recapture lost glory, to reclaim stolen territory, would require every
set of capable hands for the Second Imperium. But even if Qorl did
manage to turn the rest of the Lost Ones gang into serviceable troopers
and pilots, this one was trouble.
At the control pad of the simulation chamber, Qorl programmed in a new
set of targets while Norys recharged his blaster rifle. He vowed to
train this one, and keep training him, until he saw some genuine
progress in the ambitious fighter.
"I still say I should have been sent on the raid with Tamith Kai," Norys
grumbled, wing his weapon as if it made him feel more secure. "I could
have taken out a few enemies, evened the score a little bit for our
side. Set a few of those big Wookiee trees on fire."
Qorl set the simulated targets in rapid motion: black, orange, and blue
for Rebels, and white for stormtroopers. "It's a small raid," Qorl said.
"Zekk is directing the troops.
There was no need for a second leader."
Norys took aim at a blue target and missed.
He liked target practice better when the targets were slow simulations
like mynocks. It was from to kill them. "Then they should have sent me
alone, old man. I'm a better leader now than that trash collector will
ever be."
Rouble, Qorl thought, definitely trouble.
"Why do you say that?"
"Because," Norys said, taking aim at an orange target, but only nicking
the edge of it, "my followers are so afraid of me they'd never dare
disobey my orders." He missed once more. "Is the aim-point on this
blaster offset again?"
"You aren't concentrating on your target," Qorl said, then addressed the
candidate's comment in a neutral tone. "Your example is indeed one
method of leadership. But you have much to learn."
Norys bristled and missed another shot.
He rounded on the former TIE pilot with a menacing growl. 'Like what,
old man?"
Qorl didn't flinch or back down. He had faced tougher adversaries than
this young bully-though perhaps none with such pure mean-spiritedness.
"You could learn to concentrate on your weapon and shut out
distractions. You could also learn how to aim and hit your intended
target each time, rather than just talking about it," Qorl pointed out.
"The way you are shooting today, you would have become a casualty in
only a few seconds in a real firefight."
"Really, old man?" Norys's lips pulled back in something between a snarl
and a grin. He turned back toward the targets and, moving his blaster
rifle in a slow semicircle, flooded the area with blaster bolts, never
removing his finger from the firing stud. When he was finished, every
target had registered a hit. A
complete slaughter. Norys turned back toward Qorl with a satisfied
smirk. "How much more target practice do I need, old man?"
"Enough practice so you don't destroy our own troops during a raid,"
Qorl replied.
Norys shrugged. "We all make a few sacrifices to meet our goals." He
glanced back at the targets. "Seems like a fair trade-off to me." He
tossed the spent blaster rifle at Qorl, who caught it with his good arm.
Rouble, Qorl thought, definitely trouble.
I 0 ------------------i STARS BURNED IN the midnight sky like a billion
white-hot embers on a slab of black marble. Jacen, Jaina, and Tenel Ka
had long since retired to their beds-but Lowie could@t sleep. Perched
comfortably on the wide railing of the upper verandah, with the
simmering night sounds of the forest all around him, he kept a watchful
eye on his sister's window.
Sirra still insisted she wanted to imitate Lowie's feat with the syren
plant, and he could not talk her out of it. Now he feared she would
leave him behind at the last moment, go alone on her dangerous quest-as
Raaba had done. So far, though, he had seen no sign that his sister was
planning anything so foolish.
Because of increased production quotas for the New Republic's military
requirements, their parents had both volunteered to work the night shift
at the computer fabrication facility. Kallabow and Mahraccor had spent
their lives at their jobs, contented if somewhat unchallenged, and
seemed baffled that neither of their children wanted to follow in their
footsteps.
But Sirra demanded constant challenges, and went out of her way to
create some when life didn't provide her with enough of them.
The light in Sirra's room shimmered like a warm fire behind the window's
leafy shade.
Small glowing mesh cages rested outside her window and on various
platforms throughout the Wookiee residential district-containers filled
with a sweet-smelling substance that proved an irresistible attractant
to a species of tiny glowing gnats called phosfleas. When the cages were
placed outside, clusters of the harmless phosphorescent insects swarmed
around them to provide a natural, pollutionfree light source.
Sitting alone outside under the starlight, Lowie had watched Sirra's
shadowy figure moving about in her room, pacing as if agitated, but he
had seen no sign of her for some time now. Perhaps his sister was trying
to sleep, he thought.
