Part 28 (1/2)

Vestara spun on her Master, drawing her parang with one hand and swinging her other arm up so fast that Lady Rhea was still speaking when Vestara's open palm reddened her cheek.

”No!” Vestara spat. Vestara spat. ”Think ”Think. How many shuttles have we lost?”

Lady Rhea's green eyes flamed with rage. ”That's something no apprentice lives to do twice.”

Lady Rhea's hand dropped toward her lightsaber, but Vestara was prepared and had her parang pressed to Lady Rhea's wrist the instant her fingers touched her lightsaber.

”Give me two minutes before you do that,” she said. ”Please, Master. Just answer three questions, then you can kill me however you like. How many shuttles have we lost?”

”Very well.” Lady Rhea opened her fingers, but left her hand hanging next to her lightsaber. ”All of them.”

”And how many crewmembers are still aboard the Crusader?” Crusader?”

Lady Rhea's eyes grew cold-and when they were cold, they were calculating. ”None.”

”Last question.” Vestara pulled her parang away from Lady Rhea's wrist. ”If you were in your right mind, would you ever ever make such foolish mistakes?” make such foolish mistakes?”

The flames returned to Lady Rhea's eyes, but along with her fury, Vestara also saw a flicker of recognition. Slowly, Vestara stepped back and sheathed her parang, then knelt before her Master and dropped her head.

When her head was still on her shoulders several seconds later, Vestara was not terribly surprised. Her Master was many things, but wasteful was not one of them. Still, Vestara remained kneeling, playing the penitent apprentice until Lady Rhea herself decided the charade had run its course.

”You may as well stand, Vestara,” she said. ”We both know I'm not going to kill a talented apprentice over a few inviolable rules.”

Vestara rose. ”Thank you, milady.”

”But if you ever ever do that again, it will be the last time,” Lady Rhea warned. ”I will do that again, it will be the last time,” Lady Rhea warned. ”I will not not be told that I make mistakes. Is that clear?” be told that I make mistakes. Is that clear?”

”I apologize,” Vestara said, biting her cheek to keep from smiling in relief. ”It will never never happen again.” happen again.”

”Good.” Lady Rhea turned back toward s.h.i.+p, which continued to sit waiting. ”Am I correct in a.s.suming that you had nothing to do with s.h.i.+p's change of heart?”

”Absolutely,” Vestara said. ”s.h.i.+p has toyed with me, but he remains completely under Abeloth's control.”

”Which means we remain trapped on this death planet.” Lady Rhea grew thoughtful. ”Unless ...” ”Unless ...” She paused, then turned to Vestara. ”You already have this figured out, don't you?” She paused, then turned to Vestara. ”You already have this figured out, don't you?”

Vestara grinned, not even caring that the scar at the corner of her mouth would make her smile appear lopsided.

”I believe so,” she said. ”If s.h.i.+p can take all of us in one trip, the Skywalkers must be very near. And they had to come in something something. Once s.h.i.+p takes us to them-”

”Absolutely.” Lady Rhea paused as Abeloth and Xal emerged from behind s.h.i.+p, then turned away and spoke in a Force whisper so low that Vestara was not sure she heard it even inside her own mind. ”We kill the Skywalkers and ...”

”... we steal their their vessel,” Vestara finished with a wry smile. ”How hard can it be?” vessel,” Vestara finished with a wry smile. ”How hard can it be?”

THAT AWFUL SMELL, BEN REALIZED, WAS PROBABLY HIM. IT REMINDED him of sour nerf milk, with a hint of ash and mildew. His tongue lay in his mouth like a raw sausage-swollen, numb, and cold-and he felt generally sore and weak, with a muddled, throbbing head that made him feel like he had died and just didn't realize it yet. him of sour nerf milk, with a hint of ash and mildew. His tongue lay in his mouth like a raw sausage-swollen, numb, and cold-and he felt generally sore and weak, with a muddled, throbbing head that made him feel like he had died and just didn't realize it yet.

Which, Ben suddenly remembered, was a distinct possibility.

He opened his eyes and found himself staring up into the familiar red strobing of alarm lights in Sinkhole Station's smoky control room. He glanced over and saw that his IV drip bags had drained themselves flat, which meant he had been Mind Walking for at least a day-and probably much longer, a.s.suming his symptoms were due to dehydration.

”Mra ...dhe muck!” he croaked. He swallowed, then tried again. ”Now I see why these head cases would rather die than return to their bodies.” he croaked. He swallowed, then tried again. ”Now I see why these head cases would rather die than return to their bodies.”

When no reply came, Ben looked over and found his father still lying motionless on his gurney, his gaze vacant and fixed on the ceiling.

”Dad?”

Nothing moved but his father's mouth, which opened barely far enough to emit a hoa.r.s.e whisper. ”uh ...yeah.”

”You okay?”

The eyes closed in what was probably as close to a nod as Luke could manage. ”I will be,” he rasped. ”Just need to ...get blood to my muscles again.”

”Yeah, well good luck with that.”

Ben used the Force to undo the straps across his own chest, then tried to sit up ...and dropped back to his gurney in a heap.

”It's always like this,” a familiar voice said behind Ben. ”Give yourselves a minute.”

Recalling his reluctant Mind Walker guide, Ben craned his neck around and looked toward the far side of the chamber. Rhondi Tremaine was still sitting where he had left her before going beyond shadows, slumped against an equipment cabinet with her legs splayed out beside her. The stun cuffs he had slapped on her before leaving were still on her wrists, securing her to the floor beam he had exposed. With sunken eyes, hollow cheeks, and a brow furrowed in pain, she looked just as bad as Ben felt. The sight of how little care he had taken for her comfort made Ben wince at his behavior. He had deliberately not offered to set an IV drip for her, believing that if she were in danger of dying, she would be more eager to make their trip a quick one, so she could be certain of returning to free her brother.

”How are you feeling?” he asked. ”Better than you look, I hope.”

”That's nice.” Her gaze s.h.i.+fted to Luke. ”If you want grandchildren someday, you need to have a conversation with your son about how to talk to the ladies.” nice.” Her gaze s.h.i.+fted to Luke. ”If you want grandchildren someday, you need to have a conversation with your son about how to talk to the ladies.”

”Ben, be nice to the lady,” Luke ordered. ”And get her out of those stun cuffs.”

”Sure.” Ben tried again to sit up, and this time he succeeded. ”As soon as I take care of you.” you.”

He freed himself from the IV catheters and the gurney straps, then did the same for his father and retrieved three packs of hydrade from his supply bag. When his father proved too weak to push the suck-nozzle through the punch hole, Ben did it for him.

”Dad, that trip ...it was pretty dark,” Ben said, holding the tube into his father's mouth. ”Worse than a triple hit of yarrock, even.”

Ben could tell by the way his father's eyes widened that he had used a really bad a.n.a.logy.

”Uh, not that I'd know,” know,” he said. ”Just a.s.suming, really.” he said. ”Just a.s.suming, really.”

Luke stopped sipping long enough to say, ”You'd better better be.” be.”

”No worries,” Ben said. ”I get plenty of weirdness just being your son.”

When Ben fell silent for a moment, his father reached up and took the sip-pack. ”Keep talking.”

Ben looked away, unsure how to broach the subject of what they had experienced together at the Lake of Apparitions. Actually, he was not even sure they had seen the same things.

Finally, he just asked it. ”All the stuff that happened while we were Mind Walking ...was that real?” real?”

”Talking to Anakin and your mother, you mean?”

Ben nodded and began to feel a little more certain of the experience. ”And to Jacen.”