Star Wars The New Jedi Order - Vector Prime - Book 1

by R. A. Salvatore

  But not now, he reminded himself, for he was indeed drifting toward the thick jungle canopy in anticipation of meeting a red-crested cougar. He straightened his line and ran flat out to the tall girder-work tower, the only structure outside the compound. He considered the thick cable that crawled out from the compound to the base of the metalwork, and almost started for it with his coufee.

  Too easy to repair, he realized, and his gaze drifted up, up. Fortunately, the gridwork pattern of the girders was not wide spaced, so up Yomin Carr went, hand over hand, his strong, toned muscles working furiously, propelling him fast to the top of the hundred-meter tower. He didn't look down, was not afraid, was never afraid, and focused solely on the junction box and the cable.

  Chill winds buffeted him, giving him an idea, so he went to work on the connection between cable and box gently, easing out one rivet, turning open one screw. The others, if they ever managed to get this far along in their repairs, would think this damage to be the result of the constant wind and the often harsh Belkadan weather.

  Secure that the connection was broken, Yomin Carr started down the tall tower, again working fast, reminding himself that the incoming signal was likely nearing L10, and that he had a long way yet to go. He dropped the last few meters, landing in a roll and coming up right beside the cable. This time he couldn't resist; he knew that these were just communication wires and nothing carrying substantial power. He brought the cable to his mouth and chewed it viciously, taking perverted pleasure in the tingle of pain as he got through the insulation and sparks erupted all about his mouth and face.

  Let them find this break and repair it, he thought, and then return inside to learn that the system still would not function!

  Mouth, cheeks, and chin bloody, his nose - already permanently misshapen and flattened to one side - torn along both nostrils, the warrior started back for the compound, but he stopped fast, noting a movement along the ground not far away. He hustled over and fell to his knees, and then smiled widely as he held up a reddish brown beetle with hooked mandibles and a single protruding tubular tongue. "My pet," he whispered, for he had not seen any of the beetles since coming to Belkadan, since bringing them to Belkadan, and he was glad to learn that they had already traveled this far across the planet's surface.

  Danni Quee would soon learn the reason that her precious sunsets were becoming somewhat tinted.

  Yomin Carr set the dweebit down again and, reminding himself of the dangers of delay, sprinted back for the compound, catching the top of the three-meter wall in one great leap, then running on, back into the main structure, padding quietly along darkened, silent halls. In his own room, he went to the closet, bidding the ooglith masquer back to him.

  The pain as the creature enveloped him, thousands of tiny tendrils boring into his skin, was perfectly exquisite, bringing shudder after shudder of edgy pleasure to Yomin Carr. A quick trip to the mirror showed him that the disguise was complete.

  Then he took out another small coffer and carefully removed the top. Inside was a single wriggling creature, a small worm. Yomin Carr eased the coffer up near to his ear and tilted it, and the worm responded, crawling forth and burrowing right into the Yuuzhan Vong's ear cavity. Yomin Carr put his finger up there a moment later, to ensure that the tizowyrm had crawled all the way in, and also to signal the creature to begin its work. He felt the low vibrations a moment later. Tizowyrms were decoders, a creature bred by the Yuuzhan Vong alchemists to translate other languages. Despite their diminutive size, they could store enormous amounts of information and could emit that information subliminally. Thus, as Yomin Carr left his room, he was getting yet another lesson in the language most commonly used in this galaxy.

  A few minutes later, he was back in the control room, to find Tee-ubo and a very unsteady Garth huddled about Pod 3, with Danni working to reposition Pod 4 to the same alignment.

  "Yomin," Danni called, noting his return. "Come here, quick. I can't believe you missed this!"

  "Missed?" Yomin Carr echoed.

  "A signal!" Danni explained breathlessly.

  "Static," Yomin Carr offered, running to her side.

  And there it was, on the screen and through the audio lead, the clear signal of something - something very large - crossing through the galactic rim, into the galaxy.

  "Extragalactic," Danni said seriously.

  Yomin Carr bent low over the instruments, studying the data, calculating the vector, though he knew, of course, that Danni's description had been accurate. He looked up at her solemnly and nodded.

