Part 12 (2/2)

Jaina bit her lower lip.

Lowie sat in thoughtful silence beside her. Only the deep indentations left by his hairy fingers in the foam padding of the arm cus.h.i.+ons told Jaina that the young Wookiee felt a tension similar to hers. As they reentered the atmosphere, Jaina forced her eyes shut and practiced one of Uncle Luke's Jedi relaxation techniques. But it didn't seem to work.

Finally, a gentle thump and the diminis.h.i.+ng whine of the Lightning Rod's engines told her they had arrived at one of the landing pads in Imperial City.

Jaina jumped down onto the landing pad without waiting for the exit ramp to extend fully; she couldn't even remember having unfastened her crash webbing or opening the exit hatch. She immediately caught sight of her parents, brothers, and Tenel Ka, who were standing near another New Republic s.h.i.+p that had obviously just landed. The message pod from the Shadow Academy was already being unloaded. Jaina ran toward her family.

”Any sign of explosives or weapons?” Leia was asking Admiral Ackbar as he stood watching his troops perform their duties.

”Absolutely none. We scanned it,” he said. ”It's clean. No b.o.o.by traps.”

”What about biologicals?” Han asked. The admiral shook his fishlike head.

”Can't be anything dangerous in there,” Jaina said, skidding to a stop beside her parents. ”It's from Zekk-I can feel it.”

Admiral Ackbar looked skeptical, but three young voices spoke up at once.

”Hey, she's right.”

”I feel it too.”

”This is a fact.”

”Even so,” the Calamarian admiral said, ”in the interest of safety, perhaps we should-”

Unable to bear the suspense any longer, Jaina pushed past the two guards who stood between her and the capsule, and activated the message retrieval mechanism. With a small whoosh of depressurization, the double panels slid aside to reveal the contents-a device of some sort, a complicated jumble of k.n.o.bby plasteel parts and cabling.

”What is that?” Leia asked in surprise.

”Stand back!” Ackbar shouted. The guards tensed, as if expecting an explosion.

Han glanced into the capsule and then looked over at Chewbacca and Peckhum, who had come to join them. ”What do you think, Chewie?”

Chewbacca scratched his head and gave a couple of short, surprised-sounding barks.

”Yeah, looks like that to me, too,” Han agreed.

”So what is it?” Jacen asked, exasperated at being unable to follow the interchange.

”A central mult.i.tasking unit, of course,” Jaina whispered in amazement and delight. ”From Zekk.” Jaina heard a satisfied grunt from behind her.

Old Peckhum muttered, ”Kid's never broken a promise to me yet.”

Then, as if conjured by Peckhum's words, a holoprojector hummed to life.

A tiny image of Zekk resolved itself in the air just above the message pod. Jaina bit down hard on her lip again as the tiny glowing form began to speak.

”I'm doing this against the better judgment of my teachers here,” Zekk said, ”so I'll make this message brief.”

”Peckhum, my friend, here's the central mult.i.tasking unit I promised you.

You always expected only the best from me, and I always gave it. This must be hard for you, but I want you to know that no one has kidnapped me or brainwashed me.”

”To Jacen and”-the tiny holographic image hesitated-”and Jaina, it turns out I do have Jedi potential after all. I'm going to make more out of myself than anyone imagined I could be. We were good friends, and I'd never want to hurt you. Sorry I messed up your mother's diplomatic banquet-but that's one reason I'm doing this. I have the chance to become something better-a chance that I was never given by anyone in the New Republic.”

Jaina groaned and shut her eyes, but the image continued to speak.

”I know this is something you wouldn't approve of, but I'm doing it for myself. If I ever come back, I'll be someone you can all be proud of.”

”Don't worry, Peckhum, I'll never let you down. You've been my truest friend, and if there's any way I can come back to you, I will.”

When Jaina opened her eyes again the tiny image had faded into sparkles, but she wouldn't have been able to see it anyway through her tears.

22.

THE HANGAR BAY at the base of the Great Temple on Yavin 4 was quiet and cool, welcoming the travelers back to the Jedi academy. The s.h.i.+p sighed as it settled down on the smooth floor. Luke Skywalker emerged from the hatch and stood in the shadows as his students climbed out after him.

In the days when the Great Temple had been a secret Rebel base on the jungle moon, the hangar bay had been a place of frantic activity, filled with X-wing fighters, noisy equipment, droids, fighter pilots, and miscellaneous weaponry. In recent years, however, this had been a peaceful place of Jedi contemplation.

Luke turned to watch the young Jedi Knights following him out of the Shadow Chaser, the sleek Imperial s.h.i.+p he and Tenel Ka had captured from the Shadow Academy while rescuing Jacen, Jaina, and Lowbacca. Luke's thoughts were as troubled as the faces of his young students descending the exit ramp.

With the help of the Shadow Academy, a group of renegades calling themselves the Second Imperium was mounting a serious threat against the shaky peace that had been built over the past two decades by the New Republic.

They could all sense it, and the battle was brewing, a great battle that would decide the fate of the galaxy The Shadow Academy had become more bold in searching for recruits with Jedi potential. In addition, it seemed to be welcoming trainees with no Jedi skills whatsoever-but why?

And then there was the theft of hyperdrive cores and turbolaser batteries from the Adamant-components that could be used to build a powerful military fleet. Something big was going to happen-and soon....

Luke had picked the kids up from Coruscant, which had given him an opportunity to see his sister Leia and learn more about the newest Imperial threat to the New Republic. Since then, none of the young Jedi Knights had spoken much, each lost in private thoughts. Now they had arrived back on the jungle moon, where the other students were still training, bringing back the powerful force of Jedi Knights to help strengthen the New Republic. The new government was going to need its Force-trained defenders soon.

Bright sunlight streamed through the broad door of the hangar, bathing the entire bay in light and shadow. Clean shadows. Luke looked up at the sunlight glinting off the burnished quantum armor on the Shadow Chaser.

”The Shadow Chaser is still a beautiful s.h.i.+p.” Jaina's voice cut into Luke Skywalker's thoughts. ”Look at those lines, the curves.”

”And at least it's one powerful s.h.i.+p the Shadow Academy doesn't have anymore,” Jacen added, coming to stand beside them.

Luke nodded. ”But it also shows us what our enemies are capable of building. Think of what they can do with that large s.h.i.+pment of hyperdrive cores and turbolaser batteries they just stole.”

Lowie grunted agreement.

”This is a fact,” Tenel Ka said.

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