But though vague foreboding crackled like static through his mind, he
liked being alone in the restful darkness, high above the ground, where
he could think. It felt good to be home on Kashyyyk. He drew in a
lungful of the woodscented air and practiced a Jedi relaxation
technique, slowly willing his tense muscles to unknot-only to jump a
meter into the air as a set of cold claws pricked his back. Lowie
stumbled to his feet and spun toward the railing, his defensive Wookiee
instincts coming into play.
Sirra, shaking with silent laughter, hauled herself up over the railing
onto the verandah and resheathed her claws, complimenting him on his
reflexes. At least, she said, he had convinced her that he might be of
some help during her quest. Lowie groaned, trying to quell the surge of
adrenaline. He asked her if the surprise had been designed strictly to
test him.
Sirra's voice grew more serious, and she lowered her head. She had
wanted to demonstrate that she could slip off alone, if she wanted, and
Lowie wouldn't have been able to stop her. Sirra turned her head up so
that the starlight gleamed on the pattern-shaved tufts of her fur. Then
she looked at her brother and promised that she wouldn't go without him.
Lowie reseated himself on the railing and gazed up at the stars. He
grumbled about the unexpected ways she made her points.
Sirra purred, thanking him for the odd compliment, making herself
comfortable beside him.
Lowie grunted, not sure he had intended his remark as praise, but the
fact that Sirra was pleased by the comment spoke volumes.
She enjoyed being different, just as her friend Raaba had. . . .
As if sensing the direction of his thoughts, Sirra began talking about
Raaba, how the sleek, dark Wookiee had loved the stars.
Even when they were small, the two young females used to sneak out at
night and watch
the skies for hours.
Lowie's shoulders slumped. Raaba should not have died. She had taken a
foolish risk, going alone.
Sirra growled, pointing out that Lowie had taken exactly the same risk.
Lowie barked in agreement-yes indeed, he had been a fool.
His sister's voice was harsh. If he had it to do again, would he do
anything different?
Would he take a friend?
Lowie nodded a quick affirmative. Sirra said nothing, but even in the
darkness Lowie could see her fur bristling in disbelief. After a DARKEST
long silence he finally sighed, then shook his head.
After another long pause Sirra told her brother how much Raaba admired
him, how much she had wanted to be like Lowie.
Lowie looked up at the sky again, at the stars that Raaba had loved. He
gave a questionin growl. When he had left for the Jedi academy, Lowie
and Raaba had been too young to speak of making a life-bond. He still
had his Jedi training ahead of him . . . and Raaba had plans too. With
Sirra.
Here Sirra's voice broke. She crooned a low mournful note and then
another. After a time, Lowie added his voice to hers, and together
beneath the stars, they poured out their grief for a lost friend.
Hours later, Lowie felt more refreshed than he would have thought
possible, even had he slept the entire night. It had been better to
spend the time growing closer to his sister.
Sirra's husky voice broke into his thoughts, asking about his Jedi
friends. Would they grieve for him, if he were gone? Like she and Lowie
had done for Raaba?
He nodded emphatically, and she told him he was fortunate to have found
them.
Encouraged, he asked her more about the plans she and Raaba had made.
Sirra did not speak for so long he was afraid he had offended her or
reopened an old wound. Finally she described how they were going to be
pilots, galactic adventurer S. They had planned to work on freighters
until they earned enough credits to buy their own ship and explore the
stars. They could have been rich traders. She chuffed with bitter
laughter. Raaba even had some fur-brained notion that they could make
their names by charting out new hyperspace routes.
Lowie's fur bristled, and he commented that such a career was a
dangerous business.
Sirra's tone was wry, pointing out that danger had never deterred their
friend Raaba.
Sirra spread her hands, confessing that she didn't want to do that
anymore. Not without Raaba. She didn't know what she wanted to do
now-but she definitely didn't want to stay on Kashyyyk.
Sirra paused again and stared upward.
Lowie followed his sister's gaze, wonderi... .she imagined Raaba out
there among the stars, exploring and having the adventures the two of
them had always dreamed of.
Sirra sighed. It was difficult to lose a friend, she said.
Lowie realized how easy it was to take friends-and family-for granted.
He found it hard to imagine how lonely his sister must be.
Sirra hesitantly asked him if he would spend the day with her while
Chewbacca and Jaina continued to tinker with the Shadow Chaser.
Remembering his earlier feeling of foreboding, Lowie gladly agreed.
