Star Wars_ Fate of the Jedi 08_ Ascension - Christie Golden [154]
“I, uh …” He blinked, his thoughts racing, but not unpleasantly so. He had made Padnel, he could break Padnel. “I … think so, yes. I’ll get my legal scholars on it right away.”
“Excellent. That’s just the start.”
Workan took a long sip of his caf, using the Force to keep his hand from shaking. Start? Chief of State of the Galactic Alliance was a start?
“I see,” he said. “And what is your next goal, after that one has been secured?”
“First, Chief of State,” she said, ticking them off on her three-fingered hand. “Second, as I told you—Beloved Queen of the Stars. And finally, what is my due.”
She leaned forward, green eyes wide, hair curling invitingly over her bare blue shoulders.
“Goddess,” Roki Kem whispered, and smiled.
ABOARD JADE SHADOW
“SO,” BEN SAID. “THIS IS A LOT NICER THAN ZIOST. SHIP’S TASTE IN locales is improving.”
“Or Abeloth’s,” Vestara said.
The tension was thick on Jade Shadow. Chasing so many false leads had left them all feeling frustrated and as if they were wasting their time. When Natua had described the ruins of a temple that had closely matched Ben’s description of where he had first found Ship, they had all felt a resurgence of hope that they might actually find that elusive and dangerous vessel. And with it, Abeloth.
This time, Abeloth would not be challenged only by Luke, Ben, Vestara, and the Lost Tribe, who’d had their own agenda. She would be opposed down to the final breath, the last drop of blood, of nearly every Jedi in the galaxy. And in that battle, even so ancient and powerful a being as Abeloth could not stand. It had taken betrayal and isolation of the worst sort to cripple the Jedi before; now, standing as a united front, they would be the victors, Ben was certain. And when they were, they would return to Coruscant and cleanse that world of the Sith infestation.
Ben was proud of how Vestara was handling the situation. And he could tell that finally, the Grand Master himself was starting to believe what Ben had known all along: that Vestara Khai, though born and raised Sith, could be—no, had been—persuaded to turn her back on the darkness and bravely step into the light.
Ben’s arm was draped loosely around Vestara’s shoulders as Natua Wan brought the Jedi fleet up to speed on Upekzar. Natua’s long hours spent in the Temple library studying Sith worlds and their histories had made her the resident expert on this venture, and Luke had insisted that she be the one to brief her fellow Jedi. Vestara might know more about the Sith mind-set, but Natua had turned her fierce determination toward learning everything she could about their ancient habitations.
Ben and Vestara, along with Jaina, had been the first to hear about what was possibly the first real break they’d had in a long time. He listened with half an ear as Natua filled in the rest of the fleet on the Dream Singers, the lava caves, and the subterranean hangar that had once contained Sith training vessels—and might again.
When she had finished, Luke spoke to his Jedi. “This is not the first time several Jedi have worked together on a single goal,” he said. “It is the first time, however, that so very many of us—almost our entire number—have done so. Natua has outlined our twin objectives: to explore the volcanic caves where the Sith held their rituals, and to investigate the nearby habitation where Ship might be lurking. All ships, plot a course that will place us equidistant between those two sites. We’ll meet there, and I’ll give everyone their orders.”
He turned to the other three. “Natua, I have a couple more questions for you. Ben, Vestara, you two head to the lockers and get ready. If Ship is down there, we’ll need to move quickly.”
Although this was the third time Vestara had prepared to visit a formerly Sith-ruled world, she felt more nervous than she had anticipating landing on Korriban. One reason, she