Free Remnant: Force Heretic I by Sean Williams Page B

nature to her. Indeed, they were arguably the only things that had saved her mind after the destruction of so much she had held dear.
    Hunt the moment …
    Saba had never regarded herself as being particularly close to Tahiri. They were different—they came from different worlds, had different backgrounds, and held different values. Nevertheless, they were bound simply by virtue of being Jedi. In the short time Saba had known Tahiri, she had struck Saba as a Jedi with a bright future ahead of her. She had come across as young and inexperienced but still full of potential. As with many Jedi, Tahiri was powered by an inner determination. A fire burned in her that had remained undiminished even by the death of the boy she’d loved, Anakin Solo.
    She wondered where that fire was now, in the body of the frail, young human before her. If she, too, was trying in her own way to focus on what lay before her.
    Anakin’s parents were there, looking as concerned as they would for one of their own offspring. Outside,watching through the sterile barrier that cordoned off the room, were a number of other concerned individuals, Jag Fel and Belindi Kalenda among them.
    All attention was on Jaina, as she tried to explain to Master Cilghal what had happened.
    “She collapsed in one of the public halls,” she said, her hands animated in front of her. She was clearly upset by the turn of events. “We traced her there after she called me on her comlink. She sounded—upset. She wasn’t making much sense.”
    Master Cilghal gestured and Tekli handed her the instrument she required. Their unspoken communication was near perfect, obviously the result of a familiarity developed over years of working together.
    “What was she saying?” the healer asked, her moist, webbed hands pressing a nutrient gel to Tahiri’s forehead. Even Saba could tell that Tahiri was malnourished.
    “She—” Again Jaina hesitated. “She said that Anakin was trying to kill her. Like I said, she wasn’t making much sense.”
    Saba wasn’t an expert at reading human body language, but she sensed that Jaina was hiding something.
    “I felt her calling for Anakin through the Force,” Master Skywalker was saying.
    Jacen Solo nodded, exchanging glances with his twin sister. Saba suspected that Tahiri’s grief was touching places uncomfortably close to their own.
    “I see no reason for Tahiri’s collapse,” Master Cilghal concluded upon finishing her scan of the young woman. “Physically her body is under stress, but she isn’t ill. As far as I can tell, all she needs is to rest and eat properly for a couple of weeks. I suggest we let her sleep for the moment. Until she wakes up and we can talk to her, there really is little else we can do.”
    Leia stood to one side, with her husband’s arm aroundher waist. Her eyes were glistening. “Do everything you can for her,” she said. “I refuse to let her become another victim of this war.”
    Master Cilghal looked up and nodded her head. “I’ll place her in a private ward, under full observation.”
    Leia turned and walked from the room. Han and Mara went with her, followed by Jaina and Jacen. Saba started to go also, but was stopped by Master Skywalker’s voice.
    “Not you, Saba.” He spoke in a way that made it sound like a request, not a command. “Please, stay for a moment.”
    She obeyed, returning to stand with him and the two healers over the supine body of the human girl. Saba’s eyes were most sensitive to the infrared part of the spectrum, so the finer details of Tahiri’s face were lost to her. But something was burning deep within her, that much Saba could tell. Tahiri lay flat on her back, her chest gently rising and falling, eyes roving behind closed lids—to all appearances, the girl was sleeping. But Tahiri was radiating heat like a furnace, as though her body was working overtime even while lying still. And there was something about that fire that raged inside her …
    Now that she was