Nas Choka laughed ruefully.

"Thousands of my warriors would willingly attest to the fact that it is a weapon still."

Skywalker acknowledged the remark with a nod.

"In peaceful times it is only a symbol of the fight we wage with ourselves-to keep us from taking the wrong path."

Nas Choka lifted his chin.

"We have always acted in accord with the warrior decree."

"We accept that," Skywalker said. "But you're going to have to learn to do without many of the biots that defined you as warriors."

"Name them, Jeedai."

"Your amphistaffs and coufees, your blorash and fire jelly, your thud bugs, razor bugs, and plasma eels, your vessels and war coordinators..."

"In exchange for what-digging implements and plows?"

"That remains to be decided by your custodian." Nas Choka scanned the officers and officials. "Who is that to be?"

"Zonama Sekot," Skywalker said.

Nas Choka stared at him in alarm.

"You would surrender us to our true enemy! The living world we tried to poison! The world where our amphistaffs slither away, our thud bugs take flight, our villips and dovin basals turn to fruit... And yet you deny that we will be executed! Send us instead back to the intergalactic void, where we can at least die with dignity!"

"Perhaps our biots have something to teach us," Harrar said. "If they can overcome their conditioning, perhaps the warriors can."

"Words!" Nas Choka snapped. "Because the priests, shapers, and intendants have nothing to lose by imprisonment on the living world."

"We lose more than you know, Nas Choka," Harrar said sadly.

"We honor a tradition that cannot be altered!"

Harrar stepped from behind the table to approach.

"You honor a much older tradition, Warmaster. One that began on the planet that was parent to Zonama Sekot."

"Parent?"

"Zonama Sekot is our world, Warmaster. It is Yuuzhan'tar."

Nas Choka threw his head back and bellowed at the ceiling.

"Then we are truly defeated!" He looked at Harrar again. "Was all this due to Shimrra, priest? Were our wanderings nothing more than a ruse to return us to the world from which we were cast?"

"Only the G.o.ds can answer that."

Nas Choka narrowed his eyes.

"Do the G.o.ds reside there?"

"In the sense that Zonama Sekot incorporates all aspects of Yun-Yuuzhan, Yun-Ne'Shel, Yun-Shuno..."

"You make no mention of Yun-Yammka."

"That one we concocted," Harrar said, "when we turned to war."

Nas Choka snorted in disdain.

"I thought as much. You've been deceived, priest. The Shamed Ones proclaimed that the Jeedai incorporated all aspects of the G.o.ds, and clearly they are not G.o.ds." He allowed his words to trail off, then said in a more controlled voice, "On these matters, I speak only for myself.

We are the defeated. Do with us what you will. But tell me, Jeedai, is our imprisonment to endure in the shadow of your Coruscant, as a constant reminder of our failure?"

Skywalker shook his head.

"Zonama Sekot has no desire to remain in known s.p.a.ce, risking reverence, exploitation, or both. Zonama Sekot will return to the Unknown Regions, where it has knowledge of a star system that, over time, could be colonized by the Yuuzhan Vong-that is, once Zonama Sekot and the Yuuzhan Vong have become reacquainted."

"What of our childbearers and offspring?"

"They will also find a new home on Zonama Sekot."

"And the Shamed Ones? The heretics?"

"They will need little persuading," Harrar answered. "On Zonama Sekot our society will be able to redefine itself, without the need to abandon completely its core beliefs."

Nas Choka's broad forehead wrinkled. His gaze lingered on Sovv and Kre'fey, on Cal Omas and Luke Skywalker.

"This seems a curious leniency."

"We haven't yet stated all our terms," Kre'fey said sharply.

Nas Choka folded his arms across his chest.

"Then do so."

"Villips have been relaying the news of Shimrra's death to occupied worlds throughout the invasion corridor. Some of your commanders have left; others remain entrenched. We don't want to have to liberate each and every one of them at the cost of additional lives."

