Shadow Academy

by Kevin J. Anderson

  The weight itself, or the object's size, should not have mattered, he told

  himself. Perhaps, he reasoned, he was just too tired. Or perhaps Tamith Kai

  was using the Force to hold it down.

  "Think, my young Jedi," Tamith Kai chided. "You cannot expect to lift the

  heaviest object with your weakest muscles."

  Lights flashed again, and a dagger of sound pierced his ears. But only for a

  moment.

  "Do not keep your anger pent up," Tamith Kai's voice continued as if there

  had been no interruption. "You must use it . . . release it. Only then can

  you set yourself free."

  Lowie recognized what she was doing, and the knowledge gave him strength. He

  closed his eyes, drew a deep breath, and concentrated, prepared to resist

  the lights and sound. But he was not prepared for what followed. From all

  sides, jets of icy water exploded from the walls, buffeting him with

  bruising force. He was drenched and shivering, but still the high-pressure

  streams pummeled him, invaded him. The prying liquid forced itself up under

  his eyelids, inside his ears and mouth, and streamed down his body, chilling

  him to the bone.

  As unexpectedly as it had begun, the watery attack ended. Shuddering

  convulsively from the cold, Lowie looked down to find himself ankle-deep in

  water that was barely warmer than glacial runoff. Anger welled up within

  him, but he suppressed it, let it flow out of him as the water had streamed

  down his body. He tried instead to shift the sonic generator again, but to

  no avail.

  As if Lowie's effort had triggered it, the sonic generator began a fresh

  assault on his senses, strobing the glowpanels and flooding the room with

  high-pitched wailing until Lowie feared he would drown in it. Instead, he

  concentrated on thoughts of his friends Jacen and Jaina. He would be strong.

  When the generator paused, more fists of freezing water pounded him again

  from all sides. How long these tortures alternated, Lowie could not say.

  After a time, it seemed his life had always been a litany of lights, sound,

  water, lights, sound, water . . .And still he did not give in to his anger.

  By the time Tamith Kai spoke to him again, he was curled into a tight,

  freezing ball of soggy misery, perched directly on the sonic generator in an

  effort to bring feeling back to his numb legs and feet.

  "You have the power within you to end your ordeal," her voice said with mock

  pity. "Alas, young Jedi, fortitude is only admirable when it gains you

  something."

  Lowie did not raise his head or acknowledge her words.

  "You cannot help yourself in this way. You cannot help your friends. Your

  friends have already learned the truth of my words," she went on.

  Lowie's head snapped up, and he voiced a growl of disbelief.

  "Ah, but it is true," she said, a note of encouragement in her voice. "Would

  you like to see them?"

  Before he could utter a bark of agreement, a pair of holographic images spun

  in the air before his eyes. One showed Jacen wielding a lightsaber, a look

  of fierce enjoyment lighting his young features. In the other Jaina used the

  Force to toss aside heavy objects, her head thrown back with a challenging

  grin.

  Lowie reached toward the luminescent images with a yelp of stunned

  disbelief-and fell face-first into the icy water that covered the floor. He

  hauled himself back to his feet, and the sonic generator resumed its

  torturous whine. From deep within him, horror mixed with rage and a sense of

  betrayal, fanning the embers that had smoldered for so long. Flames of anger

  sprang up inside him, warming him with their undeniable heat, rising higher

  and higher until they burst from his throat in a howl of fury.

  And he knew no more.

  Lowie woke to restful darkness back in his own cell. The room was warm, and

  he lay on his sleeping platform covered with a soft blanket. His muscles

  ached, but he felt well rested. He moved a hand to his waist and found that

  he was once again wearing his webbed belt. The voice of Tamith Kai spoke

  next to him.

  Lowie was not surprised to find the tall, dark-haired Nightsister standing

  beside him. In the dim light of the cell's glowpanels he saw that she held

  an irregularly shaped metal object.

  "You have done well, young Wookiee," she said.

  Lowie gave a sad moan as the memory of what he had done flooded back to him.

  "With your anger you succeeded beyond my highest expectations," Tamith Kai

  said, looking at him with obvious pride. "As a reward, I've brought you back

  your droid."

  Lowie's mind faltered with confusion. Should he feel proud of what he had

  done? Should he be ashamed? He received Em Teedee from Tamith Kai's hands

  with relief and clipped the little droid to its accustomed place at his

  belt.

  "You will make a fine Jedi," Tamith Kai said.

  She smiled conspiratorially. "After you unleashed your anger, we were unable

  even to repair the sonic generator, as we have every time before.''

  And then she swept out of the room, leaving him to his thoughts. Lowie stood

  and groaned as his muscles refused to cooperate, and he slumped back onto

  the sleeping platform.

  "Well, if you ask my opinion," Em Teedee's thin voice piped up, "you caused

  a great deal of your own pain through your needless resistance."