  Bensin Tomri burst into the room then, along with several other members of the team, and soon enough, all fifteen were present, angling the pod viewers, computer-enhancing the signals, running comparisons of this signal to all the millions of others in their data banks, trying to gain as many perspectives as possible on whatever had just streaked into their galaxy.

  Then, predictably, the debate began. It never ceased to amaze Yomin Carr how endlessly these humans could debate and argue about practically anything, an observation that merely reinforced his belief in the strict hierarchical structure of his own society. He would never question a prefect, a prefect would never question a high prefect, as these fools were arguing with Danni now.

  Never - and that, he believed, was the weakness his masters would come to exploit.

  At first, the debate centered on the composition of the incoming asteroid. As it was transmitting no apparent technological signals, there was little argument for its being a vessel. An asteroid, then, somehow finding its way through the great emptiness between galaxies, somehow penetrating the turbulence some scientists theorized existed beyond the small band of empty space surrounding perhaps from crossing too near a tremendous gravity field - in the process. That belief, that this was merely an extragalactic lump of rock, perhaps even a lump of rock from their own galaxy that had somehow escaped and then got pulled back in, did little to temper the excitement, though. Before this moment, no one had ever witnessed evidence of, let alone the actual event of, an extragalactic breach. Many scientists argued that such a breach could not even be accomplished. Certainly several brave explorers, and a couple of desperate outlaws being chased by the authorities, had gone into the turbulence of the galactic rim over the last few decades, but none had ever been heard from again. Here might be the answer. And the questions. What materials might this asteroid contain? What signs of life? Would this asteroid, once they caught up to it and examined it, provide new answers to the questions of the universe, perhaps even to the creation of the universe, or would it simply raise many, many more questions, perhaps some that went to the very root of their understanding of physics?

  And then the debate shifted to a less profound, though certainly no less contested, matter. It started when Bensin Tomri remarked that he would put together the announcement, to be broadcast back to ExGal Command.

  "Not yet," another of the scientists strongly argued.

  "We have to tell them," Bensin replied. "We have to get some ships out here fast enough to catch the thing for study."

  "Where's it going?" the other man came back sarcastically.

  "It's in our galaxy now, and we can track it to the other rim, if necessary," another added.

  "We're not an autonomous unit," a woman, Lysire, reminded.

  "Aren't we?" another argued.

  "But do we really know what we're tracking?" Yomin Carr asked, and all eyes turned toward him, most expressions incredulous.

  "Do we?" he asked again, in all seriousness.

  "Something extragalactic," another answered.

  "Never did I agree to that," Yomin Carr said, and again the curious expressions turned his way.

  "We don't know that," Danni put in, apparently taking Yomin Carr's side. "We've already agreed that it's just as likely an asteroid from our own galaxy that escaped, or nearly escaped, and was pulled back in."

  "It could indeed be something from our own galaxy," Yomin Carr went on, smiling inwardly
at the irony of that statement at the secret double meaning of our own galaxy . "In fact, I think it very likely that it is just that."

  "Then what's your point?" Bensin Tomri asked rather indignantly.

  "My point?" Yomin Carr echoed, mostly because it bought him the time to figure out the meaning, with help from the tizowyrm of that curious expression. "My point is that we do not even know if it was ever extragalactic," Yomin Carr answered.

  "You saw the vector," Bensin argued.

  "I did indeed," Yomin Carr said. "A vector that could reflect a rebound."

  "That's absurd," Bensin retorted.

  "How come we didn't track it out there, then?" another asked.

  "We do not know that we didn't," Yomin Carr said. He held up his hands to deflate any further attacks. "All that I am saying is that we should be absolutely certain before alerting the rest of the galaxy."

  "And any call we make will be public information before it ever gets to ExGal Command," Danni agreed.

  "Yes," Yomin Carr said, "and then we may discover the signal to be no more than a failure of one of our tracking systems or a piece of useless space debris bouncing back in from our own galaxy and how intelligent we shall look in the eyes of the judging ExGal commanders."

