Heirs of the Force Read online

  began. Luke mounted the steps to the wide raised platform, closely

  followed by a slender woman with flowing silvery-white hair and huge

  opalescent eyes.

  "Thank you for gathering here on such short notice," Luke began. "I

  received news this morning of a pressing matter that calls me away."

  As if from a pebble tossed into a pond, a series of surprised murmurs

  rippled through the room. Jacen wondered if his uncle's imminent

  departure had anything to do with the messages brought by his father on

  the Falcon.

  The blue eyes that looked out over the audience-kind eyes that seemed

  wise beyond their years-gave no hint of what the Jedi Master's mission

  might be.

  "I don't know how long I will be gone, so I've asked one of my former

  students, the Jedi Tionne"-he gestured to the slender, shimmering-eyed

  woman beside him-"to supervise your training while I'm away. Not only

  does Tionne know my teachings almost as well as I do, but she has a rich

  knowledge of Jedi lore and history. As you are about to find out, she's

  well worth listening to."

  This intrigued Jacen. He remembered hearing that she was not a

  particularly strong Jedi, but from the warm smile that passed between

  Luke and Tionne, he could tell that they understood each other well, and

  that Master Skywalker must have complete trust in his former student.

  As Luke withdrew from the platform, leaving the students alone with

  Tionne, the silver haired Jedi retrieved a curiously shaped stringed

  instrument from somewhere behind her. It consisted of two resonating

  boxes, one at either end of a slender fretted neck. The strings

  stretching across the instrument flared out in a fan pattern at both

  ends.

  Seating herself on a low stool, Tionne began to strum. "I will tell you

  about a Jedi Master who lived long ago," she said. "This is the ballad

  of Master Vodo-Siosk Baas."

  As she began to sing, Jacen agreed with his uncle: Tionne was indeed

  worth listening to.

  Her song rang clear and true. Its pure tones carried easily to the

  farthest corners of the great hall and transported them all to a time

  they had never witnessed. The music flowed around them, sweeping them

  along on currents of excitement and courage and triumph and sacrifice.

  She sang of dire events that had taken place four thousand years

  earlier-how the strange, alien Jedi Master had been destroyed by Exar

  Kun, one of his own students who had turned to the dark side. Master

  Vodo had begged the other Jedi Masters not to do battle with Exar Kun,

  and had tried to reason with him alone-though his gentle hopes had ended

  in tragedy.

  In the silence that followed her song, a flood of insight washed through

  Jacen as he realized that this Jedi was worth listening to for more than

  just her voice.

  Tionne stood, to a collective sigh from everyone present. Jacen hadn't

  even realized he'd been holding his breath.

  "I trust my first lesson to you hasn't been too painful," she said with

  a merry twinkle in her pearly eyes. "Tomorrow I will give another

  lesson, after morning meal."

  With that, the evening meeting ended.

  Some listeners remained seated, transfixed, as if trying to absorb the

  last trickles of music lingering in the room. Others left singly or in

  whispering groups, while still others stayed behind to talk with Tionne.

  Jacen, Jaina, Tenel Ka, and Lowbacca found themselves free at last to

  talk. They huddled together and discussed Lowie's find.

  Em Teedee-carefully modulating his voice to an appropriate, secretive

  level-provided translations.

  They speculated by turns about the strange glinting object that Lowbacca

  had seen out in the jungle. They came to only one conclusion: at the

  earliest possible opportunity, they would go out together and

  investigate.

  Tionne's morning ballad fell in a fine musical mist, drenching its

  listeners with wonder and ancient lore. Jacen sat in the second row

  with his brandy-colored eyes closed, concentrating on her words, trying

  to absorb everything the music had to teach him. It was just as well

  that his eyes were shut, since his view was completely blocked by the

  colorful bulk of Raynar wearing his finest robes.

  As the last notes drained away, Jacen opened his eyes to find his sister

  staring at him in silent amusement. Neither Lowbacca nor Tenel Ka, who

  sat beside him, gave any indication that they had noticed Jacen's

  apparent absorption in the music. Then Tionne spoke, drawing Jacen's

  attention back to the silver-haired Jedi on the raised platform.

  "A Jedi's greatest power comes not from size or from physical strength,"

  she said. "It comes from understanding the Force-from trusting in the

  Force. As part of your Jedi training you will learn to build your

  confidence and belief through practice. Without that practice we may

  not succeed when it is most important. This is true of many skills in

  life. Listen to a story.

  "Once, a young girl lived by a lake. Simply by watching others, she

  learned much about how to swim. One day when her family was busy, the

  girl jumped into the deep water.

  Although she moved her arms and legs as she had seen other swimmers do,

  she could not keep her head above the water.

