CHAPTER XXVI
The Lord of Time
As they drew closer to the Great Falls of Shanthral – or, the Denlu'anthrai, as Jaina later found out –Armik grew increasingly more nervous. The falls were the boundary between the lowlands and the highlands; once they passed the falls, they would be in the mountains. The presence of the Dark side grew stronger with every step they took.
It had been at least three days since Jaina had seen her brothers – or what she thought had been her brothers. She remembered, with vivid clarity, their faces, the sound of their voices, the gestures they used while the talked. It had seemed extraordinarily real, yet Obi-Wan assured her that she had not left the boundaries of their camp that night.
Jaina had very little to say while her mind was preoccupied with images of Jacen and Anakin. Obi-Wan did not attempt to engage her in conversation; he seemed to realize that she needed to be alone with her thoughts.
And so, they travelled on in silence.
On the afternoon of their eighth day (by Shanthral time) of travel, Armik lead them out of a dense patch of forest and into an open glade. The glade, its lush green grass almost knee-high, rolled down towards the wide river at the base of a valley. Feeding the river was the Denlu'anthrai.
They were at least a half-an-hour's hike away from the falls, but already Jaina could hear the sound of thousands of gallons of water falling over the rocky mountain ledge, plunging hundreds of meters towards the ground. Now that they were out in the open, she could see, quite clearly, the route they were headed along. The mountains of Shanthral stretched high above them, their white-capped peaks reaching for the sky. Guarding the mountains were the falls; a long, wide rocky cliff over which the water tumbled. They were breathtakingly beautiful and Jaina thought she could have stayed there forever, if it hadn't been for the unfathomable presence of the Dark side that resided somewhere in those mountains.
Obi-Wan was scanning the area with his eyes. "Is that the only way up?" he asked Armik, nodding in the direction of the falls.
"Shan-yes-thrai."
"He said yes," Jaina translated before Obi-Wan could ask. She swallowed hard and turned to their guide. "Wait – do you mean to say that we're actually going to have to climb that thing?"
Armik's eyes looked back at her unblinkingly. "Shan-yes-thrai," he said. "Shan-the mountains are guarded by cliffs on all sides; the Denlu'anthrai is the only way up or down-thrai."
Jaina looked hesitantly at the falls. For all their beauty, this was going to be a formidable climb.
"Well," she said, "we better get started."
Armik guided them along the river's edge; as they approached the falls, the sound of the falling water soon began to drain everything else out. The mist surrounding the falls sprayed Jaina's face as they walked closer and closer; it felt like rain. Soon, they were at the base of the falls. The vegetation around the Denlu'anthrai was thick and green. Moss clung to the rocks that jutted out from the rock face that the water flowed over. Jaina wondered how they were supposed to climb this. She couldn't see a way up or down.
Armik whistled, catching her attention. She turned to him and saw that he was standing beside what looked like a ladder carved into rock – or a very steep staircase. Jaina and Obi-Wan walked over and looked up. The crooked staircase was wet and slippery, covered with moss.
"Oh, well, I suppose nothing is ever easy," Obi-Wan sighed.
"I suppose so," Jaina murmured. She was distracted; the presence of the Dark side was growing in her mind. It was somewhere very close to here – very close. It was making her skin tingle.
Something wasn't right.
"Shan-climb-thrai," Armik instructed.
Jaina glanced at Obi-Wan.
"Ladies first?" he said.
Jaina rolled her eyes and walked to the vertical staircase carved into the rock face. Gripping the slippery ledge as tight as she could, she began to climb. Once she was several feet up the side of the cliff, Obi-Wan followed. Armik brought up the rear, continually glancing over his shoulder as if he was expecting something to creep up on them.
It took all of Jaina's strength to pull herself up the rock-face. Water tumbled around her on all sides; more than once, her grip slipped and she almost lost her balance. Mist from the falls settled in her hair, on her face, on her body, mixing with the accumulation of sweat. About a quarter of the way up, her breathing was already ragged and there was a sharp pain in her chest. The sound of falling water thundered in her ears.
Obi-Wan wasn't doing much better than her; she could hear him gasping for breath. Though he must have been as exhausted as she was, he didn't say a word. Below Obi-Wan, Armik was talking rapidly in his native tongue, muttering to himself and continually pushing the pace. Jaina wished she could turn around and ask him what the matter was, but she didn't have the energy. Besides, she would probably lose her grip and fall.
