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The Lost Ones

Page 7

by Kevin J. Anderson


  his own person, independent--just the way he liked it.

  Overhead, the glowpanels flickered intermittently; those at the far end of

  the corridor had completely burned out. A skittering sound in the ceiling

  ducts signaled the passage of a large and clumsy rodent. Ahead he heard

  another rustling sound, something even bigger.

  Zekk looked up with a gasp to see a tall figure, darker than the inky

  shadows, step out in front of him. "Well, what have we here?" a syrupy voice

  said, deep and powerful.

  The figure stepped closer, and Zekk could see a tall woman with eyes that

  flashed a burning violet. She wore a glittering black cloak with shoulder

  spines like defensive armor. Long black hair flowed around her like

  wire-thin snakes. Her skin was pale, her lips a deep crimson. She tried to

  smile, but the expression looked foreign on her face.

  "Greetings, young sir," she said, her voice oozing persuasion. "I require a

  moment of your time." When she stepped more fully into the light, Zekk

  noticed that the woman walked with a pronounced limp.

  "I don't think so,'' he said, backing up and turning around just as two

  sinister figures emerged from the side corridors: a compact woman with light

  brown skin and wavy bronze hair and a shadow-faced young man with dark bushy

  eyebrows.

  "Just one moment of your time, boy. Vilas and Garowyn here will make sure

  you don't do anything foolish," the dangerous-looking woman said. She limped

  closer to him. "I am Tamith Kai, and we need to perform a test on you. It

  won't hurt a bit." Zekk thought he detected a tone of disappointment in her

  voice.

  The young man Vilas and the short, bronze-haired woman grabbed him from

  behind. Instantly, Zekk struggled, thrashing and shouting out loud. The

  strangers didn't seem bothered by how much noise he made, and Zekk knew with

  a sinking certainty that cries for help were not at all uncommon in these

  abandoned levels, although brave rescuers were. Zekk tried to yank his arms

  free from the claw-like grasp of his captors, but to no avail.

  Tamith Kai withdrew a strange device from the black folds of her cape.

  Unraveling wires connected to a pair of flat crystalline paddles, she

  switched on an additional power grid. A high-pitched hum vibrated through

  the machine case.

  "Leave me alone!" Zekk lashed backward with his foot, hoping to deliver a

  sharp blow to sensitive shins.

  "Be careful," Tamith Kai said to her colleagues with a meaningful scowl.

  "Some of them can be dangerous when they kick." She leaned closer and waved

  the humming crystal paddles around his body, scanning him.

  His heart pounding with fear, Zekk gritted his teeth and squeezed his

  emerald eyes shut. To his surprise, he felt no tingling energy; no burning

  analytical beam sliced through his skin.

  Tamith Kai withdrew, and Garowyn and Vilas leaned over Zekk's bony shoulders

  to observe the readings. Still struggling, Zekk caught a glimpse of the

  glowing image, a colorful aura projected in a micro-hologram.

  "Hmmm, surprising," Tamith Kai said. "Look at the power he has."

  "A good find," Garowyn agreed. "Quite fortunate."

  "Not fortunate for me!" Zekk snapped. "What do you want?"

  "You'll be coming with us," Tamith Kai said. Her tone was filled with

  confidence, as if she didn't care about his objections.

  "I'm not going anywhere with you!" Zekk shouted. "No matter what you found,

  I won't--"

  "Oh, just stun him," Tamith Kai said impatiently, turning about on her stiff

  leg and limping back down the shadow-shrouded corridor. "He'll be easier to

  carry that way."

  Vilas released his grip on the boy's arms, and Zekk tried to run, knowing

  this was his last chance . . . but arcs of blue fire looped out, engulfing

  him and slamming him down into unconsciousness.

  * 9 *

  JAINA STARED MOROSELY at her brothers.

  She bit her lip, wondering what their mother would say when she got back

  from seeing the Karnak Alpha ambassador to her quarters. She hoped Leia

  wasn't too upset with Zekk.

  Jacen paced the living area, muttering to himself. "Blaster bolts!" he said

  with a dramatic gesture. "Can you believe Zekk thinking the bouquet was a

  salad? It's a good thing Tenel Ka was there to head off that other problem.

  We still probably made a terrible impression on the ambassador."

  "I don't think it turned out so badly," Anakin said from where he sat on a

  large cushion near the door. "Mom will handle it. You'll see."

  Jaina groaned. "Zekk probably feels terrible."

  "We'll see him in the morning," Jacen said, when we help him look for that

  central multitasking unit. We can apologize to him then."

  The door to their quarters swished open and Leia walked in wearing a bemused

  expression. After a moment of anxious silence, all three of her children

  spoke at once.

  "I'm sorry, Mom. It's all my fault," Jaina blurted.

  "Was the ambassador very angry?" Jacen asked.

  "Where's Dad?" Anakin said.

