As the Jade Shadow hurtled through hyperspace, Luke waited in the copilot seat for Mara to return to her place in the pilot's chair. When she did, she said, "Ben's safe in his cabin with Nanna. She told me that the Killik got the drop on her by springing out from beneath the galley table. It climbed up her body and found her off-switch before she could do anything to protect herself."
"We'll need to make her off-switch less accessible, at least against intruders, in the future," Luke suggested. "You think we can give her to Lando for a while to install something like that?"
Mara shrugged. "We could, but Ben will have to go without a nanny for some time, and I'm not sure we wanna leave him that vulnerable. Especially right now. Then again, I guess we could still keep Nanna around until Lando gives us a whole new YVH nanny with an anti-intruder off-switch."
Luke tilted his head in agreement. "Sounds like a plan; let's hope no other Killiks get to that off-switch between now and then."
Mara nodded. "I've already done a thorough internal and external scan of the Shadow. Jacen even helped me out by sensing if there were any other Killiks aboard after he tied that intruder up in the guest cabin. As far as he can tell, there aren't, but since the one we're holding right now just barely didn't get by him, I'm not so sure I can be so confident even with his senses."
Luke laid his natural hand on his wife's forearm. "If Jacen senses that there aren't any other Killiks aboard, that means there aren't any others aboard."
"I hope you're right," Mara said as she placed a hand over her husband's.
"Hey, I know what you're feeling," Luke said. "I was scared, too. But there's no danger to Ben right now. You can be sure of it."
"Here, hold me." She then stepped away from her chair and placed herself on Luke's lap. They held each other like that for a long moment before she shook her head. "How did that thing even get aboard? The ship's ramp was open on Jwlio for only a few minutes! Nanna was on lookout, and not just for Ben. And why didn't any of the Knights tell us about it? Why didn't Jacen, since he's the most trustworthy of them right now? Also, why didn't any of the Shadow's anti-intruder systems work? I paid good money for them!"
"I checked the security feeds while you and Jacen were on your search through the ship," Luke said. "Let me show you what they found in the short time we were on Jwlio."
He leaned forward, prompting Mara to return to the pilot seat, and flipped a switch that activated a screen on the control console before them. The screen showed footage from the time that they, Ben, and Nanna had all stepped down onto Jwlio. It didn't take long before the screen fuzzed up, as if a connection had gone bad, right before Nanna took Ben back up the Shadow's ramp.
At intervals of seconds, Luke flipped other switches, activating feeds from other areas of the ship. At a different time, each feed fuzzed up just like the one at the ramp.
It wasn't long before the feeds just stopped and the screen went blank; and it was right before Luke and Mara had stepped back aboard the Shadow.
"What a coincidence that should happen," Mara said sarcastically.
"Force-trickery, no doubt," Luke said earnestly. "Most likely was the same cause that let down the rest of the anti-intruder sensors to allow the Killik aboard. Do you think any of the Knights could have done it?"
"Not without us sensing them," Mara said. "Perhaps another Force-user, someone who could have cloaked their presence?"
It was then that they both felt Jacen's presence approaching the cockpit. They turned in their seats to find their nephew stepping into the threshold.
"I couldn't get anything out of the captive Killik," Jacen reported. "She won't even tell me her nest's name."
"Don't worry about it," Mara said. "We're meeting up with the Falcon. They managed to free Zekk, Lowie, and Jaina. Your parents told us that something is going to happen on Yoggoy and that we need to meet face-to-face."
"What's gonna happen on Yoggoy?" Jacen asked.
"A Chiss invasion," Mara answered evenly. "Jaina gave up that it was where the Prime Unu was so that she and the others could be freed. The Chiss think that by killing him and maybe wiping out every Killik there, they can break the Colony's hive mind and render the rest of the Killiks as fractured nests again."
Jacen's eyes widened "So we're meeting with my parents to plan a defense for Yoggoy?"
"Maybe, maybe not," Mara said. "We certainly don't have the firepower to take on the Chiss by ourselves, at any rate."
"Then I have to warn the Colony," Jacen said. "Say if they can start an evacuation, if not a fight."
He turned away from his aunt and uncle, shut his eyes, and concentrated as he reached out through the Force to reach the meld that he had established with Taat, who would, in turn, reach out to Unu for him.
The response that Jacen got from Taat felt stern and reserved, which made him concerned. Nevertheless, he felt that he was soon connected with the man who had once been his friend, Raynar Thul.
