Clones

by John Whitman

  she could do anything. She could destroy the Death Star with a thought. She

  would be more powerful than Darth Vader. More powerful than the Emperor

  himself! All she had to do was use her anger...

  Tash awoke, sitting up with a start. Her heart was racing and her hair

  was matted with sweat. She held up her hand-it was trembling. She realized she

  felt angry. What had she been dreaming? Something about using the Force to

  destroy the Death Star...

  She put her hands on her stomach, remembering the sick feeling of snakes

  wriggling around inside her. That wasn't the Force. At least, it wasn't the

  way she wanted the Force to feel.

  The first time Tash had used the Force was when she'd met the ghost of a

  Jedi named Aidan. She'd felt calm and at peace. Using the Force had taken no

  effort at all.

  Tash slipped her pendant from around her neck and put it on the ground.

  She took a deep breath, letting all her muscles relax as she focused on the

  little necklace. She reached out through the Force and willed the pendant to

  rise.

  The tiny red crystal trembled, then slowly lifted into the air. It

  hovered there for a moment or two, then dropped back down to the ground.

  Tash looked around for something larger to move. On the ground near the

  entrance to their tent sat a serving bowl. It wasn't as large as the cauldron

  she'd dumped on Maga, but it was larger than anything Tash had tried to move

  during practice. She focused on the bowl, imagining that it would rise.

  It didn't move.

  Tash frowned. She'd moved bigger objects twice now-first the boulder,

  then the pot full of porridge. What was the problem?

  Suddenly it struck her. Both of those times she had been angry. Was that

  the key? Was she supposed to use her anger to strengthen the Force?

  That didn't sound right to Tash. She had read everything she could find

  about the Jedi, and although the Empire had banned all information about them

  years ago, she still managed to learn a lot. Everything she had read told her

  that the Jedi did not use anger or aggressive emotions. They fought for peace.

  But her power was stronger when she used her anger. How could that be?

  Tash wondered about her dream for the rest of that night, and it filled

  her thoughts all the next morning. As the Dantari broke camp and started their

  hike, she kept to herself, walking silently along with the other Dantari while

  Zak zipped in and out of the migrating crowd, running races with some of the

  Dantari children. At first Tash didn't think he had noticed her change in

  mood, but when they stopped to rest at noon, he came up to her.

  "So what's got your comlink so silent?" he asked. "Why so gloomy?"

  Tash frowned. "It would take a while to explain." Zak replied, "Okay, you

  can tell me on the way."

  "On the way where?"

  Zak started to walk. "Come on. I want to show you something."

  Before Tash could ask another question, Zak was running across the

  prairie. She had to sprint to catch up with him. She reached his side just as

  they came to the top of a very low hill. It was more like a mound of grass,

  really, but it was high enough to block the view of the horizon. At the top of

  the mound was a tall bilba tree, its branches covered with sharp thorns. Zak

  pulled her down so that they were crouched low in the grass.

  "Look," he said, pointing ahead.

  But Tash had already seen it. Ahead of them lay the glittering silver

  line of a river. On the far side of the river, Tash could see two separate

  sets of buildings. The closer one looked ancient and ruined, but it was still

  too far away to be seen in detail. The buildings farther away had a familiar

  shape, as if they were new.

  "I could see those places when we came through the ravine," she said. "I

  thought they were hills or something."

  "Nope," Zak said. "I heard some of the Dantari talk about them. They're

  buildings. Here, on a planet that isn't supposed to have any sort of

  civilization at all."

  "It is strange," she agreed.

  "You want to go investigate?" Zak asked.

  Tash was tempted. "How far away are they?"

  Zak shrugged. "It's hard to tell, especially since I don't know how big

  the buildings are. But I'd guess not more than a couple of kilometers. If we

  hurried we could be there in no time."

  But Tash had already made up her mind. "No," she decided. "Not right now.

  Besides, I'm not sure how safe I feel wandering around alone after what

  happened at the ravine. Maga is awfully angry at me."

  "Maga," Zak chuckled. "You handled him pretty well last night."

  Tash turned to her brother. "You knew that was me? With the porridge?"

  "Let's just say I figured you were trying to Force the issue."

  Tash sat down in the grass, shaking her head. "It's not funny, Zak. I

  think I did something wrong."

  "It was just a practical joke, Tash."

  "But I used the Force," she explained. "And I was mad."

  "So?" Zak replied.

  Tash wanted to tell him about waking up angry the night before, but she

  couldn't. Finally, she said, "I don't know... it's not just the kind of thing

  I normally do."

  "No kidding," Zak chuckled. "It's about time you started to loosen up a

  little."

