Under A Black Sun Trilogy
Page 21
diving through the brightly colored hewns as if they tonned a glowing
waterfall. As the thrantas looped around, preparing to head back out
to the open sky, many small figures dropped off a launching ramp from
the sides of the white metropolis.
Lowie growled in surprise. "People are jumping!" Jaina cried.
"Out into open air!"
"Wait. They seem to know what they're doing," Zekk pointed out.
"Watch. I think it's part of the show."
Jacen's eyes gleamed. "They're thranta riders!"
Smooth-skinned lanky humanoids dove from their precarious perches,
somersaulting into the open sky without a care. Jacen could see that
their exposed skin was painted with whorls of color, in black and red,
yellow and green. The humanoids fell and tumbled without fear ... and
each thranta nosed out and dove toward a particular rider, moving in a
beautifully choreographed dance.
Flapping sail-like wings, the thrantas swooped beneath the tumbling,
dropping humanoids. The thranta riders completed their aerial
acrobatics and each one of them landed perfectly in position on a small
harness on a thranta's back. With a resonant sound muffled by distance
and the vastness of the giant floating city, spectators applauded and
cheered the show.
"They must be training for their sky rodeo," Jacen said. "I've read
about them. Once a month they perform here on Cloud City in what has
to be the most terrific exhibition in this spiral arm. Amazing
creatures-and the riders, too."
Several of the thranta riders now stood on the slippery backs of their
beasts, holding their hands up. The squadron of thrantas swooped
around each other in figure eights and swirled about like a swarm of
maddened insects. In a silent, perfectly executed motion, the standing
thranta riders leapt off the backs of their own creatures and landed on
other ones. The riders switched mounts without a single mistake,
without so much as a slip. Every movement was beautiful and precise,
like patterns in a kaleidoscope.
"If this is practice," Jaina said, "can you imagine what the real show
is like?"
"Maybe Cojahn was hoping to become a thranta rider," Anja suggested
sarcastically. "He jumped off ... but missed. Should've practiced
more in the simulation chambers, I guess."
"That is an interesting hypothesis," Tenel Ka replied, surprising
Anja.
Zekk nodded. "Maybe we should at least talk to some of those thranta
riders, find out if they saw something......
Jaina sat up as cool dusk wind blew her straight brown hair around her
face. "Ought to talk to the people at the SkyCenter construction site,
too. Maybe the Ugnaught shift boss who got fired, if we can find him,
and anyone else Cojahn had contact with."
Zekk nodded. "We've got a lot of leads to follow, but at least Cloud
City isn't as big as a planet. How many places can there be to
look?"
Anja stood up in disgust, putting her hands on her hips. Her piranha
beetle tattoo stood out on her upper right arm. "We'll never find
anything even if we look. The explanation is pretty clear; it's right
in front of us. Lando just doesn't want to admit that it could have
been a suicide or even a simple accident."
"And maybe it wasn't," Jacen said. "It's up to us to find out." He
gave her a wry grin. "And believe me, we've solved greater puzzles
than this before."
"Right," Jaina said. "So what are we waiting for?" laina gasped in
amazement as she walked into the Cloud Dance restaurant, where they had
agreed to meet Lando for a morning mealthough with Bespin's short daily
cycle, any meal could have been a morning, midday, or evening meal.
The eating establishment was at one of the upper levels of the floating
city, extending in a ring from a tall cylindrical tower.
Transparisteel windowports gave a 360-degree view of the clouds, the
sunrise, the passing cloud-car traffic, and a portion of the cluttered
SkyCenter building site, which was covered by temporary screens and
awnings.
With the exception of an opaque walkway around the perimeter of the
circular room, the floor and ceiling were transparent as well. At the
center of the room, a bubble of transparisteel rose from the floor.
Inside it, clouds swirled and danced in ever-changing patterns, lit
from above by multicolored glowpanels.
Lowie bounded past Jaina into the room with a triumphant woof, as if
claiming the restaurant for himself.
Jaina chuckled. "Thought you'd like it. It's your kind of place."
:"This is a fact," said Tenel Ka, entering behind her.
"Hey, I'm starved," Jacen said, rubbing a hand sleepily through his
tousled brown curls.
Jaina gave her brother a playful punch in the arm. "You'll get your
food soon enough. What do you think of the view?"
Jacen took two steps forward. Jaina watched in amusement as the full
impact of the view hit him and he looked around for something to hold
on to.
