Star Wars: Star by Star

Author:Troy Denning
Language: eng
Format: azw3
Tags: Star Wars fiction, Space Opera, General, Science fiction, Adventure, Life on other planets, Fiction
ISBN: 9780345428677
Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
Published: 2002-10-01T07:00:00+00:00

Chapter 30

Gaunt and thin-lipped, with a much-broken nose and a black-pithed plaeryin bol glaring out of a restructured ocular orbit, Nom Anor was the most recognizable Yuuzhan Vong in the galaxy - at least to a Jedi Knight.

The feathery creature hopping along beside him was another matter.

Standing a little over waist-high on reverse-jointed knees, it had willowy ears, corkscrew antennae, and delicate whiskers fringing a broad simian mouth. Jacen had never seen a creature quite like this one, and yet he had the uncanny feeling he should know it.

Halfway to its destination - the ramp where Ganner had inadvertently insulted the Yuuzhan Vong at the rescue ship - the thing stopped and turned its head in his direction. Though it was gazing through two layers of window membrane and across a hundred meters of landing pit, it looked straight at him. It let its gaze linger long enough to send a cold shiver down his spine, then smiled slyly and fluttered forward to rejoin Nom Anor.

Beside Jacen, Ganner whispered, "It couldn't have seen us!" Despite his assertion, he retreated deeper into the shadows. "It glanced over by chance."

"It felt us," Jacen said, lowering the electrobinoculars. "More than that, it felt our apprehension."

He did not add that the creature had done so through the Force. The shock radiating from Ganner suggested he had already reached the same conclusion.

"What's wrong with you two?" Jaina asked, joining them in the archway. "You feel like you've been hearing the Emperor's voice! Don't tell me you're afraid of a few Yuuzhan Vong."

"There are more than a few." Jacen passed the electrobinoculars to his sister. Her emotions felt oddly disconnected, as they often did when combat was imminent, but he could not criticize her performance. When the thud bugs started flying, she was always the steadiest, most levelheaded Jedi on the strike team. Ignoring the company of Yuuzhan Vong warriors forming up outside Nom Anor's shuttle, he pointed at the bird thing. "But it's Nom Anor's pet that bothers me. I think it touched me with the Force."

Jaina studied the little creature. "You're sure?"

"Not sure," Jacen clarified. "But convinced."

"Me, too," Ganner agreed. "That smile ..."

"Hmm." Jaina frowned in thought. "Does Feathers there remind you of anybody?"

"I keep thinking it should," Jacen said. "But I've never seen anything like it."

"Sorry, I forget that New Republic Intelligence isn't sharing with Uncle Luke these days," Jaina said. "We've seen some interesting holograms in Rogue Squadron. That's Vergere."

"Vergere?" Jacen gasped.

Vergere had been involved in one of the Yuuzhan Vong's first efforts to assassinate the Jedi, but she had also been the one who had given their father the healing tears that had first put Mara's illness into remission. To this day, there remained disagreement over whether Vergere was a friend or foe of the Jedi, a mere pet of the assassin or an agent in her own right.

"It's either Vergere, or another creature like her," Jaina said.

"And if she touched you through the Force, we can assume she was more than the assassin's pet 'familiar.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.