Chapter 37

Kyp Durron's Office, Jedi Temple, Coruscant

"Thank you for finally taking the time from your busy schedule to meet with me," Kyp s miled as he sat down behind his simple, metal desk. The surface of which was cluttered with datacards and sheets of flimsy. He had been trying to schedule a meeting with Ben Skywalker for over three weeks. "Please, sit."

However, Ben made no such move toward the proffered chair; instead he remained standing. His posture military with his feet apart, shoulders square and his hands clasped behind his back in an at-ease parade stance, which oddly reminded him of Jag Fel.

"I'm fine," Ben replied and Kyp could tell that he was anything but relaxed. "However, I have a meeting with General Solo and Major Vo'hern from Security in less than an hour. We are to begin preparing security measures for Chief Niathal's speech."

Kyp nodded and s miled. "Then I won't take longer than necessary. I understand that you will be promoted next week and will be taking over the role of commander for the Coruscant unit of GAG."

"Yes."

Kyp could barely contain his frustration at Ben's evasiveness. Yet, the young man was answering his questions. Kyp couldn't gleam a thing from the Jedi Apprentice and on some level that bothered the Jedi Master, but then considering who Ben's Master was it didn't surprise Kyp. He never could probe Jacen Solo either and find anything but a durocrete wall.

Kyp leaned over his folded arms, hoping to project a relaxed tone to what he suspected to be a tense conversation. "Quite an accomplishment for someone so young. Colonel Shevu is said to greatly admire your combat skills and your leadership, in fact. I'm sure your master is quite proud of you."

Ben expression remained as impassive as before at the blatant praise. Something most teenagers couldn't do, but then, Kyp reminded himself, Ben Skywalker wasn't like most teenagers. Ben finally responded, "I lead by example and by using the available intelligence and by relying on the Force, Master Durron. I also don't expect my people to do anything I wouldn't do myself. My Master taught me that."

Kyp raised a graying eyebrow, "That is usually the only way to lead men successfully."

"Master Durron, I appreciate your notice of my abilities but…"

Kyp cut him off, "I know, and that isn't what I've wanted to meet with you for either." Kyp really wasn't sure how Luke and Mara expected him to do this; so, he chose the blunt and direct way. That usually worked best for him anyway. "Your parents have requested that you be removed from Master Solo's apprenticeship."

That did cause an unshielded emotional response in the young man, but before his anger could be vocalized, Kyp added with a challenging stare, "And be placed under mine."

"No." Ben lost the military control in his stance and, though his hands fisted by his sides and his anger boiled, his voice and expression betrayed nothing. Jacen taught him well. "Jacen has been and will remain my master. I know what you, my parents and Corran Horn think of Jacen and it isn't true."

Kyp sat up and inquired, "What is that we think, Apprentice Skywalker?"

"That Jacen's falling to the Dark Side," Ben simply responded.

"Has he?"

"Of course not," Ben indignantly answered. "Jacen—Master Solo may focus more on the entire Force and has taught me to use my emotion to strengthen my abilities, as when I defected the laser blast last year or when I protected Lon and myself in the bombing in Mullin, but I haven't used the Dark Side."

"Except when you killed Filip Marcia."

"Jys talked to you about that," it was a statement not a question.

"She is concerned about you. We all are."

"Well, you don't have to be. I admit that I went too far when I killed him, but I haven't since nor will I ever loose complete control again."

"That may be your intentions, Ben, but what happens the next time you are faced with something horrendous and you cross the line from the Unifying Force to the Dark Side. That is a line nearly too fine to walk when strong emotions are involved. I know, I've been there myself. That's one reason why your parents have requested that I take you on as Apprentice."

"No. I will not train under anyone other than Jacen. No offence, of course," Ben quickly added clearly not caring if Kyp took offence to the refusal of his offer or not.

"Why?"

"Why, what?" Ben had a stubborn clinch to his jaw that he clearly inherited from his mother.

"Why only Jacen?"

"Because he understands me. Because he makes me understand myself and because he pushes me to excel and yet he doesn't frustrate me. Because he has helped me find myself and has taught me to trust the Force. Because he respects me for not just my Force skill, but also my military skills. He has allowed me to become a good leader and to think for myself. He knows me better than anyone except for maybe Jysella."

