The Joiner King Read Free Page B

rise to the top of Omas’s mind, where Luke could sense it without being overly intrusive. “Mitt’swe’kleoni. It’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance.”
    The Chiss’s red eyes narrowed to crimson lines. “Very impressive.It’s not easy to gather identity files on Chiss aristocracy.”
    “We haven’t.” Luke smiled and continued to block the door. “You and your bodyguards are welcome to come inside, once you have removed your hidden weapons.”
    Omas cringed visibly, but Luke did not move. Even had he not perceived the concealed weapons through the Force, he still would have made the request. These
were
Chiss, after all.
    “As you know,” Luke continued, “the only weapons allowed in the Jedi Temple are lightsabers.”
    Mitt’swe’kleoni smiled like an old man caught sipping something against his doctor’s orders, then pulled a small hold-out blaster from his boot and passed it to a bodyguard.
    “My bodyguards will wait in the corridor,” he said. “I can see they wouldn’t be of much use in a room full of Jedi.”
    “There would be no need.” Luke stepped aside and waved the two statesmen toward the conference circle. “Please join us.”
    As they crossed the room, Mitt’swe’kleoni kept sneaking glances at its appointments—the automated service kitchen, the small forest of rare trebala plants, the flowform chairs—and the arrogance vanished from his demeanor. It was not a reaction Luke liked to see. The new Temple had been a gift from the Galactic Alliance, pressed on the Jedi when—in a desperate attempt to manufacture a symbol of progress—the faltering Reconstruction Authority had moved the seat of government back to Coruscant. In most regards, the relocation had failed as spectacularly as it had deserved. But the Temple, a stone-and-transparisteel pyramid designed to harmonize with the new face of postwar Coruscant, never failed to impress with its regal scale and Rebirth architecture. It also served as a constant reminder to Luke of his greatest fear, that the Jedi would start to perceive themselves through the eyes of others and become little more than the guardians of a grateful Galactic Alliance.
    At the conference area, the Jedi Masters rose to greet their guests.
    “Everyone knows Chief Omas, I think.” Luke motioned Omas into a chair, then took Mitt’swe’kleoni by the elbow andguided him into the sunken speaking circle. “This is Aristocra Mitt’swe’kleoni from the Chiss empire.”
    “Please use my core name, Tswek,” the Aristocra instructed. “It will be much easier for you to pronounce correctly.”
    “Of course,” Luke said, continuing to look at the council. “Tswek has some disturbing news for us, I believe.”
    Tswek’s wrinkled brow rose, but he no longer seemed surprised by Luke’s “intuition.” “Then you know the purpose of my visit?”
    “We can sense your apprehension through the Force,” Luke said, avoiding a direct answer. “I assume it concerns our Jedi in the Unknown Regions.”
    “Indeed it does,” he said. “The Chiss Ascendancy requires an explanation.”
    “An explanation?” Corran was not quite able to conceal his indignation. “Of what?”
    Tswek pointedly ignored Corran and continued to stare at Luke.
    “The Jedi have many voices, Aristocra,” Luke said. “But we speak as one.”
    Tswek considered this a moment, then nodded. “Very well.” He turned to Corran. “We demand an explanation of your actions, of course. What happens on our frontier is no concern of yours.”
    Despite the wave of confusion and doubt that rippled through the Force, the Jedi Masters remained outwardly composed.
    “The
Chisz
frontier, Aristocra?” Saba Sebatyne, one of the newest Jedi Masters, asked.
    “Of course.” Tswek turned to the Barabel, his brow furrowed in thought. “You don’t know what your Jedi Knights have been doing, do you?”
    “All of our Jedi are well trained,” Luke said to Tswek. “And the five under discussion are