It was the kind of planet ideal for a secluded vacation. The weather was comfortably warm, the oceans vast and blue. The scattered islands were lush with green vegetation and rimmed by white-sand beaches. Best of all, there were no cities, no pollution-puffing landspeeders, no crowds or commerce of any kind.
Lehon was a beautiful world, but there was something wrong to it, something only Cade Skywalker could feel. The planet's ancient owners, the brutal Force-wielding empire-builders called Rakata, had apparently gone extinct, but they'd left a miasma of dark side energy behind, one that was especially disquieting when contrasted with the peaceful vista.
Before landing they'd spent hours scouring the planet from low orbit, looking for any other spacecraft or signs of habitation. The most they found were old ruins half-overgrown by the surrounding jungle. When they'd set Mynock down on the island with the largest such ruin Cade hadn't been expecting to find much, but at least it gave them a chance to get off the ship and enjoy fresh air and scenery.
Lehon's peaceful beauty was having different effects on his crew, Cade noticed. No surprise, given the motley assemblage of passengers he'd been dragging across the galaxy for most of the past year, chasing false hopes and empty leads as they searched for Khat Lah, a Yuuzhan Vong warrior who'd somehow gained the ability to use the Force, then vanished in a quest to learn more about the ancient Jedi.
His long-time partners Deliah Blue and Jariah Syne had never been Jedi or anything close. With characteristic practicality, they'd decided to enjoy the island coast for the sunny beach it was. Jariah had waded into the surf, while Deliah had found a spot to sunbathe. Despite their causal aplomb, Cade knew the months of fruitless searching had taken a toll on them. Even as they enjoyed the beach, they emanated restless impatience in the Force, Deliah especially. Empathic, pleasure-seeking Zeltrons weren't known for their loyalty or patience, and the fact that she'd stuck with Cade as long as she had was flattering and humbling both. Still, she'd said more than once that she'd like to settle down eventually and enjoy some of the riches they'd heisted from Rav. Each time she got more insistent.
The two other former Force-users in their party had gone off into the jungle. While passing over the island they'd spotted not only the ruins of what looked like a large temple made from white stone, but also the remnants of a spacecraft nearly devoured by the forest. How long either had been here, they had no idea, but Jedi Master Lowbacca and former Imperial Knight Jao Assam had gone to find out.
Though they came from different schools, Lowbacca and Jao had bonded plenty over their lost Force-powers. More, they both had that certain selfness nobility about them that Cade found alternately cloying and useful. As time went on their desire to regain what they'd lost had grown only sharper, and they'd plunged eagerly into the jungle, barely remembering to ask Cade if he'd sensed dangers in the forest.
He'd told them no; whatever dark presence there was in the Force felt millennia distant. Lehon was harmless now. Harmless but creepy.
Cade hadn't gone into the jungle with them. Whatever they found here wouldn't help trace Khat Lah or recover the Force, but if Lowbacca and Jao wanted to kid themselves for a few hours he wasn't going to stop them. He wasn't in the mood to join Jariah and Deliah on the beach either; the Rakata's lingering miasma robbed the scene of its idyll.
Because he didn't feel fit for either crowd, Cade eventually returned to Mynock. He could hear the last members of the party in the main hold but had to circle around the parked landspeeder to spot them. Kyra was sitting cross-legged behind the speeder with a hydrospanner in her hand and the engine panel and several components on the deck next to her. The lanky dark-haired girl looked up when Cade approached, but her companion didn't seem to notice, or stop talking.
"Slow down, Professor," Cade told the golden protocol droid. "What are you on about?"
C-3PO shifted to fix his twin photoreceptors on the new arrival. "Ah, Master Cade. I was just informing Mistress Kyra about the history of Lehon, also known as Rakata Prime, as recorded by Old Republic historian Balak-nor-man in the year-"
"Of course you were." Cade patted his metal shoulder and asked Kyra, "You ask for this lecture, or did he volunteer again?"
"I asked," the teenager smiled faintly and remained seated. Squatting on her other side, R2-D2 hummed confirmation.
"I didn't realize the landspeeder needed fixing," Cade said.
"Not fixing," Kyra said, "But Deliah suggested I clean out the power cells and grease up the fuel injectors. Just to keep it running in top shape."
