chapter nine

Though dawn had come bright and golden several minutes earlier, a sense of darkness and danger still hung over Fellowship Plaza, and the closer Luke and Mara drew to the crime scene, the heavier and more sinister that sense became. A squad of dark-visored policebots blocked access to the walkway at both ends, while a team of spiderlike forensics droids swarmed over the tall privacy hedges to either side. Two detectives—the first a huge-headed Bith in a rumpled tabard, the other a green-scaled Rodian in a sharply creased zingsuit—stood inside the security cordon comparing notes.

“This doesn’t look good,” Mara said. “I’m afraid we’re about to find out why we can’t find Tresina in the Force.”

“Me, too,” Luke answered. “I didn’t like the way that security dispatcher sounded this morning.”

Mara glanced over and scowled. “How did she sound?”

“Surprised,” Luke said. “Maybe even disbelieving.”

The security force dispatcher’s first words when Luke answered the comm half an hour before had been to assure him that his son was “not involved” in the incident. Refusing to answer any questions herself, the dispatcher had asked whether Luke knew where Master Lobi was, then instructed him to meet a pair of detectives in Fellowship Plaza. Of course, Mara had immediately commed Ben; to their relief, he was quite safe and on his way to an important rendezvous with Jacen.

They reached the security cordon and were stopped by a policebot, who did a quick retinal scan on Luke and stepped aside.

“Detectives Raatu and Tozr are expecting you.” The policebot pointed first at the Rodian, then the Bith. “Please remember that the law requires you to answer all questions truthfully, or not at all. Refusal to answer may be considered grounds for an interrogation warrant.”

“Since when?” Mara demanded.

A scanning beam shot from the policebot’s visor into Mara’s eye, then it asked, “Mara Jade Skywalker?”

“Just answer the question, chiphead,” she said.

“Take that as an affirmative,” Luke said quickly. “When did silence become a suspicious act?”

The policebot kept its visor trained on Mara. “The Suspicious Silence Provision was added to the Galactic Loyalty Act at oh three twenty this morning.”

“In the middle of the night?” Mara asked. “How’d they ever get a quorum?”

“Under the Law Enforcement Tools Provision of the Galactic Loyalty Act, quorums are no longer required to approve anti-terrorism legislation.”

“And when did that pass?” Mara asked sarcastically.

“Yesterday at eighteen twenty-seven,” the policebot answered. “By five votes, under reduced quorum requirements due to the boycott of the Bothan delegation.”

“Thanks for the information,” Luke said. He took Mara’s arm and started toward the detectives. “It’s always good to know the law.”

“Especially when they keep changing it,” Mara added under her breath.

“The latest legal updates are available from any law enforcement droid,” the policebot said behind them. “All inquiries will be noted in your file.”

“Wonderful,” Mara grumbled.

Luke found her attitude a little surprising. Mara usually supported a stern response to terrorism. But as a former Emperor’s Hand, she also knew how easy it was to abuse the kind of information the government was now gathering under provisions of the Galactic Loyalty Act. Every year, she gave a special seminar at the academy, teaching young Jedi how to use the galaxy’s vast data banks to track their quarry.

As the Skywalkers drew near, the two detectives stopped talking. The Bith extended a delicate-fingered hand in greeting to Luke, then to Mara.

“Master Skywalker and Master Skywalker, thanks for coming. I’m Chal Tozr.” He waved at his green-scaled companion. “This is my partner, Gwad Raatu.”

Instead of offering a hand, Raatu twitched his scaly snout in suspicion. “Do you know a Tresina Lobi?”

“Of course they know her,” Tozr said. “She’s a Jedi Master.”

“That’s correct,” Luke said. He could sense Raatu’s excitement through the Force; the Rodian’s hunting instinct had been triggered, and he was eager to find his prey. “She sits on the Jedi Council, as a matter of fact.”

“Not anymore.” Continuing to study their faces rather obviously, Raatu waved a hand toward the hedge on the near side of the walkway. “A gardener droid found her.”

“Gwad! Show some respect.” The edges of Tozr’s cheek folds turned blue with embarrassment. “Sorry about that. My partner thinks everyone is a suspect.”

