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“Not anymore. There were lots of artifacts in his library, but I removed them to the library you saw in the habitat. There are all the gaily painted protocol droids.”

Jacen shuddered. “So far, the one irrefutable sign that Vectivus was evil…No, we can do the house tour after your explanation, after I retrieve Ben and Nelani. So—Palpatine and Vader both die, and you have no chance to be educated enough to become the Mistress of the Sith.”

“Oh, there you’re wrong, Jacen.” Lumiya shook her head as if chiding him for his ignorance. “I never had any chance to become Mistress of the Sith. No matter how much I learned.”

Jacen moved to the next bust in line. This was a Bothan face, alert and intelligent. “Why not?”

“The Force is the energy of the living. You interact with it, its eddies and flows, with your own living body. It’s all right to have a mechanical part or two—an implant, a replacement foot. But for true Mastery in the Force, light side or dark side, you have to be mostly organic. I’m not, and so the greatest, the most significant powers, I can never learn.”

Jacen frowned. “Wait. That means that Darth Vader could never have become the Lord of the Sith…a true Master.”

“That’s correct. I’m not sure he ever understood that. He might not have cared. He was numbed by tragedy. The Bothan you’re looking at, by the way, was an old family friend of Darth Vectivus. Taught Vectivus basic principles of negotiation.”

“Are you saying that none of these busts is a Sith?”

“That’s right. This isn’t a museum for Sith matters. It’s a celebration of Vectivus’s youth and life. His life, Jacen. His joys and triumphs.”

Jacen propped his elbow up on the Bothan’s head. “So that’s what the trap is.”

“Eh?” Lumiya looked surprised.

“You didn’t lure me here to kill me. You lured me here to persuade me to take up the path of the Sith.”

“Yes.”

“Because I have all my body parts.”

She grinned at him. “Not exactly. Because it’s you. All the portents, all the convergences flowing into the future say so, particularly since you’ve already received quite a lot of Sith training.”

“Explain that.”

“In a minute. What was I saying? Oh, yes. I’m not trying to turn you into a Palpatine. He was, as you say, a psychopath. Destructive, uncaring, manipulative. He chose the dark side to achieve his ends, but was weak and confused enough to be twisted by the dark side. Unlike your uncle Luke, you haven’t been twisted by the light side, so I’m certain you can resist the temptations of the dark.”

“I’ve heard enough.” The voice was Nelani’s, and there she was, striding in through the front doors, her unlit lightsaber in her hand. “As I’m sure you have, Jacen.”

“Where’s Ben?” Jacen asked.

Nelani shook her head. “We were separated.”

“You were never together,” Lumiya said. “When you were talking to Ben and he to you, you were actually hundreds of meters apart, talking to Force phantoms of each other. A trivial thing to arrange in this place, where there’s so much energy to manipulate.” She returned her attention to Jacen. “Energy you could use, in the name of improving people’s lives, if you chose to.”

“Quiet,” Nelani said.

Jacen turned to Lumiya. “Where’s Ben?” he repeated.

“Unconscious. Not hurt. He’ll wake up a little sore.” Lumiya shrugged. “If I were the monster you thought I was, he’d be dead, Jacen. The son of the man who shot me down and destroyed my body? Think about it.”

“Think about this,” Jacen said. “Brisha—Shira—Lumiya—whatever you choose to call yourself, there are still outstanding charges against you for crimes committed back when you were an Imperial. Whatever you are now, you have to face those.”

“Perhaps.” Lumiya suddenly looked tired, dispirited. “I just wish you weren’t taking me into custody from your own fear. That’s sad.”

“Fear?” Jacen frowned at her. “I have nothing to fear.”

“You’re afraid that my words might be true,” Lumiya said. “That the dark side doesn’t corrupt in and of itself. That you’re destined to become the next Sith Lord—the first Sith Lord to be