Star Wars_ Fate of the Jedi 04_ Backlash - Aaron Allston [3]
“Somehow appropriate.” Finally, Luke did open his eyes, and Ben was once again struck by how tired his father looked, tired to the bone and to the spirit. “I can still feel her path. I’ll be up in a minute to lay in a course.”
“Right. Don’t push yourself.” Ben backed out of the cabin, and its door slid shut.
SEVERAL DAYS LATER
JADE SHADOW, IN HIGH DATHOMIRI ORBIT
Luke stared at the mottled, multicolored world of Dathomir through the forward viewport. He nodded, feeling slightly abashed. Of course it was Dathomir.
Ben, seated to Luke’s left in the pilot’s seat, peered at him. “What is it, Dad?”
“I’m just feeling a little stupid. There’s no world better suited to be the home of this new Sith Order than Dathomir. I should have realized it long before we were on our final leg here.”
“How so?”
“There are a lot of Force-sensitives in the population, most of whom are trained in the so-called Witchcraft of Dathomir. There’s not a lot of government oversight. It’s the perfect place for a Force-user to hide. And eventually, if she figures out that I’m following my own blood straight to her, she may get rid of it and elude us entirely.” Luke paused to consider. “There are mentions in ancient records that there was a Sith academy here long, long ago. I wonder if she’s looking for it.”
Ben nodded. “Well, I’ll prep Mom’s Headhunter and get down there. I’ll be your eyes and ears on the ground.”
Luke gave his son a confused look. “I’m not going down with you? I’m feeling much better. Much more rested.”
“Yeah, but there’s a Jedi school down there. The terms of your exile say that you can’t—”
Luke grinned and held up a hand, cutting off his son’s words. “You’re a little bit behind the times, Ben. Maybe you need your own galactic map updated. More than two years ago, when the Jedi turned against Jacen at Kuat?”
“Yeah, and we set up shop on Endor for a while. What about it?”
“We pulled everyone off Dathomir when Jacen’s government shut the school down. The Jedi have yet to reopen it.”
Comprehension dawned on Ben’s face. “So there’s no school, and it’s legal for you to visit.”
“Yes.”
“That’s kind of getting by on a technicality, isn’t it?”
“All law is technicality, Ben. Get authorization for landing.”
DATHOMIR
Half an hour later, Luke had to admit that he was wrong. Most law was technicality. The rest was special cases, and he, apparently, was a special case.
He stood on the parking field of the Dathomiri spaceport. Perhaps spaceport was too generous a term. It was a broad, sunny field, grassy in some spots, muddy in others, with thruster scorch marks here and there. Dull gray permacrete domes, most of them clearly prefabricated, dotted the field; the largest was some sort of administrative building, the smaller ones hangars for vehicles no larger than shuttles and starfighters. A tall mesh durasteel fence surrounded the complex, elevated watchtowers dotting its length, and Luke could see the wiring leading to one of the permacrete domes that marked it as electrified.
The spaceport facilities offered little shade, so the Skywalkers stood in the darkness cast by Jade Shadow, but even without the heat of direct sunlight, the moist, windless air was still as oppressive as a blanket.
Luke poured thoughts of helpfulness and reasonability into the Force, but it was no use. The man before him, nearly two skinny meters of redheaded obstructiveness, would not yield a centimeter.
The man, who had given his name as Tarth Vames, again waved his datapad beneath Luke’s nose. “It’s simple. That vehicle—” His wave indicated Jade Shadow. “Neither it, nor anything with an enclosed or enclosable interior, can be inland under your control or your kid’s.” He turned his attention to Ben, who stood, arms folded across his chest, beside his father. Ben glared but did not reply.
Luke sighed. “Is any other visitor to Dathomir operating under that restriction?”
“Don’t think so, no.”
“Then why us?”
Vames thumbed the datapad keyboard so that the message scrolled downward several screens. “Here, right