Fate Of The Jedi: Ascension Part 10

Instead of lifting her lightsaber to do battle, Vestara extinguished the red blade. To Ben's shock, she began to run.

Toward the dark blue and black wave of tuk'ata.

Her brown hair flying, Vestara lifted her hand and cried out a single word, sharply.

"Ur-kaa!"

The creatures skidded to a halt almost as if physically struck by the word, one of them falling gracelessly over its own feet as it tried to stop too quickly.

"Vestara, what-?" began Ben. She shot him a sharp look of warning, and he fell silent, glancing over at his dad and Jaina. They, too, had paused, like the tuk'ata, but were ready to spring into action in a heartbeat.

Slowly, their glowing red eyes fixed on Vestara, the Sith hounds sat, obedient, but only for this moment. Their tongues lolled, dripping, and their pseudo-wings flexed and strained.

Vestara continued to speak to them in the strange language. "Haa, neyo la yud masur kee, tah uhnah kahru lur shu." They listened, ears p.r.i.c.ked forward even as their baleful eyes flickered from her to fasten hungrily and hatefully upon the Jedi. When she had finished saying ... whatever it was she was saying ... they grew highly agitated. Then, to Ben's astonishment, the tuk'ata pack cringed back, as if expecting a blow.

Vestara again spoke, still more firmly, more challengingly, projecting her strength in the Force.

"Na-hah ur su ka-haat. Su ka haru aat." The dogs, for such they looked like now, if huge and impossibly dangerous, positively prostrated themselves, whimpering and shaking. Vestara paused for a moment, and then said something in a calmer, kinder voice.

"Eyah seh maat, shu kor huaan." The tuk'ata leapt up and pranced around her, fawning on her, and then turned as one and raced off. Vestara lowered her hand, and Ben saw that despite her a.s.sertive stance, that hand was trembling slightly.

"What did you do?" he asked, stunned.

"I talked to them," she said. With a barely visible effort, she calmed herself and her hand ceased to shake. "Jaina said earlier that the tuk'ata understood the Sith language. They exist to serve and protect the Sith, so ... I told them to lead them to us if there were any here." She met his gaze. "There are no Sith on Korriban."

"And we're supposed to believe that." Jaina snorted. "And how very convenient that you just happen to speak the ancient Sith language."

"The ship that brought my ancestors to Kesh is more than five thousand years old," Vestara said. "The Old Tongue was preserved and pa.s.sed down. Not everyone on Kesh knows it, but those who are apprentices and higher do. It's part of our training."

Jaina looked a bit nonplussed. "Well ... you could have told us this before."

Vestara smiled, a cold little smile that Ben didn't like. "Why should I?" was all she said.

Anxious to avoid an argument, Ben said, "How do you know there aren't any Sith here? They didn't ... talk back to you, did they?"

Vestara turned to him, the coldness dissolving as she spoke. "No, not with words. But you saw their reactions. I told them to find the Sith that were on this world, and they cowered. They were upset because they couldn't please me, because there is no one for them to lead me to."

It seemed believable. Hideous and alarming and violent as they were, the tuk'ata were, in the end, canines of a sort, and canine body language seemed to be universal. They had indeed cowered, seeming to beg forgiveness-a proper display for disappointing their "master."

Jaina seemed about to retort, but Luke said, unexpectedly, "I agree."

Ben looked at his dad, astonished. Even Vestara seemed surprised. "You do? Why?"

"Their presences in the Force reflected their obsequious body language. Whatever it was you asked them, they couldn't do it or give it to you." Ben's pleasure faded a little. So his dad was implying that Vestara was lying about what she had told the tuk'ata. He supposed he should have known.

"It also corroborates the evidence-or lack thereof-that we've seen so far. There's nothing here to indicate that anyone's been here for years. Too, I believe that I could distinguish human and Keshiri Force essences from the general miasma of dark-side energy." He shook his head. "No, they're not here."

"So it's another dead end," Ben muttered.

"Oh, cheer up, Ben," Vestara said, her eyes twinkling. "Think of all the other places we're going to get to explore."

