Dark Apprentice
Page 10
the pool began to return to stillness.
The window to the universe had vanished.
"Enough for tonight," Luke said, sighing in satisfaction. He heaved
himself dripping over the lip of the mineral spring and stood. He could
smell
sulfurous steam rising from his body as he found the rough folds of his Jedi
robe piled on the floor. "Think about what you have learned."
With that the trainees began laughing and congratulating each other. They
climbed out, one by one. Gantoris assisted Dorsk 81, who thanked him before
donning his robe. "Next time I will be stronger," Dorsk 81 said in the
dimness.
"I know you will be."
Luke met the dark-haired man as he pulled the robe over his head. "That
was a good thing you did, Gantoris."
"It was only heat," Gantoris said, and his voice became grim. "There are
far worse things than heat." He paused, then spoke as if divulging a secret.
"Master Skywalker--you are not the dark man who haunted my nightmares on Eol
Sha. I know that now."
The confession took Luke aback. He could not see Gantoris's expression in
the dim light. On Eol Sha, Gantoris had suffered horrifying premonitions,
but
he had not spoken of his nightmares since arriving on Yavin 4. Luke tried to
ask why he had mentioned it now, but the other man turned, gliding past the
gathered trainees as they made their way back up the gloomy tunnels.
* * *
In the humid morning the trainees gathered in the ship-landing area to
continue their exercises. Mists rose to the crown of the Great Temple.
Sounds
of the stirring jungle buzzed around the students as they practiced
preposterous lessons to improve their supernatural balance, to encourage
simple feats of levitation.
Luke paced among them as they attempted the things Yoda had taught him in
the steamy swamps of Dagobah. He smiled as Kirana Ti and the young
minstrelsthistorian Tionne joined forces. Laughing and concentrating, the
two
women lifted Artoo-Detoo in the air as the little droid puttered about,
clearing the ever-encroaching weeds from the landing grid. Artoo vented
electronic beeps and whistles as he floated; his treads spun in the air.
Behind them Gantoris emerged from the shadowy mouth of the temple,
striding into the hazy light. Luke turned to watch him approach.
"Glad you could join us, Gantoris!" he said with a combined touch of good
humor and scolding as he looked significantly up at how high the orange gas
giant had risen to fill much of the sky.
Gantoris's face looked rough and red, as if scorched; tough, smooth skin
covered his forehead where his eyebrows should have been. He had braided his
thick black hair into a long strand that hung past his shoulders.
"I have been preparing for a new test," Gantoris said, and reached into
the folds of his robe. He removed a black cylinder.
Luke blinked his eyes in astonishment at seeing a newly constructed
lightsaber.
Artoo crashed to the ground with a terrified squeal as both Kirana Ti and
Tionne lost their concentration. The others ceased their lessons and stared
in
astonishment.
"Fight me, Master Skywalker," Gantoris said. He removed his robe to
display the padded captain's uniform he had worn as the leader of his people
on Eol Sha.
"Where did you get a lightsaber?" Luke asked cautiously, his mind
whirling. None of his students should have been able to master the
technology
or the discipline yet.
Gantoris fingered the controls on the handle, andwitha loud spitting
sound the glowing blade extended, a white incandescent core of energy
fringed
with deep violet. He moved his wrist, flicking the blade back and forth,
testing it. A bone-vibrating hum scalded the air. "Isn't it the test of a
Jedi
to build his own lightsaber?"
Luke proceeded carefully. "The lightsaber may seem the simplest of
weapons, but it is difficult to master. An unpracticed wielder is as likely
to
injure himself as his opponent. You aren't ready for this, Gantoris."
But Gantoris stood like a weathered Massassi colossus, holding the
blazing edge of his lightsaber vertically in front of his face. "If you
don't
ignite your lightsaber and fight me, I will cut you down right here." He
paused with a smirk. "That would be a rather embarrassing fate for a Jedi
Master, wouldn't it?"
Reluctantly, Luke shrugged out of his robe. He pulled his own lightsaber
from the waist of his comfortable gray flightsuit and, feeling the Force
thrum
through him, ignited the yellow-green blade.
The other trainees watched in amazed silence. Luke wondered how he could
have miscalculated so greatly, how Gantoris had gained access to information
that only an advanced student should have obtained.
He stepped forward, raising his blade. Gantoris stared unblinking. Luke
saw his red-rimmed eyes burn with a depthless intensity, and he felt a
twinge
of fear.
They crossed blades with a crackle of dissipating power, testing each
other. He felt the resistance of the energy blades, the flow of the Force.
He
and Gantoris struck again, harder this time, and sparks flew.
Abandoning all pretense of testing, Gantoris launched himself at Luke,
hacking and slashing with the white-violet saber. Luke blocked each blow,
but
fought only defensively to keep from provoking his student.
