Emissary of the Void Page 5

  'I suppose introductions are in order,'' Uldir allowed. 'Everyone, meet

  Klin-Fa Gi. She's a Jedi, if you haven't figured that out already. Klin-Fa,

  this is my crew -- Vega Sepen, Leaft, and Vook Gehu.''

  Vega nodded her platinum tresses curtly. Leaft continued to growl, and Vook

  turned his flat face toward her and nodded absently. 'Pleased to meet you,''

  the Duro said. He didn't sound pleased -- he sounded doleful. Vook always

  sounded doleful.

  Klin-Fa wasn't distracted. 'I have to get to Wayland,'' she said.

  'It's important.''

  Uldir grinned sardonically. 'But you won't tell me why.''

  'I can't. I've explained that.''

  'You want me to space her, boss?'' Leaft asked, in a helpful tone.

  'Yes,'' Uldir returned, 'but you'd better not. Klin-Fa, Wayland is in

  Yuuzhan Vong occupied space, in case you haven't heard. I'm not taking a

  ship in this condition there unless I have ample reason. You've given me no

  such reason.''

  'I'm on a mission for Master Skywalker. That should be reason enough.''

  'Sure. If I believed you, but I'm not sure I do. Trust goes both ways. You

  want me to take you to Wayland? Tell me why.''

  'I can't.''

  'Fine. Then we're going to Mon Calamari. Meanwhile I'll try to contact

  Master Skywalker and see what he has to say about this.''

  'You're making a mistake.''

  'I've been making mistakes since the moment I first saw you. Why should

  things be different now?''

  'Because the fate of the galaxy depends on what we do now, that's why.

  There's no time to lose.''

  'So you say,'' Uldir said, shrugging.

  Klin-Fa's face registered barely concealed fury, and again Uldir felt

  something a little troubling in her presence. The feeling faded as she

  composed herself and vanished when she quirked a little grin, the first he

  had seen. He was right -- it made her prettier.

  'I guess I wouldn't believe me, either,'' she admitted, reluctantly. 'Fine.

  When you contact Master Skywalker, he'll confirm what I've said. But you

  ought to do it quickly.''

  Uldir raised his eyebrows in surprise. 'That sounds almost too reasonable.''

  She shrugged. 'What choice do you leave me? I'm at your mercy.''

  'Great,'' Uldir said. He glanced at his filthy clothes. 'I'm glad that's

  settled. We've got a long hyperspace jump -- I for one, could use a

  'fresher. You could probably do with the same.''

  'I suppose,'' she conceded.

  'You can go first. Vega will find you a change of clothes.''

  * * *

  An hour later, feeling considerably more human, Uldir met with Klin-Fa again

  in the ship's small lounge. She looked smaller in one of Vega's black

  jumpsuits, and younger, too.

  'Maybe we got off on the wrong foot,'' Uldir said. He stuck out his hand.

  'I'm Uldir Lochett. Pleased to meet you.''

  She grinned wryly and took his hand. 'Pleasure,'' she said.

  'You'd better watch that,'' he said.

  'What?''

  'That's twice now you've smiled. It might ruin your look.''

  'If you'd been through what I have . . .'' she began, but trailed of, her

  gaze going muddy, lost in a past that Uldir knew nothing about.

  'Yeah,'' he said. 'Well, if you ever feel like talking about it, I'm a good

  listener.''

  'Right. The soul of concern.'' She shifted. 'So this is a Jedi rescue

  ship.''

  'Yep. My little kingdom.''

  'Looks kind of beat up.''

  'Well, we don't like to attract attention. But she can do the job, when

  she's in good condition.''

  'You're proud of her,'' Klin-Fa noticed.

  'Sure. And of my crew. You won't find better.''

  'I don't deny the four of you seem to get through, somehow.''

  Uldir couldn't tell if that was a compliment or not. He let it pass.

  'Want a look around?'' He asked.

  'Well, you've seen one transport . . .''

  'Nah. C'mon.''

  'Shouldn't you be trying to contact Master Skywalker?'' She asked.

  'Vega's working on that. We have to bounce the signal around a good bit and

  put it through several layers of encryption. Takes time.''

  'Not too much, I hope.''

  'No. I expect an answer in an hour or so.''

  She sighed. 'Fine. I guess I'll take that tour.''

  'Okay.'' he stood and started leading her around. 'The chassis is an old

  Corellian medium transport,'' he explained, 'but we've made a few changes.''

  He took her up the shaft into the turbolaser turret.

  'Nice,'' she said, when she saw the armaments.

  'Turbolaser is state-of-the-art,'' he replied. 'Cesium vapor, and packs a

  real mean punch. We can also target proton torps from here, as well as from

  the central panel. And there's an extra layer of plating.''

  'But just one turret?''

  'Yep. I sacrificed the other for something better.''

  'What's that?''

