The Unifying Force Page 31

  Coruscant, Nom Anor thought ruefully.

  He had never been comfortable calling it Yuuzhan'tar—except, of course, when necessary. Shimrra's shapers might have fashioned a leafy ooglith cloaker for the planet, but scratch the surface and you found ferrocrete, transparisteel, kelsh, and meleenium—the foundations and skeletons of once-robust edifices and the corpses of thousands of droids. Now more than ever—what with the remains of buildings protruding through the vegetation like bones through flesh in a compound fracture, and with each tremor exposing a bit more.

  Coruscant wasn't a living world like Zonama Sekot, but rather a kind of infidel worldship, shrouded in layers of technology, which— regardless of what anyone said—had a mind of its own. More, it was haunted by the members of the diverse species that had originally shaped it. And deep down, even deeper than the realms claimed by the heretics, machine systems were still operating. At night, if one listened closely, one could hear them coming on-line, moving about, hum-ming and pinging like electronic ghosts . . . Even discounting what he ngured Jacen Solo had done to the World Brain, Coruscant could "ever have truly belonged to the Yuuzhan Vong.

  Many of the workers were beginning to grasp this. Nom Anor it in the eyes of those he had passed on the littered journey from

  residence. Distraught folk extricating trapped creche members, rching in vain for keepsakes and valuables, offering blood sacrifices

  he temples, hauling the dead to the maw luurs . . . Shimrra's

  29B

  Citadel and the huge hemisphere of coral that protected the Wo Brain had survived, but many secondary structures and hundreds minshals, damuteks, and grashals had been toppled. Forests had b flattened, and intense electrical storms had ignited countless fires T remote areas of the planet, lava gushed from what had once been 1 eled and tamed mountains.

  Sgauru and Tu-Scart had been loosed on the sacred precinct t dismantle structures on the verge of collapse. Ndgins writhed about-sopping up blood. Everything standing had been adorned with flowers and ferns, in an effort to keep further destruction from being visited by the lowest and most feared in the pantheon of gods.

  Most Yuuzhan Vong had little conception of what had happened Except, of course, for the heretics, who had their own ideas, most of which had been inspired by Nom Anor himself.

  "Brought into being by Yun-Shuno, in defiance of the other gods," the haggard Shamed One was saying, "the living world is a sign that the old order has come undone. And much like Yun-Shuno, we stand in defiance of Shimrra and the elite, demanding equality, freedom, and salvation!

  "It is not our aim to engage the elite in contest. But we are prepared to revolt if they fail to prevail upon Shimrra to end the long war. Clearly the gods have switched sides, and now stand shoulder to shoulder with the Jeedai and the varied species of this galaxy. This galaxy Shimrra bade us invade; this promised galaxy he bade us purge and purify. In truth, this galaxy that will prove a maw luur for the Yuuzhan Vong, unless we embrace the truth!"

  A professional dissembler, Nom Anor couldn't help but have a grudging respect for what the heretics were attempting to do by playing on the fears Zonama Sekot's unforeseen appearance had awakened in the elite. The secret supporters of Quoreal were adding fuel to the fire by disclosing information about Shimrra and how he had come to power.

  Even so, Nom Anor had to wonder what the heretics expected to happen should the elite agree to ally with them. Perhaps they actually believed that Shimrra could be persuaded to make a peace overture 0 the Galactic Alliance, and that the Alliance would allow the Yuuzhan

  to retain Coruscant for themselves, since the planet at least ed to be beyond restoration. But the heretics weren't fools.

  iPP

  lv they realized that the warrior caste would never acquiesce. Nas ka's forces would battle to the last war vessel and warrior. Perhaps the heretics were counting on just that, if only to increase . chances of the other castes being spared. But spared for what? linent or Shamed, those Yuuzhan Vong who survived the war uld be packed into what few worldships existed and returned to the id from which they had emerged, doomed to die in deep space, ther than on the living world they saw as the province of their nonexistent Yun-Shuno. It was pathetic.

  The heretics' only real hope was that Shimrra would turn Nas Choka loose, and that the Alliance—and Zonama Sekot—would be defeated. Once more the heretics would be forced to accept their lot as Shamed Ones, but at least they would be alive. Nom Anor certainly felt that way. You did whatever you had to do to survive.