The higher they climbed, the more the mist swirled around them. Soon, Jaina was having difficulty seeing. They were half-way up the falls when Armik shouted something incomprehensible. Jaina looked over her shoulder and glanced down. The mist from the falls was obscuring her view; all she could see was the top of Obi-Wan's head.
"Armik?" she called, projecting her voice so that the Shanthra would hear it over the sound of the falls.
There wasn't an answer.
"Armik, what's wrong?" she shouted.
The silence was disturbing.
"Obi-Wan," Jaina said after a moment, "can you see anything?"
"No," he replied. "Nothing but mist."
"What's going on?"
"I don't know."
"ARMIK!" Jaina yelled. "Can you hear me?"
No answer.
"Wait a minute," Obi-Wan said. "Can you see that?"
"See what?" Jaina strained her neck, trying to see further down the cliff.
"Down there, there's something moving –" Obi-Wan suddenly stopped talking.
The air, the water, everything around them was suddenly alive with the presence of the Dark side. Jaina thought she could feel the rock-face of the cliff moving. She tightened her grip on the rocks and tried to peer through the mist.
Then she saw it. Dark, formless – and climbing upwards.
"MOVE!" Obi-Wan shouted. "MOVE!"
Jaina didn't need the warning. She began clambering up the rock-face as quick as she could. She ignored the pain in her hands, the soreness in her chest. Every time she slipped, she clung on to the moss-covered rocks, her legs kicking frantically in order to find a new foothold. Behind her, Obi-Wan was frantically scrambling up the cliff.
The mist began to converge on them; it was more like fog than mist now. Jaina could barely see her own hands. When she glanced behind her, the only sign of Obi-Wan was his ragged breathing.
When she looked down, she could see the formless black thing, rushing up towards them like a monster out of a child's nightmare.
Her heart jumped into her throat.
Calling on the Force to ease her panic, Jaina made one final push to the top of the cliff. Exhausted, she hoisted herself up on the hard, wet rocks and rolled out of the way so Obi-Wan could pull himself up. She rose to her feet as he came over the edge and looked around; they were standing on a small rock peninsula that jutted out into the fast-flowing water of the wide river or lake that flowed over the falls. It connected to the tree-lined shore.
Jaina and Obi-Wan ran towards the shore, slipping on the wet rocks. Once they were in among the trees, they stopped to catch their breath.
The land beyond the edge of the waterfall was covered by a thick, white mist – a mist that was quickly being sucked away by the dark thing that slowly came up over the edge of the falls.
"What is that thing?" Jaina breathed.
"I don't know," Obi-Wan answered.
"It's coming after us," Jaina said.
There was a pause of silence as they stared at each other for a long moment. It was Obi-Wan who finally managed to speak.
"Jaina, we need to find the Shanthrai's 'dark person.' Do you know where to start looking?"
Jaina looked at him incredulously. "Why do you think I know? Why are you asking at a time like this?"
"You understand the Shanthrai much better than I do," Obi-Wan said quickly. "You learned their language. Surely Armik gave you some hint –"
"No. He didn't. Ask him where to start looking when he comes over that ledge."
The darkness had come up over the side of the falls and was quickly spreading now.
"Armik is dead, Jaina."
Jaina bit her lip. She knew that, but she didn't want to admit it. If that thing caught up with them… She looked at Obi-Wan. "I – Hutt breath!"
Without even waiting for him to say something, she grabbed Obi-Wan's wrist and began running through the forest, following the water's edge. The thing that was chasing them had found them.
The Jedi ran, unsure of where to go, not knowing what they would do if their assailant caught them. There was no clear path through the forest as there had been in the lowlands; no animals walked here. Jaina leapt over fallen logs and darted through the trees, her eyes searching for some way to escape. Her heart pounded in her chest.
She wasn't sure how long she could keep running, but she was saved the decision when the forest abruptly ended and they came to a halt on the edge of a lake. The other side was just visible. There was nowhere to go.
"Don't just stand there!" Obi-Wan yelled. She watched as he ran past her, threw his pack on the ground and dove into the lake, swimming towards the opposite shore. Jaina glanced over her shoulder, her skin tingling when she thought she saw the dark thing approaching. Without any argument, she discarded her pack and plunged into the lake and began to swim.
The water was ice-cold. The initial shock when she first dove it was enough to knock her breath away, but Jaina forced herself to swim. It was the only way of escape.
