Dark Nest_ The Joiner King Part 3

"Don't tell me," Han said. "Something came up." The hazy strip ahead thickened into a sharp, distinct streak. "Something in the Unknown Regions, I'll bet."

"Well... yes."

"Thanks for letting us know," Han snorted. Normally, he tried not to worry about Jaina's a.s.signments. As a top fighter pilot and leading Jedi Knight, his daughter could handle almost anything the galaxy threw her way. But the Unknown Regions were different. The Unknown Regions were home to a hundred terrors too terrible to imagine-or so he had been told.

"What's the situation?"

"We don't know, exactly," Kyp said. "But there's no reason to worry. Master Skywalker has taken Mara and Saba to investigate."

Now Han was worried. To draw three Masters away when the Jedi were already spread too thin, the problem had to be serious.

"All right, kid," Han said. The dark streak at the end of the fog channel had grown sharp enough to identify as a yorik coral spire. "What aren't you telling us?"

"Nothing."

Han remained silent, and finally Kyp asked, "Did I mention the Chiss?"

To Leia's credit, she did not look away from the forward viewport-but she did lose her concentration. The fog came rolling back into the channel ahead of the Falcon, and Han lost sight of the spire. He jerked back on the throttles... then felt a sudden stab of neck pain as something slammed the s.h.i.+p forward. A cacophony of damage alarms erupted from the control console. Han's gaze flew to the status lights of the most critical systems.

"What was that?" Nhor asked from behind him. "Did we crash?"

"Not exactly," Han answered. Over the comm, he said, "Stand by, kid. We're a little distracted here."

"Copy." Kyp sounded relieved to have a few moments to formulate his explanation. "Take your time."

Once Han had confirmed that all vital components were still operational, he called up the view from the stern vidcam and saw nothing but static.

"Something hit us from behind."

"The mapping skiff?" Leia asked.

"It was following us," Han said. "I hate that."

"Oh, dear," C-3PO said. "I hope there aren't any casualties!"

"It would serve them right," Han growled. He activated the intercom and ordered Leia's Noghri bodyguards, Cakhmaim and Meewalh, into the cannon turrets. "Don't shoot anything. Just tell me what you see back there."

Han glanced over at Leia and saw by the tension in her lips that she had heard every word of the conversation between him and Kyp. He closed the intercom, then returned to his comm mike.

"Okay, kid. Tell us about the Chiss."

"It's not as bad as it sounds." Kyp told them about Aristocra Tswek's visit and Cal Omas's "suggestion" that Luke handle the matter personally, and then said, "Master Skywalker knew you'd be worried, so he asked Cilghal to fill you in when you asked for the Maltorian dossier. I really wasn't-"

The Falcon shuddered, and another damage alarm sounded. Cakhmaim reported that, despite its damage, the mapping skiff was firing at them.

"Then shoot back!" Han ordered. "Kyp, you'll have to-"

"Standing by," Kyp acknowledged. "Be careful."

"I've got a better idea." Han pushed the throttles forward and accelerated into the fog, then asked Leia, "Can you do that fog thing again?"

"Yes," Leia said. A low rumble reverberated through the Falcon as Meewalh and Cakhmaim unleashed the big laser cannons. "But why not climb out of here and fight where we can see?"

Han allowed himself a sly grin. "Didn't you see that spire up ahead?"

"I saw it," Leia said. A smile as sly as Han's came to her lips. "I like the way you think, flyboy."

"How does he think?" Nhor asked. "What are we doing?"

"You'll see," Han said. "Just hold on."

Leia turned her attention back to the fog, and soon the verdant finger of a vine-covered spire could be seen jutting up at the end of the channel. If Han did not break until the last second, the mapping skiff following them would have no time to avoid a crash.

Nhor finally saw what they were planning.

"No!" He shrieked the word with both mouths. "You mustn't! Tell your gunners to stop firing!"

"Stop firing?" Han repeated. The spire was as wide as his hand now, and he was beginning to see dark patches of coral showing through the curtains of vine. "Are you crazy? They're shooting at us."

"It doesn't matter." Nhor's voice remained shrill with panic. "My people could never inhabit a planet won through murder."

"It's not murder," Han objected. "They started this. We're just defending ourselves."

"There is a difference between defending and killing," Nhor said.

Han began to grow impatient. "Look, if that's the way you feel, the Ithorians are never going to find a planet." The spire had grown as large as his arm; another five seconds, and the mapping skiff wouldn't have a chance. "In this galaxy, you've got to fight for what you need."

"My people believe there has been too much fighting already." Nhor paused, then said, "This isn't your choice to make, Captain Solo. If you kill our rivals, the Ithorians will not come anyway."

"Han, Ezam's right," Leia said. Her gaze remained fixed on the fog, but she reached over and gently clasped his arm. "We just can't win this one."

Han could hear in the edginess of Leia's voice that she wanted to keep going as much as he did. The war had made both of them harder-less forgiving and more determined to win at any price-and sometimes that made him wonder if the Yuuzhan Vong had won after all. Certainly, they had changed more in the galaxy than a few thousand planets.

"Okay." Han pulled the control yoke back, and the Falcon began to climb free of Borao's clouds. "The world grabbers win again."

"Sorry to hear that," Kyp said over the comm. "But you'll have a freer rein in the Maltorian belt. There are no gray areas with Three-Eye."

"Not so fast, kid. We haven't said we're going."