  The barrage of questions snapped Leia out of her daze. "Nothing to be sorry

  for, Jaina," she said, giving her daughter a hug. "The ambassador says I've

  got three wonderful children, and they have charming friends." She stooped

  to smooth back Anakin's straight dark hair. "And to answer your question,

  your father had begun discussing hyperspace trade routes to Karnak Alpha

  with the ambassador, and decided to stay for some business that was even

  more important."

  Jaina blinked in surprise at this unexpected turn of events and sat down at

  one end of a long, cushioned repulsorseat. Leia sat down beside her, and

  Jacen settled next to his mother on the other end of the seat. Leia adjusted

  the repulsorseat's controls to a gentle rocking motion. Anakin dragged his

  floor cushion over to sit beside them, quiet and attentive.

  Leia smiled down at her children. "The ambassador was certainly impressed by

  the number of young people we had invited to meet her at the dinner. She

  also said that any adult who was willing to break with her own social

  traditions just to make a child feel more comfortable should have no problem

  negotiating an alliance with Karnak Alpha. I'm glad you twins were here with

  us, rather than at the Jedi academy."

  "That's great, Mom," said Jaina, snuggling deeper into the cushions.

  "I learned something very important about myself tonight," Leia continued.

  "As your father and I walked the ambassador and her children back to their

  quarters, I realized that my kids were more important to me than any

  ambassador. When we got to their quarters, the ambassador said she was ready

  to discuss her planet's alliance with the New Republic . That's when I

  amazed even myself. I said I'd be happy to talk with her about it in the

  morning--but that for right now I needed to be with my children."

  Jaina gave a low whistle. Her mother was always so wrapped up in her duties

  as Chief of State, such a response seemed inconceivable. "You didn't!"

  Leia chuckled. "Yes I did, and you know what she said?" She sounded a bit

  surprised. "She said in that case she no longer had any doubts
that we could

  form an alliance. Everything is all set."

  "If everything's all set, why didn't Dad come back with you?" Anakin asked.

  "What other important business was there?"

  "He offered to stay behind," Leia said, raising her eyebrows, "and tell the

  ambassadors children one of your favorite bedtime stories. Can you guess

  which one?"

  Jacen, Jaina, and Anakin all murmured in unison, "The Little Lost Bantha

  Cub."

  "Then you'll have to tell us a story, too, Mom," Anakin said in a sleepy

  voice.

  So she did.

  * 10 *

  THE NEXT MORNING, as they found their way through the streets, Jacen had an

  uneasy prickly feeling at the back of his neck, as if a trail of mermyns

  were crawling along his skin. Something felt wrong, but he couldn't quite

  put his finger on what it was. "Blaster bolts," he muttered.

  For some reason they all seemed a bit jumpy today. Jaina had taken the lead,

  since she was most familiar with the way to Zekk's quarters. Jacen, on the

  other hand, always got lost. Tenel Ka followed Jaina in silence, her

  shoulders squared, her back rigid, while Jacen and Lowie brought up the

  rear.

  They trooped through the ancient cramped alleyways of metal and stone. The

  lights were too dim in this area, and the air tasted of rusting metal and

  decay. Even the odors were unfamiliar and, to Wookiees at least-judging by

  the wrinkling of Lowie's nose--none too pleasant.

  "Here we are," Jaina said, rounding a sharp corner into an even narrower

  passageway. She stopped at a low doorway and pressed the signal button. The

  indicator light flashed red, denying them access. Jaina bit her lower lip.

  "That's strange. Zekk said yesterday that he'd clear us for access."

  "Perhaps he is more upset than we expected," Tenel Ka suggested.

  "Maybe," Jaina agreed, "but not likely. Zekk doesn't break promises. We've

  had disagreements before, but . . ." Her voice trailed off.

  When Lowbacca rumbled a comment, Em Teedee translated. "Master Lowbacca

  wonders if Master Zekk might not simply have stepped out for a morning

  constitutional. Or perhaps he decided to procure comestibles for morning

  meal."

  "Yeah, that would be better than those stormtrooper rations he gave us last

  time," Jacen pointed out, feeling his stomach gurgle with distaste at the

  thought.

  "He knew we were coming," Jaina said. "He should have been here."

  "Let's wait for a while," Jacen suggested, sitting with crossed legs on the

  floor. "He'll probably turn up in a few minutes with some wild story."

  "That would be just like him," Jaina agreed.

  Jacen, knowing his sister was still worried, tried to sound as confident as

  possible. "He'll be back any minute-you'll see. In the meantime," he

  suggested brightly, "I've got some new jokes, if anybody wants to hear

  them."

