Delusions of Grandeur Page 3

  his arms over his chest.

  "After all, you've judged me correctly."

  The bartender chuckled at his bravado. "You'll take the job, then?"

  Zekk didn't dare let his excitement show. "Of course. May I speak to

  him?" He felt a sense of exhilaration. He'd fully expected to come away

  in disgrace, without pay, after reporting his failure . .

  . but now, because of his sense of honor--something he'd feared the

  dark side had

  stolen from him forever--a new job had dropped right in his lap!

  The bartender grinned. "He's pretty particular, even a little

  skittish--I think he'll want to talk to you himself before you're

  hired."

  Zekk could learn nothing for certain about his prospective employer.

  Sitting at a low table in the shadow of a staircase that spiraled up the

  inner wall of Shanko's Hive, Zekk stared at the . . .

  creature in front of him.

  "My name is Zekk," he offered. "I hear you need a bounty hunter."

  "Yes. You come well recommended," the creature replied. "Call me . .

  . Wary. Master Wary.

  Yes, that will do."

  Zekk shrugged in amusement. "Whatever."

  Wary's voice was masculine, but synthesized. His body and arms were

  engulfed in gray robes and furs that made it impossible even to guess

  the creature's species or probable shape. He wore a holographic mask

  set to randomize so that his features changed constantly. A reptilian

  tail coiled out from beneath the robes and furs, but this could have

  been part of a disguise. For all Zekk knew, he could have been talking

  to a female Wookiee, a Jawa on stilts, or even his friend Jaina Solo.

  The thought of Jaina made him smile again, and he patted his vest

  pocket, in which rested two

  message packets--one from Jaina and one from old Peckhum; the bartender

  had found them for Zekk in the general-delivery message area behind the

  bar.

  "And who exactly do you want me to find, Master Wary?" Zekk asked,

  deciding on a direct approach.

  Wary looked around, as if to be sure no one was listening in.

  Zekk glanced unobtrusively toward the nearby tables. A Devaronian

  played Sabacc with a pair of disreputable-looking spacers; a Ranat

  consulted a Hutt information broker; a furry white Talz and a

  hammerheaded Ithorian drank colorful intoxicants and sang duets to the

  accompaniment of a nine-stringed wrist harp. No one paid any particular

  attention to Wary.

  "I want you to find a man who's been kidnapped," Wary said, though the

  mouth of his disguise mask did not move. "His name is Tyko Thul?"

  Zekk's entire attention snapped back to the creature in front of him.

  "Did you say Tyko Thul?"

  The holomask blurred and shifted. "Yes, Tyko Thul," Wary repeated. "He

  was recently abducted by several assassin droids. I want you to find

  him."

  "Every other bounty hunter in the galaxy is out looking for Bornan

  Thul," Zekk pointed out. "Are you sure it's Tyko you want?"

  Wary nodded. "The two are brothers. I have

  reason to believe the disappearances are...

  related--just as the two men are."

  An interesting twist, Zekk thought. Finding one brother might lead to

  information about the other.

  After failing to find Fonterrat, Zekk had intended just to strike out on

  his own, looking for clues to Bornan Thul, hoping to repair his

  reputation. But this direct commission was a much better prospect.

  "I'll take the assignment," Zekk said. "How much are you paying?"

  Wary quoted him a generous figure. "But only if you find him."

  Zekk tried not to show his surprise at the high amount. But then, Wary

  stood to make a lot more credits than that if Zekk retrieved information

  that led him to Bornan Thul.

  "But that is not all there is to the task," Master Wary cautioned.

  "I also need you to send a message for me. I have other urgent business

  to attend to that prevents me from sending it myself. I will give you

  instructions on how to transmit it." He slid a hololetter packet across

  the table toward Zekk. "Do not try to listen to the message. It would

  mean nothing to you."

  "That's it?" Zekk accepted the packet and slid it into his vest pocket.

  "Not as simple as it would seem," Wary said.

  "The message is for the Bornaryn fleet. All the ships went into hiding

  shortly after Boman Thul's disappearance, and they are impossible to

  locate."

  "Then how do you expect me to get the message to them?" Zekk asked,

  instantly suspicious.

  "I ask only that you broadcast the message to the following locations."

  He listed several sites along major trading routes, many of which Zekk

  was already familiar with from his days with the old spacer Peckhum.

  ".I-will meet you here again in ten days to learn of your progress--and

  to pay you if you have already achieved both of your goals."

  Zekk relaxed again. He still wasn't sure why Wary would want to send a

  message to the Bomaryn fleet, though. Did he hope to flush them out of

  hiding? To question Thul's employees and family members in hopes of

  locating him?

