” Lumiya replied sharply.

“We mean Jacen.” Alema explained. “If he doesn’t make his sacrifice and you are already dead…”

“He will make his sacrifice,” Lumiya snapped. “Now, about these wires…”

“Cut,” Alema said. “What are you waiting for?”

Lumiya cut the first wire, then-when the Anakin Solo did not vanish in a white flash-began to cut the other gray wires.

“We are not sure we like this plan,” Alema said. “If you are killed, his uncle will try to draw Jacen back to the light side of the Force…”

“He won’t be able to,” Lumiya said. “Because whether or not I return from this fight, Luke won’t.”

She cut the last of the gray wires, then exchanged her wire cutters for a hydrospanner and began to unbolt the detonator housing.

“That is what the proton detonator is for?” Alema asked, finally comprehending Lumiya’s plan. “A combat fail-safe?”

Lumiya nodded. “As you said, I might be killed.”

“It seems to us you are planning on it,” Alema replied.

“Planning for, not on.” Lumiya removed the last fastener from the detonator housing. “But I will admit that being killed is a more likely outcome than I would prefer.”

“Then why go?” Alema asked. Although she would never admit this to Lumiya, she did not like the idea of Luke dying so soon. The Balance would be better served if he were forced to watch Jacen’s decline, if he struggled to redeem his nephew before ultimately falling on his blade. “Killing Master Skywalker is no good if you don’t survive to enjoy it.”

Lumiya set the hydrospanner aside, then looked up at Alema with an expression approaching pity. “I’m not doing this for me, you silly dancing girl,” she said. “But there’s no use explaining. You wouldn’t understand.”

She turned her attention back to the missile, grabbing the detonator housing with both hands.

Alema, seething at Lumiya’s put-down, deactivated the glow rod. There was a metallic click as the housing contacted the proton detonator.

“Are you mad?” Lumiya whispered. In the silence that followed her question could be heard the soft, nearly inaudible clicking of an electronic timer counting off second-tenths. “Turn on the glow rod!”

“We’re trying.” Alema slapped the glow rod against her crippled arm a couple of times. Assuming the housing had activated one of the impact triggers, they had about five more seconds to deactivate before the safety delay expired and allowed the charge to detonate. “But we aren’t smart enough to understand. We’re just a silly dancing girl.”

“I apologize!” Lumiya snarled. “Now turn on the kriffing light!”

Alema tapped the glow rod against her arm again. “We’re still not sure we understand.”

“All right,” Lumiya said. “Have you ever been part of something bigger and more important than yourself?”

“Our nest.”

Alema reactivated the glow rod. Lumiya quickly removed the detonator housing the rest of the way from the proton charge, then reached out with the Force and pulled the trigger plunger away from its contact.

Alema continued her answer. “Individuals died, but Gorog lived on. Gorog was more important than we were.”

“Exactly.” Lumiya exhaled slowly, then used the Force to levitate the detonator casing while she retrieved the wire cutters and reached inside to snip the rest of the wires. “My situation is not so different.”