Star Wars - The New Jedi Order - Force Heretic I - Remnant - Book 17

by Sean Williams

  Mara chuckled at the effort. "That's just the way things are, Jacen," she said, putting an arm around his shoulder and guiding him with her to join the others. He didn't resist her. "Sometimes it's harder to make a friend than it is to fight an enemy."

  EPILOGUE

  Two days later, Luke watched from Jade Shadow's cockpit as the Imperial Navy reassembled for its mission Coreward. Advance scouts had found the location of B'shith Vorrik's rear guard, and Pellaeon was keen to press home their advantage and push the Yuuzhan Vong back even farther.

  "You'll require an escort on your mission into the Unknown Regions," Pellaeon said from the bridge of Right to Rule, his image displayed in miniature by the holo-projector between Luke and Mara.

  "We're quite capable of handling ourselves, Admiral," Mara said.

  "Think of it as a gesture," Pellaeon replied. "A political act rather than a military one."

  "A gesture of unity?"

  Pellaeon nodded. "Something like that."

  Mara grunted unhappily. "What exactly did you have in mind?"

  "Captain Yage has volunteered the services of Widow-maker, and I have given approval. She's one of the best officers I have. She'll give you support if you need it, but she won't get in your way, I assure you. You can count on her to be discreet."

  Luke knew that Yage was a good choice; she had proved herself to be very pragmatic and open-minded.

  "We don't really know what we're heading into," he said, "so we won't make a point of refusing the offer."

  "You never know," Pellaeon said, smiling. "You might even be glad you accepted it, one day."

  Luke smiled in return, then asked, "You have the information from Moff Crowal?"

  "I have. We'll download it to your navicomputers in a second. She's supervised numerous scouting missions into the Unknown Regions, some of which made contact with civilizations there. One of her ethnologists has an interest in comparative religions and has recorded a number of myths and legends prevalent among most cultures. One of the more interesting legends is that of a wandering planet, known to appear in systems briefly and then flee when approached. Does this sound something like what you might be looking for?"

  Descriptions of Zonama Sekot were nonexistent beyond what Vergere had told Jacen, but they knew without a doubt that it could move of its own volition, employing massive hyperspace engines mounted deep in its crust and powered by the planet's core. Luke doubted that there would be two such planets in the galaxy.

  "Can you tell us where it was last seen?" he asked.

  Pellaeon shook his head. "All we have are the stories, I'm afraid. But I can tell you where these stories hail from. Since it's not a universal fable, you might at least be able to trace some sort of path."

  "That might work," Mara said, glancing over the hologram to Luke. "If we could get enough information like that, then we should be able to work out where it's been."

  "But what happens when you find it?" the Grand Admiral asked. "If the legends are right, it's only going to run away again."

  "That's something we're just going to have to deal with when the time comes," Luke said. "If the time comes, that is."

  "Either way," Pellaeon said, "it looks like you're going to have your hands full."

  "No more than you'll have, convincing Vorrik to stay away from your home," Luke said.

  "That should be easy compared to getting up in front of a certain Princess to tell her that the Empire has changed its mind."

  "You won't be talking to Leia," Luke said. "She's dealing with other things at the moment." They had received a brief update of his sister's activities on Galantos when communications had been normalized after the attack. It concerned him, the way the Yuuzhan Vong were beginning to mop up lesser threats around the edges of their territory, regardless of the strength of their grip on the center. Even if the center fell, the peripheries could still suffer major damage before the threat was eradicated.

  "One of your Jedi friends, then," Pellaeon said. "I'm sure they have things nicely in order on Mon Calamari."

  "Not the Jedi, either," Luke corrected him again. "We're staying well out of politics this time. I have come to the opinion that the Force is best at guiding an individual, not a nation of any size. The forces that direct a cell to grow aren't appropriate for the plant as a whole and are maybe even destructive. The last thing we want is another Palpatine."

  "A wise move, I think," Pellaeon said. "But whom should I talk to, then?"

  "Head of State Cal Omas," Luke said. "Or Supreme Commander Sien Sow."

  "The same Sow who cost you Coruscant?"

  "His reputation is undeserved, as he has recently proven," Luke defended. "And even if it was, we need someone like him to lead us to the right kind of victory only someone who has faced losing everything can sympathize with a defeated enemy."

  Pellaeon chuckled this time. "Skywalker, you're getting more dangerous the older you get. I hope I'm not around to see what you're going to be like when you get to be my age."

  When Jade Shadow had recharged its weapons banks and Captain Yage had moved alongside to coordinate their departure, Luke took a walk to stretch his legs, and to find Jacen. Passing through the passenger bay, he found Tekli and Saba playing a dice game. To human eyes, the faces of the dice looked black-on-black, but they were readable in infrared, and both aliens saw well into that spectrum. There was a heady odor to the bay, reflecting the fact that it had been home to too many people for too many days. With Widowmaker along for the ride, Luke hoped there might be more opportunities to stretch their legs in the long journey ahead.