"Those are all good reasons, Ben. But I think all students who learn from a teacher feel the same; however, that doesn't mean what is being taught or how the lessons are taught is valid," Kyp leaned over his desk again. "What we fear is that what Jacen has taught you may be faulty and for you ever to become an accomplished Jedi you will need to learn the correct lessons."

Ben's veneer finally cracked and he angrily responded, "First of all, I refuse to be removed from my Master's teaching simply because a certain few don't like his philosophy. Second, Jacen Solo is a full Jedi Master and member of the Council. If he is so wrong, why is he there? Besides, it was you, Master Durron, who recommended him for promotion after Master Kirana Ti was killed in the first place. If he wasn't Master material then he shouldn't have been promoted. Thirdly, I understand my parent's concern, but really I find it unwarranted and selfish. Unwarranted because I'm learning to use the Force, which was what they wanted Jacen to teach me, and selfish because they want to deny me from doing my job. A job that I do well from your own praise and acknowledgment; yet, my parents have never once told me that they are proud of what I've done to save lives and bring peace. They only want to protect me in a way that is impossible for Jedi, which has very little to do with the Dark Side. They feel guilty for sending Anakin Solo and so many of the others on that mission that cost them their lives, and they feel that if they don't cuddle me the same thing could happen to me. Unfortunately, we are Jedi. We risk our lives for the greater good."

"They love you, Ben. And times aren't as desperate as they were then. Most Apprentices your age aren't in the military and definitely aren't commanders of an entire company."

"Most Jedi Masters aren't the Supreme Commander either. Jacen loves me and only wants the best for me. And we both want the same thing for the GA—to end this war and save the GA in these desperate times." Ben glanced at his wrist chrono and announced, "I'm really sorry, Master, but if I don't leave now I will be late for my meeting, which isn't an example as a commander I want to exemplify. Good afternoon." Ben snapped off a quick bow, turned and with military precision exited the office.

Kyp Durron suddenly felt very old as he sat back in his chair and let out a weary sigh. I'm glad the Force never gave me any children, he thought, I couldn't deal with this as a parent. He is so blinded. I'm not looking forward to telling Luke and Mara that their request was so thoroughly shot down either. I only hope that for Ben's sake our suspicions are wrong.

Secure Conference Room 256S Security Department, Senate Building Annex, Coruscant

Ben used the laser pointer to point to hidden accesses in the bowels of the Galactica Opera House one at a time, "These three service tunnels shall have at least two guards posted each with constant communication with the control center. More guards will be posted here…"

"That is all very impressive Lieutenant Skywalker," the brightly colored, female, middle-aged Togruta Security major cut into Ben's detailing of his plan for the security of the opera house Chief of State Niathal was to speak next month. "Have you come up with this on your own?"

Ben couldn't help the indignant feeling that came over him. First, he was still thinking about his meeting with Durron earlier and now this. He had worked hard to finalize the plan that if accepted would provide the security for the Chief of State's public address; despite the fact that Jacen was counting on Jehmi Vo'hern's disapproving it.

"Yes, Major, I did," he couldn't keep his pride out of his voice.

Vo'hern's black and white headtails, which were si milar to Twi'lek lekku, twitched in disapproval. She openly s miled, giving Ben a glimpse of her sharp teeth. "How old are you?"

"Sixteen. I'll be seventeen in five months," Ben knew that her prejudice was what Jacen was counting on.

She looked at Jacen and declared, "I realize that it is not unusual for Jedi, and specifically human Jedi, to excel at young ages; however, I cannot in clear conscious approve a security plan which was designed by a sixteen-year-old."

Jacen leaned forward over the polished dark wood table, "However, Lieutenant Skywalker has more than excelled at such things. In fact, he participated in the planning for the security at the last address Chief Niathal had made prior to the attacks on the Mon Calamari shipyards. His input was very incisive and is why I chose him to come up with the plan since Colonel Shevu isn't here. Besides, Ben is to be the commanding officer of the Coruscant unit of GAG in less than a week."

"Something else I don't agree with, General Solo." Vo'hern was new to her position of Security Chief and didn't hide her dislike for GAG or Jedi. She felt that both the GAG and Jedi had too many freedoms and were too powerful. "How does a mere boy become so powerful? I cannot believe that it is only due to his natural abilities." She glanced at Ben and he stiffened. He knew exactly where this was going and he didn't like it. "If his father wasn't Luke Skywalker and if you were not his Jedi Master, I truly doubt he would even be off of Ossus."

