The Unseen Queen (24 page)

Kyp twisted around to scowl at Jaina. “That’s not Jacen.”

“He’s on his way,” she said.

“He’s too late.” Kyp turned back around, then spoke over the squadron-only channel. “Button back up. We’re leaving.”

As the rest of the squadron started to lower their canopies, Kyp reactivated his repulsorlift drive.

“Put that craft back down!” Corran yelled.

He pointed at the hangar floor and yelled something else, but Jaina and Zekk’s canopies were already down and they did not hear what he said.

Whatever it was, Kyp ignored it and turned the nose back toward the barrier field generator. “Control, this is my last warning.”

Corran suddenly came bounding across the floor with an activated lightsaber. He landed beneath the nose of Kyp’s StealthX, then reached up beneath the forward landing strut, slashed one of the hydraulic lines necessary to retract the gear, and leapt back just in time to avoid being hit with a spray of oily orange fluid.

“Nizzze move,” Izal Waz commed over the squadron channel. “Didn’t think Horn had that in him.”

“Hold the chatter,” Jaina commed. Izal Waz was one of the Wild Knights whom Saba Sebatyne had introduced to the Jedi order during the war with the Yuuzhan Vong, and he had a sharp tongue even by Arconan standards. “We don’t need any zingers right now.”

“Things are tense enough,” Zekk added.

And getting tenser. Kyp had already returned his StealthX to the hangar floor and was climbing out of the cockpit. Jaina and Zekk and the rest of squadron reopened their canopies.

“… wrong with you?” Kyp was yelling at Corran. “You could have gotten killed!”

“I ordered you to stop,” Corran retorted.

“I heard you.” Kyp dropped to the hangar floor and peered under the StealthX’s nose. “And look what you did! That’s going to set us back three hours.”

“It doesn’t matter,” Corran said. “This mission isn’t authorized.”

Kyp looked up. “
I
authorized it.”

He flicked his wrist, and Corran went sailing across the hangar back toward Kenth and the other Jedi. It was a particularly insulting dismissal, since Corran could not respond in kind, having never been able to master the skill of Force telekinesis.

The same was not true of Kenth Hamner. He extended his arm, and Kyp flew back against the hull of his StealthX and remained there, pinned.

“
You
were not appointed the leader of the Jedi order,” Kenth said, leading Corran and the rest of the Jedi back toward Kyp. “Master Horn
was
.”

“This is getting out of hand,” Jaina commed over the squadron channel.

“Everybody out,” Zekk added.

“But leave your lightsabers in your cockpits,” Jaina finished.

“Leave our lightsabers?” Wonetun objected. Another Sebatyne-trained Jedi Knight, the powerfully built Brubb had a voice as raspy as his pitted hide. “They have
their
lightsabers.”

“Doesn’t matter,” Jaina said.

“This
isn’t
going to be a fight,” Zekk added.

“
Yet
,” Tesar Sebatyne finished.

Before Jaina could rebuke the Barabel for contributing to the general chaos, Tesar was dropping out of his cockpit and striding across the floor toward the rapidly growing showdown. Lowbacca caught up to him an instant later, and they took flanking positions behind Kyp’s shoulders.
By the time Jaina and Zekk and the rest of the squadron reached the crowd, the argument was already in full roar.

“… needs a leader,” Kenth was saying. “And the Advisory Council confirmed Master Horn as the temporary leader of the Jedi order.”

“The Advisory Council doesn’t pick our leaders,” Kyp retorted. “And even if it did, there were only two real Jedi representatives there!”

“Whose fault is that?” Tresina Lobi asked. “You and Cilghal left.”

“Because it was a
bogus meeting
!” Kyp yelled. “Omas has just been waiting until Luke was out of the way to put somebody he could control in charge.”

“No, my friend.” Kenth spoke in a deliberately soft tone, at the same time pouring soothing emotions into the Force. “Chief Omas choose Master Horn deliberately, because he knew it would throw the order into convulsions.”

“And he certainly succeeded,” Corran said. “Look, I
know
I’m not the best person to lead the order—”

“At least we agree on something,” Kyp interrupted.

“That’s out of line, Master Durron,” Kenth said evenly. “We need to be civil, or Omas has already succeeded.”

An anticipatory lull fell over the argument.

After a moment, Kyp blew out his breath and said, “Fine. I apologize.”

“Thank you, Master Durron,” Corran said. “Now, as I was saying—”

“If I may,” Kenth interrupted. “I believe I was speaking.”