Nas Choka nodded.

"I will summon them to Coruscant. Those who refuse, we will help you hunt down and kill." He held Kre'fey's baleful stare. "State the rest of your terms, Admiral."

"We demand that your shapers a.s.sist in the reconstruction of Coruscant, by persuading the World Brain to reverse some of the changes it wrought."

Nas Choka almost smiled.

"Will it not trouble you, Admiral, to know that a Yuuzhan Vong dhuryam rests at the center of your galaxy?"

Kre'fey sniffed.

"Consider it, Warmaster, the foundation for an enduring compromise."

FORTY-FOUR.

In the weeks that followed the summit on Ralroost, Luke spent endless hours walking through the boras forests, sometimes with Mara when she and Lowbacca weren't effecting repairs to Jade Shadow, but more often on his own, roaming and reflecting, the hood of his cloak raised against the cold, and his hands thrust deeply into the opposite sleeves. His body seemed to have struck a compromise with the traces of venom that were still circulating through his bloodstream, but his mind was still struggling to find a similar balance. Sometimes he would confront voids in the Force where there shouldn't have been any, and at other times the Force would seem to expand infinitely around him, heightening his perceptions beyond all expectation, or surprising him with prolonged visions of possible futures.

For a brief time during the summit on Ralroost he had been able to perceive Nas Choka and Harrar with the same clarity Jacen described when he spoke of his Vongsense. Cal Omas and the Alliance leadership had expressed their grat.i.tude to the Jedi for finding a practical solution to the war.

But now that the terms of surrender had been ratified and the Yuuzhan Vong had been disarmed, the Alliance had ceased asking Luke for advice or a.s.sistance. The reconstruction of Coruscant had commenced with a great deal of fanfare, in conjunction with a grand memorial service for Admiral Ackbar, and the inauguration of a new HoloNet. Jacen had traveled to Coruscant to confer with the Yuuzhan Vong shapers who had been entrusted with mapping out an accord with the World Brain.

Initially the dhuryam was averse to tampering with any of its creations, but thanks to Jacen it had agreed to allow the Alliance to excavate the sacred precinct, with an eye toward restoring those New Republic structures that had survived. In the course of the excavations, vast amounts of serviceable technology had been discovered, but it would be decades before Coruscant would be suitable for anyone other than structural engineers and construction droids. Until then, the Galactic Alliance government was to be headquartered at Denon, a heavily populated Inner Rim world that had risen to prominence during the Old Republic era and, more important, had escaped bombardment or occupation by the Yuuzhan Vong.

Nas Choka had succeeded in recalling many but not all of his commanders from occupied worlds. Every few days, word would reach Zonama Sekot of a costly skirmish in one star system or another. On Coruscant, too, many commanders had surrendered, though rumors persisted-and would probably continue to persist-of bands of Yuuzhan Vong warriors hiding out in the dense temperate forests of the northern hemisphere.

Instead of returning to normal, the galaxy was slowly changing.

Having been crowned a hero-even by his own Bothans-Admiral Traest Kre'fey had a.s.sumed the rank of Supreme Commander of Alliance forces, following the unexpected resignation of Sien Sovv.

Dif Scaur, the impetus behind Alpha Red, was also gone, gently forced into early retirement by Cal Omas, and replaced as director of Intelligence by Belindi Kalenda. Omas had a.s.sured Luke that all stores of the bioweapon had been destroyed, along with the genetic blueprint itself, since there were many who felt that the Alliance had been too compa.s.sionate with the enemy.

Several species that had endured the brunt of the invasion were still demanding that the entire warrior caste be executed-an act of reprisal even Omas might have sanctioned were it not for Nas Choka's steadfast willingness to oblige. Still, no one wanted to risk a sudden recanting by the warmaster.

So, immediately following the summit, all Yuuzhan Vong warriors had been transferred to the bellies of several Star Destroyers and troop transports, and the vessels that had comprised the mighty alien armada had been launched into Coruscant's sun, carrying with them all weapons of war.

