Under A Black Sun Trilogy

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Under A Black Sun Trilogy Page 33

by Kevin J. Anderson


  ,"This would never have happened when I was Baron-Administrator.

  I guess you just can't find good help these days." Lando shook his

  head.

  "Meantime, I'll just have to be content with helping to expose some of

  the tainted Exex and Wing Guard members, and a few key people in the

  Merchants Guild and other politicians. This conspiracy runs deep."

  With what they had learned from the thranta rider and Figrin D'an, and

  everything Lowie had pulled from Cloud City computer archives, they had

  a fair idea of just how far-reaching the plans of Czethros were.

  He had influence on many types of gambling, smuggling, and strongarm

  operations.

  Jaina suspected, though, that they had only begun to uncover the depths

  of the insidious schemes of Black Sun. They had sent out an alert, and

  New Republic forces planned to apprehend Czethros immediately-but Jaina

  knew that the supposedly respectable businessman from Ord Mantell must

  have spies and information sources everywhere, ,-,nd realized that

  Czethros might already be gone ... one step ahead of them.

  As morning sunlight spilled across the lower cloud banks, painting them

  with a golden glow, Jaina heard a loud musical fanfare from the

  outwardly directed speakers mounted on the scaffolding and on launching

  platforms.

  "It's starting!" Jacen said, scooting closer to Tenel Ka.

  "I look forward to the performance with great enthusiasm," Tenel Ka

  said in a neutral voice. The barest hint of a smile quirked one corner

  of her mouth.

  With silent, flapping wings, a swarm of thrantas burst out, streaked

  away from Cloud City, and circled in the clouds. The skirling music

  rose and fell in a hauntingly beautiful melody. The thrantas looped

  about, dancing a sky ballet in time to the notes. The tattoos and body

  paintings on the cloud riders were so bright, they dazzled like

  rainbows as the thrantas whirled through the air.

  Two of the performers unfurled a brilliant fluttering ribbon, tossing

  it from one rider to another, hurling the fabric ever higher to weave a

  colorful pattern like a cat's cradle in the sky. All the thrantas

  continued to fly in perfect formation, the cloud riders holding on to

  their corners of the long ribbon.

  Then a second troupe of thrantas launched themselves from their docks

  on Cloud City, flitting ahead of and around the colorful ribbon

  structure in the sky. They swarmed through openings and loops in the

  fabric-mesh, flying so close that their wing tips almost, almost

  touched the fluttering banner. But Jaina saw no mistakes, no

  slipups.

  Then, at an unspoken signal, the cloud riders exchanged positions,

  shifting the pattern of the woven ribbon, reshaping it like a bright

  laserlight design in the sky.

  Jacen stood up, hooting, applauding, and yelling at the top of his

  lungs. The second squadron of cloud riders broke free and darted back

  toward Cloud City. Jaina watched in amazement as one of them stripped

  out of formation and buzzed past the hover-scaffolding where they all

  sat. A thin young rider waved a broad hand and grinned from the back

  of his thranta.

  "That's M'kim!" Jacen shouted, waving.

  Directly in front of them, the barefooted rider did a backward

  somersault in the air and landed effortlessly on the flying creature's

  back. The thranta streaked off to rejoin the rest of the performing

  group.

  "It looks like they're letting him be an official part of the troupe at

  last," Jacen said. "He's finished his training."

  Tenel Ka nodded, a contented look on her serious face. "Training must

  end eventually, and then the real work begins."

  "That doesn't mean you can't always learn something new," Zekk added.

  Lando, still watching the sky rodeo, turned back to the young Jedi

  Knights. "Speaking of which, it's about time I got you all back to

  Yavin 4."

  With the oppressive sounds and smells of the jungle moon around her

  once again, Anja did not know what she was going to do. She sat alone

  on a high stone ledge of the Jedi academy's Great Temple. The chipped,

  weathered stone, covered with moss, felt cold and uncomfortable. But

  she didn't care.

  Anja stared out above the tangled forest to where the orange pastel

  ball of the gas giant planet Yavin dominated the sky. She felt trapped

  on this humid, overgrown moon-helpless. She hated to feel helpless.

  No one knew her secret, though she wasn't sure how much it mattered

  now. She was at her wits' end, torn between incompatible loyalties.

  Yes, Anja had pretended to show surprise at the news that had so

  interested the young Jedi Knights, but in her heart she had greeted it

  only with a kind of stoic dread. As they had feared, Czethros had

  disappeared completely, draining all readily available credits from his

  accounts and shutting down his respectable warehouse and shipping

  business on Ord Mantell.

  He had gone underground, vanished without a trace. New Republic troops

  had confiseatedeverything that remained in his stripped offices, while

  investigators searched for clues to his whereabouts ... but Anja knew

  Czethros well enough. She was certain that the Black Sun lieutenant

  had left no loose ends, no evidence, no information through which he

  could be traced.