"That's a good idea," Cade said. Since losing the Force, Kyra had been forced to relearn her natural aptitude for machines. Deliah had been doting on her a little, giving her lessons. Mynock's mechanic wasn't acting maternal exactly; it was more of a big-sister mode, which was a side of Deliah he hadn't seen before.
He hardly minded them spending time together; Kyra clearly needed to feel like she was pulling her weight on Mynock. Unlike Jao and Lowbacca, she'd barely been aware of her Force-powers before having them stolen away. After spending years in indebted service to Rav- which had left her with a red bloody bones tattoo on her right bicep as clear as the one on Cade's- she'd helped Ania Solo, Cade and the rest on their big heist of Rav's treasure. She had no living family, no place to go except join them in the long, futile-seeming search for Khat Lah.
"Any idea when Jao and Lowbacca will be back?" she asked. "They've been gone a couple hours."
"Who knows? They haven't been eaten by jungle monsters, if that's what you're worried about."
"So you can feel them?"
"I'd know if they got hurt or killed," he said.
Kyra nodded, but didn't seem assured. "What do they expect to find out there?"
That set C-3PO off. "Well, as you know, Mistress Kyra, Lehon was the center of the Rakatan Infinite Empire for some ten thousand years. The ruins on this island seem to be the largest left on this planet, and though millennia have passed it's possible they may yet find something useful among the rubble."
"I know, Threepio," Kyra said without a trace of annoyance. The protocol droid- broken and scrambled as he'd been- was her best friend during her years of indebted service in Rav's junkyard. She had more patience for him than Cade ever would. "But there's no sign Khat Lah's been here, is there?"
When this long hunt had started they'd met with Nei Rin, the Yuuzhan Vong shaper who'd worked with Kol's father on the ill-fated Ossus Project. She was still working to undo the Sith damage wrought on their bio-terraforming projects and even meeting with some success. Nei Rin had reported that Khat Lah had come to her four years earlier, piloting an Incom IC-2 scout ship, which Cade and company had scoured for at every planet they'd searched. Nei Rin also explained that Khat Lah had requested an ooglith masque and the bio-equipment needed to keep the living organism fresh. Nei Rin had provided one which would allow Khat Lah to disguise himself as human and pass through most worlds unnoticed. Nei Rin had also provided an image of what Khat Lah would look like in that disguise.
Most importantly, she'd explained that she'd sent Khat Lah to meet another Yuuzhan Vong. There weren't many of them roaming the galaxy, away from their adopted homeworld Zonama Sekot, which was now quarantined and hidden in the Unknown Regions. Those that did had to travel in disguise, thanks to the century-old hatred their race aroused among the rest of the galaxy, and for their own safety these rogue Yuuzhan Vong tended to keep a loose communication network.
Nei Rin had send Khat Lah to a Yuuzhan Vong living incognito under the name Jezar Ordon. Cade and company had tracked Ordon with the help of another rogue Vong named Chonyo, who'd once crewed on Rav's Crimson Axe and imparted Jariah with a fondness for the aliens' living weapons. After some pressuring, Ordon had admitted that he'd provided Khat Lah with forged identity documents to match his masquered face, thus allowing him to pass through the whole of the civilized galaxy as a Corellian named Reikar Horn.
It had felt like a promising start. In the ensuing months they'd crossed the galaxy several times over, visiting planets K'Kruhk had suggested they search, looking for signs of Reikar Horn and his IC-2 scoutship. A few times they'd found cold leads and chased them anyway, but ended up with nothing to show. They were pretty sure Khat Lah had visited Obroa-Skai, Dathomir, Dantooine, and Taris, but they were far from reconstructing his journey and farther from finding where he was now. Lehon had also been on K'Kruhk's list and a big pain to get to. If Khat Lah had stopped here, there was no sign of it, which meant they'd made a long trip for nothing yet again.
"Maybe Jao and Lowie will turn up something useful," Cade told Kyra, though he doubted it. "But I think it's safe to say Khat Lah's not here now." He looked toward the hold's open portal. "You get out and enjoy the beach?"
"A little," the girl said. "But I'd rather work on this. Keep busy."
"And get a history lesson."
She smiled faintly. "That too."
"Then I'll stop getting in your way." He patted C-3PO on the shoulder once more. "You can take it from here, professor. Just don't put her to sleep."
