Part 23 (1/2)

Though Ben did not say so, he thought Rhondi was probably right. It was certainly not normal to leave a man welded inside a sleeping cabin. It wasn't normal to trap the door with a thermite tamper guard, either.

But it was was necessary, should Ben decide to go through with his plan. And he was beginning to realize he probably had no choice. As bad as it was that both of Master Horn's children had lost their minds, to have Ben necessary, should Ben decide to go through with his plan. And he was beginning to realize he probably had no choice. As bad as it was that both of Master Horn's children had lost their minds, to have Ben Skywalker Skywalker return to Coruscant alone, delusional, and paranoid would be a catastrophe for the Jedi Order matched only by return to Coruscant alone, delusional, and paranoid would be a catastrophe for the Jedi Order matched only by Luke Luke Skywalker's death. And it could easily get worse. In Ben's demented state, he might fail to report what he and his father had found in the Maw ...or he might not be believed. Skywalker's death. And it could easily get worse. In Ben's demented state, he might fail to report what he and his father had found in the Maw ...or he might not be believed.

Rhondi seemed to take Ben's silence as a statement of intention. ”Don't do this,” she pleaded. ”If Rolund starves in there, he'll be lost until his presence disperses into the Force. At least bring him in here, where he can see the meditation chamber and find his way back beyond shadows.”

Ben frowned and asked, ”Didn't I explain this to you earlier?”

Despite the cynical edge, Ben's question was sincere. He had been under a lot of stress lately, trying everything he could think of to bring his father back to his body, and it just seemed possible that he had forgotten to execute this critical part of his plan.

Instead of replying, Rhondi started to cry. Ben decided he needed to phrase his question a little more gently. He reached out with the Force and turned her head toward him.

”Did I explain this to you?” he asked. I explain this to you?” he asked.

Rhondi nodded and began to cry harder. Her tears made him feel a little hollow and guilty about what he was doing to her and to her brother ... but she was was one of the people trying to kill him. one of the people trying to kill him.

”And do you remember what I said?” Ben demanded. There was no sense risking any miscommunication. ”Tell me.”

”You said that if you you die beyond shadows, die beyond shadows, Rolund Rolund dies in that cabin,” Rhondi croaked. dies in that cabin,” Rhondi croaked.

”That's right,” Ben said, and he realized that he had finally made his decision. Rhondi was trying to trick him, to remove the threat to her brother so that she would be free to kill Ben. ”And am am I going to die while we're beyond shadows?” I going to die while we're beyond shadows?”

Rhondi shook her head. ”Not if I can help it.”

”Good,” Ben said. He climbed onto a hovergurney adjacent to his father's and quickly strapped his legs in place. ”Then we have nothing to worry about.”

Ben set the drip on his IV bags, then lay down on the gurney and used the Force to secure the straps over his chest.

”Rolund has enough food and water to last a month,” Ben said, rea.s.suring himself as much as Rhondi. ”He'll be fine.”

Rhondi appeared less than convinced, but she merely looked away and did not bother to argue. ”Are you ready?”

Ben nodded. ”More than,” he said. ”What do I do?”

”Just turn toward the light,” Rhondi told him. ”Listen to my voice and breathe. We'll go together.”

Ben turned toward the purple light.

”There is no life,” Rhondi began.

More than familiar with the techniques of Force meditation, Ben inhaled as she spoke, then, during the silent pause that followed, exhaled into the purple light writhing beyond the viewport.

”There is only the Force.”

Ben exhaled again, and felt himself drifting toward the light. ”Picture the number one one in your mind,” Rhondi said. ”That is the first level of ascension. in your mind,” Rhondi said. ”That is the first level of ascension. There is no life ... There is no life ...” Again, Ben exhaled into the light. ”There is only the Force.” Ben exhaled again.

”Now you see the number two,” two,” Rhondi said. ”There is no time ...” Rhondi said. ”There is no time ...”

Ben exhaled once more.

A few minutes later-or it might have been a few hours-they reached the number 7 7, and Ben felt himself slip free. He had a thousand questions about what was happening to him, about how long they had been gone and what would become of his abandoned body. But when Rhondi appeared next to him, looking more refreshed and beautiful than she ever had before, he had only one question on his mind.

”How do we find my father?”

Rhondi extended her hand. ”Take my hand,” she said. ”Think of your father and walk with me into the light.”

Ben did as she instructed, and together they walked into the crackling purple radiance beyond the viewport. At once, he was filled with an eternal, boundless bliss beyond anything he had ever experienced. He became one with the Force, melted into it and was filled with a calm joy as vast as the galaxy itself. How long he and Rhondi hung there together, Ben would never know. It was less than an eyeblink, as long as eternity.

