Part 18 (1/2)

”Power struggles?” Jagged gasped. ”Is that who you think the Jedi are fighting? struggles?” Jagged gasped. ”Is that who you think the Jedi are fighting? Themselves? Themselves?”

”Head of State, a Sith is just a Jedi who's gone off his meds,” Daala declared. ”Why do you think Dark Lords keep popping up?”

Jag shook his head. ”Chief Daala, you are so tragically wrong,” he said. ”The Sith are real, they're out there, and the Jedi are the only ones who can turn them back.”

”At least we agree on those first two points. The Sith are real, and they're definitely out there.” Daala checked her chrono again, then started for the door. ”But if we really want to protect ourselves from the Sith, it's the Jedi we need to watch. History has proven proven that.” that.”

SHE CALLED HERSELF A ABELOTH, AND SHE LIVED IN A CAVE ON THE SIDE of a volcano because she said the plants there were not so voracious. But Abeloth loved the water. Every morning, she would take the search party down to the crimson river, and the entire group would swim and splash for hours. Then, once they were exhausted, they would crawl out of the water and bask on the beach, alongside the huge drendek lizards that had come down to take the sun on their green, outstretched wings. And while the party was resting, no one needed to worry about eel vines snaking out of the river to snare unmoving ankles, or a hedge of s...o...b..ush filling the air with a cloud of poison pollen, or even a swarm of thirsty fangb.a.l.l.s tumbling up from behind. When Abeloth was near, the plants of a volcano because she said the plants there were not so voracious. But Abeloth loved the water. Every morning, she would take the search party down to the crimson river, and the entire group would swim and splash for hours. Then, once they were exhausted, they would crawl out of the water and bask on the beach, alongside the huge drendek lizards that had come down to take the sun on their green, outstretched wings. And while the party was resting, no one needed to worry about eel vines snaking out of the river to snare unmoving ankles, or a hedge of s...o...b..ush filling the air with a cloud of poison pollen, or even a swarm of thirsty fangb.a.l.l.s tumbling up from behind. When Abeloth was near, the plants never never attacked. attacked.

Vestara knew she should have been alarmed by that, but she wasn't. The truth was, she was too grateful for any respite to be suspicious of it. The search party's Sith discipline remained strong enough that they felt compelled to split up and spend at least a few hours a day trying to find s.h.i.+p, and the sheer terror of those patrols was so wearying that no one cared why why they were safe when they were with Abeloth. When you saw a mat of dead leaves suddenly chomp off the foot that had just stepped on it, or heard a companion scream because a beautiful white flower had just squirted acid into her eyes, all you really wanted was to be back in the cave with Abeloth. they were safe when they were with Abeloth. When you saw a mat of dead leaves suddenly chomp off the foot that had just stepped on it, or heard a companion scream because a beautiful white flower had just squirted acid into her eyes, all you really wanted was to be back in the cave with Abeloth.

It was still before high sun when Vestara felt Lady Rhea's Force summons. She glanced over to find Ahri still lying on his back with closed eyes. The azure tint that had come to his lavender skin beneath the blue sun only made him all the more gorgeous, and Vestara was grateful to Lady Rhea for suggesting that she spend more time with him. In addition to being easy to look at, he was her best friend, and his Master was so pleased by their obvious closeness that he had finally stopped beating poor Ahri. It did not even bother Vestara that Xal clearly hoped their friends.h.i.+p would prove useful in spying on Lady Rhea; as long as he believed something valuable might come of the relations.h.i.+p, he was unlikely to seek revenge for the embarra.s.sment Vestara had caused him on the approach to this strange planet.

Without opening his eyes, Ahri said, ”She's early today. Are we going farther out?”

”Not that I know of,” Vestara answered. Lady Rhea had warned her to start expecting such innocent-sounding questions; Xal would want to determine how willing Vestara was to discuss her Master's plans with Ahri. ”Lady Rhea still thinks s.h.i.+p is hiding on the other side of the cave ridge.”

Ahri opened his eyes and propped himself on an elbow. ”What do you you think?” think?”

”I think we'd better hurry.” Vestara knew he was asking if she could still feel s.h.i.+p, but Lady Rhea had instructed her to keep secret the unhappy truth-that she had not felt a hint of s.h.i.+p in the Force since the day he had led them to Abeloth's cave. She s.n.a.t.c.hed Ahri's tunic out of the sand and threw it at him. ”If we're the last ones there again, we'll end up out on a flank.”

