[Legacy Of The Force] - 07(65)
One of them, a dark-skinned human female whose pale geometric-patterned tattoos stood out in sharp relief on the skin of her cheeks, bowed to the assembly. Her voice was surprisingly light and musical, considering her somber appearance, as she answered the question put to her. “Yes, my lord, I have news and even speculation concerning Alema Ran”
“We will hear them, Dician.” The words came from the man guiding this conclave, a human whose fully white eyes suggested blindness but whose alert mannerisms said otherwise.
Dician continued. “The ersatz Sith Holocron provided to her traced her path back to her point of origin. It is an asteroid belt in a star system near Bimmiel. When a cloaked ship comes available, I will requisition its use to pinpoint her location exactly.”
The white-eyed leader’s voice suggested skepticism. “You think her significant enough to devote important resources to such a mission?”
“I do.”
“Why?”
Dician took a long breath, a delaying tactic allowing her a few more seconds to compose her argument. “By offering the Jedi aid in their search for this woman…”
A buzz of offended comments from the others brought her up short. She glanced around, assessing the mood of the assembly, and decided that she would lose respect if she yielded to their outrage. Before the white-eyed man could bring them to order, she continued, her voice rising to cut through their complaints: “In one of my assumed identities, of course, as a Confederation Intelligence operative. I would not aid the Jedi, but they must think of me as an ally.” The others quieted. “And having proved myself a legitimate intel officer, I received a considerable amount of information on their hunt for Alema Rar. … which must necessarily include information and speculation about her.
“It seems that among the resources she inherited from Lumiya is a Force technique permitting her the projection of phantoms across space. It appears in every way to match the lost technique of Darth Vectivus.”
At those words, the murmur rose again. “Vectivus’s history is clear. He was a fraud, “someone muttered.
“A fraud with an art that would benefit us all, “said someone else.
“I was not here for her visit-could this Alema Rar be turned to our ends?” yet a third questioned.
“I think not. She seemed as insane as a piranha-beetle with a needle through its brain.” The voice was barely audible above the other voices.
The white-eyed man cleared his throat, and the others went silent. “We must recapture the woman, extract the secrets of the technique from her, and seize the power source she utilizes.”
There was regret in Dician’s tone as she replied. “I think not, my lord. The Jedi are now homing in on her location. Knowledge is much easier to obtain than to contain-once they know where her base is, we will never be able to preserve that secret.”
The white-eyed man considered. “Very well. You were correct, Dician. This is of highest priority. We will not concern ourselves with a cloaked ship, but assign a fully armed warship to the task. I am recalling the Poison Moon and assigning it to you for this mission. It will be equipped with explosives sufficient to destroy an asteroid. You will use it to locate the dark side energy source used to power Vectivus’s Force phantom technique and obliterate it. You will obtain any Sith artifacts in Alema Rar’s possession. You will also capture Alema Rar, or, if circumstances warrant, kill her.”
Dician bowed again. “It will be my pleasure.”
SANCTUARY MOON OF ENDOR
They made a curious parade, Luke decided. Not that he hadn’t been part of many curious parades in the course of his curious life. First went the Hapan Security vanguard, four spectacular-looking women. They wore the most stylish body armor imaginable, its graceful lines broken up by green-and-brown camouflage patterns that made the armor difficult to pick out amid Endor’s forest vegetation.
Behind the security guard by some ten meters, walking side by side, came Luke and Queen Mother Tenel Ka, dressed completely inappropriately for their surroundings-Luke wearing his black Jedi Grand Master garments, Tenel Ka sporting a flowing gown in shimmering, metallic shades of blue. Luke suspected that beneath it Tenel Ka probably wore traditional Dathomiri battle dress, but he would never know, unless an attack was staged against them and she felt the need to move freely.
Ten meters farther back were the droids C-3PO and R2-D2-the former to deal with any Ewoks who might approach, and the latter, inasmuch as any droid could, representing a comfortable and friendly “face” for Tenel Ka.
The main body of the odd safari walked behind the droids-Jedi Masters Saba Sebatyne and Cilghal, along with half a dozen advisers to the Queen Mother.