  "This is bigger than us," Bensin Tomri replied.

  "It is," Danni agreed. "But we were put out here to function independently. Maybe Yomin Carr's right. If we go prematurely alerting the whole galaxy, we could look like fools."

  "And any such error, rousing half the fleet, could hurt the funding of ExGal," Tee-ubo added with a nod.

  "Even if we are correct, if this is something that escaped and returned, or even something from another galaxy or from the supposed emptiness between galaxies, are you ready to announce it?" Yomin Carr asked Bensin directly.

  Bensin looked at him as if he did not understand.

  "Do you want a host of New Republic scientists, and perhaps even a couple of Jedi Knights to show up?" Yomin Carr asked sarcastically. Some of the expressions coming back at him showed that others hardly saw any connection between this and the Jedi, but Yomin Carr didn't let that slow him. "This is our moment. This is what we have earned from our sacrifice of months - for most of you, even years - of our lives, toiling in this wretched place. At the very least, we owe it to ourselves to prevent embarrassment, or to ensure our proper credit if it does show to be extragalactic. To begin the first formal study. To chart where it came from to make sure it's not a rebound. To chart its current path, and to try to gain as many insights as possible."

  "Way to go, newbie," Garth Breise remarked with a grin.

  The debate ended as abruptly as it had begun. Danni backed Yomin's argument completely, and even Bensin didn't disagree.

  Yomin Carr smiled inwardly once again. If practical arguments didn't work against these often stubborn inferior heretics, then appealing to their overblown sense of pride always did. He looked about at the working scientists, at their excitement and sense of relief and accomplishment. If only they knew.

  More than halfway across the galaxy, Nom Anor sat quietly in front of his villip, considering the words of his agent, Yomin Carr.

  It had begun.

  Chapter 3 The Role of Politics With a hesitation in his step that betrayed his uncomfortable feelings, Jacen Solo followed his uncle Luke into the council chamber. Jacen knew the new chief of state and his six councilors, of course, but his dealings with them had been primarily restricted to social events. This was business, serious business, judging from the tense nature of Luke Skywalker's stride. They had come to Coruscant so that Luke could accept an invitation to address the New Republic Advisory Council concerning his plans to reestablish the Jedi Council, but there was no doubt in Luke's mind that he would face some tough opposition on that matter, even from some councilors he considered his friends.

  What made it all the worse for Jacen was the fact that he hoped his uncle Luke's opponents proved victorious in this matter.

  The six councilors, Chief of State Borsk Fey'lya in the middle, sat at a semicircular table facing the doorway. Two chairs had been set before the long table - down lower, Jacen noted, and it seemed to him a rather thinly veiled attempt to elevate the stature of the councilors above their invited guests.

  In this particular instance, that seemed utterly ridiculous.

  Especially in the case of Borsk Fey'lya. Jacen had been with his uncle Luke and his mother, Leia, when the news had come through that Borsk, as the longest-serving member of the council, the "elder statesman" of the New Republic, had been elected chief of state, a position the conniving Bothan no doubt relished.

  Just a few years before, Borsk had escaped a lengthy prison sentence only through a generous pardon. Ever was he the consummate politician, who leaked information to weaken his opponents, once nearly unseating Leia as chief of state with damaging, and ultimately untrue, allegations. Despite getting caught in such an unseemly situation, Borsk, as always, found a way to land on his own political feet. He had climbed within a handbreadth of the top, serving the council as Chief of State Mon Mothma's trusted adviser, and then he had crashed to the bottom, facing charges that could have landed him in prison, or even, if the charge of treason had been pushed, a sentence of permanent exile.

  And yet, here he was again, lingering on like the Findris flu, seated between a new generation of councilors, who looked upon him as an age-wizened statesman and hero of the New Republic.

  On the day when the news of his latest ascension had come down, Jacen's mother had honestly wondered if she had done right in resigning as chief of state. Leia had even openly remarked that she might go back into politics.

