Star Wars: Shadow Games (56 page)

He couldn’t figure it out. It was just an instant realization, too fleeting to remember, too overwhelming to reject.

Would Corran be able to see through the deception? Would Jysella? Surely, they had to be able to. But what if they couldn’t? Valin would accuse this woman and be thought insane.

Were Corran and Jysella even still at liberty? Still
alive
? At this moment, the Not-Mirax’s colleagues could be spiriting the two of them away with the true Mirax. Or Corran and Jysella could be lying, bleeding, at the bottom of an access shaft, their lives draining away.

Valin couldn’t think straight. The situation was too overwhelming, the mystery too deep, and the only person here who knew the answers was the one who wore the face of his mother.

He stood, sending his chair clattering backward, and fixed the false Mirax with a hard look. “Just a moment.” He dashed to his room.

His lightsaber was still where he’d left it, on the nightstand beside his bed. He snatched it up and gave it a near-instantaneous examination. Battery power was still optimal; there was no sign that it had been tampered with.

He returned to the dining room with the weapon in his hand. Not-Mirax, clearly confused and beginning to look a little alarmed, stood by the stove, staring at him.

Valin ignited the lightsaber, its
snap-hiss
of activation startlingly loud, and held the point of the gleaming energy blade against the food on his plate. Hotcakes shriveled and blackened from contact with the weapon’s plasma. Valin gave Not-Mirax an approving nod. “Flesh does the same thing under the same conditions, you know.”

“Valin, what’s
wrong
?”

“You may address me as Jedi Horn. You don’t have the right to use my personal name.” Valin swung the lightsaber around in a practice form, allowing the blade to come within a few centimeters of the glow rod fixture overhead, the wall, the dining table, and the woman with his mother’s face. “You probably know from your research that the Jedi don’t worry much about amputations.”

Not-Mirax shrank back away from him, both hands on the stove edge behind her. “What?”

“We know that a severed limb can readily be replaced by a prosthetic that looks identical to the real thing. Prosthetics offer sensation and do everything flesh can. They’re ideal substitutes in every way, except for requiring maintenance. So we don’t feel too badly when we have to cut the arm or leg off a very bad person. But I assure you, that very bad person remembers the pain forever.”

“Valin, I’m going to call your father now.” Not-Mirax sidled toward the blue bantha-hide carrybag she had left on a side table.

Valin positioned the tip of his lightsaber directly beneath her chin. At the distance of half a centimeter, its containing force field kept her from feeling any heat from the blade, but a slight twitch on Valin’s part could maim or kill her instantly. She froze.

“No, you’re not. You know what you’re going to do instead?”

Not-Mirax’s voice wavered. “What?”

“You’re going to
tell me what you’ve done with my mother
!” The last several words emerged as a bellow, driven by fear and anger. Valin knew that he looked as angry as he sounded; he could feel blood reddening his face, could even see redness begin to suffuse everything in his vision.

“Boy, put the blade down.” Those were not the woman’s words. They came from behind. Valin spun, bringing his blade up into a defensive position.

In the doorway stood a man, middle-aged, clean-shaven, his hair graying from brown. He was of below-average height, his eyes a startling green. He wore the brown robes of a Jedi. His hands were on his belt, his own lightsaber still dangling from it.

He was Valin’s father, Jedi Master Corran Horn. But he wasn’t, any more than the woman behind Valin was Mirax Horn.

Valin felt a wave of despair wash over him.
Both
parents replaced. Odds were growing that the real Corran and Mirax were already dead.

Yet Valin’s voice was soft when he spoke. “They may have made you a virtual double for my father. But they can’t have given you his expertise with the lightsaber.”

“You don’t want to do what you’re thinking about, son.”

“When I cut you in half, that’s all the proof anyone will ever need that you’re not the real Corran Horn.”

Valin lunged.

