Jacen listened with interest. His father, Han Solo, had told him about his adventures with glitterstim spice from the planet Kessel, but Jacen knew relatively little about ryll.
“And,” Ta’a Chume went on, “those profits have built the Diversity Alliance into a formidable power indeed. The funds have been used to purchase weapons-both legal and illegal—to hire bounty hunters to track down enemies, and to hire assassins to ensure the silence of … former friends.”
Jacen gave a low whistle.
The erstwhile queen’s expression turned frosty.
“Apparently, this Nolaa Tarkona is rather more tolerant of her enemies than she is of friends who decide to go their own way. Leaving the Diversity Alliance is a dangerous proposition. That is what we have learned so far, but I think we’ll find there is much more.” Jacen and Tenel Ka exchanged worried glances.
“Your information is most useful,” Tenel Ka said. “We may need to do further research. Thank you, Grandmother.”
“We’d better have a talk with Lusa,” Jacen said.
2
Raynar winced as the green plasteel medical droid methodically cleaned the gashes on his thigh.
“Is it very painful, Master Raynar?” Em Teedee asked. The little translator bobbed in the air just above the foot of the narrow padded table in the Jedi academy’s tiny infirmary.
In spite of the throbbing streaks of fire that shot along his thigh, Raynar didn’t want to appear weak in front of Lusa and Jaina. He shook his head. “I’ll be just fine now.” But he couldn’t control his grimace when the medical droid none-too-gently slapped a graft-patch across the deep scratches from the rakhmar.
Lusa gave an impatient stamp with one hoof and moved closer to Raynar.
He was suddenly aware that the cool, antiseptic smell of the room had been replaced by a warm scent of woods and spices. He breathed deeply and relaxed a bit.
“Thank you, I’ll take it from here,” Lusa said, shooing away the medical droid. “Jaina, please hand me that anesthetic gel and those bandages.”
Raynar watched with detached surprise as the centauriform girl shook back her cinnamon mane and briskly cleansed her hands. With a few quick swipes of anesthetic gel, she deadened the pain in his thigh.
Then she began to bandage his leg, her movements deft and practiced.
“You look like you’ve done this before,” Jaina observed, settling onto a stool beside the table.
Lusa shrugged one bare shoulder. “During my time with the Diversity Alliance I became an accomplished medic. Emergencies often arose when we were rescuing the downtrodden. There were many wounds to heal….”
She smiled apologetically as she continued winding the bandage around Raynar’s thigh. “This is the first time I’ve helped a human, though.”
She secured the bandage in place and rested her hand lightly over the wounded area.
“I … you do good work,” Raynar managed, feeling a sudden feverish heat that had nothing to do with his wounds. “Thank you.”
“That’s a useful skill,” Jaina said. She grinned and winked conspiratorially at Raynar, then looked across the table at Lusa. “I think our patient ought to heal quite well now. Maybe we should ask Uncle Luke about teaching you to use the Force to diagnose—” Just then the door to the infirmary opened and a Bothan soldier marched in. The simian-faced alien wore the uniform of the New Republic Forces stationed in orbit around the Jedi academy.
His eyes narrowed when he saw Lusa, and his pointed ears twitched.
Em Teedee spun in midair to face the intruder. “I beg your pardon, sir. Might I be of any assistance? Do you have business here in the infirmary, or can I direct you elsewhere?”
The soldier seemed nonplussed and didn’t answer immediately. He appeared to be <...> fixated on Lusa. Raynar, who didn’t like the way the Bothan was looking at her, propped himself up on one elbow. A sense of foreboding tickled at the back of his mind—or maybe it was just a pang of jealousy….
“Can we help you find someone?” Jaina prompted.
“No,” the Bothan said. He took a step forward.
Raynar, feeling unaccountably protective, stretched out his free hand from where he lay and rested it on Lusa’s back. Jaina must have been uncomfortable too, he realized, for out of the corner of his eye he saw her hand move to the hilt of her lightsaber. Lusa’s back muscles tensed.
Raynar threaded his fingers through her mane.
He took a deep breath and felt the Force flow through him.
“Hey, how’s the patient? All fixed up now?” Jacen asked, trotting through the infirmary door with Tenel Ka beside him. He stopped short when he saw the New Republic soldier and eyed him curiously.
Tenel Ka was instantly on her guard. She arched an eyebrow. “Do you require assistance, sir?”
The Bothan backed up a few steps toward the door. “I—I was told to report to the hangar bay.”
“Ah,” Tenel Ka said. “Aha. This is not the hangar bay.”
“Oh, indeed, sir! Why didn’t you say so in the first place?” Em Teedee exclaimed. “I’ll escort you there immediately. It just so happens I have business to discuss with one of the astromech units there.” The little silvery droid zipped out into the hallway. “It’s only one level down. Your confusion is quite understandable, given the amount of reconstruction still in progress here in the Great Temple. If you would be so kind as to follow me?”
With a last reluctant look around the infirmary, the Bothan soldier followed Em Teedee out the door and down the stone walled corridor.
Raynar was about to remark on the strangeness of the encounter when Jacen said, “I’m glad you’re still here, Lusa. Would you mind if we asked you a couple of questions about the Diversity Alliance? We have to know.”
Lusa, who had just begun to relax now that the guard had left, looked instantly wary again. She took a few steps backward into the corner. “It’s important?”
“Very important,” Jacen said.
Raynar fixed his attention on Jacen now, hoping that the questions wouldn’t upset Lusa too much.
“I need you to promise you won’t tell anyone this,” Jacen went on, “but we’re going to Ryloth. I don’t think Lowie knows what you’ve told us about the Diversity Alliance, and—”
“Who?” Lusa interrupted. She clacked one hoof on the floor “Who is going to Ryloth?”
Jacen made an all-encompassing gesture. “Jaina, Tenel Ka, Em Teedee, and I. Raynar was going to go too, but now that he’s wounded—”
“You’re not leaving me behind,” Raynar objected.
“I’ll be just fine.” - “No! It’s too dangerous,” Lusa said. “In the Diversity Alliance, hatred for humans is strong. You would be risking your lives to go there.”
“What if we pretended to be on diplomatic business?” Jaina suggested.
Lusa shook her head. “They might not dare to harm you in such a case, but they would most certainly turn you away.”
“Then we will not enter through the front door,” Tenel Ka said. “We will find another way.”
“Did you know that the profits from ryll mining on Ryloth are being siphoned off to buy weapons and hire assassins?” Jacen asked Lusa. “We just learned that from Tenel Ka’s grandmother.”
Lusa’s eyebrows rose toward the delicate crystal horns that protruded from her forehead. “The news does not surprise me. I never learned where Nolaa Tarkona got most of her funding. I did know, however, that the Diversity Alliance used bounty hunters and assassins.”
“A common enough practice.” Tenel Ka interjected.
“We’ve known for a long time that they used bounty hunters,” Raynar said. “They’ve been trying to capture my father for months.”