Under A Black Sun Trilogy Page 8

  chin. "Not as good as me, of course, even though they're using Jedi

  skills. They don't have quite the ... enthusiasm." Czethros

  laughed.

  "Enthusiasm? You go into a berserker rage when you've had too much."

  "It's useful sometimes," Anja said. "And I managed to drive back most

  of those clumsy chameleon attackers. Your work, I presume?"

  "Did they get away with the evidence?"

  "Easily. I hope you didn't mind losing a few of them. We had to kill

  about seven."

  Czethros shrugged. "They're cheap. I can always buy more."

  "Now it'll be harder to kill Solo," Anja said. "The one thing I'm

  after. You might have screwed up my chances."

  Czethros laughed, though his pale, sickly-looking face showed no humor

  at all. He ran one hand over his moss green hair. "Solo is cocky.

  His easy escape from the space mines, and your resounding defeat of the

  chameleon creatures, will probably only make him more willing to jump

  into peril, not less. He doesn't know how to be careful. And his

  children seem to have even greater potential for getting into trouble

  than he does."

  "Well, I've planted the suggestion in his mind," Anja said, getting

  down to business. "I taunted Solo with the desperate situation on

  Anobis. If he rises to the bait and blunders happily into the war

  there, he's doomed."

  "Excellent," Czethros said. "That way my overall plan can proceed

  without his interference. He's one of the few people in the galaxy who

  can expose the enterprises we're trying to build through Black Sun."

  "And, if you help me get rid of him, there can be no greater payback

  for me than to avenge my mother and father."

  "Be patient, Anja. The time will come," Czethros said. "You've waited

  this long. Let's do it right."

  She bit her lip and nodded. She tapped her fingers on the metal

  surface of the nearest table, stood up and fidgeted, looked around. "I

  ...

  may need to go with Solo, in order to nudge a few things along." She

  hesitated.

  Czethros watched her with his cybernetic red laser eye, waiting.

  The cruel streak was coming out in him. He had to know what she

  wanted, but he twisted the screws, making her ask for it. For what she

  needed.

  She drew herself up again, trying not to look weak. "But in order to

  be at my peak performance, as this mission requires, I'll need. .

  She trailed off. He knew what she meant.

  Czethros continued watching her. "Yes?"

  Anja felt a flash of anger, and pounded her fist on the metal wall with

  a dull clang. "I need my supply! I used my last dose of spice in

  order to fight your clumsy henchmen."

  Czethros laughed and then made a taking sound. "You seem so

  desperate.

  Don't worry, little velser. You can count on me." From his pocket he

  withdrew a sealed black case and held it aloft, just far enough away

  that she would have to step forward and reach out to take it from

  him.

  He tried to toy with her, pulling it back, but Anja moved too

  quickly.

  Still in the aftereffects of her hypersensitivity, she snatched the

  case before he could play his little trick. Czethros covered his

  surprise at the speed of her reactions.

  "There's your supply of andris spice," he said. "You're taking too

  much of it, you know. I can't keep up this rate of payment without

  further results."

  "You'll get results," Anja said, checking the contents of the tiny

  carbon-freeze box. Each of the small cylindrical containers inside was

  wrapped in an insulated covering. Exposing the andris fibers to deep

  cold intensified the effect of the spice. But she didn't need another

  dose now-though she wanted one very, very badly. She would keep the

  samples, hoard them, take them only when she needed the spice.

  When she needed it more than she did now.

  Without a word of thanks or goodbye, Anja turned and slipped back out

  of Czethros's hidden warehouse. She would keep a close watch on Han

  Solo, and insinuate herself into his journey to Anobis. She was almost

  certain he wouldn't be able to resist going there now that she had

  challenged him.

  And once he got there, he would be very surprised indeed.

  Back in the diplomatic suite of Ord Mantell's most luxurious hotel, the

  Ord Ambassador, Jacen could not get his mind off the girl Anja.

  Her sad, pain-filled eyes had seemed so out of place. Her features

  were delicate and beautiful ... and there had been such a strength in

  her whip-thin body that Jacen had expected her gaze to be as steady and

  cool as Tenel Ka's. But her personal pain-perhaps even a slight

  madness-had been all too apparent in the looks sho had given Jacen and

  his friends.

  Zekk had felt it too, because Jacen had seen the older boy's

  sympathetic nod when Anja spoke of her father's death, and about having

  been raised as an orphan. Who would understand better than Zekk how

  such events could change a life?

  But Jacen didn't have Zekk to talk to right now. The tonner Dark Jedi

  had returned with Tenel Ka and Lowie to the Rock Dragon for the

  night.

