The Unifying Force Page 17

  He took her right hand in his. "No message from your parents."

  "Nothing. And no word of Jacen."

  Jag firmed his lips. "I'm certain that all of them are fine."

  She frowned slightly. "How are you certain? Or is that just sorne thing people say when they don't know what else to say?"

  Jag blinked. "I ... well, perhaps it's something of both. Do T know for a fact that Jacen and your parents are all right? No. Does m heart tell me that they're all right? It seems to."

  Jaina smiled without mirth. "No medicine like logic, is there?"

  Jag's fine eyebrows beetled. A scar ran from his right brow almost to his hairline. "I—"

  "No, you're right. I'm driving myself mad. Thanks."

  He studied her. "What does the Force tell you?"

  "Let's just say that the Force isn't painting as cheerful a picture as the one you just did."

  Jag's expression grew skeptical. "You could be mistaken."

  "You mean, the Force might be throwing me a curve?" She shook her head. "It doesn't work that way."

  "How does it work?" he asked stiffly. "Is it so different from intuition? Is there a stronger link between you and your parents than between me and my parents, simply because of the Force?"

  Jaina shut her eyes. "Jag, please. This isn't a good time to be arguing."

  He started to say something, then stopped and began again. "Perhaps we can talk heart to heart when the war ends."

  "Jag, I'm sorry. I'm just preoccupied."

  "No, really. Besides, I'm slated to report to General Bel Iblis. I'll look for you later."

  As he started away, she almost went after him, but thought better of it.

  What was happening? Was Jag drifting away from her, as wellr Was she drifting away from him?

  Or was her relationship with him going to turn out to be another of the war's odd pairings; another reversal born of desperation? In either case, it certainly had been an unexpected development. Since events in the Hapes Consortium they had been growing more . - -familiar, with each brief encounter. They had seemed to be falling in love.

  Danni Quee had told her that one shouldn't be too analytical

  about

  on one to

  love that rational thinking was the quickest way to rout affec-

  But Danni—a scientist who did little else but analyze—was no talk. And how could someone not wonder about wartime nee? Because they so often emerged out of a desire to live to the ullest wartime affairs were notorious for being as short-lived as ^ losions in deep space. People tended to skip all the usual stuff and flv straight to the heat. But how could you trust your emotions at a jnic when any day might be the last—for yourself, your family and -lends, your comrades? What might have happened had she and Jag rotten to know each other in peaceful times? What would have ccounted for their shared experiences: holopresentations, picnics, getaways on tourist worlds?

  She shook her head. Maybe she was being too hard on them.

  Take her parents, for instance. They had met, fallen in love, and married during the worst of times, and everything had worked out great for them. So it could work. But was she trying to emulate them in some way—

  "Hey, soldier."

  Kyp Durron passed her on the outside and put his arm around her shoulders. Fit, sharp-featured, and dark-haired, he had surrendered the scowl that for years had been his signature expression.

  Reflexively, Jaina curled her arm around his waist and leaned against his chest—the chest of a man she had once slapped across the face, but who had later become a kind of mentor to her, especially in helping her navigate the emotional storm that had attended Jacen's unexpected return from Yuuzhan Vong-held Coruscant a year earlier.

  Kyp brought them to an abrupt halt and turned slightly to gaze at her. "If it's any consolation, kid, I'm worried, too."

  Jaina smiled and laughed shortly. "I don't have to say a thing, do I?"

  Kyp shook his head and brushed his hair away from his eyes. Everything tells me that Jacen is okay. But your parents are in °uble. They've been getting into too many tight situations lately, and now they're really in the thick of it."

  Jaina felt stronger for Kyp's having articulated her fears. For a Iort time she had thought she could fall in love with Kyp, but those

  feelings had passed, and ever since then they had settled into a clo and comforting friendship.

  "I was just talking with a courier who arrived from a station in th Tion Hegemony," she said in a rush. "I don't know why, but I thi u they're there."

  Kyp considered it. "If they are, then I guess I'm wrong about them squaring off against the Yuuzhan Vong."