Corran raised his brow. “Sorry. Go ahead.”

“Thank
you
.” Kenth’s politeness was exaggerated, but it was doing wonders to help calm the situation. He turned back to Kyp. “If you’ll indulge me a moment, what I’m trying to point out is that Chief Omas is trying to neutralize
the Jedi order so that he can take action against the Killiks.”

“And keep the Chiss happy—we know,” Kyp said. “So we ought to surprise him by sticking together.”

“That’s
two
points we agree on,” Corran said.

“Great!” Kyp’s enthusiasm was as exaggerated as Kenth’s politeness. “We’ll launch the rescue mission as soon as my StealthX is repaired.” He eyed Corran. “Unless you’re going to cut another hydraulic line.”

“Only if I have to,” Corran retorted. “Going off on a cockeyed rescue mission is exactly the
wrong
thing to do. We need to prove to Chief Omas that the Galactic Alliance has nothing to fear from us.”

“By letting him hold Jedi hostage?” Tesar demanded. “Never!”

“Cooperation is both the fastest and the surest way to win their release,” Tresina said. “We need to turn this situation around, and it arose in the first place because last time we chose the Colony over the Alliance.”

“We chose peace over convenienzzze,” Izal Waz said. “That is our duty.”

“Our duty is to support the Alliance,” Corran said, “even if we disagree with its leader.”

“Our duty is to the Force,” Kyp retorted. “Nothing else.”

And they were off, voices rising and gestures growing sharp as they argued the same points they had been arguing since Kyp had called Jaina and Zekk and the rest of the rescue squadron back from their other missions. With a mother being “detained” by the Galactic Alliance and a father and an uncle trapped in the Utegetu Nebula, Jaina and Zekk’s position was as firm as it was obvious. But they did not like seeing the order torn apart by the disagreement, either. They had spent literally their entire lives working
to establish it, and the prospect of seeing it dissolve was only slightly less loathsome than the thought of letting Cal Omas control it.

They had to get Uncle Luke and Dad out of Utegetu.

After a few minutes, the debate grew so heated that when the hangar’s barrier field went down, only Jaina and Zekk seemed to care. They turned and saw Jacen’s sleek little Koensayr Starskiff gliding into the entrance.

The situation inside the hangar appeared even worse from the cockpit of Jacen’s Starskiff than in the glimpses he had been stealing through his sister’s eyes. Kyp’s rescue squadron was more like a squadron and a half, including Tam Azur-Jamin, Kirana Ti, and half a dozen Barabel Jedi Knights from Saba’s old Wild Knights squadron. Corran Horn’s group was equally large, with two Council Masters, Tresina Lobi and Kenth Hamner, among them. The two sides were arguing fiercely, almost violently, and it was clear that no one was listening to anyone.

“What’s all that about?” Ben asked from the copilot’s seat. “It feels like they’re ready to slug each other.”

“They are,” Jacen said. “It has something to do with a mission to rescue Master Sebatyne and my mother, and maybe your father and mine. It’s a little unclear.”

“To
rescue
them?” Ben cried. “What’s wrong?”

“I don’t know yet,” Jacen said. “But don’t worry about it.”

“Why not?”

“Because
I’m
not.” Jacen put the skiff down on the side of the StealthXs farthest from the argument. There was no use letting Ben actually
hear
what adult Jedi were capable of yelling at each other. “And I have two parents involved.”

“That’s a dumb reason,” Ben said. “You never worry about anything.”

“That’s not true,” Jacen said. At the moment, he was terribly worried about two people on the planet Hapes. “I just don’t worry about things I can’t control, and I fix things I
can
control.”

“Can you fix what they’re arguing about?”

“No one can fix what they’re arguing about,” Jacen said. “But everything is going to be okay. If your father or my parents needed help, I’d know about it.”

“How?” Ben demanded.

Jacen looked over and said nothing.

“Oh, yeah,” Ben said. “The Force.”

By the time Jacen shut the craft down, Jaina and Zekk had left the argument and were picking their way through the StealthX squadron toward the Starskiff. Jacen grabbed Ben’s travel bag, then lowered the boarding ramp.

Ben raced down the ramp and immediately confronted Jaina. “Where’s Mom? What happened to Dad and Uncle Han and Aunt Leia?”

“Nothing—they’re okay,” Jaina said.

“Why do you think something has happened to them?” Zekk asked.

Ben pointed across the hangar. “Because you’re arguing about whether to rescue them or not, aren’t you?”