  He smiled down at them on his way through, and was about to leave when he was stopped by Saba. "Master Skywalker?" she said, standing. "Yes, Saba?"

  "This one ..." she started, with something approximating embarrassment in the way her spiked heels scratched at Jade Shadow's metallic floor. The vertical slits of her eyes blinked before she spoke again. Then, with quiet sincerity, she said, "This one iz glad that she came on the mission."

  He smiled gently. "This one is glad you came, too, Saba," he said. "Your stunt with the slaveship has done more for our reputation among the Imperials than anything I ever did."

  "'Crazy,' Grand Admiral Pellaeon said."

  "That we are." He touched Saba's shoulder and felt her thickly corded muscles tense beneath her scales. "Consider them remembered," he said softly.

  She nodded. "And the hunt continues."

  Tekli indicated for Saba to continue with the game. The Barabel crouched down again, her large clawed hand collecting the black dice and rolling them across the deck. Luke left them to it, glad that the unlikely pair had found friendship with each other.

  Once the door had closed on the passenger bay, Luke searched the immediate vicinity of the Force for some indication of where Jacen might be. He sensed his nephew deeper in the shipin fact, he was about as far away as someone could get from the rest of the crew without actually leaving Jade Shadow. Luke imagined that Jacen probably just wanted some privacy, which he would happily give to him once he'd made sure everything was all right with the young man. It was only as he rounded the corner to where the power couplings interfaced with the reactor outlets that he heard voices, and realized that Jacen was not alone. Three paces later he was confronted with a sight that brought him to a haltmore from embarrassment than anything else.

  Jacen and Danni Quee were standing close together by an open hatchway. Danni's hand was lightly touching Jacen's cheek, and she was saying something to him in a low and intimate voice. Luke couldn't hear what was being said, thankfully, but just seeing them would have been bad enough as far as Jacen and Danni would have been concerned.

  He quickly tried to duck back around the corner before he was noticed, but it was too late.

  Jacen looked up, and Danni turned to follow his gaze. She hastily pulled her hand away as they stepped apart. Fo r a few uncomfortable seconds, nobody spoke, and no one's eyes met.

  "I'm sure Mara would have
something appropriate to say at a moment like this," Luke ventured into the awkward silence.

  Jacen nodded. "Probably something about not being able to expect privacy on a starship," he said.

  "I'll leave you"

  "No," Danni said quickly. "Really. It's all right." She brushed back her hair and, indicating the open hatch, smiled. "We can check out that dodgy surge arrestor another time, if you like."

  Jacen nodded once, then Danni stepped past Luke without another word, leaving the two men to talk.

  "I'm so sorry," Luke said when she had gone. "I had no idea that"

  "No, it's okay," Jacen cut in. Clearly feeling awkward with the situation, he turned away from Luke, shutting the hatch with a gentle push and then affixing the bolts to hold it closed. For a moment his face stayed averted, but when he did finally turn around, Luke could see that he was smiling. "Actually, you probably did me a favor. I'm not very good at this sort of thing."

  "Really?" Luke said. "You surprise me."

  "In fact, I'm pretty dreadful."

  "Well, I'm afraid you've probably inherited that from your mother's side of the family," Luke said. "That includes me."

  "You seem to have done all right for yourself, Uncle."

  "Oh, better than all right," he said. "But it took a lot of trial and error along the way. Getting a relationship to work is almost impossibleeven without people like me getting in the way. There's no right or wrong way to tread; the rules are made up as you go along and can change without warning." He smiled. "Trust me when I say that it makes being a Jedi look easy."

  "Maybe that's why the Jedi of old never married and had children," Jacen said.

  "Maybe." Luke thought of his son, far away and, hopefully, safe. "I hope Ben turns out to be smarter than his father. Or at least more perceptive."

  Hatch sealed, Jacen said, "I'm not sure that would be possible."

  Glad that his nephew held no ill feelings for the intrusion, Luke clapped the young man on the back and led the way back to the cockpit. Danni made a good show of looking nonchalant as they passed, and Jacen managed to only slightly flush.

  Mara looked up as they entered. "What kept you?"

  "We just got talking, that's all," Luke said.

  His wife frowned at him, but then her eyes widened in realization.

  Mara studied Jacen carefully as the young Jedi dropped into the navigator's seat behind her. If he noticed her scrutiny, he didn't acknowledge it. Instead he kept his eyes on the view from the forward sensors, studying the ships arrayed around them.

  "An Imperial escort," he said with a chuckle. "Who would have ever thought it possible?"

  "These are indeed strange days," Luke said, slipping into the copilot's seat beside him.

  Widowmaker was visible as a solid icon accompanied by several smaller shapes, gradually docking. Pellaeon had been true to his wordand then some. They were getting not only the frigate, but a squadron of TIE fighters as well. He'd heard a rumor that the droid brains of Braxant Bonecrusher had also volunteered to serve with Jacen again, but they had been turned down. The battered Dreadnaught needed some time in dry dock before its long-term flight worthiness was assured.

