Invincible (38 page)

“Caedus did this to you?” Jaina asked. She did not understand what her brother had done to Mirta, but she
could
tell that it was ugly. “Or Fett?”

“Ba’buir.”
Mirta looked away, and it grew obvious there was no use reasoning with her. “It…He sent us on a death mission. Promise!”

“Okay, if I make it,” Jaina said. Fett would want to know the truth, anyway, and she could always soften it by telling him of her suspicions. “I promise.”

“Good.” When Mirta looked back toward Jaina, a certain sad peace had returned to her face, but she did not look grateful. Far from it. She raised the one arm she could move, pointing it at one of the blaster rifles Jaina had laid on the foot of her bed. “And the last thing. It’s easy.”

Jaina looked at the blaster rifle and knew she could not make the deal. “No, Mirta, I’m not going to do that,” she said. “Even if I don’t make it, I don’t think your grandfather really believes—”

“Jaina, it’s not for
that.
” Mirta pointed at the three prisoners Jaina had tied to the bed. “When they wake up, I’m going to need a way to keep them quiet for you.”

Jaina breathed a sigh of relief, then placed the blaster rifles and comlinks on the bed where Mirta could reach them. “Good point. Thanks.”

“You’re welcome,” Mirta said. “Now, the thing you need to know about your brother…he underestimates you.”

“That’s not really news, Mirta,” Jaina said. “Maybe not even true. He’s magnitudes stronger than me in the Force. All I’ve got on him is five weeks of Mandalorian commando training.”

“And that’s enough to get the job done.” Mirta’s tone was reprimanding, like a parent scolding a child for wanting a third bowl of frezgel. “But I mean, his weakness is more delusional. He’s convinced
you
couldn’t have taken his arm—at least not alone. He thinks Luke was with us.”

Jaina paused, recalling Caedus’s confusion at the end of the battle. She also recalled her own condition, how the strange surge in her Force powers had suddenly faded just before Caedus had redirected the stormtroopers’ fire. “Maybe Luke
was
there.”

Mirta shook her head. “He wasn’t. I was conscious most of the time—and I didn’t see him.” She waved the blaster muzzle at the door. “Now get out of here. You’ve only got an hour before my next meds are due—and no offense, but I don’t want you as a roommate.”

“No problem. We’d probably kill each other.” Jaina patted Mirta on the arm, then turned toward the door. “May the Force be with you, Mirta.”

“Yeah, sure, Jedi,” Mirta said. “Shoot straight and run fast.”

Jaina slipped out of the cell and closed the door behind her. She used her fingernail to scratch up the security console thumbprint reader, then started down the catwalk toward the turbolift.

Jaina hadn’t taken even three steps when the muffled zing of a blaster discharge sounded from inside Mirta’s cell. She stopped, her heart dropping with shock and disbelief—then heard two more discharges and realized it wasn’t Mirta she should have been worried about.

Kriffing Mandalorians.

Seen through the egalitarian lens of a detention cell’s one-way transparisteel, the acclaimed Prince Isolder did not look so different from other men. He was a bit taller, perhaps, with squarer shoulders and straighter teeth. And there was something in his upright bearing, even sitting alone in a cramped durasteel cell, that hinted at his unshakable sense of self—at the quiet dignity that seemed to give him strength in even the most desperate and trying of circumstances.

This was a man who had married for love in a culture that laughed at love, a father who had raised a Jedi daughter in a society that scorned Jedi, a prince who had always served his subjects first and his vanity last. He was a man, in short, of the best sort, a man with the wisdom to follow his own heart, and a heart large enough to make the journey worthwhile.

And Caedus would have liked to believe that those were the reasons he found himself so reluctant to kill the man…but he knew better. The reason he was hesitating was because he was not certain that it was the right thing to do.

