Heirs of the Force Page 16

  a blaze of astonishing speed, becoming a molten metal point of light. It

  dwindled in the sudden distance, screaming forward with instant

  lightspeed-and plunged into hyperspace with a silent bang.

  "It's not my fault," Han Solo said, gaping at the vanished target.

  He let his shaking hands fall away from the firing controls. "A TIE

  fighter doesn't have lightspeed engines! It's a short-range ship."

  Lowbacca grumbled an explanation, and Tenel Ka nodded.

  "Jaina did what?" Han said in disbelief.

  "But that hyperdrive was for her to tinker with, not to install. She's

  got a lot of explaining to do with I see her-" He broke off, suddenly

  realizing where the twins were.

  "Forget the TIE fighter. Let's go get the twins!" he said.

  He changed the Falcon's course and arrowed straight back down to the

  emeraldgreen sphere of the jungle moon of Yavin. ----------------BACK AT

  THE tiny jungle clearing where the wreck of the TIE fighter had rested

  for two decades, Jacen and Jaina decided that their best chance for

  rescue lay in climbing to the treetops-no matter how difficult it might

  be. From that height, they could spot any incoming ships and set up

  some sort of signal.

  Before leaving, they scrounged at the crash site and at Qorl's old

  encampment for whatever they could possibly find useful, then stuffed it

  in their packs. Their Jedi training had taught them to be resourceful.

  Remembering how they had used the Force to help them scale the Great

  Temple with Tenel Ka, the twins found a Massassi tree with plenty of

  densely interwoven branches and hanging vines. They stared upward, then

  at each other, before beginning the long, sweaty climb. Jacen and Jaina

  were scratched up and aching and smeared with forest debris by the time

  they made it to the top-but to their surprise, they felt invigorated by

  their accomplishment.

  Up in the canopy in a thick nest of tangled branches, they tried to

  light a leafy fire to send a beacon of smoke into the sky. Jacen

  collected leaves and twigs and piled them onto a curved piece of

  plasteel left over from their repairs on the TIE fighter.

  Jaina had brought Tenel Ka's flash heater, but the charge was low.

  When the fingersized unit sputtered and flashed, sending out a few last

  sparks, she took the back panel off and used her multitool to tinker

  with the circuits. By pumping up the power output, she produced one

  last flash that set the pile of fresh branches on fire.

  The lush green leaves burned slowly, and the fire would not gain enough

  heat to become a bright blaze. But, as they had hoped, a satisfying

  gray-blue smoke curled upward, a clear signal for anyone who was

  looking.

  Even so, they couldn't be certain that anyone would know where to look.

  Unless Lowbacca or Tenel Ka had managed to get back to the academy, no

  one would have any idea where to begin a search.

  "Guess it might be a good idea next time if we let someone know where

  we're going and what we're doing, huh?" Jaina said, staring up at the

  discouragingly empty blueness.

  "Probably," Jacen agreed, settling himself beside her on the branches.

  Sweat ran down his face as he rested his chin on his grimy hands. "Want

  to hear another joke?"

  "No ' " Jaina answered firmly. She wiped her damp forehead with the

  sleeve of her now-ragged jumpsuit, and continued scanning the skies. She

  shifted beside him, feeling the breeze and listening to the whisper of

  millions of leaves.

  Jacen fed more leaves to the fire.

  Suddenly, Jaina sat up straight. "Look!"

  she said, pointing up. A white starpoint grew brighter, glittering

  silver. Ripples of sound from a sonic boom echoed like thunder the sky

  of Yavin 4. "It's a ship."

  across Jacen closed his liquid-brown eyes and smiled. Then the twins

  blinked and looked at each other. "The Falcon," they said in unison.

  "Can Dad sense us?" Jacenasked.

  "I don't think so," Jaina said. "At least not with the Force. But wait

  She closed her eyes again, reaching out with what she knew of Jedi

  powers. "Lowie's with him!"

  "And Tenel Ka, too," Jacen said. "They're all right!"

  Jaina laughed with relief. "Did you expect any less from a young Jedi

  Knight?"

  The Falcon must have spotted their smoke, and now headed toward them.

  High in the branches, the twins stood and waved. As it approached, the

  blaster-scarred ight freighter seemed the most beautiful mac -tine they

  had ever seen.

  The big ship hovered over them with a gust of its repulsorlifts.

  Branches blew away beneath them, but Jacen and Jaina held their

  positions, reaching upward as the bottom access hatch of the Falcon

  popped open.

  Chewbacca's hairy arm dangled down, grabbing Jacen's hands and pulling

  him up into the ship as if he were a piece of lightweight luggage. A

  moment later, Lowie's ginger-furred arms reached out to help Jaina up.

  Han scrambled from the cockpit, rushing to scoop up both of his children

  in a big hug.

  "You're alive-you're not huri!" he said, looking them over with anxious

  relief. "Sorry I'm late."

  "It's all right," Jacen answered. "We knew 'd come."

  you Tenel Ka and Lowie also greeted the twins, with hugs all around and

  enthusiastic thumps on the back.

  "Oh, hooray!" Em Teedee's tinny voice chimed in. "This is cause for a

  celebration."

  "Let's get back to the Jedi academy first I'm sure everyone's been

  worried about us," Han said. "I think we need to tell about a few

  adventures." - 0 A few days later, after the Falcon carried the T-23

  back from where it had crashed in the treetops, Lowbacca and Jaina

  worked in the shadow-draped courtyard of the Great Temple, tinkering

  with the damaged skyhopper. Jaina poked her grease-smeared face up out

  of the engine compartment and looked around.

