Star Wars_ Coruscant Nights II Streets of Shadows - Michael Reaves [15]
He told them as much. “There’s no way I can convince you of it, I know. But knowledge gained through the Force can’t be discounted. If I had to choose between the evidence of my senses and that which is revealed to me through my connection with the Force, I’d go with the Force every time.”
Den shrugged. “Since I make it a point never to argue with zealots, let’s just say I believe in your belief in it. But even assuming it to be true—and I say this with all due respect—so what? I mean, it would make an interesting ribbon for the holos, but since the only way you can prove the truth of it is to reveal yourself as a Jedi, it all strikes me as a little counterproductive.”
“I’m not suggesting that. In fact, I’m not sure what I’m suggesting, if anything. It just hit me, just now. You couldn’t say we were friends, since I don’t think Anakin ever let anyone get close enough to justify the term. But he relied on me enough to trust me with something, once.”
“A nugget of pyronium,” Rhinann recalled. “You showed it to us before.”
“Oh yeah,” Den mused. “The rainbow rock. Goes through all the colors. Very nice. Does it do anything besides shine?”
“Indeed it does,” I-Five said. “What makes refined pyronium so rare and valuable is that its ability to absorb energy of varying quanta is extraordinarily high. If left exposed to any frequency of electromagnetic radiation of sufficient intensity, its atomic structure stores it. It is theorized that when the quantum shells are filled, the additional energy is somehow shunted into a correlative hyperspatial lattice that …”
Jax, grinning, reached behind the droid’s neck as if to flip the master deactivation toggle at the base of the latter’s metal skull. The droid glared at him and stepped away. “My mistake,” he said. “For a brief moment I was laboring under the delusion that I was dealing with beings possessing a sense of curiosity. How could I have been so naïve?”
“Don’t get your circuits in a twist,” Den chided his friend. “I was actually faintly interested in what you were saying.” He returned his attention to Jax. “I can’t help but wonder if this latest Force flash of yours isn’t somehow connected to the Caamasi holocaust. Of course, you’re the one with your veins all crammed full of little Force critters, so you’d know better than me.”
Before Jax or I-Five could respond, Laranth, who had been standing by the door, turned suddenly toward it. One hand went to a pistol hilt as she said quietly, “We have a visitor.”
Conversation ceased as everyone turned toward the door. They were in the front room of the domicile, from which the smaller separate sleeping quarters branched off. Jax edged quietly a step closer to the doorway, reaching out with the Force as he did so, letting its threads pass through walls and floors as easily as neutrinos through cosmic dust. Laranth was right: he could sense someone on the stairs. Female, advancing with a light, confident step. He wasn’t able to ascertain if she was human, but she was definitely humanoid, and young.
He perceived no malice or hint of dangerous agenda in her purpose, but that was not conclusive proof of harmlessness. She might be very skilled at blocking her thoughts and feelings. He glanced at Laranth, received a slight nod that confirmed his assessment of the situation. Both relaxed slightly, and Jax activated the door panel. It slid open to reveal the figure of a young, humanoid female. She looked slightly startled as the portal hissed to one side without her having touched the external call pad. Jax stared. She was fully humanoid, all right.
She was also the most beautiful woman he had ever seen.
Her skin was cardinal red. Her thick, wavy hair was darker, a shade closer to burgundy. The irises of her wide-open eyes were a shocking scarlet. Not much shorter than him, she wore a one-piece garment that at its densest seemed to be about two molecules thick. Despite bordering on vapor, the material swirled and