“Everyone is a suspect.” Raatu’s dark eyes remained fixed on Luke and Mara. “Where were you early last night?”

Tozr let out his breath in whistled exasperation. “Gwad!” He turned his huge head toward the Skywalkers. “You don’t have to answer.”

“No, it’s fine.” A knot of anger was forming in Luke’s stomach, but it was not Raatu he was upset with. The Jedi comm center’s night tech had left a message detailing Master Lobi’s interrupted transmission, so he knew what had happened to Lobi—and who was responsible. “I had an important meeting with Chief Omas that lasted until after midnight. Mara was with me.”

“If you’d like to confirm that, you can comm his office.” Mara’s voice was particularly sharp and sarcastic—a sign of the sorrow and anger that Luke could feel in her through the Force. “Ask for the Chief of State.”

Raatu rotated his dish-shaped sensory antennae toward her. “Would I be able to speak with Chief Omas personally?”

“No!” Tozr said. He turned to Luke. “Look, someone assassinated the Bothan ambassador last night, and the chief of detectives wants as many of us on it as he can get. So if you want to handle this matter yourself, just say—”

“We’re the law on Coruscant,” Raatu objected. “Not the Jedi.”

The Bith whirled on his partner. “Someone killed a Jedi Master, you laserbrain!” He was so irritated that his voice warbled. “Even if we solve the case, are we going to make the arrest?”

Raatu’s snout widened in excitement. “You’re afraid of a challenge?”

“Maybe we should all work together for now,” Luke suggested. He waved at the forensics droids swarming over the near hedge. “You’ve already started collecting evidence, and the Jedi can bring some unique resources to bear.”

Raatu cast a resentful glance in Tozr’s direction, then let out a disgusted snort. “We call the shots,” he said. “Technically, you’re just observers.”

“I guess that’s better than suspects,” Mara retorted. She turned to Tozr. “Why don’t you show us the scene?”

“You’re standing on it.” Tozr nodded at the walkway, then waved at the blartree hedges lining either side. “It looks like they were waiting in ambush—”

“They?” Luke asked.

“You think that’s wrong, Skywalker?” Raatu kept his bulging eyes fixed on Luke. “Something maybe you need to share?”

“No, go on,” Luke said. The interruption had been a mistake, and not only because it had aroused Raatu’s suspicions. He could feel Mara studying him, too, wondering what he knew that she didn’t. “I was leaping to conclusions—no one has anything to gain by that.”

“Right,” Tozr said. He pointed down the walkway to a blartree on the far side, where a forensics droid appeared to be making resin casts of a set of footprints. “One ambusher was waiting there, and another over here.”

He pointed to a bush on their side of the walkway, a little closer, where another droid was casting footprints.

“What species?” Mara asked.

“Human or near-human,” Raatu answered. “The shoes made it hard to tell, but both ambushers were probably female and fairly light—the prints were small and shallow.”

“And one had a deformed foot—she didn’t put any weight on the front part of her shoe,” Tozr added. Motioning the Skywalkers to follow, he stepped through the hedge. “We think your Jedi realized something was wrong and tried to come up on them from behind.”

“Too bad they saw her coming,” Raatu said from the back of the group. “But it doesn’t look like she suffered long.”

They emerged from the hedge into a bed of knee-high chrysanthus shrubs. A pair of medical droids were waiting on the far side with a stretcher and a hoversled, while yet more forensics droids were swarming over the area, making casts of footprints and holorecording every detail of the crime scene.

In the center of the bed, still dressed in Jedi robes, lay the torso of a large Chev woman. Both lower legs and her head lay a couple of meters away. The lifeless eyes in the head were still open wide in surprise. There was no sign of her lightsaber or other equipment.

Luke’s stomach grew hollow. “This is a message.” He started to move closer to the body, but a forensics droid quickly cut him off. “She’s toying with me.”

“Toying with you?” Raatu repeated. “Who would that be?”

“In a minute.” Mara touched Luke through the Force, making sure that he felt her suspicion—and growing irritation. “How is this a message, Luke? From Lumiya?”