  She watched as Jacen scurried across the landing field out front, low to

  the ground, trying to catch an eight-legged lizard crab he wanted to add

  to his collection. Leaves and broken blades of grass were tangled in

  his tousled hair, as usual. The creature darted left and right, trying

  to find a hiding place among the close-cropped weeds of the landing

  field.

  Spying a large shady spot, the lizard crab scuttled for shelter out of

  reach under the T-23. Jaina giggled as Jacen pulled up short just in

  time to keep from banging his head against the skyhopper's hull.

  With a shrug, he leaned against the craft and brushed the dirt from his

  jumpsuit. "Oh well," he said, grinning. "Next time."

  "As long as you're just standing there, could you please hand me a

  hydrospanner?"

  Jaina said.

  Jacen bent and rummaged in the tool kit on the grass, then handed the

  tool up.

  "You concentrate on the onboard computer systems, Lowie," Jaina said,

  discussing repair strategies. "That's what you're best at."

  At the Wookiee's growl of agreement, she added, "Don't worry about these

  engines. I'll have them running again in no time."

  "Mind if I join you?" a calm
voice said from behind her.

  "Uncle Luke!" Jaina cried, jumping up and turning toward him. "When did

  you get back?"

  "Only this morning," Luke Skywalker said, looking admiringly at the

  vehicle. "Could you use any help? I'm pretty good with these little

  air speeders, you know." He smiled as if savoring a fond memory. "I

  had a ship a little like this once . . . my own T-16 skyhopper when I

  was growing up on-" Just then, Tenel Ka emerged from the large lower

  door of the Great Temple. The cool underlevels had once stored the

  Rebel base's X-wing fighters.

  "Excuse me for a moment," Luke said, and turned to raise his hand in a

  warm greeting.

  He strode over to Tenel Ka and spoke to her for a long while as if she

  were an old friend.

  Being with the great Jedi Master caused the young girl from Dathomir to

  look uncharactefistically intimidated.

  "Well, what are we waiting for?" Jaina asked the others. She opened an

  inner access panel with her multitool and began running diagnostics on

  the T-23's engines. Jacen surreptitiously scanned the cropped grass and

  weeds, looking for another specimen to catch.

  Lowbacca snared a tangle of wires from the cockpit control panels and

  began sorting them by color and function. He murmured to himself as he

  worked, and Jacen could hear Em Teedee start to speak. At a clunk of

  something metal hitting the floor plates, Jacen stuck his head into the

  T-23. Lowbacca had accidentally dropped Em Teedee from his belt again.

  The miniature translating droid began scolding the young Wookiee at high

  volume.

  "Really, Master Lowbacca, do try to be careful! You've dropped me

  again, and that's simply careless. How would you like it if your head

  detached and kept falling on the ground? I aman extremely valuable

  piece of equipment and you ought to take better care of me. If my

  circuits become damaged I won't be able to translate, and then where

  will you be? I can't believe-" With a grunt, Lowbacca switched off Em

  Teedee, and then made a satisfied sound.

  Jacen looked up to see Jaina staring at the deep blue sky. He followed

  her gaze and knew exactly what she was thinking. "Do you' suppose Oorl

  ever made it back home?"

  "If he does, I wonder if he'll find what he expects when he gets there,"

  she answered.

  "He would have been better off staying with U.S."

  When they noticed Luke Skywalker and Tenel Ka strolling back toward the

  T-23, Lowie and Jaina climbed out of the dismantled cockpit to stand

  next to Jacen.

  Luke looked at the battered air speeder and ran his fingertips over its

  smooth hull. "Back on Tatooine I used to roar through Beggar's Canyon

  in my own T- 16, chasing down womp rats."

  Jacen and Jaina looked at their uncle, amazed and unable to imagine the

  introspective Jedi Master as a hotshot daredevil pilot.

  Luke's lips curved in a wistful smile. "That was a whole different life

  from now." He turned to the young Jedi Knights. "When you get this

  thing fixed, I'd like to go for a ride with you. If that's all right."

  They looked at him in astonishment.

  Lowie muttered something indecipherable and cleared his throat

  nervously.

  "I hope you're fitting in here, Lowbacca," Luke said, nodding toward the

  young Wookiee. "I know it's difficult to go away from home and stay in

  a strange place, but I see you've made some new friends."

  He looked at the others. "I'm proud of you all," Luke said. "You did a

  fine job under very trying circumstances, even when I wasn't here to

  guide you. You have a lot of potential-but becoming a Jedi Knight takes

  a great deal of hard work and practice."

  The students nodded. "This is a fact," Tenel Ka said solemnly.

  "You're young, and there are many things you could do with your lives,"

  Luke said. "Are you certain you still want to become Jedi Knights?"

  Their enthusiastic shouts rang out in unison. Lowbacca's loud bellow

  was so emphatic that even with Em Teedee switched off, none of the

  others needed a translation.

  The dark side of the Force has a new training ground . . .

  ShAdow ACAdEmy The Dark jedi Brakiss-the student Luke Skywalker expelled

  from his academy-has learned much since he left. Enough to master the

  dark side of the Force.

  And enough to establish his own school for training Jedi-the Shadow

  Academy.

  But now Brakiss has been given an even greater task.

  Not only must he create a sinister legion of Dark Jedi to serve the

  Empire, he must undertake a challenge not even Darth Vader and the

  Emperor could meet: Kidnap the heirs of the Skywalker bloodline, and

  turn them to the dark side of the Force . . .