"I do not know for certain," he said, while the words from Dr. Black's original entry stuck in his brain as if tacked there by a nail: recombine the sample DNA.

The DNA of whom? Or what?

Jedi and Sith.

Palpatine.

Jaden's mouth was as dry as a Tatooine desert. He continued through the holo-log, a pit the size of a fist opening in his stomach. He stopped when a human woman in a lab coat appeared before them. She wore her dark hair short and looked younger than Dr. Black. Her left hand twitched as she spoke. Jaden read the name on her coat-DR. GRAY. He wondered what had happened to Dr. Black, then supposed he did not want to know.

"… their hostility toward their confinement is growing, as is their power. Even the stormtroopers seem frightened by them… "

A final entry followed. Again, Dr. Gray spoke.

"… lost control. The lower level is sealed and I have requested of the Grand Admiral that the experiment be terminated along with the Subjects by way of a trihexalon gas protocol. All of the surviving staff members agree with this recommendation."

The holo-log stopped, though the frozen image of Dr. Gray hung in the air before them like a ghost. Jaden and Khedryn sat in silence, each alone with the jumble of his thoughts. Jaden spoke first.

"There is a lower level. There must be a lift."

"They had hex here," Khedryn said, his brow wrinkled with concern. "If they used it, even the residuum could be harmful. I saw a holovid that showed what that stuff can do. We are in deep here, Jaden."

Jaden barely heard him. "We need to find the lift, go down, see if anyone is there." He pictured the shape of the facility. They had covered most of it already. The lift had to be nearby.

Khedryn stepped through the image of Dr. Gray to stand before Jaden. "Did you hear me?"

"Did you hear the holo-log? They had prisoners here."

"Subjects," Khedryn said. "Clones. Lab rats."

"They were confined against their will."

"From the sound of it, that was the right thing to do. They thought them dangerous enough to gas them with hex, Jaden."

Jaden fixed Khedryn with a thousand-kilometer stare. "I need to go down."

Khedryn's good eye followed his lazy one away from Jaden's face. "They combined Jedi DNA with something else and grew it into clones. Dangerous clones."

Jaden inhaled, then dived in, speaking to Khedryn the way he might have to R6, the way he did when confessing a transgression. "I suspect they recombined the DNA of Jedi with the DNA of Sith."

Khedryn's lazy eye floated in its socket, fixing on nothing, as if it did not want to see. "Why would they do that? Being a Jedi or a Sith is a choice, isn't it? It's not biology."

Jaden shook his head. "We didn't know all there is to know about how biology meshes with Force use. Perhaps they sought to create some kind of breakthrough Force-user, one unbound by the limitations of light and dark."

"How is that possible? Light and dark sides are exclusive, aren't they?"

Jaden turned off the computer and Dr. Gray disappeared. "The line between light and dark is not as clear as many think."

"More reason we should go, Jaden. They created some kind of monsters here and-"

"Not monsters!" Jaden said, and the harshness of his tone took them both unawares. He hung his head. "I need to go down, Khedryn. If any of them are still alive, I need to… help them."

"Help them!" Khedryn exclaimed, then, more softly, "We are not talking about them. And you and I both know it. Jaden, you made a mistake on Centerpoint. An understandable one. Fine. Don't make another one here. It's time to go."

"I cannot."

Khedryn continued, his words like hammerblows. "Subjects A through I. One is dead for certain, but that leaves up to eight clones that could still be alive. I have seen what you can do, but you are one man. Eight, Jaden. And we have reason to suspect they will be hostile."

"I know all that."

"You are asking me to risk my life so you can save your conscience."

"I did not know things would turn out this way, Khedryn," Jaden said, and meant it. "Go back to Flotsam and wait for me there."

"I don't quit, Jaden. That's not-"

Jaden's thoughts crystallized around the fact that he had asked far too much of Khedryn already. Relin had done the same with Marr. They-the Jedi-were exacting too high a price from those around them. Jaden wanted no more blood on his hands.

"Listen to me, Khedryn. You are right: This has been and is about me learning something about myself. I… can use light and dark side powers and I do not know what that means for me."

The words caused Khedryn to take a half step back, as if Jaden had struck him. His eyes widened. "You can what? Like the clones?"

Jaden bulled forward without acknowledging the question. "But I think there's an answer here, in this place. And I do not want you risking anything more than you already have-"

"I said I do not quit, Jedi."

Jaden nodded. "And I'm not asking you to. I'm asking you to recognize the fact that you will be able to do nothing for me should I meet the clones. They will be dangerous, too dangerous for you. Go back to the ship. We can stay in contact via comlink. If something happens to me, you can leave, rendezvous with Marr and Relin."

Khedryn shook his head, pure stubbornness taking over. "Relin is not coming back. You and I both know that, too. But Marr better."

"Go back," Jaden said. "Go back, Khedryn."

Khedryn continued to shake his head, but Jaden saw his resistance crumbling.

He put his hand on Khedryn's arm. "Go. Back."

"You using that mind trick on me again?"

Jaden smiled. "Yes, I am. You know why you have no weapons on Junker?"

"Because I run," Khedryn said softly, and his lazy eye looked past Jaden and off to the side, no doubt seeing the world askew. He refocused on Jaden. "You are certain?"

"I am."

"I don't intend to leave without you, though."

Jaden knew he had done the right thing. He saw the relief in Khedryn's body language, his expression. Khedryn seemed to draw a deep breath for the first time since leaving Junker.

"Understood, Khedryn. Go on."

They settled on a comlink frequency and Khedryn headed out, while Jaden studied the schematic that showed the facility's layout. He put his finger on the drawing of the lift that led to a lower level.

"There be dragons," he said.

Kell slid through the open hatch of the facility, past the guard post, and down the dark hallway. He activated the light-amplifying implants in his eyes and glided through the dim corridors. His mimetic suit rendered him all but invisible against the featureless gray walls. His skill rendered him all but silent.

For a time, he was easily able to track Jaden and his companion by way of the wet tracks they left behind. When those disappeared, he relied more heavily on his skills. He examined patterns in the dust, depressions in the carpet, noted items-a computer station, a closet door-that appeared recently disturbed. He also kept his keen hearing focused on the way ahead.

From time to time he heard the hiss of distant voices, the squeak of an opening door, the tread of boots on metal.

The facility was some kind of secret research lab, though its particular purpose was lost on Kell. He spent little time thinking about it. His appetite pulled him forward. He imagined himself casting a line of fate into an ocean of possibilities and hooking Jaden Korr. All he needed to do now was reel him in and feed.

His hunger grew with each step.

Marr slammed his palm into the button that closed Junker's cargo bay door on the dead Massassi, on the ruins of Khedryn's Searing, on the ruins of Relin.