  The sound of running feet echoed from the tumbled walls, and a moment later several dozen warriors rushed onto the scene. Without preamble they moved against the gathering of heretics, launching thud bugs and lashing out with amphistaffs, sending a fortunate few scurrying back into the crevasses from which they had crawled, and leaving the paving stones spattered with blood.

  Struck by no fewer than four amphistaffs, the female orator was dragged roughly from her perch to the base of the rubble mound, where ultimately she collapsed in a spasming heap.

  Everyone was willing to be martyred now, Nom Anor thought as

  : signaled his litter bearers to hurry him on his way. Word had

  reached the prefectory that a few bands of heretics had even forged

  tenuous alliances with resistance fighters. It was the duty of the inten-

  ar>t caste to quell the riots and put the populace at rest, but with

  - heretics emboldened to turn every public space into a gathering,

  - task had become near impossible.

  As had become Nom Anor's personal tasks.

  Without doubt, Kunra was expecting him to return to lead the

  heretics in open revolt, just as Drathul was expecting him to join th pro-Quoreal confederates in unmasking Shimrra. The high pref hinted that they were ready to enthrone a new Supreme Overlord assuming, of course, that Shimrra hadn't already executed the handfi of candidates. It was what Nom Anor would have done. For absent-worthy replacement—one who would find instant favor with th gods—the high priests would be reluctant to remove Shimrra, regard less of what was brought to light about the lies he had fostered.

  The only question that mattered to Nom Anor was why he had been summoned to the Citadel.

  When the litter bearers had first arrived at his residence, he was certain that Shimrra had ordered his death for failing to have kept Zonama Sekot in the Unknown Regions. He had briefly considered fleeing into the underground and taking up the threadbare robes of the Prophet again. But the more thought he gave the matter, the more confident he grew that his safety was assured. Shimrra had never believed that the living world wouldn't return at some point; its sudden appearance now was nothing more than bad timing.

  More important, while Shimrra might very well be displeased, he was in no position to announce that he knew about Zonama Sekot— not without risking an uprising by the elite. Shimrra's best approach would be to deny any knowledge of the initial contact with the living planet fifty years earlier. Failing that, he could claim to have been led astray by priests he had since put to death. But one thing he couldn't do was admit to having had an audience with Commander Ekh'm Val, or of having put Val to death to keep the secret of Zonama Sekot.

  The solution would have been simple if Nom Anor had been the only person who knew about Val. But, in fact, High Prefect Drathul and perhaps dozens of others also knew about the late commander s mission to the Unknown Regions. And if Nom Anor was wrong, and he actually was riding to his death, well, there were always ways t( escape the Citadel . . .

  "I commanded the litter bearers to make haste, Dread Lord, Nom Anor said, prostrate on the unyielding floor, "so that I nug" serve you all the faster."

  ]s[om Anor could feel the force of Shimrra's enhanced vision as Supreme Overlord gazed down from the throne in his private -(Timbers in the crown of the Citadel.

  "Let us see how quick you can be, Prefect, by telling me why I

  sent for you."
>
  "Because I have failed you again, Lord. About Ebaq Nine I was duped; at Zonama Sekot I evidently did less than I should have. The 1'vine; world is here, and now Yuuzhan'tar itself is threatened. Death, and nothing less, is all I warrant."

  "Probably so," Shimrra said. "But not because of the arrival of Zonama Sekot. For that, it is the gods who have failed me."

  With his face pressed to the floor, Nom Anor's baffled expression was hidden from view. Although out of the corner of his eye, he could see Onimi, kneeling down as if to get a closer look at his face. "The gods, Lord?"

  Shimrra issued a short laugh. "You are unrivaled, Prefect. Even in this darkest hour your skepticism holds fast. You accept as truth only what your one eye shows you." He paused, then said, "You are hardly the coward many accuse you of being. And perhaps there is even a bit of wisdom in you—though I fear you do a disservice to yourself. Rise

  and look upon me."

