TWENTY-ONE

I awoke slowly, feeling as if I’d done my best to drain every drop of liquor from a cantina where the drinks weren’t watered, the mugs weren’t cleaned, the bottles weren’t labeled and the first-aid kit consisted of a blaster with which you could put yourself out of your misery. Actually, I didn’t even feel that good. I was pretty sure I’d not been on such a bender because I didn’t find any tattoos or scars on me, and the bruises were ones I recognized from my training. The fact that the nearest cantina was a good five parsecs away, as the Falcon flies, coupled with the fact that I didn’t have a ship, likewise contraindicated a hangover.

But, then again, I did kinda feel as if I’d walked that far.

Despite my better judgment—which was urging me just to lie down and die—I oozed out of bed and pulled on my running clothes. That helped wake me up, largely because they were still damp, cold and clammy from the short run I’d taken the night before to burn off some of my frustration with Master Skywalker. Nothing like the feel of wet fabric against the flesh in the morning to remind you that you’re alive. Doesn’t do much for the quality of life issues some folks find important, but I’d reached that point where I decided being alive was better than the nearest alternative.

I even managed a smile. “And if I die, I don’t want to spend the rest of eternity locked in the rocks on this place. Might be good enough for Exar Kun, but not me.”

My muscles felt as if they were encased in carbonite, but I managed to get them going and actually had worked up to a brisk stumble when I emerged from the Great Temple. There I moved into a real stumble, landing on my hands and knees, because a Z-95 Headhunter rested on the landing pad outside. I panicked for a second, thinking I might, in fact, have stolen it from near the cantina where I did all the drinking, but I calmed myself quickly. Didn’t even have to use a Jedi technique to do it, either.

I knew, had I flown in the condition I was in, the only landing I could have managed was a crash. And Mara Jade wouldn’t like that happening to her Headhunter.

The realization that I was looking at her fighter washed the last of the muzziness from my brain. Kyp had stolen that ship and if it was back, that meant he was, too. I got up and ran over to the craft, stretching out my feelings to see if I could detect his presence. I caught some faint traces of him, but they emanated mostly from the controls, which looked as if he’d reached a hand into them and just squeezed. Mara Jade isn’t going to like that one bit.

I turned around, following a wisp of Kyp’s essence to the base of the Great Temple. A path had been cleared through the rusty vines overgrowing much of the temple. The vines nearest the uncovered stairway looked pale and stunted. They had recoiled from the steps like snakes preparing to strike, and had withered considerably in the process.

I took the steps two at a time. I had no idea what I would find at the top or what I would do to confront Kyp if I found him there. I steeled myself for a confrontation, and worked to tap the Force to fortify myself for one. Even as I did that, however, I had the sinking feeling that no amount of preparation would be enough for dealing with what I would find.

As I mounted the final flight of steps, new sensations cascaded down from the top of the pyramid. I sensed the other students up there, and their emotions ran from shock and outrage to sorrow and despair. I crested the edge of the Temple and saw the Mon Calamari, Cilghal, cradling Luke’s head in her lap. Streen, his eyes wide with fear, stood over her.

“Is he alive? I can’t hear him.”

The Mon Cal concentrated on Luke, then shook her orange and algae-green head. She reported finding a heartbeat and I could see his chest moving with shallow respiration. “But I can’t find him inside. When I touch him with the Force, all I find is a great empty spot.…”

I reached out with my senses and tried to find what she could not. Pushing hard, I wove some of the external Force with my internal energy and tried to see if I could find a spark of Master Skywalker in his body. I recalled his noting that he had been taught we were luminous beings, not creatures of crude matter, but I found it hard to accept his having abandoned his body. Still, the evidence of that very thing was right there, since I could not feel him at all.

Kirana Ti pulled her robe tightly closed at her throat. “What can we do?”

Cilghal blinked her eyes. “We are all alone now.”