OLD REPUBLIC 5000–33 YEARS BEFORE
STAR WARS: A New Hope

Lost Tribe of the Sith
*

Precipice

Skyborn

Paragon

Savior

Purgatory

Sentinel

3650
YEARS BEFORE STAR WARS: A New Hope

The Old Republic: Deceived

Lost Tribe of the Sith*

Pantheon

Secrets

Red Harvest

The Old Republic: Fatal Alliance

1032
YEARS BEFORE STAR WARS: A New Hope

  Knight Errant

  Darth Bane: Path of Destruction

  Darth Bane: Rule of Two

  Darth Bane: Dynasty of Evil

RISE OF THE EMPIRE 33–0 YEARS BEFORE
STAR WARS: A New
Hope

  Darth Maul: Saboteur*

  Cloak of Deception

  Darth Maul: Shadow Hunter

32
YEARS BEFORE STAR WARS: A New Hope

  
STAR WARS:
EPISODE I:
The Phantom Menace

  Rogue Planet

  Outbound Flight

  The Approaching Storm

22
YEARS BEFORE STAR WARS: A New Hope

  
STAR WARS:
EPISODE II:
Attack of the Clones

22-19 YEARS BEFORE STAR WARS: A New Hope

  The Clone Wars

  The Clone Wars: Wild Space

  The Clone Wars: No Prisoners

  Clone Wars Gambit

Stealth

Siege

  Republic Commando

Hard Contact

Triple Zero

True Colors

Order 66

  Shatterpoint

  The Cestus Deception

  The Hive*

  MedStar I: Battle Surgeons

  MedStar II: Jedi Healer

  Jedi Trial

  Yoda: Dark Rendezvous

  Labyrinth of Evil

19
YEARS BEFORE STAR WARS: A New Hope

  
STAR WARS:
EPISODE III:
Revenge of the Sith

  Dark Lord: The Rise of Darth Vader

  Imperial Commando 501st

  Coruscant Nights

Jedi Twilight

Street of Shadows

Patterns of Force

  The Han Solo Trilogy

The Paradise Snare

The Hutt Gambit

Rebel Dawn

  The Adventures of Lando Calrissian

  The Force Unleashed

  The Han Solo Adventures

  Death Troopers

  The Force Unleashed II

REBELLION 0–5 YEARS AFTER
STAR WARS: A New Hope

  Death Star

  Shadow Games

STAR WARS:
EPISODE IV:
A NEW HOPE

  Tales from the Mos Eisley Cantina

  Tales from the Empire

  Tales from the New Republic

  Allegiance

  Choices of One

  Galaxies: The Ruins of Dantooine

  Splinter of the Mind’s Eye

3
YEARS AFTER STAR WARS: A New Hope

  
STAR WARS:
EPISODE V:
THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK

  Tales of the Bounty Hunters

  Shadows of the Empire

4
YEARS AFTER STAR WARS: A New Hope

  
STAR WARS:
EPISODE VI:
RETURN OF THE JEDI

  Tales from Jabba’s Palace

  The Bounty Hunter Wars

The Mandalorian Armor

Slave Ship

Hard Merchandise

  The Truce at Bakura

  Luke Skywalker and the Shadows of Mindor

NEW REPUBLIC 5–25 YEARS AFTER
STAR WARS: A New Hope

  X-Wing

Rogue Squadron

Wedge’s Gamble

The Krytos Trap

The Bacta War

Wraith Squadron

Iron Fist

Solo Command

  The Courtship of Princess Leia

  A Forest Apart*

  Tatooine Ghost

  The Thrawn Trilogy

Heir to the Empire

Dark Force Rising

The Last Command

  X-Wing: Isard’s Revenge

  The Jedi Academy Trilogy

Jedi Search

Dark Apprentice

Champions of the Force

  I, Jedi

  Children of the Jedi

  Darksaber

  Planet of Twilight

  X-Wing: Starfighters of Adumar

  The Crystal Star

  The Black Fleet Crisis Trilogy

Before the Storm

Shield of Lies

Tyrant’s Test

  The New Rebellion

  The Corellian Trilogy

Ambush at Corellia

Assault at Selonia

Showdown at Centerpoint

  The Hand of Thrawn Duology

Specter of the Past

Vision of the Future

  Fool’s Bargain*

  Survivor’s Quest

NEW JEDI ORDER 25–40 YEARS AFTER
STAR WARS: A New Hope

  Boba Fett: A Practical Man*

  The New Jedi Order

Vector Prime

Dark Tide I: Onslaught

Dark Tide II: Ruin

Agents of Chaos I: Hero’s Trial

Agents of Chaos II: Jedi Eclipse

Balance Point

Recovery*

Edge of Victory I: Conquest

Edge of Victory II: Rebirth

Star by Star

Dark Journey

Enemy Lines I: Rebel Dream

Enemy Lines II: Rebel Stand

Traitor

Destiny’s Way

Ylesia*

Force Heretic I: Remnant

Force Heretic II: Refugee

Force Heretic III: Reunion

The Final Prophecy

The Unifying Force

35
YEARS AFTER STAR WARS: A New Hope

  The Dark Nest Trilogy

The Joiner King

The Unseen Queen

The Swarm War

LEGACY 40+ YEARS AFTER
STAR WARS: A New Hope

  Legacy of the Force

Betrayal

Bloodlines

Tempest

Exile

Sacrifice

Inferno

Fury

Revelation

Invincible

  Crosscurrent

  Riptide

  Millennium Falcon

43
YEARS AFTER STAR WARS: A New Hope

  Fate of the Jedi

Outcast

Omen

Abyss

Backlash

Allies

Vortex

Conviction

Ascension

Apocalypse

*
An eBook novella