be our champion, our new hopeour Zekk blinked back stinging tears of
pride and accomplishment as Brakiss draped the heavy fabric over his
padded shoulders, then fastened the cape at his throat with a clasp
shaped like a ferocious silver scarab.
Zekk watched Tamith Kai, who stood coiled with deadly energy, like a
rogue assassin droid. He saw the tall Nightsister flinch at the mention
of the slain Vilas, who had been her student, her candidate for the
Shadow Academy's champion. But Zekk had defeated the surly,
overconfident young man, and now he wore the black cape . . . while
Vilas was little more than space dust ejected from the garbage port.
Brakiss stepped back and folded his hands in front of him; silvery
sleeves flowed down his wrists, swallowing up his manicured hands. "The
time has come for you to embark on your first important mission for us,
Zekk.
You will be given command of troops to prove your skills."
Zekk's heart leaped. He didn't think he could stand any more
exhilaration in one day.
"What," he stammered, "what do you wish me to do?" "As a final stage in
preparing for our attack on Rebel fortifications, we must launch another
raid to obtain vital supplies. You will lead an assault team to the
Wookiee world of Kashyyyk. There, in one of their technological tree
cities, is the fabrication facility for the most sophisticated computer
equipment used by our enemy's ships.
'If you' r raid is successful in obtaining guidance and tactical
systems, we will have an enormous advantage in our overall conflict. We
will then be able to throw the Rebel fleet into confusion and use their
own computers against them to transmit conflicting signals. We can also
use these systems to mimic their secret ship ID patterns, so that Second
Imperium fighters can travel freely in enemy territory by identifying
themselves as Rebel ships.
'Because of the importance of this mission, you will be assigned a
powerful team. I am giving you use of the new holographic disguises we
have developed for just such an infiltration effort. Everything depends
on you, Zekk. Do you feel up to the task?" Zekk nodded enthusiastically.
"Yes! Yes, I can do that for you." Tamith Kai strode forward into the
pool of bright light that poured down on Zekk. He turned to look at the
tall, ominous woman.
Her wine-dark lips curved down in a serious expression. As if
pronouncing his doom, she said, 'There is one other part of the plan.
Through an intercepted transmission, we have learned that those
troublesome young Jedi brats are even now on their way to Kashyyyk.
They sent a message to say goodbye to their mother-luckily Qorl has been
monitoring all comm traffic from the vicinity of Yavin 4 back to the
capital world." She stared at her clawlike fingernails, as if she found
something interesting there.
'We had originally planned to wait a few more weeks before conducting
this raid, but now . . . the timing couldn't be more perfect." Her
violet eyes flashed with pleasure.
'Your second assignment is to make sure that Jacen and Jaina and their
difficult friends are . . . removed, so that we can proceed with our
galactic conquest without worrying about their meddling."
Zekk swallowed hard when he heard the new orders, but did not reply.
Jacen, and especially his sister Jaina, had been good friends for much
of his youth. They had parted ways, though, when the twins went off to
the Jedi academy, abandoning Zekk to his squalid life in the underworld
of Coruscant.
He had had no hope for a bright future until the Shadow Academy found
him.
'All right," Zekk said in a voice low and hoarse. He tried to speak
louder, not willing to let self-doubt show through. He had made his own
choices, and now he had to follow through on them despite the
difficulties his conscience might encounter. "All right," he repeated.
"As soon as possible," Tamith Kai answered.
In the outer docking bay of the Shadow Academy, Tamith Kai and the other
two Nightsisters loaded the ship for its assault mission. The vessel,
marked with neutral insignia, was a small cargo freighter stolen from a
lost trader who had ventured too close to the Core Systems. Tamith Kai
wondered idly if the trader still languished deep in an Imperial prison
. . . or if the guards had gotten around to executing him yet, since the
Second Imperium could never afford to let the man loose with his
knowledge of the Core Systems and the commandeered freighter.
In the observation bubble above the docking bay, Qorl stood by the
cloaking shield controls, monitoring preparations for the launch of the
mission. The old pilot would not accompany them himself, but he had
chosen a handful of the Second Imperi@s newly constructed TIE fighters
and bombers to be loaded into the freighter's cargo bay.
"We'll see if Brakiss was wrong to place confidence in his young pet,"
Tamith Kai murmured in her low, rich voice. "I still don't trust him.
What is it Norys calls the boytrash collector? I sense that Zekk hasn't
yet given himself entirely over to the dark side."
Vonnda Ra fi-owned, her squarish face puzzled. "But after all the work
he's donelook at his trammg. How can you question Zekles abilities?" "It
is his motives I question, not his abilities. I had no such doubts about
the loyalty of my Vilas."