Ben gave her an extremely dirty look.

"Fortunately we're not the only ones searching," Luke said. "Once we're away from here I'll contact the other vessels and see if they've discovered anything."

"Then let's go," said Jaina. "I'm anxious to be on to the next one. I'm tired of playing hide-and-seek."

The news was disappointing, to say the least. "Nothing at all?" Luke asked the fourth group they had spoken with.

"No, Master Skywalker," said the calm, almost flat voice of Raynar Thul. "We would most certainly have told you if we found even a clue. No Sith, no Abeloth, no sign that anyone has been here for centuries."

They had received the same response from all of the search parties, including that led by Master Kyle Katarn. No one saw anything to suspect that either Abeloth or the Lost Sith Tribe had ever visited these worlds. Luke thanked them, doing his best to keep the sharpness of his disappointment-and growing concern-out of his voice.

He leaned back in the pilot's chair and closed his eyes, rubbing them with the heel of his hand.

"Maybe they just ... went home," Jaina suggested. "They seem to keep getting the worse end of the deal."

"You think they slunk back to Kesh to lick their wounds?" Luke said. He shook his head. "No. That doesn't sound like the Lost Tribe to me. For one thing, I don't think they'd survive very long if they came home empty-handed. Would they, Vestara?"

"There are severe penalties for failure," admitted Vestara. "To have lost both you and Ben and Abeloth as prizes would not reflect well on the strike force. Better to stay away until they could come home with something to show for it, even if it took years."

Was she simply trying to protect her homeworld still, or was she telling the truth? What she said was exactly what Luke had just stated that he himself believed. It could be-probably was-the truth.

"But you have no idea where they would go," he said. It was a statement, not a question.

"No." He sensed she wasn't lying, but he also knew that one could easily get around detection with the proper mental gymnastics.

Luke sighed. "Then we simply have to keep searching for them. The Lost Tribe and Abeloth both."

"There are an awful lot of old Sith sites in this galaxy," Jaina warned. "Even for several ships of Jedi to be exploring."

"Then we've got to be better hunters," Luke said. "Talk to Natua tomorrow. Let's see if we can narrow the search."

Jaina nodded, looking glum, and bid them good night.

Vestara rose, as well. "If you'll excuse me," she said. "It was ... kind of a difficult day and I'm extremely tired. I'm going to turn in."

Ben smiled at her. "Thanks for the help with the tuk'ata," he said.

She returned the smile. "Of course," she said, glancing at Luke. He said nothing other than "Good night, Vestara," and he felt a brush of disappointment from her.

Luke more than anyone understood the deep wanting Ben was experiencing. No one ever wanted to believe that someone he cared for was irredeemable. But Ben should know better. Not everyone could be saved.

Particularly if they didn't want to be. And Luke was still deeply mistrustful, despite the girl's apparent effort to help them.

When they had found Abeloth and the Lost Tribe, and Vestara came firmly down on the side of the Jedi in all interactions with them, then he would believe she stood a chance. And not a second before.

The door hissed shut behind Vestara and she leaned against it, closing her eyes. She hadn't lied to the Skywalkers. It had indeed been a difficult day, and she was exhausted.

So much dark-side energy, swirling around her-it had been almost impossible to not joyfully yield to its seductive song. But she couldn't. Not yet ... and, she thought as she sat down and unbraided her hair, maybe not ever. It had been sweet and alluring, but for the first time she had a glimmer of insight into what the Jedi must feel when encountering it.

The dark side had ice to it. She had never noticed that; it was all she had known. But traveling with Ben and Luke had granted her a different perspective, and that made her feel uneasy.

She knew they were too far for Korriban's Force energies to be reaching her, but like the memory of standing shivering in the cold even after one had come into a warm room, in her mind she could still feel them. Vestara slipped out of her clothes and into a sanisteam, then wrapped herself in the bed's blankets. Tired though she was, she lay awake in the darkness for some time.

She hadn't lied to Luke, but she hadn't told him everything, either. She had indeed spoken to the so-called Sith hounds, telling them not to harm her or anyone she was with, and to find any Sith present on this dark world. And they had cringed and whimpered, because there were no Sith to be found.

