on the floor, still in the cockpit of the supply ship. The overhead lights had been turned off. The dim glow of instrumentation provided the only illumination.
His first thought was of Grace, her scream, and a rush of adrenaline cleared his mind. Sitting up, he glanced around, alarmed. Seer sat next to him, propped against the wall, her head tilted to the side, still unconscious. A vicious bruise, already turning purple, marred the symmetry of her features. She had smashed her face into the instrument panel when she fell, when she and Soldier had both felt the odd sensation of falling away from the Force.
He twisted his head around and did not see Grace. She might have gotten away, or … something else might have happened to her.
The thought of harm coming to her—the only one of the Community’s surviving children—caused a surge of anger. As his anger grew, so did his power. He pushed the power into his body, used it to augment his strength, and tested the bindings on his wrists.
They bit like teeth into his flesh. Ignoring the pain, he tried to muscle them apart. But he could not. He could not draw fully on the Force: something was interfering with the connection.
A sibilant voice from the front of the cockpit said, “You won’t be able to break the bindings. There’s no need to struggle. I have no intention of harming you.”
“I can’t say the same,” Soldier said. He tried again to break them, failed. “What did you do to me? To us?”
“You feel separate from the Force?” the Umbaran asked.
“How did you do it?” was all Soldier asked.
The Umbaran chuckled. “By pushing a bit of my world out into yours.”
Soldier did not understand. He imagined he never would. He could see the Umbaran only in silhouette, standing with his back to Soldier and Seer as he studied something on the ship’s instrumentation.
“Who are you?” Soldier asked. “What do you want?”
“I want you,” the Umbaran said. “You’re of interest to the Master.”
You’re of interest. Soldier had often heard phrases like that from the doctors in the cloning facility. It always heralded something unpleasant.
“Why?” he asked. “I’m no one.”
“That’s not true at all,” said the Umbaran.
“Then take me. Let Seer and Grace go.”
“I’m afraid I can’t do that. Quiet now,” the Umbaran said. “I’ve got a call to make.”
Junker emerged from hyperspace in the outer reaches of the system. The light of a distant red dwarf cast the cockpit in crimson. Marr set to work on the scanners.
“System has two gas giants and a thick asteroid belt. Nothing else.”
“Where’s the supply ship?”
“Searching,” Marr said, keying in a broad sensor sweep. “I have it. It’s on the other side of the asteroid belt. Our silhouette is so small that I doubt they’ve detected us this far out.”
“Agreed,” Jaden said. He engaged the ion engines and streaked toward the asteroid belt. In an effort to avoid detection, he kept Junker on the same plane as the bulk of the asteroids, trying to use them as cover. His mind raced along with Junker. He needed to come up with a way to board the supply ship.
Before they reached the asteroid belt, the ship-to-ship communicator pinged. Jaden and Marr both stared at it in surprise.
“That’s an open hail,” said Jaden.
“From the supply ship,” Marr said, and they shared a glance.
“Maybe Khedryn has gotten free and is trying to raise us,” Jaden said. He opened the channel.
A soft, sibilant voice carried over the comm and destroyed whatever hope he’d had for Khedryn’s escape.
“I know that you can hear this, Jaden Korr. Listen carefully to what I am about to say. My name is Nyss and I have taken control of the medical supply ship out of Fhost. The clones you were after are dead or captured. Khedryn Faal is now in my custody.”
“The clones are dead?” Marr asked, incredulous.
Jaden stared at the comm, trying to make sense of the sudden turn of events. He pushed the transmit button. “You are to turn Khedryn Faal over to us immediately.”
Nyss’s voice answered, his soft tone turned hard. “You give exactly no orders here, Jedi. Do you understand? You will do exactly what I say and only what I say.”
Jaden’s fist clenched in frustration. “Who are you? What do you want?”
“I will explain that in person, Jedi.”
The request puzzled Jaden. “You want to meet?”
“I want to trade. Khedryn Faal for you. Otherwise, I’ll kill him.”
Jaden cut off the transmission and looked over at Marr. Lines furrowed