Jaina and Zekk raised their round eyes to Jacen.

“It’s not my fault,” Jacen said. “He could feel it in the Force. So can half the students in the academy, I’m sure.”

They blinked—together—and looked back to Ben.

“It’s not that kind of rescue mission,” Jaina explained. “No one’s in danger right now.”

“The Killiks are sort of holding your father and Uncle Han,” Zekk explained. “And we’re, um, discussing whether we should allow that.”

Ben considered this a moment, then frowned in suspicion. “Why aren’t you talking about Mom and Aunt Leia?”

“Because they’re in even less danger,” Jaina said. “They’re being held by the Galactic Alliance, on a Star Destroyer.”

“So no one’s in danger?” Ben asked.

“Not yet,” Zekk said.

“Then what’s everyone arguing about?” Ben shook his head in disappointment. “Dad wouldn’t like that.”

“There are a lot of things happening right now he wouldn’t like,” Zekk said. “That’s why we’re trying to get him back.”

“But that’s not something
you
should worry about,” Jaina said. “Why don’t you tell us about your trip?”

“Was it fun?” Zekk added.

“Uh, yeah.” Ben hesitated for a moment, then frowned. “We went camping on the forest moon of Endor.”

Jaina and Zekk gave simultaneous throat-clicks, then frowned and looked to Jacen.

“Ben, tell them about Moon Falls,” Jacen prodded. He had given Ben two memory rubs already, but the boy was so strong in the Force that his mind kept resisting. “I don’t think Jaina has ever seen them.”

“It’s awesome!” Ben said. “The upper lake drops over a ledge into the lower lake, and it’s so far that the water turns to mist!”

“Tell them how wide the falls are,” Jacen said. He casually began to ruffle Ben’s red hair, using the Force to push the Endor trip deeper into the boy’s mind, to block any lingering memory of their visit to Hapes. “And what happens when they face away from the planet.”

“Right—the falls just stop!” Ben said. “I guess the planet pulls the lake back or something.”

“And how wide are the falls?” Jaina asked.

“
Twenty
kilometers,” Ben said. “You can’t even see from one end to the other.”

“Astral!” Zekk said.

“That’s pretty big,” Jaina said.

Though Jaina and Zekk were looking at Ben, Jacen sensed through his twin bond with Jaina that her attention—and Zekk’s—was on him. He had hoped they would not notice what he was doing, but it hardly mattered. He could not endanger his daughter’s life further by taking the chance that Ben would remember what had happened on Hapes, then let slip that Jacen was the father of the new heir to the Hapan throne.

Jaina and Zekk fell silent and simply stood waiting in the patient way of Joiners. Jacen was about to suggest that Ben tell them about their stay with the Ewoks when he sensed a familiar presence approaching the back of the hangar.

Relieved to have an excuse to get Ben away from his all-too-perceptive sister and her mindmate, he turned to Ben. “Can you tell me who’s coming through that door?”

Ben furrowed his brow for a moment, then said, “It must be Nanna.”

The door slid open, revealing the massive, systems-packed torso and cherubic face of Ben’s Defender Droid, Nanna.

“Very good!” Zekk said.

“You can sense droids already?” Jaina asked.

“Naw!” Ben shook his head. “It had to be her—Jacen called her on the way in.”

“Very resourceful!” Jaina laughed. “Using your mind is—”

“—even better than using the Force,” Zekk finished.

“Go meet her.” Jacen passed Ben’s travel bag to him, then patted him on the back. “Tell her all about our trip to Endor.”

“I will!” Ben piped. “See you, Jaina and Zekk!”

Jaina and Zekk said their good-byes, then, once Ben was out of earshot, turned to Jacen.

“Okay, what was
that
about?” Jaina demanded.

“What?” Jacen asked.

“The head rubbing,” Zekk said. “We felt you using the Force.”

“It was nothing.” Jacen was not willing to tell even Jaina about his daughter—not when that meant he was also telling Zekk. “Ben saw something upsetting while we were away. I’ve been using a little Force trick I learned from the Adepts to block it.”

“So you
didn’t
go camping on Endor,” Zekk surmised.

“We did—afterward.” Jacen was telling the truth. He had needed
something
to take the place of Ben’s Hapan memories. “I’ll fill you in later. But first, what’s that all about?”

He pointed at the argument.

“You
have
been out of touch,” Jaina said. “Cal Omas appointed Corran Horn temporary leader of the Jedi order.”