"You're not going anywhere, young man," Tyko said. "It's too dangerous.
This recent little escapade with Kusk and his brother make that all too clear."
"Kuar," Tenel Ka said from across the table. "An odd place for a meeting,
is it not? Has it not been abandoned for centuries?"
"You've heard of the planet, then?" Aryn asked.
"Only by reputation," Tenel Ka said, tossing her red-gold braids behind her
shoulders.
"Kuar held a small measure of historic interest for me, since it is one of
the ancient worlds conquered by Mandalorian warriors. A fearsome race of
fighters. I have studied many of their legends."
"Hey, doesn't Boba Fett wear Mandalo-rian armor?" Jacen said.
"And when he found us in the Alderaan system, he was looking for Bornan
Thul."
"All the more reason to go to Kuar," Raynat said. "My father might have
left a message there... or at least a clue."
"It's too risky," Aryn said, shaking her head vigorously.
"Raynar, if you leave our protection here, a thousand villains will be
lying in wait for you."
"Exactly," Tyko added. "If you went to Kuar you could be playing right into
some greedy bounty hunter's hands--or worse.
Until we can find out what kind of mess my brother has gotten himself into,
you and your mother must stay under the protection of the fleet.", "Ah," Tenel
Ka said, "aha. But we do not need to stay, my friends and I."
"Hey, that's right," Jacen said. "We've got Tenel Ka's ship, and we can go
wherever we want. Nobody will notice us."
Jaina spoke up, looking from Aryn to Raynar. "The four of us could check
out Kuar for youinlet you know what we find."
Lowie rumbled his approval, and Raynat's eyes lit with hope.
"That makes five of us," Em Teedee chimed in.
Above them, one of the low-gravity dancers paused for a moment with her
left foot on the top of the dome, then spun off again. Aryn gazed up and watched
the dancer drift away. "It's a very kind offer, but I'm afraid I can't let you
children--" "Mother," Raynat interrupted, "they're not children. These are young
Jedi Knights.
They fought against the Shadow Academy and won."
"Well in that case, I think it's an excellent idea," Tyko said.
"I need to get back to Mechis III soon, just to check on all the automated
systems, or I would make the journey with them myself. The sooner we find out
what's happened to Bornan, the sooner we can all get back to leading our own
lives." He looked around the table at Jacen, Jaina, Lowie, and Tenel Ka. "The
fleet will still be in hiding, but you can report back to me with whatever you
find," he said decisively, "and I'll let you know how to contact Raynar and Aryn
again."
Raynar looked greatly relieved to have his uncle's support in this. "It's
all settled then," he said. "And I'm glad somebody's finally doing something."
"This is a fact," Tenel Ka agreed with a faint smile. "whenever my pilot
and copilot are ready, we can leave."
Jaina gulped down the last bit of oss-berry ale in her cup, then jumped to
her feet. "Well then," she said, "I'm ready for just about anything."
EVERYONE WENT THEIR separate ways, but all wanted to see Bornan Thul safely
back with his family. Uncle Tyko, confident in the new hyperspace jump
randomization program Em Tedee had created, took off for Mechis III in an
ornate, boxy ship the color of tarnished brass.
Immediately afterward, with the young Jedi Knights still in the docking
bay, the Tradewyn and the rest of the hidden Bornaryn fleet made a hyperspace
jump. As soon as the jump was complete, the little translating droid began
busily "supervising" the Rock Dragoh's onboard navicomputer as it calculated the
best route to Kuar.
Few things pleased Jaina more in the middle of a crisis than knowing she
had a mission--and the means to accomplish it.
It felt good to be doing something, to be taking an active part in solving
the mystery of Raynar's vanished father. She and Lowie finished their preflight
check in record time, while Jacen and Tenel Ka stowed supplies aboard the Rock
Dragon.
When all of the preparations were finished, Aryn and Raynar came to the big
flagship's docking bay to see the companions off. Using a time-delay message
transmission,.they had already informed Luke Skywalker of the change of plans,
and now the Rock Dragon was ready to begin the search.
Plainly. wishing he could go with his friends, Raynar took slow, deep
breaths; Jaina could tell he was doing his best to keep the worry off his face.
Lowie, seeing the young man's distress, rumbled a few encouraging words and
thumped him on the back with a huge furry hand.
"Don't worry about us, Raynar," Jacen said. "We'll be careful."
"Trust the Force, Raynar," Tenel Ka said.
"May it keep you safe."
