Star Wars_ The New Rebellion - Kristine Kathryn Rusch [170]
Her husky voice sent chills through Han. “Can you see the future?” he asked.
“I don’t think so,” she said.
“Chewie,” Han said, “put the ysalamiri in the cargo bay. I hope that’ll be distance enough for you, Mara. This ship isn’t very big.”
“It’ll have to do,” she said.
Chewbacca took the cage, and disappeared toward the back of the Falcon.
“Why did you really come?” Han asked.
She swallowed. Her color was poor. Luke said the ysalamiri pushed the Force away from themselves, creating a bubble in which the Force did not exist. He said it was like suddenly going blind and deaf. Han thought of it as leveling the playing field. In the Force bubble, a Jedi Knight had no more powers than a normal person.
She leaned against the wall. “Do you know how many people have died in the last few weeks, Solo?”
“Enough,” he said, thinking of the Run.
“More than enough,” she said. “Too many. Kueller’s using them to build strength. He’s absorbing the dark side like a droid hooked up to a power cable. If this continues, he may be unbeatable.”
“You don’t believe that,” Han said.
She raised her head. She was stunning, he had to give her that, with her bright green eyes, and red, almost auburn, hair. A woman to respect. A woman that no one ever should tamper with. “I haven’t felt power like this since Palpatine in the early days. If this continues, Han, Kueller will be stronger than the Emperor ever was, and he’ll do it quicker.”
“So you’re not here for Luke after all.”
She swallowed. “It may be too late for Luke. I’m here for the rest of us.”
“Why didn’t Karrde stay, then?”
“He was going to,” she said, “until he saw the battle raging near Almania.”
“What’s going on?”
“Three Victory-class Star Destroyers versus the New Republic fleet. When we came out of hyperspace we saw one of the Mon Calamari Star Cruisers explode. The New Republic is losing the battle, Han. They’ll die out here, and that will give Kueller even more power.”
There was more strength in her voice now. Chewie must have gotten the ysalamiri to at least the periphery of her range.
“He can’t be all-powerful,” Han said. “We would have known.”
“Luke knew,” Mara said. “My sources say Kueller was one of his students. Luke let him get away.”
“Luke never lets students ‘get away.’ They’re free to leave if they want.”
“Well, my sources say Kueller left in hatred. That vision of Luke backs it up.”
Han didn’t want to think about his friend dying alone on some strange planet. Anakin’s voice came back to him. I can’t get Mama or Uncle Luke. “That settles it, then,” he said. “Is Kueller on the Star Destroyers?”
Mara shook her head. “It didn’t feel that way from the Wild Karrde. From the snatches of communication transmissions Talon was picking up, it seemed like Kueller was on the ground.”
How like the Emperor, always there, always behind the scenes.
“Verify that, would you, Mara?”
“What are you going to do?”
“I’m going to stop this.”
“All by yourself? Han, he defeated Luke.”
Han grinned. “I’m not worried.”
“Overconfidence can get a man killed.”
“Exactly,” Han said. “I’m counting on it.”
She studied him for a moment. “You really believe that old wives’ tale, don’t you? You really believe that the best way to defeat a powerful man is to become his equal.”
“The ysalamiri won’t make me his equal, Mara,” Han said. “They’ll give me an advantage.”
She shook her head. “If he was trained as a Jedi, he’s physically powerful. It takes a lot of stamina to go through the training.”
“I know,” Han said. “But I just watched you under the influence of those things. Luke described it as being blind and deaf. A man who has lost power is obsessed with its loss. That’ll give me a momentary advantage.”
“Be sure you take it,” she said. “Because a moment may be all you have.”
Ships blowing up in space reminded Kueller of the past.