  Czethros was gone. She had no way to contact him.

  And her last precious supply of andris spice was almost gone!

  What could she do when it ran out? She had no idea where she might

  obtain another supply. It wasn't fair. She'd worked so hard, done all

  of the devious things Czethros had demanded of her. They'd had a

  partnership z)f a sort: he had requested small tasks of her, in return

  for which he had set her up with Han Solo and his children and given

  her the opportunity for her ultimate revenge.

  But now, the moment the tide turned against him, Czethros had abandoned

  her. He had run, leaving her to fend for herself. Anja was certainly

  good enough at that. She'd taken care of herself all her life, since

  her father had died when she was an infant-shot by Han Solo.

  Or had that truly happened? Anja was no longer certain. She had never

  wanted to believe that the great Gallandro, her father, might have been

  responsible for his own situation. She had wanted to find a scapegoat,

  someone to blame for his murder ... and Han Solo had fit the bill

  perfectly. What better revenge could Anja take than to go after his

  children?

  Czethros had been true to his word there, at least, but now she felt as

  if she'd been set adrift, abandoned....

  Laughing, Jacen bounded out of the temple shadows and ran across the

  stone platform on the roof of the rebuilt Massassi temple. He skidded

  to a halt in surprise when he saw her sitting there alone, deep in

  hought.

  "Hey, Anja!" Jacen said. "Zekk and Jaina and Lowie and Tenel Ka and I

  are going out into the jungles, do a little exploring. You want to

  come along? There's plenty to see out there-the strangest plants and

  insects you've ever imagined. I'll even show you a piranha
beetle if

  you want.- They look just like your tattoo."

  ' ' No thanks," she said automatically, without even thinking about her

  response.

  With a beep and a twitter, Artoo-Detoo trundled out behind Jacen.

  The astromech droid flashed his sensor light, assessing the

  situation.

  Jacen shrugged. "Okay, but remember, we want you to feel like you can

  participate in stuff that we're doing. I know Uncle Luke doesn't

  believe you have real Jedi potential, but that doesn't matter. You can

  still learn. You can still improve yourself-your reactions, your

  abilities."

  "I know all that, Jacen," she said snappishly. "I'll make up my own

  mind, okay? No need to treat me like a baby."

  Jacen stepped back, startled. "Hey, I wasn't treating you like a

  baby," he said. "I was treating you like a friend."

  Then he turned and followed Artoo-Detoo back into the temple.

  The small droid twittered and gave a mournful whistle, as if scolding

  Anja. She just glared at the polished domed head as Artoo rolled back

  inside.

  She stared out at the jungle again, her thoughts in turmoil.

  Everything had been so clear until she'd gotten to know the Solo twins

  better. She hadn't had any doubts in the beginning. Her resolve had

  been inn. Why was it so difficult now?

  And did she really want Jacen and Jaina to be harmed in retaliation for

  something that had happened long ago to Gallandro, a man whoshe had to

  face it-she'd never really met?

  Czethros, her supposed mentor, might never show his face in open

  sunlight again. He would be too easily recognized. He was a hunted

  man now.

  And that left her here, to continue the charade. Anja didn't know what

  she could do in this place. She certainly didn't want to be a Jedi!

  She reached down, picked up a pebble, and tossed it off the edge of the

  ziggurat toward the jungle. She watched as it fell into the underbrush

  below.

  She already felt the hunger and the deep need for another dose of

  spice, but she would tolerate it for now. She could be strong. Anja

  had always been strong.

  But she didn't know how long she could last.

  The simmering jungle sounds grew louder as she listened to them.

  The verdant jungle moon and Luke Skywalker's Jedi academy seemed far,

  far away from anything else she had ever known.

  "She's not coming," Jacen said, joining the other young Jedi Knights at

  the base of the Great Temple.

  Jaina must have heard the note of dejection in his voice, because she

  put a comforting hand on his arm and said, "Anja probably wouldn't

  enjoy exploring with us right now, anyway. She could probably use the

  time alone."

  "She seems kind of edgy since we got back," Zekk agreed. "I'm sure

  it's nothing personal."

  Lowie rumbled a suggestion.

  "Indeed!" Em Teedee exclaimed. "I daresay we shall have an excellent

  time together if we make the attempt."

  "Ah. Aha." Tenel Ka cleared her throat, then paused as if considering

  a very important topic. Her cool grey eyes met Jacen's brandybrown

  gaze. "Did you ever hear the story about the Jawa who mistook a rancor

  for a ronto?"

  Jacen grinned and took her hand in his. "Yeah, I think so. But it's a

  good one. Why don't you tell it to us?"

  Together, the friends walked toward the jungle.