UnuThul, Jacen addressed him. Hear me, please. The Chiss are-
Traitor! UnuThul roared through the connection. Joining with his voice was the combined force of other voices, including Tahiri, Alema, Tesar, even Tekli. Jacen was also very aware of how much the power of the nest of Unu, as well as all the other Killik nests, was put into this communication. You abandoned us! You left us, you left Lowie, you left Zekk, you even left your own sister! Traitor! Traitor! Traitor!
And just like that, the connection was cut off.
Jacen felt as if he had been cast adrift. The sudden feeling of loneliness overwhelmed him like a tidal wave, and he looked to Luke and Mara as if they could console him over this loss. Instead, they looked befuddled.
"Jacen, what's wrong?" Luke asked.
"They think I betrayed them," Jacen said. "Unu, Taat, the other nests, even my friends still on Jwlio. They cut me off from the Taat nest mind and the overall Colony hive-mind."
"Oh, Jacen," Luke said. "I'm so sorry." His tone was sincere; he may not have understood what Jacen had when he was with the Killiks, but Luke knew that his nephew was feeling the pain of a major loss right now.
Jacen shook his head, as if he were sobering himself from a stupor. "That doesn't matter. The Colony still needs our help, even if they won't listen to me."
Luke and Mara both nodded. "We agree," the former said. "So keep calm and wait until we meet with your parents and Master Sebatyne."
Jacen looked like he was about to agree when he stopped himself. "Well, maybe I can do more than that. Maybe I can get something out of our captive. If I can use a mind-probe-"
"Mind-probe?" Luke asked. "Did you say a mind-probe?"
Jacen nodded hesitantly. "Yes, why?"
Luke stood up from his seat and approached his nephew. "A mind-probe is a technique of the dark side, Jacen."
Jacen took a moment to respond. "It can be if used unwisely."
Luke shook his head. "Wisdom has nothing to do with it, Jacen. A mind-probe isn't just about peering into someone's mind simply to extract information; it tears at their mind, rending it, fracturing it, in a truly painful, agonizing way. It can even lead to a coma, if not death."
"I'll be careful," Jacen said. "When I'm done, the Killik will be fine and-"
"It isn't just about that Killik, Jacen," Luke interrupted. "It's also about your own soul. When you commit to a mind-probe, even if the victim is still conscious afterwards, it will do something to you. It can and will corrupt you, and even if you are pulled back from the dark side of the Force, that taint on your soul will linger. Trust me; I know. My own father, when he was still Darth Vader, used it on me to learn that your mother was my sister; the pain to my mind wasn't just from the existential horror that Vader gave me when he learned about Leia. So I'm telling you, Jacen, do not use a mind-probe on that Killik, for your own sake."
"But we don't have much time!" Jacen protested. "If the Killiks on Yoggoy are in danger-"
"Don't let expedience become an excuse!" Luke bellowed.
Jacen took a step back from his uncle's sudden outburst; even Mara flinched from that.
Luke sighed as he gathered himself before he spoke again. "I apologize for that, Jacen. But, please, understand that we do not resort to abilities that are those of the dark side. If we were to do that, we would no longer be Jedi. After all, if we were to allow desperation to cloud our judgment, we would have never gone looking for a solution to the Yuuzhan Vong War that didn't involve wiping them out. We would have condoned Alpha Red and never searched for Zonama Sekot. But we did, and for that, we and the rest of the galaxy kept our souls intact just as the Yuuzhan Vong were allowed a chance to have future generations grow up without violence or barbarism. We may have even saved more lives and shortened the war by going for the nonviolent option. So, then, Jacen, do you understand what I'm trying to tell you?"
Jacen hesitated before he finally nodded. "I think I do, Uncle Luke. If we completely side against the Chiss like I did with Jaina and the others at Qoribu, we'll be making things worse. And not just for the Killiks, but the Chiss, too."
Luke returned the nod. "That's right."
"How much longer before we meet up with the Falcon, then?" Jacen asked.
"A couple hours, give or take," Mara reported.
"I'll, uh... I'll go back to the Killik, anyway," Jacen said with a note of defeat. "So if I can get anything without resorting to a mind-probe."
Luke nodded. "But don't beat yourself up if you fail. In the end, we'll find a way to resolve this peacefully without losing our souls. I'm certain of it."
