Camp by Redgill Lake, Dathomir [eaaaaaaaaaaaaaarly morning]
Ben woke up in the predawn hours, though he hadn't slept much during the night either. He'd finished his work on the lightsaber around midnight, and that was about the only constructive thing he'd accomplished.
He sat up where he'd slept, a couple meters from the campfire, wrapped his blankets around him, and began a series of breathing exercises, hoping to be as detached and reflective as Jedi should be.
When Darth Caedus died, and Lumiya before him, and when Tahiri had shown no sign of wishing to follow the Sith traditions, Ben had hoped it meant the Sith were gone for good. Oh, of course there had been suggestions otherwise: the continued existence of Ship, the rumors of dying Sith communities out in the galaxy somewhere. But he could ignore them. They weren't in his face, waving lightsabers.
That had changed with the arrival of the Sith strike team in the Maw. Most of the Sith that Ben and Luke and Ender had fought had been at the level of training of an experienced Jedi Knight. Luke described Vestara's female companion as being the approximate level of a Jedi Master, and Ben didn't feel lucky enough to hope that the strike team had been the last representatives of this new Sith Order.
So there were Sith again, and part of him, the younger Ben who'd been tortured and nearly turned by Darth Caedus, was still a little afraid of them. Death didn't frighten him. Becoming like Jacen...that was another matter.
Ender
Ender's own dreams had been full of Sith; looking at the Sith girl, so alive and plotting and thinking and being quite clever-- had left him wondering about the people whose futures he'd so decisively ended. What were they like? What did they come from? What had driven them to a station so far away, using such over-elaborate techniques? What kind of environment did they grow up in, to feel they needed them?
He didn't get much sleep, either. There was no running from the dead.
His eyes slid open at Ben's movement, but he didn't join him just yet. His eyes did find Ben's face-- it didn't take him much to figure out what he had to be thinking about, to look like that.
Ben
Ben tilted his head to look at him. "We've got an hour until sunrise," he murmured.
Ender
Ender's head made a jerky motion that looked a little like a nod. He glanced away from Ben, head barely moving as his gaze slid towards the fire.
He took a breath, then another one, and then a third.
Then he pushed himself upright, one hand flat against the ground.
Ben
Ben glanced at his father, then his aunt and uncle. "Want to go for a walk?"
Ender
Ender followed Ben's line of vision again. Then he cast a glance at the rest of the camp, and pushed on to his feet. "Sure."
Ben
Ben waited until they were out of earshot of the rest of the camp, then explained, "It was this or my father getting up in two minutes to tell me how my feelings were betraying me and it is way too early for Jedi philosophy."
Ender
Ender didn't mention how sometimes, Ben talked about the Jedi as something not entirely of himself. He didn't want to discourage anything, but he didn't want to push right now.
He stuck his hands in his pockets as they walked. "Still thinking about the Sith, I presume."
Ben
Ben nodded. "I'd hoped we were done with this kuso when Jacen died."
Ender
"You're worried," Ender said. It wasn't a question.
Ben
Ben nodded, leaning against a tree and wrapping his arms around his midsection. "They're supposed to come in pairs. When Jacen died and Tahiri didn't seem at all inclined to follow in his footsteps, I thought after a few thousand years we might finally be finished with this. But now they're back. And in more than just pairs. And they're trained. This is going to be bad, I can feel it."
Ender
Ender watched him. He let his own back hit a tree, his expression unreadable in the dim light.
"They're not as you remember," he said. "They're not what you expected. We don't know anything about them at all."
The man he'd killed with just a chunk of debris - he couldn't have been much older than Ender himself.
Ben
"That's what really worries me," Ben admitted quietly. "We're working blind, other than knowing what they call themselves, and no one who's ever gone by 'Sith' has been cute and fluffy."
Ender
"Neither has anyone who's called themselves Jedi," Ender said, quietly. "From a certain point of view."
He glanced up at the sky. "They're still people, Ben."
Ben
Ben glanced over at him. "How have your dreams been?" he asked.
Ender
"About as well as you'd expect," Ender said, vaguely.
Ben
Ben reached out without thinking, fingers looking to touch Ender's knuckles. "How bad on a one to ten scale?"
Ender
Ender's eyes glanced down, towards the lines he couldn't see in the dark. "I don't do scales," he said. "Enough to keep me awake right now. But that's not important."
Ben
Ben snorted softly. "Of course it is, kreetle."
Ender
"No," Ender said. "It really isn't. You're not going to let up about Vestara, are you?"
