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
"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."