Star Wars - Lost Tribe of the Sith 06 - Sentinel Read Free Page A

water, fruitlessly. “You’re a liar. You’re a
Jedi
!”
    “I was,” he said. There was no point in denying it. “That was my spaceship you found. Thank the Force you didn’t try to get inside—”
    “What? You don’t think I’m
smart
enough?” Dripping, she glared back at him. “I’m just some stupid groundling to you—no better than the Keshiri!”
    “That’s not it!”
    “We came from space, you know. And we’ll be going back! Is that what you’re afraid of?”
    “Yes—among other things.” Suddenly rememberingwhere he was, Jelph looked nervously above. The reservoir was too high for them to be heard from beneath, but he’d seen aerial sentries earlier. At least he’d found her. “What … what are you doing here?”
    Ori stomped around in the water, still unable to find her lightsaber. “I came to Tahv to tell them about you! To warn them!”
    “Up here?” He’d expected her to head off to see someone of importance. He studied her as she shook the water from her hair. “Wait. You
did
see someone important. Your mother.”
    The Sith woman simply glowered.
    “I thought your mother wasn’t in power anymore—”
    “That’ll change!” Ori’s face filled with rage. “With what we know now, she’ll be back!
I’ll
be back!”
    Jelph stepped backward, as if shoved by the force of her words. “This isn’t like you,” he said. “The person who stayed with me those days didn’t care about that anymore. That person—”
    “That wasn’t
me,”
Ori spat. “That was
defeat
!”
    “But I liked the other you—and I don’t care what you call it. That was a part of you.”
    “That person wasn’t Sith!” She pointed to the stars, peeking out from the clouds high above. “Those belong to us! It’s not just about me. We’ve lived here a thousand years, waiting to get back there. Waiting to get back to what’s
ours
!”
    Jelph began to say something, but stopped. “That’s right,” he whispered, calculating. The Tribe was a remnant from the Great Hyperspace War, more than a millennium before. She didn’t know what had followed.
    He had a weapon.
History
.
    “There are no more Sith,” Jelph said.
    “What?”
    “There are no more Sith,” he repeated. “They’re extinct.”
    “You’re lying,” Ori said, wading toward the edge. “That vessel you were hiding was a warship! Those big …
prongs
on either side of it. Are you telling me those are for decoration?”
    Jelph shook his head. “Yes, we have enemies. And we’ve even fought Sith in living memory. A Jedi, Exar Kun, fell to the dark side and revived the movement. But they were eradicated. Hunted down—all of them.” Carefully, he edged his way toward her. “As far as I know, your people are the only Sith left alive in the galaxy. Feel my thoughts. You’ll know I’m telling the truth.”
    Breathing hard, Ori looked back at him. Her anger spent, she hoisted herself onto the edge of the basin and pulled off her boot. Water poured from it. “We’ll rise,” she said, calmer now. “Alone against one Jedi, or a billion. We’ll take our chances.”
    “You’ll be crushed by the Jedi.”
    “Does anyone even know we exist?” she asked. “If the Sith haven’t been looking for us, I doubt the Jedi have.”
    “They’re looking for me,” he said. “And believe me, the Jedi are looking for you.” He didn’t know what had become of all the members of the Covenant since he’d fled—but he knew as long as Lucien Draay lived, someone would be watching for the Sith.
    Ori rubbed her forehead, exasperated. “If I can’t save my family—and I can’t save my people—then what am I supposed to do?”
    “Supposed to do?” Jelph laughed. “You’re the one that always says you set your own course.” He waded toward her perch on the edge. “Just decide what you want.”
    For a long moment, Ori looked at him, standing in the starlit water before her. Finally, she closed her eyes and shook her head. “We’ll never