Ben
"No," Ben said. "She's the key to this whole thing. If there are more Sith, and I can't believe the ones in the Maw are all that are left in the universe, she'll be trying to make contact with them somehow. I was going to do some investigating while the rest of you compete in the games today."
He gave Ender's hand a quick squeeze. "It doesn't mean I can't worry about you at the same time."
Ender
"I'm flattered, but I don't need worrying about," Ender said, slipping his hand out of Ben's. "Don't tackle her straight-on again. You'll lose your head."
Ben
"I was going to talk with the Raining Leaves clan members instead," Ben said, "But I'll talk to her eventually. With logic, not emotions."
Ender
"Whatever you do, remember that she isn't Jacen," Ender said. "She's probably not even from the same tradition. She doesn't have a Jedi background, just to start with."
Ben
"I wish I knew more about what she knows," Ben said. "She knew about Jacen. I'm not sure she knew our family's relationship with Jacen, though."
Ender
Ender produced a brief smile that probably wasn't all that visible. "Good," he said. "The last thing you need is to get drawn back into worries about the dark side."
He wasn't reading your mind, Ben. Honest.
Ben
Ben glanced over at him. "You know me too well."
It wasn't really a complaint.
Ender
"For what it's worth, I doubt arguing with a Sith girl is going to drastically change your personality, no matter how intense Luke looked about the whole thing," Ender said, sliding down against the tree until he was sitting.
Ben
"I don't think he liked that she's our age," Ben observed. "And there's some information that we'll only get from her--the Raining Leaves clan members aren't going to know her end game."
Ender
"No, but she's not going to tell you to your face either, detective," Ender said, with a faint smile. "Especially not after that show you put on."
Ben
"Oh, she might," Ben insisted. "I can be very persuasive. Or you can be."
Ender
"That sounds sordid," Ender commented, dryly. "But I'll try to talk to her - she's obviously convinced I'm not really worth her time at the moment."
Ben
"I think I'm happier with her having that mis-impression," Ben said.
Ender
"I think it suits our purposes for the moment," Ender agreed. "But I'll probably have to spend most of my time on the games."
Ben
"Which ones are you going to compete in?" Ben asked, staring up as the sun began to rise.
Ender
"Swimming," Ender said, stretching his legs out. "Rifles, but that's mostly in Petra's honour. I haven't decided on any others yet."
Ben
Ben looked thoughtful. "I'll bet Dad will compete in running," he said, "and Uncle Han will definitely try the shooting."
Ender
"Going by the stories, that wouldn't surprise me," Ender said, shifting against the tree. He tilted his head to study Ben's expression. "I bet you're relieved to have them here."
Ben
"I think Dad looks a little less strained already," Ben admitted. "I'm not sure about leaving Amelia with the Falcon--"
Ender
"...Please tell me they didn't," Ender said, after a pause.
Ben
Ben shrugged. "She's with Threepio and Artoo," he said. "She'll be okay."
She was eight.
Ender
"We're already chasing one Sith," Ender countered, "Who's to say there aren't others? She shouldn't be alone."
Ben
"She's got the comms to call us," Ben said, "and I'm pretty sure she know show to fire up the laser batteries on the Falcon."
Parenting in Ben's family was different.
Ender
"And we might be here for days," Ender said, flatly. He hadn't exactly had a normal childhood, either, but at least he was aware that it hadn't been normal. "Has she even had combat training?"
Ben
"From when she could walk, pretty much," Ben said.
Tenel Ka had seen to that, but he wasn't about to get into the specifics of Amelia--really, Allana's--heritage out here where someone might hear it.
Ender
Ender rubbed at his forehead. "She should be with her parents," he said, finally. "I sincerely doubt the Falcon is much safer than where we are right now."
Ben
"Maybe," Ben replied, "But I'm not going to be the one to tell Uncle Han and Aunt Leia that."
He looked at the sun again. "Breakfast should be soon. Are you hungry?"
Ender
"No, but I will be soon," Ender said, casting a glance towards the camp. "Are they going to keep doing this?"
Ben
"Feeding us?" Ben asked. "Yeah, probably."
Ender
"Leaving Amelia on her own."
Ben
"With Threepio," Ben corrected, "but yes."
Ender
"Poor girl," Ender murmured, and got up.
Even in Battle School, he'd had more than just robots for friends-- and he still remembered the way no one ever talked about their relatives, and then cried in their bunks at night.