  Nom Anor took a quick glance around as he was getting to his feet. The room was absent priests, attendants, slayers, or courtesans.

  It was just the three of them.

  "I'm certain you remember that I told you our real war was with the gods."

  "I remember, Lord." And I'm equally certain you dismissed my words as those of

  someone deranged." "Never—" Shimrra waved him silent. "I ask now that you consider all that

  ls transpired these past few klekkets. As one whose own efforts have L ^ •en undone time and again by the Jeedai, ask yourself if there is not

  *• hand of a grand master at work here—a god's hand, if you will." Recognizing the rhetorical nature of the question, Nom Anor said

  mg.

  nothi

  "You and I know exactly what Zonama Sekot is. There i<

  no denying the truth of it, and no denying the threat it represents

  everything I have attempted to bring about in this galaxy. You t I me that you had sabotaged the world, and I do not doubt that v tried. And yet it outwits us again."

  Nom Anor waited.

  "The gods deliberately saved it," Shimrra said. "They spared ' your treachery, and they placed it in the hands of the Jeedai." H shook the Scepter of Power in anger. "This is an act of war on thei part! Their salvo against those who would retire them and rule in their stead!"

  Fortunately, Shimrra wasn't expecting a response, because Nom Anor was speechless.

  "It follows then, that if we destroy Zonama Sekot once and for all we will not only have defeated the Jeedai, but will have also vanquished the gods themselves!" Shimrra waved the formidable-looking amphistaff again. "To do that we must respond with a salvo of our own. If I can't divest the gods of their power over us, then I can at least attempt to turn them against one another!"

  "How, Lord?" Nom Anor asked in complete befuddlement.

  Shimrra glared at him. "I am granting you special powers as my envoy. High Prefect Drathul will hear this from my own lips. As my envoy, it will be your duty to inform the priests in all the temples that they are to cease performing rituals to Yun-Yuuzhan and Yun-Yammka, and instead to devote all their labors to venerating Yun-Harla."

  "But the Trickster is believed by many of the priests to have already played a role in our setbacks," Nom Anor said. "In the Hapes Consortium and at Borleias . . . The Jeedai Jaina Solo even masqueraded as her, and outlived Tsavong Lah!"

  "All the better, then," Shimrra replied calmly, "because already Yun-Harla's head swells with conceit. The gods are already jealous or her, and now we will give them something to get angry about. We wu do to them precisely what they did to us during the voyage throug the void—set them against one another. Then, while they are occu

  • d figh^S among themselves, while their attention is diverted from we will strike at Zonama Sekot and be finished with all of them!"

  VlSi

  Nom Anor nodded, trying hard to keep uncertainty from the ges-

  re Onimi was regarding Shimrra with what might have been

  • credulity, but looked more like misgiving. For one brief instant

  Onimi'8 eyes met Nom Anor's, and that sense of apprehension was

  ornrnunicated. If it hadn't been obvious before, it was obvious now

  hat Shimrra was beyond control—deranged. Events had conspired to

  make a believer out of one who had long prided himself on being the

  master of his own destiny.

  Nom Anor had never experienced a sadder moment, and he knew

  suddenly that all was lost.

  Kunra and Drathul were already breathing down his neck, and now Shimrra had added his breath to the mix. He would carry out Shimrra's ridiculous edict, even though there was little point in doing so. But he no longer trusted that Shimrra would come up with a final surprise to spring on the Alliance.

  Nom Anor's only option was to return to the sensibility he had shucked at Zonama Sekot. He needed to think only of himself. Survival was in his own hands. He had come full circle to the very place he had found himself in after Ebaq 9. It was Nom Anor against everyone: Shimrra, Drathul, Kunra, the Jedi, Zonama Sekot, the universe.

  His fight was with all of them, and yet with none of them.

  He wanted nothing more than simply to disappear.

  Chapter 3l

  Mr BPith tb

  the Yuuzhan Vong armada re-grouped at Coruscant, Errant Venture- was able to reach Contruum without incident. No sooner had the Star Destroyer reverted from hyperspace on the frontier of Contruum's dense system of inhabited worlds than Booster Terrik sought out Luke and Mara in the main docking bay, where Ja.de Shadow was already being prepped for launch.

