The Unseen Queen (12 page)

Luke stopped but didn’t turn around. “It’s not?”

“Not if what I’m thinking is right.” Han holstered his blaster and extended his hand toward C-3PO. “Threepio, hand me the electrobinoculars.”

The droid looked down as though astonished to discover he was still holding the viewing device, then extended his arm. “Of course, Captain Solo—though I really don’t think they’re a viable substitute for the tracking set. Once the hoversled passes out of your sight line, they’ll be no good to you at all.”

“I don’t think that hoversled
will
pass out of my sight line.”

Han peered over the edge of the root and found the Gorog rear guard still holding their positions. The other two had reached the hoversled and were using their bare pincers to throw the spilled fuel rods back into the cargo bed. Han flipped the electrobinoculars to full power, then lifted them to his eyes and began to study the ground beneath the hoversled.

Luke came to his side. “What are you looking for?”

“Tell you in a minute,” Han said, “in case I’m wrong about this and need to make something up to keep from embarrassing myself.”

A series of sharp bangs sounded as shatter gun pellets began to strike the root, jarring Han so hard that the eye-pieces
slammed against his cheekbones. He stopped bracing himself on the root and continued to peer through the electrobinoculars.

“Uh, Han, maybe we should find a better observation post,” Luke said. “This is getting dangerous.”

“I’m not worried, kid,” Han said. “You can cover me.”

“Very funny,” Luke replied. “But my blaster’s range isn’t much better than yours.”

“It’s okay.” Han continued to study the ground beneath the hoversled. “You’ll do fine.”

Luke sighed, but he pulled his blaster and began to return fire. He must have actually hit something, because the pellet impacts dwindled to almost nothing. Han’s arms started to ache from holding the electrobinoculars up, so he braced his hands back on the root and continued to watch.

The Gorog had almost finished loading the hoversled when they suddenly dropped one of the fuel rods and leapt into the cargo bed. They carefully began to examine the others, and Han was confused for a moment, until they tossed another rod onto the ground. It landed almost perpendicular to him, so that he noted a silver sheen starting to glitter along one side of its dull gray surface.

Han smiled in satisfaction, then backed away from the root and passed the electrobinoculars to Luke. “Take a look.”

They exchanged equipment, and Han began to trade fire with the sole member of the Gorog rear guard that Luke had not already killed. Somehow, Han’s shots kept sizzling out about thirty meters shy of their target.

After a moment, Luke said, “So that’s what you were talking about. The Fizz.”

“Almost,” Han said. “Look at what it’s
not
on.”

“You mean the rocks in that old foundation?” Luke asked.

“And the stumps,” Han confirmed. “If it’s in the ground around here, how come it’s leaving all that stuff alone? How come it’s only attacking our landspeeder, and that coolant, and those fuel rods spilled around their hoversled?”

Luke lowered the electrobinoculars and turned to Han. “Contamination?”

Han nodded. “It only attacks what attacks Woteba,” he said. “It’s an environmental defense system.”

The steamy spa air smelled of mineral mud and pore cleanser, and the soothing notes of a classic feegharp sonata were wafting out of the sound system, not quite masking the gentle whirring and tinking of the Lovolan Beauty Artist installed in one corner of the room. Reclining on the droid’s built-in comfort chair was a mud-masked, seaweed-wrapped mummy whom Jacen assumed to be Tenel Ka’s grandmother, Ta’a Chume. Her scalp was being kneaded by an undulating massage hood, while each of her eyelids was hidden beneath the translucent star of what looked like some small, tentacled sea creature. There was even a beverage dispenser that automatically swung a draw nozzle out to her lips, since both hands were enveloped inside automatic manicure gloves.

When Jacen sensed no other living presences nearby, he entered the spa. He passed a series of sunken basins filled with bubbling mud, water, and something that looked like pink Hutt slime, then stopped beside the droid. Ta’a Chume showed no sign of sensing his presence, and for a moment he considered whether simply ending her life might not be the surest way to protect his daughter. Certainly, the old woman deserved it. She had been liquidating inconvenient people since before Jacen and Tenel Ka were born, and currently
she was under house arrest for poisoning Tenel Ka’s mother. At one time, Ta’a Chume had even attempted to have Jacen’s own mother assassinated.

But Tenel Ka had asked him not to kill the old woman, saying she would deal with her grandmother’s treachery in her own way. Jacen suspected that meant a long and very public trial, in which Ta’a Chume might well escape conviction due to a lack of verifiable evidence—and Jacen was, quite simply, not willing to run that risk with his daughter’s life.

