Shadow Academy Page 5

  "Then we must go to Borgo Prime and find out ourselves," Tenel Ka said with

  fierce determination.

  Luke sent her a warm smile, then turned back to Lando. "What is Borgo Prime

  anyway?"

  "An asteroid spaceport and trade center. It's also a hangout for merchants,

  thieves, murderers, smugglers . . . the dregs of the galaxy." Lando flashed

  Luke a grin. "A lot like Mos Eisley on Tatooine. You'll feel right at home."

  Tenel Ka waited in silence as Master Skywalker faced the screen in GemDiver

  Station's Communications Center . Han Solo stood with one arm around

  his wife, Leia, who was supported on the other side by Lowie's uncle,

  Chewbacca. Tenel Ka studied the images on the screen and decided that at

  this moment Leia Organa Solo looked more like a concerned mother than a

  powerful politician.

  "But Luke, they're our children," she was saying. "We can't simply stand by

  and do nothing if they're in danger."

  "Not on your life!" Han said.

  "Of course not," Luke agreed quietly. "But as the New Republic 's

  chief of state, you can't afford to put yourself in that same danger.

  Mobilize your forces. Start an investigation. Send out spies and probe

  droids.

  But stay there and act as a central clearinghouse for information."

  "All right, Luke," Leia said. "We'll work from Coruscant for now, but once

  we've done everything we can from here, we'll go looking for them

  ourselves."

  "I'll come get you in the Falcon" Han said.

  "Give me ten standard days first," Luke said. "I have a lead I'm going to

  follow fight now before the trail gets cold. We need to get going. We'll

  keep you informed of our progress.''

  "We?" Han asked. "Is Lando going with you?"

  "No," Luke replied. "The heir of Hapes will honor me with her company, he

  said, gesturing to Tenel Ka.

  "We are grateful for your assistance," Leia said formally.

  Tenel Ka nodded toward the screen with a brie stiff bow. "Jacen, Jaina, and

  Lowbacca have a greater call on me than honor," she said. "They have my

  friendship."

  Leia's face softened. "Then I owe you my gratitude as a mother as well."

  Chewbacca rumbled what Tenel Ka could only interpret as an agreement.

  "Don't worry, we'll find them," Luke said, his voice filled with urgency.

  "But we need to leave now."

  Han lifted his chin and smiled at Luke. "Okay, get going, kid."

  Just before the communications link was broken, Leia spoke again. "And may

  the Force be with you."

  * 6 *

  Jaina came back to consciousness with Lowie shaking her shoulders. The lanky

  Wookiee moaned plaintively until she groaned and woke up, blinking her eyes.

  A rush of unpleasant sensations flooded through her: queasy stomach,

  pounding head, aching joints-aftereffects of the stormtroopers' stun beams.

  The human body wasn't designed to be knocked out with a blast of energy. Her

  ears hummed, too, but her instincts told her that the sounds were real-the

  rumbling vibrations of a big ship in hyperdrive.

  Uncertain about whether she dared risk a more vertical position, Jaina

  cautiously turned her head. She saw that she, Jacen, and Lowbacca were

  together in a small, nondescript room. Jaina took a deep breath, scratched

  her straight brown hair, and ran her hands down her grease-smeared jumpsuit

  to make sure everything was still intact.

  Suddenly recalling the attack on GemDiver Station, Jaina sat up so quickly

  that a fresh wave of nausea washed over her and pain exploded at her

  temples. She gasped, then forced herself to relax and let some of the pain

  drain away. "Where are we?" she asked.

  Jacen was already sitting up on a narrow pallet, rubbing his brandy-brown

  eyes and running long fingers through his tousled hair. He wore a look of

  confusion, and Jaina sensed deep turmoil coming from her brother. "Not a

  clue,'' he said.

  Lowbacca also made a dismayed, questioning sound.

  "Least we're all together," Jaina said. "And they didn't put binders on us."

  She held up her hands, surprised that the Imperials had not separated their

  prisoners and tied them up. Water and a food tray lay in an alcove by the

  wall. From the looks of it, Lowie had already sampled some of the fruit.

  "Hey, I wonder what happened to everyone at GemDiver Station. What do you

  suppose they did to Lando?" Jacen asked.

  Jaina shrugged, still feeling queasy. "Saw him lying unconscious just before

  they stunned us. But I don't think they planned to kill him. They weren't

  looking for Corusca gems, either. Seems like they only wanted the three of

  us."

  "Yeah ... kinda makes you feel valuable, huh?" Jacen agreed glumly. Lowie

  growled.

  Jaina stood up and stretched, feeling better as she moved. "Guess I'm okay,

  though. How about you two?"

  Jacen smiled reassuringly, and Lowie nodded his shaggy head. The streak of

  black fur that swept over his eyebrows bristled with uneasiness. He smoothed

  the fur back and grunted. It was then that Jaina noticed something else

  wrong. She looked down at the Wookiee's waist, but the miniaturized

  translating droid was no longer there. "Lowie! What happened to Em Teedee?"

