Under A Black Sun Trilogy

by Kevin J. Anderson

Anja turned her tortured gaze back to Cilghal. "One more dose.

  Then I'll accept your help."

  Cilghal said nothing. She simply folded her flippered hands and stared

  at Anja with calm resolve.

  Tears of pain now streamed down Anja's face along with the

  perspiration. The pain was unbearable. She knew what she needed to

  do.

  Deep down, perhaps she had always known.

  "You're right," Anja choked at last. "Putting it off won't help.

  And I can't do this alone." She shuddered. "All right. What do I

  have to do?"

  Cilghal nodded. She gently pushed Anja's seat back until it

  reclined.

  Then she placed one flippered hand on her forehead, one on her

  stomach.

  Anja felt Zekk, Tenel Ka, and Jacen press close around her. In all of

  her life, she had never felt such caring ... or such pain.

  After the longest and most excruciating half hour of her entire life,

  Anja slipped into blissful unconsciousness.

  Anja came back awake, blinking her big eyes, with a strength and

  alertness that she could not remember experiencing since before she had

  begun taking andris.

  Andris! To her surprise, though the very thought of the spice still

  enticed her, she found she could withstand its allure. She pushed

  herself up in her seat. Around her, the young Jedi were hard at work

  trying to repair the damaged minisub.

  "How long-?"

  Tenel Ka checked the chronometer. "Three-point-two hours."

  Anja rocked back on her elbows in surprise. "Then it's over? I'm

  cured?"

  Cilghal turned to fix her with a fishy stare. "Not cured, my child.

  Cleansed. The toxins are gone, but your body is still capable of

  experiencing the craving for spice."

  Anja accepted the news without flinching. Then she glanced around at

  Jacen, Zekk, and Tenel Ka, meeting each pair of eyes in turn. "Thank

  you for using your powers to heal me."

  Jacen shook his head. "Hey, most of those powers came from inside

  you.

  From your wanting to stay alive and wanting to be healed."

  Anja smiled at them all, a warm, genuine smile. "Maybe. But I don't

  think I'd have found that strength inside me if I hadn't had friends.

  6roping through the spice mines' access tunnels, Jaina, Lowie, and Em

  Teedee decided that their next step would be to liberate Nien Nunb and

  his loyal workers. With the help of the prisoners, maybe they could

  retake Kessel.

  Throughout the previous hours, they had heard teams marching up and

  down the main tunnels, shouting to each other, shining bright glowlamps

  into dark corners. Judging from the angry tones Jaina heard, the

  destruction of the transmitter had been a complete success! She could

  tell that Czethros had stepped up his efforts to find them ... but the

  mercenary teams were so loud and clumsy, only a fool would be unable to

  avoid them.

  Jaina and Lowbacca were no fools.

  The advantage to the young Jedi, now that Black Sun had all of its

  resources dedicated to finding the mysterious saboteurs, was that there

  were too few troops to keep careful watch on the captives. Only one

  guard remained standing in front of the security field by the prison

  quarters where Nien Nunb and the Kessel workers were held.

  Peeking from the shadows of a low access tunnel, Jaina observed the

  lone guard near the shimmering stun-field. The guard was grayskinned,

  with a long lantern jaw, smooth lipless mouth, and sunken orange

  eyes.

  He looked as if he had been dead for some time and had begun to

  mummify, but Jaina decided this must be what his species looked like.

  The guard carried only a small blaster at his side. Although either of

  the two young Jedi could easily have dispatched him with their

  lightsabers, Jaina preferred to do this without killing. Instead, she

  thought, this was a perfect time for them to use their Jedi powers.

  Quietly she whispered her plan to Lowie, and the two companions

  concentrated, reaching out with their minds through the Force and

  probing until they touched the glimmering consciousness of the guard.

  They sent messages of relaxation to place him into a suggestible state

  of calm, partially hypnotized, partially asleep.

  When they stepped out into the open hall, he spotted them and reacted,

  nearly making them lose control of his mind. Jaina strode forward

  quickly. "I wouldn't move, sir-especially not if I had a Kessel

  scorpion-rat on my shoulder ... one that's prepared to sting."

  The guard glanced down, and his sunken orange eyes widened in shock and

  dismay. In his imagination, he saw the horrible crablike creature

  resting on the shoulder pad of his uniform, its segmented tail and

  wicked hooked stinger poised and dripping with a deadly greenish

  venom.

  He wailed and thrashed around. "Get it off! Get it off!"

  Lowie rushed forward. Instead of drawing his blaster against the

  oncoming Wookiee, the guard swatted again and again at his neck and

  upper arm, as if he continued to see the hideous creature scuttling

  back and forth there.

