Shadow Academy

by Kevin J. Anderson

  of your abilities in this test?"

  Lowie didn't waste energy telling the translating droid to be quiet. He

  worked the complex controls, calling up programming, reassigning parameters,

  hammering instructions with his left hand, controlling the remotes with his

  right hand, using everything he knew about computers. Lowie had a desperate

  plan - but his attempt absorbed part of his concentration. In his moment of

  distraction more and more of the hard rocks got through to pummel the Jedi

  twins. But Lowie had no choice, if he was to make his plan come off.

  He sensed that in order to demonstrate their power, the teachers at the

  Shadow Academy were willing to risk hurting their students. As long as

  they were left with the strongest trainees, they didn't care if someone

  actually got killed during the exercises. Lowie's only hope was to bring it

  all down. He glanced up, tossing ginger-colored fur out of his eyes, as the

  stones kept flying.

  Jacen was on his knees now, dazedly swinging one-handed with the stick. His

  right arm hung limp at his side. Lowie saw that both of his friends were

  battered and bruised, and that still the rocks fired at them without mercy.

  After a moment's pause, something changed, and long metal knives began

  flying out. Lowie worked close to panic, but forced his concentration on the

  computer. It was his only hope. Jacen and Jaina's only hope.

  The twins used their Force abilities to deflect the incoming blades into the

  walls, where they long white scars on the metal. Another knife launched out.

  And another. Frantically keying in more commands on the control terminal,

  Lowie let the floating remotes fall silent. He had one last idea. One last

  chance.

  "Master Lowbacca," Em Teedee scolded, "just what do you think-"

  Lowie punched in a command string that he hoped would bypass all other

  informational sequences, then executed it.

  Five portholes opened at once, each ready to launch its deadly knife blade.

  Suddenly, the entire training room shut down. The lights winked out. The

  porthole doors slammed shut. Everything went dark. With a heavy groan of

  relief, Lowie slumped back in his chair, running a broad hand over the black

  streak of fur above his eyebrow. At last he had managed to crash the

  murderous testing routine.

  "Oh, Lowbacca!" Em Teedee wailed. "Dear me, you've really botched

  everything up! Have you any idea how much trouble it will be to fix this

  mess?"

  Lowie smiled, showing fangs, and purred in contentment.

  Brakiss and Tamith Kai charged into the observation room. The Nightsister,

  her black cloak swirling around her like a storm cloud, was furious. Her

  violet eyes looked ready to shoot lightning bolts. "What have you done?"

  Tamith Kai demanded.

  Brakiss raised his eyebrows, an expression of proud amusement on his face.

  "The Wookiee has done exactly what I told him to do," Brakiss said. "He

  defended his two friends. We didn't tell him he had to follow our rules. It

  seems he accomplished the objective admirably."

  Tamith Kai's wine-dark lips formed a sour expression. "You condone this,

  Brakiss?" she said.

  "It shows initiative," he said. "Learning to find innovative solutions is an

  important skill. Lowbacca here will be a fine addition to the defenders of

  the Empire."

  Lowie roared at the insult.

  "Oh, Lowbacca, I'm so proud of you!" Em Teedee said.

  Stormtroopers brought out Jacen and Jaina, who stumbled as they walked,

  obviously hurt. Their clothes were ragged and torn. Scrapes and bruises

  covered their faces, arms, and legs. Blood oozed from a dozen minor cuts,

  and the twins blinked their brandy-brown eyes in the bright lights of the

  observation room.

  Brakiss commended both of them for their efforts. "A very good test," he

  said. "You young Jedi Knights continue to impress me. Master Skywalker must

  be doing a good job selecting his candidates."

  "Better candidates than you'll ever get," Jaina said, finding the strength

  to defy him despite her injuries.

  "Indeed, Brakiss agreed. "That's why we decided to take some of those that

  he has already selected. You three were only the first we obtained from the

  Jedi academy. You've shown such potential that we are now ready to kidnap

  another group from Yavin 4. From there, we'll have all the Jedi students we

  could possibly use."

  Lowie growled. Jacen and Jaina looked at each other aghast, then at their

  Wookiee friend. Even without using the Force, the three companions knew they

  all shared the same urgent thought.

  They had to do something - and soon.

  * 19 *

  Tenel Ka used a Jedi relaxation technique, hoping to quell her nervousness

  before Vonnda Ra could pick up on it. Waiting beside her at the strip of

  packed dirt the Nightsisters used for a landing field, Luke looked serene,

  but Tenel Ka caught a trace of curiosity and excitement in him, as if he

  were embarking on a great adventure.

  "There, said Vonnda Ra, stretching an arm toward the horizon where a glimmer

  of silver flickered. As Tenel Ka watched, the streamlined metallic shape

  grew rapidly larger.

  "You are most fortunate," Vilas said, striding up behind them. Vonnda Ra

  sent him a questioning look, and he shrugged. "I felt her presence, and I

  could not help but come to greet her." He indicated the approaching craft.