  Just as Zekk opened his mouth to ask, an explosion erupted at a nearby

  table. Zekk blinked, trying to see what had happened as a cloud of

  white smoke billowed outward from where the Talz and the Ithorian had

  been sitting.

  Droq'l bustled up with a disgusted snort to sweep the broken and

  steaming glasses away. "I told you two not to let your drinks come into

  contact with each other," he growled in exasperation. "You should know

  they're chemically incompatible!"

  With a big paw, the Talz batted at a smoldering patch of its white fur.

  Amused, Zekk turned back to the conversation with his new employer--only

  to find Master Wary gone.

  Apparently the assignment was made and the interview had ended.

  Zekk shrugged. He had his commission, and he knew what to do. He might

  as well stay to view the new hololetters from Jaina and Peckhum.

  Calling Droq'l over, Zekk ordered another Osskom Stout, drew one of the

  message packets from his pocket, and slid it into the reader slot on the

  table in front of him. He waited eagerly for the image of Jaina to

  appear--then blinked in disappointment.

  ENCRYPTION PROPRIETARY MESSAGE UNREADABLE Why would Jaina or Peckhum

  have sent him a message in code that no standard reader could decipher?

  He realized his mistake as he pulled a second hololetter from the pocket

  of his vest and then a third.

  He had accidentally tried to view the message from Master Wary.

  But how could the disguised man expect an encrypted message to get

  through to the Bornaryn fleet? And how would the fleet read it unless

  they already knew the key?

  Perhaps they did, Zekk mused. Maybe this was a code that belonged to

  the Bornaryn trading company.

  Wary might be a former employee . . . or even Bornan Thul himself!

  As the thought occurred to Zekk, he suddenly saw the truth of it.

  He felt it in his bones, in the background music of the Force that sang

  through all things. Master Wary's synthesized voice had held an
urgency

  when he spoke of the need to find Tyko Thul, and a tender quality when

  he spoke about the fleet.

  Zekk shook his head to clear it. Bornan Thul had been here, right in

  front of him!

  He jammed the message packets back into his pocket and jumped to his

  feet just as Droq'l approached carrying a fresh tankard of ale in his

  middle hand.

  "Which way?" Zekk asked, breathless. "Where did he go?"

  The bartender didn't pretend he had no idea what Zckk meant. He jerked

  his head toward a small door in the wall to the other side of the

  stairway.

  Dashing out into a tiny alleyway, Zekk looked left and right, but saw no

  sign of his new employer.

  His heart raced with the realization that he had been less than a meter

  away from the most sought after bounty in the galaxy! Although he knew

  Thul was probably far away by now, he kept looking.

  Farther down the alley, Zekk was not surprised to find a pile of gray

  robes and furs along with a prosthetic reptilian tail. Bornan Thul had

  shed his disguise ....

  THE T-23 HAD never been so crowded, but Lowie was proud of the way his

  skyhopper handled the load.

  While other engineers continued to repair the ancient pyramid, he and

  Jaina had fixed the damage the skyhopper had sustained in the Shadow

  Academy attack, then augmented the T-23's engines and stabilizers. Eager

  to test the improved craft, Lowie offered to take his friends out for a

  spin.

  Because Raynar was so downcast about the disappearance of both his

  father and his uncle, none of the Jedi trainees had the heart to exclude

  him.

  The young man had appeared in the hangar bay wearing a plain brown

  jumpsuit, instead of his usual robes of garish purple, scarlet, yellow,

  and orange.

  Now, as they soared above the canopy of Mas-sassi trees, the skyhopper's

  performance was flaw

  less, even with so many extra passengers. Lowie roared a question back

  to his friends.

  "I think my foot's asleep," Jaina answered from the cargo well, where

  she had volunteered to sit.

  "But other than that, I've probably got the most comfortable spot on

  board."

  "Hey, I'm fine," Jacen said. He and Tenel Ka were jammed together on

  the passenger seat.

  "I am experiencing no discomfort," Tenel Ka reported.

  "Uh, this is fun," Raynar said stoically. He was wedged sideways in the

  passenger footspace with his knees drawn up to his chest. One of his

  elbows rested on the few remaining square centimeters on the passenger

  seat.

  "Indeed, Master Lowbacca, I am also quite comfortable.

  Thank you for inquiring," Em Teedee answered last of all.

  Once he'd traveled far enough from the Jedi academy's traffic of

  transport ships, construction crews, and military vessels, Lowie decided

  there was little danger in a bit of creative flying. With Raaba gone,

  he'd been feeling restless for days and needed a safe way to release his

  pent-up frustration.

