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Chapter Nine
Ben looked around the ovular plasteel table, meeting the eyes of each member of the Jedi Council. Most stared back at him with the blue-tinted eyes of holograms; Tahiri, Valin, and Karanya, at least, were real. He was glad to see that no one else had been lost since Denon.
"Most of you have received word of what happened on Denon. Two weeks ago we lost contact with the enclave there. Myri went to check it out, and she found Isis and the other Jedi dead. The Sith killed them and kidnapped the younglings."
Ben pulled a small disc from his left breast pocket and inserted it into the holoprojector in the center of the table. A building appeared over the Council members' heads, level with Ben's eyes.
"This is Château Malreaux, on Vjun. This is where they're holding the younglings. And it's not just them. According to the data Ulin unlocked, there are at least ten other test subjects listed as non-Jedi Force-sensitives."
"Test subjects?" The revulsion in Jysella Horn's voice was palpable.
"What kinds of tests?" Tekli asked.
Ben took a deep breath. "We don't know for sure. But I can tell you that Gabriel Mezzon is in charge of the project."
"Doctor Mezzon?" Danni Quee Dreiz shook her head. "I thought he died on Yalena, years ago."
"Apparently not." Ben wondered, briefly, who had been assigned to oversee Mezzon. The Sith Lords most interested in his line of work had all been killed on Yalena, and there weren't many beings who could stomach the good doctor, especially when he started throwing Yuuzhan Vong biotech into the mix.
"Those poor children," Karanya murmured, tears in her eyes. She had lost her youngest child to Mezzon, and Ben tried not to remember how she had wailed over his tiny broken body.
There were a lot of things about Yalena he tried not to remember.
While the other Council members looked around the table in despair, Tahiri stared through the hologram of the mansion, directly at Ben. "What do you propose to do?"
Ben sat down in his chair and braced himself against the edge of the table. "We go get them."
Tahiri shook her head. "The Jedi Order is barely hanging on. If the information on this datapad is genuine, then you're talking about a strike at a major Sith world. We can't afford to take that risk right now."
Valin sighed and ran both hands over his hair. "If we don't do something soon, there won't be any of us left to stop them. You're talking about leaving those children at the mercy of the Sith." He looked around the table at the others. "Is that what we are? Are we really the cowards everyone thinks we are?"
Valin met Ben's eyes and nodded. "I'm with Ben. I say we go."
The rest of the table was silent. Ben glanced over at Tahiri, who was studying him carefully. He wondered – for the thousandth time – what she had been like before the operation that turned her into a Yuuzhan Vong hybrid. He'd been a baby when it happened. That was strange in itself – they quarreled like brother and sister so often that he sometimes forgot she'd been fighting a war when he was still in diapers.
He could see the wheels turning in her brain, calculating, planning, weighing the lives of the children against the risk of taking a team of Jedi to one of Sith worlds. It wasn't that she didn't care about the younglings. She'd just seen too many missions go wrong.
"Valin, I want to save the younglings as much as you do," Tahiri said deliberately, turning toward the other Jedi. "We all wish we could storm in there and rescue them. But we have to think this through. We can't afford to lose any more Jedi."
Everyone but Tahiri and Ben had lowered their heads to stare at the scuffed tabletop. As Ben locked eyes with Tahiri, he felt a swell of emotion that nearly caught him off guard. He wasn't sure if it was coming from him or Tahiri or someone else in the room, but he pushed it away and focused his thoughts on the kidnapped children.
"Look," he said carefully, "I know this isn't going to be easy. The Force hasn't really seemed to be on our side much lately."
"Ben…" Karanya said softly.
Ben raised a stopping hand. "The point is, I'm not going to sit here and wait for the Force to drop the solution into my lap. I made a promise to protect the Order, and those children are a part of it." He rested his right hand on the table and began to tap it slowly and deliberately, looking for a way to rephrase the thought that had just popped into his mind. He shook his head and pushed the thought aside. "Anyway, I'm going. I could use some help, but I'll understand if you think it's too risky."
Tahiri's voice was dangerously soft when she finally spoke.
"You're saying that if the Council votes against intervention, you will ignore its decision?"