Her clothes weighed her down as she swam and she struggled to keep her head above the water. Her exhausted body protested as she forced it to keep moving through the water. Calling on the Force, she tried to ease away the pain and focus on one thing: survival.
"Jaina, look."
Jaina came to a stop and began treading water. They were about half-way across the lake. Obi-Wan pointed at the shore they had just left; a dark cloud was gathering there. It tentatively approached the water, and then jerked back. Suddenly, it dissipated into nothing.
Jaina stared at the spot where the thing had disappeared. "What was it?"
"I don't know."
They were quiet for several long minutes. Finally, Jaina broke the silence when she realized her teeth were chattering quite noisily.
"Let's keep moving," she said and they swam for shore.
Jaina was grateful when her feet touched solid ground, even though it was ankle-deep mud that stuck and clung to her boots. Coughing and gasping for air, she pulled herself out of the water and onto dry land. After a moment of struggle, she pulled her feet out of the muck and lay down, quite still, on the grass. She tried to bring her breathing back to normal. She closed her eyes.
"Jaina?"
"What?" Jaina croaked. She felt water-logged. Her clothes were sodden.
"Have a look at this."
Jaina sat up and slowly rose to her feet, irritated. "Obi-Wan, I'm trying to recover my strength. What's so important that…"
Her voice faded away as she saw exactly what was so important.
She hadn't noticed it when she had climbed out of the lake, but now she saw it so clearly she wondered how she had missed it. The mountains came right down to the edge of the lake here and in the solid rock wall was the entrance to a cave. It wasn't a natural cave; for one thing, it was broad and arched. For another, it was guarded by two large, ancient-looking pillars decorated with symbols she couldn't even hope to decipher.
It resonated through the Force with the presence of the Dark side.
"I think we've found what we've been looking for," Obi-Wan remarked.
"Yeah," Jaina agreed, staring at the cave entrance. "Yeah, I think we have."
Jaina unclipped her lightsaber from her belt and slowly approached the cave entrance. She stared at the symbols on the pillars. They were strange, archaic – and they sent a cold shiver down her spine. As she stared at them, she noticed that there was one line of symbols that stood out from the rest. It was complex that the symbols themselves became a series of little pictures, repeating over and over again. It took a moment, but it wasn't long before Jaina realized that the intricate carving was that of a reptilian animal, whose long, spiked-tail was entwined around the many-petaled flower. The flower had thick thorns, and the edges of its petals were withered. The reptile's mouth was open, and it appeared to be breathing fire on the flower. Both it and the flower were surrounded by clouds of fire.
Jaina's breath caught in her throat.
"What is this place?" she murmured.
"I don't know," Obi-Wan said, coming to stand next to her. His eyes were narrowed. "But can you sense that? It's filled with the power of the Dark side."
Jaina shivered. "I know."
She glanced at him; Obi-Wan was staring at her, his expression unreadable. Jaina wondered briefly what would happen if she told him the truth about her origins. How would he react? How would things have turned out if she had told someone about time travel?
She swallowed hard. This wasn't the place or the time.
"Let's go," she said, fingering her lightsaber hilt. Obi-Wan nodded and withdrew his own lightsaber.
They advanced cautiously into the cave. It was more like a tunnel than a cave, winding deeper and deeper into the side of the mountain. From what Jaina could see of the walls, they were covered in similar carvings and symbols as the ones on the pillars at the entrance.
Several hundred yards in, the tunnel opened up to a large, high-ceilinged cavern that was roughly rectangular. The walls were smooth rock, gently sloping upwards. Placed at even intervals around the cavern were tall stone pillars, each holding a stone bowl in which a small fire was lit. The dancing flames cast long shadows around the large room. Following their intricate dance, Jaina saw something at one end of the cavern. Without thinking, she rushed forwards.
"Jaina!"
She heard her feet pounding on the stone floor of the cavern; each footstep echoed wildly around the cave. As she neared the opposite side of the cavern, she came to an abrupt halt, filled with so much horror at the realization of what she was seeing that she felt ill.
Lining the walls, all slumped together, were hundreds upon hundreds of Shanthrai, all glassy-eyed and lifeless. The nearest one to her was unmistakably Armik.
"No."
She knelt beside him, searching for a pulse, knowing that it was useless.