  "One of our most accomplished young sisters, Garowyn herself, will escort

  you to your new place of training."

  Tenel Ka guessed that Garowyn must also come from Dathomir, since the name

  was common enough here. Another Nightsister then. How could so many

  Nightsisters have come together so quickly? she wondered. It was not yet two

  decades since Luke and her parents had eradicated the old Nightsisters, yet

  here again was a growing enclave of both women and men who had been seduced

  by the dark side of the Force, lured by its promises of power. The Empire

  had been here as well, seeking new allies.

  Tenel Ka gritted her teeth. Were her people truly so weak? Or was the

  temptation of great power, once tasted, too strong to resist? She renewed

  her resolve: She would not use the Force unless her own physical powers were

  inadequate for the situation. She didn't like easy solutions.

  Tenel Ka stifled her feelings as a compact, shiny ship settled with

  effortless precision not far from where they stood. Although she knew it

  belonged to the Nightsisters - or to whomever had kidnapped Jacen and Jaina

  and Lowbacca - she marveled at its construction. The ship was not large,

  probably built to carry a dozen people, but its lines were clean and smooth,

  almost inviting Tenel Ka to run her hand along its side. No carbon scoring

  stained the hull; its surface bore no pits, dents, or evidence of the

  meteorites commonly encountered in space and atmosphere. The overall design

  seemed vaguely Imperial, but Tenel Ka could not identify it as any type of

  craft she had ever seen before.

  She heard a low whistle from Luke and a murmured question, as if he were

  talking to himself. "Quantum armor?"

  "Exactly," Vila
s said, sounding pleased.

  As an entry ramp extended from the sleek underbelly of the small craft,

  Vonnda Ra stepped forward to greet the woman who emerged, clasping both of

  her hands in welcome. When the woman stepped off the ramp, Tenel Ka saw that

  she was half a meter shorter than Vonnda Ra.

  Though petite, the newcomer was powerfully built. Long, light brown hair

  streaked with bronze fell to her waist, secured with just enough braids and

  thongs to keep it out of her way, as befitted a warrior woman of Dathomir.

  Without further ado, the woman pilot broke away from Vonnda Ra and came to

  stand before Luke and Tenel Ka. Her hazel eyes assessed each of them

  critically. "You are new recruits?"

  Before Tenel Ka could answer, Vilas broke in, as if desperately eager to

  talk to the pilot. "You'll find that they have remarkable potential, Captain

  Garowyn."

  Tenel Ka heard tension and hope - and longing - in his voice. She wondered

  if Vilas could be secretly in love with Garowyn. Her features were refined,

  and her creamy-brown skin was set off to perfection by her tight-fitting red

  lizard-skin armor. The black knee-length cape she wore open at the front

  seemed to be her only outward concession to the fact that she was a

  Nightsister, and Tenel Ka guessed from the haughty set of her mouth and her

  shrewd eyes that Garowyn did not often make concessions.

  "Vilas, busy yourself unloading the supplies," Garowyn said dismissively. "I

  will test these two myself." Vilas cringed and shuffled dispiritedly over to

  unload the ship, but Garowyn did not notice. She threw Luke and Tenel Ka a

  challenging look and directed a question at them. "What do you think of my

  ship, the Shadow Chaser?"

  "It's beautiful. I've never seen anything like it'', Luke replied softly.

  "This is a fact," Tenel Ka said in a reverent voice.

  "Yes, this is a fact," Garowyn said, apparently satisfied. "The Shadow

  Chaser is state-of-the-art. At the moment she's the only one of her kind."

  Then, seeming to forget that Vonnda Ra and Vilas even existed, she said, "I

  do not wish to waste time. Come aboard. When the hold is empty we will get

  under way." With that, she turned smartly and headed for the ship. Luke and

  Tenel Ka followed.

  As the Shadow Chaser accelerated into hyperspace and the twinkling lights in

  the forward viewscreen elongated into starlines, Tenel Ka watched Garowyn

  set her automatic controls and stand up from the pilot seat.

  "Our journey will take two standard days," Garowyn said, moving past them

  and out of the cockpit. "I may as well acquaint you with my ship. No expense

  was spared for the Shadow Chaser."

  She showed them the food- and waste-processing systems, the hyperdrive

  engines, the sleeping cubicles . . . but most of it was a blur to Tenel Ka.

  "And these" - Garowyn pointed toward several hatches at the back of the

  cabin - "are the escape pods. Each is large enough to carry only one

  passenger, and is equipped with a homing beacon that broadcasts its location

  on a signature frequency that can only be decoded at the Shadow

  Academy , where you will learn your true potential."

  With that, Garowyn resumed the tour, but Tenel Ka flashed an alarmed glance

  at Master Skywalker, who met her gaze with equal concern. Her mind whirled

  at the idea that another Jedi academy existed, an academy for learning the

  dark powers of the Force. A Shadow Academy .