The despair in her voice found an ally in the fear writhing into my belly. It had never seemed odd to me that Kyp had been able to slam me into a wall because he had always been more powerful than me. Even when I felt the other presence reinforcing him and got hammered by the combination of them, I never imagined that they could be more powerful than Luke Skywalker. I had even rationalized away the dark man’s ability to avoid detection as his being talented in that area, just as I was talented in the area of image projection.

Had I even dreamed Luke was in danger I would have worked harder to convince him we had to act. The saliva in my mouth soured. When we start handing out citations for failure, let me get in the front of the line. I’d told Luke we were dealing with a sociopathic murderer, but I’d not convinced him of the gravity of that situation. He seemed to be in a position to handle it and all he wanted from me was information that would have given him a direction.

And I let him do just that. I closed my eyes for a moment and wanted to smack my head with the heel of my hand. What had I been thinking? I was the one who had experience with such monsters, not Luke Skywalker. I surrendered responsibility for such things to him when he was no more able to deal with it than he felt we were ready to deal with the fate of the universe. My mistake was the reverse of his, yet mine compounded his.

The pure arrogance and stupidity of those ideas slammed hard into me. Luke Skywalker had dealt with Darth Vader and the Emperor, even the Emperor Reborn. If they weren’t monsters, monsters didn’t exist. Master Skywalker was more than capable of dealing with them, which made his condition now that much more stunning and terrifying.

I looked down at his body as Cilghal straightened his limbs. I’d screwed up badly, and because of it he was lying there. If I’d done things differently, there was no guarantee he wouldn’t have ended up in the same place, but things might have taken another turn, one for the better. I’d failed him, and I’d had the arrogance to suggest he was failing us.

Failure stops here and now. Muscles bunched at the corners of my jaw. “We’re not alone. We have each other. We may not be Jedi, but we’re not helpless either.”

The Dathomiri witch looked at me and restated her question. “What can we do?”

“We can do the obvious, can’t we?” I jerked a thumb back down toward the Headhunter. “Kyp was here and, if I had to guess, I’d say he was responsible for what happened to Master Skywalker. First thing we need to do is to let Coruscant know Luke has been hurt and that Kyp Durron was involved.”

The Mon Calamari Ambassador looked up. “Until you have solid evidence that Kyp was here, blaming him for this is wrong.”

I frowned at her. “But the Headhunter …”

“Could have been stolen from him and used by someone else.”

“Your caution is good, Cilghal, but Kyp’s being here isn’t that hard a conclusion to draw.” Kam walked over to the edge of the pyramid, looked down at the landing pad, then grunted. “Think Kyp is still hiding on this rock?”

Streen shook his head. “I can’t hear Kyp.”

“I’d like to hope that means he’s dead, but I don’t believe it.” I glanced at Kam. “You’re wondering how he got off this rock if he left the fighter behind.”

“Yes, and the only other ride in the system, unless we missed his coming with allies in the middle of the night, is the Sun Crusher.” His hands contracted into fists. “Kyp knew how to make it work.”

Tionne shivered. “Could he have been powerful enough to recall it from the heart of the gas giant?”

Streen crouched down and plucked from the Temple’s roof a small stone that scintillated brilliantly in the dawning sun. “Corusca gem. The only place in the universe they are formed is in Yavin’s heart. It could have been lodged in the hatch assembly and fallen off when Kyp entered the Sun Crusher.”

I groaned. “Not the news I wanted to hear.”

Cilghal raised a hand. “Corusca gems can be found here on Yavin, and we have no way of knowing how long that piece of one has been here. More importantly, we have no way of knowing if the Sun Crusher is still in the gas giant or not. Again, you’re reaching conclusions on the most circumstantial of evidence.”

“I can see why you were a diplomat, Ambassador.” I sighed heavily. “Okay, look, we have to take this in steps. First thing, we get Master Skywalker down and out of the elements.”