  Jacen sighed and ran his hands through his tousled curls. Why couldn't

  he stop thinking about Anja? He paced restlessly about the central

  chamber of the suite. After the long day today, Jacen had taken a hot

  sonic shower, but his mind did not feel refreshed. Something was

  bothering him, and he couldn't quite, put his finger on it. When his

  brother Anakin entered the room, hair still damp from his own shower,

  the younger boy's ice-blue gaze stopped Jacen in his tracks.

  "Something's wrong," Anakin said. A statement, not a question.

  Startled, as always, that his younger brother could sense things so

  quickly, Jacen hunched his shoulders and plopped himself down on a

  stone repulsor bench beside the ornamental firepit in the center of the

  room.

  Anakin perched himself on a bench opposite Jacen and stared into the

  flames. "She was a very interesting person, wasn't she?" he said

  quietly, then waited for Jacen to answer.

  Jacen glanced sharply at his little brother and stared at him for a

  full minute before the reason for his inner turmoil clicked into

  focus.

  "Dad never really explained what happened to her father," he finally

  blurted. "He just evaded her questions with vague answers."

  "Well, he said he didn't kill Gallandro. What more do you want to

  know?" Jaina asked, gliding into the room and helping herself to a

  seat between her two brothers. She wore a loose robe, and droplets of

  moisture still sparkled on her cheeks from her recent bath.

  Jacen set his chin stubbornly. "I want to know what happened."

  Anakin shrugged. "Then let's ask Dad."

  "Ask me what?" Han said, entering the room, a white sheet of absorbent

  material draped around his neck so that it hung down his bare torso.

  He took a seat opposite Jaina and between his two sons; the four Solo

  family members were like points of a compass, with the artificial fire

  at their center. Jacen glanced at hi
s sister. She bit her lower

  lip.

  Anakin gestured to him, as if to say, This is your question; ask it.

  Jacen knew he might sound rude, but he wanted an answer and he didn't

  know how else to put it. "Anja said you killed her father. You denied

  it, but you never explained what happened to Gallandro."

  Han nodded slowly. "That young lady took me by surprise. She reminded

  me of an incident from my past ... a time I'm not too proud of. "

  Jacen wondered if guilt was the source of the hesitation he heard in

  his father's voice.

  "So, what happened?" Jaina prompted, her brandy-brown eyes alight now

  with interest.

  "We were looking for an ancient treasure, a lost legacy of Xim the

  Despot," Han began. He paused, then sat up straighter. He spread his

  hands as if backing up to provide more explanation. "Gallandro was a

  smuggler, you see. A quick draw, a sharpshooter and, uh"-a corner of

  Han's mouth quirked in a lopsided smile-"a fellow scoundrel. We found

  where Xim hid his treasure, but Gallandro betrayed the rest of our

  team. Decided he wanted it all for himself. Challenged me to a

  blaster fight."

  Jacen was instantly alert. His father had always been one of the best

  shots in the New Republic. "And?"

  His father lifted one shoulder for a second, then gazed down into the

  flames. "And I lost."

  All three young Jedi stared at him in disbelief "But you're not dead,"

  Jacen pointed out.

  "How did Gallandro die, then?" Anakin asked.

  "His aim was good, but not fatal. He drew first, hit me in the

  shoulder. My shot went wide, and I dropped my blaster as I fell.

  While I was down he put binders on me and went off to chase one of the

  other members of our team, a Ruurian."

  "They look kind of like miniature Hutts, don't they?" Anakin asked.

  "Only furry, and with legs?"

  Han nodded again. "I wasn't even there when Gallandro caught up with

  the Ruurian. But the treasure vaults had been booby-trappedrigged so

  that if you drew a weapon in certain areas, the automated defenses

  would take you out. There were warning lights in those areas, but the

  Ruurian had removed them. Gallandro never realized he was walking into

  a trap."

  Han grimaced. "I don't know. Maybe I'd've done the same thing.

  The Ruurian explained it to me afterward: he figured Gallandro had

  nothing to worry about-so long as his intentions were peaceful. But if

  the guy drew his blaster ... well, then he'd get what he deserved.

  Could be that Gallandro only meant to injure the Ruurian, like he did

  me. In any case, the vault's defenses did the rest."

  Jaina squeezed her eyes shut. "How awful."

  Jacen remained skeptical. "If that's the way it happened, then why

  didn't you just tell Anja?"

  His father's eyes clashed with his. "Tell her what? That her father

  was a traitor? A man who turned on his own team once the treasure was

  found and took it from them? A hotshot blaster jockey who got fried

  because he thought with his weapons instead of his brain?"