  "Fortunately a fisherwoman jumped in and rescued her. The woman, a

  practiced swimmer, had not needed to think about how to swim, but the

  little girl-who had only learned by watching-did not have the skill even

  to stay afloat. After they were safely out of the water, the fisherwoman

  took the girl's hand and said, 'Come to the shallows, child, and I will

  teach you to swim."' Tionne paused as if lost in thought, her pearly

  eyes glittering. "So it is with the Force.

  Unless we practice what we learn, and unless we are tested, we never

  know we can trust in the Force if the need arises. That is why this

  Jedi academy is also called a praxeum. It is a place where we not only

  learn, but we put the learning to use. As with swimming, the more we

  practice, the more confidence we have. Eventually, our skill becomes

  second nature.

  "The next several days I would like the beginning and intermediate

  students to practice one of the most basic skills: using the Force to

  lift. For today, practice lifting only something small-no bigger than a

  leaf."

  Raynar interrupted in a blustery voice, "How can you expect us to

  strengthen our skills if you take us back to a child's level?"

  Jacen rolled his eyes at Raynar's rudeness, but he had to admit that he

  had been wondering the same thing.

  Tionne smiled down at Raynar without annoyance. "A good question.

  Let me give you an example. If you wanted to strengthen your arms, you

  might lift many stones one time, or you mig t i one stone many times.

  It is the same with your Jedi skills. For today, practice just as I

  have asked you. It is not the only way to strengthen your skills, but

  it is one way. There are always alternatives. I promise you will learn

  more than just how to lift a leaf."

 
Tionne dismissed the students. As they left the grand audience chamber

  and started down the worn stone stairs, Jaina pulled the other three

  young Jedi to a halt, her eyes dancing. "Are you thinking what I'm

  thinking?" she asked.

  Jacen, who did not know what she was thinking, nonetheless sensed her

  excitement and her eagerness to investigate Lowie's mysterious

  discovery.

  Jaina shrugged. "What better place to practice lifting leaves than out

  in a jungle?"

  ------------------I

  "YOU SURE THIS seat is safe?" Jacen asked as he squeezed himself into

  the cargo well behind the T-23s passenger seat.

  "Of course it is," his sister replied automatically as she climbed into

  the front. "You like crawling into cramped spaces anyway."

  "Only to catch bugs," he grumbled. "There's no cushioning back here."

  The cargo well was much too small to accommodate Tenel Ka, who was

  taller and more solidly built than either of the twins.

  Jacen would have to settle for the back or be left behind; his sister

  would take her turn there on the return trip. He squirmed and settled

  in as the T-23s engines started with a roaring purr.

  Lowie called a command over the sound of the warming repulsorlifts. Em

  Teedee said, "Master Lowbacca requests that you please be certain that

  your restraints are secure. He is interested in your utmost safety. We

  shall be departing momentarily."

  Lowbacca's voice barked out again, and the droid amended his

  translation. "Actually, Master Lowbacca might have said something

  closer to, 'Hold on, everyone. Here we go!"' "Oh, blaster bolts. No

  crash straps either," Jacen observed as Jaina and Tenel Ka buckled

  themselves in up front.

  The rebuilt T-23 lifted off with a small jerk.

  The wind howled past the rattling window plates as they picked up height

  and speed.

  Jacen felt the thrill of being airborne as the ion afterburners

  spluttered behind them.

  Even cramped in the back, he was glad he hadn't stayed behind.

  Jacen looked out through the scratched port as Lowbacca let the

  skyhopper skim just above the treetops, ar-rowing away from the Jedi

  academy into unexplored territory. Soon there were nothing but trees as

  far as Jacen could see through the scratched port, as lush and green as

  the sky above him was blue.

  Though he enjoyed the lovely foliage below him, Jacen's legs began to

  cramp. By the time the T-23 dove down and came to rest in a small

  clearing, he could feel the engine vibrations all the way to his teeth.

  Up front, Jaina and Tenel Ka unbuckled their restraints and scrambled

  nimbly out of the T-23. Jacen dragged himself from the cargo well,

  stretching his stiff legs as he stepped out into the tangled underbrush.

  He rubbed the seat of his jumpsuit with both hands to get the

  circulation going again. "I think a leaf is about all I could lift

  right now!"

  Lowie rushed to the edge of the clearing, beckoning the others. "Master

  Lowbacca says the tree holding the artifact is over here," Em Teedee

  called. "It has several broken branches, so he was able to locate it

  easily from the air."

  Jaina looked in the direction that Lowbacca was pointing. "Well, what

  are we waiting for?" she said. Tenel Ka marched over to the young

  Wookiee, as if ready to carve a path through the jungle. Jacen took a

  long and wistful look at all the strange new plants he saw around him,

  but followed the others into the deep green shadows.

