Star Wars_ Legacy of the Force 04_ Exile - Aaron Allston [0]
title page
acknowledgments
the star wars novels timeline
dramatis personae
chapter one
chapter two
chapter three
chapter four
chapter five
chapter six
chapter seven
chapter eight
chapter nine
chapter ten
chapter eleven
chapter twelve
chapter thirteen
chapter fourteen
chapter fifteen
chapter sixteen
chapter seventeen
chapter eighteen
chapter nineteen
chapter twenty
preview of star wars: legacy of the force: sacrifice
other books in the series
audiobooks that are out of this world!
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also by aaron allston
copyright
acknowledgments
Thanks go to my editor, Shelly Shapiro; to Keith Clayton of Del Rey; to Sue Rostoni and Leland Chee of Lucas Licensing, for tieing off loose ends and untieing knotted plot problems; to my agent, Russell Galen; and to my Eagle-Eyes (Chris Cassidy, Kelly Frieders, Helen Keier, Bob Quinlan, Roxanne Quinlan, and Luray Richmond).
dramatis personae
Alema Rar; Dark Jedi (Twi’lek female)
Ben Skywalker; Jedi apprentice (human male)
Booster Terrik; captain, Errant Venture (human male)
Cha Niathal; Galactic Alliance admiral (Mon Calamari female)
Corran Horn; Jedi Master (human male)
Han Solo; captain, Millennium Falcon (human male)
Iella Antilles; operative (human female)
Jacen Solo; Jedi Knight and commander, Galactic Alliance Guard (human male)
Jagged Fel; operative (human male)
Jaina Solo; Jedi Knight (human female)
Kiara; Chud (human female)
Lando Calrissian; entrepreneur (human male)
Leia Organa Solo; Jedi Knight and co-pilot Millennium Falcon (human female)
Luke Skywalker; Jedi Grand Master (human male)
Lumiya; Dark Lady of the Sith (human female)
Mara Jade Skywalker; Jedi Master (human female)
Matric Klauskin; Commenorian admiral (human male)
Mirax Terrik Horn; operative (human female)
Myri Antilles; intelligence operative (human female)
Shaker; R2 astromeck droid
Uran Lavint; smuggling ship captain (human female)
Wedge Antilles; Corellian admiral (human male)
Zekk; Jedi Knight (human male)
chapter one
OUTSIDE CORELLIAN SPACE STAR DESTROYER ANAKIN SOLO
It wasn’t exactly guilt that kept Jacen awake night after night. Rather, it was an awareness that he should feel guilty, but didn’t, quite.
Jacen leaned back in a chair comfortable enough to sleep in, its leather as soft as blue butter, and stared at the stars.
The blast shields were withdrawn from the oversized viewport of his private office, and the chamber itself was dark, giving him an unencumbered view of space.
His office was on the port side, the bow was oriented toward the sun Corell, and the stern was pointed back toward Coruscant, so he’d be looking toward Commenor, Kuat, the Hapes Cluster, the length of the Perlemian Trade Route…But he did not try to pick out these stars individually. Astronomy was a lifelong occupation for people who spent their entire existences on only one planet; how much harder must such a study be for someone like Jacen, who traveled from star to star throughout his life?
He let his eyelids sag, but his mind continued to race, as it had every day since he and his task force had rescued Queen Mother Tenel Ka of the Hapes Consortium from an insurrection, instigated by treacherous Hapan nobles aided by a Corellian fleet.
In the midst of all those events, believing that Han and Leia Solo had been part of the plot, Jacen had ordered the Anakin Solo’s long-range turbolasers brought to bear against the Millennium Falcon. Later, he had heard compelling evidence that his parents had played no part in that plot.
So where was the guilt? Where was the horror he should have felt at an attempted act of patricide and matricide? What sort of father could he be to Allana if he could do this without remorse?
He didn’t know. And he was certain that until he did know, sleep would continue to elude him.
Behind his chair, a lightsaber came to life with its characteristic snap-hiss, and the office was suddenly bathed in blue light. Jacen was on his feet before the intruder’s blade had been fully extended, his own lightsaber in hand,