"I'm sorry that you feel that way, Major Vo'hern," Jacen gave her a forced s mile. Then he looked at his wrist chorno and announced, "However, I have another meeting with the Chief of State regarding the situation at Kashyyyk. So, I will call your office to set up another meeting regarding the security issue. Perhaps you could come up with a plan and we could mesh Lieutenant Skywalker's with yours."

She nodded, the light reflecting off her polished horns, "That will be acceptable, Sir."

The major left and after the door sealed again, securing the room. Ben turned to his Master and gave him a weak s mile. Jacen clasped him on the shoulder, despite Ben being at least two centimeters taller than his cousin. Jacen s miled and said, "That was an amazing plan, Ben. I was almost afraid she wouldn't shoot it down."

"Thanks, Jace. I did work hard on it. I wanted to see just how good I could make it."

Jacen resumed his seat and Ben followed suit. Then the older man asked, "What did Durron want?"

Ben shrugged, "He wants to take over my apprenticeship. Mom and Dad have told him to remove you from being my Master and have asked him to take it over."

Jacen sat back and let out a breath. "I suspected that was going to happen. I knew they would ask him to spy on me—us." He was quiet for a long moment and then said, "However, this does present a solution to a problem."

Ben was instantly alert, "What problem?"

Jacen raised an eyebrow, "That they can't know you have embraced the Sith. If you remain my Apprentice they will suspect that you have fallen. Your fall has to remain secret."

Ben stared openmouthed at his cousin and mentor, "What are you trying to tell me, Jace? That you want me to become Durron's Apprentice?"

Jacen s miled, "It would be good to have you in their little circle. You are good at shielding and projecting false emotions so you could pull it off."

"You want me to spy on my parents and Durron and Horn?"

"Yes. You pretend to be the perfect little Jedi Apprentice and report back to me."

"But you know my parents don't want me in the GAG. How will this work?" Ben wasn't convinced that this was a good idea.

"Ben, first off, you are no longer a minor. You emancipated youself when you married Jysella. Second, you are an officer in the GA military. Your parents can't just tell you to stop being such without great disturbance to national security. They know that." Jacen than stood and s miled, "We'll continue this at home tonight, okay?"

Ben nodded and said, standing as well, "Yeah, I want to hit the firing range anyway. I'm only hitting ninety-seven point five present."

Jacen quirked an eyebrow, "That's as good as most snipers."

Ben shrugged then gazed intently at Jacen, "True. But I can't mess this up. You know that. I'll have one shot at best and I only want to hit the target."

"Ben," Jacen turned and faced his cousin and put his hands on Ben's upper arms. S miling he said, "What do I keep telling you? I know I had this lesson to relearn myself early on before my sacrifice."

Ben still wasn't sure what Jacen's sacrifice was but now wasn't the time to discuss it. S miling wryly he replied, "To trust the Force. That we have to trust it as much as a Jedi does; even though we can manipulate it."

"Exactly. Trust the Force, Ben. Use the Force and you will not fail." Jacen gently cuffed him on the arms and then dropped his hands, to pull at the bottom of the white jacket of his uniform to straighten it. "Now, I must leave. See you later."

"Bye, Jace." Ben watched him leave and then gathered up his datacards and datapad. Taking a deep breath he shored up the shield which he masked the Darkness which he knew was growing within him and he wondered if that was how a child grew within its mother.

Then he reached out and gently brushed the mind of his wife. She was asleep, as he knew she would be since it was in the middle of the night on Bespin; so, before she would awaken he pulled back. He would try later tonight when it would be morning there. He missed her and each time he talked to her he became more worried. She appeared more run down and he knew she wasn't telling him something. If her father was giving her a hard time which was affecting her health, Ben swore he'd kill him.

Jysella had wished to be back by next week for his promotion and her lifeday, but the negotiations weren't going as well as the Jedi had hoped. She had no idea how long she would be on Bespin. Sighing, Ben patted the uniform pocket where he had taken to keeping the ring he was planning to give her for her twentieth birthday.

Then he left the room, and headed back to the headquarters of GAG and the Fifty-first. He still was planning to hit the firing range. Regardless of what Jacen told him about trusting the Force, Ben wanted to reach at least 99.5 present before the speech that he would make sure was Niathal's last.

