“I’m sending you something on your secure datalink,” he said. “At one minute past midnight, I’ll be acting on it. Time your visit to G’Sil carefully.”
“I think I can manage that, Jacen . . ,”
“Wait until you see what I’m sending you,” he said. “It’s rather different watching them carve up our future.”
“Let me know five minutes before you … pay your visit.”
Jacen leaned back in his seat and waited for the call from Shevu.
And he could still feel that Ben was alive, if not well.
CHARBI SPACEPORT, VULPTER
It was a lockdown. Ben, like everyone else in the crowd, stood still as the Corellian Security officerministerial protection branch, he guessedtrained his blaster on the crowd.
“Nobody’s going anywhere,” he said. “This port is being sealed by the Vulpter authorities and you’re all going to be scanned for ballistic residue.” -
“Why?” a male voice called from the crowd.
“There’s been a projectile shooting,” the officer said. “A murder. I want you all to wait, nice and calm, and then we’ll check you all out, and you’ll be free to go.”
“That’s going to take hours,” someone said.
“Then it’ll take hours,” said the officer, and flicked the charge test on his blaster so they could hear the whir and see the flash of an indicator bar that said he was ready to shoot. “I’d really like your cooperation, folks.”
The hum of murmurs, gasps, clicks, and other varied expressions of horror and impatience swept across the gathering crowd. Ben’s gut was knotted tight. He didn’t dare look behind him to see where Shevu and Lekauf were. He could feel their presence and had a good idea of their positions, but that wasn’t enough. He needed to see them.
Carefully, he turned around and caught Lekauf’s eye. He ambled over to him, slowing down as he passed so it wasn’t obvious they were together. He’d need to steer clear of Shevu, too. There was no point getting them all arrested.
Ben activated his earpiece and spoke barely moving his lips to contain the whisper.
“I’m going to find a weak point and get out,” he said. He felt everyone could see the rifle folded under his jacket, even though they all seemed far more interested in what was happening beyond the transparisteel doors to the landing area. Red and blue lights were reflecting off the walls as security vehicles streamed onto the field. “I can jump anywhere, open any door, remember. I’ll make my own way back home.”
“You do that,” said Lekauf’s voice in his ear, “and they’ll know it was a Jedi.”
“No Force nonsense,” said Shevu. “Relax. We’ll get around this. Contingency plans, gentlemen.”
“I’m covered in trace, sir.”
“Jori,” said Shevu. He never normally used Lekauf’s first name. “Jori, I’m going to”
“I don’t think that’s a good use of manpower, sir.” Lekauf was moving toward Ben. He looked grim. “And you’re too far from Ben to do anything about it.”
Lekauf was right next to Ben now. In the crush of passengers and pilots milling around, getting in one another’s way, he could press right up against him unnoticed. The lieutenant reached under Ben’s coat and grasped the rifle. Ben clamped his arm tight against his side to stop him from taking it.
“What are you doing?”
“Contingency plan. Let go, Ben.”
“You’re going to dump it?”
“Yeah. Yeah, I’m going to get rid of it.”
“What about the ballistic contamination? You can’t dump that.”
“Announce it to everyone, why don’t you …” Lekauf was suddenly Master Efficient again, like he’d been on the practice range, his slightly goofy good humor gone. He stood chest-to-chest with Ben, and after a two-second, almost immobile tussle that nobody else could see, he loosened Ben’s clamped elbow and slid the folded Karpaki under his own jacket. “Now stick with the boss. Promise me you will.”
“You’re nuts, Jori.”
“Yeah, like Granddad.”
Ben felt utterly useless. Lekauf had to bail him out of this mess. He should have been able to do it by himself. Some Jedi. Some supersoldier. He wondered how he’d live this down, and also why he was more worried about that at this moment than about taking a life, even a rotten one like Gejjen’s.
Lekauf moved back along the terminal hall to the central doors that led onto the landing area. Ben went to follow him, but Shevu stepped into his path casually, as if being rude and careless to a stranger.