  Lowie grasped the guard by both shoulders and pushed him into the

  pulsing stun-field that held the prisoners hostage. The guard raised

  his hands as crackling sparks flew all around, then slumped backward

  onto the floor, unconscious.

  "Easy enough," Jaina said.

  "It may require significantly greater skill to break through these

  Black Sun security codes," Em Teedee said.

  "Maybe," Jaina answered, looking over at Lowie. "But then, I've got

  you two to help."

  Nien Nunb and the other spice mine workers, seeing what had happened,

  clamored and cheered from the other side of the security barricade.

  They knew they were about to be rescued.

  Within moments Lowie and Em Teedee had succeeded in switching off the

  stun-field. The crackling shimmer in the air faded, and Nien Nunb and

  his companions rushed out. Smiling and laughing, they clapped each

  other on the back and offered profuse thanks to Jaina and Lowie.

  As Jaina looked at the crowd of former captives now loose in the spice

  mines, she knew the tide was turning. At first, Czethros had used

  armed guards and the element of surprise to imprison them. But the

  tables were turned now, and his advantage was lost.

  Czethros had a lot more to worry about than just two young Jedi

  Knights.

  While most of the guards continued to comb through distant and isolated

  spice tunnels in search of the fugitives, Nien Nunb led the escapees to

  a main armory and control chamber, protected from outside attack, near

  the darkest and least used of the excavation shafts. Here his people

  would be able to pick up supplies, arm themselves, and prepare for the

  fight to retake Kessel.

  Together, they entered the deeply buried control chamber. Once inside,

  Nien Nunb keyed his administrative codes into the computers.

  With a blur of furry fingers, he punched in commands. Lowie assisted,

  growling and offering suggestions. Rapidly, block by block, the

  Sullustan Chief Administrator d
enied access to Czethros and his

  takeover crew.

  Cheering, the workers gathered up their weapons and requested

  permission to return to their quarters to make sure the invaders had

  not destroyed or commandeered their private possessions. Kessel was a

  dreary assignment for many of them; they couldn't bear the thought of

  Black Sun mercenaries pawing through their personal effects.

  Regretfully, the Chief Administrator shook his head.

  Jaina paced the floor of the control center, still anxious, knowing

  they weren't safe yet. They had a long fight ahead of them to drive

  the invaders from Kessel. "Can we use this room as our base of

  operations?" she said. "It's well guarded and we can take care of

  it."

  Nien Nunb nodded.

  "Perfect." She explained how she and Lowie had successfully sabotaged

  the communications array so that the Black Sun plans could not

  proceed.

  Things were already falling apart for Czethros, and now that his

  prisoners were freed, this resistance would be the last straw.

  Nien Nunb turned back to his computer console, satisfied with what he

  had accomplished, and brought up the security holocam images. Lowie

  rumbled a warning. Figures were moving down the tunnel, sporting

  weapons and dark uniforms-led by the treacherous Second Administrator

  Kymn! Directly beside him strode the smiling blond-haired captain who

  had lied about being impressed with Nien Nunb's part in destroying the

  Death Star at the Battle of Endor.

  The Sullustan made a thin growling sound in his throat and jabbered

  brief instructions, telling everyone to stay alert. He would take care

  of this instantly-he had his own score to settle.

  "But whatever shall we do?" Em Teedee said.

  "I think we'll just have to be prepared-for anything," Jaina

  answered.

  Workers brought up their weapons and made ready for a fight as the

  Chief Administrator scuttled out the door of the control center and

  down the dark and winding corridors. Nien Nunb felt anger blazing

  inside him-a new sensation for the timid Sullustan. He vowed to show

  that blond-haired captain just how a hero really handled himself.

  He hustled along, moving with detemnation ... trying belatedly to

  figure out his plan. Kymn's crew of searchers would be surprised to

  see him free, since they were simply hunting for one or two hidden

  sahotellrs: Jaina and Lowbacca. Or so they thought.

  Nien Nunb turned the next corner-and froze stock-still as the

  treacherous Second Administrator and the blond-haired captain cried out

  in surprise.

  "He's escaped!" Kymn yelled. "Grab him! No-shoot!"

  "I thought Czethros wanted him kept alive as a hostage," the blond

  captain said as the guards surged forward.

  "Don't trouble yourself," Kymn sneered. "This little rodent has been

  bossing me around in various jobs for too many years. I'd like the

  pleasure of seeing him squirm for a change."

  Black Sun mercenaries charged forward. Reacting with a panic that was

  only the slightest bit feigned, Nien Nunb squealed and whirled. He

  pelted back down the low, dim corridor.

  Laughing and shouting, believing their quarry had no chance against

  them, the guards gave chase, led by the bellowing Second Administrator

  and the captain.

