Security was lax here on Yavin 4. With so many Jedi Knights around,
Luke Skywalker seemed to believe they could drive back any military
assault; a New Republic fleet in orbit also helped to protect the
academy. But no one would stop her from the inside. She could take
the little freighter, fly out, and dive into hyperspace before anyone
reacted quickly enough to question her.
When she powered up the repulsorjets, a sleepy guard came running to
the distant door of the hangar bay and stared in surprise at the
commandeered ship. He waved, signaling for her to wait, but Anja
punched the engines, raised the craft off the field, and streaked out
over the treetops.
The Lightning Rod rapidly left the tall Massassi pyramid behind, flying
low over the jungle canopy to foil any scanning attempts. The tangled
foliage was like a lumpy carpet below her. After she had rounded the
sharp curve of the small moon, Anja arced off into space.
Determined to let nothing distract her from her goal, Anja ignored the
comm chatter as alarms were raised. She would be gone well before the
defensive fleet could intercept her.
Anja set the coordinates in the Lightning Rod's navicomputer, filling
them in from memory. Spice... she had to have spice. There was no
time to weigh the many options: she would go directly to the source.
Starlines unfolded around her and the Lightning Rod plunged into
hyperspace... heading for Kessel.
it was the start of as perfect a morning as Zekk could ever remember.
Outside, bright sunshine poured down on the Jedi academy, and a fresh
breeze carrying the scents of a thousand luscious jungle plants waited
in through the thick stone window openings. The young Jedi Knights
were used to getting up very early, and today they had special reason,
since Peckhum was due to leave.
At morning meal, Jaina greeted Zekk and Peckhum with a hug.
There had been no mistaking the pride in her eyes when she saw the new
lightsaber hanging at Zekk's belt. "Looks like a fine weapon, Zekk.
If you want a sparring partner later on, come see me."
"After I show Master Skywalker."
"Hey," Jacen said as he sauntered in, grinning. "Two Gamoffean guards
are walking down a narrow, deserted canyon when suddenly a rancor comes
out and starts chasing them. One of the Gamoffeans stops to put on his
best running shoes. "Don't waste time,' shouts the other one, 'you
can't outrun a rancor with those!" 'I don't have to outrun a rancor,'
says the first one as he finishes lacing his shoes, 'I just have to
outrun you!"
" A chorus of chuckles and groans rewarded him.
With additional jokes, Jacen was in rare form during the meal, and they
all laughed so hard it was difficult not to choke as they ate. Tenel
Ka offered a rare toast of friendship to the entire group seated at
their table. Lowie surprised them all by presenting a dramatic Wookiee
speech while Em Teedee provided hilariously inaccurate translations,
which the companions now recognized with their increasing grasp of
Lowbacca's native language.
Jaina, sparkling with good humor, teased old Peckhum fliroughout the
meal and squeezed Zekk's hand under the table. The old spacer laughed
and enjoyed the attention.
Even when it was time for Peckhum to go, Zekk's mood could not be
dampened. "I'm sorry you couldn't meet Ania," he told the spacer.
"I knocked on the door to her quarters, but she didn't answer. Must be
keeping to herself again. She's got ... a lot of things to work out in
her head. Besides, her communication skills aren't always the
greatest."
As they left the temple and walked through the dim corridors leading
out, old Peckhum gave Zekk a mock stern look. "Speaking of, uh,
communication skills-if I hadn't switched schedules with another
freighter pilot so that I could come to Yavin 4 and visit my favorite
Jedi trainee, I might not've heard about your progress for another
month.
You didn't mention you were going to build a lightsaber last week when
I talked to you."
Zekk hunched his shoulders. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you. I guess
maybe I was afraid I'd fail. There was always a chance that I might
build a faulty weapon and I'd have to throw it away and start all
over.
Worse, I thought maybe the wrong kind of blade might try to draw me
back toward the dark side."
The old spacer gave a thoughtful nod. "I understand that, but don't
forget that you can trust me. I'd like to know whenever something
important is going on in your life. I'm always willing to rearrange my
schedule so I can share a special occasion with you."
Jaina snorted. "And you can put that nonsense about going over to the
dark side behind you, Zekk."
"Thanks for trusting me," Zekk said in a low voice as they all emerged
into the sunlight in front of the Jedi academy. "That trust was what
gave me the strength to leave the dark side for good."
"The trust of friends is rare and important," Tenel Ka observed.
Lowie crooned his agreement.