Tionne smiled. “We should place him in the Grand Audience Chamber.”

I winced. “Won’t that be like having him lie in state? He isn’t dead.”

Her smile contracted. “I was just thinking that he liked the chamber and the acoustics are good for singing and it was the site of a great victory celebration.”

Kam came around behind her and rested his hands on her shoulders. “Good thinking, Tionne. There’s room enough there that we can all gather around and listen to you singing. We want him to feel he’s still part of our community.” Kam looked past her at me and raised an eyebrow.

“Right, exactly. You’re thinking a lot more quickly today than I am, Tionne.” I glanced at the Mon Calamari. “Ambassador, you’ve got a talent for healing. Will you monitor Master Skywalker and let us know what we need to help him? Our medical supplies are limited here.…”

“I can see to his initial care, yes. We should certainly get a full medical team out here as fast as possible, however.” Cilghal slowly blinked her eyes. “We must also notify the New Republic and Councilor Organa Solo that something has happened to her brother.”

Brakiss added, “And let them know Kyp Durron has the Sun Crusher. With his hatred for remnants of the Empire, there is no telling what he will do with a weapon of that power.”

I cut off Cilghal’s protest of Brakiss’ remarks. “At the very least we need to get a survey team out here that can check to see if the Sun Crusher is still in the gas giant or not.”

Kirana Ti crouched and mopped sweat from Luke’s brow with the hem of her Jedi robe. “We should also make certain Master Skywalker is never alone. He should always have an honor guard with him.”

Dorsk 81 looked at her with horror on his face. “You think Master Skywalker is still in jeopardy?”

I cleared my throat. “We can’t discount that possibility. Kyp may have wanted him dead and held back at the last moment, for reasons we can’t begin to plot. He might return to finish the job.” Or the dark man might try. “Having someone with Master Skywalker also makes sense on the medical front, in case there is a change.”

The Mon Calamari nodded. “We should get him inside now. He is stable enough to move, I believe.”

“Good. I’ll get on the HoloNet and speak to Coruscant to start notification going. Ambassador, I’d like you to later speak with Councilor Organa Solo. You can answer her questions about her brother better than I can, and news of what has happened here should come from someone who knows her, not a stranger.”

Brakiss peered imperiously at me. “What about the rest of us?”

“I don’t know. Do what you’re able to do. Help Cilghal. Make food. Meditate.”

The slender man frowned. “Meditate? Hardly helpful in this situation, wouldn’t you say?”

Kam shook his head vehemently. “We need to avoid panic and keep our wits about us. We should practice what we have learned so far, strengthening ourselves. If Kyp returns, if another problem arises, we need to be able to deal with it.” His head came up. “I’ll expect everyone who isn’t assigned other duties to meet for exercises as usual.”

“It’s a plan.” I gave Kam a nod. “And a good one. Everyone clear? Good. Go to it.”

I descended to the communications center and powered up the system. Luke’s R2 unit stood faithfully by to help me, but his anxiety kept him bouncing from tread to tread. His whistles took on a pinched tone, reminding me of Whistler when he really wanted to have his gears lubed.

“Go, Artoo, having you near him will make Master Skywalker feel a lot better, I’m certain. And you can monitor lifesigns better than any of the rest of us.” I smiled as the droid raced from the comm center. I wasn’t certain I wanted him around while I worked anyway.

I tried first to reach Wedge, but could only leave a message in his personal holocache. Next I tried Tycho and managed to get him at Squadron Headquarters.

He gave me a big smile. “Didn’t expect to be hearing from you for a while. How is the training going?”

I shook my head and his smile atrophied. “We just took a big hit. Luke Skywalker is down.”

“Down?”

“Hurt, but we don’t know how badly. We can only guess what happened and it’s not good. Luke’s stable right now, and we hope he’ll recover, but we’re going to need a full medical team out here as fast as possible.”

