Star Wars_ Coruscant Nights 01_ Jedi Twilight - Michael Reaves [103]
This was all very bad, but Den’s immediate concern was for Jax, who was standing, hands also forcecuffed, before Xizor. Den suppressed a gasp as the Jedi raised his head in response to one of Xizor’s questions, giving Den a good look at his face. It was stitched with a score of cuts, some of which were still bleeding, from the transparisteel shards he’d dived through during the battle with the feral droids.
Xizor held Jax’s lightsaber. As Den watched, the Falleen activated it. The glimmering blue blade extended. Den had a feeling that Jax would be getting the business end of the blade very soon.
Why doesn’t he use the Force? Den could only assume that all the mopak Jax had been through in the last few hours had pretty much drained him. Whatever the reason, it was obvious that the Jedi had no mojo left to work.
He could save him.
Or, more accurately, I-Five could. During their pursuit of Xizor, I-Five had alluded to “further modifications” that he had made, with Den’s help. One of them had been a programming change in the power-down module. In most protocol units, the activation switch was on the back of the droid’s neck, making it easy for just about anyone taller than himself to turn the unit on or off. In the case of I-Five and other models of his line, the switch couldn’t be removed completely—it was hardwired into his CPU as a fail-safe. But they’d been able to bypass the circuitry and add a password that could verbally reactivate him. It had to be spoken in Den’s voice; once I-Five’s audioreceptors registered it, his CPU would rekindle itself.
If he spoke the password now, I-Five would awaken in time to stop whatever fate Xizor had in mind for Jax. If anyone could do it, the droid could, Den knew. It wasn’t a sure thing, but it was, without question, the way to bet.
Still—if he waited, even only a few more seconds, there was an even better chance that Jax Pavan would be out of his hair forever. I-Five would grieve, but grief dies eventually. And Den would have his friend back.
He didn’t hesitate. He leaned closer to the sprawled droid and whispered, “Bota.”
I-Five’s photoreceptors brightened slightly. He was looking at Xizor, who had his back turned. The prince raised the lightsaber over his head—
I-Five rose to his feet. Den realized what the droid was going to do, and had just enough time to realize also that he couldn’t stick his bound fingers in his ears.
This is gonna hurt, he thought.
It did.
Standing near Xizor and Jax, with Bug-Eyes holding him in its unbreakable grasp, Nick Rostu realized that he’d been masterfully played. He’d heard of the influence the Falleen could exert over other species, how they could sway emotions, manipulate feelings, but he’d momentarily forgotten about it. Understandable, given all that had happened in the past few days, and Xizor had taken full advantage of his inattention. But there was no point in cursing Xizor’s name now; the important thing was that the mesmerizing chemical triggers had worn off, no doubt due to Xizor’s concentration on Jax.
“It’s nothing personal, you understand,” Xizor was saying to Jax. “But I’ve been looking for a way to establish an alliance of my own with Lord Vader. The information in this droid appears to be the key, and I have to make sure there are no entanglements that will impede my plan. Your friend here”—he nodded at Nick—“was kind enough to lead us to you.” Nick saw Jax raise his eyes and look at him, and the look cut him to the heart—not anger, not even contempt; just weariness.
He had to do something. But what? Nick was a trained soldier, and he had no doubts of his ability to take down one, or even a couple or three opponents. But Xizor was a Falleen, trained in the martial arts and, at the moment, armed with a lightsaber. Not to mention having