Star Wars_ Fate of the Jedi 06_ Vortex - Denning Troy [133]
Perhaps Luke’s odds were not so bad after all.
Taalon met Luke’s gaze in the mirrpanel. Like the fifty Sith warriors riding in back with Ben and Vestara, he was still wearing his hazard suit. All Luke could see of the High Lord was a face that grew more haggard and alien by the moment, with sunken oval eyes and thin lavender flesh stretched tight over bones as knobby as knuckles.
“I know what you are planning, Master Skywalker.” Taalon’s vocabulator gave the words a wispy, almost whispered quality. “And it won’t work.”
“It’s the thermal detonator, isn’t it?” Luke asked. A thermal detonator was the last thing on his mind, but he had already learned to avoid thinking about his plans in Taalon’s presence. The High Lord had developed some very impressive powers since his dip in the Pool of Knowledge. “I was wondering if I’d have time for that.”
Taalon studied Luke for a moment, then said darkly, “Remember your son, Master Skywalker. The instant you betray me, he dies.”
“Now I know you’re lying,” Luke said. “According to my plan, Ben will be long gone when I betray you.”
“We all have our dreams, Jedi.” Taalon shifted his gaze out the canopy again, then asked, “How long before we reach the Fallanassi’s home?”
Luke glanced forward again, where the Fallanassi island loomed just a few kilometers away. “It should be coming into view anytime now.” He didn’t think Taalon could see through the illusion that hid the island, but it was time to be sure. “Why don’t you bring up a tactical readout and see what they’re sending to meet us?”
“The Fallanassi are pacifists, are they not?” Taalon asked. “What could they send against us?”
“Being a pacifist isn’t the same as being helpless,” Luke replied. “The Fallanassi have many defenses.”
Taalon reached over and fumbled with the screen controls, his gloved hands obviously causing him some trouble.
“You may as well take off those gloves,” Luke said. “Your hazard suit isn’t going to protect you anyway.”
“Liar!” exclaimed Gavar Khai, who was seated in the navigator’s seat next to Taalon. “You’re trying to infect us.”
Luke smirked into the mirrpanel. “Do you see me wearing a hazard suit?” he asked. “What Ben and Vestara have—what you already have—is the Weeping Pox. Hazard suits can’t stop it. It spreads through the Force.”
“Then why aren’t you sick?” Taalon asked.
Luke arched his brows in feigned concern, then asked, “The Sith don’t have health meditation?” He did his best to look as though this were a pleasant discovery. “That explains why Vestara is doing so poorly compared with Ben.”
Khai’s eyes flashed in alarm. “And you didn’t teach her?”
Luke shrugged. “I thought she knew,” he said. “It’s such a basic technique for us.”
“Liar!” Khai leaned forward. “If she dies, then your son—”
“Saber Khai!” Taalon raised a gloved hand for silence. “Skywalker is only playing on your fear. If he can convince us that we are already infected, we will removed our suits and become truly infected.”
Luke shrugged. “So, keep your suits on.” Despite his nonchalance, a cold lump had formed in Luke’s stomach. Even without knowing the true nature of the “disease,” Taalon had almost guessed his intention. “We’ll know the truth soon enough.”
Khai’s eyes hardened, and he glared down at the back of Luke’s head. “High Lord Taalon knows the truth now.”
Luke allowed himself a smile. Khai’s tone was a little too insistent. The Saber was getting nervous, which meant Luke had successfully planted the seeds of doubt. With time, those seeds would blossom into a full-blown illusion. And once blue blisters started to appear inside Khai’s suit, the rest of the Sith would believe they were infected, too.
Finally, Taalon pressed the