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Sel reached the first-floor level. “They’re looking for you. The authorities.” The staircase rose behind her until it was flush with the ceiling again.

“Just the authorities?”

She cocked her head, puzzled. “I’m sorry?”

“Never mind. As you might expect, we didn’t do it—whatever it might happen to be that they suspect us of.”

“I knew that. Would you—would any of you like some breakfast?”

Luke cleared his throat. “Forgive me, but …” And he began to sing. The song had a gentle melody spanning a narrow range of notes, well suited to the average parent. “Green grasses beckon, soft and warm / My arms will keep you safe from harm / As thrantas dance across the sky / As stars smile down and south winds sigh / The scent of flowers fills the air / And sleep comes for Teselda fair …”

As he sang, he could feel the perplexed gazes of Ben and Vestara on him. But the song’s effect on Sel was more dramatic. With the first few notes, she stumbled, her eyes fluttering, and dropped the lightsaber. It bounced on the carpet. Sel staggered over a meter and slumped onto her sofa.

By the time Luke finished the first stanza, Sel’s eyes were closed. She breathed deeply in untroubled sleep.

Luke drew a hand over his brow, a mock expression of relief. “We’re lucky that worked. I’m not known for my singing.”

Ben moved over to look down on Sel. “What was that all about?”

“It’s her trigger for the mnemotherapy technique. She gave it to me.” Luke stepped beside his son and helped position Sel more comfortably on the sofa. “I need to know if she’s been meddled with.”

Vestara handed him Sel’s lightsaber. “It looks old.”

“Four centuries at least.” Luke set the weapon aside and knelt. “Sel, can you hear me?”

Her eyes did not open, but she spoke, her voice low and languid. “I hear you.”

“Do you know who I am?”

“You are Master Luke Skywalker. Leader of the Jedi. Enemy of the Listeners. Enemy of the Lady.”

Luke smoothed down the hair on the back of his neck. It was abruptly threatening to stand up. “Where is the Lady now?”

“I don’t know.”

“How about Master Nenn? Do you know where he is?”

She turned her head, suddenly fretful. “I don’t want to go there.”

“You don’t have to go there. You can stay here where it’s safe. But I have to go there. Where is Nenn?”

“Below.”

“Below, where?”

“In the pumping station. With the Listeners. With the drochs. In the dark.”

This time Luke felt gooseflesh rise on his skin. He had bad memories of being in the dark with drochs.

“Here in Hweg Shul?”

“No, somewhere else.”

“Where?”

“I don’t know. The only pumping station I’ve ever seen is here. It isn’t that one.”

Luke sat back and sighed. “Of course Abeloth would be in a place like that … Sel, you welcomed us when you realized who it was. You pretended there was no problem. What were you going to do with us?”

“Delay you. Keep you here. Alert the Listeners.”

“So you have not alerted them?”

“No.”

“Sel, you will sleep now. You’re very, very tired. You will hear no voice but mine until you awaken. No voice, no alarm, no beep from your comm board, nothing. When you awaken, you will feel very good, refreshed, and you will marvel that you slept so long. But you will not recall that we were here with you.”

“I understand.”

Ben settled on a chair. “In the future, I suggest that we only ever fight guys who set up their lairs in posh hotel suites. With sunlight and buffets and sanisteams and dancers.”

“Son, if you could figure out how to make that a reality, I’d make you the head of the Jedi Order.”

Ben shuddered. “Pretend I never said that.”

Vestara looked over the quiescent Sel. “Three of us to search a planet, and now it’s more or less ruled, or at least influenced, by Abeloth, and we can’t rely on our Force powers … Are you sure it isn’t time to bring in your Jedi?”

Luke gave her a thoughtful look. Her words suggested that she really was dedicated to the elimination of Abeloth as a threat above all other concerns. That was a good sign. But still he shook his head. “The Jedi are needed elsewhere now.”

“ ‘One Jedi, one planet’ is not a realistic motto to