  Lowbacca gestured up into the distant branches of an enormous Massassi

  tree. The trunk seemed as big around as one of the skyscrapers on

  city-covered Cor-uscant, and even the lowest branches were well out of

  Jacen's reach. But Lowie wanted them to climb up after him!

  "oh," said Jaina, a crestfallen look on her face, "I wouldn't get very

  far climbing that."

  Lowbacca assured them, via Em Teedee, that the climb would be easy for a

  Wookiee.

  He offered to go up alone for the first investigation and report his

  findings so they could decide the next step.

  "We can explore down here," Jacen suggested. "We might find some other

  pieces of . . . of whatever it is." Or maybe some interesting animals

  or fungus or insects, he thought hopefully.

  Jaina and Tenel Ka readily agreed. Lowbacca swiped a hairy hand along

  the thick black streak that ran through the fur above his left eyebrow.

  He swarmed up the trunk, swung into the lower branches, and soon

  disappeared from sight.

  Jacen's stomach rumbled with hunger, and he hoped that Lowbacca would

  hurry. The three young Jedi trainees poked around in the underbrush,

  spiraling out from the T-23 in a wandering search pattern. Taking

  turns, they practiced their leaf-lifting assignment, fluttering leaves

  in the shrubbery, lifting dr-y forest debris from the damp and mossy

  ground.

  Before long, Lowbacca came crashing back down through the thick

  branches. He dropped to the ground near them and let out a loud Wookiee

  cry.

  Jaina ran toward him, eager and interested. "Did you find it, Lowie?"

  Lowbacca nodded vigorously.

  "What was it?" Jaina asked. "Can you describe it?"

  "Master Lowbacca believes it to be some sort of solar panel," Em Teedee

  translated as the Wookiee replied. Then the droid launc into a complete

  description.

  Jaina felt her skin prickle with goose bumps. "Hmmmm," she said. "If

  I'm right, there should be a lot more to that artifact than what Lowie

  saw. Let's keep looking."

  Tenel Ka dug into a small supply pouch she carried with her and withdrew

  a pack of carbo-protein biscuits. "Here. Nourishment as we search."

  Jacen chomped hungrily on his biscuit.

  "Just what are we looking for, Jaina?" he asked, speaking around a

  mouthful of crumbs.

  "Scrap metal, machinery, another solar panel." Jaina shaded her eyes,

  scanning deeper into the thick jungles around them.

  "We'll keep widening the circle of our search until we find something.

  What we're looking for shouldn't be too far away."

  Jacen retrieved a flask of water from the T-23, took a gulp, and handed

  it to his sister.

  Jaina took a few mouthfuls of water and passed the flask on to Lowbacca.

  Then she set off at a trot for the base of the big tree.

  Jaina didn't look back to see if the others were following, and bit her

  lip, feeling a brief pang of guilt.

  At times like this Jaina always seemed to assume leadership, just like

  her mother. But how could she help it? Her parents had raised all

  three of their children to assess a situation, weigh the alternatives,

  and make decisions.

  "Let's spread out, lp she said.

  "Great!" Jacen said, walking around the massive trunk toward a clump of

  dense undergrowth.

  Jaina smiled, knowing full well that her brother's excitement came not

  from a desire to find the mysterious artifact, but from the opportunity

  to explore the jungle and examine its creatures more closely.

  She was about to head into the underbrush herself when Lowbacca stoppedr />
  her with a questioning growl. Em Teedee translated.

  "Master Lowbacca says-and I personally am inclined to agree with

  him-that the jungle floor is not a safe place to split up.

  Even to speed up a search."

  As impatient as she was to continue looking, Jaina stopped to consider.

  Tenel Ka caught her eye, placed her hands on her hips, and nodded. "This

  is a fact."

  Jaina gnawed at her lower lip again, thinking, and came to a decision.

  "All right. We spread out a little bit, but only as far as our line of

  sight. Good enough?"

  The others' murmurs of agreement were interrupted by a loud squawking as

  a flock of reptile birds took flight from the bushes near where Jacen

  had been exploring. Jacen emerged from the bushes on his hands and

  knees, looking startled, but not displeased.

  "No big discoveries," he reported, "but I did find this." He held out

  his palm. In it was a plump, furry gray creature, quivering in a small

  nest of glossy fibers.

  Another animal. Jaina sighed with resignation. She might have guessed.

  ",M. p@

  A-hah , Tenel Ka said. Lowbacca bent forward to run a shaggy finger

  along the tiny creature's back.

  "Look, Jaina," Jacen said, turning the fluffy nest in his hand. He