“I’m afraid so,” Luke said. “I think she’s telling us she can take Ben anytime she wants.”

“What does this have to do with Ben?” Mara demanded. “You’d better not be telling me you were using our son as bait.”

“Not bait, exactly,” Luke said. He had not told Mara about asking Tresina Lobi to follow Ben, in large part because of their disagreement over whether Jacen was good for him. “But I did ask Tresina to keep an eye on him, because I thought Lumiya might try to use him against me.” It looks like I was right.”

“And that’s why you told me to bring my shoto?” Mara asked, referring to the halflength lightsaber she had built as a defense against Lumiya’s lightwhip. “Because you knew Lumiya had something to do with Tresina’s death?”

Luke shrugged. “It looks like I was right.”

“Being right is no excuse,” Mara said. “You should have told me.”

Luke sighed. “I said it would be a good idea to keep an eye on him. You accused me of looking for an excuse to spy on Jacen.” He paused to collect himself and sensed the keenness of Raatu’s interest in their conversation. He gave Mara a Force-nudge, reminding her of their audience, then said, “Besides, that’s not what you’re really angry about.”

Mara flashed him a look that said this conversation wasn’t over, but took the hint. “No, I suppose it’s not.”

“I take it this Lumiya is our prime suspect?” Tozr asked. “Who is she?”

“One of Luke’s old girlfriends,” Mara said sharply.

Raatu’s antennae snapped upright. “Ah—that explains it.” He lifted his hand and dictated a note into the datamike clipped to his cuff, then gestured at Lobi’s body. “And Master Lobi is the new girlfriend?”

Instead of answering, Mara merely lifted her brow and looked to Luke.

“Not at all!” Luke answered. “Mara is—er, Mara is my wife. I don’t have a girlfriend.”

Raatu shrugged. “What do I know about you Jedi?” he asked. “With most humans, it’s usually sex or love.”

Tozr nodded sagely. “Eighty-seven percent of the time,” he said. “Spice is a distant second.”

“Not this time,” Luke insisted. “This time, it’s revenge.”

“Revenge for what?” Tozr asked. “And how is your son involved?”

“Lumiya was a Sith apprentice,” Luke explained. “She wants revenge because I shot her down and helped overthrow the Emperor. Ben is just a means to an end.”

“Sure, Master Skywalker,” Raatu said. “Whatever you say—but for now, we’ll keep all motives on the table.”

“Any idea who the accomplice might be?” Tozr asked.

Mara’s voice suddenly rose behind Luke, sharp and angry. He turned to see that she had stepped away from the group and was not quite shouting into her comlink.

“I’m a lot more than Ben’s mother, Corporal Lekauf,” she was saying. “I’m Master Mara Jade Skywalker of the Jedi order.”

The corporal’s reply was not quite audible to Luke.

“If you know who I am, then you also know that you’d better tell me why my son’s comlink is being jammed—or spend the next six weeks in a bacta tank trying to regrow all the parts I’m going to cut off.” Mara looked across the plaza toward the giant silver cylinder of the Galactic Justice Center. “I can be there in three minutes.”

There was a short pause.

“Of course this comlink is scrambled,” Mara said.

The corporal spoke again.

“He’s what?”

The corporal repeated whatever he had told her, then Mara’s anger began to fade from the Force.

“I see. Well, have him get in touch with me the moment he returns.” Mara paused, then added, “The moment, Corporal Lekauf. Do I make myself clear?”

Mara closed her comlink, then seemed surprised to find Luke and the others watching her. She frowned. “I just want to be sure that Lumiya isn’t delivering the rest of her message.”

“And you’re sure she isn’t?” Luke asked.

“Corporal Lekauf was very convincing,” she said. “Apparently, Jacen took Ben up to Crix Base.”

“Crix Base?” Raatu echoed. “What for?”

Mara shot the Rodian a don’t-be-stupid look. “He wouldn’t say.”

