Star Wars_ I, Jedi - Michael A. Stackpole [96]
“And here I thought a man should be known by his enemies.”
“A truism I once lived by.” The shade descended from the ceiling and stood at the foot of my bed. “I was once like you, a mere man filled with ambitions.”
I sat up and snorted. “If you’re the ‘after’ holograph, I’m not interested.”
“Quite droll, Keiran, not as full of anger or fear as the others.” Exar Kun’s obsidian gaze bored into me. I tried to armor my mind against him the way I had with Mara Jade, but he was in and out too quickly for me to stop him. “You have more experience and more maturity. You are a riper fruit.”
“But not to be plucked by you.” I drew my knees up and hugged them to my chest. “You continue to misjudge me if you think there is anything I want from you.”
“Oh, there is, you just don’t realize it,” A confident grin twisted his ebon features. He gestured casually with his right hand and a window opened in the air, hanging there in the center of my room. Within its confines I saw an Imperial Star Destroyer and I knew I was looking at the Invidious. It looked more worn than it had in the image General Cracken had showed me, but battle damage had far from crippled it. Swarms of Tri-fighters cruised around it on picket duty.
The image zoomed in, closing on the bridge, and exploded in through the forward view port. There stood Leonia Tavira, a bit older than Cracken’s image of her, but all the more beautiful for it. She wore her black hair longer, so it fell to the swell of her breasts. Her figure had become less gangling and more rounded—while still petite, she had developed symmetrically so without other things or people around to judge scale, she appeared perfectly normal. Her violet eyes gleamed with a feral cunning that sizzled electrically through the image I was being shown.
The long-dead Sith Lord laughed lightly. “I can give you the power to destroy the Invids. Wipe them out. Or …” The image of Leonia brightened slightly. “I can give you the power to possess her and rule beside her. I will use the two of you as the focal point for a new Empire that I will spread throughout the galaxy.”
I felt a stirring in my loins, then forced myself to laugh and shake my head. “It’s been a while for me, and she’s pretty, but I’m not interested.”
“No, of course, you are not. You are a man of duty. Still here, on the Invidious, there are things you want.”
The image pulled back a bit and slid over to center itself on an armored figure standing well back of Tavira. Two meters tall and apparently male, he wore a grey cloak over steel-grey armor. The armor looked as if it were made of the same plasteel used in stormtrooper armor, but had been shaped differently and layered with another material that provided texture and the grey color. The styling appeared more natural and primitive, as if designed to mimic the armored hide of some animal. This remained true of the facemask the figure wore. Serpentine styling and diagonal eye slits gave it a very viperish cast.
As soon as I saw him I knew he was the reason the Invidious could remain hidden. As I watched, his head came up and he stared straight out at me. His head then dipped and the image faded for a moment. Then I saw him striding forward toward Tavira. He gestured and she began shouting orders that started a flurry of activity.
Exar Kun yawned. “He is the true foe you seek. He is responsible for her successes. With my power you can defeat him, supplant him, do with her what you wish.”
“I’ll get there without your help at all, Exar Kun.”
The shade’s voice sharpened. “Perhaps, but you will not get here without it.”
The image he presented me shifted and my stomach imploded. I saw Mirax lying on a bier, very much like Master Skywalker above us. A soft silver light bathed her. Her arms rested at her sides and she looked as if she were just napping. The only anomalous feature in the image was a small grey band resting on her forehead, pulsing with red and green lights. She looked very peaceful, and try as I might, I could sense no distress from her.
And nothing else.