Presidential Mansion, Coronet, Corellia

Dur Gejjen looked up from the latest report and s miled, though the information totally baffled him. "How did she accomplish this so fast? This is amazing."

The chief engineer on the Centerpoint Team, Dr. Toll Nouf gave Dur a Muun equivalent of a s mile, which did very little to make him look any less grim, and said, "Yes, it is, Prime Minister. At this rate of growth the new clone will reach the corresponding human age of three standard years in less than four months. Dr. Taun We is very pleased with the progress. She is now working on a possible method to slow the accelerated growth once he reaches biological age five."

Dur allowed the s mile turn into a satisfied smirk. All in all, the Jedi's disruptions of the cloning process has done very little to set back the timetable Gejjen set out. Due to some amazing information that his spy, Brisha Syo, had provided him with shortly after the Jedi attack, the new clone of Anakin Solo, AS4, was developing even faster than the original.

He still was puzzled about what had happened to the CorSec officers at the maintenance hanger for the would-be super-weapon on Tralus following the Jedi's arrival on the planet. But the few survivors from the debacle insisted that they had been fired upon by friendly fire. The resulting investigation by Corellian Security and Tralus Planetary Guard was only confusing the events and was going nowhere.

However, he didn't concern himself with that. His secret was still safe and surprisingly the Jedi hadn't come knocking on his door in the form of an angry Anakin Solo raining fire down on him, or just as bad Leia Solo brandishing her lightsaber. They must have thought they got rid of the problem, he thought sardonically. They don't know how wrong they are. The new clone is better than the first one. I should thank Kyp Durron someday.

"I'm not too concerned about that, Dr. Nouf. As long as the clone is biologically old enough and survives long enough to do what I need him to do when the time comes and the station is ready to accommodate him, I will be most pleased."

The Muun bowed and said, "As you wish, Mister Prime Minister."

After the Muun left Dur sat back and closed his eyes. He would soon have the biggest bargaining chip in the galaxy, not with just the GA but with Fel's new Empire as well. He would make sure Corellia wasn't crushed between the two Goliaths and would in of itself become a power to be reckoned with.

Golden Miners Hotel, Cloud City, Bespin

The day hadn't gone at all like she would have hoped that it would have. Today was her lifeday and, instead of sharing it with the person she wanted to most, she spent it in argumentative meetings with the top government officials of Bespin.

However, it wasn't just the fact that she wasn't with Ben or even Administrator Farson who irritated her today; her father did his fair share as well. She knew Corran Horn had the thickest skull of anyone she knew, but his insistence that her marriage to Ben was a mistake and wasn't ever going to work was getting old. She was so emotional at the evening meal that she nearly blurted out that she was pregnant just to stun him into silence for a few seconds.

Jys sat heavily on the edge of her bed and reached deep within her to find her baby. Her father had decided to go to the gymnasium the hotel offered to, as he put it, work off some steam. The meeting earlier with Farson really had gone badly. Although, they were being tolerated by the Bespin government, she and Corran both knew that they weren't totally trusted. Also, he no doubt wanted to escape the comm call that she received from Booster.

She realized that a lot of her father's frustration stemmed from the negotiations that seemed to go well on one day and then on the next go totally sour. She also knew something else was bothering him. She knew he wasn't sleeping really well and when she asked him about it he only told her that he was having bad dreams. She didn't push him for further explanation because she knew he'd never give it to her. But she watched him and she could tell that the dreams were probably more than dreams and whatever was in those dreams scared the usual fearless Jedi Master to the core.

She briefly wondered if her father saw something bad in the form of a vision regarding her and Ben and that was the real reason for his disapproval of their marriage. However, she never had the nerve or the opportunity to ask.

She also knew that he was worried about Valin's new role in the Empire. The announcement came out yesterday that the Emperor had chartered a new order of Force-users to be called the Imperial Knights. She was stunned when she saw the Holonet feed. Valin stood with Jagged Fel, Jessi Chevil and Jaina Solo as he expanded on what the Imperial Knights would exemplify. In many ways they would be nothing more than Jedi, but their first and foremost duty would be to the Empire and to the Emperor. They took direct orders from Fel.

