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Luke lowered his face to a level with Anakin’s. “Don’t be reading something into your father’s eyes that isn’t there. He’s a good man, with a good heart. He’d never blame you for Chewie’s death.”

The Jedi Master straightened up again. “Regardless of misunderstanding, I don’t know how you can think I don’t trust you. I am very specifically entrusting to you my wife, the person I hold most dear.”

The boy frowned. “Are you sure it’s not the other way around?”

“Ah, Anakin, do you think Mara would like an assignment baby-sitting an untrustworthy apprentice?”

“Um, no.”

“And do you think she’d give me an earful about it?”

Corran laughed. “An earful would be getting off lightly.”

Anakin smiled a little. “I guess she would, Uncle Luke.”

“I may be adept in the ways of the Force, but there’s no Jedi ability that’ll take the sting out of the sharp side of her tongue.” Luke stepped back and gave Anakin a brave smile. “Mara needs some time to get her illness under control. Dantooine is a world teeming with life, so it’s full of the Force. I want her there to be able to recover, and I want you with her to help her out. If you’ll accept this mission, I’ll be very grateful.”

Anakin hesitated for a moment then nodded. “Thanks for trusting me.”

“I’ve never had any doubts about you, Anakin.” Luke winked at him. “You should go get your things together, then see to gathering the provisions you’ll need on Dantooine.”

“Blasters and lightsabers included?”

Luke nodded. “Lightsabers, of course. Blasters because I think you can use the work concentrating and focusing the Force. Target practice demands that sort of concentration.”

Anakin’s smile broadened. “Besides, Aunt Mara wouldn’t be caught dead without a blaster.”

“Only one?” Corran laughed. “Run heavy on the power packs, Anakin.”

The youth clapped his hands together. “I’ll take good care of her, Uncle Luke, I really will. We’ll come back ready to do whatever we need to beat the Yuuzhan Vong.”

“I’m sure of it.” Luke nodded to his nephew and watched the boy leave the room. He waited until he could sense Anakin’s presence descending in the turbolift, then turned his attention to Jacen. “Do you really think I’ve got some embarrassing duty planned for you?”

“No, Uncle Luke, I’m just afraid I might embarrass you.”

Luke turned and walked toward the table that had been behind him. He gave himself a moment to ponder Jacen’s words. He turned and leaned back against the table. “I suppose this conversation has been coming for a while, hasn’t it?”

“Probably.” Jacen shrugged. “I’ve been thinking since the Yuuzhan Vong arrived, and since all the Jedi were here and talking.”

“Sounds like this is a family talk.” Corran levered himself away from the room’s back wall. “I’ll return later.”

Jacen held a hand up. “No, wait. It is a family matter, but one for the entire Jedi family, not just us.”

Corran looked at Luke. “Luke?”

“Do stay. I suspect more than two perspectives will be useful here.” Luke looked over at his nephew. “What have you been thinking?”

The youth sighed, and a certain amount of relief pulsed off him. “If this sounds harsh, I don’t mean it to be, but I’ve come to realize something pretty fundamental about the Jedi order. We’re all trained to use the Force to allow us to do things to keep the peace and stave off disaster. We do that because we’re following your teaching. You’re following the teaching of your masters, Uncle Luke, but they had to instruct you in those things you needed to defeat the Empire. They did a great job forging you into a weapon, and you even went beyond their training to do things they probably didn’t think you could.”

The Jedi Master nodded. “I can accept that.”

“Okay, the thing of it is that you were shaped as a weapon by Jedi Masters who were part of a tradition that had developed into peacekeepers. I get the feeling, though, that’s not how the Jedi began. I think the Jedi philosophy started as something that strengthened people within. The powers we manifest—I