Ben
Ben looked a little confused--what was happening with Amelia was pretty much exactly how he'd grown up, only his minder had been a modified assassin droid with multiple weapons--but he headed back to the the campsite, grabbed a quick bite to eat, traded his Jedi robe in for one he'd traded a man from Broken Columns for and was ready to blend into the crowd and watch the races.
Ender
Ender kept his own counsel on the topic of Amelia, at least for now - Ben obviously had other things on his mind. Still, he couldn't help but think about it, and wonder.
He'd had a distant childhood, and a manipulative one. But he still had memories of his mother tucking him in every night for the first six years, and the chatter of boys around him for the years since...
He'd shaken it off by the time breakfast had come and gone, changing his own clothes and scanning the crowds for competitors.
Ben
A blaster fired into the sky signaled the start of the running race. Luke was in the competition and Ben tracked him with part of his attention. The rest of it was on Vestara, who was walking straight toward Ben.
"Good morning," she said.
"If you say so," he replied.
"You don't think it is?"
He frowned. "Whether it's good or not isn't relevant."
Vestara
"It's always relevant," Vestara replied. "Will your morning be worse if your father loses?"
Ben
"He won't lose."
Over Vestara's shoulder, Ben saw the racers as they returned to the starting line. Luke was clearly drawing on the Force and gaining ground--but so was a Falling Leaves woman. The Dathomiri stayed a good two meters ahead of him and crossed the finish line first. The audience erupted into cheers.
Vestara smiled. "So? Better? Worse?"
"The same." Ben remembered his conversation with Ender and tried to rein in his irritation. "I'm not here to watch the races. I'm here to talk to you--"
"--without my adoptive mother seeing--"
"--about your pack of lies from last night."
Vestara
"Oh. What did you think of them?"
Ben
"So you admit you were lying to us, and to Olianne?" Ben asked, frowning.
That seemed easy.
Vestara
"Happily. Come on, let's watch the long race." She turned and moved back to the front of the crowd.
Ben
Feeling awkward, Ben followed, pushing himself up to the front beside her. "What are you actually doing here?"
Vestara
"Wait, wait, wait." Vestara gave Ben a scornful look. "You haven't told me which of my statements were lies."
Ben
"They all were," Ben said impatiently.
Vestara
"No. First, my name. Vestara. A lie?"
Ben
"I don't know, and I don't care. If Vestara's not your name, it's a convenient tag. Any time I say 'Vestara', my father and Ender will know who I mean."
Vestara
She nodded. "That's a good point. And an even better dodging of my demand. So, what was my next lie?"
Ben
Ben ran the previous night's conversation through his head. "You denied being a Sith."
Vestara
"No, I said that I had been a Sith, and that I was now of the Raining Leaves," Vestara replied. "By the law of the Raining Leaves, I am not. So no lie. What's next?"
Ben
The athletes participating in the long race began to line up. Luke and the woman who'd beaten him were among them. The blaster sounded and they began to run, their pace somewhat less furious than in the short race.
"You said you wouldn't talk about your friends and family because it would get them hurt."
Vestara
"Another truth. You certainly want to hurt them. Where, exactly, is my pack of lies?" Vestara asked.
Ben
"You just admitted they were a pack of lies."
"Perhaps I lied."
Ben gritted his teeth. Her smartass evasions were really getting on his nerves. He wondered what Luke would have done if he, Ben, had ever--the realization that he'd given his father precisely the same sort of responses on many, many occasions hit him like cold water in the face.
"You lied about where you crashed." Ben knew this was true; he put the confidence he felt into his voice.
Vestara
She considered, her head tilted to one side. "You know, I think you're right. I'm too good a pilot. I've never crashed in my life."
Ben
"Another lie," Ben snorted.
She laughed and pointed. "Your father's doing quite well."
Luke and the Dathomiri woman were at the head of the racing pack, the first to reach the starting line and round the post there, beginning another another lap.
Vestara
"These are fine people, Ben. I think my kin could learn from them," She glanced over at him. "Would you prefer that not happen?"
Ben
"I'd prefer the Sith not learn anything except how not to be Sith," Ben replied.
Vestara
"And what have you learned from me?"
Ben
Ben thought about that. "The Jedi have a saying: 'the future is always in motion.' Sometimes it's said garbled because of one eccentric old Master. From you, I calculate that the Sith equivalent is 'the truth is always in motion.'"
Vestara
"Interesting. And if I say 'I hope your father wins,' am I telling the truth, lying, or just aiming at a moving target?" Vestara asked.