  This one is for Catherine Ulatowski-Sidor for helping us look

  organized even when we're not, for being there to catch any balls we

  drop, for being a careful and enthusiastic reader, and for being a

  friend

  ACKNOWLED6MENTS

  Thanks to Matt Bialer and Josh Holbreich of the William Morris Agency

  for their encouragement on this project; Sue Rostoni, Allan Kausch, and

  Lucy Autrey Wilson at Lucas Licensing for their valuable input-, Ginjer

  Buchanan and Jessica Faust at Boulevard Books for their unflagging

  support throughout these fourteen books; Dave Dorman for his fabulous

  cover art on each and every book; Debra Ray at AnderZone for cheering

  us on; Sarah Jones at WordFire, Inc for keeping things running

  smoothly; and, as always, Jonathan Cowan for being our first

  test-reader.

  A special thanks to the many, many fans who wrote or visited us at book

  signings to tell us how much the Young Jedi Knights have meant to

  them.

  We couldn't have kept going without you.

  On the grassy landing field in front of the Jedi academy's Great

  Temple, an old-model cargo ship gleamed in the morning sun. Though

  some might have considered the Lightning Rod little more than a junk

  hauler well past its prime-perhaps better suited to be hauled away as

  junk-it was Zekk's pride and joy. The young, dark-haired Jedi walked

  in a slow circle around his ship, appraising the recent repairs with

  his sharp emerald gaze.

  "You're awfully attached to this scrap heap, aren't you?" Jaina

  observed with good humor.

  Zekk looked into her brandy-brown eyes, raised an eyebrow, and

  grinned.

  "Jealous?"

  "Maybe just a little." Jaina took a sudden interest in a minute

  scratch on the hull plating. "Kinda silly, I know. But sometimes I

  wonder if you don't care about your ship more than, urn... more than

  most people do," she finished lamely.

  Zekk shrugged. "Why not? Old Peckhum gave me the Lightning Rod, and

  he's the closest thing I've got to a family. This old ship was a

  special place for us. I practically grew up with her, kind of like you

  and Jacen did with the Millennium Falcon."

  Jaina nodded and bit her lower lip. "Sure. I can understand that."

  "But there are other reasons that I care more than most people would

  about this ship," Zekk went on. "Fixing up the Lightning Rod was part

  of my healing process after I left the Shadow Academy."

  Zekk's face grew serious as he spoke. "And the Lightning Rod was with

  me all through my days as a bounty hunter while we were fighting the

  Diversity Alliance, while I was learning to trust the Force again."

  He gave her a playful look. "Not only that, but it seems like every

  time I need to fix up my ship, there you are helping me." He paused,

  as if searching for words. "So in a way, you-and Jacen and Lowie and

  Tenel Ka-are all a part of how I feel about the Lightning Rod."

  Zekk reached out to push a strand of straight brown hair back from

  Jaina's face.

  Her cheeks turned a delicate pink. She opened her mouth as if to

  answer him.

  "Hey, did somebody call us?" Jacen's face appeared over the top of the

  old light freighter. He waggled his eyebrows comically as Lowie's and

  Tenel Ka's faces joined his, looking down at Zekk and Jaina.

  Tenel Ka's red-gold hair, part of it flowing free and part fixed in its

  traditional warrior braids, hung around her face and draped along the

  Lightning Rod's hull. "We have completed the external hull patch as

  you requested, Zekk," she announced.

  Lowbacca, the lanky young Wookiee, scratched at the dark streak that

  ran up through his fur above one eye. He rumbled a comment as well.
<
br />   The miniaturized translating droid Em Teedee hovered beside the

  ginger-furred Wookiee's head. "Oh, indeed, yes! The workmanship is so

  fine that I daresay it is virtually undetectable-except perhaps by a

  droid."

  Zekk smiled. "Well, thanks everyone, that's great. But I still don't

  understand why all of you decided the Lightning Rod needed an overhaul

  this morning. It's not as if we're planning a trip."

  "Well, no, not exactly...... Jaina said, her voice trailing off. "But

  there is something-" "Of course, it never hurts to look your best,"

  Jacen interrupted, jumping down beside his sister and Zekk.

  "This is a fact," Tenel Ka said. The warrior girl leapt down to join

  them.

  Lowie looked up at the jungle moon's horizon above the Massassi

  treetops and gave an inquiring bark. Then, with a joyful bellow, he

  grabbed the oval translating droid, tucked Em Teedee under one arm, and

  dove off the side of the Lightning Rod. He somersaulted on the short

  grass and bounded to a standing position beside his friends.

  "Well, really, Master Lowbacca!" Em Teedee scolded as he was being

  clipped back at his accustomed place on the Wookiee's syrenfiber

  belt.

  "Such grandstanding could result in permanent damage to my circuits.

 

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