Lowie crouched on the opaque walkway, staring down into the cloudy
depths, barking enthusiastic comments. "Master Lowbacca wishes to
assure you that-even if the food turns out to be dreadfulthis is the
finest establishment he has ever had the pleasure of dining in," Em
Teedee translated unnecessarily.
Lando entered, flashing a weary grin. "I can assure you, Lowbacca,
that you'll find the food here more than adequate. Glad you could all
join me." He glanced around at the assembled young Jedi. "At least
most of you, that is."
With a flash of imitation Jaina noted that Anja hadn't bothered to show
up on time. Neither had Zekk. Because of the sad-eyed young woman's
hard life, Jaina tried to make allowances for Anja's brusque nature,
but she found it difficult to understand the fascination she seemed to
hold for Jacen and Zekk.
As quickly as the negative thoughts arose, Jaina squelched them, firmly
forcing her mind to more pleasant thoughts. She noticed that a slight
frown had creased her brother's brow. "I'm sure they'll both be here
soon," Jaina said.
Lando selected the table with the best view in the restaurant, and they
all settled onto transparent repulsorbenches.
"Here's Zekk now!" Jacen said, waving his friend over. "And Anja's
probably just out exploring. She gets up early most mornings, you
know. She has an awful lot of energy."
Lando's brown eyes narrowed thoughtfully and he gave a slow nod.
"I can well imagine." He paused, carefully considering his words. "I
know it looks tempting to have all that instant energy, but don't let
her talk you into trying any andris, all right? Spice can do a lot of
damage in the long run, and once you're hooked, well ... I've known a
couple people who tried to quit and didn't make it."
Jaina, Jacen, and the others exchanged confused glances. "What are you
talking about?" Jacen asked. "Who said anything about spice?"
"Ah. Aha," Tenel Ka said. "You believe Anja Gallandro is addicted to
spice?"
Jaina bit her lower l
ip, stared at Lando in shock. Looking at the
circle of serious faces around him, Lando spread his hands wide in
apology. "I ... I thought you knew. Believe me, I've run into this
enough times that I recognize the symptoms: wide eyes with huge dilated
pupils, excess energy, restlessness, large appetite but never seeming
to gain any weight. Not to mention always looking for chances to get
off alone and then coming back with a fresh burst of energy, and the
pale, almost translucent skin, quick temper. .
Jaina sighed. "Sounds like Anja, all right."
"That's impossible," Jacen said. "I would have known."
Zekk said nothing, although he suddenly looked as if he were reviewing
recent events in his mind.
Jaina shrugged. She usually believed that the straightforward approach
was best. "Why don't we just ask her? There she is now."
Anja stood impatiently in the doorway of the restaurant. Spying the
group, she trotted over to the table. Her glance flitted around Cloud
Dance on the way to the table, noting her surroundings but showing
little reaction to them.
"Uh, hi," Jacen said uncertainly as she slid into a seat between him
and Zekk.
No one else spoke. Anja ignored the silence and began studying the
holomenu that appeared on the table in front of her as soon as she sat
down. She seemed to build an invisible wall around her, separating
herself from any companionship.
Lowie nudged Jaina in the ribs, encouraging her to speak. She looked
over at Lando, who raised his eyebrows, obviously waiting.
Jaina cleared her throat. "Before we start eating, I have a question
for you, Anja. It's ... about andris spice."
Anja's reaction was immediate and defensive. She jerked upright and
pushed back from the table. "It's not mine. I'm just keeping it for a
friend. And besides, who are you to go rummaging through my things
and-" Jacen's mouth fell open. He stared at her as if this was the
last thing he'd expected to hear. "So you do have spice?"
Anja's face flushed, and her words were filled with heat. "Well,
obviously Jaina must have found it. Otherwise, why would she-" "Wait,"
Jaina said. "Nobody found anything. And we haven't been going through
your stuff. But there were, urn... you just seem to ...
she faltered, ". . . to be showing signs of spice addiction."
Anja rounded on her. "I am not addicted. Not that it's any of your
business, but yes, I do take andris. Sometimes. Andris does have
legal uses, you know. I use spice when I want to, because I like it.
It's not a problem. And I can quit anytime I want to."
Anja stood, her face stormy. "Anyway, none of you has any right to
question me. Who do you think you are, my father?" She glared at
Jaina, then Jacen. Her voice became even colder. "I don't have a
father.
Han Solo killed him, remember?"
With that, she stormed out of the restaurant.
Anja shook with fury as she stalked down one corridor after another.