"You can leave this job to us," Jaina added. "If there's any clue to your
father's whereabouts in the ruins of Kuar, we'll pick up the trail." On impulse,
she stepped forward and gave him a brief hug, much to Raynar's surprise. Then,
to cover her own embarrassment, she gave Aryn a quick hug, too.
"Well," Jaina said gruffly, turning back toward the Hapan passenger shuttle
and motioning everyone inside, "what are we waiting for?"
Once they left the merchant fleet behind, Jacen felt a subtle tension
building inside him. He felt glad to be going along, but he didn't have a
purpose yet on this trip. Jaina and Lowbacca were able to direct their energies
into piloting the Rock Dragon.
Tenel Ka searched for more information about the planet Kuar, punching
queries into a datapad on her lap. But Jacen just waited around, with nothing
important to do.
He didn't like feeling at a loss. At first he considered just leaning over
and reading along on Tenel Ka's datapad, but he rejected that idea, afraid the
distraction might annoy her. He had to think of something more substantial to
occupy his thoughts.
want her to think of him as a useless male, as so many of the men on
Dathomir and Hapes were considered. He didn't want to think of himself that way.
He cast about the cockpit looking for some useful task, and his eyes lit on Em
Teedee, who was plugged into the navigational control panel.
"Hey, Em Teedee?" he said at last. "As long as we have the time, let's
review everything we know about the disappearance of Bornan Thul.
Can you keep a list for me?"
"Why certainly, Master Jacen," the translating droid replied cheerfully.
"'I'm always happy to be of service."
Jaina glanced over her shotrider and flashed her brother a grin.
"Good idea. We can all listen in."
Lowie growled the obvious--that Thul's last known destination had been the
meeting on Kuar and then he had disappeared enroute to Shumavar.
"Point noted," Em Teedee said. "Next?"
"Well, we know he was in the middle of some tricky negotiations," Jacen
said.
"Something about a political movement. The Diversity Alliance."
"And that he was keeping the subject of those negotiations a complete
secret," Jaina added. "Dad was worried about them."
"Excellent," Em Teedee said. "Do go on."
"The Twi'lek woman Nolaa Tarkona was somehow involved in the negotiations,"
Tenel Ka said.
"Indeed. If I might add a point," Em Teedee said, "in the rubble field of
Alder-aan we learned from the Slave-1's computer that Boba Fett was hired by
Nolaa Tarkona herself. That would imply she doesn't know where Bornan Thul is
either, so we can logically dismiss the possibility that she somehow captured
him or destroyed his ship."
"That makes sense. Nice piece of work, Em Teedee," Jacen said.
Lowie growled the observation that Bor-nan Thul might have been captured by
someone else, or he might be in hidingwor even dead. In any case, it seemed as
if half the bounty hunters in the galaxy were out looking for Raynat's father.
The Diversity Alliance had offered a lot of credits for the merchant's recovery.
"The price must be high enough to risk dying for," Jaina said with a
shudder. "The bounty hunter in the High Roller seemed to think so."
Jacen thought for a minute. "All those bounty hunters must be assuming that
Bornan Thul disappeared voluntarily and doesn't want to be found," he said.
"Otherwise, why go to such great lengths to get Raynar and Aryn as hostages?"
"Kusk and his brother must have intended to lure Thul from hiding using his
family as bait," Tenel Ka agreed.
"What else do we know?" Jacen mused.
"Well, if Thul is hiding, something must have happened to spook him," Jaina
observed, "and spook him badly."
In a flash, an idea hit Jacen. "Hey, Em Teedee, access the news reports in
the week leading up to the time Bornan Thul disappeared."
"Why certainly, Master Jacen. What sort of news?"
Jacen shrugged. "I'm not sure. Look for anything big or significant that
might have happened along the general route Bornan Thul would have taken between
Kuar and the trade conference on Shumavar."
"Dear me!" Em Teedee exclaimed. "I suppose that narrows it down a bit, but
do you know how many systems there arere?"
"Just do your best," Jacen said.
"I always do, Master Jacen," the droid replied. "One moment... ah, here's
something," he said. "A double solar eclipse occurred on the fourth planet in
the Deb-ray System." The young Jedi exchanged glances. Finally Jacen said, "I
don't think that helps us any. What else do you have?"
Em Teedee made a noise that sounded oddly like gnashing teeth, then
continued.
"There was a global election on Kath IIm" he paused briefly--"notable only
for the fact that not a single human was elected to office, although fully one
third of Kath's population is human. The Diversity Alliance was campaigning
heavily there."
Lowie barked a comment. "Yes, very odd," Em Teedee said.
"Probably won't help us in our search, though," Jaina said, raising her
eyebrows and waiting.