Ben
Ben sighed in exasperation and walked away.
[Taken and adapted from Backlash by Aaron Allston. NFB, NFI.]
He sat up where he'd slept, a couple meters from the campfire, wrapped his blankets around him, and began a series of breathing exercises, hoping to be as detached and reflective as Jedi should be.
When Darth Caedus died, and Lumiya before him, and when Tahiri had shown no sign of wishing to follow the Sith traditions, Ben had hoped it meant the Sith were gone for good. Oh, of course there had been suggestions otherwise: the continued existence of Ship, the rumors of dying Sith communities out in the galaxy somewhere. But he could ignore them. They weren't in his face, waving lightsabers.
That had changed with the arrival of the Sith strike team in the Maw. Most of the Sith that Ben and Luke and Ender had fought had been at the level of training of an experienced Jedi Knight. Luke described Vestara's female companion as being the approximate level of a Jedi Master, and Ben didn't feel lucky enough to hope that the strike team had been the last representatives of this new Sith Order.
So there were Sith again, and part of him, the younger Ben who'd been tortured and nearly turned by Darth Caedus, was still a little afraid of them. Death didn't frighten him. Becoming like Jacen...that was another matter.
Ender
Ender's own dreams had been full of Sith; looking at the Sith girl, so alive and plotting and thinking and being quite clever-- had left him wondering about the people whose futures he'd so decisively ended. What were they like? What did they come from? What had driven them to a station so far away, using such over-elaborate techniques? What kind of environment did they grow up in, to feel they needed them?
He didn't get much sleep, either. There was no running from the dead.
His eyes slid open at Ben's movement, but he didn't join him just yet. His eyes did find Ben's face-- it didn't take him much to figure out what he had to be thinking about, to look like that.
Ben
Ben tilted his head to look at him. "We've got an hour until sunrise," he murmured.
Ender
Ender's head made a jerky motion that looked a little like a nod. He glanced away from Ben, head barely moving as his gaze slid towards the fire.
He took a breath, then another one, and then a third.
Then he pushed himself upright, one hand flat against the ground.
Ben
Ben glanced at his father, then his aunt and uncle. "Want to go for a walk?"
Ender
Ender followed Ben's line of vision again. Then he cast a glance at the rest of the camp, and pushed on to his feet. "Sure."
Ben
Ben waited until they were out of earshot of the rest of the camp, then explained, "It was this or my father getting up in two minutes to tell me how my feelings were betraying me and it is way too early for Jedi philosophy."
Ender
Ender didn't mention how sometimes, Ben talked about the Jedi as something not entirely of himself. He didn't want to discourage anything, but he didn't want to push right now.
He stuck his hands in his pockets as they walked. "Still thinking about the Sith, I presume."
Ben
Ben nodded. "I'd hoped we were done with this kuso when Jacen died."
Ender
"You're worried," Ender said. It wasn't a question.
Ben
Ben nodded, leaning against a tree and wrapping his arms around his midsection. "They're supposed to come in pairs. When Jacen died and Tahiri didn't seem at all inclined to follow in his footsteps, I thought after a few thousand years we might finally be finished with this. But now they're back. And in more than just pairs. And they're trained. This is going to be bad, I can feel it."
Ender
Ender watched him. He let his own back hit a tree, his expression unreadable in the dim light.
"They're not as you remember," he said. "They're not what you expected. We don't know anything about them at all."
The man he'd killed with just a chunk of debris - he couldn't have been much older than Ender himself.
Ben
"That's what really worries me," Ben admitted quietly. "We're working blind, other than knowing what they call themselves, and no one who's ever gone by 'Sith' has been cute and fluffy."
Ender
"Neither has anyone who's called themselves Jedi," Ender said, quietly. "From a certain point of view."
He glanced up at the sky. "They're still people, Ben."
Ben
Ben glanced over at him. "How have your dreams been?" he asked.
Ender
"About as well as you'd expect," Ender said, vaguely.
Ben
Ben reached out without thinking, fingers looking to touch Ender's knuckles. "How bad on a one to ten scale?"
Ender
Ender's eyes glanced down, towards the lines he couldn't see in the dark. "I don't do scales," he said. "Enough to keep me awake right now. But that's not important."
Ben
Ben snorted softly. "Of course it is, kreetle."
Ender
"No," Ender said. "It really isn't. You're not going to let up about Vestara, are you?"
