Under A Black Sun Trilogy Page 9

  embarrassment as he realized his blunder.

  The young woman seemed not to notice. She bent to look at him beneath

  the Falcon's hull, her big eyes serious. "After what happened

  yesterday, I wanted to make sure that your ship had come to no harm."

  "Hey, that's kind of a coincidence," Jacen said. He started to stand

  to get a better look at her, but only succeeded in smacking his head on

  the belly of the Falcon. He quickly ducked down again. "What I mean

  is, we're all on our way to Anobis-to help your people, like you

  suggested."

  Anja cocked her head slightly as she digested this information, then

  shrugged as if this were no more than she had expected. "I'm on my way

  back there myself."

  "Hey, Jacen. Don't forget to check those two rear struts when you're

  finished," his father's voice called from inside.

  "Uh, Dad?" Jacen called back. "Do we have room for another

  passenger?"

  "Depends. Who-?" Han jumped off the ramp to land beside the ship, and

  his question ended in a wordless whistle of surprise.

  "Anja needs to go to Anobis, too," Jacen hastily explained, seeing the

  strained look that passed between his father and Gallandro's

  daughter.

  Anja backed away from the Falcon, drew herself to her full height, and

  folded her slender arms across her chest. Her attention remained on

  Han Solo while Jacen continued.

  "I thought maybe we could give her a ride. She can probably show us

  the safest places to land, maybe even introduce us to a few important

  people."

  His father returned the girl's challenging stare. "Would you be

  willing to do that?"

  Anja gave a curt nod. "Maybe not to help you-but to help my people,

  yes."

  Han gave her a hard look, as if he didn't quite trust her motives.

  "All right. You're welcome on the Falcon, then. You can tell us more

  about your planet's war once we're under way."

  Jacen listened with fascination as Anja recounted the tale of the

  strife that had been raging among her people for decades, since the

  days of the Empire.

  . "And so," Anja continued, "the people of the valley who worked all of

  the rich farmlands declared war on the mountain people simply because

  we traded with the Empire. They stopped trading with us or selling us

  food. What else could we do?" She looked earnestly around to her

  circle of listeners.

  "In the mountains we had no way to make a living except with our

  mining. If we hadn't agreed to trade with the Empire, the Imperials

  would have come and taken the raw materials from us by force. We had

  very few herd beasts, and no croplands. We would have starved."

  Seeing the skepticism on the faces of his father and his sister, Jacen

  could not help but come to Anja's defense. "The valley people should

  have been helping you. After all, it wasn't a crime just to trade with

  the Empire. A lot of current members of the New Republic did that."

  Anja gave a sad sigh and nodded. "Not only did the farmers declare war

  on us, they also sabotaged our mines by booby-trapping the tunnels.

  They continue to do so even today. The tunnels collapse, our people

  are killed, and our work becomes ever more difficult."

  "Yeah, well, there are two sides to every story, kid," Han said.

  "Maybe more than two."

  Jacen thought about the story his father had told Anja about

  Gallandro's death, and what he had told Jacen, Jaina, and Anakin the

  night before. He wondered if there might not be more than two sides to

  that story as well....

  "We're on a fact-finding mission here," Han went on. "And we'd like to

  get the story from as many points of view as we can before we decide

  how the New Republic can help."

  Anja gave him a haughty look. "Of course, I just have to hope you know

  the truth when you hear it."

  Jacen wondered.

  As they cruised away from Ord Mantell, Anja sat stiffly against a

  bulkhead wall facing the Falcon's cockpit, where Han Solo and Jaina sat

  at the ship's controls. Anja's face was hard, her arms folded over her

  chest.

  Across from her, Jacen smiled. "Why don't you relax," he said.

  "We'll find a way to help your planet."

  Anja closed her big, sad eyes and gave a mirthless laugh. "Right.

  A few pampered kids and one former smuggler will fix everything. I

  feel better already."

  Lowie gave a soft growl, turning in the passenger seat to look at

  Anja.

  Tenel Ka sat stiffly beside Jacen, as if ready to protect him. "This

  is not a fact. We are not children," she said. "We are Jedi

  Knights.

  We have all faced hardship."

  "And war," Jaina added. "And the death of friends and family."

  Zekk spoke up from beside Lowie. "And General Solo here has some real

  influence with the New Republic fleet."

  Anja looked skeptical. "It's just hard to believe, since nobody in the

  New Republic has ever bothered to think of us before, much less offer

  us help."

  "Give us a chance," Jacen said. "We're your friends-at least we'd like

  to be."