Feeling restless and still pressured by the dark miasma, Cade wandered back outside and made his way from Mynock to the white-sand beach. The afternoon sun was getting low and the sunlight tinted gold. One of Lehon's moons hung in the western sky, half-faded but huge, visibly pocked with ridges and craters.
Jariah and Deliah were both on dry land now, lounging in the low-backed chairs they'd taken off Mynock and set down in the sand. Jariah was shirtless and Deliah bared even more pink skin that usual. As he came up behind them Cade asked, "You all enjoying your sunny vacation?"
Deliah tilted reflective sunglasses down her face so she could look right at Cade. "The scenery's great but the service is lacking."
He reached out and clasped her right hand. "You want, I can go back to the galley and get some drinks."
"You got the ingredients for a Bidalian sunrise?"
"I think I can mix one up. What about you, Jariah? Want something nice to help watch the sun go down?"
"Give be a bottle of Johrian brandy and I'm set."
"I think we've got one of those too." Cade had made a point to stock their liquor reserves before setting out on this long, long mission.
"Then go get 'em," Jariah said. "Blue and me… We'll wait here a while."
"I thought you'd say that."
"Seriously, meeshku," Deliah squeezed his hand. "We can stay here just for a few days, right? Not often we get a chance to set down on a planet pretty as this."
It looked pretty, but it sure as hell didn't feel pretty. At least places like Korriban wore evil on their sleeve. Cade said, "We'll see what Jao and Lowie come back with. Kyra's getting a little edgy too."
"Then she should get out here and soak up some sun. Being cooped up inside Mynock too long's not good for anybody."
"You love Mynock."
"I do. But everybody needs a break now and then." She squeezed his hand to reassure. "We got any better place to be?"
Cade sighed. "There's some more planets we can check from K'Kruhk's list… I just wish we had stronger leads."
"We could always give up acting noble and settle down to enjoy the fruits of our criminal activity," Jariah said with a grin, but Cade knew he was serious.
"We will one day, I swear. We just… gotta take care of this first." For the sake of the Jedi, all deaf to the Force. For the sake of his mother, who'd died trying to uncover Darth Maladi's secrets.
Cade let go of Deliah and made his way back to the ship. He arrived just as two figures emerged from the brush: one tall ginger-furred Wookiee and one dark-skinned man who normally looked crisp and clean like an Imperial recruitment poster, though right now his face was patched with sweat and dirt. Lowbacca was carrying a white-stone cylinder the size of an astromech over his shoulder with apparently little effort.
"What's with the rock?" Cade called as he joined them up the entry ramp into the hold. "Find any great and fancy secrets?"
Lowbacca roared response, and C-3PO shuffled out from behind the parked landspeeder, clearly eager to translate. "Master Lowbacca says that they have uncovered a piece of rubble among the ruined Rakata temple that appears to be covered with inscriptions. He suggests this may have been used for official pronouncements in public places, similar to the message pillars used on Bimmisaari or by the natives of Ashelon IV."
Kyra and R2-D2 came into view as well, though they kept their distance as Lowbacca placed the pillar on the middle of the deck. The Wookiee howled another question.
"Well, of course I can attempt to translate, Master Lowbacca. I am, after all, fluent in over six million forms of communication, including several ancient Rakatan dialects."
As C-3PO took in the ideographs carved into the pillar, Cade looked to Jao. "How you holding up? Get attacked by any savage jungle monsters?"
"Just a few flitgnats," the Imperial Knight said. Though he'd officially left that order and no longer had Force-powers besides, he kept in communication with the empress, feeding her updates on this mission the same way Lowbacca kept in touch with the Jedi Council. Not that either of them had much to report.
"Well, that sounds boring." Cade put hands on his hips. "What about that ship we saw when we passed over? You check out that thing?"
"There wasn't much to see. The entire hull is corroded. Plants have grown through most of the interior now but we tried to take it apart for a better look. Based on the parts and materials, Lowbacca says it's been here for at least eight centuries."
The Wookiee, who'd been working spaceships since before Cade's great-grandparents were born, roared his affirmative.
"Hmmm… Yes, I see…" C-3PO said, as though to himself. The prissy droid could be disturbingly human sometimes.
"What is it, Threepio?" asked Cade.