"Jaina!" Obi-Wan was running towards her. "What are you doing –" He stopped talking as soon as he saw the horror of the cave. "How… what…?"
Jaina shook her head. "I don't know. But now we know what has been happening to the Shanthrai. They're all… dead, Obi-Wan. Every last one of them. I can't even begin to understand why."
"But –"
A sudden boom reverberated around the cavern, cutting off Obi-Wan's words. He and Jaina simultaneously spun around to find the source of the sound and found that the entrance to the cavern had disappeared.
"Sithspit," Jaina swore under her breath, staring at the blank wall that had been an entrance only moments before. "What's going on here?"
She was answered by another question.
"Who dares to enter my domain?" The voice that spoke was disembodied, high-pitched and cold.
Jaina stood up, gripping her lightsaber tightly. "Who are you to take the lives of an innocent species?" she answered. She thought she sounded much braver than she felt.
"Who are you to defy he could controls life and death, little girl?"
Jaina froze. The voice resonated with such power that it shook her to the very core, paralyzing her.
"We haven't come here to menace you," Obi-Wan called, looking around for the source of the voice. "Tell us what you have done with the Shanthrai and we will let you go in peace."
"You will let me go? You?" The voice laughed. "Obi-Wan Kenobi, you may be a Jedi Master, but you still have much to learn. What is it that you can do that could possibly stop me? The events of this Galaxy are beyond your powers and understanding, boy. You would have been better off to have stayed on Coruscant, dealing with the mundane affairs of the Senate and this so-called war. You have come here foolishly and you will pay the price."
"Not if I can help it." He activated his lightsaber, the bright blade casting a flickering blue light around the large cavern.
The voice laughed. "Do you honestly believe that your simple Jedi tricks can outdo my powers? Give up, Kenobi. You have no chance."
"Wait!" Jaina called. "Who are you?"
"The time will come, Jaina Solo, when you will learn that those of lesser power are in no position to ask questions of the Great Ones."
"Yes, well, I'm a slow learner," Jaina answered. "Tell me who you are!" She looked around wildly, trying to pinpoint the disembodied voice. Suddenly, she saw it: in the centre of the cavern, a dark fog was forming. It curled upwards, making the vague shape of a tall humanoid. The voice came from the shadow.
"Very well," the shadow said. "I will tell you. I am the creator of all things. I can bring life and death. I hold the powers of time in my fist. I have all the knowledge of the Force. You do not understand. That is very well; your kind never do. Let us use an analogy. Allow me to take you back to a moment in your now-destroyed past, Jaina Solo. If you are Yun-Harla to the Yuuzhan Vong, then I am Yun-Yuuzhan."
Jaina could feel bile rising in her throat. She watched as the shadow solidified, turning into a tall man, hooded and cloaked. She could not see is face, but his presence in the Force was staggering.
The Dark side was everywhere.
Jaina raised her lightsaber and activated it.
"You," she said, "are a murderer."
She lunged towards him, the violet blade steady in her hand. The previous exhaustion she had felt had disappeared; she was full of new energy.
Jaina was three feet away from her enemy when he raised a pale hand. The action was lazy, casual even. Suddenly, she felt herself being thrown across the cavern, flying high up in the air and tumbling down, down, down…
"JAINA!"
She cried out, then gritted her teeth and reached out with the Force, trying to slow her velocity. The floor rose up to meet her and she landed, hard, on the stone. The wind was knocked from her lungs. She groaned and winced, trying to ignore the pain as she rose to her feet and began to limp towards her enemy, one hand clutching her side.
Obi-Wan had watched her being hurled through the air. After seeing her rise, he turned his attention to the cloaked man. He approached him with caution, searching for weaknesses. Their opponent, however, dismissed this tactic with a sigh. He raised a hand; blue lightning crackled out from his fingertips, striking Obi-Wan in the chest and sending him flying half-way across the cavern.
The cloaked man stood quite still, having hardly moved an inch since the battle had begun. He watched as Obi-Wan struggled to rise.
"Remember this lesson, Obi-Wan Kenobi," he said. "You are weak. The Jedi are weak. That is their downfall – they cannot comprehend all aspects of the Force, and thus are powerless in the face of one who can. That is why the Sith have triumphed – and will always triumph, for all eternity."