On Zonama Sekot, repair work to the cliff dwellings and other damaged structures continued day and night. The Ferroans were nonplussed by Sekot's willingness to bestow half of Zonama on the species that had tried to destroy it. But except for a few of the younger Ferroans who had decided to depart, most of the indigenous population had simply resigned themselves to Sekot's decision. Luke had been awaiting an opportunity to gather all the Jedi in one place, and was finally able to do that when Errant Venture returned to Zonama Sekot, bearing the children and other Jedi from the Maw.

He gave everyone a day to mingle and catch up, then requested that everyone a.s.semble at the forest clearing where the first coralskippers had been brought to ground. In groups of three and four the Jedi arrived, until all were present, including: Luke, Mara, Markre Medjev, Keyan Farlander, Tam Azur-Jamin, Octa Ramis, Tresina Lobi, Kenth Hamner, Cilghal, Kyp Durron, Klin-Fa Gi, Tenel Ka, Madurrin, Streen, Jacen, Jaina, Kam and Tionne Solusar, Zekk, Lowbacca, Saba and Tesar Sebatyne, Izal Waz, Corran Horn, Kirana Ti, Tekli, Alema Rar, Kyle Katarn, Waxarn Kel, Tresk Im'nel, Wonetun, Hivrech'wao'Cheklev, Tyria Sarkin and Doran Sarkin-Tainer, Tahiri Veila, Sannah, and the children, including Ben, Valin, Jysella, and some twenty others.

When everyone was settled, Luke stepped to the center of the large circle his friends and comrades had formed. Several of the children sat cross-legged on the loamy soil; others atop the grounded coralskippers.

Ben sat contentedly on Mara's lap.

"The Yuuzhan Vong will begin arriving in the coming weeks," Luke began, pacing while he spoke. "The first collaborative act between them and Sekot will be to restore the southern hemisphere forests, which were incinerated by the original reconnaissance team fifty years ago. By working with the boras, the Yuuzhan Vong will gradually get to know Zonama, and at the same time Sekot will gradually get to know the Yuuzhan Vong. Their acceptance by Sekot will const.i.tute a second chance for a species that nearly doomed itself to extinction." He stopped momentarily.

"Now that we finally know what the Force wanted for the Yuuzhan Vong, it's time to ask what the Force wants for us." He gestured to his nephew.

"Jacen has already accomplished more than any of us could to speed the rebuilding of Coruscant, and I don't see it as our duty to devote ourselves entirely to shoring up the Galactic Alliance as it takes its first wobbly steps toward becoming a true coalition. Our mandate to safeguard peace and justice remains, but we have to be wary of any who attempt to define peace and justice by their own terms. Should that happen, our mandate may require us to transcend the jurisdiction of any central government.

"I suppose we could consider initiating our own reconstruction efforts at Yavin Four, but I don't see much purpose in that task, either, since the days of the Jedi praxeum are behind us. Yavin Four had its place, but there are countless worlds where the Force is strong, and any one of them can serve as a kind of academy." Luke gestured to Kam Solusar. "Kam has suggested that we give thought to relocating to Ossus, and I'm inclined to agree with him. But the real territory we're compelled to explore is the Unifying Force-as a step toward implementing a 'new' Jedi order."

Luke fell silent for a long moment, as he paced across the circle and back again.

"On Ithor I surrendered guardianship of the Jedi. That doesn't mean that I can't still serve as a mentor and guide to some of you. Yoda instructed me to pa.s.s on what I have learned, and I mean to do just that.

But others here are as equipped as I am to teach, and I encourage them to do so, should they choose to pursue that path.

"But here's what I wish to say to all of you: if I have learned anything from the events of the past five years, it is that the Force is more all-embracing than I ever realized. Light and dark do not always stand opposed, but mingle with each other in curious ways. More important, the Force seems to have a will, and it's when we're acting against the will of the Force that we can get into trouble. Anger by itself is not of the dark side unless it is accompanied by a desire to dominate. When we act in harmony with the will of the Force, we disappear into it. When we struggle against it, we not only sever our ties with the Force, but also feed the needs of chaos.