"The inscription is chipped in many places, and the dialect is rather antique, but I believe I can read most of the inscription…"
Cade was about to ask what it said when the comlink in his pocket buzzed. That surprised him; he didn't think Jariah or Deliah had brought anything to the beach besides chairs and swimwear, and everyone else on his crew was right here. That had to mean Mynock was receiving an outside hail.
He checked the small readout on his comlink and recognized the caller's identification code. It was Chonyo, Jariah's old Vong pal. Cade flicked his comm on and said, "This is Mynock. Cade speaking."
A gruff, static-marred voice replied, "Skywalker? Where's my boy Jariah?"
"Lounging in the sun and waiting on a bottle of brandy. You want to speak with him?" Chonyo always wanted to talk to Jariah directly.
"Yeah, I've got something for you both."
"Great. Just hold on a second." Cade tapped his comlink, closed the line, and was about to call Jariah when he remembered the man was one the beach with nothing but his chair and swimsuit.
"Hey, Kyra," Cade called, "You wanna go down to the beach, haul Jariah back here? Tell him Chonyo's waiting."
"Sure." The girl set off, eager for something to do.
"And hey," Cade added, "Once you send him up here, stay down there and enjoy the scenery if you want."
"I'll think about it," Kyra said, and trotted down the landing ramp.
It would take a few minutes yet for Jariah to return, so Cade turned his attention back to the white-stone inscription and the protocol droid. "Sorry for the interruption. So what's this thing say?"
"Well, despite the damage to the pillar and antique dialect, I believe this reads as follows." C-3PO's voice deepened to sound authoritative. "All glory to over-Predor Nos'Lak, conquerer of Xo, Plooma, Kresseria, Voronia, Mekor, and Talazza. All glory to he who delivered slaves to labor for the greater power of the Infinite Empire. Five hundred thousands humans, three hundred thousand Gree, one-point-seven million Kwa…" C-3PO paused and pitched his voice to normal. "It goes on like this for a while, sir. Should I go on?"
"Propaganda," Cade rolled his eyes. "Should've figured. Great find, guys."
"This is all we could get," Jao said tersely. "And we spent hours looking through that rubble."
"No sign anybody else has been there recently?"
Lowbacca roared and shook his shaggy head, then added something else.
"He's right," said Jao, who'd gotten pretty good with Shyriiwook over the past year. "Even if Khat Lah did come here, he might not have left anything for us to find. Even if he did, I think that jungle would eat it up fast."
"Figures," Cade muttered. Another dead end, with almost two weeks of transit time getting here wasted. It was what he'd expected, but it still hurt.
Lowbacca roared a suggestion that they could try searching ruined sites at other islands.
"I guess it's worth a shot," Cade shrugged. "Deliah, she wants to lounge around here a little more. Can't say I blame her, all the time spend cooped up on Mynock. Guess we could fly around to a few more islands. We can look at stoopa ruins and she can have her beaches"
Lowbacca roared, a little mournfully, that they might as well try.
"Are you okay with that?" Jao asked Cade, eying him carefully. "You said this place… has a unique feel."
"Yeah, you could say that." His voice came out brittle. "But I can deal with it. I've been in dens of the dark side a lot more lively than this place."
Jao nodded; so did Lowbacca. He could feel their pity that he alone had to shoulder the echoes of Lehon's dark past. He also felt their envy; they craved the feel the Force in any form, even grim echoes.
The mood was slightly alleviated by the sight of Jariah walked up the landing ramp, barefoot and shirtless. Cade was pleased to see that Kyra had stayed at the beach.
"What did Chonyo want?" he asked Cade.
The other man shrugged. "Since when did he ever tell me anything? You're his favorite bukee."
"Well, let's go find out."
Leaving the others in the hold, Cade and Jariah went up the stairs, down the hall and through the crew longue, all the way to the cockpit and the main communication system. On the way Jariah plucked a thin shirt draped over the longue sofa and was pulling it over his head as Cade dropped into the pilot's chair and re-established the connection with Chonyo.
Jariah sat in the co-pilot's seat, and when the holo-image popped up Cade was slightly surprised to be staring at the elaborate tattoos, sloped forehead, and flat nose of a Yuuzhan Vong. Chonyo must have been calling from somewhere private if he didn't have his masquer on.
