It was obvious he expected no answer, but to everyone's surprise, the pilot spoke back in a calculating voice. "They are your children, pilot? They were alive when I left them--but the jungle is a dangerous place. There's no telling if they will last long enough for you to rescue them."
Tenel Ka marveled at the brilliant strategy. "It's a trick," she said. "He wants you to break off the pursuit."
"I know," Han said, glancing back at her. His face was ashen. "But what if it's true?"
The TIE pilot used Han's brief hesitation to take his last best chance for escape: arrowing upward and bolting straight toward space. The twin ion engines roared through the thinning atmosphere.
Chewbacca yelped in reaction. Without waiting for Han to give the order, the Wookiee copilot pushed the accelerators to maximum. The Falcon, white heat rippling from its rear sublight engines, zoomed after the TIE fighter.
The acceleration slammed Tenel Ka back against her seat, and she grimaced as the tug of additional gravities stretched her skin. She squeezed her eyes shut. Beside her, Lowbacca grunted with the strain, but Han and Chewie seemed accustomed to putting such stress on their bodies.
The bright, milky-blue sky grew darker, turning a deep purplish color around them as they soared upward. The stars shone out as the Falcon pulled into the night of space. The blurry sphere of the great orange gas giant Yavin filled most of their cockpit windows.
The TIE fighter zigzagged to throw off pursuit, shifting course at random intervals and burning a great deal of energy.
"Maybe we can still wound his ship and pull him in," Han said, his voice strained.
Chewbacca piloted the Falcon as Han controlled the weapons systems. "I can't get a target lock," Han said.
The TIE fighter zoomed above the green jewel of the jungle moon.
Arching around in a tight orbit, the Falcon clung to it, following closely. Han fired repeatedly with his laser cannons--but the scarlet bolts missed.
Han pounded his fist on the control panel. "Hold still for a minute!" he shouted.
Then, as if obliging, the TIE fighter paused in the middle of the weapons systems aim-point grid. The target lock flashed brightly, and Han gave a whoop of excitement.
"Gotcha!" he said, and depressed both sets of firing studs.
But at the last possible instant, the lone TIE fighter shot forward with a blaze of astonishing speed, becoming a molten metal point of light. It dwindled in the sudden distance, screaming forward with instant lightspeed--and plunged into hyperspace with a silent bang.
"It's not my fault," Han Solo said, gaping at the vanished target. He let his shaking hands fall away from the firing controls. "A TIE fighter doesn't have lightspeed engines! It's a short-range ship."
Lowbacca grumbled an explanation, and Tenel Ka nodded.
"Jaina did what?" Han said in disbelief. "But that hyperdrive was for her to tinker with, not to install. She's got a lot of explaining to do with I see her--" He broke off, suddenly realizing where the twins were.
"Forget the TIE fighter. Let's go get the twins!" he said.
He changed the Falcon's course and arrowed straight back down to the emerald-green sphere of the jungle moon of Yavin.
Chapter 22
Back at the tiny jungle clearing where the wreck of the TIE fighter had rested for two decades, Jacen and Jaina decided that their best chance for rescue lay in climbing to the treetops--no matter how difficult it might be. From that height, they could spot any incoming ships and set up some sort of signal.
Before leaving, they scrounged at the crash site and at Qorl's old encampment for whatever they could possibly find useful, then stuffed it in their packs. Their Jedi training had taught them to be resourceful.
Remembering how they had used the Force to help them scale the Great Temple with Tenel Ka, the twins found a Massassi tree with plenty of densely interwoven branches and hanging vines. They stared upward, then at each other, before beginning the long, sweaty climb. Jacen and Jaina were scratched up and aching and smeared with forest debris by the time they made it to the top--but to their surprise, they felt invigorated by their accomplishment.
Up in the canopy in a thick nest of tangled branches, they tried to light a leafy fire to send a beacon of smoke into the sky. Jacen collected leaves and twigs and piled them onto a curved piece of plasteel left over from their repairs on the TIE fighter.