  Lowie made a strange, sad sound and patted his waist.

  "Imperials must've taken it from him," Jaina said. "What do they want?"

  "Oh, just to take over the galaxy, cause a bunch of problems . . . hurt a

  lot of people-you know, the usual," Jacen answered flippantly. He went over

  to the flat metal door. "Hmmmm . . . it's probably locked, but there's no

  harm in trying," he said, tapping the controls with his fingers.

  To Jaina's surprise, the door hummed sideways to reveal a guard standing at

  attention just outside. A stormtrooper in a skull-like white helmet turned

  to face them.

  "Whoa!" Jacen cried, then he lowered his voice. "Well, at least the door

  opens."

  "Maybe they just can't figure out how to lock the door," Jaina said.

  "Remember how clunky and unreliable Imperial technology is." She let sarcasm

  seep into her voice for the guard's benefit.

  "And you know how lousy stormtrooper armor is. Probably couldn't even stop a

  water blaster."

  "Just walk past him," Jacen suggested in a stage whisper, seeing that the

  stormtrooper hadn't moved. "Maybe he won't stop us."

  The stormtrooper shouldered his blaster rifle. "Wait here." The filtered

  voice coming through the white helmet was flat, but somehow menacing. The

  guard spoke quietly into his helmet comlink, then shut the three young Jedi

  Knights in their cell again.

  They sat in anxious silence for a moment. "We could tell jokes," Jacen

  suggested.

  Before Jaina could think of an appropriate answer, the cell door whisked

  open again. This time, beside the stormtrooper stood the towering, sinister

  woman from the assault on GemDiver Station. Jaina took a quick breath. The

  tall woman's black hair flowed like waves of darkness down her shoulders,

  and her ebony cape sparkled with bits of polished gems, swirling around her

  like a starry night sky. Her violet eyes blazed in a face so pale it seemed

  carved from p
olished bone. Her lips were a dark wine color, as if she had

  just eaten an overripe fruit. The woman was beautiful - in a cruel sort of

  way.

  'So, Jedi Knights, you are awake at last," she snapped. Her voice was deep

  and thick, without the hissing edge Jaina had expected. "I must begin by

  saying how disappointed I am in you. I had hoped for more resistance from

  such powerful students already trained in the Force. Your Jedi defenses were

  pitiful! But we shall change that. You will be taught new ways. Effective

  ways." The woman spun on one heel, and her black cloak swept around her like

  trailing smoke. "Follow me," she said, and stepped into the corridor.

  "No," Jaina responded. "Who do you think you are? Why have you brought us

  here against our will?"

  "I said follow!" the woman repeated. When they made no move to comply, she

  pointed her polished nails at them and twitched her fingers. Suddenly, it

  felt as if a resilient invisible cord had wrapped around Jaina's throat. The

  woman crooked her finger, yanking at Jaina as if she were a pet on a leash.

  Jaina lurched as the invisible rope hauled her out of the cell. Lowbacca and

  Jacen strained against similar bonds of Force, the Wookiee yowling his

  defiance. Despite their struggles, all three children were dragged on Force

  leashes tripping and stumbling into the corridor. "I can do this all the way

  to the bridge, if you like," the woman said, her deep red lips curved into a

  mocking smile, "or, you can save your energies for more productive

  resistance later."

  "All right," Jaina croaked, sensing that this woman had dark Jedi powers she

  could not match - at least not yet. When the Force bonds dropped away, the

  companions stood gasping and trembling. They looked at each other in angry

  humiliation, knowing they were beaten.

  Jaina was the first to recover. Swallowing hard, she stood straight, put her

  chin in the air, and followed the woman in black. Her brother and Lowie fell

  in behind Jaina. "Who are you?" Jaina asked after a while.

  The woman paused in mid-step, as if considering, then answered. "My name is

  Tamith Kai. I am from a new order of Nightsisters."

  "Nightsisters? You mean like on Dathomir?" Jacen asked.

  Jaina remembered the stories their friend Tenel Ka told when it was her turn

  to scare them before they practiced Jedi calming techniques - stories of the

  horrible evil women who had once twisted civilization on her world.

  Tamith Kai looked at Jacen, her wine-dark lips set in something between a

  scowl and a smile. "You've heard of us? Good. My planet is rich in

  Force-wielders, and the Empire has helped to bring us back. Now perhaps

  you'll realize you can't resist. Cooperation, on the other hand, will be

  rewarded."

  "We won't cooperate with you," Jaina challenged.

  "Yes, yes," Tamith Kai said, as if bored. "All in good time."

  "Hey, where are you taking us?" Jacen asked, walking quickly to keep pace

  with his sister. Lowie strode behind them, grumbling and fumbling at his

  waist as if he actually missed Em Teedee.

  "You'll see soon enough," the Nightsister said. "We are almost ready to

  leave hyperspace."