Jariah seemed unphased. "How you doing, you old pirate?"
"I'm doing halfway decent," the Yuuzhan Vong smiled, baring sharp narrow teeth. "How's the search going?"
"It's going nowhere right now, unless you've got a hint."
"I do," Chonyo said. "I've also come into some merchandise I bet you'd be interested in."
"What kind?" asked Jariah.
"Your favorites. Three different variety of thud bugs, a few amphistaffs…"
Highly illegal Vong-formed living weapons, in other words. Chonyo had given Jariah training with those exotic weapons back on the Axe, and Cade's friend loved his lethal toys.
"I'm interested," Jariah said. "And we're still flush with cash. When and where can I see the merchandise?"
"Where are you now?"
Cade answered for him. "A long, long way from civilized space. Where are you?"
"Me? I'm wrapping up some business on Javin. I've got a client to meet on Bespin in two days."
"Bespin?" Jariah frowned. "What's there?"
"There's still tibanna gas to mine. And the old Cloud City. It ain't what it used to be, but there's still business to be done. How far are you boys from Bespin?"
Cade thought a moment. "Let's say, six days. Maybe seven."
"I can be on Cloud City in six days. Or seven. Will you be there?"
"You've got out word," Jariah nodded eagerly.
"Hold up," Cade said. "You mentioned some intel we'd like. Can you give us anymore?"
"I've got verification of activities by one Reikar Horn from within the fast fifteen months."
A lot could happen in fifteen months, a damn lot, but all the traces they'd found of Khat Lah had been even older than that. "We're interested," Cade said.
"I knew you would be. We'll talk about it once we meet up on Bespin."
"And after we pay you for the contraband?"
Chonyo gave a hissing laugh. "I know you pateesas are good for it, now that you've got all of poor Rav's cash."
Reminders that Rav was now, literally, poor made Cade feel warm inside. "Well, I can't deny it. We're gonna have to haul to get to Bespin in a week, but I think we can do it."
"Good to know. See you soon, lads."
"See you soon, pateesa," Jariah agreed, and the holo switched off.
He had a big grin, like a kid promised candy, but Cade felt a little sour. "Wish he'd told us more about this big scoop of his."
"He'll tell us in person," Jariah said without rising from his seat. Through Mynock's viewport they saw mostly jungle green, now draped in long shadows as the sun set. Lehon's huge moon hung in the sky dead ahead.
"Blue ain't gonna like the runaround," Cade said as he remembered her, still on the beach and waiting for her Bidalian sunrise.
"Then you'll just have to cheer her up. I recommend starting with her drink."
A cocktail as the sun went down didn't replace a week on gorgeous beaches, but it was still pretty good. Cade pushed off from his chair and went back to the galley to make one. He hoped Deliah would savor the fleeting pleasures and not hold their fast exit against him.
Personally, he was glad to get off Lehon. Places like this made him envy the blind and deaf.
-{}-
They'd chased their quarry a long way, from a trading port on Toprawa to a repair yard on Botajef, and finally to this space station orbiting Ciutric IV. Now the only thing that stood in their way was one sealed-tight metal door in the station's habitat ring, which should have been nothing for two Sith.
Instead, Eli Horn and Darth Talon paused before pushing through. The station was in the middle of its night-cycle and no one had moved in the hall for over five minutes. In other times the Force would have given them warning if someone was approaching; instead all they could do was listen very carefully.
Eli picked up no sound except for the faint whine of the station's air circulators. Darth Talon, wearing a hooded cloak that concealed the fierce red-and-black tattoos on her face, stepped carefully up to the door. Eli hung back, listening, looking down either end of the hall as Talon removed a tool from her cloak that would, hopefully, override the door's safety lock.
With the Force they'd have been able to push the door aside, charge into the room, and seize Jezar Ordon in his bed. Bereft of their greatest tool, they had to fall back on mechanical tricks favored by vermin criminals galaxy-wide. It was a humiliation, but Eli had almost gotten used to those as they'd searched the galaxy for a trace of Khat Lah.
They'd had no success in that regard, but they'd at least uncovered a network of Yuuzhan Vong travelling incognito across the galaxy. Jezar Ordon, who'd they'd traced from Toprawa all the way to this space station, was apparently one of the key information-dealers within that network. There was no guarantee he knew where Khat Lah was, but it was the best lead they'd uncovered since beginning this frustrating, fruitless quest.