Blue eyes met green for what seemed like the tenth time since the meeting had begun, and Ben could feel all the old arguments resurfacing. He was going to get an earful when this was over, but it wouldn't change what had to be done.
"I am," he said, and he'd never been so sure about anything in his whole life.
Jysella sighed and rubbed her forehead. "Ben, Tahiri is right. This sounds like a suicide mission. You know how Vjun favors the Sith."
"That's right," Gren Tivas said. "You'd have to take a very strong team, one that could resist the pull of the dark side."
"And we can't afford to lose anyone with that much experience," Jysella finished.
Valin stepped in before Ben could respond. "Jys, you're basing your decision on the fear that someone will turn. But isn't that something we already face every single day?"
"There's a reason they took the children there, Valin." Danni's voice was firm. Though not the most powerful Jedi on the Council, she was the oldest, and that still drew an extra measure of respect from her peers. "We all know why Vjun is dangerous. It changes you. The Sith will be more powerful than ever, our Knights will face greater temptation from the dark side, and who's to say that the children are still alive?" She shook her head. "As much as I hate myself for saying this, I believe the risks outweigh the benefits."
Ben had folded his arms across his chest, and his hands tightened around his biceps. "Danni, you're acting like this is another one of your experiments or puzzles, and it's not. We're talking about a bunch of kids. He's going to cut them up and destroy every part of them that's pure and decent." Ben paused before turning to face Tahiri. He could feel his face growing hot. "Maybe you've forgotten why you're here, Tahiri. Where would you be right now if Anakin hadn't come for you?"
If Tahiri could have killed a person with her eyes alone, Ben was pretty sure he'd be dead where he stood. He sensed the others shrinking away, waiting for the outburst that was surely coming.
Instead of reacting, Tahiri bit her lip and nodded very slowly. "Those in favor of sending a strike team to Vjun, keeping in mind that the Sith will be waiting for us, and it will probably require the presence of several Masters if we are to have a fighting chance. Failure in such a situation would be detrimental to the Order." Her gaze fell on each of the Council members in turn. "Those in favor?"
Ben gritted his teeth and raised a hand. Valin joined him, and across the table, Karanya raised hers as well. The holograms were motionless.
Tahiri waited for a moment, then nodded. "Thank you. Now, all opposed?"
Tekli, Jysella, Danni, and Gren all raised their hands. Tahiri was the last to do so, but there was no sense of victory in her vote. She shut down the holoproj in the center of the table. Château Malreaux disappeared.
"The decision is five to three, against. I conclude this Council. Be safe, and may the Force be with you."
The four holograms bowed their heads, repeated the phrase, and faded out. Before Tahiri could turn to face him, before Valin or Karanya could offer any words of encouragement, Ben removed the disc from the holoproj and stalked out of the tent.
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.
Tahiri was going to throttle Ben Skywalker. She was absolutely going to murder him. At one time she'd imagined he would turn out to be the most reasonable member of his family, but when his stubborn streak showed, boy did it ever show. She wasn't even really upset about the hurtful things he'd said to her; she was furious because he was so fixated on saving the younglings that he was going to get himself killed.
"Hey!" she yelled after him. He had almost reached the edge of the camp when he finally stopped and turned around. He held up both hands defensively.
"I don't want to discuss this, Tahiri. I've made up my mind."
"And since when do you get to just make up your mind? You're a Council member and a Knight of this Order; that means you respect the decisions of the Council in all matters, not just the ones you agree with."
"Even when the decisions are ludicrous?"
"Ben, you have no idea what will happen if you go to Vjun."
"I know what will happen if I don't."
Tahiri pressed her lips together and nodded. "Okay, let's say you go. Let's say you go and you get yourself killed. What are we supposed to do then?"
Ben threw his hands up in the air. "You're supposed to keep living, that's what! You survived Anakin's death and all the ones after. I think you'll survive mine."
"You know that's not what I mean," Tahiri growled. "You're a symbol, Ben. A symbol of hope, of everything the Jedi Order once was and could be again. And you'd throw that all away just to… gah! I don't even know why you're doing it!"
"Because I have to!"