  Tash shook her head. "I'm just not sure that's the kind of person I'm

  supposed to be."

  Zak shrugged his shoulders. "You're supposed to be who you are. That's

  all."

  "Yeah, but who is that?" Tash asked, staring out at the prairie. "I mean,

  I can use the Force a little, right? So am I supposed to be some wise Jedi

  Master now, or a thirteen year-old? I don't think I can be both."

  "You think too much," Zak replied.

  Tash was about to reply when she felt a hand clamp down on her neck like

  a vise. A powerful hand spun her around, and she found herself staring into

  Maga's ugly face.

  "So," the Dantari growled, "now it is Maga's turn to play tricks."

  CHAPTER 4

  Tash didn't know how the huge Dantari had sneaked up on them so quietly.

  All she knew was that his enormous hand was poised to snap her neck like a

  twig. Out of the corner of her eye she could see Zak caught in a similar hold.

  Then her vision started to go black around the edges.

  Maga spun her around and she found herself staring into his wide, flat

  face. He was so close that his stinking breath hung around her nose like a

  thick cloud. She started to swoon.

  Just when she thought the Dantari would break her neck, his grip suddenly

  loosened. Tash dropped to the ground. The ground seemed to spin as she felt

  blood rush to her head. Fighting to keep her knees from trembling, Tash

  climbed to her feet and looked around to see who had stopped Maga from killing

  them.

  But there was no one there.

  Maga stood before them, almost twice as tall as Tash. Stringy black hair

  hung over his forehead and into his eyes. His face was set in an angry frown.

  "Wh-Why?" she gasped.

  Maga grunted. "Why do I not kill you?" His dark eyes gleamed. "I could.

  No one sees. I could break you!" He made a motion as though snapping a tree
/>   branch, and Tash shuddered.

  But the Dantari's frown suddenly disappeared. "I do it to show you. To

  prove to you I do not try to kill you."

  Tash didn't know whether to be happy or shocked or both. She looked

  around again. The Dantari camp was far away, and although they were standing

  atop the small hill, it would have been a simple thing for Maga to carry them

  down the other side of the hill, away from camp, and dispose of them both.

  Uncle Hoole was not around to protect them. There were no witnesses.

  "I-I'm sorry, Maga," she said at last. "I guess I misjudged you."

  "Right," Zak added, although he didn't sound quite as certain.

  Maga grunted softly, which must have been his way of accepting the

  apology, because his shoulders relaxed. He looked past them at the ruins in

  the distance. "You look at the place of fallen rocks?"

  "The ruins?" Tash asked. "Yes, we were interested. We didn't think the

  Dantari built anything."

  Maga shook his head. "Those are not Dantari. Offworlders built those. The

  far one built fifteen seasons ago, before Maga became garoo. The near one is

  older. Much older." His dark eyes studied Tash. "Thousands of seasons ago.

  Built by Jedi."

  Tash's eyes widened. "Y-You know about the Jedi?"

  Maga laughed at her. "Maga is garoo. Wise man of my people. My teacher

  pass down wisdom to me. His teacher pass to him." He puffed up his chest

  proudly. "What Dantari for ten thousand seasons have seen, and heard, is here.

  " He tapped his head.

  Tash felt a heavy weight fall around her heart. She really had misjudged

  Maga. Uncle Hoole had warned her not to be so harsh. After all, they were the

  strangers in this beautiful but empty land. Tash had made the mistake of

  assuming the Dantari were as empty as their planet. She had thought the garoo

  was a fake, a phony magician. But it amazed her to think of all the things he

  must know.

  "Is there anything left in the Jedi ruins?" Tash asked. "Anything worth

  seeing?"

  Maga shrugged. "No one knows. Dantari do not go there. When offworlders

  built their hills of stone, they did go to ruins. But they left."

  "We've got to go!" Tash said. "Maga, please take us." Zak looked from

  Tash to Maga and back to Tash. "Are you sure that's a good idea?"

  Tash hardly heard him. "Zak, don't you see? This is my chance to learn

  more about the Jedi. There could be old tools, or datadisks, maybe even a

  whole library that can teach me about the Jedi. Come on!"

  And she was off and running before Zak could protest.

  Distance was always hard to judge on Dantooine. Hills that seemed far

  away were actually less than a day's walk. Ruins that looked close enough to

  reach in a short sprint turned out to be a long-distance jog. By the time Tash

  got close enough to the ruins to see them clearly, she was out of breath and

  hot from running. She had stripped off her long-sleeved overshirt and tied it

  around her waist. Even in short sleeves, she felt the sun beating down on her.