Ben
"No," Ben said. "She's the key to this whole thing. If there are more Sith, and I can't believe the ones in the Maw are all that are left in the universe, she'll be trying to make contact with them somehow. I was going to do some investigating while the rest of you compete in the games today."
He gave Ender's hand a quick squeeze. "It doesn't mean I can't worry about you at the same time."
Ender
"I'm flattered, but I don't need worrying about," Ender said, slipping his hand out of Ben's. "Don't tackle her straight-on again. You'll lose your head."
Ben
"I was going to talk with the Raining Leaves clan members instead," Ben said, "But I'll talk to her eventually. With logic, not emotions."
Ender
"Whatever you do, remember that she isn't Jacen," Ender said. "She's probably not even from the same tradition. She doesn't have a Jedi background, just to start with."
Ben
"I wish I knew more about what she knows," Ben said. "She knew about Jacen. I'm not sure she knew our family's relationship with Jacen, though."
Ender
Ender produced a brief smile that probably wasn't all that visible. "Good," he said. "The last thing you need is to get drawn back into worries about the dark side."
He wasn't reading your mind, Ben. Honest.
Ben
Ben glanced over at him. "You know me too well."
It wasn't really a complaint.
Ender
"For what it's worth, I doubt arguing with a Sith girl is going to drastically change your personality, no matter how intense Luke looked about the whole thing," Ender said, sliding down against the tree until he was sitting.
Ben
"I don't think he liked that she's our age," Ben observed. "And there's some information that we'll only get from her--the Raining Leaves clan members aren't going to know her end game."
Ender
"No, but she's not going to tell you to your face either, detective," Ender said, with a faint smile. "Especially not after that show you put on."
Ben
"Oh, she might," Ben insisted. "I can be very persuasive. Or you can be."
Ender
"That sounds sordid," Ender commented, dryly. "But I'll try to talk to her - she's obviously convinced I'm not really worth her time at the moment."
Ben
"I think I'm happier with her having that mis-impression," Ben said.
Ender
"I think it suits our purposes for the moment," Ender agreed. "But I'll probably have to spend most of my time on the games."
Ben
"Which ones are you going to compete in?" Ben asked, staring up as the sun began to rise.
Ender
"Swimming," Ender said, stretching his legs out. "Rifles, but that's mostly in Petra's honour. I haven't decided on any others yet."
Ben
Ben looked thoughtful. "I'll bet Dad will compete in running," he said, "and Uncle Han will definitely try the shooting."
Ender
"Going by the stories, that wouldn't surprise me," Ender said, shifting against the tree. He tilted his head to study Ben's expression. "I bet you're relieved to have them here."
Ben
"I think Dad looks a little less strained already," Ben admitted. "I'm not sure about leaving Amelia with the Falcon--"
Ender
"...Please tell me they didn't," Ender said, after a pause.
Ben
Ben shrugged. "She's with Threepio and Artoo," he said. "She'll be okay."
She was eight.
Ender
"We're already chasing one Sith," Ender countered, "Who's to say there aren't others? She shouldn't be alone."
Ben
"She's got the comms to call us," Ben said, "and I'm pretty sure she know show to fire up the laser batteries on the Falcon."
Parenting in Ben's family was different.
Ender
"And we might be here for days," Ender said, flatly. He hadn't exactly had a normal childhood, either, but at least he was aware that it hadn't been normal. "Has she even had combat training?"
Ben
"From when she could walk, pretty much," Ben said.
Tenel Ka had seen to that, but he wasn't about to get into the specifics of Amelia--really, Allana's--heritage out here where someone might hear it.
Ender
Ender rubbed at his forehead. "She should be with her parents," he said, finally. "I sincerely doubt the Falcon is much safer than where we are right now."
Ben
"Maybe," Ben replied, "But I'm not going to be the one to tell Uncle Han and Aunt Leia that."
He looked at the sun again. "Breakfast should be soon. Are you hungry?"
Ender
"No, but I will be soon," Ender said, casting a glance towards the camp. "Are they going to keep doing this?"
Ben
"Feeding us?" Ben asked. "Yeah, probably."
Ender
"Leaving Amelia on her own."
Ben
"With Threepio," Ben corrected, "but yes."
Ender
"Poor girl," Ender murmured, and got up.
Even in Battle School, he'd had more than just robots for friends-- and he still remembered the way no one ever talked about their relatives, and then cried in their bunks at night.
Ben
Ben looked a little confused--what was happening with Amelia was pretty much exactly how he'd grown up, only his minder had been a modified assassin droid with multiple weapons--but he headed back to the the campsite, grabbed a quick bite to eat, traded his Jedi robe in for one he'd traded a man from Broken Columns for and was ready to blend into the crowd and watch the races.
