Клаудия Грэй - Into the Dark

“All but delirious,” Cohmac said. His mind was only half on the present moment as he attempted to consider ways of damaging the vines.

Which was why he didn’t notice their party was missing someone until they were already boarding the Vessel .

Orla realized it at that same moment. “Wait—where’s Reath?”

Reath had swerved away from the others after only a few meters.

He’d watched Cohmac and Orla go, wanting to stay behind and make absolutely sure that events were unfolding the way they should. If anything went wrong with their plan, he and his friends would need to know right away. But even if everything went right, Reath had an important job to do.

This station couldn’t be left for the Nihil and the Drengir to fight over. It had given the Amaxines a tactical advantage, millennia before; it remained capable of enabling a great deal of harm. Maybe the Republic could claim it—but the Republic wasn’t coming to this area of the galaxy to conquer by sneak attack.

We would only be holding it to keep the Drengir or Nihil from taking control , Reath thought. Both groups will want it back. It’ll stir up needless conflict, cost lives, and for what?

If the station couldn’t be safely held, then it needed to be destroyed.

Not literally , at least not now: Reath wasn’t carrying anything like the kind of firepower necessary for that. The Vessel wasn’t, either. But he didn’t have to demolish the Amaxine station to end its strategic capability.

All he had to do was launch every single hyperspace pod, at once, empty, and preferably to locations in the middle of dead space.

No doubt, if he’d spoken of his plan, either Orla or Master Cohmac would’ve insisted on performing the task instead. Reath didn’t want anyone else taking a risk.

“Controls are going to be down low,” Reath muttered as he made his way into the central globe. “Not looking forward to going through that tunnel again.”

His second descent through the tunnel was as uneventful as the first, though his sense of suspense had gone from ratcheted up to almost unbearable. When he became a full Jedi, maybe he would be able to enter a meditative trance at such times. But he wasn’t there yet.

When he found the controls again, he placed his hand on them; they lit up. It took a little experimentation and a lot of faith in the Force to bring up location holos, but Reath finally got them going—tiny circles of light hovering in midair. The language and the notation systems were very old…but not unfamiliar to anyone who’d done multiple studies on the ancient Amaxines.

Research , he thought with a glimmer of satisfaction. Don’t knock it.

Reath shifted the coordinates for each of the pods by a measure that should put them near, but not on, any planet to which they’d previously been headed, even for the largest inhabited planets known to science. Space stations and closer space traffic would also be safe. A distant moon or two might take a hit—but it was much more likely that the pods would simply appear in empty space and float there until they were smashed by random asteroids or harvested for scrap metal.

Once the coordinates were laid in, he pressed the central control. Instantly the entire lower ring began to vibrate—the power that had jolted through the station when he and Dez left but exponentially greater. Reath was nearly flung to the floor, but he held out his hands, keeping his balance as the pods zipped away to the far corners of the galaxy. The Amaxines’ work was undone.

It felt a little sad, spoiling a piece of ancient machinery that had worked so well for so long. But as Reath heard the continued clash of the Nihil and Drengir above, he thought, Nothing can last forever.

He clambered up and out of the tunnel, wincing as he realized how much closer the fight had come. They remained oblivious to him thus far, and to the loss of the pods. But Reath had no clear route to the outer ring of the station—to the Vessel , or to escape.

Then his comlink buzzed. Trusting the din of battle to cover the sound, he lifted it to his ear and heard Leox: “ I would ask what the hell you’re up to, but I’m guessing it has something to do with the jillionty pods I just saw launch from this station. ”

“Good guess,” Reath said. “Listen, my way back is blocked right now. I’ll try to get to you, but if I can’t make it—I trust you guys to leave in time to save yourselves.”

“ Noble sacrifices are not currently of any use. We can’t leave. The Drengir have the Vessel tied in, literally. Sent vines to bind us to the station. We’re going to try breaking free, but we need to go as soon as possible—the vines are still growing. ”

“What?” Reath had never even considered that the others wouldn’t be able to handle the vines on their own. They were just vines, weren’t they? But when he thought about how long and thick the roots would have to be to burrow through the station itself, he realized the ship might as well have been bolted in. “Is there any way to stop them?”

“ Not that I know of, other than brute force. If brute force is to be of any avail, it needs to be applied immediately. This is the best chance we’re ever going to get. ”

It wasn’t much of a chance. Reath could hear that in Leox’s voice.

If the Vessel was going to get away, the people on board would need time to cut away the bindings. Time when neither the Nihil nor the Drengir would or could attack them. The current battle had their enemies distracted, but for how long?

He thought of Dez, injured and helpless—the other Jedi on the mission, who’d tried to lead him in Master Jora’s absence—and the crew of the Vessel , who had somehow become his friends. They were all in peril, all grasping at their last chance to survive.

Master Jora’s voice echoed in his mind again. Why can no Jedi cross the Kyber Arch alone? And, finally, Reath knew the answer.

Reath had to save his friends if he could.

Even if the cost was his own life.

“If we get through this,” Cassel said to Thandeka, “at least things will be better from now on.”

Thandeka, distracted by her raw, aching wrists and the angry muttering guards near Isamer, took a moment to process what he’d said. “What do you mean? What things?”

He flushed deeper blue again. “I mean, between Eiram and E’ronoh. We can stop all this silly bickering and be allies. Friends, even.”

There were more substantive disputes between their two planets; it wasn’t merely a matter of “bickering.” And friendship took time. But Thandeka had seen the opportunity, too. “We’ll open diplomatic relations. Allow some travel back and forth.”

Cassel looked more cheerful than Thandeka had yet seen him. “Oh, I love diplomatic events. Getting dressed up with the stole and the regalia and all that.”

Thandeka couldn’t help smiling back at him. “I have to admit, Dima loves any chance for us to wear the crown jewels. Sometimes we fight over the best tiaras.”

“Splendid, splendid.” Cassel nodded as though everything was already set. “It’s good to have something to look forward to, isn’t it?”

Thandeka wasn’t sure she believed they would outlive the day. But the Jedi were coming—and there was no point in not having hope. “Yes. Yes, it is.”

Orla crept closer to the cave entrance. By then she and the others could hear movement, even muttering. They had clear passage into the very chamber where the hostages were being held. Master Laret, just ahead of Orla and Cohmac, held herself in battle stance, waiting for the right opportunity.