----------------AS MIDMORNING SUNSHINE drove off the last shreds of mist
that clung to the wroshyr treetops, four muscular Wookiees marched to
the transportation control tower of the computer fabrication complex.
The four looked just like any other Wookiees dressed appropriately for
work in the high-tech factory. They were tall and powerful and carried
no visible weapons. The newcomers punched in the correct access codes
and passed into the high-security tower that rose high above the other
tree platforms.
Their timing was perfect for the morning shift change.
When they crossed the checkpoint station into the control tower, the
four passed an electrostatic air-filtration grid. The images of the four
Wookiees flickered in the unseen discharge, just for an instant, before
their appearance restored itself.
No one noticed.
ill The real Wookiees who had been assigned to the next shift lay
stunned inside a small supply chamber in an outer storage platform.
The Wookiees on duty, weary from hours of monitoring the ships that came
and went from the computer facility, were happy to finish their shift
and return home. They signed off their stations and handed over the
equipment to the new crew, who gruffly acknowledged them in synthesized
Wookiee grunts and growls.
The earlier crew departed, leaving the facihty's control points, the
lockout systems, and KashyyyWs satellite defense functions in the hands
of the newcomers.
One of the new Wookiees sealed the control tower door, pulled out a
concealed blaster, then melted the alarm systems and intruder detection
devices. Sparks flew. Metal and plasteel dripped, smoldering black. All
four Wookiees then touched their waists, switching off the hidden
holographic generators belted there. Their images shimmered, dissolving
away, to reveal a commando team from the Shadow Academy.
"Me holo-disguises worked perfectly," Zekk said, brushing at his leather
armor and straightening his crimson-hned cape, happy to be himself
again.
The stormtrooper stationed at the door said, "Alarm systems disengaged.
No problems here."
The other two infiltrators, the Nightsisters Tamith Kai and Vonnda Ra,
stood before the complex computer systems. The Wookieelevel panels
forced them to reach up to use the controls. Vonnda Ra craned her neck
to examine the readouts and identify systems.
Tamith Kai brooded, m@g over various details. She clasped her
long-nailed hands together. "This plan must proceed according to
schedule," she said. "If it does, it looks as if success will be ours."
"We'll succeed," Zekk said confidently. "I won't disappoint Master
Brakiss."
Vonnda Ra worked at two of the control panels, studying keyboards and
diagnostics.
Satisfied, the Nightsister slipped an insulated vibroblade from her belt
sheath and flicked on the humming knife. She bent down under the panels
and slashed sideways to sever the power cords. Bright sparks spat out,
followed by curling white electrical smoke.
She backed away, covering her nose against the acrid smell, then stood
up straight again, looking satisfied. "Kashyyyles orbital defense
systems have been permanently disabled."
Zekk nodded at the destroyed control panel, his green eyes flashing.
"Sure looks permanent to me."
"You're in command of this mission, Zekk," Tamith Kai said, plugging a
hand-held translator into the communications console. "Don't you think
it's time you transmitted your signal to lure those Jedi brats here,
where we can take care of them?" The Nightsister looked insufferably
pleased with herself.
Zekk swallowed, his mind whirling. He had known this moment would come,
and he had to face it.
"Do I sense hesitation?" Tamith Kai snapped.
"No,- he answered, "just working
out the proper wording for the message.
They must be intrigued and concerned . . . and convinced." Zekk hovered
over the communications console, pondering his words, then punched them
into the translator that would convert them to the appropriate Wookiee
dialect and send a text message with the highest priority to where Jacen
and Jaina were staying with their friends.
If he worded it correctly, he knew the twins would come.
Back in the Wookiee home high in the trees, Jacen did his best to keep
up with his friends in the fast-paced computer skill game. But the other
players-Lowie, Sirra, and Tenel Ka-far outmatched his reflexes.
Jaina, meanwhile, had gone with Chewbacca to work on their damaged ship.
The friends sat at the four sides of a rectangular control grid, each
with one hand on the small, flexible motion sensors that guided tiny
laserprojected simulations of space fighters. They fought a miniature
reenactment of the original Death Star battle.
@wie and Sirra flew fast X-wing fighters, while Jacen and Tenel Ka were
stuck with flanking defensive ships, sluggish old Y-wings.
The computer did its best to pursue them all, its simulated TIE fighters
firing repeatedly, while enormous turbolaser cannons emplaced in the
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