Клаудия Грэй - Into the Dark

“At least one of them has a sense of honor, then.” Orla’s expression was skeptical. “But I’m not convinced that’s a value of the group as a whole.”

“Me either,” Reath said. He remembered the way Nan’s finger had remained firm against her blaster’s trigger; she’d wanted to kill him badly enough that letting him go had been hard. It would be a mistake to test her “honor” again. “The Nihil want to use this station as a base of operations for raiding this entire area of space. The Republic has to either hold the Amaxine station as its own property or destroy it.”

“I’d gathered as much,” said Orla.

Reath tried not to feel disappointed that she’d already reached that conclusion without him. “At least we’ve got the Drengir taken care of.”

“About that.” Orla winced. “We’re about to set the Drengir free again.”

“Wait, what? Why? ” But Reath instantly realized the only reason that would ever be under consideration. “Is there no other way to sneak off the station without the Nihil seeing us?”

She shook her head. “Not a chance. We have to distract them on a scale that will have every single warrior on that massive ship hurrying onto the station to fight. Otherwise, they’ll blow us to pieces as soon as we’re free of the airlock.”

Reath couldn’t suppress a shiver as he thought about facing the Drengir again. This time, at least, he wouldn’t be at such a disadvantage: trapped on a world not his own, trying to protect someone injured and unable to defend himself. All they had to do was keep themselves from being killed long enough for the Drengir and the Nihil to collide with each other, at which point the Jedi would fall much farther down each enemy’s list of priorities.

But keeping themselves from getting killed that long, with both groups out for their blood—it wouldn’t be easy. More than that, a sense of dread was creeping in at the edges of Reath’s consciousness. Danger lay ahead, in some way they hadn’t yet fully recognized.

“Did you see Cohmac?” Orla said. “He went after you—”

“He found me, and Dez.” The astonishment and joy on Orla’s face erased Reath’s worries, at least for that moment. “There’s a transport area beneath the station, which is why the Nihil and Drengir are so interested in the first place. Dez was accidentally sent to the Drengir homeworld—at least, maybe it was their homeworld; there were a lot of them there—he was badly injured, out of it, and I’m positive they interrogated him harshly.” What simple words for describing a nightmare. Reath pressed on. “Anyway, Cohmac took Dez back to the Vessel . Do you need him to help remove the Force barrier?”

“Dez needs help more right now, and we’re already here. So let’s see if the two of us can handle it,” Orla said. She sounded more confident than he suspected she felt—certainly more confident than he felt. Already she was putting away her saber, preparing for the journey back to the arboretum. “Are you ready, Reath?”

It hit him, then, what she was truly asking of him: to go with her into the heart of the storm.

“Yes,” he said. “Let’s go.”

Affie’s hands continued to redden and sting as she and Leox made their way back toward the Vessel . “I think that sap is toxic to humans,” she said.

“I think you may be right. Hopefully some sort of salve or unguent aboard the ship will set you right. Until then, let’s keep moving.”

Leox kept hurrying her along, like he thought she remained on the verge of turning back. That annoyed Affie, even though he wasn’t entirely wrong. She wasn’t going to turn back; she just kept wishing she could.

I guess I’ll have to talk to Scover about it directly , she thought. Make her explain exactly what she was thinking and see if—if she actually understands how wrong she’s been.

If she didn’t…no. Affie wouldn’t even imagine that. Scover would get it. She had to.

The two of them reached the corridor that encircled the arboretum. In the far distance, she could hear rumblings and marching feet that had to be the Nihil. She tensed as she heard footsteps much closer.

“What the—” Leox stopped, then put his hands on his hips. “Didn’t expect to find any friends here.”

Affie peered ahead and sighted two of the Jedi coming toward them through the shadows: Orla Jareni in her white robes, which somehow remained spotless, and a rumpled Reath Silas. Probably Affie didn’t look so great herself.

Orla ignored Leox’s friendly words. “You two need to get back to the Vessel immediately. Prepare to leave within ten minutes. If we haven’t made it back by then, you’re to leave without us.”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa.” Leox held up both hands. “What’s this about? I don’t intend to leave anybody behind. It’s the kind of thing that reflects poorly on a commercial pilot.”

That won him half a smile from Orla. “The only way to distract the Nihil long enough for us to escape the station is to release the Drengir.”

Reath gestured toward those trees that had changed location. “That’s what was held in place by the idols. But we have to set them free again, to distract the Nihil.”

“If you set these Drengir free, we’ll have two groups trying to kill us instead of just one.” Affie said.

“The hope,” Reath said, “is that they’ll be too busy trying to kill each other.”

“How do you know they won’t join forces to turn against us?” she demanded. Nobody had an immediate answer for that, which confirmed Affie’s worst suspicions: the Jedi were making this up as they went along.

Look at the bright side , she told herself. If you die, you don’t have to confront Scover.

Orla managed to send Leox and Affie back to the ship before the girl asked any more uncomfortable questions. Maintaining focus was easier when she didn’t think of all the many things that could go wrong.

Many, many things.

She and Reath headed back into the arboretum. The shadows of the petrified Drengir chilled her, but more unnerving by far was the sheer power pulsing around the room, cross-angled through the idols, a power that reverberated in her body. Even though Orla had helped put the barrier in place, the enormity of what they’d done struck her anew.

“It’s not going to be like dropping a curtain, or opening a gate,” Orla murmured to Reath. “It won’t be a gentle impact, like before. The re-created barrier is new. More vital. When the barrier drops, the reaction will be intense.”

“I sense it, too.” Reath braced himself.

She nodded. “Just follow my lead.”

Orla reached out with her feelings, making contact with the edge of the barrier. The tension there was almost aware—all but conscious of its duty to hold the Drengir within.

You are needed no longer , she sent into the swirl of energy that wasn’t quite a mind. You have done well. But you will do better, now, to let go.

Next to her, Orla could feel Reath doing something very similar—reaching into the field in his own way, coaxing it to release. But the field was stubborn, hanging on tighter and tighter as they tugged against it.

Orla redoubled her efforts. Her arms shook as she held them out, physically straining to pull back the powers they had unleashed. It felt to her as if the barrier was not falling but expanding, coming closer and closer, until static electricity raced along her skin and stood her hair on end. Sparks zapped through the air, and for one instant she wondered if they would succeed only in paralyzing themselves, too, trapping them with the Drengir—

Then they lost it. The hold they’d had on the energy field slipped away, leaving them both breathing hard.