  She had planned to enter the ruins whether or not Zak and Maga caught up

  to her. But as she reached the first few scattered building stones on the

  outskirts of the ancient Jedi site, she decided she couldn't go on, and sat

  down to rest.

  The ruins looked old, as old as anything Tash had seen. She had been to

  the planet Gobindi once, a jungle world where the ancient inhabitants had

  built huge stone temples as high as mountains. She had also visited the

  abandoned space station Nespis 8. These ruins looked older than either of

  those places.

  Once, several dozen buildings must have stood here, protected by a ring

  of stones that encircled them all. But over thousands of years, the buildings

  had collapsed under the wind and rain of Dantooine's weather. Stones had

  fallen, ceilings had given way, walls had tumbled. Still, through the maze of

  stone blocks that were taller than she was, Tash could make out at least one

  building still standing somewhere amid the rubble.

  By the time she had her breath back, her brother and Maga had caught up.

  "Tash," Zak said between huge gulps of air. "I think we should go hack.

  The Dantari will want to break camp soon."

  "Dantari will not move," Maga stated. "We camp at river for many days.

  Dantari will not move."

  "Good," Tash said, pushing herself to her feet. "I want to see what's in

  there."

  "Tash," Zak said, grabbing at the shirt around her waist to hold her

  back. "I don't think this is a good idea. Uncle Hoole-"

  "He'll understand," she said. "Zak, this is a Jedi place. Don't you know

  what that means to me?"

  Zak shook his head; "Yeah, but it's not like these ruins are going

  anywhere. They've been here a thousand years. They can wait until tomorrow."

  "Maybe, but I can't!" she said, and jumped ahead. She reached the outer

  ring of stones that had once been a protective wall. Passing inside, she soon

  vanished behind a stone the size of a small starship.

  Zak sighed. He knew he should run after her, but he had sprinted to catch

  up, and his legs felt as if they'd fallen into a black hole.

  Beside him, Maga chuckled.

  Zak suddenly thought of something. "Hey, Maga, I thought you said the

  Dantari would camp close to the river."

  "We do."

  Zak pointed to the river, which was less than a kilometer away. "But this

  was the closest way to the river. Why didn't the tribe just come this way?"

  Maga shrugged. "Dantari do not camp here. It is too close to the fallen

  stones."

  "So?" Zak asked.

  Maga pointed at the ruined Jedi fortress. "Dantari fear the place of

  fallen stones."

  "Why?"

  Maga grinned. "Because of the legends."

  Zak didn't like the way Maga was dragging this out. "What legends?"

  "The ancient garoos say," Maga chuckled, "those who enter the place of

  fallen stones do not come out again."

  CHAPTER 5

  Tash was much too far away to hear Maga's triumphant laughter. And she

  might have heard Zak shouting faintly after her, but if she did, she thought

  it was the wind that moaned among the rocks.

  She entered the ruins of the Jedi fortress.

  Even after thousands of years of decay, the ruins were impressive. Most

  modern buildings were made of steelcrete. Even the ancient stone temples she'd

  seen on the planet Gobindi looked as if they'd been put together by machines.

  But these-these looked like ruined works of art. Tash walked up to the remains

  of a stone wall. Only three or four blocks were still standing, but each block

  was twice her height and several meters thick. They must have weighed many

  tons apiece.

  Tash looked more closely and noticed that there were no marks on the

  stone itself. The stone was rough. It hadn't been smoothed by a construction

  droid, or even carried by one. If it had, there would have been scrape marks

  on the surface.

  A small clump of grass grew at the base of the wall. Tash plucked a blade

  and tried to slip it between two of the stones. It wouldn't fit. Tash realized

  that only one thing could put stones together with such
precision.

  The Force.

  She felt the Force moving all around her. It was like the wind, but not

  exactly. She could feel a breeze on her skin, but the Force.. she felt that

  inside her skin. It was like‑

  Chink, chink! Tash heard something scramble over the rocks to her left.

  When she looked, there was nothing there.

  Chink, chink! Something scuttled between two fallen stones in front of

  her, but disappeared before she could see what it was.

  "I'm not alone here," she whispered.

  She wondered whether to go forward or back, but when she turned around,

  she wasn't sure which way was back. "These ruins aren't that big," she said.

  She turned in the direction she thought she had come from and trotted

  along the half-ruined wall. She turned left, and found herself looking down a

  narrow alley between two ruined buildings. That was the way she had come...

  wasn't it?

  Chink, chink! Again she turned to look, and again saw nothing. Tash

  thought about running away, but she didn't know where to run. So instead she