Star Wars_ The New Jedi Order 20_ The Final Prophecy - J. Gregory Keyes [51]
“Your own explanation was no better than a guess.”
“True. But it is a guess that can be investigated and tested. It is a guess I will gladly relinquish if proven wrong. It is a guess that will serve as a tool to help me find the truth. For me, that is a far greater wonder than anything taken on faith.”
“So you don’t believe in the gods?” Tahiri asked.
“I think there must be something behind them that is real. I do not think they are real in the orthodox sense.”
“That’s interesting. What do you think they are?”
“I’ve no idea. I don’t have even a guess to use as a starting point.”
“How about this?” Tahiri mused. “Here’s a guess for you. Your gods are actually a misunderstanding of the Force.”
“The energy field you Jeedai claim informs your powers?” She sounded dubious.
“You don’t believe in the Force?”
“In the sense that it’s clear you draw on some sort of energy to perform your tricks, as your machines draw on a power source, yes. That does not mean it is some all-pervasive mystical energy with a will of its own, as you Jeedai seem to believe. Indeed, if it is, how can you explain the fact that the Yuuzhan Vong do not exist in the Force?”
“Well, that’s a mystery,” Tahiri said. “But the Force isn’t like a battery. It’s a lot bigger than that.”
“So you believe. If so, perhaps your Force and our gods are both misunderstandings of something that somehow encompasses us all.”
Tahiri felt a little chill. That was what Anakin had believed, or very near.
“You believe that?” she asked.
“Certainly not,” the shaper replied. “But … thank you.”
“For what?”
“At least I have a guess to proceed from, for now.” She glanced about. “Where is Corran Horn?”
“He’s taking a break before the next jump to hyperspace. What did you need to see him about?”
“I don’t want to raise any undue alarm, but I think something is wrong with the ship.”
“Wrong?”
“Yes. The space-folding function of the dovin basals seemed erratic in the last jump. I checked them, and there may be a problem.”
“What sort of problem?”
“I think they are dying.”
SIXTEEN
“Bilbringi system in ten minutes,” Commander Raech of Mon Mothma announced. “Prepare for iminent combat.”
Wedge clasped his hands behind his back, didn’t like the feel of it, and crossed his arms in front of him instead, staring into the nothing of hyperspace, wondering what would greet them when they decanted.
“You fought at Bilbringi before, didn’t you sir?” Lieutenant Cel asked. “Against Thrawn?”
Wedge gave her a tight grin with little real humor behind it. “Are you a student of ancient history, Lieutenant?”
“No, sir—I was ten during the blockade of Coruscant. I remember it very well.”
“Well, yes, Lieutenant, I did fight here at Bilbringi—as an X-wing pilot. I don’t think I ever got anywhere near Thrawn.”
“No, sir. You divided Thrawn’s fleet by attacking the shipyards, didn’t you?”
Wedge looked at her, puzzled. “Now you’re just sucking up,” he said. “Who would remember that?” he asked.
“They made a big deal of it on the vids,” she said, a little abashed. “It was a great victory.”
“It was nearly a terrible defeat,” Wedge said. “We got decanted early by Imperial interdictors, too far from the shipyards. Thrawn wasn’t even supposed to be there at all—we’d set it up ten different ways to make it look like we were going to hit Tangrene. But Thrawn was spooky that way. Absolutely brilliant. If he hadn’t been assassinated by his own bodyguard during the battle, there’s no way we would have won.”
“You sound as if you admired him, sir.”
“Admired him? Sure I did. He was a different sort of enemy.”
“Different from the Yuuzhan Vong, you mean, sir?”
“Different from the Vong, the Emperor, any other Grand Admiral—from anyone,” Wedge replied.
Cel nodded as if she knew