Part 11 (2/2)

The little creature's eyes grew soft. ”Yes.”

Zak swallowed, expecting to hear that Tash had learned some great secret, that she was going to become a Jedi and leap light-years beyond him. He wondered if they would still be friends after she had mastered the Force and he was still just Zak.

”He told me,” Tash said, ”absolutely nothing.”

Zak's face fell. ”What?”

”Nothing,” Tash said again. ”We talked about the Force a little, but mostly he told me about Dagobah, and the plants and animals that are on it. He told me how the Children had survived, and what they needed to learn. But he didn't teach me anything about being a Jedi.”

”Then why?” Zak asked Yoda. ”Why did you ask her to stay with you?”

Yoda put a gentle hand on Zak's arm. ”A chance, you needed. To do something for yourself.”

Tash shrugged. ”He told me he wanted you to go back to the village alone, to see this through without me. And without Uncle Hoole.”

”A step, you have taken,” Yoda said to Zak. ”You need not be the best at everything to succeed at some things. This is as it was meant to be.”

”You speak as though all this was planned,” Hoole said.

Yoda looked at Hoole as though he, too, were a child. ”The Force moves us all along our paths.”

Zak shook his head. ”Well, our path has been pretty crazy lately. I wish we could find someplace to settle down for a while.”

”Yoda,” Tash asked nervously, ”could we . . . could we stay here? I want to learn to be a Jedi. Can you teach me?”

The Jedi Master looked up and away for a moment, as if seeing through the trees, out into the sky and the stars beyond. ”That is not my destiny. Another student comes. Await him, I must.”

”But will I ever learn?” Tash asked desperately.

”While the Emperor lives, no,” Yoda said. ”But the future is hard to see. The time may come. For both of you.”

”Both of us?” Tash asked.

”Both?” Zak repeated.

”The Force connects you. Together will you grow. The path chosen for you has been dark.” He looked meaningfully at Zak. ”But remember the cave. Even in the dark, the Force will always be with you.”

EPILOGUE.

The bounty hunter's s.h.i.+p made another orbit, scanners sweeping over the swamp one last time. But there were too many life-forms on the planet. Fett could not isolate the ones he wanted.

He had decided the planet itself was too difficult a hunting ground. The swamp was too treacherous, the ground too uneven for him to bring down Hoole and the two children. He would wait until they tried to lift off. Then he would blow their engines with his turbolasers and use a tractor beam to haul them to the nearest Imperial outpost.

The comm unit bleeped. The call came on a private frequency, known to very few. Fett flipped a switch.

The voice of Darth Vader came over the speaker. ”Abandon your mission. I have a new task for you.”

”The job isn't done,” Fett said.

”It is for the moment,” the Dark Lord replied. ”I'm sure you'll find this new task even more intriguing. I want you to track down a s.h.i.+p called the Millennium Falcon.”

Beneath his helmet, Boba Fett smiled a hard, cruel smile. He knew the s.h.i.+p. He knew its pilot. ”On my way.”

Fett reached for the switch that would break the connection. He hesitated, wondering if he should tell Vader about this strange planet he'd discovered, about the three fugitives he had almost caught. It never occurred to him to mention the strange little creature.

But if he told Vader, the Dark Lord might send others to track the three fugitives. Fett would lose the bounty, and the pleasure of bringing them in.

He shut the comm off and set a course for the Imperial Fleet.

As Boba Fett's s.h.i.+p tore into hypers.p.a.ce, the smugglers' s.h.i.+p lifted out of Dagobah's atmosphere and into s.p.a.ce.

In the c.o.c.kpit, Platt was setting a course for the Sluis system.

”You can hitch a ride to just about anywhere in the galaxy from there.”

”Thank you,” Hoole said.

”But what should I do with the Children?” Platt asked.

After leaving Yoda, Zak, Tash, and Hoole had taken time to gather up all the skeletal survivors. It had taken many gentle words and comfort, but at last they'd gotten all the Children aboard Platt's s.h.i.+p.

”We'll find a home for them,” Hoole said. ”Though I'm not sure where.”

Platt hesitated, then said, ”I may have some contacts that can help you. People I've worked for in the Rebellion. Rebels have a soft spot for hard-luck cases like them.”

”Maybe they'd have a soft spot for cases like us, too,” Tash asked.

”I can put you in touch with the right people, if you want,” Platt offered. ”But the Rebellion isn't exactly a holiday star cruise.”

Hoole considered. ”I am tired of running from the Empire. Perhaps it is time to stop running.”

Zak looked out of the viewport and into s.p.a.ce. The whole galaxy seemed to stretch out before them. It was dark, and dangerous, and full of fear. But it was also full of stars, and the stars burned brightly.

”Okay,” he said. ”Let's go.”

<script>