Jaina had brought Tenel Ka's flash heater, but the charge was low. When the finger-sized unit sputtered and flashed, sending out a few last sparks, she took the back panel off and used her multitool to tinker with the circuits. By pumping up the power output, she produced one last flash that set the pile of fresh branches on fire.
The lush green leaves burned slowly, and the fire would not gain enough heat to become a bright blaze. But, as they had hoped, a satisfying gray-blue smoke curled upward, a clear signal for anyone who was looking.
Even so, they couldn't be certain that anyone would know where to look. Unless Lowbacca or Tenel Ka had managed to get back to the academy, no one would have any idea where to begin a search.
"Guess it might be a good idea next time if we let someone know where we're going and what we're doing, huh?" Jaina said, staring up at the discouragingly empty blueness.
"Probably," Jacen agreed, settling himself beside her on the branches. Sweat ran down his face as he rested his chin on his grimy hands. "Want to hear another joke?"
"No," Jaina answered firmly. She wiped her damp forehead with the sleeve of her now-ragged jumpsuit, and continued scanning the skies. She shifted beside him, feeling the breeze and listening to the whisper of millions of leaves.
Jacen fed more leaves to the fire.
Suddenly, Jaina sat up straight. "Look!" she said, pointing up. A white starpoint grew brighter, glittering silver. Ripples of sound from a sonic boom echoed like thunder across the sky of Yavin 4. "It's a ship."
Jacen closed his liquid-brown eyes and smiled. Then the twins blinked and looked at each other. "The Falcon," they said in unison.
"Can Dad sense us?" Jacen asked.
"I don't think so," Jaina said. "At least not with the Force. But wait..." She closed her eyes again, reaching out with what she knew of Jedi powers. "Lowie's with him!"
"And Tenel Ka, too," Jacen said. "They're all right!"
Jaina laughed with relief. "Did you expect any less from a young Jedi Knight?"
The Falcon must have spotted their smoke, and now headed toward them. High in the branches, the twins stood and waved. As it approached, the blaster-scarred light freighter seemed the most beautiful machine they had ever seen.
The big ship hovered over them with a gust of its repulsorlifts. Branches blew away beneath them, but Jacen and Jaina held their positions, reaching upward as the bottom access hatch of the Falcon popped open.
Chewbacca's hairy arm dangled down, grabbing Jacen's hands and pulling him up into the ship as if he were a piece of lightweight luggage. A moment later, Lowie's ginger-furred arms reached out to help Jaina up.
Han scrambled from the cockpit, rushing to scoop up both of his children in a big hug. "You're alive--you're not hurt!" he said, looking them over with anxious relief. "Sorry I'm late."
"It's all right," Jacen answered. "We knew you'd come."
Tenel Ka and Lowie also greeted the twins, with hugs all around and enthusiastic thumps on the back.
"Oh, hooray!" Em Teedee's tinny voice chimed in. "This is cause for a celebration."
"Let's get back to the Jedi academy first; I'm sure everyone's been worried about us," Han said. "I think we need to tell about a few adventures."
A few days later, after the Falcon carried the T-23 back from where it had crashed in the treetops, Lowbacca and Jaina worked in the shadow-draped courtyard of the Great Temple, tinkering with the damaged skyhopper. Jaina poked her grease-smeared face up out of the engine compartment and looked around.
She watched as Jacen scurried across the landing field out front, low to the grou
nd, trying to catch an eight-legged lizard crab he wanted to add to his collection. Leaves and broken blades of grass were tangled in his tousled hair, as usual. The creature darted left and right, trying to find a hiding place among the close-cropped weeds of the landing field.
Spying a large shady spot, the lizard crab scuttled for shelter out of reach under the T-23. Jaina giggled as Jacen pulled up short just in time to keep from banging his head against the skyhopper's hull.
With a shrug, he leaned against the craft and brushed the dirt from his jumpsuit. "Oh well," he said, grinning. "Next time."