Ahri was instantly on his feet, using the Force to catch the s.h.i.+rt and lower it over his upraised arms. Vestara also dressed with the aid of the Force, and in less than a minute they were joining the rest of the search party. Lady Rhea was already standing on the large boulder she used as a speaking dais. Fortunately, a lot of people had been caught off-guard by the early summons and were still straggling in, so she barely seemed to notice as Ahri and Vestara took their places.

But Master Xal, standing on the riverbank behind the boulder, studied the pair with a narrow-eyed smirk that suggested he believed their relations.h.i.+p had advanced further than was the case. Happy to buy Ahri another beating-free week by letting Xal believe what he wished, Vestara forced a blush and let her gaze slide down toward the foot of the boulder, where Abeloth stood looking out on the gathering Sith as though she she were the one in charge of the search party. were the one in charge of the search party.

Abeloth looked lovely and more or less human, but today her hair was brown and long instead of honey-colored and shoulder-length, as it had been when Vestara and Ahri had found her in her cave. Her nose was also a bit longer and straighter than usual, and her eyes were a bit more silver than gray, with a definite upward slant at the outer corners. Abeloth's face changed like that, seeming to take hints from the appearance of anyone with whom she spent time. And somehow it only served to make her more enchanting, as though each new detail deepened the l.u.s.ter of her beauty.

So enraptured by her radiance was Vestara that she did not realize Lady Rhea had begun speaking until Ahri nudged her.

”Why's she so flamed?” he whispered. ”It's not like we haven't been looking.” looking.”

Vestara covered her distraction by patting the air to quiet him. ”Shhh.”

Ahri frowned in confusion, then seemed to notice her gaze sliding away from Abeloth and rolled his eyes in mock exasperation. ”Focus,” ”Focus,” he hissed. ”You're about to get yourself put on point.” he hissed. ”You're about to get yourself put on point.”

Given her consistent failure to locate s.h.i.+p in the Force, Vestara knew that was all too likely already. She nodded and returned her attention to the top of the boulder.

”...have failed,” Lady Rhea was saying. Although her angry gaze was hardly focused on Vestara alone, it did not exclude her, either. ”Gather your things. We meet the shuttle in two hours.”

The news. .h.i.t Vestara like a body blow. She was the one who had guided the mission after s.h.i.+p, and if they returned to Kesh without the wayward vessel, the failure would reflect as badly on her as Lady Rhea. But it was Abeloth's voice, not Vestara's, that cracked the stunned silence that followed. ”Without s.h.i.+p?” ”Without s.h.i.+p?”

Lady Rhea's tone softened-as did everyone's when they spoke to Abeloth. ”The Crusader Crusader is running low on fuel and stores. If we stay much longer, we won't be leaving at all.” is running low on fuel and stores. If we stay much longer, we won't be leaving at all.”

The explanation only seemed to alarm Abeloth all the more. ”But you can't can't leave without s.h.i.+p.” She turned to face the body of the search party, as though a handful of mere Sabers could overrule a Sith Lord. ”Lord Vol will be disappointed in you.” leave without s.h.i.+p.” She turned to face the body of the search party, as though a handful of mere Sabers could overrule a Sith Lord. ”Lord Vol will be disappointed in you.”

Lady Rhea seemed as surprised by the reaction as Vestara. Her eyes grew confused for a moment, then her expression hardened as she finally seemed to gather her thoughts. ”Didn't you tell us you had been marooned here for thirty years, Abeloth?”

Abeloth nodded. ”That's right.”

”Then I would think you'd be dying to get back to civilization.”

”And I am.” am.” Abeloth continued to look at the rest of the search party. ”But I'm only thinking of you, my friends. Your Circle of Lords will not look kindly on this failure.” Abeloth continued to look at the rest of the search party. ”But I'm only thinking of you, my friends. Your Circle of Lords will not look kindly on this failure.”

”I'll handle them.” Lady Rhea glared down on Abeloth with a look of quiet appraisal, then asked, ”You haven't changed your mind about wanting to return to Kesh with us, have you?”

”Not at all,” Abeloth said. Lady Rhea's expression grew noticeably softer as the castaway turned to face her again. ”I'm as eager as you are to leave this place.”

”I'm glad to hear it.”

Lady Rhea's smile managed to retain some of its predatory edge, and Vestara could almost read the thoughts flas.h.i.+ng through her Master's mind: Abeloth would make up for s.h.i.+p's loss.

Enthralled as they were, every Sith in the search party knew that Abeloth was no ordinary woman-if she was a woman at all. Sometimes it seemed to Vestara that Abeloth was no more than a swirling halo of Force energy that presented itself as a woman because its true form could not be comprehended by their mortal minds. But other times, Abeloth seemed exactly what she claimed to be: a lonely castaway so desperate for companions.h.i.+p that she refused to be alone, a woman driven so near to madness by her long isolation that she had a.s.sumed she was hallucinating when Vestara and Ahri entered her cave to rescue Xal.