  'The best part. Come back up.''

  She followed him to an access hatch.

  'This used to be the cargo hold,'' he explained, keying the hatch open.

  'Between that and the missing second turret, we made room for these.''

  He finally had the pleasure of seeing her surprised.

  'Starfighters!'' She breathed.

  _The No Luck Required, starship illustration by Jeff Carlisle_

  'Yep,'' Uldir said, gesturing at the sleek little ships. There were four of

  them, nestled in a rotating frame. 'We can only launch one at a time, but we

  can still get them all out in under a minute, if we have to.''

  'A-wings,'' she noted, sounding somehow disappointed.

  'You know your ships,'' Uldir said. 'They came out of the shipyards as

  A-wings. Now they're a little something special -- each has room for a

  passenger and emergency medical equipment. Sometimes we have to get into

  tighter places than the_No Luck Required_ can go.''

  'You use them to extract Jedi?''

  'And place them. We're not only in the rescue business -- sometimes we ferry

  Jedi into Yuuzhan Vong space, when a mission calls for it.''

  'Interesting. Things have changed a little since I've been away.''

  'I guess so.''

  'I see you sacrificed the escape pods, too,'' she mused. 'But I suppose the

  A-wings can serve the same purpose.''

  'Yeah. It's never come to that, but that's part of the plan. Number one

  there is even hyperspace capable, so if we have to split the mission or send

  for help, we've got the extra legs to do it.''

  'Fine,'' she said. 'You've impressed me.'' As if to belie that, she yawned.

  'Now, with all of this, do you have a spare bunk? I haven't slept in --

  well, I guess a week. I think I'll take the rest of that hour to have a

  nap.''

  'No problem,'' Uldir said.

  After showing her to her bunk, Uldir went back up to where Vega sat at the

  controls.

  'Nice new friend you've got there,'' the Corellian commented.

  Uldir nodded. 'Not bad with a lightsaber.''

  'From what I saw, I'd say spectacular,'' Vega corrected. 'Cute, too.''

  'That I hadn't noticed.''

  'No, of course not. You just instantly recognized her as Jedi in need of aid

  and chased after her.''

  'I thought she was a thief,'' Uldir said, defensively.
'I thought I'd help

  the local authorities catch her. I didn't know they were the bad guys.''

  'Yeah,'' Vega said. 'Speaking of which, I think we can mark the whole

  Corporate Sector down as unfriendly now. I did some checking up on that new

  exec, the one whose head we borrowed. From what I was able to glean, I'm

  guessing he's been in secret negotiations with the Yuuzhan Vong for two

  weeks now.''

  'Given that there was a Vong in the search party, that's not surprising. And

  Klin-Fa said there was an executor on Bonadan.''

  'Well, things just keep getting better and better don't they?''

  'Just makes things more interesting,'' Uldir said.

  'You can say that again. And you probably will. There's more hot systems

  every day.''

  'It'll turn around, eventually,'' Uldir said. 'Now that Master Skywalker has

  plans in motion.''

  'You put an awful lot of faith in him,'' Vega said.

  'It's not faith. Faith is something you accept without proof. Master

  Skywalker and the Jedi have proven themselves time and again. It's the

  government of the New Republic that's gumming things up.''

  'Don't be too sure,'' Vega said. 'The Jedi are all well and good, but they

  aren't invincible.'' Her tone became somehow more cautious -- and more

  leading. He knew Vega, and knew she was about to make a point of some sort,

  probably an unpleasant one.

  'What?'' He said.

  'The Jedi. If even one of them turns to the dark side, we could have bigger

  troubles than the Yuuzhan Vong.''

  'That's true, but I don't think it's likely.'' He tilted his head in

  suspicion. 'You have a reason for bringing this up?''

  'Sure. Just how much do you know about this Klin-Fa Gi?''

  He hesitated.

  'Well?''

  'It's just -- I got some disquieting feelings from her, back on Bonadan.''

  'What do you mean?''

  Uldir frowned. 'I'm not sure. Probably nothing.''

  Vega twisted her mouth. 'Look,'' she said, 'I know you've got a little of

  this Force thing -- ''Very little. What I have isn't dependable.''

  'Maybe not. But don't let a pretty face distract you from what it might be

  telling you.''

  He turned to her seriously. 'What are you saying?''

  'Well, I got a feeling from her, too. Not one of your mystical ones -- just

  the suspicion that something doesn't add up about her. And Wayland -- why

  Wayland? I can think of only two possibilities, right off hand, to explain

  why a Jedi would want to go to Wayland.''

  'I haven't had time to think about it all,'' Uldir admitted. 'Fill me in.''

  'Wayland is where Emperor Palpatine's secret toy-box was. All kinds of nasty

  dark side things on Wayland.''

  'Not anymore,'' Uldir said.

