Star Wars_ The New Jedi Order 20_ The Final Prophecy - J. Gregory Keyes [25]
The Millennium Falcon, she thought. Right. That’s where I am.
She glanced at the table chrono and realized she’d been asleep for almost a standard day. Shaking off the dream-shroud, she pulled on her Jedi robes, visited the ’fresher, and then went looking for Han and Leia.
She found them in the lounge, discussing something in low and somewhat heated tones. She coughed softly, not wanting to eavesdrop.
The two turned toward her.
“Finally up, I see,” Leia said. Her voice sounded a bit odd.
“Yeah,” Tahiri replied. “I guess I was more exhausted than I thought.”
“You ought to be,” Han grunted.
“I’m ready to talk now, if that’s okay.”
“Why not?” Han muttered. “Have a seat.”
She slid in next to Leia and clasped her hands together in front of her, trying to think how to start.
“You said something about a promise,” Leia prompted.
“Right.” Briefly, Tahiri laid out the events on Dagobah. “The Shamed Ones were looking for a planet,” she said, when she was done with the narrative. “A planet their Prophet thinks may bring them redemption.”
“Dagobah? Why Dagobah?”
“These Shamed Ones sort of worship the Jedi. They found out somehow that Anakin and Luke had been there—that it had something to do with their training.”
Han raised an eyebrow. “That’s interesting. How exactly would they know that?”
“That’s not hard,” Leia said. “The Yuuzhan Vong have been obsessed with the Jedi from the very beginning. We know they have good intelligence. Anyway, the story about Luke meeting Yoda there isn’t exactly a well-kept secret.”
“But they were mistaken,” Tahiri said. “Dagobah isn’t the world the Shamed Ones are looking for.”
Han had the same expression on his face he usually wore playing sabacc. “Oh? And what world do you think they are looking for?”
“The same one Master Skywalker was looking for. And found. Zonama Sekot.”
Han’s eyes widened slightly. Then he puffed and raised his hands in a gesture of frustration.
“Leia,” he said. “You tell her.”
“Tell me what?”
Leia pursed her lips. “Kenth Hamner contacted us while you were asleep, on a heavily coded channel. He wants to talk to you.”
Kenth Hamner. “The liaison between the Jedi and military?” She couldn’t quite picture his face. She seemed to remember it was long.
“Right.”
“Did he say what it was about?”
“Not exactly,” Leia said cautiously. “But it involves Zonama Sekot—and a dissident movement within the Yuuzhan Vong.”
Han looked at her earnestly. “Tahiri, whatever it is, you don’t have to do it.”
“Of course I do,” Tahiri said. “I promised the Shamed One—”
“You promised him you would tell his Prophet about Dagobah,” Han interrupted. “You made no promises concerning Zonama Sekot.”
Tahiri smiled slightly. “My promise was one of izai, not one of strict legality.”
“What?”
“Izai is the essence of a promise. The Shamed One thought he had found the planet foretold. I promised him that I would take this news back to his Prophet. But Dagobah isn’t the planet foretold. Therefore, the izai—the essence of my promise—requires me to carry the news that the planet of prophecy has been found.”
Han pushed his palms into his face. “This is making my head hurt,” he said.
“I think I need to speak to Kenth Hamner,” Tahiri said firmly.
“We’re already on the way there,” Han grunted. “But I hope you know what you’re doing.”
“I do.”
“No,” Han said, a little angrily, “you think you know what you’re doing. It’s a conceit born out of being young. Jaina thinks she knows what she’s doing. Anakin thought he knew what he was doing.”
“Anakin did know what he was doing,” Tahiri said, softly. “If he hadn’t done it, there might not be a single Jedi alive today. I know I wouldn’t be here. Didn’t you know what you were doing when you came back to save Master Skywalker at the Death Star all those years ago?”
“I was older than you,” Han said, rising from the table. He got up and went toward the cockpit. But he stopped and turned, with one hand on the hatch.