"The evolution of sentience reflects the constant movement between those two poles. Evil-the dark side-won't be eradicated until it has been discarded as an option for acquiring power, subjugating would-be opponents, or offsetting feelings of anger, envy, or exclusion. Where victims of injustice exist, the dark side finds initiates. That is the cycle our actions are meant to forestall, and in this battle the Force is both our ally and our guardian. We serve it best by listening to its will, and serving the good with our every action-by personifying the Force.

"But I'm no longer convinced that we're meant to police the galaxy.

For one thing, we're too few in number. That was made evident early in the war, and it's likely to hold true for whatever conflicts erupt in the coming years. The Jedi began as a meditative order. Our forebears believed that they could balance light and dark by remaining always in the Force, and thereby perfecting themselves. Gradually, however, as the Supreme Chancellors appealed to the order time and again for advice in resolving disputes, the Jedi became adjuncts of the Old Republic, then marshals and warriors, taking it upon themselves to uphold the peace, and little by little being drawn away from the Force and into the mundane.

"I don't propose that we place ourselves in seclusion and pa.s.s our days meditating on the Force-though that might be the path for some of us. But I do advocate attuning ourselves to the longer view, and reaching out to others who seek to serve the Force. The genetic makeup of each and every one of us augments our ability to tap the Force, but everyone, regardless of his or her genetics, has the potential to use the Force to one degree or another. Perhaps not to move rocks and take giant strides; but in some sense those physical powers are little more than surface effects. The real powers are more subtle, for they involve adhering to the true path, avoiding the temptation to dominate, sacrificing oneself for those who have less, and living impeccably, by recognizing that the Force doesn't flow from us but through us, ever on the move."

Luke scanned the sea of faces.

"Like our damaged galaxy, the new Jedi order will require generations to define itself. Some of us have already committed to the roles we will play in that process. Kyp, Cilghal, Saba, Kenth, Tresina, and I will continue to serve on Cal Omas's Advisory Council, and be the voice of the Force."

He glanced at the tall Anx Jedi.

"I know that Madurrin has decided to remain in service to Supreme Commander Kre'fey and Keyan Farlander, and that Tenel Ka will return to the Hapes Consortium. Kirana Ti, Damaya, and Streen have much work to do on Dathomir, and Kam, Tionne, and several others are eager to go to Ossus."

Again, his gaze swept around the circle.

"As for the rest of you, I ask only that you give deep thought as to how you might best serve the Force."

With the lifting of Sekot's stricture regarding warships on Zonama's surface, the western rim of the Middle Distance canyon had become a landing and launch zone. The Millennium Falcon was parked there, as was Jade Shadow, along with a few Sekotan fighters and the several shuttles that had carried the Jedi adults and children from Errant Venture. Dressed in a black syntleece jacket, stylish trousers, a rakish cap, and fingerless gloves, Lando meandered with design among the ships, spotting Han at last, seated at a table with Talon, Booster, and Crev Bomba.s.sa, in an open-fronted shed built of Sekotan lamina.

The three men were as bundled up as Lando was, and their amiable laughter rode out on short-lived breath clouds.

"Where is everybody?" Lando asked when he joined them. "This place is as quiet as a convention of Defels."

"Big meeting in the boras," Han said offhandedly.

Lando grinned and prized a bottle of expensive Corellian brandy from his coat pocket.

"Perfect time for us to warm our bones. Besides, there's just enough to go around."

Han rubbed his bare hands together in antic.i.p.ation.

"Wasn't I just saying that cantinas are in very short supply around here?"

Crev glanced around in wariness.

"Maybe you should keep your voice low. You know, in case...

someone's listening?"

Booster tugged at his beard.