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“Better than that. We have the tracking device I planted below his skin in the event of such an occurrence. He will begin to feel it when the local anesthetic I injected there begins to wear off, but that gives us a few hours still. Unfortunately, he seems to be spending a certain amount of time traveling through the undercity, so our signal is intermittent.”

Luke rose and began putting on his white tunic. “Alert the other Masters. Assemble all the Jedi Knights present that the Temple can spare. Let Han and Leia know. I'll be in the Great Hall in three minutes.”

“And the Horns?”

“They don't need to know.”

SENATE BUILDING PLAZA, CORUSCANT

SEHA SAT CROSS-LEGGED ON HARD, COLD PERMACRETE IN THE DARKNESS at the center of the plaza, glaring at the Senate Building before her. A lean girl in her early twenties, she was dressed as a Jedi, her long red hair held back in a tail by elastic bands.

She glared because nothing was happening. Senatorial aides and office workers were arriving on foot in this predawn hour, a steady trickle, and that added up to nothing. None cast a look out into the darkness where Seha waited. None looked like Valin Horn.

Beside her, stretched out full length on the permacrete, wrapped up against the chill in a full-length hooded robe, lay Master Octa Ramis. A stoutly built, muscular human woman, she lay with her eyes closed as if asleep. The pale skin of her face, surrounded as it was by dark hair and dark cloak, was all that could be seen of her from more than a couple of meters. Now she smiled, not opening her eyes. “You're not calm, Seha.”

“I know, Master.”

“The less calm you are, the less alert you are.”

Seha gestured at the small tracker box that rested on the permacrete before her. “I just have to watch this. It glows the same whether I'm calm or not.”

“Spoken like a true, proper, lazy apprentice. Why, again, did I let you choose where we would have our stakeout?”

“Because I've been on a mission with Valin. I mean, Jedi Horn.”

“And you brought us here because?”

Seha frowned, out of confusion rather than irritation. She had already explained her logic once. “Because if he's thinking strangely, maybe he's thinking like an animal. Find a nest, lick his wounds, recover. I led him to the undercity here a couple of years ago. There's more security now, but he can find plenty of places to hide. And if he pops up here, he can use his Jedi powers to steal very good vehicles or maybe kidnap prominent politicians.”

“Very good. It's as good a reason for choosing a stakeout as any. You used your mind and your logic to lead us here. And now you're willing to simply abandon them and watch a box because that's just as good as thinking?”

Seha sighed. As usual, there was little reward in arguing with her teacher. “No, Master.” She tried to quiet her thoughts.

“Do you have a crush on him?”

Seha gave Octa a pained look. It was going to be one of those conversations, no secrets safe. “Yes, Master. Well, I did once.”

“Are you embarrassed by it?”

“No. I'm embarrassed that I had a crush on Jacen Solo.”

“Don't be. He was a good, thoughtful Jedi for many years. And a nice-looking one. Took after his father. I had a crush on his father once upon a time.”

Seha smiled. “You didn't.”

“Yes. And just think of the chores you'll find yourself doing if you mention that to anyone.”

“I shouldn't allow myself to have crushes, at least on Jedi. I have a crush on Jacen Solo, he goes dark and dies. I have a crush on Valin Horn, he goes crazy.”

Octa's smile faded but did not go away entirely. “Once upon a time, I had more than a crush on a Jedi. He was tortured by the Yuuzhan Vong, then drowned in freezing water fighting them. Should I have stopped loving? Caring? Being attracted?”

“No …”

“Then you shouldn't, either.”

The device at Seha's feet lit up, the bulb atop it glowing with a faint pulse of amber light. The pulse intensified, faded, and then became steady.

Octa must have felt Seha's excitement. She sat up, eyes opening, and looked at the tracker. “Well done, Seha.”

“Thank you, Master.”