Jacen took his lightsaber off its belt hook, but did not activate the blade. “I see you’re making the most of your house arrest, Ta’a Chume.”

A hole appeared in the mud mask as Ta’a Chume’s mouth fell open, then she pulled out of the massage hood and raised her head. The sea creatures left her eyelids and slid down her cheeks, leaving trails of exposed skin in their wakes.

“Jacen Solo,” Ta’a Chume said. “I’d ask how you sneaked into my private chambers—but that’s what Jedi
do
, isn’t it?”

“Among other things.” Noting that she had not taken her hands out of the manicure gloves, he said, “You can signal for help all you like—your bodyguards won’t be coming—but please don’t attempt to point that hold-out blaster at me. I promised Tenel Ka I wouldn’t kill you, and I’ll be very angry if you make me break my word.”

Ta’a Chume’s eyes faded to paler shade of green, but she cracked her mud mask by forcing a superior smile. “What a pity—when I saw you standing there with a lightsaber, I thought my granddaughter had finally grown a spine.”

“Had Tenel Ka lacked courage, you would have died never knowing I was here,” Jacen said. “Instead she’s willing to risk keeping you alive for a public trial. Her security
team will be arriving soon. I’ve made sure they won’t need to kill anyone to reach you.”

The tension left Ta’a Chume’s shoulders. “How very considerate of you.” A cunning light came to her eyes, then she slowly removed her hand from the manicure glove and dropped a small hold-out blaster to the floor. “Would you mind telling me why?”

“You know why,” Jacen said. Ta’a Chume was playing a game with him—he could feel it in her presence as clearly as he heard it in her voice—but what he could not figure out was the reason. “You tried to kill her daughter.”

Ta’a Chume poured anger into the Force, but her voice grew aggrieved. “The Queen Mother has a child?” She drew her second hand out of the manicure glove and pressed her fingers to her temples. “And she did not even trouble to tell her own grandmother?”

Jacen scowled. “Your act isn’t fooling me. I sense your true emotions in the Force.”

“Then you must sense how shocked I am—and worried.” Ta’a Chume put her hands down and turned to look at him, but her gaze lingered on his chest, running up and down the lapels, pausing at every wrinkle. “Certainly, I resent being imprisoned on the orders of my own granddaughter, but I’d never wish her harm—much less have anything to do with it!”

Jacen finally understood. “There is no spycam, Ta’a Chume.” He pulled his robe open to show her that he had no equipment hidden underneath. “I’m here looking for answers to my own questions—not gathering evidence for Tenel Ka.”

“That never crossed my mind, Jedi Solo, but I do hope that when you see my granddaughter again, you’ll be good enough to pass along my concern for her and her daughter.” Ta’a Chume looked up and batted her eyes at him.
“By the by, you wouldn’t happen to know who the father is, would you?”

The smirk in Ta’a Chume’s voice was clear, as though she was taunting Jacen, telling him that he would never beat her at this particular game—and it made him angry.

“That would be me.” Jacen stepped around behind the beauty droid and used the Force to pull Ta’a Chume back in the seat. “And I’m very determined to protect my daughter.”

Ta’a Chume grew nervous. “What are you doing?”

“I’d like some answers, and we don’t have long before the security team arrives.”

Jacen pushed the scalp hood aside, then plunged his fingers into Ta’a Chume’s red-dyed hair and began to massage her scalp.

“So we can do this the easy way …” He pressed his thumbs into the base of her skull, then sent a tiny charge of Force energy shooting through her brain. “… or we can do it the hard way.”

Ta’a Chume gasped in pain, then said, “You’re a Jedi! You can’t do this.”

“Sure I can,” Jacen said. “The Jedi learned some new tricks during the war with the Yuuzhan Vong—or hadn’t you heard?”

Jacen felt a warning jolt from Ben, whom he had left hidden with his skiff outside Ta’a Chume’s estate, then heard the distant
crump
of the front gates being blown by Tenel Ka’s security team.

Ta’a Chume’s head twitched toward the sound, and Jacen knew that she believed her arresters would be her saviors—that if she could just hold out long enough, her secrets would remain safe. He sent another charge of Force energy into her mind.