  The twins entertained the other young Jedi Knights with stories of Zekk's

  past adventures. Jacen told about the time Zekk climbed forty-two stories

  down an abandoned turbolift shaft because he saw something glittery and

  reflective by the glow of his pulsed-laser spotlight. Imagining treasures

  that grew more and more extravagant with each level he descended, Zekk

  discovered in the end that the shining object was merely a discarded foil

  wrapping stuck to the ooze dripping along the shaft wall.

  Jaina shared a story about how Zekk reprogrammed a personal translating

  device for a group of snide reptilian tourists who had shoved him out of

  line for free samples of a new food product. Zekk changed their translator

  so that every time the reptilian tourists asked for directions to eating

  establishments or museums, they were instead guided to seedy gambling

  parlors or garbage-reprocessing stations.

  "How simply dreadful!" Em Teedee commented.

  Minutes crept by and became an hour, and still their friend did not return.

  At last Jaina stood. "Something's wrong," she said, biting her lower lip.

  "Zekk's not coming."

  Lowie growled and Em Teedee translated, "Master Lowbacca suggests that

  perhaps Master Zekk requires a certain amount of time to overcome his

  embarrassment. I don't suppose I'll ever understand human behavior," he

  added.

  "Maybe," Jaina said, her face troubled and unconvinced.

  "Hey, why don't we leave a videonote, Jacen suggested. "We'll try again

  tomorrow. How long can he stay mad at us?"

  But the next day Zekk was still nowhere to be found. Jacen pressed the

  access request button beside Zekk's front door, but again there was no

  response. Old Peckhum would be returning from the mirror station soon, and

  he would come home to an empty apartment.

  "I think it's time to start looking for Zekk," Jacen said, staring at the

  blank infopanel.

  "Agreed," Tenel Ka said.

  "Well then," Jaina said, rubbing her hands together briskly, "what are we

  waiting for? And if we still can't find him, we'll talk to Mom."

  Leia Organa Solo seemed preoccupied and concerned as they entered her

  private office. Leia smiled at them and brushed a stray hair out of Jaina's

  eyes. "I'm glad you're here, kids. I wanted to show you something."

  Before Jacen or Jaina could tell her about Zekk, Leia played a grainy

  long-range videoclip that showed Imperial attack vessels striking a New

  Republic military supply cruiser in space near Coruscant.

  "That looks like the ship that kidnapped us from Lando's GemDiver Station!"

  Jaina cried. Lowbacca growled in agreement.

  Leia nodded. "I thought so, from your description--and now I can confirm it

  to Admiral Ackbar This attack came two nights ago. We may have a real threat

  on our hands, right here on the capital world."

  Jaina watched the videoclip again and frowned. "Something else isn't right

  about those images. I'm trying to figure out what. . . ."

  Leia returned to her desk. "Admiral Ackbar and a handful of tactical experts

  are analyzing the footage, and they might want to ask you some questions.

  We're stepping up security against the very real possibility that we may see

  another Imperial attack."

  After that news, when Jacen poured out the story of Zekk's disappearance,

  Leia didn't seem overly concerned. She let her gaze drift across all four of

  the young Jedi Knights standing in her office. "All right, let me ask you

  this: Who knows the city better, the four of you . . . or Zekk?"

  "Well, Zekk does," Jacen answered in a hesitant voice. "But-"

  "And if Zekk is upset and hiding somewhere," Leia continued, "is it any

  wonder that you haven't been able to find him?"

  "But he wouldn't do that," Jaina objected. "He promised us."

  "Well then," Leia said in a calm, reasonable voice, "maybe he's found that

  central multitasking unit already and Peckhum shuttled him up to the mirror

  station."

  "But he would have left us a message." Jaina set her mouth in a stubborn

  line.

  "She's right, Mom," Jacen spoke up. "Zekk may seem like a scamp, but he

  always does what he says he's going to do."

  Leia swept her children with a skeptical look. "How many years have we known

&nb
sp; Zekk?"

  Jaina shrugged. "About five, but what-"

  "And in those years," Leia went on, "how many times has he just disappeared

  on some adventure, only to reappear about a month later?"

  Jacen cleared his throat and shifted uncomfortably. "Um, maybe half a dozen

  times."

  "There. You see?" Leia said, as if that closed the matter.

  "But those other times," Jacen pointed out, we didn't have plans to spend

  the day with him."

  Leia sighed. "And those other times he wasn't upset over an embarrassing

  diplomatic dinner, either. Look, he's older than you are, and legally he can

  come and go as he pleases. But even if we knew for certain that he was

  missing--which we don't--there's very little we could do about it. The

  galaxy is a big place. Who knows where he might be?''

  "People turn up missing all the time, and we simply don't have the resources

  to look for everybody. Just this week I've had reports of at least three

  other teenagers missing in Imperial City alone. Why don't you wait and talk

  to Peckhum when he gets back tomorrow? Maybe he'll have some ideas." She

  herded them out of the room so she could get back to work. "Right now I've

  got to get ready for my next meeting with the Karnak Alphan ambassador. And

 

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