  Jaina shook her head. "That's just it, Kyp. Caluula Orbital is under heavy siege. From what the courier said, I think the station might already have been overrun. If I knew for sure, I'd leave right now."

  Kyp took her hand. "Let me know if you need a wingmate."

  Han's blasterbolt caught the Yuuzhan Vong in his unprotected armpit, twirling him fully around and sending him plummeting from the shoulders of two warriors who had been providing unintentional support. With the immediate threat eliminated, the faceless rocket man raised his left arm and fired a small grappling hook from his forearm gauntlet. The hook found purchase on an expansion girder, instantly towing him to the ceiling of the hold, out over the extended arms of swarming warriors and through flights of blunt amphistaffs. Clambering into a crouch on the girder, he gazed down on his would-be captors, then armed his backpack missile launcher.

  "He's . . . he's going to fire!"

  One step ahead of C-3PO, Han and Leia each grabbed one of the droid's arms and yanked him down to the deck. The projectile exploded in the center of the hold, flattening everyone within a radius often meters. Fifty or more stunned or dying Yuuzhan Vong warriors formed the circumference of the detonation zone.

  But reinforcements were already on the way.

  Han heard them surging down the corridor, crying for blood. He got to his feet, then helped Leia and C-3PO to theirs. Simultaneous with the snap-hiss of Leia's lightsaber came the drone of launched thud bugs.

  Leia fielded those she could. Taken by surprise, a dozen Caluula soldiers were dropped in their tracks. The volley of deflected bugs

  ,

  the corridor at the approaching Yuuzhan Vong, only to be d by several warriors at the head of the pack. Han caught a of five comparatively short warriors, smeared head to toe in

  . blood rather than sheathed in the usual arthropod armor. Odder i was the way they were holding their amphistafFs to parry thud bugs and blasterbolts.

  "They're using them like lightsabers," he said.

  "That seems to be the idea," Leia replied breathlessly.

  Han shook his head in incredulity. "More new models?"

  "I don't think we should to wait around to ask!"

  The Mandalorian- armored cadre apparently felt the same. Taking aim on a portion of bulkhead close to the deck, two of the troopers used missiles to blow a gaping hole into the adjoining hold. The Caluula defenders began to scramble through, with C-3PO, Leia, and Han bringing up the rear. They raced through the adjacent hold and into a wide corridor, lowering blast shields wherever they encountered them.

  Greeted with an intersection, Han knew enough to ask.

  "That way!" C-3PO said.

  Han gave a last glance at the armored fighters, then turned to follow Leia and C-3PO.

  The side corridor led directly to the connector that ran between Caluula's number three and four modules. Outside the tube's curved transparisteel walls, laserbolts and plasma projectiles cleaved the darkness. Coralskippers and starfighters chased one another in chaotic circles. The volcanolike launchers of enemy capital ships fired again and again.

  Han, Leia, and C-3PO hadn't set foot inside the number four module when something shook the entire station.

  "The ychna," Han said.

  Leia agreed. "You know how hard it is to satisfy those things."

&
nbsp; Farther along, Garray's meaty adjutant motioned them from the Pack of withdrawing soldiers.

  "/"* .

  Captain, Princess Leia, the Falcon is ready for departure." Han stared at him. "You've got to be kidding." He gestured broadly. "lt's worse out there than in here,»

  "I concur, sir. Nevertheless, she's patched up and ready to Nowhere near good as new, but you should be able to limp her t Mon Calamari in a couple of microjumps."

  Han and Leia traded doubtful looks.

  "Each officer we rescued from Selvaris could rally ten thousand additional troops to our cause," Leia said.

  Ultimately, Han nodded. "A bunch of people a lot smarter than me figured this out, so I guess we have to trust that they're right."

  Leia smiled. "Spoken like a true enlisted man."

  Garray's adjutant directed them back to where the Falcon was berthed. With nearly every spaceworthy craft launched, the place was practically deserted. Cracken, Page, and the rest of the Selvaris roster were clustered at the foot of the landing ramp.

  The station's klaxons began to blare triplets.

  Garray's adjutant cursed, then adopted a resigned expression. "The commander has issued the evacuation order."

  Han nodded cheerlessly. "You have to know when to fold."