Images and emotions seethed in her mind, twisted her stomach. How dare
they confront her like that ... imply that she was addicted to spice!
She slapped a hand impatiently against one leg as she walked.
She had started to think of some of the young Jedi Knights as her
friends. But what gave them the right to ask about her private life?
It was none of their business whether she took spice or not. Their
business here was to visit SkyCenter Galleria and give Lando their
opinion of it.
They had all come to Cloud City to enjoy themselves and-until nowAnja
had been enjoying herself, in spite of the somber news about Cojahn's
death. It certainly wasn't her fault that the clumsy guy had taken a
cloud dive.
Anja drew in a deep breath. Of course, she did have an inkling whose
fault it might be. In all likelihood, Cojahn's death had not been an
accident. Anja was observant and had already seen a few signs that
Black Sun was involved here in some way. She had long known that
Czethros held an interest in several of the gambling casinos on Cloud
City. It was entirely possible that Calrissian's friend had gotten in
the way and Czethros had been forced to have his people remove him. It
was not a pleasant thought, but not shocking either.
She did feel edgy, though, out of control. How she wished she could
take a dose of andris right now. She didn't need it, of course, she
assured herself But it would make her feel so much better....
The urge was almost overwhelming, yet she had little enough of the
precious spice. Czethros was so stingy with what he gave her, even
after all she had done for him. Perhaps if she gave him some
information he might be grateful enough to ...
Her footsteps quickened, and in less than five minutes she found
herself at the doorway to a private comm center. She paid her credits
and slipped into a soundproof booth. She knew the transmission codes
by heart, and within moments an image tonned on the screen in front of
her. The man had close-cropped moss-green hair and an eye visor that
circled the base of his skull like a ring around an oddly shaped
planet.
"This had better be important," Czethros said, dispensing with any
pretense at civilities.
Anja recognized the room behind him as his office on Ord Mantell.
She nodded and got to the point. "It's business, of course-what
else?
I'm on Cloud City, staying at the Yerith Bespin."
She explained how she and the young Jedi Knights had learned of
Cojahn's death and the suspicious circumstances surrounding it, and how
very intent her companions were on discovering Cojahn's real killer.
The moving red light on Czethros's visor hiccuped in agitation as she
relayed her story, and she knew he understood her silent implication:
if he was at all involved, he'd better cover his tracks quickly.
' ' I hoped this information might be ... worth something to you?" she
said, trying to keep the desperate tone out of her voice.
Czethros's scarred face betrayed no expression. "You were right to
tell me, my little velser," he said. "You'll be suitably rewarded.
I'll contact you." With that, he abruptly terminated the
communications link.
Anja smiled. That had gone well, she thought. Since more would be
coming any time, perhaps she would reward herself with just a small
dose of spice.
As the morning wore on, Tenel Ka found herself growing more and more
impressed with Lando Calrissian. She had never gotten to know the man
very well, never spent as much time with him as Jacen, Jaina, or even
Lowbacca had But as the former smuggler led them on a tour of yet
another portion of his enormous, not-quite-finished amusement complex,
it became increasingly clear that the man was intelligent and
quick-witted, a loyal friend and a shrewd businessman.
Even as Lando explained each new attraction to the interested young
Jedi Knights, she could tell he kept his eyes open for any clues to
what really lay behind Cojahn's death. He had asked them to use the
Force to
sense any hidden dangers at the construction site: workers
with malicious thoughts, sabotaged assemblies, or substandard
materials.
As they did this, Lando reviewed the SkyCenter's work logs and message
boards; he interviewed with subtle, probing questions any crew members
they encountered. But the senses of the young Jedi revealed nothing
more unusual in the work crew than sadness, curiosity, or indifference
on the subject of their former boss's demise.
Lando led them down one of twenty transparent corridors that spoked out
from a central domed hub. "We call this area our Climateria, where
visitors can choose from over a dozen different climates. In each
zone," he said, pointing down to the pie-shaped spaces between the
transparent walkways, "people will be able to visit a holographic zoo
that displays creatures living in that sort of climate, go on some
rides, listen to music, visit informational exhibits, and eat food
associated with that particular climate on various planets. For
example, we have a rain forest climate, a low desert climate, an ocean
climate, swamps and marshes-" Tenel Ka had always thought that the
rigorous training Master Skywalker had undergone on Dagobah sounded
interesting and challenging.
"May we visit this swamp climate?" she asked.
' ' Sure." Lando beamed. "After all, that's what you're here for. My