Part 25 (1/2)
Jag got his left crushgaunt on machinery in the hauler's underbelly. He exerted himself, and the strength-augmenting servos in the gauntlet squeezed the repulsor nozzles out of recognizable shape. Next he grabbed a maneuvering thruster vent, destroying it similarly, and then there was the auxiliary energy cell- That actually exploded as he squeezed it, a minor detonation that pelted him with little shards of metal. He felt stings in his neck and upper arms. Then smoke billowed from the area he'd damaged.
The cargo hauler slowed, dropping behind Tahiri's speeder. Jag saw the Kuh woman staring at her control console and pounding on the yoke; then she looked up and caught sight of him.
Had he been another man, he would have offered her some flippant gesture, but he was Jagged Fel, known among pilots and Jedi everywhere as the most humorless- Come to think of it, he wasn't Jag Fel right now. He was a mystery man, and needed for his role in this affair never to be a.s.sociated with Jag Fel. So he blew a kiss to Zilaash Kuh before resuming his seat and slamming the hatch shut. Kuh's vehicle dropped farther behind until it was lost in the distance.
Mirax had to shout for Jaina to hear her. ”Two pursuers down.”
”The next to last one is ours,” Jaina shouted back. ”Tahiri and Jag are in it.” She got back to work, bringing out the sedative pack that all the Darkmeld conspirators on this mission were carrying. She injected Seff with its contents. This was slow work; Mirax's aerobatics with the speeder made even the simplest medical procedure next to impossible.
Finally it was done. Making sure her garment hood was up, concealing her features, she turned away from Seff and back toward the pursuers.
Even for an experienced Jedi Knight, it took concentration to lift a speeder telekinetically, especially when its rapid movements made it a difficult target. But she found it, grasped it, and shoved it sideways-gently but irresistibly. Its right side ground into the tunnel wall, abrading the metal there, filling the vehicle's main compartment with sparks and smoke. Suddenly the pilot was decelerating, descending, in a frantic effort to retain control of his vehicle.
She did the same with the next vehicle, and then, as Tahiri closed, with the last vehicle in the caravan.
Suddenly there was no enemy pursuit. Tahiri switched her lights and siren off.
Jaina, more familiar with Coruscant than most of the others, navigated, guiding Mirax to a shadowy nook off a major thoroughfare. The two speeders settled there in the darkness.
Jag took a moment to yank the security speeder's recording device and crush it beyond any possible retrieval of data. Then the five conspirators gathered. Winter, though groggy, her reflexes shot, was at least awake again.
”All right.” Jaina looked at each of the others-confused but resolute Mirax, sweaty but confident Jag, relieved Tahiri, pale but smiling Winter. ”We're almost done. Mirax, you'll come with me. We need to steal another speeder, then pick up the rest. Then you'll drop me on a specific rooftop not far from where all that mess took place. Jag, do you need to get back to the Imperial Remnant emba.s.sy?”
”Galactic Empire. And yes.”
”All right. Drop Jag off near there. Then, Tahiri, I need you to guide Mirax to the Masters' speeder hangar access at the Temple. Tekli will get you in.”
While Jaina and Mirax were gone, Winter removed forensic evidence from the security speeder and Mirax's stolen red vehicle. Jag pulled off all his armor, dressing once more in the now ridiculously large black tunic. After Jaina and Mirax returned with the new acquisition, a st.u.r.dy yellow hard-top speeder with enough room for two adults, eight younglings, and a Wookiee, Jag stored his armor in its cargo compartment, along with the Quarren's net and incriminating items of clothing. Stripped of armor, he once again became a well-muscled man of normal size.
Jaina gave him one last, worried look. ”Not too many non-Mandos have beskar beskar breastplates and crushgaunts. The fact that you do isn't well known, but-” breastplates and crushgaunts. The fact that you do isn't well known, but-”
He put a finger on her lips to shush her. ”There's nothing to worry about. I have an alibi. Like all sensible Heads of State, I have a double, hard at work pretending to be me back in my quarters.”
