Conquest: Edge of Victory I by Greg Keyes Read Free Book Online Page B

huge. Now it seemed merely large.
    They reached the central area, and twenty-odd faces turned toward them. Human, Bothan, Twi’lek, Wookiee—more than a dozen species were represented. All were quite young except one—Tionne, Kam’s wife, a graceful silver-haired woman with pearl-white eyes. Her eyebrows lifted in surprise and her lips in pleasure.
    “Anakin!” she said.
    “Tionne,” Kam said gently but urgently, “we need to talk.”
    “Anakin!” Sannah, a girl of thirteen with brown hair and yellow eyes, waved at him. Even younger Valin Horn was waving, though he wasn’t shouting.
    “He’s busy!” Tahiri told them. But when Anakin went to talk with Kam and Tionne, Tahiri came along.
    “Tahiri—” Kam began.
    “Oh, no,” she said. “You aren’t leaving me out of this.”
    “I wasn’t going to,” Kam said gently. “I was going to ask you to find Master Ikrit and meet us in the conference room.”
    “Oh. Okay.”
    She whirled off down the corridor on bare feet.
    * * *
    Tahiri was back with Ikrit only moments later. The old Jedi Master padded into the room on all fours, his long floppy ears dragging the ground. His normally bright eyes seemed a little dull to Anakin, and he felt an inexplicable pang.
    “Master Ikrit.”
    “Young Anakin. It is good to see you,” Ikrit replied. “Though you bring troubling news.”
    “Yes.” He raced through the details once again, for Ikrit and Tionne.
    “They would take our children?” Tionne murmured, more darkly than was her wont.
    “The Peace Brigade? Absolutely. Tionne, it’s
bad
for Jedi out there right now.”
    “I understand,” she said, then clenched her fist. “No, I
don’t
understand. Has the galaxy gone mad?”
    “Yes,” Kam said softly. “It’s an old madness, war.”
    “You don’t have any ships, do you?”
    “No. Streen went with Peckhum in the supply ship.”
    “Where to?”
    “Corellia. He should be back soon. Though I suppose they won’t, now.”
    “We’ll have to hide them here, then,” Anakin said. “Where?”
    “Down the river! The cave beneath the Palace of the Woolamander,” Tahiri offered. “Master Ikrit’s cave.”
    Anakin raised his eyebrows. “That’s a good idea. They’d be really hard to find there, especially if the Peace Brigade doesn’t start looking right away.”
    “What do you mean by that?” Kam said, his voice suddenly cautious. “Why would they delay the search?”
    “I’ll stay behind,” Anakin said. “I’ll make it look as if we’re still in the temple trying to make a stand. They’ll waste time shooting their way through while you and Tionne get the kids to safety.”
    “You’re leaving out one little detail,” Tahiri said. “What about
you?
What keeps
you
safe?”
    “I’ll hide the X-wing. I know a good place. I can slip through them. Then I’ll play hide-and-seek until Talon Karrde shows up. Once he’s mopped up the Peace Brigade, I’ll lead him to you.”
    “You’ve been thinking about this,” Tionne said.
    “All the way down,” Anakin admitted. “It’s the best way.”
    “He’s right,” Kam said.
    “Kam—” Tionne began.
    “He’s right,” Kam went on, “except that he’s not the one staying behind—I am.”
    “I’m the better pilot,” Anakin said bluntly. “I’m the only one who can pull it off.”
    “Anakin is correct,” Ikrit said in his scratchy voice. “It is part of his destiny. And mine.”
    “Master Ikrit—”
    “You will say I am no warrior. That may be true—it has been long since I wielded a lightsaber, and it was not what I preferred even then. But it is not lightsabers that will prevail here today, not weapons. Not all uses of the Force are aggressive.”
    Anakin pursed his lips, but he couldn’t bring himself to contradict the ancient Master.
    Kam gnawed his lip for a moment. “Very well,” he said at last. “I don’t like it, but we don’t have time for a debate. Tahiri, come along. Help me and Tionne get the students on