More properly known as the General Crix Madine Military Reserve, Crix Base had been constructed during the first wave of fleet reorganizations undertaken in the wake of the war with the Yuuzhan Vong. It was a huge complex of orbital hangars currently serving as home port to the Third, Eighth, and the mysterious Ninth Fleets. It also housed the headquarters of two elite fighting units, the Space Rangers and Gamma Corps, and—as Chief Omas had revealed during their meeting last night—a brand-new Imperial-class Star Destroyer secretly assigned to GAG, the Anakin Solo.

“Maybe that’s a good thing,” Luke said, guessing that Jacen had taken Ben to the base to go on the Anakin’s shakedown cruise. “At least we know Lumiya won’t get him there.”

“Do we?” Mara asked. “Base security wouldn’t stop me.”

“No, but it would take time for you to defeat it,” Luke pointed out. He didn’t mention the possibility of a shakedown cruise because Raatu and Tozr lacked the necessary security clearance to even hear of a vessel named the Anakin Solo. “And it would entail risks you wouldn’t need to run elsewhere.”

Mara thought about this a moment, then nodded. “Okay. Your point?”

“That now is our chance,” Luke said. “Until Ben gets back, it’s just her and us.”

“And us,” Raatu reminded Luke. “This Lumiya woman is our suspect.”

“Do you think you can identify your old girlfriend?” Tozr produced a large datapad from a pocket of his wrinkled tabard and began to enter codes. “There was a lot of fog last night, but the security cams have pretty good imaging filters. We’re in a blind spot here, but we might be able to catch her on the way in.”

“I’d recognize her if I saw her.” Luke went to the Bith’s side and saw that he was calling up last night’s video feed from the anti-terrorist cams that had been installed to protect Fellowship Plaza. “But she won’t be visible.”

“She won’t?”

“No. She’s too skilled for that.” Mara joined them and held her hand out for the datapad. “May I?”

Tozr ruffled his cheek flaps, then reluctantly passed over the datapad. Mara began to punch keys, bringing up the feed from the entrance closest to the Jedi Temple. It didn’t take long to spot Ben entering the park and Master Lobi trailing him, following a discreet distance behind and taking care to remain in the shadows. But they spotted no hint of Lumiya—or of the second killer—even when Mara brought up the feeds from the next two cams.

Luke checked the time stamp at the bottom of the screen, then said, “It’s too early. Tresina’s message didn’t come in until nineteen twenty-two.”

“What message?” Raatu asked.

“She clicked in with a partial message saying she had spotted Lumiya,” Luke replied.

“What else?” Raatu demanded.

“That’s it,” Luke said. “Just that I was right, Lumiya was watching Ben. Then she cut it short.”

“But it doesn’t look like this Lumiya was following your son when he left the Temple,” Tozr said. He reached over to tap the screen of the datapad. “So she was waiting for him inside the plaza.”

“It would seem so.” The edge in Mara’s voice was as cold as the knot in Luke’s stomach. “I don’t like it. She knew where he was going to be.”

“We said this was an ambush,” Raatu reminded them. “Both killers were waiting for Master Lobi in the hedges.”

“That’s the way it looks, all right,” Luke said. He turned back to Mara. “Lumiya had to enter the plaza somewhere.”

Mara began to bring up feeds from the other entrances and run through them at high speed. Finally, a line of static flashed across the screen, and she froze the picture and checked the time code.

“Nineteen fourteen,” she reported.

“Eight minutes before Tresina’s message,” Luke said. “That fits.”

“But that’s just a power glitch,” Tozr said, still looking at the datapad.

“It’s a Force-flash,” Luke corrected. “And it can be used to prevent a security cam from recording your image as you pass through its field of view.”

Mara checked the cam code at the bottom of the screen, then asked Tozr, “Is that the Galactic City entrance?”

Tozr nodded. “That’s right.”

“Then we’re in luck,” Raatu said. Without asking, the Rodian took the datapad from Mara and called up a schematic of the cam net. “Galactic City is dignitary central. There are security cams all over.”

He scrolled through the feeds from each of the adjacent cams until he came to a line of static similar to the last one.

“Nineteen oh six.” Raatu led the way back through the hedge, then started up the walkway toward the Galactic City entrance. “Looks like we’re on the scent.”