[Legacy Of The Force] - 07(67)

“Yes.”

“I have to turn my fleets against the evil Jacen represents. And then I have to watch him kill my baby.” An overpowering wave of grief rolled off Tenel Ka. Luke almost reached for her to comfort her, but in the sight of so many others such a gesture would be utterly inappropriate. He saw Cilghal take an involuntary step toward them, but the Mon Cal healer caught herself and stepped back again.

“Has your intelligence service determined where Allana is? To stage a rescue?”

“They don’t have to. I can feel her. Sometimes she’s on Coruscant, sometimes elsewhere. Her movements match those of the Anakin Solo.”

The events of just a few days earlier clicked together in Luke’s thoughts. The little girl Jacen had been using as a human shield-that had to have been Allana. Luke decided not to mention it. “A grief-stricken Queen Mother is of no rnore use to the Hapans than a grief-stricken Jedi is to the Order. What if we just go in and retrieve Allana for you?”

She looked at him, a new dread in her eyes-this time, an Unwillingness to let herself hope for something so tremendous. “If I thought it could be done, I’d have done it already.”

“One former Jedi and limitless wealth can accomplish a lot of things.” Luke’s gesture took in all of the Sanctuary Moon, back to his outpost and beyond. “A whole Order of Jedi can accomplish other things.”

“I couldn’t ask you to.”

“And you didn’t. But I think it’s the right thing to do. The right thing from a personal and military point of view. Without Allana, Jacen loses his influence over the Consortium. With the revelation of his threat to kill Allana, Admiral Niathal may reconsider her alliance with Jacen. With the odds shifted away from the Alliance, Jacen and Niathal may have to sue for peace. Rescuing Allana could end this war, Tenel Ka.” He offered his hand to her. “The Jedi Order offers.”

Slowly, as if not daring to believe her luck, Tenel Ka took it. “The Hapes Consortium accepts. With gratitude.”





Chapter 23


STAR SYSTEM MZX32905, NEAR BIMMIEL

The Millennium Falcon dropped out of hyperspace well outside the asteroid belt of Star System MZX32905, well away from the floating, tumbling hazards to navigation its asteroids constituted. Han and Leia could see the belt on their sensors, though, as a broad line of irregular lumps, demonstrating widely different masses, shapes, and rotations.

A moment later a starfighter appeared nearby, trailing the Falcon by a few dozen kilometers-Jag’s X-wing. This meant that Jaina and Zekk’s StealthXs were there, as well. Han didn’t bother searching for them on his sensors. He might pick up traces, but it would be a pointless exercise.

Leia activated the comm board, adjusted the transmission to its lowest power setting, and directed it precisely toward Jag’s starfighter. “We’ve begun the passive sensor scan. And we’re running computations on all observable asteroids of the appropriate size, plotting their locations when Jacen and Ben visited.” She didn’t get a word or click in response, but hadn’t expected one. She could feel Jaina and the other two in the Force and knew them to be patient, unalarmed, waiting. They had to be receiving her.

Han watched as data began accumulating on his sensor board. Red shapes, each one designated with an alphanumeric code decided on by the Falcon’s navigational computer, indicated where the relevant asteroids were now. Yellowish shapes with corresponding designations began appearing, showing where those asteroids had been many months earlier. Han adjusted the scale of the sensor image to display the system’s entire asteroid belt. “I’m going to prioritize these targets so we can figure out what order we visit them in.”

Leia gave him a dubious look. “Based on your extensive knowledge of ore yields and mining techniques, I suppose.”

“Of course not. Based on my knowledge of how corporate stiffs think. For instance, they like big round things. So we’ll focus on the biggest, roundest asteroids first.”

Leia put her head down in her hands. “That wouldn’t hurt so much if I didn’t suspect you were right.”



LUMIYA’S SATELLITE HABITAT

Alema felt a little ripple in the Force. It was of no more consequence than if a normal person had had a dream in which a menacing shape stood over her bed as she slept.

But Alema had long ago learned to trust incidents that seemed to be of little consequence. She threw off her bedsheet and rose, then dressed hurriedly-as hurriedly as a being could with only one working arm.

The habitat was silent except for the hiss of atmosphere conditioners. Her chambers-rooms that had once been Lumiya’s-were dimly lit by night-intensity glow rods and held no terrors for her while she was awake. Casting out in the Force, she could feel nothing but the beautiful, malevolent furnace of power hundreds of meters beneath her, the wellspring of energy with which she would someday be able to balance the galaxy.