Talon had pried away the door's access panel and was bent close over the wiring inside. Eli tensed; blood pounded in his ears as he reached into his cloak. He carried both a blaster and his lightsaber nowadays. During their many days spent travelling the stars he tried to practice with both equally, and he liked to think he could still wield his saber ably, even without the Force. For today, though, the blaster was more appropriate.
"It is ready," Talon said, so quietly Eli barely heard her over the throbbing on his pulse.
He stepped in right behind his master and pulled his blaster from his cloak. Talon reached inside the opened panel, touched two wired with her metal probe, and sparked the door to open.
Eli burst in first, pistol raised to fire. The room inside was mostly dark, but a porthole window let in reflected glow from Ciutric's moon. He saw a sofa, chairs, a living room table, then a second closed door. There was no lock to this one, and by the time Eli tapped it open, Talon was right behind him.
Another small window let faint light into the room beyond, marking a bed and a figure sprawled beneath the sheets. The two Sith lunged as one. The figure stirred, too late. Talon, as agile as ever, leaped onto the bed, straddled the man, and pinned him down. He tried to buck her off but failed, then raised his hands to strike. Talon grabbed his wrists firmly, holding them in place. Eli came around and tapped the tip of his blaster against the man's forehead, and finally he stopped struggling.
It was clear now this was not a man. Even in the low light Eli could mark his sloped forehead, thin lips, pointed teeth, and grey skin laced with tattoos.
"Who are you?" the Yuuzhan Vong hissed. "What do you want?"
"Information," said Eli.
"Information is my business. Show me your credits."
Ordon- or whatever his real name was- was brave. Eli gave him that. "We need you to tell us about Khat Lah."
"I have never heard of him," Ordon said, after a too-long pause.
"He won't be using with that name," said Talon. "We know you specialize in procuring false identities for Yuuzhan Vong travelling the galaxy."
He didn't deny it. "Why are you after him?"
"That's no concern of yours."
"We don't mean to harm him," Eli said. It was true, but Talon gave him a disapproving look.
"I don't believe you," Ordon said.
"You have met Khat Lah. You provided him with false credentials," said Talon. "Is this correct?"
Ordon said nothing until her fists tightened, twisting his wrists painfully. The Yuuzhan Vong's face twisted but he kept from crying out. When Talon relaxed her grip he said, "I don't know where he is."
"When did you last hear from him?" asked Eli.
"Only once. When I gave him his false ID. That was four years ago. I have nothing for you, infidel."
"You're lying," Talon said, with shocking firmness.
Ordon stared. She tightened her grip on his wrists again. The Yuuzhan Vong grunted and said, "He has… friends… That's all I know."
"Meaning what?" frowned Eli.
"I heard he gathered more Yuuzhan Vong from Zonama Sekot. Maybe a year and a half ago."
That surprised Eli; best he knew the living world had retreated to hiding at the start of the Sith-Imperial War almost fifteen years ago, and not been heard from since. "How many Yuuzhan Vong?"
"A dozen. Two dozen. I don't know exactly. And I don't know why. I just hear things. It's my job."
Talon stared into his face, as though she could read his honesty in the Force. Finally she nodded and relaxed her grip without releasing his wrists. "What kind of ship was Khat Lah using when you saw him last?"
Ordon thought a moment. "An Incom IC-2 scout. But if he has a group of Yuuzhan Vong with him, they'll be using a bigger ship."
"Probably an organic ship from Sekot," Eli said. "Most of the Yuuzhan Vong on that world don't like using machines."
Ordon's eyes slid over to the human. "How do you know so much about us, infidel?"
It was a long story, and he wasn't going to tell it. "What name was Khat Lah using?"
"Reikar Horn."
Eli nearly dropped his blaster. In the years he'd known Khat Lah, watching with admiration and awe as the Yuuzhan Vong mastered Force talents that should have been impossible, he'd known that the warrior looked on his late father with a special reverence. At the start of the Sith-Imperial War, Reikar had sacrificed himself to an angry mob at Duro so Eli, Khat Lah, and a shipful of refugee could escape. Eli had been just five years old at the time; it was his worst and earliest memory. Khat Lah had taken it on himself to act as Eli's guardian for a time, though the demands of the war had drawn him away from the Jedi academy on Ossus.
