How does the dark side take form anywhere? Sometimes I think we, the Jedi, must be somehow to blame. We who refuse to look at the Force in full, to examine the darkness as well as the light. If the dark side were not so alien to them, Cohmac suspected, they would more readily understand the nature of the idols.

How can we split the Force in two? How can we justify such an act of violence—and it is violence, such a dividing, even the darkness divided from the light.

Affie gave Leox all the credit for getting their fellow refugees to calm down. But she had to admit, the Jedi were quick to give everyone a common goal—namely penetrating the lower rings of the station. That goal happened to neatly match her own.

They’d accepted her report on the upper rings easily enough, which was fine because her report was true. It was not, however, the whole truth. Affie was keeping the smugglers’ code, and her thoughts about it, to herself for the time being.

It makes zero sense for this to be a regular Byne Guild portal, she reasoned as she prepared to head down to the lower rings with the rest of the volunteers: Reath, Nan, Dez, and a long-limbed Mizi who, like all Mizi, preferred to be nameless to strangers. It’s out of the way, and it doesn’t have any obvious advantages. But what if there’s a secret society within the Guild, one that’s operating behind Scover’s back? They could be skimming off the top, stealing small amounts of cargo or money, falsifying records to hide it from management. The preprogrammed location could’ve been downloaded from another ship, one that’s in on it.

She didn’t have to ask whether Leox was in on it; he would never.

As angry as that theory made Affie, it was by far the most plausible she’d come up with. Scover wouldn’t hide something like this from her, so somebody had to be hiding things from Scover.

Her chest swelled with pride as she imagined finding the proof, presenting it to Scover, hearing her say, Well done, Daughter—

“All right,” said Dez Rydan, bringing her back to the present. The scouting party stood around him near the entrance to the lower ring. They all wore their own versions of utility gear, except for the Jedi, whose workaday garb seemed good for all occasions. “We can’t get any specific readings on what might be down there—only that it’s not solid metal. If it’s storage, there may be items of use to us…which will be equally shared among the entire group. As long as everyone understands that, and accepts the risks, let’s get started.”

“Should you do this?” Reath quietly asked Nan, who barely came up to the Mizi’s waist.