This time he did not stop with a short surge. He continued to pour more Force energy into Ta’a Chume’s head, pushing in behind it, expanding his own Force presence inside her mind. He was not as sure or strong with the technique as Raynar—in fact, he was not even sure it was the same technique—but he
was
good enough to overpower a surprised old woman who did not know how to use the Force.

A long cry escaped Ta’a Chume’s lips; as it died away, Jacen felt her resistance crumble. Outside on the palace grounds, voices began to yell commands at Ta’a Chume’s servants.

Jacen ignored the commotion and leaned close to Ta’a Chume’s ear. “First, I want to know why.”

Ta’a Chume tried to resist. “Why wha …” Jacen pushed harder, and she said, “You couldn’t believe I would allow the child of two
Jedi
to claim the throne. Hapes will never be a Jedi kingdom!”

“I don’t think that’s Tenel Ka’s intention.”

“It is
your
intention that concerns me,” Ta’a Chume said. “You’ve already persuaded Tenel Ka to involve a Hapan fleet in a matter of no concern to us. I won’t allow you to make a Jedi tool of the Hapes Consortium.”

“You see? That wasn’t so hard. Now tell me about the Dark Nest.”

“The Dark Nest?”

“The Gorog,” Jacen clarified. It felt like she was genuinely confused. “The Killiks. How did you get them to go after the baby?”

Muffled crashing sounds started to rumble up through the palace itself, and Ta’a Chume began to hope again that she could hold out.

“I don’t know …”

Jacen expanded his presence.

“They came to
me
!” she cried. “They were unhappy about Tenel Ka’s interference at Qoribu, and they knew I had reason to want her dead.”

The statement made sense. Hoping to expand its influence in the Colony—and to expand the Colony into Chiss territory—the Dark Nest had deliberately been trying to start a war with the Chiss Ascendancy. But he could feel Ta’a Chume fighting to hold back, struggling to leave something unsaid. He expanded further into her mind. She screamed, and something slipped, like a hand opening on a rope, but Jacen did not back off. He needed to know what the Dark Nest was doing.

“The Gorog … were wrong,” Ta’a Chume said. “I don’t want Tenel Ka dead … at least not … until I’m in a better position … to reclaim the throne.”

“But your spies had told you about the baby,” Jacen surmised. “And you wanted the baby dead …”

“So I told Gorog … that killing Tenel Ka’s daughter would be even better.” Ta’a Chume tried to stop there, but Jacen was pushing so hard that she barely had a hold on her own mind. “But they weren’t doing it out of revenge. I had to strike a deal to save … to take the baby instead of Tenel Ka.”

Male voices began to echo up through the building as Tenel Ka’s security team started its ascent. Jacen had already made sure that they would encounter no resistance, so the climb would be a quick one, with each floor requiring only a cursory clearing before they climbed to the next.

“The deal terms?” Jacen asked.

Despite the apparent proximity of the security team, Ta’a Chume did not even try to resist. Her grasp on her mind was just too tenuous.

“They wanted … navicomputer technology,” she said.

“Navicomputers?” Jacen could not imagine what the Dark Nest wanted with that particular technology. “To travel insystem?”

“No,” Ta’a Chume said. “To go through hyperspace.”

“Why?” Jacen asked. “Killiks don’t build hyperspacecapable vessels. They hire transports.”

“They didn’t say, and I didn’t ask,” Ta’a Chume answered. “This was a political arrangement, not a marriage.”

Jacen would have pressed harder, but he could feel that she was telling the truth, that she had not cared why the Gorog were interested in the technology—so long as Tenel Ka’s baby was killed. He had to move his fingers away from Ta’a Chume’s throat. They were beginning to squeeze.

A muted thump sounded from the outer door of Ta’a Chume’s private wing, and a loudspeaker voice began yelling at her to deactivate the locks and lie down on the floor. Jacen’s interview was coming to an end—and Ta’a Chume knew it. He could feel her starting to fight back, trying to claw her way back into control of her mind.

“Just one more question,” Jacen said. “Will there be any more attacks on my daughter?”

“Not your daughter, no.” Ta’a Chume was lying—Jacen could feel that she would never give up, and she hoped and expected that the Dark Nest never would, either—but he did not call her on it. There was more, something she was eager for him to know. “But your daughter should not be your only concern.”

“I’m listening,” Jacen said.

“I didn’t rule Hapes for all those years by being a fool,” Ta’a Chume said. “I knew you and Tenel Ka would figure out who attacked your daughter—and I knew you would come after me.”