They walked down the temple steps toward the landing field. Several
New Republic soldiers milled about taking readings at a freshly
scorched spot on the ground. A group of assorted investigators stood
inside the small craft bay on the pyramid's lowest level, talking in
urgent tones with the night-shift guard who had been on duty the
evening before.
Preoccupied with the old man's departure, the companions began walking
across the grass with Peckhum toward the Thunderbolt. Suddenly, Zekk
stopped and turned back to the burned, empty spot on the landing
field.
His mouth fell open. He blinked in confusion. "You didn't have to
move my ship inside, Jaina. I would have done it myself. Of course, I
know that flying a ship is never hard work for you, but-" "No," Jaina
said. "I haven't been anywhere near the Lightning Rod this morning."
"Something's wrong," Jacen said.
Old Peckhum looked curiously at the spot where his tonner ship had been
when he arrived the day before. But the Lightning Rod was nowhere to
be seen.
"Ah," Tenel Ka said in a matter-of-fact voice. "Aha."
Jacen drew a deep breath, let it out slowly. "I've got a bad feeling
about this."
Inside the shadows of the small craft bay, Luke Skywalker left the
other members of the investigative team and marched purposefully toward
Zekk. The dark-haired young man felt a cold twist in his stomach as
his suspicions grew. Master Skywalker looked directly into his green
eyes.
"Zekk, I'm afraid Anja has taken your ship."
Later, after Peckhum's tight schedule had forced him to leave, the
young Jedi gathered in Luke Skywalker's office. Jaina squirmed as she
watched a storm of emotions cross Zekk's face. "Anja stole the
Lightning Rod!" he said through gritted teeth. "She ran away from the
Jedi academy."
Luke nodded patiently. "She caught the hangar guard by surprise and
took off before any of the orbital fo
rces could stop her."
Zekk went on, fuming. "Anja is a thief, and I want my ship back.
What are we going to do about it? We've got to find her."
Jaina cleared her throat. "We could, urn, ask Mom and Dad to send out
some security forces. Maybe they can track down the Lightning Rod,
wherever Anja's taken it?"
"Or they could probably issue some bulletins to the authorities on
various planets...... Jacen's voice trailed off.
Luke raised his eyebrows and pursed his lips, waiting for a full minute
of silence before he spoke. "As for Anja leaving the Jedi academy,
that is her choice. Not only is she an adult, she's not exactly a
Jedi. We can't stop her from leaving if she wants to."
"But she can't take my ship to do it," Zekk said.
"No. That's true enough. But first-" he spread his hands and gazed
around at his assembled students "-you tell me. Is she a criminal or a
friend? Would you like to have her arrested?"
Zekk squirmed at the Jedi Master's question. "Too bad we can't still
send people to the spice mines of Kessel," he grumbled.
Each of the young Jedi shook their heads in turn.
Incarceration would serve no purpose," Tenel Ka said. "T believe she
must have been desperate."
Jaina looked down at her hands in her lap. "And I think we all know
why she was desperate." , Lowie woofed an observation. Jacen nodded
and in a low voice said, "Spice."
"She was going through withdrawal," Zekk said, meeting Master
Skywalker's eyes.
"Do you believe she intends to keep your ship-or even sell it?"
Luke asked. "In order to get credits to buy spice?"
Jaina was surprised when they all reacted instantly. Lowie bellowed a
protest. "Indeed not!" Em Teedee added.
"She wouldn't do that. I think she's planning to bring it back," Jacen
said in a confident voice.
Jaina bit her lower lip. "I have a feeling she's in more trouble than
we know."
Luke stood. "Then I'd say this isn't exactly a job for New Republic
security. Don't you think this is a situation that her friends, five
Jedi Knights-not to mention one extremely talented droid-could handle
on their own?"
They all agreed, and the Jedi Master left them alone to discuss the
details.
"At least we've got the Rock Dragon," Jaina said. "She's a good fast
ship."
"But how do we find her? We can hardly go running from system to
system with a large holograph asking,"Have you seen this girl?"
Jacen pointed out.
Lowie gave a long grumble. "Master Lowbacca suggests that perhaps we
could consult with some of the guardian forces stationed in orbit
around this moon."
"They might have tracked the Lightning Rod's initial vector," Jaina
agreed.
Zekk shrugged. "I'll take any lead we can get."
Within five minutes the companions all stood in the comm center.
On half of the screen, a weary-eyed officer who was obviously off-duty
rubbed a hand over his eyes. The other half of the screen displayed a
starmap.