  "With the past history between our fathers, I'm not certain becoming

  friends is possible," she said in a flat voice. No anger, no hope

  ...

  no emotion at all now. Jacen watched her, wondering deep in his heart

  exactly what had happened between Han Solo and Gallandro so many years

  before the twins were born. "Besides," Anja continued, "the flight to

  Anobis is brief enough that there's little point in getting

  comfortable."

  "The hyperspace route to the Anobis system is short," Anakin said.

  "We'll arrive in less than a day."

  "Then that's when the fun starts," Anja murmured.

  She removed her lightsaber and began playing with it, looking at the

  intricate knobs and buttons. Every lightsaber was different, made from

  various raw materials. Jacen, Jaina, Tenel Ka, and Lowie had built

  personal energy blades using their skills and their imaginations. Anja

  was not a Jedi trainee, yet she had a sophisticated-looking lightsaber,

  apparently an ancient one.

  Jacen tried again to strike up a conversation. "Hey, that's an

  interesting weapon. Have you had any Jedi training?"

  Anja threw her head back and looked at him with scorn. "I don't have

  time to sit around in the jungle and concentrate at rocks and

  leaves."

  She made a rude noise. "No. I bought this lightsaber from an old

  trader. He said it's some sort of Jedi relic. Who cares? It works.

  That's all that matters to me."

  "But you used it well against the chameleon attackers," Tenel Ka

  observed.

  Han Solo turned in his pilot's seat. "You don't need to be a Jedi to

  use a lightsaber, kids," he said, still trying to make a gesture of

  peace toward Anja. "Fact is, I used your uncle Luke's lightsaber on

  Hoth, to cut open a tauntaun so we'd have a place to keep warm until I

  could set up a snow shelter." Anja looked at her weapon again, studied

  the ancient carvings and scrollwork on its handle. She shrugged. "I

  can fight with rec
kless enthusiasm and enough skill to overpower any

  opponent I've encountered so far. It doesn't matter whether the Force

  is with me or not."

  Fifteen hours later, the Falcon dropped out of hyperspace at the edge

  of the Anobis system.

  In the cockpit Jaina sat with Zekk looking over her shoulder at the

  copilot controls. The dark-haired young man seemed intrigued by the

  systems of the modified light freighter.

  "I can fly this ship," he ,aid.

  "No you can't," Han answered.

  "In theory, I meant," Zekk said. "The Lightning Rod's very similar,

  only a little smaller and designed to be flown by only one person."

  He looked down at the sensor array that scanned space in front of

  them.

  He pointed to the small blip just as Jaina herself noticed it.

  "There's another ship sharing our course," Zekk said.

  "We're approaching pretty fast. That ship doesn't seem to be in much

  of a hurry," Jaina said. "Must be a cargo hauler."

  Zekk nodded. "It has smaller engines, a bulky design. Not built for

  speed. It's a cargo hauler all right."

  "Better let them know we're here." Han Solo leaned forward to the comm

  unit and opened a hailing frequency. "Ship ahead, this is the

  Millennium Falcon. Looks like we're on the same heading. Please

  identify yourself " Instead, the small hauler released a cluster of

  metallic spheres that drifted in space for a few seconds before

  exploding in a blossom of multicolored fire. Then the ship jinked to

  the right, altered course, and swept downward using its low-power

  engines. The Falcon dodged the debris and rapidly closed the

  distance.

  "Space mines," Zekk said.

  "Again? Does he think he's running his own Derby out there?"

  Jaina asked.

  "We'll catch up to him in no time," Zekk said. "He's got no chance of

  outrunning the Falcon."

  The pilot ahead seemed to realize the same thing. He returned to his

  course and responded over the comm system. "H-hello, Millennium

  Falcon. This is Lilnt, captain of the Rude Awakening-an officially

  licensed cargo hauler from Ord Mantell. M-m-my apologies for that

  accidental release a minute ago. Our defensive systems malfunctioned

  and identified you as an enemy. I trust no one was injured?"

  Han grunted. He nudged the Falcon closer to the other ship.

  "What's your destination, Lilmit?"

  "Anobis. I've g-got some important ... supplies to deliver."

  Anja glanced up from where she sat behind an invisible psychological

  wall that cut her off from the companions. She came forward to the

  cockpit.

  "He must mean food and medicinal supplies," Jaina said, not realizing

  that Han still had the comm circuit open.

  "N-not, uh, exactly, Millennium Falcon," Lilmit said. "But my c-cargo

  is important to the war effort, nevertheless."

  Anja moved farther into the cockpit. "He's running weapons," she

  said.

  Her voice dripped with scorn.

  "Lilmit, this is Han Solo, a special emissary from the New Republic.

  I'll be coming aboard for a brief inspection." He brought the Falcon

  so close to the small cargo hauler that their hulls nearly touched.