"But Jaina-"

"Is in the Unknown Regions," Han said. "That's the point. Give us a second."

Leia muted the comm mikes, then asked, "What are you thinking?"

"You know what I'm thinking," Han said. Though he would never have said so, Han wished he had gone after Anakin to Myrkr. He knew it would have made no difference and maybe even gotten them both killed, but he still wished he had tried. "You're thinking the same thing."

"I suppose I am." Leia sighed. "You know there's no sense going after them."

"Them?" Han asked. "Jaina and Lowie and-"

"And Jacen." Leia's eyes were closed, and her face was raised toward the stars. "It feels like he's on the move, too."

"Another reason to go," Han said. "Five years is too long."

"You know we'd just be going for ourselves," Leia said. "Our kids are better at this sort of thing than we are now."

"Yeah," Han said. "But what else do we have to do? Stick our necks out for RePlanetHab? Look for another abandoned planet just so they can steal it out from under the Ithorians?"

Leia closed her eyes, perhaps reaching out to their children through the Force, or maybe only searching her own heart for guidance.

Finally, she opened her eyes again and reactivated the channel.

"Sorry, Kyp, we can't help you," she said. "Han and I have other plans."

THREE.

The unknown object lay directly ahead of Jade Shadow, a crooked oval of darkness the size of a human thumb. Sensor readings suggested a body about as dense as ice, which would have been a rare-though not impossible- thing to find floating around loose in the interstellar void.

But infrared measurements placed the core temperature at somewhere between warm and sweltering, and the spectrograph showed a halo of escaped atmosphere that suggested living inhabitants.

Mara had already sensed as much through the Force. She could feel a strange presence within the object, diffuse and ancient and utterly huge.

There were also other, more familiar life-forms-smaller, distinct, and somehow enclosed within the haze of the larger being. But there was no hint of Jaina or the other strike team members, nor of the urgent summons they had reported from these coordinates.

Mara glanced at an activation reticle in the front of the c.o.c.kpit.

A small section of the Shadow's plexalloy canopy opaqued into a mirror, and she turned her attention to Luke and Saba Sebatyne, who were seated high behind her in the copilot's and navigator's chairs.

"Time to reconnoiter?" she asked.

"What's reckon... recoin... wreckoy...?" The question came from behind Luke's chair, where a freckle-faced boy with red hair and fiery blue eyes stood peering around the edge of the flight deck hatchway.

"What's that?"

"Reconnoiter, Ben. It means take a look." A smile came to Mara's heart at the sight of her son, but she forced a stern tone.

"Aren't you supposed to be playing with Nanna?"

"Nanna's game module is for little kids," he complained. "She was trying to make me play Teeks and Ewoks."

"And why aren't you?" Luke asked.

"I turned her off."

"How?" Mara asked. "Her power switch is hidden under her neck armor."

Ben looked away as casually as a young boy could. "I tricked her into bending down and showing it to me."

"Turning Nanna off wasn't very nice," Mara said. "Her circuits are pulse-s.h.i.+elded. How do you think she's going to feel after an emergency shutdown?"

"Stupid." Ben's answer was almost gleeful. "I've only done it to her three times before."

A loud siss of amus.e.m.e.nt escaped the pebbled lips of Saba Sebatyne, causing Ben to shrink back through the hatchway - and almost m.u.f.fling Luke's exclamation of alarm. "You have?"

Ben nodded, but his wide eyes remained fixed on Saba's lumpy face.

Luke reached around the corner and pulled him onto the flight deck itself.

"Promise me you won't do that again," Luke said. Mara could feel how worried he was by Ben's mischievousness. They had long ago decided against having someone else raise their son while they crisscrossed the galaxy attending to their duties as Jedi Masters, but they both knew their choice would require an extraordinary amount of discipline from their young son. "Nanna can't protect you if you shut her down."

"If she's that stupid, how can she protect me anyway?" Ben countered. "A Defender Droid's not supposed to be dumber than her kid."

Rather than explaining the complexities of utter-devotion programming, Mara said, "Ben, answer your father. Or would you rather stay at the academy next time he and I go on a trip?"

Ben pondered his decision for a moment, then blew out a long breath. "Fine." He turned to Luke. "I promise."

"Good," Luke said. "Maybe you should go reactivate her."

"But we're there!" Ben pointed out the forward viewport, where the unknown object remained hidden in its darkness. "I want to see Jaina!"

"Jaina isn't here anymore," Mara said.

"How do you know?"

"The Force," Mara explained. "If she were here, your father and I would feel it."

"Maybe not. You don't feel everything."

"We would feel Jaina," Luke said. "She's not here."

"Now do as your father says." Mara hooked her thumb toward the main cabin. "Go power up Nanna and stay with her until we figure out where Jaina is."

Ben didn't argue, but neither did he turn to go.

"If Ben doesn't wish to go, this one will watch him." Saba spun her chair around and winked a slit-pupiled eye at him. "He can sit on her lap."

Eyes widening, Ben spun on his heel and disappeared down the access corridor. Saba sissed in amus.e.m.e.nt, but softly and slow, and Mara thought maybe the Barabel's feelings were hurt. Maybe.

"Don't let it bother you, Saba," Mara said. "Even we don't understand what's happening with him these days."

Saba blinked at Mara's reflection-twice. "He is hiding from the Force, " she said. "This one is surprised you and Master Skywalker have not noticed."