sincerity, “This is a poor time for jokes, Master Skywalker. We have serious troubles.”
Luke nodded. “That’s true—and so is what I said to Jacen about working together. Somebody’s got to take the first step.”
“Right into a trap,” Ben muttered.
“Maybe—but Jacen isn’t the only one who knows how to set a trap,” Luke said. He laid his hand on Ben’s shoulder and, feeling more confident than he had since before Mara’s death, started toward the remembrance feast. “And it might be nice to surprise him for change.”
four
Even from an altitude of a thousand meters, the Jedi academy on Ossus looked enormous. Spread across a verdant bench-land between a lush mountainside and a gloom-filled rift valley, its tidy sweeps of green turf were surrounded by burgeoning plots of foliage and connected by snaking ribbons of gray paving stone. To Jaina’s surprise, there were no tiny dots dodging among the glistening spires and elegant halls; if not for the Force presences she could detect inside the buildings, she would have thought the place deserted.
Perhaps the Solusars had called a week of meditation out of respect for Mara’s funeral. They would have regretted not being there as much as Jaina did, and the children would need ritual to help them deal with the loss of such an important Jedi Master.
Jaina only wished that she and Zekk and Jag could have afforded the time to join the meditation. She was hurting in a way she had not hurt since the war with the Yuuzhan Vong, when she had lost Anakin and Chewbacca and a hundred other dear comrades. It was taking all her strength to just let the grief come and not retreat into herself as she had during the war.
Jagged Fel’s crisp voice sounded over the intercom of the StarDrive Dactyl that the Alema-hunting team was flying this week. “Sense anything?”
“Negative,” Zekk answered from several meters behind Jaina. He was seated on the opposite side of the fuselage, staring through an observation blister similar to Jaina’s. “Maybe we shouldn’t put so much faith in vector readings. We don’t know anything about that new ship she’s in…and why would she come here ?”
“Because she’s Alema Rar,” Jaina responded. “And if we waste time trying to figure out why she does anything, we’re crazier than she is.”
Jag chuckled—as he usually did whenever Jaina disagreed with Zekk—then said, “To a degree. Does that mean you sense something?”
“Give me a chance,” Jaina replied. “We just got here.”
“We need time to attune ourselves to the local currents,” Zekk explained. “It’s not like that new ship of hers is a dark side beacon. It was just giving off a little aura before.”
“So you’re saying we need to make a second pass?” Jag asked.
“And probably a third and a seventh,” Jaina answered. “It might take some effort to find her, but I’d bet my shirt that Alema is here.”
Jag said, “I accept!” at the same time Zekk said, “Okay!”
Jaina frowned, confused by their enthusiasm. “What?”
“Your bet.” Zekk leered across the fuselage. “I accepted.”
“Hey, I was first!” As usual, it was impossible to tell from Jag’s tone whether he was joking, but Jaina thought he probably was. The only gambling she had ever seen him do involved starfighters and slim chances of survival. “The bet is with me. ”
“Ha, ha—very funny,” Jaina said. “What part of not interested don’t you two understand?”
Jaina did not bother to keep the irritation out of her voice. She had grown weary of the competition between Jag and Zekk even before Mara was killed, and now it just made her angry. Besides, there wasn’t even supposed to be a competition. Zekk had claimed way back on Terephon that he was over her. And when Jag had reappeared, he had been so angry over her actions during the Dark Nest crisis that a romance had seemed out of the question.
Of course, that blissful state had lasted about as long
Luke nodded. “That’s true—and so is what I said to Jacen about working together. Somebody’s got to take the first step.”
“Right into a trap,” Ben muttered.
“Maybe—but Jacen isn’t the only one who knows how to set a trap,” Luke said. He laid his hand on Ben’s shoulder and, feeling more confident than he had since before Mara’s death, started toward the remembrance feast. “And it might be nice to surprise him for change.”
four
Even from an altitude of a thousand meters, the Jedi academy on Ossus looked enormous. Spread across a verdant bench-land between a lush mountainside and a gloom-filled rift valley, its tidy sweeps of green turf were surrounded by burgeoning plots of foliage and connected by snaking ribbons of gray paving stone. To Jaina’s surprise, there were no tiny dots dodging among the glistening spires and elegant halls; if not for the Force presences she could detect inside the buildings, she would have thought the place deserted.
Perhaps the Solusars had called a week of meditation out of respect for Mara’s funeral. They would have regretted not being there as much as Jaina did, and the children would need ritual to help them deal with the loss of such an important Jedi Master.
Jaina only wished that she and Zekk and Jag could have afforded the time to join the meditation. She was hurting in a way she had not hurt since the war with the Yuuzhan Vong, when she had lost Anakin and Chewbacca and a hundred other dear comrades. It was taking all her strength to just let the grief come and not retreat into herself as she had during the war.
Jagged Fel’s crisp voice sounded over the intercom of the StarDrive Dactyl that the Alema-hunting team was flying this week. “Sense anything?”
“Negative,” Zekk answered from several meters behind Jaina. He was seated on the opposite side of the fuselage, staring through an observation blister similar to Jaina’s. “Maybe we shouldn’t put so much faith in vector readings. We don’t know anything about that new ship she’s in…and why would she come here ?”
“Because she’s Alema Rar,” Jaina responded. “And if we waste time trying to figure out why she does anything, we’re crazier than she is.”
Jag chuckled—as he usually did whenever Jaina disagreed with Zekk—then said, “To a degree. Does that mean you sense something?”
“Give me a chance,” Jaina replied. “We just got here.”
“We need time to attune ourselves to the local currents,” Zekk explained. “It’s not like that new ship of hers is a dark side beacon. It was just giving off a little aura before.”
“So you’re saying we need to make a second pass?” Jag asked.
“And probably a third and a seventh,” Jaina answered. “It might take some effort to find her, but I’d bet my shirt that Alema is here.”
Jag said, “I accept!” at the same time Zekk said, “Okay!”
Jaina frowned, confused by their enthusiasm. “What?”
“Your bet.” Zekk leered across the fuselage. “I accepted.”
“Hey, I was first!” As usual, it was impossible to tell from Jag’s tone whether he was joking, but Jaina thought he probably was. The only gambling she had ever seen him do involved starfighters and slim chances of survival. “The bet is with me. ”
“Ha, ha—very funny,” Jaina said. “What part of not interested don’t you two understand?”
Jaina did not bother to keep the irritation out of her voice. She had grown weary of the competition between Jag and Zekk even before Mara was killed, and now it just made her angry. Besides, there wasn’t even supposed to be a competition. Zekk had claimed way back on Terephon that he was over her. And when Jag had reappeared, he had been so angry over her actions during the Dark Nest crisis that a romance had seemed out of the question.
Of course, that blissful state had lasted about as long
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