Even the way in which Valin and Jessi were dressed was alarming. They both wore identical uniforms of black with red armor at the shoulders, forearms, and thighs to the knees. They also sported a chest plate of black armor and an abbreviated red lined black cape. All in all, Jysella thought that her brother and her one time friend from the Maw Shelter looked far too much like the old Imperial Guard that had guarded Emperor Palpatine.

But what really scared her father, was Valin's role in being the leader of this new order. He would be the primary instructor with help from Jessi and Jaina. He had told Jys after the broadcast that teaching Jedi wasn't easy and the price of erring was far too high. She agreed with him and wondered why Jaina wasn't in charge. She had been a Knight longer than either Valin or Jessi and would have probably been a Jedi Master soon if she hadn't defected.

However, surprisingly Jaina apparently wasn't going to be an Imperial Knight. She hadn't been dressed for the announcement as the others in the black and red armored uniform. Instead, she was dressed rather elegantly in a silver colored gown and was addressed by both Jag Fel and Valin as "Lady Solo" and was called an advisor to the Imperial Knights. Jys had seen a few old holozines that reported that Jaina was being protected by Fel from official court-martial on Corellia by being stripped of all rank, including it seems even her Jedi rank. She also read a rumor that Jaina and Fel were actually having an affair. After seeing her with the Emperor last night, she wondered if it was really true.

She shook the thoughts out of her mind and found the life within her that never failed to amaze her with growing larger and stronger within the Force each day. Fortunately, for her she really hadn't suffered much from morning sickness, which she saw truly as a blessing. However, she knew that the constant drawing on the Force to hide the infant's presence was wearing on her. She had lost weight in her face and that only helped to make her look more haggard. Both her father and Ben had noticed that she didn't look well. She really didn't feel all that bad, but she did tire easily and the situation with Ben, her father, her brother, her parents' troubles and the negations were also draining her. She really wanted the war to be over.

It didn't help that her father assumed the only reason was because of Ben's disappearance after their wedding and his disapproval of her husband's actions. Although, his leaving her and shutting himself off from her still upset her, she had forgiven Ben.

After several moments of communing with the life she and Ben created, she reluctantly pulled back. She wasn't completely sure what her father could sense from a distance, and she had no idea what Ben's ever changing abilities allowed him to see even at this distance from Coruscant. She again masked the baby's presence and stood. She realized that things would be easier if she would only drop the charade. However, she really wanted Ben to be the first to know about the baby and she wanted to tell him in person; only then would she let their fa milies know. So, until then, she would continue to hide the infant's presence, despite the difficulty of it.

Concluding that she really didn't want to spend her birthday alone, she decided to go find her father. She really needed to apologize for her nastiness at dinner and besides some physical activity might do her some good. She picked her lightsaber up from the dresser and left the suite that they had spent more than a month living in.

Entering the gym she quickly found Corran in a quiet corner of the rather large facility that had been probably used for group aerobic exercises. There were a few others in the gym working on the equipment but for the most part they stayed clear of the Jedi. Of course, she mused, she could understand why no one ventured too close regardless of the curiosity she sensed coming from them. Corran Horn was stripped down to a old muscle shirt and his dark brown trousers, his silver bladed lightsaber wildly flying about his body in flashes almost too fast to see which the mirrored walls only amplified. The five remotes that he had been able find rapidly firing their harmless, yet painful, zingers at him from all sides. She watched him for a long time. He knew she was there and flashed her a small s mile, but he didn't stop and she didn't interrupt.

She remembered when she was younger, after the Yuuzhan Vong war when she would go back home to Corellia from the Ossus Academy and she would watch him practice. She had thought her father was the greatest Jedi that ever lived. He had been perfect in the little girl's heart and could do no wrong. She had idolized him and could never find fault with him. She still loved him and she still thought him a good Jedi, but she knew he wasn't perfect. He was only a man who often loved too much and cared too much. He was a man who was set in his ways and often was blind to any other opinions but his own. And despite all the changes that had occurred in his own life, he never liked change or really accepted them easily.

Corran leapt over a red bolt and parried another with his blade. Then he caught one that was too close to his face on the palm, absorbing the energy. He then did a back flip to avoid three more. She was always fascinated by his speed and effortlessness. Despite his lack of stature and his lack of telekinesis, he moved with a grace that few men his age should still posses, if they ever had it at all.

After he deactivated the remotes with a voice command and his lightsaber, he turned to face her. He was a bit winded but quickly recovered. "So, you decided to not wait for Ben?"

