IN THE SHADOW OF THE MANDALORE

Chapter Four (Third Segment)

The Basilisk War Droid

Alyssa stopped suddenly, reaching a hand out for Dax.

“We’re too late,” she said softly.

“Kashiefi?”

“Didn’t you feel it? No, you wouldn’t have,” she said with a slow shake of her head. “You have to learn to keep yourself focused on the Force; you’re not leaving yourself open enough to feel the Dark Side.”

“What are you talking about? I am focused.”

“No. You’re not,” she said with a gentleness he’d not heard from her in a long time. “You’re focused on your anger; as well as your fear. Now especially, you have to reach out for the Canto of the Force; that’s the only thing that will protect you. Right now, you’re distracted. Your only concern is your family.”

“And what’s wrong with that?”

“Master Voss is dead.”

“Dead? You can’t know that for certain,” Dax said, stunned at the suddenness of her announcement.

“There was a shift in the Force,” she explained.

“A shift? And I missed it?”

“Yes.”

In the short time that Dax had known him, Voss had struck him as a capable man who seemed self-assured, even if he was over confident. He wondered if it was as simple as wanting to believe that about the man. At first, Dax believed that acting in his own self-interest, the Jedi Master’s bravado and self-confidence served as a refuge for his arrogance, and that he’d been hiding his true self behind his arrogance. Now, he didn’t know what to believe. Voss had a recklessness that not only involved others, but endangered them as well. Kashiefi never willingly put herself in danger, or allowed Dax to face any uncertainty without first assessing the situation. Voss’s recklessness had brought about his own death.

A foolish waste of life, he told himself.

He took a deep breath, sensing himself wandering away from the Force. He wasn’t falling to the Dark side, but by placing his own needs first, he was shutting out his only defence against it. He knew his survival depended on the Force now more than ever. He should have sensed the shift in the Force as easily as he should have sensed the Sith’s presence.

It’s a weakness in me, he told himself—something a Sith Lord might one day exploit, and he drew back into himself in order to harness his strength.

“You’re right,” he said with a slow nod, looking at Alyssa from under a cocked brow.

She looked at him closely.

“I’ve let my feelings for my family blind me to the real danger here. And what’s even worse, it’s not my family I’m concerned about. It’s my sister—which is worse. It leaves me open and vulnerable. It’s a weakness. I’m sorry.”

“The way to becoming a Jedi is as long as it is difficult,” she said. “The possibilities of thought training are infinite, but its consequences are eternal. You need to focus in order to keep your mind clear, and you have to clear your mind in order to focus. Not very many of us take the time to direct our thinking into channels that will do us any good; instead, we leave it all to chance when we should be looking to the Force. It’s never an easy thing when there’s family involved. That’s why it’s better if a Jedi severs all ties with family. It clouds the mind.”

“I’ll try.”

“As strange as it may sound, that’s all anyone can do.”

Dax looked up at the carved hole in the side of the ship’s hull. He used the Force and leaped upwards, landing on the lip of the opening. He looked down at Alyssa.

“Are you coming, Kashiefi?”

He sensed it even before the Basilisk War Machine came out of the wreckage of twisted metal to his left, hovering like a giant bug before it paused to target them and open fire.

“Now, Kashiefi! Now!” Dax screamed as soon as he saw the machine.

He threw out a Force Blast large enough to knock the Basilisk to the side, and watched Alyssa run toward the opening and leap upwards. He reached out with the Force as the Droid turned back to sense out its attacker and open fire again.

“Move!” he said, helping her to her feet and pushing her clear of the opening. The screaming whine of the Droid’s twin turbos echoed in the narrow corridor and faded as it pulled away.

Alyssa looked down at the splayed figures of the security team laying on the floor in front of them.

  vii

“What was that?” Fitt said, hearing the echoing blast that shook through the entire ship.

“It sounds as if help is on the way,” Verd’ika said. He flipped open the pad on his arm, punching in a quick sequence of numbers.

“Not a moment too soon if you ask me,” Captain Jer’glo said.

“Oh, but it’s not knocking on the door for you, Captain,” he said calmly. ”It’s not the Jedi coming to rescue you.”

“You won’t be saying that when my brother shows up,” Semolina said quickly.

Is that pride I hear in her voice? Defiance?

“Ah yes, the Jedi Padawan,” he said with a laugh.

“You know about my son?”

“He’s no match for me; neither him, or his Master. I believe he was a Jedi Master. A Journeyer, as well?” he added, nodding at the body of Keegan Voss. “As you can see, a Jedi is no match for a Sith.”

“Then why did your people give up on the war when you did?” Semolina mocked.

Keramud Verd’ika smiled to himself.

“And who says the war is over? I trust I’ve made myself clear to you, Lord Fitt? You have twenty Standard days.”

“But I don’t have it,” Fitt said. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“I’m afraid I can’t accept that,” Verd’ika said. His voice was a low rasp through the respirator of his helmet. “My Master has searched the Galaxy for that page, and once he found it out, well, I’m sure you understand what it means to him.”

“I’m telling you, I don’t have it!”

“That’s not an alternative you want to be pursuing.”

“Then why would I give it to him if I did have it? That page is worth a fortune. Why didn’t he buy it?”

“He tried, but you bought it before he could purchase it. In hindsight, it would have been easier for everyone involved had he purchased it, rather than yourself.”

“And if I refuse?” Fitt said softly.

Verd’ika smiled beneath the mask. He’d been expecting that response.

“Refuse? You’d dare refuse a Sith Lord?”

“What can he do to me? I live secure in the Core. Even a Sith Lord can’t breach the security surrounding the Core Worlds. I don’t care how powerful he thinks he is.”

“History tells us a different story.”

Keramud Verd’ika reached out with the Force and blew the loading ramp door clear of the ship. Archangel lurched with the abrupt explosion and Semolina screamed out at the suddenness of it. Verd’ika stepped forward, grabbing her by the arm and pulling her toward him.

“Let’s just see how powerful you are against the Sith, shall we, Lord Fitt?”

A moment later, the huge shadow of the Basilisk War Droid filled the opening where the door had been. The loading bay echoed with the loud screech and rushing wind of its turbines, as Verd’ika dragged a screaming Semolina toward the machine.

“Let her go!” Fitt screamed out.

Verd’ika turned to look at him.

“You have twenty Standard days, starting from right now. If you don’t give me what I want, I will send her back to you, but in pieces. One piece at a time. Do I make myself clear?”

He looked toward the turbo-lift as the two Jedi came running out with their lightsabers held high. Wrapping an arm around Semolina’s waist, he picked her up and ran for the open loading ramp. He took the last dozen steps with a leap, landing on the droid and veering off to the left in a banked turn as he disappeared into the open levels of the city below.

Taris cityscape