Apocalypse (51 page)

Jag burst out laughing. Reluctant to click off, Jaina simply selected Wuul’s floor and left the channel open, listening to the sound of her future husband’s mirth until the signal dissolved into static.

O
N
J
AINA’S FIRST VISIT TO THE OFFICES OF
S
ENATOR
L
UEWET
W
UUL
, she had sat in the plush chairs and enjoyed a snifter of rare burtalle. Now the mugs resting on the handsome borlestone conference table contained cold caf and warm water. The air had gone stale with the smell of nervous sweat and half-eaten sandwiches, and the ventilation system was struggling to remove the heat of all the bodies packed into the meeting room. But it was what lay outside the room, visible through the floor-to-ceiling viewport, that troubled Jaina.

The gleaming cylinder of the Galactic Justice Center, which had been shuddering gently as she left, was now swaying. She knew that Coruscant’s skytowers were designed to withstand tremors far more violent than what she was seeing, but she still didn’t like it. Had the cause been a simple groundquake, the rest of Fellowship Plaza would have been shaking, too. This looked like something far more sinister—something involving Abeloth.

Jaina felt a gentle pull in the Force. She looked over to see Corran Horn nodding toward an empty seat on the near side of the table,
where most of the Jedi Council sat in a semicircle to either side of Luke. With Kyp Durron, Kyle Katarn, Cilghal, Saba Sebatyne, Octa Ramis, and Barratk’l also present, only Kam and Tionne Solusar—who were supervising the students on Shedu Maad—were absent. Seated along the far side of the table, more or less across from the Jedi Masters, were an equal number of military and civilian dignitaries, including Admiral Nek Bwua’tu, his dapper uncle Eramuth, Senator Luewet Wuul, Admiral Gavin Darklighter, and a haggard, sunken-eyed Wynn Dorvan.

Still, it did not occur to Jaina that the empty seat had been saved for her until she began to make her way toward it and found herself squeezing past a long line of assistants forced to stand along the wall. There were military adjutants, bureaucratic assistants, and—much to her delight and surprise—four Jedi Knights whom she would have loved to pepper with questions.

Instead, Jaina had to content herself with a quick smile and a pair of arm squeezes as she slipped past Lowbacca and Tekli, who responded with whispered words of congratulations on her promotion. She was dying to ask where Raynar was, of course. But, with the meeting already in progress, it would have been unthinkably rude to start a conversation on the side.

Standing directly behind the chair that had been saved for Jaina were two Jedi whom she was even
more
relieved to see—Valin and Jysella Horn. Like her, they looked like they had been pulled from the bacta tank early, with bruises and half-healed lacerations still visible on their faces and necks. She had heard during one of her rare breaks from the bacta tank that they had made contact with the space marines, but this was her first confirmation that they had actually escaped the Temple alive. Clearly, the pair had had a hard time after the strike team split, and the absence of the third member of their squad gave Jaina a sinking feeling. She raised her brow and mouthed a one-word question:
Ben?

Valin shook his head, then shrugged to indicate that they didn’t know. Jaina nodded and reached out to the pair in the Force, trying to let them feel how happy she was to see them in one piece. They responded with a smile, and, as she turned to take her seat, she sneaked a quick glance at Luke. There were purple circles beneath his eyes, and his face was clouded by fear and uncertainty—no doubt on behalf of
both Ben and the Jedi Order itself. But there was no hint of anguish or grief—and Jaina would have sensed both, had Luke been unable to feel his son’s living presence in the Force.

Jaina slipped into her seat, assuming her place on the Jedi Council with no pomp or ceremony, just a couple of nods from across the table and a whispered
“Welcome, Master Solo”
from the Master next to her, Octa Ramis. And it seemed to Jaina that was exactly how the role
should
be assumed, not in celebration or pride, but with a humble willingness to serve.

All eyes were fixed directly opposite Jaina, where Mirax Horn was standing in a gap between Master Barratk’l and Eramuth Bwua’tu. Dressed in the gray uniform of a brigadier general, she was holding a datapad in one hand, but speaking without any need to consult her notes.