Jacen looked like he was about to say something, but only nodded. He then turned away and headed back to the guest cabin.
"You should talk to him," Mara suggested, "in private."
Luke looked at his wife. "For what?"
"You're right about what a mind-probe could do, not just to the victim, but to the user, too," Mara said. "It is a dark side ability. But you forget, Jacen doesn't quite look at things the same way we do, not after Vergere. And since you're more philosophically inclined than I am, you'd be better at fully convincing Jacen why he should be less receptive to what she taught him."
"I had a conversation like that with Jacen before the Yuuzhan Vong War ended," Luke told her. "We both know how we feel about each other's philosophies; if I brought up the subject to him again, he'd probably ask me to stop repeating myself. I might even agree. Besides, I already convinced him not to go through with the mind-probe; I see little need to reinforce it."
"Then perhaps you two can finish that conversation about what he learned from the Aing-Tii monks," Mara said. "It might explain why Leia saw him on Yoggoy when he had already left by the time we arrived."
"You won't join us to hear that conversation firsthand?" Luke asked.
Mara shook her head. "Someone's gotta man the controls, just in case we come out of hyperspace too early for whatever reason. Besides, you have more interest in arcane Force-powers than I do."
"Very well," Luke said before he turned and left the cockpit.
He met Jacen in the guest cabin and found him seated at the foot of the bed where the Killik was strapped down. The insectoid struggled vainly against the fiberchord that kept its whole body in place as it chattered away in its native tongue with a very aggressive tone.
"I take it she's not saying anything useful?" Luke asked.
"Not really," Jacen answered with an exasperated sigh. "Was there something you needed, Uncle Luke?"
Luke was about to ask him about Leia's sighting of him on Yoggoy before he reconsidered. He instead asked, "Jacen, do you remember that conversation we had on Zonama Sekot years ago, before we ended the Yuuzhan Vong War? About the nature of the dark side and our disagreement over it?"
"Yes," Jacen answered simply.
"Well, I know that you don't believe that it exists as we more traditional Jedi understand it, but I just wanna say that whatever you believe now, I'm glad you remained on the side of the light. And that you still respect my judgment enough to not utilize anything that might be of the dark side."
"Of course I respect your judgment, Uncle Luke. I have my experiences and my own wisdom, just as you have yours. And just because I doubt that the dark side really exists doesn't mean than I'm beyond good and evil or anything like that. In fact, during my sojourn after the war, I've come to see that across all these different beliefs of the Force, evil, or the dark side as you call it, exists; whether it's within ourselves or if it's as intrinsic as you believe it might be. In any case, my own experiences have told me to be as wary of evil as you are."
"It's good to see that you have developed your own wisdom, Jacen," Luke said sincerely. His tone then shifted to something a bit more pragmatic. "But speaking of your sojourn, you were about to say something about your visit with the Aing-Tii monks before we had to deal with our friend here?" He tilted his head at the still-chattering Killik.
"Ah, yes," Jacen said. "Well, as I was about to say, I don't quite understand how it worked. Quite frankly, I'm not even sure how I did it. I mean, I know how to flow-walk, but to leave something of myself for my mother to see in the future, that's something I didn't know I could do. That, and the fact that Raynar had seen me when he had crashed years ago when I wouldn't arrive until a month or so ago is something I didn't even think was possible."
Luke's eyes widened. "Raynar saw you, back then?"
Jacen nodded. "Yeah, the other Knights thought that was a big deal, too. I imagine it'll be something for you and the other Masters to talk about when this whole Chiss-Killik crisis is over. But right now, I don't know how this can..." He trailed off as a thought crossed his expression.
"What is it?" Luke asked.
Instead of answering, Jacen looked over at the Killik, who had suddenly gone quiet when they locked eyes.
"When I saw the Tachyon Flier crash," Jacen said as he looked back at his uncle, "I saw Raynar drag two bodies out with him. It hasn't occurred to me until now what might be really going on. I don't know how I could have been so stupid not to have thought of this before."
"What do you think is going on, Jacen?" Luke asked.
Jacen returned his attention to the silent Killik. "The nest you're a part of. They're in it, aren't they?"
The insectoid chattered with a negative tone; even Luke could tell that it was trying to lie to Jacen.
The Knight looked back at the Master. "Uncle Luke, whatever's going on here... I think the Dark Jedi Lomi Plo and Welk are involved."