Ender
Ender kept his own counsel on the topic of Amelia, at least for now - Ben obviously had other things on his mind. Still, he couldn't help but think about it, and wonder.
He'd had a distant childhood, and a manipulative one. But he still had memories of his mother tucking him in every night for the first six years, and the chatter of boys around him for the years since...
He'd shaken it off by the time breakfast had come and gone, changing his own clothes and scanning the crowds for competitors.
Ben
A blaster fired into the sky signaled the start of the running race. Luke was in the competition and Ben tracked him with part of his attention. The rest of it was on Vestara, who was walking straight toward Ben.
"Good morning," she said.
"If you say so," he replied.
"You don't think it is?"
He frowned. "Whether it's good or not isn't relevant."
Vestara
"It's always relevant," Vestara replied. "Will your morning be worse if your father loses?"
Ben
"He won't lose."
Over Vestara's shoulder, Ben saw the racers as they returned to the starting line. Luke was clearly drawing on the Force and gaining ground--but so was a Falling Leaves woman. The Dathomiri stayed a good two meters ahead of him and crossed the finish line first. The audience erupted into cheers.
Vestara smiled. "So? Better? Worse?"
"The same." Ben remembered his conversation with Ender and tried to rein in his irritation. "I'm not here to watch the races. I'm here to talk to you--"
"--without my adoptive mother seeing--"
"--about your pack of lies from last night."
Vestara
"Oh. What did you think of them?"
Ben
"So you admit you were lying to us, and to Olianne?" Ben asked, frowning.
That seemed easy.
Vestara
"Happily. Come on, let's watch the long race." She turned and moved back to the front of the crowd.
Ben
Feeling awkward, Ben followed, pushing himself up to the front beside her. "What are you actually doing here?"
Vestara
"Wait, wait, wait." Vestara gave Ben a scornful look. "You haven't told me which of my statements were lies."
Ben
"They all were," Ben said impatiently.
Vestara
"No. First, my name. Vestara. A lie?"
Ben
"I don't know, and I don't care. If Vestara's not your name, it's a convenient tag. Any time I say 'Vestara', my father and Ender will know who I mean."
Vestara
She nodded. "That's a good point. And an even better dodging of my demand. So, what was my next lie?"
Ben
Ben ran the previous night's conversation through his head. "You denied being a Sith."
Vestara
"No, I said that I had been a Sith, and that I was now of the Raining Leaves," Vestara replied. "By the law of the Raining Leaves, I am not. So no lie. What's next?"
Ben
The athletes participating in the long race began to line up. Luke and the woman who'd beaten him were among them. The blaster sounded and they began to run, their pace somewhat less furious than in the short race.
"You said you wouldn't talk about your friends and family because it would get them hurt."
Vestara
"Another truth. You certainly want to hurt them. Where, exactly, is my pack of lies?" Vestara asked.
Ben
"You just admitted they were a pack of lies."
"Perhaps I lied."
Ben gritted his teeth. Her smartass evasions were really getting on his nerves. He wondered what Luke would have done if he, Ben, had ever--the realization that he'd given his father precisely the same sort of responses on many, many occasions hit him like cold water in the face.
"You lied about where you crashed." Ben knew this was true; he put the confidence he felt into his voice.
Vestara
She considered, her head tilted to one side. "You know, I think you're right. I'm too good a pilot. I've never crashed in my life."
Ben
"Another lie," Ben snorted.
She laughed and pointed. "Your father's doing quite well."
Luke and the Dathomiri woman were at the head of the racing pack, the first to reach the starting line and round the post there, beginning another another lap.
Vestara
"These are fine people, Ben. I think my kin could learn from them," She glanced over at him. "Would you prefer that not happen?"
Ben
"I'd prefer the Sith not learn anything except how not to be Sith," Ben replied.
Vestara
"And what have you learned from me?"
Ben
Ben thought about that. "The Jedi have a saying: 'the future is always in motion.' Sometimes it's said garbled because of one eccentric old Master. From you, I calculate that the Sith equivalent is 'the truth is always in motion.'"
Vestara
"Interesting. And if I say 'I hope your father wins,' am I telling the truth, lying, or just aiming at a moving target?" Vestara asked.
Ben
Ben sighed in exasperation and walked away.
[Taken and adapted from Backlash by Aaron Allston. NFB, NFI.]