The logical course was to let Lecersen and the Moffs have their fun with their nanokiller. Eliminating Tenel Ka and Allana was certainly not going to
hurt
the Alliance’s chances of winning the battle, and it might even help. But how could Caedus sacrifice his own child so that all the
other
children in the galaxy would grow up in safety? The way of the Sith was the way of pain, he knew that, but he did not see how he could let the Moffs kill his daughter without becoming a monster even worse than Palpatine or Exar Kun.

Could Allana’s life be the price the Force demanded for peace? For making his vision of the white throne a reality?

No, Caedus realized. Allana had been one of the beings in the vision. Without her, there would
be
no white throne.

The knot of fear that had been binding Caedus’s insides slackened, and, with a new clarity, he saw what he had to do. He had to stop the Moffs’ plan at any cost. If he wanted to bring peace to the galaxy, he had to save Allana—not sacrifice her.

The stomach-dropping
thuboom
of a hull-hit reverberated through the ship. The lights flickered and blinked out, then blinked on, out one more time, and finally returned to normal. Inside his cell, Isolder cast a nervous glance at the ceiling, then seemed to shrug off his anxiety and leaned back against the wall again.

Caedus opened the cell door, but remained standing outside. Isolder glanced over, his eyes betraying none of the surprise that Caedus sensed in the Force.

“Jacen Solo,” Isolder said, pointedly not rising. “I’ve been wondering why I haven’t been interrogated yet. Obviously, you’ve been saving the fun for yourself.”

“It’s Caedus now, Prince Isolder,” Caedus said. “
Darth
Caedus. And the reason you haven’t been interrogated has nothing to do with fun. We have other means of locating the Jedi base, so I saw no need to impinge on your dignity.”

Now Isolder
did
allow his surprise to show in his eyes. “How very considerate of you,” he said. “I wouldn’t have expected that from child-stealing scum such as yourself.”

Caedus winced at the insult. “We all make mistakes,” he said, biting back his anger. There was nothing to be gained by retaliation, and Isolder deserved no punishment for speaking the truth as he saw it. “I’m sure you’ll come to appreciate that in good time. Now, if you’ll please come with me.”

“I don’t think so,” Isolder said. “Whatever you—”

“I wasn’t asking.” Caedus used the Force to pull Isolder off his bunk, then drew him stumbling through the door. “Please don’t consider my respect a weakness, Prince Isolder. That would be one of those mistakes I just mentioned.”

“Of course,” Isolder answered, recovering his dignity along with his footing. “It seems I’m entirely at your disposal. May I inquire where you’re taking me?”

“To join your crew aboard the
Beam Racer,
” Caedus said. “I’m afraid you’ll have to depart in the middle of a battle, but we’ve almost broken though. Once you’re clear of us, you should be safe enough.”

Isolder stopped and turned around. “You’re
releasing
me? Why?”

“Because my only other choice is to kill you,” Caedus said. “And I’d really rather not.”

Isolder looked more than skeptical—he looked flat-out distrustful. “So I can lead you to the Jedi base.”

“We already
know
where the base is,” Caedus said. “We’ll be jumping to Shedu Maad as soon as we break free of your daughter’s fleet.”

Isolder’s face betrayed nothing, but Caedus could tell by the disappointment in the prince’s Force aura that his analysts had guessed correctly about the destination of the transports that had fled Uroro Station.

“You’ll be free to go anywhere you wish, as long as you don’t allow yourself to be captured again,” Caedus continued. “It’s only fair to warn you that the
Racer
will explode at the first brush of a tractor beam.”

Isolder frowned, obviously trying to figure out what Caedus was doing, then abruptly said, “This is about the nanokiller, isn’t it?”

Caedus was actually surprised. “Very good, Prince. I’m afraid the Moffs are rather keen on using it against Tenel Ka.”

Isolder glared at him with narrowed eyes, and Caedus could feel a murderous intent gathering in the Force.

“You’re not as clever as you think,
Jacen.
” Isolder spat in Caedus’s eyes. “I’d rather die than fall for your ploy.”