What Vestara hadn't told Luke was the third instruction she had given the tuk'ata.

Harm no one who stands with me, on pain of death. Seek out any of my brethren who might come to our ancient home.

And warn them to stay hidden.

SOLO SAFE HOUSE, CORUSCANT.

"I'M NOT TIRED." ALLANA SOLO, KNOWN TO NEARLY EVERYONE BUT her closest family as Amelia, scowled fiercely at her grandfather.

"You know, honey, you only use that tone of voice when you're exhausted," Han Solo replied as he tucked her in and knelt beside the bed, searching for the girl's latest favorite stuffed animal, a fuzzy eopie that had seen better days. It had become Anji's favorite toy, too, and had gone downhill rapidly since the day the Solos had brought the nexu cub home as a pet for Allana. "So in effect, when you protest that much, I know it's a dead certainty that you are tired." His hand closed on something soft and slightly soggy and he grimaced as he pulled out the beloved toy.

"Oh, you mean I have a tell."

Han, who was tucking the toy beside her, did a double take. "What?"

"A tell," said the eight-year-old. "Like when you're gambling, and you do something that lets someone know if you have a good hand or-"

"I know what a tell is, young lady," said Han, trying to decide if he was amused, proud, or shocked. He thought about it for a moment, then stroked her short, dyed-black hair. "And yes, that's one of them."

She smiled up at him, her eyelids already beginning to droop slightly. "What are my others?"

"Hey, I'm not laying all my cards on the table, missy," he said, planting a loud smooch on her forehead. Beside the girl, Anji gave him a feline smile, eyes half closed as she lazily started gnawing the eopie. "Sleep tight, kiddo."

"I will, Grandpa. Is Grandma coming in, too?"

"She's got something she needs to take care of, but she'll be in soon."

"But I'll be asleep by then!"

"This from the girl who was so adamant that she wasn't tired?"

"Well ... maybe I am. A little," Allana admitted.

"Well, a grandma's kiss is just as good whether you're awake or asleep," Han promised her.

"I guess you're right. Good night, Grandpa."

" 'Night, sweetheart," Han said softly. He activated the pale blue hologram of a moon, stars, and clouds that always seemed to give Allana such peaceful dreams, then pressed a b.u.t.ton and the door hissed shut. He walked down the hall to what served as their office in the safe house and poked his head in.

"What is so fascinating that you have to miss kissing our granddaughter good night?" he asked. He wasn't angry, just curious; Leia hardly ever missed tucking Allana in.

Leia glanced up, and there was worry in her brown eyes. "This." She pointed to a message flashing on the screen.

INFORMATION YOU WILL WANT TO HAVE.

SAFETY FOR YOUR FAMILY GUARANTEED.

REPLY FOR MORE.

"Short and completely mysterious," Han mused, frowning a little.

"It came in on my private channel."

"The one only about six people and two droids have access to?"

"That would be the one."

Han's frown became a full-fledged scowl. "So unless Artoo-Detoo has been reprogrammed or Ben is playing a prank, you've been hacked."

Leia nodded. "I'm afraid so. The question now is, do we want to reply or have Artoo start a trace for the hacker?"

"Oh come on, where's your sense of adventure?" Han said. "Look at it this way-if they contacted you legitimately, everything's fine. If they hacked in, they've already got what they came for."

Leia made a sour face. "That's not at all rea.s.suring." But her own curiosity got the better of her.

She leaned forward and typed in, Replying. Tell me more.

A few seconds later, more blue letters crawled across the screen.

OLD FRIENDS MAKE THE BEST BARGAINS.

Han felt a chill. Whoever it was, they claimed to know Leia, at least. "So this old friend wants to sell us information."

"Han ... does something about this ring a bell for you?"

"Someone trying to sell information?" He shook his head. "Everybody wants something. Some people are just honest about the fact that they want credits." He grinned suddenly. "Like me."

She gave him a mock shove, then sobered. "I know, but there's ... this seems very familiar. I can't put my finger on it."