Tahiri pointed a finger in his face. "If you die and those kids end up right back in the hands of the Sith, what good is it going to do anyone?"
Ben scowled and turned away. "My dad would have saved them."
"Maybe. Probably. But your mom would agree with me. She would wait."
Ben looked back at her and glared. "You're wrong. She would have died before letting the Sith twist another child to the dark side."
"Okay, but that doesn't change anything, Ben. They're gone and we're here, and it really doesn't matter what they would have done. So I'll ask again – why?"
Ben was silent for a moment. He shoved his hands in his pockets and stared out at the horizon, and for a brief second Tahiri could almost believe she was seeing his father.
Ben sighed. "I know I can save them, Tahiri. I know it."
Tahiri believed him, or at least that he believed his words were true. There was something else there, though, something lurking underneath. "What aren't you telling me?"
Ben met her gaze, and it was the first time in many years that she'd seen that hint of desperation in his eyes. "I'm tired of hiding from the dark side," he said. "I'm tired of wondering whether I'll give in one day and live up to my grandfather's legacy. I spent six months on that ship, Tahiri. Six months alone in my cabin at night, just waiting." He paused and looked away, and his voice grew quiet. "You don't understand how much stronger the pull is at night."
She thought about telling him that she did understand, that she was intimately acquainted with the lure of the dark side, but she decided in this instance it probably wouldn't help to point that out.
Instead, she reached out and placed both hands on his shoulders. "You're not going to fall to the dark side, Ben."
"I'm sure you felt the same way about Jacen once."
Tahiri was tempted to punch him. She squeezed his shoulders hard and forced him to look her in the eyes. He winced under her fingertips.
"Listen, kiddo. You know what happened with Jacen was not your fault, and you are not going to make his mistakes. Enough of this kind of talk, okay? Let the dead worry about the dead."
Ben squeezed his eyes shut and nodded. Tahiri let go of his shoulders.
"I swear, Skywalker, sometimes I just don't get you."
Ben blew air through his nostrils and looked out at the horizon. "Everyone's allowed their moment of weakness, right? Well you just saw mine."
"I'd hardly call it weakness. You're human, after all. You're allowed to be afraid now and then."
"I try not to make a habit of it."
"I've noticed. I wish I could change that, maybe scare you out of going on this crazy rescue mission."
Ben angled his body away from her, and she wondered how he had managed to turn her righteous anger into reluctant acceptance.
"We'll leave after sundown," Ben said. "Me and whoever else wants to come along. Should give Myri and Ulin enough time to get whatever info we need to make it past Vjun's defenses."
"They'll probably need more than a few hours if they're going to do all that."
"We can't afford to wait any longer. We leave tonight."
Tahiri studied him for a moment. "Where are you going now?"
"For a ride. Clear my head."
Tahiri sighed. "Ben, I'm not going to see you off tonight. I hope you understand."
He hesitated before answering. "I do."
"Okay, then." She slipped her hands into her coat pockets. "May the Force be with you."
Ben's smile was faint. "And with you, Tahiri."
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.
The children were staring at him expectantly.
As someone who had faced the most dangerous foes in the galaxy and cheated death on more than one occasion, Anakin was surprised by how intimidating the unblinking stares of eight younglings could be. He wasn't really sure why these children were so interested in him, but a whole group of them had materialized outside of Ben's tent sometime around midday demanding to be told the story of his and Ben's daring escape on Heibic 3. He had indulged them, and now they were back to the staring.
"So," he said slowly, trying not to fidget. "What now?"
"You got any more stories?" a small boy asked.
Did he ever. Too bad half of them were about the war or his Jedi training; with Davin and Dolan sitting amongst the group, and Ben's warning still ringing in his ears, Anakin was hesitant to tell any of those stories. As for the other half, well… he wasn't sure those were exactly appropriate for his very young audience.
Anakin rubbed the back of his neck and scanned his audience. A few of the children, including Davin and little Carin Horn, were resting their chins in the palms of their hands. He couldn't tell if they were bored or simply waiting for the next outrageous tale of escape.