  Lowie woofed a warning for everyone to secure their crash webbing so he

  could test the T-23's maneuverability. He zigged and zagged across the

  treetops, eliciting squeals and laughter from his

  passengers, though he did detect one or two of them applying their Jedi

  relaxation techniques.

  He brought the T-23 about in a tight curve above the trees, spiraling in

  until everyone on board was thoroughly dizzy. Then, amidst giggles and

  applause, he took the skyhopper into a steep climb.

  After pausing in midair, he put the craft into a steep dive toward the

  Massassi trees. Lowie pulled up just before crashing, then leveled out

  to skim across the treetops.

  Jacen whooped, and Jaina shrieked with the thrill. Raynar spoke in a

  rather timid voice. "I've

  never done that before. It was fun."

  "This is a fact," Tenel Ka said.

  "Quite exhilarating, I,d say," Em Teedee put in, "so long as the

  appropriate safety factors are applied."

  "We'd better be getting back," Jaina yelled from the cargo well.

  "Tionne asked us to help her out with lessons this morning."

  "Yeah, it wouldn't be fair to leave her alone with all the new trainees,

  since Uncle Luke is off on an adventure again," Jacen said.

  "Besides, I want to check on Nicta--I'm not sure how much care a baby

  gort needs."

  Lowie turned the skyhopper back toward the Great Temple, feeling some of

  his tension relieved at last.

  The Jedi instructor Tionne asked all students to gather in the practice

  courtyard just outside the temple. With Master Skywalker off on another

  mission for the New Republic, she had taken over the lessons. Above,

  workers continued to repair the roof platform on the damaged pyramid.

  Joined by his friends, Lowie climbed up one of the courtyard's retaining

  walls. Though the afternoon was warm and humid, a light breeze rustled

  the jungle leaves, and Lowie could almost imagine he was alone in the

  treetops--or perhaps with Raaba--listening to the tales of heroes who

  fought to defend what they believed in.

  Tionne sang an ancient ballad--one of her favorite methods of

  teaching--about young Gay and Jori Daragon, a Force-talented brother and

  sister who had given up on their Jedi training. They'd tried to make

  their fortune by exploring the galaxy, but instead stumbled upon the

  ancient Sith Empire and sparked a war that nearly toppled the Old

  Republic.

  Lowie closed his eyes and let the story grow like a secret garden around

  him. Tendrils of tale and melody twined together in his mind, blooming

  with ancient splendor. He wondered if Raaba would enjoy this tale, too.

  He might tell it to her . . . if he ever saw her again.

  Then, all too soon, the music ended. A murmur of

  appreciation rippled through the crowd of Jedi trainees and the few New

  Republic guards who had stopped to listen. Reluctantly, Lowie opened

  his eyes and looked up at the Jedi teacher and historian.

  "Gay and Jori had meant to discover many things--but not what they

  actually found," Tionne said in her melodious voice. "Remember that

  what you look for and what you find may be two different things." Her

  fine silvery hair floated on the breeze, and her enormous

  mother-of-pearl eyes seemed to look directly at Lowie.

  "As your Jedi training progresses, many causes will call for you to use

  your powers on their behalf.

  But how can you know if the cause is one you should champion? You must

  learn to listen to the Force, and the Force will guide you. Hate and

  mistrust, domination, revenge--even glory--these are not the things a

  Jedi fights for.

  "A Jedi defends justice, protects the weak from tyranny, and rescues

  those in harm's way--but always with the guidance of the Force.

  If you do not believe this in your heart, you are not ready to become a

  full Jedi." Tionne's delicate face dimpled into a smile. "But do not

  despair: there is time. Time to learn. And that's why we are all here:

  to learn together."

  The Jedi instructor then dismissed them all
to continue their

  independent lessons.

  Jaina's mind was completely exhausted after hours of practice sessions

  with various Jedi techniques.

  As always, she had made sure the subtle exercises strained her abilities

  to the limit--that was the best way to learn and grow in the Force.

  Tenel Ka rolled both shoulders to stretch the kinks out of her muscles.

  Perspiration from the late afternoon heat glistened on her face and

  neck. "Very satisfying effort," she said, "but I believe I could use a

  swim in the river."

  "Hey, great idea!" Jacen said. Raynar hesitated, then agreed.

  Jaina nodded. The suggestion brought back memories of the last time she

  and Zekk had gone to the wide greenish-brown river that ran through the

  jungles.

  "Sure, it'd be refreshing."

  At the river's edge, Jacen, Jaina, and Raynar all stripped down to their

  minimal exercise gear. While Tenel Ka peeled off her boots and her

  lizard-hide armor, Lowie unfastened the syren-fiber belt from his waist,

  with Em Teedee still attached, and set it aside.