Star Wars_ The New Jedi Order 20_ The Final Prophecy - J. Gregory Keyes [50]
Then the wound healed, and the air stopped getting thinner. Neat trick, that. But he wondered what the ship’s healing limits were.
And got an answer, of sorts, from the ship itself. Another hit like that would be too much.
“We’re no longer being held,” Tahiri said.
“Life is good,” Corran replied, and punched them to where the stars didn’t shine.
* * *
“I don’t suppose you’re going to tell me what that thing was?” Corran asked, as his pulse began to slow to something approaching normal.
“I don’t suppose so, no,” Nen Yim replied. “But its field test seems to have gone quite well.”
“Yes, congratulations,” Corran said. How long before you use it against us? Well, at least he knew it existed, whatever it was, and unless she was lying it was a prototype, not likely being used at this very moment against the Galactic Alliance.
“This is making my head spin,” he muttered.
“What?” Nen Yim inquired.
“Nothing.”
“Not to interrupt,” Harrar said, “but I’m wondering if what you said about our destination is true?”
Corran turned and noticed that the Prophet had joined them.
“Yes,” he said. “It’s been our destination from the very first.”
“You deceived us,” Nen Yim accused. “Why?”
The Prophet drew himself to his full height and crossed his arms. “To see how we would react,” he said. “If we had tried to force the location of the planet from him, then he would have known we were not to be trusted, and we would never have finished the trip.” He looked pointedly at Corran. “Isn’t that correct, Jeedai Horn?”
“That about sums it up,” Corran replied. “That’s a pretty savvy analysis for a holy man.”
“Understanding is the essence of enlightenment.”
And also the basis of espionage, Corran added to himself. I wonder what your job used to be before you were a Prophet.
Maybe Tahiri could tell from—something. He made a mental note to ask her later.
“How far, then, are we from our destination?” Harrar asked.
“I’m not certain, because we have to proceed in small jumps for a time. Probably a few days.”
The next jump brought them to the fringes of an unnamed star system. The primary appeared as a tiny blue sphere, but around it sparkled a vast ring that shone as if it were made of a few hundred trillion corusca gems. Tahiri watched in fascination. Sometimes it seemed cloudlike, sometimes almost liquid.
“You must have seen many such wonders,” Nen Yim said.
Tahiri had heard the shaper’s approach, but hadn’t turned. “Doesn’t matter,” she said. “Every star system is unique. Every star system has its own beauty.”
“This one certainly has. Is that ice?”
“I would imagine,” Tahiri said. “I wasn’t trying to figure it out—I was just enjoying the sight of it.”
“Perhaps the system is poor in heavy elements. The original torus of matter condensed into ice balls, which were then torn apart by tidal forces.”
“Maybe a wandering giant made it as a wedding gift for a nebula,” Tahiri said.
“Why should you assert such a ridiculous explanation?” The shaper seemed truly puzzled.
“Why must you pick everything apart?” Tahiri asked. “Besides, if you believe Yun-Yuuzhan made the universe from his severed body parts, you ought to be able to believe anything.”
Nen Yim was silent for a moment and Tahiri thought the conversation was probably over.
“Belief is a strange thing,” the shaper said at last. “It has immense inertia. My master did not believe in the gods at all.”
“And you?”
The shaper’s headdress tendrils knotted thoughtfully. “Religion, I think, is metaphor, a way of relating to the universe that does not require reason. It’s not very different from your appreciation of this star system for its mere appearance. My joy comes in understanding. You’re right—if I could take the universe apart and put it back together, I would.”
“And thus rob yourself of half the wonder,” Tahiri said.
Nen Yim snorted disdainfully. “Wonder is you