"Actually, we spoke this morning while you were getting breakfast. I only assumed that he would call again tonight. But it's morning there and he is being promoted today." Deciding to not let his comment or the tone in which he said it get to her, she s miled and asked changing the topic for the moment, "Would you like a sparring partner? I could use some exercise, I think. Too much of my own ryshcate." She removed her outer robe and then mischievously smirked, "Besides, you need a good whooping from me. It's been a while."

Corran visibly let some of his tension go and snickered as he shook his head, his graying hair falling over his sweat dampened forehead. "That it has, Jyssie. But don't think just because you beat me once you will do so again. I learn from my mistakes."

She pulled the outer tunic over her head and tossed it on the floor with her robe, leaving her clad in her leggings and a tank top. She then tucked the necklace Ben had given her last year into her top. She realized that her pregnancy was beginning to show as a slight curve of her lower abdomen and fuller breasts, but she knew her father would never notice those things. Besides, she was planning on keeping him far too busy to even think of scrutinizing what could be seen as a slight weight gain.

She picked up her lightsaber and turned to face him as she stepped on the mat. She flashed him a challenging grin and activated her golden blade. "Oh, sometimes you do."

Corran s miled and activated his saber and saluted her as he took his stance. Then he let her make the first move. She attacked on the outside, drawing him from the center. He easily parried and came back with a thrust which Jysella twisted away from and she countered with a slash. Then they really began in earnest.

Corran preferred Djem So to combat her more aggressive and athletic style. The sound of two humming and clashing lightsabers drew the attention of a few patrons of the gym and before long the father and daughter had an audience. Jys didn't mind but the cheers for her prowess that the men gathered gave her, but she was amused at the irritation it was causing her father. Good, the more distractions the better.

She back flipped over a thrust at her legs and came back with a counter attack that Corran caught near the hilt of his saber. As he jumped back, the duelers' admirers applauded and whistled. One of the younger men loudly said to the man standing next to him, "With moves like that, I wonder what else she can do."

Jysella watched as Corran's expression darkened and then she snickered. As she attacked and Corran parried, she easily sent the goggling admirer an illusion of what she could do to him with her lightsaber. Immediately the young man jumped away and ducked as he wrapped his arms protectively over his head. The others turned toward the screaming man and the man he had been speaking with asked, "What the stang got into you?"

He peeked out from under his arms and incredulously replied, "She just attacked me! Didn't you see that?!" However, as he saw that Jysella was still engaged with her father, he slowly stood up, confused as he looked around wide-eyed.

"Wilzen, what's vapin' got into you?" the older man asked again.

He pointed at Jys, who had just completed another athletic jump to deflect one of Corran's slashes, and said unsure, "She didn't just attack me with her lightsaber?"

The others laughed and his friend slapped him on his back, "Wilzen, I think you had one too many death sticks. C'mon, she's too feisty for you anyway."

As they moved away, the others soon followed; the Jedi's sparring not as exciting as what was going on with the young man. Corran stepped out of the dueling circle and switched off his saber as he gave Jysella one of his fatherly what-did-you-do looks.

She laughed and shrugged, "What? I'm surprised you didn't do the same thing. Their attention bothered you more than it did me."

Corran moved to the edge of the mats to a bench where he had laid his tunic and robe and sat down. Jys sat cross legged on the mat before him. "Well, I just didn't like what he was implying. Jys, you will always be my little girl and the thought that any man could desire you just drives me crazy, I guess."

"That's why you don't like Ben?"

He took a deep breath and slowly nodded, "Jyssie, I just can't accept him. I admire the Skywalkers and, in all honesty, your union with him should make me happy. But something about it just—I don't know—maybe it scares me."

That was the most honest he had ever been with her. She slowly stood up and moved to sit beside him. She snaked her arm around his waist and he sat up and embraced her shoulders.

"Daddy, I love him and he loves me. Someday we are going to have a fa mily. Please, don't start acting like Grandpa is with you."

Corran laughed and gently squeezed her, "That, my dear, is the scariest thought of all." Then he became serious and asked, "What has Ben told you about leaving Master Solo's apprenticeship?"

"Nothing really. He misses him as his master, but seems to be adjusting to Kyp. I think Kyp will be good for Ben."

Corran looked away and nodded thoughtfully, "Yeah, I think so too. Kyp has always been good with troubled Apprentices."

