started searching. Tre was haphazard, pulling open cupboards and throwing aside
cushions from the several huge, low seats that lay around the place. But Lanoree tried
to concentrate her efforts.
She let the Force flow and sought where a Je’daii might hide her secrets.
Was she once really Je’daii?
she wondered.
Or did she merely say that to confuse me?
Kara was a player of games, that was for sure, answering some questions and dodging
others. She seemed very open about her desires and ambitions. Yet there was still
a mystery to her, and something far deeper and more complex than this fat woman confined
to her own apartment. Rich she might be, and powerful, and she undoubtedly had a long
reach. But Lanoree’s recognition of something about her—something Je’daii—was even
more confusing.
There were some who trained with the Je’daii but then left Tython. It was usually
at the Padawan phase, when children once strong withthe Force seemed to lose that strength as they reached adulthood. There was no shame
to it. And the Je’daii themselves admitted that on occasion they might make mistakes
and take into training those who would never be comfortable and at balance with the
Force.
My brother, for one
, Lanoree thought. She stared at the slumped figure of Kara, rich benefactor of the
Stargazers, and wished she could ask her more.
“Hurry!” Tre said. “The sentries might be coming even now.”
“Why would they?”
“Like she said, the best security that money can buy. They’ll have sensors for weapon
discharges.”
“Oh, great,” Lanoree said. More conflict was the last thing she wanted here. Her brief
time on Kalimahr had already been more eventful than she had hoped.
She looked down past her feet at the ground far below. A chaos of lights swarmed around
the base of the tower, but there were three white lights rising quickly up the tower’s
outer wall. Air elevators. She touched her collar and activated her comm.
“Ironholgs, I need you to bring the ship. We’re on the two-hundredth floor of Gazz
Spire, eight kilometers southeast of the landing tower.”
Nothing.
“Did you hear me?”
Ironholgs answered, a splutter of static and groans. As usual, he sounded like an
old man being woken from a comfortable sleep, but she already heard the background
whine of the Peacemaker’s engines being prepped.
“What?” Tre asked.
“Company. We’ll be leaving soon.”
His wide-eyed fear could not have been feigned. “Leaving how?”
“Let’s worry about that when the time comes. Now search.” Lanoree turned and faced
the wide panoramic windows looking out over Rhol Yan archipelago, trying to relax,
remembering her Force-skills training and relishing the balance she could feel inside.
Darkness and light, seeing and seeking. She surveyed the vast room, looking for where
something might be hidden. A woman like Kara had plenty tohide, and not all of it the currency of secrets. She was a rich woman with a grand
apartment and material wealth. She would have
things
to hide, too.
At the far corner of the room was a wall display of martial objects—blades, spears,
maces, other striking weapons, all of them powered by the bearer alone. It did not
surprise Lanoree that Kara might be a collector of such antiquities, and they did
not interest her. What might be behind the display did.
There was no obvious door, but she sensed a hollow beyond the wall.
And she did not have time to find the hidden opening mechanism.
Lanoree drew her sword and struck. Sparks flew, and an intense surge of energy webbed
across the display of old weapons, lighting them briefly with the Force. She struck
again and a wall panel gave way. Several crossbows clattered to the floor.
Lanoree shouldered her way through the opening into the narrow space behind the wall.
“Those elevators are pretty close!” Tre called.
“Lock the doors. Barricade them. Give us as much time as
cushions from the several huge, low seats that lay around the place. But Lanoree tried
to concentrate her efforts.
She let the Force flow and sought where a Je’daii might hide her secrets.
Was she once really Je’daii?
she wondered.
Or did she merely say that to confuse me?
Kara was a player of games, that was for sure, answering some questions and dodging
others. She seemed very open about her desires and ambitions. Yet there was still
a mystery to her, and something far deeper and more complex than this fat woman confined
to her own apartment. Rich she might be, and powerful, and she undoubtedly had a long
reach. But Lanoree’s recognition of something about her—something Je’daii—was even
more confusing.
There were some who trained with the Je’daii but then left Tython. It was usually
at the Padawan phase, when children once strong withthe Force seemed to lose that strength as they reached adulthood. There was no shame
to it. And the Je’daii themselves admitted that on occasion they might make mistakes
and take into training those who would never be comfortable and at balance with the
Force.
My brother, for one
, Lanoree thought. She stared at the slumped figure of Kara, rich benefactor of the
Stargazers, and wished she could ask her more.
“Hurry!” Tre said. “The sentries might be coming even now.”
“Why would they?”
“Like she said, the best security that money can buy. They’ll have sensors for weapon
discharges.”
“Oh, great,” Lanoree said. More conflict was the last thing she wanted here. Her brief
time on Kalimahr had already been more eventful than she had hoped.
She looked down past her feet at the ground far below. A chaos of lights swarmed around
the base of the tower, but there were three white lights rising quickly up the tower’s
outer wall. Air elevators. She touched her collar and activated her comm.
“Ironholgs, I need you to bring the ship. We’re on the two-hundredth floor of Gazz
Spire, eight kilometers southeast of the landing tower.”
Nothing.
“Did you hear me?”
Ironholgs answered, a splutter of static and groans. As usual, he sounded like an
old man being woken from a comfortable sleep, but she already heard the background
whine of the Peacemaker’s engines being prepped.
“What?” Tre asked.
“Company. We’ll be leaving soon.”
His wide-eyed fear could not have been feigned. “Leaving how?”
“Let’s worry about that when the time comes. Now search.” Lanoree turned and faced
the wide panoramic windows looking out over Rhol Yan archipelago, trying to relax,
remembering her Force-skills training and relishing the balance she could feel inside.
Darkness and light, seeing and seeking. She surveyed the vast room, looking for where
something might be hidden. A woman like Kara had plenty tohide, and not all of it the currency of secrets. She was a rich woman with a grand
apartment and material wealth. She would have
things
to hide, too.
At the far corner of the room was a wall display of martial objects—blades, spears,
maces, other striking weapons, all of them powered by the bearer alone. It did not
surprise Lanoree that Kara might be a collector of such antiquities, and they did
not interest her. What might be behind the display did.
There was no obvious door, but she sensed a hollow beyond the wall.
And she did not have time to find the hidden opening mechanism.
Lanoree drew her sword and struck. Sparks flew, and an intense surge of energy webbed
across the display of old weapons, lighting them briefly with the Force. She struck
again and a wall panel gave way. Several crossbows clattered to the floor.
Lanoree shouldered her way through the opening into the narrow space behind the wall.
“Those elevators are pretty close!” Tre called.
“Lock the doors. Barricade them. Give us as much time as
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