  It was Luke who had dissuaded her, reminding her that more than the mood of the government had changed greatly in the year since she had resigned, that familiar and friendly faces had walked away. Even respected and dutiful Admirals Drayson and Ackbar had taken the apparent firming of the New Republic as their signal to retire, and neither had shown any inclination to remain politically active.

  As Borsk called the meeting to order, offering a polite recitation of the agenda and a welcome to their guests, Jacen looked around at the members, viewing their respective expressions in light of the information his uncle Luke had given him regarding their positions toward Luke and the proposed Jedi Council. At the far end to Jacen's right sat Niuk Niuv of Sullust. With his Sullustan features, the oversize, rounded ears and ample jowls, Niuk Niuv appeared more like a child's cuddle toy than a councilor, but Jacen knew Sullustans better than that, knew that they could be steadfast allies and dangerous foes. Niuk Niuv, according to Luke, would be among his most vocal detractors.

  Next to Niuk Niuv sat Cal Omas of Alderaan, a man sympathetic to Luke's plans, possibly Luke's strongest ally on the council. After his homeworld had been destroyed by the Empire, Cal Omas had fought with the Rebel Alliance through all the trials, and he knew well the value of the Jedi.

  The Wookiee, Triebakk, another potential ally for Luke, sat between Cal and Borsk, but the squid-headed creature on Borsk's other side, the Quarren, Pwoe, was perhaps Luke's greatest enemy of the group. Dour, like most of his water-dwelling brethren of Mon Calamari, Pwoe was the first Quarren ever to serve on the Advisory Council, and certainly an unexpected choice. The planet of Mon Calamari would, of course, always hold a seat, since their star cruisers and their support had proven so valuable in overthrowing the Empire and establishing the New Republic, but always before - and it was commonly assumed that the tradition would continue in perpetuity - it had been a Mon Calamarian, and not a Quarren, to serve on the council. Indeed, Admiral Ackbar had seemed the logical choice to represent Mon Calamari on the Advisory Council, as he had done back when the first Provisional Council was formed, but when the push for Pwoe - a push Luke suspected orchestrated by Borsk - had become serious, Ackbar had waved away all thoughts of rejoining the council and had retired.

  The remaining two members were both human, Fyor Rodan of Commenor and Chelch Dr
awad of Corellia. It was Fyor Rodan who had requested Luke at council, Jacen knew, and according to his uncle, Rodan was no friend and not to be trusted.

  With all of that in mind, with all the insights Luke had given him about these councilors, Jacen sat back and observed very carefully.

  After the somewhat hypocritical pleasantries and formalities that seemed to Jacen to go on and on, Borsk Fey'lya looked Luke right in the eye and asked, in the gravest of tones, "You have heard the initial reports from the Mediator ?"

  "Leia will be meeting with Nom Anor soon, I am told," Luke replied, avoiding the obvious.

  "A meeting complicated already," Borsk said.

  "Would all councilors who are surprised please raise their hands," Fyor Rodan put in, and even to sixteen-year-old Jacen, his sarcasm seemed rather juvenile, and certainly out of place in the somber hall.

  "I heard of the ... intervention," Luke admitted.

  "The Osarians were wrong to try to intercept a New Republic envoy," Cal Omas remarked.

  "A convenient excuse for our Jedi hero to rush to the rescue," Fyor Rodan shot back.

  "Quick to the trigger, they are," Pwoe said, his accusing stare falling over Luke.

  Jacen could hardly believe the lack of respect, and the obvious thinly masked intentions behind it all. The New Republic was having growing pains, with minor squabbles erupting throughout the galaxy, many of them age-old conflicts that had been buried under the blanket of the Empire for years and years but now, with the new freedoms afforded to individual planets and species, rising up once again. So of course, the New Republic and its councilors and representatives had been taking many verbal hits of late, as had the Jedi Knights, and thus the finger-pointing between the two groups had escalated.

  On it went, one recounting after another of a civil war here, a vendetta there, grievances from one agriculture planet, and a workers' strike that had spread to several mining planets, with even the Wookiee Triebakk howling out some complaints at Pwoe about a failure in one of the nav systems of the newest Mon Calamari battle cruisers.