“Captain, the vehicle is empty.”
Dician blinked. She reached out toward the sphere through the Force and sensed its mind, its desire … but no occupant.
So Alema Rar was still on the asteroid. Interesting. She was having no luck destroying the Millennium Falcon. The freighter’s pilot was just too good-evidence that Han Solo was indeed at the controls. His death would be a great prize, but worth only bragging rights.
The meditation sphere, on the other hand, was something tangible, something Dician could have, could keep. It would be the envy of every member of her Order.
She looked at Wayniss. “Have the shuttle crews reported in? Are all the explosives charges in place?”
“Yes, Captain. The big one was just activated and delivered. You can begin detonating them anytime you like.”
“Follow the new contact.” As the Poison Moon heeled over on its new course, she added, “Tell the shuttle crews to assemble on… What’s our designation for the largest asteroid in this belt?”
“Omega Three Seven Nine.”
“On Omega Three Seven Nine. We’ll be back for them. Probably.” She reached out for the meditation sphere and was gratified to still feel it, a pulse of dark energy precisely attuned to the ways and wishes of her Order. “Where are you going, charming one?”
She expected no answer, but got one, the clear image of a distant world-arctic, forested, a menacing blue-white eye in a sea of darkness.
Ziost, original homeworld of the Sith.
She flicked a finger at Wayniss. “Lay in a course for
Ziost. All speed. We’ll see if we can beat the little fellow there and scoop him up as he arrives.”
“Yes, Captain.”
“And just before we enter hyperspace, begin the bomb triggering sequence.”
“Yes, Captain.”
Dician smiled. “Congratulations, everyone. On the perfect resolution to a perfect mission.”
Chapter 27
ABOARD THE MILLENNIUM FALCON
“They’re running.”
Leia, once again in her rear-facing seat position, turned to stare through the forward viewports. “What?”
“They’re running.” Han leaned back and stretched, non-chalant. “I chased ‘em off.”
“Sure you did.” But on the sensor board, the frigate was indeed outbound. “I wonder what they wanted in the first place?”
“Me, of course. Us, I mean. You know the mentality.”
Leia glared. “Oh, I know the mentality, all right.”
“By the way, thanks for not letting our passenger come visit the captain.”
“That’s better.”
On the asteroid, far away from the habitat, light flared, a brilliant, piercing white glow. As it faded, Han and Leia could see damage remaining where it had been-a black-and-red hole, tiny at this distance, through which atmosphere began venting in a column that rapidly grew to be kilometers tall.
Even at the distance of half a kilometer, Jaina saw the railcar ascending toward her; it had running lights, making it easy to spot in the darkness. A quick touch with the Force confirmed that neither Jag nor Zekk was in control of the vehicle.
With her lightsaber, she cut through both rails of the track, then hauled herself up a few meters and cut through again, slicing away a span of track. Then she hauled herself back up, coming to a stop twenty meters above the gap she’d created.
The railcar hit the gap. It could have come clean off the rails, floating into the void of the cavern, but it instead angled the other way, and its nose hit the far section of track dead-on. It came to a sudden stop, the cars behind it accor-dioning, piling up like a freight-hauler disaster.
A small figure was ejected from the lead car. Alema rose, hurtling past the gap, and grabbed at a cross-tie, coming to an abrupt stop a handful of meters below Jaina.
Jaina smiled down at her. “Hello again.”
Alema’s mouth twisted. “This is no longer a game. Get out of our way.”
“For me, it was never a game. Say, how are you going to climb the track and swing a lightsaber with only one working arm?”
“We will find a way.” Alema ascended another few cross-ties. Now she was only three meters beneath Jaina’s feet.
“You could surrender. Throw away your lightsaber. And your blowgun and darts and other toys. Pretty much everything on your person. And I’ll take you to safety, and you’ll live.”
Alema shook her head. Her half-length brain-tail came free of her hood. “With the universe still out of balance? With the wicked not punished? We think not.”
Then it came, a low, rumbling roar from some great distance to Jaina’s left. She peered off into the darkness, remaining mindful of Alema’s position through her sense of the Force. “Some new trap?”