Star Wars_ Fate of the Jedi 05_ Allies - Christie Golden [148]
“I don’t believe it,” Cilghal said slowly. “It’s not possible … is it?”
They looked … sane. All three of them.
“It could be a trick,” Vaal said. “Seff Hellin tricked the Solos before. They could simply be pretending to be sane.”
“All three of them? At once? They couldn’t possibly have coordinated this, there’s no way for them to communicate.”
Hope rose within her, almost unbearably bright. She forced it down. She had no proof yet. She would not rejoice until she knew, for an absolute certainty, that all of them had returned to their normal selves.
And then … then she would have something that would lift the Jedi’s spirits to the skies and beyond.
Armed with stun sticks and a tranquilizer pistol, they ascended to the catwalk on the upper level of the cellblock. Cilghal desperately wished that she had all the ill Jedi here now. It would be interesting to see if Valin Horn, the first one to display the madness, would also show these positive signs if he were not encased in carbonite. For now, though, she supposed she should be grateful she even had these three.
“Jedi Saar first,” she told Vaal, who nodded thoughtfully. “He’s been the most violent, and of the three, he’s been ill the longest.”
They paused in front of the door to the transparisteel cell. Vaal rapped gently. Saar turned and saw them. He smiled, a stiff, formal smile—completely typical for him—and rose.
“Sothais?” said Tekli. “We’d like to come in.”
“I am so glad to see you,” he said. “Please, please, do come in.”
The two healers exchanged glances, then Cilghal entered the code. He made no rush to attack or escape, simply stood by the table, still holding the datapad. “I remember everything,” he said. “I’m terribly embarrassed. I’m so sorry I attacked you, Master Cilghal. And I must apologize to Chief of Staff Dorvan as soon as possible.”
“You … remember? You don’t think we’re imposters?” Cilghal asked.
Color rose in the Chev’s cheeks. “I did, at one point. It seemed … right. I can’t explain it better than that. Even when I knew what to look for—when it happened, it seemed completely believable.”
Tekli gestured to the datapad. “What are you reading, Sothais?”
“Updates on my treatise,” he said. “Apparently, there has been an uprising on Klatooine. I am most gratified and I hope this will inspire other oppressed beings to take their destinies into their own hands.”
That certainly sounded like Saar. Cilghal made a decision. It was risky, but she was willing to chance it. “I’d like you to come with us to the infirmary. We’d like to run a few tests.”
“Certainly.” He did not move.
“Jedi Saar?”
“I assume you are going to secure me in some fashion,” he said, slightly puzzled.
“No,” Cilghal said. “Come along.”
The center of her back itched, waiting for the blow.
Hamner was in his office. Normally, it was a tidy, orderly place, but now it was strewn with datapads and half-drunk, cold cups of caf. Hamner himself was unshaven and exhausted. He was poring over old blueprints of the Temple, and jotting notes about his conversation with Bwua’tu. If only the Bothan would act! Get Daala to call off this siege, this terrible siege that was causing them all so much harm.
His comm chimed. He clicked it. “Hamner.”
“Master Hamner?” It was Cilghal. Her voice was higher pitched than usual.
“What is it? Is everything all right? Have you run out of sedatives?” He rubbed at his aching, gritty eyes.
“Everything is more than all right,” said the Mon Calamari, her gravelly voice filled with pleasure. “I am … delighted beyond words to report that all three of the ill Jedi appear to have made a full recovery.”
The exhaustion fled. “What? All of them? How?”
“I’m not sure, but it seemed to happen to all of them simultaneously. We’ve run test after test; all three of them seem to be back to their old selves. My best guess is that, somehow, Master Skywalker was successful in his quest to find the cause and effect a cure.”
Hamner’s throat closed up and he couldn’t speak. He lifted a hand that trembled to his forehead for a moment.