  "Alliance command has ordered us to hold at Contruum Six," the ample Corellian said as he approached the warming ship. "Guess the invitation you received doesn't extend to friends." Corran Horn's father-in-law, Terrik, had a ready smile and a pirate's glint in his rheumy eye.

  "We can fix that," Luke started to say.

  Booster waved in dismissal. "Don't bother. But after not being allowed to park on Zonama Sekot, I'm beginning to feel unwanted. He laughed affably to let them know he wasn't serious. "At least Lando managed to smuggle his brandy planetside."

  The immense hold was stacked high with cargo containers o every conceivable shape and size. In the launching bays sat Lando an< Tendra's Lady Luck and Talon's Wild Karrde, along with dozens o. motley starfighters—everything from retrofitted Headhunters uglies—the owners of which had attached themselves to the Smug

  , /yiiance after the fall of Coruscant. Crev Bombassa, Talon, and

  . stood at the perimeter of Jade Shadow's landing platform.

  Mara walked to the open hatch, where Booster was extending his

  , hand to Luke. "Take care of yourself, Luke. And remember to

  tn£ •' * ffood word for us with Wedge. After coming this far, I'm not

  Put i u-

  about to sit out the big one.

  "We'll do what we can," Luke said. "But we've been away for

  st a vear. I'm not expecting an especially warm reception." He rned to Lando and the others and nodded his head good-bye.

  Mara walked up the ramp and Luke followed her into the ship.

  Kenth Cilghal, and Madurrin were in the forward cabin, strapping in,

  nd R2-D2 was waiting in the cockpit. Mara dropped herself into the

  pilot's chair and without another word lifted Jade Shadow through the

  docking bay's magcon field.

  The several battle groups that made up the Galactic Alliance fleet were arrayed around Contruum 6. A small, frosty planet with only two major cities, 6 was a microjump from the Perlemian Trade Route, and two from the Hydian Way. Mara hadn't seen so many warships gathered in one place for a long while, and the sight gave her pause, especially after the long months on Zonama Sekot. One small light moving among hundreds of others, Jade Shadow began to close on the white behemoth that was Ralroost.

  "The Yuuzhan Vong have done the impossible," Luke said. "They've united
the galaxy."

  "Nothing like war to bring folks together," Mara said.

  Everyone rose as Luke, Mara, and the other Jedi entered Ral-roost's war room.

  "Wonderful to see you safe and sound," Admiral Traest Kre'fey said from his position of prominence at the head conference table.

  'Good start," Mara whispered to Luke while Kre'fey and the rest resumed their seats.

  He returned a subtle nod, "Let's hope it doesn't go downhill from here."

  TK ne conference tables formed a square, around which were gath-

  "ttore than twenty Alliance commanders and strategists, including

  3O4

  Iblis

  Admiral Sien Sow, Commodore Brand, Generals Garm Bel

  - AUj

  Airen Cracken, Wedge Antilles, and Keyan Farlander, Grand Ad • Gilad Pellaeon, and Queen Mother Tenel Ka. In a noisy holofi * transmitted from an undisclosed location stood half-sized irnae Cal Omas and several of his chief advisers, including Niuk N' golden-furred Caamasi Releqy A'Kla, former judicial prosec Ta'laam Ranth, and Jedi Master Tresina Lobi.

  Luke, Mara, and Kenth took seats along the side of the squ reserved for them. Cilghal and towering Madurrin opted to stand Luke had wanted to have Kyp accompany them, but he, Lowbacc Corran, and many of the other Jedi Knights had remained on Zonam Sekot to begin the process of bonding with seed-partners—the embryos of Sekotan ships.

  "Welcome back, Master Skywalker and Mara," Cal Omas said from the weak holofield. "I apologize for having to attend virtually and also for the absence of Triebakk, who is on Kashyyyk just now."

  "We understand," Luke said.

  Kre'fey cleared his throat in a meaningful way. "Because time is of the essence, I will come straight to the point: preparations are under way to move the combined fleets to Corulag, as phase one of a planned assault on Coruscant."

  "How soon will you launch?" Luke asked.