Star Wars_ The New Jedi Order 09_ Edge of Victory 02_ Rebirth - J. Gregory Keyes [78]
No. I’m not here to take her pain. I’m here to add my strength. He knew it, but it felt beyond his control. There was too much, coming too fast. He pushed at it, forcing it away, trying to flow a river of vigor into her, but she wasn’t there to receive it, to use it as only her body knew how. He was at the mercy of her disease as much as she was.
He heard a noise and realized he had cried out.
Calm. I am calm. I bring calm with me, and tranquility. I am tranquility.
But the sickness laughed at him. Starbursts of images and sensation exploded everywhere. He saw Palpatine’s leering face, saw his own, younger features through a veneer of hatred. He was a child on the street, cold and lonely.
All negative feelings, all fears and hates and greeds. Only the worst of Mara was here, where the disease had its way.
He fought the despair, but it pooled in his feet and slowly, slowly filled him up, sap climbing inside a tree.
He knew in that moment he could never save her. Mara was lost to him, forever.
THIRTY
“Oh, Sithspawn,” Corran swore.
“The Givin are in league with the Yuuzhan Vong?” Anakin said doubtfully. “The Givin build ships. The Yuuzhan Vong hate technology.”
“Yeah, but their real estate isn’t all that promising,” Corran said. “Maybe they figure that if they cooperate, the Yuuzhan Vong won’t bother ’em much.”
“I don’t understand,” Tahiri said.
“Yag’Dhul has three moons,” Corran explained. “The tidal forces are so strong that at times and places the atmosphere itself gets rolled back, exposing the surface to space. The Givin actually evolved to survive in vacuum for short periods of time. What would the Yuuzhan Vong want with a planet like that? The location, yes, because it’s strategic for purposes of their conquest. But they probably wouldn’t settle the planet.”
“I think they’re waiting for a reply,” Anakin noticed, gesturing at the tiny image of the Givin.
“Tahiri, tell them in Yuuzhan Vong we’re having some minor difficulties, and we’ll be back in touch in a moment.”
“Sure.” She said something into the comm unit. Then she looked back up. “They want to know why we aren’t using the villip. They have theirs with them.”
“Brother. This gets worse and worse.” Corran stared at the row of villips. One was pulsing slightly. Was that it?
“Tell them it’s none of their business,” he said. “Make it sound like we’re mad about something. No—wait. Tell them—tell them the sound of them speaking the Yuuzhan Vong language so poorly is insulting to us. Tell them we’ll speak the infidel language, Basic, and that the commander is about to speak to them.”
Tahiri did so, after which Corran took up the comm unit. Keeping the visual off, he tried to remember the cadence of Shedao Shai’s accented Basic, back when he had dueled with the man.
Here goes nothing. He started to open his mouth, then quickly changed his mind. “Tahiri, Anakin—give me a name. A credible name.”
“Hul,” Anakin said. “It’s a warrior’s name.”
Corran nodded, flicked the comm back on. “This is Commander Hul Lah,” he snarled. “Is everything prepared?”
“All is in readiness, Commander,” the Givin answered. “The defense grid will fail in 15.08357462 standard hours. You may bring your fleet from hyperspace then.”
Corran blinked. Something about that …
“There is no suspicion, then?” he asked.
“None. The Body Calculus is completely unaware of our vector with you. The failure of the defense grid and longrange communications will seem accidental. Only when you take possession of our system will the truth be known. We have hidden our factors carefully.”
“Commendable. We will verify this, of course, but you may rest assured that if you are telling the truth, the glorious Yuuzhan Vong will honor our agreement with you.”
“Thank you, Commander.”
“Hul Lah, out.”
Corran pursed his lips thoughtfully. “Those guys aren’t the government,” he said. “Or at least, not all of it. It’s just some faction.