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“That’s very kind of you.” Jax glanced at Dejah. “I told you this wouldn’t take very long.”

“You’ve only just arrived.” Umber stepped closer. From his body wafted a faint odor of pomegrail, though Jax was not sensitive enough to tell if it was natural or the result of a flattering additive. “Won’t you stay for second-morn meal?”

“Thanks,” I-Five responded, “but we’re not hungry.”

Even the Baron had to smile nominally at that. “There’s nothing I can offer you?” he persisted, looking from Dejah back to Jax.

The Jedi hesitated. “Actually, there might be. I need a compressed energy crystal. Adegan or Luxum would be best, but I’d take whatever you’d be willing to part with.”

Umber acted as if he hadn’t heard correctly. “You want to buy one of my Volettes?”

Jax shook his head. “Not a sculpture. Just a CEC.”

The Baron was horrified and made no effort to hide it. “The CEC is at the heart of each sculpture. No,” he corrected himself quickly, “the CEC is the heart of each sculpture.”

Though a bit taken aback by the force of the Vindalian’s reaction, having already ventured the request, Jax persisted. “Pardon my ignorance—I’m not an artist, and I’m not exactly familiar with the genre—but couldn’t you substitute something for a piece of Adegan? Another energy source? Marilite, maybe, or pressure-treated halurium grains?”

Umber was clearly restraining himself with an effort. “Since you are honest enough to readily confess your ignorance, I take no offense. You do not understand. Once the CEC is removed from a Volette light sculpture, it collapses. It cannot be restored, certainly not by replacing the energy source. One can have an image repainted, reholoed, retooled, or a carving of some solid material reproduced. While not the original, an excellent copy may be so obtained. But once a Volette light sculpture is deactivated, it becomes as dead as the unfortunate artist himself.”

“What would happen if you tried it?” I-Five asked.

Kirma looked at the droid. “You would get an amorphous blob of light. That’s all. Maybe with color, according to the design. But the shape, the dance, the aesthetic, would be lost forever.” She eyed her mate. “Isn’t that the truth of it?”

“Truth it is,” Umber confirmed. “I would no more destroy a piece of Volette art than I would surrender a limb. Especially since there will be no more. What exists now is all that there will ever be.” Turning away from his visitors, he let his gaze roam over his collection. Even without resorting to the Force, Jax could feel the powerful emotions emanating from him. “Even if I needed the credits, young man, I would not—could not—comply.” He turned back to Jax, and his gaze was hard. “I do not have the right. Maintenance of the Volette sculptures is more than a joy, now. It is an obligation.”

Dejah was nodding her head in agreement as she spoke to Jax. “I told you what kind of collector the Baron is. What kind of friend he’s been to Ves and me.”

“Yes, you did.” Jax sighed. If he was ever going to acquire a CEC to power a lightsaber, it clearly wouldn’t be from here. He would have to find another source. Unless, he reminded himself, Den had better luck.

After his wife excused herself, the Baron escorted them toward the exit. “Just as a matter of personal curiosity, what does a private investigator want with a compressed energy crystal? I realize that such a scarce article has a multitude of uses, but I can’t see how it would prove useful to someone in your profession. Leastwise, not sufficiently to justify the cost.” He paused, adding, “Of course, you don’t have to explain yourself. It’s none of my business what you want with a CEC.”

“He’s a budding inventor,” I-Five explained. “He wants to make a functional probe that’ll enable him to trace the neural paths to all the abnormal synaptic connections in his own brain.”

As they reached the doorway Jax shot the droid a look. “Speaking of abnormal synaptic connections, maybe it’s time someone took an aligner to the back of your skull.”

“You see?” I-Five gestured