The Final Prophecy Read Free Page A

and of the
Jeedai
Anakin—”
    “Anakin,” Tahiri whispered. The name twisted a blade in her.
    “Yes, and you, whom Mezhan Kwaad shaped. And Vua Rapuung who fought—you were there, were you not?”
    A deep chill ran through Tahiri. She had been Riina, then, and Tahiri, and she had nearly killed Anakin.
    “I was there.”
    “Then you know. You know our redemption belongs with you. And now the Prophet has seen a world, a world where there are no Shamed Ones because it will redeem us, where the true way can be—” He coughed violently and slumped again, and for an instant Tahiri thought he was already dead. But then his eyes turned toward her.
    “My companions and I wanted to find the planet for our Prophet. One of us, Kuhqo, had been a shaper. He used a genetic slicer to get access to an executor’s qahsa and steal its secrets. He found intelligence gathered about the
Jeedai
, and evidence that there was some connection between you and this world. Some of your greatest came here, yes? And now you. And so please, tell me. Have I found it?”
    He shuddered, and his eyes rolled. “Have I?” he begged again, so weakly this time it might have been no more than a breath.
    Tahiri reached out and took his hand. “Yes,” she lied, not even knowing exactly what lie she was telling. “Yes, you’re right. You found it. Don’t worry about anything now.”
    His eyes filled with tears. “You must help me,” he said. “I cannot take the news myself. The Prophet must know where this world is.”
    “I will do it,” Tahiri said.
    This time she was not lying.
    Hul Qat closed his eyes, and even without using the Force, Tahiri felt him leave.
    Tahiri glanced at the opening of the cave, so near, and she knew that was not what she had come for at all.
This
was why she had come. The Force had brought her here, to meet this man, to make this promise.
    She rose. The fliers would find her if she remained still for too long. She hoped they hadn’t discovered her ship yet, but figured the odds were against it, since they hadn’t been looking for her and she had concealed it pretty well. Even so, she might have a little trouble getting out of the system, depending on how many and what sort of ships were orbiting overhead.
    It didn’t matter, though. She had a promise to keep.
    Even if she could figure out exactly what she had promised.

TWO
    The port shields of
Mon Mothma
collapsed and plasma punched through the hull like a fist through flimsiplast. At the point of impact, matter became ions, and supersonic droplets of molten hull metal sleeted through the next four decks, arriving before the sound or vibration of impact, shredding the frail life-forms within before their nervous systems had time to register anything amiss. Behind that came a shock wave of superheated air expanding with such fury that blast shields bent and warped, and the wave-front swept the decks end to end, searing everything in its path. Two hundred sentient beings winked out in an instant, and a hundred more in marginal areas fell—perforated, burned, or both.
    Then, like a giant taking back its breath, space sucked everything out through the gaping hole, leaving vacuum behind, and quiet.
    At the helm of the Star Destroyer, it was far from quiet. Claxons blared and panicked young officers stuttered through emergency procedures. Simulated gravity vanished, and someone shrieked.
    Wedge Antilles closed his eyes as the illusion of weight faded and reasserted itself.
    I’m so tired of this, he thought
.
    He opened his eyes to a barrage of smaller plasma blasts aimed directly, it seemed, at his face as a squadron of YuuzhanVong coralskippers made a run straight at the bridge. Turbolasers flared three of them into debris. The rest peeled away at the last instant to avoid impacting the still-functioning bridge shields.
    Wedge didn’t even blink. The skips weren’t their problem right now. That would be the Yuuzhan Vong Dreadnaught analog that had just popped into