Gantoris made no sound as he struck again and again. The lightsabers
intersected with a flash of multicolored lightning. The fury in Gantoris
astonished Luke, and he backed toward the jungle's edge, unnerved by the
violence.
Gantoris pressed his advantage. Luke blocked away all thoughts of the
other trainees watching.
"Am I a Jedi now?" Gantoris asked in a husky voice.
Luke parried, then blocked another blow, locking both blades in a
snapping, sizzling spray of discharged energy. He spoke through clenched
teeth. "Training requires diligence and commitment. And control. A Jedi
needs
to know more than how to build a lightsaber. He must also learn how and when
to use it!"
Luke drove forward, suddenly taking the offensive. He struck and struck,
careful not to injure Gantoris but confident in showing his mastery. "The
lightsaber is the weapon of a Jedi Knight, but a true Jedi rarely uses it to
settle a dispute. It is better to outthink and outmaneuver your opponent.
But
when forced, a Jedi strikes quickly and decisively!" He slashed down, hard.
Clumsily defending himself, Gantoris backed into a tangle of jungle. Dew
sprayed from underbrush as they trampled stands of climbing ferns. Startled
flying creatures flapped away with squawks. Gantoris swung and slashed
wildly
at Luke's lightsaber, using brute force but no finesse. He bumped against a
wide-boled Massassi tree, and flakes of purplish bark fell to the ground in
an
uneven patter.
> Luke stood over him, intending to call an end to the duel, but Gantoris's
eyes blazed brighter. As if springing a trap, he fingered a button on his
lightsaber handle--and the violet-edged blade suddenly extended like a
spear,
flashing outward to nearly double its length.
Reacting with lightning reflexes, Luke jerked aside, and the point of
Gantoris's energy blade slashed through the sleeve of his gray flightsuit,
leaving a smoldering gash.
He stared at Gantoris in disbelief for a precious fraction of a second.
Not only had Gantoris built his own lightsaber, but he had constructed a
blade
with multiple jewels, allowing him to adjust the amplitude of his blade.
Such
a weapon was at least twice as difficult to make as a traditional
lightsaber,
and Gantoris had done it by himself!
Without pausing Gantoris pressed his advantage, lunging with his longer
blade, knowing that Luke could not come close enough to touch him.
The thin, wavering voice of Streen called out, "Gantoris!" unheeded by
Luke or Gantoris. The other students pressed toward the edge of the jungle,
but this battle was between Luke and Gantoris alone.
He was dismayed to see the recklessness in Gantoris--it reminded him of
his own last battle with Darth Vader as the Emperor gloated, encouraging
Luke
to feel the anger flow through him. Luke had almost fallen then, almost
allowed himself to give in to his anger and begin the journey to the dark
side. But he had been strong enough in the end.
Gantoris seemed dangerously close to the edge.
Luke coiled his muscles, gathered his strength, and leaped upward. With a
boost of his levitating ability, he soared high enough to reach a thick
lower
branch of the Massassi tree. He landed gently, keeping his balance as he
looked down at the outraged Gantoris.
"How did you learn all this?" Luke called over the hum of lightsabers,
trying to break through Gantoris's intensity.
The fiery-tempered man turned his face up, glaring with red-rimmed eyes.
"You are not the only teacher of the Jedi way!"
With a low-throated outcry, Gantoris held his lightsaber with both hands
and slashed sideways, sizzling through the massive trunk of the tree. Sparks
and smoke and the wet cinnamon smell of scalded sap spilled into the air.
The
ancient tree shifted sideways, then crashed through clinging upper branches
as
it toppled.
Luke leaped free and landed easily in a rotting tangle of moss and fallen
branches. He needed to end this soon. Gantoris seemed possessed by an anger
he
could not control, and simple Jedi calming techniques could not reach him.
Gantoris shortened his blade to a more usable length, matching Luke's as
he came in for the attack. Luke let his student press him back, through
climbing ferns and brilliant nebula orchids. He reached out through the
Force,
sensing the jungle around them, looking for a useful diversion.
And found it.
He faked a stumble against a broken fungus-covered rock and lurched
sideways toward a thicket. Gantoris charged after him, slashing vines out of
the way in puffs of gray steam. Gantoris would never hear the burbling
grunting noises coming from the thicket.
Luke jumped aside as Gantoris hammered down with his lightsaber. The
violet-white blade sliced through thorns and interlocked twigs--and a
startled, outraged beast charged out of the underbrush with an operatic
range
of bellows.
The snorting runyip flailed from side to side as it stampeded past them.
It was a massive, clumsy creature covered with oily fur and clods of dirt
stuck to its flexible nose where it had been rooting among the decaying
vegetation.