  'Wrong. I've read the reports. Some of the Emperor's devices are still there

  -- buried, yes, but still there.''

  'Buried under a_mountain_ ,'' Uldir corrected.

  'Yes. But the Yuuzhan Vong are there now, and they have a way of digging

  things up, don't they?''

  Uldir acknowledged that with a tilt of his head. 'But the Yuuzhan Vong don't

  exist in the Force,'' he pointed out. 'Even if they found some kind of dark

  side weapon, they wouldn't be able to use it.''

  'Probably not -- but they might be able to learn something about the Jedi

  that will be of use to them.'' she held up a finger. 'So that's one

  possibility -- they've studied the Emperor's old tech and are developing

  some sort of anti-Jedi weapon. Our new friend learned of this somehow and is

  off to foil their evil plot.''

  'You mentioned two possibilities.''

  Vega unfolded a second finger. 'The other possibility is that they've found

  something Klin-Fa Gi thinks she can use herself.''

  'You're saying she's gone dark.''

  'I'm saying she's angry. Even I can see that. And aren't you always telling

  me that anger is of the dark side?''

  'I think she lost someone,'' Uldir said. 'She mentioned a name, when she

  killed the Yuuzhan Vong warrior. And I'd be angry too, if my home planet was

  doing its level best to turn me over for sacrifice.''

  'Does the reason she's angry really matter? So she feels justified in

  whatever she's planning. Would that make it any better?''

  'But if Master Skywalker ordered her to Wayland -- '

  'Well, that's the problem,'' Vega said. 'He didn't.''

  'What?''

  She tapped a readout. 'This came in just before you did. Klin-Fa Gi was

  killed on Gyndine, or presumed so, two months ago. And Master Skywalker

  doesn't know anything about any mission to Wayland.''

  'Oh. Carbon flush.''

  'Yeah. You see.''

  'What does Master Skywalker want us to do?''

  'Bring her in for debriefing, as soon as possible.''

  Uldir nodded wearily. 'I guess that's what we'll do, then.''

  'Where is she now?''

  'Taking a nap. Or at least -- ' he paused. 'Does the air smell funny to

  you?''

  Vega's eyes widened, just as Uldir felt his ears pop.

  He turned quickly to his instruments. 'Vaping Moffs! We're losing air

  pressure.''

  At that moment, the ship shuddered as if struck, and the lights went out.

  Cursing, Uldir brought emergency power online. 'We've dropped out of

  hyperspace!'' He said.

  'Interdicted?''

  'No. The drive failed.''

  'I bet it didn't just fail,'' Vega said.

  'I bet you're right,'' he agreed. 'Vega, get back there. Don't be afraid to

  shoot.''

  'It's too late,'' the Corellian told him.

  But Uldir saw that, too. A-wing one was just crossing their field of view,

  under full acceleration. An instant later it vanished into hyperspace.

  'Vook!'' Uldir shouted. 'Get that vector!''

  'Got it, boss,'' the Duro's voice replied. 'But we have our own troubles.''

  The air was getting really thin now. 'She's opened us to space,'' Uldir

  growled. 'That little -- '

  'And sabotaged the hyperdrive,'' the Duro added. 'We aren't going anywhere,

  sir. We're stranded here.''

  'Nearest planet on slower-than-light?'' Uldir asked, grimly.

  'Two years away, sir. The stars are sparse out here.''

  'Like I said,'' Vega drawled. 'Things just get better all the time.''

  *III: War on Wayland*

  SPACE WAS ABOUT TO KILL Uldir Lochett and his crew in a most unpleasant

  manner. Although it wasn't the first time the void had tried to snuff him

  out -- not by a gigaparsec -- Uldir still had plenty of objections.

  'We're losing atmosphere, fast,'' He muttered, combing his fingers through

  the switches and indicators at the helm of his transport, the_No Luck

  Required_ . 'But where?'' His voice already sounded unnaturally thin, and

  his eardrums felt like they were going to explode. How soon before his blood

  started to boil?

  _Stop thinking about that. That's not helping._

  'Where do you suppose?'' asked Vega Sepen, his first officer, her eyes

  flashing like corusca gems beneath her platinum bangs. 'It's not

  complicated. Your girlfriend jammed the starfighter bay open.''

  'Well, seal if off!'' he snapped, returning the Corellian's glare. 'And do

  not call her my girlfriend.''

 
'Touchy,'' Vega said. 'You shouldn't let one little spat bust up a good

  thing. I mean, she only sabotaged our hyperdrive, stole our only

  hyperdrive-capable starfighter, and left us bleeding air.''

  'Yeah? You sound jealous to me, Sepen,'' he snapped.

  'Oh, yes, of course,'' Vega said, studying the system indicators. 'I've got

  the big hurt for you, all right. I'm going to make my move as soon as you're

  out of diapers.''

  Her voice sounded weird. The falling pressure, probably.