Star Wars_ The New Jedi Order 11_ Dark Journey - Elaine Cunningham [49]
He staggered back, surprised by the unexpected power of the small woman’s kick. Tenel Ka advanced, dropping to the floor suddenly and spinning into a low leg sweep. Her opponent leapt over the attack, an easy, agile move. The Jedi flipped onto her side and kicked again, higher, catching him on the inside of the knee just as he landed. He stumbled and went down.
Tenel Ka rolled away twice to gain some distance and then rose smoothly. Meanwhile her opponent got his feet under him and lunged up into a running charge.
She darted to meet him, throwing herself into a leaping spin and slamming her right foot directly into his face. Her left foot shot straight out and caught him just below the rib cage. She twisted as she fell and kept rolling away. The Hapan fighter reeled back and hit the wall, then slowly slid down.
Tenel Ka came up in a crouch, and her gaze snapped toward her final opponent. He advanced swiftly, stun baton leading.
The Jedi extended her hand. Tahiri threw the lightsaber back to its owner. It spun twice, end over end, and then slapped into Tenel Ka’s waiting palm. A stream of turquoise light raced toward her attacker’s throat and stopped a breath away, halting him in midstride.
Instinctively he struck out at the beam with his stun baton. The metal end sheared neatly off, and sparks exploded from the severed weapon. His blond hair leapt into spikes about his head and his eyes glazed. The weapon fell from his violently shaking hand, and he stumbled back into a benumbed retreat. Tenel Ka rose and matched him step for step, her lightsaber still at his throat.
Jaina felt a collective surge of dismay from the other Jedi. Impatiently she swept it aside and willed Tenel Ka to get on with it, get it over with.
Her thought must have carried to Tenel Ka. The warrior stopped abruptly, and her gray eyes sought Jaina’s. Tenel Ka lifted her blade away from the man’s throat and switched it off, still holding her old friend’s gaze.
For a moment they were open to each other. Jaina felt the other woman’s wrath, but also her determination. Tenel Ka saw these men as traitors to Hapes, and her duty, as a Jedi Knight and as the daughter of Hapes’s queen, to see that they would be dealt with accordingly. Jaina had been sure that Tenel Ka simply needed to let off some steam; now she sensed how wrong she’d been.
She also sensed a question coming from Tenel Ka, a subtle seeking such as a Jedi might use to measure a stranger. And then, not even that. The warrior’s formidable shields were back in place.
Jaina’s own internal shields firmed, and she nodded in approval. “Good for you,” she said, and her gaze took in both Tenel Ka and the Twi’lek. “Why waste energy on helpless coral reefs and Hapan pirates?”
The weird light in the Twi’lek’s eyes flared. The look she sent Jaina was the sort that passed between kindred spirits, or perhaps conspirators.
“Save it for the Vong,” Alema said in complete agreement.
THIRTEEN
Kyp Durron followed the Millennium Falcon in its hiccuping voyage through the dovin basal mines and into the confusion of Hapan space. After weaving through the chaotic traffic, he finally gained landing clearance. The worst behind him, he quickly set down his fighter next to Han’s ship.
He swung out of his X-wing and gazed with dismay at the scene around him. The docking area outside of Hapes’s royal city stretched as far as his eyes could see. Movable landing pads shifted to squeeze the ships together and make room for the scores of vessels still circling or hovering in the skies overhead. Refugees milled about, and their confusion was like a scent on the wind.
Then another, stronger wind swept through Kyp, a psychic blast of incredible power and pain. He staggered and caught hold of his battered ship as Jacen Solo’s agony swept through his veins like molten rock.
His own astonishment mingled