“… who have escaped the Temple are spreading out across Coruscant and launching soft-target terrorist attacks,” Mirax said. “Of course, BAMR News is blaming the violence on ‘Jedi spice cartels,’ and they’re urging their viewers to take arms against the Jedi and any ‘corrupt’ security personnel aiding the ‘spice smugglers.’ ”

Eramuth Bwua’tu twisted his muzzle into a snarl, then tilted his gray-furred head so that he was looking up at Mirax out of one eye.

“And how effective are these lies, my dear?” the Bothan asked.

“There have been a few civilian attacks against Jedi,” Mirax replied. “But most of the other news outlets are taking a more balanced approach, attributing the violence to a rogue sect of Force-users.”

“They’re not even using the term
Sith
?” Kyle Katarn asked.

“There has been some speculation,” Mirax said. “But most of the public doesn’t really understand what Sith
are
, and those who do are accustomed to thinking of them as loners—either Jedi gone bad, or sinister geniuses hiding in plain sight.”

“So the population isn’t doing anything to help
us
, either?” Kyp Durron asked.

Mirax shook her head. “Not much,” she said. “We’ve been getting a little cooperation through the security forces—primarily reports of suspicious behavior. But most Coruscanti don’t seem to know
what
to believe. They’re just keeping their heads down and trying to stay clear of any trouble at all.”

“Which is difficult, now that our fight with the Sith has spread beyond the Temple,” Luke said. “How bad is the violence getting? Are we starting to contain it at all?”

Mirax pretended to consult her datapad, but Jaina could feel in her Force aura that she was simply gathering the strength to deliver bad news. Finally, she lowered the datapad and gazed around the table.

“Not even close,” she said. “When the space marine volunteers entered through the exhaust shaft, the Sith had far too much time to react. We think at least three hundred escaped and spread into the rest of the city, and their only objective seems to be to create as much chaos and destruction as possible. So far, they’ve launched over three
thousand
attacks, and they’ve completely destroyed seven hundred skytowers. We’re already estimating civilian casualties at over three million.”

“And how many Sith have we taken out?” Corran asked.

“Twenty-two,” Mirax replied. “But we’ve lost fifteen Jedi doing it. Security force casualties are running into the thousands—even the Special Weapons Teams are no match for Sith Sabers.”

An unhappy silence fell over the table, for the conclusion was clear: so far, the enemy was winning this part of the fight, and there was little hope of turning the tide of battle anytime soon.

After a moment, Luke said, “We all know you’re doing everything possible under the circumstances.” He glanced out the window at the Galactic Justice Center—which was beginning to sway so wildly now that the deck of Fellowship Plaza could be seen buckling around it—then asked, “What do the reports say about
how
the skytowers collapse?”

“It’s usually a well-placed explosion or a hot-burning fire,” she said, following his gaze. “We don’t have any reports of buildings being
shaken
down, if that’s what you’re thinking.”

“It is, but I still don’t like what we’re seeing over there,” Luke said. He turned toward the government side of the table. “It might be wise to evacuate the Galactic Justice Center.”

Both Bwua’tus and Senator Wuul nodded, and Dorvan said, “Would you please give the order, General Horn?”

“Of course,” Mirax said. She glanced back to Luke. “Before I see to it, there is one more thing I’d like to mention.”

“Yes?” Luke asked.

“We’ve received several reports of … well, of an
observer
,” she said. “A tall man with a rugged, tattooed face showed up at hand-to-hand combat near Fellowship Plaza. So far, he’s done nothing but watch, but when Jedi Saav’etu noticed a dark side aura and tried to take him into custody, he disarmed her. Then he said something very odd:
‘Not yet, Jedi. Abeloth first.’
 ”

“These tattoos,” Luke asked, “did they radiate from around his eyes?”

“Jedi Saav’etu described it as a spray pattern with the eyes at the center,” Mirax replied. “Then you know who he is?”

Luke shook his head. “Not at all,” he said. “But I caught a glimpse of him during the trouble we had leaving the spaceport. He certainly didn’t appear to be a member of the Lost Tribe.”