  "Y-Y-You what?" Lilmit stammered. The Rude Awakening put on a burst

  of speed that the Falcon easily matched. "Y-you have no right to

  detain my ship. I'm-I'm officially licensed."

  "Then we should have no problem. Besides, I'm well aware of how much a

  license from Ord Mantell is worth," Han said, "and exactly how much one

  costs." He glanced at Anja. Her face bore a troubled expression.

  "Are you ready to be boarded?" he said into the comm system.

  The two ships flew along side by side, nearly touching, but Lilmit

  still refused to answer. Han extended his grappling hook and attached

  the docking field. "Let's do this peacefully, Lilmit. Don't make me

  blast you and take over the wreck of your ship. It'd be a heck of a

  lot of trouble for both of us."

  The other pilot mumbled something unintelligible, which Em Teedee

  offered to relay, but the young Jedi Knights quickly assured him that

  some things were better left untranslated.

  &' C-c-come on aboard, then," Lilruit grumbled. "B-but you're delaying

  my delivery. I'm perfectly legal."

  "His actions suggest otherwise," Tenel Ka said.

  The docking clamp engaged with a loud metallic clank, and after a hiss

  of air equalization, both ships were ready. "I'm going across first,

  kids," Han said, taking the lead. "Just in case there's a trap."

  "If it's a trap, Dad," Jaina said, following close behind him, "you'll

  need us next to you, not hiding inside the Falcon."

  Han looked over his shoulder and cocked an eyebrow at her. "You know,

  you may be right."

  He opened the hatch and quickly descended into the smaller ship.

  Anja's face contained a thunderstorm of anger in anticipation of what

  she knew they would find aboard the smuggler's ship.

  Lilmit, a small grayish-skinned man, had winglike eyebrows and a

  wrinkled, ridged scalp. He met them with frowns and flailing hands.

  Jaina noticed that his fingertips were connected by thin translucent

  webs of skin. Finally, he forced a ridiculously fake smile onto his

  face.

  4 I Han Solo! W-welcome aboard my ship," he said. "It's not in very

  g-good condition, but it's paid for. I've had it for many years-and

  this war on Anobis has been providing some of our best business since

  the Empire fell." He rambled on, his tone obsequious. "We've g-g-got

  a lot in common, don't we? You used to be a smuggler yourself. Y-you

  ran spice for Jabba the Hutt, didn't you?"

  "Nearly cost me my life a few times," Han answered. "It's been decades

  since I ran those kinds of risks for a quick profit."

  Lilmit sighed. "If only we c-could kick back in a cantina on Ord

  Mantell, sh-share a Rhuvian fizz or some Osskom ale. Then we'd have

  time to socialize."

  "I'm not here to socialize, Lilmit," Han said coldly. "We're here to

  check out your ship's cargo."

  Anja snatched out her lightsaber, switching it on so that its

  acidyellow glare flooded the small compartment. "Show us your cargo

  now! " Lilmit recoiled, holding up his webbed hands. "It's j-just my

  usual run! I've been doing this for years. N-rmobody's ever bothered

  me before."

  "Then today's your lucky day," Zekk said, standing close to Anja.

  The young woman, tall and slender, had a sort of animal energy that

  dominated the room. Zekk had no lightsaber himself. Jaina, Jacen,

  Tenel Ka, and Lowie did not draw their weapons, though the smuggler

  could surely see them at their sides.

  "All right, all right. C-come with me."

  Inside the cargo hold they found crates filled with munitions:

  blasters, burrowing detonators, sonic punchers, and other explosive

  devices.

  "Just as I thought," Anja said. She pointed to the box of sonic

  punchers. "He's taking these weapons to the enemy."

  "War material is forbidden, even for smugglers," Han Solo said.

  "I can't remember the exact statute or regulation in the New Republic
<
br />   charter, but I'm sure that's the case."

  "I would be pleased to look it up for you, Master Solo," Em Teedee

  volunteered. Lowie rumbled that it didn't matter at the moment.

  Lilmit looked completely flustered. "I'm m-merely trying to make a

  living. There's a good m-market for these things on Anobis. There's

  quite a demand. P-people need to defend themselves."

  "And which side have you chosen?" Tenel Ka said. "Which army do you

  support?"

  "Oh, I couldn't take s-sides in a civil war," Lilmit said. "That would

  be unfair. I supply everybody. L-I-let them work it out. That's my

  creed."

  Anja flared with anger, barely able to keep herself from cleaving the

  smuggler in two with her lightsaber. "You supply the enemy and our

  side? You sell to both equally?"

  "Wait a minute," Jaina said. "Which one is 'our' side? We're just

  going there to investigate."

  Anja didn't hear her. She turned to Han Solo. "If you really pride

  yourself in being a high-and-mighty representative of the New Republic,