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Luke leaned forward and brushed it away with a finger. She caught his hand in hers, then raised his fingers to her lips. She kissed them, once, then clutched his hand against her breastbone. “I never doubted I would get out of those mountains. When I saw you . . . I thought poor Anakin . . .” Her grip tightened on his hand. “I’m so thankful you saved him.”

“The least I could do for his saving you.” Luke sighed. “I should have known better than to have you go to Dantooine. Ithor is farther back from the Rim. It would have been safer.”

Mara sipped a bit more water. “Would it?”

“What do you mean?”

She scrunched the pillow up behind her and pulled herself into a semisitting position. “The Yuuzhan Vong were at Dubrillion and Belkadan. They are here at Dantooine. My guess is that they’ve hit other worlds, too. Either scouts or lots of troops. The whole of the Rim could be down.”

“You’re right. We don’t know how far they’ve penetrated the galaxy. If they are as far as Ithor . . .” Luke shuddered. If the Yuuzhan Vong could reach Ithor, they would have carved a fairly wide swath through the galaxy and would be in a position to threaten many of the key Core worlds. Conquer them and the New Republic’s economy would die. If that happened, the New Republic’s constituent states would begin to look to each other for support, and the New Republic would fragment.

“If they are as far as Ithor, we’re going to die right here, because there will be no help coming for us.”

“We’re not going to die here.”

“Is that a vision?”

“A hope, actually.” Luke sighed. “We’ve got a decent defensive perimeter set up here, with heavy weapons placed well. We can hold out for a while.”

Her green eyes all but glowed. “For how long? The refugees were brought here because the ships didn’t have enough supplies to last for the journey from Dantooine to other civilized worlds. Do we hold on until food gets critical? What if the Yuuzhan Vong attack and slaughter enough people that food isn’t a problem anymore?”

“I don’t know. No one is thinking like that right now.”

Mara arched an eyebrow at him. “No one is, or you aren’t? You think your sister isn’t?”

“Maybe she is, but I have other things—” He smiled as he looked down at her. “Mara, you’re my primary concern here. I love you, and your condition is not good. I spoke with Anakin, and he said you were getting weaker.”

She nodded. “I was. Anakin suggested the disease responds to something having to do with the Yuuzhan Vong.”

“You said you felt a connection between the disease and the beetles on Belkadan.”

“Yes, I did. I feel a distant one here, and I know I’ve felt it before.” She sighed. “That’s not why I was getting weaker, though.”

“No?” Luke frowned. “I don’t understand.”

“Neither did I until the Yuuzhan Vong found us and we started running.” Mara stroked the back of Luke’s hand with her thumb. “After the events on Belkadan and Dubrillion, I did need to recover. You were right to send me away to do so, but we both made the mistake of thinking a little rest would become a cure. This disease feels as if it is slowly cutting me off from the Force. Only by drawing the Force to me am I able to combat it, and this is where we made our mistake.”

“I’m not sure I follow.”

“It’s twisted, but you’ll get it, my love.” She smiled and kissed his hand again. “The Force, as you have defined it, is an energy field that surrounds us, penetrates us, and binds us with all things.”

“Except, apparently, the Yuuzhan Vong.”

“That exception aside, when we are able to access the Force, it makes us stronger. We are able to draw power from it.”

The Jedi Master nodded. “On Belkadan, I drew on the Force very little except when I needed to rescue Jacen.”

Mara smiled adoringly at him. “I do want to hear the story of that fight, Luke.”

“When you are rested.”

She shook her head. “No, that’s the problem. I’ve had too much rest.”

“Mara, you’re having a hard time sitting up. You need more rest.”

“No, I need to get back to who I am and how I interact with the Force.” She snorted a quick laugh.