Caedus sighed and wiped the saliva away, wondering whether there was any way to convince the prince that this
wasn’t
a ploy. Clearly, Isolder believed Caedus was trying to trick him into inadvertently carrying the nanokiller onto the
Dragon Queen
—and it was certainly a reasonable assumption. The question was, could Caedus convince him of the truth? And was it worth the effort—especially when he had so much else to do, a battle to win, his sister to deal with…
Luke
to kill.

The answer was regrettably obvious.

“I was
afraid
you’d say that.” As Caedus spoke, he was grasping Isolder in the Force. “And death is certainly an option.”

Caedus made a twisting motion with his hand, snapping Isolder’s head around backward. There was a loud pop that made Caedus feel a little sick to his stomach, and the prince collapsed at his feet, dead before he hit the catwalk.

Caedus sighed again, then removed the comlink from his chest pocket and managed to get a scratchy channel to his aide, Orlopp.

“I’m afraid Prince Isolder won’t be joining his crew aboard the
Beam Racer,
” he said. “Tell them they’ll have to depart without him.”

“…sure they will,” came the patchy reply. “They’re…loyal.”

Of course they wouldn’t. Isolder had been a great man, a good leader. No decent crew in the galaxy would abandon him.

“Then you’ll have to blow the ship in her berth.” Caedus used the Force to levitate Isolder’s body, then started down the catwalk toward the infirmary and its fusion incinerator. “And void the hangar when it’s done. We can’t afford to take any chances with this.”

What do you get when you cross an Ewok with an astromech droid? A short circuit!

—Jacen Solo, age 15

A
S
J
AINA HURRIED TOWARD THE LIFT TUBE, SHE NOTICED THAT
the catwalk was gradually emptying ahead of her. No one seemed to be panicking to get out of her way, or even paying her much attention. But while there were plenty of nurses and orderlies entering patient cells, none was emerging. Only the droids seemed to be going about their normal business, wheeling medicine carts from door to door or popping into and out of cells with electronic chartpads in their hands.

Jaina feared for a moment that someone had heard Mirta’s blaster shots—or noticed the absence of her guards—and triggered a security alarm. But the mood seemed to be more nervous than frightened, and when she passed an open door, those inside did not look away or pretend to be busy. They simply watched her pass with vague interest, as though they were wondering who
she
was that she didn’t feel the need to take shelter from the coming storm.

And that was just what she was sensing, Jaina realized—the fear of approaching turmoil. A general hush had fallen over the entire wing, and the Force had gone electric with anxiety. She glanced through the safety mesh and saw that even the main deck of the infirmary, where the waiting area for the busy exam rooms was located, was gradually emptying.

Jaina stopped at the next open door and poked her head into the cell. Inside, a female Falleen was working under the watchful eye of two black-armored escorts, changing the bandages of a Bothan male missing both arms and a leg. Judging by the smoothly scorched stump that the nurse was currently disinfecting, it appeared that he had lost the three limbs to lightsaber strikes.

“Another assassin,” said a guard, noticing the object of Jaina’s gaze. “Don’t know why the Bothans keep sending them. Caedus just cuts ’em up and sends them down here.”

“Something we can do for you, Captain?” asked the other, the older of the two.

“Yes, thanks.” Jaina tore her gaze away from the Bothan, wondering if that was how
she
was going to end up. “Can you tell me why everything is getting so quiet? Is the
Anakin Solo
in trouble?”

“The
Anakin Solo
’s doing fine, ma’am,” the guard said. “The last I heard, the
Megador
had those Hapan scolds on the run, and we were getting ready to jump with the rest of the fleet.”

“You must not do much duty in the infirmary,” the young guard added. “It always gets like this when Darth Maniac is around.”

“Darth Maniac?” Jaina’s pulse began to pound in her ears. “Caedus is here—in the infirmary?”

“Yes, ma’am.” The older guard scowled at his young companion, no doubt misinterpreting Jaina’s surprise as disapproval of the nickname. “Word is, he’s in the scanning booth.”