Luke waited, but after a moment it became clear that Karrde wasn’t going to elaborate. “You spoke of a compromise,” he reminded the other.
Karrde seemed to pull his thoughts back to the room. “Yes, I did,” he said. “It’s occurred to me that your privileged position in the New Republic might be what the Empire was interested in-that they wanted information on the inner workings of the Provisional Council. In such a case, we might have been able to work out a deal whereby you went free while your R2 droid went to the Imperials for debriefing.”
Luke felt his stomach tighten. “It wouldn’t do them any good,” he said as casually as he could manage. The thought of Artoo being sold into Imperial slavery … “Artoo has never been to any of the Council meetings.”
“But he does have a great deal of knowledge of you personally,” Karrde pointed out. “As well as of your sister, her husband, and various other highly placed members of the New Republic.” He shrugged. “It’s a moot question now, of course. The fact that the focus is exclusively on the New Republic’s Jedi and potential Jedi means they’re not simply after information. Where did these two attacks take place?”
“The first was on Bimmisaari, the second on Bpfassh.”
Karrde nodded. “We’ve got a contact on Bpfassh; perhaps we can get him to do some backtracking on the Imperials. Until then, I’m afraid you’ll have to remain here as our guest.”
It sounded like a dismissal. “Let me just point out one other thing before I go,” Luke said. “No matter what happens to me-or what happens to Leia, for that matter-the Empire is still doomed. There are more planets in the New Republic now than there are under Imperial rule, and that number increases daily. We’ll win eventually, if only by sheer weight of numbers.”
“I understand that was the Emperor’s own argument when discussing your Rebellion,” Karrde countered dryly. “Still, that is the crux of the dilemma, isn’t it? While the Empire will wreak swift retribution on me if I don’t give you over to them, the New Republic looks more likely to win out in the long run.”
“Only if he and his sister are there to hold Mon Mothma’s hand,” Mara put in contemptuously. “If they aren’t-
“If they aren’t, the final time frame is somewhat less clear,” Karrde agreed. “At any rate, I thank you for your time, Skywalker. I hope we can come to a decision without too much of a delay.”
“Don’t hurry on my account,” Luke told him. “This seems a pleasant enough world to spend a few days on.”
“Don’t believe it for a moment,” Karrde warned. “My two pet vornskrs have a large number of relatives out in the forest. Relatives who haven’t had the benefits of modern domestication.”
“I understand,” Luke said. On the other hand, if he could get out of Karrde’s encampment and clear of whatever this strange interference was they were using on him …
“And don’t count on your Jedi skills to protect you, either,” Karrde added, almost lazily. “You’ll be just as helpless in the forest. Probably more so.” He looked up at the tree towering above him. “There are, after all, considerably more ysalamiri out there than there are here.”
“Ysalamiri?” Luke followed his gesture … and for the first time noticed the slender, gray-brown creature hanging onto the tree limb directly over Karrde’s head. “What is it?”
“The reason you’re staying where we put you,” Karrde said. “They seem to have the unusual ability to push back the Force-to create bubbles, so to speak, where the Force simply doesn’t exist.”
“I’ve never heard of them,” Luke said, wondering if there was any truth at all to the story. Certainly neither Yoda nor Ben had ever mentioned the possibility of such a thing.
“Not very many have,” Karrde agreed. “And in the past, most of those who did had a vested interest in keeping it that way. The Jedi of the Old Republic avoided the planet, for obvious reasons, which was why a fair number of smuggling groups back then had their bases here. After the Emperor destroyed the Jedi, most of the groups pulled up roots and left, preferring to be closer to their potential markets. Now that the Jedi are rising again-” he nodded gravely to Luke “-perhaps some of them will return. Though I dare say the general populace would probably not appreciate that.”
Luke glanced around the tree. Now that he knew what to look for, he could see several other ysalamiri wrapped around and across various of the limbs and branches. “What makes you think it’s the ysalamiri and not something else that’s responsible for this bubbling in the Force?”