Timothy Zahn - Survivor's Quest

"Thank you, Ambassador," Formbi said, inclining his head toward Jinzler. He gestured behind him, and the double-pyramid station vanished from the display.

Luke inhaled sharply as a murmur of similar astonishment rippled through the assembled dignitaries. Centered on the display was a stunningly beautiful globular cluster, hundreds of stars tightly packed into a compact sphere.

"The Redoubt," Formbi identified it. "Within this group of stars lies the last refuge of the Chiss people should our forces ever be overwhelmed in battle. It is impregnable, impossible for even a determined enemy to quickly or easily penetrate, with war vessels and firepoints scattered throughout. There are also other surprises that nature itself has created for the unwary."

"Starting with some really tricky navigation," Fel commented. "Those stars are awfully close together."

"Correct," Formbi said. "And that is where the principal danger lies, to us as well as any potential enemy."

He gestured again at the display. "As you say, the stars lie close together, and the routes between them have not been entirely mapped out. We will need to travel slowly, making many stops along the way for navigational readings. The journey will take approximately four days."

"I thought your ships had already located the planetoid where Outbound Flight crashed," Fel reminded him. "Can't we just follow their course?"

"We indeed will use their data as our starting point," Formbi confirmed. "But inside the Redoubt, nothing is ever constant or stable. There is a great deal of radiation to which we will be subjected each time we halt for readings. There are also many planetoids and large cometary bodies that travel on unpredictable paths, driven by the constantly changing battle of gravitational forces. These, too, pose a significant hazard."

"We waste time," Bearsh spoke up. The annoyance had passed, and his voice was calm again. "Those of Outbound Flight gave their lives for us. Shall the Geroons shy away from danger as we seek to honor their memory?"

"Agreed," Fel said firmly. "We're going in."

"As am I," Jinzler added.

"We're in, too," Luke said, making it unanimous.

"Thank you," Formbi said, inclining his head toward them. "Thank you all."

Luke felt a strange shiver run up his back. Formbi's thanks, of course, had been addressed to all of them. But at the same time, he had the oddest feeing that the words had somehow been specifically directed at him and Mara.

Formbi turned to the Geroons. "And now, Steward Bearsh, you and your companions must say farewell to those aboard your vessel. They cannot accompany us farther, but must wait here for our return."

"I understand," Bearsh said. "If you will prepare a signal frequency, I will speak with them."

Formbi nodded and gestured again. For a few seconds the Redoubt cluster remained centered on the display. Then the image cleared away to reveal a Geroon standing in front of the children's playground they had seen earlier. "You may speak," Formbi said.

Bearsh drew himself up to his full height and began speaking in an alien language whose singsong tones ran mostly to two-part harmony. The kind of language, Luke decided, that a species with twin mouths might logically be expected to create.

Formbi had drifted off to one side and was gazing down into the command center. Trying to be unobtrusive, Luke drifted over to join him.

"Master Skywalker," Formbi greeted him softly. "I'm pleased you will be accompanying us the rest of the way."

"That's why we came," Luke reminded him. "I was wondering exactly how tricky the navigation is going to be for this trip."

Formbi smiled, his glowing eyes glittering in the relative dimness of the observation deck. "It won't be simple, but it certainly won't be impossible, either," he said. "Why do you ask?"

"There are some Jedi techniques that can help with hyperspace navigation," Luke told him. "Especially with something as complicated and crowded as this Redoubt cluster. We can sometimes find easier or safer routes than a nav computer can come up with."

"An interesting thought," Formbi said. "I wish we could have borrowed some of you Jedi when we first set out to study the cluster. Many lives would undoubtedly have been saved."

Luke frowned. "Are you saying you only just started building this haven?"

"I make a small joke," Formbi admitted. "No, we began studying the cluster more than two hundred years ago, before we even knew of your existence." He turned back to gaze at the Geroons on the display. "Though I will also say that it has only been in the past fifty years that the work has been set at the current pace of urgency," he conceded. "Fortunately, it now nears completion."

"I see," Luke said. Fifty years ago: just about the time Outbound Flight made its appearance in this area. Was the Old Republic the "determined enemy" that had worried the Chiss so much that they'd started in earnest to build a place to hide? Or could they have foreseen the rise of Palpatine and the Empire? Thrawn might have, certainly, if the other leaders had been willing to listen to him.

It would probably have worked, too. Even a man as arrogant as Grand Moff Tarkin might have hesitated before taking his Death Star into a maze like that. "I see now why your people don't need to bother with preemptive strikes," he commented. "With a refuge like this, you can afford to let any enemy take the first shot."

Formbi swiveled sharply to face him. "That has nothing to do with the Redoubt," he said stiffly. "It is completely and purely a matter of honor and morality. The Chiss are never to be the aggressor people. We cannot and will not make war against any until and unless we have been attacked. That has been our law for a thousand years, Master Skywalker, and we will not bend from it."

"I understand," Luke said hastily, taken aback by the vehemence of Formbi's response. No wonder Thrawn and his aggressive military philosophy had rubbed these people backward. "I didn't mean to imply anything else. Please forgive me for not making myself clear."

"Yes, of course," Formbi said, the fire in his eyes fading somewhat as he pulled himself back under control. "And forgive me in turn for my outburst. The subject... let's simply say that it's been a matter of strenuous discussion in recent days among the Nine Ruling Families."

Luke lifted an eyebrow. "Oh?"

"Yes," Formbi said in a tone that said, Drop the subject. "At any rate, I thank you for your offer of assistance, but your Jedi powers of navigation should not be needed."

Luke bowed. "As you wish, Aristocra. If you choose to reconsider, we stand ready to assist." Turning, he headed back toward where Mara was standing, wondering yet again how Leia could make this diplomacy stuff look so simple.

The Geroons, he noted, seemed to be near the end of their conversation. The alien on the display was humming something that sounded like a cross between a military fanfare and a Huttese opera excerpt, and Bearsh had just started his equally musical reply.

"What was that all about?" Mara asked as Luke came up beside her.

"I was offering Formbi our help in navigating the Redoubt," Luke said, frowning. There was a new tension in his wife's face that hadn't been there when he'd left a minute ago. "He says they can do it themselves. What's wrong?"

"I don't know," Mara said, her eyes narrowed as she swept her gaze slowly around the room. "Something just hit me..."

"Something bad?" Luke suggested, stretching out to the Force as he tried to read the pattern of her thoughts. "Something dangerous?"

"Something not right," she said. "Something very much not right. Not dangerous, I don't think, at least not in and of itself. Just... not right."

Across the observation deck, the two-toned music stopped. "Thank you, Aristocra Formbi," Bearsh said, switching back to his stilted Basic. After the Geroon language, the words sounded startlingly drab. "My people express regret that they cannot all pay homage to the heroes of Outbound Flight, but we understand your concerns."