Of course, there were a lot of things that didn't make sense about either possibility. First, Abeloth had never explained exactly how how she had imprisoned Xal-a Sith Master-in a coc.o.o.n. She claimed to have no idea why Vestara had sensed s.h.i.+p on the ridge near her home, yet accepted as perfectly logical the fact that it had been s.h.i.+p that had led them to her in the first place. And when Vestara had inquired about the tentacle-thing she had glimpsed on the cave ceiling, Abeloth's only reply had been that they had nothing to fear from any animal on this planet. she had imprisoned Xal-a Sith Master-in a coc.o.o.n. She claimed to have no idea why Vestara had sensed s.h.i.+p on the ridge near her home, yet accepted as perfectly logical the fact that it had been s.h.i.+p that had led them to her in the first place. And when Vestara had inquired about the tentacle-thing she had glimpsed on the cave ceiling, Abeloth's only reply had been that they had nothing to fear from any animal on this planet.

As Vestara was considering all this-and waiting for the strange contest of wills between Abeloth and Lady Rhea to be resolved-she felt the touch of a familiar presence.

You should never have come, s.h.i.+p said inside her mind. Now you can never leave Now you can never leave.

Vestara swung her gaze down the river, then gasped aloud when she saw a familiar winged-ball silhouette hovering in the distance, just above the water.

”Vestara?” Ahri asked, turning toward her. ”What is it?”

”It's-” Vestara started to point, then saw Abeloth watching and realized that the castaway was eavesdropping. Besides, Lady Rhea would not appreciate being drawn into another futile s.h.i.+p-chase when she had already given the order to leave. Vestara dropped her gaze. ”Nothing.”

”What was nothing?” Abeloth's voice was a cold blade cutting through Vestara's lie. ”You saw something downriver?” was nothing?” Abeloth's voice was a cold blade cutting through Vestara's lie. ”You saw something downriver?”

”I thought so.” Vestara sneaked a glance down the river and, much to her relief, saw that the tiny silhouette had already vanished. ”But I was-”

Vestara was interrupted by the chime of Lady Rhea's comlink. She turned and saw her Master pulling the wand from her belt, at the same time raising her free hand for silence. Lady Rhea had barely thumbed the activation switch before Baad Walusari's excited voice began to sound from the tiny speaker.

”A thousand meters at bearing one sixty from you,” the Kes.h.i.+ri said. ”s.h.i.+p just crossed the river and seems to be headed for the shuttle clearing.”

Lady Rhea's eyes widened in shock. ”s.h.i.+p is letting you track it?”

”When it's above the canopy, we have a heat signature,” Walusari explained. ”When it's in the jungle, we have a damage path. As long as s.h.i.+p is moving, we can track it.”

”Good. Keep me updated.” Lady Rhea clicked off her comlink and turned to Vestara. ”See if you can force it to return to us.”

Without awaiting Vestara's acknowledgment, Lady Rhea drew her weapons and began to issue orders. By the time Vestara had located s.h.i.+p in the Force again, the search party was deployed across a thousand-meter front and Force-running across the river. Abeloth fell in behind Lady Rhea, crossing the water as easily as the Sith Lord herself, and Vestara took advantage of her presence to concentrate on s.h.i.+p instead of plants.

Vestara pressed down on s.h.i.+p's presence with all the willpower she could summon, commanding him to return to the river and await her order. s.h.i.+p wanted wanted to obey-she could feel that much, even with her attention divided between trying to track the wayward vessel and using the Force to keep her feet bouncing across the water. to obey-she could feel that much, even with her attention divided between trying to track the wayward vessel and using the Force to keep her feet bouncing across the water.

But there was something defeated and lost in s.h.i.+p's spirit, like an uvak with severed wing tendons. He was ... afraid afraid, crushed beneath a will strong beyond Vestara's ability to imagine. To obey her was to defy it it, a power that had reached across s.p.a.ce and time to summon s.h.i.+p for no other reason than it was lonely lonely.

Vestara could see how hopeless it was to think she had the strength of will to break the grasp of such a being. Still, she continued to cling to s.h.i.+p's presence, if only because that would help her locate the meditation sphere if Walusari and the Crusader Crusader lost his trail. Once they caught up, Lady Rhea would be the one demanding s.h.i.+p's obedience. lost his trail. Once they caught up, Lady Rhea would be the one demanding s.h.i.+p's obedience.

And that that thought was what nearly got Vestara killed. thought was what nearly got Vestara killed.