"Um," Anakin started, but as he did so he caught sight of something out of the corner of his eye, something moving very swiftly toward the outskirts of the camp. He broke eye contact with the children to get a better look and was surprised to see Ben untying and then straddling one of the swoop bikes.
"Wait here," Anakin said, moving away from the children to chase after Ben. He had only gone a few steps when someone stepped out in front of him. At first he only saw a head of sun-bleached hair, then a scarred forehead, and solemn green eyes looking up at him.
"Tahiri." He said the name with a little too much force, partially because he was checking to make sure that it was, in fact, her name, and partially because he was a little annoyed that she had stopped him from going after his grandson. He took a step back and stared over her head as Ben gunned the engine to life.
"Let him go," she said softly. "He wants to be alone." She looked past him at the children. "Shouldn't you all be heading to your tents for lunch? Scoot!"
The children dispersed, Davin and Dolan hanging back long enough to give Tahiri a smile and a wave. She wrinkled her nose at them and waggled her fingers near her chin. It was one of the odder sites Anakin had seen since being ripped from his own time.
"He'll be back by nightfall," Tahiri said as she stared after the twins. "No need to worry."
"I wasn't worried."
"Sure." Tahiri returned her eyes to his. "Ben never told me where you're from."
He was a bit taken aback by the question, but Ben had prepared him for this situation. Be honest, but not too honest, was his advice. The fewer outright lies, the better.
Anakin wasn't entirely comfortable with the deception, but then there wasn't a whole lot about his circumstances that he did find comfortable. For now he would follow Ben's instructions.
"I don't know where I'm from, really," he started. "I lived here when I was little, and after that I moved around a lot – the Core planets, the Inner Rim. I spent the last several months jumping around the Outer Rim."
Tahiri nodded, eyebrows raised. "How'd you end up on Ossus?"
Anakin licked his lips. "I honestly don't know."
"Were you kidnapped?"
"Something like that."
She looked away and examined the sleeve of her coat. "Well, it's obvious you're very gifted. I can't believe we've never met; I travel to all the enclaves, you know."
"Well, you must have missed one."
He was surprised when she let out a short laugh. "Ben was right," Tahiri said, rubbing her jaw with one hand. "I do like you."
Anakin wasn't quite sure how to respond to that, so he kept his mouth shut and waited. He didn't have to wait long. Tahiri began to walk, and she gestured for Anakin to join her. The questions soon resumed.
"So your parents named you after the great Anakin Solo, huh?"
While her tone seemed completely natural, Anakin sensed her suspicion. He wondered if she knew about who he had claimed to be, and if so, he wondered if she thought he was insane. "Yes. They really admired him."
"Were they Jedi, too?"
"No."
Now he sensed sadness, a flash of genuine heartache that had snuck past Tahiri's shielding.
"He really was unique, even among his fellow Jedi," she said, her voice soft. "Even compared to the rest of his family. Sometimes I think we clung to that uniqueness a little too much, tried to turn him into something he wasn't."
"He was a hero."
"He was a kid." There was an old, old bitterness in her voice. "We were all just kids." She shook her head. "Would he have gone on to do more great things? Or do you think he would have eventually turned on us?"
Anakin's voice sounded small in his own ears. "I don't know."
Tahiri met his gaze and quirked one corner of her mouth. "Sorry. I'm just an old woman rambling on."
"You're not old."
"No, I'm not." She looked away again. "But then sometimes I am."
After a moment, she turned and fixed him with a hard stare, one that he was sure had stopped many Jedi dead in their tracks.
"I don't know if you are who you say you are, but regardless, I want you to know something. I would have died. Maybe not right away, maybe not until they'd wiped away all my human memories and turned me into the perfect hybrid. But I would have died. Anakin Solo saved my life. You're right to say he was a hero. He was my hero. And then he got himself killed, and one by one I've had to watch the rest of his family – my family – follow him to the grave."
Anakin looked deep into her green eyes and felt his stomach twist into a cold knot, and he wondered if maybe she knew exactly who he was.
Tahiri's lower lip was trembling, but there were no tears. "Anakin was a hero," she said firmly. "But I wish to the gods or the Force or whoever's out there that he didn't have to be. I wish none of them had been heroes. I wish they'd let someone else take up that job."