“Then I’ll put out a ‘report location only’ bulletin on him,” she said. “We certainly have no need to go out
looking
for a fight right now.”

“I think that’s best,” Luke agreed.

“Thank you.” Mirax glanced around the table, then said, “If I’m not needed here, I’ll see to the Justice Center evacuation.”

Luke dipped his chin and said, “Thank you, Mirax. We’ll send you some additional Jedi support as soon as we’re able.” As she stepped away from the table, he turned his attention to Gavin Darklighter. “How soon can we start withdrawing our combination teams from the Temple?”

Gavin stared at the table a moment, gathering his thoughts, then looked up. “We’re making progess.” Judging by the dark circles beneath his eyes, he had not slept since the assault on the Temple had begun. “We control everything above Level Three-seventy and below the Pinnacle.”

“Above Three-seventy?” Dorvan asked. “Then you haven’t captured the computer core?”

Darklighter shook his head. “Not yet.”

“Then you have captured
nothing
.” Dorvan’s voice was pitched high, and his eyes were bulging. He glanced around the table. “Does no one understand? The Beloved Queen is living in the computer, too. She
is
the computer!”

Gavin nodded wearily. “You
did
mention that—several times—in
the post-rescue debriefing, Chief Dorvan. And we’ll deal with the computer core just as soon as we’re able to attack it.” He shifted his attention back to the others. “In the meantime, we’re splitting the Sith forces that remain in the Temple, driving them down into the sublevels and up into the Pinnacle. We’ve encountered a lot of resistance in the upper levels, and frankly, if Chief Dorvan hadn’t told us that Abeloth was in the computer core, we would be inclined to believe that she is somewhere near Pinnacle Platform.”

The message was clear—whatever Dorvan believed, the space marines were pretty sure that they had located Abeloth on Pinnacle Platform. Of course, after her conversation with Tahiri, Jaina realized that it was all too likely that both Dorvan and the space marines were right.

“And why would you believe that she is at the Pinnacle, Admiral?” Luke asked.

A look of pain came over Gavin’s face. “Because we just lost three blastboats of Void Jumpers there, and even Sith gunners aren’t that good.”

Luke nodded. Jaina was relieved to see him turn his gaze toward the Galactic Justice Center. Obviously, he could see what was happening to the skytower, and he had made the same connection as Jaina—that the center was in a direct line of sight from Pinnacle Platform.

“We have to make another run at the platform,” he said. “But this time, we’ll send an all-Jedi unit. We’ll select a team after the meeting. Until then, would you task someone to prepare a squadron of blastboats for us?”

“Of course,” Gavin replied. He sat down, then looked over his shoulder and motioned an aide forward.

Even before Gavin had begun to issue the orders, Dorvan complained, “I see what you’re doing, you know. But it’s a mistake to ignore me. I’ve been closer to the Beloved Queen than any of you. I
know
what she can do.”

“Nobody is ignoring you, Chief Dorvan,” Jaina said, leaning forward so she could look Dorvan in the eye. “At least
I’m
not. If you say she’s living in the computer core, I absolutely believe you.”

“So do I,” Luke assured him. “We know for a fact that she had contact with Callista Ming, a former Jedi who once merged her Force presence with a computer. So we have every reason to believe you.”

Their reassurances seemed to calm Dorvan.

“Thank you,” he said. “I’m glad to hear that. Abeloth may be on Pinnacle Platform, but that doesn’t mean that she’s not—”

“In the computer core, too,” Jaina finished, realizing that Dorvan already knew what she had only recently surmised. She looked around the table at the other Masters. “Unfortunately, Abeloth can inhabit more than one body at a time.”

An uneasy hush fell over the room, and all eyes swung to Jaina.

“On the way over here, I spoke with Tahiri Veila.” Jaina focused her attention on Corran and Luke. “It turns out that, at the same time we were fighting our
Sith
Abeloth in the Temple ventilation ducts, Tahiri and Boba Fett were fighting
another
Abeloth on Hagamoor Three. They destroyed theirs with a thermal detonator … at exactly two minutes before midday GST.”