Part 6 (1/2)

”Which raises an interesting question, son. We know which side your dad's on, but you're something of a mystery. Drop the blaster and the lightsaber. That goes for you too, young lady... till we sort things out.”

The agents looked around, saw more than a dozen weapons pointed in their direction, and did as they were told.

”That's better,” Grif said equably. ”Now, where were we? Oh, yeah, how's your father?”

”Dead,” Kyle answered bitterly. ”Remember the s.p.a.ceport? Well, that's where they displayed his head. On a spike for all to see. That's why I'm here, to avenge his death, but more than that, to stop the Imperials from looting the Valley of the Jedi.”

Carole Grawley's hand came up to her mouth, and her husband scowled. Morgan Katarn? Dead?

It might be a lie... but Grif didn't think so. He swore, turned to a group of bystanders, and gave some orders.

”Lasko, Kimber, Pardy - throw some netting over that s.h.i.+p and clear the plaza. The Imps aren't blind, you know... Come on, you two - let's take it in out of the sun. Cold in the morning and warm later on, that's how it is around here.”

The Rebels felt naked without their weapons and more than a little nervous with so many blasters pointed in their direction. Grif led them up the stairs and through an enormous entryway. The temple's interior was surprisingly well lit thanks to an ancient system of skylights and mirrors. A dozen shafts of light, each arriving from a different angle, converged on the likeness of a man. He leaned forward, his chin supported by a fist.

Grif gestured to the s.p.a.ce around him.

”Welcome to our temporary home. Those fortunate enough to survive the attack on Fort Nowhere banded together, collected what resources they could, and came here.”

Carole Grawley listened with amazement as her normally tactless husband papered over the fact that the ”townies,” as he liked to call them, had ignored his warnings, taken terrible losses, and fled into the badlands. An area about which they knew very little.

She would never forget the day they had arrived, setting off the perimeter alarms and interrupting her husband's mid-afternoon nap. The fact that Grif had agreed to help them, and subsequently metamorphosed into their leader, was no less than a miracle.

Or so it seemed to her.

Oblivious to his wife's thoughts, Grif pointed toward a makes.h.i.+ft table and the equipment piled beyond.

”Take a load off and tell us the story. Most things happen at night around here... so we have plenty of time.”

Kyle took a seat and tried to ignore the onlookers. He told the story of how he had gone to the Academy, received the news of his father's death, and headed for home. It was during the journey that he met Jan for the second time, learned that his father had been murdered by the Empire, and swore himself to the Rebel cause. The raid on Danuta didn't seem relevant, so he left that out and went straight to events on Sulon.

These were of considerable interest to most of those present, since that's where most of them came from and, in many cases, hoped to return. Kyle described his battles with Yun, Gorc, Pic, and 8t88 in dry, dispa.s.sionate terms, explained how Jan and he had recovered the necessary coordinates, and why they had come.

A settler named Lasko, the same one who had been brought to his knees by Sariss, listened with interest. Could the Jedi in Katarn's story be the same ones who destroyed Fort Nowhere?

It certainly sounded that way.

Jan felt it was a story well told - but at least one of those present disagreed. He was a pugnacious individual with an underthrust jaw and ma.s.sive shoulders. His name was Pardy, Luther Pardy, and he wore Kyle's weapons as if they were his.

”It makes a nice story, boy, a real nice story, kind o' like the fairy tales the missus tells the young'uns. Why should we believe this dreck? 'Specially the stuff about the Force, Jedi Knights, and all that. Sounds kind o' convenient to me - sort of like what a spy would say.”

Lasko eyed both men, decided to support Katarn if it came to that, and allowed a hand to rest on his blaster. A cloud pa.s.sed in front of the sun. The light level dropped by twenty percent. The statue seemed to frown, and all eyes turned toward Kyle. Slowly, so as not to startle one of the trigger-happy colonists, he stood.

Pardy, who outweighed the agent by a good thirty pounds, grinned. A quick, easy victory would raise his status within the group. Make Grawley listen more. He licked his lips.

Kyle met the other man's eyes, extended his hand as if ready to shake, and visualized what he wanted. An object whirred through the air, slapped the surface of his palm, and made a popping noise. Energy sizzled as the lightsaber came to life, and Pardy stepped back.