  Lowbacca growled a surprised reply.

  "Who asked me?" Em Teedee said. "Well, I really don't know why you should be

  so upset. After all, you're here at the Shadow Academy to learn.

  Why, you're very fortunate that they've taken such an interest in you. The

  Imperials are very perceptive, you know. So perceptive, in fact, that they

  saw my own potential and

  have included

  me in their plans. I am most honored."

  With an uncomfortable suspicion, Lowie barked a question.

  "Wrong with me?" Em Teedee asked. "Why, nothing. Quite the contrary. As an

  expression of their complete confidence in me, Brakiss and Tamith Kai have

  had my programming enhanced. I feel much better now than I ever have. I am

  to be an integral part of your instruction here. You must realize that they

  have only your best interests at heart. The Empire is your friend."

  Lowie made a thoughtful sound as if accepting Em Teedee's words-and reached

  down to switch the little droid off. His head had suddenly become clear. Em

  Teedee's words had crystallized something in his mind. He might have given

  in, but he had not given up. And if he knew anything about Jacen and Jaina,

  the same was true for them-at least that's what he would have to hope.

  * 15 *

  It was midafternoon by the time Tenel Ka returned. She found Master

  Skywalker quietly contemplating in the small slave's quarters Augwynne Djo

  had offered him to keep him away from curious eyes during the meeting.

  "I've spoken with the Council of Sisters," she said. Waves of afternoon heat

  rippled up the cliffside to the for-tress of the Singing Mountain Clan,

  giving the air a flat, burnt smell. "They expect visitors to come at dusk.

  At that time all of our questions will be answered."

  "Then we wait," Master Skywalker said, looking at
her with his intense blue

  eyes. "It is one of the most difficult things to do-especially at such an

  urgent time, when we don't know what's happened to Jacen or Jaina or

  Lowbacca. But if waiting gets us answers where action would not ... then

  waiting" - he smiled - "is the action we must choose."

  Like a good guest, Tenel Ka busied herself with minor duties to help the

  Singing Mountain Clan as the hours crawled slowly by. The sun swung toward

  the horizon and dusk. Low clouds in the other-wise clear air burned pink and

  orange, scattering leftover rays into the heated atmosphere. Clicking

  insects and scuttling lizards began to move about as their world cooled with

  evening, adding faint rustling noises to the day's silence.

  On the lower tier of cliff dwellings, looking down upon the baked rocky

  plain, Tenel Ka and Master Skywalker watched the lengthening shadows cast by

  sunset across the desert. Compared with the bright reptilian hides Tenel Ka

  wore, Master Skywalker's brown robes seemed drab and nondescript-but she

  knew the strength and skill he harbored within himself.

  Tenel Ka noticed something dark and large moving across the plain. She

  perked up and squinted her gray eyes, studying the creature as it came

  closer. Some large beast bearing a rider, no, two riders.

  Master Skywalker nodded. "Yes, I see it. A rancor carrying two." Tenel Ka

  squinted again, then realized that Luke was enhancing his vision with the

  Force, sensing as well as seeing.

  Others from the Singing Mountain Clan came to their open adobe windows and

  stood on the cliff balconies, gazing down in nervous anticipation.

  The rancor plodded forward, slow but unstoppable. Tenel Ka could clearly see

  the hulking monstrosity, whose knobby, tan-gray body seemed nothing more

  than a vehicle loaded with ferocious fangs and claws. A tall, muscular woman

  rode in front; behind her sat a dark-haired young man with thick eyebrows,

  wearing a cloak of silver-shot black, just like the woman's.

  "She's a Nightsister," said Tenel Ka. "I can feel it."

  Master Skywalker nodded. "Yes, but this new breed seems well trained, and

  even more dangerous. Something is happening here. I can feel we're on the

  right track."

  "But - what is that . . . man doing with her?"

  Tenel Ka asked. "No ruler on Dathomir would treat a man as her equal."

  "Well," Luke said, "perhaps things really have changed."

  Below, the Nightsister rider pulled the enormous rancor to a halt. The

  clawed, lumpy-headed beast hissed and reared up, dragging its knobby

  knuckles across the baked hardpan. The Nightsister dismounted, and her

  black-robed companion slid down beside her. They stood between two towering

  bronze rocks that thrust up from the sands.

  "Hear me, worthy people!" the woman called up the cliffs. Her shout echoed

  along the rocks, reflecting her words and making her voice seem louder and

  broader. Tenel Ka wondered how dark woman could speak so forcefully she felt

  the Nightsister's tug on her imagination even as she stood and listened.

  "She's using a Force trick," Master Skywalker said, "pulling on your

  emotions, making you interested in what she's about to say"

  Tenel Ka nodded. A cool breeze stirred up by the rapidly changing

  temperatures of evening whipped her red-gold hair about her face.