She was taken aback, "What is that supposed to mean? First, you refused to let me train under Kyp, saying that he was a bad influence. Now you call my husband a troubled Apprentice and wholeheartedly approve of Kyp."

Corran shrugged and responded, "Kyp and I have come to an understanding, I think. No, I didn't approve of him to be your Master and I called Ben troubled because his teaching under Jacen Solo has been muddled." Then he looked at Jys and after a moment said, "We think Master Solo has fallen to the Dark Side."

"What?" Jys was both shocked and afraid. "But he's the Supreme Commander. If he's fallen shouldn't something be done? How can the Council sit back and allow him to continue on?"

Corran took a deep breath and looked around. After he scanned the training room, he met her eyes again, "I think we should go back to our room before we discuss this too much."

"Okay," was all she could manage.

Once back in the safety of their suite, they sat in the small common room and Corran began, "You asked why we aren't doing anything, that's not exactly true. First, we had to get Ben away from Jacen. Luke has been in contact with Leia and she mentioned that she and Jaina fear that Jacen is actually a Sith."

"A Sith!" She was too stunned to say much else.

Corran nodded, "I'm afraid so. However, we have no proof and he's been extremely careful to cover his tracks. In fact, the only thing that he's openly done that could be considered dark was when he relentlessly attacked Wedge."

"But that was during a battle and therefore could be simply seen as an operation of the battle," she provided for him."

Corran nodded and leaned forward over his lap. "We are hoping that Ben will be able to provide us with some real evidence. Leia told Luke that Princess Allana has been having a vision of Jacen wanting to hurt her."

She beetled her brows in confusion, "Why would Jacen what to do that?"

Corran shrugged, "I don't know. But the Princess is convinced that Jacen hurt her mother. Leia thinks that Jacen killed her."

"But Queen Mother Tenel Ka died with a brain hemorrhage like her grandmother had." Corran stared at her and suddenly ice settled in her gut. "You think he caused it?"

"We do. But again we have no proof. Ben, unfortunately, is the key. We have to get him to talk about his time with Jacen as far back as the Swarm War."

"Wait!" she exclaimed as she remembered about Ben's promotion and that his new responsibilities will still bring him into contact with Jacen. "If Jacen is so dangerous, I don't want Ben anywhere near him. I don't want him to be part of GAG either. Can you do something about that?" fear laced Jysella's words as she thought of her husband's brushes with the Dark Side and their corresponding with his time in GAG.

"I know, Jys. But we are hoping that if Ben remains in GAG he can bring us information."

"You want him to spy on Jacen?"

"Yes."

Jys sat back and hugged herself. Things were spiraling out of control. She was more afraid than she had ever been. Then suddenly constricting pain wrapped around her lower abdomen and she leaned over against its intensity. "Ahh!"

"Jysella," Corran immediately kneeled before her. "What's wrong?"

The pain seemed to ease a bit and she met his worried green eyes with fearful ones. "I don't know," she gasped. "I'm in pain."

Corran immediately rushed to the small kitchen unit and brought back a glass of water. Handing it to her, he ordered, "Drink. You might be dehydrated. I know you haven't been feeling well and the sparring was too much."

"Thank you. Maybe that's it." She took a sip of the cold liquid and then reached out for the tiny life she had been hiding within her. "No!" she cried. "No!"

"Jysella?" Corran looked at her again and she felt his probe in the Force. However she didn't hide her secret, she was using the strength that it would take to mask the baby's presence to help calm him or her.

She knew the moment her father sensed his grandchild by the utter look of astonishment that came over his face. She held his gaze and no words were needed.

Corran kneeled down before her and laid his hand gently on Jys's abdomen and quietly asked, "How far along are you?"

"Three months." Panic gripped her as she felt the distress her baby was in. She then pleaded, "Daddy, what's happening?"

"I don't know. But he's under a lot of stress," he said as he pulled back his hand and took hers into it. She could feel his sudden fear. "Jyssie, please hold on."

"He?" she asked surprised, ignoring her father's peculiar plea.

Despite the trepidation Corran felt, he gave her a small s mile and nodded, "Yeah, it's a boy." Then he stood and kissed her damp forehead, she felt his rush of love as he said, "I'm calling a medic." Looking back into her eyes, he added, "Just hold on, Jys. Everything will be okay."

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