He thought she was going to say more, but she didn't. His hands were shaking now, and he crossed his arms to hide them from her. "Why are you telling me all of this? You barely know me."
Tahiri shook her head as if amazed he hadn't caught on yet. "It's because I barely know you. And because maybe one day you'll be in a position to make a difference, and you'll remember this conversation."
She blew out a frustrated breath and narrowed her eyes at the horizon. Anakin understood that she was very close to his family, was in fact handpicked by Jaina to be her sons' guardian. But he hadn't realized just how much she loved them. All of them, not just his namesake or the twins. And that meant he had failed her, too. He had brought this evil world down on her, had destroyed her life just as surely as he had destroyed Luke's or Leia's.
Would he ever have the chance to redeem himself? Was it even possible at this point?
Tahiri sighed and looked up at him. "Take care of him," she said, and then began to move back toward the tents.
"I will," he called after her. She didn't respond, and he watched her walk away, her long coat flapping in the breeze.
.
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Ben had been riding for hours when he finally stopped to take in the sunset. He planted one foot in the soft sand and dismounted, leaving the gently humming swoop bike to float in place while he climbed the steep dune before him. Ben stopped at the crest of the dune and stared out at the horizon. Tatoo II was a half circle, resting along the line of brown rock and sand that separated earth from sky. Its color had deepened from orange to almost blood-red, staining the dark blue around it. Above and to the left, Tatoo I glowed softly, its yellow-white surface tempered by the deepening dusk.
There was a slight breeze in the air; a few strands of hair tickled his ears and face as Ben leaned his head to one side, reflecting on the simple majesty of Tatooine's sunset. Just about everyone in his family had seen this sight at some point in their lives. Sometimes it seemed as though Tatooine was a fulcrum upon which the destiny of the entire Skywalker line turned. He had been the last to come here, the last to return to the place where so much had started. He had hoped to avoid it; instead, he found himself using it as a base of operations, tying himself to the planet.
Tatooine was not simply his birthright or part of his bloodline. It had become his home.
A home that he desperately wanted to be free of, but a home nonetheless.
Ben kicked the sand with his boot, looking away from the suns. It was almost time to leave. Anakin and the others would be waiting. He still wasn't sure what to do about his grandfather. He couldn't leave him here; just being on Tatooine seemed to stir many dark and troubling things inside of the future Sith Lord – not something Ben wanted to encourage. On the other hand, was it any safer to take him to the rendezvous? To include him in the rescue of the children? Not to mention that the rest of the Council would inevitably start asking questions about this mysterious stranger who shadowed Ben's every step.
He could only imagine how that conversation would go.
Ben ran a hand over his eyes. He had to take Anakin with him; he didn't have any other choice. If his grandfather went off the deep end, he needed to be there to stop him.
If he could. Ben had the sneaking suspicion that his victory over Anakin earlier that day had as much to do with chance as it did skill. Once his grandfather got over being distraught and disoriented, he would probably be a lot harder to take down.
Now there's a comforting thought.
Ben watched Tatoo II slip below the horizon. He turned his back on the sight and returned to his swoop.
Time to go.
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The shuttle arrived during a particularly violent downpour of acid rain, one that burned most of its black paint right off of the hull. It docked in a sheltered hangar and was met by Darth Festus and Doctor Mezzon, a pale slip of a man who watched quietly as the guards led six individuals – all children – off the shuttle and into Château Malreaux.
Darth Ferrus watched all of this on a vidscreen in the control room where he had just concluded an audience with his master. He wasn't exactly anxious to tell his brother how the conversation had gone, but it had to be done.
"We had hoped, my lord, that we might lead the Hunt." Ferrus was still afraid to be alone in a room with his master, even when they were light years apart.
Darth Krayt regarded him coolly from behind his mask. "What makes you think you have the necessary experience?" It wasn't a taunting tone, and yet Ferrus felt shamed by it.
"We are the youngest Sith Lords in your Order. There's a reason you chose to promote us so young."
His master leaned away from the transmitter, his voice deceptively soft. "And you think that reason is sufficient to justify removing Lord Dominius from the Hunt?"