  "I'll be leaving you here."

  Han saluted him. "We'll win this thing yet, Chief." He turned to give the Falcon a quick glance.

  Leia noted Han's discouraged look. "Well, he did say limp her to Mon Calamari."

  "Crawl's more like it."

  The mechanic responsible for the several add-ons emerged from beneath the starboard mandible. "We spared as much blaster gas as we could for your quad lasers, but I'd go light on them if I were you." He gazed up at the Falcon and smiled. "Great ship. Good journey."

  Han pumped the man's hand in thanks.

  A powerful explosion rattled the bay. Paint chips and other objects showered from the vaulted ceiling.

  "Everybody get on board," Han said, "before we end up EV without a ship." When Pash Cracken and a few of the other officers didn't move, he stormed over to them. "You waiting for a formal invitation?"

  Cracken almost smiled. "With all due respect, Han, we've decided to remain here and do what we can."

  Han made his lips a thin line. "Pash, this is bigger than Caluula,

  i VOU know it. Alliance command is counting on you people to rally port in your home systems. Besides, you can't make a difference

  here

  Those are evacuation klaxons you're hearing.'

  "Han's right, Major," Leia said.

  Cracken still didn't move. "We'll take our chances, Princess."

  She blew out her breath. "Your father's never going to forgive us,

  Pash."

  "He'll understand."

  Han nodded. "Then may the Force be with all of you. In other circumstances, I might make the same choice."

  He turned and, without a backward look, hurried Leia and C-3PO up the landing ramp. At the top, he waved Page and the rest of the officers into the forward cargo compartment. He told Leia to begin the start-up sequence, and he sent Cakhmaim and Meewalh to the gun turrets. He ran to the stern to check the status of the escape pods, then raced forward to the cockpit. By the time he arrived, Leia was strapped in and the repulsorlift was cold-started.

  Han leapt into the pilot's chair while Leia lifted the Falcon, turned her about, and sent her streaking through the magcon field.

  Local space was crosscut with magma projectiles and turbolaser bolts. Dead ahead, the bloated yncha floated motionless in space, amid a debris cloud created by coralskippers that had thrown themselves against Caluula's shields. X-wings and other starfighters drifted lazily. Three of the station's modules were wide open to vacuum and expressing what little atmosphere they still contained. Below, explosions were blossoming on the beige and green surface of Caluula itself, with wounded coralskippers plunging into the atmosphere like fiery meteors.

  Han watched a dozen escape vehicles launch from an undamaged module.

  Caluula was finished.

  'Three skips converging on us." Leia glanced at him. "It's our old friends."

  Han's eyes darted to the authenticator screen. "The ones that cked us from Selvaris! What is this, a personal vendetta?" "Maybe they don't like our paint job."

  "Then I'm on their side." He clamped his hands on the yoke "Hang on."

  Han leaned toward the intercom. "Watch the fuel levels, you two Last thing we need is to be left high and dry." He glanced over his left shoulder. "Jump coordinates for Mon Calamari coming in."

  Leia studied the navicomputer display. "We'll have come around to three-zero-three. That means back toward the station."

  "I was afraid of that."

  An explosion shook the ship before it was halfway through the turn.

  "There's goes the only new piece of equipment they installed. But we can get by without it."

  "I'm counting on that, dearest."

  One of the curve-tailed, tandem-piloted coralskippers appeared in the wraparound viewport, coming straight at the Falcon. "Take the shot!" Han said into the intercom.

  Singularities formed in advance of the approaching skip, but sheer firepower overwhelmed them, and the vessel came apart in roiling fire.

  "Cakhmaim is really getting good," Leia said.

  Han shook his head negatively. "That wasn't him."

  He leaned back in his seat to glance through the upper panes of the viewport. A classic Fir espra-y-class security patrol craft shot overhead. A cross-shaped ship affixed to an oval engine suite, it was followed by four Gladiators, so named because they looked like swords thrust to the hilt through circular shields.

  "It is Fett! And he's clearing a lane for us!" Han snorted. "Just like him to make sure he has the upper hand on a debt."

  "Incoming transmission," Leia said. "From the Firespray."