"Never!" Jaina shouted, urging her legs to work as she forced herself to run forwards. She charged at her enemy, her lightsaber swinging towards her opponent's head –
The blade stopped an inch from the cloaked man's hooded face. Try as she might, Jaina couldn't move her blade. It was stuck, trapped; something was holding it in place. She cried out and attempted to swing it, but lost her grip on the hilt. She fell to her knees and looked up; the blade was suspended in mid-air. Suddenly, it was flying across the room, propelled by the Force.
She was left defenseless.
"You're attempts are useless, Jaina Solo," the shadow hissed. "You are not powerful enough. You do not have the strength to overcome my powers." He raised his hand again and clenched his fist.
Jaina gasped. Pain unlike anything she had ever felt before was coursing through her body. She collapsed, writhing on the floor. Every cell in her body ached; her face contorted with pain. Tears leaked from her eyes as she panted for air, moaning in agony.
"And so, Jaina Solo," the shadow said, "you die."
"I'm afraid you are mistaken," a calm voice interrupted.
Jaina twisted her head around and looked up; Obi-Wan, bruised and battered, was standing behind the cloaked man, his lightsaber burning brightly in his hand. His expression was unreadable, but his eyes were very calm. Before the shadow had time to react, he plunged his lightsaber through the cloaked man's back.
The shadow screamed. He stumbled, falling forwards – and with a terrible, brutal sound, the air around him ripped open. Wind whistled through the cavern, tearing at her hair, at her clothes. The flames on the tops of the pillars in the cavern blew out. For a brief moment, Jaina looked into the heart of the whirling cyclone that was Time – the burning lights, the roaring sounds, so familiar from her own trip through the wormhole – and then the shadow fell into the vortex and sealed the portal behind him.
The wind immediately faded, as if it hadn't existed. With a reverberating boom, the entrance to the cavern re-appeared.
Jaina collapsed back on the floor.
Obi-Wan rushed over and knelt beside her. "Are you all right?" he asked anxiously, helping her sit up.
"I'm fine," Jaina gasped, wincing. She pressed a hand to her side. "It hurts to breathe. I think I might have broken a rib or two."
"Here, let me help you."
Jaina put an arm around his shoulder and let him hoist her back onto her feet. She was too tired to argue.
"I would like to know who he was," Obi-Wan said after a moment's silence. "And what he was doing." He glanced towards the limp figures of the Shanthrai.
"I think he goes a little further past the whole Dark Lord of the Sith thing," Jaina said quietly. "He's a psychopath."
"I have never met anyone with that kind of power."
"Nor have I."
They were silent again.
"Yun-Harla," Obi-Wan murmured. "Yun-Yuuzhan. What did he mean by those? What are they?"
Jaina swallowed hard. "They're gods," she said. "They're the deities of the Yuuzhan Vong."
"The what?"
Jaina raised a hand to her mouth. For some reason, she felt like either crying or shouting. She trembled as she tried to control her emotions.
"Jaina," Obi-Wan said gently, "you can tell me. I trust you."
"What good is trust if you couldn't possibly believe what I say is true?" Jaina replied softly.
She watched his face for a moment; he seemed to be fighting with himself. Several times he started to say something before he finally decided how to say it.
"Jaina," he began, "it doesn't take a genius to figure it out. I've been watching you ever since we met on the Invisible Hand. I do admit at first I was puzzled by your presence on Grievous' ship; I thought for certain you were spies, trained in the ways of the Force by Sith Lords, but my initial assumptions were proven wrong just hours after meeting you. I knew without a doubt that you could not be a Sith. The way you used the Force – you're a Jedi, through and through. I knew that you were not a Sith, so I became curious – instead of wary – about your origins. I asked you on this mission so I could discover more about you. This mission has given me proof to an idea that I originally considered to be illogical, unreasonable and entirely impossible."
"And… what idea was that?"
Obi-Wan locked eyes with her. "That you are out of your time," he said. "That you are from either the future or the past. That you have travelled through time. Why, I do not know, but I have seen enough to place full confidence in my theory."
Suddenly, Jaina laughed. She couldn't help herself. She should never have underestimated the power of thought of a curious Jedi Master.
Obi-Wan looked taken aback by her unusual response. "What is it?"
Jaina forced herself to stop laughing and winced; pain was shooting through her chest. Once it was under control, she turned to Obi-Wan and smiled. "I knew I should have said something sooner," she said. "But I guess I am a really bad actor. Or you're just very smart."
He looked puzzled; then his expression filled with understanding. He blinked and looked incredulously at her. "Seriously?"