  Mara seemed about to say something when a sub-space message came through, flickering to life on the holoprojector.

  A staticky image of Han appeared before them, with Leia at his shoulder.

  "Hey, kid," Han said pleasantly, his mouth lifted at one corner in the smile that Luke had come to know all too well over the years.

  "Is everything all right?" Mara asked. "Fine," Han returned. There was some distortion to the voice, and the image kept losing cohesiveness, but considering how far it had come the quality was excellent. "Just thought we'd drop a line before we head off. After this, who knows when we'll get the chance to speak again?"

  Luke forced a reassuring smile, fighting back a sudden apprehension about his journey. The Unknown Regions were large and contained hundreds of millions of stars. How long it would take to find Zonama Sekot was impossible to tell, but he knew it was going to take a lot of luck and a strong faith in the Force to find one planet out of so many.

  "Soon," he said, "I hope."

  "Where are you headed?" Mara asked of the fuzzy holograms.

  "Bakura," Leia said.

  "Bakura?" Luke's apprehension shifted and intensified immediately.

  "Hey, relax," Han said. "It's not like we're going in alone. We've got Pride of Selonia to watch our backs. We're going to be just fine, kid."

  Luke smiled again, and this time it came easiereven though the thought of trouble at Bakura made his skin crawl. The right people were going there to fix it, if there was trouble to be found.

  "I hope you have better luck than you did with the Yevetha," he said. "How's Tahiri?"

  "She says she's feeling fine," Leia said. "There was an episode on Galantos, but she seems to have bounced back. She might need a little bit more rest, I think, before she puts the pieces together."

  Leia turned away, then, as if her attention was attracted by something off to one side. She turned back again a couple of seconds later.

  "We've just had word that Selonia is ready to leave," she said, "so we're going to have to say our good-byes."

  "That's okay," Mara said. "We're just about to leave, also."

  "You take care, Luke," Han said, with his cocky half smile.

  "You, too, my friend," Luke said. "Good-bye, Leia."

  "Good-bye, Luke," his sister said. "And may the Force be with you all."

  Mara waved. The image crackled and died, and silence once again filled the cabin. Luke sat back in his seat with a weary sigh.

  "Luke?" Mara said. "What's wrong?"

  "I'm not sure," he said. "These good-byes just feel.. . different, somehow."

  His wife's hand came over to rest on top of his. "We'll see them again soon enough," she said. "You'll be fine once we get going."

  Her hand left his and joined the other flickering over the controls, completing her preflight checks. Luke smiled at her reassuring words, but they didn't convince him. Something was still troubling him and he couldn't quite put a finger on it. Was it just the mention of Bakura? Or had it been the look on Leia's face when he'd asked about Tahiri?

  She might need a little bit more rest, Leia had said, before she puts the pieces together.

  Together, not back together. Yet he hadn't spoken to Leia about Tahiri before they'd left. His gut feeling was that there was nothing to worry about, in the long run, but Leia had looked concerned.

  He wasn't sure what to make of that. Most probably, he decided, his unease came from seeing Ben by hologram earlierthe harsh reminder that his son was growing up fast thousands of light-years away while he was off on some crazy mission to find something that might not even exist. He could only hold tight to the faith that Vergere had known what she was talking about. Because if she did, the fate of more than just Ben could be at stake.

  Word came over the comm unit that the last of the TIE fighters had just docked in Widowmaker's flight deck.

  "We're ready when you are," Mara said, then turned to him. "Artoo has laid in a course for a planet called Yashuvhu." Luke's much-traveled R2 unit whistled confirmation from the droid station behind them. "Imperial first-contact specialists list it as nonhostile, and our specialist in comparative religions has listed it as one of the places that's heard of Zonama Sekot." "Our specialist?" Luke echoed. Mara looked up at him. "Dr. Soron Hegerty," she said. "You did know she was coming along, didn't you?" Luke shrugged. "Never heard of her, actually." "She was flown in from Valc Seven especially to advise us on local folklore that might help us trace Zonama Sekot," Mara said. "Captain Yage assured me that you knew about this."

  They exchanged a long glance before Luke finally laughed. "Sounds to me as though someone might be trying to play both ends against the middle," he said.

  "Still, it should stop the trip from becoming boring, don't you think?"

  Mara didn't smile, but he c
ould see amusement in his wife's deep green eyes.

  "Widowmaker is at your command," Captain Yage said when the frigate's hyperdrive engines had cycled through a routine warm-up sequence. "Course laid in; all systems green. Just say the word, Mara."

  Mara glanced at Luke, who nodded. She relayed the command, and Luke settled back into the copilot's seat, not needing to do anything with her and R2-D2 at the controls. The stars ahead were bright and too numerous to count. Somewhere within their far-flung tangle was a single world that might be the key to ending the war with the Yuuzhan Vong.

  We're going to find you, Zonama Sekot, he thought to himself. Wherever you are, we're going to find you. ..

  Engines surged and the stars stretched into lines as hyperspace enfolded them. They were on their way again.