The outburst distracted Gantoris for only a second. But Luke used the
moment to reach out with the Force. Grasping with invisible hands, he yanked
the lightsaber handle out of Gantoris's grip and used his skill to push the
button that deactivated the blade.
Luke snatched Gantoris's weapon from the air, gripping it with his left
hand, and switched off his own lightsaber. Suddenly, without the roaring
hiss
of dual blades, the jungle seemed disturbingly silent.
Gantoris stared at him, unmoving. Both of them panted with trembling
exhaustion. They stood close to each other, within arm's reach. Pearls of
sweat appeared on their foreheads.
Reaching his decision, Luke broke the frozen moment. He flipped the
handle of Gantoris's lightsaber forward and extended it toward the other
man.
Gantoris tentatively took his weapon back, glanced at it, then met Luke's
gaze
again.
"Good exercise, Gantoris," Luke said, "but you must learn to control your
anger. It could be your undoing."
Through the simmering haze of a security field deep within the steelcrete
mazes of Coruscant, Kyp Durron looked at the thorn shape of the Sun Crusher.
He squinted to get a better view, leaning forward until three heavily
armed New Republic guards strode to bar his way. Within the hangar he could
see another crew of guards standing around the Sun Crusher itself. Just
inside
the electrostatic security field, a huge blast door hung ready to clang down
at a moment's notice.
With his small wiry frame, free grin, and tousled dark hair, Kyp didn't
think he could possibly pose any threat, but the three guards pointed their
blaster rifles at his chest. "This is a restricted area," the sergeant said.
"Leave immediately, or we will shoot."
"Hey, relax," Kyp said, raising his hands. "If I wanted to steal the
thing, I would never have flown it here in the first place."
The sergeant looked at him skeptically. It was obvious he didn't have a
clue what Kyp was talking about.
"I'm Kyp Durron. I flew the Sun Crusher with Han Solo from Maw
Installation. I just wanted to have another look."
The sergeant's stony expression did not change. "I don't know General
Solo personally," he said, "but I have orders to restrict all access. No
exceptions."
Kyp shifted to one side to see between the guards. He disregarded their
presence, looking again at the angular superweapon that had been developed
by
the captive scientist Qwi Xux at Maw Installation.
Dr. Xux had innocently designed a weapon that could trigger a star to
explode, wiping out all life in an entire solar system. Qwi had done it as
an
exercise to test the limits of her scientific abilities; but Han had broken
through her brainwashing and made her realize what she had created. Qwi had
then helped them steal the superweapon and escape from Admiral Daala and Maw
Installation.
Kyp was glad the Sun Crusher was now in the hands of the New Republic,
but it concerned him that the Senate couldn't decide what to do with it. The
existence of such a powerful weapon seemed to change the attitudes of even
good people in the government.
Kyp watched as en
gineers and mechanics attempted to understand how the
Sun Crusher worked. They used laser-welders against the ultradense quantum-
plated armor, but nothing could scratch the indestructible craft.
Two mechanics clambered out of the upper hatch, carrying a metal cylinder
a meter and a half long and half a meter wide. Three engineers at the bottom
of the hangar bay craned their necks to look up at the cylinder and dropped
their hydrospanners in horror. Another engineer put down her precision
calibrator and backed away very slowly.
"It's one of the supernova torpedoes!" an engineer said.
The two mechanics carrying it suddenly froze. Someone sounded a squawking
alarm. The guards inside the security field ran about looking for targets to
shoot. The trapped engineers and mechanics screamed for the deadly security
field to be dropped so they could evacuate. The three guards outside whirled
and leveled their blaster rifles at Kyp, as if he had become a threat after
all.
He laughed. "It's only a message cylinder," he said. "Have them open it
up--they'll see. It's where the log recorders are kept so vital data can be
ejected if the Sun Crusher ever gets destroyed."
But as alarms hammered through the air, and people inside the restricted
hangar ran around in panic, the guards showed no interest in Kyp's
explanations. "You'd better leave now, young man. Immediately!" the sergeant
said.
Shaking his head, part in amusement and part in annoyance, Kyp circled
back up the long corridors, wondering how long it would take the supposed
experts to figure it out.
Wedge Antilles watched with admiration as the beautiful and ethereal
alien scientist, Qwi Xux, stepped forward and prepared to address the New
Republic Assembly.
Qwi did not like to talk in front of an audience, and she had been
nervous for days after setting up this speech. A solitary person, she had
begun to confide in Wedge now that he spent most of his time as her official
bodyguard and liaison. Wedge had encouraged her in every way, trying to calm
her, insisting that she would do a wonderful job. He supported her belief
that
she could no longer ignore the Sun Crusher.
Qwi had looked at him gratefully. Her wide indigo eyes were in striking
contrast to her pale, pale blue skin and the gemlike cap of pearlescent
feathers that draped from her head down to her shoulders.