"I'm sorry," the shift officer said, "we tried to scan the ship's
navicomputer before it went into hyperspace, but the most we were able
to determine was that the Lightning Rod was heading for one of the
systems in this sector. It still covers hundreds of planets,
though."
Glowing white lines appeared around a segment of space in the
starmap.
"I've got a team on it."
"Hey, thanks," Jacen said, trying to sound enthusiastic. "You've been
a big help." The portion of the screen that held the officer's face
went blank, leaving only the starmap.
Tenel Ka's cool gray eyes narrowed suddenly, as if something important
had just occurred to her. "Jacen, my friend, what joke did Anja
attempt to make yesterday when you sensed she was going through
withdrawal?"
He shrugged. "I can't remember her exact words. Something about
Kessel, but I don't see what that has to do-oh! " Jaina said, "Under
stress, it's not unusual for people to joke about what's really on
their minds."
"Zekk also mentioned the spice mines," Tenel Ka pointed out.
"Perhaps because of Anja's addiction, or because of her joke."
A slow grin spread across Zekk's face. He pointed toward the starmap
still covering half the screen. "And Kessel just happens to be right
in the middle of that sector."
After years of running the spice mines of Kessel, Chief Administrator
Nien Nunb finally thought that the place felt like the warrens of
home.
The dim winding tunnels with their cool rock walls seemed much like the
crowded burrows that honeycombed the crust of Sullust, where
mousy-faced, large-eyed Sullustan families preferred to live
together.
Nien Nunb often went back home to visit his family, whenever he could
spare himself here.
The spice mines had once been a feared place, an Imperial prison planet
and work camp. But over a decade ago Lando Calrissian had purchased
the mines, setting up his friend and copilot Nien Nunb as their
administrator. Together, they had turned the once-dreaded mines into a
productive industrial facility that held few of the grim connotations
that Kessel formerly had. They'd found a way to turn it into a true
credit-making enterprise.
By choosing alien species who were comfortable underground, who
preferred living in tunnels and in darkness, Nien Nunb had made the
place an efficient working environment. Spice production had increased
greatly in the past ten years. Nien Nunb and his old friend Lando
liked to joke that the mines were one of Calrissian's few ventures that
actually turned a profit, although the initial investment for extensive
revamping and new equipment had cost an emperor's ransom.
In his younger years, Nien Nunb had led a life of adventure, tagging
along with Lando on smuggling runs, breaking through Imperial blockades
and delivering much-needed supplies to restricted planets. In the
Millennium Falcon, borrowed from Han Solo, Nien Nunb had served as
copilot when Lando made his desperate run to destroy the second Death
Star. Nervous by nature, Nien Nunb had been certain they would die in
the attempt ... but somehow the Falcon had survived, and Lando had gone
on to become a hero of the New Republic.
But the Sullustan copilot had had enough excitement in his life, and
now he was content just to work here in the calming twisted tunnels
beneath the cold surface of Kessel. He liked running a business. He
thought it much better than getting shot at every other day.
Kessel was a small, low-gravity world, roughly potato-shaped, with a
very thin atmosphere. Like Sullust, the planet was habitable only
belowground, behind the sealed entrances to the dark tunnels. Large
cities and giant atmospheric generation plants had been established to
stabilize the amount of air clinging to the surface, but Kessel's
gravity was simply not strong enough to keep all of the atmosphere from
escaping into space.
When
ever he looked through the panoramic viewing ports up into the sky,
the Chief Administrator could see a ring of broken meteors strewn out
about the planet, shards from Kessel's companion moon.
They orbited, glittering with reflected light, and even during dim
daylight, a sparkling show of meteors rained down to pound the surface
of the mining planet. Fortunately, no one lived out there in the
hazardous zone.
The Death Star prototype had destroyed Kessel's moon during the
resurgence of Imperial activity many years before. Since that time,
though, Kessel had been a quiet place, as if the whole planet had
decided to take a deep breath and regather its energy.
Because of the spice's desirable effects-a burst of energy or
telepathic enhancement-many black-market entrepreneurs sold spice
illicitly. Spies, smugglers, and information brokers used it, as did
thrill seekers. As a result, the substance became rare and too little
was left for the legitimate users throughout the New Republic. Spice
was vital for many medical treatments: to save weakened patients, to
restore the memories of amnesia victims, to enhance communication in
deeply impaired individuals, and so on.
Because of the long and well-established tradition of illegal spice
Under A Black Sun Trilogy Page 35