  Han drew a deep breath, let it out with a slow shake of his head.

  "Besides, I had no idea before today that Gallandro had a daughteror

  that she's blamed me for his death all these years. With the

  resentment she's built up in her life, if I told her what really

  happened, she might just take it into her head to go after the Ruurian,

  Skynx, because he disabled the glow signals that would've warned her

  father not to draw his blaster."

  Han's eyes filled with doubt, and he looked back into the artificial

  firepit. "Still, I do feel a kind of responsibility toward her. I

  wish there was something I could do."

  Jacen wondered if there was some additional reason why his father

  should feel responsible. Had he told them everything?

  "Maybe there is something we can do," Anakin said.

  Han sat back, a thoughtful look on his face. "Her planet, you mean?"

  Jacen brightened at this idea. "That's right. Anobis isn't too far

  from here. And that civil war sounds terrible."

  "It wouldn't hurt to go check it out," Han admitted. "In my official

  capacity, of course-see if there's anything the New Republic could do

  to help."

  "Kind of a diplomatic mission, you mean?" Jaina said.

  "I'm sure Mom would agree to that."

  A slow lopsided grin spread across Han Solo's face. "Yeah. I think

  she would," he said, getting to his feet.

  He reached out to ruffle both of his sons' hair, then walked around the

  circle, leaned down, and kissed Jaina on the cheek. "You kids get some

  sleep now. I'm gonna get dressed, go down to a comm center, and put in

  an official call to the Chief of State of the New Republic."

  Jacen nodded with satisfaction. It was the least his father could

  do.

  After a strangely restless night populated by images of unbearably sad

  eyes and flowing dark hair streaked with blond, Jacen woke to find his

  sister standing beside the cushioned pallet on which he slept. She

  tossed a clean jumpsuit at him.

  "Time to get up, sleepyhead. We want to get an early start."

  Jacen, groggy from his lack of rest, blinked up at her. "What for?"

  Just then Anakin appeared in the doorway, a travel satchel slung over

  one shoulder. "I'm all packed," he announced.

  "For the fact-finding mission to Anobis," Jaina explained. "Mom said

  it was a good idea. She sent Dad a transmission this morning of

  everything the New Republic knows about the planet and their civil

  war.

  Unfortunately, it's not much."

  The impact of his sister's words finally sank in, and Jacen came fully

  awake. Untangling himself from the cushions and blankets, he leapt to

  his feet. "Where's Dad now?"

  "Went down to the docking bay to start preflight checks on the Falcon,"

  Jaina said.

  "We leave in less than an hour, Jacen-if you're ready," Anakin said,

  running a skeptical eye over his older brother. "Zekk, Lowie, and

  Tenel Ka are already there waiting."

  As he scrambled to get dressed, Jacen felt miraculously energetic.

  They were going to do something to help Anja's planet, he thought.

  Maybe they could find a way to banish the sadness from her eyes

  forever. The young Jedi Knights were going on a true rescue mission,

  just like the ones Tionne used to tell them about from Jedi legends.

  He flashed his siblings a cheerful grin. "Don't worry. I'll be

  ready."

  By the time Jacen reached the docking bay, Anakin was already at work

  at the navigation controls and Jaina was examining the external

  sublight engines. Tenel Ka, Zekk, and Lowie were gathered around Han

  Solo, being briefed on the upcoming mission.

  Seeing Jacen, Han gestured for him to join the other young Jedi

  Knights. "So, if this planet is as torn up from the war as Anja says

  it is," he concluded, "we might just need a few extra helping hands. I

  think we should all stick together on the Falcon, though. Got plenty

  of room and there's less chance of running into trouble if we don't

  slip up." Jaina looked up from her work on t
he sublight engines.

  "But what about the Rock Dragon?" she protested.

  Han glanced at the Hapan passenger cruiser. "I think we can station an

  extra guard or two here without much difficulty."

  Tenel Ka's lips curled in a hard smile. "And the vessel has its own

  ... security systems."

  "Indeed, yes," Em Teedee said. "And they are most efficient. I had a

  fine conversation with them just this morning."

  "It's settled then." Han clapped his hands and began giving out

  assignments.

  Jacen was glad to know that all of his friends would be coming along.

  They worked well as a team, and he had no doubt that together they

  could handle anything that happened on Anobis.

  He had no sooner begun his task of exwnining the Falcon's lower hull

  than a familiar figure sauntered into the docking bay. She held

  herself straight and proud, and her dark, streaked hair trailed behind

  her like the tail of a comet.

  "Hey, what are you doing here, Anja?" Jacen asked, managing to sound

  brash, if not outright rude. He felt himself turn red with