Helene felt the cold metal saber in her fingers. The revelation of the stranger could have been a trick, or it could have been the truth. She still felt a disturbance in the force, and she was sure that the rogue Jedi was still nearby.

She put away her saber. She would need time to clear her thoughts, which raced at light speed through her mind. For the first time, she felt real fear.

Juno approached her. He studied her carefully and Helene eyed him with new suspicion. He could easily have killed her master, though somehow she doubted he would have fooled Lucilius and defeated him so easily. But as a wise Jedi Master once said, the dark side clouds everything.

"What happened?" Juno said.

"You were right. The rogue Jedi contacted me just as you said."

"Do not believe what he told you. He wants to trick you into joining the dark side."

Helene stared at him. "How long did you say you have been tracking him?"

"The Jedi Council assigned me to follow him two months ago," Juno said proudly. "My former master, Joon-Li, told the Council that I would have the best chance of finding the rogue Jedi."

"Why?"

"I don't know. The members of the Jedi Council are wiser than us. They know things beyond our abilities."

The Council..., Helene thought. She flashed back to that moment when the mysterious Jedi held a lightsaber to her throat from behind. That voice...she suddenly remembered where she heard that voice before....