Garowyn interrupted. 'Perhaps, Tamith Kai. But Vilas is dead. Zekk
proved to be a better fighter. Perhaps you're simply being a sore
loser."
Tamith Kai's eyes flared like twin violet stars about to explode. 'I am
not a sore loser,"
she snarled.
'Obviously not," Garowyn said, turning
away with an ironic smile. I "I I Tamith Kai clenched
her fists in rage.
think Zekk still has feelings for those obnox ious Jedi
twins. His friendship is not so easily I
given up." She calmed herself. Her lips, dark
as overripe fruit, twisted into a smile. "That's
why I made sure this mission would be more than just a simple
raid. Let us watch how Zekk takes care of his other assignment." Vonnda
Ra stored a crate of weapons inside the cargo shuttle and went to fetch
the heavy belts that carried their holographic-disguise generators. "I
thought the computer guidance and tactical systems were our most
important objective." 'For you, perhaps, and for the Second Imperium,"
Tamith Kai said, nodding distractedly, "but not for me."
Garowyn crossed her wiry arms over her small chest. "You may be my
nominal superior, Tamith Kai, but I can set my own priorities as well.
I'll assist you in this raid, but the main reason Fm going along is to
retrieve our . . . stolen property."
"What stolen property?" Vonnda Ra asked, the belts and holographic
control packs still dangling from her outstretched arms.
"Our greatest ship, our most ambitious design, with quantum armor and
powerful weapons-the Shadow Chaser. It is the peak of the Second
Imperium's engineering
success, my one joy. But Skywalker and that
traitorous girl from Dathomir tricked me into an escape pod and stole my
own ship out from under me! The Jedi academy has been using it ever
since. I had all but given up hope of ever regaining what was rightfully
mine, but now I've learned that the Wookiee and the Jedi brats have
taken my ship to Kashyyyk.
Now is our perfect chance to retrieve what is ours."
"Well, if you do get the Shadow Chaser, there will be more room for us
when we return in the assault shuttle, then," Vonnda Ra said.
Tamith Kai directed a cool stare at the short, bronze-haired
Nightsister. At last she smiled, with just a trace of warmth. "So. I see
we each have our own agendas," she said.
"Let us hope we all succeed." ----------------- CERTAINLY, MASTER
Lowbacca. I'd be happy to be of service in such a manner," Em Teedee
said as they approached Kashyyyk.
"Calculation of that trajectory is really quite simple."
Lowie accepted the finding from the little droid and input it manually
on the Shadow Chaser's control panel. Beside him, his uncle drew in a
deep, happy breath when the rich brown-green planet appeared in the
viewport, as if anticipating the tastes and smells and sounds of home.
Despite the heavy heart with which he was returning, Lowie also felt a
rush of excitement and pleasure. He would soon be in the safe, peaceful
treetops of Kashyyyk.
"Well done, Masters Lowbacca and Chewbacca!" Em Teedee caroled. Lowie
grunted an absentminded acknowledgment, still captivated by the sight of
his planet. It looked much the same as it had on the day he left with
his uncle and Han Solo in the MillenniumFalcon to become a Jedi student.
How longago was it now?
Tho long. Lowie's yearning to see his family again became almost
overwhelming. The two Wookiees worked at the piloting controls with an
urgency that came from happy anticipation. As the Shadow Chaser
approached the thick canopy below, Chewbacca pointed with a certain
wistfulness toward the treetop city in which he and Lowie's mother had
grown up. With all of Chewie's travels across the galaxy, Lowbacca
wondered if his uncle ever felt as homesick as he himself occasionally
did on Yavin 4. He knew Chewbacca would somehow find the time to visit
his own city and the rest of his family in the next day or so.
Behind him, the twins and Tenel Ka uttered exclamations of admiration at
the beauty of Kashyyyk and the size of the trees. "Even though Fve been
here before, I always forget how big they are," Jaina murmured, pressing
her fingers against the windowport.
"Impressive," Tenel Ka agreed. "But where are the cities?" Chewbacca let
the sleek ship dip a bit lower, and Lowie pointed to where clusters of
high trees extended their crowns above the lower canopies. Nestled in
masses of thick branches, gleaming towers and platforms were visible,
signs of habitation that folded into the natural formation of the trees.
"Ah," she said, sounding somewhat surprised. 'Aha."
"Neat, huh?" Jacen said, leaning closer to the warrior girl. "They like
to make nature and technology work together."
Lowie growled his agreement. "Master LOWbacca points out that technology
and nature need not be mutually exclusive," Em Teedee translated.
"Blending the two can be more pleasant than separating them."