"Please continue, Em Teedee," Tenel Ka prompted.
"Mmm, odder still," Em Teedee murmured after a short pause to retrieve more
data. "It seems that contact was completely lost with an all-human colony on the
planet Gammalin. No one has heard from them since the day after Bornan Thul's
appointment on Kuar was to have taken. place."
"Ah," Tenel Ka said.
"Anything else?" Jacen asked.
"In all probability, yes, Master Jacen," Em Teedee said. "Please be
patient. I have fifteen thousand three hundred forty-two other files to search."
Jacen leaned back in his seat and sighed.
The trip to Kuar was going to be a long one.
WHEN THE LIGHTNING Rod arrived at the small colony of Gammalin, Zekk
powered up his corem system to request clearance to land. Despite repeated
hails, however, he could raise no one. In fact, his ship's scanners detected no
signs of life at all on the human settlement.
Then again, the sensors hadn't been checked since Zekk's run-in with Boba
Fett in the rubble fields of Alderaan. He'd have to have them tuned up when he
got to a port with a good mechanic bay. Maybe he could even arrange for Jaina to
do it. There were times when he longed to see her again....
The colonists had built only one city on Gammalin, a frontier town.
According to its coordinates, the settlement currently lay on the night side of
the planet, approaching morning. But from orbit, Zekk could spot no city lights
when passing over its position, even with his high-powered electrobinoculars.
He found this curious. The three-armed bartender on Borgo Prime had been
quite specific: the missing scavenger Fonterrat had come here.
And Zekk's own brief twinges through the Force told him that Droq'l must be
right. But if so, where was everyone?
As he continued to orbit the planet, he wondered if the city had suffered a
massive power outage. Or maybe this was standard procedure here; a colony
strapped for resources and credits might shut down all power every night as an
austerity measure.
Zekk noted the position of the town on the edge of the planet's night side.
The local time would be almost morning. In the absence of any direct
communication from the surface, he began a conservative standard descent,
confident that all his questions would soon be answered. - - he would see for
himself.
Gammalin was dry and rocky. Zekk's instruments indicated a strong breeze
that gusted regularly, moving the dust around.
As the Lightning Rod cruised over the frontier town, dawn began to break.
The sun spilled yellow-gold light across the silent settlement.
Instead of a bustling colony, though, Zekk found only death.
Clusters of weathered prefab buildings lined streets laid out on a precise
grid.
He spotted no movement, no lights, not even the flicker of candles or
torches... though he did see several blocks that must have been gutted by a fire
raging out of control. It had burned itself out, but there was no evidence that
anyone had even tried to stop the fire.
He powered up his comm system and broadcast repeatedly: "Gammalin Colony,
this is the Lightning Rodinplease respond."
A tingle ran down his back, echoes of the Force warning him to be cautious.
This place did not look right. Did not feel right.
Had it been abandoned? Entirely evacuated?
And if so, why had no one left a beacon?
As he came in lower, Zekk saw the first body lying facedown in the street.
Fine dust obscured most of the body, but there was no mistaking that the person
was dead.
Now, knowing what to look for, he distinguished other human forms sprawled
about, arms and legs akimbo, completely covered by the perpetually blowing dust.
Zekk couldn't believe what he was seeing.
He used his scanners as he flew over the entire city, and still detected no
signs of life. "Are they all dead?" he muttered to himself. Had Fonterrat come
here and been killed by whatever had wiped out the rest of this human colony?
Maybe there was nothing wrong with the sensors after all.
This was beyond anything in Zekk's previous experience. He set the
Lightning Rod down in a clearing and prepared to investigate the disaster,
feeling compelled to do so. He'd come here merely to find an
other scavenger--one
who might provide a clue to the location of Bornan Thul--and to fulfill his
first assignment as a bounty hunter, but now he had one more mystery to solve.
Could Grammalin have been attacked and wiped out by pirates or marauders,
perhaps even some leftover Imperial fleet?
He didn't think so. He saw no collateral damage no blasted buildings, no
explosion craters only the section of burned homes, which could well have been
an accidental fire from some heat source left untended.
He shut down the Lightning Rod's engines, but kept them primed just in case
he had to leave in great haste. He paused at the exit hatch before unsealing it,
afraid of the stench of death he was sure awaited his first breath outside--if
the entire population had died, then no one was left to dispose of the bodies.
Zekk froze with his finger on the hatch controls. Wait.t What if this was a
virus or bacteria of some kind? That could explain how everyone had been struck
down, why all the buildings seemed abandoned, why no one answered the comm
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