She moved his finger aside. ”My mother didn't use a double.”
”Well, she was clearly crazy.”
That drew a short laugh from Winter. The others looked at her.
Winter indicated herself, Jaina, and Jag. ”That sounds like a toast for all our families. Here's to crazy women, and the pilots who pursue them.”
Jag raised an imaginary gla.s.s in her direction.
CAVERNS OF THE HIDDEN ONE, DORIN.
BEN WASN'T GLa.s.sY-EYED, BUT HE WANTED TO BE. H HOURS OF USING pickaxes to hack away at living rock had tired and infuriated him. In theory, he and Luke were doing this to carve out their permanent quarters in the residential gallery, a process that would take years; in truth, Ben knew they wouldn't be here anywhere near that long, which meant that every blow with the pickax was a wasted one. pickaxes to hack away at living rock had tired and infuriated him. In theory, he and Luke were doing this to carve out their permanent quarters in the residential gallery, a process that would take years; in truth, Ben knew they wouldn't be here anywhere near that long, which meant that every blow with the pickax was a wasted one.
But now, work done for the day, after a sanisteam, dressed in fresh clothes-even if they were the horribly dull robes worn by everyone in these caverns-Ben felt a little better as he and his father walked to their audience with the Hidden One.
Ben glanced at his father. ”So, what's your strategy?”
Luke frowned, puzzled. ”Strategy?”
”To convince him to let us out of this hole.”
”Ben, what's our objective here?”
”To get out!”
”The objective that brought us to Dorin in the first place.”
”Oh. To find out about Jacen.”
”If we were to march in there and demand our release, and he agreed and somehow magically transported us to the surface, we would have failed in achieving that objective.”
”Well, yeah. Ultimately it's the more important one.”
”Ultimately, yes. But since we're under no time pressure, let's handle things in a logical order.”
Ben let out a sigh.
They left the main corridor and entered the communal dining hall, which was all but empty at this midpoint hour between afternoon and evening servings. It was not that large a chamber; there were fewer than fifty Kel Dors in these caverns, and the hall could accommodate all of them. Tables and benches meticulously cut out of stone and sanded into straight, clean lines were arrayed in neat ranks for the diners, flanked by matched stone benches.
The Hidden One sat alone at the nearest table. He nodded at the Skywalkers as they entered.
The informality bothered Ben. The Hidden One was effectively a king, though his kingdom was tiny, and yet he was not accompanied by advisers for an important meeting with a fellow Master.
Luke seated himself opposite the Hidden One. ”Thank you for seeing us.”
Ben slid into place beside his father.
The Hidden One offered a toothless smile. ”It is no inconvenience. The opportunity to talk with those fresh from the surface world is one of our few pleasures. As I understand it, you wanted to know about Jacen Solo.”
”Yes.”
”He came here-that is, to the temple in Dor'shan-about nine years ago, very full of life, very sure of himself. He wanted knowledge of the Force, especially as it was understood by those outside his Order.”
”Did you see any sign in him ...” Luke paused to consider his phrasing. ”Of what he was to become?”
”I think there were scars on his spirit, but they seemed to be well healed. From my many conversations with him, I concluded that his childhood had been an unsettled one, and that he had severed himself from much of it, as though it were dead flesh that needed to be cut away lest it endanger his life.” He looked at Ben. ”You are his cousin, no? Is it the same with you?”
Ben shook his head. ”You're not going to have a normal childhood in this family, and I guess I have some things in common with Jacen. Separated from our parents for long stretches. I was tortured, too, but not as long as Jacen was.” He saw his father suppress a wince. ”I don't know if, when I get to be Jacen's age, I'll want to cast my childhood off, but I don't think so. If only because, if he did, he's a bad example to follow.”
”Interesting.”
Luke continued, ”And you taught him the lightning-rod techniques.”
”First, I taught him techniques of weather antic.i.p.ation and the ability to sense energy piling up in the natural world. You can feel heat in the water in the seas, heat that will become cyclonic storms, for instance. But he heard rumor of the lightning-rod techniques and asked about them.”