  When Nien Nunb rounded the last corner before the control chamher,

  though, he ducked to one side and pressed himself against the cool rock

  wall near the door. His loyal fellow prisoners surged out, weapons

  ready. The two young Jedi Knights stood with pulsating lightsabers.

  The opposing guards tumbled into each other, piling up as they

  scrambled backward in a panic. They had expected no resistance at

  all.

  Thinking Kessel secure, Czethros had already reassigned his best

  mercenaries to other potential battles out in the New Republic. But

  his own base of operations was the weakest point.

  The freed prisoners shouted and aimed their weapons. Blaster fire rang

  out, cracking walls and spouting tongues of rock dust and smoke.

  The surprised invaders returned fire, scorching the armor one of Nien

  Nunb's defenders-but Second Administrator Kymn quickly realized the

  ambush had caught them in a very bad situation. Two of his mercenaries

  fell, writhing in pain. Nien Nunb's fighters kept to their sheltered

  positions, while Kymn's troops remained completely exposed.

  Second Administrator Kymn yelled, "Go left! Move down this way !

  Shots rang out, fired by the turning guards more in confusion and anger

  than in defense. None of the bolts hit their targets. Broken rock

  showered from the walls. Nien Nunb's workers fired back, scorching the

  backplate of one of the retreating Black Sun guards. After only a

  minor flurry of blaster bolts, the dust settled. No one seemed

  injured.

  The Black Sun forces had fled.

  Nien Nunb's defenders charged after the retreating guards, raising

  their voices. Their howls echoed in the tunnels as Kymn's team rushed

  away into the deepest spice mines. Nien Nunb shouted at the top of his

  squeaking voice, and the defenders reluctantly pulled back, letting the

  mercenaries run onward in the dark tunnels.

  Back in the control chamber, the Sullustan Chief Administrator busily

  entered codes and punched in more commands. Loud metal doors clanged

  shut deep in the passageways. Lowbacca chuffed with laughter.

  Jaina peered down at the screens to see what he had done. "You mean

  they're all sealed down in those tunnels?"

  Nien Nunb's thickly folded lips curved in a smile. Through Em Teedee's

  translation, he explained that such deep sections of mines could be

  sealed off at the senior administrator's discretion. Kymn and his

  guards would remain trapped behind heavy plasteel barricades, where

  they could cause no trouble. The legitimate security forces on Kessel

  would eventually get back to them, once they finished mopping up all

  the other problems here in the spice mines.

  The mood was elation. The defenders cheered their first victory. It

  had been simple and bloodless. Still, Jaina felt uneasy. There was at

  least one major obstacle left: Czethros himself.

  Over the past hour, the temperature had dropped dramatically inside the

  trapped minisub. Ice walls clasped the Elfa like a clenched fist.

  The only light that trickled in was a filtered crystalline blue-green

  from the polar ice pack. Zekk feared that before long the air in the

  sub would grow thick as well. Deprived of oxygen, filled with carbon

  dioxide, the atmosphere would offer less and less for its five

  imprisoned passengers to breathe.

  He crawled up to his waist into the Elfa's engine compartment,

  wriggling his head and arms through the small access hatch. Nominally,

  Calamarian repair crews would either have hoisted the sub into its dock

  on Crystal Reef or labored underwater to complete repairs. Here,

  though, Zekk had to make do with what access he could gain from within

  the cramped cabin.

  He had to use a too-small hydrospanner, one of the few tools available

 
; in the meager emergency repair kit. He could see how the gears had

  ground together, how the electrical connections had been broken and the

  precise flow conduits knocked out of alignment during the tentacled sea

  creature's attack. He nudged and tweaked and banged with the

  hydrospanner, straightening out what he could.

  Jacen hovered behind him. "I wish Jaina were here. She's always good

  at fixing things."

  Zekk banged with the hydrospanner again, discouraged, and skinned his

  knuckles instead. "I'm not such a bad mechanic myself," he said.

  "And these aren't exactly ideal conditions, you know."

  "Not ideal," Anja agreed. "Besides, if Jaina were here, we'd have one

  more set of lungs using up what's left of our oxygen."

  Tenel Ka frowned at the young woman's remark.

  "I guess you're right," Zekk said. "I feel better knowing she's safe

  on Kessel."

  Jacen gave Tenel Ka a lopsided grin. "Yeah, my sister's probably just

  relaxing, bored to tears while we're stuck with all the troubles."

  Zekk reattached the connections to the small engines as best he could,

  using his sore fingers when the tool itself wouldn't work. "Try it

  now, Cilghal," he called over his shoulder. Then he backed out of the

  access compartment, his clothes and hands and face grimed with engine