A half-dozen blasters came up but fell when Grif shook his head.

”Well, Pardy, no more questions? I didn't think so. Guess you'd better return that blaster.

Welcome to Ruusan, kid - and you too, Jan. Tell us about that Valley and what we can do to help.” Lasko felt a tremendous sense of relief. Only a Jedi could defeat a Jedi. Now there was hope. There was no especially safe time, to move around the planet's surface, but night offered some protection and was the only time when the bouncers ventured out. It had been Grif's idea to meet with the locals and seek their counsel. After all, the bouncers were either native to Ruusan or had been there so long that it didn't make much difference, and they knew the planet better than anyone.

Grif nudged the agent's arm. The two of them, plus Jan and six of the most able-bodied colonists, had taken refuge in a fortress of stone.

A boulder lay at the center of the refuge, surrounded by the tumble of smaller rock s to which it had inadvertently given birth. Carved from their parent's flanks by the combined forces of heat, water, and cold, the offspring provided a vantage point from which the Rebels could watch the surrounding plain. Ruusan had no less than three moons - all of which were visible. Grif pointed to the flat area in front of them.

”That's where the bouncers are most likely to appear... They're shaped like b.a.l.l.s, have retractable tentacles, and rely on the wind for propulsion. All of which might explain their lifestyle, patience, and inherent fatalism.” Kyle raised an eyebrow, and Grif looked self-conscious.

”Hey, it makes sense, doesn't it? You don't need no degree in anthropology to figure that out.”

”It makes a lot of sense. Go on.”

”Well, they have big eyes, for gathering light, and love to roll in front of the wind.

That's when they look for obstacles, steer for them, and bounce into the air.”

”Hence the name 'bouncers,' ” Kyle put in.

”Right,” Grif confirmed. ”And that's when they float - as far as the the wind will carry them.”

”They sound wonderful,” Jan said wistfully. ”I hope they come.”

”There's no way to be sure,” the colonist replied, ”but the conditions are right. Your father knew them,” Grif added, turning toward Kyle. ”And they still talk about him, or write about him, since that's how they communicate.”

”The bouncers knew my father?” Kyle asked incredulously. ”How could that be?”

”Your dad was an interesting man,” the settler replied. ”Once he put us on the ground and got things organized, he borrowed a skimmer and took off. Everybody said he was crazy. Who knows when he ran into the bouncers, but he did. They call him 'the knight who never was,' whatever that means.”

Kyle felt goose b.u.mps ripple the length of his arms. His father could have been a Jedi Knight... and chose not to. That was his theory anyway, which echoed what the bouncers said. But how could they know?

”Look!” Jan said excitedly. ”I see some white blobs!”

”Here they come,” Grif confirmed, peering through his electrobinoculars. ”Watch closely... you're in for a treat.”

The creatures sent ripples through the Force. Kyle had raised his electrobinoculars and was about to take a look when another presence registered on his consciousness. The agent turned, scrambled onto a flat-topped rock, and scanned the southern horizon. It took less than five seconds to acquire the incoming targets and identify them for what they were: a skimmer with two speeder bikes as escorts.

”Grif! Jan! We've got company. Alert the others.”

”What about the bouncers?” Jan demanded.

”We've got to warn them!” Kyle turned, realized the globes were much closer than they had been, and watched them bounce high into the air. His mind was racing, trying to come up with a solution, when the speeder bikes opened fire. Smaller and therefore faster than the heavily laden skimmer, they split the rock pile between them, turned, and went in opposite directions.

One toward the west and one toward the east. The light generated by their energy cannon split the night into geometric shapes and was lost in the distance. The bouncers reacted by turning inward.

”They're cl.u.s.tering together,” Grif called out, ”so the troopers on the skimmer can slaughter them!”

”Not tonight they won't,” Jan said grimly, ”not while I'm alive.”

The agent took her blast rifle, scrambled up onto an even higher perch, and wrapped the sling around her elbow. Kyle considered trying to stop her and knew it was useless. Jan was going to war in spite of the fact that a fire fight was likely to reveal their presence and threaten an already perilous mission. All for some aliens she hadn't even met.