  All four of them stepped onto a lift platform that carried them up a level

  and opened out onto the bridge of the fleeing ship. The single pilot sat

  with his back to them in a padded high-backed chair, hunched over the

  controls. Ahead, through the bridge viewports Jaina could see the swirling

  colors of hyperspace. The pilot reached out with his right hand and grabbed

  a lever as a countdown trickled to zero. Then he yanked the lever, and

  hyperspace suddenly unfolded, washing away into the star-studded darkness of

  norm al space.

  "We're near the Core Systems," Jaina said immediately, looking out at the

  rich starfields and the streamers of interstellar gas clotted together near

  the center of the galaxy. The crowded Core Systems were the last bastions of

  Imperial power; not even New Republic forces had been able to flush

  them out completely. But they had arrived nowhere close to any system. They

  found themselves merely hanging, out in the middle of the star-strewn

  blackness.

  "We have reached our destination, Tamith Kai," the pilot said, swiveling in

  his tall chair. Jaina's heart leaped as she recognized the weary,

  hard-bitten face and iron-gray hair of the former TIE pilot who had been

  stranded on Yavin 4 for so many years.

  'Qorl!" Jacen exclaimed. Lowie roared in anger.

  Qorl had attacked them in the jungles when they had found his crashed

  fighter and tried to fix it. The Imperial pilot had shot at Lowie and Tenel

  Ka, who had managed to the undergrowth, but Qorl had taken escape into Jacen

  and Jaina prisoner.

  "Greetings, young friends. I never did thank you for fixing my ship and

  allowing me to return to my Empire."

  "You betrayed us!" Jaina cited, feeling a surge of anger toward the

  brainwashed man. While being held captive, the twins had befriended Qorl,

  exchanging stories with him around the campfire. Jaina had felt sure the TIE

  pilot was softening, realizing that the ways of the Empire were filled with

  lies. But in the end, Qorl's military conditioning had been too strong.

  "I returned as any soldier would and gave my report," Qorl said in a dull

  voice. "These people accepted me and . . . re-indoctrinated me. I told them

  of your existence - powerful young Jedi Knights just waiting to be trained

  to serve the Empire."

  "Never," Jaina and Jacen snapped in unison, and Lowbacca agreed with a roar.

  Tamith Kai looked down at them mockingly. Standing beside Qorl, the

  dark-haired woman seemed even taller than before, more intimidating than

  ever. "Your anger is good," she said. "Fuel it. Let it grow. We will use it

  when your training begins. But for now . . . we have reached our

  destination."

  Lowie gave a growl of disbelief.

  Jaina looked out the front viewports, trying to calm herself. Master

  Skywalker had said that giving in to anger was a path to the dark side of

  the Force. She must not lash out, she knew; she must think of some other way

  to fight back. "We're in the middle of empty space," Jaina said. "What is

  there for us to see?"

  "Space is not always empty," Tamith Kai said. Her thick voice held a

  singsong quality, as if her mind was thinking of something else. "Reality is

  not always what it seems."

  At his station Qorl verified the coordinates, then punched in a security

  code. "Transmitting now," he said.

  Tamith Kai turned her sharp violet eyes toward the young Jedi Knights. "You

  are about to begin a new phase of your lives," she said, pointing to the

  viewscreens. "Behold."

  Space shimmered like a blanket of invisibility peeling away. Suddenly a

  space station hung in front of them, torus-shaped, like a donut. Weapons

  emplacements ringed the station's entire perimeter, pointing in all

  directions, making it look like a spiked disciplinary collar for some

  ferocious beast. Tall observation towers rose like pinnacles on one side of

  the station.

  Jaina swallowed hard.

>   "Cloaking device off," Qorl announced.

  "Take a good look," Tamith Kai said, but she did not glance at the

  viewscreens. Her eyes glittered with violet fervor at the children. "Here

  you'll be trained as Dark Jedi . . . for the Empire."

  Qorl spoke up, reminding her. "We must commence docking immediately and

  reactivate the invisibility shielding."

  The Nightsister nodded but did not seem to hear, never taking her eyes off

  the young Jedi Knights.

  "Welcome to the Shadow Academy ," she whispered.

  * 7 *

  Tenel Ka slid a hand under the crash webbing of the copilot's seat and

  scratched at the roughwoven, unfamiliar material of her disguise. She wished

  for the dozenth time that she could wear her comfortable reptilian armor,

  which was as supple as it was protective and never irritated her skin.

  She had been silent, intimidated, through most of the journey to Borgo

  Prime, unable to bring herself to speak. Beside her sat Master Skywalker,

  the most famous and revered Jedi in the entire galaxy - calmly and

  competently piloting the Off Chance, an old blockade runner Lando had won in

  a sabacc game and claimed he no longer needed.

  Tenel Ka's grandmother had insisted that the girl's royal training include

  diplomacy and correct methods of addressing individuals of any rank,