“No, I don’t think he’d murder Mara, “Jaina said. “But Ben seemed pretty rational. There’s something that doesn’t add up. I just hope he doesn’t get too close to Jacen while he’s doing this investigation.”
“So you do think Jacen would harm his own family.”
“Dad, he’s already done plenty of harming.”
“What are you going to do with him? I mean, you must have something planned or you wouldn’t be going to sign up for the Fett master class.”
“I’ll bring him in, “she said.
“Bring him in. Then what? Deprogram him? Lock him in the attic like you’re supposed to do with crazy relatives? Rehabilitate him and take him back into the Jedi Order? What happens to ex-Sith Lords?”
“The alternative is leaving him to carry on, Dad.”
Han Solo had never scared his kids but he was scaring Jaina now. She dropped her chin slightly. “We can worry about all that after he’s out of harm’s way.”
“Okay, “said Han. “If I was looking for Fett, I’d go to him, starting at Mandalore. He’ll give you a hard time, you know that?”
“Whatever it takes.”
“He might show you the door.”
“Won’t know until I ask.”
“You think your temper will hold out?”
“I can do anything when I really want to, “Jaina said. “And I want to bring Jacen in before anyone else gets to him. Maybe before Ben gets too close, too. For everyone’s sake.”
“Fett doesn’t have all the moves, or he’d have killed Jacen by now and wearing some part of his anatomy as a trophy.”
“Jacen’s not invincible, Dad. Nobody is. But when I go after him, it’ll have to be with skills he doesn’t have. Like Fett’s.”
“If you run into problems, your mom and I are going to be looking for alternative sites for a Jedi base not too far from that part of the galaxy…”
“No, “said Jaina. “I won’t need rescuing. I just wanted to know if you thought there was another way to do this.”
Han didn’t have a better idea or he would have argued. He gave her a long hug instead, silent and helpless, and she knew then that the focus she’d keep in her mind when things got ugly was that she had to do this to stop her fa-ther’s suffering. The general good, the trillions of beings whose lives might be at stake, was impossible to use as a powerful motivator. She needed something that would gal-vanize her from the gut, from the soul. And that something was her father’s face, drained of the spirit that made him such a hero to her.
“Look after Mom, “she said, and walked away into the trees. “I love you, Dad.”
“Hey, don’t take the StealthX to Mandalore, “he called after her. “It’ll just tick them off. And I love you too, sweetheart.”
Jaina turned around a few times to check if Han was still watching or back in the refuge of the Falcon, but he waited, arms folded, then waved. It must have compounded his pain to know that when things had reached their lowest ebb, his own daughter thought that the only man who could help was Fett.
Fett knew what it was like to lose a kid and see his family torn apart. She hoped, for no logical reason whatsoever, that the man would agree to train her not because he wanted to have his revenge on Jacen, but because he understood her pain.
In the end, though, it didn’t matter at all.
Chapter 3
Boba, how has your illness progressed? Has my data been of use to you? My offer still stands.
-Taun We, former human clone development supervisor on Kamino, now Head of Clone Adjustment at Arkanian Micro
GALACTIC CITY SPACEPORT, CORUSCANT
It was a planet of a trillion people, and Ben knew CorŁscant well enough now to vanish within it.
He shut himself down in the Force long before the flight from Bespin landed in Galactic City, more out of fear of implicating the people he intended to contact than worrying that Jacen would sense him and come after him. Knowing Jacen, he’d probably written Ben off as a weakling who couldn’t take it. Ben was consigned to the also-rans, minor disappointments Jacen would deal with when he came across them.
And Ben had his sources. They said Tahiri had pretty well taken his place at Jacen’s side.
At Galactic City Spaceport, the transport disgorged its long-haul passengers and Ben slipped through in the merging streams of bodies from all parts of the galaxy, a single fish in a multicolored shoal. With the easy obscurity of sun visor and a cap, he was just another young man out of millions in the Galactic City area. And maybe it was wishful thinking, but he thought he detected a faint growth of beard, more fluff than anything, but it was still…. different. He didn’t look like Lieutenant Skywalker.