• Choose a category
• All
• Classic-Fiction

“Well, the New Republic only conquered Coruscant, what, thirty-six years ago? The century's still young.” He waved the subject away. “At dawn, when Seff leaves, Winter and I are going to do just what you said. See what he's been doing down there.”

“Good.”

“Got a question for you.”

“All right.”

“What do you think about bringing Mirax into this?”

Jaina sat back and considered. “Well, she has skills, useful contacts, some funds, and plenty of motivation.”

“Right.”

“But she'd need to keep it a secret from Corran. He's her husband, a former security investigator, and a Jedi Master. A hard man to keep secrets from.”

“Also right.”

“And she and Corran are very, very busy right now.” That was an understatement. Each of the senior Horns was doing everything possible to free Valin from his carbonite imprisonment and return him to the Jedi Order for evaluation. Corran was calling in favors from his careers before joining the Jedi—from veterans of Corellian Security and Starfighter Command. The latter offered more possibility of success, because many of his colleagues from his piloting days were now senior officers in the Galactic Alliance military, but so far they had demonstrated little effectiveness in this task, as the military officers and other government leaders supporting Valin's sentence were even more powerful. Mirax, similarly, was cashing in favors she had accumulated over the years, but her contacts—chiefly traders and smugglers—were having even less luck than Corran's. Jaina had seen Corran several times at the Temple since Valin's sentencing, and it was clear that, as much as he tried to spare his fellow Jedi the pain he felt, he was suffering. Mirax had to be in similar shape.

That decided matters for Jaina. “Let's designate her an in-case-of-emergency resource. Maybe get Winter to approach her on a preliminary basis.”

Jag nodded.

Jaina's comlink beeped, a familiar, unwelcome series of notes—two musical tones, a pause, and two more.

Jaina froze. “Oh, no.”

“Didn't you say he checked up on you only an hour ago?”

“Yes.” She looked stricken. “That should have given me three or four hours more at least. I haven't heard of any of the observers doing their checks an hour apart.” She pulled out her comlink and glared at it.

“How fast can you get to the Temple and sneak back in?”

“Nowhere near fast enough. He's going to beep again—”

The comlink did beep again, the same notes.

Jaina winced. “And then he's going to assume I'm too deeply asleep to hear him. He'll go down to my quarters, which takes only a minute, and start ringing the chimes.”

“If he doesn't get an answer then?”

“He'll comm the Master on duty and they'll force the door. But I have one chance.” She scrabbled around in her pouch and brought out a second comlink. “I rewired the door intercom with a comlink matched to this one. I can talk to him as if I'm just inside my quarters. Maybe I can bluff him. Maybe I can convince him he doesn't actually have to see me.” She knew she didn't sound hopeful. She wasn't.

“What happens if you can't?”

She sighed. “I get found out having sneaked out of the Temple without my observer. Master Hamner will be obliged to punish me somehow. Teaching basic telekinesis to the younglings out in the Transitory Mists, for example. That's assuming the government doesn't prosecute me, which they might.”

“Which they will. They're not showing any mercy to the Jedi right now.”

She glared at him. “Thanks. You're making me feel much better.”

The second comlink sounded, this one with a chime identical to the one at Jaina's Temple quarters. She took a deep breath, then pressed the button. She made her voice sound sleepy. “What is it?”

“Hello, Jedi Solo. It's Dab. Routine location check.”

“Weren't you—what time is it?”

“I'm sorry. Yes, it was just an hour ago. My randomizer went off again.”

“Dab, just go away. I'm tired, I'm in bed, you know I'm here.”

“I have to see you in person, Jedi Solo. You know the