Star Wars_ Fate of the Jedi 02_ Omen - Christie Golden [107]
“Regardless, if such does turn out to be the case, we will be able to make that determination and call for reinforcements. A huge fleet will announce our presence. One or two smaller vessels will be able to glean information much more readily,” Lady Rhea continued.
Xal looked unhappy, but fell silent.
“Now,” Lady Rhea continued. “We—”
It rocked through them like a wave. Vestara actually stumbled. It was at once almost overpowering and nourishing. Pure dark side energy crackled through the room, piercing their hearts, like an embrace that was welcomed but too tight to be truly comfortable. Vestara extended a hand, as if she could physically reach out and touch whatever it was that was permeating her entire being. She wanted it, ached for it, felt tears suddenly stinging her eyes—
And then a rush of joy flooded her.
Ship. He was all but singing, a devoted pet racing to his beloved master, following that call of the dark side energy.
“No!” cried Vestara. “Ship!”
She blinked, recovering as the strange pull suddenly ended. Lady Rhea was staring at her.
“Vestara, what is it doing?”
Vestara licked lips suddenly gone dry. She felt intensely, terribly bereft. Abandoned, left behind, empty. Her connection with Ship had always been acknowledged as the strongest among any of the Sith. He had contacted her first, and had maintained that level of—intimacy, almost—through the last two years. Now he had left them, left her, without even a twinge of regret or a farewell.
“He—he’s gone,” she said in a voice that trembled. “He’s following that—that—call.”
For a dreadful moment, everyone was still. Horror, anger, and anguish flooded into the Force. And then Lord Vol rose. His body was frail, but his power was not, and he gut-punched them with his determination.
“We had planned to send a strike force after Luke Skywalker,” he said. “Now we have a more important mission—follow Ship and recover it.”
Him, Vestara thought. Ship’s male.
“The strike force will prepare to launch after Ship as soon as you are prepared under the command of Lady Rhea.”
Lady Rhea turned her eyes to Vestara and nodded. Excitement and fear both clutched at Vestara, but she forced them back. If she was to be of any use on this mission, she would need to be calm, be in control of her emotions, not let them dominate her.
They would find Ship, and find out what had been so compelling that he had felt it necessary to abandon those he had once come to.
LEIA AND HAN SAT ON ALLANA’S BED, TUCKING THE COVERS GENTLY IN around her. The little girl was proving to have a backbone of durasteel, given how well she bounced back from things. She seemed to have recovered fully from the incident at the Livestock Exchange and Exhibition, except she seemed unusually thoughtful. Whenever Han or Leia tried to gently coax her into talking, she said she was fine and smiled at them.
But tonight, she looked up at them just before they each leaned in turn to kiss her forehead. “I have been thinking,” she said.
The pair exchanged glances and sat down on either side of her bed. “About what, honey?” Leia asked.
“About … what happened at the show.”
Leia reached and stroked the girl’s soft, round cheek. “Go on.”
“You … you had to kill some of the animals to save people.”
Leia nodded. “That’s right.”
“But they were just animals. They had been bred to be mean.”
“It wasn’t their intention, not like with sentient beings,” Leia said, wondering where this was going. “That much is true. But a threat to a being is the same, whether it’s done with intention or not.”
“But … the nexu. She had cubs.”
Ah, now Leia understood. “Yes, she did.”
“And you killed her. Because she was hurting people. So now the cubs have no mother, no one to look after them.” She lifted her calm gaze to theirs. “I think we should take responsibility.”
“What?” Han exploded.
“One of the cubs. Radd Minker said you could tame them if you found a good