Tycho glanced out of the holograph’s frame, then nodded. “I’ve got a shuttle fueling and preflighting right now. I’ll alert a med team and fly it out myself.”

“Good. I also have a list of other things I want you to bring.”

“Whatever you need.”

“Could be tough to get.” I paused for a moment. “I need enough nergon 14 charges to level something like the Great Temple here.”

Tycho sat back and blinked away some surprise. “Are things that drastic?”

“Could be. I hope what I think might be happening isn’t actually going on here, but if it is, I might need to take down a temple to act as a circuit breaker.” I lowered my voice. “I need the crates mislabeled, too. I don’t know that I can trust everyone here.…”

“So you can’t really trust anyone but yourself.”

“That’s pretty much it.”

Tycho looked at me, then slowly nodded. “I trust you know what you’re doing.”

“I think so.” I ran my hands back through my hair. “Last thing, I need you to put me through to General Cracken. It is vital I speak to him.”

“Okay, I’ll do that now.” Tycho gave me a quick grin. “See you in the better part of thirty hours.”

“Thanks, Colonel.”

The Rogue Squadron crest hung in air above the comm unit’s holoprojection pad. It brought an unconscious smile to my face. I remembered when Gavin Darklighter had designed it, surrounding the Rebel crest with twelve X-wings streaking outward. For almost five years that insignia had helped define who I was. Now it helped remind me of where I came from, and another proud tradition that I was weaving into my new life.

Cracken’s face replaced it. “Colonel Celchu suggested you had something urgent for me.”

I nodded. “You remember that Sun Crusher you thought you’d taken care of by dumping it in the Yavin gas giant?”

“I don’t like the sound of that question, Captain.”

“Then you’re really going to hate the reason I’m asking it.” I set my face into an impassive mask. “Some time past midnight local time, person or persons unknown arrived on Yavin 4. They confronted Master Skywalker, defeated him, and departed again. They left behind a Z-95 Headhunter with the controls destroyed. Kyp Durron, one of the few, if only, people who knows how to pilot that Sun Crusher, was last seen in possession of the Headhunter in question. I don’t have tissue samples and fingerprints to prove he was in it when it arrived here yet, but, trust me, he was.” I felt a little twinge of guilt at violating Cilghal’s caution, but soft-soaping facts wasn’t going to help New Republic Intelligence deal with the situation.

Cracken’s face sagged and his mouth slowly opened. “You have no idea where he went, who he was with?”

“None you’d believe.” I let a grim note play through my voice. “Given things Kyp said before he left earlier, his ire seems directed at the Empire. If I had to guess, I’d say he’d be hunting whoever the latest self-styled warlord is, or maybe going after the remnants of Thrawn’s fleet. When he finds a target, you’ll know.”

“An eighteen-year-old kid who grew up in a prison mine in control of a weapon that can destroy star systems.” Cracken scratched at a spot on his forehead. “At least when we were dealing with Imperials we had a chance of predicting their behavior, but a kid who’s angry with the galaxy?”

“Not one of the better days for the New Republic, I agree.”

“You said Luke Skywalker was defeated. What’s his status?”

“He’s hurt and in a coma. No telling when or if he will come out of it.”

Cracken nodded wearily. “So we’re on our own for this one.”

“Right. Ambassador Cilghal will be communicating with Councilor Organa Solo when we have more information on Master Skywalker’s status. Colonel Celchu is going to run a medical team and some supplies out here inside a day from now.” I shrugged. “I’ll keep you informed as I am able.”

“Thank you.”

I hesitated for a second, then looked at him. “Might seem kind of trivial given what I’ve just told you, but any word about Mirax?”

“Not trivial at all, Captain. I admire your restraint in asking.” The general gave me an open stare. “No word, no leads that are panning out. No ransom demands. We’re still looking and have hope.”

“I’m sure you are, and I share your hope. Thank you, sir.” I tossed him a quick salute. “Yavin 4 out.”