  "Once again, we come to seek others interested in what we have to offer.

  Yes, we know that long ago evil Nightsisters ruled Dathomir with an iron

  hand and a cruel will. They were bad people-but that doesn't mean their

  training was completely wrong, that everything they knew about power is to

  be despised.

  "I am Vonnda Ra, and this is my companion Vilas. Yes-a male. I can sense you

  are shocked and surprised, but you should not be. From other allies, we have

  learned that this power we call . . .the Force dwells in all things, male

  and female. Not only can the

  Sisters use it for their own benefit, but males - Brothers - can also wield

  such strength."

  Many of the people in the cliff dwellings stirred.

  "I sense your disbelief," Vonnda Ra said, "but I assure you it is true."

  Tenel Ka whispered to Master Skywalker. "I have seen many things in the last

  few years," she said, "and I believe I know how other societies work - but I

  hear that some of the more conservative clans on Dathomir are not quite

  ready to accept such measures of equality."

  Master Skywalker nodded, but pursed his lips gravely. "There's nothing in

  Jedi teachings that favors either male or female - or even human, for that

  matter. Your people have only been deceiving themselves."

  Far below, Vonnda Ra stood beside her tamed rancor and shouted up. "Vilas,

  my best male student, will demonstrate for you one small thing he has

  learned, something that will amaze you."

  Dark-haired Vilas removed his spangled black cloak and draped it on the

  patched whuffa-hide saddle across the rancor's back. He began to

  concentrate, standing off to himself in the flat, baked dirt between the

  stone columns, his arms at his side, hands clenched into fists.

  Even from this far up the cliff, Tenel Ka could hear Vilas humming. Beneath

  their bushy brows, his eyes were squeezed shut. His black hair began to

  rise, flickering with static electricity. He rippled with a growing power.

  Up in the purple sky, stars had just begun to shine through, bright white

  lights against the darkening backdrop of the almost-faded sunset. Clouds

  started to gather, faint wisps at first, like corded shadows across the sky

  that knotted and drew together. Tenel Ka stood back as the breeze picked up

  and became colder.

  "We are always searching for new trainees," Vonnda Ra shouted up to the

  gathered crowd. The Singing Mountain people clustered forward to

  their windows and balconies. "If any of you would like to learn the ways of

  the Force, to do what Vilas and I can do-whether you be male or female,

  noble-born or slave, come join us. Our settlement is at the bottom of the

  Great Canyon , only three days journey from here by foot.

  "We cannot guarantee that we will choose you, but we will test your

  abilities. Any we find with the right kind of talent, we will adopt as our

  own. We will teach you to be an important part in the machine of the

  universe. Your future can be bright, if you are with us."

  As Vonnda Ra finished, an ear-shattering peal of thunder drowned out her

  last words. Violent blue lightning danced in great forks that skittered

  across the sky. Vilas had climbed one of the bronze rock pinnacles,

  scrambling up, light-footed, as if someone were drawing him up on cables.

  Now he stood on the flat weathered rock, arms raised. Static electricity

  swirled like a whirlpool around him as the gathering thunderstorm coalesced

  at his bidding. More lightning flickered around the desert-scape, striking

  solitary boulders on the flat plain and sending up showers of dust and

  sparks. The storm thickened, slashing at them with cold wind. Tenel Ka

  blinked back stinging tears as her hair thrashed around her.

  Vilas stood atop his pinnacle of rock, commanding the storm. The clouds

  thickened, turning th
e sky black. Tenel Ka looked down the cliff face and

  saw that beside the lone rancor, Vonnda Ra also held her hands outstretched,

  palms up, fingers spread, calling the storm. Lightning came down across the

  desert. The rancor snorted and reared, but did not run.

  "Come to the Great Canyon ," Vonnda Ra shouted above the screaming

  wind. "If you want to touch power such as this, come to the Great

  Canyon ."

  Vilas sprang down from the stone pinnacle and landed with ease on the

  windswept desert sands next to the rearing rancor. He and Vonnda Ra

  scrambled onto the patched saddle. Vonnda Ra grabbed the creature's reins

  and yanked it about. The clawed monster loped off into the distance as the

  storm continued to rage around the cliffs.

  Tenel Ka stared after, trying to keep her eyes on the dwindling silhouette

  of the monster and its two riders. "So now we know,'' she said. "What shall

  we do?"

  Luke put his hand on her shoulder, and she could sense his confidence. "We

  go to this Great Canyon and offer ourselves as candidates," he said.

  "They are looking for new people to train. And now we're sure were on the

  right track. Jacen, Jaina, and Lowbacca might be there already."

  Tenel Ka bit her lip and nodded. "This is a fact."

  * 16 *

  * *

  Jaina left the lightsaber switched off and pushed it back toward Brakiss,