Star Wars_ The New Jedi Order 20_ The Final Prophecy - J. Gregory Keyes [23]
“Do not be hasty, Kunra,” another voice said. “This may be nothing more than a trap, a deception to lure the Prophet into their grasp.”
“If so, they must fail,” Kunra said. He turned to Nom Anor. “You are the Prophet, are you not? Did you not see this, as well? Did you not see yourself walking through the forests of the new world, preparing it for us?”
“I saw it,” Nom Anor agreed. He had little choice. He had added that little embellishment a few days before. But what was Kunra up to? Kunra had been with him since the beginning of this whole farce. He knew who Nom Anor really was—that the “prophet” and his planet were equally fabulous.
“Then the time has come to rise against Shimrra.”
“No,” Nom Anor slipped out. “Do not presume to interpret my prophecy when I still sit here among you. The time is not yet come.”
“But we have found the planet,” Kunra said. “Let me go, Great One. I will liberate the shaper from Shimrra. I will quest with her for the new world. If there is betrayal, our cause will suffer little. If this is truth—”
“Truth must be practical,” Nom Anor said. “We would have to flow rivers of Shamed blood to liberate this shaper, and still she does not know the location of the planet.”
“I don’t understand,” Kunra said. “Do you fear your own prophecy?”
“Quiet,” Nom Anor said, his mind whirling furiously. Zonama Sekot was, indeed, important—if only because Shimrra feared it so much. He knew, too, that the shaper had been given what remained of the Sekotan ship to study, and it would seem she had discovered something quite important. This message suggested one of two possibilities. Either she was telling the truth, and she needed help from outside the system to escape Shimrra and find the planet, or—more likely—they thought Nom Anor knew where the planet was. They couldn’t know that he had learned of the planet by eavesdropping on Shimrra and Ekh’m Val, that what he had learned there was all he knew.
Well, not quite all. He had heard rumors that the Jedi had found the world.
Which struck him suddenly as a very fortuitous piece of information.
“The prophecy is indeed nearing fulfillment,” Nom Anor told his followers. “But something remains. A piece is missing. When I set foot upon the new world, I shall not be alone. Jeedai will be with me.”
A collective gasp went up at that. Even Kunra seemed disconcerted.
“Great One—”
“The time has come,” Nom Anor said, solemnly. “As Vua Rapuung fought with Anakin Solo, so shall I and the Jeedai free this shaper and find our world.”
Cheers, of course.
Let the Jedi do the work and take the risk of freeing Nen Yim. If they failed, they would be blamed, rather than him. If they succeeded—then perhaps he would indeed bring his own prophecy to fruition. At the moment, he had little to lose.
NINE
Han Solo scowled and shook a crooked finger at Tahiri. “Kid,” he drawled, “I hope you aren’t counting on another lucky break your whole life, because you’ve just used up whatever you may have had coming.”
“Easy, Han,” Leia interposed. “Anyway, look who’s talking. They don’t call it Solo luck for nothing.”
“ ‘They’ don’t know what they’re talking about,” Han replied. “I’ve never needed luck—I’ve always depended on skill.”
“Of course you have, dear,” Leia said, raising her eyebrows.
“Yeah, well, I—anyway, that’s not the issue,” Han grumbled. “The issue is you, young lady, flying off against good advice to a planet that’s always been trouble for this family, alone, running past a Yuuzhan Vong frigate in an X-wing—”
“I didn’t have a choice,” Tahiri pointed out. “The frigate was sort of between me and escape.”
“Sure you had a choice. From what you say, they probably didn’t even know you were there—they were after their own runaways. You had a whole planet to hide on. You could have picked a better opportunity