Star Wars_ Fate of the Jedi 05_ Allies - Christie Golden [73]
Ben’s contribution was to hang his vor’cha stun stick beside the door within easy reach. He had not had cause to use it—not yet—but Tadar’Ro, the Aing-Tii monk who had given it to Ben, seemed to think it was extremely powerful. “It’s a gift from rock guys, designed to drop their enemies,” Ben had pointed out. “I’m sure it packs a wallop.”
All in all, it was a far cry from the setup at the Jedi Temple back on Coruscant, and much less than Luke would have preferred, but it would have to do. He felt fairly confident that they would be able to restrain Dyon for a while. At least Dyon wasn’t a trained Jedi Knight, nor was his ability with the Force particularly strong. Luke was grateful for small favors.
After they had secured Dyon, Ben said, with a completely failed effort at casualness, “I’m going to check on Vestara. See how she’s doing.”
“You do that,” Luke had said, “then tell her we’re taking a walk and we’re locking her in her quarters while we’re gone.”
Ben’s red brows drew together. “What?”
“You heard me, son.” Luke’s voice was calm, but brooked no argument. “Dyon’s restrained, but he could be very dangerous. And dangerous people have often been employed by the Sith.”
“I can’t believe you just said that,” Ben said, his voice rising. His blue eyes snapped with anger and hurt. “She’s the one who brought him down, Dad.”
“I am aware of that,” Luke said, tapping into the Force to keep his own rising irritation at bay. “But you were right there with her. She might well have done something very different had you not been.”
“When are you—”
“Ben.” Luke put the Force behind the words, so that Ben would know he was very serious indeed. “Go tell Vestara, activate the exterior controls on her door, and then come meet me outside.”
Ben’s breath was quick and angry, but he had nodded curtly and stomped off with unnecessary noise to do as he was instructed. Luke had lingered for a moment, gazing at the prone figure of Dyon. He shook his head sadly. Cilghal was not going to be happy to hear about this. He’d send her a quick update while Ben was talking with Vestara. The still figure before him represented why he had made the tentative and much-revisited decision to ally with the Sith in the first place—to find out what Abeloth’s hold over these unfortunate beings was, and to end that hold.
He had gone to send Cilghal the message, and frowned slightly as he realized someone was trying to contact him at the same time. He pressed a button, and had been relieved when he saw Threepio’s gold figure in minature. While the ensuing conversation had some tense moments, it had ended well, and he was now anxious to discover what Threepio had learned.
Luke began to read the translation Threepio had sent. Luke was honestly a bit surprised the protocol droid had pulled it off. Threepio had done a magnificent job, cross-referencing millions of different languages in order to produce something that, while hardly literature, was at least comprehensible and presumably fairly close to what had actually been said. Although, he mused, it did remind him a little bit of how Yoda used to speak.
As he read, Luke couldn’t suppress a smug smile at Gavar Khai’s comment that the conversation wouldn’t be translated swiftly. They obviously did not know Threepio—or the golden droid’s ego.
His eyes moved swiftly across the screen. So—Vestara had given Khai a map of the vessel. Not surprising. Luke was not overly troubled. If the Sith had access to all the things he suspected they did, they would be able to get the basic schematics of the SoroSuub Horizon-class Star Yacht easily enough. Vestara herself had been traveling in a similar vessel. The modifications to the Jade Shadow were more problematic, but nothing dire.
He continued to read, smiling a little from time to time at the technically accurate but inadvertently humorous translation.
FEMALE: How goes maternal parent?
MALE: Without you, but with pride at