  Boba Fett's voice crackled through the comm. "Just wanted to remind you, Solo, that my personal fight was always with the Jedi. You were nothing more than cargo."

  Han snorted. "For what it's worth, Fett, you were never more than a nuisance."

  Fett laughed shortly. "To better days, Captain."

  "Count on it."

  Sowing mines far to port and starboard, the Firespray continued

  eak a trail for the near-weaponless Falcon; then Fett tipped the I craft's short wings in salute and vanished. "Ready for lightspeed," Han said.

  Leia collapsed back into the copilot's chair, shaking her head back , t-orth. "I have now officially seen and heard everything." She ed to Han with a half smile. "I'm almost ready to believe this war will actually end."

  With the Jedi Knights reduced to half their strength since the start f the war, Luke Skywalker's seven incommunicado in the Unknown Regions, some—including the twenty or so Jedi children—still sheltered at the Maw Installation, and others participating in various Galactic Alliance military operations, Kenth Hamner could gather only a dozen Jedi for the meeting held in Tresina Lobi's quarters on Mon Calamari.

  Though understated, the circular room at the top of Coral City's Quarren Tower was spacious and enjoyed a 360-degree view of the tranquil sea and sparkling reefs. In the continued absence of Luke and Saba—and with Kyp frequently flying missions with the Dozen— Tresina Lobi had become an important voice on Cal Omas's Advisory Council. A Chev, she had a narrow face with angular features, and short black hair.

  Tresina, Markre Medjev, and Cilghal, the Mon Calamari Jedi healer, had spent the morning preparing food, and the circular table in the sunroom was already spread with the appetizing results of their labors by the time Kenth and the others arrived.

  Gradually they seated themselves at the table, except for Kenth, who was too restless to eat or stay put. Clockwise from Tresina's armchair sat Cilghal, Jaina, Kyp, towering ginger-furred Lowbacca, the Twi'lek female Alema Rar, salt-and-pepper-haired combat mstructor Kyle Katarn, Chandrilan Octa Ramis, slight and terribly scarred Waxar
n Kel, and young and darkly handsome Zekk.

  "Some of you might not be aware that operative Baljos Arnjak

  didn't return from Wraith Squadron's infiltration mission to Corus-

  •ant," Kenth said as he circled the table. "Bhindi Drayson was sup-

  >osed to have remained onworld, but it was Arnjak who stayed, and

  has been furnishing the Alliance with intelligence ever since, mostl with the help of a kind of droid-fungus he and his teammates let 10 during the mission."

  Kenth came to a stop between Cilghal and Jaina, then leaned fo ward, planting the palms of his hands on the table. "Arnjak's lat report states that Yu'shaa, the so-called Prophet of the heretics v recently seen on Coruscant. By recent, I mean within the past lor ] week, since it took that long for a string of couriers to move the info mation from the Core to Mon Calamari."

  "Has his identity been verified?" Kyle asked from across the table

  Kenth nodded. "Which means that he either didn't go to Zonama Sekot with Corran and Tahiri—"

  "Or that he returned without them," Kyp said. "Is there some way we can establish whether he arrived back on Coruscant in the same vessel everyone left on?"

  "No," Kenth said.

  [Or if they even reached Zonama Sekot], Lowbacca's voice issued from his droid translator.

  Kenth glanced at the Wookiee. "Exactly. Unlike most of the HoloNet transceivers, Esfandia is still functioning—if inconsistently. So, assuming nothing has befallen Jade Shadow, Luke and Mara should have been able to contact us."

  "We've waited long enough," Octa Ramis said. "It's time we sent a ship."

  Everyone fell silent for a long moment, then Cilghal said, "I doubt that we'll find Zonama Sekot at the coordinates to which we've been transmitting messages. I suspect that the living world has moved."

  "Based on what?" Alema asked.

  Cilghal spread her webbed hands. "On what the Force tells me."

  Kenth glanced around the table. "Do any of you also feel that way?"

  "I do," Jaina said. "Jacen feels farther away than he did when we received Luke and Mara's transmission." She shook her head somberly. "I don't feel him as distinctly."