Jaina nodded. "Yes."
"You've travelled through time?"
"Yes."
"From when?"
"Fifty years in your future. Approximately."
"Why?"
That was the question she had been dreading. What to say? How to explain it?
There was only one way: the truth.
"Anakin Skywalker," she said quietly. "He's going to do something I have to try to stop. If I don't, the entire future of the Galaxy is at stake."
"What do you have to do?" Obi-Wan inquired.
"Stop him from turning to the Dark side."
Silence.
"What?" His expression was incredulous, unbelieving.
"It's true," Jaina said simply. "I know he's your friend, Obi-Wan, and that makes it even harder to accept, but right now Anakin's headed down a dark path. Kyp and I have to stop him… before it's too late."
"Anakin would never turn," Obi-Wan said firmly.
"Even if his best friend is a Sith Lord?" Jaina inquired.
Obi-Wan blinked. "Excuse me?"
"Palpatine," Jaina said. "The Chancellor is Darth Sidious. Please, Obi-Wan, you have to believe me. We've been trying to talk to Anakin ever since we got here, but he's so close to the Chancellor that it's almost impossible to create a rift between them. Palpatine's going to turn him to the Dark side. He'll become Darth Vader and annihilate the Jedi."
Obi-Wan stared at her. "You can't be serious! Anakin would never do that!"
"It happened in my past, Obi-Wan," Jaina said. "It happened. It will happen if Kyp and I don't do something. In twenty years time, the Jedi will be nothing if we don't stop it. Anakin has to kill Palpatine if we have any chance against the Empire they'll create."
Obi-Wan's eyes narrowed. "If you're so keen on preventing Anakin from falling to the Dark side, then why are you here with me?"
Jaina bit her lip. "That man we fought," she said quietly. "Did you see what he did? The vortex. Did you see the vortex?"
"I saw something that I was sure was just my imagination—"
"No!" Jaina shook her head. "It was not your imagination. He opened the time vortex and slipped through. He can control time. He's not the only one. Palpatine can do it, too. Listen to me, Obi-Wan. In my past, Anakin turned back to the light and tried to kill Palpatine. But the Emperor survived by slipping into time. He was not destroyed, and Anakin died trying to kill him. Anakin's the Chosen One; he's supposed to bring balance to the Force. He's the only one who can kill Palpatine. That's why I was sent to this time. As for why I'm here with you, well… Palpatine can see the future. Or multiple futures. He knows who I am. He knows what I'm trying to do. He tried to kill me on Coruscant. Kyp told me to go on this mission, to keep me safe." She glanced around the cavern. "That did not work very well."
"You think that man was Palpatine?" Obi-Wan asked.
Jaina shook her head. "I don't know," she murmured. "I don't know who he was. There was so much… power in his presence, it was impossible to tell whether it was someone I knew or not."
They were silent again. Jaina was lost in her thoughts and Obi-Wan seemed to be trying to come to terms with the information that a time traveler had arrived in this era in order to stop his best friend from falling to the Dark side.
"We must return to Coruscant," Obi-Wan said finally. "We need to get to Anakin right away. He visits the Chancellor every day; he's been appointed the Chancellor's personal representative on the Jedi Council –"
"What?!" Jaina cried.
"—we have to act right away," Obi-Wan finished. "If what you say is correct…"
"Then we have been wasting valuable time here," Jaina said. "I should never have left."
"You had no choice," Obi-Wan said. "How could I have known what you were trying to do? And Kyp did what he thought was best for you –"
Jaina snorted. "I wish he'd stop doing that," she muttered.
"—and the Shanthrai, well…" Obi-Wan's voice faded away. "That man was using them for something. Hopefully we've managed to stop it, but it doesn't change the fact that he was committing genocide and their entire race has nearly been extinguished."
Jaina glanced at the lifeless forms of the Shanthrai. "It's horrible," she whispered. "Absolutely horrible. I don't even want to know what the purpose of abducting and killing them was."
"We might never find out," Obi-Wan said. He pursed his lips. "We should tell the Shanthrai that their people are here. They'll know what to do. We've done all we can."
Jaina nodded. "Yes." She glanced towards the now open exit to the cave; she looked at Obi-Wan and smiled tightly. "Let's get back to Coruscant. I really hope nothing has happened to Anakin yet."
"So do I," Obi-Wan murmured.