[Legacy Of The Force] - 05(18)

Alema did have her reasons for wanting retribution, then. Lumiya was careful not to let that brief flood of pity start her thinking about what normality she, too, had lost.

“I’m sorry,” Lumiya said, and meant it. “Now use that to remain focused, and to bide your time.”

Alema looked at the courier shuttle and seemed to be somewhere else entirely. Then she gazed down at the deck of the hangar and began swaying a little as if listening to music. She raised one arm—the other hung limp, paralyzed by Luke Skywalker’s lightsaber—and seemed to be going through the motions of a dance, turning slowly and with difficulty on her crippled foot.

For a moment Lumiya thought it was one of her affectations. Then she realized that it was quite genuine: Alema was remembering her past, and what she could no longer do.

“We were a dancer,” she said wistfully, but she was talking to herself. “We loved to dance.”

Lumiya tried to think of all the things she had once loved to do, in the days before she entered Imperial service, and remembered none of them. “Get a move on, dancer,” she said. “You can start by tracking the Anakin Solo.”

The past didn’t matter, any of it. There was only the future.

SANVIA VITAJUICE BAR, CORUSCANT

Mara swirled the sediment of groundapple and dewflower juice around her glass and drank reluctantly as Kyp Durron watched. He clearly had something to say that he didn’t want to bring up in the Jedi Council Chamber—or in front of Luke.

And Ben still hadn’t called in. The Anakin Solo had arrived back at Coruscant two days earlier and there was no sign of Ben. Somehow she’d hoped he would have made his way to Jacen even if he wasn’t feeling communicative. Just feeling that he was alive and unharmed wasn’t enough.

He was her little boy. She didn’t care how many Centerpoints he could take out. This was her kid, and she couldn’t stand it. Sometimes, when she looked at their lives through the eyes of a normal mother for a brief moment, she was horrified.

“If I didn’t know better,” Kyp said, “I’d think you were avoiding me. The whole Jedi Council, in fact.”

“Just busy. But you called me here for a reason, and it wasn’t to boost my antioxidant levels.”

“Well, maybe I’m just observant, but we have an out-of-control Jedi on the loose. Maybe the Council can help you with that. Y’know, combined efforts of the most experienced Jedi in the galaxy?”

“What if I say Luke and I can handle it on our own?”

“Oh, family business …”

“That. And the fact that not all the Council is on the same side, so we don’t want to open a rift,” Mara said.

“Been there—”

“—done that. Put yourself in Corran’s position. Would you feel comfortable helping the chief of the GA’s bullyboy police after what he’s been doing to Corellians and even his own parents? Better we clear up our own family mess.”

“I’m surprised that Luke’s tolerated Jacen this long,” Kyp commented. “I wasn’t entirely joking when I said we should make Jacen a Master. People tend to stop throwing rocks when they’re inside the tent.”

“I think now might not be the best time.”

“Is Luke embarrassed he’s got problems within his own family?”

Mara almost blurted out that she’d stopped Luke from acting more than once and now she bitterly regretted it, but that wasn’t wholly true. “If I tell you that I’ve identified the root cause and I’m going to deal with it, will you back off?”

“I note the pronoun.”

“Luke knows what I’m doing.”

“Which is?”

“I’m going to kill Lumiya.”

“That removes the threat to Ben, but how does it deal with Jacen?”

“She’s infiltrated the GAG. I don’t know who her insiders are, but we have to assume she can get at Jacen, too. She might even influence him. She’s got to go.”

“What took you so long? The old cyborg must be running low on lube oil by now. You could take her anytime.”

“Luke tends to favor taking people alive and trying to talk them around.” She couldn’t bring herself to tell Kyp that Luke had had a civilized chat with Lumiya on the resort satellite. Touched her—even when she had her lightwhip in the other hand. He said her intentions felt peaceful. What was he thinking? “But she’s not so decrepit, believe me. I won’t have an easy time of it.”

“I’ll help you if you want backup.”

“I don’t think I’ll need it, but thanks.” Mara couldn’t avoid the next question. “What are the rest of the Council members saying?”