"As long as you're just standing there, could you please hand me a hydrospanner?" Jaina said.
Jacen bent and rummaged in the tool kit on the grass, then handed the tool up.
"You concentrate on the onboard computer systems, Lowie," Jaina said, discussing repair strategies. "That's what you're best at." At the Wookiee's growl of agreement, she added, "Don't worry about these engines. I'll have them running again in no time."
"Mind if I join you?" a calm voice said from behind her.
"Uncle Luke!" Jaina cried, jumping up and turning toward him. "When did you get back?"
"Only this morning," Luke Skywalker said, looking admiringly at the vehicle. "Could you use any help? I'm pretty good with these little air speeders, you know." He smiled as if savoring a fond memory. "I had a ship a little like this once... my own T-16 skyhopper when I was growing up on--"
Just then, Tenel Ka emerged from the large lower door of the Great Temple. The cool underlevels had once stored the Rebel base's X-wing fighters.
"Excuse me for a moment," Luke said, and turned to raise his hand in a warm greeting. He strode over to Tenel Ka and spoke to her for a long while as if she were an old friend. Being with the great Jedi Master caused the young girl from Dathomir to look uncharacteristically intimidated.
"Well, what are we waiting for?" Jaina asked the others. She opened an inner access panel with her multitool and began running diagnostics on the T-23's engines. Jacen surreptitiously scanned the cropped grass and weeds, looking for another specimen to catch.
Lowbacca snared a tangle of wires from the cockpit control panels and began sorting them by color and function. He murmured to himself as he worked, and Jacen could hear Em Teedee start to speak. At a clunk of something metal hitting the floor plates, Jacen stuck his head into the T-23. Lowbacca had accidentally dropped Em Teedee from his belt again.
The miniature translating droid began scolding the young Wookiee at high volume. "Really, Master Lowbacca, do try to be careful! You've dropped me again, and that's simply careless. How would you like it if your head detached and kept falling on the ground? I am an extremely valuable piece of equipment and you ought to take better care of me. If my circuits become damaged I won't be able to translate, and then where will you be? I can't believe--"
With a grunt, Lowbacca switched off Em Teedee, and then made a satisfied sound.
Jacen looked up to see Jaina staring at the deep blue sky. He followed her gaze and knew exactly what she was thinking. "Do you suppose Qorl ever made it back home?"
"If he does, I wonder if he'll find what he expects when he gets there," she answered. "He would have been better off staying with us."
When they noticed Luke Skywalker and Tenel Ka strolling back toward the T-23, Lowie and Jaina climbed out of the dismantled cockpit to stand next to Jacen.
Luke looked at the battered air speeder and ran his fingertips over its smooth hull. "Back on Tatooine I used to roar through Beggar's Canyon in my own T-16, chasing down womp rats."
Jacen and Jaina looked at their uncle, amazed and unable to imagine the introspective Jedi Master as a hotshot daredevil pilot.
Luke's lips curved in a wistful smile. "That was a whole different life from now." He turned to the young Jedi Knights. "When you get this thing fixed, I'd like to go for a ride with you. If that's all right."
They looked at him in astonishment. Lowie muttered something indecipherable and cleared his throat nervously.
"I hope you're fitting in here, Lowbacca," Luke said, nodding toward the young Wookiee. "I know it's difficult to go away from home and stay in a strange place, but I see you've made some new friends."
He looked at the others. "I'm proud of you all," Luke said. "You did a fine job under very trying circumstances, even when I wasn't here to guide you. You have a lot of potential-but becoming a Jedi Knight takes a great deal of hard work and practice."
The students nodded. "This is a fact," Tenel Ka said solemnly.
"You're young, and there are many things you could do with your lives," Luke said. "Are you certain you still want to become Jedi Knights?"
Their enthusiastic shouts rang out in unison. Lowbacca's loud bellow was so emphatic that even with Em Teedee switched off, none of the others needed a translation.
Star Wars - [Young Jedi Knights 1] - Heirs Of The Force Page 13