Star Wars_ The New Jedi Order 11_ Dark Journey - Elaine Cunningham [111]
“One of the ships we accidentally destroyed,” Khalee Lah corrected testily, “and perhaps this abomination will show us why.”
He took the device from the priest and twisted it as if he would crack the metal in half. Suddenly he went flying upward, slamming into the ceiling of the chamber as if he’d been thrown there by unseen hands.
“Brilliant,” Harrar murmured as he gazed at the furious, floating warrior. “The device defies gravity, as do our dovin basals. When affixed to a ship, it might override the ship’s gravitic voice. Any ship so marked might appear to our sensors to be a different ship, even the stolen frigate. Since you are considerably lighter than a ship, the effect was far more drastic and pronounced.”
The warrior managed to switch off the device. He fell to the floor, rolled twice, and came up on his feet. Gathering his composure, he showed the device to the surviving guards.
“Look on this, and understand your heresy. Go tell the others that this Jeedai is nothing but an infidel, one who will die as easily as any other. Go!”
The guards went, and Khalee Lah hurled the device to the floor. “In my anger, I have touched a blasphemous device. I am unclean, and will lay that crime at the female’s feet as well!”
He whirled toward Harrar. “Alert the warmaster, Eminence, and request that all ships in this sector converge. We will find this Jeedai if we have to leave all the worlds of Hapes in smoking ashes!”
“Teneniel Djo,” Jaina repeated, staring at Jag Fel’s grim face. Though she was stunned by his conclusion, she could not refute it.
They raced through the halls and into the royal apartments. Guards moved to stop them; Force lightning caught them and threw them aside.
They found Tenel Ka in her mother’s room, sitting beside the window. She held her mother’s hand in both of hers. Jaina knew at a glance that they all had been too late.
“Poison,” Tenel Ka murmured. “They did not even give her the dignity of a final battle.”
Jaina placed a hand on her friend’s shoulder. “We’ll find whoever did this.”
The Jedi lifted burning eyes to Jaina’s face. “I will not have my mother’s life dishonored by your vengeance.”
She fell back a step. “Is that what you think this is about? Do you think I’m dishonoring Anakin? Jacen?”
An alarm sounded, rising in pitch and volume as it sang out the invasion alert. Tenel Ka gently released her mother’s hand and stood. She held out one hand, fingers spread to display the large emerald ring. Then she abruptly clenched her fist, and a hologram leapt into the air between them.
A nebulous swirl of darkness and mists filled the air. The mists parted to reveal five large starships, and smaller vessels spilling from them.
“Hapes’s fleet, and my mother’s legacy,” Tenel Ka said curtly. “Colonel Jag Fel, I place these ships under your command.”
TWENTY-EIGHT
The council chamber of the Hapan court filled with frantically shouting figures. They fell silent, out of mingled fear and habit, as a slender, red-robed woman rose to speak.
“Someone must take command until a new queen mother is enthroned,” Ta’a Chume said. Slowly, deliberately, she lifted a delicate jeweled crown and placed it on her own head.
“The Witch of Dathomir is dead!” someone shouted. “No more Jedi queens.”
Murmurs of agreement swirled through the room, for it was widely known that the former queen despised her daughter-in-law. But Ta’a Chume sent a slow, glacial stare toward her would-be supporter. A profound silence fell over the hall. She let it reign for several moments before speaking.
“Yes, Queen Mother Teneniel Djo is dead,” Ta’a Chume agreed, “and the Ni’Korish are responsible. Whatever failings Teneniel Djo might have had, Hapan law demands death to any who raise a hand against the royal family. The Ni’Korish have gone too far. Even now, guards are gathering these traitors. Before nightfall, they will be no more.”
She lifted one hand, and guards stepped forward to take the man who’d shouted. For several moments the only sounds in the hall were his muffled protests, and the sound of his boots scraping across