Star Wars_ Fate of the Jedi 05_ Allies - Christie Golden [106]
She eyed him. “Simply because something is functional doesn’t mean it needs to be ugly. Take the lightsaber, for instance. It is highly functional and very deadly, and yet it is a thing of beauty.”
“We can argue about the need for aesthetics in prospecting vessels later,” Luke said. There was a trace of exhaustion in his voice. “And I would imagine if the Rockhound turns out to save lives, we’ll all find it very beautiful indeed. Take us in, Ben.”
The Rockhound did not grow lovelier the closer it got. It looked barely spaceworthy, dinged, dented, and repaired. But then again, the same could be said for the Millennium Falcon. Ben could see now that the legs extended from the rim of the ship’s underbelly, and that the flat base of the vessel was covered with huge, circular, tractor-beam projection fields. His respect for the decrepit old ship went up a few notches. If those things still worked as intended, the old tug really could haul something mammoth—or several small somethings.
“You could retool those to extend a field around several smaller ships,” Ben said. “Protect them.”
“I bet Lando has already thought of that,” Luke said. “He’s usually a step ahead of everyone when it comes to tinkering.”
Ben thought about the first time they had gone through the Maw, imagined going through it again with this behemoth flying above them, and suddenly decided he could like the Rockhound.
Luke touched a button. “Jade Shadow to Rockhound. Glad you could join us, Lando.”
Lando’s voice sounded surprisingly weary. “Me, too, buddy. Listen, I know everyone wants to head on in, but I want to show you around this old tug before we take her into the Maw.”
There was something not quite right about this. Ben saw his father’s eyes narrow ever so slightly. Luke was facing away from Vestara, so she probably hadn’t caught the gesture. Ben kept tight control over what he projected in the Force as he heard his dad answer casually, “Sure. Be right over. But let’s make it fast, okay?”
“About the length of a sabacc game if you were playing against Han,” Lando said, with a hint of his old cheer.
“Sounds good. Jade Shadow out.” Luke rose. “Ben, you’re in command until I return.”
“Sure,” Ben said. “Walk you to the Headhunter.” He turned to Vestara. “Be right back. Don’t touch anything.”
She made a slightly disgusted sound. “Of course I won’t.”
It was almost, but not quite, a game. Ben knew that the moment they were out of sight, she would be sitting at the controls. She probably wouldn’t touch anything; any attempt to contact the Sith vessels would be automatically recorded in the ship’s databank. But she’d observe. She knew it, and he knew it.
Ben mentally shrugged. It was what it was, and whatever Lando had to tell his dad was more important. He’d picked up that much from Lando’s tone of voice.
They walked together toward the single person Z-95 Headhunter. Quietly, Luke said, “I’m sure you figured out that Lando has something he needs to tell me.”
Ben nodded his head. “Yeah, and it didn’t sound good.”
“Keep an eye on her, Ben. She’s likable, and I know that.”
“But you don’t like her.”
“I don’t trust her.”
“I don’t trust her either. Not after what I heard.” In the silence, the unspoken sentence, But I still like her, hung between them.
They reached the aft docking bay. The doors slid open. Luke put a hand on his son’s shoulder. “I’ll be back as soon as possible.”
“Good,” Ben said. Much as he disliked the idea of navigating the Maw again, he wanted to be done with all this. He wanted to get to this Abeloth, get some answers, and maybe go home. Say good-bye to Vestara, get her out of his system, and …
And do what? What would they do, once the alliance was dissolved? What could they do? She was Sith, from a whole planetload of Sith, and he and his dad were Jedi. His shoulders slumped beneath his father’s hand, and he made no attempt to hide his weariness and despair