Star Wars_ Fate of the Jedi 01_ Outcast - Aaron Allston [114]
They hauled the unconscious Jedi through the darkened speeder hangar, trying to keep themselves as calm and centered as possible; other Jedi, especially the Masters whose hangar this was, were more likely to sense distress. But no one met them in the corridor outside the hangar, and no one approached them as they made their way to the nearest turbolift.
As they neared the lift, it hummed with the sound of an arriving car. Tahiri and Mirax got Seff spun around and made it with Winter and Tekli to a darkened nook before the turbolift door opened.
Tekli peered into the hall and breathed a sigh of relief. She motioned the others forward. They stepped out again and saw that it was Jaina awaiting them at the lift.
“Any problems with your observer?” Tahiri asked. They moved into the lift car.
“No. He sympathized with me for not catching any petty criminals tonight.” Jaina blinked, affecting an expression of innocence. “It looks like my night's outing was a complete failure.”
Tekli addressed the turbolift controls: “Second medical level.”
The lower medical level was a solemn, quiet area of bare walls and windowless doors—not too different, Tahiri reflected, from the prison she'd just visited.
At the back of one medical supplies storage chamber was a door marked RADIOACTIVE MATERIALS. AUTHORIZED ACCESS ONLY. The door had a security pad beside it. Tekli tapped in the access code. “Master Cilghal and I are the only ones authorized to enter. Even Master Hamner must come to us. This is the lesser of two radiation storage chambers. I've moved all the materials that belong here into the primary chamber.” The door slid open, and they moved through into a small outer chamber; inset in the right wall was a swing-out door as thick as a blast door. Through it was another chamber, this one set up with a heavy patient bed and a bank of monitoring equipment.
In minutes, they had Seff strapped down to the bed and hooked up to the monitors. Finally Jaina could breathe a sigh of relief; this mission was done, and now the Jedi could begin to benefit from the knowledge Seff might provide. She turned to Tekli. “You're all right here?”
“Fine, fine.”
“Everybody, come on up to the main level. You can get cleaned up—plenty of extra clothes around—and grab a cup of caf. Rest for a few minutes.”
Mirax shook her head. “Have to get back to our quarters. There's no telling when Corran will be back.”
Winter looked regretful, too. “I wish I could.”
Jaina sighed. “I'll get you back out through the same hangar you came in by. No worries. Tahiri?”
Tahiri appeared dubious. “I don't know. There are plenty of Jedi who don't remember me fondly—”
“And they should know that you and I are on good terms. It'll make them think about things.” Jaina's tone was firm. “Come on.”
“All right.”
Fresh from a sanisteam and in clean garments, Jaina and Tahiri nursed fresh cups of caf and talked, their voices low. At this hour of night, the common dining hall was all but unoccupied, with the banks of overhead glow rods along the walls switched off, leaving only those in the center of the ceiling still shining. It was a restful place, particularly after the events of less than an hour earlier. Tahiri looked around, her expression wistful.
“You miss it?”
Tahiri nodded.
“Then come back.”
Tahiri shook her head. “No. Not yet, anyway … Have you suddenly acquired the Luke Skywalker urge to save everybody, one person at a time?”
“Better than the Darth Vader urge to make the galaxy a better place by destroying everything that doesn't behave.”
“True. Jacen had enough of that for both of you.”
A man entering the dining hall paused in the shadows by the main doorway, then headed their way. As he emerged from the darkness, Jaina saw that it was Dab.
He waved as he approached. “Jedi Solo. You couldn't sleep, either?”
“That's