Ferrus sighed and smacked his palms alternately against his cheeks. He'd had a response all planned out in his head, but when it came time to tell his master, of course he'd messed it up. His brother should have been the one to do it; he was more eloquent than Ferrus by far. But Festus refused to make the call, insisting that they go along with the Master's plan.
Lord Krayt had quickly taken control of the conversation and redirected it to said plan. Ferrus and his brother were to remain on Vjun and worry about the impending attack. No need to look for the Jedi because the Jedi would come to them.
And after that, Dominius will lead the Hunt again, and we'll still be here on this rock, babysitting a lunatic and his stupid project.
Ferrus jumped out of his seat and made his way to the prisoners' cells, where his brother would surely be. He was starting to wonder if his twin cared at all about moving up in the ranks. Maybe he really did just want to stay on Vjun.
Ferrus arrived in the cellar where the prisoners were being kept, and sure enough, Festus was there. Ferrus bumped his brother's shoulder as he passed him, stepping into the dimly lit cell. Two guards were shackling the new arrivals to the wall. They were all human children, two girls and four boys, none of them any older than twelve.
"I like that one," Festus said, leaning on the doorframe. He nodded toward a small blond boy who was sitting close to a dark-haired girl, staring up at them with big eyes. "He's a little creepy, don't you think?"
Ferrus looked over his shoulder at his brother and frowned. "Yeah, reminds me of someone else I know."
Festus let out a short, smug laugh and sidled up next to his brother. "I imagine," he whispered, "that we must look quite frightening when we stand together like this."
Ferrus studied the faces of the younglings and smirked. Most of them were trying not to look at their captors, but a few had noticed that there were now two Sith Lords standing shoulder to shoulder in the doorway. Their eyes were wide as they shrank away from the sight.
"I think it's the eyes," Ferrus replied, keeping his voice low. "You were right about them."
Festus inclined his head slightly. "Why go for those awful yellow things when we were born with such wonderfully eerie ones of our own?"
"Well, the yellow is useful sometimes." He looked over at Festus, the edges of his blue irises turning the color of fire. "I'd say we look pretty scary this way, too."
Festus sighed, but there was a hint of a smile around his mouth. "I suppose, if you're only interested in frightening small children."
"That's all you're interested in."
"It's really not." Festus turned to leave the room, but he lingered for a moment, watching for Ferrus's reaction out of the corner of his eye. Ferrus's face twisted in a grimace.
"I really wish I didn't know half of what goes on in that brain of yours."
"Trust me, brother," Festus said as he left the cell. "You don't know half."
Ferrus turned to follow him. "I spoke with the Master about—"
"I know." Festus tapped the side of his head. "Twin intuition, remember?"
"How could I forget?"
Festus gave him a bored look. "Save the sarcasm and put on a smile, brother. Judging by the stink in the air, I'd say Dominius and his little entourage have arrived."
"I think that stink is coming from Mezzon's lab."
Festus rolled his eyes. "Why are you always trying to ruin my fun?" He jerked his head toward a stairwell at the end of the corridor. "Come now; we don't want to keep our dear friends waiting."
.
.
The Jedi enclave was as still as the night air as Anakin followed Valin Horn to the waiting landspeeder. Kala Di Nal was sitting in the driver's seat, as solemn as she'd been upon their first meeting; now she was waiting to take them to Ben's ship, waiting for the man who was responsible for the whole operation.
Ben's swoop appeared as a black speck on the moon-drenched horizon, growing steadily larger until it came to a roaring stop alongside the speeder. He was silent as he dismounted and guided the bike to its stall, silent as he tossed his bag into the back of the speeder and swung himself into the passenger seat. Anakin and Valin settled into the back.
"I'm sorry about the Council," Kala Di murmured before firing up the engine. Thankfully, the speeder was much quieter than the swoop Ben had been riding.
Ben dismissed Kala Di's concerns with a wave. "We'll be fine as we are. Just take us to the Daybreak."
The girl nodded and took off into the night.
In the back seat, Anakin held his lightsaber in the palms of his hands. He couldn't see the path ahead, but he knew there would be blood. He could feel it.
All things die, Anakin Skywalker.
Even stars burn out.