  Garowyn decided to test them thoroughly. She questioned Luke and Tenel Ka by

  turns about their familiarity with the Force. Luke was vague in his answers,

  but Garowyn - perhaps because she was from Dathomir and considered men to be

  of little importance - concentrated her efforts on finding out more about

  Tenel Ka.

  When Garowyn asked what experience she had, Tenel Ka answered truthfully. "I

  have used the Force, and I believe that I am strong. However," she added,

  her voice growing hard, "I will not rely on the Force so much that I become

  weak. If there is anything I can do under my own power, I will not use the

  Force to do it."

  Garowyn laughed at that, a harsh, cynical laugh that grated in Tenel Ka's

  ears. "We will change your mind without too much difficulty," she said. "Why

  else would you come to us for training?"

  Tenel Ka considered this for a moment and phrased her reply carefully. "I

  have no greater desire than to learn the ways of the Force," she said at

  last.

  Garowyn nodded, as if that closed the issue, and turned to Luke. "I refuse

  to conduct lightsaber drills aboard the Shadow Chaser, but we shall see soon

  enough how well you sense my intentions using the Force." She picked up a

  stun staff in each hand and tossed one of them to Luke. Luke stretched out

  his arm, fumbled slightly, but caught the staff before it touched the floor.

  And so it went for most of the day. Tenel Ka did the best she could at each

  stage of the testing, but she could see that Luke was holding back, not

  revealing the full extent of his power - she had observed Master Skywalker

  enough to know this. After seeing him weaken or fail in several of the

  tests, however, a thread of worry began to weave through her mind. What if

  Master Skywalker had fallen ill? What if he couldn't use his powers? Or what

  if - it hurt to even think it - what if he had been wrong, after all? What

  if the dark side really was stronger? If so, she and Master Skywalker did

  not stand a chance of rescuing Jacen, Jaina, and Lowbacca. Tenel Ka felt

  weak and drained by the time she had lifted her tenth object to satisfy

  Garowyn's sense of completeness. The titanium block wobbled and shook as she

  lowered it to the floor of the cabin.

  Garowyn gave a derisive chuckle. "Your pride in self-sufficiency is your

  weakness." With that, she closed her hazel eyes, flung her head back, and

  stretched an arm out toward Tenel Ka.

  Tenel Ka felt the hair on her scalp and her skin prickle as if lightning

  were about to strike. Her stomach churned, and she felt giddy and

  disoriented. She bent her legs to sit but found nothing to support her.

  She was floating a meter above the cabin floor. Tenel Ka stifled a gasp of

  outrage and attempted to use her mind to wrench herself free.

  Garowyn's creamy-brown face was furrowed with cruel lines of deep

  concentration. "Yes," she said in a guttural, triumphant voice, "try to

  resist me. Use your anger."

  Realizing that this was exactly what she had been doing, Tenel Ka went limp.

  As she did so, Garowyn lost her grip slightly, and Tenel Ka wobbled in

  midair. So, she mused, the Nightsister is not as strong as she thinks she

  is. Then, pretending to struggle again to hide what she was doing, she

  grappling hook that she carried at her waist and looked around for an anchor

  point. She soon found something that would work perfectly: the wheel on an

  escape pod's pressure hatch.

  Garowyn was still amusing herself with Tenel Ka's "struggles" when, with a

  practiced flick of her wrist, Tenel Ka flung out her line; the grappling

  hook caught securely on its intended target. Before the Nightsister could

  notice, Tenel Ka went completely limp
again. When Garowyn's grasp wavered

  again, Tenel Ka jerked on the line and wrenched herself free, falling to the

  floor and landing painfully on her rear. She looked up to see Garowyn's

  petite form towering over her. But instead of an angry rebuke, all she heard

  from the Nightsister was a short, sharp bark of amazed laughter.

  Garowyn reached out a hand to help Tenel Ka up. "Your pride has served you

  this time, but it may be your downfall yet," she said.

  "That is often true of pride," Luke said quietly, seeming to agree. His eyes

  assessed the Nightsister. "I believe I could do that."

  Garowyn's lips twisted in a derisive smile. "What? You think you could fall

  on your-?"

  "No," Luke cut in. "I believe I could lift a person."

  "So?" Garowyn chortled, as if rising to a challenge. "Do your best."

  She crossed her arms over her chest, and her hazel eyes dared Luke to move

  her. Suddenly, her eyes grew wide with astonishment and confusion as her

  feet drifted off the floor and she rose a full meter and a half into the

  air.

  "I can see that it is time to teach you the power of the dark side as well,"

  she snapped haughtily She closed her eyes and wrenched with all her might.

  Tenel Ka sensed that Luke loosened his grip, but only partially. Garowyn

  still floated above the deck, but he allowed the force of her movement to

  turn her around and send her into a dizzying spin.

  Then, never taking his eyes from the twirling Nightsister, Luke said, "Tenel

  Ka, if you would be so kind as to open that first escape pod."