As Eli recovered from his shock, Ordon told Talon, "That's all I know. I swear it."
"You're an information dealer. Is that really all you have?"
"Yes. Khat Lah… is secretive. He wouldn't tell me what he was doing, even when I asked. He wanted to be left alone."
Talon and Eli exchanged glanced. The Twi'lek gave a small nod, showing she was satisfied.
"You've got what you want? Good," Ordon growled. "Now let's discuss payment."
"You're hardly in the position to negotiate." Talon squeezed his wrists harder.
The Yuuzhan Vong's face twisted in pain but he said, "I am an information dealer. I gave you information. You give me credits. The last ones paid and so can you."
"What last ones?" asked Eli.
"The last ones asking about Khat Lah."
"Describe them." Talon twisted his wrists.
Ordon's face twisted in pain again; instead of asking for money he said, "There were three. A big Wookiee and two humans. Males. One had dark skin, dreadlocks. The other one was blonde. This was… seven months ago, maybe,"
Eli wasn't sure about the Wookiee, but it could have been the Jedi Master Lowbacca. The two humans sounded very much like Jariah Syn and Cade Skywalker. It was no surprise they'd be after Khat Lah, but now he and Talon knew for sure they weren't alone in the search. It could complicate matters greatly; for all they knew Skywalker had already found him.
"There, now I've told you everything," Ordon said. "Can I get my payment now?"
"Yes," Talon said. She released his wrists and, too fast for Ordon to react, drew a blaster from her cloak and put a single shot through the center of his chest.
Eli jerked back in shock. He looked to his master, who coolly put her gun away. "At least we have something," she said.
Eli looked back at Ordon's body. In the dim light he could just barely see his face, locked in an expression of surprise, both eyes staring up at the ceiling.
Once, when he'd been able to touch the Force, there had been a certain joy in killing. All too often Eli had been at the mercy of others' violence. He'd barely escaped from mob on Duro; much later, the people who were supposed to be sheltering him had turned him over to Darth Krayt's hunters for payment. The Sith had taught him that power came through strength, and strength came through violence, and when he'd enacted violence against others, he'd felt enriched by the power of the dark side.
Without the Force to surge triumph through his body, Eli just felt dirty and tired.
"I was expecting more," Talon said as she got off the bed.
"You heard what he said. Khat Lah was… secretive."
"I meant more of a struggle. They say Yuuzhan Vong are raised to endure pain, and that they prize loyalty to their race above all else." She straightened her robe and pulled the hood back over her head. "I suspect this one was… corrupted by too much time among vermin."
Eli wondered how much he and Talon had been corrupted without the Force. "Are we going to leave him here?"
"Yes. We'll be off the station before anyone finds his body."
"A dead Yuuzhan Vong is going to raise questions."
"I have been covering our tracks the entire way, apprentice," Talon said, brittle and defensive.
"All right." Eli didn't look away from the corpse. "Where do we go from here?"
"Perhaps," she said, "We can look for a different sort of lead."
"What do you mean?"
"Your research," she said simply.
During their failed attempt to capture Darth Maladi, the only thing they'd salvaged from her laboratory were packets of datacards containing translations of ancient Gree archives. Reviewing them and trying to piece together their jumble of history and myth, all tens of thousands of years old, had given Eli something to do on their long journey if nothing else.
"What about my… research?"
"Perhaps it is time to look into it more deeply. You said Khat Lah was searching for the… source of the Force."
"That's how he put it," Eli said, remembering a conversation he'd heard between Khat Lah and the Jedi Master K'Kruhk, one of the last times he'd seen either of them.
"Then perhaps your research chases the same things as Khat Lah," Talon said. "You'll have to explain to me what you've found. Once we're away from here."
Talon moved for the door. Eli took one last, hard look at the dead body they'd leave behind. It was hardly their first, but the way reflected starlight glared in Ordon's wide-open eyes unsettled him.
His master seemed to have no such compunctions; that or she was better at hiding them. Talon was already out of the bedroom, on her way out of the apartment. Eli tucked his blaster in his robe, pulled his hood up to shield his face, and joined her.