in its wake.
“What about the
Widowmaker
?” Danni asked.
“The other vessel will come to no harm as long as it remains in orbit,” came the voice of one of the Ferroans from behind. Jacen turned to see the two wading through the tall grass toward them.
“But how did you do this?” Jacen felt Danni reach out with her growing perception of the Force to taste the world around them. She felt what he did: no mind, no thoughts; just a constant pressure—similar to what a body would feel at great depths in an ocean, only mental rather than physical. “By the Force?”
“Sekot has many defenses,” the male Ferroan said unhelpfully.
A groan in the direction of
Jade Shadow
announced the arrival of Soron Hegerty, assisted by Luke and closely followed by Tekli. Saba wasn’t far behind; the Barabel’s expression was suitably awestruck as the shock of displacement slowly faded. Saba’s hand rested on the lightsaber at her hip while her gaze constantly scanned the tree lines around them. It was clear that the hunter in her was not going to be distracted by the splendor and magnificence of her surroundings.
“It is time,” the female Ferroan said. “We have a long walk ahead of us.”
“Why?” Danni asked. “Where are we going?”
“We’ll explain on the way,” Luke said.
“Are the treez of your forest safe?” Saba asked.
“They are not trees,” the woman said. “They’re called boras, and they make up the tampasi. They will harm you only if you attempt to harm them.”
Without another word, the two Ferroans set off across the field, their pace suggesting that either the visitors keep up or they would get left behind.
Jacen’s uncle turned to the Chadra-Fan. “Tekli, would you mind staying here and keeping an eye on
Jade Shadow
?”
The diminutive Jedi bowed her head in acknowledgment. “Of course, Master Skywalker.”
“We’ll keep our comlinks open at all times,” Luke assured her.
Tekli bowed once more and then returned to
Jade Shadow
.
Luke faced the others. “Is everyone ready?”
“I don’t think we have much choice,” Jacen said, gesturing to the two Ferroans receding into the distance. “They’ll be disappearing over the horizon if we don’t get after them soon.”
“Like I said,” Mara muttered as she headed off in the wake of their escorts. “Real friendly.”
Jaina listened with interest to Droma’s simple story. Her parents had already heard it, but listened again with unflagging interest. Jaina received the distinct impression that Leia was almost hoping for an inconsistency to arise.
After rescuing his sister at Fondor, Droma and his family had drifted from place to place, as was their custom. The encroaching front of the Yuuzhan Vong kept them moving at first toward the Core, then into the outer regions of the galaxy, seeking safer climes. There they encountered fierce parochialism, anti-Jedi sentiments, civil war, and other signs of collapsing infrastructure. It wasall his family could do just to keep their collective heads above water.
“Then we heard about the Ryn network.” Droma’s tail whipped and coiled as he paced the
Falcon
’s main hold as if it were an extra hand, gesticulating to emphasize certain points of his speech. “We knew of the Great River, but we weren’t qualified as resistance fighters or idealists. We’re just travelers, with our own unique skills. The thought of using those skills to gather and disseminate information as we traveled seemed so obvious, and I’m not surprised it took one of us to think of it. A great, galactic enterprise the Ryn could finally be part of! It seemed almost too good to be true.”
“We’ve only met two from this network so far,” Jaina said. “There was one on Galantos, who saved us from a Peace Brigade trap, and Goure on Bakura who sent us here. He said that—”
“That someone would be waiting for you,” Droma interrupted, nodding. “That sounds like them.”
Jaina looked questioningly at
“What about the
Widowmaker
?” Danni asked.
“The other vessel will come to no harm as long as it remains in orbit,” came the voice of one of the Ferroans from behind. Jacen turned to see the two wading through the tall grass toward them.
“But how did you do this?” Jacen felt Danni reach out with her growing perception of the Force to taste the world around them. She felt what he did: no mind, no thoughts; just a constant pressure—similar to what a body would feel at great depths in an ocean, only mental rather than physical. “By the Force?”
“Sekot has many defenses,” the male Ferroan said unhelpfully.
A groan in the direction of
Jade Shadow
announced the arrival of Soron Hegerty, assisted by Luke and closely followed by Tekli. Saba wasn’t far behind; the Barabel’s expression was suitably awestruck as the shock of displacement slowly faded. Saba’s hand rested on the lightsaber at her hip while her gaze constantly scanned the tree lines around them. It was clear that the hunter in her was not going to be distracted by the splendor and magnificence of her surroundings.
“It is time,” the female Ferroan said. “We have a long walk ahead of us.”
“Why?” Danni asked. “Where are we going?”
“We’ll explain on the way,” Luke said.
“Are the treez of your forest safe?” Saba asked.
“They are not trees,” the woman said. “They’re called boras, and they make up the tampasi. They will harm you only if you attempt to harm them.”
Without another word, the two Ferroans set off across the field, their pace suggesting that either the visitors keep up or they would get left behind.
Jacen’s uncle turned to the Chadra-Fan. “Tekli, would you mind staying here and keeping an eye on
Jade Shadow
?”
The diminutive Jedi bowed her head in acknowledgment. “Of course, Master Skywalker.”
“We’ll keep our comlinks open at all times,” Luke assured her.
Tekli bowed once more and then returned to
Jade Shadow
.
Luke faced the others. “Is everyone ready?”
“I don’t think we have much choice,” Jacen said, gesturing to the two Ferroans receding into the distance. “They’ll be disappearing over the horizon if we don’t get after them soon.”
“Like I said,” Mara muttered as she headed off in the wake of their escorts. “Real friendly.”
Jaina listened with interest to Droma’s simple story. Her parents had already heard it, but listened again with unflagging interest. Jaina received the distinct impression that Leia was almost hoping for an inconsistency to arise.
After rescuing his sister at Fondor, Droma and his family had drifted from place to place, as was their custom. The encroaching front of the Yuuzhan Vong kept them moving at first toward the Core, then into the outer regions of the galaxy, seeking safer climes. There they encountered fierce parochialism, anti-Jedi sentiments, civil war, and other signs of collapsing infrastructure. It wasall his family could do just to keep their collective heads above water.
“Then we heard about the Ryn network.” Droma’s tail whipped and coiled as he paced the
Falcon
’s main hold as if it were an extra hand, gesticulating to emphasize certain points of his speech. “We knew of the Great River, but we weren’t qualified as resistance fighters or idealists. We’re just travelers, with our own unique skills. The thought of using those skills to gather and disseminate information as we traveled seemed so obvious, and I’m not surprised it took one of us to think of it. A great, galactic enterprise the Ryn could finally be part of! It seemed almost too good to be true.”
“We’ve only met two from this network so far,” Jaina said. “There was one on Galantos, who saved us from a Peace Brigade trap, and Goure on Bakura who sent us here. He said that—”
“That someone would be waiting for you,” Droma interrupted, nodding. “That sounds like them.”
Jaina looked questioningly at
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