Jacen gave her a long, blank stare, and she wondered if the idea of an eternal principle being more important than the short confines of his own mortal life was alien to him. He had to pass beyond that. He would.
"When you think of Ben's fate," she said, "think of the legacy you'll leave in years to come, and ask who'll be able to name the Skywalkers, or even the Solos. This is about the fate of trillions upon trillions for millennia to come —not one small family over a few decades."
Jacen got to his feet, but Lumiya could tell he was looking at her without seeing her now.
"I'll keep telling myself that," he said. "The boots will get Mara's attention, for sure."
"I think I'll play up the maternal grief and do something emotional, too. What are you going to do when Mara and Luke come after you—when they find out about Ben in due course?"
"I'll deal with that when I have to."
"It might be sooner than you think. I suggest you make sure you're properly armed."
"I have quite an armory," said Jacen. "And I'll be ready when the time
comes."
"Think laterally," Lumiya said gently. "Luke can still take you in a lightsaber fight."
"I'm already a few steps ahead of him. Trust me."
She had to. The future of the galaxy depended on Jacen. He was the end of chaos and the beginning of order, and—like all forces of change—he would not be hailed by everyone as a savior. Some wouldn't see how necessary he was. Some would try to stop him.
She would do whatever it took to clear his path—even if the price was her own life.
SURVEILLANCE CENTER, GAG HQ, CORUSCANT
Captain Girdun loomed in the doorway, backlit by the light from the corridor. "Showtime," he said. "Niathal's just been designated as acting Chief of State as of midnight."
The troopers on duty in the listening post looked up. Ben detached the bead amplifier in his ear and tried to make sense of that news.
"What's happened to Omas?"
"He's going to be out of the office for a day."
"Oh, I thought—"
"He has to give a little notice to hand over the reins of state to Niathal when he's out of contact—you know, command codes, that kind of stuff. So we have a window for his trip to Vulpter. Tomorrow."
It was all moving too fast. Ben could recall feeling excited by the turmoil of events, but now that he was part of them, they were too fast for his comfort. They brought him closer to his mission. He wasn't relishing the prospect; he knew how he'd felt after killing a suspect he thought was
armed, so he could work out that he wouldn't be any happier after dispatching Gejjen.
I'm an assassin. And everyone else my age who isn't a Jedi is in school.
"What cover story has he given?" Ben asked.
"Private medical matter."
"Yeah, saving his backside," said Zavirk.
"I think this is the opportunity you've been waiting for, Ben."
Girdun beckoned to him. "Come on. Briefing room." He turned to Zavirk. "I want to know his itinerary to Vulpter. He won't be taking us along, but he'll still need transport, a minder, and a pilot, so let's keep an eye on the logistics."
"Bet he takes an Intel zombie or two with him for company."
"Well, we're keeping an eye on them, too, so that'll help us triangulate, won't it? Get to it, Trooper."
The captain strode off down the corridor whistling, which was unlike him. Ben hadn't realized Girdun disliked Omas so much. Maybe he just enjoyed a really major hunt. It couldn't get much bigger than tailing the Chief of State to an illicit meeting with the enemy. There was no hate in Girdun, just a wonderful sense of focus and excitement.
Ben wondered if darkness was as easy to spot as Jedi seemed to think.
But what's darkness? Killing Gejjen?
The worst thing about growing up was that there were fewer right-or-wrong answers every day. It wasn't a math test.
When they reached the briefing room, Shevu and Lekauf were already there, poring over a wall full of illuminated holodisplays. Lekauf, looking far
from comfortable in his brand-new lieutenant's rank insignia, gave Ben a nervous grin.
"Our source in Coronet confirms that Gejjen's rescheduled all his engagements for tomorrow," said Shevu. "It's on for sure."
"Timetable?"
"No outbound timings, but he expects to be back in time for a meeting by oh-eight-hundred the next day."
The displays on the walls showed two sets of charts and data: one was Coruscant, the other Corellia. Ben checked off the list of surveillance points—Omas's private residence, the security cams from the Senate offices, the handful of private landing pads nearest to both, and a tally of flight plans filed for Vulpter. The Corellian status board also showed recent flight plans logged with that planet as a destination.
"What if Omas breaks his journey somewhere, and doesn't fly straight to Vulpter?" Ben asked.
"That's where marrying it up with arrivals and flight plans for Vulpter helps." Lekauf pointed to a datapad on the table. "Check that out. Even if the flight doesn't originate from Coruscant, we can run checks to see what's arriving with Coruscant as its point of departure within that time window."
"The boring number-crunching stuff," said Girdun. "Don't worry, a computer's narrowing down the choices. Once we spot Omas moving—or even Gejjen—then we put a tail on them. Easier to tail Omas, but we might get a break from Gejjen."
"How?"
"We have an informant in the Corellian government building. This is the thing about information, Ben. It's not a case of finding a big X on a chart labeled the secret meeting is here. It's actually about assembling a lot of apparently routine stuff that's not secret at all and looking for the patterns."
Ben watched the flight plans from Coronet appearing on the screen. Any neutral pilot entering Corellian airspace could get access to this.
Anybody could get information from ATC on Vulpter. And Coruscant ATC was an open book, available from any dataport. There was a daunting amount of data, but a computer or a droid could sift through it just as they sifted through the thousands of comlink calls to flag those that were worth the scrutiny of flesh and blood. It was just a matter of setting the parameters right.
Ben wasn't sure why he was here other than to learn the tedious and painstaking side of the job. Shevu and Lekauf seemed to be planning an interception.
"They're just working out how we get you close enough to Gejjen."
Girdun seemed to assume Ben knew what he was talking about. "And that has to be after he's finished his meeting with Omas, because the boss wants the evidence of the meeting for the Security Council."
Revelation dawned. Ben had hoped he'd have more preparation time, but this was it. "We're doing the hit at the same time as the meeting?
Not when he's on the way back, or—"
"We might not get another chance to take a crack at Gejjen away from his home turf."
Lekauf beckoned to Ben and made him look inside a fabric holdall leaning against the wall. "Like it?"
Ben couldn't work out what it was at first, but when he took it from the bag, it turned out to be a rifle with a folding stock. He unfolded it and snapped the stock into place, staring at it in numb realization.
"It's a modified Karpaki Fifty," Lekauf said, totally misreading Ben's reaction to the weapon. "Can't leave lightsaber marks all over Gejjen, can we? Bit of a giveaway. You're now going to make a very fast acquaint of a ballistic
sniper rifle. Y'know—projectiles."
"If you're trying to get me close to Gejjen, why do I need a sniper weapon?"
"In case we can't. Come on, let's get in a few hours on the indoor range."