Then a voice said, Come Come.

And suddenly Ben was looking out on a narrow mountain lake with a surface as still as black gla.s.s. From one sh.o.r.e rose a face of sheer granite, sloping up toward a domed summit lit in the lazuline light of a blue sun. Along the other sh.o.r.e lay a boulder-strewn meadow filled with hummocks of knee-high moss and rivulets of purling water. Directly ahead, his father stood next to Ryontarr and the Givin, looking toward a half-hidden female form floating in the silver mists that concealed the far end of the lake.

Ben released Rhondi's hand and started forward, no longer consumed by the same sense of urgency that had been troubling him back on the station. True, his father had grown perilously weak over the last couple of weeks. And true, his own life was also in peril, since the Mind Walkers were trying to kill him him. But Ben had left such mundane concerns behind with his body. He had swum in the incomprehensible infinity of the universe, drunk of the pure joy of eternal existence, and now he understood.

Life and death were were the same, because moments did not vanish, could not be consumed like air or water or nutripaste. They existed at once and forever, spread across the entire continuity of being, the same way atoms were scattered across the vastness of the universe. Just as atoms gathered together in clumps of energy, which living beings perceived as matter, moments gathered in packets of minutes and hours, which mortal creatures perceived as time pa.s.sing. the same, because moments did not vanish, could not be consumed like air or water or nutripaste. They existed at once and forever, spread across the entire continuity of being, the same way atoms were scattered across the vastness of the universe. Just as atoms gathered together in clumps of energy, which living beings perceived as matter, moments gathered in packets of minutes and hours, which mortal creatures perceived as time pa.s.sing.

But those packets were no more the essence of time than sunlight was the essence of a star, or heat the essence of fire. They were simply the perceptions through which the minds of finite beings experienced infinity, the sensations through which their bodies detected the existence of themselves and everything around them.

Ben reached the lake and halted at his father's side, opposite Ryontarr and the Givin. The female form was no more than fifty paces distant, close enough for Ben to see that she was not quite human, with a cascade of saffron hair that seemed to hang down to the water, and a pair of tiny bright eyes set in sockets so deep they looked like wells.

When his father did not immediately seem to notice him, Ben said, ”Whoa, Dad ...that was some trip.”

Luke snorted in amus.e.m.e.nt, then turned to Ben with a wry smile. ”You weren't supposed to find that out.”

Ben nodded, and suddenly felt like he had made the wrong decision. If time and life were illusions, what did it matter if he went mad? What did it matter if his father died and Ben never reported to the Masters? Both had already already happened, or they never would. In the end, all he had done was disobey an order. happened, or they never would. In the end, all he had done was disobey an order.

Ben dropped his gaze. ”Sorry about that,” he said. ”It wouldn't have been a good idea for me to go back to Coruscant-not with things the way they are, thanks to Daala.”

Luke frowned. ”Because?”

”Think about where we are, Dad,” Ben said, forcing himself to meet his father's gaze. ”Or at least where our bodies are, and what everyone who's gone barvy has in common.”

Luke nodded. ”Shelter.” He c.o.c.ked his head and studied Ben for a moment. ”Where you ...?”

”I think so.” so.” Ben glanced over at Rhondi, then lowered his voice, ”Dad, n.o.body ever actually attacked me. But I have this feeling-this Ben glanced over at Rhondi, then lowered his voice, ”Dad, n.o.body ever actually attacked me. But I have this feeling-this really really strong feeling-that they're trying to kill us.” strong feeling-that they're trying to kill us.”

Luke gave him a smile. ”Ben, it's not paranoid if it's true.” He tipped his head toward his two escorts. ”These two have been leading me into one trap after another since we left the station.”

Ben felt his eyes widen, then he frowned over at Ryontarr and the Givin. ”And you're still here? Why?”

Luke shrugged, then looked back toward the woman in the mist. ”I still have a few questions.”

”Your questions can wait.” It wasn't Ben who said this, but Rhondi. She reached forward from behind Ben and took his arm. ”Get your father. I kept my side of the bargain; now we need to go.”

”Bargain?” Ryontarr leaned out to glare past the Skywalkers, while the Givin slipped around behind Rhondi. ”Why would you do that?” Ryontarr leaned out to glare past the Skywalkers, while the Givin slipped around behind Rhondi. ”Why would you do that?”

The clear hostility in the Gotal's voice brought to mind the urgency Ben had felt back in the station.

”That's right, Dad.” He took his father's arm and started to pull. ”You're pretty close to dying. We've got to go.”

Luke gently pulled his arm free. ”In a minute, Ben.” He turned to Ryontarr, then added, ”I've known for a while that you're trying to stall me. What I haven't been able to figure out is why.” why.”