When he finally caught sight of his home city, Lowie felt a renewed
impatience. It was all he could do to keep himself from unbuckling his
crash webbing while Chewbacca guided their damaged ship toward the
nearest landing platform.
The moment the Shadow Chaser touched down, Lowbacca sprang from the
copilot's seat and rushed to the exit hatch. Through the cockpit window,
he could see his family waiting for him on the platform-his father,
Mahraccor; his mother, Kallabow; and his younger sister, Sirrakuk.
Lowie opened the hatch and stood in the sunlight for a split second,
taking in every detail, sniffing the air, letting his eyes be bombarded
by the rich greens and browns of the treetops. Then he and his family
all roared greetings. His parents looked well and happy, if a little
tired. His mother's kind blue eyes, surrounded by auburn whorls of fur,
shone with pride. The dark streak in his father's fur showed no signs of
graying with age.
Only his sister looked different-taller, sleeker and prettier than he
had remembered her, but with a heavy sadness about her face. Sirra had
trimmed her fur in unusual patterns, had shaved decorative designs
around her head and arms. But her fangs were white and sharp, the fur
around her nose and mouth well-groomed and long.
She was definitely growing up.
His father raised both arms over his head and bellowed another greeting.
Lowie roared back and ran toward them.
Jacen looked around the dining table in consternation, wishing for the
tenth time that he understood the Wookiee language better. Ensconced
between Lowie and Sirra, he looked across the table to where Jaina and
Tenel Ka sat on either side of Chewbacca; he wondered if they felt as
confused and over whelmed as he did in the middle of the loud and
incomprehensible dinner conversation.
Transparent mesh cages filled with swarms of tiny, luminescent bugs hung
from the ceiling branches, providing a fuzzy, warm light.
Exotic spices and incense wafted around the room and out the open window
notches into the humid night. The air was thick with mouthwatering
smells of the welcome meal Lowie's parents had prepared.
The table was a huge slab of wood, a slice from a broad-boled tree: its
hypnotic concentric rings indicated how long the tree had lived. All the
chairs and furniture in Lowie's home seemed overlarge, built for bodies
much taller than the average human. Jacen shifted uncomfortably on the
high bench at the table.
Something finally clicked in his head. "Hey, where's Em Teedee?" he
asked. "We could really use his translating skills here."
Jaina flushed, her mouth forming a small oh" of surprise. "I, um, guess
that's my fault," she stammered. "I kind of borrowed him and hooked him
up to the Shadow Chaser's diagnostics so he could give us a readout of
the parts we need to repair the ship." She bit her lower lip. "I suppose
it would have been more polite to wait until after we had had a chance
to chat with Lowie's family a while."
Jacen shrugged and squeezed his eyes shut. He tried to concentrate in
the new environment, to pick out individual words.
But with five Wookiees barking, bellowing, growling, and roaring, it was
difficult to make sense of their speech. He took a slow breath and tried
to relax, planning to reach out with the Force to see if he could sense
some meaning in the conversation.
Outside, Jacen could hear a warm afternoon rain running gentle fingers
through the leaves of the stately wroshyr trees. Inside, the battle of
tones continued, strange voices mixing with familiar ones. In the
undertones, he felt joy and apprehension, hope and sorrow. He felt . . .
He felt the touc
h of a furry hand on his arm. Jacen looked up in
embarrassment to find Lowie's sister Sirra holding out a platter laden
with roasted meats and vegetables.
Sirra uttered a polite but curious woof.
"Blaster bolts! I'm sorry, is that plate for me?"
Lowie chuffed a laugh and then swept a hand around the table to indicate
that everyone else had already been served. Each of the Wookiees' plates
was filled with coarsely chopped fresh meat and mounds of raw
vegetables. Jaina had a platter of food similar to his own, while Tenel
Ka's held a mixture of vegetables and meats, both cooked and raw.
Jacen was amused to note that Tenel Ka's appetite reflected the
conflicting preferences of her primitive and refined upbringings.
Kallabow and Mahraccor had worked hard to accommodate the dietary
preferences of their human guests. Jacen accepted the platter from Sirra
and thanked her.
When the Wookiees all fell silent, expectant, and turned to Lowbacca, he
held one furry hand over his plate of food as he crooned a few short
phrases in a low voice. Jacen recognized the Wookiee ceremonial speech
of thankfulness that he had heard from Chewbacca so often.
Lowie stood then, raised his arms high and spread his hands as if
forming a protective leafy canopy over his family and friends, and
repeated his brief speech. Lowie's mother crooned a sad, low note.
A moment later, both Wookiees and humans attacked their food as if none