The Emperor seemed to grow larger, his image swelling to loom above them. The rippling hood around Palpatine’s shriveled face seemed to blow in an unseen wind. His eyes widened, blazing with the light of twin white suns.
The Emperor’s voice boomed out, raised to such a volume that Zekk flinched. “Hear me, my Jedi Knights and stormtroopers. The Force does not favor weaklings. We have the strength. The Force is with us—to victory!”
Then the transmission ended, and the Emperor’s cowled silhouette dissolved into sparkles and static.
The entire assembly set up a deafening cheer, in which Zekk joined wholeheartedly.
13
Flanked by a pair of Hapan Stinger security escort vehicles, the Shadow Chaser touched down lightly on the main landing pad of the Fountain Palace. In the cockpit, Luke Skywalker gave a small sigh of relief. Letting his eyes fall closed for a moment, he reached deep within himself, found the calm core of Force at his center, and then focused outward.
Artoo-Detoo gave a short warble, and Luke opened his eyes to find all three young Jedi Knights already unbuckled from their crash webbing and scrambling toward the exit hatch, barely able to restrain their impatience. Jacen bounced nervously from one foot to another, while Lowie raked fingers through his ginger fur in an effort to smooth it down. Jaina shrugged and looked at him. “Well, what are we waiting for, Uncle Luke?”
Chuckling, Luke released the flight interlocks, and the three Jedi trainees tumbled down the ramp as soon as it began to extend. Ta’a Chume, in the customary half-veil she wore for public appearances, was already waiting on the landing pad with a retinue of guards and attendants. Luke was pleased to see the twins and Lowie greet the old matriarch with courtesy and respect.
The former queen looked coldly at Luke as he began his greeting. “I’m sorry, but your journey here has been a complete waste, Jedi Master. You see, my granddaughter will not be able to speak with—”
Just then Jaina gave a delighted cry, and Jacen yelled, “Hey, Tenel Ka, are we ever glad to see you!” Lowie bellowed a loud Wookiee greeting. The three young visitors rushed across the landing platform to embrace their friend, who had emerged from the sparkling palace. Snatches of the excited conversation drifted to where Luke stood.
“Master Lowbacca wishes to compliment you on how, er, well-rested you look.”
“Thought we’d never see you again.”
“I am glad you came.”
“Want to hear a joke?”
Luke’s attention was drawn back to Ta’a Chume when she spoke to her nearest attendant. “I didn’t call the princess. How could she possibly—”
“I called to her,” Luke said simply.
Ta’a Chume shook her head. “Impossible. We would have picked up any transmission from your ship.”
Luke allowed himself the barest smile at her mystification. “I didn’t use a transmitter,” he said. “I called her through the Force. You may wish it weren’t true, but Tenel Ka is already more Jedi than you know.”
The matriarch raised her brows, but her eyes were unreadable. “We shall see, Jedi Master. The princess may yet get over that foolish notion.”
“Does it matter to you what your granddaughter wants for herself?” Luke asked bluntly. “I know it matters to her parents. When I let her leave my protection on Yavin 4 to return to Hapes, I thought her parents would be here for her. But maybe I shouldn’t have sent her away so quickly. Where are Teneniel Djo and your son Isolder?”
Luke saw indecision cloud the matriarch’s eyes, and he sensed that she was trying to decide whether she would be better served by the truth or a lie. At last she said, “Although I no longer rule the Hapes Cluster, I still have my sources of information. I learned that an attempt would be made on the lives of the royal family, so I urged my son and his wife to pay a visit of state to another system—to negotiate a liberalization of our trade agreements. The negotiations called for a royal touch, and so my son and his wife were easily persuaded. No one but myself and my most trusted advisor knew when they left or where they went.
“Tenel Ka’s accident was an unexpected complication that, unfortunately, may put her in danger, drawing assassins to her, like piranha beetles swarming toward the scent of blood. The princess will be safer here with me than at your primitive temple. She is no longer any of your business, Jedi.”
Luke shook his head, unwilling to back down. “Whether or not she remains my business will be for Tenel Ka to decide, when she is ready.”
Jacen looked around his assigned room and shook his head in amazement. It had been scarcely two hours since he had learned that Tenel Ka was a genuine princess, heir to the entire Hapes Cluster. He hadn’t even adjusted to that idea yet. And now this.
His room was more luxurious than any in the Imperial Palace on Coruscant. Rich, exotic scents filled the air, along with the sounds of trickling water, faint music, and chirping avians. Decorative fountains spattered in every room, every corridor, every courtyard, striking musical water chimes.
This was where Tenel Ka had grown up? He still couldn’t believe it. Why hadn’t she told any of her friends? Uncle Luke had known, of course, but what possible reason could Tenel Ka have had for hiding the truth from her friends for so long? Jacen didn’t understand that any more than he understood her refusal to speak to him after he had injured her with his lightsaber.
He cringed again at the thought of the harm he had caused his friend. Jacen had no idea how Uncle Luke had ever talked Tenel Ka’s sharp-tongued grandmother into allowing the twins and Lowie to stay on Hapes for an entire month. He only knew that at the appointed time Luke would return to pick up three or—he hoped—four young Jedi Knights.
A whole month. He’d have to talk to Tenel Ka about the accident soon, to clear the air. But what would he say? She wasn’t the same person he had known on the jungle moon. Not now. But then, she had never been the person he thought she was, had she? A real Hapan princess! What could he say to her?
“May I enter?” The voice startled him out of his reverie, and Jacen turned to find Tenel Ka standing at the door to his chambers.
“Sure … I mean, um, of course,” he said, blinking in surprise. “I was just thinking about you.”
Tenel Ka nodded as if she had known this and swept into the room. Dressed in a long wine-colored gown topped by a rich cape in velvety silver-gray, hair flowing freely down her back in loose, golden-red ripples, Tenel Ka looked like a stranger to Jacen. He found himself tongue-tied.
She stared at him for a long moment, as if he too were a creature from some unknown world, but when she spoke it was the same Tenel Ka. “The room—it is acceptable?”
A thousand questions, apologies, and bits of news clamored in Jacen’s mind, waiting to be spoken. But all he could manage to say was “Hey, it’s a great room. This is an amazing place. All those fountains.”
Tenel Ka nodded again. “This is a fact.”
Jacen tingled with an odd pleasure at Tenel Ka’s old familiar phrase. Looking into her cool gray eyes, Jacen struggled to collect himself and harness his racing thoughts. At last he managed to blurt out, “I’m really sorry I hurt you, Tenel Ka. It was all my fault.”
“I was to blame.”
“No,” Jacen hurried to say, “I was being stupid. I was so busy trying to impress you with my dueling skills that I didn’t even notice when your lightsaber blade started to fratz out!”
“This is not a fact,” Tenel Ka said, frowning. “My own pride caused the accident. I believed my fighting prowess could compensate for any deficiency of my weapon. I foolishly believed that the quality of the energy blade was insignificant compared with the quality of the warrior. This was also not a fact.”